#i will send u pretzels if u ask nice enough

[h00f]

woah, hi! it’s been a while!

i’ve just finished another year of college, and i think i want to try taking my blog back and using it for my own enjoyment! i’m going to start posting more art i’ve been making, but also reblogging things! and sharing thoughts! ive really, really missed being able to do that, so i’m starting it again now! no more fear :)

i just posted a piece from my last semester, and i will probably put up some more later tonight and tomorrow! hopefully even reblogging things here again!!

i hope you’re all doing well, and ily!

[costellos]

tell me who you’d take on a date and where you would go! — CLOSED

@thisbloghasnoaesthetic​ asked: Id love to take Jotaro on a date. Just something chill. Like getting some good food. Or just sitting together doing nothing. I'd love to just read a book with my head on his shoulder. Just enjoying eachothers quiet comfort :)

omg that sounds like a great date for Jotaro! he definitely seems like the type to want a chill date. he’d probably opt for something that offers takeout if you’re referencing Part 3!Joot, somewhere a little nicer but just as casual if you’re referencing Part 4!Joot. and while you’re reading, you might just catch a teeny, tiny smile on his lips. but don’t say anything or you’ll ruin the moment 🤭💕

anonymous asked: i would wanna take kakyoin out to an indoor roller rink so we could rollerskate together 🥺 it’s one of the things i like to do most and i’d wanna skate around w him while holding hands! also cause he’s tall, i feel like it’d be hard for him to keep balance and prevent himself from falling lolll. but we could go out to an ice cream place nearby afterwards and watch the sun set (if the time is right) 💗

how cute!! sharing something you love with the one you love most... I dig it. Kakyoin would be soooo embarrassed, though! he just wants to impress you but his center of gravity is absolutely awful. rip. at the end of the day, however, he’d be so appreciative that you shared something so personal with him. ❤️ let him pay for the ice cream, it’s the least he can do!! and maybe hold your hand while you watch the sunset 🌅

@lavaicerinkk​ asked: I would ask mista, probably to like a concert or something like that. We'd probably go as homies, then when we get home id be like "what if we kissed haha" and hed be like 😳😳 ok, and then we live happily ever after

LMAAAAOOOOO. I feel like this is v in character for Mista.... he’d be caught so off guard by it! esp since he probably would’ve accepted that you were just friends. not that he’d say no, tho 👀 he’d just be like, “wait, for real?” and waste no time kissing you after you gave him permission. what a happy ending. 💕

@murcx04​ asked: Take someone on a date huh hmmmmm- Josuke is my bet HAHA Hed be so refreshing to be with óuò. And we'd go shopping kfbfjfn And that where- he'll just show his pleading eyes and want you to buy the shoes he wants oh boy-

I agree, he would be a very refreshing plus one! I think a shopping date would be v traditional with him. I’m imagining you both at the mall, where he cackles at all the weird sex stuff at Spencer’s and shares his food court soft pretzel with you. 🥨 he probably wouldn’t explicitly say that he wants new shoes, but he’d nudge you and be like, “hey. if you wanna know what to get me for my birthday...” and point to the Air Force 1′s on display. so subtle. 🙄

anonymous asked: tbh i think i'd like to take kira out to dinner and go on a walk. i know its a simple date but i think he's really neat and i don't really like big or flashy events and i don't think he would either kjfnksnjks. its just sumn that would suit both of us nice

ooo interesting choice, nonnie! I 100% agree with you on this one. Kira would probably take you to one of those restaurants that have private rooms. I think some ritzier places are like that? anyway, he’d want to focus this date all on you. no mindless chatter from other patrons, no screaming children — the more noise he can minimize, the better. and during your walk, I can see him allowing you to take the reins on the conversation. he just finds everything you say so fascinating! 🌷💗

@catnymous​ asked: I'd take Fugo first to just a simple lil cafe then to the park :3

Cat!! I missed you!! you should come into the askbox more often, I always enjoy your replies. in the meantime, Fugo probably overthinks a lot so this date would be casual enough for him to relax. he would probably opt for some coffee and a slice of cake that he can share with you 🍰❤️ and a stroll through the park would be the perfect way to walk off the calories! (plus when you get to a fountain he’ll probably make some corny wish about getting to spend more days with you like this a;sdfkjl)

anonymous asked: Idk if you’re familiar with part 7... but I would bring Johnny to the planetarium; it’s a place that I love, and bringing him to a place special to me would mean a lot, I think. I’d tell him all of my favorite things about space. And, it’s a little mushy, but I’d remind him that just because you can’t always see the stars doesn’t mean they’re not there; every one is special and the same is for people. And of course, it would be a fun day out to appreciate the beautiful things in the world

unfortunately, I’m not familiar with Part 7... :( but thank you so much for sharing nonetheless! this is such a heart-warming confession 💕 I wish there was more I could say; I love that you’d share all your favorite things about space, and how everything and everyone is special. 💫 such a beautiful confession. 

@serenityblaze44​ asked: I would take Bruno and/or Abbacchio to a conservatory or garden, maybe bring a picnic. Nothing too exciting, just time to relax and spend time together. Then go home for cuddles.

por que no los dos? ahaha nah I’m joking... unless 👀 no but for real, this sounds ideal for both of them! ❤️ they would both appreciate the time to unwind. I could see Abbacchio prepping all the food, while Bucciarati handles everything else (packing the blanket, utensils, alcohol, etc.). they’d probably opt for somewhere outside of Naples since it’s far too crowded in the city. afterwards, be prepared for a gr8 nap between two warm, loving boys!!

anonymous asked: I'd take Kakyoin on a date! I think it would be really fun to go somewhere like an amusement park or arcade so we could just kinda be stupid together and forget our problems. Id go on the Ferris wheel and try to kiss him at the top but he'd probably shake the cart the whole time to freak me out 😂😂 After everything he's gone through, he deserves to have a lot of fun and id love to see him smile 🥰😍

aw friend, this is such a sweet scenario! hopefully the Ferris wheel doesn’t give him too many bad memories of Death Thirteen though ope,, anyway, what a lovely way to forget about all the stuff he’s endured! he’d playfully challenge you to some arcade games (and I’m using “playfully” lightly here) and then destroy you. 🙄 but it’s okay, any tickets he gets will immediately go to a cute stuffed animal just for you 🧸

@hadesaedes​ asked: OOOH I’d have to go with either Yukako or Koichi (even tho i have like TWO hands either is fine). Yukako is a very passionate and strong lover which I LOVE cause im shy with affection so being bold with it is MWUAH. While Koichi is also passionate I like to think he enjoys more simple and low key dates which is my type of thing. Having to just bask in each other’s company without having to fill the silence is GREAT. THEY ARE BOTH GREAT!!! In this essay I will-

AHHH A+ CHOICES, FRIEND. Yukako and Koichi would spoil you so much!! they’d handle any date expenses (movie tickets, food, etc.) and would adore having any opportunity to hold your hand 😊 Yukako would probably be more physically affectionate; she’ll either have her hand on top of yours or her feet wrapped between yours when sitting. Koichi would opt for compliments, praising you on how cool and smart you are! wow, what a supportive pair 🤝

anonymous asked: It's very hard to choose, but I'd go on a date with Bruno. Idk I'm just very gay for him. He knows a lot of nice and fancy places in Naples, but since that's not really my world, I'd take him to a small coffee shop or something. Nothing fancy or expensive but still very enjoyable. Maybe some ice cream. Walking through the city and going to a restaurant in the evening. Maybe something fancy this time, or just a simple pizza

how lovely!! Bucciarati would honestly be open to try anything, but I think a small coffee shop would be v enjoyable for him. there’s so much you can learn about someone over a cup of joe. ☕ since he’s been living in / around Naples his whole life, he’d probably share some neat facts about the city while on your stroll! “the Amalfi Coast is best known for its limoncello liqueur. I know a great place to try it if you’re interested.” 🍋

@moloko-tyan​ asked: Hello, little bird💫sending you rays of love and positive energy! This new event is so much fun. Several hours I wondered with who I wanted to go out, ahah. And I think it would be Erina. She deserves to have fun especially after all those awful events in her life. We would go to atelier. We could go through fabrics to choose which fits the best. We would look at lovely laces, buttons, jewels and we would argue about models of dresses and evening gowns. I want her to feel safe🌻 thank u so much!

friend! I always get so excited when you pop into my askbox!! ty for participating 💕 Erina is such a great choice imo. and this is such a creative date! she’d have so much fun running her fingers over all the interesting fabrics. Erina would take the most beautiful dresses and hold them up against you, saying how lovely the color suits you. 👗 although she’d be too shy to try those dresses on herself, she would have so much fun spending the day with you!!

anonymous asked: I hope it's okay to send this (I honestly don't want you to get overwhelmed)! But if it's okay: I would love to take Fugo on a date! I love this boy with all my heart and I would love to travel with him to my country to a town next to the sea and give him a tour of its history (and visit the local art and history museums there)! And later grab some ice cream and walk along the seafront in the evening where there are less people and just enjoy the walk together as the sun sets. -Turtle Anon🐢

oooohh, Turtle Anon!! thank you for your concern. you’re all good, don’t worry! anywho, that’s a wonderful date for Fugo. he would have an absolute blast reading about all the art and history your country has to offer 🏛️ you might have to push him along though, he’s the type to absorb everything n really slow down when reading... but at the end of the day, as you’re walking along the beach, he’d thank you for sharing a part of yourself with him. he’d be so honored! ☀️

anonymous asked: tbh i'd love to take narancia on a super spontaneous date... only the date and time are set, the entire day is just going around town and doing whatever stupid fun random things,, eating street food and going into shops to try on random fits and running around laughing, mayhaps go to an arcade, or do some karaoke. and then wind down at like a mcdonalds late at night, tired but happy and satisfied.. hhh nara is v fun i just wanna hang out w him honestly 🤕😔🤕😔

yeeeess this is the perfect date for Narancia!! he loves spontaneous stuff like this. he’d have so much fun gorging himself on street food and playing around with weird fits. he’d probably put on the stupidest things he can find, like this. and if you go to karaoke, be ready to screech some absolute bangers. he will not take anything less than confident (yet bad), loud (yet joyous) singing. 🎤 n while he might be falling nodding off at the McDonald’s, he’d sleepily tell you how amazing the day was and how he wants to do this again 💕

@tomomi012​ asked: I'm going to share another ideal date idea, but with Kakyoin. I'd like us to go to one of those cat cafes in Japan. I mean, cats, coffee and a cute Japanese boy, is this heaven? and I would tell him: "Nori, today I am in heaven"

ofc, share all you want! omg... I love this idea..... Kakyoin would be so soft anytime a cat approaches him. he’d do a little “pspsps” and hold out his finger for them to smell. and once a cat actually nudges him, he’d just melt! he wouldn’t show it outwardly, but you can see it in how bright his eyes get. I think Kakyoin would be the type to either attract a ton of cats or cats hate him, there’s no in between. 😭❤️ both make for some gr8 scenarios, though! 

@pommmejuice​​ asked: for your post about taking a character on a date :,) i think i’d like to take abba to art museums/cultural centers ,, i’d love to talk to him about my culture and what life is like (if he’d be interested;; lol) n maybe afterwards while we get italian food he can talk to me about what italian culture is like, the parts that aren’t shown in the media 🥺 so uh a date where we’re both learning new things about each other hehe

n maybeeeee take fugo to a café where we can study together n talk about our favorite things in our lives/culture.... n maybe hold hands on the table and maybe stare into his eyes tenderly ... you know because he’s my BFF (Best Friend Forever) .. you know how best friends do.. 😳

ooo Ireeene I figured you’d say Abbacchio :3c but that’s such a cute date for him! ofc he’d be interested in learning more about you!! you wouldn’t see it, but every time you share something you that you love about your culture, Abbacchio’s gaze on you would be so loving... 💖 he adores that you’re sharing so personal with him (of all people!!). and he’d get a kick out of telling you misconceptions about Italy. don’t get him started on how much he hates the Mario Bros.

as for Fugo, he would react similarly. I could see him ask more questions about your culture, while Abbacchio lets you go on and on. he’s so interested in everything about you!! and the moment you hold his hand... wow... get ready to see some intense blushing... he wouldn’t pull away, but his attention would turn to something else and his stutter would be apparent. pull yourself together, Fugo! 😤

anonymous asked: I'd take Rohan on a date, I'm a lil gay for that trash man. Tbh, it would either be an amazing date or a total disaster. I think we'd plan something fun and relaxing, like going to an art gallery or seeing a movie, but we'd end up in an adventure because that's what keeps happening to Rohan for some reason. At the end of the day we'd go to a restaurant to put a normal ending to that strange day

HAHAHA omggg friend this is a pretty accurate description of Rohan’s life. I think he’d be really annoyed that the day ended up this way, but he’s glad that he got to spend it with someone he tolerates. 💕 Rohan would try to push past those feelings once you go to the restaurant. this date is still salvageable!! he might complain a lil, but ultimately, he’d try to focus on you and what you enjoyed 🥰

@xxbluejayxx​ asked: For the Jojo date thing, I'd take Abbacchio. Well not really picky about the kind of date, I feel a nice quiet one at home would be best. It could be a homemade dinner, a movie night, or both. When it comes down to it, for me anytime spent with someone I love is time well spent, and that is something I will willingly admit

this is such a peaceful date for Abbacchio! I agree, a quiet date at home would be best. 😊❤️ as I mentioned in other scenarios, he’d likely take over kitchen duties. no need to worry about anything, just tell him what you want and he’d whip it up for you! and when it comes time to watch the movie, he’d tell you to sit a lil closer to him... he’s not very good with verbalizing affection, but he loves when he can feel your skin against his.

anonymous asked: I reeally wanna take Polnareff on a date. He deserves it sooo much. He's such a handsome sweetie. Id turn on the charm for him for once, like he always does. I have a beautiful image in my head of an outdoor patio restaurant with hundreds of strings of lights. We both dress up and have a lovely meal under the stars and magical lights, and then our favorite song plays and we have a dance beneath the lights. I think it would be goofy and romantic, stepping on toes as we attempt to dance around 😍

ahhh Polnareff would be so flattered to have you flirt with him! he’d probably get a lil flustered since this is nicer than what he’s used to, but seeing you dressed to the nines would make make him go 🥵 likewise, he’d push himself through the situation by just focusing on you. and when you start dancing... wow!! he’d lose himself laughing and being absolutely miserable at showing his moves. but it doesn’t matter, because he’s here with you and everything is okay ⭐

@rat-makes-stuff asked: Ok so I would take Giorno back to my home state of Michigan. Mafia boss has got to be tired as hell, so what's better than walking through the woods and collecting rocks at Lake Huron (I'm biased that's my favorite lake no CAP). We would watch the sun set and then look at the stars when they come out. Wildflower picking, trying to see how many deer we can find, and picnics by the lake? Yes pleaseee

before I start, Tumblr wasn’t letting me tag you in this!! so I hope you still see my response :( anyway, this is such a relaxing date! Don Giorno would love to unwind in nature. he’d probably take some stones he found near Lake Huron and turn them into a bouquet of flowers for you! ��and since he’s probably never seen the sky without light pollution, he’d be astonished at how beautiful the sky is. he wouldn’t be able to say anything, just pull you close to him and thank you for taking him out here 🌠

[alicemitch09writes]

hey alice! i’m the *new suna stan* from before lol

thanks so much for the hcs!!! i enjoyed them a lot ❤️❤️❤️ i was also wondering, what would be manager’s dynamics with the rest EJP Raijin? Would it be the same as her dynamics with Inarizaki? i’m super into this world that you built in hyogo i cant even hahahah i also imagine what kind of friends manager has in uni and basically her whole journey to healing from her past 😊 i hc that sunarin probs gets jealous of some uni guy friend of manager for some reason or wtvr because jealous suna is *screeches*

do u have 🥨 anon already? if not, may i be ur pretzel anon 💕💕💕

awwww, pretzel anon it is! hello and welcome~

Honestly, those stories were half-made and half based on the real-life experiences of family, friends, or students of mine.

Soooo her relationships:

UNIVERSITY

Since it was a new town, she definitely took time to get to know people. However, a few people remembered her from her days as 'Inarizaki's Fox Keeper' players, ex-managers, and fans. She made a group.

However, her constant remains: Inarizaki seniors, Miya twins, and her family.

Also, her therapist's child just happened to be a senior at her university so they became friends. It was through him that she heard of an on-the-job-training/internship with EJP Raijin.

Some clubs tried to ask her to be their manager, but she kindly declined, wanting to focus on her studies first. She was, however, a consultant.

She befriended a few of her neighbors - each, from differing colleges and interesting backgrounds.

Suna doesn't have to worry much about her friends, because that one friend is Asexual, and the rest are in relationships.

EJP Raijin

The first person she befriended was Murase-san. Actually, her full name is Akira Murase, 7 years older than her, and was really good with PR. However, she's heard of Reader's reputation and was happy that she actually considered doing her internship with them.

When she added that she can speak 3 languages: English, Japanese, and her native language, that's when Murase-san decided then and there that she'd be her favorite person.

EJP Raijin team is....hmmm, I would say a mix between Kamomedai and Itachiyama. I'm saying this because I'm trying to recall my experience teaching students there (an actual school btw, or was it a university)

Also, as of writing I'm looking at the Wiki page of JT Thunder and wow, since I'm basing the team off them, the inspiration team is pretty reputable.

Anyway, they're all generally nice, competitive, passionate, and abnormally tall.

The team are nice enough and warmly welcomed her, taking an immediate liking to her after sharing her analysis on the team's play and points they could improve on.

Some of the players are family men, so they treat her like a daughter. Some are single men, who tried to hit on her, only to receive her poker face and cold stare. And some are foreign nationals trying to fit in and adjust, who usually cling to her almost immediately because of how she can understand them (think back to the scene with Aone).

Suna gets jealous at that, sending them cold stares and blocking them so hard during plays to the point that it was frustrating. But the rest of the team get a laugh out of it.

When she graduated university, it was honestly her own decision to work for EJP Raijin. And how could she not? The pay was good, as was the environment (after two years of interning with them), and she loved the thrill of the game. Also, she was dating one of their players.

The owner of the club has also taken a liking to Reader, which is why they got a discount when she and Suna were buying a car.

[itshardcandy]

Jinnuendo

Kim Seokjin x Reader

(Originally written for and posted by @letsgetitinbusan for a writing game but I chose to also post it on this blog now)

8806 Words

Genre: Fluff, Friends to lovers, Smut, Crack,

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, dirty talk, fingering, outdoor sex, unprotected sex (wrap it before u tap it, kids), Jimin’s cakes

Summary: Camping with your friends was supposed to be fun- you could only agree, now that Jin had made camping even funner.

Preview: 

“Ohmygod”

You mumbled with a full mouth,

“Amazing”

You said and Jimin smiled proudly. Jin watched the interaction quietly from his seat. Damn, he thought, he should have remembered to bring some rice cakes for you. He wasn’t really jealous of Jimin and his cakes. Really, he wasn’t. He was convinced that little crush of yours was completely food related, so he didn’t really think there was anything more to it. All he wanted was for that interaction to have taken place with him and also, for you to give all your attention to him and not Jimin. That seems like a reasonable mindset, right?

“Yikes, I wouldn’t wanna be her right now”

Said the bus boy standing next to you, crossing his arms as he watched the restaurant manager approach the newest addition to the waiter team, who was currently involved in a rather heated discussion with a guest,

“It’s a shame she’s gonna have to leave, she was nice…” 

You added and both of you sighed heavily and returned to your duties while the poor girl was being fired for standing her ground. She was the third one this month alone. To be fair, your manager was not an easy man to please, so it only made sense that new additions to the tea would be examined even more closely than you and the others, who had worked here for longer. The only thing keeping you safe from the manager’s wrath was your natural ability to fake-smile for hours on end. It was a gift as much as it was a curse but it had secured your job in the customer service sector so far.

And soon you will have survived another painful day of serving bitchy, rude and entitled Karen’s and Chad’s for the sake of financing your studies. At least they tipped well if you smiled hard enough.

This was your last day of work before you could look forward to two weeks of uninterrupted relaxation time. You handed in your last paper for this semester last week, so all of the work for university was also done and nothing would interfere with your plans to sleep for three days straight and then spend the rest of the time at the beach, cooking in the sun.

 “See you guys in a few weeks”

You yelled into the kitchen after you gathered your things and clocked out for the night. A few hurried goodbyes reached your ears before you exited through the back door of the restaurant and finally breathed in the fresh air, smelling of freedom and definitely not the burger grease stench coming from the kitchen AC vent.

No, it was definitely freedom and it was glorious.

_________  

After a hot shower and big glass of wine you were slumped on your couch, ready to pass out any second now, when your phone went off and almost gave you a heart-attack.

You took a deep breath and checked the caller ID to see your friend Seokjin calling,

“What is it?”

Normally, Jin calling was a thing you were happy about, however, being interrupted while passing out after a 10-hour shift at your job, was not a happy occasion and you couldn’t mask the annoyance in your voice,

“Whoa, what’s got your panties in a twist? Did that guy at work steal your tips again?”

He asked and you breathed a heavy sigh,

“No, I think he learnt his lesson after I cut out the butt on all his work pants…

You answered, slowly sitting up and reaching for your wine glass to empty it with a last few sips before continuing the conversation

“Why are you calling so late? I was about to fall asleep…”,

“I just wanted to remind you to pack if you haven’t done it already. Which you probably haven’t. Case in point”

Pack? You creased your brows. Pack for what?

“YN? You still there?”,

“Uhh, yeah I am I just… can you remind me what I’m supposed to be packing for?”

If you weren’t so tired, you’d probably be a little more embarrassed,

“Seriously? It’s that time of the year, YN! It’s blackout week! Joon send everyone reminders months ago! And then weeks ago! And then again 2 days ago! How could you forget the most magical event of the year?”  

You needed to hold the phone at a slight distance as to not go deaf at the sound of Seokjin’s friendly reminder. He was right, though, how could you forget? Blackout Week was the one week that you and your group of friends all looked forward to collectively every year. A whole week of camping in the mountains near a beautiful lake and no one was allowed to bring any kind of electronic devices, unless it was absolutely necessary for survival. A flashlight would be an exception but other than that you guys were pretty adapt at reverting your way of life back to the good old dark ages. You were lucky that Jungkook and Hoseok had been part of a group of boy scouts or else blackout week would have ended in a disaster each time. Yeah well, maybe you had exaggerated when you said that all of you were pretty adapt at this stuff… But nevertheless, you were all very determined, which was just as important,

“Shit, you’re right, I completely forgot…”

You ran your hand across your face and sighed,

“Of course, you forgot, why am I even surprised…”

Jin sounded more upset that he actually was, you knew him by now. You just needed to work him a little bit,

“How early are we leaving tomorrow? Can I do it in the morning? I’m so tired…”

You probably sounded a little whiney but that usually did the trick with Jin,

“I told you to be ready at 5, you know how long the drive is. Ah YN, I still can’t believe it, you’re so careless sometimes…”

He already sounded a little softer,

“I’m sorry, I’ll start packing right now, ok?”,

You made sure to sound like the helpless damsel in distress you wanted Jin to believe you were and you were sure you had cracked him. You heard him sigh heavily on the other end of the line,

“Do you need help packing? I’ll come over and help you, it’ll be quicker and you can get more sleep”,

“Are you sure? It’s late already…”,

“Just stay awake for the next fifteen minutes and open the door when I knock, ok? I’ll be right there”,

“Ok…”

He hung up and you smiled to yourself. There were a few advantages to knowing how Jin’s mind worked. And knowing Jin, he would never not come and help you out and you were grateful to have such a selfless friend. He knew you were an absolute mess and he didn’t mind picking up your slack once in a while because you took care of him in turn. It wasn’t like you turned up whenever he called, like he usually did for you but you were the type of friend to think of things he forgot to do for himself. You had been friends for so long, that he had given you a key to his apartment a while back and you used it to make sure his fridge was always stocked, and his plants were taken care of. He worked a lot. Way more than you and the little things like self-care and chores sometimes got put on the back burner. Since you had a little more time on your hands you would take care of these things once in a while. Before you got up off the couch to put on some comfy pants, you stretched your tired limbs and pressed play again to let Netflix run in the background. Jin knocked right as you finished pouring two mugs of coffee, which both of you would probably need to undertake the monumental task of packing your camping bag. You opened the door and let him inside, handing him the mug right away and watching a smile creep onto his face,

“Coffee was a good idea”

He said and slurped loudly after he closed the door,

“Thought it would make me feel less dead. I have yet to see that theory proven”

You sipped on your coffee, too,

“Thank you for helping me, though, I completely forgot about the trip”

Jin waved you off,

“At this point I’d be surprised if you actually remembered to take a shower after work. I know I’m usually the busy one but this semester you’ve had so much stuff to do, that I can’t even be mad you forgot everything not related to uni”

You smiled at him. Even though Jin loved to get his Dad mode on and get all red-faced and out of breath from all the scolding, he was a softie at heart and everyone knew, no matter how hard he puffed up his chest, he never really meant any harm. He was all bark and no bite and none of your friends took anything he said seriously,

“Let’s get started then”

He said and put down the mug in your sink before waltzing off towards your bedroom and digging around in your closet until he emerged with your suitcase. You watched him zoom around the place for a second until you joined him, sitting down on the bedroom floor and grabbing some clothes to roll up and place in the case,

“You want any snacks?”

You asked Jin in case he wanted some food in addition to the great entertainment you provided with Netflix in the background, your loud combined breathing and the rustling of useless stuff around you as you moved it around to find viable things to pack,

“I’m good, thanks, though”

He said and dived head first into a pile of clothes to look for your warmer sweatshirts. The end of summer was in sight and you would be staying pretty high up the mountains, so better be prepared,

“Although… do you still have some of those mini pretzels?”,

“Yeah, sure”

You got up and got him the bag of his beloved snack and then it was time to get some real work done.

­­­­_________  

“Thank GOD we finally made it!”

Jin jumped out of the car and went to kneel down to kiss the ground but you stopped him before things could get ugly. What a baby, you thought to yourself… so what if you sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight? It’s a timeless masterpiece,

“So what if I sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight, it’s a timeless masterpiece!”

You argued and Jin’s eyes almost bulged out of his head,

“A timeless- can you even comprehend the unspeakable agony I was in? It felt like my soul left my mortal body and only the haunting of Cotton Eyed Joe remained…”

He could be such a drama queen sometimes. You rolled your eyes and sighed; deciding to be the bigger person really should be considered a virtue,

“Anyway, we made it here on time, didn’t we? You sure know how to burn some rubber when you don’t like the music I play…”

Jin pulled himself off the ground, holding onto the car door. His joints weakly cracked while he got up,

“I aged like 30 years during this trip and it’s only just starting…”

He mumbled to himself, shaking his head and making his neck crack in addition to everything else,

“What was that?”

You asked and Jin quickly went to unload the trunk,

“Nothing, nothing”

He answered, avoiding an even longer discussion about Cotton Eyed Joe.

You quickly joined him and had your bags unloaded in no time.

It seemed like you were the first ones to arrive at the camping site and when you informed Jin of that, his mood immediately shifted,

“We get to choose our spot?”

He looked at you in disbelief,

“Seems like it…”,

“Finally, we don’t have to sleep next to the dumpster!”

You never got to choose your spot because you had never been the first ones to arrive,

“Jin, there isn’t even a dumpster here, were in the middle of literal nowhere, nothing but lake, mountains and forest for miles”,

“True but somehow, the garbage always ended up being next to our tent because it was the only space left”

Ok, well, you guessed that was kinda true. You didn’t mind it though, you were a heavy sleeper,

“Ok, so let’s pick a good spot this time, hm?”

You said, clapped your hands together and looked around to assess the available spots,

“How about over there?”

You pointed to the edge of the clearing, where the trees began to grow thicker and taller. Jin squinted and pursed his lips,

“Hmmmm….”

He hummed and you guessed you wouldn’t be setting up there,

“What do you think about setting up here?”

You walked into the middle of the clearing, near the stump where the campfire would be set up later and Jin immediately pursed his lips even harder and hummed louder and you quickly suggested more,

“Ok, so near the lake then? Work with me here, Jin”

You walked down to the soft grass near the shore and presented it as appealingly as possible and Jin lips formed a smile. He nodded, finally. He walked towards you with the rolled-up tent under his arm and you planted it firmly in the ground. Not a second to soon, too because right after you set it down, another car approached and parked right beside Jin’s,

“Ah, the cavalry arrives”

You commented and just as you and Jin had planted the last fixture and the tent was stable, the car doors opened and the three Musketeers exited the vehicle in style.

Yoongi, sporting his usual urban-grandpa-couture, adjusted his tinted glasses and ran a hand through the hair that stuck out from his headband, before he casually nodded at you and Jin in greeting. Hoseok and his brother Taehyung waved at you enthusiastically in their brightly coloured jackets and each held up a bag filled with goodies that looked extremely promising,

“Woooow! You’re here early!”

Hoseok could barely believe it,

“And you even grabbed the best spot, well done guys!”

He congratulated you, genuinely surprised that you made it here before anyone else for the first time,

“be honest, did you ever expect this to happen?”

You asked him as he came over to hug you and Jin simultaneously,

“Not in a million years”,

“But we’ve been rooting for you guys ever since we started this tradition”

Tae said as he leisurely strolled over and hugged you tightly,

“Thanks, it only took us almost 10 years to get here, so we’re gonna make sure to rub it in your faces whenever possible”

Jin piped up and you chuckled to yourself,

“If you got here so early you could have prepared the fire already instead of being lazy”

Yoongi grumbled and trudged over, as well,

“Missed you too, boo bear”

You cooed at him and went to pinch his cheeks,

“Goochie goo, look at you, you put on weight”

You loved treating him like a baby. He also loved it when you did it but he would sooner die than ever admit to that,

“Ugh, don’t touch me”

He weakly tried to wiggle out of your grip on his pinchable cheeks and after they presented all the goodies, they brought with them, you helped the guys set up their tent. Then you actually did prepare the fire. The last of your friends to arrive were Namjoon, his baby cousin Jungkook and Jimin. Even more pinchable cheeks for you to victimize, you thought, rubbing your hands together evilly. When they arrived, the rest of you were sitting around the fire and you only noticed their arrival when you heard their voices approach through the trees. Apparently, they had chosen to hike here,

“I’m never listening to you again… hiking here, for fuck’s sake! I can’t believe I thought this was a good idea”

Joon said, sounding somewhat out of breath as he and Jungkook stepped into the clearing. He dropped his bags and drew in a long breath,

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad! And it’s not like you couldn’t use a little more exercise…”

Jungkook said, mumbling the last part of the sentence,

“What was that?”,

“Nothing, nothing…”

Jungkook picked up Joon’s bags in addition to his and marched on towards you guys, sitting by the fire. Jimin stepped out of the woods last and looked just as ethereal as everyone remembered. As he ran a hand through his hair, the sun immediately took a step back to let him take the place in the spotlight. A collective sigh ran through your group and a couple of awkward glances and coughs were exchanged before you all got your bearings back. He smiled when he saw you and gave a little wave that made you giggle like a little girl when you waved back. Jin could only shake his head in disbelief. Sure, Jimin was hot. Even he could admit to that; but surely you thought Jin was handsome, too, right?

“Sorry we’re late, guys!”

Jungkook said as he reached you and set the bags down,

“Don’t worry about it”

Hoseok got up first and hugged the younger boy tightly before the rest of you got up and said hi. Joon and Jimin walked over, too and the hugging continued for a little longer than usual hugging because everyone took a little more time to get an extended hug with Jimin. It was honestly ridiculous how thirsty all of you were for him. And the poor guy had no idea.

______

After all the tents had been set up, everything was prepared and all of you had settled back around the fire, you watched Yoongi and Jimin prepare dinner, while Hoseok and Taehyung played UNO and Jungkook was scribbling something in a notebook. Jin was sitting next to you and reading through the gas grill’s user manual, Jimin and Yoongi were currently trying t get to work,

“Are you sure, you’re not holding it upside down?”

You asked him and reached out to grab it from him but he held it out of your reach and sighed,

“YN, I know how to read a damn…- hold on, it’s actually upside down”,

“Wait, really?

You were only joking about the upside-down thing,

“NO, of course not! How incapable do you think I am?”

Jin slapped your shoulder with the papers and you laughed as you tried to lean away far enough,

“Very, and I’m not even sorry for it”

you said and Jin’s mouth dropped open and he coughed out a laugh,

“With a friend like you, I really don’t need any enemies”

He said and you leaned back in to look up at him and channel your cutest pout,

“This is why you love me, though”

You were right, he thought, no one could make him feel so dumb, yet so happy at the same time. Especially with an annoyingly cute pouty face like yours,

“You’re lucky, that’s true”

He continued flipping through the manual and soon, the grill was working and he saved Yoongi and Jimin from their misery. Just in time, too because Tae was getting hungry and no one wanted to deal with that.

_______

“Aw man, that was so good!”

Jungkook said, stuffing the last food from his bowl into his mouth, chewing loudly,

“You want the rest of mine?”

You asked him, holding your bowl in his direction and he nodded eagerly, big eyes getting even bigger,

“There you go, big boy”

You smiled to yourself and handed him your bowl,

“God, where is all that food even going?”

Yoongi said, as he watched Jungkook devour the additional food he had just received,

“Shhh, let him eat”

You shushed Yoongi with a pat to his leg and watched Jungkook munch happily,

“Anyone want some rice cakes?”

Jimin piped up and opened up a Tupperware filled with the juicy looking sweet treats,

“Oooooh, Jimin, they look amazing!”

You couldn’t believe your eyes; they were your favourite,

“I knew you’d like them”

Jimin said as he watched your eyes and smile grow bigger,

“Have some”

He added and held the box your way,

“Oh yes! Thank you”

You got up and tiptoed around the fire to kneel in front of him to munch on his cakes. You looked at him with glossy eyes, happy that he remembered your favourite treat. And they were good, too. So good, that you had to close your eyes as you had the first bite,

“Ohmygod”

You mumbled with a full mouth,

“Amazing”

You said and Jimin smiled proudly. Jin watched the interaction quietly from his seat. Damn, he thought, he should have remembered to bring some rice cakes for you. He wasn’t really jealous of Jimin and his cakes. Really, he wasn’t. He was convinced that little crush of yours was completely food related, so he didn’t really think there was anything more to it. All he wanted was for that interaction to have taken place with him and also, for you to give all your attention to him and not Jimin. That seems like a reasonable mindset, right? So, in conclusion, he wasn’t jealous, at all. However, when Jimin took a second rice cake out of the box and held it to your lips, time seemed to slow down for Jin and not in the good, romantic way he would have preferred it. Jimin gently placed the cake in your mouth and your lips closed around his finger for a second before he slowly pulled away. You moaned in pleasure as you started chewing and Jin had to bite down on his tongue to not lose his mind. To the others this was a completely normal and innocent thing to witness; just two friends sharing some food, what’s wrong with that? Everything, according to the way Jin was currently staring Jimin down and tried to telepathically communicate his disdain for the way he fed you food in the most erotic way possible. Ok, maybe he was a little jealous, after all. Why was this suddenly getting to him? He knows that the relationship you have with him isn’t purely based on friendship, since the both of you had had some ambiguous moments of will they, won’t they before but it was never really anything you acted upon or even talked about. Nothing to take seriously. Maybe, by watching you and Jimin flirt so innocently, he had just realized now, how precious you really were to him and that he wanted to try and incorporate a romantic aspect into your relationship. Or maybe, he just never felt threatened before. Never felt like his place in your life was about to be taken away from him by a guy with sweet, juicy and delicious cakes. Damn Jimin’s cakes! Jin got up and started collecting everyone’s dishes. He didn’t want to continue watching you basically crawling in Jimin’s lap and sucking the cakes off his fingers. Maybe he went a little too hard with the whole dish collecting thing because as he ripped Jungkook’s bowl from his hands, the younger hadn’t completely finished I and yelled after Jin, as he went down to the lake and started vigorously scrubbing everything. However, Jin didn’t know that he had absolutely nothing to be jealous of because as soon as he had left the circle, Tae, who was sat next to Jimin, made him feed him cakes, as well. Let’s just say that even someone as oblivious as you knew when some actual sexual tension was developing. You decided it was time to awkwardly retreat to your seat now, before you were sandwiched in between the two boys. Only now did you notice that Jin had left the comfort of his camping chair,

“Hey, where did he go?”

You asked Joon, who was wrapped in a thick jacket with his hands around a warm cup of tea. While someone outside of your circle might be a little confused at the sight of someone with such a warm jacket on in this warm weather, you had stopped wondering about his weird habits a while ago. He slurped his tea and pointed down to the shore where, if you squinted heavily, you could faintly recognise the outline of Jin’s body in the dark. You excused yourself from the others and walked the short distance to join Jin in washing the dishes. He was slumped over, kneeling at the shore and, apparently, hadn’t noticed you approaching. So you yelled and gripped his shoulders from behind:

“Careful!”

The high-pitched scream he let out almost burst your eardrums but it was definitely worth it to see him almost jump into the water in shock,

“What the hell, YN? Why would you do that?”

He was clearly very upset about the whole thing but you only snickered like a mean little kid and kneeled down next to him,

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist”

You said and took the knife he was scrubbing out of his hands. Safer this way. Even in the dark you could see his eyes, big as saucers and it only made you laugh more. You took his hand in yours in apology and Jin didn’t resist, he just yelled louder like he usually did,

“You’re such a brat! I volunteer to do the dishes and what do you do? Wow, the disrespect is off the charts!”

His yelling was like an affectionate pat on the back by now because you knew he would never actually yell at you in anger. He knew you loved it because you always laughed even harder when he started ranting. And when you squeezed his hand a little tighter, he was sure there was nothing he enjoyed more than making you laugh by making an ass of himself,

“I’ll stop, I promise!”

You bowed your head and clutched his hand to your chest, still smiling,

“Tsk, empty promises”

He shook his head and you looked up at him,

“I’ll make it up to you, I’ll help you with the dishes”

You said eagerly,

“And also, I snagged one of the rice cakes for you”

Jin listened up,

“I know you love these things even more than I do”

He heard some shuffling and then you held your hand up in front of his face, a tiny cake sitting in your palm,

“Open up”

You said, taking the treat between two fingers and holding it up for Jin,

“For me?”

He asked, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining this,

“Of course, for you, you genius”

 Jin slowly opened his mouth and you gently placed the treat in it, like Jimin did with you. However, Jin didn’t think of Jimin in this moment, he only thought about the way your thumb lingered on his lower lip for a few seconds before you pulled your hand back. He felt his affection for you stir in his heart again. He also felt something else stir in a different bodily region at the feeling of your fingers on his lips. He quickly turned away and swallowed the sweet cake before clearing his throat, 

“Thanks”

He managed to mumble and went right back to washing dishing and willing away the growing problem you were responsible for,    

“Move over, I’ll help”

You said and crowded his space again to help him with the dishes and then a comfortable silence set in, only interrupted by the occasional loud laughter from the rest of the guys.

_________

The last night approached quicker than all of you would have liked. After all of the days spent on the lakeshore, basking in the sun and eating smores at night around the campfire, it was finally time to return to your normal life. You and Jin had gotten used to the tent situation quickly, even though it wasn’t the most comfortable or convenient. Well, for Jin at least. After the you had gone to sleep on the first night, Jin lay awake for a while longer, not being able to get your small fingers and your gentle touch out of his mind and it didn’t help that you were right here next to him, bodies only separated by a thin sheet you used as blanket.

And it had only gotten worse.

Tonight, the silhouette of your body, illuminated by the dying light of the fire outside, made Jin especially weak. He, like you and the others, had a few drinks to celebrate your trip and commemorate your friendship and, surprisingly, alcohol didn’t do a lot to enhance his self -control. More like the opposite,

“You good? Are you comfortable?”, 

“Yeah”,

“Ok”

You and Jin had finally arranged yourselves into the bed rolls and were about to go to sleep. You were turned away from him with not a lot of distance between your bodies. It had been an especially hot day and even though it was already dark, the air and the ground hadn’t begun to cool down, yet. Jin was uncomfortable in the heat and he had already stripped down to his briefs; just being in the tent, next to you, not even a sheet over your bodies, to avoid even more heat, he felt like his body was heating up even more. He heard you shuffle around a little and then your thin top was flying over his face and you wore nothing but your underwear,

“I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable but I feel like I’m melting”

You said and fanned your face to feel even the slightest relief from the heat. Jin didn’t say anything for a few seconds, too caught up in the realisation that you were in nothing but your underwear, right next to him,

“It’s fine”

His voice betrayed him, sounding breathy and thin. He cleared his throat,

“Don’t worry about it”  

There, he sounded super manly again,

“I’m dying over here… it was nice when we were in the water but now? I’m not made for this weather”

You lamented and turned to Jin, tucking your hands under your head to be comfortable. He was glad that it was so dark because if there were even a little bit more light coming in from the outside you would have seen him staring shamelessly at your tits, pushed together between your arms,

“Yeah it’s uh… really bad”

Very smooth, Jin, managing to answer even though his briefs were getting uncomfortably tight, he thought to himself. The fire outside finally went out completely and the clinking of glasses and the sound of another tent zipper let you know that the last of your friends were about to hit the hay, as well,

“Do you mind if I open the zipper? Let some more air in?”

You asked and sat up already,

“No, go ahead, can’t be worse than this, anyway”  

You felt around for the zipper and dragged it down until the flaps of the tent opened and a slight breeze greeted you from outside,

“Well, it’s not much but I can breathe a little better”,

You fell back into the bed roll with a sigh and Jin suddenly had an idea,

“Hey, YN”,

“Hm?”,

“How about we just go down to the lake? Put our feet in the water, cool down a little, you know?”,

“Mhmh, I guess”,

“It’s probably more effective than just opening the zipper”,

“Yeah, you’re right”

You sighed again and sat up in the tent,

“Ok then, let’s go. We gotta be quiet though, I think everyone’s sleeping already” 

You said and Jin sat up, too, to crawl out of the tent and help you stand up after you crawled out, too. He grabbed your hand and slowly you navigated the dark clearing in the full moon light down to the soft grass around the lake shore until you felt the water gently lap on your feet. Both of you sat down on the grass and let the waves envelope your feet on their way up,

“Ugh, I already feel so much better”

You relaxed and lay back on the grass, stretching your overheated and tired limbs,

“Same”

Jin stretched his legs, tapping and tickling your smaller feet with his and making you giggle,

��Jin, that tickles”

You tried to wiggle away, and escape his big gorilla feet,

“Is this an unexplored fetish of yours?”  

you asked, making Jin laugh and trying to not be too loud,

“The tickling or the feet?”,

“Oh my god is it both?”,

“Are you kink-shaming me?”

“Definitely! Feet are gross”

You smiled and pushed yourself off the grass back into a sitting position,

“I don’t have a weird kink, calm down”

Jin loved riling you up, just as much as you did it to him,

“Anyway, I’m gonna go in, I think”

He announced after he was done teasing you and slowly waded into the shallow water,

“you coming?”

You looked up at him, shaking your head,

“I don’t think so, I don’t have my bathing suit. Don’t wanna sleep in wet undies”

“Suit yourself. But don’t complain about the heat”

He simply said and turned around, walking until water reached up to his ribs. It probably wouldn’t be so bad to get your underwear wet; in this heat they would be dry in no time anyway. But another thought crossed your mind and you contemplated just going commando. Even though yours and Jin’s relationship had never been anything more that friendly, except for a little flirting here and there, you felt like it could be more. There could be more to the flirting and the innocent hand touching. And times like these made you want to just cross the line. Despite Jin thinking he was pretty subtle about everything, you had noticed how, during the trip, he eyed you and Jimin curiously whenever you were talking. You had also noticed how he tried to put as much distance between you as possible in the tent as to not push his very obvious hard on anywhere near you. By now you just wanted to see if he would cross the line first. Watching him, you unclipped your bra and slipped your panties down your legs, before you also let the cool waves roll against your body. He had already made his way a little farther out and you stopped where your feet could still feel the ground and the water just reached around your clavicle,

“Guess the heat finally got to you, hm?”

Jin said, as he noticed you approaching,

“Right, the heat”

You mumbled and he swam closer, back to you,

“Not worried about the clothes anymore?”

You shook your head and smiled,

“What clothes?”,

“Your under- Oh”

Jin stopped in the middle of the sentence after he had realised what you meant. His mouth fell open as his eyes took in the naked line of your shoulders, no straps in sight,

“I didn’t wanna get them wet”

You said and Jin has to swallow hard. You’re naked under the blurry sheen of the water and he doesn’t know how to handle the situation,

“Yeah, no, I get it, convenience and all that, right?”

He laughs awkwardly and tries and fails to cover up his sudden insecurity about your naked boobs just a few inches away from his face,

“Yeah, I just thought I’d let the girls breathe, you know?”

You looked down and Jin could see your hands covering your boobs right under the surface,

“Yeah, yeah, no big deal, just let the… the girls out”

He took a deep breath and tried to look anywhere but your hands encasing your tits. The trees were pretty in the dark, so out there. And their crowns looked so big and full and round in the moonlight. They were probably very soft if he were to submerge his face between them.

Yeah, trees really were something; He had always been a tree guy.

And he probably should take a step back so he wouldn’t accidentally poke you in the stomach,

“Are you ok? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

You asked, your voice sounding all soft an innocent,

“Do you want me to put it all back on?”

Jin whipped his head around at that and held his hands up,

“No! No, I mean…”

More awkward coughing,

“Don’t bother, you’re comfortable. I’m completely fine”

You giggled cutely and Jin felt his self-control pack its bags and jump out of the window,

“Are you sure? You seem kinda bothered…”

You took a step forward and Jin escaped immediately,

“I think I’m gonna go back out, it’s freezing in here, don’t you think?”

He stuttered and rushed through the water so fast that I splashed you in the face. You smiled to yourself, fully aware that Jin was definitely not unbothered by your boobs. A fact, that you would use to your advantage.

And Entertainment.

You also swam back to the shore, where Jin was already standing on the grass again, his back turned to the water. When the water wasn’t high enough to cover up your nakedness anymore you wanted to get Jin’s attention again. You slowly exited the water and walked towards Jin, who was currently picking up your underwear carefully. You noticed him stalling a moment and feeling the soft fabric of your panties between his fingers before he spoke up,

“YN, I’ll leave your stuff closer to the water, ok?”

He said, thinking you were still swimming around without a care in the world,

“No need”

You said from behind him and he jumped, dropping your things, then tripped and landed on his ass, as he tried to put some more distance between you again,  

“Ah… you scared me again

He said, sitting on the floor and covering his eyes with his fingers immediately. He was only able to see your face through the gaps between his fingers. You didn’t say anything; you just stood there for a few seconds, making Jin suffer even more,

“I uh, do you wanna go back by any chance? I’m kinda tired”

He tried to find an excuse to flee again but you weren’t having it. You knelt down and placed your self firmly in his lap, straddling him,

“I don’t wanna go back, yet”

You mumbled and gently wrapped your small fingers around the wrist of Jin’s hand, trying to get him to uncover his eyes and look at you. He resisted. Not at all cost but it was enough to give you pause and make you doubt your intentions,

“Jin, it’s ok, you can look”

You tried to soothe him a little but he didn’t relent,

“YN, please, I’m trying so hard”

He whispered, hoping you would get the message.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to look, he definitely wanted to. He was sure, the hard dick poking you in the thighs told you so very clearly. It was just that he wasn’t sure what would happen, if he gave in. Your friendship was something he treasured and was thankful for every day, no matter how annoying you could be at times,

“Would it be so bad? We’ve been friends for so long, have you never thought about it?”

Your soft voice slowly but surely worked on dismantling his determination,

“Of course, I thought about it. Multiple times, actually. Especially this week”

Jin answered and he felt you shift slightly above him,

“So, if you thought about it, does that mean… you just don’t want to?”

He thought he heard something like disappointment in your voice and he was never good at ignoring when you felt down,

“Are you kidding? You think I’d be this hard if I didn’t want to?”

He tried to lighten the mood and let his free hand move up and down your thigh,

“I’ve been wanting to do this forever, YN, I just don’t know if this is a good idea”, 

“Jin, please…”

He swallowed as he felt you move again, this time you were pushing down on him, grinding against him and he had a hard time to keep his eyes covered,

“Shit”

He cursed at the feeling of you grinding on him and you moved his hand higher from your thigh while you tried again to remove his hand from his face. He slowly let you but he kept his eyes closed,

“Jin, look at me”

You now held both of his hands in yours and you slowly moved the up your body until they cupped your breasts. You sighed and squeezed Jin’s hands around them making him moan and his head fell forward, against your shoulder,

“YN, fuck, you need to stop… I’m a weak man and your tits feel amazing”

He started squeezing on his own and slowly rubbed his thumbs on your nipples,

“Touch me, baby, please”

Your pleas were making him so weak and he knew there was no way he would stop now, that he felt your soft skin under his hands. He turned his head just a little, placing his lips against your neck and kissing you gently. He listened to your moans and let you move against him, rub yourself against his dick in his briefs and it made him so hard; shit, you just felt so good against him, warm and soft and your tits were so fucking nice he couldn’t form a coherent thought anymore. He wanted more, needed more, needed to touch more and taste more of you, so he quickly spun you around and pushed your body back into the soft grass and hovered above you,

“Kiss me”

You whine and he wants nothing more than to kiss every inch of your skin. Starting with your pretty lips; you pretty lips which were always pouting smiling, making him crazy and making him wish he knew what the felt like around his dick. He leans down and they’re so soft. So damn soft like your beautiful tits, which he went right back to squeezing and massaging, making you moan into his mouth. Then it’s wet; tongues finding each other, wet bodies grinding together and your wet pussy rubbing against him. God, you’re so wet. He even feels it through his boxer briefs. He never thought he’d be able to get you this wet. When you lift your legs and wrap them around his hips, he can’t hold back any longer,

“Shit, you feel so good, YN, so fucking soft”

He starts kissing your neck again, moving along the smooth skin down to your collarbone and then further down to suck one of your nipples into his mouth. You moaned and ran your hands through his hair, tugging slightly and running your nails along his scalp,

“Feel good, baby?”

He asked, voice rough as he switched sides,  

“So good…”

You managed to answer through your bliss-clouded mind,

“Want more”

You added and weakly grabbed one of Jin’s hands to move it lower, between your legs,

“More? Want me here? Want me to touch your pussy?”

You never would have guessed Jin would be so vocal during sex, you always thought he’d be the sweet and vanilla type of guy but you weren’t about to complain when his fingers felt so good rubbing your lower lips,

“Yes, touch me, please, want you so much”

you pulled his face back down to yours to kiss him as he let his fingers slide through your wetness and moaned into the kiss at how fucking good it felt,

“Shit, you’re so wet… so fucking warm, fuck”

He started rubbing your clit lightly and you broke the kiss to bury your face in his neck and muffle your moans,

“Ah, Jin…”,

“Like this?”,

“Fuck, yes”

He made you feel so good, you wanted to do the same. You worked your hand between your bodies, too and started rubbing Jin through the fabric of his briefs. The feeling of his hard dick in your hands made you want more and you slipped your hand inside, wrapping it around him for real and gently moving it until you felt his fingers lose their rhythm on your clit and all you could hear were the pleasured moans he failed to hold in,

“Am I doing it right?”

You knew you were doing it right but you also knew Jin loved it when you acted helpless and cute. Could only apply even more in this situation,

“Yeah, you are… So right, so good, shit”

He sucked on the skin of your neck and slid his finger from your clit down and slowly, gently slipped it inside of you, moaning at the warm wet feeling that greeted him. You couldn’t find any words that would accurately express your thoughts at this moment; you could just tighten your legs around him and try not to be so loud you’d wake the others,

“You like that, hm? Feel so tight, baby, can’t wait to fuck you”

Jin moaned in your ear and you felt a heatwave run through your body,

“Jin, fuck me, plea- Ah…”

right as you begged him, he slid in a second finger,

“That what you want? Want me to fuck you?”

He pushed his fingers in deeper and you tried to not lose the rhythm you had going on with your hand around his dick,

“Mhmmh”

You couldn’t form a decent answer at this point,

“You sure, baby? I could make you come like this and then fuck you; make you come again”

He kissed you slow and deep this time, moving his fingers in tandem with his tongue. You shook your head, tightening your legs again, pushing his fingers even deeper,

“No? You want it now? Want me to fuck that tight little pussy?”

Jesus, you thought, you never knew words could turn you on so much,

“Then you’ll get it, baby”

He pulled his fingers out slowly and you watched as he stuck them in his mouth to suck them clean,

“Mhm, fuck, I’ll eat you next time, don’t even try to stop me”

You spread your legs as he sat back on his haunches and pushed his briefs down, finally. You couldn’t make out his size in the dark but you had already felt that it was a little bigger than what you were used to.

Jin gripped himself, moving his hand along his dick and sighing,

“Can’t believe this is happening…”

He said and leaning back down, hovering over your body,

“Wanted this for so long”

He continued and you let your hand travel over his naked chest as he guided his dick to slide through your wetness. You watched him shudder and a breath hitched in his throat as his dick made contact with your wet, warm centre,

“God, feels so good already, Jin, don’t tease me”

He bent down and kissed you,

“I won’t, I just…”

He hesitated for a second and took a deep breath,

“I don’t have any condoms with me, I wasn’t really planning on this to happen”

You smiled at the sudden insecurity in his voice and gently ran a hand through his dishevelled hair,

“It’s fine, I have an IUD, you don’t have to worry”,

“I can come inside you? You sure?”,

“I want you to”,

“Fuck…”

Jin went right back to kissing and sucking on your neck,

“Please, Jin, just fuck me… want you so bad”

The way you sounded so fucking whiney and sweet; he moaned into your skin and rubbed his dick along your pussy before he slowly pushed the head inside. Unprepared for the incredible feeling of your wet, tight pussy around his dick, he pushed in even more, swallowing all your moans and pleas. Never had he felt this good before, literally never. Your pussy felt so damn good around him, he wasn’t even completely sure this was real,

“Ah, Jin!”

He could tell you tried to be quiet,

“Shit, it’s so big…”,

“You ok? Want me to go slow?”

He asked for your comfort, yet he wasn’t sure he could do anything about it because his dick was definitely pushing itself deeper inside you of its own accord. He probably couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to,

“No, I’m fine, it feels amazing”

You threw your head back into the grass and Jin bent a little to suck your nipple back into his mouth, adding to your pleasure even more. He pushed in deeper and deeper, moving his hips until they wouldn’t go any further and he was balls deep inside you. Even if you didn’t, he needed a moment to come back to reality and not finish before he had even started. You held him so tightly and he squeezed every bit of skin he could reach as your hips moved against his, stealing his breath and making him feel so fucking good,

“You feel so good, YN, so fucking good”

He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the feeling of your body against his, 

“So wet, so tight- this pussy’s made for me”

He mumbled against your skin and kissed and sucked what his lips could find. He wanted to be more in control, wanted to be more focused on your pleasure but it just felt so good. He could only hope he was making you feel as good as he possibly could,

“Jin, touch me…”

He heard you sigh and he placed one last kiss to your lips before he pushed himself up to sit back, so he could bring his fingers back to your clit,

“Like this?”

He asked as he rubbed you and immediately felt you clench around him,

“Yes, ah… like that”,

He lifted your leg onto his shoulder with his other hand, spreading you even more for him. This new angle had him hitting you deeper and Jin did his very best to hit all the right places. He already felt his end approaching and he knew he couldn’t hold it off for long,

“Jin, fuck, I’m close, don’t stop”

Your words were music to his ears. He held your leg tightly to his chest, fucking you deeper and harder, working his fingers as close to the rhythm his hips were setting as possible,

“That’s it, baby, come for me”

He ben forward slightly, wanting to be closer to you, wanting to see your face when you came,

“Come all over my dick”

His words made you feel hot all over and you felt your muscles contracting, bringing you closer to your end,

“Ahh, I’m gonna come”

Your voice was strained and you put both of your hands over your mouth, knowing this was gonna be a loud one. Jin was captivated by the pure look of pleasure on your face and devoted all of his movements to making you come, desperate to see your face and feel you clench around his dick,

“Gonna come for me? I can feel it, baby, tell me what to do”,

“Just like that, don’t stop”,

“You’re so beautiful… look so good like this; I want you so much”

He told you all the things he always wanted you to know and more until he felt your pussy tighten around him and your leg spasm in his grip while you moaned through your hands in a desperate attempt to deafen the noise as you came around him. He pushed in so deep, revelling in the feeling of your orgasm and letting his own take over. He bent down, pushing your hands out of your face and capturing your lips in a slow, deep kiss that made your toes curl like that orgasm just did. He came so deep inside you, filling you up so good and holding you so tight and close, you never wanted him to let you go. As your muscles relaxed and your breathing evened out again, just like Jin’s, he took your hands in his and kissed them before intertwining your fingers and pressing another long, deep kiss to your lips,

“Jeesus, Jin, I never would have thought you’d be so uh... vocal”

Was the first thing that came to your mind as he slipped out of you and lay down next to you. He let out a hearty laugh and ran a hand over his face,

“I don’t know what came over me”

He said and you smiled,

“I just bring out the best in you, don’t I?”

He squeezed your hand lovingly,

“My best is definitely in you, yes”

He snickered and you slapped his shoulder,

“You’re so nasty”

You both giggled as suddenly a loud voice rang through your post-orgasmic bliss,

“You’re both nasty! Fucking like horny teenagers while all your friends are trying to sleep? What are you, 16? Get a damn room next time, fuck!”

Both of you recognized Yoongi’s voice. You probably woke him up or kept him from sleeping,

“Whoops…”

You said, hiding your face in Jin’s neck,

“You should be happy it’s only happened now! Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all!”  

Jin yelled back and you laughed even harder.

He had exactly zero shame and that was probably why you worked so well together. And you continued to work well together two more times that night. And then you continued to work even better together for a lot more years to come.

[akechicrimes]

7 or 71 for either shuake or yukamitsu [big eye emojis]

7. “I told you that I’d never leave you; I’m not going anywhere.”

On Goro’s thirty-fourth birthday at ten-thirty in the morning, Akira calls him at work and says, “Happy birthday, dear. I just got hit by a car, and I need to know what color bike you want.”

*

On Goro’s thirty-fourth birthday at ten-thirty in the morning, Akira calls him at work (which Goro dubiously eyeballs for a whole four seconds before picking up) and says, “Happy birthday, dear. I just got hit by a car, and I need to know what color bike you want.”

Well, neither Goro nor Akira own a car for Akira to drive, so that means Akira got hit on foot. Goro is very calm, and has no immediate panic response to that, because he’s a rational and responsible adult. “Are you dead?” Goro asks.

“Probably not.”

“And is there a reason you’re calling me instead of the ambulance?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I think I have a bruise on one of my legs, if that counts. But I was riding your bike when it happened, so the bike got totaled, so, you know. They’ve got the same model you had, but there’s tons of new colors, if you want pictures.”

Goro takes a very long, very deep breath. Goro is very, extremely calm. “Anything is fine,” he says. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, hundred percent. I even landed on my feet; you should’ve seen it.”

“You should go to the ER anyway,” says Goro, in a voice that is truly the epitome of calm.

“I mean, I guess I could, but that seems like a waste of time. And I don’t want to just leave your bike in the middle of the road.”

“Throw it away if it’s wrecked, then.”

“But it deserves a proper send-off.”

“You’re doing this to me on my birthday, Kurusu.”

“I’ll go to the ER if you go with me,” says Akira hopefully, who is a perennially bad influence who is of the opinion that Goro should have just said he’d be ‘working from home’ and spent the day with him.

Goro takes a look at his calendar, tallies up how many meeting he’d have to reschedule, and waits a whole five seconds before he lets himself say, “Fine,” because Akira just said that he’s fine and Goro isn’t upset and everything is so calm that Goro can wait five seconds before agreeing to leave work. “I’ll see you at Leblanc.”

“Wait, wait, which color for the bike? They’ve got green, blue, a red, a kind of fun rose-gold thing, which is a bit excessive considering it’s a bike, and teal, and a kind of blue and orange Naruto-y thing…”

“Anything is fine.” Goro stops. “Except the last one.”

“Red it is! See you in a bit.”

“Don’t ride that bike back to Leblanc,” says Goro, as if lightning might strike twice on the same day on the same man riding the same model bike of the same color, but Akira’s already hung up. Goro speed-drafts a rescheduling email, copy-pastes it to four different people, and then sprints out the office door without even a goodbye to his coworkers.

*

Friday, 11:16 AM

FUTABA: hey

FUTABA: hey goro

FUTABA: hey gorororororororororo

FUTABA: HEY MR AKECHI KURUSU

GORO: If it’s about the traffic accident, I heard about it.

GORO: I’m going back to Leblanc now.

FUTABA: no it’s smthg else

FUTABA: well it is about the accident but i got smthg else for u

FUTABA sent MOV19.mp4

FUTABA: ripped this from the traffic cam

GORO: Is this footage of the accident?

FUTABA: yeehaw

GORO: …Thank you for the offer, but I don’t know if I want to see this.

FUTABA: ok i hear u but i promise it’s hilarious

FUTABA: and also u might feel better if u see it

FUTABA: like idk what he told u on the phone but like

FUTABA: look the car even slowed down at the intersection

FUTABA: the dude was obeying traffic laws and everything he was doing something like ten under the speed limit

FUTABA: the car ENTIRELY missed akira

FUTABA: got the bike full on

FUTABA: and then he just rolls up across the hood and up the windshield like a looney toon

FUTABA: rip ur bike tho it just goes cronch

FUTABA: instant pretzel

FUTABA: ty bichael for ur sacrifice

FUTABA: also idk i figured you

FUTABA: might wanna see for urself that he’s okay

FUTABA: like u can see him stand up at the end and he’s not even confused or anything he’s super duper ok

FUTABA: he’s not bullshitting u over the phone and pretending he’s ok when he’s not ok

FUTABA: u know how he does lmao

GORO: …Huh.

GORO: He really did land on his feet for a whole second there, didn’t he?

FUTABA: yeah like a cat

FUTABA: it’s nuts tbh

FUTABA: and then he remembers he’s a human and falls on his ass LMAO

FUTABA: show it to morgana i want his professional kitty cat opinion on the matter

FUTABA: rate akira’s near death experience

FUTABA: also the driver was v nice and v apologetic and he gave akira his insurance

FUTABA: but i have his home address and work address and phone number and the name of his dog if you want it

GORO: Just the insurance will be fine.

FUTABA: kk

GORO: …And thanks for sending the video.

GORO: Even though I already knew he was fine.

FUTABA: you know those like

FUTABA: itty bitty teeny weeny micro dogs

FUTABA: that are like four and a half pounds

FUTABA: but they think they can take any mfer on the block out of sheer will alone

FUTABA: and theyve always got their eyeballs bulging out and they pick fights with 70 pound dogs

FUTABA: and they have only two emotions which are rage and anxiety and they shake constantly because theyre only four pounds and they have So Much Emotion and nowhere to put it so they vibrate at the speed of sound

GORO: Is this a metaphor about me.

FUTABA: it’s a metaphor about you

FUTABA: because i can hear your shaky angry anxious four pound vibrating all the way from the other side of tokyo

GORO: You are the smallest, angriest, most anxious person I know, who regularly picks fights with international hacking organizations and billion-dollar companies.

GORO: And I, somehow, am the angry shaky dog.

FUTABA: your husband got hit by a car on ur birthday

GORO: I know that.

GORO: I do not need to be reminded.

FUTABA: ah yeah

FUTABA: sorry

GORO: He’s fine.

GORO: He said he’s fine.

GORO: And from this footage, he’s more than fine.

FUTABA: he is super double extra fine with a side of fine

GORO: Unless this footage was in any way edited.

GORO: And unless he was faking his call, somehow.

GORO: In which case, I’m going to walk into Leblanc and find out that he was just pretending to be okay so he could hear my voice one last time and Leblanc will be swarming with police officers to break the news the newly bereaved.

GORO: But that’s not going to happen.

GORO: Because Akira is fine, and I’m perfectly fine.

FUTABA: im rly glad to hear my man

GORO: This footage isn’t edited, is it.

FUTABA: no

GORO: Are you very sure?

GORO: Videos are easily modified.

GORO: Would you even know if it was edited?

FUTABA: yes im a literal wizard of course i would know

FUTABA: where are u even getting this idea from

GORO: The entire series of events is unrealistic, isn’t it?

GORO: You said yourself that it was almost like something out of a cartoon.

GORO: The likelihood that someone gets hit by a car and comes out of it entirely no worse for wear is practically ridiculous.

FUTABA: i ripped that film straight from the cam it is entirely unedited

GORO: But how can you be sure? Did you see him in live camera?

FUTABA: i mean no but he texted me

GORO: What if that was his dying text.

FUTABA: i rly dont know if his dying text would have been the “i lived bitch” meme with the cat filter

FUTABA: he’s fine dude

FUTABA: that’s why i sent you the video

GORO: I KNOW he’s fine.

GORO: I’m asking if there’s any solid evidence.

FUTABA: THE VIDEO

GORO: I’m going to call him. Brb

FUTABA: so what he can tell you he’s fine AGAIN and you’ll be like

FUTABA: “oh but what if it was secretly a pod person who stole his body after he died tragically after calling me one last time to hear my voice”

FUTABA: he is FINE

FUTABA: like go ahead and call him if u want but

FUTABA: the only person who was gonna edit that footage was me

FUTABA: and if he were dead i would not be functioning enough to be doing any kinda photoshop like that

FUTABA: let alone LIE to you jesus christ!!!!!

FUTABA: god

FUTABA: i pronounce you King Shaky Dog

FUTABA: the tiniest and angriest and shakiest and most anxious four pound goblin

FUTABA: i will reclaim my title tomorrow

FUTABA: for now it’s my birthday gift to you

FUTABA: the title of Shaky Dog allows you to go absolutely apeshit and nobody will judge you

GORO: You know I hate birthday presents.

FUTABA: did you call akira

GORO: I hate birthday presents so much that I will be refusing my title as King Shaky Dog and will henceforth not be going ape shit.

FUTABA: ok so

FUTABA: i didnt mean to

FUTABA: get snippy with you or anything

GORO: It’s fine.

GORO: I wasn’t… exactly polite, myself.

GORO: So.

FUTABA: um

FUTABA: you really can call him if you want

FUTABA: there’s nothing wrong with that

FUTABA: between u and me……………………. i definitely did that more than once for a lot lesser reasons than someone getting hit by a car

GORO: My stop is in less than thirty seconds.

GORO: I will probably live.

FUTABA: lmao ok well

FUTABA: if u change ur mind about losing ur shit then please know i gave u that footage in the first place because i think if something like that happened to MY partner i would mcfreakin lose it

FUTABA: speaking of her

FUTABA: sumi says happy birth btw

FUTABA: but cuter because u know how she is

FUTABA: “happy birthday crow-senpai~~~~~~~~” in her shy voice that makes u wanna die

FUTABA: ofoogofhghhfoghfhhghfh g gh SUMI ur so cute ilysm

GORO: Tell her I said thanks.

GORO: And stop telling me how much you love her and use the ring you made me go ring shopping with you for.

FUTABA: HHHHH

FUTABA: im being cyberbullied for being a cowardly lesbian

GORO: I’m at my stop, by the way, so I’m going offline.

FUTABA: which tbh i probably deserve

FUTABA: oh kk see u

FUTABA: watch the video again mr shaky dog

FUTABA: akira is fine

FUTABA: everyone is alive

FUTABA: you are one year older

FUTABA: happy birthday goro

*

The bike is totaled.

Akira isn’t the sort of person to dump a piece of trash right in front of Leblanc, but it’s hard to miss sticking out of the nearby public trash bin. The back wheel has exploded into serrated wheel-spokes and limb rubber bits that Akira’s shoved into the trash as best as he could. The body of the bike is crushed in on itself, exposing its sharp hollow innards; the handlebars resemble a badly-tied knot. The front wheel is left to stick up and out, creaking gently, spinning overhead from half a hinge like a head not quite fully severed.

The cafe is empty except for its usual barista who, of course, is a very normal and mild-mannered barista, who has nothing to do with the several hundred millions worth of dollars of repatriated art hiding in the attic en route back to South Korea. That would be illegal, of course, and Akira Kurusu-Akechi has never once in his life done anything illegal in the name of what’s morally right. “Welcome back, dear,” says Akira, and hangs up a coffee mug to dry, and it’s so normal that Goro is convinced that either he’s experiencing yesterday, or maybe he’s re-experiencing the year 2016 all over again, or maybe Akira really is dead and this is just his ghost.

Goro sits in his usual spot at the bar. Same chair, sixteen years later. Unbelievable. Maybe Goro’s giving him a little bit of a dumbfounded look, because Akira tilts his head, leans across the bar, and pecks Goro on the cheek.

“Where’s Sakura?” Goro asks.

“Having his midday old man nap. So,” says Akira, looking pleased with himself, “either we can close Leblanc for an hour and raid the kitchen and make lunch, or we can close Leblanc and go out and have a fancy lunch. Your choice because I already made dinner reservations and we’re doing those no matter what.”

Goro really means to give him an answer, because Akira really does love Goro’s birthday every year and never fails to pick someplace nice for the day, but instead what comes out of his mouth is: “Did you ride the new bike back home?”

“Yeah, I did. Figured I might as well take it for a test drive. It’s a good bike.”

“Why didn’t you take the subway?” Goro says sharply.

“Didn’t have my card.”

“You just rode the bike all the way across Tokyo?”

“It wasn’t all the way across Tokyo, just a bit away and back… Goro?”

Ah, Goro’s going to become one of those people who has a meltdown any time their loved one gets on a plane or a train or ksomething else associated with heebie-jeebie nonsense magical thinking. Great. Fantastic. God dammit.

“Do you really want me to go to the ER?” Akira asks eventually.

Goro really wants Akira to have never gotten hit in the first place, but people don’t get what they want and sometimes the universe decides to send one bad fucking driver through a red light and take away Akira’s entire life in a split second—one mistake, a coincidence at the wrong place and time, and the boy who fought God and won is a smear of bones on the pavement.

This would be different if it were sixteen years ago, and Goro had the power to bend people’s minds in half until they broke, or dive into the deepest, bloodiest parts of the collective psyche and pummel the worst of them to a pulp—but what’s he going to do here? Lambast a guy who was going ten miles under the speed limit and just wasn’t looking the right way? Is he going to summon a new Persona from his soul and undo time itself?

Can he do anything if the universe decides, one day, that Akira’s time on this earth is up? He spent all those years desperate for power, and then abusing that power, and then desperately guilty for having abused that power, and then desperately trying to get up that power, and now here he is with the power to do jack shit when his husband almost gets run over and if the Metaverse were still around he swears he would have carved Loki from his own soul out of sheer fury alone—

“No,” says Goro sharply, and stands up. “It’s nothing. I’m not hungry, and I’m going for a walk. Please don’t text me unless it’s an emergency.”

“What—hey! Goro, wait, wait—”

“I’m getting some fresh air!”

Akira’s scrambling to get out from behind the bar. “Didn’t you just get here—?”

Goro spins around and points a finger at Akira like it’s his fault: “You were the one,” he snarls, “who promised, when we got married, that we’d always be together. And now you get hit on a bike, and then stand up like it’s nothing and—and get on another bike and go cycling around the exact same streets where you got hit—? Aren’t you scared? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Akira falls silent. “I didn’t go back to the same intersection,” he says at last.

Goro can’t take this. “I’m taking a walk.”

“Wait wait wait, Goro, just—” Akira grabs Goro’s hand and Goro has the sudden urge to yank his arm away, but Akira’s hand is also incredibly real, just like it felt this morning and yesterday and the day before that and all the days Goro ever took Akira’s living, breathing body for granted. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. He was going, I dunno, twenty miles per hour at most. It was an intersection. He’d slowed down beforehand and everything, and I didn’t even get hurt on the fall.”

Right, because Goro’s the one who’s just freaking out for no reason. Right. Okay. Because that’s how he is, isn’t he, always being dramatic over little things. Right. Of course. This is fine.

When Goro doesn’t turn around, Akira moves around to the front to look him in the eye. “Sorry if I made you worry,” says Akira. “But it was really nothing at all.”

“Maybe it was nothing this time,” says Goro forcefully. “But what about the next time—the next car—the next time you borrow my bike? What about tomorrow? Or the day after that? Literally any one of the hundreds and hundreds of days coming up where you could easily die just as easily as you died today.”

“Then I’ll escape death hundreds and hundreds of times,” says Akira.

Goro scoffs.

“I mean it. I was a Phantom Thief, wasn’t I? I escaped death more than once. Did it again today. I’ll do it as many times as it takes until we’re both old and grey.” Akira takes Goro’s hand, but it’s Goro who laces their fingers together.

“Sometimes it doesn’t work that way,” says Goro, like a bad echo of his ten-year-old self, trying to figure out what kind of world would let his mother die.

“I’m just keeping my promise,” says Akira. “I told you that I’d never leave you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Sometimes that’s not your decision to make.”

“It is and I’ve decided I’m immortal until you die.”

Goro scoffs. “Don’t be arrogant.”

“Is it being arrogant? I didn’t let death steal you away from me. I’m not letting it steal me away from you, either.”

“Sometimes…” Goro begins.

“'Sometimes’ what?”

'Sometimes’ what?

Sometimes things get worse. People die early, and unfulfilled; they streak through the sky in a blaze and then wink out, without even a burst of fire to show for it. Sometimes nobody gets a say in what happens, and plans don’t pan out, and wishes aren’t granted, and everything happens for no good reason and no good end.

Today, Goro Akechi-Kurusu is thirty-four years old, about sixteen years older than he ever figured he was going to be. He has a career in a non-profit for maladjusted youth getting reacclimated to school systems and preparing for college, instead of the career in law he figured he’d have if he actually lived that long. He doesn’t just have one friend, but multiple friends. He has, unbelievably, a husband, which honestly still floors him to this day, considering that he was and maybe still is convinced that marriage is a scam devised by asshole men like his father to manipulate young women into a false sense of security. The other day, Akira mentioned that he wanted to get a cat to keep Morgana company, maybe in a few years when they moved into a pet-friendly apartment, and in Goro’s head, it made sense that they would both be alive and together entire years in the future for them to get a cat.

Today is already an impossible day, isn’t it?

“Sometimes,” says Goro flatly, “you say ridiculous things, and I think that you could actually pull it off.”

Akira grins. Akira leans in for their regular greeting kiss when one of them comes home, but this time, Goro closes his eyes, leans into it, really tries to memorize the feel of Akira’s lips on his. Every line and scar on his hands, the odd ends of his fingernails, that familiar way he waits for four beats, then takes a breath through his nose and kisses Goro again, and never can quite seem to avoid kissing him more on the bottom lip than the top. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” he says plainly not three inches from Goro’s face. “It’s bad form to leave a calling card and never show up.”

Goro smiles. “Then I won’t let you break your word.”

When Akira pulls away, he kisses the back of Goro’s hand, like a proper gentleman thief of old. “Happy birthday, dear,” he says, and surprisingly, despite the way this awful day started off, Goro thinks that Akira might be able to pull that promise off, too.

[getitinbusan]

Jinnuendo

Jinnuendo Submitted by @befriendswithj​ is the first fic for our Campfire writing game. Jungkook, Jimin And Yoongi coming soon. Taehyung, Namjoon and J Hope are still open!

Camping with your friends was supposed to be fun- you could only agree, now that Jin had made camping even funner. 

 Jin x Reader

8806 Words

Genre: Fluff, Friends to lovers, Smut, Crack,

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, dirty talk, fingering, outdoor sex, unprotected sex (wrap it before u tap it, kids), Jimin’s cakes, The title… Well, there’s no excuse for that, sorry

I think that’s it?

_______________

“Yikes, I wouldn’t wanna be her right now”

Said the bus boy standing next to you, crossing his arms as he watched the restaurant manager approach the newest addition to the waiter team, who was currently involved in a rather heated discussion with a guest,

“It’s a shame she’s gonna have to leave, she was nice…”

You added and both of you sighed heavily and returned to your duties while the poor girl was being fired for standing her ground. She was the third one this month alone. To be fair, your manager was not an easy man to please, so it only made sense that new additions to the tea would be examined even more closely than you and the others, who had worked here for longer. The only thing keeping you safe from the manager’s wrath was your natural ability to fake-smile for hours on end. It was a gift as much as it was a curse but it had secured your job in the customer service sector so far.

And soon you will have survived another painful day of serving bitchy, rude and entitled Karen’s and Chad’s for the sake of financing your studies. At least they tipped well if you smiled hard enough.

This was your last day of work before you could look forward to two weeks of uninterrupted relaxation time. You handed in your last paper for this semester last week, so all of the work for university was also

done and nothing would interfere with your plans to sleep for three days straight and then spend the rest of the time at the beach, cooking in the sun.

“See you guys in a few weeks”

You yelled into the kitchen after you gathered your things and clocked out for the night. A few hurried goodbyes reached your ears before you exited through the back door of the restaurant and finally breathed in the fresh air, smelling of freedom and definitely not the burger grease stench coming from the kitchen AC vent.

No, it was definitely freedom and it was glorious.

_________

After a hot shower and big glass of wine you were slumped on your couch, ready to pass out any second now, when your phone went off and almost gave you a heart-attack.

You took a deep breath and checked the caller ID to see your friend Seokjin calling,

“What is it?”

Normally, Jin calling was a thing you were happy about, however, being interrupted while passing out after a 10-hour shift at your job, was not a happy occasion and you couldn’t mask the annoyance in your voice,

“Whoa, what’s got your panties in a twist? Did that guy at work steal your tips again?”

He asked and you breathed a heavy sigh,

“No, I think he learnt his lesson after I cut out the butt on all his work pants…

You answered, slowly sitting up and reaching for your wine glass to empty it with a last few sips before continuing the conversation

“Why are you calling so late? I was about to fall asleep…”,

“I just wanted to remind you to pack if you haven’t done it already. Which you probably haven’t. Case in point”

Pack? You creased your brows. Pack for what?

“YN? You still there?”,

“Uhh, yeah I am I just… can you remind me what I’m supposed to be packing for?”

If you weren’t so tired, you’d probably be a little more embarrassed,

“Seriously? It’s that time of the year, YN! It’s blackout week! Joon send everyone reminders months ago! And then weeks ago! And then again 2 days ago! How could you forget the most magical event of the year?”

You needed to hold the phone at a slight distance as to not go deaf at the sound of Seokjin’s friendly reminder. He was right, though, how could you forget? Blackout Week was the one week that you and your group of friends all looked forward to collectively every year. A whole week of camping in the mountains near a beautiful lake and no one was allowed to bring any kind of electronic devices, unless it was absolutely necessary for survival. A flashlight would be an exception but other than that you guys were pretty adapt at reverting your way of life back to the good old dark ages.

You were lucky that Jungkook and Hoseok had been part of a group of boy scouts or else blackout week would have ended in a disaster each time. Yeah well, maybe you had exaggerated when you said that all of you were pretty adapt at this stuff… But nevertheless, you were all very determined, which was just as important,

“Shit, you’re right, I completely forgot…”

You ran your hand across your face and sighed,

“Of course, you forgot, why am I even surprised…”

Jin sounded more upset that he actually was, you knew him by now. You just needed to work him a little bit,

“How early are we leaving tomorrow? Can I do it in the morning? I’m so tired…”

You probably sounded a little whiney but that usually did the trick with Jin,

“I told you to be ready at 5, you know how long the drive is. Ah YN, I still can’t believe it, you’re so careless sometimes…”

He already sounded a little softer,

“I’m sorry, I’ll start packing right now, ok?”,

You made sure to sound like the helpless damsel in distress you wanted Jin to believe you were and you were sure you had cracked him. You heard him sigh heavily on the other end of the line,

“Do you need help packing? I’ll come over and help you, it’ll be quicker and you can get more sleep”,

“Are you sure? It’s late already…”,

“Just stay awake for the next fifteen minutes and open the door when I knock, ok? I’ll be right there”,

“Ok…”

He hung up and you smiled to yourself. There were a few advantages to knowing how Jin’s mind worked. And knowing Jin, he would never not come and help you out and you were grateful to have such a selfless friend. He knew you were an absolute mess and he didn’t mind picking up your slack once in a while because you took care of him in turn. It wasn’t like you turned up whenever he called, like he usually did for you but you were the type of friend to think of things he forgot to do for himself. You had been friends for so long, that he had given you a key to his apartment a while back and you used it to make sure his fridge was always stocked, and his plants were taken care of. He worked a lot. Way more than you and the little things like self-care and chores sometimes got put on the back burner. Since you had a little more time on your hands you would take care of these things once in a while.

Before you got up off the couch to put on some comfy pants, you stretched your tired limbs and pressed play again to let Netflix run in the background.

Jin knocked right as you finished pouring two mugs of coffee, which both of you would probably need to undertake the monumental task of packing your camping bag. You opened the door and let him inside, handing him the mug right away and watching a smile creep onto his face,

“Coffee was a good idea”

He said and slurped loudly after he closed the door,

“Thought it would make me feel less dead. I have yet to see that theory proven”

You sipped on your coffee, too,

“Thank you for helping me, though, I completely forgot about the trip”

Jin waved you off,

“At this point I’d be surprised if you actually had remembered it. I know I’m usually the busy one but this semester you’ve had so much stuff to do, that I can’t even be mad you forgot everything not related to uni”

You smiled at him. Even though Jin loved to get his Dad mode on and get all red-faced and out of breath from all the scolding, he was a softie at heart and everyone knew, no matter how hard he puffed up his chest, he never really meant any harm. He was all bark and no bite and none of your friends took anything he said seriously,

“Let’s get started then”

He said and put down the mug in your sink before waltzing off towards your bedroom and digging around in your closet until he emerged with your suitcase. You watched him zoom around the place for a second until you joined him, sitting down on the bedroom floor and grabbing some clothes to roll up and place in the case,

“You want some snacks?”

You asked Jin in case he wanted some food in addition to the great entertainment you provided with Netflix in the background, your loud combined breathing and the rustling of useless stuff around you as you moved it around to find viable things to pack,

“I’m good, thanks, though”

He said and dived head first into a pile of clothes to look for your warmer sweatshirts. The end of summer was in sight and you would be staying pretty high up the mountains, so better be prepared,

“Although… do you still have some of those mini pretzels?”,

“Yeah, sure”

You got up and got him the bag of his beloved snack and then it was time to get some real work done.

_________

“Thank GOD we finally made it!”

Jin jumped out of the car and went to kneel down to kiss the ground but you stopped him before things could get ugly. What a baby, you thought to yourself… so what if you sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight? It’s a timeless masterpiece,

“So what if I sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight, it’s a timeless masterpiece!”

You argued and Jin’s eyes almost bulged out of his head,

“A timeless- can you even comprehend the unspeakable agony I was in? It felt like my soul left my mortal body and only the haunting of Cotton Eyed Joe remained…”

He could be such a drama queen sometimes. You rolled your eyes and sighed; deciding to be the bigger person really should be considered a virtue,

“Anyway, we made it here on time, didn’t we? You sure know how to burn some rubber when you don’t like the music I play…”

Jin pulled himself off the ground, holding onto the car door. His joints weakly cracked while he got up,

“I aged like 30 years during this trip and it’s only just starting…”

He mumbled to himself, shaking his head and making his neck crack in addition to everything else,

“What was that?”

You asked and Jin quickly went to unload the trunk,

“Nothing, nothing”

He answered, avoiding an even longer discussion about Cotton Eyed Joe.

You quickly joined him and had your bags unloaded in no time.

It seemed like you were the first ones to arrive at the camping site and when you informed Jin of that, his mood immediately shifted,

“We get to choose our spot?”

He looked at you in disbelief,

“Seems like it…”,

“Finally, we don’t have to sleep next to the dumpster!”

You never got to choose your spot because you had never been the first ones to arrive,

“Jin, there isn’t even a dumpster here, were in the middle of literal nowhere, nothing but lake, mountains and forest for miles”,

“True but somehow, the garbage always ended up being next to our tent because it was the only space left”

Ok, well, you guessed that was kinda true. You didn’t mind it though, you were a heavy sleeper,

“Ok, so let’s pick a good spot this time, hm?”

You said, clapped your hands together and looked around to assess the available spots,

“How about over there?”

You pointed to the edge of the clearing, where the trees began to grow thicker and taller. Jin squinted and pursed his lips,

“Hmmmm….”

He hummed and you guessed you wouldn’t be setting up there,

“What do you think about setting up here?”

You walked into the middle of the clearing, near the stump where the campfire would be set up later and Jin immediately pursed his lips even harder and hummed louder and you quickly suggested more,

“Ok, so near the lake then? Work with me here, Jin”

You walked down to the soft grass near the shore and presented it as appealingly as possible and Jin lips formed a smile. He nodded, finally. He walked towards you with the rolled-up tent under his arm and you planted it firmly in the ground. Not a second to soon, too because right after you set it down, another car approached and parked right beside Jin’s,

“Ah, the cavalry arrives”

You commented and just as you and Jin had planted the last fixture and the tent was stable, the car doors opened and the three Musketeers exited the vehicle in style.

Yoongi, sporting his usual urban-grandpa-couture, adjusted his tinted glasses and ran a hand through the hair that stuck out from his

headband, before he casually nodded at you and Jin in greeting. Hoseok and his brother Taehyung waved at you enthusiastically in their brightly coloured jackets and each held up a bag filled with goodies that looked extremely promising,

“Woooow! You’re here early!”

Hoseok could barely believe it,

“And you even grabbed the best spot, well done guys!”

He congratulated you, genuinely surprised that you made it here before anyone else for the first time,

“be honest, did you ever expect this to happen?”

You asked him as he came over to hug you and Jin simultaneously,

“Not in a million years”,

“But we’ve been rooting for you guys ever since we started this tradition”

Tae said as he leisurely strolled over and hugged you tightly,

“Thanks, it only took us almost 10 years to get here, so we’re gonna make sure to rub it in your faces whenever possible”

Jin piped up and you chuckled to yourself,

“If you got here so early you could have prepared the fire already instead of being lazy”

Yoongi grumbled and trudged over, as well,

“Missed you too, boo bear”

You cooed at him and went to pinch his cheeks,

“Goochie goo, look at you, you put on weight”

You loved treating him like a baby. He also loved it when you did it but he would sooner die than ever admit to that,

“Ugh, don’t touch me”

He weakly tried to wiggle out of your grip on his pinchable cheeks and after they presented all the goodies, they brought with them, you helped the guys set up their tent. Then you actually did prepare the fire.

The last of your friends to arrive were Namjoon, his baby cousin Jungkook and Jimin. Even more pinchable cheeks for you to victimize, you thought, rubbing your hands together evilly.

When they arrived, the rest of you were sitting around the fire and you only noticed their arrival when you heard their voices approach through the trees. Apparently, they had chosen to hike here,

“I’m never listening to you again… hiking here, I can’t believe I thought this was a good idea”

Joon said, sounding somewhat out of breath as he and Jungkook stepped into the clearing. He dropped his bags and drew in a long breath,

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad! And it’s not like you couldn’t use a little more exercise…”

Jungkook said, mumbling the last part of the sentence,

“What was that?”,

“Nothing, nothing…”

Jungkook picked up Joon’s bags in addition to his and marched on towards you guys, sitting by the fire. Jimin stepped out of the woods last and looked just as ethereal as everyone remembered. As he ran a hand through his hair, the sun immediately took a step back to let him take the place in the spotlight.

A collective sigh ran through your group and a couple of awkward glances and coughs were exchanged before you all got your bearings back. He smiled when he saw you and gave a little wave that made you giggle like a little girl when you waved back. Jin could only shake his head in disbelief. Sure, Jimin was hot. Even he could admit to that; but surely you thought Jin was handsome, too, right?

“Sorry we’re late, guys!”

Jungkook said as he reached you and set the bags down,

“Don’t worry about it”

Hoseok got up first and hugged the younger boy tightly before the rest of you got up and said hi. Joon and Jimin walked over, too and the hugging continued for a little longer than usual hugging because everyone took a little more time to get an extended hug with Jimin. It was honestly ridiculous how thirsty all of you were for him. And the poor guy had no idea.

______

After all the tents had been set up, everything was prepared and all of you had settled back around the fire, you watched Yoongi and Jimin prepare dinner, while Hoseok and Taehyung played UNO and Jungkook was scribbling something in a notebook. Jin was sitting next to you and reading through the gas grill’s user manual, Jimin and Yoongi were currently trying t get to work,

“Are you sure, you’re not holding it upside down?”

You asked him and reached out to grab it from him but he held it out of your reach and sighed,

“YN, I know how to read a damn…- hold on, it’s actually upside down”,

“Wait, really?

You were only joking about the upside-down thing,

“NO, of course not! How incapable do you think I am?”

Jin slapped your shoulder with the papers and you laughed as you tried to lean away far enough,

“Very, and I’m not even sorry for it”

you said and Jin’s mouth dropped open and he coughed out a laugh,

“With a friend like you, I really don’t need any enemies”

He said and you leaned back in to look up at him and channel your cutest pout,

“This is why you love me, though”

You were right, he thought, no one could make him feel so dumb, yet so happy at the same time. Especially with an annoyingly cute pouty face like yours,

“You’re lucky, that’s true”

He continued flipping through the manual and soon, the grill was working and he saved Yoongi and Jimin from their misery. Just in time, too because Tae was getting hungry and no one wanted to deal with that.

_______

“Aw man, that was so good!”

Jungkook said, stuffing the last food from his bowl into his mouth, chewing loudly,

“You want the rest of mine?”

You asked him, holding your bowl in his direction and he nodded eagerly, big eyes getting even bigger,

“There you go, big boy”

You smiled to yourself and handed him your bowl,

“God, where is all that food even going?”

Yoongi said, as he watched Jungkook devour the additional food he had just received,

“Shhh, let him eat”

You shushed Yoongi with a pat to his leg and watched Jungkook munch happily,

“Anyone want some rice cakes?”

Jimin piped up and opened up a Tupperware filled with the juicy looking sweet treats,

“Oooooh, Jimin, they look amazing!”

You couldn’t believe your eyes; they were your favourite,

“I knew you’d like them”

Jimin said as he watched your eyes and smile grow bigger,

“Have some”

He added and held the box your way,

“Oh yes! Thank you”

You got up and tiptoed around the fire to kneel in front of him to munch on his cakes.

You looked at him with glossy eyes, happy that he remembered your favourite treat. And they were good, too. So good, that you had to close your eyes as you had the first bite,

“Ohmygod”

You mumbled with a full mouth,

“Amazing”

You said and Jimin smiled proudly. Jin watched the interaction quietly from his seat.

Damn, he thought, he should have remembered to bring some rice cakes for you. He wasn’t really jealous of Jimin and his cakes. Really, he wasn’t. He was convinced that little crush of yours was completely food related, so he didn’t really think there was anything more to it. All he wanted was for that interaction to have taken place with him and also, for you to give all your attention to him and not Jimin. That seems like a reasonable mindset, right? So, in conclusion, he wasn’t jealous, at all.

However, when Jimin took a second rice cake out of the box and held it to your lips, time seemed to slow down for Jin and not in the good, romantic way he would have preferred it. Jimin gently placed the cake in your mouth and your lips closed around his finger for a second before he slowly pulled away. You moaned in pleasure as you started chewing and Jin had to bite down on his tongue to not lose his mind. To the others this was a completely normal and innocent thing to witness; just two friends sharing some food, what’s wrong with that? Everything, according to the way Jin was currently staring Jimin down and tried to telepathically communicate his disdain for the way he fed you food in the most erotic way possible. Ok, maybe he was a little jealous, after all.

Why was this suddenly getting to him? He knows that the relationship you have with him isn’t purely based on friendship, since the both of you had had some ambiguous moments of will they, won’t they before but it was never really anything you acted upon or even talked about. Nothing to take seriously.

Maybe, by watching you and Jimin flirt so innocently, he had just realized now, how precious you really were to him and that he wanted to try and incorporate a romantic aspect into your relationship.

Or maybe, he just never felt threatened before. Never felt like his place in your life was about to be taken away from him by a guy with sweet, juicy and delicious cakes.

Damn Jimin’s cakes! Jin got up and started collecting everyone’s dishes. He didn’t want to continue watching you basically crawling in Jimin’s lap and sucking the cakes off his fingers.

Maybe he went a little too hard with the whole dish collecting thing because as he ripped Jungkook’s bowl from his hands, the younger hadn’t completely finished I and yelled after Jin, as he went down to the lake and started vigorously scrubbing everything.

However, Jin didn’t know that he had absolutely nothing to be jealous of because as soon as he had left the circle, Tae, who was sat next to Jimin, made him feed him cakes, as well.

Let’s just say that even someone as oblivious as you knew when some actual sexual tension was developing. You decided it was time to awkwardly retreat to your seat now, before you were sandwiched in between the two boys. Only now did you notice that Jin had left the comfort of his camping chair,

“Hey, were did he go?”

You asked Joon, who was wrapped in a thick jacket with his hands around a warm cup of tea. While someone outside of your circle might be a little confused at the sight of someone with such a warm jacket on in this warm weather, you had stopped wondering about his weird habits a while ago. He slurped his tea and pointed down to the shore where, if you squinted heavily, you could faintly recognise the outline of Jin’s body in the dark. You excused yourself from the others and walked the short distance to join Jin in washing the dishes. He was slumped over, kneeling at the shore and, apparently, hadn’t noticed you approaching. So you yelled and gripped his shoulders from behind:

“Careful!”

The high-pitched scream he let out almost burst your eardrums but it was definitely worth it to see him almost jump into the water in shock,

“What the hell, YN? Why would you do that?”

He was clearly very upset about the whole thing but you only snickered like a mean little kid and kneeled down next to him,

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist”

You said and took the knife he was scrubbing out of his hands. Safer this way. Even in the dark you could see his eyes, big as saucers and it only made you laugh more. You took his hand in yours in apology and Jin didn’t resist, he just yelled louder like he usually did,

“You’re such a brat! I volunteer to do the dishes and what do you do? Wow, the disrespect is off the charts!”

His yelling was like an affectionate pat on the back by now because you knew he would never actually yell at you in anger. He knew you loved it because you always laughed even harder when he started ranting. And when you squeezed his hand a little tighter, he was sure there was nothing he enjoyed more than making you laugh by making an ass of himself,

“I’ll stop, I promise!”

You bowed your head and clutched his hand to your chest, still smiling,

“Tsk, empty promises”

He shook his head and you looked up at him,

“I’ll make it up to you, I’ll help you with the dishes”

You said eagerly,

“And also, I snagged one of the rice cakes for you”

Jin listened up,

“I know you love these things even more than I do”

He heard some shuffling and then you held your hand up in front of his face, a tiny cake sitting in your palm,

“Open up”

You said, taking the cake between two fingers and holding it up for Jin,

“For me?”

He asked, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining this,

“Of course, for you, you genius”

Jin slowly opened his mouth and you gently placed the treat in it, like Jimin did with you. However, Jin didn’t think of Jimin in this moment, he only thought about the way your thumb lingered on his lower lip for a few seconds before you pulled your hand back. He felt his affection for you stir in his heart again.

He also felt something else stir in a different bodily region at the feeling of your fingers on his lips.

He quickly turned away and swallowed the sweet cake before clearing his throat,

“Thanks”

He managed to mumble and went right back to washing dishing and willing away the growing problem you were responsible for,

“Move over, I’ll help”

You said and crowded his space again to help him with the dishes and then a comfortable silence set in, only interrupted by the occasional loud laughter from the rest of the guys.

_________

The last night approached quicker than all of you would have liked. After all of the days spent on the lakeshore, basking in the sun and eating smores at night around the campfire, it was finally time to return to your normal life. You and Jin had gotten used to the tent situation quickly, even though it wasn’t the most comfortable or convenient.

Well, for Jin at least. After the you had gone to sleep on the first night, Jin lay awake for a while longer, not being able to get your small fingers and your gentle touch out of his mind and it didn’t help that you were right here next to him, bodies only separated by a thin sheet you used as blanket.

And it had only gotten worse.

Tonight, the silhouette of your body, illuminated by the dying light of the fire outside, made Jin especially weak. He, like you and the others, had a few drinks to celebrate your trip and commemorate your friendship and, surprisingly, alcohol didn’t do a lot to enhance his self -control. More like the opposite,

“You good? Are you comfortable?”,

“Yeah”,

“Ok”

You and Jin had finally arranged yourselves into the bed rolls and were about to go to sleep. You were turned away from him with not a lot of distance between your bodies. It had been an especially hot day and even though it was already dark, the air and the ground hadn’t begun to cool down, yet. Jin was uncomfortable in the heat and he had already stripped down to his briefs; just being in the tent, next to you, not even a sheet over your bodies, to avoid even more heat, he felt like his body was heating up even more. He heard you shuffle around a little and then your thin top was flying over his face and you wore nothing but your underwear,

“I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable but I feel like I’m melting”

You said and fanned your face to feel even the slightest relief from the heat. Jin didn’t say anything for a few seconds, too caught up in the realisation that you were in nothing but your underwear, right next to him,

“It’s fine”

His voice betrayed him, sounding breathy and thin. He cleared his throat,

“Don’t worry about it”

There, he sounded super manly again,

“I’m dying over here… it was nice when we were in the water but now? I’m not made for this weather”

You lamented and turned to Jin, tucking your hands under your head to be comfortable. He was glad that it was so dark because if there were even a little bit more light coming in from the outside you would have seen him staring shamelessly at your tits, pushed together between your arms,

“Yeah it’s uh… really bad”

Very smooth, Jin, managing to answer even though his briefs were getting uncomfortably tight, he thought to himself. The fire outside finally went out completely and the clinking of glasses and the sound of another tent zipper let you know that the last of your friends were about to hit the hay, as well,

“Do you mind if I open the zipper? Let some more air in?”

You asked and sat up already,

“No, go ahead, can’t be worse than this, anyway”

You felt around for the zipper and dragged it down until the flaps of the tent opened and a slight breeze greeted you from outside,

“Well, it’s not much but I can breathe a little better”,

You fell back into the bed roll with a sigh and Jin suddenly had an idea,

“Hey, YN”,

“Hm?”,

“How about we just go down to the lake? Put our feet in the water, cool down a little, you know?”,

“Mhmh, I guess”,

“It’s probably more effective than just opening the zipper”,

“Yeah, you’re right”

You sighed again and sat up in the tent,

“Ok then, let’s go. We gotta be quiet though, I think everyone’s sleeping already”

You said and Jin sat up, too, to crawl out of the tent and help you stand up after you crawled out, too. He grabbed your hand and slowly you navigated the dark clearing in the full moon light down to the soft grass around the lake shore until you felt the water gently lap on your feet.

Both of you sat down on the grass and let the waves envelope your feet on their way up,

“Ugh, I already feel so much better”

You relaxed and lay back on the grass, stretching your overheated and tired limbs,

“Same”

Jin stretched his legs, tapping and tickling your smaller feet with his and making you giggle,

“Jin, that tickles”

You tried to wiggle away, and escape his big gorilla feet,

“Is this an unexplored fetish of yours?”

you asked, making Jin laugh and trying to not be too loud,

“The tickling or the feet?”,

“Oh my god is it both?”,

“Are you kink-shaming me?”

“Definitely! Feet are gross”

You smiled and pushed yourself off the grass back into a sitting position,

“I don’t have a weird kink, calm down”

Jin loved riling you up, just as much as you did it to him,

“Anyway, I’m gonna go in, I think.”

He announced after he was done teasing you and slowly waded into the shallow water,

“you coming?”

You looked up at him, shaking your head,

“I don’t think so, I don’t have my bathing suit. Don’t wanna sleep in wet undies”

“Suit yourself. But don’t complain about the heat”

He simply said and turned around, walking until water reached up to his ribs.

It probably wouldn’t be so bad to get your underwear wet; in this heat they would be dry in no time anyway. But another thought crossed your mind and you contemplated just going commando. Even though yours and Jin’s relationship had never been anything more that friendly, except for a little flirting here and there, you felt like it could be more. There could be more to the flirting and the innocent hand touching. And times like these made you want to just cross the line. Despite Jin thinking he was pretty subtle about everything, you had noticed how, during the trip, he eyed you and Jimin curiously whenever you were talking. You had also noticed how he tried to put as much distance between you as possible in the tent as to not push his very obvious hard on anywhere near you. By now you just wanted to see if he would cross the line first.

Watching him, you unclipped your bra and slipped your panties down your legs, before you also let the cool waves roll against your body. He had already made his way a little farther out and you stopped where your feet could still feel the ground and the water just reached around your clavicle,

“Guess the heat finally got to you, hm?”

Jin said, as he noticed you approaching,

“Right, the heat”

You mumbled and he swam closer, back to your,

“Not worried about the clothes anymore?”

You shook your head and smiled,

“What clothes?”,

“Your under- Oh”

Jin stopped in the middle of the sentence after he had realised what you meant. His mouth fell open as his eyes took in the naked line of your shoulders, no straps in sight,

“I didn’t wanna get them wet”

You said and Jin has to swallow hard. You’re naked under the blurry sheen of the water and he doesn’t know how to handle the situation,

“Yeah, no, I get it, convenience and all that, right?”

He laughs awkwardly and tries and fails to cover up his sudden insecurity about your naked boobs just a few inches away from his face,

“Yeah, I just thought I’d let the girls breathe, you know?”

You looked down and Jin could see your hands covering your boobs right under the surface,

“Yeah, yeah, no big deal, just let the… the girls out”

He took a deep breath and tried to look anywhere but your hands encasing your tits. The trees were pretty in the dark, so out there. And their crowns looked so big and full and round in the moonlight. They were probably very soft if he were to submerge his face between them.

Yeah, trees really were something; He had always been a tree guy.

And he probably should take a step back so he wouldn’t accidentally poke you in the stomach,

“Are you ok? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

You asked, your voice sounding all soft an innocent,

“Do you want me to put it all back on?”

Jin whipped his head around at that and held his hands up,

“No! No, I mean…”

More awkward coughing,

“Don’t bother, you’re comfortable. I’m completely fine”

You giggled cutely and Jin felt his self-control pack its bags and jump out of the window,

“Are you sure? You seem kinda bothered…”

You took a step forward and Jin escaped immediately,

“I think I’m gonna go back out, it’s freezing in here, don’t you think?”

He stuttered and rushed through the water so fast that I splashed you in the face. You smiled to yourself, fully aware that Jin was definitely not unbothered by your boobs. A fact, that you would use to your advantage.

And Entertainment.

You also swam back to the shore, where Jin was already standing on the grass again, his back turned to the water. When the water wasn’t high enough to cover up your nakedness anymore you wanted to get Jin’s attention again. You slowly exited the water and walked towards Jin, who was currently picking up your underwear carefully. You noticed him stalling a moment and feeling the soft fabric of your panties between his fingers before he spoke up,

“YN, I’ll leave your stuff closer to the water, ok?”

He said, thinking you were still swimming around without a care in the world,

“No need”

You said from behind him and he jumped, dropping your things, then tripped and landed on his ass, as he tried to put some more distance between you again,

“Ah… you scared me again”

He said, sitting on the floor and covering his eyes with his fingers immediately. He was only able to see your face through the gaps between his fingers. You didn’t say anything; you just stood there for a few seconds, making Jin suffer even more,

“I uh, do you wanna go back by any chance? I’m kinda tired”

He tried to find an excuse to flee again but you weren’t having it. You knelt down and placed your self firmly in his lap, straddling him,

“I don’t wanna go back, yet”

You mumbled and gently wrapped your small fingers around the wrist of Jin’s hand, trying to get him to uncover his eyes and look at you. He resisted. Not at all cost but it was enough to give you pause and make you doubt your intentions,

“Jin, it’s ok, you can look”

You tried to soothe him a little but he didn’t relent,

“YN, please, I’m trying so hard”

He whispered, hoping you would get the message.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to look, he definitely wanted to. He was sure, the hard dick poking you in the thighs told you so very clearly. It was just that he wasn’t sure what would happen, if he gave in. Your friendship was something he treasured and was thankful for every day, no matter how annoying you could be at times,

“Would it be so bad? We’ve been friends for so long, have you never thought about it?”

Your soft voice slowly but surely worked on dismantling his determination,

“Of course, I thought about it. Multiple times, actually. Especially this week”

Jin answered and he felt you shift slightly above him,

“So, if you thought about it, does that mean… you don’t want to?”

He thought he heard something like disappointment in your voice and he was never good at ignoring when you felt down,

“Are you kidding? You think I’d be this hard if I didn’t want to?”

He tried to lighten the mood and let his free hand move up and down your thigh,

“I’ve been wanting to do this for ever, YN, I just don’t know if this is a good idea”,

“Jin, please…”

He swallowed as he felt you move again, this time you were pushing down on him, grinding against him and he had a hard time to keep his eyes covered,

“Shit”

He cursed at the feeling of you grinding on him and you moved his hand higher from your thigh while you tried again to remove his hand from his face. He slowly let you but he kept his eyes closed,

“Jin, look at me”

You now held both of his hands in yours and you slowly moved the up your body until they cupped your breasts. You sighed and squeezed Jin’s hands around them making him moan and his head fell forward, against your shoulder,

“YN, fuck, you need to stop… I’m a weak man and your tits feel amazing”

He started squeezing on his own and slowly rubbed his thumbs on your nipples,

“Touch me, baby, please”

Your pleas were making him so weak and he knew there was no way he would stop now, that he felt your soft skin under his hands. He turned his head just a little, placing his lips against your neck and kissing you gently. He listened to your moans and let you move against him, rub yourself against his dick in his briefs and it made him so hard; shit, you just felt so good against him, warm and soft and your tits were so fucking nice he couldn’t form a coherent thought anymore. He wanted more, needed more, needed to touch more and taste more of you, so he quickly spun you around and pushed your body back into the soft grass and hovered above you,

“Kiss me”

You whine and he wants nothing more than to kiss every inch of your skin. Starting with your pretty lips; you pretty lips which were always pouting smiling, making him crazy and making him wish he knew what the felt like around his dick. He leans down and they’re so soft. So damn soft like your beautiful tits, which he went right back to squeezing and massaging, making you moan into his mouth. Then it’s wet; tongues finding each other, wet bodies grinding together and your wet pussy rubbing against him. God, you’re so wet. He even feels it through his boxer briefs. He never thought he’d be able to get you this wet. When you lift your legs and wrap them around his hips, he can’t hold back any longer,

“Shit, you feel so good, YN, so fucking soft”

He starts kissing your neck again, moving along the smooth skin down to your collarbone and then further down to suck one of your nipples into his mouth. You moaned and ran your hands through his hair, tugging slightly and running your nails along his scalp,

“Feel good, baby?”

He asked, voice rough as he switched sides,

“So good…”

You managed to answer through your bliss-clouded mind,

“Want more”

You added and weakly grabbed one of Jin’s hands to move it lower, between your legs,

“More? Want me here? Want me to touch your pussy?”

You never would have guessed Jin would be so vocal during sex, you always thought he’d be the sweet and vanilla type of guy but you weren’t about to complain when his fingers felt so good rubbing your lower lips,

“Yes, touch me, please, want you so much”

you pulled his face back down to yours to kiss him as he let his fingers slide through your wetness and moaned into the kiss at how fucking good it felt,

“Shit, you’re so wet… so fucking warm, fuck”

He started rubbing your clit lightly and you broke the kiss to bury your face in his neck and muffle your moans,

“Ah, Jin…”,

“Like this?”,

“Fuck, yes”

He made you feel so good, you wanted to do the same. You worked your hand between your bodies, too and started rubbing Jin through the fabric of his briefs. The feeling of his hard dick in your hands made you want more and you slipped your hand inside, wrapping it around him for real and gently moving it until you felt his fingers lose their rhythm on your clit and all you could hear were the pleasured moans he failed to hold in,

“Am I doing it right?”

You knew you were doing it right but you also knew Jin loved it when you acted helpless and cute. Could only apply even more in this situation,

“Yeah, you are… So right, so good, shit”

He sucked on the skin of your neck and slid his finger from your clit down and slowly, gently slipped it inside of you, moaning at the warm wet feeling that greeted him. You couldn’t find any words that would accurately express your thoughts at this moment; you could just tighten your legs around him and try not to be so loud you’d wake the others,

“You like that, hm? Feel so tight, baby, can’t wait to fuck you”

Jin moaned in your ear and you felt a heatwave run through your body,

“Jin, fuck me, plea- Ah…”

right as you begged him, he slid in a second finger,

“That what you want? Want me to fuck you?”

He pushed his fingers in deeper and you tried to not lose the rhythm you had going on with your hand around his dick,

“Mhmmh”

You couldn’t form a decent answer at this point,

“You sure, baby? I could make you come like this and then fuck you; make you come again”

He kissed you slow and deep this time, moving his fingers in tandem with his tongue. You shook your head, tightening your legs again, pushing his fingers even deeper,

“No? You want it now? Want me to fuck that tight little pussy?”

Jesus, you thought, you never knew words could turn you on so much,

“Then you’ll get it, baby”

He pulled his fingers out slowly and you watched as he stuck them in his mouth to suck them clean,

“Mhm, fuck, I’ll eat you next time, don’t even try to stop me”

You spread your legs as he sat back on his haunches and pushed his briefs down, finally. You couldn’t make out his size in the dark but you had already felt that it was a little bigger than what you were used to.

Jin gripped himself, moving his hand along his dick and sighing,

“Can’t believe this is happening…”

He said and leaning back down, hovering over your body,

“Wanted this for so long”

He continued and you let your hand travel over his naked chest as he guided his dick to slide through your wetness. You watched him shudder and a breath hitched in his throat as his dick made contact with your wet, warm centre,

“God, feels so good already, Jin, don’t tease me”

He bent down and kissed you,

“I won’t, I just…”

He hesitated for a second and took a deep breath,

“I don’t have any condoms with me, I wasn’t really planning on this to happen”

You smiled at the sudden insecurity in his voice and gently ran a hand through his dishevelled hair,

“It’s fine, I have an IUD, you don’t have to worry”,

“I can come inside you? You sure?”,

“I want you to”,

“Fuck…”

Jin went right back to kissing and sucking on your neck,

“Please, Jin, fuck me, come inside me… want you so bad”

The way you sounded so fucking whiney and sweet; he moaned into your skin and rubbed his dick along your pussy before he slowly pushed the head inside. Unprepared for the incredible feeling of your wet, tight pussy around his dick, he pushed in even more, swallowing all your moans and pleas. Never had he felt this good before, literally never. Your pussy felt so damn good around him, he wasn’t even completely sure this was real,

“Ah, Jin!”

He could tell you tried to be quiet,

“Shit, it’s so big…”,

“You ok? Want me to go slow?”

He asked for your comfort, yet he wasn’t sure he could do anything about it because his dick was definitely pushing itself deeper inside you of its own accord. He probably couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to,

“No, I’m fine, it feels amazing”

You threw your head back into the grass and Jin bent a little to suck your nipple back into his mouth, adding to your pleasure even more.

He pushed in deeper and deeper, moving his hips until they wouldn’t go any further and he was balls deep inside you. Even if you didn’t, he needed a moment to come back to reality and not finish before he had even started. You held him so tightly and he squeezed every bit of skin he could reach as your hips moved against his, stealing his breath and making him feel so fucking good,

“You feel so good, YN, so fucking good”

He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the feeling of your body against his,

“So wet, so tight- this pussy’s made for me”

He mumbled against your skin and kissed and sucked what his lips could find. He wanted to be more in control, wanted to be more focused on your pleasure but it just felt so good. He could only hope he was making you feel as good as he possibly could,

“Jin, touch me…”

He heard you sigh and he placed one last kiss to your lips before he pushed himself up to sit back, so he could bring his fingers back to your clit,

“Like this?”

He asked as he rubbed you and immediately felt you clench around him,

“Yes, ah… like that”,

He lifted your leg onto his shoulder with his other hand, spreading you even more for him. This new angle had him hitting you deeper and Jin did his very best to hit all the right places. He already felt his end approaching and he knew he couldn’t hold it off for long,

“Jin, fuck, I’m close, don’t stop”

Your words were music to his ears. He held your leg tightly to his chest, fucking you deeper and harder, working his fingers as close to the rhythm his hips were setting as possible,

“That’s it, baby, come for me”

He ben forward slightly, wanting to be closer to you, wanting to see your face when you came,

“Come all over my dick”

His words made you feel hot all over and you felt your muscles contracting, bringing you closer to your end,

“Ahh, I’m gonna come”

Your voice was strained and you put both of your hands over your mouth, knowing this was gonna be a loud one. Jin was captivated by the pure look of pleasure on your face and devoted all of his movements to making you come, desperate to see your face and feel you clench around his dick,

“Gonna come for me? I can feel it, baby, tell me what to do”,

“Just like that, don’t stop”,

“You’re so beautiful… look so good like this; I want you so much”

He told you all the things he always wanted you to know and more until he felt your pussy tighten around him and your leg spasm in his grip while you moaned through your hands in a desperate attempt to deafen the noise as you came around him. He pushed in so deep, revelling in the feeling of your orgasm and letting his own take over.

He bent down, pushing your hands out of your face and capturing your lips in a slow, deep kiss that made your toes curl like that orgasm just did. He came so deep inside you, filling you up so good and holding you so tight and close, you never wanted him to let you go.

As your muscles relaxed and your breathing evened out again, just like Jin’s, he took your hands in his and kissed them before intertwining your fingers and pressing another long, deep kiss to your lips,

“Jeesus, Jin, I never would have thought you’d talk so dirty to me”

Was the first thing that came to your mind as he slipped out of you and lay down next to you. He let out a hearty laugh and ran a hand over his face,

“I don’t know what came over me”

He said and you smiled,

“I just bring out the best in you, don’t I?”

He squeezed your hand lovingly,

“My best is definitely in you, yes”

He snickered and you slapped his shoulder,

“You’re so nasty, Jin!”

You both giggled as suddenly a loud voice rang through your post-orgasmic bliss,

“You’re both nasty! Fucking like horny teenagers while all your friends are trying to sleep? What are you, 16? Get a damn room next time, fuck!”

Both of you recognized Yoongi’s voice. You probably woke him up or kept him from sleeping,

“Whoops…”

You said, hiding your face in Jin’s neck,

“You should be happy it’s only happened now! Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all!”

Jin yelled back and you laughed even harder.

He had exactly zero shame and that was probably why you worked so well together. And you continued to work well together two more times that  night. And then you continued to work even better together for a lot more years to come.

Submitted by @befriendswithj​

[musicalmukebox]

Let’s Get (Back) Together | l.h. (15)

Ctto of the gifs used!!

AU: Parent Trap Dad!Luke

Summary: A strong love which led to a strong marriage and twin daughters. Yet in the end, it didn’t turn out so well. You strongly refuse to encounter him ever again. But what happens when both of you coincidentally send your twin daughters to the same summer camp in Florida after 10 years?

Word Count: 11k

Warnings: angst, swearing, sweet sweet revenge, verbal and almost physical fighting, mental breakdowns, s e x u a l tension

A/N: Gahhh it’s around 1:40 am here! I enjoyed writing this chapter like wooo! I hope you guys won’t find it too cheesy or underwhelming! First, I wanna thank my parents for giving me the medical terms mentioned here, though I still struggle with capturing some concepts of it haha! And by the way, I found out the Parent Trap film just celebrated its 20th year anniversary since its release a few months ago. Pretty coincidental to say the least! Anyways, enjoy!

I don’t own Parent Trap and its ideas. It’s only used as inspiration.

1 / 2A / 2B / 2C / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

Feedback/Questions/Others? Here.

-

2022, Los Angeles

These past weeks, you’ve created a new daily routine. Or rather, your body did.

Wake up suddenly. Race to the bathroom. Vomit your guts out. Go back to sleep. Wake up to get ready for work. Prepare breakfast. Race back to the bathroom. Vomit again. Fully lose your appetite. Take a shower. Get dressed. Drive to the studios or film settings. 

It pretty much varies, but this was a close one to each passing day. You ached the rush of your guts boiling up to your throat because it was physically draining and hindering you from current filming projects. Also to your disdain, Luke was on a mini tour at the moment, so you were on your own for this, though it was bound to end soon so a speedy recovery must be in order. But he knew what you were going through due to your nightly (or morning) video calls you do almost every day whenever both of you can.

“Are you sure you’re really okay, (Y/N)? I can ask Eleanor to come over and help.”

“No need! I’m fine, Luke. Just need more rest, that’s all.”

Even though the directors of latter were lenient and kind enough to give you some rest days since they knew how much of a busy woman you’ve become, you still felt bad because it looked as if you haven’t taken care of yourself too well with your condition.

Was it something you ate? Did you exert too much effort to the point your body couldn’t handle it? Are you overworking on these projects? Seriously, did you or Luke cook something that actually expired?

Actually before the nausea, fatigue has hit you faster before you begin working on-set. Thus, sitting out became a norm that quick. Going home after is just exhausting, and crashing on the bed is a lot easier than usual. Not really a bad thing, but you still had to work on your lines and respond to emails. Alongside that, you’ve suddenly gained weight despite the nausea. Your jeans don’t fit like they used to and mostly, you prefer wearing crop tops and sweaters instead of anything tight. 

The last straw was today, when you no longer tolerated that insane wave of nausea that hit almost every thirty minutes in the late morning which clashed with the fatigue. Only now were you growing concerned on your health since you figured it firstly to be a stomach virus, but it could possibly more than that. Hence, you needed to get a clear idea of what is happening to you. So today, you excused yourself again to the director of one of the filming shootings for the day due to health reasons, and urgently went to the hospital. Fortunately, he freely allowed you to do so because you had one of the lead roles, and really wanted make sure that everyone was healthy.

By chance, no paparazzi was present in the area, which made it easier to check inside. Seeking guidance from any expert in the lobby as soon as you walked in, a young looking woman in her green scrubs raced to your aid, probably an intern in her twenties who was starstruck by your appearance by the way she beamed when she greeted you.

“Omg hi, Miss (Y/L/N)! How may I help you?”

Although flattered, you bluntly gave her the synopsis of your physical well-being. “Well, something’s odd with my health, like I’ve been easily tired these past weeks, and vomiting hardcore too which makes me lose a lot of sleep. Today took a toll me while at work, so I just want a clear idea of what’s happening because I’m pretty nervous and hoping it’s not serious that it could affect my work ethic.”

Upon talking, she was taking down of everything and it didn’t take too long for her to think of a procedure or solution to assist you. “Oh no! It’s a good thing you’ve come today. I suggest you take a blood test, which you can get the results of next week if that would be okay. Though for nausea, avoid oily foods and eat something bland like pretzels.”

As impatient as you were feeling now due to the tension of what’s happening within you, you trusted her opinion and pushed through with it. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good! Now, may I lead you to the institute of pathology? That’s where the laboratory is for blood extraction.”

“Surely, lead the way.”

-

“And we’re done!” The phlebotomist, or someone who extracts blood from you aka. the patient for testing, exclaims as she ejected the needle from your forearm and untied the tourniquet right above. Internally, you celebrated for facing your long fear of needles for the sake of your health.

“Thanks so much, love. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“I doubt that it is. You’re practically glowing and fit since you’ve acted and done your own stunts in your films too. Also c’mon, your body is goals!”

Gushing, “Aww, thanks again.” You attempted to stand up from the seat, but it only made you dizzy so you sat back down. You weren’t even in a rush, self. Chill. “Wow, I’m getting dizzy and tired so fast nowadays honestly. This sucks.”

“What else have you been feeling then? – By the way, I’m Claire.” She introduced whilst asking, tucking away your blood sample in a cabinet.

“Nice to meet you, Claire. Hmm well,” You leaned back in the chair to suit your comfort. “I get the most absurd food cravings at weird times yet there is non-stop vomiting late in the morning especially. I gained weight too, where I can’t fit some of my jeans and shorts and wearing tight tops and bras are suffocating. Also whenever I try to go to gym, the fatigue kicks in. Actually, the fatigue is always there, but they get worse like the vomiting.”

“Oh, I see.” Claire, who just sat across from you, listened and put her mind into use of what may have caused this, although the answer was so predictable to her and still wanted to inquire. “Have you been … sexually active recently? I mean, you are married and all to Luke Hemmings!”

You gushed again since you weren’t much to talk about your sex life with him, covering your burning cheeks. But if it’s meant to help you, then by all means go. “Last time we’ve gone at it was around 2-3 months ago, right before he went on a mini tour in the country.”

“Interesting. - When was the last time you’ve got your period?”

Frankly, you weren’t much to check on your menstruation patterns nowadays since you’re too time consumed with your career. Besides, if it’s arrives, you have pads prepared back at home. “I don’t remember. I’ve been so distracted to keep track. Why is that so important?”

“Oh my god, is it that hard to unravel? – Morning sickness, weight gain, weird cravings, over fatigue, late period?” She asked back, cracking an enthusiastic smile. But you shook your head, still not understanding where she’s getting at.

“Though I’m glad you took this blood test to be sure, my motherly instincts are telling me that you, Mrs. (Y/N) Hemmings, are pregnant.”

-

A week later, and she was right.

You received from the mail the results, which confirmed your suspicions. Since that extraction, you couldn’t stop thinking about it despite everything making much more sense now. All the symptoms were exactly what Eleanor felt when she was still pregnant with Nick, how naïve of you to have not realized sooner!

The need to tell Luke in person as soon as possible is making you impatient, and you were in utter luck that he was coming home tonight already after months.

You were still in contact with Claire, who was ecstatic for you when you told her and hastily recommended you to the best OB-GYN doctor in the hospital named Dr. Katherine Han. Booking an appointment today was challenging at first, but luckily, you got it. Waiting outside her clinic, her secretary kindly invited you in. “Dr. Han is ready to see you, Mrs. Hemmings.”

Dr. Han, or Kate as she fully claimed, scanned through your results happily, recommended the necessary vitamins and insisted you afterwards to make an ultrasound to inspect on your unborn child. “This is pretty exciting, must I say?”

Unquestionably, yes. Maybe, at first, you freaked out because that would mean a lot of adjustments. You and Luke have talked about before about wanting kids later in your marriage, when you’ve toned down from your busy lifestyles. But now, who cares? Your mindset changed drastically, and the idea of carrying a little life inside you was mind-blowing. It was actually happening.

With that idea having you feel thrilled for the next months to come. But the moment you lied down on the examination bed and put up your blouse, there was already a bump, which is unlikely since it’s early in the pregnancy. Regardless, you then felt the wand move below your abdomen with the cold gel, you were breathless of what your eyes witnessed on the screen.

“You see that flickering light? That’s the heartbeat. Let me raise the volume of it.” 

Doing as she said, the thumping increased and you felt goosebumps grow in your entire body. There was the little bean in its glory, your little bean.

“Oh wait a minute.” She paused briefly, raising the wand higher to show another flickering light and an echo of sounds. “Looks like you have two healthy heartbeats. – Congrats, Mrs. Hemmings. You’re expecting twins. Would you like a copy of the sonogram?”

Just as you though things couldn’t get any better, you’ll get two little bundles of you. Okay, maybe one mini-you and one mini-Luke. Though if they are both mini-Luke’s, it’s alright too. It’ll be a quite a mess since Luke is practically a man-child. But, who cares?

“Mrs. Hemmings?” Too absorbed in your thoughts, you haven’t answered the doctor’s question.

“Yes please.”

-

As great and fantastic these news were, you were bound to surprise Luke this when he gets home. It’s been quite a while. Also, you really wanted him to be the first to know before telling anyone else. Since your careers are already over the top, you planned to just keep it simple. Besides, the both of you weren’t much into giving lavish luxury items, well except on special occasions. 

But on a normal basis? Nah, you’d like to save some money for the future. Most likely for education. It’s always nice to think ahead.

There were balloons on the walls and some tied down the legs of the side tables, where you were sat by the couch with a small bag of goodies were inside with a mutual meaning. Time is ticking on your watch, and Luke could be home any minute now. He’ll be exhausted since he’ll be coming back from New York. You’ve missed him so much, where neither video not phone calls were not as sufficient as physical contact. Especially the rated R ones!

Well, before you got “sick”.

Your calm body was sprawled on the couch, trying new positions that’ll suit best for your little beans and scrolling up and down possible room decorations to purchase. Oh yes, baby fever is real with you, starting with the nickname of little beans. While at your enjoyable daze, you can hear the fumbling of the door knob from the outside, unlocking it. Struggling to roll down his huge luggages and his dufflebag as his hand carry, he dropped them immediately.

“I’m home!”

For him, all he knew was that his home is wherever you are. 

There he was in his glory. His hair was a lot messier as compared to usual, his facial expressions of tiredness from the long trip but still gave a loud greeting that could get a noise complaint from the neighbors.

Again.

“Luke!” You shot up from your seat, catching his attention. Upon hearing, he knew in a snap you were in the living room. He hoped you cooked dinner or something because as much as he did like eating everywhere from hotel rooms and famous restaurants, nothing beats yours. But then again, you’ve been sick so probably not. As long as he gets to see you, he’ll be happy.

Advancing there, he lightened up at the sight of you, as if you were glowing like the sickness never bothered at all. The blue dress you had on with your beaming smile had him fall over heels all over again. Absolutely smitten.  Alongside that, another thing that caught his eyes were the few balloons that bordered where you stood. Coming home from tour or a trip has never been new to since your jobs require to, yet little additions like them was blissful. He couldn’t waste anymore time, running to you and lifting you up in a tight hug by the waist.

Gasping at such suddenness, you enveloped your arms around his neck whilst internally praying he doesn’t crush the little beans, even by a bit. He then puts you down not so long after, giving you a lingering kiss on yours. He could care less if he would get sick. Tour is over anyways, and he has a break before going back to business. 

God, feeling them just never gets old nor unsatisfying, like they were custom made just for you. “I’ve missed you so much.” 

“I missed you too, love. These past months felt way too long.” Dragging the “too”, his interest returned on the balloons. As a symbol of celebration and surprises, something is up. Maybe he was just overreacting, considering this homecoming was a celebration in itself. 

As he felt your arms linger away his neck, you brought out the small bag of goodies from the floor, preparing yourself for the reveal. “I came across some items you might like when I was the way home.” 

He grew skeptical, but he went along with it. Taking a seat right beside you, he rummaged through them and brought it all out, laying them on the coffee table right in front.

“Hmm,” He begins his close observation. “An orange-flavored Caprisun, animal crackers and Starburst. Well, maybe for you, they were some of your favorite childhood snacks. I only liked the  Starburst. – I’m still pretty lost with this.”

Not bad, he got a keyword: childhood.

This next step is the climax, which involved a sealed envelope from your jacket right beside you. It was quite nervewracking at first, but you came this far and nonetheless of his reaction, it wouldn’t affect how you feel towards the beans. “Here. Maybe this can make much more sense.”

He was so confused, but you didn’t blame him. “You’re scaring me, love.”

“Just open it.” You laughed, anticipating for too long and wanting already to see his reaction. Unsealing it felt like a lifetime, also ripping it a bit in the middle. There he saw two folded pieces of paper and took them out. The first was a short note, which he read aloud.

“Hello there! So as of now, we can’t eat and drink those treats so you can have them! Maybe give us around 6-7 months and we’ll steal them from you! We can’t wait to meet you, dad! Love, Little Bean 1 and Little Bean 2.”

Dad.

It took him seconds to sink in the premise of the surprise. Unfolding the last paper, it was the ultrasound from early afternoon, his mouth hanging down from the surprise and racing happiness that he was gaining. There was still a short sentence written on the back side.

“Turns out it wasn’t the flu or a virus. It’s just us adjusting, sorry for hurting mom though.”

From his contagiously, cute smile, he was the exact opposite of what you were overthinking previously. He was at a loss of words as he repeatedly looked back in forth at the goodies and the letters before facing you, having a matching smile and blushing. To add, he got up on his feet to really sink the information further because he was too happy.

“I’m pregnant, Luke.” You blurted, no more holding back.

Luke swore he was breathless for a moment, before lifting you up again and back into his arms you were. “Oh my God, wow. Fuck. – This is the best thing I’ve heard all day!” You were laughing too hard from his reaction, and as he put you down, he was literally filled with so much adoration for you.

“It’s actually happening! Like you’re going to be a mom, I’m going to be a dad, we’ll be parents! And twins?!”

“It’s going to be double trouble but double fun, right?” You reassured, only leading him to pull you closer for a kiss on your forehead.

“Fuck yeah. I hope they have your nose though.” He booped your nose, knowing that it annoys you often. But you let it pass.

“I hope they have your blue eyes, they are gorgeous.” You complimented, grazing a finger on his scruffy face. You were equally appreciating every facial feature of each other, giving more “I hope’s” back and forth and then confidently, you tiptoed to place your lips against him, sharing a much more passionate kiss that can are as equal to the kisses from your consummation.

He was the first to pull back, desiring to place his available hand on your lower abdomen with a grin so pure it can spread world peace. “There’s a little us there, and I’ll make sure to take care of the three of you.” Your hormones were about to get the best of you, but you didn’t let it control you for now.

“God, can we just stay in this moment forever? It’s too amazing.” He pleaded, looking directly in your eyes.

“I really do as well, but if it helps,” You pointed your finger at the fireplace, where a tiny camera was situated. “I recorded the whole thing for us to look past on.”

He couldn’t get any more blessed and grateful for you, scattering your entire face with pecks. “Fuck, I love you so much. I can never picture anyone else having my children except you.”

Your heart was fleeting crazily, but his cursing was all over the place which is now considered unacceptable in this household. “I love you so much too, Luke. – But one, stop swearing around me, or at least minimize it. They can hear you, you know?” He frowned in guilt, but when you laughed out the seriousness, you declared once more.

“Second, you’re the only person I would ever want to have a domestic life with.”

-

2034, Sydney

It was 4 am, and most of the adults were passed out drunk in their separate bedrooms in the second floor. The house they were lodging currently had 4 stories with a basement. In the third floor, there were designated rooms for the young boys and girls. Stella and Rebecca currently shared a bed and a room with Scarlett and Beatrix. Yet, it was Rebecca to get up first due to the soft alarm she set on her phone. Good thing no one else heard it or else Scarlett would be complaining so much about how precious sleep is.

Shaking her sister gently to wake up, it didn’t take too long before she groggily did, having some of her blonde strands covering her visage and lips. When she blew them off, her eyes crinkled open more from the flashlight Rebecca switched on since Stella was arrogant to move at first. But because now she couldn’t fall back into sleep, she urged her body to get upright and focus on her awoken twin.

“God, this bed was too comfortable like you said.” She stretched her arms, unwrapping her tiny body from the duvet and put on her slippers.

“I told you so! Anyways, we need to grab some things at the kitchen and pantry first.” Rebecca tells, adjusting her sweater and jumps out the bed with her phone. Slowly sneaking out the door without disturbing anyone else, the twins tiptoed their way to the stairs and hurried to the pantry where a huge chunk of their needed materials lied.

Rebecca switched on the light, a mischievous smirk forming in her face as she stepped on the mini ladder so she could reach items that were up in the shelves. Stella watched her, making sure she doesn’t trip or anything, but she also took some items on the lower shelves they knew they would need. When they finished, they gathered their things and laid them down on the kitchen island, arranging and checking them orderly.

“Hair dye?” Stella asked.

“Got it. Honey?” Rebecca picks the item up for showing.

“Check. Balloons?”

“Done.”

As they completed in reviewing their materials, “You ready for this, brat?”

“Fuck yeah. Sierra deserves only the worse.”

“Truly. So Camp War 2.0? Let’s get to work.”

-

Phase 1.

Luke dazedly woke up to do his morning run around 6 in the morning in hopes to watch the sunset by the cliff that he loves to do alone. He was blessed to not have gotten wasted like Ashton. Tying the shoelaces of his shoes and inserting his airbuds, he was on his way out the house. Sierra was in a peaceful slumber for quite some time – That was until the first alarm from her phone hit piercingly. Groaning, one eyelid was open to stop it. She didn’t recall putting any alarms before getting to bed, but nonetheless, she wanted to claim back her beauty sleep.

But the second alarm then came around not even 10 minutes later, and there she was annoyed. Muttering profanities under her breath, she turned it off and tossed back to her initial sleeping position. Unfortunately, the deafening sound of the alarm messed with her mind, which made her lose the drowsiness. No longer forcing it, she rose from her side of the bed with bad bed head. Disoriented by her “dysfunctional” phone, the first thing she was looking for was her glasses, which is usually by her bed side so she can properly operate. However, it wasn’t there as she rummaged it. Odd again, but she ignored it again since just a few hours, she was drunk off her butt and probably left it someplace else.

With blurry vision, she stumbled her way to the bathroom, discarding her pajamas to take a warm shower. Here, another scheme is set. Putting on shampoo is a normal thing when cleaning yourself, only that when Sierra applies it on her hair, it gradually left her a raging red shade. 

It didn’t process to her what was happening until she saw the shower floor filled with red water. At first, she figured that she got her period, but she just got it 2 weeks ago and it’s long ended. Pulling the handle open of the shower, she went nearer to the mirror to see what has took place. 

“Fucking shit!” How did this happen? Did she take the wrong shampoo? The smell was right though. Maybe there was a chemical malfunction, and she has to get this fixed as soon she can because God knows how much more damage it can bring. Also, email the company about this. 

Rinsing it off with a towel, she changed into cleaner clothes and pretty set for the day, knowing she has a few things on her agenda already. She likes to be productive after all. But first, breakfast. She just needed her phone to do some contacting. When she got ahold of it on her bedside, she received a message. 

 [6:40 AM] Future Husband: just went out for a run! but i have a surprise for you downstairs in the basement, come check it out x 

 She loved surprises, where she gets to be spoiled rotten by absolutely anything she wants. And since recently he’s been so distant due to the whole surprise family reunion, she assumed that he felt bad and is making up for it. 

 [6:50 AM] Sierraaaaa: just showered babe, i’m gonna check it out! love you, hubba!

 Meanwhile from the work room, where security cameras were placed in the major rooms like the basement, living room, the small lobby, and patio, Rebecca and Stella were imitating vomiting sounds due to the pet names Sierra gave. “So this is dating works, huh? Just bleh!” 

“I suppose so. Good thing I’m too young for that! - Shit, she’s by the staircase already!” 

They watched carefully her movements, hoping she doesn’t take any unnecessary detours and giggling at the new hair color on the side. When Sierra reaches the end of the corridor of the first floor, which leads to a another staircase going to the basement, the girls were on the edge of their seats, giddy. There were two open tabs on the desktop computer they were using, one showing Sierra and the other on the basement. The latter was a total and messy obstacle, which was about to be unleashed in less than a minute.

“Fuck, let’s get the actual party started!” Stella exclaimed. 

Phase 2.

“Hope you like it, babe. Love, Luke.” Sierra reads the sign on the door, pumped up what lies behind the wooden door. With the suspense it expressed, Sierra couldn’t wait any longer and unlocked the door in front of her.

It was quite dark since the curtains were spread open at the large open doors on her left, so through her eyes, she searched for any light buttons to switch on. Luckily, there was one on her left, but it was pretty far from where she stood, so she moved her body to do so minimally. However, as she did, she actually overpassed a light string that was connected to the light switches. Instead, she slipped on the floor instantly and caught the tacky view of the basement.

First feature: A mixture of honey and maple syrup spread throughout the floor like peanut butter on bread.

She slid so fast throughout the entire interior of the room like an indoor slip-and-slide, hitting the corners and sides of the walls with almost every part of her body. Her mind was spinning, and every time she tried to get back on her feet, the syrup would always make her tumble repeatedly. Unfortunately enough, she had no protective gear on her figure to keep her safe from the friction and bumping the hardness, most especially her head. Yet there was another detail that got her much more drenched.

Second feature: There were numerous balloons surrounded in the entire room that were either filled with air or water.

Whilst sliding, different balloons were popping around her as she hit different spots of the room. When did, she’d pop a few balloons in the process that would either trigger her sensitive ears or wet any parts of her body. This went on many times because she really tried her best to stand up and evacuate this mess. Here, her body was reconnecting also with the discomforting syrup then faced one last detail.

Third Feature: One of the light switches from a while ago was connected to the electric fan above her, which would rain the room with feathers.

Various sizes of feathers would glue to her soaking clothing. She sneezed at every encounter she got with them, meaning that she was continuously sneezing during the entire experience. No part of her body was spared, resulting to looking like a hairy chicken, especially with the red hair!

“Bok bok, bitch.” Rebecca referenced Rachel Cho, satisfied by the ugliness of the maze which got Sierra the deserved treatment. But that so-called maze wasn’t the end just yet.

Phase 3, aka. the total knockout.

Drenched and still slipping numerously, her rage and annoyance levels skyrocketed into inflation. Thus, it resulted into passionate and thunderous screams, almost like someone was being murdered. She wanted to get out of this horrendous room, and back to the bathroom to rinse off. But on top of that, she wanted to fight whoever was in charge of this, and she knew exactly who they were. Who else?

“Absolute brats!” 

Since it was impossible to go back to the main door unless she wanted to slip and fall again, she resolved into opening the big, wide doors facing the beach. Carefully taking her time making steps, she pushed them out, relieved that her stay at that maze was over.

Or was it?

Right above where she was drenching and groaning from discomfort, another line of string hung by her eyes with a tiny note with another message. “You think it was over? – P.S. flip over this note.”

She pulled it out strongly, unfolding it effortlessly because she wanted to know more about the minds of the sinister sisters. Little did she know that a bucket of chocolate syrup was stationed right above her, where a friendly creature was swimming in it, or possibly drowning.

“You mess with our parents, you mess with us. Also, look up. – R & S”

Right on cue, she tilted her head upwards and low and behold, the sticky substance splattered all over her entire body, coating the water and honey from earlier. It was almost Carrie 2.0, except there was no huge audience except the twins, who were busy rejoicing for their success. It came upon them of how smart they work together than against each other like in camp, gladly knowing that they have a valid reason to act so. Besides, they are young and bright, they have to hone their growing potentials.

Sierra remained still and quiet, trying to regain her composure because she will not let the brats win over. It took her years to get to where she is, and she will strike back because losing to them is basically like losing to you. However, that idea was scratched off as soon she felt something crawl above her dyed hair. She was disturbed at the foreign sensation, reaching over it to get a touch of what it is. When she did, it continued to brisk off and by the rough skin and long tail, it was a lizard. And she screamed bloody murder when the lizard slid down to her face, even went to her mouth! Spitting it out along other saliva that was contaminated, she attained her breaking point, finally fed up and throwing numerous tantrums like the spoiled woman she is.

“Wait, where again did you find the creepy crawly, Stella?” Rebecca asks, watching Sierra and enjoying herself at her rage.

“When I was placing the bucket by the ledge of the patio. He was crawling everywhere, but I figured he’d be important.”

Just in time with her screams, Luke just arrived back at the house from his morning jog. Removing his airbuds, he could easily determine the voice and raced to where it was occurring. But when he got to the living room so he could get to the patio and see the commotion, he was beaten to it when a soaked Sierra stormed inside with a frustrated look on her face. She pushed away any object within her vicinity and kicked some chairs too, beyond pissed. It wasn’t too long when the other boys and their families were disrupted from their rest and came running down the stairs, seeking answers towards the unexpected fuss. Just like Luke, they thought that she looked like an absolute, hot mess, psyched and intrigued by who could’ve pulled off such an accident.

“Wha-What the fuck happened, babe?” It was all he can come up with at the spur of the moment, his focus more on her newly dyed hair that just didn’t suit her with the chocolate syrup dripping on the wooden floor.

All this pent frustration and the newly added one began to overtake her mind and mouth. She was officially done. When she took a few steps closer to him, “Here's what's going on, buddy, your twins happened! The day we say “I do" is the day I ship those brats off to Switzerland or maybe give them fully to (Y/N). Get the picture? It's me or them. Take your pick.”

Right after she spits her fire, muffled voices blasted from the speakers in that room. Those speakers can be activated a few ways, commonly through Bluetooth or the aux cord from the work room. Rapidly, the device boosted in volume, giving a clearer hearing of what was being voiced out.

It was none other than last night’s convo between Sierra and Arzaylea.

The two and everyone else paused themselves momentarily to take a listen, and in the end were they stopped dead on their tracks by the intensity and ruthlessness of the situation. Though humiliation additionally crashed on Sierra because she was the main involving party.

Oh, poor Luke. The big secret behind his psychotic fiancée was uncovered and served like a slap on the face. Somehow, everything these past years made much more sense. That honestly pep talk she gave yesterday was pure bull. Everything about her was an ongoing façade.

Once the audio reached its end, the twins publicly made their entrance from the work room, giving off their petty and naughty smirks to their main target. So far, so very good.

“Woah, good morning everyone.” Rebecca greeted innocently.

“What’s for breakfast?” Stella continued on casually.

But Luke wasn’t having it, too frazzled by the situation within the room and couldn’t even look at Sierra when she tried to capture his attention numerously during that audio play. “Alright girls, quit playing. What is going on?”

No more sweet talk, just get down to the business.

“Wasn’t the audio enough, dad? Aunt Sierra over here is a lie.” Stella claimed strongly, pointing at the messy woman.

“Dad, please don’t be associated with her anymore. She’s been manipulative before we were even born!” Rebecca defended further, which finally gave Sierra the balls to speak up for herself.

“That audio you gave could’ve been self-made! What other allegations can you give?” She tested, trying to redefine her name. Aish, wrong move. Rebecca was actually bundling up pieces of paper in her arms, and once she opened them up, “Do screenshots of conversations between you, TMZ, Perez Hilton, US weekly and many more tabloid platforms count? Also saw money and private information were involved too.”

“By the way, aunt Sierra, be careful for your surroundings before running your mouth and opening your devices. This house isn’t as big as you think it is.”

First passing it to Luke for his viewing before giving them to Michael, and just by the tired look he had post-work out he begun with, he grew mentally disheartened by the accuracy of his twins’ accusations about his fiancée. Though mischievous, they weren’t wrong at all.

“Ooh, got an extra audio file that can count as evidence if you don’t mind.” Stella added, excusing herself to return to the work room and play the file of Sierra’ conversation at the Forum. The strong persona of Sierra turned weak again when the papers were handed to different people and that extra audio blasted. Her exposure was forceful, and she had nothing else to say or do to deny them especially since the twins were stating facts.

Luke just listened to Sierra’s hurtful words, in disbelief that she was capable to do this all behind his back for the past decade. He was frozen at his standing position, wanting this to all be from the crazy part of his imagination. But once he was fixated with Sierra’s when he almost spaced out, he looked away quickly at disappointment. Sierra saw that short glimpse, still immersed on his facial features that drooped down. “L-Luke, please let me ex-”

Luke cut her off, putting his hand near her face so she would stop blabbering. “So this whole time, you wrecked our marriage?”

“Wait, ple-”

Luke kept going with his questioning. “You’ve planned this whole thing out vividly so that you and I would be the endgame?”

“Luke, st-”

“This meant having to ruin the lives of (Y/N), Becks and Stella?!”

Silenced and interrupted repetitively, Sierra couldn’t contain the concoction of the variety of emotions boiling up in her system. All these years she’s bottled them up has made her insane, insane to do absolutely anything for this particular man that has once helped her genuinely in the past. But in the end, she doomed herself to unsuccessfulness and obsession. All eyes were on her now, and she really is trying to compose and defend herself in her own words despite either way, she was going to lose. But those smirks of the twins which exactly resemble yours ticked her off completely.

“All of the actions I’ve done were out of 18 years of loving you, Luke! I was always there for you, way before (Y/N) came in the picture. Your breakup with Arzaylea? I was there. When people criticized the band’s hiatus and music post-Sounds Good, Feels Good and you needed moral support? I was also there. Every drinking session you wanted and invited me to out of celebration or sadness in your old home? I was fucking there! How did you not see that? We had something going on, but it was so effortlessly destroyed when she kissed you in that Valentine music video! Since then, I never liked her because I just knew she lured you in and used you so she could be famous. I just couldn’t allow that to happen, so I had to do what was best for you. Besides, if she trusted you, she could’ve told you the real behind the scenes of our relationship and we would’ve not been friends anymore. Gosh, secrecy! But I knew how to use my words so she wouldn’t bother to tell you anything. So yeah, the bitch does not deserve you, Luke. And those brats you call daughters are just as sneaky as she is!”

There it is.

The unsaid has finally dropped, which may have brought embarrassment because Sierra didn’t hold back nor had any filter to fix her words if she was to be misread. The rawness of it was a bombshell since no one ever expected it, even you if you were present. Luke felt as if he was stabbed in the gut mercilessly, not wanting to acknowledge her. Her so-called assumptions on what she thought was good for him was beyond ill-advised. Now one thing is guaranteed: she was the biggest factor to the destruction of your marriage.

“And you think you’re deserving?! Since when were you knowledgeable to know what was good for me?! I understand that you were trying to look out for me behind the scenes, but to hurt people in the process is different!!” His voice was on full blast, startling everyone and putting them on the edge as the rising drama climaxed. Sierra buried her face in her hands, put on the spot to reply back, but either way, it was a lose-lose situation. Luke’s fists balled up and hit the first thing he saw, which was a box of Lucky Charms.

“All the controversies you’ve had, I’ve looked past them because you’re a genuine and talented girl. Turns out you’ve fooled us all. Honesty is the best policy you also said yesterday, bullshit!” No one expected him to swear, making the boys and their wives cover some of their kids’ ears.

Sierra grabbed him by the arm to make him look at her. “I still am that girl, Luke. Let’s sort this out, please.”

“You never were.” Luke swat her hand away, but still turned around with a face as red as a tomato. A mix of post-workout exhaustion and frustration. “You know, (Y/N) had her own hustle, having to balance university while looking for job opportunities. Meeting her was a coincidence gone right. I thought I could fix you and your controversies, help make you become greater than that. Yet, it but turns out that you can only fix yourself, and you failed badly.”

Sierra needed to speak, she had to. Regardless of the risks. “Wow, now you’re defending your ex-wife? Last time I checked, you no longer wanted to be associated with her because she broke it off and hurt you so bad!”

Although truth was spilled, Luke began to pick up on her words and tried to piece them together with past events. Then, he realizes how some connect to each other. “She broke it off because the rumors you’ve paid to get done was a bad environment for our family then and we began to lose trust in each other. But you know what the worst thing was that occurred in that kind of setting?”

“What?” She had the nerve to cross her arms in a cocky manner.

Luke’s walls were near to breaking, but he didn’t want to leave the fight losing. “Because of the divorce, it led to half custody, meaning my twins, or “brats” as you said were robbed of a happy and full family. All thanks to you.”

To top off the cherry on top, Luke stepped a little closer to Sierra and ordered, “Leave.”

“Excuse me?” She sneered, putting a hand on her chest.

“L-E-A-V-E, Sierra. Get the picture?” Luke hissed. “You are a love-blinded psycho. By the way you said my twins are sneaky is saying that I am too because they are half of me! With this leave you’ll take is a leave from my life for good. I don’t know about the rest of everyone here, but I have lost all interest to be involved with you. So do leave the ring too, then bring all your stuff and never ever show yourself to me. You have done enough.”

His rage reached its peak, still not moving one bit. As much as they were aware that they’ve succeeded, the twins did not apprehend that their father would be severely affected in the process. All they wanted to do was prove a point and hence, they did get their justice. But for him to become sadder too wasn’t in their truest intention. They were too blinded and motivated in getting the both of you together by doing their war that they didn’t think through of the consequences.

“Luke, I-”

“Did I fucking stutter, Sierra? Leave!”

Sierra threw a hissy fit at the treatment she finally deserved, and angrily walks out of the living room. Luke remained unmoved, but warm tears swelled down his cheeks. He didn’t bother to rub them off, and as vulnerable as he is already, he tried to stay strong and hold it in.

“Luke,” Calum bravely took initiative to comfort his friend, only for Luke to finally move backwards away from his friend from this anxiety that overfilled his entire being.

“Don’t touch me, just stay away from me. Please!” He skipped to the workroom and locked himself inside, where he was left with himself to completely crash down and bawl out his pushed back emotions.

That reluctance to recognize them? Gone.

Emotional walls? Vanished.

He whimpered loudly, punching the different pillows in the couch along with knick-knacks on the desks. Pain was prevalent everywhere. Though his fists were bruised, his heart was deeply affected because he relied on his mind to give the practical solutions. Not entirely wrong, but with complete disregard of his heart meant disregarding his feelings, bottling them up for too long.

It was too difficult to make things seem normal in the household now.

Calum and Michael really did their best to change the atmosphere of the entire room by preparing breakfast, cracking eggs and bringing out the pancake mixes. Crystal needed to walk out to the patio to get fresh air away from the stuffiness. Ashton and Bryana were trying to think of easy ways on how to answer the questions from their children about Sierra since it wasn’t something they’ve ever seen before. Eleanor wasn’t too behind to follow Sierra’s steps, but not too near for the latter to see her. Arriving at her door and leaning against, she watches the ex-fiancée angrily throw different items in her dufflebag, observing how much she wanted to leave this situation.

“I’ve always had strong feelings you were still as controversial back in the day.”

She sensed a sneaky smirk from the brunette, who zipped up her packed bag and put the strap on her shoulder. Back on her feet, she came closer to Eleanor with that exact cocky expression. “You should’ve stopped me then, but you didn’t.”

As she tried to get on her way, Eleanor blocked her way, not letting her get off the hook that easily. “That was because I believed you could’ve grown better, but you chose to be a lot worse. Trashy even.”

“Ugh, harsh. But you may have forgotten that I am a girl who is passionate, who’ll do whatever it takes to get what and who I want in life. Luke isn’t something I could swipe left, babe.”

“Have you no pity or a heart?! You destroyed the well-beings of two of the most kind-hearted people, even got their children involved! - I’m so glad you were exposed. The bitch as you’ve described my best friend? Her intellect and determination were traits passed on the twins. With you, all you could ever give is your body and manipulation.”

Sierra’s jaw clicked, her free hand preparing to slap Eleanor, but she beat her it. Gripping her wrist tight that it could leave a mark, “Smart and nice way to accept loss, babe. Also by the way, I see something that doesn’t belong to you anymore.”

Referring to the diamond engagement ring, Eleanor removed her grip to the hand and watches with keen sight on Sierra sliding off the metal band. Once it was off, she effortlessly handed it to her new enemy, leading to Eleanor unblocking her. She didn’t wear her smirk anymore and scrambled down the stairs and to the garage, where a vacant, extra car awaits.

She was finally defeated.

Meanwhile, the twins managed to discreetly vacate from the living room and back to the basement, only this time, they’ve brought garbage bags and every cleaning material they could find in the pantry. Stella harshly scrubbed first the sticky floor from one row to another, whilst Rebecca disposed every popped balloon remains in the bag, shaking off any syrup stuck in it. Their progress was quite slow because some of the sticky area hardened, making them exert double energy which is more than what their bodies are capable of. Taking breaks in between increased, thinking how impossible it will be to accomplish this the entire day.

Not even halfway, a loud knock was made on the main door, the one from inside the house. “Come in!” Rebecca called out. The knob turned to its right and clicked open, which revealed the older kids, carrying spare cleaning materials and wearing similar frowns.

Stella stopped her actions. “What are you guys doing here?”

Beatrix put down her bucket and mop, entering inside the dirty room followed by the others. “I’m assuming you guys need some help after all that craziness you pulled off with Aunt Sierra.”

“But haven’t we been a burden enough to you all? This trip so far has been horrendous, at least we need to fix our mess down here.” Rebecca fired back, embarrassed to even look at them. Unexpectedly, Oliver advanced to her with his apron getup and declared, “To be honest, Rebecca, if any of us discovered the hidden intentions of a vicious woman like aunt Sierra on our parents, we would do absolutely everything to make sure that the bitch doesn’t walk free.”

“Also your strategy was crazy good, it serves her right!” Nick justified proudly. As much as it gave a short dose of hope and enlightenment to the twins, knowing their friends got their backs, they couldn’t help still feel guilty on bringing upon more emotional instability to their father.

“Thanks for the support, guys. Still though, we made our dad a lot more broken, and we can’t forgive ourselves for that.” Stella opens up, having trouble to maintain eye contact on anybody because of the shame. She may have blinked back tears because she isn’t one to show her vulnerability, another evident trait she got from her father. Less to her knowledge, Alex came to her aid with tissue paper on standby.

She was baffled, putting it away. “Thanks but no thanks, Alex. I’m fine.”

“You aren’t, Stella.”

He was right, and at the same time, one tear from Stella streamed down and he was the one to wipe them off with his thumb. Caressing her cheek, “It’s okay to be vulnerable, Stella.” He gave a hopeful grin, which was easily reciprocated with a tight hug. “T-Thank you, Alex.”

While they had their moment, the other kids were also silently cleaning those spots that the twins haven’t reached and faced the same struggles with the syrup. But now they was a lot more of them, the job was more time and energy-efficient. With that, the whole basement became spotless in another hour. Sharing jokes and another round of funny stories in between made the experience a lot less tense.

Now on their way to return to the ground room with their sweaty figures and full garbage bags, which they first leave by the front door, they were taken aback by all their parents, Luke included with red eyes from all the crying, explicitly arguing post-Sierra excluding Eleanor, who was sat in the couch really trying to get stressed due to the baby. This hindered them to go inside and stay behind the wall near the open entrance. Crystal was right behind Michael, who sided with Ashton. “Luke, you need to tell (Y/N) this.”

“I agree. What happened to no more secrecy?”

Calum joined in, giving a piece of his mind. “Mate, if you want things to work out between you two, you have to be honest. You lost her once, don’t do it again.”

Bryana had the last say. “And if you do so, she’ll give in and likely to share her perspective on why she didn’t tell you about her real relationship with Sierra.”

The anxiety within Luke couldn’t stop raising, not being able to think straight of what the right action is. He thought it was just Sierra keeping secrets, but you did too. Though knowing you all these years, whatever you choose to do and achieve in life always has a good reason behind it. It was thoughtful, yet a secret is a secret, which jeopardizes the trust of the relationship.

“I cannot lose her again, guys. When I tell her that I know, she’ll run away! That means Stella will go along too.”

“But Luke, isn’t the lack of trust the main reason you’ve ended it?” Eleanor caved in from the couch, offended at his defense because it led to her losing all contact with you, her best friend. Running away from Luke meant running away from everyone else.

Lifting herself up, her hands putting more pressure on her lower back to support her growing belly, she approached towards the lanky man. No pregnancy hormones caused her growing rage. “I have had it up to here with you. Not only did that factor caused you to lose the love of your life, but it caused everyone here to lose a friend and our kids to lose a great aunt. Fuck, (Y/N) was my best friend, whom I haven’t heard in over a decade! But mostly, your kids lost half of their parents. If that doesn’t disturb you enough, I have no idea what else will.”

As they eavesdropped, the kids couldn’t help feel the goosebumps up their arms by the hurt and may have gasped a little too vocally. The adults overheard it, sensing that their children kept an ear out for their mature conversation and becoming tenser since it’s like their happy, cheerful innocence was gone in a snap.

“Kids,” Ashton croaked, put his palm on his forehead to relieve the headache he’s bound to receive not so far from now. “We know you’re there. – Please do enter.”

As much as they didn’t want to, disobeying their rules would be a lot worse. One by one they’ve joined inside the crowd with their heads down because they were scared shitless, especially the twins who brought this to everyone. The sense of shame still stayed, aware that they could’ve approached it much more maturely.

“How much have you guys heard?” Bryana questioned, her heart weakens mostly at her kids with their doe eyes overfilled with fright.

“Enough to know that uncle Luke won’t tell anything that happened awhile ago to aunt (Y/N).” Scarlett replies on behalf, being the eldest after all.

Luke knew how energetic his niece was, but the softness of her voice made him feeble because he’s unintentionally brought back the decade old damage and it was just unacceptable for him to bring her and the other children down with him. He needs to get and give space, praying to the heavens that those kids would not have this piece of information get stuck in their heads for too long. It was just too soon for them to face this sort of reality. However, it was the twins’ reality, and it beats him up everyday. He should’ve done better.

Bringing back the need of space, he needs it starting right now.

“Rebecca Audrey Hemmings, Stella Charlotte (Y/L/N).” He directed his entire focus on the girls, who instantly elevated up their faces to his voice. “Pack your things, now.”

His tone was very serious, and very unlike him. But with all this pressure, it has took a toll on him. Not wanting any more trouble, they scurried their way out and to the stairs, trying not to slip from Sierra’s mess and make anymore delays.

Ashton, on the other hand, did not enjoy the way he instructed his kids despite his personal pressure. He negotiates, “Luke, don’t bring them into this. They are already as afraid as you are.”

“Are you their father, Ash? I just need s-space. So excuse us, but we’ll be on our way.” He bumped against the older man on the way out of the living room that became ironic because it now suffocates him in all aspects.

“Let me repeat what I said. – No one will speak of this morning to (Y/N).”

-

“Oh my, back so soon?” 

Luke roughly dropped off his dufflebag, rethinking of the words he’s planning to say. The trip back home was intense and filled with deadly silence. The twins were too startled to make a sound since hwas already developed much more sensitivity with his environment. Fragile almost, so they resorted to talking through texts. 

“Oh, we got an emergency meeting tomorrow, so we had to cancel. We’ll move it to next weekend, maybe you can join us this time?”

Fuck, you really wanted to go this time. But life as an actress isn’t always filled with vacations even if you go abroad a lot. By next week, you’ll be back in Los Angeles working. Just last night before heading to sleep, you received a long distance call from one of the producers of an action film where they’ve accepted you to play the main antagonist. This meant that the first meeting will be in a few days time, cutting off your stay. 

“I would love to, but it’s just that,” Your hands clasped together. 

“That?” Luke picked up. Your twins beside him were listening attentively, curious.

Heavily sighing, “I got a meeting with a producer this weekend, meaning I need to head back in a few days.” Your view then switched to Stella. “This also means you have to come back with me.” 

As expected, she was quick to retort. “No! I don’t want to leave dad and Becks, not again.”

Rebecca was on the same plane with her. “I agree! Dad, do something please!”

Undoubtedly, he wanted to beg you to stay longer after everything, but work is work. A mantra you and he have followed ever since, and especially now as parents, it must be strictly applied if you want things between you to succeed. His mind has again overpowered his heart.

“Girls, I respect your mother’s priority of work, so since she has important work she needs to attend to, what she says goes.”

Half that statement he didn’t agree to, which was that if you left, there’s more deprivation of bonding time with Stella. He needed to catch up on everything she’s done, and Rebecca still needs to know her more. 

Another thing with you leaving you again is that he can’t mend things as properly as he desired to. He’s afraid to lose you again.

But it isn’t like you weren’t feeling the same way. You’ve missed Rebecca, wherein there was never missed a day to think about her. You could’ve reached out, but you never did. 

Then for Luke. Oh, Luke. 

Although work is an important aspect, it was another factor that deteriorated your marriage. With fame comes time consuming plans and activities that would limit your family time, especially since you both reside on opposite sides of the world. You can’t stay away from them for too long again. 

Then again, work is work. The girls grew cranky over it, like all their hard work was for nothing.

“I though you were on our side, dad.” 

“I lost Stella and mom once, dad. Who knows when we’ll see each other again?”  

On that note, they spontaneously left the scene of the discussion, going up the stairs with frowns and heavy hearts. You felt your heart drop too by their disappointment, investing your sight now on Luke, whom by the crooked grin he gave off, reciprocated the feeling.

“Fuck,” You groaned, returning to sit down at the couch and burying your face in your hands. “I’ve already failed this family.” 

Luke took upon himself to comfort you at your saddened state, putting aside him personal misery and sat right next to you, rubbing your back up and down. “They’ll come around eventually, they are 11 years old. And come on, hasn’t work always been a huge priority for us, love?” 

Love. He’s said it a few times throughout this trip, but now, it felt much stranger. You might’ve felt electrified it, but regardless. It’s just a title, right?

“It was when we were still married.” 

“But it’s more important now because we have the twins.” He affirmed. He had a point, and from where you stand when everything is crumbling down, you would accept any useful advice to help you. 

“You know what, you’re right. They must already understand how hard it can be to balance work and family. They are still equally important, but this job, I cannot simply turn it down because I’m meeting with other great actors. I can’t be disrespectful.”

“Well, there you go!” Luke praised, gladly patting your shoulder with your realization. “Why are you still so glum, love?”

There he goes again, and somehow you could feel much more comfortable around him to express more. His eyes were gleaming with concern, anticipating to listen. 

He’s always been a really good listener. He didn’t brush his hair that much either, but it still looks good on him. Curly hair has always suited him. Distinctly, he bit his lip whenever he is sad to see others feeling down because he always wanted everyone to be okay, and here he did. Though another reason he would bite his lip is he was turned on.

Luke hated seeing you like this, quietly mourning over being a failure so early in the restarting process of familyhood. It still haunts him that the both of you took one twin away, and now that they found each other, it forced you to talk and straighten things out in a flash. But you’re both still pained by the past, and it isn’t easy to simply open up to each other, especially now when you have different significant others. Well, Luke had. Though he knows Timmy has a high dislike for him, he’s there for the sake of his daughters. 

But with you, there is one thing he cannot stop thinking about: your happiness. If Timmy can make you happy in better ways, then so be it. After all, it’s all parental right. But he wouldn’t be lying if he didn’t find you beautiful during the premiere or gorgeous by the way your spectacles drooped to your nose when you were reading awhile ago. Not only that, he found it cute to find you focused on the book, the way your brows knitted when a certain chapter irritated you.

Wait, what was he thinking?

But hey, what were you thinking too? 

Snap out of it!

“(Y/N), you okay? You haven’t answered my question.” He shook his hand in front of your face while you were spacing out, and staring at him too. 

“I preferred love more than my name.”

“Oh sorry there. - I’m pretty bummed because I don’t want to mess things up again. I can’t lose Becks and you again for good.” You worried, not realizing how you were leaning closer to him. He took you by the wrists, clasping them together between his large hands. 

“You won’t, (Y/N). As much as I fear the same, there is no fucking way I’ll let it happen. We can work this out.” He promises, hoping for the best in the future. With wisdom comes intimacy, which is followed by the close proximity of your faces.

Specifically both your lips. 

You could’ve sworn he brought himself closer first, but habitually, you returned the gesture. Maybe some old habits don’t die too easily. 

His blue orbs were as beautiful as you’ve looked into them deeper, diving into his spell that you can’t resist like previously. He barely had any wrinkles on his face, though his eyebags got darker and his scruff is bushier. You could think of other things to describe his gorgeous physique.

The way you licked your lips, which is a sign of you being nervous or contemplating different choices in your head, got him wrapped around your finger. The short-lived grin you gave to show him that you accept his help was too precious, almost like he was falling for you all over again.

There was strong tension building up, but your self control was working stronger. Gaining personal respect towards each other these past weeks has led to respect towards your life decisions. There was no way either of you could blow this up. Nonetheless, you freely picture yourself wrapping your arm around his neck to pull nearer to get a taste of him. Just once and that’s it. 

Your mind is always the dominating party, why don’t you let your heart take charge for once? Besides, did you really mean by what you say, that it’s all parental? The white shirt that grew transparent from his sweat showcases his fit abdomen and his long neck was clean. Too clean.

You accidentally caught a glimpse of his tightened crotch on his chino shorts, the length of his member visibly seen on the side. If only you could give it a - okay self, what the actual.

Luke was too tempted to swoop under your waist and on to his lap where he let you straddle his waist with your legs. He can imagine you tugging on his locks and peppering his neck with short kisses, maybe sucking on his weak spot more deeply and roughly.

Shit, you were only wearing sleeping shorts, flowy and only up to your butt. If he just slide in his digits up inside your - fuck, stop right there! He jerked back first, trying to calm his dirty thoughts because he is no longer obliged to think that way anymore. You in the other hand moved away as well, rethinking on how stupid you were to do that. 

“Stop, self. Let him go. He has Sierra as his bride now.”

“No, Luke. You blew your chance, and she’s already happy with Timothée.” 

Left with your withering realizations, a ding sound echoed the area, alleviating the massive awkwardness that developed. Instantly checking who it belongs to, it was yours. 

[12:35 PM] Timmy Tim: Can we please talk?

Scoffing lightly, he still had the nerve to reach out to a wound that is still so fresh and stinging.

[12:38 PM] (Y/N) angel: Why? “I drunkenly cheated” isn’t big enough?

“Who is it, (Y/N)?” Luke shouted from behind, hearing the clashing of a few pans accidentally which made you giggle because he’s always been clumsy. At the same time, your phone dinged again. 

 [12:40 PM] Timmy Tim: Please (Y/N). I’m so sorry. 

 “Oh, just the same producer. - And oi, be careful! We don’t wanna to nearly burn the house down like before!”

“I’ll try!” 

Rolling your eyes because the short banter brought you back to the old days, he actually bought the half lie. As terrible as at is, you didn’t want to bring him to your personal relationship issues. The less people, the better. You try to distract yourself by rereading some of the chapter you were stuck at to get a better understanding of the plot, yet your mind kept on reflecting on Timmy. By his texts, you can vibe his sincerity although it was you who was the victim.

Ignorance from you is improbable since you preferred facing your dilemmas head on, and you couldn’t become a lie of your own words. Though there is pain, ignoring it prolongs it. It’s closure or nothing. Snatching your phone from the coffee table, you typed out your frustration. Only mildly, you call the time to express when you see him next. 

[12:55 PM] (Y/N) angel: Fine. Noon, the Café Sweetener near your hotel. Oh, and I’m sorry too, that I was too dense to not have realized sooner.

[talvin-muircastle]

ABC of Me

@misskatiegirl​ went and tagged me for this.  Ah, what the heck.  Let’s play.

A - Age: 44.  I turn 45 in August.  I’m old.

B - Biggest Fear: Not as bad as it used to be, but I am very freaked out in total darkness.  Thing is, I have both large pupils and large retinas, so “dark” is a rare thing for me.  I have excellent night vision (and despise bright light.  Hiss. Hiss.)  When I was 12 years old they took me down into a cave and turned out all the lights, and THAT is how I learned what total darkness looks like.  I do not like it.  I do not like it at all.

C - Current time: Sunday, May 7, 8:13 PM

D - Drink you last had: Scottish Whisky Tea.  It does not contain whisky, but it does come from Scotland, and it has malted barley in with the tea leaves.  I am inordinately fond of it for a guy who rarely touches real whisky.

E - Everyday starts with: Snap, Crackle, and Pop.  No, not the cereal: the body.

F - Favourite Song: Don Quixote by Gordon Lightfoot.  If I have a theme song, it’s this: (OK Tumblr moved it to the end.)

G - Ghosts, are they real?: Mmm…ambivalent, but I come down on the side of “probably not”.

H - Hometown: Philadelphia, PA.  City of Brotherly Love.  And Cheesesteaks.  And shitty sports teams.  And political corruption.  And pretzels.  And the Liberty Bell.  And the Pope came to visit.  So did the Democratic National Convention.  And the NFL Draft.  They keep closing off downtown.  Please leave us and the tourists in peace.  Have your National Security Event elsewhere next time.

I - In love with: @diannamuircastle​ now and forever.

J - Jealous of: My daughter’s skill with tools.  Any kind of tool.  Carpentry, knitting, crocheting, sewing: tools just fit naturally in her hand.  Love her for it, though.

K - Killed Someone: Not yet.

L - Last time you cried: Um…honestly, I can’t recall what brought it on.   There are days when I just want to hide under the covers, though.

M - Middle Name: No.  Just no.  I despise my middle name.

N - Number of Siblings: 1 older brother, we haven’t spoken in years.  I hope he is well.

O - One Wish: Impeach him already.

P - Person you last called/text: My daughter.  I was sending her a link to a YouTube Video.  

Q - Question you’re always asked: “W H Y?”  in reaction to a pun.

R - Reason to smile: Thinking about the answer to the previous question.

S - Song You Last sang: “All The Pretty Little Ponies”, singing along with Kenny Loggins.  Yes, it’s a lullaby.  I like it.

T - Time you woke up: First time was around 6 AM because that’s when we have to get up on weekdays.  Went back to sleep.

U - Underwear color: ….  White.   Why do you want to know this?

V - Vacation Destination: Mmm…I have never been out of the country.  New Zealand would be nice, but such a long flight.  Scotland, that would be awesome.  Even parts of Canada would be interesting.  

W - Worst Habit: I’m gonna go with the majority opinion here and say “Puns”

X - X-rays: Enough that it is actually a slight concern regarding radiation exposure.  I had LOTS of X-Rays of my pelvic region as a kid, because I was born without hipsockets.  8 surgeries, goodness knows how many X-Rays.  Also two broken arms (on different occasions) growing up.  One MRI on my lower back.

Y - Your favourite foods: Anything Mint, many things vanilla, I love a good gyro, and ham strombolis are nice, too.

Z - Zodiac Sign: Leo.  Roar.

[michaelgnomes]

Epistolary (Kind Of) - AHOT6

Epistolary - told through letters. Or, in this case, chat rooms, a brodate, and a New York City hotel room.

"It sounds nice," Gavin agrees, smiling contagiously. "You're my boi...friend, Michael. Boyfriend."

Minor Violence, Explicit Language

Words: 9,562 AO3

June 10

BrownMan: Dude, do you mind if I add someone for this game? MLP Michael: Not really -MM: If it’s another guy you met playing Halo I'll kill both of you

BrownMan has added GavinoFree to a chat.

BrownMan: Hey, man GavinoFree: We playing Halo again? MLP Michael: Ray -MM: I will fucking murder you GavinoFree: You're a pleasant fellow. You're Michael? MLP Michael: No shit. BrownMan: Ladies, you're both beautiful -BM: Halo? GavinoFree: Absolutely. MLP Michael: Fine, but no bullshit -MM: I'm calling you on it this time BrownMan is calling you...

Call ended 2:01 AM.

You have a contact request from GavinoFree. Contact request accepted.

June 12

GavinoFree: Do you lot want to play Halo? BrownMan: Give me ten minutes for lunch MLP Michael: You mean another grilled cheese? BrownMan: shut up you cant cook either -BM: typing with one hand hold on MLP Michael: I can cook more than grilled cheese. Macaroni and cheese takes skill GavinoFree: I'm having casserole for lunch in a bit. MLP Michael: In a bit? Isn't England like, six hours later than us or something? GavinoFree: I don't live in England. What gave you that idea? MLP Michael: Your accent, idiot GavinoFree: Nah, I moved to America a while back. I live with my boyfriends and their friend. BrownMan: Okay, done eating. You shitheads online? GavinoFree: I'll be there. MLP Michael: Give me a sec GavinoFree is calling you... MLP Michael: I said give me a sec, asshole GavinoFree is calling you...

Call ended 2:14 PM.

June 16

GavinoFree: Do you lot mind if my boyfriend plays a round with us? MLP Michael: He any good? GavinoFree: You could say that. BrownMan: I'm down, man MLP Michael: Sure, whatever GavinoFree: Call in a few minutes? MLP Michael: Fine

GavinoFree is calling you...

Call ended 3:15 AM.

You have a contact request from DG Geoff.

June 18

GavinoFree: Jack wants to play Halo with us. MLP Michael: Who the fuck is Jack GavinoFree: Geoff's boyfriend. He's great at Halo! He's wanted to play with us since Geoff played last time. MLP Michael: Us, or us? GavinoFree: All five of us. Are you in? BrownMan: Dude, I'm eating. Give me a minute -BM: Start the call without me GavinoFree is calling you...

Call ended 12:35 AM.

Contact request accepted.

You have a contact request from JackP. Contact request accepted.

June 21

GavinoFree has added you and three other people to a chat.

GavinoFree: We needed a group. You lot keep using me to talk to each other. DG Geoff: You were convenient MLP Michael: I have enough to pay fucking attention to with our group chat, christ JackP: Hey, guys! BrownMan: I'm just trying to eat a sandwich, man DG Geoff: Are you always fucking eating? MLP Michael: Usually it's pizza GavinoFree: Ray, you should try Geoff's cooking. JackP: I'm wounded, Gavin. GavinoFree: I love your cooking, Jack, but have you tried Geoff's alfredo sauce? DG Geoff: I'll make all you babies alfredo sauce if you shut the fuck up GavinoFree: Right now? For dinner? JackP: That's a great plan. DG Geoff: Fuck off. We're having Chinese for dinner and you know it GavinoFree: I love you, Geoffrey :) MLP Michael: Jesus, get a room DG Geoff: You got a problem? MLP Michael: Dude, Gavin talks about you guys all the time. I hear enough about your sex life without experiencing it, thanks BrownMan: No homo MLP Michael: Thanks, Ray BrownMan: No problem DG Geoff: I thg -DG: Hold on JackP: While they're arguing, I’m just going to ask -JP: Are you a homophobe, Michael? MLP Michael: Fuck no, dude. I'm bi as shit. BrownMan: didnt bat an eye when Gavin started talking about living with his boyfriends. Hes cool DG Geoff: Fucking crust -DG: Chrudt* -DG: Whatever. You're cool, dude? MLP Michael: A little offended you assumed I hate gay people, but cool, sure DG Geoff: What did you want me to assume? MLP Michael: Give me the benefit of the doubt, maybe. I don't know, man GavinoFree: It doesn't matter, you mingesausages. MLP Michael: What the fuck BrownMan: Let's just agree to be gay and forget about it DG Geoff: Sounds like a plan. GavinoFree: Halo tonight? JackP: Ryan will be home. He's been wondering who you guys are. BrownMan: I'm not ready to meet your scary boyfriend GavinoFree: He's not scary! JackP: He's a nerd. DG Geoff: And he probably isn't our boyfriend. MLP Michael: "Probably" DG Geoff: Yeah, whatever. Halo after dinner? BrownMan: Hit me up MLP Michael: Sure

JackP: You guys ready? MLP Michael: I can be BrownMan: I am GavinoFree: Call? JackP is calling you...

Call ended 1:09 AM.

June 22

Gavino Free has added BM Vagabond to a chat.

You have a contact request from BM Vagabond. Contact request accepted.

BM Vagabond: Do I have everyone? MLP Michael: I can't believe you made an account for this shit, dude BM Vagabond: It's a little important if we're going to meet up at some point. MLP Michael: Geoff was serious about that? -MM: He was drunk JackP: Geoff drinks a lot. BrownMan: We can tell GavinoFree: We could meet up halfway? Where do you lot live? BrownMan: New York. MLP Michael: New Jersey JackP: We could meet up in Georgia, bring Ryan back to his roots :) BM Vagabond: Don't you dare. -BV: Geoff's up. Incoming, Jack. -BV: Wouldn’t halfway be somewhere in Tennessee? DG Geoff: Not the greatest place for a meetup of a bunch of dudes who are gay as dicks BM Vagabond: Ignoring the blatant inaccuracies of that statement, neither is Georgia. DG Geoff: Looks like everything between us is the south, if you know what I mean. MLP Michael: Yeah, that’s pretty shit GavinoFree: Plane tickets? BrownMan: Hey, man, I work at GameStop GavinoFree: No, for us, you donut. Geoff? JackP: I don’t see why not :) BM Vagabond: It could be done. DG Geoff: Call? DG Geoff is calling you…

Call ended 4:20 PM. BrownMan: Blaze it

June 24

DG Geoff: Halo tonight? MLP Michael: Something else we can play? GavinoFree: Do you have Minecraft? BrownMan: No Minecraft. I’m never playing that game again. DG Geoff: Left 4 Dead? MLP Michael: Sounds good to me BrownMan: Sure, man

DG Geoff is calling you…

Call ended 12:09 AM.

June 26

GavinoFree: Less than a month until we visit! BM Vagabond: We all know you’re only going to frolic in the park with the ducks, Gavin. JackP: And only you would use the word “frolic” to describe anything Gavin does, Ryan. MLP Michael: Is he making the bird noises yet? DG Geoff: Oh yeah.

BM Vagabond: Left 4 Dead after lunch? BrownMan: I’m down MLP Michael: I’ve got nothing better to do BM Vagabond: I’ll take that as a yes, then.

BM Vagabond is calling you…

Call ended 7:18 PM.

June 27

BrownMan: Dude, do you have the fourth off? MLP Michael: For once in my life, yeah BrownMan: Brodate v2? MLP Michael: Fuck yeah, dude. I’ll be there at eleven

July 4

“Alright, fuck you,” Michael says as some dude in douchebag sunglasses bumps into him.

“Maybe later,” Ray replies without looking back. Michael can hear his grin. “You going to piss off the employees again?”

“When have I not pissed off the employees?” Michael scoffs, following as closely as he can without getting in Ray’s personal space. Okay, maybe a little bit in his personal space. He’s not interested in getting lost in Times Square.

“That’s fair,” Ray concedes, sparing a glance over his shoulder. “Dude. You act like you’ve never been here before.”

Michael happens to cast his glare in Ray’s direction. “You’re a piece of shit.”

Ray shakes his head, slowing a little to walk at Michael’s side. “Man, I think it’s brodate time.”

“Fuck yeah, brodate number two,” Michael replies with a mischievous grin, slinging an arm around Ray’s shoulders. They pass a Five Guys and walk through the doors of Dave and Buster’s, and they’re waiting for their food when Michael decides to check the group chat.

MLP Michael: Hey Gavin, you’re from England, right? Happy Independence Day, bitch GavinoFree: Happy birthday, you American prick. JackP: You guys should have come to the cookout. Gavin pushed a guy in American flag trunks into the pool. GavinoFree: He bumped into me! MLP Michael: I bet he had his phone in his pocket. That’s a low blow, boi BrownMan: Fuckin merked. BM Vagabond: Everything’s still fine for us to visit on the twenty-fouth, right? BrownMan: We’re not going anywhere, man DG Geoff: Yeah, where the fuck are you guys? You missed some quality Gavin. MLP Michael: Ray and I went on a brodate instead of going to your lame cookout. BrownMan: Pics or it didn’t happen (You have attached a photo.) GavinoFree: What the hell Mikey? You didn’t tell us you’re cute! MLP Michael: Okay, first of all, never call me that again -MM: Second of all, have we seriously never sent anything in this group? BM Vagabond: Looks like Michael and Ray have been holding out on us. DG Geoff: u JackP: I think Geoff needs a drink. DG Geoff: Fuck you, Jack -DG: HORSE tomorrow? BrownMan: I’ve got work until four. MLP Michael: I have work until six, but I’ll see what I can do

July 5

JackP: You guys home? BrownMan: I’m having dinner, but I’ll be done in a few. MLP Michael: I’m fucking beat, man. I might sit this one out GavinoFree: Please, Michael? You could just join the call. MLP Michael: I can hear it from here, Christ -MM: Fine. Give me ten minutes to get my shit together

DG Geoff is calling you… Call ended 2:01 AM.

July 11

DG Geoff has attached a photo. MLP Michael: FUCK -MM: SAVING THAT SHIT FOR BLACKMAIL BrownMan: I think he’s actually a pretzel. Michael is his salt BM Vagabond: He’s the salt to Gavin’s pretzel? MLP Michael: Fuck you guys JackP: Geoff, he’s going to kill you when he wakes up. DG Geoff: Not if I delete the photo first. -DG: I’d like to see him try, anyway.

GavinoFree: WHAT DID HE SEND MLP Michael: Gavin, you even sleep like an idiot. DG Geoff: MICHAEL JackP: He’s fending him off with a broom. This is impressive. (JackP has attached a photo.) BM Vagabond: It isn’t working very well. (BM Vagabond has attached a photo.) BrownMan: Come on, guys, not all at once. MLP Michael: We were holding out on you? What the fuck is this shit? BrownMan: Also, Michael likes tattoos MLP Michael: Fuck off, Ray JackP: We’ll let you know if he lives.

July 12

BM Vagabond: Best bars in New York City. Go. MLP Michael: Who you fuckin asking, dude? Ray doesn’t drink BM Vagabond: Alright, noted. Best restaurants in New York City that serve alcohol? BrownMan: Is this about Geoff? GavinoFree: He can’t go a day without a glass. Rubbish. BrownMan: Alright, well there’s this great fuckin tavern place called Radegast Hall that’s called a beer garden or some shit. MLP Michael: Biergarden, Ray -MM: Barcelona Bar does some fancy shit with fire, too -MM: Maybe it isn’t a good idea to bring Gavin to that one GavinoFree: I’ll have you know I can behave myself around fire. MLP Michael: Yeah, but the temptation to light you on fire will be real BM Vagabond: He looks absolutely stunned. MLP Michael: Serves him right. He shouldn’t have pushed that unsuspecting American into the pool on his birthday GavinoFree: America’s birthday! MLP Michael: Whatever, man, I don’t make the rules BrownMan: Ladies, you’re both beautiful. MLP Michael: Didn’t we do this already? BrownMan: Halo? MLP Michael: Fuck you -MM: I’m down for a few rounds GavinoFree: Count me in. BM Vagabond: I’m going to sit this one out, guys, since I’m in the middle of planning, but I’m sure I’ll be able to hear you murdering Gavin from here. GavinoFree is calling you…

Call ended 10:13 PM.

July 15

DG Geoff: Ten days, boys. Are you ready? BrownMan: My anus is ready. MLP Michael: Do I have to? GavinoFree: You get days off to see us, Michael! MLP Michael: I could totally just stay home and play Ratchet and Clank and eat pizza, dude BrownMan: I’ll give you everything in my wallet for a piece of pizza. MLP Michael: Keep your lint to yourself -MM: But maybe I’ll be over later if I can catch the train GavinoFree: No fair. You get to see each other all the bloody time :( MLP Michael: Yeah, and all four of you guys live together. Definitely not fair JackP: Point taken. DG Geoff: Well the tall guys have to stick together. MLP Michael: Alright, fuck you GavinoFree: Michael is offline? -GF: Michael? BrownMan: Geoff, I think he’s walking to Austin to strangle you. -BM: He’ll get distracted by your tattoos, though, don’t worry about it MLP Michael: You guys are shitheads DG Geoff: Lovable shitheads. MLP Michael: Well, maybe Jack GavinoFree: Michael, boi. Michael. MLP Michael: Gavin. GavinoFree: How come you make Jack smile but you never say you love me, boi? MLP Michael: I said he’s lovable, Gavin, he’s a fucking teddy bear with a murderous streak -MM: You’re my boi, though BrownMan: No homo DG Geoff: You guys should get your own hotel room, instead. Jack, Ryan, and I will keep the suite for ourselves. GavinoFree: We can have teams! DG Geoff: Not this shit again. GavinoFree: Michael! We can be Team Nice Dynamite because I’m nice and you’re a prick! BrownMan: Impressive. JackP: Everyone ends up with team names eventually. I’m surprised it’s taken him this long. DG Geoff: Don’t worry, it only gets worse. -DG: Michael, you could actually stay in the hotel room with us. MLP Michael: Just thinking about that feels like super intruding, dude GavinoFree: No, Michael, we wouldn’t mind! JackP: We sleep in the same bed all the time anyways. Ryan’s the only one who doesn’t always, and that’s because he doesn’t sleep. DG Geoff: The fucker. JackP: Even if Ryan wants to take the other bed, there’s a pullout. MLP Michael: Have you been plotting this? JackP: Absolutely not. GavinoFree: Yes! BM Vagabond: We wouldn’t mind, Michael, and you wouldn’t have to take the train in every day. DG Geoff: Yeah, make our lives easier. JackP: And we would feel better, honestly. The thought of you getting into an accident trying to get into the city every day to see us isn’t a good one. MLP Michael: I can take care of myself. BM Vagabond: We know. -BV: Sometimes you should let other people take care of you, too. MLP Michael: This is fucked -MM: Fine GavinoFree: Michael boi, you should come meet us at the airport, then! BrownMan: Bring a sign that says “welcome, dick patrol” MLP Michael: Wouldn’t that just make getting to your hotel harder? BM Vagabond: We’ll have to take two taxis anyways. Gavin doesn’t know the meaning of “We’re only staying for three days, pack lightly.” MLP Michael: Sure, I guess -MM: Shit, that means I have to pack BM Vagabond: It wouldn’t hurt to bring something slightly formal, if you know what I mean. MLP Michael: Ryan, I own a single polo shirt. That’s the best you’re going to get BrownMan: He refuses to wear it even on our brodates. Good luck, dude. JackP: Wow, Michael, you’re even holding out on Ray? MLP Michael: Fuck off. I’ll wear the fucking shirt BM Vagabond: :)

July 17

GavinoFree: You lot have time for Halo tonight? MLP Michael: Hell yeah, dude. It’s been a while BrownMan: I’m down GavinoFree: We might have everyone home, so it should be a party! MLP Michael: I’m not sure that’s a good thing GavinoFree: I’ll message you when we’re ready :)

BM Vagabond: I don’t think Gavin will be playing tonight. He’s had some drinks and is not very coherent. DG Geoff: We totally can, though. Fuck that dude. MLP Michael: I mean, sure BrownMan: I’ll join the call when I’m done with my pizza. DG Geoff is calling you…

Call ended 11:53 PM.

July 21

JackP: Michael, have you packed, yet? BrownMan: He hasn’t started yet, I can guarantee it BM Vagabond: Good. I was about to send him a packing list. DG Geoff: Ryan, man, you need to calm down. -DG: I’m sure he knows how to pack a bag. BrownMan: I mean, it wouldn’t hurt for the extra stuff. He isn’t a social dude -BM: Also wouldn’t hurt to tell him what your plans are for the trip, because he’s not really into surprises. JackP: He seems pretty social to me. Does he just not like strangers? BrownMan: You caught him playing Halo. The only way to get close to Michael is to harass him until he yells at you, then make fun of him for it MLP Michael: That’s not true. I also like that cute waitress at the diner across from work because she’s an asshole BrownMan: She called you a pansy for ordering your eggs well done and said you’re an asshole for drinking three cups of coffee in one breakfast MLP Michael: Yeah, but she was a good guy about it DG Geoff: I don’t see how this is any different from Halo. MLP Michael: Shut up Geoff (JackP has attached a photo.) MLP Michael: Oh shit you’re in a suit BrownMan: That’s hot. JackP: We’re going out for fancy dinner as soon as Gavin is done fighting Ryan about a tie. MLP Michael: I like that even though you’re in a fancy sweater, you still have your sleeves rolled up, Geoff DG Geoff: You would ;) BrownMan: Wow, called out -BM: You clean up nice too, Jack JackP: Thank you, Ray. -JP: I think Gavin’s stopped whining. Ryan’s still yelling, but he doesn’t sound as tired. (GavinoFree has attached a photo.) MLP Michael: Gavin in a suit. Not something I thought I’d ever see GavinoFree: You like what you see, boi? MLP Michael: I’d still strangle you GavinoFree: :( BM Vagabond: Alright, Michael, I’ve emailed you a packing list so you can take a look while we’re out. I’ll answer any questions you have tonight. MLP Michael: Will do, man DG Geoff: If we don’t come home and immediately fall asleep, we’ll probably talk to you guys later. BrownMan: Use a condom, kids

July 24

GavinoFree: MICHAEL -GF: MICHAEL WAKE UP -GF: MICHAEL BOI MLP Michael: What the fuck? GavinoFree: ARE YOU PACKED? MLP Michael: I can’t believe you woke me up for this shit. I packed yesterday GavinoFree: HAPPY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY BOI DG Geoff: SURPRISE BITCH WE’RE GETTING ON A PLANE TODAY MLP Michael: What the fuck -MM: I HAVE WORK UNTIL TWO JackP: We know. Our plane gets in at four :) MLP Michael: You guys are dicks -MM: How long have you been planning to show up a day early? DG Geoff: Since we found out today is your birthday. JackP: We did actually plan on the twenty-fifth until Gavin happened to ask you when your birthday is and Ray told him, and we decided to make it a surprise. MLP Michael: Does Ray know you guys are showing up today? GavinoFree: He’s known the whole time :) DG Geoff: We’ve been corresponding with him for a while. Had a hard time not telling you, actually. Didn’t tell us you don’t like surprises until like two days ago, so, surprise. MLP Michael: Scratch that, you guys are dickheads JackP: Happy birthday, Michael. MLP Michael: Thanks, Jack -MM: I need to get ready for work. I’ll see you guys later GavinoFree: Literally :)

BM Vagabond: Wear your fancy polo here, Michael. DG Geoff: You’ll know it’s us. Just look for Gavin’s outfit. (DG Geoff has attached a photo.)

MLP Michael: I’m going home to change and grab my bag, then I’ll get on the 2:30 train. I should be there early, but who the fuck knows -MM: Pink shorts, Gavin, really?

GavinoFree: Shut up, you sausage. JackP: We’re off the plane, obviously. We’ll get our luggage and meet you out there.

Michael pockets his phone when no other messages come, adjusting the bag on his shoulder with one hand and wiping the sweat on the other on his jeans. He’s definitely not nervous.

Them springing this on him hadn’t really given him the time he’d counted on to come to terms with them visiting.

It’s a long-awaited visit, yeah, but since the incident this winter, he hasn’t been comfortable in the city, and he clearly isn’t going to start now. He manages to almost forget this as they walk through the automatic doors in all their glory, and bends down to pick up the shitty sign he’s made. It reads “Welcome back from rehab!" and he holds it up with a proud grin.

Geoff leads them in, but Gavin decides to sprint across the room as soon as he spots Michael. Michael is not prepared for Gavin to drop the suitcase he’s rolling and leap to wrap around him, but he manages to remain standing by dropping the sign and his bag and settling a stabilizing hand at Gavin’s waist.

“Enthusiastic, Gavin?” Michael asks, grinning despite himself. His new leech leans back a little to smile.

“We’re here, Michael!” Yes, he is certainly enthusiastic. “It’s bloody brilliant!”

“I need to take a shit,” Geoff announces as the remaining three catch up to Gavin, rolling his bag to a stop beside Michael and walking off toward the restrooms. One of the bags Ryan is rolling matches Gavin’s. It probably is Gavin’s.

“What a greeting,” Michael grins, not realizing he’s still holding onto Gavin until he’s pulling away to pout at Ryan.

“Can I give it to him now?”

“The airport probably isn’t the best place to fuck me in the ass, Gavin,” Michael says, still grinning. It isn’t real yet that they’re here, but he’s relaxed a fucking lot regardless...staying in the city for three nights might not be so bad. He trusts these guys a little more than he probably should, granted, but that’s still a trust he thinks he can count on.

“Wait until we’re at the hotel, Gavin, we talked about this,” Ryan replies, but it isn’t as sternly as he would clearly like it to sound. He’s smiling, too, and it isn’t because Gavin is complaining at him. They’re all clearly a little giddy about being here.

“Is Ray meeting us there?” Michael asks as Gavin turns back to him and slumps dramatically against his shoulder. Michael pats his back in mock reassurance.

“Yeah, he’s meeting us at the hotel, and we’re walking from there,” Jack replies before Ryan can, which earns him an arched eyebrow. “He said it would be easier than trying to meet at the restaurant.”

Michael nods as Geoff emerges from the bathroom, hands in his pockets. “Probably. Where’s your hotel?”

“Your hotel, too, Michael,” Gavin mumbles into his shoulder. He ignores him.

“The Hilton in Times Square,” Ryan supplies. “Where we’re eating is supposed to be a surprise, but…”

“I think we can spare him that much,” Jack argues as Geoff finally reaches Michael and slings an arm over the shoulder not already occupied by Gavin.

“We’re eating at The View, kid,” Geoff offers casually.

“Are you all brain surgeons, or something?” Michael asks, regarding them with suspicion. The Hilton, aside from being in, you know, Times Square, is a four-star hotel so it can’t exactly be cheap, and Michael knows for a fact The View is not cheap in any sense of the word. It’s a fucking spinning restaurant on the forty-eighth floor with four dollar signs in its Google listing.

It’d been obvious they have money, but what the fuck?

“Something like that,” Jack chuckles, and no one makes an attempt to explain further, so Michael bends down to pick up his bag. Gavin, having all of his weight on Michael, nearly takes a nice tumble, but catches himself before he can faceplant.

Geoff picks up the sign with a grin and says, “You made this, Michael? You’re so sweet.”

“I know,” he replies with an innocent smile. “You don’t deserve me.”

After stuffing their luggage into the trunks of two taxis, Gavin drags Michael into one of them with Ryan and proceeds to ask him very personal questions for the duration of the ride to the hotel, which is unfortunately at least half an hour. He manages to deflect most of them, and in the process learns that Ryan used to be a model, much to the chagrin of Ryan himself.

Pulling up to the hotel brings a flurry of “get your bags, we have to check in,” and “which floor is the room on,” and “someone message Ray,” and Michael welcomes the distraction. He pulls out his phone to send a message in the group chat as he walks, hoping watching Gavin’s bag in front of him will keep him from crashing into anything.

MLP Michael: They didn’t die on the plane. We’re at the hotel, room 4004 BrownMan: I’ll leave now.

A round of cheers go up as Jack cards the door open, and they all file into the lounge room of the suite, then disperse to find places for their shit. Ryan, always the gentleman, opens the door into the other room for Michael. The furniture looks comfortable enough, and Michael takes note of the coffee table he’ll have to move to pull the couch out into a bed in case he drinks a little too much at dinner.

Gavin’s just flopped down on top of Geoff on the couch when someone knocks on the door. Michael, being closest, opens it to find Ray on the other side.

“Hey, man,” he says, greeting him with a fist bump and stepping back to let him into the room. “That was fast.”

“I was ready to go for once,” he replies as he steps into the lounge and Michael closes the door. He takes in the room. “This is fucking weird. Are you sure this is real?”

Jack chuckles. “Yeah, I don’t think we’re actually here, either.”

“It hasn’t felt real since we got on the plane. Reckon it won’t for a long while,” Gavin pipes up. “Is it weird that we’ve only known each other for a month?”

Michael shares a glance with Ray. “It is for me, but only because I trust you guys way more than I should…it kind of isn’t a bad thing.”

Geoff looks like he wants to ruffle Michael’s hair, something close to affection in his voice. “We were worried you didn’t feel comfortable with us visiting, at first. You never sounded all that excited when we talked about it in calls, and when it first got brought up, you ignored it, but…I’m glad we’re here.”

“I'm glad you're here, now,” Michael replies as Geoff pushes Gavin from his lap and stands up.

“We need to get changed,” Ryan says as if he’s read Geoff’s mind, pushing off the desk he’s been leaning on. “Reservation’s at five-thirty. If you hear Gavin screaming, ignore him.”

Walking Times Square surrounded by a bunch of dudes in business casual is a little weird, and Michael feels like a few more people are staring at the group of six, many of whom are laughing boisterously at a joke Ray made, than he’s used to. He would’ve spared them a second glance, too – the ones who actually bothered look nice as hell – but being on the receiving end isn’t great, especially as his fashion choices aren’t exactly up to par compared to the rest of his group. He doesn’t give a shit about how he looks, but being stared at isn’t exactly on his to-do list.

Dinner is fucking great. Michael studiously does not look at the price of the three-course meal, and is certain he doesn’t want to look at the check based on how much of a tip Geoff leaves. They leave the restaurant – which is a bit disorienting, considering it’s spun about three-quarters of the way around since they’d arrived – laughing and for Michael, maybe a little tipsy. Geoff had ordered two bottles with complicated names from the wine menu, and most of them hadn’t hesitated to drink wine beside whatever other drinks they ordered. Ray, being the only one who hasn’t had any alcohol tonight, is probably high on the mood of the rest of the group.

“Ray, do you want to stay here tonight?” Jack asks once they’re back in the hotel room and almost quiet enough not to be heard by patrons in the neighboring suites. “I don't want you walking back in the dark even if you've done it before. We have plenty of room.”

He seems to consider it for a moment before nodding. “I’ll need to go home tomorrow to get shit, obviously, but sounds good to me.”

“Good,” Gavin says, suddenly very animated compared to his lazy couch posture. He looks to Michael, who is leaning against the counter of the kitchenette, then to Ryan. “Now can I give it to him?”

“I mean, you did take me out to dinner first,” Michael replies. “I think I’ll allow it.”

“Go ahead, Gavin,” Ryan says, grinning as Gavin propels himself from the couch into their bedroom. The sound of rustling as he obviously looks for something starts up soon enough.

“He getting the lube?” Ray deadpans, and Michael grins as Gavin bounds back into the lounge room to thrust a wrapped something into his hands.

“Is this a present?” Michael asks, frowning. “Christ, you guys bought plane tickets and dinner. I don’t need this shit, too.”

“It’s too late,” Geoff replies gleefully. “We already have presents and you’re going to like them.”

“Open it, Michael!” Gavin insists before he can complain some more. With a sigh, he rips the wrapping paper from the object and lets it unfold. A very red shirt with dynamite and a happy face on it peers back at him. It’s cute.

“Team Nice Dynamite, boi?” Michael asks, smiling at Gavin over the shirt.

“Team Nice Dynamite,” Gavin replies with a very excited grin, then turns to Geoff.

“Yours next?”

“Sure, buddy,” Geoff replies and Gavin’s gone again, back to the bedroom to retrieve whatever Geoff’s got for Michael. He has a feeling it’s going to be some shitty gag gift, like a giant whoopee cushion he will immediately use on Gavin.

By the time he’s done opening gifts like a “World’s Greatest Asshole” mug from Geoff and trying to smother Gavin with a ball of wrapping paper, Michael is no longer tipsy and is surprisingly tired instead. Obviously someone can tell, because Jack decides it’s time for him to go to bed in the other bedroom. Michael isn’t quite sure how it happens, maybe he’d asked him or maybe he hadn’t given him a choice, but Ray is laying under the comforter with him when he realizes where he is.

“I really like them,” Michael says, half-yawning. He shuts his eyes and tries not to fall asleep right away. He doesn’t succeed for very long.

“Me too, man,” Ray says, and Michael is asleep long asleep before he can hear what he says next. “I think they like us, too.”

July 25

They start the next day by sleeping in until noon. Well, not Ryan, they find as they enter the lounge to see him sitting at the desk, writing something, but the rest of the suite’s inhabitants are still asleep when they get that far at eleven-thirty. Ryan steps into the bedroom to wake them up at noon, saying “We have to leave in forty-five minutes, you’d better be up in five minutes or I’m leaving you here.”

Geoff emerges from the bedroom as Gavin rushes into the bathroom almost five minutes later. Jack enters the lounge and claims an armchair soon after that. By the time Gavin is done fucking with his hair and Geoff has finished his first beer of the day, Ryan is ushering them out the door.

“We’re going to Ray’s so he can get his shit, like we talked about last night, then we’ll get lunch, then we’ll go to the thing,” Ryan says as they step into an elevator. Michael has no memory of this discussion Ryan claims happened, but he brushes it off in favor of asking what “the thing” means.

“Sorry, Michael,” Ryan replies, not looking sorry at all. “This one is staying a secret.”

It turns out, Michael realizes as they leave Ray’s favorite pizzeria and make their way toward Hell’s Kitchen and Broadway, they are going to see a show. What the fuck show it is, he has no idea, but of course Ryan would have planned for one. They’re in New York City. They’re going to want to see something on Broadway.

They end up listening to Ryan describe his interest in musical theater in high school, and how a show had come out that he never got a chance to see because a trip to New York was just never in the plans, and how they’re bringing it back for a Broadway revival for a few months and this trip has fallen in the right spot for it, so forgive him for indulging himself and getting tickets for this musical.

Michael doesn’t care what they see, but he does like listening to Ryan talk about it. Whether that’s because he’s learning about his past or because his voice has a nice timbre, Michael doesn’t know, but he’s fine with it either way.

It’s when Geoff suggests they go to that biergarden Ray had mentioned for dinner that Michael gets nervous. If Geoff starts drinking now, well, that will definitely lead to Geoff drinking more later. Hopefully that will be in the hotel room instead of a dive, he thinks as the hostess seats them beneath a stone archway. Lunch goes well until Geoff says, “So, where was that bar you mentioned, Michael?”

When he’d supplied them with a location almost two weeks ago he hadn’t thought he’d be going with them. He could just head home early if they decided to head off to a bar and they would be none the wiser, but this situation had not crossed his mind when Geoff asked him to stay in the hotel room with them, and that mistake sure chose a great time to rear its ugly head.

Okay, time to make a stupid decision, he thinks as Ray touches his elbow. Michael isn’t going to keep them from going to the bar, and if he says he wants to go back to the hotel, someone will definitely come with him if not all of them, so he says, “Uh, eighth and fifty-fourth. We’d have to take taxis.” It’s not like he’s going to run into the guy at six PM on a Wednesday. He’s just being a paranoid piece of shit.

They finish their dinner and hail taxis. Michael rides with Geoff and Jack this time, and they’re walking through the front door of the bar by the time the other taxi pulls up to the curb.

Michael’s heart starts beating a little faster as Geoff’s tattooed hand pulls the door open, and he thinks he’ll be fine as soon as he’s inside, but it gets so much worse. I just won’t breathe, he decides, knowing it’s not a good way to deal with this issue and that he really should bring it up, but nothing’s actually gone wrong yet.

They get their drinks, Gavin ordering a Harry Potter shot when Michael says that’s the one that involves fire. It really is a spectacle, he remembers as the bartender wraps a Gryffindor scarf around her neck and begins shouting about spells, but he’s seen it before, so his gaze wanders.

When he sees the familiar figure enter the bar, his only thought is fuck, he found me.

His second thought is that yeah, he found you, but it’s not like he’s been looking for you for six months. He was drunk enough he probably doesn’t even remember the fight.

His third thought, as another guy steps through the door behind him, is holy shit his friend is with him I’m going to die.

Michael breaks away from the group currently fascinated with the shots that are on fire to blend into the crowd, and it isn’t hard considering how many people are there to observe what the bartender is doing, but there aren’t enough people there at six PM on a Wednesday to hide him completely from the door. Ray, being at the back of their group with Michael is the only one who notices him leave with a questioning call of his name, but he hears someone growl “Michael,” from the doorway, and he knows it isn’t one of his friends.

He quickens his pace toward the back of the bar, knowing he’s already made a slew of bad decisions and it can only go downhill from here, and knowing the guy will recognize him wherever he is in the crowd. There’s nowhere for him to go, and he knows that, too, but he keeps going to give himself some time, leaning in toward the bar and attempting to flag down a spare bartender. Unfortunately, both of them are occupied.

“Michael,” the man breathes down his neck, grabbing his shoulder in a vice-like grip to pull him away from the bar counter. The music is loud enough that he can barely tell what the guy is saying. Michael is briefly glad Ray didn’t follow him as he’s pulled farther back in the darkness of the very rear of the bar to be pinned against the wall. He casts his gaze toward the front of the bar for just a moment, but he can’t even see Ryan or Jack through the bodies despite the light filtering through the storefront window. “We have unfinished business.”

“Who are you again? Fred?” Michael sneers. He knows he’s in a bad spot, but he also knows this guy is both a bad fighter and way too arrogant for his own good. If he can get him fired up, he has a better chance of getting him sloppy and getting out of this encounter unharmed. “You still paying someone else to fight for you? I thought you learned your lesson in January.”

“Unharmed” might have been a little preemptive, because the guy’s grip on his shoulders tightens painfully.

“David. I was wasted then,” he replies, smile a little too wide for Michael’s liking. “Nothing to stop me now.”

Michael ducks out of the way when the guy lifts a fist to box in his ear, having been temporarily distracted trying to make sure no one he knows followed them back here. He’s pretty sure the only one who could take them on is Geoff, and Geoff had been three shots deep last time Michael had seen him. Unfortunately, he’s his own best chance.

He springs back up to land a solid uppercut to David’s jaw, and it sends the guy reeling back in surprised pain. His friend doesn’t make a move on Michael, only grabbing the guy’s arm to keep him on his feet. Michael doesn’t make an attempt to escape. He knows it’s now or never.

The guy rushes back toward him, seemingly recovered, but so does his friend, eyes locked on Michael. Guy takes advantage of his distraction to take a swipe at him, but Michael focuses on him, grabbing his arm mid-swing and twisting it at what must be a painful angle. Guy tries to pull away, grimacing, but Michael pulls him a step closer to break his nose with the heel of his hand. David stumbles back with a gasp and looks to his friend, who advances toward Michael.

Now that the weaker guy’s had enough, it’s time for a real challenge. This guy Michael knows for a fact can fight - he’d beaten Michael’s ass when he won a fight against David in this bar six months ago. Michael has enough violent encounters under his belt to beat someone like broken-nose guy easily, but, unfortunately, he’s a little out of practice, and the way this guy immediately steps toward him to punch his eye in surprises him. He takes a stabilizing step back, unwilling to end up on his ass in front of friend guy, and winces through the pain. That’s going to look nasty, he decides.

He doesn’t know where to go from there. He and friend guy are sizing each other up, Michael knowing this guy will just counter whatever he does next and friend guy probably deciding what to aim for next, but stalemates are never good in a fight. They lead to poorly executed swings and awkward footing.

Fuck it, he thinks, moving in when the moment is at its worst to take the guy by surprise, hitting him in the solar plexus to knock the wind out of him. It only works halfway, almost stunning him for a few seconds, but it gives Michael the advantage he needs to land a solid hit on his ear, where it won’t leave lasting damage but it hurts like a bitch. He’s about to break this guy’s nose, too, when David lands a solid one to his ribs and he stumbles to the side, pushing away from the chairs to end up closer to the wall. David’s contribution gives his friend a chance to recover, and soon he’s pinning Michael painfully against the wall, fist in the air. He’s clearly about to do something with it when someone grabs his wrist and rips him away from the wall, practically throwing the guy into the chairs that aren’t really lined up against the bar anymore.

“Michael,” someone says, stepping in front of him and resting their hands on his face. “Are you good?”

Michael’s tunnel vision on friend guy dissolves to focus on Ray standing in front of him as Ryan holds the guy at a distance in the background, having clearly rescued him from a severe beating at Geoff’s mercy. Geoff is standing beside him, arms crossed and rage in his eyes as he says something to him. Ray pats Michael's face.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he says weakly, clears his throat and says, “I’m glad you didn’t try to follow me.”

“I knew you left, but I just assumed you were going to find the other bartender or something,” Ray shakes his head. “You didn’t come back, and, well, I asked if anyone could see you in the crowd after a while, but…I didn’t see these guys until it was too late, so here we are.”

“It’s fine, Ray,” Michael smiles weakly at him. “It was going to happen eventually.”

“What was going to happen eventually?” Jack asks sternly, having appeared in the space between Ray and friend guy. Michael can’t see Geoff anymore, but it doesn’t really matter, because as soon as Michael‘s gaze moves past Jack he says, “Look at me, Michael.”

“It’s not really a long story, but I’d rather tell it back in the hotel room,” Michael says. “Can we find a pharmacy and get an ice pack?”

“Michael!” Gavin appears at the edge of the small clearing in the crowd. Everyone clearly knows what just happened and is happy to ignore the spectacle. It’s hard to tell if the bartenders even noticed. “Are you alright, boi?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replies with mock bravado. “Just a little beat up. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Yeah, well, I was going to beat up your friend until Ryan convinced me not to get arrested,” Geoff grumbles, also appearing from the crowd. He and Ryan must have hauled the guys out to the street. His gaze takes on a much softer edge as he takes in Michael’s stance - he must look disheveled as shit. “Why was a sober guy trying to fight you in the back of a bar?”

“I’ll tell you back at the hotel,” Michael sighs. “Now can I get an ice pack somewhere so I don’t have to go back to work with a bright purple eye?”

Thankfully, they do not treat him like he is made of glass during the taxi ride back to the hotel, but he does get stuck between Ray and Gavin, so it wouldn’t really have been possible between Gavin’s nonexistent sense of personal space and Ray having known him long enough to figure out he hates being pitied. As soon as they enter the hotel room, however, it is a different story. The pillows are fluffed and he is sitting on the couch before he knows what’s going on, Geoff taking up the other half and throwing an arm over the back of the couch as Jack presses the bag of frozen peas they’d picked up into his hand, now wrapped in one of someone’s spare T-shirts. Gavin slinks over to sit on the floor and lean against his legs. Gavin hasn’t been talking much since they’d found him. He might still be trying to come to terms with it.

“Alright, buddy, tell us what happened,” Geoff requests, not quietly but gently.

“Well, I was visiting Ray back in January, and a friend of mine told me to go to Barcelona Bar for the weird shots they have, so we did,” Michael begins, wincing as his shoulder twinges when he tries to lift the impromptu ice pack to his eye. “The first guy, David, was super drunk, so when I bumped into him coming out of the bathroom he decided to fight me, and I wrecked him when he wouldn’t fuck off, but his friend showed up and beat the snot out of me, said they’d come find me and get me again sometime.”

“The same guy that was there today?” Jack asks, and Michael nods.

“It sounded like a death threat. I’ve been avoiding going to that bar or drinking at all here – no one wants another few broken ribs, man – but when you guys wanted to go, I figured,” he shrugs, grimacing. “This guy’s not going to happen to be there while we are, it’ll be fine, but, you know, I was wrong. They showed up just after we did, and while you guys were distracted by the bartender doing the weird shots, I tried to hide in the crowd, but that bar is so narrow there isn’t really anywhere to go. They found me and David tried to fight me, but I broke his nose, so his friend decided to have a crack at it. Got me pretty good, but I gave some, too.”

Geoff grins. “I mean, that’s shit, but I’m glad you fucked that guy up.”

“That David guy sounded pretty mad when we pulled his friend off you,” Ryan says carefully, and Geoff’s gaze darkens again. “Like we were being unfair breaking up the fight. I think he said something about taking us out back and shooting us in the head.”

Michael scoffs. “That guy is all bark and no bite. I’m out of practice and I got him in two hits. If he had a gun on him, he was trying to feel better about himself, and I’m sure you scared him enough. You’ll never see him again.”

“How do you feel?” Jack asks, and it sounds like he genuinely wants to know.

“Like I got punched in the face,” Michael grins wryly. “Maybe took a chair to the rib, but not as bad.”

“You get in fights a lot?” Geoff asks, side-eyeing him, obviously interested.

“I did until that guy fucked me up,” Michael replies, grinning for real now. “I think it’s time for me to take it up as a hobby again.”

Jack sighs, shifting in the armchair to better face Michael. “Please don’t do anything stupid. If you get into a dangerous situation in New Jersey, we won’t always be around to help you out.”

Michael raises an eyebrow at him. “I can take care of myself, Jack. I'm a big boy.”

“But you don’t have to,” Ryan regards him sternly. “You need to start letting other people help you, Michael. You’re only going to hurt yourself.”

“I grew up taking care of myself,” he replies readily, severely. “Old habits die hard.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll work it out of you,” Geoff says calmly, clearly attempting to diffuse the tension in the room. “Michael, you’re a stubborn piece of shit, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know,” he replies as Jack stands.

“I think it’s time for bed,” he announces, and Ray pushes away from the counter and is in the process of opening the door to the other bedroom when Geoff stops him.

“The beds in this hotel are only king-sized,” he says, holding up a hand to stop Ray from going anywhere. “But we can make it work.”

July 26

It takes Michael a moment to realize who he is in bed with when he wakes up.

Gavin is wrapped around his back, an arm draped over his waist and his nose buried in Michael’s shoulder. Ray is facing him, practically melted into the mattress. Ryan is behind Ray, and Michael thinks it’s safe to assume Geoff and Jack are on Gavin’s other side, though he can’t actually tell.

This is strange, he thinks, but…nice.

As soon as Gavin had realized they’d be in the same bed he had pulled him into the bedroom and wrapped around him like a fucking spider, leaving everyone else to fend for themselves. They had, somehow, managed to make it work. He finds it a little strange waking up in a bed with five other dudes, but it also seems like something he could get used to.

No, stop that, he thinks, and he finds himself frowning as he reaches to rub the eye that isn’t fucked up. Four dudes in a relationship don’t need you to make their lives more difficult.

Ryan must have heard him move, because he leans up to look at Michael for a moment. “That’s one nasty black eye you’ve got there,” he whispers, and Michael grimaces.

“It’ll be green in a few days,” Michael whispers back. “That’s the best part.”

“I’m pretty sure the best part of a bruise is the part when is disappears,” Ryan counters.

“Are you arguing about the color of a bruise?” Jack asks incredulously, and he sounds far away enough that Geoff must be between Jack and Gavin.

“Yes,” Michael replies, having turned slightly, and now that he isn’t mumbling into the mattress his breath must tickle Ray, because he scrunches his face up in what he would insist isn’t a cute way and blinks awake.

“You’re a piece of shit,” Ray frowns. “I was in the middle of a dream, man.”

“Whatever,” Geoff says, apparently awake now, and Gavin finally stirs, halfway releasing Michael in his waking confusion. “I need to shit.”

“So eloquent,” Jack scoffs, there is some shifting on the bed, and Michael watches Geoff leave the bedroom. Jack probably figures he might as well since he’s already up, and walks through the door to the lounge as the hand Gavin has draping over Michael squeezes in a gimme fashion. Michael considers it very briefly, then moves his hand to grab Gavin's.

Gavin laces their fingers together, and Ray snickers and says, "No homo."

Ryan slides off the bed to stand, grinning widely. "Good luck," he says, and goes into the lounge.

"You're fucked, dude," Ray says, following him. Michael shifts into a more comfortable position now that he has half of the mattress to himself. This position lands him facing Gavin, fingers intertwined, and they look at each other for a moment. The silence is peaceful.

"Oh my god," Geoff says, closing the bathroom door behind him and moving toward the door to the lounge. "You guys are gay as dicks." Michael cuts him a half-hearted glare as he leaves.

"We should get up so we can eat," Michael says, grinning when Gavin startles. "We might be able to convince them to get room service for breakfast."

Gavin is clearly excited about the prospect, because he is suddenly very animated in trying to drag Michael out of bed.

"Alright, alright, don't pull my arm out of its socket," Michael chides, and Gavin actually stops for a moment as Michael rolls his shoulder in an attempt to work the stiffness out of it. Last night's fight is coming back to him in more ways than one.

Gavin drags him out into the lounge as soon as he's out of contact with the bed. Ray is draped over Ryan on the couch, Jack is reading something in the armchair, and Geoff is leaning against the counter, phone to his ear.

"What do you dickheads want for room service?" Geoff asks, twisting the phone away from his mouth. Gavin begins listing a bunch of shit, but Michael just shrugs. He'll eat whatever they put in front of him.

He and Gavin sit on the floor beside the coffee table (more like Gavin trips over the coffee table and pulls Michael down with him), and when Jack tries to hand Michael a real ice pack this time, Gavin reaches out and snatches it from him.

He turns to Michael with a little too much concern in his eyes and presses the ice pack gently to his face. "How do you feel, boi?"

"Like I want you to stop worrying about me," he replies, and Gavin frowns. "I've done this before."

Gavin grimaces, now, and Geoff hangs up, shoves his phone in his pocket, and says, "We need to talk."

Michael would normally feel apprehensive right about now, but the way Geoff says it sounds more optimistic than anything. No one speaks as Geoff grabs the wooden desk chair and spins it around to sit at the other end of the coffee table.

"There's been this shit hanging in the air since we got here," he begins, and Ryan chuckles. Apparently he knows what's going on as Geoff indicates everyone but Michael and Ray. "The four of us have had a half-conversation about this already, but you assholes deserve to know, too."

"Get on with it, Geoff," Jack admonishes good-naturedly.

"We like you guys and wouldn't be opposed to bringing you into the relationship," he grinds out, rushing as if someone will stop him if he breathes.

Michael blinks away his surprise. He's been pretending how he feels doesn't matter, sure, but...well, it seems like the only reasoning he had doesn't work anymore.

Ray is much quicker to the draw. "What would that mean for us?"

"Eventually, we hope you'd move in with us," Ryan says. "For now, as a six-person relationship, we'd be spending some time figuring it out, but...if you hadn't noticed, we're pretty much there already."

Ray nods, and three and a half gazes turn to Michael.

"I'm not opposed, but...I'm not sure it would work." He wants to give them one last chance to back out. "I like you guys a hell of a lot, but six people in a relationship?"

"We know," Jack says, and the smile he offers is a little comforting. "We aren't sure if it'll work, either, and there’s no way it’ll be easy, but we won't know unless we try."

"Alright...I'm down," Michael says after a moment, then grins. "Does that make us all boyfriends?"

"If that's what you want to call it," Ryan says appraisingly.

"It sounds nice," Gavin agrees, smiling contagiously. "You're my boi...friend, Michael. Boyfriend."

"Super homo," Ray comments, and they're all laughing when someone knocks on the door.

"Room service is here, fuckin' finally," Geoff says, standing to make his way over to greet whoever’s brought the food. Michael watches him walk away, tattooed arm reaching for the doorknob. Gavin curls around him tighter, a hand moving to card through Michael's hair.

Yeah, this is something he could get used to.

June 22

MLP Michael: My plane leaves at two, gets in at six. If you're late you owe me dinner BrownMan: We'll be there, dude. GavinoFree: Michael, boi, why can't you just be here already? I miss you :( MLP Michael: Christ, Gavin, I'll be there in a few days BM Vagabond: To be fair, Gavin, we did talk about this. MLP Michael: Yeah yeah I should have given my two weeks earlier, I've heard it all before DG Geoff: He will not stop complaining about it. I think he's smothering Ray. JackP: He is. (JackP has attached a photo.) BrownMan: I came here to have a good time and Im feeling so attacked right now MLP Michael: Gavin, you fucking leech -MM: Couches have two cushions for a reason BM Vagabond: We may not be the best example of that. BrownMan: Hey, man, fitting five people on a couch is an art MLP Michael: Okay, dickheads, I need to pack. Stop blowing up my phone GavinoFree: I love you, Michael :) MLP Michael: Fuck off -MM: I love you too, boi -MM: I'll see you guys later (JackP has attached a photo.) DG Geoff: We'll be waiting for you.