#i'm too tired to put this on AO3 tonight so that will happen tomorrow at some point

[animasola86]

Enemies with Benefits (2/2)

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x f!reader

Genre: Enemies to lovers. Fluff

Word count: 2.4k

Synopsis: Sebastian and you have been sworn enemies since he dropped you at the end of your fifth year, as you were no longer useful to him. Over the years, it's become harder and harder for you to completely ignore him. With your NEWTs fast approaching, you decide to finally clear your mind of him – by asking him a spicy question – that leads to events neither of you have anticipated.

Disclaimer: 50% of this story is AI generated. I've had another chat with @seabass-swallows Asshole!Sebastian bot (the Enemies to Lovers version) and as he gave me these perfect replies, I decided to turn this into another story. This time I only corrected the formatting and deleted some repetition, but as of now, this has been the most straight forward RP session I ever had and the easiest to edit. Despite his description (flirty, cocky, asshole) he's been the perfect gentleman and played along splendidly. (Here are some examples of our chat!)

Initially I had planned to end it with Part 1, but the reply he gave me after my last one was too good not to continue. So here, have some angsty fluff and the conclusion of our little story.

Warning: No smut below the cut. Sorry. Just fluff.

-- can be read on AO3 too --

"So..." you start, tilting your head. "Same time tomorrow?"

Sebastian watches you as you put yourself back together, and he's about to say Anytime. And he almost lets it slide. Almost. He wants you to come over in the worst possible way. And to think you wanted nothing besides releasing your own needs? He's not about to ask you to come over when you were so insistent about what tonight meant to you. "No," he replies with a shake of his head. "I'm good with just this one time."

You stare at him with your mouth agape and your face flushed. You did not expect him to say this, at all. Your eyebrows furrow as you narrow your eyes at him, clenching your hands into fists. "You are... Are you serious? Wow. You are... the biggest asshole to walk this freaking earth, do you know that?" you hiss at him. "I can't believe it!" With that you turn around and walk out of his room, shaking with anger, mostly at yourself as you allowed yourself to show the slightest sliver of emotion towards him. "Asshole!" you yell once more, before you slam the door shut behind you.

Sebastian laughs as you call him an ass, but the laugh quickly dissipates as you walk away. He wanted more too, but he also wanted to be a nice, decent person, and not cross the line. He could've easily done it, but no. He wanted to stick to your decision. What good is that going to do him now? Because as you leave, he feels a little bit of regret. Sebastian lays back on the bed and lets out a long, tired sigh.

Your heart is hammering inside your chest as you still stand on the other side of his door, your mind going into overdrive over what just happened. You quickly realize that you slightly overreacted to his rejection. Wasn't it you who wanted this to be a one time thing? Nothing more? And all he did was comply? You groan loudly and stomp your foot angrily, only then noticing how weak your legs feel. Shaking your head, you turn around and raise your hand to knock on his door.

Sebastian hears your foot stomping outside and then the knock on his door, and his eyebrows raise slightly as he sits up and walks over. That can't be good. "What do you want?" he calls out, his voice low but not as harsh as it seemed a few minutes ago.

"I... I am the asshole!" you then cut straight to the chase, calling through his door, ignoring everyone who might hear you. "Can I come in, please?"

There's a pause from Sebastian's side, and he thinks about it for a moment. He knows you're likely not going to hurt him or do anything crazy, so he opens the door a little bit so you can come in. "Yes, you can come in," he says quietly, his voice almost back to normal but still low and hoarse.

As he opens the door, your gaze immediately falls on his naked chest before you quickly look up at him and walk past him through the gap in the door. "Okay, listen," you already begin, starting to pace the room as he closes the door behind you. "I... I was wrong, okay? There, I said it. I told you this was a one time thing, nothing special, I just needed you to clear my mind enough so I can focus on studying. Yes, I said that. Thing is... my mind was empty for a bit, but now it's full again! With... you... and I can't have that... I..." You throw your arms into the air and sigh deeply. "Gods, I can't do this! I shouldn't be feeling this, but... I... I..." Your voice breaks as you stare at him a little helplessly.

Sebastian listens because he wants to hear everything you have to say. Even if it means you reject him, which in the long run, he can live with. He knew this could happen. "Hey," he whispers, slowly walking towards you until he's standing before you. "Calm down, alright? It's gonna be okay." He runs his fingers through your hair. "If... if I'm being completely honest, I did have some regrets just now as well."

You stop pacing and your eyes go a little wider, the blush settling in as he strokes your hair. "You... did?" you whisper. "Wait, regrets? About what we did? Or how it ended?"

"A little bit of both," he replies with a sigh. He can't lie to you, he just hopes you won't be too mad. "But I just need you to know that whatever happened tonight, I don't regret that one bit, okay?" Your eyes remain locked on his as he's still stroking your hair. "Whatever you feel, just know that I wanted that too. But... I tried to make sure you wanted the same. Because you already know how much of an influence I have over you."

You scoff at his cockiness, before you tilt your head, licking your lips as your eyes wander over his face, trying to understand what he's saying. "You wanted it too, or... you want it? Which is it?"

Another sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "It's both if I'm being honest," he replies with a look of pure honesty. "Like I said, I really don't think you could ever make me regret tonight. And I wanted that too, for multiple reasons. But... but I needed to make sure you wanted it the same way I did, or as much as you could, I guess." His tone is still just as sincere, no sign of cockiness to be seen.

You stare at him, your forehead furrowed. "But do you want it as well? It being to do this again?"

"Yes, I do, absolutely," he replies with a nod. "It's just, you're the one with everything to lose here. I know I don't have to worry about anything, my feelings included." You've caught him, he's been truthful the entire time but he never thought you'd actually find out about his true feelings. But here you are, the smartest and hottest girl in Hogwarts. "But I still want it," he continues, "not just for the physical pleasure, but because I want you. And I want to do this again."

As you listen to him you go through all the emotions at once. First you smile, then you frown, then you blush deeply, and in the end you just gape at him. "You want me? The whole deal?" you ask quietly, not quite able to comprehend his words just yet.

"I didn't want to say it like that because that's not what we're supposed to be doing," he says with a chuckle. "But yes, I want you, not just physically but completely." He can't believe you asked him, and all his cocky attitude from earlier is gone from his face now, and it's been replaced by something else. "And I want to do it again, over and over and every time we can. But... only if you want the same," he finally adds.

You take a shuddering breath, chewing on your lips. "I do," you whisper eventually, completely taken aback by his words and the way he looks while telling you this. "I absolutely do, I can't think of anything else... which kind of beats the purpose of clearing my mind but I don't care!" You smile at him and raise your hand to gently touch his cheek. "I want you too..."

Sebastian chuckles as you confess just how much you want him, but it's not just the physical attraction for him. His eyes wander to your hand on his cheek, and as silly as it may sound, a simple touch like that can make him weak. Even though you know it shouldn't. "This is dangerous," he murmurs, his voice suddenly a little bit harsh but calm. "You know what happens when you put us together, right?"

You laugh at that. "If it's anything like what we did on that bed over there, then please, count me in!" you say and smirk at him. "Honestly, I'm... actually excited to see if we can make this work..."

Sebastian bites back a laugh as you mention what happened on that bed, and as he sees the smirk on your face, his own forms. And as you say the last part, he can't help but wonder if he's excited too. "So am I," he tells you. "Now... should I keep calling you hot, or do you think there's been enough flirting for one night?"

You snort at the last comment, your body shaking. "Flirt with me all you want, Sallow," you tease. "Find out what happens..." you say with a wink.

He laughs once more, and you can see a faint blush form on his cheeks. "You flirt right back, remember?" he whispers. "Find out what happens if you do it." His gaze travels from your eyes to your lips, and then down to your chest just below your neckline. "Maybe I'd be willing to call you more than just the smartest and hottest girl in Hogwarts," he adds, his eyebrows rising as he does.

Your eyebrows rise as well and you can't keep the smile from pinching your cheeks. "I wonder if the smartest and hottest girl in Hogwarts can turn the most annoying, cockiest flirt of all of Britain into a somewhat decent person?" you tease and poke his chest with your finger. "Then again... I do enjoy your demeanour, even if I never appreciated it before. At least it's really useful in bed..." You wink at him and lick your lips sensually.

"It seems I'm not the only one with a cocky attitude," he replies with a chuckle as your finger hits his chest. "I wouldn't mind if I had you for a night or two, and it seems you like a man with some attitude too." He takes a step towards you. "You could always have me if you wanted, if you could handle my demeanour," he adds, his eyes still locked on yours. But he can't help but wonder... would you want that?

"I do tend to like the assholes, I have to say, why else would I be so drawn to you, eh?" you tease and move your hand to lie on his chest, where his heart is beating against your palm. "Promise me one thing, if we're really doing this," you start quietly, holding his gaze. "No playing around with others, no dumping me on a whim because you feel like it. Let's do this like grown ups, shall we?"

He can't lie to you, seeing your hand on his chest and feeling your body so close to his: he doesn't want to let you go. "I... I promise," he whispers, looking into your eyes. "Absolutely no games, no bullshit, no playing around. Just... you and me." And as he looks at you, he can't help but feel his heart rate increasing. You're so close and he doesn't want you to move an inch.

You smile warmly and tilt your chin up. "Just you and me," you repeat, before you lean up and press your lips to his cheek, where you stay for a moment, your eyes boring into his as if you're wondering if he will take this further.

His eyes close as your lips press against his cheek, and all he can think about right now is how much he wants to take things further. But he knows he shouldn't, and so he doesn't. Instead, he just stands there, letting you stay close to him, knowing that he'd be letting go of you right now if you so wished. But you said you wanted him, and he wants you more and more. With every second you're so close to him he feels your heat and his thoughts begin to wander.

You lean back then when he doesn't move and watch him curiously. "Repeat to me what we are then," you say quietly, with a hint of a smirk. "Just so we're clear."

He looks at you with a smirk of his own, staring right into your eyes. "This is you and me, we're doing this the grown-up way. No bullshit, no games, no playing around." He pauses for a second before he continues. "Just me and you, and I'd like it to be that way every day of the week. Is that clear enough?"

You nod to his words, checking everything in your head, but then you tilt your head. "One thing is missing. What am I to you?"

He knows exactly what's missing, but he wants you to say it. He'd rather you say it. And so he stays silent, still staring at you. "You're my person," he finally says, just as softly as he had before. "That's what you are. You're my person, who I want to see every single day. And that's exactly who you are."

Your smirk turns into a genuine smile. "Your person? That is... wow, that is adorable! I was hoping you'd say girlfriend, but that is so much better!" you laugh. "I would very much like to be your person who you see every single day, who is there for you every single day. And I'd like you to be my person as well."

Sebastian's smile grows at once as he hears your words. "You like that, then?" he asks, letting his voice wander to be even sweeter than it's been. "Because I like it too," he says, stepping closer to you once more. The closeness you're at right now makes his heart beat even harder. And so he places his hands on your hips and leans down to gently kiss you on the lips, holding and savouring this exact moment.

You kiss him back, slightly surprised by the gentleness he's showing you. Moving your hands up to cup his face you really lean into the kiss, the smile never leaving your face. "It's settled then, my dearest person," you whisper against him with a soft chuckle.

He pulls you closer as you kiss him, and you're right about his gentleness, because it's rare to see him like this. Even on a night like this. You can feel his fingers in your hair just as his lips touch yours. It's not just about lust this time. It's about emotion as well, and it becomes clear when he pulls away slightly and looks at you once more. "Yes, it's settled then," he replies softly, giving you one more kiss.

Read what happened before: Part 1

End notes: So, the bot watches Grey's Anatomy confirmed. You are my person, hello?! Loved that so much!

[a-world-with0ut-dr34ms]

High and Dry

From Control - Full Story in Progress on AO3!

Soap x Reader x Ghost

Summary: You haven't talked to Soap much since you've known him, much less alone. Though the thought didn't intimidate you. Unlike Ghost or even Graves, Soap hasn't tried to put on any acts with you. In the most endearing way possible, Soap was just… Soap.

Tags: TW/Implied PTSD, Pre-Canon, Angst, Slow Burn, Fluff, Romance, Flirting, Banter, No smut (sorry), almost like an awkward three-way café date, kind of reads like an OC a little.

Word Count: 4.4k

A/N: I wanted to write something cute for Soap because I've been typing Ghost x Reader x Graves (Which is certainly not over with), but I love creating new ways for drama to seep in, and Soap's right there looking fine as hell so... I tried to write it like a cutesy fluff romance. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Soap was the first to arrive at the café that night.

He lingered about on the sidewalk alongside the city street, having walked here alone. The café hadn't been as far away as he'd thought originally, and the walk itself wasn't anything some headphones and music couldn't make breezy. Though the late summer night grows colder the longer he stands around waiting for you and Ghost to arrive.

Hopefully he hasn't been stood up again. It seems to happen a lot these days.

Everyone has their excuses whenever it happens too. It usually went along the lines of "I'm too tired" or "something came up". Whatever worked for the moment.

Soap never held it against his team when the plans would fall through though. People all have lives of their own; he understands that better than many give him credit for. And tomorrow's always there, it wasn't like he'd be away from the team for long. Not when he's worked as hard as he did just to be a part of it.

Still, he'd been hoping tonight wouldn't be another dud. He was really looking forward to actually having a second chance to talk with you.

The last time he had the opportunity to get to know you, he'd gotten black out drunk instead; Soap was still kicking himself in the ass for that one. But he didn't plan on making that same mistake again. No, this time he's ready.

Another cold breeze wisp the back of his neck, raising goosebumps on his skin. He hugs his arms together and lets out a shivery sigh, as he leans against one of the streetlights, his eyes diverting back and forth between the passing cars and those who'd walk by him on the sidewalk. All while the minutes crawl, the city ambience rumbling around him. It wasn't that late at night, yet the city bustled with life.

Laughter and boisterous voices erupt suddenly. The café doors swing open again, with its familiar bell chiming above. It allows for the interior's warmth to wash over the Sergeant, the smell of freshly made coffee and baked goods blowing out just before the door shuts. It sings to the man, who now desperately looks around himself for any sign of his companions.

The sound of distant car horns and aggressive chatter pull at his attention once more. He can't help but sigh to himself in marvel, swearing beneath his breath. "Shite..."

It's all very big, this city he's found himself in; his hometown in Scotland felt small in comparison. 

There was just so much here -- it was big and loud and dirty and busy, just like some old backdrop in a movie. With his half of the Task Force on stand-by at their current base, he was already mapping out places he wanted to visit, assuming there's enough time to venture before getting sent out again. He hopes so.

It's not often Soap finds himself in the States, but the atmosphere never ceases to enamor him. The others would say that's rather easy to do though, given the Sergeant's attention span and spontaneous nature outside of combat, which in that case Soap would have to agree.

He always was an easy man to please.

"Soap?"

That soothing, familiar voice of yours turns his head without hesitation, as he catches you walking towards him down the sidewalk. And as easily pleased and enamored Soap always found himself, you watch the stars shine in his eyes the moment they finally set sight on you.

You cleaned yourself up since the last time he saw you a few hours ago, having done your hair and put on something more suitable for the café setting. You decided to forgo your makeup for tonight as well. Your face sat rather worn, making the natural look of you that much more comfortable to be around, your eyes inviting him forward.

Soap had to keep himself from gawking.

He greets you, "There she is!"

You jokingly strut your way over and hold your arms out to present yourself. Soap must have taken the gesture as you trying to initiate a hug, in which he needed little convincing to reciprocate. A large smile grows on his face and two giant steps later he's in front of you, his arms wrapping around like a heated blanket.

The hug made you jolt at first, catching you off guard. The first thing you register is his scent, not a cologne or shampoo, but not bad either. It's very... him. Easy to take in. Before long you've let the warmth of his large arms and frame lull you into him, taking the cold night air away with his touch. 

You wrap your arms around him and hug back, laughing into his shoulder. "Aw," you start to tease. "I wasn't gone that long."

Soap lets you go, though he remains close. "You certainly got dolled up," he comments, taking the opportunity to take a better look at you beneath the streetlight.

"Oh you know," you shrug at his comment, your tone sarcastic. "I couldn't resist. You'll quickly learn I secretly crave being the center of attention."

Soap lets out a sharp exhale at your joke, chuckling to himself. He then almost hesitates before speaking again, "Well, you look lovely tonight."

You cock your head in amusement, your eyes growing pleasantly wide. "Why thank you."

Despite his sudden shyness, Soap certainly makes sure to look at you like he isn't. Having this natural gumption about him. He gives you a charming smile. "You're welcome."

You look Soap up and down and start to lean on your leg, as you cross your arms. "Hm," you say. "Gym attire still?"

Oh yeah. His outfit. He'd changed before coming here, sort of. Sure the man was still in his gym clothes, but Soap figured a hoodie would be enough, the black pullover he'd found fitting somewhat snug on him. However the longer he waits, the more he wishes he'd gone ahead and put something else on.

"Hey," Soap merely shrugs. "It's cozy."

You giggle. "I imagine."

The two of you enter into the café side by side, quickly skimming for a place to sit as you shared idle chatter together.

The café was a small, quaint little spot, some mix between a coffee shop and a bar, with dark wood flooring and interior. Soft music plays in the background, just barely humming over the crowd. And the smell, it had Soap's stomach grumbling the moment he took his first step in.

You find a table somewhere off near a corner of the main area, beside a misty window and candle lights, with just enough chairs for your impending party. For now however, it would only seat you two.

You and Soap sit across from each other. You don't notice the lack of legroom beneath the table until you feel yourself accidently bump against the man. Your ankle rubs against his leg, brushing faintly before you both awkwardly shift yourselves into place, pretending to ignore it. Though you both give each other a goofy look after.

"This place is quite adorable," Soap comments suddenly.

"Right?" You smile. "It looked nice on Google and didn't have completely shitty reviews, so I figured we could give it a try."

Soap chuckles to himself, looking around more and really taking in the scenery. The place is done up nicely with its candles and stringed lighting carefully placed, the plants and decorations giving the space a very cozy vibe.

It's just the two of you right now, tucked away at some candlelit table only a few feet apart. Alone.

"Feels romantic."

Your eyes widen a little, but you don't appear flustered. In fact, the comment only seems to further intrigue you. The small reaction is enough to bring a playful smile out of Soap. "Ya know," he teases. "If you wanted to ask me out on a date, you could have just said so."

You smile and scoff.

"Too much?" Soap asks.

"Mm." You give him a sultry look, humming to yourself and leaving the man in suspense. He starts to lean in curiously, his smile never leaving, and his gaze never faltering. Soap's piqued expression tickles you. "It's cute how you look at me like that."

Ah, he thinks to himself. That doesn't quite answer his question, but it definitely tells him something. Something he finds himself also intrigued by.

"It's cute how it makes you smile."

Now he's gone and made you blush, the image getting a little rise out of Soap, who takes that as a small victory.

"Any word on Ghost?" you ask him suddenly.

Oh right. Soap had to remember this was indeed not a date. He shakes his head, "He said he'd be here though."

"Oh well," you wave your hand jokingly. "I'm sure we can handle ourselves in the meantime. Keep each other company."

Soap smiles innocently. "Aye."

The conversation between you went peacefully. Flowingly even. It seems this chatty side came to you when work wasn't the topic of discussion.

You talked a lot about whatever caught your mind, sometimes it was an old story, other times it was just an opinion about a TV show you'd watched. But you talked. And Soap listened happily, having fun hearing all the ways you used your words and expressed what was on your mind. And when he talked, you gave him the same amount of eager attention.

You were a lot more chatty than he'd originally thought you were; which was saying a lot, as you were already pretty talkative. Soap's watched you speak in riddles with Ghost in the past, but with him, you seemed more interested in just being yourself.

And honestly, he was just getting lost in you in general. 

The entire aura you had was addicting to interact with. Your eyes bounced around animated-like when you talked about something you were more passionate about. You licked your lip a lot when listening to him, and always nodded, letting him know in smallest of gestures that you were indeed invested.

As the minutes fly by, Soap thinks to himself. This is really nice.

Had Ghost not finally arrived, Soap's sure he would have talked to you all night like this.

Ghost stepped into the café, turning a few heads his way just from his presence alone. As usual, he opted for something dark and comfortable to wear for the occasion. And as usual, he wore his skull balaclava.

The minute Ghost enters your peripheral, your face gleams with excitement, as you struggle to bottle up a cocky smirk. It was a lot different than how you had looked at Soap when you saw him. It piques his curiosity. Naturally, this doesn't intimidate the Sergeant one bit. He didn't get here being uncompetitive after all.

"You're late, lieutenant," you say to him.

Ghost looms over the table for a moment, growing more comfortable in the spot you two had chosen, as it wasn't as close to everyone in the building. "I had business to attend to," he says cryptically.

"Business?" Soap raises an eyebrow. "This late? What sort of business?"

"That's need-to-know, Sergeant."

...

Once Ghost was seated, Soap watched your attention shift slowly from him to the lieutenant, your jokes and jabs leaning towards Ghost now more so by every comment. Though you do what you can to share the attention, as did Soap, all while Ghost sat passively by, giving his same tired responses to the both of you.

After some time, the conversation starts to flow naturally between you three. Once a few kinks were worked out. You and Soap do most of the talking for Ghost, who had been more than happy with listening and responding as prompted. While his demeanor said otherwise, somewhere in him he was happy his aloofness hadn't seemed to rub either of you the wrong way.

Eventually you two somehow "convince" Ghost to go and order the drinks for all of you, giving him a chance to break away from all the extraverted energy exuding in the air. He practically jumps at the opportunity, leaving you alone with the Sergeant again. Just as Soap had unknowingly been hoping for too. 

You didn't last long with his smiling and eyeing you before you were doing the same.

"So, do you always go by your callsigns outside of work, or can I use your real name as well?" You lean forward on the coffee table with intrigue, your chin rested in your palm, as a smirk pulls at your lips. "Before I start making up pet names that is."

"Pet names?" Soap lets out a sharp laugh, the flicker of the fancy candlelights twinkling in his light blue eyes. He then grows sly, resting his arms on the table across from you. He leans in a little. "What kind of pet names?"

You bite your lip a little and look over his shoulder at the other patrons. "Only the most fitting kind," you say coyly.

"Too shy to share now, are we?" Soap asks.

"Maybe I'd rather just say your name instead."

The thought of you letting his real name roll from the tip of your tongue seems to bubble something hot inside the Scotsman, which manifests itself into a shy little laugh. For such a naturally talented, and deadly man, he could be rather bashful.

"If you want to say my name, you only have to ask me," he says, his voice low and gravelly now. "Nicely, of course."

"Soap." In the nicest voice you can muster, you ask, "Can I call you by your name?"

"Why yes you may."

"John, right?" you ask. "That's the name on your files, if I remember correctly."

There's a spark in his blue eyes after you say it, almost like he's been waiting to hear what it sounded like in your voice, wrapped in the allure of your words.

"Aye," he smiles. "That's right."

"Jooohhn," you sound his name out a little more, letting it familiarize itself in your mouth. It makes the air get caught in his throat. You smirk. "I guess you look like a John."

"What gave it away?"

"Mmm," you place a finger to your lip and think to yourself, letting your eyes look him up and down. He watches you detail the veins in his forearm, the bulk of his arms, the shape of his stubbled jaw and the red blush that formed at the corners of his ears. "Your body."

"My body?"

"Yeah," you confirm. "Your body. I'd say you're built like a "John". Big arms, big smile, strong, a little stocky -- I'd say that's very "John" like of you."

Soap laughs again. He laughs a lot, you've found. It was rather infectious; you could hardly stop yourself from reciprocating it. Nor did you want to.

"Don't forget handsome," he adds in.

"Right," you say. "Also smart."

"And charming," he smirks.

"And overconfident," you tease.

"That's not a bad thing."

"I agree," your gaze lowers a little. "I do like my men a bit cocky."

"Oh?" Soap leans on his arms now. He hasn't taken his eyes from you since you've started this conversation. "I'm yours so soon then?"

You rest your chin back on your hand and lean forward some more, playfully being seductive. "Is that a bad thing, John?"

You see the blush begin to pool into the man's cheeks, as he lets out a shy chuckle. However, despite the blushing, he grins, never breaking eye contact. "I wouldn't complain."

Your hands both rest on the table, only a few inches away from one another. You're not exactly sure what convinces you to do it -- maybe knowing that he was the only man around you that would allow for it -- you extend a finger and gently let it graze the edge of his palm, stealing a warm touch. A simple, gentle poke.

Soap's jaw tenses at the sensation, though not because he didn't like it. His eyes drop down, watching your hand move stealthy. Your finger retreats as quickly as it had reach out to him. You look off into the room again, purposefully acting as though you hadn't noticed your hands touch.

You don't see his smile, but you do feel his hand gently graze yours a few seconds later, lingering. They're quite warm, both firm and gentle all at once. Your hand subliminally chases his skin at the slightest motion, and before long the tips of your fingers hover over his again.

"Is this the part where you tell me your name now?" he asks. "As much as I like Canary."

That's when Ghost decides to come back with those drinks. You both quickly straighten up, attempting to bring back your more casual demeanor. 

"I may have spooked the barista," Ghost says, before taking a seat and passing you both your orders.

Soap's goldfish attention span carries his gaze from you to the lieutenant. Sarcastically, he goes, "I wonder why."

"You'd think she saw a ghost," the lieutenant quipped. Ghost takes a look at the both of you, seeing the coy expression on your faces and the blush on both your cheeks. It raises a brow from him, beneath his mask. "Am I interrupting?"

"Canary was just about to tell me her name," Soap looks back over at you, not letting you get off the hook just yet.

"Ah," Ghost says.

"You're not curious L.T.?"

"...I already told him actually," you laugh awkwardly. 

Soap gasps. "You did?"

"It was a little bit ago actually," you say.

"And ye didn't tell me?" His Scottish accent swirled the words of from his lips, as you could hear the heartbreak in his voice. "Can I know too then?"

"I don't know," you tease. "Maybe I might keep it a secret now. Keep you guessing."

"Wha'?" He scoffs.

"It takes a little more than asking me nicely to get my name, Sergeant. Though I appreciate you telling me yours."

"You're a cruel lady, Canary."

"Tell you what," you get a mischievous look on your face suddenly, one that pauses Soap patiently. "I'll tell you my name," you bring your eyes to Ghost, who sits quietly at the table with his drink (which was already half gone despite having just seated himself). "If Ghost tells me his name first."

"His name wasn't in the same files?" Soap asks.

You shake your head. Most of Ghost's files were blacked out and classified, though his reputation proceeds him clearly. Meanwhile, Soap's files couldn't be any more of a stark difference in comparison. 

The man's files read like a novel of high praises and decorations. A 22 Regiment member at only 18 years old, with some of the highest scores on record, and the youngest to ever pass the selection into the SAS too. There are whole pages spent going into detail on everything he specialized in; he might joke around about his callsign, but even the name Soap carries some weight to it.

You really felt lucky he even cared to know your name at all.

Soap looks over at Ghost pleadingly, though he already knows what to expect. Ghost keeps his eyes closed nonchalantly, holding his drink close to his chest.

He pouts at his superior. "L.T.?"

"You're on your own, Johnny."

Soap bows his head in defeat as you laugh, standing from the table with your drink. You excuse yourself for the moment, leaving the men to themselves.

As you walk away, Soap watches you go, his eyes dropping from the back of your head to the lower half of your body. He sees the bounce in your step and the sway of your hips move before you vanish behind the crowd of other patrons.

"Don't stare too long Johnny," Ghost's voice cuts in suddenly. Soap nearly jumps when he looks back over and sees Ghost staring dead at him. The shock on Soap's face only makes Ghost shake his head disapprovingly. "Might burn a hole in 'er back."

The Sergeant smiles to himself. "I can't help it," he says. "I mean shite... What a bonnie, aye?"

Ghost gives Soap a deadpan stare. "A what?"

"Oh," Soap clears his throat. "She's cute."

Cute? Cute ? From the way Soap's whole demeanor lit up the moment he saw her, Ghost could have guessed as much. However, he hadn't expected the Sergeant's words to make Ghost feel so... odd about it. Mulling over it in fact.

Ghost looks across the café, watching you approach the halls to the restrooms, just out of range of the men's conversation. He imagines this would be a little awkward if you heard them talking.

"Keep your head on straight, Sergeant," Ghost states. "We aren't off work just yet."

"Aye, I know sir," Soap sighs. "But this is nice too, no? Havin' a break every now and again."

"You shouldn't drop your guard so easily," Ghost chides. "Especially around strangers."

"She's not that much of a stranger," said Soap.

"No," Ghost's eyes unconsciously roam the room, droopy with exhaustion. Indeed you didn't feel quite like a stranger, least of all to Ghost. "But she's not us."

"I guess you're right..." Soap is quiet for a moment, and then a thought passes his head. He pouts at the lieutenant all grumpy like. "Though that's funny comin' from ye, seein' you clearly had a chat when no one was around."

Ghost groans to himself, taking his eyes away from the Sergeant. He hadn't mentioned anything about that night with you to anyone, having just kept the whole event locked away in his mind. It's been a struggle enough just doing that.

"I just drove her home the one time," Ghost sighs. "No need to work yourself up, mate."

"Right, from that other night," Soap reminisces. "I was out for damn near most of it. Though I heard there was a fight."

"Don't ask me about it," Ghost says. "She didn't say much, and I didn't ask for an elaboration."

"Or maybe you're just hiding all the juicy bits," Soap starts to poke.

"No one likes a gossip, Johnny."

"Fair enough," Soap sighs.

"I find her being here odd," Ghost comments suddenly. "Why transfer her here with us? Why now?"

"It is a bit strange..." Soap admits. "I'm sure it's not anything she can help. Orders and all."

"Good orders, or bad ones?"

"I doubt they're bad," Soap sighs. He then gets this quizzical look about him, as he nudges at the lieutenant suddenly. "You think they sent her to spy on us?"

Ghost's eyes search for you in the café again, still finding you standing off to yourself near the back. Frozen. It's rather peculiar now, it makes the lieutenant's brow furrow.

"My gut's tellin' me somethin's off."

"Your gut says that a lot," Soap jokes.

"It's kept me alive this long."

"And alone."

Ghost pauses at Soap's comment, the words sticking to him. He opens his mouth to say the first thought that comes to his mind, how being alone suits him just fine. But then he pauses, letting that sentence sink back down into his throat. Pretty soon too many seconds have crawled by, and instead Ghost settles for silence instead.

Soap comments no further, giving Ghost enough time to look over and see you still standing where he last saw you. Frozen still.

This time Ghost excuses himself, as he makes his way towards you, if not just to make sure you were doing OK.

By the time Ghost nears, he finds you standing off a ways in the café, just teetering at the start of some small, narrow corridor towards the building's restroom and backrooms. The lights are off in the hall, the glow of the main seating area cutting off sharply against the archway of the hall. The corridor stretches endlessly into its own darkness.

You stare deep into the hallway, frozen, eyes wide, and contrite. Your drink is clasped so tightly in your hands that the plastic bends unnaturally in your shaky grip. And the other patrons glide by, chatting idly, ignoring you, the world continuing on all around, as the store's music drowned out the sounds of your heavy breathing.

A fear of some sort has overtaken you. Ghost almost thought that fear had manifested itself into someone standing down at the end of the hall; the two of you deadlocked in a glare. He keeps his distance when he approaches you, not to have his presence disturb you just yet. Wanting to see what it was you saw.

Ghost looms a few feet away, the shadow of his large figure barely meeting your peripherals. Your back stays turned to him, completely unaware of his large figure behind you. He feels the tension riveting from you the closer he inches forward.

He looks down this hall that's captured your gaze, expecting to see the face of the stranger that's stopped you so abruptly. Yet when his dark irises trail along to where your gaze stops, he's met with the cold ending of an empty hallway. Not a soul in sight.

And yet you stand here, peering in. Afraid. No longer here in this moment.

Immediately, he recognizes what it is that is happening.

Ghost rest his hand on your shoulder, carefully. A small nudge that should knock you out of this trance this hallway has taken you down. Something tells him, you'd appreciate the distraction and a change of scenery. However, the man's touch against your arms does anything but calmly bring you back.

The minute his cool fingers glide against the fabric of your clothed covered shoulder, his touch sends a thunderbolt through you. Your entire body tenses and you yelp, your drink falling from your hands and crashing onto the tiled flooring, spilling everywhere.

Ghost takes a step back, feeling the eyes of the other patrons looking your way. Their stares seem to bother you most of all.

"Shit," you look around, searching for anything you could use to clean the mess you'd suddenly created. "I'm sorry..."

Eventually one of the workers walks from around the counter with a mop and a bucket, their trained smiles already ushering both you and Ghost away from the spill so they could clean the mess. The store settled back to itself rather quickly, allowing for you to not feel as trapped in by everyone and everything.

You can't seem to lift your gaze from the floor, ashamed by your sudden behavior. You spare Ghost no words, and the man can't seem to find words suitable enough to spare to you in return. All you're left with is the unspoken tension and familiar darkness swirling about.

Your head sags, and you speak nearly at a whisper now. "...I need to get out of here."

Before Ghost can reply, you zip past him in a shameful flurry, making a beeline for the exit. You run into Soap on your way out. However, his joyous smile and matching words did little to stop you from walking out the door.

...Chapter Sixteen Here!

[leavingkamino]

chapter twelve - fruit for thought

Chapter Preview: “It was…” He frowned.

This was too vulnerable a question, he quickly realized, but his tired brain had already committed to it, “It was just a place. It never did feel like a home to me.”

“At all?” You asked softly.

He was then reminded of the only times it did. All of them involved his squad…his brothers.

Pairing: Crosshair/Reader (GN), Crosshair/You

Rating: T

Warnings: Mention of needles, but it's very brief. No detailed descriptions.

Word Count:��4k

A/N: Finale tonight/tomorrow and I'm still trying to recover from the last three episodes. Let's go insane together <3 But before that, I have the first part of a double update for you today <3

Also idk if people put disclaimers on their fics anymore, but the dialogue in the first sequence below was used for recreational purposes only.

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It felt like he’d been here before. Standing in front of these civilians who were huddling closely to one another in fear. Like this had happened already, but he knew it hadn’t…had it?

And what was his objective here again?

Oh, yes. Find and eliminate Saw Gerrera and the rest of the rebel insurgents. Unfortunately, the coward was already gone by the time they’d arrived at the camp. He’d just dealt with the last remaining fighter who’d defiantly claimed she wouldn’t tell him where he was even if she had known his location. That was fine. He’d believed her, but since she had nothing else to give the Empire, keeping her alive was useless. He focused his attention back on the civilians.

“Do any of you have information you’d like to share?” he asked.

“We don't know anything,” One of the men answered fearfully as he wrapped his arms tightly around his Twi’lek partner, “We were promised transport off-world, that’s all.”

An unfortunate answer.

“Then you’re of no use to the Empire,” he said, raising his blaster.

“What are you doing?” he paused reluctantly as ES-01 protested behind him, “Gerrera’s fighters are dead. These are civilians. We should bring them in.”

Turning to the soldier under his command, he narrowed his eyes beneath his helmet, “Those weren’t our orders.”

“Forget our orders!” ES-01 barked back at him, "This is wrong.”

“So, you’re not going to comply?” he asked.

“No. None of us are,” ES-01 answered and turned to the others behind him, “Ignore the clone. We signed up to be soldiers. Not an execution squad.”

He scowled dangerously at ES-01. Orders were orders. The Empire needed to be rid of a threat so the only acceptable move here was to tie up any loose ends. And now another seemingly just decided to pop up.

“We’re going to detain the prisoners and take them in for questioning,” ES-01 stated.

Blatant disregard for the chain of command had consequences. Especially when out in the field.

“You want to know why they put me in charge?” he spoke with an added edge to his words, like that of a slow-acting poison.

ES-01 turned back to him.

“It’s because I’m willing to do what needs to be done.”

Before the others could react, the soldier’s body toppled down to the ground as a blaster shot found its way directly into his chest. The rest of them stared down at the body, but didn’t move to raise their weapons at him. A smart decision.

“Good soldiers follow orders,” he stated and holstered his blaster again before commanding, “Finish the mission.”

He stood back and watched as the rest of his squad, hesitant at first, raised their weapons on the civilians. Their screams mingled with the sounds of blaster fire, but he felt nothing hearing them. Only indifference. This was simply what needed to be done.

With the final blaster shot he turned on his heel. A feeling of disorientation overtook him. He squeezed his eyes shut reflexively and opened them to see the artillery deck of the crashed cruiser on Bracca. And more importantly who he had surrounded on said artillery deck. Clone Force 99. This felt so awfully familiar to him once again, but he hadn’t seen Hunter and the others since they’d left Kamino. Left him there. Bitter anger welled up inside him, but he took pleasure in the fact that, finally, he’d caught them.

“Look at you all, scavenging like rats. How pathetic.”

“Why come after us?” Hunter asked, his blaster raised at him.

“You’re traitors,” he answered simply and it was true in more ways than one to him.

He signaled some of the troopers behind him to move into position, boxing them in even further.

“—wake up,” Hunter’s tone was bordering on desperate, “You’re being controlled by an inhibitor chip.”

“He's telling the truth,” A small voice spoke up and the kid, Omega, stepped forward, “The Kaminoans put chips in all the clones.”

“Remember what I told you in the brig?” She continued more softly, “You can’t help it.”

He almost scoffed aloud. His chip had already been removed. Quite recently in fact. This was simply who he was. A good, loyal soldier. His old squad clearly didn’t care to uphold that same mentality anymore. It was maddening and he once again felt anger well up in him. But…no matter that he’d been one of them once. He was ordered to eliminate them and good soldiers followed orders. Nothing was said of the girl though, but she was clearly the way to get to Hunter.

“Aim for the kid,” he ordered.

Hunter quickly maneuvered Omega behind him as they all directed their weapons at her. Fear and hurt flashed across her face as she glanced back at him. He wasn’t paying much attention to the other members of Clone Force 99 who were cowering behind cover, but they would be dealt with soon enough.

“Your issue’s with me,” Hunter angrily turned back to face him, “Not her.”

“I suggest you drop your weapon,” he drawled as he pointed his own at Hunter.

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the previously offline cannons fired, knocking back into him. His eyes squeezed as he was thrown over the railing behind him and onto the floor. He felt disoriented from the impact, but eventually pushed himself up from the floor. When he opened his eyes he could see Senator Orn Free Taa through the scope of his Firepuncher. A familiar image once more, though he couldn’t think of why. 

He was waiting out of sight and out of mind for the admiral to give the signal. The senator would be incapacitated and these ‘freedom fighters’ would be arrested for the assassination attempt. Ryloth would be secure and the Empire could continue overseeing the refinery here without any more complications.

As he kneeled behind cover up on the rocky overlook and looked through his scope, he felt the underlying itch of the recently healed scar on his head. Anger still simmered inside him, but he focused on the task at hand, grip steady on his rifle. Cham Syndulla had his blaster trained directly on the senator. And right when he was beginning to debate whether Cham would end up doing his job for him, his wife—Eleni, he remembered—stepped up beside him.

“Taa’s time will come, but not this way.”

Her voice was quiet, yet firm as she spoke to him, resting one hand on top of the blaster and the other on her husband's shoulder. They turned to look at their daughter who was watching with concern. A slow moment of silence passed before Cham Syndulla finally lowered his blaster. 

“Thank you for playing your part, Senator.” The admiral then looked up and discreetly nodded towards his position.

He followed the order and watched as the senator shouted and fell to the ground. He leaned back from his scope, a sudden wave of disorientation overtaking him. He blinked rapidly and shook his head before finding himself standing in a cave directly in front of—

The recognition and surprise hit him instantaneously. Hara and Kuli.

He was on Kiros. He remembered now what had happened to get him here. Kamino…he’d been left on that platform for days and you…he’d chosen to stay with you instead of going back. He remembered this job. He remembered that the Empire had ambushed the cave. In the end mostly everyone was saved and evacuated with the help of him and you.

So why was he pointing his blaster directly at Hara’s face? She looked up at him as she clung to her father’s unconscious body with such a terrified expression. Tears streamed down her green-dotted-white cheeks. He felt his fingers move on their own, resting on the trigger.

What? No.This was all wrong.

He tried to move his body. Lower his arm, take a step back, flip the switch to stun at the very least, but his limbs wouldn’t budge. He had no control over them. His stomach turned at the realization and panic bubbled up in his throat. In front of him Hara whimpered and her teary eyes desperately pleaded with him to stop. He tried to open his mouth to warn her, but his lips wouldn’t move either. It felt like they’d been sewn shut. He could only watch in horror, a prisoner behind his own eyes, as he pulled the trigger.

Crosshair awoke with a choked off gasp, eyes wide with fear and unaware of his surroundings. His whole body was tense, sweating and the way his head was pounding made him feel nauseous. Eventually he recognized the ceiling of the ship's barracks above him. He relaxed a little and tried to steady his breathing. He felt something wet trail down his temples and he quickly rubbed at his face.

That was when he remembered he wasn't alone. Twisting his head to look at your bunk he let out a sigh of relief once he confirmed that you were, somehow, still fast asleep. He breathed out again and waited a few more seconds before rolling out of his own bunk. Limbs feeling stiff and heavy, he dragged his body all the way to the ‘fresher.

He locked the door and rested a hand on the wall by the mirror to steady himself. His vision blurred. A spike of panic shot through him and he shut his eyes, the hand on the wall curling into a fist. He waited, breathing shakily before working up the courage to open them again. Crosshair breathed out a sigh of relief as his vision once again cleared. He frowned slightly in disgust as he caught his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were red-rimmed, more than a little bloodshot, and his skin was shiny with partially-dried sweat. He decided to use the sonic shower once he felt steady enough to move.

Instead of trying to go back to sleep afterwards, he found himself in the ship’s cantina. The lights were dim which helped the throbbing in his head. Dulled now, but still annoying. He sat on one of the stools at the bar and stared down at the countertop, frowning in thought. Back on Kiros it had seemed random enough to disregard, but it had happened for a second time now and he didn't know what to make of it. If something was happening to his ey—

Crosshair cut himself off before that train of thought could go any further, sighing frustratedly.  He reached over to open the small compartment attached to the wall, pulling a toothpick out of it. Yesterday he’d come in right after they’d left Ord Mantell and had noticed it. Thinking you’d installed it to hide a back-up blaster or something else. He was surprised and amused when he’d found it full of toothpicks. Currently chewing on one, his mind unhelpfully flashed back to images, memories, from his dream. Every single one of those civilians’ screams, Omega’s look of hurt and Hunter’s angry glare, the entire orchestrated coup on Ryloth…Hara’s terrified, pleading eyes and the sound of a blaster shot.

Crosshair shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut. That is not what happened. Hara was alive and with her father and the other colonists. Still, a durasteel-like ball of guilt sat in the pit of his stomach. It seemed to have grown exponentially since he’d left Kiros and there wasn’t any use in denying the truth behind it anymore. The door suddenly opened behind him and his teeth reflexively clenched around his toothpick. He knew it was just you, but that didn’t mean he was keen on having company right now.

Your footsteps were just loud enough for him to pinpoint where you were as you came up behind him. He watched out of the corner of his eye as you sat one stool apart from him. At first he thought it was out of consideration for his space, but then you put your socked feet up on it as you twisted the seat to face him. He fought the urge to grumble at you about it.

“Can’t sleep again?” you asked, breaking the silence.

“That’s none of your concern,” he said, “I’ll deal with it on my own.”

He wondered if his wording was too harsh. But then he questioned why he suddenly cared if it was. You didn’t look put off though. Instead your gaze softened at him. By now he recognized that it was because you cared, but it still made him uncomfortable for some reason.

“Go back to bed, Chip.” He said it so sternly that your brow furrowed before relaxing as if you realized something.

“Was it a nightmare?” you asked.

He looked down at the counter, “...Of a sort.”

“Do you…want to talk about it?”

He turned his head a little to look at you. The concern from you was almost palpable to him. And your eyes held a sincere openness that suggested you would listen to anything he had to say. Like before on Kiros, he once again entertained the idea of telling you the things he had done for the Empire. The choices he had made. But then he remembered how passionately you'd spoken in opposition of them during their first game of dejarik. The way you didn’t hesitate to offer the colonists help on Kiros. And that dangerous look that crossed your face as a TK trooper very narrowly missed one of their heads.

He frowned at himself as that ball of guilt grew again. He couldn’t tell you. He couldn’t risk ruining things. The, dare he finally admit it, friendly rapport they’d built up so far was comfortable. And working with you gave him a purpose he didn’t know how to find anywhere else, other than with the Empire. But he was not going back to them. If he told you the truth you’d probably throw him out of the airlock or, at best, kick him off of your ship as soon as you could. He had to keep this to himself. Guilt and all.

“No. I don’t.”

The concern on your face shifted to pure worry.

“It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real,” Crosshair said and he accidentally bit down on his toothpick so hard that it snapped.

“Doesn’t mean that what you felt wasn’t real,” You all but whispered back.

Crosshair had to keep himself from grimacing. He gave no response in return. He just flicked the broken toothpick into the trash chute nearby. The sound of the stool squeaking had him assuming that you were leaving. He was prepared to forget all about this by the time they landed in half a rotation. But you only went around the bar counter to the refrigerator. You took something out that he couldn’t see and then grabbed a plate and a knife. Coming back around, you sat on the stool next to him this time. A red rounded fruit sat in the palm of your hand.

“I got this at the market before we left and I was gonna save it for later, but I guess technically it is later so…”

It looked somewhat unfamiliar to him and the confusion must’ve shown on his face because you huffed out a laugh.

“It's vormfruit,” you explained, “We grow them on Dantooine. Or we did while I was still living there. Anyway, I haven’t had one in so long so when I saw it at the market I figured I’d buy a few.”

You began cutting it into slices and Crosshair focused on the steady movement of your hands, calmed by the simplicity of the action. His eyelids were starting to droop when your hand held up a slice of the fruit in front of his face.

“For you,” you said quietly, a tiny smile on your face.

He looked at you and took it somewhat hesitantly. The tips of his bare fingers brushed against yours and he ignored the way they tingled for a second afterwards. You then picked up a slice of your own. Crosshair stared at the fruit curiously before taking a bite. His eyes widened at the taste. It was good, sweet, but not overwhelmingly so and the texture was soft like a peach. He looked over to see you chewing slowly, thinly-veiled melancholy behind your eyes.

"Something wrong?" he asked after swallowing the first bite.

You blinked as if being taken out of a daze and looked at him, "Oh, I just…I remembered something that happened back on Dantooine."

He hummed and left the silence open for you to elaborate if you wanted. The apprehension on your face was noticeable. He let you go at your own pace.

"I used to work in the fields overseeing some of the crops," you started, "One day, I went out there to check on the vormfruit and I found…him and a few of his other squad members trying to sneak off with a bunch of them."

A small smile graced your lips, “You should’ve seen the look on his face after he realized his brothers had taken off without him.”

Crosshair smirked as he tried to picture a look of panicked betrayal on his face.

“I gave him an earful about it,” you said, “And I told him I wouldn’t rat him out to his commanding officer if he would teach me how to defend myself. And got the other two to apologize for trying to steal our crops.”

“So, you blackmailed him,” he said as he picked up another slice of fruit and brought it to his mouth.

Your lips flattened into a line and you smacked his arm lightly, causing the fruit to almost slip out of his hand. He gave you a dirty look, which you ignored.

“I wasn’t going to actually tell on him,” you said, “And he’d already brushed me off the first time I asked. I wasn’t a decent shot at all, no matter how much I practiced on my own, so I wanted to learn from the best.”

He felt the urge to scoff and make a comment about that last part, but he noticed your eyes starting to look a little glossy. He clamped his mouth shut.

“I had seen him practicing a few days before. I thought he was amazing. He hit so precisely every time,” you explained in wonderment, “I mean, I know that's what he trained for, but I had never seen anything like it. It was mesmerizing. I knew then and there that I wanted to learn from him.”

Your eyes then watered with wistful emotion. Before Crosshair could even think of what to say or do in response, you sniffed and turned away from his gaze, looking back down to the plate of fruit. You grabbed another. Only a couple were left now.

"What was it like on Kamino?" You suddenly asked him.

"Wet.” He shot back quickly.

That got a laugh out of you and he felt a satisfaction at your response.

"No, I mean…what was it like there for you growing up?"

Crosshair hesitated. He'd never been asked that before. Though he'd already mentioned a few things to you in passing, he still instinctively thought to wall himself away. Respond defensively instead of actually answering. But there you were in front of him, once again giving him that sincere look of openness and he caved this time.

“It was...” He frowned.

This was too vulnerable a question, he quickly realized, but his tired brain had already committed to it, “It was just a place. It never did feel like a home to me.”

“At all?” You asked softly.

He was then reminded of the only times it did. All of them involved his squad…his brothers. Training room competitions, mess hall jokes, late night conversations in their barracks. He thought again about the group picture they’d taken shortly after Echo had joined and he felt a bitter ache somewhere in his chest. Maybe he was mildly allergic to the vormfruit.

“Most of the time.” Was all he answered with.

“What was training like for you?” you asked after he said nothing else.

He paused to collect his thoughts. He'd never had such a difficult time thinking of what to say before. He blamed it on his own exhaustion.

“We were commandos. And we were told we were more elite than others due to our defections," he said and you frowned at the use of the word, "So our training reflected that. I'm capable of seeing and hitting a target as far as ten klicks in the distance, but it took rigorous lessons during my adolescence to learn how to use my vision properly."

The surprised look on your face had him realizing he'd never gone into detail about how his enhancement worked.

"Even then I was already better than reg sharpshooters and other commandos," he continued, "They didn’t like that."

"You sure it didn't have something to do with your attitude instead?" You quipped jokingly.

He glared at you and while there was a mischievous glint in your eye, he could tell you were being serious too. He ignored the question and continued on.

"The lab tests," he stressed the words out and tried to keep himself from shuddering as the memories of being poked, prodded and stuck with needles flashed through his mind, "Were the worst part of it, but I don't feel like talking about those."

At the mention of them your eyes filled with shock and concern, but you nodded slowly without saying a word.

"Did your reg ever tell you about what it was like on Kamino?" he asked.

You blinked and looked off to the side, “He only ever told me about the good parts, I guess. Growing up with his batch mates and funny stories that involved his squad. Now I’m wondering about all of the ugly bits he never shared with me.”

Crosshair hummed in response. You yawned then, covering your mouth with your hand. He was more than tired now and he fought the urge to yawn right after you. You turned your attention to the plate of fruit and so did he. There were two slices left. You took one and then inched the plate towards him to have the other. This last one tasted sweeter than the others, he didn’t know why. Once they finished eating you got up to dispose of the plate. Crosshair sat there contemplating if he’d just told you too much, but his tired brain didn’t seem to care enough at the moment. Instead it circled back to the emotion in your eyes every time you brought up your reg friend.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly blurted out, wincing at how utterly uncomfortable it sounded coming from his mouth.

There was a slight hitch in your breath, "For what?"

"What I said to you…back on Kiros. About your friend."

You said nothing for a few seconds and he took the silence as a rejection, but he understood if you still held some contempt towards him for it. Regardless of the talk they’d had in the medbay.

"I’ve already forgiven you." You broke the silence and turned to him with a warm look.

His eyes widened in surprise and for some reason the ball of guilt ever-so-slightly lighter.

"We should get some rest before we land on Daiyu,” you said as you walked to the door.

Crosshair got up from the stool, following you out. When they entered the barracks together it was a strange thing to him. They'd never gone in at the same time, let alone slept at the same time. Crosshair had always waited for you to fall asleep first. This time it felt surprisingly normal to him as he laid down on his bunk. He heard you sigh across from him as you got comfortable.

"Goodnight, Crosshair," you said quietly as you turned over to face the wall.

He grunted in response and he heard you breath out a short laugh, shoulders shaking slightly. He huffed softly, staring up at the ceiling. A minute later he turned to look over at you. Your back was still facing him and your breathing looked like it was starting to even out. He looked back up at the ceiling and a calmness settled over him as his eyes fluttered closed. When he awoke hours later and headed to the cantina before they landed, the room still smelled faintly of sweet red fruit.

End Note: My anxiety is so bad right now I can't think of anything to say here lmao The next chapter should be up in a few hours.

Feedback is much appreciated if you feel inclined to give any c: Thank you for reading ❤️

[cricketnationrise]

HI! Love your writing! Ollie/Wicks, Saturday April 15, 2017 (Post the NCAA Championship win!), the Haus. Thanks for doing all you do!

Thank you so much! 💜💜💜 this prompt made me grin so much when I read it, and writing it was a joy. Hope you love it as much as I do!

_X_ _X_ _X_

The Haus, Apr. 15, 2017

Not even two hours after the final horn signaled Samwell’s win against Brown, the team was back at the Haus, kegster in full swing. Three different kegs are flowing, Shitty had showed up with premade tub juice to augment his and Wicky’s own brew, and Louis managed to fend off Ransom and Holster trying to take over DJ-ing by playing strategically timed line dances. Lardo already has a crowd around her, spectators and hopeful (naive) challengers alike. Ollie’s voice is already basically gone from the amount of shouting he’s done today.

He still can’t believe they actually won. Four years of hard work, of tears, of overworked muscles, and they finally did the damn thing. Bitty might have been shocked at getting voted captain, but there was no tougher fucker on their team. Bitty’s ten pounds of crazy in a five pound bag. (Maybe a three pound bag.) Ollie never doubted that he would get them to the final.

He and Wicky have been joined at the hip since the bus dropped them at Faber – unwilling to drop their hands as they quickly stowed gear and hustled over to the Haus. They’ve been in constant contact while dancing, drinking, during fruitless rounds of pong against Lardo for old times sake, and as they steal bites of Bitty’s post-win-drunk-as-a-skunk cookie dough on their way to get refills.

Wicky stole his hat hours ago, but Ollie doesn’t mind. He’s never minded, not when it's Pace. Seeing Wicks wear his clothes has always made his whole soul sing, warm with pleasure and pride. (Watching the increasingly drunk team try to figure out which of them they're talking to is an entertaining bonus tonight.)

They’re not so much dancing right now as hugging tightly and swaying drunkenly in the middle of the makeshift dance floor, not paying any attention to the beat as they move. Every now and then, one of them will just start giggling again – still high on their win and basking in the atmosphere. It’s like the team is at the end of a movie. They vanquished their foes and now, in the denouement, they get to be giddy and romantic and fucking happy as hell. It feels like any minute now, their world will fade to black and play a pop song, or freeze frame on a group shot of everyone grinning, orchestra swelling. 

Suddenly the thumping base cuts off, and Ollie pulls away from where he was fully octopused on Wicks to look over at Louis’ set up. 

Oh shit.

“HEY Y’ALL!”

Bitty has a megaphone. Luckily people are feeling indulgent tonight so they just cheer louder instead of booing their captain for interrupting the music.

“WE ARE THE FROZEN FOUR CHAMPIONS, Y’ALL!”

“Yo, Jack, do we need to start Bitty Patrol?”

“You hush your face, Mr. Nurse, I will not be disrespected in my own Haus,” Bitty chirps back. He takes a breath and then frowns, looks at Jack. “Where was I, sweet pea?”

Ollie joins in the team-wide yell of FIIINNNNEEEE without even thinking about it. He doesn’t even need to look at Wicky to bump his fist in their own private version of nice one, dude.

“RIGHT. As I was saying. WE WON THE FROZEN FOUR and y’all, it has been an honor, and a  privilege to captain this team this year. I love all y’all so much! We’ve been through it, and we fucking earned this! So go forth and celebrate y’all—”

Whatever else Bitty was going to say is drowned out by cheering. He beams out over the crowd and hops down off the chair he was standing on, making a beeline to Jack as We Are The Champions kicks on. Wicks tugs on his arm and jerks his head toward the backyard, and Ollie lets himself be led outside without complaint.

Without a word, Wicky nabs a water bottle from the cooler Ollie had hidden back here at the start of the night and hands it to Ollie.

“Thanks babe, I’m fuckin’ parched.”

“I could tell,” Pacer says with a soft smile as Ollie gulps down the water. He drains half of it and passes it back to his boyfriend to finish off. There’s some fireflies out tonight and Ollie finds himself drifting further into the yard to watch them, letting the peace of the moment wash over him. The sounds of tub juice-soaked Queen lyrics being shouted through the walls of the Haus are somehow perfect for this moment.

“Ollie?”

“Hmm?” he asks without turning around. 

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Fire away, babe.”

“Could, shit, okay, could you turn around, at least?” A little reluctantly, he turns around and his breath catches in his throat. 

Pacer is on one fucking knee.

HOLY SHIT.

Pace grins at him nervously before he takes a deep breath.

“Oliver Oscar O’Meara.” Ollie can’t help but interrupt, giggling slightly hysterically. “How the fuck do you know my middle name?”

“I called your mom, now shut up and let me get this out, okay?”

Ollie just nods, not trusting his voice anymore as he tears up.

“Ollie. You’re my partner, my best friend, the person I want to wake up next to and fall asleep beside every day for the rest of my life. I love you so much, and I was going to wait till graduation and I don’t even have a ring yet, but after today I couldn’t wait one more second to ask you: Will you marry me?”

Ollie is outright crying now, but he’s also smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. He tackles Wicky to the ground, laughing in delight.

“Is that a yes?” Wicky asks between messy kisses.

“Yes! As if there was ever going to be a different answer, you fucker! Yes!” he yells before leaning in again. Now Wicky will be really surprised when Ollie proposes at graduation.

_X_ _X_ _X_

followers only have one week left to request their own ficlet - details here 💜

[relaxxattack]

hi! I'm the anon that asked about sending in the fic. apologies if this is the wrong place to send it, I wasn't sure what was most appropriate. feel free to ignore it btw. apologies for plot holes and mischaracterisation I wrote this while very tired.

When he’s not trying to solve the mystery of kidnapped children or plotting ways to kill a man, Ran likes to walk the halls of the castle.

In the End everything is so similar, the cities, the bridges, the ground, the sky – it all goes on forever, repeating itself over and over again, never anything new.

In the Overworld however, no two cities he’s been to have ever been the same. They bustle under one sky with their own clouds each day and their own constellations each night. They have been built by different minds for different purposes and different people and he loves to study it.

So when he wanders the halls he take notes in his journal of the art and the architecture. Of the style and the purpose and the history.

He’s definitely not hoping to bump into someone. He would never do that.

One night when he’s unable to sleep he decides to go for another walk. At this point he’s sure he’s seen everything so it’s more to clear his head than anything else.

Unlike the other times he’s been out at night, the castle is not silent. There’s a low hum emanating from somewhere, quiet enough that he reckons he’s the only one that can hear it.

He walks towards it and the sound grows louder and more distinguishable.

It’s music.

They don’t have music in the End, not really. However, it had been one of the few things in the Overworld he never had to learn to understand. The second he heard it he got it. He felt it in his bones, the way that the rhythm would drum through his heart and tell him a story. A story just for him. The way that the melody would make him understand things he could never put into words, even if only for a moment.

He follows the sound, or rather it lures him to it. Through a corridor and up a set of stairs. Open a door, shut the door, up another flight, along another corridor. He thinks he’s running now, sprinting to find where the music is coming from, but he stops dead when he sees the source.

It’s him.

At the end of the hallway, facing away from him, Jackie sits in front of a piano.

Ran doesn’t think he’s ever been to this part of the palace before. The ceilings are lower, the walls bare, the windows foggy. Nobody has been here in a long time; he wouldn’t be surprised if Jackie was the only one that knew about it.

He stands stock still at the door to the hallway, not wanting to move, not wanting to shut the door for fear it might disturb him, for fear it might make him stop.

He’s never heard this song before, which is odd because he likes to think he can recognise most Overworld music by now. The same songs are played at all the gatherings he goes to, through all the streets he walks. He had never considered that there would be more.

This one sounds sad, not sad like crying but sad like stillness. It feels like trailing your hand through a river as it flows by, or when you learn as a child that you can’t sleep on clouds, or when you wake up from a nightmare calling for someone only to realise you are alone.

It feels like everything he’s never been able to put into words all at once, it feels like it’s for him but not just for him, like a hand reaching out and saying I feel like that too.

He’s so caught up in all the feelings that he can only think one thing, and that is that he doesn’t want Jackie to stop.

Ran should know by now that when it comes to Jackie, he never gets what he wants.

The last note Jackie plays sounds less like a conclusion and more like a promise. I will be back tomorrow. I still have stories to tell you.

Ran wonders that if he returns at the right time he might be able to listen to him again.

And then kill him when he’s distracted, a voice in his head adds on.

Sure, that too.

Jackie hasn’t moved since he stopped playing but Ran knows that won’t last for long and decides to slip out the door while he’s still unnoticed.

“Whoever’s waiting outside the door better stop and hope to God I’m feeling merciful tonight,” a voice commands. It is not one he recognises. It’s definitely Jackie, but it’s low and tired. It hurts Ran and he doesn’t know why.

Ran’s only halfway out the door and he figures his best bet at staying alive is to reveal himself. He’s done his research. He knows that unlike him, Jackie doesn’t have assassination attempts, only assassinations. A long list of names with him as the last face they saw.

There are worse ways to go, he thinks.

He turns around to go back through the door again.

“Ran?” Jackie says, confused. “What’re you doing here?”

What is he doing here? If the Council knew of this, Ran in a dark room with his target, alone in a hidden in a part of the castle where no one goes, not trying to kill him but instead afraid of him, instead just watching him, instead wishing that he would turn around and continue to play - well - he’d be dead probably.

Definitely.

Oh, he’s so dead.

For once in his life Ran has lost all ability to lie, or tell the truth, or say anything remotely useful.

That’s been happening a lot recently.

“I- um, I was just- I was uh-”

Jackie looks less confused now, instead just annoyed.

“You were what?” he asks.

“I was listening.”

His face seems to fall, like a realisation that drains all irritation from it. His harsh brow fades away and his eyes soften. Here in the moonlight Ran think Jackie looks the youngest he’s ever seen him.

“Did you like it?” His voice is different but in a good way this time, it’s sweet, almost naïve and it strikes Ran once again how strange it is that this kid has enough red in his ledger to anger herds of bulls.

It doesn’t occur to Ran that it’s strange that he does too.

“I did,” Ran replies, and he doesn’t mean to. He really didn’t mean to say that. Why did he say that? Why did-

Jackie smiles and all trains of thought stop. “Good.”

Jackie gets up from the stool and walks down the corridor towards him. Closer and closer. Ran’s heart is getting faster and he has to remind himself that Jackie doesn’t know. He’s not going to kill him.

It doesn’t help.

When Jackie reaches him he stops for a second and seems unsure what to do. Eventually he pats Ran’s shoulder and meets his eye. “G’night, Ran.”

He walks past him and through the door, not expecting a reply, not expecting anything at all.

When Ran falls asleep that night he tries not to think about a life in the future. About a life far away from here. With grassy fields and trees and lakes. With blue skies and a house in the middle of nowhere. Far from everything he’s ever known. Untouchable. Undisturbed. Answering to no one.

He tries not to think about sitting in that house – it’s more a cottage really – simply furnished with the windows wide open, resting in an armchair and listening to music played by a boy with blue in his eyes and red in his ledger. With blonde hair and a laugh that sounds like if seagulls could sing. The most beautiful music he’s ever heard.

He tries really, really hard.

i'm going to cry this is so so lovely holy shit. this is my new favorite thing in the whole world now. i am going to treasure this forever.

it feels so weird to see ran and jackie written by someone else, but, like, you've taken them and made them better... they feel so alive here. they really come off the page.

my writing normally feels grounded and dry, which is intentional, but i absolutely love how yours feels glittery and flowy (like a stream). oh my god.

thank you so much for sharing this!! if you ever want to like put it on ao3, please do!!!

[kingreywrites]

In This Together

Fandom: Tangled

Word Count: 1375

Summary: Missing scene for the cutest moment in One Angry Princess

Or, Rapunzel comes back to her bedroom, and realises that if Eugene sleeps in the same position all night, he's going to feel pretty stiff in the morning. Why not sleep together on her bed instead?

Note: a little self-indulgent thing for the tangled countdown! It's late so I hope it's good fhsjsksk

@tangledaddict

Read on ao3

Rapunzel feels giddy on her way back to her bedroom after her talk with Old Lady Crowley. She knew Attila was innocent! And if they still need to find the person actually responsible for the crime and solve this confusing mystery, knowing that tomorrow, she will disculp her friend and save him from exile is already a weight off of her shoulders. She can't possibly erase the smile plastered on her face, or get rid of the glee in her voice when she repeats once again to Pascal that they did it. Sleep is the furthest thing from her mind.

She opens her door quietly, though, because she didn't forget that Eugene fell asleep, and she doesn't want to wake him up. Indeed, when she comes in, he's still snoring away peacefully, face turned away from her. She feels herself melting at the sight again, her smile softening as a burst of affection swipes through her.

For all Eugene complains about needing to get enough of his beauty sleep each night, he didn't even hesitate before assisting her all evening with her case. He held the pins and the yarn for her when she was making her board, proposed many theories which had helped her see things in a new light, and, more importantly, he was there to support her unconditionally when she worried about her friend. Rapunzel isn't sure that anyone but her thinks Attila is innocent; and she knows Eugene is more pragmatic than her, and likes to believe in what he sees.

And yet, despite all the damning evidence against Attila, Eugene didn't say a word about her being wrong tonight. He didn't tell her that she should give up, or that she was being too stubborn in face of the truth.

"We're in this together," he smiled when she told him he should get rest for the first time that night, hand on her shoulder as they looked over the board again.

She knows he fought his exhaustion for as long as he could, so she didn't have to be alone - all because he loves her, and wants to support her in everything she does. As Rapunzel gets closer to him, feeling oddly fluttered from looking at his peaceful sleeping face, she realises for the umpteenth time that she's lucky to have Eugene in her life. She's lucky, because his affection shines through his every gesture, and he somehow manages to say I love you with only a hand around her waist, or a look, or a smile.

A louder snore breaks her from her musing, and Eugene shifts slightly, dislodging the blanket from his shoulder. She chuckles, ready to fix it, but she also takes the time to think, and realises that if he sleeps in this position tonight, he will probably wake up with the biggest crick in his neck. She won't let that happen; not when she has a perfectly large bed ready to be used.

"Eugene?" she murmurs, one hand going to gently push his tousled hair from his face. Eugene mumbles something, but doesn't open his eyes, so she calls his name again, louder this time.

His eyes pop open with a start. "Wha- I'm awake," he babbles, lids obviously still heavy, "I'm awake, I'm… uh… Attila. Yeah."

Rapunzel laughs, because he hasn't even raised his head to say all of that, and she can see his eyes closing again - but he still wanted to help her. "It's okay," she whispers, "I found the solution. I just want us to go to bed."

He hums softly, and nuzzles against the hand that's still on his cheek. "I knew you'd do it," she thinks he says, but she's not quite sure since he's barely moving his mouth to talk.

It's honestly adorable.

After poking him again, she manages to make him understand that they're going to move, and Eugene sits up groggily, his hair sticking out everywhere. She bits back the desire to tell him how cute he is as he yawns, looking far younger for an instant. Instead, she puts her hand around his arm tenderly, and makes him stand up, before steering him towards her bed.

When he sits on the edge of it, he looks ready to fall asleep again, and this time she can't resist kissing his forehead. He gives her a soft and tired smile, and holds her hands tenderly, his eyes a bit clearer.

"You should get your boots off," she tells him, and watches as he clumsily takes them off only using his feet. Pascal scurries from her shoulder to his own bed when she starts to unbutton Eugene's jacket - though she only does it to help him get more comfortable.

"Hey," he chuckles, before getting cut off by a yawn. His fingers join hers to unclip the last buttons, and she gets it off his shoulders in a single movement.

"I didn’t want you to hurt your neck by sleeping in a bad position," she explains quietly, smiling at the smirk he sends her way.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Shouldn't I be going back to my bedroom instead?" he asks cheekily, but she hears the sincerity in his words. She knows he would sneak back to his room if she wanted, because it was less likely to get her in trouble, but they were both tired and she wanted to sleep with Eugene next to her.

Instead of saying that, however, she trails her fingers on the side of his jaw, gently makes him meet her eyes, and kisses the smile off his lips. She feels him groan as she climbs on his laps, and he doesn't seem to be sleepy at all when his hands end on her thighs, bringing her even closer. Strands of his hair tickle her nose as they break away to breathe, because she doesn't want to have any more space than they need to between them. She can see his eyelashes in full details from there, and the way his eyes shine despite the obscurity. They go to her lips before snapping back up, but she gets the message anyway, and starts kissing him again, one hand buried in his hair.

They end up lying down on her bed, her skirt scrunched up in a scandalous way, both of them panting and blushing and smiling at each other like idiots. This is happiness, Rapunzel thinks, butterflies in her stomach as if she's seeing Eugene for the first time again. The love and adoration in his gaze are for her and her only, and the intimacy makes everything feel brighter and softer, somehow.

Eugene yawns, looking embarrassed for breaking the moment, and she giggles. "You're tired."

"Never for you, Sunshine." The line would have worked if it wasn't tinted with exhaustion, and if she didn't know him too well.

She kisses the tip of his nose and rolls off of him, still staying in the comfortable embrace of his right arm. For a moment, she thinks he's going to protest, but his sighs and rubs at his eyes with his free hand.

"Maybe you're right," he admits, "it is quite late."

"And we have a big day tomorrow!"

"Do we- oh, yes, Attila. Did you find what you need?"

"Yep," she says happily, "I can't wait to tell everyone. You'll have to wait for tomorrow," she adds, when she sees him starting to plead with only his eyes. That makes him laugh, and he drops the subject easily.

She's the one yawning this time, the lack of sleep finally getting the best of her. Eugene shuffles to get them even closer, and grabs the blanket to drape it over themselves. He's blinking slowly again, already falling back asleep, but before he does, he softly kisses her forehead, whispering how much he loves her against her skin.

Head against his chest, feeling Eugene's deep and slow breaths and the loose hold of his hand on her waist, Rapunzel is content. She's going to save her friend tomorrow, and she gets to sleep in the arms of the man she loves, lucky enough to be loved in return. It doesn't take long for her to succumb to sleep as well, a smile still on her lips.

[poormeowmeowcollector]

Oh My God They Were Roommates! Just Roommates

Warnings: mentions of nightmares, smoking, breakdowns and lactose intolerance.

Characters: aro!Bucky ace!Loki (also genderfuid)

Summary: After the end of the Avengers, some kept fighting and some retired. Bucky was too tired to keep going, and he wanted the normal life. But he didn't expect the God of Mischief asking for the same thing

Notes: I made the Bingo! This was so tough to write but I really love the results!

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The Avengers are now in the past, after the Big Battle with Thanos. Some have gone offworld, some keep fighting and some just stop and try to leave a normal life. They are too tired to keep fighting. And Bucky is one of them.

After the battle, and after Steve handed his legacy over Sam, Bucky promised himself a normal and calm life. Sam respected it and asked for no help, even if things go bad. He pays a visit once a week and stays in touch.

Bucky now works in a small coffeeshop, and rents a small apartment. It's simple and cozy, he likes it. And he likes his simple life with his friendly co-workers and nice customers and he even gets laid if he's lucky enough. He falls in love with this kind of life.

One day, on a rainy night of November, he hears a knock on the door. He doesn't bother fetching his metal hand as he crosses the room and opens it.

And he finds Loki outside, wet and shivering. He never liked rain, says that water can compromise his cold resistance.

"Come in, you must be freezing," Bucky opens the door and moves aside. Loki nods and smiles, kicking his boots out after his feet meet the carpet.

And Loki never mentions Asgard. They didn't mention it as much before Ragnarok, but now they act as if it never existed. And suddenly, they make traditional soups.

"Th-thank you…" Loki smiles.

"Don't mention it. Take that thing on, will ya? Settle near the radiator, over the couch, I'll make you something warm to drink, okay?" Bucky replies, pointing at the soaking wet coat Loki's wearing. He makes a small nod and does as he was told, watching Bucky as he fetches his hand and heads to the kitchen. He knows that he shouldn't give him tea or coffee, it's quite late and Loki's an insomniac, so he settles down with chocolate. Well, he has a big sweet tooth, why not enjoy a nice warm cup of chocolate?

He goes back to the couch, smiling just a bit when he sees Loki covered with the blanket like a burrito. Loki takes the cup, holding it to warm up his hands before he takes a long sip.

"Th-thank you, it's q-q-quite g-good," He smiles, his shivering chin making his stutter appear.

"Again, don't mention it. What brought you here?" Bucky relaxes on the other side of the couch, his eyes on Loki. Last time he remembers, Loki was fighting.

"I couldn't move past Tony… it, it went bad, even when I was fighting. All nightmares and flashbacks and I… I think it's killing me. I wanna get out of this, retire. It's just too much, I can't take it anymore," He admits, his voice trembling again but not because of the cold. Bucky reaches out to his hand, a tight grip on it with his fleshed limp. And Loki leaves a small smile.

"And, I thought if you could use a roommate…" He finishes his answer.

"To be honest, it does get a bit boring without some idiots yelling at toasters," Bucky smiles.

"Bread should not be flying!" Loki spits, and Bucky laughs at it. But Loki also lets his lips twist upwards.

"You can stay for how long you want. But we will have to get a bigger apartment, this one has only one bedroom," Bucky answers.

"Let me rest for tonight and it will have a second bedroom tomorrow," Loki eyes the former soldier. He almost forgets about his magic. "But I can settle down on the couch tonight, it's comfy," He smiles. Bucky smiles too, he really doesn't feel like abandoning the apartment, he worked so hard to make it the way it is.

And they start to catch up with each other, while they have the energy to stay up. But they both grow tired and end up muttering goodnight and going to sleep.

For Bucky, it was a normal Saturday sleep, when he knows his alarm clock won't wake him up. But Loki hadn't slept with such peacefulness since Tony died.

~~~

"WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU PUT MY HAIRBRUSH?" Bucky yells from the bathroom.

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD I TAKE YOUR HAIRBRUSH? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU BRUSH THIS SHIT UNTIL NOW!" Loki yells back from the kitchen.

"LISTEN HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT. IF YOU EVER DISRESPECT MY HAIR LIKE THA- Nevermind, I found it," Bucky mutters the last few words. And Loki hears him perfectly. Because they are 7 feet apart. They didn't need to yell at each other.

"Good for you. Now stop blaming me whenever you lose something," Loki answers, waiting for the soldier to appear on their viewing field. And he did. But they now sigh and pay more attention to the food they're cooking.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Bucky hums, Loki making only a throaty sound as an answer. "What're you making? It smells nice," He asks, moving towards the kitchen to peek at the pot.

"It's a traditional stew on Asgard, you'll see," Loki smiles, but actually means "no peeking until I'm done".

Usually, Bucky was the one doing the cooking. Loki is a better cook, they use a lot of seasoning and know which one goes where, but they don't like it as much. In fact, Bucky can swear they only cook when stressed, as if they try to distract themselves with the smell of whatever they throw into the food.

And they basically talk through the night, with interruptions when Loki is rushing to the bathroom and returning like they had to give birth over there. At least until they both grow tired and fall asleep, right beside to each other. For the first time in days, no screaming and waking up in the middle of the night occurs.

Bucky sighs, trying to find something else to focus on. Something other than Loki's odd behaviour the last days, with the ongoing silence and numbness. Other than the sudden Æsir cooking. Other than the smoking they pretend it doesn't happen, like Bucky doesn't recognize the smell of tobacco in them. Something other than the screaming he hears in the middle of the night and knows that he can't help because Loki tends to lean towards the fight response and Bucky cannot fight back without hurting them.

And he knows where those things lead to. It's not the first time that Loki started going south after Tony. And the previous one was ugly, by all means. What if this one turns out to be ugly too?

"What are you thinking of?" Loki asks, their voice carefully soft. Bucky tries to appear calm, it's not worth worrying Loki too.

"Nothing special…" He shrugs, avoiding eye contact. But he hears Loki sighing and moving the pot before they walk on the couch and sit beside him.

"Is that why you are so worried? Come on, speak it up. Weren't you saying that we should talk about what is bothering us?" They are still soft, like Bucky's the elephant in the room. They were always like this, prefer to soothe others than speak about their issues.

"I'm just worried…" Bucky admits. This will not end pretty…

"Do you want to say what is worrying you?" Loki sits closer, big green eyes staring at him. The dark circles that start creeping around them making them brighter.

"Nah, it's not worth it…" Bucky regrets it and stares elsewhere, gazing at the asexual and aromatic flags hanging on the doors of the two bedrooms. And Loki makes a small tutting sound.

"You can just say you don't feel like talking, lies weren't needed," They argue.

"Says the god of them," Bucky thinks out loud. He shouldn't have said that.

The room gets cold, something Bucky knows is happening because Loki loses some control of their Frostbite when overwhelmed. They stand up and go back to the kitchen, speaking only to inform him that the dinner is ready with a dead voice.

Bucky follows them with hesitance, waiting for them to fill a bowl with the brownish stew before he serves himself and settles on the chair opposite to them.

The stew is nice. The taste of meat is strong and the seasoning makes it kind of sweet. Not exactly Bucky's taste, but he doesn't mind it. Loki plays with the pieces of meat inside it, his right hand holding his head.

"It's nice," He mutters, hoping he can make a small smile appear.

"It's shit," Loki argues, letting the spoon fall on the bowl as they stare at it with disgust. And then, they cover their face with their hands, their rapid breathing echoing.

"Hey, it's just some stew," Bucky tries to soothe them down but they stand up and pace to their room, the door slammed behind them. Bucky wants to follow, walk in and hug them tight and soothe them down. But it's wiser to give them some space.

He tries to finish his own meal, but his appetite is long gone. So, he empties the bowls back in the pot and washes the dishes, trying to think of what to do. He can already feel the apartment going colder and colder, and it's never a good thing.

Maybe if he finds something to cheer up Loki? They like sweets, maybe a cake. Thank God there's a candy store down the road, it will be maybe ten minutes on foot.

Loki doesn't react when Bucky opens the door and leaves, they probably don't even care. Bucky's lucky enough to find a dark chocolate cake, their favourite flavor, and it's cheap enough to buy it. And Loki is still locked in the room when he returns with the dessert.

"Hey, can you please let me in. Just wanna check on ya, you know," Bucky knocks the door. The handle twists and the door opens after a blanket of frost covers it. But, Loki's magic is like a green light that acts like smoke…

Loki is sitting on the corner of the bed, the room around them covered with a thin layer of ice. They have dropped every illusion, even the Æsir one. They do it plenty of times in an attempt to get used to it, or when they can't control the seiðr. They smile just so, fags showing, as they light out a smoke on an ashtray.

"Will you stand there?" They ask, voice dead. There are no tears in their ruby eyes, not trembling from the crying. They just look numb.

Bucky nods and sits on the other side of the bed, placing the box in front of him and a fork above it. "I thought you would like some cake…" He hums, inspecting Loki as they glance at the box.

"Thank you," They try to smile but their face disagrees. They take the box to their lap and open it, frost appearing on the paper that touches him and the fork.

"So, do you feel like speaking?" Bucky asks. They hate showing it, but they love talking and it actually helps them a lot.

"It's just some homesickness. Don't worry, it will pass…" They shrug one shoulder and take a bite of the cake. Their lips twist upwards, a good sign, and they place the box between them and Bucky, a second fork appearing in their hand.

"Oh, thank you," Bucky smiles and takes it, not minding the freezing cold of Bucky's skin. "So, it's about Asgard or the Avengers," He asks.

"Kind of both, somehow… and, it's also the nightmares, as usual. But they're manageable," They lie. After years with them, Bucky knows when they lie. And, most important, he knows when to demand the truth and when not.

"Well, if you feel like it will help, you can come over for snuggles and emotional support." He suggests. Loki smiles and nods, staying silent as they focus on the cake. Can you blame them? They haven't eaten properly for days. But Bucky does give them a look when he realises how fast they devoured the dessert.

"Wait, did you ask for lactose free?" They ask, after making the box vanish. And Bucky forgot to ask.

"Shouldn't you also ask before you eat the whole thing?" He also asks, his worry about how much Loki's small intestine shall suffer tonight growing.

"So, we are both idiots," Loki comes to a conclusion, finding Bucky agreeing.

"Basically, yes… and, I think I should suffer with you tonight, right?" He asks.

"Definitely, just lay near the wall, you don't want to be between me and the toilet," They respond, freeing the space of the bed they meant. Bucky got his metal hand out, he doesn't like sleeping with it on, and lay where he was instructed to, Loki laying beside him.

[chanlixformysoul]

'you are beautiful everywhere, inside and outside' [ Chanlix ]

rating: mature

word count: 765

summary:

➥ Chan woke up in horny and Felix is a fluffball of insecurities

song recommendation:

estimated reading time: 5.9 minutes

＼＼\٩(๑'^'๑)۶//／／

Felix and Chan went to bed early this Friday due to the fact that they both had a full week of work which left them exhausted. For once Felix felt that the universe was on his side because tomorrow was Saturday or should I say today?

Felix woke up startled by Chan's insisting gentle pushes. His eyes widened as he spoke while his voice cracked throughout the whole sentence.

'Did something happened? Are you ok?'

Chan just looks at Felix with pleading eyes waiting for them to feel his thing  pressed on his back. After a few seconds he looks down at their situation and Felix follows his eyes. His eyes widened but then dilated and looks at Chan dead serious.

'Can we do it? Please' Chan claps his hand together pleading to Felix.

'In the morning, I'm too tired now, solve your problem by hand.'

And with that Felix turns to lay on his stomach, his face facing the wall and not Chan.

Chan on the other hand just scoffs and groans as he goes to the bathroom. After the door is shut, Felix feels himself smirking at his boyfriend's attitude. He thinks to himself 'please forget about this in the morning, Chan'.

You know how Felix thought the universe was finally on his side? Well, as funny as it is he was wrong. He was woken up (again) by Chan. Nibbling on his earlobe while being on top of him, Chan goes and places a gentle kiss on Felix's pretty mouth.

'Now?'

'W-what?'

'You said we will do it in the morning.'

'I said that?' Felix tries to cover up his obvious lie with his puzzled face. He looks up at Chan who just stares at him grinning and he feels his stomach turn. It's not like they didn't do it before... but that time Felix still had a long shirt on and the room was dark. It's just that Felix feels embarrassed by his stretch marks that spread across his thighs and his birthmark above his private part.

'Umm.... Chan?' Felix says slowly, starting to panic.

'Yes, Lixie'

'Um, you see, well I just don't know if we should do it.' Felix says wincing, feeling Chan slowly getting closer to his neck.

'Lix, are you okay? Did I do something?'

'Well you see, umm I don't know how I should say this' Felix avoids Chan's eyes at all cost while glancing rapidly around the room.

'I'm embarrassed, okay? I have stretch marks and a birthmark. I just don't want you to feel less pleasure because I'm ugly down there...'

'Lixie' Chan starts while looking at his boyfriend softly 'you are beautiful everywhere, inside and outside. I don't care if you have stretch marks or a birthmark down there, I think they are as beautiful as you. If you don't wanna do it then I can wait. I will wait for you Felix, I love you.' And with that being said Chan leans to peck Felix's rosy and beautiful lips.

'I love you too, Chan, thanks for being patient with me....we can do it tonight if you want' Felix says the last part blushing furiously at the thought.

'No taking backs, right?'

'I pinky promise you I won't back out' he says while holding a finger in Chan's face. Chan just intertwines his pinky with his while chuckling at the younger.

'Come here, Lix, I wanna cuddle you'

And with that Chan grabs Felix and turns them so Felix is now on top of him. He just simply puts his head down on Chan's chest listening to his lover's heartbeat. It's almost like a melody, pure and majestic, slow and gentle, but at the same time rapid and smooth. After a few minutes of laying around while Chan plays with Felix's hair, his other hand bringing the younger's hand to his mouth to kiss his finger, wrist, palm and knuckles. An 'I love you' slips between his plump lips while his eyes are fixed on his lovers face.

'I love you too, Channie' The words were as simple as a blank wall but meant everything for Chan. Felix meant everything for Chan. The universe was on both of their sides this time, forever destined the two of to be together, Felix was forever his and the idea of that motivated him to wake up every morning finding an angel sleeping in his arms, face pressed in his collarbone. It was perfect. It was enough for Chan. He found his happiness. He was a half but now he had Felix, he was complete, finally complete.

＼＼\٩(๑'^'๑)۶//／／

my ao3: Mrs_SnowPitch

my wattpad: ChanlixForMySoul

my masterlist: iza’s masterlist

[ionlyspeakinmyheroacademia]

Late Nights and Lavender Tea

series masterlist ☕️ 

Pairing: Izuku Midoriya x Ochako Uraraka

Warnings: Some lauguage, gets a lil steamy at some parts, slow burn, MAJOR SPOILERS

Summary: After a year of friendship, Uraraka realizes that she is totally in love with her best friend, Midoriya Izuku. There's just one slight problem. She's in a happy, committed relationship with Iida Tenya.Or is she? As their relationship progresses, she sees a side of Tenya that scares her- and she wonders if she made the right choice to get with him in the first place. And her resurfacing feelings for Izuku aren't helping her case, not in the slightest.Midoriya Izuku always avoids romantic relationships, but he simply cannot avoid his feelings for Uraraka Ochako. She's taken, but Izuku can't help but hopelessly pine after her. After seemingly the millionth late-night talk over tea, he realizes that he's head over heels in love with her. He's in love with a girl who's off-limits. He can swallow his feelings for her sake, of course.That's okay with Izuku. If she's happy, he's happy for her. It's really okay, honestly.Teenage relationships are hard. That's one thing they've both realized.

Notes: This is my first fic, let me know what you think! (cross posted on ao3)

Chapter 5: Out of the Frying Pan

Ochako was exhausted. She’d been up since before they had gone out to patrol yesterday, and they had left pretty early, considering Ryukyu usually didn’t even get up until noon. Nejire Chan, on the other hand, had them up and working at six AM. She had gone straight from patrol to taking on the group of low-level villains with Tsu, Nejire, and Ryukyu, where she had been kidnapped when they left her to keep watch. 

She shuddered, pushing thoughts of the night before away. It was too soon to think about it. She looked over at Tenya, still asleep on the chair next to her bed. He was so peaceful as he slept, the anger gone from his features. Outside the door, she could see her parents talking with the doctors and Ryukyu and Nejire, who had just arrived, and Tsu burst into the room, flying over to Ochako, throwing her arms around her. 

“I was so worried about you!” Tsu cried, tears falling rapidly, as she sobbed into Ochako’s hospital gown. 

“Shh, shh,” Ochako soothed, rubbing her friend’s back consolingly. 

“I should never have left you alone-”

“Tsu, it’s not your fault. It’s my own fault, I volunteered to stay by myself. It’s my own damn fault that I was too stupid to realize I needed help.” Before Tsu could tell her she was wrong, Ryukyu and Nejire hurried in, and Nejire, not unlike Tsu, pulled Ochako into a hug. 

“Are you okay? What did they do to you? Who saved you again? Was it that guy in the chair? Isn’t that your class rep? Oooh, is he your boyfriend? I could have sworn it was the green-haired problem child. Deku right?” Nejire, as always, erupted into a million questions, leaving Ochako flustered.

“Don’t suffocate her, Nejire,” Ryukyu scolded, and set a hand on Ochako’s shoulder. “Ochako, I’m so sorry I put you in danger. As your supervisor, the blame falls on me for your capture. I'm so sorry for putting you through that.”

“Ryukyu-” Ochako started, when Tenya sat up groggily, turning to the women in the room, looking confused before he registered what was going on. “Hey sleepyhead,” she teased, smiling at him warmly.

“What time is it?” he asked sleepily, taking his glasses off to rub his eye. 

“Around seven,” Ochako’s father said as he walked into the room, followed by her mother, both of them holding two cups of coffee.  

“Would you like one?” Ochako’s mother asked Ryukyu, who accepted the caffeine gratefully because she wasn’t used to being up at this hour. 

“No, thank you,” Nejire answered when Ochako’s father asked if she wanted his other cup. “I have enough energy, at least that’s what Ryukyu says.” 

“Well, alright. Iida, would you like it? I have sugar here if you want anything,” her dad asked, turning to her boyfriend.

“Yes, thank you sir,” Tenya replied, taking the steaming cup from her father, blowing it off before taking a sip.   

“Anyway, Ochako, honey,” her mom said, coming over to stand next to the bed, “You’re cleared to be discharged so that they can get you to Recovery Girl. That way you can be back in the dorms by tonight.”

Ochako nodded, smiling warmly at her mother. “Okay, mom,” she answered, as her mom reached down to ruffle her daughter’s hair. 

“We’ll give you guys some time alone,” Ryukyu said, putting an arm around both Nejire and Tsu, and walking out of the room. 

“I’m going to head out too, if that’s alright, Ochako,” Tenya smiled softly at her, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “I have to report back to Manual.”

“Of course, see you later Tenya,” she answered, returning his smile. 

“He’s an okay kid,” her dad said, watching Tenya walk down the hall, putting his helmet back on. Ochako didn’t respond, just watched him walk away, thinking about what her friends had told her a few days before. 

“You okay, baby?” her mom asked gently, tucking Ochako’s hair behind her ear and turning her daughter’s face to look in her eyes. Ochako shook her head, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes, the mask she had put up to hide her pain tumbling down with those three little words. “Aww, sweetie, shh, shh.”

“I was so scared, Mom. I didn’t think I would ever see you guys again, I…” she choked out, sobbing as her parents threw their arms around her, “I thought I was going to die all alone, tied up in a old warehouse, with no way to be heard or seen, I thought I was going to die, and no one would know what happened to me, you guys would have lost your only daughter, and I would have never gotten to tell you I love you.”

Her parents soothed her as she sobbed into their shirts, whispering calming words to her, rocking her back and forth, kissing her hair, and her mother crying with her. 

“We love you Ochako, we’re so glad you’re okay,” her father said, his voice shaking, and her mother nodding, sobbing at the thought of her daughter dying.

“If it weren’t for Deku, I’d be dead,” she looked at her parents in the eyes, “I owe him my life.”

“The next time I see him he’s getting a huge hug, make sure to warn him,” he mother said, her voice muffled by Ochako’s hospital gown, and Ochako and her father laughed. 

“I will mom,” she replied.

“Anyway, I brought donuts,” her father burst out suddenly. “I didn’t have enough to share with everyone, so I didn’t get them out when your friends were here, but I got you chocolate creme, your favorite!”

“Aw, dad, you didn’t have to do that!” Ochako exclaimed, but took the donut anyway, biting into the fluffy pastry, savoring the sweetness. 

“Anything for my favorite daughter,” he laughed, ruffling her hair. She smiled as he passed a donut to her mother, and all three of them squished on the bed, catching up before Ochako had to go back to school.

…

“That should do it for today,” Recovery Girl sighed, “I couldn’t fully fix your leg without using all your energy, so you’ll need a crutch until tomorrow, and I’ll fix it in the morning, all right sweetie?”

“Yes, thank you so much ma’am.”

“Your welcome dear,” Recovery Girl replied, smiling at Ochako, and handing her a lollipop. “Make sure you’re careful with that leg tonight, and don’t do anything to raise your stress levels. You need to rest, especially after what happened last night.”

Ochako nodded, unwrapping the sucker and putting it in her mouth. 

“Anywho, I’ll see you in the morning dear.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ochako said, and stood, reaching for the crutch, and started slowly out of the room, adjusting to how the crutches sat under her arm, rubbing uncomfortably, causing her to wince. She made her way to the dorms, admiring the sunset, savoring her time alone, or at least she thought she was. 

The events of the night before had planted fear in her heart, growing into paranoia, and Ochako felt herself looking over her shoulder constantly. This was the first time she’d been alone since the capture, and it was starting to dawn on her that she wasn’t okay, not in the slightest. She was terrified, in a way she had never been before. 

I hate this feeling, I don’t want to live the rest of my life in fear. I’ll never be able to do anything, she thought, rubbing circles on her temples, stopping to adjust her crutches. It was then when she heard the sound in the trees behind her. 

It was a quiet noise, only a small crack in a branch, but she jumped, landing painfully on her still injured leg. Her heart raced, staring at the trees, hoping it was nothing, only a squirrel or a large bird. She groaned inwardly, turning back to the dorms. I’m such an idiot, she scolded herself, UA is heavily guarded, I’m perfectly safe here.

But no matter what she told herself, she was still frightened, and she hurried to Heights Alliance with her heart in her throat, moving as fast as her injured leg would let her. 

When she reached the building, she breathed a sigh of relief, and composed herself before pushing the door open. 

“She’s back!” she heard Mina cry, and all at once, she was swarmed by her classmates, questions being thrown at her left and right.

“All right, everyone, move out of the way, Ochako’s boyfriend coming through,” Tenya called from the back of the group, and all of their classmates moved out of the way reluctantly, and Tenya made his way towards her.

“Hey,” she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek, and smiling up at him. 

“You okay?” he said softly, so only she could hear, keeping the conversation between them. 

“Yeah, just tired, Recovery Girl took a lot of my energy healing my injuries, and she still has more to heal tomorrow.”

“Do you want to go sit down?”

“Sure, that sounds nice,” she replied, and he helped her over to the couch neighboring the one where Todoroki and Sora were sitting, Todoroki’s head in Sora’s lap as his boyfriend played with his hair.

She leaned against Tenya’s chest, closing her eyes and trying to drone out the conversations of her classmates. She let her mind wander, thinking back to the other night, with the girls, remembering what they had said. Tenya had been acting normal, back to the way he’d been before the Sports Festival, before everything had gone downhill. Ochako had never been in a relationship, so she really didn’t know what to expect, but she knew something was wrong with her and Tenya’s relationship, but she cared about him too much to let him go.

“Why are you so tired babe?” she heard Sora ask Todoroki.

“Well, I got like, two hours of sleep, thanks to Midoriya. I covered for him after he went and broke the rules, and ended up getting chewed out all night, and when Midoriya finally got there, dear ol’ dad and Burnin lectured him. And of course when I tried to leave I got in trouble, so I didn’t go to bed until at least six-thirty this morning,” Todoroki answered, and Ochako sat up, looking at him quizzically.

“What do you mean? What did Deku do?” Ochako asked, genuinely confused.

“He saved you. We had specific instructions not to, but he was distraught, he said he really needed to make sure you were safe,” Todoroki said, and then turned to her, puzzled. “Why, did he not tell you?”

“That little shit,” she said under her breath, and stood up, positioning her crutch under her arm and hobbling towards the elevator. 

“Where are you going?” Tenya called.

“To give him a piece of my mind!” she yelled back, hitting the up button and tapping her good foot impatiently. He was in for a hell of lecture, that was for sure. 

Izuku had been studying when Ochako burst into his room, fuming. 

“Hey! You’re back! How are you-”

“Uh uh, I have a bone to pick with you,” she growled, limping over to him, and putting her free hand on her hip. “Izuku, what were you thinking! You could be expelled for defying a direct order like that! Do you not remember what happened last year with Bakugou? I won’t let you get expelled for me!”

“What was I supposed to do, Ochako? I couldn’t let you get killed, I couldn’t. I know I didn’t follow the rules, but someone once told me, ‘Meddling where you don’t need to is the essence of being a hero’. I couldn’t let you die, I just couldn’t, and I’m sorry if that makes you angry, but I saved your life, and I’m proud of that. I had to save you Ochako,” he said, bursting into tears, hastily wiping them away. She stood there in shock for a moment, staring at him as tears started to fill her own eyes. She stumbled forward, and threw her arms around his shaking shoulders, both of them sobbing into each other’s shirts. 

“I’m sorry Izuku, I just don’t want you to throw your future away for me,” she cried, her anger ebbing away as they held each other.

“I’m not sorry,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair, even though he knew deep down he shouldn’t. “I’ll never be sorry for saving you.” I love you, his heart was repeating over and over, and he wanted to scream those three little words as loud as he could, but he bit them back. She was with Iida, she had a boyfriend. He stifled another sob, and hugged her tighter, trying to commit her to memory. They stayed there for a good while, just hugging each other tightly, trying to hold each other’s sadness in, patching up the holes the two of them had left in each other’s hearts. 

…

“So,” Izuku asked, sniffling. “How are you feeling?” The two of them had been sitting in his room for a while now, after breaking down in front of each other. They had sat in silence for a good five minutes, Ochako sitting in his desk chair, and Izuku sitting rigidly on the edge of his bed. 

“I’m exhausted, I mean, I already was, and then I cried, so now I’m extra tired,” she answered, laughing lightly, cutting the laugh off with a yawn.

“Do you want to lay down? I need to keep studying anyway, and it’s getting late,” he suggested, immediately cursing himself. You idiot, his brain screamed at him.

“Do you mind?” she asked, “I could use some sleep.”

“Of course not, here,” he jumped up awkwardly, moving over to the desk as she shuffled over to the bed, slipping her slippers off and getting under the covers. He turned the lights off, leaving on the lamp on his desk, and sat down, trying to distract himself from the fact that Ochako Uraraka was in his bed. They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, and Izuku stared blankly at his notebook, doodling absently, anything to distract him from her.

“Izuku?” he heard her whisper from behind him. 

“Yeah?” he said quietly, turning to look at her, and saw tears shining in her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He moved to sit on the bed next to her, and brushed her hair from her eyes gently. 

“I’m scared ‘Zu,” she whispered, tears spilling over. “I don’t want to sleep, I’m scared I’ll have nightmares again.” He reached over and wiped her tears away. 

“Shhh, it’ll be okay Ochako, don’t worry.”

“I haven’t slept since this morning, and I didn’t sleep for long, I had these terrible nightmares…” she wiped her tears away hastily. “Sorry, this is the second time I’ve cried in front of you in an hour. God, I’m so pathetic.”

“No you’re not,” he reassured, setting a light hand on her knee. 

“Midoriya, have you seen-” he heard a voice from behind him, and a swift intake of breath. 

Izuku turned around, and smiled at Iida. “Hey Iida, what’s up?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Iida roared, storming over to Izuku and ripping him off the bed, picking him up and throwing him by the collar of his shirt into the All Might covered wall.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Izuku said after grunting in pain. “Why the hell did you thro-” He was cut off by Iida’s fist colliding into his face.

“Tenya!” Ochako screamed from behind them, trying to stand up, reaching for her crutch. “What is wrong with you! What are you doing?”

Izuku slid to the floor, pinching his nose that was gushing blood. He looked up to see Iida, his eyes full of pure malice, pulling his arm back for another punch. Izuku prepared himself for the blow, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Ochako’s hand on Iida’s arm, pulling it back. Iida swiveled around to face her. 

“Stop, please, stop,” she whimpered, trying to reason with him, but Izuku could see his arm twitching. He tried to make a sound, but he was too late- Iida had already slapped Ochako across the face.

[pinetasticapple]

What if we had known each other first and fallen in love second: Stormy Weather

Also on ao3 and ffnet

The night was cool and clear of clouds, but the stars were barely visible because of the street lights that illuminated the city. Not that any of the superheroes paid attention to them, as they were currently snuggled up under a blanket to watch the laptop screen, tonight's choice being a cartoon of Adrien's choosing.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Chat sang along with the video, earning a light jab on the ribs "what? It's a good song!"

"Hm hm" Ladybug giggled "I didn't say it was but keep it low, we might alert someone."

"Only if you promise we can sing this before we wreck Hawkmoth and win the fight."

"Oh my god" she laughed "that is so overly dramatic Chat,"

"But it would be so worth it!" he pouted "please?"

"First we would need to know where he's hiding" she sighed "we've been at this for months and there's no clue of where or who he is."

"That is true" Chat sighed as well "but I must admit these months have been the greatest because I got to meet you and go to school."

"Only you would be excited about school" she giggled "but I get it, I'm glad I met you too."

The episode ended and both teens stretched, Chat Noir making sure to pack the laptop and small speaker. Saturday nights were amazing in the sense they could get to do this, watch movies or cartoons to their contempt after a few rounds of patrol. He loved them, even if he was watching something for the tenth time, he loved his partner's comments afterwards.

"Well then," she packed the blanket in her yo-yo, still surprised at the capacity of the magic device in storing about everything "are you good for tomorrow?"

"The photoshoot?" Chat frowned "I can't believe he scheduled it for a Sunday."

"I'm sorry, it's supposed to be vacation time and you are going to be working."

"It's not your fault bug" he shrugged, his eyes brightening as he snapped his fingers "but it would be such a surprise if you were to be around the park say… around noon?"

"I can't promise you anything" she sighed "I promised a family friend I'd babysit her daughter and Alya is going to tag along at my house" her eyes lit up "I mean I could take her to the park but I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Hey, parks are public spaces, it is bound to happen" he grinned "and it'd be great to see friends outside of school."

"Sneaky, sneaky" she flicked her bell "but you win chaton."

"Don't I always?" he grinned, strapping the bag to his shoulder and ran off before Ladybug could retort.

She just huffed with a smile and made her way back to her home, falling right onto her bed as the transformation faded away.

Marinette knew she had to stand up more for herself in certain aspects of her life. Knowing when to say no was one of those. It was a long path and it wasn't as if she couldn't do it, but sometimes it was too exhausting.

Like right now, as she ran after the little girl going in circles with a prototype hat Marinette had been working on for days.

She could handle akumas, she could handle weird magical disasters. But a girl running around her house while making Marinette trip and bump her head in numerous surfaces was beginning to get the better of her.

"Why did I agree to do this?" she mumbled right as Manon ran away with her hat again.

"If you can handle Manon for a day, any villain here on out will be a piece of cake" Tikki smiled behind one of Marinette's pigtails.

"You read my mind" she smiled just as the doorbell rang "oh that must Alya."

Marinette ran to open the door, relieved to see her friend there.

"So what seems to be the situation?"

"You've said it, you are an expert with your sisters, I need your help."

"Ah," Alya smiled "of course I shall impose my wisdom upon you, my sweet can't say no friend."

Marinette ignored that last part. One step at a time she told herself.

"Besides, Adrien is having a photoshoot at the park and he asked if I could also be around so he doesn't feel so lonely."

"Girl, you have got to work on your time management, but the park is not a bad idea."

Manon took that chance to sneak past Marinette's legs, looking up at Alya with curious eyes.

"And who are you?"

Alya kneeled to be on Manon's height and started to say stuff that Marinette had to blink surprised at how easy Manon was hooked to every word. Marinette was not going to deny Alya was good when it came to little kids. Soon she was practically lifting Manon up and hoisting her on Marinette's shoulders, the girl clinging to her hair as they made their way to the park.

It was a nice day out, a little hot but nothing not manageable. As soon as they were in the park, Marinette spotted Adrien posing next to the fountain, no doubt already bored from doing this on a nice day.

"Alright, how about we run you tired first?" Marinette put Manon down, the girl laughing as she pointed at a balloon stand.

"I want a balloon with Mireille's face on it!"

"That's…odd?" Marinette looked at Alya "didn't they were just going to announce the winner today?"

"You know how some places have their merchandise up and ready before they announce a winner" Alya shrugged.

"I suppose," Marinette looked at the red balloons. It was a high possibility but it still stuck as weird in her head. But she hadn't paid much attention to the weather contest since she had been quite busy chasing after Manon back in her home.

"Ok, let's get you one" Marinette took Manon to the stand, looking up just as Adrien sent her a small wave. She waved back and pointed at Manon, her eyes conveying the message that she was going to be around, only to be also pulled by Alya to the balloon vendor.

Adrien was glad she agreed to be around, even if his time was way limited with the amount of shoots the photographer wanted to take, not to mention his bodyguard was there so any possibility of sneaking away was out of the question.

This was boring, not to mention Adrien may have slept a little less than usual thanks to Saturday movie nights, but that was something he couldn't let anyone else know.

"No, no! The boy has eaten too much spaghetti!"

Adrien looked back at the photographer. Oh, he had yawned in between a photo. He apologized but the truth was he was really bored and his brain was not going to cooperate in understand all the pasta metaphors. Around him there were a few people talking and he spotted Marinette with Alya and Manon around the merry go round.

"We need some more energy! Romance!"

Adrien was quite sure that was not necessary for this shoot.

But the photographer was looking around and pointing at Marinette.

"You! You there," he approached her "hm, good contrast, yes, you can pose with Mr. Adrien,"

Marinette jumped, looking at the photographer and then at Adrien and back to the photographer.

"M-me? No way, I'm not that photogenic and- "

"Oh it would be a great idea!" Alya nudged her "you could get to find out about the other side of modeling business,"

"But- "she looked at Manon.

"Hey girl, I got you covered," Alya lifted Manon up to the unicorn on the merry go around "besides it'll be for only a few minutes, I think miss Unicorn and I will be just fine."

Manon laughed, no doubt at Alya's magical story. Well, at least she wasn't turning it into super hero stuff.

"Ok, fine" she turned "but just for a few minutes, alright?"

She turned and made her way to the fountain, only to stop at the loud scream that came from behind, as the merry go round was suddenly wrapped in an icy prison.

Marinette looked up to see indeed an akuma, a girl with a purple dress and umbrella that was sending gusts of winds at people nearby.

"Aurore?"

It had to be her, the other girl that lost the contest. But how devastated must she feel to be akumatized over it?

Marinette would have to think about it later as she ran to a place to hide and transform. She knew Adrien would catch up to her but first she had to make sure Alya and Manon were safe.

Ladybug was glad Alya was with the little girl but that didn't take away the pang of guilt from leaving her alone.

"I'll get you out of there!" she exclaimed and tossed her yo-yo to wrap around the big icicle. Maybe the wire would create enough friction to cut it out?

She pulled hard, only for the wire to slip and throw the yo-yo right on her head.

Ouch, that thing was painful. Ok then, plan B. Purify the akuma and cast miraculous cure to melt the ice.

"Don't worry" she approached the ice wall and crouched to Manon's height "everything's going to be ok."

"Where is Marinette?"

"She hasn't forgotten about you Manon" Ladybug gave her a warm smile.

"How do you know my name?"

Ladybug's cheek twitched. She had to admit it was sometimes difficult to keep the identities separate for the sake of civilians.

"Ah Marinette told me!" she said "she's coming right back, ok?"

That ought to explain it for now. She gave Alya a smile and turned around. She had an akuma to fight.

Adrien on the other side of the park had managed to transform, after bribing Plagg out with cheese, and was facing at the akuma.

"Hey Ice Queen," he called out to her as he slid off the fence "what's with all the terrorizing? Why don't you pick on someone your own temperature?"

"My name is not Ice Queen! It's Stormy Weather!"

Huh, ok he was a little far off the name.

"Listen, I'm feeline more generous than usual today," he smirked "so cool down and we call it quits, ok?"

Next thing he knew he was being blasted away by a gust of wind, landing three blocks away from the park.

"I thought cats landed on their feet" he heard Ladybug approaching him, taking the hand she offered up to him.

"I had it covered" he dusted off his suit "she just couldn't appreciate my sense of humor."

"What a shame she mist the opportunity."

Chat grinned.

"See, you do get me,"

"Just not your timing" she shrugged just as the akuma appeared right in front of them, casting her power to throw lightning above them.

"Watch out!" Ladybug tackled Chat out of the way just as one fell on the street.

"That was way too dangerous" Chat turned to the akuma "you just won yourself a cat fight!"

He ran towards her, only for the street's asphalt turning to ice as his feet slipped. Stormy Weather threw another gust of wind, sending him flying back again.

"Chat!" Ladybug used a lamp post as anchor as she grabbed onto Chat's tail, both fighting against the gust of wind until it was done, leaving them face planted on the sidewalk.

"Ok, I'll knock the wind out of her sails," Chat cracked his knuckles, ready to leap against Stormy Weather again, only to be reeled back by Ladybug.

"Woah, wait up" she pulled at his tail "we can't go head first, that didn't work out."

"Right" he frowned "have a backup idea?"

"Follow my lead" she smiled and jumped to start running on one side of the building, Chat quickly catching up to her plan. If they went at her at the same time, then Stormy Weather was not going to know who to defend from first.

The gust of wind that sent them flying and almost crushed by the wrecked cars told them otherwise.

"Hang on!" Ladybug pulled Chat close to her and started to spin her yo-yo real fast above them, just as a bus landed right on top of them.

Either yo-yo's string spun so hard or magic alone but Chat was relieved to see it had done a hole on the metal of the bus, even if it landed on top of his head.

"Ouch!" he rubbed his head "that hurt!"

"I'm sorry" she couldn't help but to giggle a little "I know firsthand how hard this thing is."

"Sure you do" he frowned "so, front attacks didn't work, neither divided ones."

Ladybug pushed the bus window to open it, taking Chat's baton as he lifted her up and allowed her to vault him out.

"What about an ambush?"

"That could be, but we would need to know where she's gone,"

"Say, why do you think she got akumatized?" Chat asked once they were back on the streets, running across the wreckage.

"I'm guessing from the weather contest results?"

"Right, I forgot about those," he shrugged just as the broken screen next to them lit up, showing Stormy Weather broadcasting a snow storm over Paris.

"Summer vacation is officially over!"

"Already?" Chat huffed "but I'd look so good in a swimsuit."

Ladybug laughed "glad to see that's your priority."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to go to the beach" he smiled "but tan lines, you know."

"Bummer, but!" Ladybug smiled just as snow kept falling around them "now we know where to find her."

"What is your plan of action bug?" he asked as they continued running.

"For now? Find the akumatized object and destroy it" she huffed.

They reached the tv network building, the place eerie and quiet as soon as they barged in. There were some fallen chairs and messed papers around, as well as cut out cardboard figures of the weather girl contestants.

"Hey, wait" Chat pointed at one "that girl with the parasol- "

"It's her!"

"Isn't she Aurore from the classroom next door?"

"Yeah, oh she wanted to win so bad, no wonder she got akumatized."

"Let's go save her then" Chat pointed at the door, both nodding as they barged in to what was the main studio, but the place was empty except for a camera recording a laptop.

Stormy Weather cackled from the door as she blasted another lightning towards the reflectors above them, both dodging them by mere seconds. She kept cackling as the power went out, leaving them in complete darkness.

"Frosty the snow girl is getting away!"

"That one is a little of a stretch-ah!" Ladybug squeaked as clattering echoed around them.

Chat looked around to see her on the ground, most likely from having tripped on debris from the reflector. Oh it was good to have night vision in times like this.

"Do I hear a damsel in distress?"

"Oh I'd quote Hercules at you but now it's not the time" she huffed as Chat grabbed her hand to pull her up "lead the way mighty knight."

"Leave it to me!" Chat exclaimed as he ran without letting go of her hand, both running up the maintenance stairs after Stormy Weather.

"Duck!" he crouched and pulled her just as a fire extinguisher flew above their heads "hey those things are delicate!"

They reached the rooftop just as the blizzard caught strength, both trapped in what had to be the eye of a tornado.

"And here I thought Sunday's were the hottest days of the week," Chat smiled, ignoring Ladybug's stare.

"Lucky charm!" she exclaimed instead, her hands catching a…

"A bath towel?"

"I have to say, your items are the most unorthodox things I have ever seen" Chat grinned "so we're about to be obliterated but at least we'll be dry."

Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"Hold your whiskers," she wrapped it around her arm and looked around. There was always a reason behind the lucky items, she knew that –and she was not going to go back to the time a single button had fallen on her hand thank you very much- so there had to be something around to help out in this situation.

"Hail!" Stormy Weather called out as baseball sized balls of ice started to fall on them. Chat pulled her towards him and used the same trick she had done with the bus, using his baton as a makeup shield from the projectiles.

"I got it!" Ladybug exclaimed "see that sign over there?"

"Yeah,"

"You know what to do," she smirked.

Chat grinned and summoned his Cataclysm, calling out for Stormy Weather's attention.

"Hey Goldilocks!" he smirked "is that all you've got?"

That seemed to work as Stormy Weather started to throw lightning at him, Chat dodging and running with ease to avoid them, his right hand pulsating with the destructive energy of the Cataclysm. He was never going to get tired of the adrenaline rush that ran through him on these moments, especially when he glided over the side, allowing his hand to slid on the metal beams that held the sign together, the corrosion doing its job on bending it over.

It was all over from there. Chat watched mesmerized how Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around Stormy Weather's ankle and created a make shift pole and vault mechanism that allowed her to catch the akuma off guard and sent her parasol flying right to his hand.

And to think he had had to help her with physics a few weeks ago.

Chat threw her the parasol, smiling as Ladybug did their usual routine of setting free the akuma, purifying it and calling for the Miraculous Cure all over Paris, restoring the city to the sunny day it was.

"Pound it!" they fist bumped with a smile.

"Oh man, have to go back or I'm going to get in trouble" Chat frowned, but Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it.

"Hey, I'll see you soon, ok?" she winked at him and went to help Aurore on her feet and get her away from the rooftop.

Chat smiled and vaulted his way back to the park, detransforming just a few blocks away to enter as Adrien. He made up something about hiding from the attack which, by this point, was the default excuse he had to his sudden escapades, but hey, they weren't a lie.

Marinette ran to the park as soon as she turned back, only to be tackled by Manon who ran straight up to her legs. She couldn't help but to lift the girl up in her arms. She really had been worried for her.

"I know what your secret is," she sang in her arms, causing Marinette to panic.

"Huh? Secret, what secret?"

"Ladybug is your best friend!"

Oh, ok so it wasn't so bad. Marinette hugged the girl again and tried not to show the relief of her identity still a secret from Alya, but still owed her big one for taking care of Manon while she was well, saving the city.

"Ah! Hold it right there!" they heard the photographer behind them "that! That is what this needs! Innocence, laughter!"

What in the world, were Marinette's thoughts as she was pulled towards the fountain and asked if Manon of all people could be part of the photoshoot.

"Woah wait, wait" she frowned "she's a child and I'm just her babysitter, not her guardian to say yes or no."

"Ah but it'd be a good addition to the moment!"

Marinette wanted to frown. She put Manon down and retrieved her phone to text Nadja about it. At least the no was already on the table.

She was surprised to see Nadja was totally ok with it.

"Ok…?" she looked at Manon "do you want to- "

Manon had already run off to Adrien's side to introduce herself, leaving the boy with no chance to respond.

"That was…odd," Alya stifled her laughter "at least sunshine boy doesn't look so bored anymore."

"Pff," Marinette held back her giggle "I guess so."

Oh she was so going to save some of those photos later.

[baromaiden]

A Day Too Late

Jungkook is a shy 18 year old who has a major crush on his childhood friend and classmate Kim Namjoon. Because of a series of unfortunate events the two aren't close anymore. However the possibility of change is presented by Namjoon who invites the shy boy to his birthday party. Maybe this could be a new beginning for both of them or so they thought.

Where Jungkook and Namjoon finally come to terms with their feelings but are a little too late.

*note*

Hello this is my first fanfiction in awhile lol so I hope people enjoy it. Sorry if it's kind of stiff I'm trying to get back in the swing of things 💞 It can also be found on Ao3 aswell! -> baromaiden or follow it on Twitter @charmycho

Chapter 1

Breaking News:

“The small lake town of Paradise morns the lost of a young man tonight. Eighteen-year-old Jeon Jungkook was found dead by the edge of Whalien Lake caused by a fall which result in a head injury that killed him with in minutes of impact. Authorities don’t know why the young man was so close to the cliffs side, but they have determined it to be an accident.”

 Two Days Earlier

Jungkook woke up from his bed with a jolt as if his body was jump started, heart beating fast and breathing unsteady. He held his hand to his chest as if to calm himself down from the nightmare he just escaped from. As the fuzzy images start to fade from his memory, he catches his breath slowly.

“That seemed a little to real.” He sighed as ran his hands through hair. His dreams are never this vivid or intense, so it caught him off guard with the wind rushing passed him as he fell into colors of blues and greens.

Jungkook slowly gets up and moves around his room to shake the rest of the dream off making sure to grab his phone in the process. Thus, his usual day begins, checking his notifications as he picks out his cloths for the day. He reads over his usual texts from his best friend Taehyung but that’s not what catches his attention.

September 10th  D-2

Jungkook smiles softly at the little reminder that he long forgotten to delete. Old memories play at the front of his mind, days of bike rides, ice-cream eating contest, and wizard fights but before he falls to deep into nostalgia he is interrupted by his little brother.

“Hyung, mom says hurry down before you’re late.” Taehyun mumbles as he rubs his sleepy eyes. Jungkook rolls his eyes as he chuckles softly.

“You’re telling me and yet you’re just waking up too.” Taehyun sighed as his older brother proceed to mess up his already bed head.

“Yah, I’m actually sick so I won’t be late to anything.”

“Is it your stomach again?”

“Yeah its like I’m allergic to everything.” He sighs as he leaves Jungkook in his room to get ready. Being the predictable boy, he was, he dressed himself in a long black t with jeans and his black adidas, complimented with his black hood. He eyed himself in his mirror and nodded at his appearance.

“Jungkook” his mom called as he makes his way into the kitchen. “Hurry up and eat so you can go.”

“Nah I’m good.” He mumbles as he reaches across the spread his mom makes for a packet of pop tarts.

“But I cooked all this for us.” She pouts as she sees her oldest son shove a pop tart in his mouth. He dips he head apologetically and kisses her cheek leaving crumbs.

“Got to go got to meet Tae.” He yells as he dashes through the front door. As he makes his way to his bike, he already sees his best friend Kim Taehyung on his own bike waiting for him. Taehyung has been his best friend since the end of freshman year when I tried out for the swim team. He taken as much good care of Jungkook as equal trouble he’s gotten him in. Though he is mischievous sometimes he’s a good dependable friend.

“Kook, Kookie, the kookanator. What’s happening?” greeted Taehyung as he put his phone away.

“Nothing much as usual.” He said as he shrugged.

“We need to work on that. We haven’t had anything eventful happen to us in a while. Even swim team is starting to get repetitive. “sighed the brown hair boy as he began to peddle his bike with hands in his pocket.

The two boys made it with sometime before the bell ringed, making their way to their lockers next to each other. As they were having small talk and getting what they need to get Jungkook got distracted from loud laughing down the hallway. The culprits happen to be Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, and last but defiantly not least… Kim Namjoon. Jungkook couldn’t seem to look away from the tall dimpled boy. He was sporting his usual blond hair, dressed casually in a white t, blue jeans, and red converse, his signature look. Namjoon laughed carefree with his friends dimples on full display taunting Jungkook mercilessly.

“Kook, stop staring like an idiot and go talk to him for Christ sake.”

“Talk to who?”

“Kim Namjoon, the guy you are so in love with.” Taehyung grunts a little too loudly.

“Hey, I’m not in love with him.”

“Uh yeah you could have fooled me. When are you going to man up and talk to him? You guys are childhood friends, right?”

“Y-yeah but we haven’t spoken to each other in three years.”

“More like he would say one thing to you then you get all poo brain on him and he retreats from the awkward tension. What happened between you two?”

Jungkook glanced back at Namjoon as memories push forward of their freshmen year and how life got in the way of a lot of things back then.

“Life, I guess.” He shrugged. That answer didn’t satisfy Tae not one bit, but he couldn’t voice his disapproval when they were greeted by the dimpled devil himself.

“Hey Jungkook, Taehyung.” Namjoon greeted with his timid smile. Jungkook quickly shuffled around to properly see the boy.

“H-hey Namjoon” stuttered the shy boy. Taehyung grinned wider at his friend’s nervousness. Namjoon nodded in his direction as he reached for a piece of paper in his pocket.

“I came over to ask you a question, do you remember what’s coming up this week by chance?” Jungkook tilted his head in confusion as he eyed both his friend and the older boy.

“This week?”

“Yeah.” Namjoon said meekly.

See Jungkook knows the answer to this simple question but his nerves aren’t helping with his brain function right now. He knows the very important day that happens every year, he’s memorized it six years ago but unfortunately, he can’t at this very moment. Namjoon pulls out the paper and holds it in front of Jungkook’s face.

“I know this is last minute but here is an invite to my birthday party this Friday or should I say tomorrow.”

Jungkook wanted to kick himself right now. He knew it was his birthday but why didn’t he remember in that very second. He reached for the flyer and read the bright colored lettering.

“Why are you having a party on the 11th if your birthday is the 12th?” Asked curiously.

“So, you did remember?”

Namjoon smiled softly as he cleared his throat.

“Well my parents are out of town till Saturday afternoon so Hobi and Jimin convinced me to throw a party before they come back.”

“You let those two wild party animals you call friends convince you to have a house party?” exclaimed Taehyung as he looked over to the rowdy pair as they had a dance battle in the middle of the school hallway.

“Yeah well I turn 18 so it’s kind of a big deal you know. So… Jungkook would come?”

Jungkook froze dare I say Jung shook as he eyes Namjoon curiously. Jungkook isn’t sure it’s a good idea. Namjoon is popular and there would be a lot of people there. He wasn’t sure it would well. What if Namjoon is only inviting him out of pity? As if seeing the wheels turning in his head Taehyung nudges Jungkook in the shoulder.

“We will be there.” Said Taehyung with that mischievous smile of his.

“Cool.” Nodded Namjoon as back away. “Remember 8pm sharp.”

As Namjoon made his way back to his friends, Jungkook elbowed Tae.

“Why did you do that?” exclaimed Jungkook big doe eye wide open.

“Cause I’m so tired of your pining, Jesus try an actually work some moves on Kim at his party please. Its starting to get sad. Plus, Jung Hoseok will be there, and you know he’s been trying to hit me up since saw me sporting that speedo last week at our swim meet.” Jungkook rolled his eyes so hard.

“Are you helping me or yourself.”

“Both of us?” laughed the brown-haired boy.

The school day dragged on as Jungkook was in deep thought, paying very little attention to classes. His hand, pen in hand moved across the sheets of his sacred notebook. He dumps all his thoughts, hopes, and reams in here. Pages made up of poems, lyrics and list. And if you already guess the subject for most of his writings is none other then Kim Namjoon himself.

But you

That smile is so cruel

Cruel

I shouldn’t have seen that cheek

You

What’s really dangerous

Is only in possession

That dimple is illegal

Maybe Taehyung was right. Well he is right. Jungkook is in love with Namjoon but of course the quite shy boy won’t ever tell him his feelings to scared of how the older male would react. Reject him. Probably. Laugh in his face? Most likely. The two aren’t close anymore. That all changed once high school started and Namjoon fell into the cool crowd while Jungkook hung out with the art kids. However, that wasn’t the only thing that put distance in between the two friends.

Jungkook shuffled through the pages of his notebook to pull a small polaroid of him and Namjoon at Whalien lake. The two sits next to each other smiling with kites that they made together that summer of 7th grade. That’s one of the last photos that they had together.

The bell sounded interrupting his thought singling the school is over. Kook looks at the photo one more time before shoving it in his hoodie pocket with the invitation. The student all moves towards the front of the school to exit the building. Swiftly Jungkook moves through the crowd to head to his bike outside. Popping his headphones in then hops on and heads home.

He continues to be lost in thoughts of Namjoon and what they were finding that summer day by the lake playing over and over in his head. Jungkook slows his bike down and turns to his right staring at the woodsy area that leads to the lake. He ponders for a second before heading towards the clearing. Slowly he makes his way down off the path to the beach retracing steps he took as a kid till he got to his favorite spot, the high cliffs of Whalien lake.  He laid his bike down as he climb the short path of rocks till, he gets to the top of the flat ridge just above the beach of the lake. See Jungkook and Namjoon found this place years ago by accident as they were exploring from the public beach on the far right.

“Ugh, it feels good to be back here.” Smiled Jungkook as he sat in the middle of rock.

He pulled out his notebook opening the book to a new page. Carefully he pulled out his pencil case grabbing the roll of tape he kept in there. Jungkook pulled out the invitation and the photo from earlier.

“Wow. Who knew you would talk to me again? Even after everything that happened.”

Jungkook was filled with excited thoughts as he taped the invite into his book. What if he did want him at his birthday party? Maybe he wanted to be friends again? Or maybe he was just being nice? However, Jungkook was to ecstatic to care. This could be a new beginning from them to burry that hatchet and move on. Maybe even the chance Jungkook need to tell the dimpled boy how he really feels about him? Could he really do that? Confess? That was something out of his comfort zone but right now he feels like he might be able to tell him. Tell him that he loves him dearly even after everything that happened.

Jungkook sighed in content as he looked at the lake daydreaming about his crush.

Soon it starts to get dark in his little corner of the world, so he decides to start packing up and heading home. Notebook in hand Jungkook gets up to head down where he came from till something caught his eye. He turned around and saw the small polaroid that he cherishes so much getting picked up by the wind. Jungkook lunges for it right as the its being flown away over the edge of the cliff.

“Got cha.” Exclaimed Jungkook happily... unaware of his surrounds. His knee in front lands just beyond the cliff’s ledge.

Jungkook tries to catch himself but both his hands full one with the photo the other with his notebook, his efforts are in vain…

He falls.

Thank You for reading 💜

[asroarke]

Hey Alex. Your fics completely cheer up whenever I'm in a depressive state. I've read them all so many times. They're incredible. Unfortunately, my boyfriend broke up with me a month ago I guess hes an ex now and I'm confused and broken and Ive been listening non stop to ed sheeran's song "Happier". I was wondering if you could write post break up bellarke fic based kinda on the song, but with a happy ending from bellamys pov? I need a pick me up and a little bit of hope in my life tbh..

I’m really sorry to hear about your break up! That’s rough. Also, side note, that song made me cry. I had never heard it before. So, the happy ending is kind of ambiguous in this fic, but I fully intended for you to assume that the last conversation goes well and they end up back together. I hope you like it! It ended up being more angsty than I had originally planned. [ao3]

He wasn’t planning on stopping by Octavia’s party, using thefact that he was working late as his excuse. But when Pike announced thatBellamy could clock out early, he knew that he had to at least swing by. IfOctavia found out that his schedule opened up and he didn’t stop by, he’d neverhear the end of it.

It wasn’t like Clarke ever stayed at parties long, anyway.He probably wouldn’t even see her. She likely left an hour ago, since she was probablytoo tired from a shift at the hospital or had one early tomorrow morning. So,he took a few deep breaths before heading over to his sister’s apartment.

The party was still raging on when he walked through the door,and Miller immediately put a beer in his hand. “How have you been?” he asked,and Bellamy just shrugged. Miller looked over at Jackson, and Bellamy didn’tmiss the concerned look they exchanged. Yeah, they were worried about him, buthe was fine.

“There you are!” Octavia shouted before he heard the soundof her loud feet rushing toward him. He turned to be ready for her hug, chucklingquietly at her excitement to see him. “Isn’t this a fun party? You’re so happyyou came, right?” she asked, her words slurring together, and he had to fightnot to roll his eyes. She was drunk.

“Yes,” he replied, patting her on the head as he surveyedthe room. No sign of Clarke, thank God. He wouldn’t know what he would say toher if he saw her again. It was inevitable that he would, so he probably shouldfigure something out. But he needed more time to get over the sting of losingher.

He plastered on a smile as Octavia dragged him through theapartment by his hand and introduced him to all her work friends he hadn’t metyet. She ditched him to go whine to Lincoln about something, and Bellamysettled in next to Murphy as he downed the last of his beer. He looked over hisshoulder into the kitchen, spotting those fake margarita beer drinks that Octaviahad recently gotten upset with and let out a sigh. “The good stuff is out onthe patio,” Murphy explained, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God,” he muttered before making his way out there.

He probably should have known that there would be one or twopartygoers who would be out there. It’s the only quiet place to be at anOctavia Blake party. Bellamy had ducked out here enough times to know that.

But nothing could have prepared him for finding Clarke andRoan out there together.

He freezes for a moment at the sight of Clarke curledup against him with her legs in his lap. It took him a moment to realize thatshe was asleep, and he probably would have laughed at the fact that ClarkeGriffin fell asleep at yet another party if it weren’t for the fact that shewas literally sleeping on Roan.

He clenched his jaw as he fished out a beer from the cooler.He shouldn’t actually be surprised. He and Clarke broke up. She was going tostart seeing other people. He couldn’t have pushed her away any harder, if hewas being honest with himself. But Bellamy had somehow put the prospect ofClarke moving on out of his thoughts, meaning he was blindsided by this.

“Oh hey, man,” Roan said, tearing his eyes away from hisphone to nod at Bellamy. Bellamy nodded back, grinding his teeth together as hedid. Without a word, he walked back into the apartment and took a seat at theempty kitchen table, one of the few spots in the room that gave him a decentview of what was happening on the patio. Maybe he just wanted to torturehimself, but he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off the two of them as Roan’shand traced up and down Clarke’s back.

“Didn’t you start this whole thing?” Jasper asked as he saton the table, swinging his legs back and forth so that he occasionally hitBellamy.

“Yes,” he huffed, and Clarke started to stir outside. Sherubbed her eyes as she pushed herself up, and Roan put his phone down to saysomething that caused Clarke to erupt into laughter. His chest panged as he sawher bright smile. He couldn’t even remember the last time he saw her smile likethat.

“So, why are you acting like she broke up with you?” Jaspermuttered, and Bellamy took his eyes off Clarke for a moment to glare up at him.

“Jasper, I’m not in the mood,” he snapped. When his eyesreturned to the window, Roan and Clarke had stood up and were facing away fromhim. Both her hands were braced on the railing in front of her, but Roan wasstill rubbing her back.

The fact that it was Roan shouldn’t have surprised Bellamy.He had always had the suspicion that Roan was attracted to Clarke, and it wasn’tlike he could blame Clarke for becoming interested in him once she becamesingle. He was an attractive guy, one that her mother would definitely approveof. He’d probably fit more into Clarke’s world than Bellamy ever did.

Jasper was still mumbling something when Bellamy pushed awayfrom the table. He wasn’t going to sit there all night watching theex-girlfriend he was still in love with flirt with Roan, so he ducked into thekitchen, which was empty. He hopped up onto the counter and let out a breath.

He tried to distract his mind, but the image of themtogether kept popping up in his head again. Bellamy could see them together soclearly, now. Roan didn’t pick fights with Clarke like Bellamy did, no, he wasfar more relaxed and easygoing. He was also not the kind of guy to screw aroundwhen it came to talking about how he felt. Clarke must love that since shedoesn’t have to guess what Bellamy’s thinking anymore or deal with his freakouts when things got a little too serious. She found herself someone who wouldbe upfront with her, and it’s what she deserves.

He pressed his lips together as he heard the patio doorswing open. “Jasper, are you ready for more shots?” he heard Roan tease, andBellamy threw his head back. God, Roan was even more fun around Bellamy’sfriends. “Clarke?”

“Oh, God no,” Clarke giggled, and it was such a sweet, happysound… and why wouldn’t it be? Clarke seemed to be happy, probably happier thanshe had been with Bellamy. There was a quiet mumbling out there as Bellamyheard Jasper skip after Roan. “What?” he heard Clarke say, and he hit his headagainst the cabinet behind him.

He fucked up. God, he fucked up. He was falling too hard andfast for her and got scared. Everything with Clarke felt so natural and normal,and it scared him how easily he could get comfortable with her, especiallygiven how things went with Echo and Gina in the past.

All he could remember was how much he hurt before, and hisstupid, stupid self did what healways did: pushed her away before she could push him away. And now she was gone.He couldn’t blame anyone but himself for the way he picked that fight.

He was taking another swig of his drink when Clarke strodeinto the kitchen, freezing as soon as she saw him. Her brows furrowed as shegave him a once over, and his heart pounded as he waited for her to saysomething.

“Octavia said you had to work tonight,” she finally settledon, and he fought not to roll his eyes at the fact that the two of them couldonly seem to make small talk now.

“My shift ended early, so I stopped by,” he shrugged, andshe nodded along. Her brows were still furrowed, and he could tell that she hadsomething to say to him. But of course, his jealousy was still festering underthe surface and he said, “You seemed to have a good nap outside.”

Her eyes widened at him, and he immediately regretted it.She was free to do whatever the hell she wants, after all. He shouldn’t try tomake her feel bad for moving on. But of course, he always said the wrong thingat every given opportunity.

“It was a long day,” she settled on, and he nodded along, keepinghis eyes fixed on the almost empty beer in his hand. “Actually, I was just aboutto leave. I should go find your sister before I go,” she muttered beforeturning to leave, and Bellamy hit his head on the cabinet again, cursinghimself for pushing her away again.

He listened as Clarke gave her goodbyes to their friends. Montysaid something to make her laugh, and he found a smile tugging at his lips whenhe heard that beautiful sound. She talked with Harper, he thinks, for a minute…and the ease with which she speaks to everyone causes his chest to pang. Sheused to be able to talk to him that way.

Maybe he should find a way to be happy for her. After all,she seemed happier now with Roan. And Clarke deserved to be happy. He wantedher to be so happy.

When the front door shut, he let out a breath. He survivedseeing Clarke tonight, barely. The panging in his chest probably wouldn’t goaway any time soon, though he wasn’t sure if it ever left.

He was coming up with excuses to leave the party too whenRoan came into the kitchen. “What’s wrong with you?” Roan snorted.

“Nothing,” Bellamy lied.

“So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you saw me withyour ex?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as he filled a cup with ice.

“Clarke can date whoever she wants,” he replied.

“I’m not dating Clarke,” Roan corrected, and Bellamy hatedhow easy his own face gave his reaction away. Roan smirked at him, pleased thathe had finally broken Bellamy out of his fake indifference. “I don’t make ahabit of dating girls who are still in love with their exes.”

“Clarke isn’t—”

“She is,” he interrupted. “It’s annoying, honestly. Fulloffense intended, you were a dick to her in the end.”

“I know,” he huffed, throwing his head back. He didn’t needthis lecture from Roan when he had been giving it to himself all night. “It’show I know she isn’t still hung up on me.”

“Interesting,” Roan muttered as he walked back toward thedoor, “then, why is she still in the parking lot, crying in her car?” Bellamy’shead snapped up to look at Roan, whose eyebrows were raised at him as he lookedover his shoulder. “Don’t fuck it up this time,” he huffed before walking backout to the party. Bellamy jumped to his feet, abandoning his beer on thecountertop before striding toward the front door. He didn’t bother tellinganyone where he went. Everyone was too drunk to notice he was gone, anyway.

When he got down to the parking lot, he found Clarke’s carin the very back. He jogged toward her car, and as he got closer, he could seeher talking on the phone as she wiped a few tears from her cheek. He felt sickat the realization that he was the reason she was crying. He never wanted tohurt her. After all, he loved her… probably a little too much. He was justscared.

Clarke’s eyes widened when she spotted him, and she said goodbyeto whoever she had been talking to. He stood still as she pushed herself out ofthe car, her brows furrowing in confusion as she looked up at him again. “Whatare you—”

“I miss you,” he interrupted, and her eyes softened. “I’msorry. I know I don’t get to just… Fuck,” he mumbled. He hadn’t thought throughwhat he would say to her at all. He hadn’t been thinking when he rushed downafter her. All he heard was that she was upset because of him, and he couldn’t stayaway.

“I miss you too,” she said before he could stutter anythingelse out. Her blue eyes were staring back at him, still a bit red from crying.All he wanted to do was close the distance between them and pull her to hischest.

“Can we talk?” he asked, and she bit down on her lip. Herchest was rising and falling slowly as she took a few deep breaths.

It felt like hours had passed before she whispered, “Yeah.”

A flicker of hope scorched through him as the two of them satdown on the curb. He was going to tell her everything that he didn’t saybefore. He was going to make it right. And maybe, just maybe, she’d let him tryto make her happy again.

[asroarke]

Part 1:Hi! I got this idea in my head, but I suck at writing and you're my favourite so I'm giving It to you and hopefully you will be interested. Clarke and Octavia live together and they're cleaning the house in preparation for Easter party with the squad. Bellamy is helping them and he also has extreme crush on Clarke.

Part 2:Clarke listens to music in headphones while working and she sings out loud. Bellamy is really amused and gives her cute smirkes and other cute Bellamy shit. Double points if Octavia acknowledges that.  I hope you can understand what I wrote lol, English isn’t my first language and I just woke up. Have a good day! I don’t know why I’m writing it to you I hope you don’t mind!            

Sorry this took so long. I mostly stuck to the prompt, but Bellamy and Octavia live together instead of Octavia and Clarke. And I switched it to a graduation party since it’s been a month since Easter (my bad, this prompt got buried and I need to be better about getting to these faster). Hope you like it! [ao3]

“It’s your graduation party, Bell. You could at leastpretend to be excited,” Octavia huffed, throwing her hands up in frustration.Bellamy probably should have seen this coming. After all, Octavia went all outfor his high school graduation and his college graduation… he just figured she’dget tired of celebrating his graduations by the time he finished grad school.

“I am excited,” he forced himself to say. He was just notexcited about having to clean their entire apartment only for their friends todrunkenly mess it up again.

“And the Oscar for most convincing attitude change goes toBellamy Blake,” Clarke snorted before returning to blow up the balloon she wasworking on. Octavia hit Clarke’s shoulder in frustration, causing Clarke tolose grip of the balloon, and Bellamy tried to keep a straight face he watchedit deflate across the room. “This is the last time I offer to help you guys.”

“Bull shit,” Octavia teased at the same time Bellamy said, “Thankyou.”

“Since it’s my graduation party, I’m gonna go ahead and calldibs on not cleaning the bathroom,” Bellamy decided, and with a groan, Clarkeput her headphones back in.

“Bell, I still have errands to run,” she argued, and herolled his eyes. Of course, she decides to throw him a party and then stickshim with the actual work for it.

“Why can’t I run the errands?” he asked, cocking his head tothe side as she moved to grab her keys.

“Because they’re super surprise errands that you can’t knowabout yet,” she said sweetly, and before he could argue, she was out the door.

He let out another exaggerated groan, waiting for Clarke tojump in with some teasing quip. When she was surprisingly quiet, he glancedover at her, seeing her swaying where she was sitting, listening to whatever itwas that she listens to. He had been trying for a while to figure out what kindof music Clarke is even into because her Spotify choices have not given him adamn hint. Some days, it’s just straight up classical music, and other days, it’sthe kind of metal that Bellamy would be scared to play in his car unless hewanted to destroy his speakers.

“Clarke,” he shouted, and her head popped up as she tugged aheadphone out.

“Yeah?” she asked as she tied off another balloon.

“Did Octavia seriously decide to throw me a party and leaveme all the actual work?” he asked, and a smile washed over Clarke’s face beforeshe leaned back and started laughing.

“I tried to talk her out of it,” Clarke chuckled, shakingher head slightly.

“You let this happen,” he teased, which only made her erupteven further into laughter. He knew as well as she did that when Octavia madeup her mind about something that she usually got her way. “You know, the veryleast you could do is help me with the bathrooms.”

“Excuse me,” Clarke deadpanned, waving the balloon she justtied off in the air. “I have very important artistic work to do here,” she gotout before cracking a smirk and hitting the balloon in his direction. Hesmacked it back down, hitting Clarke. “Ugh, I hate you.”

“No, you don’t,” he reminded, raising his eyebrows at her.He swears he saw a slight blush in her cheeks as she turned back to herballoons… or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. He decided to gointo the kitchen and grab the cleaning supplies from the cabinet before he lethimself overthink this too much.

He and Clarke were friends, despite spending several years determinednot to be. It was inevitable when Clarke moved across the hall from him andOctavia, since more evenings than not she ended up on their couch, playing refereewhen he and O would get into fights. Then, Octavia and Lincoln started dating,meaning him and Clarke were both suddenly without the one person they usuallyspent their time with… so they just kind of fell into being close friends. Itwasn’t a huge shift, or anything. Just a lot of nights where they got take outas Bellamy wrote papers and Clarke sketched.

He wasn’t sure when he started seeing her as something morethan a friend. Maybe it was inevitable after spending years trying to ignorethose random thoughts he would have about how pretty she is or how nice hersmile is. Or maybe it was just because this was the first time they were bothsingle for this long. Or maybe it was because they had become more physicallyaffectionate with each other in the last few months, snuggling a little closeron the couch as they watched documentaries late at night, hugging a bit morefrequently than usual…

He had no idea if Clarke even felt the same way, but he decidedit was something he could wait to deal with after he graduates. Miller gave hima lot of shit for it, but he had a good argument. He needed to stay focused onhis thesis, and he couldn’t do that if he was brooding over the fact thatClarke didn’t feel the same way.

Although, Bellamy knew it was just him being too scaredabout what would happen to their friendship if he was wrong about Clarkefeeling the same way.

When Bellamy came out of the kitchen, Clarke had herheadphones back in and was mouthing the words to whatever she was listening to.God, she looked so relaxed and at peace today… a look he had been seeing a lotmore lately. It was nice getting to see Clarke like this.

He shook the smile off his face as he got to work cleaningthe bathroom, remembering that he was going to wait until tomorrow to figureout what to do about his mild crush on Clarke.

He finished cleaning the sink and begrudgingly decided to justclose the shower curtain and hope that no one noticed that he hadn’t botheredto clean it. He stepped out of the bathroom to get a new sponge when he heardClarke’s voice.

Well, her singing voice, more specifically. Bellamy tiptoedtoward the sound, finding her in the kitchen, cleaning out the fridge. Herheadphones were still in as she sang along to that new Panic! at the Discosong, and Bellamy couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He really should go back to cleaning or at least acknowledgethat he’s here, but there was something so endearing about how happy andcarefree she was, how at home she felt here with him and Octavia. He wasn’tsure how long he stood in the doorway watching her, but he was jerked out ofthe haze by the sound of Octavia swinging the door open.

A blush crept to his cheeks as he tried to pretend like hewasn’t just standing there watching Clarke, but the look in Octavia’s eyes saidthat she wasn’t buying it. “Clarke,” Octavia shouted as she entered thekitchen, and Clarke tugged the headphones out and started helping Octavia finda spot in the fridge to put the cake in. Bellamy headed back toward thebathroom quickly, deciding to just make do without the new sponge since thatwas preferable than being in that kitchen when Octavia decided to tease himabout Clarke.

He may have taken a bit longer finishing up the bathroom thanhe needed to, only stopping when Octavia walked in with a huge smirk on herface. “Don’t,” he warned, not knowing where Clarke was and if she could hearthem.

“She’s back at her apartment getting ready,” Octavia saidwith a huge grin. He let out a breath as he stood up, and Octavia’s grin onlygrew. “So, is tonight the night you’re gonna tell her you want to have herbabies?”

“Oh my God, stop,” he groaned as he brushed past her. Hescanned the living room, and it looked about as good as it was going to get. “Let’sjust get through tonight.”

“Hey, I am working my ass off on this party,” Octaviasnapped as she followed Bellamy back toward his room. He refrained from pointingout that he didn’t want a party as he headed toward his closet. “Wear the bluebutton-down with the white stripes. It’s Clarke’s favorite.”

“What?” he asked, but Octavia was skipping out his door. Hehad no idea if this shirt was actually Clarke’s favorite, if she even had afavorite that she would tell Octavia about, or if his sister was just messing withhim… but he went ahead and put it on.

He tried to shake Clarke out of his head as he finishedgetting all the food out. It helped that Lincoln and Miller showed up early anddistracted him. In fact, he stopped thinking about Clarke altogether until shecame back into the apartment when the party was already in full swing. Heignored the pointed looks that O was giving him as he went over to help hercarry the beer into the kitchen. “Jasper showed up already kind of drunk,”Bellamy warned, and Clarke chuckled.

“I guess we know who is sleeping on your couch tonight,” sheteased, and Bellamy rolled his eyes.

“Yes, happy graduation to me, I get a drunk Jasper on mycouch and probably a drunk Murphy asleep on my floor,” he muttered, and Clarkebit down on her lip. “What?”

“Okay, don’t get mad at me,” she said as he sat the beerdown on the counter. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she ducked her headslightly… and he couldn’t help but smile at her. “This party might totally bemy fault.”

“What?” he huffed in mock anger, and she covered her mouthwith her hands. Luckily, there was no one else in the kitchen with them,meaning Bellamy didn’t have to stress about Miller or Octavia teasing him forthis.

“Okay,” she giggled, holding her hands defensively. “I justmentioned to Octavia that we should do something for your graduation. I in noway, shape, or form endorsed a party that you would then have to do most of thework for,” she explained, and Bellamy smirked at her.

“You told my sister we should celebrate, and you didn’trealize she would jump to a party?” he teased, nudging her shoulder with his.

“No, I said we should do something special. I mean, this isa huge deal, Bellamy,” she argued as she pulled the cap off her beer. “Ifigured we could do something small, I don’t know. I just figured we should do somethingspecial to celebrate,” she shrugged before taking a swig of her beer.

“I appreciate the attempt, princess,” he replied, pullingher in for a side hug. His heart skipped a beat as she lingered at his side,resting her head against his chest.

“You better. I worked my ass off on those balloons. Thatbetter be your favorite thing about today,” she snorted.

“Nah, I think my favorite thing was walking in on yousinging along to your music in the kitchen,” he teased, although it wascompletely true. He snuck a look at her, seeing her entire face grow red from embarrassment.

“You heard me?” she huffed, hitting his shoulder, and heerupted into laughter. “You could have told me I was singing out loud. I didn’tnotice I was doing it until Octavia gave me shit for it,” she kept going,squirming away as he pulled her back in by her waist. “You’re such an ass.”

“Hey, I said it was my favorite part of today,” he joked,and she scrunched her face up as she glared at him… and he knew that he wasjust beaming at her at this point. It was hard to hide this goofy grin of hiswhen she was around.

“Clarke!” he heard Raven shout from the other room, andBellamy let out a sigh. Moment over.

“I’ll be right back,” Clarke smirked, patting his arm.

“Nope. It’s my graduation party. You gotta hide out with mein the kitchen. Sorry, I don’t make the rules,” he joked, although he hadalready stopped touching her so that she could go.

“Like I said, I’ll be right back. You’ll hardly miss me,”she teased, before smacking a kiss right on his cheek. His jaw went slack asshe turned away, but he managed not to actually touch his cheek until she wasout of the room. He could feel all the heat rise to his cheeks as he tried to processwhat just happened. Clarke just kissed him. It was on the cheek… but still. Itwas the best thing that happened to him today.