#it feels good being in the second honeymoon phase

[zstartrixxx]

Out of Jack's characters what do you headcannon affection to be like in differnet phases of the relationship ( honeymoon phase, after a few years, after the movie / book / TV show, after children, etc. )?

Like Patrick during courting, then after marriage, then during the voyages..etc.

FUCKING LOVE UR MIND FOR THIS, MY DEAR.

FUCKING LOVE!!!

so let’s working in this (below the cut ofc ‘cause this will be a bit long!!!)

sorry for the late in the answear :)

Lion Kaminski

Lion loves you so deeply that he abandons his entire supposed successful boxing career just to live with you. That’s how it was after all that madness with Stan being arrested for Yates’ death, Sky’s sudden disappearance, leaving only you and him, him and you, and vice versa. Walter then proposes to you, and you marry him in the most informal way possible—the honeymoon will be too.

At some cheap roadside motel, you check in and lock yourselves in room 17, only leaving to grab food from the diner across the street or ice for the drinks in the hallway fridge. The focus is just enjoying the moment, relaxing, laughing, tangled in the sheets—you on top of him, or him on top of you, taking you passionately, kissing you like you might slip from his calloused, scarred hands at any second.

Later, things normalize… There are prison visits because of Stan, who at first scoffs at his little brother’s choices but eventually accepts you because there’s not much else he can do. With the crime earning him a good stretch behind bars—and Stan choosing to take the fall for his younger brother—you and Lion allow yourselves a fresh start: with the prize money, you travel together, buy a house, start a business, and welcome your first child. Lion is a doting, hands-on dad who insists on staying by your side every second.

For Lion, love will never end—because he’s always lacked something this pure and genuine, and he’ll always be grateful for your presence in his life. Always. The affection is constant because Lion is calm, grounded, centered—with you, he’s learned his limits, how to assert himself, when to question things, so he stays active in your relationship.

Marrying him was, by far, your best decision.

Patrick Sumner

When you said "yes" to Patrick, the first thing he did was reveal his true identity. Then came the whole tortured history of the Volunteer whaling ship, what happened after he reached dry land, and how all he wants now is peace and quiet in this new life. He suggests you both leave for the New World—South, Central, or North America—to start over unnoticed. And you agree. Out of passion, desire, hunger for the unknown. Patrick, in turn, feels safe telling you everything he withheld during those months of courtship.

The wedding is beautiful and deeply meaningful to Patrick, who feels like he’s triumphing once again. He makes sure to show you all his love (and near-clinical knowledge of human anatomy), and after the "I do," he becomes the most attentive man alive.

Oliver Mellors

This is my testament for this man.

Mellors will never tire of you. Ever. That’s not even a possibility. He loves you like a poet, like a lunatic, like a man starved for love—your love. Oliver will take all the care in the world during your honeymoon, even if it’s not your first time—because, well, it’s the first time he gets to lay with you as his wife.

Sex becomes something deeper—not just sex (even if sometimes you don’t want to be treated like a lady), but surrender, complicity, love, and passion. This man will never tire of burying himself between your thighs, licking you until your eyes roll back and your toes curl, watching you gasp under the weight of pleasure, grinning against your cunt, drunk on lust. He loves it. He’s always loved everything—your body, no matter how childbirth changes it; your face, even as it ages, because to him, you’ll always be the breathtaking person he first met.

With your children, he’s endlessly affectionate—even if terrified of bringing life into this world—he’ll care for them the way all creatures deserve: tenderness, attention, respect. He’ll carry your daughter while picking herbs in the garden, rock her to sleep while you focus on your own little tasks—reading by the fireplace, knitting a hat, or just resting after a long day. He’ll be as domestic and doting as possible.

Oliver Mellors is, and always will be, the greatest of them all. Fiercely protective and loving, he’ll wipe your tears when you’re sad and kiss you breathless when you laugh.

Roy Goode

Roy Goode will stay loyal to you, no matter the years, highs, or lows. He’ll always try to be the best for you. During your honeymoon, he’s painstakingly gentle, even with his calloused hands—rough from manual labor and reins—but his kisses and the way he takes you are soft.

He’s always watchful, almost paranoid about being easy targets, and though he’s no gun enthusiast, he keeps a polished pistol in his waistband, just to stay in control.

You take long horseback rides along the coast to explore, and he’s always the last to sleep, first to wake. He teaches you to shoot and hunt on a whim, and when you start feeling strange nausea and dizziness, he rushes you to Atascadero to see his older brother (yes, in my mental fanfic, his brother’s a prominent doctor), who delivers the news: Roy Goode will be a father.

The realization hits him like a storm—fear, joy, doubt—wondering if he’s fit to raise a child with his past. But you know he’ll be the best, remembering how he cared for Truckee like a son, teaching him values that were borderline radical for the time.

A decade later, when you’re both older and the kids are grown, Goode will sit beside you by the fireplace and reflect on his youth—how he changed, partly by choice, partly for you—and how he’s a happy man because of it.

A good man.

Remmick

Remmick will make you immortal, like him, because only then will you truly belong to each other for eternity. As a creature, a monster, something no longer human who’s wandered this earth so long he’s lost count—centuries? millennia?—Remmick craves possession. And possession, to him, means sharing his immortality with you. It’s a piece of him in you, his history spilling into your veins like wine from a chalice.

So he takes this blood marriage seriously. To be his companion is to be him, in a way.

You’ll hunt together right after the honeymoon, which is… intense. Emotions raw, blood dripping, thick saliva, two beasts entwined. Don’t expect to finish before dawn, delirious and ravenous. The first hunt will be the most sacred—and the sweetest.

You’ll travel endlessly, nomadic, lingering in towns just long enough to absorb their culture. You’ll sleep in holes, mausoleums, abandoned houses—clutching each other like the immortal lovers you are.

And Remmick will never tire of serenading you in Gaelic, worshipping you with prayers he’s written: "On your bloody lips, I find the god they told me about," and so on. He’s got that classic villainous flair for dramatic monologues, and with you, it’s no different.

He’ll adore music and how you absorb it, how you express it.

Basically, a life with him is an eternity between slaughter (how romantic, right?) and endless devotion.

[lullxby]

.✦ POST BREAKUP BEAUTY (r.c.)

IN WHICH… rafe can’t keep his eyes off his ex.

W. C. : .7k

PAIRING : rafe cameron x ex!fem!reader

A/N : part of my ‘BLUSH’ event! ‘y/n’ is not used!

WARNING(S) : drug use mentioned briefly

NOW PLAYING… POST BREAK UP BEAUTY by kevin abstract & love spells

| OBX MASTERLIST | NAVIGATION |

RAFE CAMERON couldn’t stop thinking about the ‘honeymoon phase’ of your relationship. He was only at this party for the ‘business’ opportunities. But then you walked in, beauty radiating off of you despite the recent break up.

Maybe recent wasn’t the right word. It was early December, over a month after the split, but that was still all he could think about. You were still all he could think about.

How you’d run your nails over his bare skin, scratching his back as you assured him that his past didn’t define him. He didn’t need to fixate on what had happened, and he could focus on the future. It felt like, even for a second, that maybe his history wasn’t everything. Like that shit wasn’t basically tatted on him.

He wasn’t used to it. He hadn’t been used to any of it back then. The gentle touches, the feeling of someone actually wanting to be there, the feeling of being truly loved.

He longed to go back to that. He’d rather be there, in the middle of Summer with the sun beaming down on the two of you. When everything was new and exciting, when his cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

He wanted to live in that time. Nothing could touch the two of you then. Not the rumors, not the Pogues pissing him off, not his parents. He wanted to live and die in the early stages. He would’ve died a happy man, anyway.

Then it crashed. It was a complete 180, as if everything had been just a set-up to get him vulnerable. As if everything insult you hurled at him didn’t hit ten times harder because of every nice word you had said before it.

But you just stood there, finally meeting his eyes from across the crowd of bodies at the party. Your dress looked stunning on you. He thought you could wear a garbage bag and somehow make it look good, look like it was worth something.

Just like you had worn him, wrapped around your finger, cooing at him as if he was worth something.

In the early stages, before you had swept through his life like a wrecking ball. You had destroyed everything. Changed his life, and him along the way, but not for the better. He fell deeper after you left.

Sold more, did more, drank more.

Sometimes, if he drank enough, or had enough cocaine, he’d see you. It wasn’t real, of course, it was never real. But you were there, always just out of reach. With your sweet words and lingering smiles.

Then when he awoke, you were gone. Just a slight chill left in the presence of you.

Maybe if he gave it some time. If he stopped looking at your Instagram posts, if he stopped rereading the early messages, maybe, just maybe he’d be able to get over you. Maybe life would be alright then. Maybe he would be alright then.

But he didn’t. He knew he wouldn’t do it. Because sure, seeing you in his drug-induced dreams wasn’t perfect, and commenting on your posts in hopes you’d reply how you used to wasn’t ideal, but it was all he had. He’d rather have some of you, the little crumbs he could get, than none at all.

You didn’t take it all away, anyhow. You didn’t block him, didn’t avoid him by any means. If anything, he avoided you. He’d see you, but he’d about talking to you. A stronger man would’ve cut you off completely, but he was weak when it came to you.

So he stayed at the party, under the guise of selling. When in reality, he just wanted to keep his eyes on you. You in your post break up beauty that he would never dream of drawing his eyes away from.

BLUSH taglist : lmk 2 be added!

[sttoru]

𝝑𝑒 synopsis. after being married to satoru for two years, you still giggle and (secretly but not so secretly) fangirl about him whenever given the chance. your husband absolutely loves indulging you.

tags. husband!gojo satoru x wife!female reader. fluff, sfw, tiny bits of angst. tooth rotting fluff yeah. reader gets called ‘princess, baby’. inspired by this ask.

“and and and, his smile ‘s just so beautiful,” you sigh dreamily, resting your head on satoru’s lap. you’re both enjoying the cozy night in your shared apartment. with no one bothering you—with no regards for the world that’s continuing its cycle outside.

satoru chuckles as he pats your head slowly, taking his time to appreciate every feature of yours. from your pink-ish lips to your pretty eyes. he’s so in love with the creation god has gifted him. he nods attentively, “yeah? what else?”

you giggle as he indulges you. it’s a habit of yours, to fangirl over your husband like you’re not literally his wife. satoru finds it absolutely adorable. plus, it boosts his ego. in a very good way.

“aaaand, he’s caring. that’s the one thing i love most about him,” you continue to ramble about your little ‘crush’ on that so-called mysterious white-haired sorcerer. satoru wishes he could capture this moment and keep repeating it over and over in his head.

the way you talk about your crush - him - is filling his stomach with butterflies. the tall man can’t deny the faint blush on his cheeks and the fuzzy feeling in his chest. you keep getting cuter and cuter the more time passes.

when he thinks you’ve reached a state of perfection in his eyes, you once again prove him wrong and go beyond that. “caring, hm? he must treat my princess real good then,” satoru hums and continues petting your head. his other hand rubs your stomach—fingers creeping under the material of your nightgown.

“he does,” you nod in agreement, “he treats me so well. i don’t know how i got so lucky to have met him.” you squirm a little as you feel satoru’s slender fingers graze your midriff, going back down to your belly and then back up your chest again. his touch is so intimate and loving. you’re spoiled. spoiled rotten by his affection.

satoru sighs. his white lashes flutter shut for a second. hearing you say such stuff makes him want to check if it’s reality he’s in. if it isn’t another too-good-to-be-true dream of his. no one had loved him as much as you did.

it feels good to know that he’s wanted. needed.

“no, i think he is the lucky one,” satoru continues. his hand petting your head stops and he moves it to rub your cheek tenderly. he leans his head down, the tips of your noses touching. he whispers, “having a pretty girl like you love him so dearly… yeah, he’s won the lottery.”

your heart skips a beat. satoru’s words leave you speechless. you don’t know if you can keep up the little silly act anymore. his flirting, the teasing and the genuineness behind his words—it’s all too much.

you grab the back of his head and push his lips down against yours. satoru’s breath hitches for a second before he gives in to you. he visibly melts, eyes closing and hands tightening their grip around your body.

“mmh,” satoru lets out a content moan. he loves you. he’s glad he’s met you and he’s glad he made you his wife two years back. you’re the only one for him. death won’t do you apart—no—he promised you on your wedding day that it wouldn’t.

you kiss him like it’s your last kiss on earth. the spark between you is still as warm and strong as it was when you met. the people who’ve warned you about the ‘honeymoon phase’ are clearly all wrong. they aren’t aware of the strength your bond with satoru has. you’re inseparable.

“i love you,” you sigh against satoru’s glossy lips and he deepens the kiss after that.

somebody loves him. somebody cares for him. that’s all he needs in life. his life is complete with you in it. he smiles against your lips and says the three words back, with more passion than ever before, “i love you too, my angel.”

nothing will ever separate you. not fate. not anyone.

[spatialwave]

BRAT TAMER.

➸ ask: “our brat tamer vik and “oh no. i’m not finished with you yet.” 🤭🤭” – ➸ pairing: viktor x fem!reader ➸ word count: 911  ➸ tags: mdni! shameless smut, nsfw, pwp, semi-dubcon, rough sex, dominant viktor, brat/brat tamer, no use of y/n. ➸ notes: hehe 🤍🤍

Viktor adored the way your voice squeaked out his name when he pleased you, how your tongue snapped against the back of your teeth at the ‘t’. You were everything to him, there was no one else in the world he’d want to hear screaming his name. How it cracked in your throat when it mixed with a particularly loud gasp.

“Please,” you whined, your body hot as you lay on the couch in your apartment, legs spread wide so invitingly. His face was buried between, tongue sliding along your cunt and tasting you slowly.

This had been a common occurrence lately, neither of you were able to take your hands off of each other the second you were alone in the same room. Call it the honeymoon phase.

Your head lifted from the couch, hardly able to keep your eyes open as you watched your lover eat you out with experienced movements. His were closed, arms wrapped around your thighs as he listened to your sweet sounds that urged him to keep going.

He’d made you cum twice already, working you slowly to each release and watching you unravel with cries of pleasure and body writhing along the couch. Your fingernails had ripped into the fabric beneath you, adding to the tears that had accumulated over the past few months.

“Now,” he breathed against your cunt, the air from his lips warm as he moved to press chaste kisses to your inner thighs, “what did I say about being patient?”

A shaky breath escaped your lips, head falling back again in defeat. 

When you first met Viktor, you hadn’t pegged him for the… well… dominant type. He was far too kind, always wearing that small smile on his lips as he ventured through the academy at Heimerdinger’s side. He shook your hand gently, your eyes taking his entire appearance in. Big, sparkling eyes, thinned cheeks, and two moles on his face that seemed to sweeten his features.

It wasn’t until the night you finally fucked after weeks of tension that built between you and him. You half-imagined to spend most of your night riding him, his hand sliding up your body as you took control and put on a show for him that he’d never seen.

Yet, you were greeted with deep rumbles in his throat as he fucked you from behind, standing at the edge of the bed with you on your hands and knees before him. A harsh hand in your hair, tugging it back when you misbehaved, nails digging into the flesh of your ass.

You were so fucking addicted to him, and the feeling was mutual.

“I am being patient,” you whined, back arching as two fingers slipped easily into your pussy, stretching your tight hole. A gasp settled into the back of your throat, hands settling on your tits so you could distract yourself from the way your cunt clenched around his fingers pathetically tight, needing release.

“Good girl,” Viktor purred, licking at a hickey he’d left on your inner thigh, lips trailing back to your heat so he could lick tantalizing slow circles around your swollen clit.

Your face twisted into one of pleasure as the coil in the pit of your stomach began to twist uncomfortably, signifying your third release of the evening. Here you were, a goddamn mess when Viktor had hardly touched himself yet, aside from a few needy strokes along his cock that he gave himself.

His name fell from your tongue again, eyes snapping shut tight as the fingers inside you pumped in and out, fingers curling just right. Those golden eyes watched you with desire, the way your fingers pinched at your nipples and back arched as you reached your climax.

It was intense, like always, leaving you babbling out his name as your body went limp. You were covered in sweat, hips stuttering as he coaxed out your orgasm with a few slow pumps of his fingers.

“Viktor,” you mewled after the feeling finally washed away, pouting as you pulled away from his hands until his fingers slipped out from your cunt, “please, let me make you feel good,” you slurred, properly fucked out. You attempted to sit up, but his free hand pressed against your stomach and forced you down while he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“I let you cum because you were being such a patient girl,” he murmured from his position on the floor. Ignoring the pain in his legs to please you, “Stay down.”

Slowly, he climbed onto the couch above you, trapping you. You buried your face into his neck, whining as he settled between your legs.

“Viktor,” you breathed out his name again, the feeling of his fingers back within your folds causing you to cry out a loud whimper. You twitched, hips trying to run from the fingers that had made you see stars and had your body oversensitive, “too much.”

He smirked, ignoring your pleas as a hand wrapped around your throat.

“Oh, no, love,” Viktor whispered into your ear, teeth dragging against the shell of your ear as grabbed the base of his cock, the tip rubbing along your wet cunt, “I’m not done with you yet.”

Your pussy stretched as he fucked you, a rough rhythm that had you clawing your nails down his back and leaving behind red lines. There was no escaping him when he desired you, but you didn’t mind. Not one bit.

[heartyluv]

Note: Please —Click Here— to read part one if you’d like! I’m finally getting around to giving them a second part, omg. I hope I did it justice. Enjoy, my beautiful baes!

Warning: A woman picks a fight with you over Caleb (she’s not a real threat, dw), you get really possessive over him, car sex, use of ‘angel’ for a nickname

Word Count: 4K

Summary: A night out quickly takes a different turn.

Cowboy!Caleb/PossessiveReader

“C’mon, angel. You got it. Push your thighs in tighter,” Caleb instructs you. “Harder. Good, like that, like I taught you.”

You bite your lip, uncertainty coiling through you as you feel the back and forth motion in your hips. You’ve been at this for what is definitely far too long, but with Caleb, you didn’t mind the time it took. Choosing not to be patient wouldn’t get you anywhere, not when you wanted to succeed so badly.

“I—I’m gonna fall again!” you squeak, your nerves calming just barely when he holds you by your hip, silently reassuring you as Applebottom begins to strut along the even terrain of the rich green grass.

“She can sense your nervousness. That’s why she’s so ready to throw you off,” he chuckles, remaining beside you before patting on the large horse’s side with three quick loving taps. “Confidence is key, alright? Show her who’s the boss.”

“You’re her boss!” you yelp right before she trots in place, her hooves pounding into the ground unforgivingly with whine-like neighing to follow. The typically sweet animal did this every time she wanted to set her boundaries and make it known that she did not want whoever was on her back.

It was understandable. You’d only wanted Caleb on top of you, too.

It’s been a few days since you’ve been staying with him on his parents’ ranch, simply because you wanted to, you could, and he offered—no, he begged you to come over. With your dad being able to take on farm work again without needing help, you told lied to him about how you’d be staying over at a friend’s house for a much deserved break.

He still doesn’t know that the man he strictly told you to keep out, was in your room the morning they returned. You had to explain to Caleb later why you frantically pulled him from your bed and threw his sweatpants at him like you were a teenager sneaking a boy out.

You were able to get away with it because not only is the guest room thankfully on the second floor, but momma called your phone and said they needed you both to come down and help haul their stuff and the hand-me-down farm clothes Grams surprisingly let them take, upstairs.

That was about a month ago and a complete win in your book, despite the near heart attack at first. And now, after the time it took for you to have this privacy, you’ve been delightfully basking in the presence of your beloved cowboy.

Since Caleb’s workaholic mother and father tended to be so busy with other business ventures, they were often out of town a lot and this week was one of those instances you both were more than willing to take advantage of.

It was safe to say that you two have been going at it like you were making up for lost time. From sex in his room, to the shower, and even with you bent over the kitchen counter that you ended up scrubbing with bleach because you felt awful about it post orgasm, Caleb has had you folded up in too many ways to count.

He even asked you to be his girlfriend, to which you declined.

Yes, he had your heart, he’s had and will continue to have your body, but you needed to make sure this wasn’t some glorified honeymoon phase. Everything was and felt perfect right now because of how excited you two were to have each other entirely without fear, limitations, and uncertainty—well, nearly.

Your dad will come around when you tell him, you’re almost positive.

But, waiting a bit would prove to you if this feeling was something that would stick without the memories and nostalgia you share being the anchor to it all.

Besides, you two still have a lot to learn about one another all over again before you outwardly labeled this beauty of a man as your boyfriend. You weren’t lying when you said you loved him, but love didn’t mean you had to rush. It meant that you had all the time in the world together to figure it out.

Right?

He understood your concerns, even if he wished you would’ve told him yes and let him fuck you in celebration. Granted, he still did, but it was with determination—to show you that there was no such thing as a fluke when it came to how he felt about you.

Besides all the mushy feelings though, it’s been immensely freeing with him. Like he promised the morning after he made love to you for the first time, in the early evenings during your stay, he’s been helping you try to learn how to ride a horse before he took you out to buy you one of your own.

No matter how much you failed, it was the reality that Caleb was your helping hand to make your heart dance in your chest.

You whole heartedly blamed your pops for your inability, but it partially on you, too. He tried to teach you when you were younger, but gave up once he realized how scared you’d always be no matter what horse he put you on or in front of you. Despite how badly he wanted you to conquer, he refused to traumatize his little girl further after all the falls and near accidents.

And Caleb was far too young and inexperienced himself at the time to try, so you simply never got the hang of it. Not even when he took you a few times to ride on Applebottom before you left for college.

You were honestly too embarrassed to try asking for any assistance the older you became and add you leaving on top of that, horse riding just became a skill you accepted that you’d never acquire.

Caleb soothed the beautiful steed, rubbing down her nose and scratched below her chin to ease her defiance.

“You wanna call it a day?” he grinned up at you, the warm setting sun making his dewy skin glow.

“Please.”

“No worries, angel. Scoot back.”

You maneuver yourself on the leather saddle to make room for the burly man, wrapping your arms around his waist and resting against him once he sat and grabbed hold of the reigns before making sure you were ready to go. After your confirmation, with a click of his tongue and a soft “go ‘head girl”, you were riding towards his large home with the slightly humid wind wiping across your dampened skin.

“I’m taking you out tonight,” he said the closer you got.

“For what?”

“Because I want us to have some fun.”

“I think we have a lot of that here, don’t you think?”

He laughs, the sound warming you on the inside. “You’re not lyin��, but I wanna take you dancing. Remember the last time we went?”

You flip through your memories like they’re pages on a book, not having any recollection.

“Exactly,” he fills in your silence. “We weren’t even ten years old and couldn’t catch a beat for shit.”

“Caleb, that does not count!” Now you’re the one laughing, hard enough to make you snort a little bit.

“It definitely does!” Slowing Applebottom down until she completely stops beside the wrap around porch, he jumps down first to then help you. When you’re standing in front of him, he cups your face in his hands and kisses your lips tenderly.

“I’m gonna set her up for the night, we’ll head in, get cleaned up, and I want to be back down in my pickup in an hour. You got that, angel?”

“Yes, sir,” you tease, making him smirk.

“Go on.” He plucks his cowboy hat off his head and hits you playfully on the ass with it on your way up the steps. “Get the shower going for us.”

You and Caleb have been on the dance floor for nearly an hour straight, and you couldn’t get enough. With every twirl and the feeling of his body pressed against you alongside all the other patrons having their own fun, you wished this night could go on forever.

In your floral pink knee length summer dress, his strong hands were on your waist as he moved you side to side to the thumping beat that vibrated the walls and floors of the classical country dance bar that’s been around long before the both of you.

Your sexy cowboy was a sight to drool over in his sage green long sleeve shirt that he had pulled up on his strong forearms to display his tattoos and dark blue jeans that showed off some of his impressive physique.

You were wearing his black Cattleman that he slyly placed atop your head in the middle of you swaying to the music. You helplessly giggled when he kissed down your neck and took you by the hand to spin you around to face him.

His skin was slightly flushed and his soft hair a small whirlwind of a mess, but if you asked Caleb what he was feeling—complete and alive were the only adjectives that could come to mind.

Your arms went around his neck with a bright smile to accompany your eagerness as you sang along to the lyrics of a song your momma still loves to blast on her cleaning days. Caleb flashed you that boyish grin that made you swoon when you grew dramatic in your efforts to match the passion of the talented singer’s voice blasting through the speakers.

Then he started to sing with you and for a moment, there was no care in the world about how crazy you both sounded. This was where you had fun and you wouldn’t let anything prevent you from enjoying it to its fullest potential.

That was your intention until a woman walked up to you both as the upbeat song ended and transitioned to something slower. You couldn’t even get close to him again before an airy voice said behind you, “You finished with her yet, C?”

C? Who the hell is she calling C?

You craned your neck to figure out who was emitting the strong aroma of too-much perfume. A pretty and short, long haired brunette looking up at Caleb with very clear fuck-me eyes, proved to be the answer to the mystery.

Her complete disregard for your presence wasn’t missed, either.

“I know your mother raised you to have some respect, Maycee,” Caleb replied sharply, not bothering to look at her.

“What? I waited ‘til the song was over,” she shrugs, moving closer to him and making this weird primal behavior surge within you when her perfectly manicured fingers tried to rest on his shoulder before he shucked her off.

“That was respectful enough, was it not? I just want to talk with you.” Her judgmental eyes look into yours that’s slowly losing the light it had second ago. “Alone.”

“We’ve got nothin’ to talk about. Coming up to me when I’m with my girl is out of line.”

“Nothing to talk about? Your girl?” she spits out in disbelief. “Seems like you’ve made the wrong choice.”

“Am I invisible?” you interrupt swiftly, the irritation coursing through your body making it impossible to keep your mouth shut any longer. The looks were hard to ignore, but the nosiness of others did nothing to put out the flame stoking in your chest.

You face her head on, ready to defend yourself with zero intimidation at her attempt to size you up.

“This has nothing to do with you.”

“The moment you spoke to him made it have every fucking thing to do with me.”

“Aww, let me guess: you think you’re special?” she scoffs with a mocking grin. “Tell her about our time together Caleb, since it’s so necessary that she stays clued in.”

Your body tenses as your jaw ticks. The noticeable reaction makes her smile as if she’s triumphant.

“I’d really rather not embarrass you or ourselves more than you’ve already done yourself, Maycee,” Caleb says through gritted teeth. “That’s not what I want or what I do, but you have a tendency of pushing your fucking luck. You’ve done enough. I suggest you know when to walk away.”

You were hard to rile up—very hard. But Caleb was one of the few people who knew how you could get if that’s where you were brought. It’s one of the reasons he’s trying to deescalate the situation as quickly as possible.

“You’re such an asshole. Her over me—seriously?” She sucks her teeth. “Call me when you come back to your senses. My mouth really misses you.”

Your eyes narrow and you check her before Caleb can try. Your tone drops to make sure that even with the quietness that’s suffocating the already stuffy space, only she can hear you clearly.

“Know that my name was tattooed on his chest while his dick was in your mouth.” You get in her face now, feeling a strong hand on your arm to hold you back.

“I want you to make sure you sit with the fact that every time he got hard, it’s because he thought of me. Even when he was inside of you.”

Maycee’s chest rises and falls, the clear shock and disbelief swirling in her irises.

“Baby, let’s just go,” Caleb calls to you, his grip pressing a little harder to make sure you’re aware that he’s trying to keep you calm.

It’s ridiculous how easily your night has been ruined, and now all the fun is washed out your veins.

Not another word is spoken when you take off his hat and press it roughly to his chest, not caring if he doesn’t catch it. You snatch yourself away from him before you storm out the bar and into the now cool night.

Your anger is misplaced, you know that. But it’s feels impossible to correct with the way it was encompassing your entire being.

Caleb doesn’t waste a moment following you, quickly unlocking his vehicle and opening the door to let you climb inside. Once behind the wheel, he maneuvers the tires over the gravel parking lot before rolling onto the smooth roads, and god is the drive uncomfortable.

“You wanna talk now?” he voices ten minutes in, sighing at your refusal to answer—again.

You told yourself you weren’t jealous of his past, that you didn’t care. And truly, you didn’t.

But the mere thought of Maycee with Caleb in any way, made your blood boil. The way she walked up to him like she was so familiar fueled you with violence.

He was yours, he belongs to you.

“Pull over,” you mumble, making his eyebrow furrow.

“I’m not letting you walk if that’s what you think you’re about to do. I don’t care—”

“Pull. Over,” you repeat slowly.

He does. What other choice does he have when the woman he loves looks ready to set fire to anything in her path that dared to give her a reason?

There’s nothing but long empty rode in front and behind you in the dark night of chirping crickets and twinkling fireflies as he puts the car in park to the side. Caleb looks over at you, the moonlight and rows of illuminated warm street lamps pouring through the windshield giving him the privilege to set eyes on his lady.

“Angel, you know she doesn’t mean anythin’ to me. I know you know.”

“I do.” You turn your body to face him.

“We only hooked up twice, pretty. I don’t want you being upset with me. Tell me what you need me—” Your hand reaching over the center console and the tug on his belt makes his words slow.

“I want you,” you breathe out, your voice shaky and the need to have him overriding anything sensible. “I want you to fuck me, Caleb. I want to erase her from you—erase all of them.”

Pretty,” he coos apologetically. “You’ve already done that. But anything you want. Just let me take us home.”

“No,” you shake your head stubbornly. “Now. I want it now.”

“Fuck…” His cock comes to life at your possessiveness.

He leans in to kiss you deeply, his tongue tangling with yours as he swallows your whimpers and identifies your cravings without more needing to be said. You stay like that for a moment, letting him savor your taste.

When he releases you, he gets out the truck so that he can slide into the black leather seat in the back. The moment he shuts the door and sits, waiting with his legs spread wide, you’re kicking off your shoes and climbing toward him like he’s your reclamation.

The lack of sufficient space isn’t enough to stop you from sitting in his lap and pulling on his hair, grinding your panty clad pussy against the rough material of his jeans. He sucks on your neck, the sweet and tangy taste on your skin only making his balls tighten with need.

You have to see your name that marks him, that gives you ownership of him. Impatiently, you pull the hem of his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the side and tracing your fingertips along the mesmerizing ink.

“I’m yours, angel,” he whispers, his hands gripping your hips hungrily.

“Show me,” you beg. You feel down his pecs and toned abs before quickly beginning to undo his belt. The clinks echo in the enclosed space at the same time that he bunches your dress above your waist.

Wrapping your hand around his thickness and pulling him out of his confines, you pump him agonizingly slow in your palm.

“You told me this was my cock,” you say against lips, your heart hammering so fast that you’re not too sure how coherent you sound. “You said both of you were devoted to me.”

Your mouths graze, but never meet. “Give me what’s mine…”

Caleb curses under his breath when you swipe a thumb along his slit and smear his precum around, his hips bucking up with eagerness. “I’ll listen to your every w—word. Sit up on your knees, baby…Let me make it better.”

Bracing one hand on him, you follow his instruction and push out a desperate huff when he roughly tugs your panties to the side after you lift yourself.

You didn’t want a condom. In fact, you’d lose your shit if he even offered one. That’s all you’ve been using since your first time together and right now, you just wanted to feel him without any barriers.

When his bare tip slides into your leaking hole, you press your lips together with a pleased hum.

“They can never have you again,” you cry as he helps lower you down to take every pulsating veiny inch. “Hngh—Yes…I miss you like this…”

“N—Never,” he solidifies through a raspy groan, his dick twitching inside your hot and slick walls when you squeeze him.

“You hear how we sound together?” You get closer as you make your hips rise and steadily fall, the squelching of your connection filling your ears. “Only we could make music so powerful.”

The truck begins to shake the harder you go, your palms pressing against the cushioning behind him so your nails had something to scratch when he fucks into you, knocking the breath out of your pliable body.

His fingers dig in your flesh through your dress, surely bruising you, but you need him to. You need that tinge of pain as a reminder that neither of you are never going anywhere because you’ve already made your mark.

“You—hah—you feel so fucking good, Caleb…” The effortless gliding in your pussy makes white dots spot in your vision and your nipples ache beneath the meddlesome fabric.

“We’ve always been in tune.” He shakily reaches over and grabs his Cattleman, placing it on your disarrayed strands and running his thumb across your lip before his large hand caresses down your neck before grasping one of your breasts over your dress. Your lack of a bra lets him flick a nipple, making a strained whimper fall from your puffy lips.

“Don’t ever take it off again. I’m your cowboy, pretty. Own that.” He loses his train of thought for a moment, being buried so snuggly in your heat.

“Ah, fuck…fuck…M—Make me feel it…”

You nod, leaning further back against the console so the outside streetlights could shine upon where you’re connected. Your lover looks down to watch your cunt greedily spread the sticky fluids up and down his cock with unabashed desire.

“Y—you’re not C…” you mewl tiredly, rotating your hips to grind against him. “You’re my Caleb…Just mine…”

The new motion sends shivers down his spine. “You’re right…That’ll never change. It never has…”

The interior grows foggy and humid, sweat beading down your back and his temples the faster your orgasm approaches. You use your muscles to tighten your cunt around his throbbing length, and each contraction makes him feel more precum spurt out in preparation to claim you from the inside.

“That’sss right…oh, baby, keep going… just like that…W—Wanna fill you up so badly…” He pulls your panties over more to gain complete access, his thumb lazily circling your taunt bundle of nerves and sending shockwaves through you.

“Make you so fuckin’ full of me, pretty—I know you want it.”

He sucks air in through his teeth when your peak hits you so hard and unexpectedly that it has you trying to crawl away from him at the simultaneous moment that his cum rushes inside your shuddering walls.

Your moans are on the precipice of pornographic, but for him, it’s the embodiment of sublimity.

You serenade him with your gentle sounds and wavering tone, letting yourself succumb to the deliriousness like you’ve done many times now. Caleb holds you down to make sure you’re filled to the brim, rubbing along your trembling inner thighs. He keeps you spread open so he can watch how the copious amount of cum has no choice but to spill out of your hole and down cock before reaching his balls and staining his clothes.

“‘M so sorry for what happened,” he speaks softly after giving you the space to catch your breath.

“It’s not your fault,” you mumble, holding his hat so that it’ll stay on your head as you sit up before taking it off. Fear consumes him for a brief moment when you place it on his.

“Remember when I told you no?” Your head tilts, taking his hand and placing it on your cheek to nestle into. “About being your girlfriend?”

“I do.”

“Tonight has shown me that…I think I’m in wayyy too deep to be trying to play it safe.”

He smiles. “A mutual sentiment.”

“Will you do me the honor,” you flash a genuine one as well, adjusting the crooked hat and brushing his hair away from his eyebrows. “and let me be your one and only cowgirl?”

“You never even have to ask, angel. C’mere.”

After you share yet another kiss, he presses a sweeter one to the tip your nose.

“Your dad is going to whoop my ass.”

You laugh, the vibrations making you remember that Caleb is still inside of you.

“He’ll be okay. Momma will hold him back.”

“Thanks, baby,” he rolls his eyes with playful sarcasm. “That means a lot.”

“Whatever he does, I’ll be there to kiss it better.”

“Yeah?” he smirks.

“Mhmmm.”

You don’t know what you were even going to try and say or do next because any and all calmness and sentimentally is gone when you see red and blue light flash along with two curt blares of a police siren.

“Shit!” you panic, flicking Caleb’s forehead when he starts to muffle his laugh.

“Ow!” he whisper shouts.

“Move your ass!”

“I can’t until you do!”

Then a knock at the driver’s window sounds. You would forever be in debt to tinted windows now.

“Play dead,” you suggest lowly.

“You’re a terrible problem solver.”

“Well, I’m not seeing you come up with any bright ideas!”

When what you know is the final polite knock sounds with four hits instead of the initial two, Caleb closes his eyes and lays his head back, the hat falling over his eyes and forehead.

“You’re right,” he says, his words muffled. “Play dead.”

“You’re all worried about my dad when me and this police officer is getting ready to kick your ass.”

“Can’t. I’m already dead.”

“Caleb!”

“Mr. Xia?” calls a male voice.

“Who the hell..?”

“Oh,” he huffs in relief. “It’s just Xavier.”

“From high school!?” you ask, completely stunned.

He nods. “He moved back a year after you left. Nothing to worry about. We’re cool.”

“You’re shirtless and still in me!”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t be embarrassed.”

You pluck his forehead once more. “I can’t stand you!”

He rubs his forehead, then pulls you into him. “I’m in love with you too, angel. But flick me again and I’ll fuck you again with him right outside.”

“Just do something!” you pout, your face getting heated at the thought.

Glad to have made you flustered, he smiles. “Anything for you.”

A/N: I felt like creating a scenario like this felt kinda realistic for them because I definitely believe people would fight over a man like Caleb—especially if he sexes you as good as he looks LOLLLL!!!! I didn’t think it would’ve just been sunshine and rainbows initially in a small town where Caleb has been around the block…I could’ve just done a big time skip to their happily ever after, but where’s the fun in that?!?! But I think I’ve unintentionally started another series, DAMNIT! JAYLA, PLS PUT THE PHONE DOWN!!!!

🍎 Tags: @sucre-princesse @brailsthesmolgurl @klossnite @grlyeetswrld @beesin03 @dramaticalsachan @moonchildjae00 @caien @stargirlygirl @multisstuff @littledarlingsthings @purpleamethyst25 @lazygelpen @meadowinthesky @nod4mnm3rcyy @loveinorion @ur-l0cal-crypt1d @inutrasha94 @cowaungabungabby @gravity-pilot @nyanahogini @rosiesluv @goochfiddler99 @torturedbabyapple @kiyadeleine @carcelswaifu @blushofeve @whattnanii @ashirelle @sylvieisoffline @saturnquartz @dewmarionette @horanghaeegr @iconoclastoc

��️ Tags: @starryeyed-apple @asiatic-apple @sensual-study @sweetcalebb @asiaticapple @raemanova @awquaz @callads7 @floatinginaer @crimsonsylus @aquarianbeat

Creds to @/saradika, @/saradika-graphics, and @/bbyg4rlhelps for the dividers!

[kisakis-boyfriend]

Husband Ajax HCs

Husband!Ajax who proposed during a sparring match. Yes, you read that right — Ajax asked you to marry him while his nose bled all over the ground and your weapons clashed; causing literal sparks to fly between yourselves.

Husband!Ajax who's ecstatic when you agree to visit his family after your engagement. You've been over there plenty of times when you two were friends, and after you started dating, but this is a pretty big milestone.

Husband!Ajax who never really leaves the "honeymoon phase" of your relationship. Every second spent by your side feels just as special as the last.

Husband!Ajax whose love language is spending time with you, buying take-out and spending the night at your place, and being affectionate with you.

Husband!Ajax who smiles so brightly when you surprise him with your cooking. Especially if you learn some recipes from his homeland, or ones that his mother makes.

Husband!Ajax who will gladly hold you and listen whenever you're feeling upset. And when you do the same for him, Ajax may just cry harder when you treat him this gently.

Husband!Ajax (in modern times) who definitely has a picture of you as his phone wallpaper. And several candid shots of you laughing or smiling that he treasures and looks at whenever he needs a pick-me-up.

Husband!Ajax who's such a family oriented man — he cries and pleads for you to knock him up. His torso is pressed against the mattress, hips held up by your tight grip as Ajax takes the pounding of a lifetime, begging to have your babies.

Husband!Ajax who has mad stamina… sometimes it's hard to keep up with, but he's so sweet and will happily accommodate you when you need a break.

Husband!Ajax who adores when you get feisty and manhandle him. Treat him like a ragdoll during sex, and he may cum so hard that his entire being just…short circuits.

Husband!Ajax who's so loud during anything related to sex. So loud… Ajax is loud when you're making out, when you're giving him a blowjob/handjob, when he's giving you a blowjob/handjob, when you're softly fucking him, when you're bruising his prostate, when you're making romantic love to him. He's just excited and can't hold in the noises that you wring out of him~

Husband!Ajax who welcomes toys into your sex life — because you're too good at finding the things that squeeze out all of his best reactions. Vibrators are his favourite, even though you always make him cum in his pants while he's working/in the middle of combat (not that the latter is a difficult task…)

[bu3ck3r]

tied together – part 7

paige bueckers x azzi fudd

warning: sexual content

a/n: hi guys so sorry for this delay my finals are killing me but anyways this chapter is basically 9k words full of moments that have been happening between paige and azzi during the rest of college. enjoyy

tied together – masterlist

it was one of those sticky summer evenings in storrs where the heat still lingered, even after the sun had dropped behind the trees. the backyard of their off-campus house glowed with hanging string lights, a speaker tucked on the porch playing a low r&b playlist. someone had grilled earlier, the scent of sweet corn still hung in the air.

the uconn girls had taken over the space, lounging on blankets across the grass, plates balanced on their knees, cups of lemonade in hand. azzi was curled up on one of the big outdoor cushions, her bare legs tucked under her, laughing at something caroline had just said. her head tilted back, curls falling over her shoulder, eyes bright.

paige, sitting behind her on a low chair, leaned in and tucked a loose strand behind azzi’s ear. “that laugh right there,” she murmured just loud enough for azzi to hear, “is the reason i’m completely ruined.”

azzi shot her a look, cheeks flushed and smiling, trying not to melt completely on the spot. “you’re so dramatic.”

“nah, i’m so in love,” paige said with a wink, leaning forward to kiss her temple, not caring one bit that the team was watching—most of them pretending not to watch while watching everything.

kk whistled. “okay, we get it. you two are disgustingly in love. can someone pass me another lemonade before i throw mine at them?”

“you’re just mad you’re not invited to the azzi and paige lovefest,” ice said, tossing her a can.

“actually,” caroline added, grinning, “i think it’s kinda adorable. they’ve been like this since the season ended. like, 24/7.”

“they’re in their honeymoon phase,” nika muttered, but she was smiling too. “every time i come into the kitchen, one of them is sitting on the counter with their legs wrapped around the other.”

“liar,” azzi said, laughing now, covering her face. “she’s lying.”

“she is not lying,” paige said proudly. “i can confirm. excellent makeout spot, 10/10.”

that made everyone laugh, the kind of loud, contagious laughter that echoed into the evening. azzi threw a balled-up napkin at paige’s head. “can you not expose me for one second?”

“never,” paige said, catching the napkin and tossing it behind her. “not when you look this good.”

and she did, azzi was wearing one of paiges tshirts that barely covered her shorts, skin glowing from the heat and the warm light. paige couldn’t stop touching her, hand resting on her knee, thumb brushing slow circles on her thigh, just because she could. they stayed like that as the night stretched on, playing uno on the blanket, sharing stories, swatting away mosquitoes, paige stealing bites off azzi’s plate without asking. they didn’t need to be front and center all the time. they just liked being close. they gravitated toward each other like magnets, even when surrounded by the people they cared about.

later, when most of the team had drifted inside for dessert or showers, paige pulled azzi closer, both of them sitting on the porch step now, watching the lights blink lazily overhead.

“this has been a good summer,” paige said softly.

azzi leaned her head on paige’s shoulder. “the best. you know, i still can’t believe we’re here. i’m starting my sophomore year already, you’re starting your junior year. it feels like yesterday we were just…”

“barely talking,” paige finished, grinning.

azzi looked up at her. “thank god we figured it out.”

paige kissed her slow, right there on the porch with the scent of summer grass and grilled meat in the air. “i’d fight through every awkward month again if it meant ending up right here.”

“you’re getting soft on me,” azzi whispered against her lips.

“only for you,” paige said.

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

it was almost midnight during paige’s junior year when she finally kicked off her sneakers and collapsed onto her dorm bed, the game still humming in her blood. her jersey was half on, half off, sweat-dried and wrinkled and her hair was a mess from the postgame media chaos. she didn’t care. all she wanted was one thing. her thumb hovered over azzi’s name, pink heart emoji saved beside it and then the screen filled with the dialing sound.

it took two rings.

azzi answered, already grinning, bare-faced and beautiful, wrapped in a soft hoodie with her curls pulled back into a loose bun. “hey, superstar.”

“you watched?”

“duh.” azzi’s voice was sleepy and warm. “i screamed every time you touched the ball. my whole suite probably thinks i’m insane.”

“they’d be right.” paige laughed, shifting the phone to prop it against her pillow. “you look cozy. can i teleport there?”

“please do. i made popcorn and everything.”

paige rolled onto her side, chin in hand. “i miss you so bad it’s ridiculous.”

azzi smiled, eyes softening. “i miss you more, baby.”

they didn’t say anything for a moment. just looked. azzi’s camera caught the glow of her lights behind her, soft yellow against her skin. paige’s screen flickered from the light of her desk lamp, shadows casting long across her tired face.

“you’re so pretty it makes me wanna cry,” azzi whispered.

paige snorted. “you’re just tired.”

“no,” azzi said, quiet but firm. “i mean it. i don’t think i’ve ever looked at someone the way i look at you.”

paige swallowed. “don’t do this to me right now.”

“what?”

“i’m already five seconds from crying. i had the longest day, and then you show up on my screen like that and say that shit?”

azzi smiled, eyes watery now too. “sorry. but also not sorry.”

“god, i just…” paige groaned into her pillow, “i want you here. i want to sleep next to you. i want to wake up next to you. i want to brush my teeth while you’re hogging the mirror. i want everything. it’s annoying how much i want you, princess.”

azzi’s laugh was soft and dizzy. “you sound so down bad.”

“i am down bad.”

“same.” azzi pulled the hoodie tighter around herself. “you’re my favorite person in the world.”

paige smiled, cheek pressed to the pillow. “i’m so in love with you it’s pathetic.”

“you’re not pathetic. you’re mine.”

that did it. paige blinked fast, one tear slipping out. “i can’t believe we get to love each other like this.”

“me neither.”

the screen glowed faint blue against azzi’s face, lighting up the quiet dark of her dorm room. she lay curled beneath a thick gray blanket, one leg kicked free from the heat, eyes fixed on her phone screen. paige’s face smiled back at her, all warmth and tired joy from her apartment hundreds of miles away.

“you ever think about how weird this is?” azzi whispered, her voice sleepy and dreamy. “like… we’re in two completely different places. but i still feel you.”

paige smirked, adjusting the pillow under her head. “baby, we’re like… mentally glued. spiritually attached. soul-knotted.”

“soul-knotted?” azzi giggled. “is that a new one?”

“yeah, i made it up. sounds deep, right?” paige grinned, her eyes crinkling.

azzi bit her lip. “you’re so annoying. i miss your stupid face.”

paige sat up a little, adjusting the camera so azzi could see more of her bare shoulders, messy tank top, sleep-tousled hair. “well here it is. admire away.”

“trust me, i’ve been admiring,” azzi said, eyes scanning the screen. “you’re hot. like, i’m literally in love with your collarbone.”

paige burst out laughing. “what?! my collarbone?”

“yeah. it’s so underrated. like look at that dip right there. stupid sexy.”

“you’re kind of insane, baby.”

“you love it.”

“i really do,” paige said, her tone softening. “i love how obsessed you are. i love that you call me at 1 a.m. just to stare at me like a weirdo.”

“you’re my weirdo,” azzi mumbled, eyes fluttering shut for a second.

“you falling asleep on me again?” paige whispered.

“no,” azzi lied, clearly already fading. “i’m just… soaking in your voice. your face. everything. i feel better just hearing you.”

paige exhaled, slow and full of affection. “i’d hold you if i could.”

“i know. and when we’re done with this year, we’ll have each other all the time in the summer. no more screens.”

“yeah,” paige whispered. “i can’t wait.”

they lay like that for a while, screens between them, silence soft but full. azzi eventually started humming something under her breath, the same song she always played when they were in the car together. paige closed her eyes and just listened, breathing in rhythm with her.

“can you sleep with me on the phone?” azzi asked, voice slow now, melting into the moment.

“you don’t even have to ask beautiful,” paige said, already pulling the blanket up.

“leave the camera on.”

azzi set her phone beside her pillow, her face still barely visible in the shadows. “goodnight, p.”

“goodnight, az,” paige whispered. “dream about me.”

“i always do.”

the call didn’t end. the screen dimmed, soft light casting over both of them—two girls in love, in two different beds, but sharing the same quiet night.

and neither of them slept alone.

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

after not seeing each other for two weeks, paige decided to visit azzi for a weekend before her senior year starts. the second azzi cracked open the door to her apartment, paige was already on her. she dropped her duffel bag with a dull thud and pulled azzi in, pressing her whole body close in a way that said she didn’t want even air to come between them.

“i missed you so bad,” paige breathed out, her lips brushing the sensitive skin under azzi’s ear. “like… every second we were apart felt like forever.”

azzi laughed, breath catching, and buried her face in paige’s neck. “same. you’re all i thought about.” she leaned back, eyes soft. “you smell so good.”

paige’s grin was crooked, the kind of smile that made azzi’s stomach flip. “shut up and kiss me.”

and she did. they kissed right there in the doorway, paige’s hands cradling azzi’s face, thumbs brushing her cheeks like she was memorizing every inch of her. azzi melted into it, let out a quiet sigh that said everything she didn’t have words for. they broke apart, breathless and grinning, foreheads resting together.

“come inside,” azzi whispered, voice warm. she grabbed paige’s hand, pulling her over the threshold.

the weekend slipped around them like a soft blanket. mornings were spent tangled in each other, sharing sleepy smiles over coffee. paige would steal sips from azzi’s mug and smirk when azzi scolded her, pressing kisses to her temple to make her forget she was annoyed.

“you’re such a menace,” azzi teased one morning, but the way her lips curved said she loved it.

“yeah,” paige said, eyes bright. “but i’m your menace.”

afternoons meant simple things: azzi in paige’s clothes, a hoodie that hung low on her hips, the sleeves falling over her hands. she made a show of twirling in the kitchen, teasing paige. “you like this? i might never give it back.”

“you look better in it than i do,” paige admitted, pulling azzi in by the hem of the hoodie and kissing her until they were both flushed and breathless.

they cooked together—or rather, azzi cooked while paige hovered behind her, lips pressing to her shoulder blades, hands warm on her waist. “this is domestic as hell,” paige said, low and teasing in her ear.

“you like it,” azzi said.

“i love it.”

at night, they curled up on the couch, azzi’s head resting on paige’s chest, the glow of a movie playing in the background neither of them really watched. paige’s fingers moved in lazy patterns on azzi’s shoulder, her heartbeat slow and steady.

“i love this,” azzi murmured.

“me too.” paige said, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

but the night that really carved itself into their hearts was the one on the balcony. after a long walk under the stars, the city humming low in the background, they sat on a blanket wrapped around their shoulders, the world hushed around them.

“i’ve been thinking,” paige said, voice soft, breaking the quiet. she twisted a loose thread in the blanket between her fingers. “about the future.”

azzi turned her head, the dim light catching the shine in her eyes. “yeah?”

“yeah.” paige swallowed, her thumb brushing over azzi’s knuckles, slow and deliberate. “i know the league’s coming soon. i know… it’s gonna be wild. but, az… i don’t care about any of it if i don’t have you.”

azzi’s breath caught, but she didn’t look away. “paige…”

“i mean it,” paige said, voice thick. “it’s always been you. since we were kids, since we first stepped on that court together. i want this, not just the basketball, not just the wins. i want you. no matter what.”

the weight of it pressed into the night air, thick and real. azzi blinked back the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

“you know,” she said quietly, her fingers tightening around paige’s hand, “i used to wonder if we’d be able to handle it. all the distance, the schedules… but i don’t wonder anymore.” she leaned in closer, forehead against paige’s. “because i know we’re worth it. and i love you. no matter how far we are, no matter how crazy it gets.”

paige smiled, and it was the kind of smile that could light up the whole city. “promise?”

“promise,” azzi said, and sealed it with a slow, lingering kiss that tasted like certainty.

they stayed there, curled up in the chill night air, their whispered confessions weaving a spell around them. nothing else mattered, not the long months of travel, not the pressure of the next season. just them, two hearts so hopelessly tangled up in each other, both of them knowing they’d choose this love a thousand times over.

“you’re it for me, azzi,” paige whispered once more, lips brushing azzi’s ear. “i don’t care about the rest. as long as i get to come back to you, i’ll always be okay.

and azzi, smiling through tears, whispered it back: “same. always.”

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

it was almost 2 a.m. paige and azzi were in new york for some separate brand shoots so they decided to stay in an apartment together. azzi was still editing a brand deal reel on her laptop, cross-legged on the couch in one of paige’s old t-shirts. the light from the screen lit her face soft and pale.

paige walked in wearing just a hoodie and socks, hair wild from sleep, rubbing her eyes. “you still working?”

“just about done,” azzi said, not looking up. “i’m trying to cut this clip so i don’t look like a robot.”

paige grinned and flopped onto the couch beside her. “you could look like a duck waddling and you’d still be the hottest person alive.”

“wow. inspiring.”

“come to bed,” paige whispered, dragging a hand slowly up azzi’s bare thigh. “or i’ll carry you.”

“you won’t.”

“ight bet.”

she moved over azzi in a blur, laptop scooped up and set gently on the coffee table before paige pinned her down against the cushions with a smirk. “you asked for it.”

azzi laughed breathlessly, flushed and breath catching. “paige—”

but paige was already kissing her—slow, deep, her fingers trailing under azzi’s shirt like she was memorizing her. azzi’s hands curled in the back of paige’s hoodie as their laughter turned into gasps. they didn’t stop until the early light crept across the window and their limbs were tangled together under the throw blanket. skin against skin, heartbeat against heartbeat.

“don’t ever leave,” azzi mumbled, half-asleep.

“never,” paige whispered back.

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

it started with a missed facetime.

paige was two hours late calling azzi back, something that didn’t usually happen, not without a heads-up, not without a reason. but tonight, everything felt heavy. she was drained from practice, her knee sore again, her mind fogged from back-to-back film and barely enough sleep.

azzi’s name lit up her screen as she finally sank into bed.

5 missed calls. 2 new texts.

are you okay?

paige?

guilt pressed in on her chest. she sighed and called back.

azzi picked up on the third ring. her face filled the screen, tired, eyes guarded. she was in her dorm room, hair pulled up, hoodie too big for her frame. she looked soft and serious, and it made paige’s stomach twist.

“hey,” paige said, trying to smile.

“hey,” azzi echoed, flat.

paige rubbed at her temple. “i’m sorry. today was a mess.”

azzi stayed quiet for a second. “you could’ve said that. a text. something.”

“i know. i just… forgot.” the moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

azzi’s eyebrows lifted, her voice cool. “you forgot?”

“az, i didn’t mean it like that. i meant i got overwhelmed.”

azzi looked away from the camera, the way she did when she was trying not to say something she’d regret. “you’ve been overwhelmed a lot lately.”

“since i’m a super senior people have a lot of expectations and it’s hard for me sometimes, you know that, baby.”

“i’m not asking you for hours of your day,” azzi said, her voice tight now. “just ten minutes. one call. some kind of sign that i still matter even when you’re buried in all of it.”

that hit paige harder than she expected. “of course you matter, what are you even saying?”

“i don’t know,” azzi murmured, eyes still offscreen. “maybe i’m just tired of always waiting for you to make space for me.”

that did it.

paige sat up straighter, heart pounding. “that’s not fair.”

“isn’t it?”

“you think i don’t want to be with you every second? you think i don’t hate the distance just as much as you do?”

azzi’s jaw clenched, voice rising a little. “i think i’m trying, paige. and you’re shutting me out.”

the silence that followed was so loud it rang.

“i can’t do this right now,” paige whispered finally, swallowing hard.

“yeah,” azzi said, just as quietly. “me neither.”

and then she hung up.

three days passed.

three days of scrolling past her name. of typing out messages and deleting them. of paige staying late in the gym even when her legs ached, because thinking too long meant feeling too much. azzi, meanwhile, spent hours in the training room and at team events, never saying much, but always seeming one second from unraveling.

on the fourth night paige couldn’t take it anymore.

she typed.

i hate this.

“i miss you so bad it makes me feel sick.

please call me, baby.

fifteen seconds passed.

then her screen lit up. incoming facetime: azzi💗

she picked up instantly.

azzi’s face appeared in the dim light of her dorm. her eyes were red. she’d been crying. but her voice was soft.

“i’m still mad.”

“you’re allowed,” paige said, voice shaking. “i was an asshole. i get stuck in my own head and i take it out on the person who loves me most. and i hate that i made you feel like you don’t matter, because you matter more than anything.”

azzi wiped at her cheek, but didn’t look away. “i just need to know we’re still in this. even with the distance. even when it’s hard.”

“we are, az,” paige said. “always.”

“you promise?”

paige held up her pinky to the screen. “promise.”

azzi let out a breathy laugh through her tears, eyes crinkling at the edges. “i missed your dumb face.”

“i missed your dumb everything.”

“you’re lucky i love you,” azzi said, wiping her nose.

“i know,” paige grinned. “you gonna yell at me again, or can i tell you all the stuff i’ve been holding in the past three days?”

“depends,” azzi smirked. “how flirty are you feeling?”

“dangerously.”

azzi laughed, the kind that warmed paige through the screen.

they stayed on for hours that night, not trying to fix everything at once, but just finding their way back.

because they couldn’t not.

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

azzi had a few days off so she planned a surprise to visit paige.

the door creaked open just past midnight, and paige’s heart nearly burst out of her chest. she’d just finished icing her knee when she turned and saw azzi standing there, duffle bag over her shoulder, grinning wide and tired and perfect.

“surprise,” azzi said softly.

paige dropped the ice pack and ran into her arms so fast, they nearly knocked into the wall behind them.

“how…what are you…azzi!”

“had a few days off. caught the last flight,” azzi murmured into paige’s shoulder, squeezing her so tight it was like she needed to convince herself it was real. “couldn’t go another week without you.” paige said into her hair, holding her just as tightly. “i missed you so bad.”

“you didn’t tell me—”

“i wanted to see your face when you opened the door.”

azzi pulled back just enough to grab paige’s face in both hands. her thumbs brushed over paige’s cheeks, and then their lips crashed together, fast and hungry and messy. it wasn’t soft, not at first, it was urgent. mouths open, breath caught between them, the kind of kiss that says i needed this, i needed you.

“god,” paige groaned, pushing her fingers into paige’s hair. “you’re real. you’re here.”

“i couldn’t wait any longer,” azzi whispered, hands already slipping under paige’s oversized t-shirt, tracing the warm skin of her lower back. “i was losing it without you.”

“same,” paige said, breathless as azzi pushed her gently back toward the bed.

they didn’t talk much after that, they didn’t need to. they moved in a rhythm, slow and full of intention. paige brought azzi to her bed, the dorm room barely lit, the air heavy with quiet need. they lay tangled under the covers, paige stroking her fingers through azzi’s curls, azzi tracing the line of paige’s jaw, both of them memorizing the details all over again.

“you smell like the plane,” paige whispered, nose pressed to azzi’s neck.

“shut up.”

“make me.”

they kissed like they’d been starving—like weeks of distance and stress had built to this one exact second. it wasn’t rushed,it wasn’t messy. it was deep, slow, emotional, and when they broke apart, their foreheads rested together like it hurt to be even an inch apart.

“i missed you so bad it made me sick,” azzi said.

“i know,” paige replied, brushing her thumb under azzi’s eye. “me too.”

they fell into the mattress, limbs tangled, lips pressed together again—deeper, more deliberate. azzi curled her legs around paige’s waist, hands roaming over her back, tracing the familiar muscles through the thin cotton of her hoodie.

paige pulled away just enough to yank the hoodie off, her hair a little wild, cheeks flushed, lips swollen. “you look so good right now,” she murmured, letting her hands roam over azzi’s waist, her ribs, her hips. “you’re driving me insane.”

“you’re not even trying to be subtle,” azzi laughed softly, pulling her shirt off in return, tossing it somewhere behind her.

“i’m not,” paige grinned, dipping down to kiss her collarbone, her shoulder, her throat. “i missed this so much. missed you”

they kissed again, slower this time—but no less intense. paige hovered above her, their bodies pressed together, her hands never still. fingers danced along azzi’s skin, teasing, trailing, pulling little sounds from her that made paige’s breath hitch every time.

“i thought about this every night,” azzi whispered between kisses, nails gently scratching down paige’s back. “how good your hands feel. how safe it feels when you’re wrapped around me.”

“you’re mine,” paige breathed into her ear, her voice lower, more possessive. “every inch of you.”

“then prove it,” azzi whispered back, tugging her close again.

they rolled together, kissing like they couldn’t stop—like time didn’t exist for them. hands explored and mouths tasted and neither of them wanted to come up for air. laughter spilled between the kisses too, and teasing words, and the soft sound of paige whispering “i love you” over and over like a prayer against azzi’s skin.

later, when they finally calmed, wrapped up in the sheets, faces close and bodies flush, azzi let out a long, contented sigh and pressed a kiss to paige’s cheek.

“this was worth every second apart,” she said softly

paige brushed a thumb across azzi’s lower lip, her eyes full of something deep and unshakable. “never again,” she whispered. “i’m staying as close as i can from now on.”

they curled into each other, legs tangled under the blankets, foreheads touching. and even though the world outside kept spinning, in that tiny dorm room, everything else fell away. they talked late into the night, about games and injuries and teammates and everything in between. but more than that, they just were. in each other’s space, in sync, wrapped up in a love that had only grown stronger since they first met.

it wasn’t just a visit. it was proof. proof they could survive anything.

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

the gym was quiet except for the steady echo of sneakers on polished hardwood and the rhythmic bounce of a basketball. thick rays of golden summer afternoon sunlight streamed through the high windows, slicing across the court and making the dust in the air glow like flecks of gold.

paige wiped the sweat from her brow with the hem of her tank top, catching azzi’s eyes as she did. she smirked. “you staring again, az?”

azzi didn’t even pretend to look away. she stood at the top of the key, spinning the ball lazily, the neckline of her own shirt damp from their exhausting workout. “you wish. maybe i was just admiring your terrible form.”

“terrible?” paige arched a brow, jogging up to her with a slow grin. “is that what we’re doing today? lying on the court?”

azzi laughed and tossed the ball to her chest. “prove me wrong then.”

“bet.”

they slipped into one-on-one, both of them locked in—no cameras, no noise. just them, like it had been for years now. paige would pivot and azzi was already cutting her off. azzi would fake left and paige’s hand was there, playful, relentless.

paige finally scored, falling back on a smooth step-back jumper that arced high and kissed the net clean. she pointed at azzi, smug. “that’s called muscle memory.”

“that’s called getting lucky,” azzi countered, but her smile gave her away.

they both stood there for a moment, catching their breath, sweat beading down their temples. paige walked over and bumped azzi’s hip with hers. “admit it,” she said. “you love practicing with me.”

“maybe,” azzi said, drawing it out. “maybe i also love how you always smell like fresh laundry after.”

“romantic,” paige deadpanned, reaching out to brush a sweaty curl from azzi’s cheek. “you should write that in a card.”

azzi bit her lip, looking down at paige’s hand still resting lightly on her jaw. “maybe i’ll do something better.”

“oh yeah?”

“yeah.” azzi hesitated for a breath, and then looked up, her voice softer. “come on a date with me tonight.”

paige blinked. “wait, you’re asking me?”

“yup,” azzi said, leaning in, that confident smile returning. “i booked it already. dinner’s at seven. dresscode is casual but you should still look hot. for me.”

“you don’t think i always look hot for you?” paige grinned, heart racing in that specific way azzi always made it race—like even after all this time, she still found new ways to make paige fall harder.

“of course you do, honey,” azzi said, brushing their noses together gently. “but i want tonight to be special, just us. i missed being with you like this.”

paige’s smile softened. “yeah. me too.”

they kissed then, warm and slow, just a press of sweat-slick lips and the sun painting long shadows around them. paige’s hands settled at azzi’s waist, anchoring her, while azzi curled her fingers around the back of paige’s neck, holding her in place like she never wanted her to leave.

and for a while, they didn’t move. not until the sound of a ball rolling toward them reminded them where they were. they broke apart reluctantly, but their hands stayed laced.

“i’m not changing,” paige said, eyes still half-lidded and dreamy. “you’re taking me to dinner like this.”

“then you’re buying dessert,” azzi said, laughing as she pulled her toward the locker room.

“you’re my dessert,” paige muttered under her breath, smug.

azzi rolled her eyes, but her blush betrayed her. “i heard that.”

“i wanted you to.”

the summer air outside their place was thick with heat and the scent of jasmine from a candle they lit earlier. golden hour melted over the city touching the edges of every rooftop, every passing car, every heartbeat. inside, the apartment buzzed with soft music and the low buzz of a fan spinning in the corner.

paige sat on the edge of the bed, lacing her sneakers, already dressed in a clean white tee and soft light green cargos that fit her just right. her hair was still damp from the quick shower she’d taken after their workout, strands curling gently against her forehead. after she sprayed herself with a valentino perfume that azzi loved so much, she looked up from tying the knot on her laces and froze.

“baby,” she whispered.

azzi stood by the closet mirror in a soft, sleeveless olive green dress that clung to her skin like it had been painted on—hugged every line of her body, the neckline just low enough, the hem dancing mid-thigh. her curls were slicked back in a ponytail, silver hoops glistening and lip gloss shimmering with a soft sheen.

“what?” azzi asked innocently, checking her makeup. “is it too much?”

“too much?” paige stood, walked up behind her, their reflections now side by side. she placed her hands on azzi’s hips and leaned in close, mouth brushing azzi’s ear. “you’re gonna make us late. i won’t even make it out the door.”

azzi smiled, cheeks warming, but her eyes didn’t leave the mirror. “then maybe i’ll change.”

paige spun her gently to face her. “you’ll do no such thing.” she kissed her once, then again, a little deeper. “you’re perfect. dangerously so.”

azzi grinned against her lips, looping her arms around paige’s neck. “then let’s go before you ruin my dress.”

they were tucked into a corner booth of a quiet italian place—brick walls lined with flickering candles, ivy creeping up the edges of the windows, a warm orange glow spilling over the wine glasses between them. the place buzzed softly with couples talking low, clinking glasses, the smell of rosemary and garlic floating through the air.

paige was already halfway through a breadstick, watching azzi try to decide between two pastas. “you’ve looked at that menu for fifteen minutes,” she teased, dipping the bread into olive oil.

“because they both sound good and i don’t want to regret it,” azzi pouted, finally settling on the risotto—until the food came, and she changed her mind immediately.

“can we switch?” she asked sweetly, eyes wide.

paige blinked at her plate of linguine. “you already started yours.”

“please?” azzi leaned across the table, brushed paige’s hand with her fingers, lips curling just slightly. “you love me.”

paige sighed dramatically but swapped plates. “you’re lucky you’re my princess.”

“i know.” azzi forked into the pasta happily. “and i knew this one was better.”

“then why didn’t you order it?”

“keeps things interesting.” azzi said with a shrug.

they fell into that easy rhythm—slow bites between laughter and eye contact that lingered just a little too long. paige watched azzi twirl pasta, lips glossed and glowing, cheeks slightly flushed from the wine and the warmth.

at one point, azzi ran her foot along paige’s calf under the table.

“azzi,” paige warned, her voice already lower.

“what?” azzi blinked, teasing. “i’m just stretching.”

“mmm sure you are,” paige leaned in, fingers tracing the rim of her wine glass. “keep doing that and i’m gonna pull you into the bathroom and make sure you know what stretching really feels like.”

azzi’s breath caught, her gaze faltering for the briefest second. “you wouldn’t.”

“try me,” paige said, smirking.

azzi bit her lip, clearly enjoying the tension, the game, how close they always hovered to that edge. she reached across and let her hand settle on paige’s knee, thumb brushing slowly back and forth.

“you make it really hard to focus on my food,” azzi murmured, eyes darkening just enough.

“then don’t,” paige said simply. “focus on me.”

outside, night had finally fallen. fairy lights wrapped around the restaurant’s small patio fence, casting soft glows along the sidewalk. and inside, in that quiet booth, paige and azzi leaned closer and closer, until their knees touched and their hands were tangled between plates, and all that existed was each other.

the car was quiet but full with tension. azzi sat in the passenger seat, her legs crossed, one heel dangling off her foot as she scrolled through the music. paige had one hand on the wheel, the other…well, the other kept drifting. fingertips skimming over azzi’s bare thigh. light at first, a brush. a graze. but she didn’t stop.

“paige,” azzi warned softly, voice already shifting—breathier, lower, laced with need. “you’re gonna get us killed.”

“i’m fine,” paige murmured, eyes on the road, but her mouth curved into a smile. her fingers traced higher, pressing just under the hem of the dress. “you just looked too good tonight. it’s your fault.”

“you’ve been touching me all night.”

“don’t pretend you don’t get off on me needing you this bad.” paige said, glancing over for just a second, enough to meet azzi’s eyes.

azzi bit her lip, thighs shifting under paige’s hand, chasing more contact without even realizing it. “pull over.”

“we’re five minutes from home.”

“then drive faster,” azzi said, her voice a near-whimper.

the door barely had time to close behind them before azzi spun, grabbing paige’s shirt and pulling her into a hard, desperate kiss. the kind that knocked the air from both of their lungs. hands all over—paige’s gripping azzi’s hips, azzi’s nails already sliding under the hem of her shirt, raking over her stomach.

“bedroom,” paige growled against her lips, her voice a low command that sent a shiver down azzi’s spine. azzi nodded breathlessly, fingers fisting in the fabric of paige’s shirt, and let paige steer her down the hall.

the bedroom was bathed in the soft glow of the bedside lamp, the air heavy with anticipation. paige paused, her eyes flicking to the mirror across from the bed, then back to azzi with a smirk.

“sit,” she ordered, her eyes sparkled with mischief as she leaned, pulling azzi with her until they were both lying on the bed. azzi found herself pressed against paige’s back, her breath catching as she realized they were facing the full-length mirror on the wall.

“look at us,” paige murmured, leaning to brush her lips over azzi’s neck. “look how perfect you are.”

azzi’s cheeks flushed as she glanced at the mirror, seeing their reflections intertwined. paige’s blonde hair contrasted sharply with azzi’s dark curls, their bodies pressed together in a way that felt both intimate and raw. paige’s gaze was hot and possessive, her hands sliding down azzi’s arms, then back up to toy with her dress.

“i love you so fucking much.” paige whispered, her breath hot against azzi’s skin as she began to kiss her way down her neck. azzi gasped softly, her hands tangling in paige’s hair as she tilted her head back, exposing more of her neck. paige’s lips left a trail of hickeys, marking azzi as hers, and azzi couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped her lips.

“paige…” she breathed, her voice trembling with need.

“shh,” paige murmured, her hands roaming over azzi’s body, tracing the curves of her breasts, the dip of her waist. “i got you.”

azzi’s eyes fluttered closed as paige’s touch became more insistent, her fingers teasing the hem of azzi’s dress. but before she could pull it off, azzi grabbed her wrist, her voice urgent. “i need you, paige. now.”

“this dress is dangerous,” paige muttered, yanking it up.

“you’ve said that like three times,” azzi whispered.

“and i’ll say it again. now take it off.” paige whispered, a single word that had azzi’s pulse stuttering.

azzi didn’t hesitate. she shimmied out of the dress, baring smooth skin to paige’s greedy hands.

paige’s palms were warm, firm, gliding over her shoulders, down her arms, then up again to cup her jaw. she tilted azzi’s head slightly, lips brushing her ear. “keep your eyes on the mirror, baby. i want you to see how good you look for me.”

azzi swallowed, a soft sound escaping her as paige’s hands slid down to her waist, thumbs tracing teasing circles. she could see it all in the mirror—paige behind her, tall and steady, azzi’s own body leaning back into her touch, lips parted in a silent plea.

“you’re so pretty,” paige murmured, fingers slipping just under the edge of azzi’s bra, teasing the skin there. “and so damn responsive.”

azzi whimpered, hips shifting instinctively, seeking more. paige just chuckled, the sound warm and low. “be patient, mama.” she said, even as her hands drifted lower, knuckles brushing the tops of azzi’s thighs.

“paige,” azzi breathed, her voice shaky, needy. paige met her eyes in the mirror, a wicked glint in her gaze.

“eyes on me,” she ordered softly, her hands slipping around to undo the clasp of azzi’s bra, letting it fall away. “don’t look away.”

azzi bit her lip, her breath quickening as paige’s hands explored—fingers skimming up her stomach, over the soft swell of her breasts, teasing her nipples with feather-light touches that had her squirming. in the mirror, she could see it all: the way her own body arched into paige’s touch, the possessive look in paige’s eyes, the soft flush spreading across her skin.

paige’s lips found her neck, sucking a mark just below her ear. “so perfect,” she murmured, her hands sliding lower, fingertips tracing the edge of azzi’s panties. “so mine.”

azzi let out a shaky moan, her hips lifting in silent plea. paige’s touch grew more insistent, one hand pressing azzi’s hips down while the other teased, each brush of her fingertips sending sparks through azzi’s veins.

“paige, please,” azzi gasped, her voice ragged. paige’s eyes met hers in the mirror, and she smiled—a soft, tender smile that made azzi’s chest ache.

“look at yourself,” paige said, her voice a soft command. “look how gorgeous you are like this. i want you to see everything i’m giving you.”

azzi’s eyes locked onto her reflection, and she watched as paige’s fingers moved rhythmically, her touch sending waves of pleasure through her body. paige’s other hand moved to azzi’s clit, rubbing it in slow, circular motions, and azzi’s breath hitched. “oh god…” she moaned, her head falling back against paige’s shoulder.

“that’s it,” paige murmured, her lips brushing against azzi’s ear. “let it build. i’ve got you.” azzi’s moans grew louder, her body arching into paige’s touch as the pleasure intensified. she could feel her orgasm building, a coil tightening in her core, and she knew she was close. her moans were loud, unrestrained, and she froze, her eyes widening in panic.

paige seemed to sense her hesitation, her hand moving swiftly to azzi’s throat, holding her gently but firmly. she whispered, her voice commanding. “mhmm let me hear you, cum for me, princess.”

azzi’s breath caught, her eyes locked with paige’s in the mirror, each movement pushing azzi closer to the edge. her reflection was flushed, lips parted, eyes wide and wild.

“stay with me,” paige murmured, her breath warm against azzi’s neck. “let me see you come apart.”

azzi’s hands gripped the edge of the bed, her body trembling, gasps turning into broken moans as paige pushed her higher, harder, until she was right there—on the cusp, falling, her name a desperate cry on azzi’s lips.

azzi collapsed back against paige’s chest, breath ragged, body trembling. paige held her close, one hand stroking her hair, the other rubbing soft circles into her hip. the pressure of paige’s hand on her throat, combined with the relentless rhythm of her fingers, sent azzi over the edge. her body trembled as she climaxed, her moans muffled but no less intense. she watched herself in the mirror, her face flushed, her eyes closed in ecstasy, and she felt a deep connection to paige, to this moment.

when she finally came, it was with her eyes locked on paige’s in the mirror, the world narrowing to just them—the heat of paige’s touch, the possessive grip of her hands, the soft words she murmured over and over:

i’ve got you. you’re mine. so beautiful.

as her orgasm subsided, azzi collapsed against paige, her breath ragged. paige’s hand released her throat, and she turned azzi to face her, kissing her softly, tenderly. “you’re incredible,” azzi murmured, her fingers tracing paige’s cheek.

“good girl,” she whispered, kissing azzi’s temple. “you did so good.”

azzi pulled back just enough to whisper, “my turn.” her voice was soft but laced with hunger, her eyes dark and steady. paige swallowed, her heart thundering in her chest at the promise in those two words.

paige let azzi guide her back onto the bed, her shoulders sinking into the mattress as azzi leaned over paige, her hands were already working at paige’s shirt, fingers quick and eager, pushing it up and over her head. paige let her, skin prickling under azzi’s touch, breath hitching as azzi’s fingertips traced along the edge of her bra.

azzi paused, sitting back just enough to look down at her, her lips curved into a slow, teasing smile. “you’re so beautiful like this,” she said, her voice husky. paige felt her pulse skip at the heat in azzi’s gaze, at the way she looked at her like she was something to be worshipped. azzi leaned down, pressing soft kisses to the hollow of paige’s throat, then lower, teeth grazing lightly against her collarbone. paige let out a shaky breath, her hands coming up to tangle in azzi’s hair, needing something to hold onto as azzi’s mouth mapped a slow, deliberate path over her skin.

“azzi,” paige murmured, her voice rough with need. azzi just smiled against her chest, her breath warm and teasing.

“shh,” she whispered. “lemme take care of you.”

her hands slid lower, skimming over the curve of paige’s waist, thumbs pressing into her hips with a possessive firmness. she kissed her way lower, every brush of her lips sending a spark through paige’s veins, until paige was arching up into her touch, a low moan slipping out.

azzi smiled, her shyness returning slightly, but she nodded, determined to return the favor. she shifted positions, kneeling between paige’s legs as paige lay back on the bed. paige’s eyes darkened with desire as azzi’s hands moved to her boxers, pulling them off slowly, her fingers brushing against paige’s bare skin.

azzi took her time, every movement deliberate, every touch electric. she pulled back just enough to look up at paige, her eyes dark and warm. “look at me,” she said softly, her hands resting on paige’s thighs. “i want you to watch me.”

paige met her gaze, her breath coming in shallow gasps as azzi’s fingers began teasing along the inside of her thighs. azzi leaned in, her mouth finding the sensitive skin at paige’s hip, pressing kisses that made paige’s breath catch and her back arch off the bed. azzi’s hands were sure and confident, her touch both tender and demanding. she moved with a slow, deliberate rhythm, drawing out every gasp, every tremor. paige let herself sink into it, her hands fisting in the sheets, her body alive under azzi’s touch.

“take your time,” paige said, her voice low and inviting. azzi leaned forward, her lips pressing kisses along paige’s thighs, her breath teasing her core. paige let out a soft gasp as azzi’s tongue finally made contact, her touch gentle but purposeful. “oh shit—fuck” she moaned, her hands tangling in azzi’s hair.

azzi’s tongue moved slowly, savoring every inch of paige’s body. she listened to paige’s guidance, her moans, her whispered encouragement, and she felt a surge of pride as paige’s pleasure became her own. paige’s hands gripped the sheets, her body arching off the bed as azzi’s mouth worked its magic. “that’s it, baby,” paige breathed. “don’t stop.”

azzi didn’t stop. she continued until paige’s body shook with her orgasm, her cries of pleasure filling the room. when paige finally tipped over the edge, it was with a soft cry, her eyes locked on azzi’s as pleasure pulsed through her in waves. azzi held her through it, her touch gentle, her mouth soft against her skin. as paige’s breathing slowed, azzi leaned up, kissing her softly, their lips meeting in a tender embrace. “i love you,” paige whispered, her eyes locked on azzi’s.

“i love you too,” azzi replied, her voice soft but sure.

after, azzi climbed back up, kissing her slow and deep, her hands cradling paige’s face. paige let out a shaky breath, her arms wrapping around azzi’s waist, pulling her close.

“you’re incredible,” paige murmured, her voice still husky with the remnants of her climax.

azzi just smiled, pressing her forehead to paige’s. “you’re mine,” she whispered back, her lips brushing against paige’s with each word.

paige let out a soft laugh, breathless and content, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on azzi’s back. “always.”

they lost themselves in each other—fast, deep, and burning. every kiss, every breath, every shift of hips and whispered word said one thing louder than anything else:

i missed you. i need you. i love you.

the room smelled like sweat and something warm, alive. azzi lay stretched across paige’s chest now, both of them sunk into the cushions, skin damp, bodies humming. paige traced lazy circles along azzi’s spine. azzi nuzzled into her neck, kissed her collarbone just because.

“if you keep dressing like that,” paige mumbled, “we’re never making it out in public again.”

azzi laughed sleepily. “you love it.”

“i love you.”

azzi smiled, eyes fluttering shut, hand resting over paige’s heart. “i love you more.”

“impossible,” paige whispered. “but you’re welcome to try and prove it again tomorrow.”

azzi just sighed, content, letting herself sink even deeper into paige’s arms.

the years sped by in snapshots, each one cementing their bond, shaping the women they were becoming. draft day was getting closer, the moment they had worked for, dreamed about, and fought to reach.

it all started during usa basketball u16 tryouts. the air was dry, thin, and buzzing with nerves. paige walked into the gym with that calm confidence, the kind that made heads turn. she had her bag slung over one shoulder, eyes scanning the courts like she already knew she belonged. and she did.

azzi was already shooting on one of the side baskets, locked in. her jumper was smooth. too smooth. paige noticed immediately, not because she was flashy, but because every shot looked like it had been taken a thousand times. it reminded paige of herself.

they were put on the same team for the first scrimmage. it didn’t take more than five possessions for them to start reading each other like a book. no-look passes, perfectly timed cuts, backdoor reads. they played like they had grown up on the same block, like they had been playing together for years. by the end of practice, coaches were raising eyebrows. one of them even said, “those two play like they’ve got some type of telepathy.”

afterward, sweaty and still catching their breath, paige tossed a water bottle over to azzi. “you hoop like you’re in the league already,” she said, half-grinning.

azzi laughed. “you too. i was trying to keep up.”

they sat side by side on the bench, shoulders brushing, not really talking for a few minutes. just existing in the same space. their chemistry on the court had spilled off of it in the quietest, most natural way.

that week was long. drills, scrimmages, meetings, but they always found each other. not in a forced way. it just happened. and they were always laughing and leaning into each other like they’d found something rare and didn’t want to let go. it wasn’t romantic back then. it was just easy. it was trust. and maybe a little awe.

on the last night, before cuts, they sat outside the dorms under a flickering streetlamp. paige had her knees pulled to her chest. azzi was stretched out next to her, staring at the stars.

“no matter what happens tomorrow,” azzi said, “i’m really glad we met.”

paige looked over. her heart thumped, just once, a little harder than usual. “same. i think we’re gonna see a lot of each other in the future.”

and they would—just not in the ways they imagined.

─────────── ౨ৎ ──────────

paige and azzi sat side by side on the worn leather couch, the hum of new york city buzzing faintly beyond the windows. it was quiet here, a calm pause in the storm of their lives.

“can you believe it?” paige whispered, tracing the edge of a photo where they both smiled. “four years. it feels like yesterday we were just two kids figuring everything out.”

azzi’s eyes glistened with a mixture of pride and nostalgia. “yeah. and look at us now. from those early days of barely talking after i committed, to this… this crazy beautiful life we’ve built.” she reached for paige’s hand, squeezing it gently. “i’m so proud of us. of you.”

paige smiled, leaning into the touch. “me too. all the late nights, the injuries, the pressure, you were always my anchor. the reason i kept going.”

they sat in silence, the weight of their shared memories settling around them. games won and lost, championships fought for, setbacks faced, and breakthroughs celebrated. four years of growth on and off the court. four years of building a love that only grew stronger through every challenge.

“the draft’s tomorrow,” azzi said softly, breaking the quiet. “i keep thinking about what comes next. new city, new teams… what if we get separated?”

paige shook her head firmly, eyes locking on azzi’s. “we won’t. no matter what happens, we’re in this together—none of it matters if we have each other.”

azzi smiled through the tears gathering again. “promise?”

“promise,” paige whispered, pulling her close.

the moment stretched, filled with unspoken vows and fierce love—the kind that no draft pick or city could ever touch.

part 8

[radioscribbles]

Alastor x Reader - Chest Fluff

Details: Established relationship, honeymoon phase, light teasing. You discover Alastor's chest fluff! Warnings: None, this is pure fluff - literally. No pronouns used. No use of Y/N. Not beta read as usual. Author's note: I’m fully convinced Alastor has chest fluff. I don’t have any proof except I think it’s CUTE. Word Count: 992

You’ve always loved cuddling Alastor. It’s the closest form of intimacy you had gotten so far in your budding relationship. And he was so, so comfortable.

Looking at him, you’d think he was all sharp edges and pointy teeth, but lying on his chest, as you were right now, you could swear this man was secretly a pillow.

Both of you were lying on a chaise longue in his room, soft jazz playing in the background. While he was busy reading over some papers, he’d allowed you to indulge in some cuddles, so long as you didn’t disturb him.

But you just couldn’t help yourself. You nuzzled your face into his shirt, his overcoat discarded on an armchair, and sighed.

“You’re so soft, Al.”

He peeked at you from behind his papers, a lazy grin on his face, and raised a brow at you in question.

“I’m serious, it’s like you’re a plushie. Or maybe you’re actually an alpaca demon instead of a deer. It’s as if you’re all fluffy or something.”

Alastor let out an amused laugh.

“Ha! Maybe it’s because I am.”

You raised your head to look at him. Now it’s your turn to cock an eyebrow at him.

“What? An alpaca demon?” Another laugh escaped him.

“Goodness, no! That’s a stupid notion, my dear.” He let his papers fall to the floor and gave you an amused smirk.

“It’s winter, darling. Not only do I have to deal with shedding my antlers, I also happen to grow a bit of a thicker coat of fur.”

His brows furrowed a bit in annoyance as he told you of his situation. He was obviously displeased by it, but by god, if you weren’t intrigued. You made a mental note to squeal about how openly he talked about it with you later. But for now, you needed answers.

Your gaze shifted down to his chest, now noticing that it did seem a bit fuller than it used to.

“Can I see it?” - “I beg your pardon?”

Your eyes widened at your impulsive request, as did his. Only now did you realize that that would include him dropping a layer. You’ve never seen one another in a state of undress, except perhaps in your night clothes. And even then you had both always been fully dressed.

But you made your bed, now you had to lie in it.

“U-uhm, I mean…I kinda…wanna see it..?” You stammered. You could feel your face heating up under his gaze, while his grin only grew wider. You were sure he was enjoying how flustered you were getting.

“Well, since you asked so nicely! Only because it’s you.” A dark glint flashed in his eyes as he said it. He then nodded to his shirt, challenging you to undo the buttons. “Go on, darling. Don’t be shy now.”

You sat up in his lap, head reeling and ears buzzing as if all your blood had risen to your face. You couldn’t believe you were doing this. Your shaking fingers undid his bowtie first, neatly folding it and placing it on the back of the chaise. Then you reached for the first set up buttons, so close to his neck. You could swear you heard a soft chuckle as you undid them.

Your eyes flit up at him for a second, before quickly snapping back down as you caught him watching you intensely with narrowed eyes and his wicked grin.

“Stop looking at me while I do this…” 

“No~.” Alastor teased.

If you could bush any further, you would.

You decided it was enough after three more sets of buttons. Now no longer focused on the task at hand, you spotted what looked like fur peeking from the gap in the shirt.

Without thinking, you spread his shirt open, even startling Alastor with your bold move. Eyes wide, you gazed at what you could only describe as soft looking brown fluff right in the middle of his chest.

If you had looked up, you’d see Alastor’s smile twitching. Now he was the one being stared at so thoroughly, and it unnerved him. He suddenly felt…exposed? Insecure, maybe? No, not him, never!

He stiffened up as he felt your fingers slowly moving through the tufts of fur, essentially stroking his bare chest.

The fur was dense and soft. Certainly made to keep him warm during the cold seasons - and possibly to serve as a pillow for yourself.

You thought it was so cute. It didn’t go at all with his reputation as the big bad Radio Demon, so it’s no wonder he keeps it a secret. A secret only you knew now.

“Wow, it’s really soft, Al! No wonder you’re so comfy all the time.” When you looked back up at him, you could see the faintest of blushes along his cheeks. You were sure your own blush was still there as well, but you felt reassured knowing that he was also affected by your intimate position.

You batted your eyelashes at him in an attempt to butter him up some more. He probably knew what you wanted to do next anyway.

“Can I..?”

He let out a theatrical sigh, but opened his arms to welcome you in.

“Fine. Since you’re being oh so sweet, my dear.”

You hummed in satisfaction and slowly laid your head down into his chest fluff. It smelled so much like him. You could hear his heart beating much faster than it had before and you grinned to yourself.

You let out another hum as you felt his arms come to rest on your back, his chest rumbling as he spoke.

“I hope you understand that this is to stay between us, darling?”

“Mhm~.” You agreed as you closed your eyes. There’s no way you would ever share this knowledge with anybody. This was just one of the many little secrets Alastor carried with himself. And this one was only for you to know.

[sximsoc]

Hi, hope you're doing fine, if I can, can I request like a suggestive one-shot about haechan in the +82 pressin mv? 👉🏻👈🏻

𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐄

genre - suggestive , mild angst , one shot

synopsis - two lovers end up with a mark on one another , what happens when they come face to face ?

pairing - (+82 pressin) haechan x reader

word count : 17 , 031

warnings : mdni ! suggestive , violence , weapons ( guns , knives ) a weird fight scene because i can never write them right but i tried , did a lot of research with dissecting the 82 pressin world and the world building and concept behind it, so very sin city inspo with rivalries that you’ll see soon , also took some inspo from mr and ms smith because i thought it was very fitting and i wanna give credit where credit is due yk

The rain was cold, freezing up every part of your body. Goosebumps raising on your arms as they violently shook, the grasp on your knife was getting lose, the rain not helping as the sweat on your palms were making it hard to grasp the smooth leather handle like normal. Were your eyes deceiving you? Were your eyes playing games with you? Since when was your job conflicting? Since when did you struggle to just hit your target like usual? It wasn't hard, it wasn't difficult, you were used to it all. The blood, the guts, the screams as they begged for you to not kill them, but this time as your knife was pointing straight at him, your strong resolve was falling. Cracks were forming and he could tell, but why wasn't he cracking? Wasn't this hard for him too? Why wasn't he shaking? Why wasn't he moving? Why didn't he pull the trigger already! Why is he stalling!

All these questions ran through your head like a marathon. Your vision blurring and you couldn't tell if it was because of tears or because of the rain. The dark night was looking upon you, the moon shining bright as his features glowed under its light. God, he was beautiful, even with a cold stare like the one he had right now. Why did this have to happen? Why did your next mission have to go the way it did? The second your handler handed you your next mission, your whole world fell apart. You should have said no, should have rejected the mission and gone back home without a job and without a life, and you'd laid in his arms like nothing happened. Like you didn't see your husband's picture in the manila folder. Like you weren't asked to kill him. His arms would be warm, his heart gently pounding and lulling you to sleep, his lips soft as they kissed your forehead and he'd mumbled a simple five more minutes before starting his day.

No, you can't be thinking about him like this, you can't, not anymore. His gun was pointed at you, his finger on the trigger, just pull it! Please! It's all you wanted him to do. End your life so he can live, that was the right thing to do wasn't it? How did this even happen? How did you end up here in the first place? How did your husband, the sweet, sweet Donghyuck end up standing in front of you with a gun pointing at you and your knife pointing at him?

20 hours before...

07:00 am...

The sun wasn't up yet, but here you were, wide awake as you stared at him. Even after being married for two years, it still felt like you were in the honeymoon phase. Donghyuck was good to you, he was caring, thoughtful, a tad over dramatic, but it was apart of his charm, you can't deny that. So, staring at him in the quiet of your small house was something you wouldn't give up for the world. 7 am and all you wanted was to be able to create the technology to craw inside his skin.

"Stop staring at me" Donghyuck mumbled, quickly feeling your cheeks go warm, you close your eyes in hopes of not being caught, even though you already were. "Don't close your eyes now" He chuckled out, gently grabbing your face and smothering you in small pecks all over your face.

The action made you giggle as you open your eyes and pretend to yawn. "What a way to wake up" You mumbled out, rubbing your eyes which made Donghyuck roll his.

"I know you were watching me sleep" He mumbled out, putting his arms above him to streak, his body twitching as he groaned.

"So what if I was?" You replied, leaning up on one arm to look down on him. Donghyuck looked at you with a sleepy smile as you bent down to peck his lips as they looked extra soft that morning. He softly moaned in pleasure and need, he chased your lips after you pulled away. "Don't lie, you love being watched"

Your tease went straight through his body as he gave you a smirk. "You saying you wanna watch me?"

"Maybe, it would be fun" You shrugged your shoulders, contemplating the idea of watching him pleasure himself in front of you.

Donghyuck furrowed his brows in hopes that you two were on the same wave length. "Are we thinking the same thing or are we still talking about you watching me sleep?"

"Depends, what would you be doing if I watched you?" Donghyuck gasped at your dirty words, covering his chest up with the covers.

"Mrs. Lee! You scoundrel! Taking advantage of a fair bachelor like myself" Donghyuck exclaimed, his voice going high and whiney to get into character. You laughed at his theatrics as he kept the covers up to his chin.

"A bachelor? What about that wedding band you have on?" You asked, grabbing his hand to rub your finger over the smooth band on his ring finger.

"That's decoration" He replied without a second thought which made you raise an eyebrow at him.

He smiled at you with all his teeth which made you fold for him. Shaking your head, you laid back down with your head on the soft pillows. "You're so dumb" You mumbled out, still holding his hand.

Donghyuck groaned, scooting closer to your warm body, tucking himself in your arms as he laid his head on your chest, flush to your neck. Your arms went around him, your nails gently scratching his back. "Five more minutes" He mumbled out, gently pressing a kiss to your neck as he sighed.

You should've said yes, should have said yes to him  and his request. Knowing what you knew 20 hours later in the future, you would've stayed home with him instead, should've made him call out from work and you yourself call out from work. You two should've spend the day together, sleeping in, cuddled up to one another until it was time to get up. You two would've had a slow morning, talking in bed, kissing one another, have nice, slow sex, the kind that had you begging and begging for more, legs shaking as he mumbled obscenities into your ear. Or maybe he would let you take the lead, your soft touches leaving him shaking, his eyes blown out from how bad he wanted you to touch him, to feel you swallow him up. God, the sex you two would've had would never end if you had the choice. Then you'd take a shower together, continue the fun in there until your fingers pruned up and Donghyuck beg you to finish so he could have breakfast. Again, breakfast would be slow, you gently cooking as Donghyuck had his arms wrapped around your waist as he followed you around, pressing a kiss to your neck and cheek.

Instead, you gently groaned and pushed him away from you to get out of his grasp. "Can't, we have work, baby" You said, sitting up in your shared bed as you looked down at him. "What?" You ask, getting shy under his strong gaze.

The way he was looking at you, the way your hair was messy, his shirt on your body, the way the sun was slowly peaking in through the blinds and showered you in its warmth. The way it hit you just right that it looked like a halo over your body, Donghyuck thought he saw an angel with wings. You were so beautiful in his eyes, your body, your face, your eyes, your laugh, it was all otherworldly to him. How did he get so lucky? How did he end up with you? If he knew what he knew now, he would have convinced you to stay home with him. Two stupid kids in love, not knowing what would happen next.

"I love you" Donghyuck said and for some reason, it's like everything clicked. Your whole world fell into place, this was supposed to happen. You and Donghyuck meeting and falling in love, your whole life was leading up to this moment.

"I love you, too" You replied, your eyes filled with love and your body buzzing with how he was looking at you like you were the only person in the world.

Donghyuck hummed as he shook his head at you. "Not as much as me"

"Nah, I definitely love you more" You denied, crossing your legs as you threw your hand in your lap, not breaking eye contact with him.

"Nope, no way, I love you more" Donghyuck said, still laying down as he stared up at you.

You shrugged your shoulders again. "Maybe you do"

"I definitely do" He said with a nod of his head, his hair flopping around with the movement. You smiled at him as once again, everything fell into place. This was what your 24 years of living led up to, this was your place, this was where you belonged.

Sighing, you laid back down, his arms going around your frame. You inhaled his scent and it made your brain go fuzzy, your body warming him as he played with the ends of your hair and you listened to the pounding of his heart.

"You're making it hard to go to work, you know that?" You asked him, resting your chin on his chest as you looked at him.

His next words were hushed, a whisper that felt like a spell. "Then stay with me" How tempting those words sounded coming out of his mouth. His face still flushed with sleep, his eyes dropping as he felt himself slip back into it. How your body felt on his, how he could reach for you so easily and how you'd let him do anything to you. You never thought much about how much control he had over you, how you really would let him do anything to you, anything he wanted. You never thought how far that would go.

You groaned, shaking your head at him. "Mark will kill you if you don't clock in on time" Your hand gently tapping his chest as you tried to get up, but he held you down.

"Who cares what Mark thinks" Donghyuck grumbled out, wanting to reach for his phone and texting his work husband to go on the mission without him. Donghyuck wanted to stay home with his wife and sleep in.

You let him keep you to his chest as he closed his eyes, while yours were wide awake. "He is your boss"

"He's a partner"

“He's a position above you" You pointed out, turning your head so you ear was against his chest now.

You felt his chest vibrate as he sighed. "Fine, boss, partner, either way, stay home with me"

"You have work and I have work" You told him, so adamant to go to work and earn money. You wish you didn't.

"Then we call out" Donghyuck said like it was nothing, just another day that would go by. But that's not how the world worked, the two of your rent to pay, food to pay, and credit cards to pay off.

"We have rent to pay and bills coming up" You got up out of his grasp and hovered over his face. You gently pecked the moles on his face until you ended up kissing his lips. He responded immediately, his lips kissing yours and his tongue licking your lips to open your mouth. As you did, the kiss went further on as your tongues fought for dominance, hitting against one another as you straddled his hips, his hands resting on your hips, the grip strong you knew there would be hand prints.

He moaned into your mouth, wanting more and needing more as he moved your hips on him, making your whine. It all felt so good, the friction hitting you and making pleasure go up your spine. This was a dangerous game he was playing as you two still needed to get ready for work. Donghyuck pulled away and started leaving kissing down to your throat. He gently sucked on your neck as your hands ran through his hair, gently gripping as he moaned at the pleasure. Your breath got heavier the more he kissed and sucked, you knew he'd leave a mark but you didn't care. Your hips began to move on their own, your eyes closed in bliss.

"Stay here with me" He mumbled once again, sounding more and more like a command than a suggestion. You were about to let the word slip out of your mouth, a simple yes and your morning would end in a bang. But your eyes opened and caught the red numbers on the clock, 7:37.

"We're late" You replied, gently pushing him off your neck, hands on his shoulders as his gently massaged your hips. "We're so late" You said again, trying to ignore his lustful gaze on your body, the way his chest went up and down as he filled his lugs with air and his eyes glossy and blown out. God, he looked like sex and you wanted him so bad, but at the same time, you needed money.

Donghyuck smirked as he caught how flushed your cheeks were, how he could feel your pussy pulsing against him, knowing you wanted so much more. Knowing how you were so close to begging for him to fill you up until you couldn't remeber your name or the fact that you had work today. But, he was a teasing husband, so he nodded and leaned back against the head board.

"Fine, fine, we'll go clock in" Donghyuck agreed, you nodded your head, ready to get off his lap, until he leaned back in and held your hips flushed against him. He leaned in, his mouth close to yours as mumbled against it. "After work though, we can have all the fun we want"

"Deal"

—

A typical 9-5 was the plan, originally when you were in university for marketing, a simple 9-5 where you'd have lunch at one point in time, where you'd collab with others to make profit and where you'd be able to put your degree to use. Except, that didn't happen. Instead, you graduated with a marketing degree, found no job and almost ended up homeless. Until, you found yourself drinking at a hole in the wall bar when a woman approached you. The conversation was normal, asking how you were and vise versa, asking if you had a job and you saying no. It was a normal conversation until the job topic, she handed you a card with her name and an address. She told you to meet her there the next day to talk about a position.

You were desperate, so you said yes. A job offering? If anything, you hope your drunken state didn't scare her off. But why would it scare her off if she gave you her card before she left? You didn't know, but the next morning you went to the shady address and ended up at a building you passed by everyday. You assumed it was a normal building for business people, somewhere you thought you belonged, but didn't.

You walked in through the glass doors and found a woman sitting at a receptionist desk. You quietly approached her and showed her the card the other woman gave you. The girl looked up from her computer and all you could think was woah, she's young, maybe a few years younger than you, but still. The girl you learned, her name was Miyeon and she was working here part time, working hard to be full time as all the people who work here are cool. Cool? The people who work here are cool? You guessed they were, but you honestly didn't remember the woman who gave you the card. Miyeon told you to use the elevator and go to the fourth floor, that was the floor you were looking for as all the other floors were used for training.

You nodded and made your way up. The elevator was sleek like no other, the metal cold as it dinged you up to the fourth floor. As you exited, your senses were hit with the smell of roses and your heart was pounding. Something was off, the way the fourth floor was laid out was like a normal office, but it didn't feel that way. Cubicles filled with women typing away or having a headset on, saying weird code words that sounded off. Execute, get information, denominate, and other obscene words that made you feel uncomfortable. What kind of office used that language? As you made your way down the aisle to the big back office that was made of glass, some of the women looked at you with raised brows, like they were examining you. Some of them were whispering to one another, sharing words you wanted to know. Did you dress wrong? You put on your best clothes for today, a fancy pencil skirt and a blouse you knew was within typical office dress code. Maybe your heels made too much noise when you walk, you didn't know.

However, you heard your name being called and looked up to see the women who approached you walk up to you with open arms, pulling you close and kissing your cheeks. You followed her into her office and sat down, handing her your resume. She gladly took it, your eyes landed on her name fame and it said Mantis. Mantis? What an odd name .

The interview went as normal, questions being asked and answered, however, Mantis asked some weird questions. Asking if you ever did martial arts, maybe knew how to fight, did you know how to use weapons? Guns? Knives? All these weird questions you thought were inappropriate, but you answered them in hopes that you'd get the job. You didnt know how to use a gun, but knives you had some experience since your family made you take some self defense classes as a kid.

All in all, it ended up with you being employed and started training the next morning. So, that's how you ended up here, a hit woman. You never thought you'd end up here, about to quit on the first day when you learned that training was fight training and not learning how to use Excel and Microsoft Word. However, you needed moneys and the only way to get out as a new hire was to die, no one could know about this line of work.

"Mako, you're late" Your handler, Lyra said, her eyes in slits as she walked up to your cubicle, leaning on your desk as you sighed. Mako and Lyra were code names, only ever referring to your coworkers as such. It helped keep your identities safe, no need for using your real names in this line of work. Code names are given by Mantis, your boss, the person who owns this whole operation.

You sighed, sitting in your chair as you crossed your legs. "I know, my husband kept me hostage basically" You explained, leaning back in your chair as you looked up at Lyra.

She shook her head, her mind still not grasping how someone of your caliber could get married. "Still can't believe you got hitched"

"Me either, wasn't exactly in the plan" You replied, sounding sad, yet you smiled so fondly at the thought of your husband sitting at his desk with a picture of the two of you on it.

"Or in the contract either, you're lucky Mantis likes you" Lyra added on, which made you cringe at how careless you were when it came to falling in love with Donghyuck.

The contract stated that marriage and partners were off the table. It was for everyone's safety, especially yours. If you get married or have a romantic partner, if anyone caught wind of it, you and everyone you love was in danger. However, you didn't think about the contract when Donghyuck first came up to you at the grocery store, you didn't think about the contract when he asked you out, took you to dinner, or when you ended up in his bed. You sure as hell didn't think of it either when you said your vows to him. The contract wasn't real in your mind when it came to Donghyuck, so when you asked Mantis for a few weeks off for your Honeymoon, she did give you an earful. She told you it was a breach of contract, that it wasn't allowed, it was frowned upon and most importantly, if you weren't careful, you could die.

You, however, assured her you'd be careful, you'd continue work like normal, but Donghyuck was your lifeline now. You weren't going anywhere and neither was Donghyuck, you two were a team, inseparable. Your determination to continue working while being married, and also being one of Mants's best employee had its advantages. Mantis, although still angry with you, let you have your way. After all, you made her a shit ton of money with your intel and assassinations.

"Mantis likes me because I have the most kills" You replied, saying it like it's normal. Saying it like you didn't kill people, just like it was another day in the office.

Lyra sighed as she thought back to when you two first met. "Who would've thought. I still remember your bambi eyed stare when you walked into the training room"

"I didn't think this place was that king of company" You joked, the two of you laughing at the memory of your training days. How shit of a fighter you were, but how clever you came out to be.

"You enjoyed it, don't lie" Lyra replied, pointing out how even though you were shit at fighting, it made you want to work harder and eventually you ended up loving it.

"I do" You nodded, being content with how your job turned you into the person you are today. "Has it been 3 years already?"

"About to be four in a couple months" Lyra pointed out, gently tapping your desk with the maxilla folder she still had yet to mention. "Be happy, you set a record at being a newbie and having more kills than the veterans" She whispered, making the two of you laugh as you're both somewhat new to the job.

"Heard that!" You both heard one of your seniors yell as she walked past the two of you.

This only made the two of you laugh a bit louder, Lyra mumbling a small, "Sorry, Aries!"

"You're gonna get us in trouble with her, you know that" You laughed at her, gently smack her arm as you put a hand in front of your mouth to hide your laughter.

"Sorry, sorry" Lyra chuckled out, clearing her throat as she silently locked into what she needed to tell you. Holding up the manila folder, she gave her a tense smile. "So, you have a new mission"

"Another one? Didn't I just kill a guy?" You groaned, knowing you just got off of a mission a solid two days ago. It was a simple mission, simple poison and he was gone.

Lyra nodded, but sighed a bit. "Yeah, but this one is different, come on let's go, we gotta discuss"

You sighed as she grabbed your arm and pulled you along to one of the private rooms to discuss the mission. Missions weren't as common as most people think, mostly your job was to get intel from people, gangs, companies, it was like you were a private investigator. However, those were mostly things you guys called tasks, missions were worth more money and were more dangerous. Your first mission was something that haunted you, but the money was too good to not do again. Killing people slowly became something you did like breathing. It got to a point where it was easy, desensitizing, and it scared you, but you knew you were doing something right. The people you killed were criminals, people who killed innocent kids and mothers, tortured husbands and random people on the street. You knew what you were doing was right, but it didn't meant it didn't haunt you, because it did. You still have nightmares sometimes.

Donghyuck would comfort you during those nightmares, thinking you watched a scary movie before sleeping. At least that's what you would tell him. Donghyuck didn't know your line of work, didn't know you were a hit woman, he just assumed you did marketing for a small business that paid you well. Donghyuck could never know what you do, it was too dangerous.

"So, what's the mission this time?" You asked Lyra, wanting to get it over with to come home in time to be with your husband. "Killing a criminal? A drug dealer? Rapist? What is it?" You asked, leaning back into the plush chair, your body relaxed as you had been through this so many times you lost count.

"Actually, you know our rivals right?" Lyra asked, your body going ridged and straightening up with tension. "The people who keep stealing our intel and selling it as their own?"

"NCT? Yeah, I know them" They were annoying little bugs. You'd heard rumors about them, sometimes running into them when you're both hired for the same job, but other than that, they're secretive like your company. Except for the fact that they steal your work and claim it as their own, little snakes. They've been on your companies radar for the past few years, Mantis doing everything in her power to take them down, but they're good at hiding themselves.

"Well, one of them kinda slipped up and we got them on camera. His name is Haechan, he's a hit man and he killed one of our allies for intel on us and what we have to sell, so we need him executed" Lyra reported to you, her voice formal as you nodded your head, yet it tilted in confused at his name.

"Haechan?" You asked, slight interest going up at the playfulness of his sunshine name. "Such a bright codename for a killer" You pointed out, Lyra agreed with you and sighed.

"Yeah, but that's his name" Lyra finally slid the manila folder holding all the information the company had on him, his name, photo, approximate height and stature. "Here's his file"

"Thanks" You mumbled out, opening it up and your body went cold. Heart pounding, yet not strong enough as it felt faint in your chest, your breath coming in short huffs as you stare at the photo infront of you. It's right there, Donghyuck's face staring right at you like he was taunting you. "That's not possible" You whispered to yourself, his beautiful face staring back at you.

You were convinced it was fake, it had to be. Maybe it was a clone, maybe it wasn't him and it was a trick of the light. But no, it was him, it was Donghyuck. His face moles all in the right spot, the same spots you kissed every night and morning, honestly any chance you could your lips would be pressed against his moles. Now, they were marks that you had to hit. Your silence and wide eyes concerned Lyra as she furrowed her brows, leaning down a bit to try to catch your gaze.

"Mako, everything okay?" She asked, her voice laced with concern, but in your mind, it was all fuzzy as it went through one ear and out the other. "Mako?" Lyra asked again, her voice a bit louder and it finally caught your attention.

"Everything's fine" You mumbled out, giving her a weak smile as you swallowed hard. You cleared your throat and closed the manila folder to encase Donghyuck's face. "So, I just need to kill him?" The words coming out so carefully, like if you said it into existence it would happen right then and there.

Kill him? Kill Donghyuck? The man you were going to spend the rest of your life with? How could you do that? How could that just be another day in the office? Kill Donghyuck. You can't do that, it was hard to even be mad at him, but you have to, it's your job.

Lyra nodded, not caring about how insane this is sounding to you. "Yeah, basically" Your mind kept replaying the same words over and over again. Another day in the office.

But wait, kill Donghyuck? A member of your rival company? Why not use him? Keep him alive, not just for your own selfish reasons, but for intel on NCT and how they work. Donghyuck could be useful to Mantis, and Mantis is anything, but wasteful, so why waste Donghyuck? Why get rid of him when she could use him?

"I don't need to keep him alive for dirt on NCT?" You asked, furrowing your brows and trying to stay in your Mako character. "I figured Mantis would want something like that"

"No, Mantis just said to execute him" 

Again, this confused you so much. Why kill off someone you can use? It defeated the purpose of anything. "But why? He works with NCT, you'd think she'd want information on them and take them down, why kill someone you could use to your advantage?"

"I don't know, but Mantis knows what she's doing" Lyra said with full confidence in your boss. Mantis is smart, Mantis always had the answer for everything, o of course you trusted her with your life, but again, this all seemed so careless.

"If you say so" However, you had to have trust in what you were doing, so you let it go. "So, when do I need to kill him by?"

"In 12 hours"

You got up out of your seat, eyes wide as the chair rolled away from you. "What?! 12 hours?" You voice loud that it caught Lyra off guard and made her confused.

"Yeah, that's not a problem is it?" She asked, making you blink twice and think about your outburst. Oh, right, Mako, who can kill so well and here you are, freaking out. "You usually knock them out in less then 10"

Your spine straightened up and you nodded. "Right, yeah, right" You quickly grabbed the chair behind you and cleared your throat, taking a seat. "Proceed" You instructed Lyra who just looked at you weird.

"Okay, what's going on? You're acting weird about this" She asked, putting her hands on the table to get a closer look at you. She can't know, she can't know that you unknowingly married Haechan from NCT, that'll ruin you. Not to mention, Mantis would kill you.

"Nothing, it's nothing" So, you shook your head as you trued to act a little sick. "Just, you know, feeling a little under the weather" You replied, coughing a bit and putting a hand to your head like it hurt.

Thank God for your skills at acting because Lyra bought it, at least you hope she did. "Oh, no, I'm sorry"

"It's fine, don't worry" You saying, sniffing to really sink it in that you're a little under the weather. "Uh, I'll get it done soon"

"Okay, just don't forget about the report you have to do after" Lyra reminded you in a soft voice, not wanting to make your head more.

"How can I forget?" You asked, staring down at the manila folder, opening it up and ignoring Haechan's photo staring at you. "So, where am I going to...to..."

"Kill Haechan?" Lyra finished your sentence, not wanting to say those two words that held so much weight to them.

You looked up at her and took in a deep breath. "Yeah" You breathed out, Lyra thinking you took a deep breath to fill your congested lungs and not because you were feeling heavy at the idea of holding your knife to your husband's throat.

"Sources say he's going to have lunch with his partner on 127th avenue"

127th avenue? There was only one place Donghyuck would ever have dinner, he took you there on your first date, took you there for your first month-aversary, he takes those things seriously, and he took you there whenever you asked because you knew it made him happy. It was a little Italian place, family owned and had great food, but Donghyuck only ever went for their garlic bread. It was a cute place, cozy and warm like Donghyuck, he got excited every time you asked him if you could skip making dinner and just go eat out there. It held a lot of good memories, so now that you had to go there to end his memories and end the ones that you thought you'd continue to have, it was a full circle moment you didn't want to happen. 

"The Italian place?" You asked, your voice cracking as the memories of Donghyuck making you laugh and giving you recommendations to food came to your mind. How he held your hand the whole time, how he insisted you two sat next to one another rather than sitting across from you, how he would pick from your plate and beg you to feed him. All those memories would be taken from him, because of you.

"Yeah, you know it?" Lyra asked, taking you away from your thoughts and you shook your head.

"No, I don't, just assumed"

"Oh, okay, well yeah, Haechan's meeting his partner there for dinner, we're assuming he's also NCT affiliated, but Mantis said to not intervene with Mark, your target is only Haechan"

Mark? As in Mark Lee? As in Donghyuck's boss/partner Mark? Just how many of Donghyuck's friends were apart of NCT? Well, it would be obvious that Mark would be apart of NCT since he works in the company as well, but what about the ones you met but didn't know how they met Donghyuck. You only met Mark by accident, running into them while walking around town, seeing that familiar head of hair you yelled his name. Looking back at it, you should have known something was off, how his back tensed up, how he turned around and didn't meet you with the same wide smile he usually gives you, how he didn't smother you in kisses like he usually does, even if he was in public, and how Mark looked at him with dagger in his eyes. Was marriage also a breach of their contract like it was yours? Did Donghyuck never tell his coworkers he got married? You should have known something was suspicious after that meeting, how Mark kept rushing and how Donghyuck looked uncomfortable, and you? You just kept talking and kept inviting Mark to have dinner with the two of you sometime since you never met any of Donghyuck's friends.

"Mark?" You questioned, your mind going back to that first meeting and all the others that came after it. "Sick son of a bitch" You mumbled under your breath.

"What was that?" Lyra asked, looking at you with raised brows.

You shook your head, looking back up at her and closing the manila folder as you finished reading all the info they had on Haechan. "Nothing, just, get my bag ready and I'll follow his lead"

"You got it"

6 hours later....

2:30 pm....

You knew Donghyuck's schedule by the back of your hand, so you knew what time his lunch would be. Sure enough, by 2:30 pm he sent you a text message, saying he was at lunch and going to get food with Mark. He didn't tell you where, but with the source you got, sure enough, you saw the taxi pull up and Donghyuck get out. You were in the restaurant, a wig on, sunglasses, and a coat covering your figure. You sat in the back corner, sipping on your water as you catch the two walk in.

"Mako to Lyra, sunshine walked in" You mumbled, your earpiece picking up your voice to send the message to Lyra your handler at corporate.

"Lyra to Mako, copy" She said in your ear.

The two sat down, five tables over and diagonal from you. Due to the small nature of the restaurant, you knew you had to act as normal as possible while watching your husband and from across the dining room. Your eyes left his figure periodically, going back every now and then as you continued on like this was your normal lunch break. Glasses of water and two entrees later, Donghyuck and Mark asked for the bill and paid. You watched his movements closely, how he buttoned his coat, how he pushed his chair back in and how he ran a hand through his hair. His soft hair, how you wished it was your hands running through it, how you knew if you gripped it the right way on the back of his neck, he'd whimper softly into your ear and his body would turn to putty in your hands.

"Mako!" You were brought out of your trance as Lyra yelled your name and Donghyuck looked straight at you. You froze, not only did you lose focus, but Donghyuck sees you, and you can't tell if he knows it's you or if he thinks a random woman is staring at a married man. "Mako! Do you copy?" Lyra yelled into your ear piece, but your eyes didn't tear away from Donghyuck as he continued to stare at you.

You quickly averted your gaze and looked away, the stare being too intense that it scared you. Clearing your throat you asked for the bill and paid, looking up to see that Donghyuck was gone. "Shit" You mumbled. "Mako to Lyra, I lost him"

"What? You lost him!" Lyra yelled into your ear, your hand going up to your ear piece to soothe your aching ear. You quickly got up from your chair and rushed outside the restaurant.

"It's fine! I'll find him" You assured her, looking left and right, but you didn't see him. You sighed as you heard Lyra sigh is disappointed.

"You better" She mumbled out, disconnecting your call as you took in a deep breath and made your way to the left, following whatever instinct you had.

Walking blocks and blocks, your heels were tiring you out. No one knew where NCT headquarters was, no one else had a lead on Haechan's where about, right now, you were close to giving up. You walked around the city for hours, looking down alleyways, looking into shops, glancing at anyone who looked remotely like your husband. You changed your disguise ten different times so no one could catch on to you. Your day was getting long, but maybe this was a good thing, it was a good thing Haechan got out of your sight, that way you wouldn't have to kill him. But then again, if you couldn't do your job, someone else would, someone else would kill your husband.

Maybe it was better for you to kill him, that way you could postpone it as long as you could, yeah, you'll do that. You'll tell Mantis a lie, say you had a showdown with him and he got away, but you know where he went, you say you can track him down and that you two were playing a cat and mouse game together. However, you knew Mantis and she would never agree to let you play childish games with someone apart of NCT, it was reckless.

7:40 pm

5 hours and 50 minutes remaining....

The sun was setting, your time was running around and your tenth disguise was starting to lose its charm. Staying in one disguise for too long would cause suspicion for some, especially for you. It was smart to constantly change so no one would notice you walking back and forth. Since it was turning nightfall, the sun going to sleep and the moon coming out to play, your last disguise was a black dress, a black dress with the same black heels you've been wearing and your hair down out of its updo. As you flawlessly changed in the midst of the busy streets, you knew where Donghyuck would go after a long day at work, the bar.

You tapped your ear piece and the line connected to Lyra. "Mako to Lyra, I've spotted him" You lied through your teeth.

"Lyra to Mako, you got eyes on him? Copy" You hear Lyra say on the other line, her fingers tapping on her keyboard.

You hummed as your heels clacked on the pavement to your destination. "He's at a bar, the one off of Dream street"

You heard Lyra hum on the other line. "Copy, you need backup? Is he with Mark?"

"Don't need backup, Mark is no where to be seen" You replied since you knew Mark always stayed after hours to get work done as Donghyuck would tell you.

"That guy overworks himself, I don't know how he does it" Donghyuck would say over dinner, sipping on his beer as you sipped on your wine. "He gets to work early and leaves super late, complete opposite of me. I get to work late and run out of that damn office like it's on fire"

"Why do you want to leave so early?" You asked, tilting your head like a confused dog. You set down your glass of wine, your eyes and attention solely on him. Donghyuck smirked as he looked at you, his beautiful wife.

It's like he was transported back to your wedding day, how you looked in your white dress, how he felt watching you walk down the aisle and how he felt when you said those words, "I do". Oh, how he dreamed that'd he'd wake up and it would be his wedding day all over again, how the nerves in his stomach would flutter around making him feel light, how his mind was filled with you and your memories together, and how he knew that in a couple of hours you would be his in every humanly way possible. So, of course, there was only one reason why Donghyuck would run out of the office like it was up in flames.

"To see my pretty girl" He flirted, his lips puckering up as he blew a kiss to you. You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you knew he was just saying that to be in your good graces. Happy wife, happy life, a motto Donghyuck lived by.

"You mean to get a drink at the bar" You called him out, your wine glass coming to your lips as Donghyuck faked a gasp, before chuckling.

"That's only on Fridays"

Which happens to be today. God, you were hoping he wasn't there, you were hoping that when you walked in that little dive bar he wouldn't be drinking a beer or any other concoction he felt like drinking. "Drinks on Fridays. Please skip it, please be the one day you don't come"

Please, don't be sitting there at the bar, up on a stool as he drank his afternoon beer away. You kept mumbling it, don't be there, don't be there, be walking home, be home and call me saying where I was, be home, cooking, making us food before we watch a movie and sleep on the couch. Please, don't be at the bar. It's all you kept telling yourself as your heels clicked on the parent, your steps going faster and your lungs burning as you breathed in the air. God, please don't be there.

You turned the corner, the sum was slowly being covered by grey clouds and the sight sky. Soon enough you saw the dive bar come in your point of view. The shitty LED sign buzzing and flickering its name, people already hanging outside of it, smoking cigarettes and talking. You walked up to the doors, pulling your ID out and went inside. As soon as you went in, the smell of beer and cigarettes hit your nose, inhaling you looked around, growing the looks the men around you gave you. Walking in slowly, hoping to not get noticed by your husband, you searched for him.

"Please" You whispered to yourself, your heart beating faster and faster as you approach the bar. As the crowd slowly got thinner the closer you got, the more you could see. Your breath fell out of your lips as you didn't see him, he wasn't here.

The bar stools not being occupied by your husband. He wasn't here. Donghyuck wasn't here, if he wasn't here that means he was at home, at home and safe and can live another day before someone else grabbed him. Maybe you'd run home, run home and tell him everything, tell him you needed to leave, to run, to change identities and live off the grid. You'd run away together, life together in hiding and it would just be the two of you again. No rivalries, no marks on your backs.

Yeah, that's what you'll do. So, with a smile on your face, you turned your body around, ready to run home and share your plan with Donghyuck. You couldn't wait to tell him, but even then, to tell him what exactly? That you were sent to kill him? Sent to en his life just as easy as he entered yours? And for what? Money? Would Donghyuck even want to still be married to you after revealing that? Would he still want to love you and be with you?

But your mind was made up. All the afterthoughts would come later, because you loved him so much more than a lousy paycheck. Turning around, a smile on your face, ready to start a new life, and you end up ramming yourself into someone. Looking up, your brain didn't register who it was yet, all you knew was that it was your husband.

"Oh, hey baby" You said with a smile, not thinking anything of it until you remember where you were, you remembered who you were and what you had to do. "Donghyuck!" You gasped, hand coming to your chest as you breathed in. "You scared me, what're you doing here?" You asked him, trying to catch his breath as he just looked at you.

gaze was different, it was something you noticed, something your assassin brain realized. Haechan was suspicious. "I can ask you the same thing" He said, his gaze looking you up and down, why were you in a black dress at a dive bar?

"Uh, I wanted to surprise you, duh" You said, trying to act cute for him. A pout here, your voice an octave higher and your eyes shining up at him like you weren't planning to kill him and then convince him to run away.

"You never surprise me" He said, his voice low as he looked down at you. His brows furrowed, lips downturned and not in their usual pout that you grew to love.

He was right, you never did surprise him. Surprises weren't your thing, you could never do them right and never did them justice. Even then, your idea of a surprise was making his favorite dinner on a random day and saying 'I made your favorite'. Donghyuck wasn't surprised by your actions though, as he always picked up on what you bought and would usually put two and two together. But, he'd still act surprised and shocked when you would tell him, wanting to make you feel special and loved. And even though you knew he knew, you still felt your heart swell when he'd say how surprised he was and how it was the best surprise.

It's why you fell in love with him. How he'd look at you with such love, how he'd bend over backwards to please you just because he wanted to. Donghyuck wanted to do things for you, he didn't do them out of a husband obligation, he did them because he wanted to see you smile. So, if it meant pretending, then he'd gladly do it. Pretending, is that what he's doing right now?

"Well, isn't that a surprise in of it self?" You questioned, trying so hard to not sound suspicious, even though he's already caught onto your little act: "Surprise!" You said happily, reaching up to pull him into a hug.

His arms instinctively went around your waist as yours went around his neck. You inhaled him and your knees went weak, your heart skipping a beat with the way he gripped your waist. Pulling away, you looked at him, hoping your cuteness and oblivious act payed off.

"Come on, let's go for a walk" He said, cocking his head to the door outside. You nodded as he grabbed your hand and led you outside.

Your stomach was churning, something wasn't right about this. Why talk outside? Sure, it's a little packed in the bar, but it isn't horrid, you two could still talk out here. As he lead you past the crowd of men, the air felt different. It wasn't was light as it used to be before you saw Haechan, it wasn't as breathable, because right now it was so thick and stuffy, your breaths were short huffs.

Your body was itching, your stomach feeling sick and Haechan's grip was too strong. He knew. He had to know, you couldn't help but think that he knew you were following him, he knew who you were and what you work for, he has to. Haechan was acting too cold, too nonchalant, he didn't smother you in kisses when you hugged him, he didn't pout and whine when you pulled away—in fact, he was the first he was the first one to pull out of your hug. The man pulling you out of the dive bar wasn't Donghyuck, your husband, but Haechan, the assassin from NCT.

This wasn't going to end well. But, maybe he'd have mercy on you, you are his wife after all. Maybe he'll let you explain and you'll tell him everything, tell him how you don't want to kill him, you want to run away with him and start over, be normal and actually have a normal 9 to 5 job, or even be a stay at like wife like some sick fairy tale ending. You don't know, but all you know is that Haechan knows what you're up to and you can't tell if he'll give you a chance to explain or your marriage was going to end in a death.

The air was colder now, a little sticky with the humidity. "Is it going to rain?" You asked, your question going unanswered as Donghyuck kept walking down the alley way. "Donghyuck, baby, where are we going?" You asked again and yet it goes ignored once more.

He just kept dragging you, turning corners, leading you to the dock where a lake was. This dock was where all the neighboring businesses collect their stock. "What are we doing here?"

You knew exactly why you were here. This dock, despite it being used 98% of the time, when it was dead night and everyone was out, this dock was secluded. Your nerves were buzzing throughout your body, he was just standing in front of you, ignoring your words as you stare at his back.

Donghyuck was contemplating. He was staring out at the water, how its soft waves reminded him of your soft voice, how gentle you were and yet when you wanted to, you were a storm of emotions he wanted to be drowned in. God, you were everything to him, he loved you so much, all these years of being yours, only to find you following him around.

It was odd, you following him. Your disguise might fool the people you kill, but it could never fool Donghyuck. "You know, you're not the only one who stares when sleeping" He said, his words conflicting as you stared back at him.

"What do you mean?" You ask, trying to act as normal as possible, but again, your instincts were itching at you to grab your knives hidden on your thigh. If only you could reach for them.

It was a conflicting feeling, wanting to reach for your knives despite your husband standing right in front of you. You knew you had to kill him, yet you can't you want to tell him everything and run away, and yet, you can't tell if he'll let you explain or go out fighting. All you knew was that the way Donghyuck was acting, you don't know if you'll come out talking. Did he want to fight? Did he want this to end this way? His guns blazing and your knives trying to cut him? You can't tell and it's making you paranoid. Maybe he had back up, maybe Mark was up on one of the building rooftops telling him, Haechan, she's reaching for her knives. You don't know what he's thinking, he's usually so open about everything, you can read him like a child's book, and right now, it's like you're looking at the worlds hardest language and trying to decipher it.

You can't, you can't read him, you can't see him and you can't understand him.

"I watch you too, when you sleep" He replied, his words so careful and so steady that it's throwing you off. No way Donghyuck, the man who loves you more than anything or anyone in this world is going to want to fight you. "Your face is so engraved in my memory that I can so easily spot you out in a crowd. It's funny"

"How?" You asked, confused at how him memorizing your face so much that it's carved into his brain is funny. "I just think it means you love me. Don't you think?"

Donghyuck hummed, he loves you so much. Your face is carved in his brain forever, it's so recognizable, so easy to find. "Yeah, I do love you"

"I love you too" You mumbled out, for some reason, you felt tears in your eyes. Hot, burning and blinding tears, you don't even notice how Donghyuck is reaching for the inside of his jacket.

"I just never thought I'd recognize your face in a silly disguise following me around town" He mumbled out, his words too soft for you to even hear them or to process them. "Let alone, be recognizable enough to be traced back as Mako"

Your world fell apart. How? What? How did he know? How did anyone know? You kept your alias a secret your work place was anonymous, everyone who hired you didn't know who you were, you kept yourself hidden when doing your assassins. How did anyone find out? How did he find out?

"What?" You questioned, your word coming out more like a squeak. "Wh-what're you taking about?"

"You're not as careful as you think you are, Mako" Your codename falling from his lips so naturally it made your breath hitch. "You had a run in with one of NCT's snipers not too long ago, maybe a year back" He said, finally turning around and your eyes locked onto his stone cold face and then trailed down to his hand holding his shiny gun. You felt your heart crack a little, he wasn't even going to let you explain. How did he know?  "TY, kinda tall, had pale blonde hair? You two were in Seventh City, ring any bells?"

Your face faltered. "Oh, no" You mumbled, the air getting knocked out of your breath as you remembered that mission.

1 year ago...

10:57 pm...

You were only a second year assassin and you were already climbing up the ranks. Kill after kill, intel after intel and paycheck after paycheck and despite being a newlywed, you didn't stop. It was normal to run into other companies doing the same job as you for other customers, but running into an NCT affiliate? That never happened. Yes, you both were rivals and always tried to get the better information to sell or people to kill for a greater profit, yet, you both never ran into one another. NCT and your company would always luck out on one another, either a customer chose you over NCT or vise versa.

Your paths never crossed until that night. It was a clear and cold night, you were inside the building and waking down the dark hallways filled with windows. As you approached the double doors leading to the office of a man who your client hired you to kill, you knocked gently. The other side let out a loud "What", making you mumble your words.

"CEO Lim, I'm here to give you your mail" You said in a sickly sweet voice as you reached down to your holster to grab your knives.

"What? What mail? It's nearly 8 o'clock" He said, his voice tired and annoyed by your presence.

You knocked once more, ignoring his calls for you to shut up and go home. You kept knocking, knock after knock until he got so fed up with you that with great strides, he opened up his door.

"Shut up! Are you stupid? I told you I don't want your goddamn mai—" His words were cut off with a simple stab to the stomach. His voice gurgling as he looked down at your figure, your hair covering your face as you quickly took out your knife and looked up at him.

"Mr. Park says hello" You said, a smile being offered to him as he began to step back, his hands clutching his stomach to stop the bleeding.

"Mr. Lim, that's not going to work" You said with confidence, watching at the foot of the entrance as he walked back to his desk, limping in pain. "If you're reaching for you gun, it isn't there"

Pulling out his gun from your other leg. He looked at you in bewilderment as you held it up and gawked it around like it was a trophy. "I raided your office during your lunch hour. Wasn't that hard to seduce your staff"

You tsked, throwing the gun off somewhere as you walked over to him, his blood still pooling out of his stomach where you stabbed him. You gently tapped his shoulder and he fell into his chair. Sighing, you grabbed his necktie and pull him closer to you, your other hand holding his knife to his throat as he remained silent and his breaths staggering as he bled out.

"Now, I'm going to make this as painless as possible, okay?" You asked, your smile conflicting the situation. How can you smile during this? How can you smile knowing you're going to kill a man?

This line of work was never easy, your first few kills always haunting you. And yet, you always came back, it was the sick part of you that you enjoyed. Knowing you killed people who wronged others, that's what kept you coming back. That and the paycheck was always too good.

As you finished your mission, you looked down at the lifeless body covered in his own blood. Taking in deep breaths you wiped off your knives with your fingers, the blood making a sloshing sound as it fell to the carpet floor. You pressed your finger to your ear piece turning it on as you called for your handler.

"Mako to Lyra, finished the job. Send in clean up" You ordered, looking out at the huge window his office had. It was a nice night, a nice night that is going to end in sweet sex with your husband who was patiently waiting at home.

"Lyra to Mako, copy, sending in clean up crew" Lyra repeated. The line went cold as you continued to look outside the window.

You admired the city, how at night it looked so calm, the bright lights illuminating the dark streets. It was like stars almost, hey there'd even a star out there flickering. Wait a minute, that's not a star.

Turning back on your earpiece, your voice echoed in Lyra's mind. "Mako to Lyra, we have company"

"Who?" Lyra asked, her voice perking up as this usually never happened.

"I'm about to find out"

"Mako wait, wait for back—" You cut her off as you began to walk out of the office. Your feet fast as your heels clacked against the floor.

Once you made it outside the building, you quickly entered the next, the doors sliding open as the front desk receptionist said a curt hello to you. You nodded, making your way to the elevator, riding up to the top floor. You waited patiently, watching as the lights above you dinged with each passing floor.

8, 9, 10, it was at the 11th floor that the doors opened up. A man with blonde hair in a nice suit with a brief case walked in. He gave you a small nod as he went to hit the top floor button, but realized oh, you had already pushed it. Question was, why would someone who's on the 11th floor want to go up to the 12th floor if he could just take the stairs.

Ah ha. Your brain made the connection as you both hit the 12th floor and none of you came out. It was eerily silent, no one saying a word and yet you both knew who you were. Assassins. However, he worked on rooftops, so a sniper and whatever he had in that briefcase was his weapon of choice no doubt about it, it was a gun.

"Lyra to Mako, copy, sending in clean up crew" Lyra repeated. The line went cold as you continued to look outside the window.

You admired the city, how at night it looked so calm, the bright lights illuminating the dark streets. It was like stars almost, hey there'd even a star out there flickering. Wait a minute, that's not a star.

Turning back on your earpiece, your voice echoed in Lyra's mind. "Mako to Lyra, we have company"

"Who?" Lyra asked, her voice perking up as this usually never happened.

"I'm about to find out"

"Mako wait, wait for back—" You cut her off as you began to walk out of the office. Your feet fast as your heels clacked against the floor.

Once you made it outside the building, you quickly entered the next, the doors sliding open as the front desk receptionist said a curt hello to you. You nodded, making your way to the elevator, riding up to the top floor. You waited patiently, watching as the lights above you dinged with each passing floor.

8, 9, 10, it was at the 11th floor that the doors opened up. A man with blonde hair in a nice suit with a brief case walked in. He gave you a small nod as he went to hit the top floor button, but realized oh, you had already pushed it. Question was, why would someone who's on the 11th floor want to go up to the 12th floor if he could just take the stairs.

Ah ha. Your brain made the connection as you both hit the 12th floor and none of you came out. It was eerily silent, no one saying a word and yet you both knew who you were. Assassins. However, he worked on rooftops, so a sniper and whatever he had in that briefcase was his weapon of choice no doubt about it, it was a gun.

"You stole my kill" He mumbled out, the elevator starting its way back down. 10th floor.

You furrowed your brows, not daring to look at him as you could easily see one another through the steel doors. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You stole my kill" He said again, his voice stern as his grip on his briefcase made his knuckles go white.

You snapped your fingers, faking putting two and two together. "You mean CEO Lim?" You asked, your voice all happy compared to his.

"He was mine to kill"

You clicked your tongue and shook your head, your body relaxed compared to his stiff body. "Not according to my boss, he was mine"

"I was the one who was hired, not you" He pointed out, the elevator continuing to go down. 7th floor.

"Sure you were tough guy" You joked, making yourself chuckle as he remained stiff. "Say, why be a sniper when you can get all the action up close?"

"Why be an assassin when you can't even kill the man properly. You prolonged his death and for what? Some sick sadistic reason?"

"Client needed more info so I got more info. Snipers are always rushing. One after the other, one bullet and so forth. You don't listen to your clients when they say torture the guy for more info"  You ranted on about snipers and your distaste for them.

It's not that you hated snipers, they were fine for your field of work. Heck, you were friends with snipers, 98% of your company works as snipers, only 2% are assassins like yourself. Snipers are fine, they're just too quick. They want as many kills in as little time as possible, they see their target, they pull the trigger. Snipers are trigger happy and it pisses you off sometimes because as an assassin, torture was the only way to get more info and get a bigger pay check. Eventhough it is more personal, you earned more money and you were more careful. Snipers are careless creatures, who again, care more about a kill count then the clients who hired you.

"Snipers are quick, we don't prolong a death for extra info the clients won't pay for" Taeyong replied sternly, feeling offended by the perception you had of him.

"Well this client did. Maybe talk to your handler and boss, they'll make better deals for you" You boasted, thinking about the raise you earned for this mission.

Taeyong scoffed, annoyed at how money hungry you are. "We don't make last minute deals"

"Right, because NCT is just so quick with their kill count" You mumbled out, watching the light change from the 5th floor to the 4th. Times almost up.

Taeyong whipped his head to look at you, the first time since this elevator ride, he finally looked at you. "How'd you know I was NCT affiliate?"

Slowly turning your head to look at him, your eyes studied his body. Clean cut black suit, Italian leather shoes, a rolex, none the doubt that was modified to some sort of hidden weapon, maybe even his pager. Sighing, you looked at him with a blunt look, NCT affiliates are so easy to track.

"Your suit, the stitching is neon green in some lighting. You guys aren't as smart as you think you are. Some uniform" You pointed out, Taeyong's eyes glancing down at his suit and sure enough, in some lighting you could see the neon green stitching.

He looked back up at you and you raised an eyebrow at him. How could he one up you? Oh, he knows how. "Okay little miss Widow"

Now it was your turn to be surprised by this. "How'd you—"

"Your knife handle has a spider engraved on it. A bit on the nose, don't you think?" He asked, remembering how he looked through his sights to see your knives. Sure enough, there was a spider on it, Widows.

"I don't need the sass from an NCT" You shot back, annoyance running through your body.

He looked back at you with the same annoyance. "And I don't need a Widow stealing my kills"

You groaned out loud as your body slumped, it's not your fault two different clients hired two different people to do their dirty work. "I didn't steal your kill, you psycho! Clearly we were both hired by two different people, every think of that Sherlock?" You asked him, waiting for his response, but sure enough the elevator hit the 1st floor. Looking at the opening door, you glanced back at him, ready to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me"

"How you know I won't follow you?" Taeyong asked, watching as you clicked your heels on the cold tile floor as you were walking away from him.

Your steps came to a hault, turning around to look at Taeyong who remained in the elevator, his arm stopping the doors from closing in on him. "Because then what's the fun in that?" You asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Taeyong stared at you and you stared back at him. It was a mutual agreement that didn't need words, one that you both understood. Don't kill each other right now, both of your paths will cross again and only then would you two fight to the death. However, Taeyong is a sniper, snipers love their rooftops and doing their dirty work from afar, and better yet, they love doing it when there's no risk, you being at home is a risk, because who knows what kind of things you have hiding in your closet.

Taeyong would wait until the field, he'd wait until your somewhere with no risks, he'd wait for his kill. That's the sick fun people in your work have and crave for.

So, he let the doors close in on him, he let the elevator doors close and send him back up to his safe little rooftop as he continued on with his night. You however, would walk away, your figure disappearing as you made your way outside, no one suspecting a thing.

Honestly, that interaction left your mind the next day, not caring for when you would see Taeyong again. You just didn't think it'd come back and haunt you.

"Oh, yes. So, you do remember?" Donghyuck asked, a wicked smile plastered on his face as he began to circle around you like a vulture getting ready to eat its food. "Well, let me tell you a little story. When I was out today, walking around, eating lunch with Mark. I noticed a girl sitting in the corner watching us, or at least pretending to not watch us. At first I was confused you know, who was this stalker watching Mark and I, and it wasn't until I was about to leave that I realized, oh, it was my wife. Now, logically speaking I'm thinking, oh, she wants to see what I'm up to, maybe she recognized me while she was on her own lunch break, that's funny. But then, as soon as I leave, she leaves too and is trying to find me. Now, I'm nice and as I'm about to scare her with Mark, I hear her say something funny"

"Donghyuck" You interrupted him, wanting to explain as you felt your body tremble with anxiety and sadness.

He's really doing this, he's airing out the whole day and is ready to fight you. Why? Why did he want to fight you? Why couldn't he just let you explain, let you tell him your plan to run away? Why couldn't he just shut up for a minute?

"Something along the lines of Mako to Lyra, I lost him. Now, I think this is funny because I remember TY telling me a funny little story on how he had a run in with this women who stole his kill and info and that her name happened to be Mako. Now, imagine my surprise when I hear my wife call herself Mako!" Donghyuck came to a stop, standing right in front of you, staring you down as you felt weak. "Funny story, don't you think?"

"Donghyuck, just let me explain" You begged, your voice coming out in a whine as you just wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him.

Did he really think you'd kill him? Did he really think you didn't come up with a different possibility? Sure, your first instinct was to kill him until you thought of a different plant. But honestly? After being together for a couple years, you'd think your husband would hear you out, trust you.

And he did trust you. Oh my God, he trusted you so much, trusted you with every atom that made up his body. That's why he doesn't want to hear you out, doesn't want to hear the excuses you're going to make or the plan you thought of. Donghyuck felt betrayed, felt like his world collapsed when he heard you say those words to Lyra. Donghyuck felt like his world shifted, it shifted to the other side of the universe, a whole new world where you aren't his wife, but an enemy.

Donghyuck began to think, was all of this a ruse? A lie? Did you even love him? Did you want to marry him? Did you mean the vows and words you said to him? Every laugh, every word, every meeting and interaction, was it all fabricated so you could end his life? Those are the questions running through his mind. If you were sent to kill him, was it since the beginning? Was this your mission the whole time?

Did your company catch whiff of him so early on that they tasked you to kill him? Did you only get into this relationship to end his life?

"Wait, I'm not finished" He stopped you, his gaze growing cold, his warm eyes going dumb as he towed above you. His face so close to yours that you could see everything on his face. Every line you memorized, every mole you once kissed, every word you ever said to him, it was all coming to an end. "Now, in my head I'm thinking, no, no way my wife, my beautiful wife is Mako, and no way is she hunting me down to kill me"

"Donghyuck, please" Those were the only words that could come out of your mouth. Your world is slowly crumbling, falling down like one of your victims.

This wasn't normal, the way Haechan was looking at you wasn't normal, the way he was standing tall, standing like a man ready to throw a punch, this wasn't your husband standing in front of you, this was a killer. But so were you, you were a killer, still are, and you were sent to kill him, so do it, kill him.

"No, you're here to kill me, so do it" Even Haechan wanted you to do it. His steps getting closer to you as he stared you down, not breaking anything in his stature. His chest puffed, eyes dark, face hard and he was angry at you, furious. And yet, all you could see was Donghyuck, the man you'd laugh with at 3 in the morning because of something stupid.

It was all you could see, you can't kill him, because if you kill him, you'd kill yourself in the process. So, with teary eyes you shook your head at him.

"No, I can't" You said, your voice weak with emotion and distress. How could he ask you to kill him? And so easily?

He took another step towards you, his face so close to yours you could feel his breath hitting your face. His next words were grim, "Do it, or I will kill you"

The breath was knocked out of your chest, your lungs burning as your body went cold. Kill you, Haechan will kill you if you don't kill him. How can he say that? How can he stand there and say those words without second thought? But, aren't you a hypocrite for thinking this? Aren't you the one who decided to accept the mission anyways? Weren't you the one who followed him around all day for hours and hours on end just to end his life? You accepted it without second thought, so this was his revenge, his way one gaining control over a decision you decided to take.

"Donghyuck" You said, his name dying on your lips.

"You've made your choice. Kill me" He said, his finger messing with the trigger of the gun he's holding. You glance down at it, was he actually serious about this?

Tearing your eyes away from his gun, you looked back up at him. "Don't make—"

"Fine, then I'll kill you" Donghguck said, his gun lifting up, the tip touching your stomach. You felt your heart beat faster and faster, panic settling in as you look ed down at the gun touching you.

"Dong—"

"No!" He exclaimed, moving away from you as he turned around. You let out a breath of relief as his back was now to you, his gun to his head as he closed his eyes, thinking about what he was doing. He turned around to face you, his gun coming down as he flailed it around, his body running hot. "You do not get to back out of this, you chose your mission, now I'm choosing mine"

"Don't—" You snake your head, but he shook his head, his gun going up as he pointed it straight at you. "Please! Just let me explai—"

Donghyuck pulled the trigger, the bullet barely missing you as you flinched away. "Let me explain!" You yelled at him, your heart beating out of your chest. Donghyuck shook his head as he pulled the trigger again, making you run away from him, Donghyuck continuing to pull the trigger to hit you.

You ran behind a wall in between an alley way, hearing Donghyuck's foot steps come closer to you. "Shit" You mumbled, lifting up your skirt to grab your knives from their holster.

You gripped them tightly, your knuckles going white as you peaked your head from over the wall. You quickly found him walking closer to you, looking away, your brain had to think of a plan fast. Looking down, you found some rocks, instantly, you grabbed one and threw it to a different place away from your spot. The rock hit the ground, making some noise which caused Donghyuck to look away, which gave you an opening to move slowly around him, wanting to make him confused before you attack.

You stepped out of your heels, knowing this fight would be a hard one to get out of. Your feet stepping onto the cold concrete as you slowly and quietly came out of the alley way to confront him. You watched his face, his gun held up as he turned every corner to make sure you wouldn't come out and attack him.

It was a tango, a dance, the warmup before the show as you slowly approached him. Suddenly, as soon as you got closer to him, Haechan's back straightened up, his shoulders going lax as he turned around.

Your knives in your hand as his gun was in his. No words were exchanged, no remarks, nothing, just the both of you standing there, ready to give into this fight none of you wanted, but knew you had to have.

Donghyuck moved first, his gun going off as you dodged it, throwing one of your knives at him, missing your target by a mere inch. With one hand free as Donghyuck tried to regain his composure, you grabbed his gun by the barrel, moving it up as he shot a bullet in the air.

Using this momentum, you bring the gun to your side and tried to get it out of his grip, but he pulled his arm in which made you two he face to face. Haechan reeled his head back as it made contact with yours. You groaned in paid as it caused you to stumble back, Haechan quickly pointed his gun at your again, ready to shoot, but you bent down and extended your leg to sweep his own which caused him to fall to the ground, making him loosen his grip on his gun.

You ran to it, quickly kicking it away as far as possible when Haechan grabbed your leg and pulled it, making you fall on the floor ready for him to crawl on top of your to pin your hands above your head to grab your other knife and throw it far away as well.

Both of your now left without weapons, it was time for your hand to hand combat to pay off. With Donghyuck on top of you, he made it clear to punch you in the face as you tried to get out of his grip, wrapping your legs around his waist and using your full force to flip the both of you over, this was done fairly easily since this was a move you could do in your sleep.

Now with you on top of him, you began to punch him in the face repeatedly, but Haechan was quick to push you off of him, making you roll away on your back.

Looking back up at him, Haechan was now standing up, adjusting his suit coat as his feet began to kick at your stomach, making you groan in pain. After a few kicks, you gathered enough strength to pull your first back and punch him in the groin, making him double over in pain.

You got up from the floor with him following in suit. The two of you looked at one another, blood coming from his lips as your blood was coming from your eyebrow. Similar cuts on both of your cheeks as you caught your breaths. Haechan moved first, lunging at

you with a punch, which you caught with your hand as your knee moved up to knee him in the stomach.

He groaned as you repeated this action until he reeled back his fist to punch you in the stomach, making you push him off of you. You now lunged at him as you tried to kick him, but he dodged your kick, as he tried to punch you. He got his hit on your cheek, making you stumble back before you jumped up and twisted around in the air as you kicked him in his face, making him fumble to the ground.

You quickly got on top of him again, until he brought his arm up to the side of your neck, blocking you as he pushed you down in the ground for him to get up from the floor. You wrapped your legs around him to get some kind of control when he reached down with both hands to choke you. His strong hands making it hard for you to breathe as you clawed at his face.

The more you clawed, the more Haechan got annoyed with you, so he let go of your neck, putting the full force of his body on top of yours as your arms went around the back of his neck as he lifted you up in the air.

You gripped on as he to shake you off, and realizing that he couldn't, he rand to the closets brick wall he could find and slammed you against if, making your head smack against the wall and your back slamming with it. However, your arms didn't movie, but you felt the pain and exhaustion building up, so he pulled back and slammed you against the wall again, making you close your grip on him as he let you go, making you catch yourself with your feet on the ground.

Your hair as a mess, your dress ruined and exhausted filled your bones. Haechan on the other hand, tried his best to stand his ground as he lifted his fists up to protect himself, but you just looked at him. Trying to catch your breath when you pulled your hand back to punch him straight in his nose, making his head fall back and he felt his nose begin to bleed.

With not wasting a second, you jumped him and held on to his neck, your upper body practically hanging off his back as you elbowed his head and he punched your side. You began to fall down his body the more he punched you until he threw you down on the floor.

You groaned in pain, your body starting to feel the effects of it all when you looked ahead on the floor and spotted your knife. You quickly grabbed it, standing up to face him, only to see him pointing his gun at you.

You don't know when it started to rain, but the first trickles of water began to fall, hitting your hot skin as it began to soak you and him down to the bone. There he was, standing just a few feet away from you, your husband, your best friend, the person you wanted to share your life with.

There he is, holding a gun to you, ready to shoot, this wasn't happening, but it was. You felt your body reject you, your eyes filling with tears as your hand shook, your knife no longer feeling as steady as it once did.

You could see Haechan's resolve crack. His once hardened expression falling apart as he saw your tears. He didn't know why his tune changed, why he suddenly cared when all he felt was betrayal. But seeing you, covered in blood and cuts from the harsh punches he gave you and scratched from the concrete floor, he wondered, why couldn't he just let you talk. Let you explain and all of this fighting could have been avoided.

Your jaw clenched as Haechan lowered his gun, his body going tense as his face cracked even more. "I can't do this" He said, his mind and body betraying his training.

"No!" You exclaimed, your knife shaking even more. How can he back out now? After begging you to kill him only to say he was now going to kill you. He should kill you, pull the trigger and put you out of your misery of taking this stupid mission in the first place. "Come on!" You yelled at him, your voice weak and gritted through your teeth. But Donghyuck didn't move an inch he didn't raise his gun back up to you, it was now at his side. "Kill me! Come on!"

"I'm so sorry" Donghyuck mumbled to you, but also to himself, his Haechan persona. "Baby"

"No!" You yelled through your tears, running toward him with all your might, but it was futile. His hand instantly went up to grab your wrist that was holding the knife, holding it hard enough that it loosened your grip and it fell out of your hands, falling onto the ground with a clank.

"Please, just kill me" You begged through your tears, but all Donghyuck did was bring your body to his, his arms wrapping around you with such a gentle touch that it contrasted the way his arms felt wrapped around you during the fight.

"I'm so sorry baby" He mumbled into your damn hair, his hand cradling the back of your head as his other arm was wrapped around your waist, securing you to his body.

You sobbed in his arms, your own wrapping around him as he felt your body tremble and shake. He was trying to stay strong for you, but he too felt his heart crack as the realization hit him. He tried to kill you, so easily, like it was nothing.

"I'm so sorry" He apologized again.

It was all he could say, the rain was drowning his words out, soaking both of you until you ran cold, but for some reason, the hug was warm and you could hear his voice loud and clear.

You both didn't know how you would get out of this predicament. After all you failed a mission, Haechan couldn't go back to his company and go on missions like normal because your company would find out that you didn't kill him and you couldn't go back to work without Mantis killing you after failing your mission.

You both didn't know what to do, that would be a plan for another day. So now, all you both could do was hug each other, cling on to one another like you were both a life line to each other's lives in this pouring rain. The both of you were still alive, injuries to be tended to later, but all you wanted, all you craved was Donghyuck.

So you stayed in his arms and pretended that you had a life tomorrow, had him tomorrow, because you honestly don't know if you will have all of him when sunrise hits.

"I love you" You mumbled into his neck as your sobs and cries subsided. His scent filling your nose and you held him tight like it was your last time saying those words.

"I love you too" Donghyuck said, his own words echoing the uncertainty the both of you had when it came to tomorrow. So, all you had was this, this simple moment wrapped in each other's arms as blood slipped from his nose and cuts and bruised form on your bodies.

However, a simple moment is all anyone can have, a simple moment that can turn sour. All you heard was a ringing, a ringing in your ear as your world began to blur together. Donghyuck's grip on you tightened as yours loosens up, your arms slowly falling from his waist to your side. Your mind was fuzzy, your senses going blind to everything around you.

"Hyuck, something's wrong" You mumbled out, feeling your lungs running out of breath as your knees gave out and you fell to the ground, Donghyuck holding you steady as he fell with you.

He cradled you in his arms as tears began flowing down his face. "You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay baby" He mumbled out through his tears, your breath going unsteady as you looked down at your stomach.

"Oh" It's all you could say, all you could come up with as your brain processed the fact that you're bleeding, you're bleeding from your stomach and that ringing in your ear was the sound of a bullet going off. "Who"

"I don't know, but you're gonna be fine, you're gonna be okay" Donghyuck said, his hands gently resting you down as he pressed down on your wound.

The blood seeped through his fingers, he was trying to stop your bleeding, but it wasn't working, he wasn't helping. "Help! Someone help!" Donghyuck yelled into the wet dark night.

His voice cracking as he screamed for anyone to help him, for anyone to call an ambulance. "Please! Help!" He kept screaming and it was hurting your ears.

"Hyuck, stop yelling" You mumbled out, your words coming out in short breaths and cut up words. "Please"

"You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay" Those were the only words he could come up with only words he could tell you.

What else could he tell you? What else could he do? He couldn't call anyone because if he did that would require him to take his hands off you, making you bleed out, but even if he didn't call, you would still bleed out. Donghyuck was crying tears and tears for you, your eyes slowly closing.

"No, don't close your eyes, keep them on me, keep them open baby" He begged, he begged and pleaded. You couldn't keep them open anymore, they were heavy, just so heavy and you were tired, you wanted to sleep.

"Five more minutes" Those words, those three words that fell from your lips brought him back to this morning. He looked down at you and gave you a weak smile as you smiled back up at him. "Please, just five more minutes"

"Okay, okay baby, just five minutes" Donghyuck cried, his words being soft as he swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "I'll wake you up" He mumbled out, his bloody hand leaving your bleeding stomach as he gently stroked your hair.

"I wanted...." Your voice trailed off, Donghyuck shushing you and telling you to not speak. "I wanted to run away...run away with you" You revealed, your throat feeling a bit clogged up as you felt something coming up your throat. "I didn't...didn't wanna kill you, wanted to run away"

Donghyuck felt his heart shatter, shatter into dust as he heard you. "Oh, baby, we'll run away together, we'll go to Denmark, you always talked about Denmark" He revealed, you smiled at this and he went on. "We'll get we a little house, retire, have a kid or two"

"A girl" You whispered, your eyes blinking slowly and staying closed for longer periods of time. Donghyuck knew your time was running out, knew he wasn't going to have this life with you.

Donghyuck chuckled, of course you both wanted a girl, maybe two girls, but girls were always on the list. Donghyuck wanted a little girl so badly, but the time never arises. You were busy with work and so was he, you both knew you didn't have time for a baby, but that didn't mean you both didn't dream about it or talk about it. You had a list filled with baby names, a Pinterest board of the kind of clothes you'll both buy her, how Donghyuck would keep you up, his head on your chest as he talked about how he'd react when his baby girl would come home with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, he didn't care who she loved as long as she experienced a love like the one you both shared.

"We'll have a girl yeah, of course we'll have a little girl, we'll name her Hayoon, yeah, Hayoon" Donghyuck said, saying a name you both really liked.

The name was a whisper in the world, a whisper you both talked about when creating a list. Donghyuck's obsession with sun and sunshine, how he said you were his sun or how he said he was your sun. Something about sun and something about the idea of sunlight made you and Donghyuck think about so many times.

"Sunlight" You mumbled out, noticing how through the clouds you could see sunlight. The gray clouds and the stormy sky didn't matter anymore since you could see the sun peaking through.

"Yeah, she'll have your smile, your eyes" Donghyuck rambled on, thinking about what your baby could've looked like, been like, acted like. Would she have your laugh or his? Have your eyes or his? Who would she be a copy of? Which parent would she like more? Donghyuck said she would be a daddy's girl, and that he'd do anything she'd ask. You laughed and always said that your daughter would have him wrapped around her little finger. Oh, the life you two could've had, would've had if he just shut up and let you explain. But no, now you're here laying in a pool of your blood as it came out of your stomach and mouth. You were closed and Donghyuck felt your body leave a last breath and your body is now lifeless. "Baby? Baby?" Donghyuck called your name, his eyes scanning your lifeless body and he let out one last sob and cry. One last emotion from his shattered and dusted heart. "I love you so much" He cried out, leaning down to leave one last kiss to your forehead, his lips quivering as his tears mixed with the rain falling down.

Donghyuck let out his screams, his sobs, his whole heart poured out of him like the rain pouring itself on his body and yours. All the memories, all your smiles and laughs, all our times together of late night laughs, the soft sex and the way you two made love to one another was gone now. Everything was gone, he wouldn't see your face anymore, wouldn't wake up to you staring at him anymore and wouldn't be able to touch you anymore. You were gone, you are someone who would slowly fade away from existence.

"Haechan" His name came out from the harsh rain and his tears.

Donghyuck looked up from your body to see the familiar head of hair and strong face that was Taeyong. "What are you..." He was so confused why would he be here? He should have been away, why was he here? Wait, the bullet came out of no where, probably from a few feet away, maybe up in a building and Taeyong as here. Donghyuck's brows were furrowed with anger as he glared at Taeyong who held no remorse for what he did. "You did this? You did this!"

Taeyong shook his head, knowing that Donghyuck would be furious a him, but it was the only way. "It had to be done, she was going to kill you"

"Why would you do this?!" Donghyuck yelled into the air, Taeyong not flinching as he glanced at your body, he was so apathetic about the whole thing, he just killed his co workers wife in cold blood like it was another work day.

"I did what had to be done!" Taeyong exclaimed, his anger getting the best of him. Taeyong closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "I did what had to be done" He said once more, his voice calmed like his whole persona changed.

Donghyuck shook his head, his tears still falling from his eyes as he looked up at the man who he thought was his friend at least. "No, you didn't, no, you ruined her plans! You ruined us! You killed my wife!"

"She was going to kill you!" Taeyong yelled over Donghyuck's voice, his shoulders going tense as he looked at Donghyuck who was covered in your blood. Looking back at your lifeless body, all Taeyong could see was Mako, the girl who was their rival, the women who stole his kill a year ago, the women who was going to kill his co worker. "She was a Widow, she was Mako, the girl who stole all our kills, our money!"Taeyong yelled, looking back at Donghyuck who just sat there, his jaw open as his brain still clouding wrap around the idea that Taeyong killed his wife.

"I don't care who she was! I care that you killed my whole world!" Donghyuck yelled again, this whole conversation turning in of a screaming match in the rain.

Taeyong clenched his jaw, his body slightly leaning back in his stance, mostly in disbelief that Donghyuck didn't understand that you were going to kill him with no mercy. He didn't care that you had a plan, a second option, the first was to kill him and Taeyong didn't want that to happen, he couldn't let that happen.

"And she was going to kill her own. You" Taeyong pointed out, you were going to kill your world way before Taeyong would kill Donghyuck's.

a

Donghyuck's brain was spiraling, his thoughts funneling into one. His eyes glancing around, he found his stray gun just a mere free feet away from him. Donghyuck reached for it and pointed it at Taeyong who held his hands up calmly.

"Put the gun down" Taeyong said in a stern voice, calm and collected like he always as. The only emotion he ever showed as anger, and right now, he was so calm, so easy going and so annoying to Donghyuck.

"You killed her you killed her and you didn't even think...didn't even think about what that was gonna do to me" Donghyuck said, his voice getting breath as his mind as screaming at hm to pull the trigger. Taeyong did this, Taeyong did all of this and had no remorse no mercy and no sympathy for hm.

"Haechan, put the gun down" Taeyong orders again, but Donghyuck kept his up, pointing at his body as he clenched his jaw.

Donghyuck's tears dried up, the blood on his hand slowly getting washed away by the pouring rain that hadn't let up. Donghyuck didn't want to debate anymore, didn't talk anymore. He didn't abt to do anything anymore. All he wanted to do was go home, get in bed and sleep, wanted to smell your side of the bed, wanted to pretend that you had a late night at the office, pretend that you would come home any minute now. He'd fall asleep, wake up to feeing someone dare at him, only to open his eyes and see your face, your soft skinned face and watch how you closed your eyes since you got caught. And then, he would stare at you, stare at your nose, your eyelashes, your lips, how they were this perfect color that became his favorite. He'd watch how the sun wild seep through the curtains to wash over you in this beautiful warmth.

That's all he wanted, to see you in that state, that relaxed state that only he could see. He just wanted you back, hadn't even been an hour since he felt your soul leave your body and he already wanted you back in his arms, laughing without a care in the world.

"You killed her" He mumbled, his eyes going down to your body. You looked so peaceful, so relaxed with your eyes closed. You looked just like you did this morning, beautiful. "You killed her" He repeated.

Donghyuck's eyes tore away from your peaceful body to look back up at Taeyong who continued to stand there.

"So now you're gonna kill me?" Taeyong asked.

Was he? Was Donghyuck going to kill Taeyong? The guy who waited until he was in the field to do what he wanted to do for a year. Taeyong waited a year a fucking year until he saw you again. He just didn't think you were Haechan's wife, he didn't think you two had any ties until right now. However, he didn't feel bad, because at the end of the day, he got his revenge. Call him petty and all anyone wants, but Taeyong had a grudge against you and he promised himself he'd kill you one day and today was that day.

Did you want Donghyuck to kill Taeyong though? Yo avenge your death? Did you want that? Did Donghyuck even want that? He was the one holding the gun and he can't figure out if he wanted to kill Taeyong. Because deep down he did, he wanted to pull the trigger, but then his own wife would be in the same predicament like he was. Her husband dead and seeking revenge for the person who killed him and then it would be Taeyongs wife who'd be holding gun pointed at Donghyuck who held his hands up.

So, yeah, Donghyuck anted to kill him so badly, wanted to pull the trigger so many times until the gun ran out of bullets. But, would he feel satisfied? It wouldn't bring you back, you wouldn't come back from the dead, you'd still be in the other side and Donghyuck would still be here.

"I want to" Donghyuck admitted. "I want to shoot you so many times, but it won't bring her back" He mumbled out, throwing the gun away to his side.

"I'll call Mark to get clean up crew" Taeyong suggested, but Haechan quickly declined his suggestion.

"No, just get out of here before I regret not killing you" He said, his eyes in slits like a snake ready to attack.

"Hae—"

"Go!" Haechan yelled at him. Taeyong hesitated before turning around and leaving. Donghyuck looked back down at your body and pulled out his phone. Donghyuck’s phone began ringing as he waited for the other side to answer. "I need an ambulance, my wife's dead"

[starsinthesky5]

The real question is. Has Joe THOUGHT about proposing to songbird 😛. We know they’re nearing their one year but you know how it goes. When you know you know (to quote lana del rey)

───────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆───────

there isn't a day that goes by where joe isn't thinking about asking her to marry him. sometimes it was fleeting, a quick thought when she was laughing across the room, or when she curled up against him at night, fitting into his side like she was made to be there. sometimes it was heavier, a deep, aching kind of certainty that settled in his chest and stayed there, beating along with his heart.

july 31st was coming up....one year. a full year since they fell into each other’s lives like it had been written somewhere long before either of them even knew. and yeah, joe knew what people might say. it’s only been a year. you’re still in the honeymoon phase. you have all the time in the world.

but to him, a year wasn’t only anything. it was everything. it was enough mornings waking up with her curled into his chest, enough nights falling asleep to the sound of her voice, enough quiet afternoons spent doing nothing at all but still somehow making memories that would stay with him forever. it had been enough to realize what he wanted, what he’d been looking for without even knowing it.

it wasn’t even about the milestones. it wasn’t about the timeline or what anyone else might’ve thought—it was just them. her. only her. always her. it was the way she looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered, that he was the only thing that made sense in her life, the way she softened in his arms like she’d found home. the way she laughed when he was being stupid, the way she believed in him when he was doubting himself. the way her hand always found his without even thinking.

he’d never felt like this before. not even close. not even when he thought he had. because with her, everything was different—easy and bright and so alive he sometimes couldn’t believe it was real. she loved him like she already knew every broken, battered part of him and chose him anyway. he loved her like breathing: natural, necessary, something he couldn’t live without.

they were the definition of when you know, you know. no second guessing. no overthinking. just certainty, deep in his bones.

he caught himself thinking about it all the time (just like she was constantly day dreaming about their wedding) when she was humming under her breath while baking something, or tying her hair up messily on the couch, or singing to him in that soft, absentminded way she did when she thought he wasn’t really paying attention. he thought about it when she wore his clothes, when she cradled his face in her hands like he was something precious, when she held his hand while he drove and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles.

he thought about it every time she smiled at him like he was her whole world, because she didn’t even realize she was his.

he hadn’t bought a ring yet, but he’d looked. god, he’d looked even when he didn't really mean to. and sometimes, when the timing felt so perfect it almost hurt, he caught himself reaching for the pocket that wasn’t full yet. imagining it. her face. her tears. her hands shaking when she said yes. the life they’d build together, forever, because nothing had ever felt more right than her.

when you know, you know. and joe burrow knew. he’d never been more sure of anything in his life.

one year had been enough to understand that nothing he’d ever felt before compared to the way she made him feel, steady, seen, whole. enough to know that he wanted her by his side, through every season, every step in his career, every messy, beautiful moment life had to offer.

he didn’t want her just for a few more years. not just for the good times, or the highlight reels. he wanted her till the day he died. wanted to grow old with her, to see her laugh lines deepen, to hold her hand through every heartbreak and every triumph, to be hers in every possible way.

he looked at her sometimes, sitting there in the passenger seat of his car, hair whipping around in the breeze from the open window, swallowed up in his old athens high school hoodie, laughing like the joker at something dumb he said about how fish can’t drown, they can only suffocate if they stop moving and the water stops passing over their gills, and it hit him all over again, sharp and sudden, like a freight train to the chest.

it’s you. it’s always been you. and god, i can’t believe it took this long to find you.

one year. not nearly enough time to love her the way he wanted to. but the perfect beginning to the rest of their lives.

one day soon, he promised himself. one day soon, he’d ask her to be his for good. and she’d say yes he knew it, deep down where it mattered most. because whatever invisible thread tied them together, whatever magic had pulled her into his life, it was stronger than anything he’d ever known.

a lifetime still wouldn’t be enough for her. but he was damn sure gonna try.

[bigtreefest]

Missing You

Pairing: Husband! Jake Jensen x Wife! Reader (Newlyweds)

Summary: After two weeks of bliss on your honeymoon, you and Jake struggle in your return to work

Word count: 1,387

Content/warnings: swears, angst, poor pouty Jakey, vague mentions of military intelligence and defense as Jake’s job, fluff and happy ending, allusions to food consumption

A/N: This one’s for you, sweet Zombie and your recommendation of this scenario🫶🏼 @thezombieprostitute

Comments and reblogs are so appreciated. I love when you guys screech about Jakey with me!! Don’t be shy!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

When Jake finally proposed and got that ring on your finger, he thought the honeymoon phase was going to last forever. Even though everyone told him it wouldn’t, he had faith in just how much he loved you and how well you got along. And he was right, but they were, too…

It lasted right up until now. After two weeks of being plastered by your side on your honeymoon, Jake was struggling on his first day back at work. Your beachside bungalow was replaced by your apartment as you prepared the new home the two of you had just purchased, and the poolside lawn chair was substituted with an old office one in a military base basement. One thing he knew was that at least you were still getting along like the honeymoon phase, but real life responsibilities and geographic displacement were holding you apart.

The rude awakening that kickstarted these feelings wasn’t enjoyable, either. Jake stirred to the sound of buzzing on the bedside table a little past two this morning. He had no desire to answer, or remove an inch of his body from where it was pressed against and spooning yours, but in his blurry vision as he peered over his shoulder, he could tell that it was his work phone. They needed him to come in.

So, he gave you the sweetest kiss he could without waking you and dragged himself out of bed. It took him a good five minutes to slowly open the dresser drawers to get his uniform, which he left open just to decrease the chance of interrupting how peaceful you looked when you were asleep, and he jetted out the door.

He could get changed in the car, he could pick up something to eat quickly at the gas station on the way, even if the coffee was shit, and then he could storm into the base silently with the hope of finishing whatever defense coding they urgently needed before you got up to leave for work. He wished he could at least call you to say what was going on.

Except that didn’t happen.

Jake was stuck in that basement for hours. Whoever was creating these problems was now his fucking worst enemy for taking him away from his wonderful wife in the last period of potential bliss. And Jake was essentially in withdrawal after ten straight hours of counter-coding. There was no one for him to kiss after every little win, no one to hug when he was getting stressed and overwhelmed, and most of all, no one to laugh and talk with. Everyone was just so focused on the mission at hand. Which he understood, he knew what he signed up for, and how important his work was, but it still sucked.

You weren’t faring much better.

You had fallen asleep quickly the night before, exhausted from traveling back home with Jake, and easily relaxing in his arms the second your heads hit the pillows. But somewhere in the middle, sleep became elusive. You tossed and turned, your dreams were stressful, and finally, you’d had enough, getting up an hour before your alarm had been set to go off.

As you sat up and looked around, you saw Jake’s side of the bed made neatly, probably in an attempt to keep you warm. On his nightstand, both his personal and work phone were gone, and so were his glasses. Two dresser drawers sat open, the ones for his underwear and work clothes.

He must’ve had to jet out quickly at some point last night, which made sense. You knew there was an aspect of unpredictability to his life, but you didn’t expect for it to hit this quickly after the honeymoon. Not even 24 hours had gone by since you’d gotten back.

After you took your time getting ready for your own workday, you shuffled out to the kitchen, where your suspicions were confirmed by a small sticky note pressed on the counter. Jake had been gone for hours by now based on the time, so whatever the issue was must’ve been pretty bad. And he probably didn’t text for fear of waking you up, which was sweet of him, but hurt a little bit.

For the first time in two weeks, you wouldn’t be on Jake’s lap while enjoying your morning coffee, you couldn’t feed each other bites of fruit over breakfast. How had you come to miss domestic life with him so quickly when he was away, when it hadn’t even really started yet?

There was no use in calling him now to check in, either. He had to keep his personal phone in the car while he worked, away from the bunker to prevent data breaches. But at this point, you might as well go to work and hope he got home at a decent hour.

Jake was gonna lose it. Fourteen hours at a computer screen was too much, but he’d finally put enough bandages on the issue that he could leave for the day and trust whoever was coming in for the night watch to maintain it before he came in tomorrow for an actual shift.

Those last four hours especially were killer. Jake couldn’t even call you when he knew you’d be taking a lunch break. In his younger years, he would’ve happily jumped at an offer for overtime and even worked over 24 hours, but now he had a wife to get home to. You, his best friend, were abandoned with hardly a word, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to go through life like this after having a taste of being by your side without breaks.

He couldn’t send himself into that sort of crisis right now, though. His first priority was getting home for you.

You walked through the door of your apartment with two large paper bags and a drink carrier in hand. You went straight the kitchen of the small, open-concept area to drop them off before finally looking up to the living room couch. There laid your husband, asleep with glasses and boots still on, legs still wearing camo pants. His jacket was tossed over the back cushions, tan shirt still on, hugging his biceps almost as tightly as he was clutching a small plushie in his arms. One that he’d gotten for you, in fact, to match the first time he’d called you-

“Love Dove?”

His voice was raspy, eyes still closed, but he didn’t need them to feel your presence as you quickly made your way over to him, brushing a hand over his hair.

“Hi, Jakey Bear. Long day, huh?”

He nodded, a soft pout taking over his face as his long eyelashes fluttered and he looked up at you.

“Yeah. Sorry for leaving you so early.”

You leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, and one tenderly to his lips.

“No need to apologize, I get it. I’m the one who’s sorry that you had such a crappy day. You get to eat much?”

His pout deepened, eyes in full-on puppy dog mode, as he shook his head.

“No. Had to work straight through, and then I just came home right after.”

He groaned as you helped him sit up, his arms still cradling the small plushie as he pressed his head into your shoulder so you could comfortingly run your fingers through his hair just the way he liked.

“My poor baby,” you cooed at him as he nodded against you. “Well, the good news is that I foresaw this and brought back your favorite.”

Jake gasped and his eyes went wide, a smile growing on his tired face as he looked at you in awe, nearly erasing the bags under his eyes.

“Taco Bell?!”

You smiled and pointed to the kitchen where Jake was already spotting his Baja Blast sitting on the counter. He peered back at you with a dopey smile.

“I ever tell you how much I love you?”

“Every day, but I’ll never get tired of it.”

He leaned in and pressed his forehead against yours.

“Good. Because I’ll never stop. Thank you, Dovey. Now… you wanna come Lady and the Tramp a burrito with me…please?”

Bonus a/n: he’s such a mush🥺

Taglist: @hawkeyes-queen @ronearoundblindly @mercurial-chuckles @steviebbboi @thiquefunlover63

[webslingingslasher]

IM GLAD YOURE GOOD <333

also whilst we’re here. you know how girls get scary horny right before their periods? like i need to be tied to a tree like a wolf when im ab to get mine JDJDJDJ

peters never had a gf before trouble and the first time it happens he fr thinks he’s in HEAVEN. he doesn’t understand but she’s just on him 24/7 and he’s living for it. but also confused bc he can’t think of what he’s done differently to have u pouncing on him 24/7 but he’s not complaining djdjdnd

BOYFRIEND FRAT!PETER LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO

-i've literally had this done for like two months but i got scared and let it collect dust. not anymore bby!!!-

for the fourth time today, peter tilted his shoulder towards his face to sniff his shirt. it smells just fine, it's clean cotton. he didn't get a new fabric softener so it couldn't be that, and it's not like he got a new cologne or soap.

peter couldn't place it, but something about him lately has you absolutely feral. especially today, he almost had to peel you away from his skin so he could go to class.

'i missed you so much,' you moved quicker than peter's ever seen, his feet haven't even come to a stop on the pavement before you're kissing him.

it becomes more sensual than he's willing to provide in public.

'it was an hour, trouble. what'd you do, wait for me?' peter meant it in a teasing way, he didn't expect you to nod quickly. 'yes. you're about to open your instagram to thirty messages, i'm so sorry.'

your palms race over his arms, something about him seems ultra soft today. in the least joking way possible, he really does feel like boyfriend material. and he was all yours.

'did you know i love you? like, so much.' he did, but he still loves to have a reminder. 'i love you so much it's uncool.' you've got a glazed look in your eye.

peter knows that look and if he's being honest, he's done nothing to deserve it. the last two days you haven't been able to keep your hands off him.

is this what people mean by the honeymoon phase?

'i love you too, trouble. what's got you so mushy recently?'

puffed cheeks, no regard and absolutely no reason to hold back. 'i just really wanna fuck you.' peter takes a sharp breath, something about you being bold makes his knees weak. it must be his desire to please.

'i would, i really, really would...' with gentle scratches up and down the back of your arm, you know he's setting you up for a no. you whine and pout up at him.

'no! you're not allowed! just say yes, please say yes!'

it's literally tearing him up inside. 'baby, i'm already going to be late for my library session. i also have a chapter meeting tonight.'

'do you really-'

'yes.' there was no way he'd be budging on that one. peter made you know you were number one priority, frat responsibilities sat right under you.

if he was suggesting you'd have to wait until late, or worse, the next day, you'd die.

'what about after the library? before the meeting?'

peter's never seen you so persistent. he really doesn't know what he's done, but he won't complain one bit. he'll be a little crunched for time, but that's no reason to let you down.

'if we use your dorm, yes, i think we can make it work.'

peter’s forced to balance himself, you attacked him with a bear hug and nuzzled into his chest. ‘thank you, thank you, thank you! i’ll tell my roommate right now!’

seconds tick. he’s already late and you’re not moving, keeping him in your grasp while your thumbs fly across your phone to send out a message.

‘trouble, you’re making me late.’ because you’d be offended if he pushed you away.

a finger is held up, ramped texting takes priority. ‘trouble,’ the second you feel yourself pushed to the side you huff up at him. 'don't toss me off to the side like i'm some toy, i'm your girlfriend.'

'you're not a toy, you're just not listening, therefore making me late.'

your arms cross over your chest, 'fine. whatever, go.' peter is nowhere in the wrong, but you're making him feel like he is. if this was before, he could just walk away. but now, he has to pause and address your concerns.

he's still adjusting to boyfriend duties.

'don't get mad with me, i'm being very nice.' he is, he even let you gently bully him into getting him into your room in an hour and a half. you hold your stance, it takes a few seconds, but he catches on.

'you're not mad, you're pouty. don't be pouty, you're gonna see me in an hour.'

a toddler grumble, 'i'm gonna miss you too much.'

peter really doesn't know where the sudden desperation came from, he really needs to check in with you, but if he's any later, he's gonna piss off a whole room of people.

'i'll miss you too, trouble.' it appeases you enough, you finally allow him to pass. peter isn't able to go a full three steps until you tell him to wait, he realizes his mistake.

'sorry, c'mere.' three quick kisses, you make it hard to pull away. 'love you,' he allows you to sneak another kiss. 'love you too, petey.'

—-

one thing you loved about peter was that he was always on time, at least for you he was. just like he promised, he was at your door an hour and a half later with a hand on his stomach.

‘i’m missing dinner for this, i could be having a nice catered meal with the boys, but no, it wasn’t allowed.’

‘that’s very kind of you, handsome.’

‘i just needed to let you know, you know, in case i go lethargic or my stomach starts growling.’

‘as long as you don’t pass out on top of me, gerald’s game scared me.’ peter holds his fingers up in a scouts honor, ‘i promise.’ it’s all it takes, you reach for his shirt, clenching the fabric, you tug him in. shutting the door and slamming him against it, your lips on his in a minute.

peter’s mind is spinning, he’s never been pushed up against a wall. it feels nice, it’s a good feeling to know someone wants him so badly a tinge of aggression comes with it.

your kisses trail over his jawline, you’ve never been so desperately horny in your entire life, something about him has you dialed to ten recently. it could be the impending period, but that just feels like a fraction of the reason.

feeling slightly guilty you’ve ruined his meal plan, you pull back, just for a second to rip his shirt off. when his skin is shown, your hands race over it, he’s toned, and tanned, and down right delicious.

you scatter kisses over his chest, peering up at him. ‘are they saving you a plate?’ peter looks down, he’s lost at your words. you’re asking about plates while worshiping his body?

‘huh?’ a trail of wet marks across his collarbone.

‘dinner. are they saving you a plate?’

how do you expect him to answer while you nibble a bruise on the bottom of his neck? ‘i don’t…’ peter takes a sharp inhale, he never knew he had a sweet spot until you found it. it’s behind his ear, and he has to lean down, just slightly, but it’s so, so worth it.

‘i don’t know, probably not. guys don’t think about stuff like that.’

you pull away with a pop, raising your thumb to brush over the red mark. ‘hold on,’ you turn for your phone abandoned on your bed, on the walk over you take your own shirt off.

it’s a quick text and a quicker response, your guilty conscience cleared. ‘done. ethan said he’ll save you one.’

‘my hero.’

you jump to your bed, shimmying your pants off before sitting up on your knees, you get into position, shaking your hips at your boyfriend before arching slightly.

‘are we thinking doggy?’

peter’s still stuck to the door, ‘you wanna start with doggy? what happened to foreplay?’

you move to your back to tug your underwear off, you were only following his words. ‘you said we would be strapped for time, i’m making it easier.’

‘by blowing past the most important thing and having me jam it into you?’

you narrow your eyes at him, ‘once upon a time you didn’t care about foreplay.’

‘that’s old peter, he’s dead.’

‘let’s revive him.’

peter finally steps away from the door, he feels ten times warmer. his arms move around like he’s trying to clear the air, ‘alright, hold on, we need to talk.’

four words that are forced to put the night on pause, he could wait for a heart to heart after. ‘let’s not.’ you reach for his jeans, he steps out of reach. ‘peter! you were the one that said it would be a time crunch, i’m doing my best here, let’s go.’

‘not until you tell me why you’re so possessive lately. this whole week, you can’t get enough of me. what’s going on?’

peter’s starting to think you have some doubts running through your head and if you have enough of yourself to him he’d stick around. it’s a bogus idea but you’ve done it before to him, maybe it’s worse because there’s more to lose now with the title.

‘i’m horny.’ there wasn’t much else to add. he’s just made you wildly needy this entire week, but peter wasn't buying it. with crossed arms he waited until you really told him what was going on.

you groan, the quicker you explain, the quicker you get what you wanted. 'fine, what do you know about the menstrual cycle?'

'as little as possible.' while he's slightly more knowledgeable than most men his age, everything he's learned has been against his will.

'great. i just got off mine two weeks ago, i'm ovulating, aka, my body wants a baby real bad. not just any baby, your baby, that's why i'm so horny for you.' you hope it's enough to appease him, you shuffle around on the bed.

'fucking in this bed sucks.' there's little room for peter but you did what you could with the space you had. 'also, expect this monthly. cause, it's gonna be your problem now that you're my boyfriend.'

peter breathes deep, 'that has got to be... the best problem i've ever had in my entire life.' peter moves so quickly your head spins, he's on his knees in front of the bed while you're pulled to the edge.

kisses up the inside of your thigh has you pulling at his hair, 'peter, you're gonna be late.' you suck in hair as he nibbles on your skin. 'we don't have time for this.'

it pauses him, peter looks up into your eyes, a cocky smirk forms. 'my girl has a primal urge, and it's my job to take care of it.' 

[nadvs]

the power play is one of the best fics I’ve ever read. Like seriously. I love the way you write dialogue and the dynamic between those two :)) for the blurbs, I was wondering if we could see more of how reader adjusts to their new relationship. though they’ve been doing the fake thing for a while now, do you think she gets hesitant about what to ask for in a relationship since this is her first one? like does she have a hard time telling rafe what she wants, whether that’s emotionally or physically? no pressure at all, but if you’d be interested in writing a little blurb that explores that dynamic, I’d be eternally grateful 🫶

thank you 🥹 writing their dialogue was my fav part!! omg you read my mind. this is why she needs sm reassurance once they start dating for real. it doesn’t go away on its own. and we know he has his own issues 😬 set in the power play au.

at the beginning of their relationship, they’re in a total honeymoon phase. arguments are rare and usually shallow and get resolved quickly, because they have a good understanding of one another.

but eventually, they start arguing more, and the fights get harder to resolve. she gets to a point where she’s so in love with him that it scares her, and she starts to think that she cares more about him than he does about her.

rafe gives her all the reassurance he can, but he starts to feel like he’s failing as a boyfriend if his girl is asking if he even likes her as often as she does.

and it’s a fear of his, not being enough. he starts getting defensive, leading her to spiral more. she worries she’s asking for too much, or maybe that she doesn’t even know how to ask for it in the right way.

on top of that, rafe has crazy bad insecurity. he gets horribly jealous at times. he knows how charming his girlfriend is and in his darkest times, he thinks she’s only with him because she could get along with anyone, and he was just there at the right time.

she doesn’t take his jealousy well. she tries to communicate to him that she needs him to trust her, but again, she doesn’t know what’s ‘normal’ and she second guesses herself a lot as they get more serious.

their differences are both good and bad, because they challenge each other, but they show love in opposite ways. he shows her he cares with actions, while she’s all about words, wanting to hear that she’s loved.

they have a lot to work though, but she eventually finds a balance of asking for reassurance from him, while also improving her own self-esteem so she doesn’t have to rely on him to make her feel worthy of love.

they both entered the relationship with very damaged hearts, and with time, they realize they can’t rely on the other to fix all the pain. they have work they have to do on themselves and sometimes, they need time apart to do that.

[marauder-misprint]

congratulations on 200 !! You deserve all of em and many more♡ how about "forgive me, but I'm not feeling very patient right now." with Remus

Thank you!!!! I was debating between possessive Remus and protective Remus and went with possessive for the angst

Honeymoon phase

Remus Lupin x fem!reader

part 2

1.7k words

cw: angst, teeny bit of fluff, not happy ending (oopsie), Moony being possessive

The full moon was drawing near. You didn’t know its significance besides what theories you learned in Divination and Astronomy. It was just a phase of the moon for you, a marking of the passage of time. You didn’t know how it affected your new boyfriend. 

It was a very new relationship that you were still adjusting to. Your friendship with Remus had started one day in the library as you worked on assignments at the same table. No words had been exchanged, but there were occasional glances and smiles. And then you both made a habit of sitting at that table. ‘Hellos’ and ‘see yous’ occurred and then you weren’t sitting on opposite ends of the table anymore, now sitting across from each other. That was followed with quiet small talk and questions by the homework, which slowly grew into banter and true friendship. It was good and fine until you started to feel yourself falling for him and his quiet mannerism. You hid it well, almost too well. Remus was beyond nervous when he asked if you would maybe, perhaps, feel free to say no, absolutely no worries, like to go to Hogsmeade with him. You had eagerly agreed and after that first Hogsmeade trip, you started to hang out outside of the library. Another Hogsmeade trip and he asked if you would want to be his girlfriend. 

You were determined to not be one of those girls who completely abandoned their friends when they got a boyfriend. You liked Remus’ friends. They were nice to you and funny. Sure, they teased you and Remus but that’s what guys did. It’s what girls did too. Your friends would laugh when Remus called out for you and you would immediately gather your things so you could spend time with him. 

Remus had been extra touchy this week. You didn’t mind. You assumed it was just him becoming more comfortable with your relationship and showing it off. He seemed to always have an arm around you or be holding your hand. He was glued to your side. 

“Sit by me at dinner?” Remus whispers into your ear as you leave the library together.

His arm was around your shoulders, holding your firm into his side. 

“We just spent all day together,” you say. “I was going to eat with my friends.”

He frowns. “Please, dove? I’ll miss you too much.”

Then he gives you a pouty face. 

“Don’t give me that face, baby,” you coo, reaching up to squeeze his face.

He doesn’t relent.

“You know I can’t say no to that face.”

“That I do know,” he says.

“I’ll eat with you. I’ll just swing by and tell them when we get to the Great Hall.”

Remus beams and gives you a squeeze. You pull away from him once you two get there. You veer to where your friends are sitting and he goes to where his are. The obvious solution of having your friends sit with his wasn’t an option since yours weren’t a fan of the Marauders, having been victim to one too many pranks. While you hover around your friends, taking part in some conversation, Remus watches you.

“Mate, she’ll be here in a second,” Sirius says, reaching over the table to shove Remus’ shoulder. 

“She said she’d just swing by. Why is she lingering?”

“Moony,” Sirius says calmly. “She’s talking to her friends.”

“It’s not like she’s sitting down and eating with them. Ah, see! Here she comes!” James says.

Remus’ face lights up as you say bye to your friends and turn to find Remus. Your friends are a bit disappointed that you’re eating with him again, but they chalk it up to being in love. The honeymoon phase, they called it. Once it wore off and you were just in a relationship, rather than a fresh relationship, you wouldn’t be so stuck on each other. 

As soon as you sit down next to Remus, he places a kiss on your cheek and you giggle.

“Missed you,” he mumbles against your skin.

“I was barely gone, what, five? ten? minutes?” 

“Doesn’t matter. Missed you.”

You shake your head with a smile. He was being dramatic, but, just like with the increased touching, you didn’t mind. 

“Everything alright?” you ask the boys.

“Now you’re here, yes. Moony can stop moping,” Peter says.

“I don’t think you’re allowed to leave his side,” Sirius teases.

You laugh, thinking they’re being as dramatic as Remus. “Ah, too bad we’re our own people. Right, Remus?”

Remus gives you a weak smile but squeezes your hand. 

“Yeah,” he says softly. 

“Have any of you done that Charms essay yet? I need someone other than Remus to read it,” you ask the table. You’d ask your friends but with how brief your visit to the group was, you didn’t want to bring up homework.

“Yeah, I can read it. Remus go too easy on you?”

“He’s convinced I’m a genius.”

“Because you are!” Remus protests. 

“And so are you, but I still read your essays and actually give notes.”

He shakes his head. “Your essay doesn’t need notes.”

“Guess I’m the new judge of that,” James says with a smirk.

Remus shoots a brief glare at James for suggesting that your work needs comments. He feels a burning in his chest. He wants to tell James to not bother reading your essay; it was perfect as it is. Remus wants to tell James that you don’t need him for anything, you have Remus and that’s all you need. 

“Mate, you good?” Sirius asks as he gives Remus a swift kick under the table. 

Remus tilts his head far enough to the side to crack it. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“Yeah, okay.” 

You look from Sirius to Remus and back to Sirius. A small look of confusion crosses your face. It disappears as quickly as it appears though. Peter takes control of the conversation by complaining about the most recent Herbology assignment and how Professor Sprout was just giving them busy work. You agree with him. The worksheets she’s been handing out are almost as bad as when professors assign you to copy passages straight out of the textbook. 

Remus puts a hand on your knee and gives it a squeeze. You give him a smile. It was nice to feel him be so comfortable with you. And it wasn’t like he was showing you off with this simple gesture. It was more of a grounding touch, like he just needed to touch you to know that you were there because of him and you wouldn’t be going anywhere. And that’s why you smiled. 

You think it’s all romantic. The touching and small bit of possessiveness that he’s been showing. Your friends’ description of it being the honeymoon phase supports it. But it increases. It gets to the point where he practically has an iron grip on you at all times. His touches are more firm and he’s never the first to let go or pull back. You had to physically remove his arm from around you so you could use the loo. You could feel yourself growing a bit agitated. 

Once again, he insisted that you eat dinner with him, rather than your friends. You protested, saying you hadn’t seen much of your friends, but then he pouted. Your weakness. So you relented and ate with the boys. You suggest a walk after dinner. Just to get some fresh air. Remus likes the idea. He likes spending time alone with you, and walks are romantic. 

His stomach sinks when your friends call out your name as you’re about to leave the Great Hall with him. 

“Rems, I’ll be right back!” you say, dropping his hand and hurrying over to your friends. 

He watches you go, anger boiling his blood. Why did you need to go talk to them all the time? Couldn’t you just spend time with him? Could your friends not see you were going somewhere with him? 

A hand clamps down on his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts and forcing his blood to simmer down. 

“You sure you’re good?” Sirius asks, giving him a stern look.

“Yes, Padfoot. I’m fine.”

“You know the full moon’s tomorrow night, yeah?”

“Yes, Padfoot.”

“As long as you know…”

Remus returns to staring at you as Sirius walks away with James and Peter. He’s too focused on you to hear their muttering about his behavior. It was his first full moon with a girlfriend. Certainly his neediness toward you was connected. 

You’re still talking to your friends. The conversation is getting louder by the second and you’re laughing. He can’t take it. He was promised a nice, romantic walk with you and here you are, wasting time. He stalks up to you and throws a casual arm around your shoulders, like he always does. 

“Ready to go, love?” he asks.

“Just one second, Remus. Be patient.” Your tone is light and airy. You’re enjoying the gossip your friends had to share with you before you disappeared off with Remus until it was curfew. 

“Forgive me, but I’m not feeling very patient right now,” Remus growls into your ear.

You shirk away from his arm, turning your whole body toward him. Your friends give the two of you questioning looks.

“Excuse me?”

“Just, let’s go.”

“No,” you say firmly. “I’m talking to my friends and I asked you to be patient.”

“I have been.”

You scoff. “No, you haven’t.”

“Love, come on. Let’s just go.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You can go.” Your expression turns to hurt. “And don’t bother talking to me when you are feeling patient again. I don’t think I’ll have anything to say to you.”

Remus stares at you. Confusion is etched into his scarred features. When he doesn’t move, you give your friends a look before turning to walk away. They follow you, each giving Remus looks of confusion greater than his. They didn’t understand what caused you to snap but you had just broken up with Remus. They are shocked that the relationship didn’t make it out of the honeymoon phase.

[that-student-that-has-homework]

Matching - Portgas D. Ace

Find more of my work here: Tumblr MasterList

This is a little idea I had for a larger Ace fanfic I'm working on. I might revise this! Please let me know if he's in character or not...I'm starting to have my doubts.

It had been the better part of a week. No, maybe a whole week at this point. While before you’d spend most of your free time around him, now you were constantly “busy.” Heck sometimes he even finds it difficult to find you on the Moby Dick! Was this the end of the honeymoon phase everyone warned him about?

Were you starting to get tired of him?

You kept sneaking around...without him! Before you used to sneak around together! Worse still is…every time he pops up to see you, you always seem like you're hiding something. It's like quickly stashed papers, and tightly clenched fists. It’s the way you spin on your heel, and tense up, when you used to not do that at all.

What was maddening was how when the evenings would hit, or even at random parts of the day, you’d run and crash into him with a huge hug. You’d beam at him bright and genuine just upon seeing him, heck you’d be practically vibrating with joy as you’d squeeze the life out of him. He’d almost turned to fire once.

Maybe you weren’t tired of him?

When you did cuddle with him, your eyes seemed to linger on the tattoo on his arm. He’d even woken up to you tracing it with your finger once before. You’d looked sheepish that he’d caught you admiring it…actually you looked a little…panicked too…

You’d squirmed in his grasp when he asked you about it. Saying things like how it’s pretty, and how it’s a tattoo unique to him, so you were admiring it. You're pretty good at dodging his line of questioning whenever he voices his suspicions about your behavior. You were also incredibly sneaky about distracting him with your affections, and by the time he’s regained his original line of thought, you’d already be gone. 

There's something fishy in the air and it's not the sea king he caught the other day.

He only finds out what it is you'd been scheming behind his back when he gets back from a mission. He was so distracted for most of it. He couldn’t figure out why you were so clearly avoiding him sometimes…were you having second thoughts? What was going on? Was this an elaborate prank?

He was still in a daze as he made his way back to the Moby Dick. You used to bring peace, yet right now you’d thrown him into turmoil. He hated the way he was doubting you. He hated not knowing what was wrong.

“Hey look Ace’s back!”

“How’d it go champ?”

“Aaaaaaacee!” It was your voice that pulled him back completely.

He’d barely had a moment to look up than you’d thrown yourself on him with a hug. The force of it all almost send him toppling backwards. His hat had been knocked off his head, and he could feel the press of its medallion on his throat. He's relieved at how genuinely happy you are to see him, yet still an unease twists up his stomach in knots.

You pull away much too quickly, pulling his arms and rotating them, checking for any damage. The way you're checking up on him to make sure he's not hurt and that he's okay floods his entire system with warmth. Yet he can't help the constriction in his chest and the nagging as to what it was that had you sneaking around before he left if you missed him this badly?

He can hear the crew laughing at the obvious display of affection.

“Being bold there little missy,” they taunt you.

You shrink in on yourself a bit, embarrassment catching up to you. However when you take his hand in yours, and whistles and cheers break out, “I was doing it for Ace,” the timidity in the lines of your shoulders and face brings the heat to his own face, “I thought he might like it.”

He squeezes your hand in his. Yet his brain screams at him, then what was all that sneaking around about?

Unsure how to deal with things, he just studies you closely as you ask him about how things went and how the mission was. You're not up to anything really, or at least it doesn't seem like it. You're as attentive and engaged as ever, things are just as they used to be before.

You drag him to the kitchen, knowing he must be hungry as he usually is after a mission. You even sit with him in your little corner of the mess hall while he eats, something you hadn’t done much prior to his departure. He's talking to you about the guy with the interesting abilities that he'd fought with his mouth full, and you're indulging him.

Yet even as he tries to fall into your old pattern, the confusion only festers further. What had been going on with you?

He feels absolutely awful, doubting you with the way you’re listening to him like he's the most interesting guy in the world. To be fair, to you, he really is. He keeps talking and chewing and answering your questions, yet the thing he really wants to talk about is bubbling just below the surface. Somehow all the tension and excitement peaks and he goes head first into his plate of food.

When he finally comes back to, there’s no food on his face, and he’s resting on his arms on the dinner table, his plate off to his side. You’re still next to him, gently brushing your fingers through his hair, patiently de-tangling any clumps you come across. He groans while sitting up and blinking the sleep away.

“You’re up,” you observe aloud, “here let me clear these out of the way for you.”

You get up from beside him, unthinkingly pulling your sleeves up your forearms, and reach for the plates around him. He notices something odd about one of your hands as you walk away with the stack of plates in your hands, but before he can say much you're already on your way to the kitchen counter. He watches you, lethargically shoving food in his mouth as you hand the dishes over to Thatch, who looks at your hands, then looks his way for a moment with an amused grin.

He could actually hear the next thing as the cook raised his voice, “nah leave those dishes to me, go hang out with your loverboy.”

Had the pirate not shoved you away with a plate of food in hand, Ace got the feeling you would have pointedly ignored Thatch’s teasing to do the dishes. You walked back, your brow and lips pursed in a kind of indignation. He couldn’t help the little huff of amusement. You’d gotten much better at handling their teasing over time, but he wouldn’t deny it was cute how it would get to you sometimes.

You took a seat beside him again, sliding the plate the cook had given you towards him. Your…well he could only hope he was still really your beloved, just stared at you in silence as he chewed. For some reason it made you squirm.

That’s it. He’d had enough. He has to figure this out. You’d said it yourself, it’s really important to communicate things! That’s how relationships last!

“You’ve been real weird lately,” was what came out as he grabbed the new plate of food, “you been avoiding me?”

His brow furrowed at the way your gaze immediately fell, taking your expression with it, and how you began to fidget with your fingers - a nervous - wait. Ace’s hand extended to grab your left one, bringing it up to his face.

There on your left wrist, right where your pulse sat, in black ink sat the letters ASCE, arranged horizontally and smaller, but a perfect replica of his own otherwise. Instinctively he rubbed his thumb across it, almost as though he was checking to make sure this wasn’t an illusion and that wasn’t just normal ink from a pen.

You were looking back at him, he could see it in the way your shoulders bunched near your ears, and the wobble of your lips, and how you couldn’t keep eye contact for too long, but kept glancing back at him…you were nervous. He absentmindedly began drawing circles on your wrist, just staring at you.

“I was avoiding you, I guess,” you admitted, “I was hoping to surprise you with that,” your free hand moved to play with the hem of your shirt, as you shrunk even more, “was it presumptuous of me? Should I have asked first?”

“For a second I thought I’d managed to chase you away,” he admitted quietly, looking back down at the mark of permanence you’d etched into your skin, “that you’d gotten sick of me.”

You snatched your hand away before he could think, moving in to embrace him, “get sick, of you? Then I’d be a tasteless heathen or…whatever, unworthy of you- totally - completely - absolutely unworthy of you!”

Your arms tighten around him, “I’m so sorry I put you through that love.”

“All that sneaking around was for this tattoo?” He couldn’t help the involuntary little crack in his voice. “You really did surprise me darlin’.”

He pulls away from you first and his hands find your wrists, and his eyes again fall onto the symbol, the symbol of him, lovingly tattooed into your skin. A mark to let people know just who put the ring on your finger. 

He didn’t look up from it, even when you spoke up again, “Ace,” he just traced circles over the mark that sat proudly in bold black letters, “I’m really sorry that I made you feel that way - wait does that sound? It’s not-no wait. It’s my fault!” He glanced up at you for a moment as you struggled to put what you wanted to say into words, working strenuously to apologize sincerely.

His lips wobbled upwards.

He couldn’t help it.

You’d gone out of your way, to tattoo his mark onto your body. He couldn’t help but stare at it as he continued to rub circles with his thumb. Not only that, you were straining yourself so much all because he voiced that damned insecurity of his.

“I didn’t mean to put you through that?” You tried again. “I wanted it to be a surprise, but I didn’t want to hurt you.” You paused, and he felt you move closer. “I’m sorry if what I did hurt you-no-I’m sorry that I did hurt you.”

There was a pricking at the corners of eyes, as he finally took his eyes off your little gift to him to look at you. There was a kind of relief, or maybe it was appreciation? Maybe even a tinge of surprise? He was touched, that was one thing he knew for sure-if the fire that burned in his chest was any indication. He was a sick bastard for appreciating this, wasn’t he? Seeing you so genuinely apologetic - it was alarming really, did he really deserve this apology when he was doubting you? How could he ever hope to compete with this?

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, doll,” his voice was uncharacteristically quiet as he continued to rub circles into your wrists.

“No I do,” you insisted, “Ace, I’m happy you’re communicating how you felt to me,” you responded quietly, but firmly, “so don’t downplay how it felt when I was the one being sneaky.”

“You didn’t mean any harm though,” his lips pull into a gentle smile as he slowly brings your tattooed pulse up to brush his lips against it before flicking his gaze to meet yours, “you were here prepping this lovely gift for me and I was only thinking of myself.”

A smirk tugs at his lips at the way you have to shake yourself out of whatever spell he’d placed you under, “just because I didn’t mean any harm, doesn’t mean I didn’t do any harm,” you press on, shuddering a bit when he brushes another kiss to your pulse, “if you did the same, I’d probably have felt the same way too, you have nothing to feel bad about.”

“Forgive me for doubting you, cariña?”

He almost laughs at the affronted look you give him, firing back a, “forgive me for hurting you, love?”

“Nothing to forgive,” he’s smiling more now, “I’m glad you were being so sneaky, made this surprise all the better.”

“Don’t downplay your feelings Portgas D. Ace,” he could hear your frown, “your feelings are important to me, you’re important to me.”

“My full name cariña?” He couldn’t help but tease.

“Yes,” you answered immediately and he looked up to see how upset you looked - it was almost annoying - he’d rather not dwell, “I want you to get just how upset you were off your chest.”

That got a chuckle out of him, despite the irritation that was rising.

“I don’t want to think about it too much,” his smile fell for a moment, “I don’t want to ruin this happy moment with stupid emotions in the past.”

“But I don’t want them to fester-” 

“Mi amor,” he looked at you, almost pleading, “it’s true I felt like you were ignoring me, but seeing your little surprise makes me the happiest man on the five seas.”

Seems that was enough to quiet you. Though… “six, if you include the All Blue.”

When you chuckled at him, he felt his smile returning. He honestly couldn’t care less about the past. He’d said his piece, you’d talked it out, he didn’t care anymore.

“So, you know I love you right?” The timid way in which you asked was enough to knock the wind out of him.

Yet, he grinned, and brought your marked pulse up to lips again, “I love you too.”

“Oi get a room!” The two of you startled at the sudden shout coming from the other end of the mess hall. “Sure we can barely see you in your little corner, but the lovey-dovey energy in here is off the charts!”  

“Shut up Thatch!” Ace fired back. “You’re just mad you can’t gossip to Marco about it!”

“You’re the one blocking the show!”

“Good!”

“It’s real funny though,” there was a pause, “who’d have thought the wild Fire Fist was actually a huge pile of mush!”

With the newfound yelling, people started to file into the mess hall. Which was when he noticed it was mostly empty prior to that. Of course among the people who filed in was the aforementioned first division commander.

“You like your little surprise Ace?” He asked the younger man.

“Wait you knew?”

“Who else would she ask yoi?” The medic gave him a lazy grin before turning to you. “So, did you get to say what you wanted to say yoi?”

Ace studied you as you shook your head looking both disappointed and sheepish.

“What did you want to say?” He couldn’t help but ask.

You huffed, a sheepish smile wobbling your lips, as you moved to his left side, your right hand pushing his upper arm to show more of his tattoo.

"See,” you held up your own tattooed wrist next to his arm, “now we match."

Extra:

Ace later: “I’m gonna marry her.”

Marco (who is next to him): “aren’t you already married?”

[kyeomkuppie]

Happy beginning.

Pairing: Dokyeom x gn!reader

Genre: fluff

Synopsis: nobody has ever and will ever love you as much as he does.

Sometimes you found yourself thinking about love and what it was. Pretty cliché, but was it supposed to feel so warm?

You always thought that it was supposed to be hard, full of suffering so you could eventually get your "happy ending." So back then you didn't question your past experiences.

You always thought that the heated arguments and the often given silent treatment was a part of it all, part of being loved and being in love; so when you and Dokyeom first started dating, you were confused.

Why was he being so sweet? Nah, it's just the honeymoon phase. Why isn't he mad when you made a mistake? Was this normal?

One moment you were thankful, and the other you were worried that this will only last a little while, but it has been a bit more than a year since you started dating and he has never changed, not a bit.

He would always try his best to make you laugh. Instead of arguing he would talk it out, no matter what the problem was. He would ask for your opinion on every little thing. He would wake you up gently with kisses and hugs while whispering sweet good mornings into you ear.

On days you were upset he would come to your rescue with a huge tub of ice cream and your favorite snacks, hugging you to his chest and telling you everything was gonna be fine. That he'll always be there for you, no matter what.

And he'd never let you sleep while upset. He'd always want to resolve any issues before you go to bed so you could both go to sleep cuddled into each other's arms.

With every minute that passes his affection gets stronger and warmer and it makes you feel all jumbled and confused because what does he see in you for him to love you this much, to treat you this well?

And when you were both watching a sappy romance movie, you decided to ask a question that has confused you for the past few months.

"Kyeom, what do you like about me this much?"

He immediately looked at you like you were speaking gibberish. What do you mean? This is the dumbest question ever. Is there something not to like about you?

"No- I mean like, you treat me so well and you're literally the best boyfriend ever but is there really something that I had done that makes me deserve all this?" You were starting to get nervous and Dokyeom was still looking at you like you were insane.

You immediately found yourself being pulled into his chest.

Thump

Thump

Thump

It was too loud, too fast.

"Do you hear that? That happens because you exist. I can't imagine another day without you. It isn't a matter of what I like about you, it's that I like everything about you way too much that it drives me insane that you might even think for a second that you deserve any less than this."

He looked more serious that you had ever seen him. It wasn't just how his words made you feel something flip inside, but also how he looked at you while saying it. How you could genuinely feel it—how much he loved you.

You had never felt it, except with him. You felt loved.

"Maybe you could ask me about dolphins or something or if I'd love you if you were a worm—and I would. But don't you even think that you can or that I'd even let you question if you had to 'do' something. The only thing you need to do is allow me to love you to my heart's content."

Yup, that was the happy ending—no, it wasn't a happy ending. It was a happy beginning to a future that would only be even happier.

Reblogs and comments are appreciated!