#it's that OC in the instagram pretty dress that I talked about a while ago

[mj-102009]

Million to One (Colby Brock x oc)

Summary: After rising through the youtube ranks of a paranormal investigator, Avery Denim meets Colby Brock and quickly gets what the hype was about.

Warnings: Cheesy, alcohol, ghostes?

Words: 5363

Masterlist

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I watched the video again with a shaky breath in and out.

Andee looked around the room, her eyes brave but her body betrayed her fear. “Is anyone here?”

I didn’t glance up from the spirit box in her hands, keeping lazer focus on the device.

By my side, Eve had the camera trained on my face, she reached out and tapped my arm. “You good?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I just…I feel off.”

On the floor across the rem pod, Callum raised an eyebrow. “Avery with an off feeling is never good.”

Andee asked one more question. “How did you die?”

My feeling expanded in my chest and forced its way out my throat into words. “Polio.”

Everyone sucked in a breath and no one moved an inch. 

“She’s right.”

The crack of the spirit box had everyone jumping to their feet and yelling.

The clip ended with my “not surprised but very much dizzy” expression.

The video had been posted to tiktok over a week ago and had received over 57 million views and 5 million likes; shooting our 800,000 subscribers on youtube to nearly two million. Most of the comments circled around “Avery is so psychic” or “faaaake asf” (Although I’ve been too afraid to go through it too much).

“Well,” I announced to my phone, the instagram live was filled with more viewers than normal. “What do we think?”

Most of the comments were good, the bad drained out by enthusiastic greetings. I had the phone propped up on the water bottle as Eve and I struggled to make dinner.

“Where’s the ramen?” I asked, she leaned over and poured the noodles into the sauce.

“Avery, someone wants to know when the full video will be out.”

I hummed and thought. “Hopefully next week– unless I get busy.” She set out bowls and we sat at the table. “Wanna tell em’ where we’re going next?” I asked

“Not particularly,” She mused with a wry smirk. “I have to finalize shit before we can announce it.”

I sighed and shook my head at the live. “I tried.”

She chuckled and looked through the chat. “Is Avery okay?”

I spread my arms wide and did a mini twirl. “I’m vibin’”

“Yeah, guy, that video was filmed a few weeks ago,” Eve told them. “We’re at the very end of editing before we can put it out.”

“Hopefully,” I crossed my fingers. “Andee and Callum wanted to go out while we’re here– tonight I think.”

Eve bobbed her head. “Oh we’re definitely going out while we’re in Vegas.”

I put my hands up and danced in my seat. “Paaaarty!”

“GET IN LOSERS WE’RE GOING OUT!” I shouted out the window of my car, Eve whooped and waved in the passenger side.

Andee walked out in all her glory with Callum on her arm; she had on a knitted shirt over a black crop top with a mini skirt; he was wearing jeans and a black long sleeve shirt; Eve was in a yellow crop top and a white skirt; and I had on a black mini dress and navy heels. The three of us girls had on various amounts of makeup and different hair styles– I had my hair curled (courtesy of Eve’s skills) with lip gloss.

Eve whistled slowly and got out to open the door for them. “Got everything?”

She nodded and they buckled, I put in the GPS and left their airbnb. “Is Cal driving home?”

“Yup,” He nodded. “I’m going on water the whole time,” He ended that with a heavy sigh.

We laughed at him and Andee peppered his check with kisses (but still giggled). “Where are we going again?” She asked.

“It’s called Mandy’s,” Eve said over her shoulder. “It sounded pretty chill.”

I huff a breathy laugh. “Your lack of information is so very reassuring.”

“It’s not,” Callum chimed in over his phone.

“It’s not,” I agree.

We watched as Eve had her torso thrown drunkenly over the counter to talk to the bartender. Andee was shaking her head while I cackled and filmed her to show her later.

“Should we stop her?” I mused once I had my blackmail.

Callum shrugged. “We’ll watch her.”

I shot them finger guns and stood up to go to the bar– opposite to where my idiot friend was. “Hey!” I shouted to the bartender over the loud ass music, the woman came over and leaned towards me. “Can I have another one of these?” I showed her my empty whiteclaw, she nodded and reached under the counter for the fridge.

I turned to walk back to my table and my head knocked right into someone’s collarbone.

Now listen.

I’ve never tried to be tall– because I’m not (5’4 gang can we get a whoop). But the split second before I was ashamed, I was trembling under this tree of a man.

“Shit!” I exclaimed, jerking back. And in slow motion I felt my foot catch on the bar stool and I began to slip.

The man yelped as well and quickly caught my shoulders to keep me up. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry!”

I straightened myself and waved my hands quickly. “You’re fine, my fault– completely.”

When I looked up to see what walking muscle man I’d stumbled upon, I was rendered speechless. “Oh my gods– you’re Colby Brock.”

For a moment something akin to panic flickered across his face before he rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. A smile on his face that didn’t seem to reach his eyes. “Hi, yeah, nice to meet you.”

“My friend is such a huge fan,” I told him. “She’s definitely out of commission right now but she’ll cry when I tell her about this tomorrow.”

He laughed and studied me with a smile that had slowly turned genuine. I moved out of the way so he could lean on the counter beside me. “You look so familiar.”

For a moment I was flattered then I remembered the video and common sense reminded me: ‘Well no shit the paranormal investigators have seen the viral video about the paranormal.’

“Oh I do some investigating with my friends,” I vaguely point to our booth, cracking open my can. “If we weren’t in a fuckin’ bar I’d talk shop but I don’t want to ruin your ni-”

“No no no,” He waved his hands in dismissal. “You can’t leave until I can remember where I know you from.”

I burst into bubbles of laughter. “Okay, do you want a hint?”

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “Shit it’s so close– what’s your first name?”

“Avery,” I answered amused.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed, smacking the counter lightly . “From Miracle Chasers– Sam was talking about you the other day.”

I blinked and grinned. “Seriously? That’s wicked.”

He was still pouting. “I should have gotten that sooner, I’ve been tagged in your video a billion times.”

“It still makes my head spin,” I take a long sip of my drink. “But you guys are crazy awesome, Eve takes so much inspo from your editing style,” I gushed. “But you did give her the idea of the Conjuring house.”

He fake winced and told me. “Sensitive subject, man. I think it’s intense but definitely worth it,” Then he added on. “Just don’t go more than once– then it gets not worth it.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I’ll send her with y’all on your next trip there.”

“I’m sure we could all do something,” He suggested. “We hear you’re a bit of a psychic.”

“Oh we could totally do something soon,” I agree. “I’m not so sure about my abilities,” I chuckle. “I have zero control over when they come.”

He huffed a laugh. “How about I go introduce you to Sam and we can exchange socials?”

“Sure,” I nod and glance at our booth where Andee and Callum were gawking at me, I shrug and give them a ‘wait there’ gesture.

He ordered a whiteclaw and we made a playful argument over the superior flavor until we were in front of a booth with a few people in it.

Sam looked up and saw Colby first. “What took so long, brother? I almost called you,” he laughed before looking at me.

“Well I ran into a new friend,” He introduced me to the table. “This is Celina, Kris, and Sam.”

I waved and smiled. “Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Avery.”

Sam had to do a triple take. “Well I know who you are,” He shook his head in shock. “Sit down,” He insisted. “This is so crazy I was literally just talking to Celina about your channel.”

I slid into the booth beside Kris and Colby sat beside me. “We were just passing through before heading to California.”

Celina laughed. “What a small world.”

“I was talking about maybe doing an investigation with her and maybe her team one of these days,” Colby told them. “Maybe two for both channels.”

I nodded. “We’d be down for sure.”

Kris sighed. “One of these days it’ll be Sam, Colby, Kris, and Celina on that youtube title,” She shook her fist ruefully.

We all chatted and joked around for a while before Callum came over to grab me. “Hey, we’ve gotta dip before Eve jumps the bartender’s bones,” He said to me, trying not to fanboy.

I laugh and rub my forehead. “Oh my gods of course she is.”

Colby stood up and let me get out. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too!” I smiled at him then the rest of the table. “Text me when you want to do something.”

Sam gave me the thumbs up and said goodbye.

I walked out with a shitfaced Eve on my shoulders. “Let's go out to the car before I give you the good news.”

Eve stayed quiet. “Repeat that again,” She said in an eerily hushed tone.

“I met Sam and Colby yesterday,” I said skeptically. “While you were drooling over the bartender.”

She looked off into the distance with a dead expression. “Did they see me?”

I shook my head. “Nah, I made sure of it.”

“I might cry,” She whispered as she started to cry. 

Callum was wheezing. “They traded socials.”

The tears that were streaming down her stoic face were almost comical. “You met Colby fucking Brock and got his number?”

“And Sam,” I added under my breath.

She brought her hands to her face and whimpered. “Oh my god.”

Andee sheepishly rubbed her back. “We can still investigate?”

“It's no use,” She whined. “How am I gonna become Eve Brock if he saw hot stuff over here before me?”

I facepalmed and shook my head slowly. “Girl-”

“Do not fraternize with the enemy,” Callum said in a faux military voice. “Sam and Colby are one of the leading channels centering on paranormal activity; do not let the nice abs lead you astray.”

Andee saluted and I looked at Eve. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna take your crush.”

“Long time no see,” I said into the camera.

Eve shifted the camera to show the two of us. “Welcome to the Miracle Chasers with Avery and I. Today I'm overjoyed to welcome Sam and Colby!”

The two boys jumped out on either side of us and started yelling enthusiastic greetings. “WHAT’S UP GUYS.”

We burst into laughter and they hooked their arms around my neck. Eve put the camera on the tripod to get all of us in the shot.

“We have been trying for weeks to make this happen,” Colby said, shaking my shoulders.

I threw up my hands. “Every time we were in America y'all were in Europe.”

Eve was standing with her weight on one hip. “This is our first time meeting,” She looked at the camera. “They met Ave at first but we’ve only talked over the phone.”

“But we’ve made time and now we’re in one of the most haunted museums in America,” I exclaimed.

We cut the cameras and began to pull out equipment while chatting and discussing plans for the summer. 

I sat on a bench with Colby as Eve spoke with the tour guide, with a deep breath I asked for my water.

“You good?” He asked, passing the bottle.

Clearing my throat, I nodded and said: “It's just so stuffy in here,” my eyes flicked over to Sam who was filming this. “I feel like there’s hundreds of people when it's just us– it's giving me a headache.”

“I have motrin in the car if you need it,” He told me as Eve walked over.

“We have like 10 minutes til they start the tour,” She said, tossing us our passes.

As we walked down the hall I looked at Colby’s shirt. “Is that our merch?”

“Yeah,” He affirmed, showing it off. “We bought it as soon as it came out.”

Eve beamed. “Avery designed this line.”

“Oh shit,” Sam said, checking out the print again. “Might have to pay you to do ours.”

I flush and wave away the compliments. “Thanks, but at the rate that you move around it will never reach you.”

“So this is a rem pod,” Eve explained to the camera before handing it off to Sam. “Anything within a two-ish foot radius will make it go off,” She tossed me and Colby a few cat balls to put around. “Cat balls– literally just cat toys Avery ordered off amazon,” She pulled out the ovilus. “This is our Ovilus, it takes words being spoken by spirits and spits it out for us,” She waved her hand at me. “And Avery but she’s just weird.”

I smack her on the back of the head. “Am not.”

Colby rested his elbow on my head. “Nah she’s right.”

“Shuddup,” I laugh, turning to help set up for the investigation.

And to hide the deep blush that had crawled up my cheeks.

Sam handed me an emf reader and we moved to the office to sit in a half circle. 

“1…2,” Eve sets up the camera and settles back into her spot. “...3– Now we have migrated into the office where the earliest owner of this hotel passed away due to unknown reasons.”

Colby poked my shoulder. “Unless Avery can figure it out tonight.”

I huffed a laugh. “No promises, my ‘abilities’ tend to come and go as they please.”

“And there’s not really any sort of training for psychics, is there?” Sam asks.

“Nope,” I shake my head. “I mean, I meditate and push myself when we go to these places; but there’s not much else we can really do.”

Eve turned on the rem pod and we took turns asking questions all went without answer.

“Was someone with you when you died?” I asked, rapping my fingers on the cold floor. “Your wife-?”

The rem pod lit up and beeped for a few seconds.

All three of my friends stare at me to which I shrug. 

“Did she kill you?” Eve asked.

The rem pod remained quiet.

“Anything?” Colby whispered to me.

I leaned back to whisper in his ear, and the smell of his cologne surrounded me. “I don’t think he wants to talk about what specifically happened.”

The rem pod beeped once and I groaned. 

Eve kicked my foot and stood up. “Should we try the hallway?”

“Suuuure,” I said, hopping to my feet and scooping up the rem pod. “Oh stop it,” I mumbled to the angry beeping and I walked into the hallway and set down the rem pod. I stepped back with the intention of grabbing something in the other room but noticed that the beeping hadn’t stopped. “Uhhhh guys?” Colby poked his head out and I pointed. “That’s not you.”

“That’s not me,” I agreed. “Get the camera.”

The moment Eve walked over with the camera, it stopped. I pursed my lips and shooed her back into the room.

It started up again,

She walked over and it stopped.

“It's messing with us,” Sam muses, kneeling next to the device to reset it.

I drop a few cat balls on the ground before rubbing my hands together and cackling dramatically. “Let's really start this investigation.”

“Yes I’ll have a large fry and a medium sprite– Eve get that shit out of my face–” I giggle, pushing the camera away. “Then two flurries and a 4 count meal.”

Colby elbowed me and whispered. “And a coke.”

I repeated this and confirmed the order. “McDonalds at 3am is not it for me,” I complained.

“Sam is asleep,” Eve whispered. “Be quiet.”

“I will honk this fucking horn,” I threaten jokingly. “Send me that video, I’mma post it on tiktok.” She hums and clicks away at her phone.

Colby yawns and puts his hand in my face, I giggle and push it away. “We’re staying at your place right?” He asks.

I nod. “Yeah Eve lives with a friend of ours and I’ve got a house,” She kicks the back of my seat and I snicker.

We pulled into the driveway of my house and Eve stretched. “Alright, that's my car,” She nodded to the jeep by the end of my driveway, before hopping out of my truck and getting her stuff from the back.

“Goodnight,” I told her, giving her a hug. “Tell Andee I’m still pissed she took my blanket home.”

She rolled her eyes and waved to Colby and also Sam but he was still barely awake.

“I have the last two rooms down the hall set up with new sheets,” I whisper quietly to Colby as I get my backpack and Sam’s bag. 

“Okay,” He says walking up the porch steps. I softly call out his name and toss him the keys as I walk over to Sam and poke him until he wakes up.

He groans and mumbles: “Are we at the hotel?”

I chuckle. “No we’re at my house, c’mon a bed has to be more comfortable than the seat.”

“I dunno, these seats are nice,” He stands up and follows me to the house.

 “There should be enough blankets,” I tell them. “The hall closet has a fuck ton if you get cold.”

Sam thanks me quietly before closing the door and seemingly going straight to sleep. Colby thanked me and took a blanket from the closet. “Are you sure you don’t want your bed?” He asks for the third time.

I shake my head. “Nah man, I usually fall asleep on the couch after investigations anyway.”

“But I feel bad,” He half whines.

“I’ll wake you up if I can’t sleep,” I tell him. “Good night.”

He sighed in amusement and waves slightly. “Goodnight Avery.”

I went to bed that night thinking about how I was going to break the news to Eve that I had a wee itty bitty crush on the guy she’s been dreaming of for months.

That morning I popped a tray of cinnamon rolls in the oven and began moving our camera footage to my laptop.

“G’morning,” An extremely tired voice grumbled.

“Morning,” I chirped to Colby, tapping away with my coffee in hand.

He walked into the kitchen. “Coffee?”

I nodded and pointed to the coffee maker. “There's creamer in the fridge.”

“Mmm,” He sighed, taking a deep sip of his coffee. “Whatcha doing?”

“Sending footage to Eve,” I tell him, using the back of my hand to push up my glasses. “Where are y’all going today?”

He shrugged and sat beside me. “I don’t think either of us want to do much today.”

My alexa starts going off with an alarm and I snatch up a kitchen towel to take out the hot pan. “Do you– shit!” I exclaim, dropping the pan on the countertop and shaking my hand frantically.

“Fuck did you burn yourself?” He asks, walking over to the freezer and walking back with an ice pack.

“Yeah, thanks,” I reply, looking at the angry red spot.

“Lemme see,” He says softly.

Without hesitation, I give him my hand to which he studies the quarter sized burn on my hand. We both go quiet as he cups my hand and squints at the mark. Once I had realized that he was holding the back of my hand oh-so gently, my breath stuttered and my ears burned with a flush.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Little bit,” I say softly. “Not as bad.”

He hums and lets go. “Do you need anything for it?”

“I don’t think so,” I chuckle. “I haven’t gotten burnt in awhile.”

Colby looks at the cinnamon rolls and shoos me back to my seat much to my protests. I watch– still reeling– as he opens a few drawers until he finds the silverware and grabs the knife for the glaze.

“No no,” I bat his hand away from it and drop it in the microwave. “15 seconds.”

“Why?” He asks, baffled.

“My mama always did it this way,” I explained. “I guess it just works better.”

He squints at me. “Are you from the south?”

I flush and laugh. “How did you know?”

“You said ‘mama’ with an accent,” He teases.

I amp up my accent and drawl. “Hey, pretty thang.”

“Pfft-”

“Don’t laugh,” I say through laughter.

“You’re laughing too!” He argues playfully, also laughing.

I trail off into a giggle. “You’re cute,” I commented offhandedly, turning to the microwave and taking out the glaze. 

From behind me, he looks away after a few seconds and clears his throat. “What time is it?” He asks, tapping my phone. “I’m gonna wake up Sam.”

“Okie dokie.”

“What are you doing awake?” I ask Colby at 10pm, feeling like a parent who just caught their child sneaking out of bed.

He shrugs and plops down beside me. “Can’t sleep.”

“Imagine how I feel,” I laugh under my breath. 

“Yeah,” He rubs his face. “We’re investigating a haunted hotel tomorrow and I can’t stop thinking about one of us getting hurt one of these days.”

I hum and nudge his arm with a warm smile. “I get it, I really do, after tonight I did have a serious thought of quitting,” I admit. “But then I thought of all the places I haven’t been to and all of the people who watch me for thrills like that. And it might not be the same for you as it is for me– but that’s what’s been keeping me on this course.”

He stares at me in what I thought was deep thought but instead- “God, you’re amazing.”

I flush furiously and stammer. “What?”

“I mean-”

“Thank you,” I amended quickly. “You’re amazing too.”

“Thank you,” He says quietly.

We sat in silence until I turned to him. “You don’t have a girlfriend right?”

He chokes on air and turns to me. “What?”

I immediately regret asking and backing up quickly. “Uhhhh-”

A gentle hand slides around my cheek and holds my head softly, I stiffen in surprise as I’m turned to look Colby in the eyes. “I don’t,” He answers me in a frail whisper. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah,” I whisper back.

The first kiss was feather light on my lips, just a soft brush that had me exhaling slowly and melting into his hand. I moved one of my hands to the one that was cupping my cheek, the other quickly found its place resting on his neck as I leaned forward for another one. The second one was more sure, confident, it brought butterflies into my stomach and shivers up my spine. He sighs happily and uses his other hand to angle my head to where he wanted it to be. I smiled into the kiss and softly twisted my fingers into the curl of his hair on the nape of his neck.

“Wow,” He comments softly as we break apart.

“Yeah,” I echo his surprise. “You’re so pretty,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He chuckles and rubs my face slowly with his thumb. “You ready for bed?”

I hum and slide off the couch to the pullout loveseat beside it. “C’mere,” I demand softly.

“Okay,” He agrees with zero hesitation.

And we fell asleep like that, not caring that Sam had an alarm set long before either of us were going to wake up. That is until he started sending the photos into the group chat with Eve.

I nibbled on the thumb anxiously and waited. “Hello?” A sleepy voice grumbled into the phone.

“Andee,” I sighed. “I kissed Colby.”

“Pfffft- you what?” She exclaimed, suddenly wide awake.

I groaned and dropped my head into the hand that didn’t have my phone. “Dude, what am I gonna tell Eve?”

“Don’t?” She responded helplessly.

“Can’t, Sam send a photo into our group chat,” I tell her. “She hasn’t said anything.”

Andee was momentarily speechless. “Are you two dating now?”

I sighed. “I don’t know, he just left with Sam for an investigation.”

“If you want to date him I say go for it,” She tells me. “Just because Eve likes him– its a celebrity crush by the way, she’ll live– but if she does care then fuck her.”

“Andee!”

“I’m serious,” She insists. “Dude, I love you both but if Eve is so caught up in her feelings that she can’t be happy for you then just don’t give a shit.”

I listen quietly and stare at my counter. “I really like him,” I say softly. 

“Then date him.”

“Hey how was it?” I ask, stirring a pot of soup.

Sam enters the house and promptly runs to the bathroom making me look at the door for Colby. He strolls in and sets down a duffel bag of equipment on the table.

“It was good,” He shrugs. “Honestly a little bit boring but better than nothing.”

I shrug. “Could have been worse.”

“Mhm,” He walks over to me and peeks over my shoulder. “Broccoli cheddar?”

My cheeks burn as he rests his head on my shoulder. “Yup.”

“Yum,” He said lowly, still staying in the same spot.

We stand silently until I ask a question. “What is this?”

“What’s what?” He looks around looking for the product of my inquiry.

I turn to him and gesture between us. “This.”

“What do you want it to be?” He asks.

“I-I don’t do flings,” I say carefully.

“Neither do it.”

“I like you a lot.”

“So do I.”

We both stay silent.

“I want to be your boyfriend,” He says simply, playing with my fingers at our side. “I know I have a lot of wild fans, and that we’ve both got a lot of shit going on all the time. But I really like you and I think this could work.”

I watch his eyes shift over my face as they search for a reaction. I smile. “Okay,” I whisper.

“Okay,” He agrees. “Can I-”

I curl my fingers into the front of his shirt and yank him towards my lips into a kiss.

“Hey, what are we doing for- Holy shit,” Sam deadpanned from the hallway, we broke apart and I peek over Colby’s shoulder. “In the kitchen, seriously?”

“It’s my house, I can kiss my boyfriend wherever I want,” I joke with a silly voice. 

Sam sits at the counter and plugs his camera into his laptop. “Finally, you two have been flirting in the group chat for months.”

“Hardy har,” I laugh. “Dinner’s ready.”

Colby and Sam walk to the stove to make bowls while I grab my phone from off its charger.

Evie Jelly Beanie: hey I saw the picture and Andee told me you were worried about me being upset and I just wanted you to know that no matter what you and him decide I’m totally chill with it I’m your sister not your mom I don't care who you date

Me: omg lol tysm we legit js made it official

Evie Jelly Beanie: yw ave be happy with ur bf

That night I tell Colby about Eve’s little crush on him. “But this was all before we had more than like 10,000 subscribers,” I assure. “She doesn’t care anymore.”

He chuckles and kisses the back of my hand. “That’s good, the next investigation we do together would have been real awkward if she did.”

I laughed and curled into his side. “Shit, Colby, to think this all happened because we were both in the same place at the same time. What are the odds?”

hey its me your friendly neighborhood fanfiction writer i dont be a ton of sam and colby fics so i dont do a taglist but I fs take requests plus check out my masterlist for more tell me what you thought!

[jiminrings]

can we get a fratboy Jimin and good girl oc with pinning from both sides 👀 ahhhh thank u in advance love ur writing!!

cherry king

drabble week: day four

drabble week masterlist

pairing: fratboy!jimin x goody two-shoes!reader

wordcount: 3k

glimpse: "y-you uhm, you-? y'know, you like... doing that? is that why it's your nickname?"

feedback + support mean the world to me!!

“next!”

great!! the line’s moving :D

that’s only like the 87th time jimin has heard the word next and it makes him wonder how much more would it take him to bring him to the front

(it’s actually only been 14 times and jimin might just be a self-admitted impatient bitch!!!)

he understands that yes, it’s ten in the evening!!! and reasonably-large stores/pharmacies like these can have less staff at the time compared to ten in the morning

sure, checkout machines and cashier lanes could be broken down!! or they could just not be open at all

jimin gets that alright, maybe the self-checkout machines are close at this time of the night because it is ten in the evening

what’s not clicking in his mind, however is that at the exact time that he comes here

as in the EXACT time that he’s here (!!!) — there happens to be dozens of people in a store at ten in the evening, and there happens to be a grand total of one (1) cashier lane

atleast random store music would be entertaining :((( all he hears are the beeps of a scanner and the chatter of groups of people who came here

jimin was eavesdropping on some guys in front of him and he wAS invested but lmao turns they were just discussing the plot of die hard or any testosterone-jacked movie like it

he’s also tried looking at the smaller middle-aged woman’s phone in front of him who’s scrolling through her facebook feed, but quickly decides against continuing it

because what if u could see his face and when she turns it off, she’d see a college guy deeply-invested in the baloney article she was reading about how subway sandwiches are the work of the devil

so uh yeah he’s just looking everywhere besides the front, back, and the sides of him and in all angles basically

he’s,,,,, aimlessly scrolling through his instagram feed he’s already scrolled through tHREE times and his explore’s page a little too dry

it’s a good thing that jimin’s entirely sure he’s the nosiest person out of this line and no one else is trying to figure him out

might be wrong though

“cherry king?”

hold the fuck on

jimin’s eyes widen, head snapping up and clueless to the fact that he doesn’t look discreet at all, and his head-cocking’s the most movement he’s done the whole time in this store

WHO’S SAYING HIS NICKNAME?????

it can’t be a coincidence either because as far as he’s concerned, there isn’t anything named cherry king that’s being sold here

there is literally NO other plausible scenario happening here besides the fact that someone who knows him is in the store!!!!

his gaze falls to the person behind him, brows knitted in confusion until it clicks

oh

that was you?

“jimin? huh, it really is you. i thought i was losing my mind for a second.”

“y/n?”

okay maybe hE’S the one who’s losing his mind here

he knows you!! you’re the smart girl in his year who’s known for being pristine and stuff!! you’re like the good-est girl he’s ever known and heard of

.... quick question lads is that weird to know someone by

“you could’ve just called me by my name, y’know,” jimin chuckles heartily, still a little dumbfounded to see you here but he’s grateful for the interaction nonetheless

you look casual today?? like you still look like yourself but everyone else would think it’s an out-of-body experience to see you out of your pretty dresses and monochromatic get-ups

it’s you..,.. in a hoodie three sizes larger than your size with your pristine shoes traded in for socked-feet wearing slides

jimin thinks that you look like grace under pressure

“i wasn’t sure,” you smile right back and it’s the first time he realizes that there’s glasses atop your nosebridge, softening your image more from the usual composed look you carried

“how were you sure enough to say my nickname out-loud though?”

jimin questions you, bringing light to how he’s wearing a plain white shirt and is looking as relaxed as ever with how he’s dressed — his hair long enough to be put into a messy sprout of a bun

you clear your throat, the amusement bubbling in your scratchy throat

“you have yourself as your lockscreen, jimin.”

oh my gOD

he winces when you say it, eyes screwing shut in embarrassment that he whines in pain with how direct you put it

“n-no way — fuck you respectfully, y/n. i-i’m not- i’m changing it right now!!”

does he look the vainest person alive rn

the way he has a mini freakout entertains you to your core, giggles unable to be suppressed as he finds the latest-taken picture he has of dogs that he comes across with

that’s 10/10 an experience he doesn’t want to repeat again

“it’s okay. i won’t tell anyone.”

he hears you reassure and he believes you, a flustered blush on his cheek still as he coughs to make up for a diversion topic he couldn’t think of

frankly, you’re getting bored too and jimin’s the only form of entertainment you have because using your phone atm would be too disorienting

“what are you doing here, by the way?”

your head tilts in query and he’s relieved that you address something else, not being relieved seconds later when he realizes his answer

“just a little supply run for our frat. we weren’t supposed to run out of things for three more days, so this is just a lil emergency haul for awhile.”

you nod in understanding, glancing down at his basket and uh

uhm 1/4 of the space is literally occupied by boxes of condoms

....

......

jimin’s confused to why you turn silent, thinking that he must’ve gotten boring to continue talking to until he follows your gaze to his basket

NO WAY?!]>|>]%%[%]%]

“i-it’s not l-like that!!!” he crouches and immediately gets the food and the bottles of shampoo and conditioner to bury the condoms in the bottom of the pile, attractively getting more attention from you who’s ready to let it go

“i-it’s not — it’s ours — n-no!! t-they just gave me a list and i just put it because it’s on the list b-but like it wasn’t my-...”

how many more times will the universe fuck jimin up in front of the person he has a lil happy crush on

you only smile meekly, tilting your head and he thinks this is the part where you tell him how much of a douche he is

"y-you uhm, you-? y'know, you like... doing that? is that why it's your nickname?"

:O

“t-that?” jimin clarified albeit confused, thinking back to his nickname as he tries to rapidly connect the dots to not look like a fool

cherry king? that?? what do you-

WAIT WHAT

“nO!! o-of course not!!”

he almost shrieks and his voice sounds ultimately defensive, shaking his head no

why does he look so frantic

“hey, hey, i believe you! — calm down, jimin. you don’t have to explain anything to me.”

whew

fuck

but he argues that it iS the truth though!!!

but why won’t you just ask him why he’s called cherry king though >:(

you’re already content with the silence after the conversation but he isn’t, still wanting more

is it so bad that he wants redemption D:

“how about you? what are you doing here?”

you don’t answer instantly and it’s because you’re nudging jimin to continually walk, the cashier looking much more visible now as he’s nearer in line

he takes a look at the handful of things that’s in your basket —

electrolytes, hot pockets, soup, cup noodles and fever patches...?

“oh. i think i’m running a fever.”

what???

what are you doing here aLONE if you think you’re running a fever???

he’s not gonna lie about the fact that you don’t look too good

what if you pass out and no one’s there for you and all the graveyard shift employees do is put a wet floor sign around your figure???

“y/n?? what are you doing here alone then?? are you oUT of your mind??”

the panic in jimin’s voice is clear as day and you’re a little startled, instead responding to tapping him on the shoulder to point that he’s already the one on the cashier

what he does is grab your basket before he is, putting it in front of the conveyor belt because he couldn’t even wait for it to roll out

“i said i think i’m running a fever.”

jimin stops from simultaneously rummaging for his rewards card and putting his items on the counter to unceremoniously drop the box of condoms down jUST to put his hand on your forehead

“you are.”

you surely don’t think low of jimin but you can’t help be surprised either at his concern for you when this is the only time you’ve had a conversation with him!!!

“you drove here?” he asks in seriousness, sending you a look while waiting for the total amount

“walked. the airconditioning makes me even more sick,” you answer with no fuss because even thinking about car fresheners while you’re sporting a fever makes you want to gag. “let me-...”

jimin already pays for both your items in cash, getting them bagged separately as he’s not gonna take no for an answer for what he’s gonna propose next

“then i’ll keep the windows down. i’ll drive you back to your dorm.”

he grabs both your bags in one hand and uses the other to beckon you over, holding you still because it’s dark out and a fever vision wouldn’t exactly help

it’s only when he straps you in and (true to his word) puts the windows down and starts his car that you start asking

“why are you doing this for me?”

why IS he doing this for you??

jimin thinks about his answer in a second

“would you do the same for me?”

well

if you were in front of him at a godforsaken line, had yourself as your lockscreen, realize that jimin’s behind you with a fever and is by himself in a store at 10 in the evening

“of course i would.”

jimin smiles, steering away from his parking spot

“then i would too.”

( ♡ )

maybe you’re thinking of jimin

no wait you’re dEFINITELY thinking of jimin

you’re much better now and your fever’s already subsided enough for you to go back to class!!!

the whole interaction with him was three days ago and maybe your head is just full of him at this point

“are you sure you’re okay to handle this by yourself??”

jimin worries when he drops your bag to your hands, briefly coming inside your dorm to set it down

“mhmm. i’ll just sleep it out.”

“i think if you’re missing a couple of steps.”

you snort as his paranoid features, waving him off. “i’ll eat. then go to the bathroom. and then sleep.”

okay good enough

“what if this just-“ jimin trails off, his expansive mind suddenly running as he points to your chest, “stops????”

cute

“i have a smart watch.”

“would you put me as one of the emergency contacts? please?”

he’s making you take down his number without malice because jeez he’s gENUINELY worried!!!!

it may not always be great sharing a house with his frat brothers, but he knows that if he has a fever, atleast half of them would dote over him and you have atleast one who would go into hysterics!!! it’e a full package!!

“i’ll be okay, jimin. i’ll call you when i need someone to hand me my puke bucket.”

“please do. i’m not even kidding. get better now because i miss your dresses.”

o_O

uhm

“n-no i meant your usual style!! wait, not that there’s anything wrong w-with your style right now. i-i was-...”

“yeah. i miss them too. now go home, jimin.”

“you sure?”

u never really had the impulse to invite a guy to go inside your place but maybe now you do

“mhmm. drive safe.”

okay

:-)

“good night, y/n. call me whenever.”

classes were a bit rough today because you’re still easing yourself on getting back to the groove of things, but it was tolerable!!!

you’re getting your key out of your backpack when a lock clicks open a couple doors away from you, the hinge noisily squeaking

it’s jimin who leaves it, with seri who’s the actual occupant of the dorm leaning on the doorframe

“y/n—!”

he squeaks the moment his eyes land on you

your hand automatically waves, the same meek smile for him to see

“jimin.”

( ♡ )

the last interaction you had with him is still on jimin’s mind, a whole week later

it’s been bothering him recently that you know what it looks like the last time around!!!! but he could swear up and down that it wasn’t

he just feels this great urge to explain even if you haven’t asked

“oh. so we have to move out for the time-being?”

jimin clarifies with namjoon, the head of the frat, and he’s met with a solemn nod

it makes sense!!!

the house got checked today and there were mULTIPLE fire hazards!!! and it needs to be fumigated anyway under new campus protocol so it indeed makes sense

practically everyone's going home because it’s a long weekend anyway because of a holiday

and he’s not sure if he wants to take the same route.

“hi.”

jimin squeaks the moment you open your door, surprise evident on your face but not shock to the point you’d close the door on him

“jimin?”

okay maybe he’s gonna go straight to explaining

“frat house needed to be closed because of some complications, and it wouldn’t be open to us for another three days. most of the guys are coming home,” jimin clears his throat, his head down while he shyly scratches the back of his ear, “i have one, but i’m not sure if i wanna.”

oh

it’s that problem

it takes one, two seconds before it all registers in your head, nodding surely

“you can take my bed. i’ll take the couch, it’s a pull-out anyways.”

you open the door for him widely and the only thing you ask if he’s had dinner and if he’d like some

god you’re really throwing him in a loop here

it’s after a batch of your cooking that jimin’s only ache is why you were the way that you were, half-dazed the whole time he’s met you properly

“why do you never ask me?”

“hmm?” you hum as you dry the dishes that you’ve used, wanting to get it done as soon as possible so your full attention would be on him

no, actually. jimin WANTS you to pry!!

he wants you to worm your way into his privacy and into the confines of his mind

but it seems like you’ve already did without even asking.

“ask me why i’m called the cherry king.”

you tilt your head in confusion, that time playing in your head of why jimin looked confused when you didn’t continue to ask further

maybe you’ll indulge him

“why are you called the cherry king?”

jimin smiles, leaning to your couch with his arms relaxed

“we did secret santa for christmas at our frat house. taehyung thought it would be nice if he pranked me by gifting me a jar full of cherries, but i thought that was his actual gift, and i liked it to the point that i finished it in one sitting.”

tHAT’S ACTUALLY PRETTY ENDEARING

cute, even

“ask me why i came out of seri’s apartment last week.”

oh that’s.,.,. that’s a bit higher in level compared to nicknames

“why did you come out of seri’s apartment last week?”

“because seri’s the ex-girlfriend of hoseok, my frat brother, and he wanted me to return all her stuff because he doesn’t want to be reminded of his cheating ex.”

well that was definitely weighted

jimin plays with the hem of his shirt, the words tumbling out of his mouth

“ask me why i love you.”

why do you wHAT

your mouth drops open, the new position you took on the other end of the couch taking an impact on him

“w-why do you love me?”

jimin’s a lot of things but he’s not drunk tonight

he doesn’t know why he’s letting his feelings slip either, but it’s the bottomless need that he feels when he’s around you

“i feel wanted. i feel needed.”

he smiles cheerfully even if he feels shy dropping this on you all of a sudden

“not sure if you want me nor need me, but i feel welcome with you if that makes sense.”

:)

“you just make me feel loved, i guess.”

jimin looks at you for the first time since he’s opened his mouth, an equally fond look on your face

you said no words but what jimin receives is a gentle tug, your hand on the side of his face until he’s leaning on your shoulder

“i wanna know what's up there.”

he points a finger to your temple, an amused lilt to his tone, “surprise me.”

it’s an unfolding of things that was weeks in the making but months in developing, the distant glances leading you to recognize jimin in the shop in the first place

“i feel the exact same with you,” you answer honestly and it makes his laugh from his chest, his cheeks warm and his heart content

and you just wanna suspend yourselves in this moment forever

“oh! and if i were to lose my virginity to anyone at the moment, it'd be you!!”

...

....

jimin swats at your shoulder to which you only giggle at, a toothy smile on display as this is the warmest he’s ever felt

“i wasn’t kidding!!!”

you yawn when you defend yourself, predicting that you’d fall asleep sooner or later on the couch, but for the time-being, you just stroke jimin’s hair to soothe the both of you

jimin is now the furthest thing from sleepy

"what? you told me to surprise you!!"

[yuzukult]

i’m bad too 18 || kdy & reader

title: i’m bad too - drabble series pairing: kim doyoung x reader genre: angst, fluff, eventual smut, goodboy!doyoung, nerdy!dy (basically he’s a dork) & badgirl!reader, hitman!au, oc-isn’t-a-hitman-but-she-could-be!au, word count: 1.8k warnings: none for this chapter a/n: just two more chapters left to the end !! :D taglist: @wownajaemin​​​​ @crescent-iak​​​​ @ncttboo​​​​ @byunbaekby​​​​​ @jinfizz​​ @doyoungyoung​​ @ahgayeah0305​​ @doyobun​​ @sexualitaeyong​ @mrkleelvr​​ @m1ss-foodi3​​ @hcwurld​​ ← previous chapter || next chapter →​​

Doyoung’s favorite drink is caramel coffee.

He doesn’t like it hot—you recall him mentioning, he prefers it iced, and he finishes it so fast that the cubes don’t melt and condensation doesn’t drip off the sides of the plastic cup.

So you shouldn’t be surprised that he’s at this very café. Especially since it is his spot, but it also shouldn’t be news to you when you’ve come here everyday for the past two weeks in hopes of running into him.

You wonder how he’s been doing. It’s been months since you’ve last seen him; forever ago since you saw him with that girl Karina, and you’re curious if he thinks about you as often as you think about him. He’s on your mind daily, sometimes by the hour depending on what you’re doing, and he feels like a drug you can’t quite quit (despite the shortage of time you’ve done fine without him).

And you admit willingly that your feelings for him come rushing back the moment you see that pretty smile dressed upon his lips when he laughs from his chest at the video his friend shows on his phone.

But you continue to sit in the corner of the shop, face behind your device as if you’re immersed in the technology when you’ve got your eyes on him the entire time.

Instagram doesn’t do justice. You never know what he’s really up to, you learn, because his feed only shows the happy pictures he poses for. But his stories—you stay for that. There’s some nights you’d catch him posting something with a scenery, a little heartfelt description written along the horizon, and it gives you a glimpse of how he’s vaguely feeling. Maybe they’re for you, well, you were hoping they were, but for a guy who isn’t the greatest in the romance department, he’s very artistic, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it weren’t for you.

Maybe it was for Karina.

Okay, there might be a slight chance that you were bitter about that chick. She hung out with Doyoung often, from what you speculate, possibly involved in the same friend group, having mutuals together (which, already is how she’s so different from you). She roughly reminds you of that emotion that runs through your veins when you first saw Doyoung talking to Joy; that clenched jaw, tightened fist, and a deep swallow to push down all your anger. Joy was just a friend, and you eventually learned that without having to go the hard route, but Karina… didn’t give you any reason to believe her friendly motives. But Doyoung isn’t yours, you have to remind yourself, and because he isn’t, there’s no need to get upset.

For one, the times you followed (don’t judge, you missed him but didn’t want to approach him if he wasn’t ready) him, Karina always stuck to Doyoung like glue. She was practically joined by the hip; batting her pretty long lashes, cheeks brushed with that coral pink blush like she’s all embarrassed because sweet boy Doyoung accidentally touched the back of her hand, and whenever she got the chance, she’d hold onto his arm tightly, pretending that she couldn’t catch her balance in those Ultraboost sneakers that were basically socks on a sole with no support.

“Ugh, you always do this,” one of his friends says, loud enough that you could hear from where you’re sitting. “How do you manage to beat me every time?”

“I learned the tricks,” Doyoung retorts, voice stable but his face all smug. “Doesn’t look like you did though.”

The other guy rolls his eyes before tossing his phone onto the table. “Forget that dumb game. I’m actually curious about something,” he begins, leaning over with his forearms pressed against the surface. There’s a mischievous smile that tugs on the ends of his mouth, and you rest back in your seat in curiosity when his tone changes. “You and Karina. What are the two of you?”

You nearly snap the pen you’d been fiddling in your hand.

Fucking Karina. Again. This bitch just keeps being brought up, doesn’t she?

Doyoung shifts in his seat, hands with his phone dropping onto his lap. A brow quirks, narrowing a strange gaze at his friend. “Why are you asking?”

“Mmm, heard there’s rumors going around about Karina liking you.”

“And,” Doyoung takes a sip of his iced coffee. “Why’s that matter?”

The friend clicks his tongue, groaning that Doyoung isn’t picking up the not-so-subtle hints. “Because. Have you seen her? Or are you just blind. She’s smokin’ hot like… literally any guy would want to get with her. And you too, which is kinda crazy—”

“—is it impossible to believe that someone attractive can like me?”

“I mean, no offense Doyoung, you don’t exactly look like the type that would sweep those types of girls off their feet. You spent most of the time indoors! Watching movies, playing games, maybe sometimes you go out to clubs and parties but barely and it’s with our geeky friends. Even I can come to terms that I’m a geek. Jocks or bad boys are what she would be into.”

Doyoung sighs. “Where are you going with this?”

“You should date her. Since, you know, you have that chance.”

He shrugs, bending the straw of his drink like he’s occupied with something else that’s going on in his mind. He’s quieter than usual, especially around a friend, and it’s left you pondering what’s got him so tied up. But then, you hear it.

“I’m waiting for someone.”

His guy scoffs in belief. “You’re waiting for someone. Who? That chick you were having friends with benefits with like a year ago? Dude, she was also out of your league. Rode a motorcycle, didn’t talk to anyone, hot, and somehow you got her attention. But dude, she’s been gone for a while now.”

Doyoung purses his lips. “Told her to come to me whenever she’s ready. Karina and I don’t really have something like… that. Not worth dropping the chances of her coming back and seeing me with Karina.”

“She’s got you that bad?”

A soft smile pulls on his lips, and he nods confidently. “Yeah, she does.”

When Doyoung and his friend pack up their bags to leave, he halts in his tracks. “Actually, you head out first. I’ll meet you later tonight, I won’t be going to the pre-game.”

The latter stares at Doyoung suspiciously. “Really? What’s up with you? Thought you said you were tagging along.”

“Yeah but… I gotta do something real quick. I’ll meet up with you.”

Strange, you think to yourself, because Doyoung seemed like he was going to leave too, until that very last second. Then, you notice something. When his friend leaves through those double doors, he turns and looks directly at you.

At you. Like he sees you.

You’re not a ghost, but you’re pretty good at camouflaging yourself with a crowd. You’re not the prettiest nor the ugliest, so being average has an advantage in this field, but Doyoung isn’t like normal people. He sees you, and even though you’re in a black baseball cap with casual clothes to match, he still can spot you in a sea of people.

“You’re here,” he says, his tone between a question and a statement. Part of you expects him to be angry, fuming with rage because you’re here instead of asking him to meet up. “You’re… actually here.”

“I’m surprised you found me,” you retort, standing up from your seat and gathering up your belongings. “I thought I was good at blending with people.”

“I’m in love with you, you expect me to not see the girl I’m head over heels for?”

You pause.

Bag not even slung over your shoulder, your heart does the complete opposite of your motions and races. He what?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Doyoung straightens his posture, trying his best to read the expression on your face. “Why… Why haven’t you called or reached out? Were you not ready until now?”

“I thought… you had a girlfriend,” you admitted, and truthfully, you’re not sure how Doyoung manages to get you to spill out your insecurities so easily. His eyes widened, and before he could say anything else, you interrupt his train of thought. “But that was months ago. It’s fine. I trained, and I’m back in the field, and I wanted to see how you were doing, that's all.”

“But you didn’t want to call me?”

You clear your throat, drifting your gaze elsewhere. “Like I said before. Thought you had a girlfriend. I don’t want to interfere with anything in your life that could be normal.”

He has a finger on your chin, directing your attention back to him. Your heart skips a beat this time, air sucked out of your lungs from his stare, and you swallow. “I waited for you, though. If you’re ready to come back, please come back. I have never dated anyone since I left your place, and I don’t intend to either. I made a promise and I’m keeping it.”

You hated reporting here.

There’s something ominous about this warehouse; it’s not just the people who occupy it, but it’s the building itself. Outside, it looks like an abandoned stone mill. Worn down walls, windows shattered, and located in a dangerous neighborhood, secluded from all the up-and-coming buildings that are being constructed a couple blocks down. The cars that came for drop off didn’t come here either, so it made the building even more mysterious and seemingly empty.

But the moment you stepped in the front doors—it’s like a factory.

A factory that manufactured everything from guns, grenades, to bombs, and so on. Everything that you wore on missions, everything you held between your fingertips, and everything you utilized in the field were all made here.

The headquarters.

Upon entering, you had to go through security. Guns are to be logged in, identities are checked through the system, quick but yet thorough pat down, and phones are chipped until you leave the premises. Needless to say, they were careful and even someone like you with so much skill and worthiness cannot go undetected here.

“Boss is asking for you.” A gorgeous girl says, clipboard in her arms. She’s got her hair tied in a low bun, glasses on with thick frames, and a pencil skirt to pair with her white blouse.

“I asked for boss, but yeah, that.”

She nods, bowing her head just slightly and you’re wondering how she even got in this field. Shy, quiet, and fragile, she seems, and you wonder if she knows what’s actually happening around here. “Please follow me.”

She takes you down a narrow hallway, far from where the other workers were posted, and takes you through these metal doors that looked too heavy for her to push, but the guards standing by the sides do it for her instead.

“Head on in. He’s waiting.”

“Right,” you gesture her a head nod in thanks.

Taeyong is seated at his desk, two additional guards standing on either side of the wood, and he’s fidgeting with the pen in his hand. “Lookie here. Our star player. Ten’s little sister. What do I owe the honor?”

“I want out.”

[retrievablememories]

dress it up | taeyong

title: dress it up pairing: taeyong x black!reader genre: fluff? request: “Hello I sent this request a couple weeks ago right when request followed I just wanted to resend since it’s open again ❤️: I was wondering if you could write with something with taeyong and a black oc. I really like taeyong’s sense of style and I feel like he’d be a great brand ambassador. I was thinking something about him and reader meeting at like a fashion show.” word count: 3.6k warnings: some cursing, a lil vulgar language, some alcohol use a/n: i don’t have a clue how the fashion industry works and got most of my research from a cosmopolitan article, but here’s my take on it 🤡 i struggled with how to approach the plot and feel like it might be a little dry? so i apologize if it’s lacking :/

“This year’s fashion show is going to be interesting, I think. I heard a few of those guys from NCT are coming.” Your friend Diana comes over to the couch where you’re sitting and tumbles over the back of it, landing halfway in your lap. You shout as she does, narrowly avoiding spilling your bowl of cereal.

“NCT? Which ones?” You try to crowd closer to her phone to see if it has the answers; she’s been unable to come away from it for the last half-hour. She twists away from you so you won’t be able to see the screen, but it’s a little too late for that. “Ugh, don’t tell me you’re texting that idiot again. I thought you said you were done with him.”

“Don’t worry about that.” She chuckles nervously. “Anyway, it’s not 100% confirmed yet, but some of the reports have mentioned there’s gonna be Taeyong...ain’t he the leader or something like that?” 

“I’m sure. Didn’t you know? I think he might be the same one who’s been on Melanie’s radar for a bit...”

“Melanie?” Diana’s head springs up from the couch cushion.

You nudge her and laugh. “Don’t look so shocked, she makes good choices sometimes.”

The other girl shakes her head. “Huh. I highly doubt it. The last few models she scouted were major divas and you know this. Who is going to sit all day and pick all the M&Ms out of trail mix? I don’t get paid enough for this bullshit.”

“Either way, keep looking. Whether you hate her choices or not, we’re still gonna need some fresh faces for this new ad campaign.”

Diana sighs and waves her hand. “I got it.”

“You should probably make sure you find more prospects this time, too. Jasmine was tryna throw shade last time because she had, like, 2 more than you.”

“Oh girl, fuck that. No one cares if you have more prospects if they’re all a bunch of Insta influencers and bored rich kids who bought their way onto the runway.”

You both laugh out loud at that, though Diana’s quickly distracted again when she gets a message. 

“Don’t think I’m gonna forget about you and your man troubles, either. You need to leave that clown alone,” you say, pushing her off as you get up to go to the kitchen.

“Whatever! Just let me have my fun, it ain’t nothing serious.”

The day of the show is hectic, though that’s expected. There’s always someone—or a group of someones—running around like a chicken with their head cut off with how much work there is to do, getting people in their right seats and making sure the models are dressed properly.

You, Melanie, and Diana try to stick together for the most part, though Melanie quickly makes Diana weary with her nonstop talking. Jasmine is nowhere to be found, but you know she’s there somewhere. She got the same invite the rest of you did.

“Liza is gonna be pissed if Jasmine doesn’t show up,” Melanie comments. “Can’t get a good story with no editors on the job.”

“Are you not an editor anymore, then?” Diana says, unamused. “We’re here, too. We don’t need that girl to do our own jobs.”

Melanie sighs. “Well, I’m just saying...”

“Calm down,” you tell Diana. “We’ll do fine either way. See, this is what happens when you don’t listen to me; you’ve let this bum dude get you all wound up.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t start that here, let’s just find our seats.”

The three of you sit a little further back in the crowd with the rest of the editors, bloggers, and whoever else has come to get the scoop. The more famous people—aka, the celebrities and fashion designers—sit near the front for all to see. It’s like watching a bunch of pretty, puffed-up peacocks strut around and mingle together. Some of them clearly want to be noticed even more than the models, though all the attention they get isn’t the favorable kind.

Melanie makes an excited noise next to you, and  Diana looks to see what’s reacting to, then perks up herself. “Look, there they are.” Diana nearly has to shout in your ear over the noise, nodding her head in a direction several feet away from your group. Just as she’s said, there is Taeyong, Jaehyun, Mark, and Yuta walking to their seats.

“Yep, that’s them,” you reply. “Are you gonna go talk to them after the show?”

“Me!? That might be better suited for you guys,” Diana says, looking at you and Melanie nervously. You laugh at her sudden change in demeanor.

“Come on. What’s wrong? They’re just men, and we’ve worked with plenty of attractive clients before.”

“I know, but…” Diana trails off, a skeptical expression written all over her face. “They’re just, uh, way prettier than I expected them to be. It’s a bit shocking.” You snort at that.

“You can’t be serious.”

Melanie rolls her eyes at the indecisiveness. “I will gladly do it if neither of you will.”

“I never said I wouldn’t,” you interject. “Just let me and Melanie handle the kpop idols and you can talk to the Instagram influencers who work your nerves so much.” You laugh, and Diana sighs, crossing her legs.

“Sure, sure.” As you all wait for the show to start, Diana sits up again. “Oh, there’s the bitch.”

You and Melanie both look. She must obviously be referring to Jasmine, who’s sitting with another group of fashion editors nearby and apparently having the time of her life. “As long as she don’t come back around here, I don’t care…” you say, sitting back in your seat.

“Nah, but let me find out she’s kissing a rival company’s ass. That sounds like information the boss could use, if you know what I mean.”

You laugh at that. “Girl. Not this snitching shit.”

“More mess.” Melanie shakes her head.

The show starts soon after, with the surrounding lights dimming a bit and the main spotlights illuminating the runway. There are a few speakers who introduce the show’s concept before the models come out, and then the music begins, loud enough to make your eardrums rattle.

The fashion show itself seems to go on forever, all the models and their outfits blending into one colorful mass of fabric and glitter. You still take notes the whole time, though, as you’ve been taught to do since you took the job. Even if you’re bored with the celebrities, the music, or the show itself, you still have to bring something good back home.

Possibly the most important of the show, there’s always time after it ends—and before the after party begins—for everyone to mingle and network. This is primetime for the editors and bloggers, who do their best to make as many connections and unforgettable first impressions as possible. Even if you don’t get an interview or deal that day, it’s always possible to make yourself memorable enough that they’ll reach out to you later.

You don’t plan on going home empty-handed today, though.

Making your way to the NCT members is not particularly easy, though you didn’t quite expect it to be. Many others are also determined on getting next to them, whether it’s to admire their looks, try their luck, or make an actual business proposition.

Finally, you and Melanie worm your way to the front of the crowd after some other editors have left. You quickly discover that, despite your earlier teasing, your friend was right; they really are much prettier up-close and in-person. 

Taeyong, especially, is hard to look away from. Making eye contact with him makes you feel a bit flustered, which you aren’t quite expecting. You quickly get used to seeing celebrities in this line of work, which diminishes the starstruck factor after a while.

He’s the only member not currently talking to someone else, and you snatch that chance before someone else can jump in; you can already see another editor from one of your rival companies making a beeline for him.

“Um, hi! I’m Y/N and this is my coworker Melanie...we’re with InStyle Magazine. It’s great to see you here.”

Taeyong smiles at you warmly and shakes both of your hands. His hand is soft in yours, and his rings are cool against your skin. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Taeyong.”

“Did you enjoy the show today?” you ask. Another thing you’ve learned is that it’s better to make some kind of human connection with someone before asking them for any kind of favor. Unfortunately, not every editor follows that advice.

“Yes, it was amazing. Really exciting.” He raises his eyebrows. “Did you enjoy it, too?”

“Oh of course, it was great! So much fun, thank you for asking.” Melanie nods along to your words. “You’re pretty fashionable yourself,” you say to him, gesturing to his outfit. “But I’m sure you already know that; we’ve seen quite a few of your best looks.”

Taeyong shrugs as if he’s bashful about it, though his bright smile tells another story. “It’s a way to express myself...I mean, besides music, so it’s nice to go all-out.”

You smile. “It’s a great gift to be able to express yourself however you like. What would you think about exploring that with us at Instyle? I think it’d be a great opportunity to get to know you and your groupmates better, especially with how fashion-forward you all are. Is that something that would interest you?”

“I’m interested, and I’m sure the others would be into it, too. Maybe our managers can work something out?” Taeyong turns to the manager standing beside him and says something in Korean, and the manager appears to think something over for a moment before nodding.

Melanie jumps into the conversation next. “We also have connects with pretty popular brands right now, like Vetements. We can’t guarantee any deals outright, but it never hurts to get in touch. They’ve been looking for some new faces lately, and honestly, you’re a perfect fit in my eyes.” Melanie places her hands over her heart at the last sentence, and you giggle a little. She always knows how to pour the compliments on thick.

Taeyong’s smile is modest as he says, “Thank you.”

You end up swapping contact info—your boss’s number for their manager’s digits—so something can be arranged, and you text Liza immediately to let her know what’s up. 

“Again, thank you so much for sparing your time today, you’re so kind,” Melanie gushes. You can practically see the stars sparkling in her eyes through her round glasses as she shakes Taeyong’s hand again, holding his with both of hers. You try not to laugh at this. Despite her history of less-than-stellar picks, she’s not usually one to let the inner fangirl slip, but now even her composure is being tested.

Still, your own insides get a bit mushy when he turns to you again and takes your hand. “Yes, thank you. We really appreciate it.”

“It’s a pleasure.” Taeyong’s eyes seem to linger on yours a little longer than necessary. Or maybe the pounding music has finally rattled your brain loose. Either way, you enjoy the moment for what it is before bidding your goodbyes and walking back through the crowd with Melanie. 

You throw your arm around her shoulders, and she leans into you like she’s going to faint. “God. Was that real?!”

“If it wasn’t, please don’t pinch me yet.”

“We’ve already gotten the best of the best, so if you ask me, we deserve a damn drink right now.” Melanie pretends to throw a shot back and you laugh.

“Girl, not so fast. We still have to try to recruit a few more if that deal doesn’t work out. Liza won’t let us hear the end of it otherwise.” You sigh, not feeling very enthusiastic about it either, but decide to steel yourself for a long evening ahead.

The after party that night is packed with people; many are the same ones from the fashion show earlier, though there are also new faces. Diana rejoined you while you were both getting ready at the hotel and managed to wring all the details out of Melanie about your meetup with the group. Even now while sitting in the lounge, she still goes on about it.

“I still can’t believe this shit is really happening.”

“If the boss wants it to happen, then it’s likely gonna happen,” Melanie says.

Diana leans back against her lounge seat, nursing her drink and smiling to herself. “Jasmine is gonna drop dead when she hears about it...hopefully for real.”

You roll your eyes. “Stop worrying about what that girl is doing and just enjoy the party. We didn’t get all dressed up like this to let it go to waste.”

Diana throws her arm across the back of the lounge chair as she scans you up and down. “Yes, let’s talk about you and this little black dress, actually. Whose attention are you looking for tonight, miss girl?”

“Here you go. I just wanted to look nice, I’m not searching for any—”

“Hey, isn’t that Taeyong and Mark?” Melanie points to one of the room’s many entryways, and you and Diana sit up straighter to look. “Diana, don’t be so obvious, you’re practically breaking your neck!”

It definitely is them. You don’t know where the others are, but maybe they decided to split up and go to another one of the after parties in town. You suddenly feel nervous again, though you try to ignore it.

“Oh, they didn’t bring Jaehyun.” Melanie slumps in her seat, and you give her a skeptical look.

“I thought you liked Taeyong!? You were the one giving him goo-goo baby eyes back there.”

“Yeah, but Jaehyun is my favorite. It doesn’t hurt to make a good first impression. Maybe Taeyong will let my future husband know about me and we can finally get married.” You can only shake your head.

Diana looks back at you slyly. “Ah, I see. Is this who you’re looking to impress?”

You scoff. “You say that like I knew they’d be coming here.”

“Hmm, maybe? You never know.”

At one point, Taeyong catches sight of your little group and waves, and you all wave back. You don’t expect him to come over with Mark in tow, though, which makes you sweat a little.

“It’s you again,” Taeyong says, his smile wide, and his eyes flit across your body before coming back to your eyes. “You look nice.”

You’re a little embarrassed at the compliment, and you have to ignore the other two girls giggling like schoolgirls to avoid getting even more nervous. “Ah, thanks, you look nice too…”

Mark introduces himself next, and the other two fawn over how cute and handsome he is. It isn’t long before there’s someone else vying for their attention again, and they leave with an apology; but that is far from being the last time you see them that night.

Though both men weave in and out of the crowd, interacting with numerous people throughout the night, Taeyong seems to continually find his way back to you and your friends—or just you, if the other two are gone somewhere else. He even gets you to dance with him a bit. You enjoy his company, even if he does make you a little nervous. If there’s anything you could compare him to, you might think he’s like the sun itself, with everyone else in the room pulled into his orbit—but willingly.

“Don’t let this one slip,” Diana says in your ear after Taeyong’s pulled away yet again to talk to someone else. You jump from hearing her next to you, still expecting her to be across the room talking with some lifestyle blogger.

“Let...slip? We already told you we talked to him about the magazine—”

“Not that shit. It looks like he’s taken a liking to you. I wouldn’t let that pass me by, if I were you.”

“Put the wine down,” you say, reaching for her glass, but she only sidesteps you.

“Accept a damn compliment! You talk about me and my men issues, but you need to allow yourself to be complimented and cared for, for once.”

“Stop. Somebody can probably hear us, and I don’t even know the man like that.”

“You stop. He’s been buzzing around you all night. Honestly, I don’t know if he just wants pussy or an American romance but girl, I’d say yes.”

“Okay yeah, you’ve had enough.” You try to pluck the glass away again, but she twirls away from you and almost spills her drink in the process. You laugh as some people nearby give you both odd looks. “You were too afraid to even go and talk to them. Me and Melanie did all the work, and now you’re claiming you’d say yes...give me a break!”

“Alright, hold it against me forever if you please. Just don’t mess this up, okay?”

You shake your head. “Fine, if it’ll make you leave me alone.”

The party isn’t even close to winding down yet, but you figure it’s time to get Diana back to the hotel before she has one too many. And Melanie’s started complaining about her feet hurting, which always means she’s officially ready to leave.

There’s a veranda attached to the building where the party is being held, and you go out onto it to get some air after being crammed in with the others for so long. You only intend to stay a few minutes, waiting for Melanie to find Diana so you can leave.

You hear someone else walk onto the veranda, and you don’t initially think much of it. There are already a few people out here lounging on the steps and smoking, so you figure someone else must’ve come for a break too. You’re a little startled, though, when the person leans against the railing near you, and you turn to see its Taeyong.

“Tonight’s been fun,” he says, looking towards you casually. The night breeze rustles his hair a bit, and you know for certain your boss is going to be really pleased with this pick. He’s natural-born model material.

You hum in agreement. “It’s definitely been a long night,” you say, concealing a yawn. “I don’t think I’ve ever had such an exciting time at an after party, though. ”

He grins. “Really? Never?”

You shrug a little. “As much as they dress it up on the outside, not every party is very entertaining. Some of them can be...something else entirely.” You chuckle at some of the ridiculous memories you have.

“Well, I’m glad you had a good time tonight...and that we got to talk some more.” Taeyong’s eyes look remarkably genuine as he says this, and it turns your stomach all weird and fluttery. Maybe you should listen to Diana for once.

Then again, maybe you shouldn’t be fraternizing with someone who’ll likely be working with your company soon?

“I wouldn’t mind seeing you again, either. Outside of business.” He tugs at his lip very slightly with his teeth after he says this. Which might seem like a nonchalant move in any other setting, but here and now, with this mischievousness glittering in his eyes, it’s anything but.

Oh, fuck it.

“Hm. I’ll take you up on that, then.” You find a slip of paper in your purse and write your number down on it, giving it to him afterwards. When you momentarily glance back at the entrance to the building, you catch your friends watching sneakily from afar, flashing you thumbs-ups and grinning wildly. “Enjoy the rest of your night, Taeyong.” You smile.

“I will.” There’s a promise in his voice.

Your friends are all over you as soon as you get back to them, linking their arms with yours and crowding in to hear whatever tea you have.

“You guys, really? We were only out there for a few minutes.”

“It only takes 7 seconds to fall in love,” Melanie chimes in, and Diana laughs out loud.

“If you wanna hear it that bad, Diana’s gonna have to get sober first. I don’t need you posting my business all over Twitter tonight.” The other girl sighs and only tugs you and Melanie along faster so you can all meet up with your Uber driver.

“Fine, girl, but you’re gonna let me pick all your future baby names, okay?”

“Sure, sure.”

[moldisgoodforyou]

give a little: chapter two (jj maybank x oc)

MASTERLIST

pairing: jj maybank x oc

synopsis: charlotte “charlie” walker is a rising senior at the university of south carolina, an exercise science major, a kappa, and is back in the outer banks for the summer. she’s stubborn as hell, isn’t rich enough to be a kook or poor enough to be a pogue, and is used to being in the background. she and jj both go to USC, her sorority and his frat (beta) running in the same social circles but the two rarely speak at school. things change when they run into each other at the boneyard in the summer.

warnings: drinking, swearing, mentions of sex, all characters are 21+

mainly filler!

wordcount: 2.6k

_______________________________________________________________________

JJ nodded. “Alright, good night Charlie. I’ll see you around.” He leaned in slightly, like he was about to kiss her, then changed his mind at the last second. 

She realized her eyes had almost fluttered shut in anticipation, then shook her head, taking a large step away from him. “See you around, JJ,” she replied over her shoulder before going inside.  

She shut the door behind her and leaned up against it, smiling to herself. Maybe JJ Maybank wasn’t all that bad. 

JJ had walked all the way home that night with a dopey smile on his face. It took him 45 minutes to get back to his side of the island, but he decided it was worth it to get Charlie home safe. The next morning, he woke up early and was at the kitchen table of the Chateau, scrolling through his phone  like a madman. John B ambled out from his bedroom, confused at why JJ was already up. “Dude, you just disappeared last night. Did you hook up with Charlotte?” He asked. 

JJ shook his head, intent on whatever was on his phone screen. “No, of course not, and she prefers Charlie.” 

“Okay…” John B took the seat across from him, intrigued by his friend’s strange demeanor. “What are you looking for?” 

“Look, I didn’t get her number last night, and I found her Instagram but I don’t want to slide in her DMs and be all creepy. So I texted two girls in Kappa that would know her, but I kind of ghosted them after we hooked up so obviously no response there. I even thought about seeing if she’s on Facebook but no one is on Facebook anymore.” 

John B just gaped at him in response. 

“What?” JJ snapped, annoyed. 

“I mean, it’s just...I’ve never seen you like this about a girl before,” John B laughed. “Did you even kiss her?” 

JJ shook his head and ran his hand through his hair in distress. “Of course not, she was drunk.” 

John B scoffed mockingly, shaking his head. “Like that’s ever stopped you before. Why are you so set on this girl?” 

“Have you seen her? Plus, I want to prove I don’t have a reputation. We go to the same school, we might as well be friends,” JJ reasoned. 

“Yeah. Okay. Friends is what you’re after,” John B replied, dubious, as Pope walked into the Chateau. 

“Who wants to be friends?” He asked. 

“JJ claims he just spent a good hour tracking down Charlotte on his phone just so they can be friends,” John B told Pope, shaking his head. 

Pope had the same reaction as John B. “I haven’t heard that one before. Did you guys hook up?” 

“Why does everyone assume that? And John B, I told you she goes by Charlie.” JJ replied, going back to his phone. 

“Such a simp.” John B punched JJ’s arm lightly.  

“You’re one to talk, have you seen yourself with Sarah?” JJ snapped, shoving John B back. 

Pope laughed. “You’re both simps, but JJ, you know her family’s ice cream shop is right next to the Wreck, right? Why don’t you just go find her there?”  

“Oh my god, Pope, that’s the best idea you’ve had in centuries! Let’s go.” JJ practically jumped out of his seat, before Pope clapped him on the shoulder to stop him. 

“You think the shop is gonna be open at 9 am?” 

JJ slumped back down in the chair with a groan. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Later that next morning, Charlie woke to a couple texts from Grace after she had confirmed she got home safe. 

Grace: so JJ Maybank took you all the way home and you didn’t even kiss  

Grace: like, THE LIST JJ Maybank 

Charlie laughed, reading the texts and shot off a quick reply. 

Charlie: nothing happened, like I told you. he’s not into me like that at all 

Grace: i just don’t want u to get hurt like u did with rafe 

Charlie: that feels like so long ago, I’m not gonna let that happen again

Grace: i mean it was only 5 months ago, i’m looking out for u ok

Grace: and remember this is JJ we’re talking about here, of all people

Charlie: I know. talk to you later 

After getting ready for the day and pulling on her uniform, Charlie sighed before looking over her slightly-hungover appearance in the mirror. “Another day, another dollar.” She yelled goodbye to her parents, slipping out the door before they could berate her again for not staying in to watch her brother - even though he was eleven and definitely old enough to be at home alone. Unluckily for Charlie, her little brother Jamie was also old enough to notice her sneaking out and waited up to tell their parents the second they came home from date night. 

Charlie got in her car and inhaled deeply once she realized she could still smell JJ in the fabric of her front seat. After a moment, she caught herself. “Get a grip, Charlie,” she muttered to herself, then drove to work. 

She prepared the shop and just as she was unlocking the front door to open it to the public, Kiara walked out from the Wreck. 

“Hey, Charlie! I didn’t know you were back for the summer.” She greeted her warmly, waving to catch her attention. 

They had been friends in high school, nothing close, but close enough for her to know that she wouldn’t be caught dead being called Charlotte. The two had drifted apart once they went to separate schools, Charlie at the University of South Carolina for exercise science and Kiara at the University of North Carolina Wilmington for marine biology, but they kept in touch through social media. 

“Kiara, hey! Yeah, just working with the family business, you know how that goes. Um, sorry we didn’t really talk last night, JJ was -” 

“JJ was being annoying, I know.” Kiara interrupted, laughing. “Trust me, you don’t need to explain about him. He got you home safe though?” 

“Yeah, definitely. Just drove me home. It was nice.” Charlie smiled. 

“Is the list you were talking about real?” Kiara asked. “I hope not, I mean I knew JJ was bad in high school and he doesn’t really date, but he doesn’t seem to really brag about girls when we hang out.”

Charlie gave a slight grimace, nodding. “It’s real. It started as a joke, honestly, but then it turned out to be pretty helpful to know who to avoid. But yeah, JJ’s not at the top just for kicks.” 

“Oh my god, you’d think with all the lectures I gave him and Ted talks I sent him he would know better. I love the guy, but I know how he works.” Kiara shook her head and gave her an apologetic smile on his behalf.

Charlie shrugged. “I think he just flirts too much and doesn’t realize how quickly girls fall for it. I don’t know. Hey, I have to open, but I’ll see you around? We should catch up.” 

Kiara smiled. “Definitely. I’ll text you. Bye, Charlie,” she nodded as she left.  

Charlie returned to behind the counter, servicing a handful of families over the lunch rush until the customers died off around 2pm. The A/C hardly worked in the shop and all the spare fans were pointed toward the ice cream, refrigeration cranked up high, but Charlie was still a sweaty mess. After not having customers for a good half hour, she pulled off her apron and stood in the back, then peeled off her shirt for good measure, wearing her bikini top underneath. She sighed in relief as the cool air hit her skin, leaning against the wall. Her relief was short-lived and she jumped when she heard the bell of the door opening, peeking around the corner. “Fuck,” she muttered, grabbing her shirt again.

JJ, John B and Pope walked in and John B glanced around. “See, she’s not even here -” 

Charlie quickly pulled her shirt back over her head as she walked out, JJ doing a double take at the sight of her dressing. 

Pope elbowed John B to get him to shut up and smiled pleasantly at Charlie. “Hi Charlott - uh, Charlie, nice to see you again! I didn’t know you worked here.” 

She smiled at his fumbling of her name. “Hi Pope. Yeah, um, Walker Ice Creams, my family runs the business. I’m just working here while I’m home for the summer.” 

“Very cool.” Pope nodded, then stepped on JJ’s foot out of view. 

JJ yelped before Pope shot a glare at him. “Hi Charlie!” JJ greeted, a little too brightly. 

She quirked an eyebrow at his demeanor. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, are you okay?” He replied, trying to flirt and failing miserably. 

John B gave JJ a look and mouthed “what the fuck are you doing” to him before turning to Charlie. “Excuse this dumbass. Can I have a cone of mint chocolate chip please?” 

“And I’ll take a cup of the cookies and cream,” Pope chimed in, trying to cover for JJ’s weirdness. JJ scanned over all the flavors, watching as Charlie scooped for the two of them. 

“Do you want anything, Maybank?” She questioned, and it was like a light had flickered on in his brain at the sound of the nickname. 

“What’s your favorite flavor?” He asked. 

“The chocolate fudge brownie. I have a big sweet tooth though, so it might be too much,” she shrugged. 

“I’ll take a cone of that, please. I love chocolate. And, uh…” he paused, before feeling his wallet in his back pocket. “I’ll pay for all of us.” 

John B and Pope whipped their heads over in surprise. “It’s okay, JJ, we can pay for our own -” Pope offered before JJ cut him off. 

“Nope, I got it! My treat. You’re welcome,” JJ responded, talking through gritted teeth with the last words. 

Charlie rang them up after handing out their ice creams. “Thanks again for taking me home last night. I obviously hadn’t planned on being too drunk to drive, so...” 

JJ waved his hand in dismissal. “It’s no problem, I just wanted to be sure you were home safe. Are you coming to the next Boneyard party?” 

“You guys already have another one planned? When is it?” Charlie asked and JJ panicked, looking over at John B and Pope for assistance. 

“Uh, this Friday?” John B said questioningly. 

“Yeah, exactly, this Friday. You should come.” JJ grinned. 

“Yeah, maybe.” She responded, seeming uninterested. 

JJ frowned a little at her lack of enthusiasm. “Right, well, I’ll see you around then.” 

The three of them walked out and immediately started arguing out of Charlie’s earshot once they got outside. Charlie didn’t notice, cleaning up, til Pope came back in a moment later with a crumpled up napkin in his fist. “I think you dropped this,” he said as he set it on the counter then walked back out. Charlie waited for the boys to walk away before opening it, seeing “JJ - 252-630-8416” scrawled on it in Pope’s neat handwriting. She smiled to herself and shook her head, then pocketed the napkin.  

_______________________________________________________________________

Later that day, the Pogues were all out on the water, hanging out. John B and Pope were eagerly retelling the story of the ice cream shop to Kie, JJ interjecting multiple times with lies of different lines he had “flirted” with. “And after all that, he still chickened out and didn’t get her number.” John B finished the story dramatically. 

“Don’t worry, JJ, I saved your awkward conversation.” Pope claimed proudly, crossing his arms. 

JJ gave him a wary look. “What did you do?” 

Pope grinned. “When I told you guys I went back because I left my keys in there, I actually gave her a napkin with your number on it. You’re welcome.” 

JJ immediately responded by punching him in the arm, Pope groaning. “What the hell, Pope! Now I look desperate!” 

Kiara tilted her head, confused. “You know, I saw her earlier when she opened the shop. I have her number, you could have just asked for it.” 

JJ practically jumped out of his seat to grab Kiara’s phone. “You could have spared me all that! Holy hell, Kie, give it to me.” 

She frowned, holding her phone out of his reach. “No. You should only have it if she wants you to have it.” 

JJ sat down with a defeated sigh, knowing not to push her or he’d earn another lecture about feminism from Kiara. He slumped in his chair dramatically. “I’m never gonna talk to her at this rate.” 

_______________________________________________________________________

After her shift, Charlie went over to Grace’s house to wind down for the night. Grace greeted her at the door and immediately lifted her friend’s hair off her neck. 

Charlie ducked out of her grip, walking in the house. “Hey! What are you doing?” 

Grace smirked and crossed her arms. “Checking for hickies.” 

Charlie blushed slightly and groaned. “Grace, I swear to god, nothing happened!” 

Grace laughed. “Just being sure! I can’t blame him if something did, he’d be stupid not to make a move on you.” 

“It’s not like that,” Charlie shook her head.  “If he was ever vaguely interested, he would have said something at one of our Kappa mixers.” 

Grace poured them both a glass of wine and flopped onto the couch with her. “Would you have considered it? If he did make a move?” 

Charlie ran the tip of her finger around the wine glass, avoiding her friend’s inquisitive gaze. “Um. I don’t know. He’s probably bad news.”  

Grace nodded. “Exactly. I mean, he’s hot, but at what cost? Just find a Touron at a Boneyard party. It’s been more than enough time though, you need to get laid.” 

Charlie sputtered, choking on her sip of wine. “Grace!” 

Her friend just rolled her eyes and handed her a napkin. “Think about it. You broke it off with Rafe three whole months ago and you’ve only been on one date since. And you lied and told me you hooked up with that Beta just to get me off your back. It’s not like you don’t have any options either, you practically rejected half the soccer team -” 

Charlie blushed. “Okay, okay, Grace, I get your point. I just don’t know if I’m ready. I mean, the way we ended things wasn’t -” 

“No.” Grace interrupted. “You broke it off with him, it wasn’t a we decision, because he’s a lying, cheating bastard. You didn’t deserve any of that. What you do deserve is a good old-fashioned dick appointment. Just not with JJ Maybank.” 

Charlie laughed in spite of herself. “He and John B and Pope came into the ice cream shop today. They said there’s a party Friday, I guess we could go?” She offered halfheartedly, fishing the napkin with JJ’s number on it out of her pocket. 

“What is that?” Grace raised her eyebrows.

“Um, JJ’s number, Pope passed it on,” Charlie shrugged. “I’m probably not gonna do anything with it but I thought I’d keep it just in case.” 

Grace reached over and plucked it out of her hands, promptly ripping it into pieces despite Charlie’s feeble protest. “We went over this, I told you that boy’s no good for you. Will you let me do your makeup and pick out an outfit?”

“Why’d you have to - ugh, yeah, sure. Whatever makes you happy,” she teased. 

Grace clapped together her hands in excitement. “We’re gonna get you laaaiddd!” She sang, making Charlie blush again and whine in response. 

“I hate you.” 

Grace laughed. “No you don’t. You love me.”��

tags: @booksandshish​ @jiaraendgame​

[quietpoeticheart]

Fluffy

Summary: After weeks of noticing changes in Bucky, Eden, his girlfriend finally gets to the root of his new behavior and tries to fix it before it damages him permanently.

Paring: Chubby Bucky Barnes x Black! OC

Word Count: 2250

Warnings: Low self esteem, slight eating disorder (I'm not sure what to call it), lots and lots of fluff, lots of feelings

A/N: I've never written a chubby Bucky fic before but I had the idea and it wouldn't leave so now we have this. It really wasn't supposed to be this long but I ended up loving Eden and Bucky so much that it ended up being longer than anticipated but I'm not complaining cause its cute and I'm a such a sucker for soft Bucky Enjoy!!!!!

Recently, Eden had noticed a concerning change in Bucky's behavior. It had started three weeks ago. The first change had been his clothes, when they were going out for a walk.

"Buck, are you ready?" Eden called. They were supposed to leave over half an hour ago but Bucky was taking forever to get ready.

"I'm coming now doll." Bucky yelled. When he exited their bedroom and entered the living room, Eden looked him up and down quizzically, raising her eyebrows. He was wearing a thick oversized sweater with a bulky jacket over it.

"Babe, are you sure that's what you wanna wear?" Eden was taken aback by his outfit choice, it was July for Christ's sake

Bucky nodded.

"Buck, its sweltering outside. It's the middle of summer, why don't you take off the jacket?"

"I'm fine with what I'm wearing Edie. Let's just go." Bucky insisted. Eden sighed and resigned the matter, thinking that he was simply feeling more self conscious than usual about his arm.

The next incident had been when they'd gone to the beach.

"Buck, are you coming in the water?"

Bucky had lowered his sunglasses to look at her and shook his head "I think I'll stay here and watch you, if you don't mind."

Eden frowned at him. Of course she minded, he'd been the one to suggest going to the beach to combat the heatwave that'd been sweeping New York. She'd pulled out her new yellow bikini that made her brown skin pop even more, taken out her wig and left her natural hair loose and driven here only for him to change his mind.

"James, you made us come here and now you don't want to go swim. You know what? I'll go by myself since it's clearly too much to ask of you."

Eden turned away from him and stalked down the sand towards the sea. She wasn't going to do this. When she was halfway there, she heard Bucky's voice.

"Edie wait." He was jogging to catch up with her. "I'll come with you."

She rolled her eyes and kept walking. Bucky grabbed her arm and pulled her into him for a kiss. Turning her head away, she frowned at him again.

"I'm still mad at you."

"I know doll, how about I get you ice cream later to make up for it?"

She tip toed to meet his height and pressed a kiss to his lips, "Deal, now let's go."

Bucky wrapped his hand in hers and began walking again.

Eden looked at him, "Aren't you going to take off your shirt?"

"Nope." He said. It struck her as odd but she didn't question it. The beach was crowded and she assumed he didn't want people to see his scars which was understandable.

The next change that took place was the one that raised the most concern, a change in his eating habits.

They'd gone out for dinner that night at their favorite restaurant. When the waiter came to take your orders, Bucky said, "I'll have the Ceasar salad."

This was alarming, James Buchanan Barnes was not the kind of man that ordered salads as a meal.

"A salad babe?" She asked, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Oh, yeah, I'm not too hungry tonight I guess." Bucky mumbled.

"Are you sure? We can always change your order." Eden pressed. She knew her boyfriend well enough to know that a salad was never gonna satisfy him.

"Eden, doll, I'm fine."

She didn't want to push the matter to upset him so she left it alone.

This change worsened over the next couple of weeks going from him eating salads and fruit to him skipping meals entirely. She had to admit, the multitude of excuses he could come up with was impressive.

"Y/N, I'm not hungry."

"I ate before I came home."

"I have work to do, I'll eat later."

"I'll eat at work."

"I grabbed food with the boys earlier."

After that, came refusing to take pictures with you.

There was this French inspired teashop that had recently opened that she'd been begging Bucky to carry her to and eventually he'd caved.

While you where there, she decided that she'd take a few pictures for Instagram.

"Hey Buck." Eden called

"Yeah Edie?"

"You wanna take pictures with me for Instagram?"

"I don't think so baby." Bucky shook his head, his hair flying in his face.

She expected him to say yes, he loved taking pictures with her. All over their apartment was littered with various Polaroids and framed images of you two over the course of their relationship. He'd never said no before and she were astonished.

"But why baby?" Eden pouted prettily at him, hoping it'd change his mind.

"I just don't want to today."

"Is it because you think I don't look pretty?" She had to admit to yourself that this was a new low, trying to guilt trip him by jumping to conclusions but she were desperate to know why all of a sudden the majority of his mannerisms had changed.

Bucky was absolutely bewildered by your response.

"Eden doll, you look stunning, I just don't want any pictures."

Well, you did look good and weren't going to pass up an opportunity to get good pictures so you let it go

"Fine, but you're gonna take pictures of me then."

Then there was tonight.

"Bucky!" Eden called, her stilettos clacking noisily on the marble tiles, "Hurry up, we're gonna be late."

"Eden, I'm feeling sick, just go without me." He called back from your bedroom.

At this point, she was frustrated. This was an important charity event that the company she worked for was hosting and even though Bucky hated those events, he'd agreed to come but now was suddenly too sick to attend.

She'd had enough of his weird behavior the past few weeks and she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

She walked into the room prepared to tell him off, but what she saw wasn't what was expected.

Bucky was sitting on your bed, tie in his hand, facing your full length mirror, crying his eyes out.

"Buck." She called out.

He jumped, even though he'd been expecting her to come, she'd startled him.

"Hey, Edie" Bucky said.

She walked over and sat next to him on the bed, "Buck, what's wrong?"

"Nothing sweetheart."

Black don't crack but this boy was gonna give her wrinkles with the amount of glaring she was doing right now "James Barnes, if nothing is wrong, then why are you crying?"

This only seemed to make him cry even more.

"Baby, c'mon tell me what's wrong?"

Bucky shook his head. Eden wrapped her arms around Bucky and pulled him into her. As he buried his head in her chest, she gently stroked his hair, trying to soothe him.

Eventually, he raised his head, "Your dress is all wet, I'm sorry."

Pressing a kiss to his tear streaked cheek, she smiled gently at him, "It's okay my love."

"No it's not. Why are you so nice to me?"

Eden was perplexed, she was usually the needy one, aggravating Bucky every couple hours to reassure her that he'd love her even if she were a worm. He'd never needed validation but if that's what he needed now, she'd write him a book. She'd do anything to make him happy again.

"Because you're my handsome boyfriend and I love you."

At that, Bucky promptly burst into tears again.

"No no no baby, don't cry. Just tell me what's wrong James."

"I'm not handsome Eden." His voice sounded pained as he said it. She decided to try again

"You're right baby, you're sexy."

"I'm not, I'm fat." He blurted out before burying his face in his hands.

That's when it clicked. Everything that he'd been doing had stemmed from this insecurity, but she didn't know where it came from, he'd never spoken about himself like that. Bucky may not have had an ego but he knew that he was attractive.

Eden felt like crap actually for ignoring all the signs over the weeks and coming up with reasons, instead of asking him about it. There was nothing she could do now besides try her best to talk to him about it.

"You're not fat baby."

"Yes I am"

"James look at me."

When he refused, she took his chin and gently raised it so he could look you in the eyes, "Bucky, you're the most handsome guy I've ever seen."

Bucky pulled himself away from her and stood in front of her gesturing to his belly that was slightly straining against the fabric of his shirt,

"Look at me Eden, I'm chubby."

She raked her eyes over his figure. It was true that he'd put on a few pounds and instead of its usual firm shape, his stomach was now soft and slightly pillowy but it didn't take away from his attractiveness, it added to it.

"Baby, you're not chubby."

"Then what would you call this Eden?" He cried out almost frustratingly.

"Fluffy."

Bucky looked at her incredulously, "Fluffy?"

Eden nodded, "Fluffy like a cloud or a pillow or an adorable bunny rabbit."

If looks could kill, the glare Bucky gave her in that moment would have annihilated her instantly.

"I'm a man Eden, I'm not supposed to be adorable or fluffy."

Now it was her turn to glare at him. She made a mental reminder to rub her face with some cocoa butter later to prevent wrinkles.

"Who says that men can't be adorable?"

"That's...just how it is Eden." Bucky sighed. He hated feeling like this, weak and insecure, he was supposed to be the one taking care of Edie but here she was having to baby him.

"No it's not James. Who told you that?"

"No one." Bucky's answer came way too suddenly and Eden knew he was lying.

"Bucky..."

"Fine, it was Brock. He told me that I was getting tubby and that I didn't deserve you because you're so much more better looking than I am and that you'd realise that soon enough and leave me because you wanted a man that could take care of you." Bucky burst into tears again.

He felt so ashamed of himself for crying so much in front of Eden but he couldn't help it. He'd bottled up these feelings inside for weeks and now it was all spilling out.

Eden was furious. She'd always known that Brock was an asshole but to go to this length to tear down Bucky's self esteem and convince him that she was gonna leave him, was too far and she made a mental note to punch him the next day that she saw him at work for making her boyfriend cry.

"Baby I'll never leave you. I've been with you for four years and I'm not going anywhere. Your attractiveness does not decrease because you gained a little weight. I'm with you because you love and respect me not because you're hot. You are worthy of me James and you always will be."

Eden leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his stomach. It was warm and soft and she loved it, she loved all of him, just the way he was and she just hoped that he would see that.

"Are you sure that you don't mind?"

"Yup."

"You promise you'll never leave me?" Bucky's voice was almost childlike. He still found it a little hard to believe that, Eden didn't mind. He'd always known that her heart was big but her accepting him even when he couldn't accept himself, meant so much to him.

"I promise."

"And you still think I'm attractive?"

Eden giggled, "Still as hot as the day I met you."

For the first time that night Bucky smiled and it warmed her heart to see it.

Bucky sat next to her and pulled her onto his lap to straddle him, kissing her neck, "I love you Eden."

"I love you too James."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you how I was feeling. We could've prevented all of this." Despite all the joy, he had in that moment, there was also a lingering sense of regret for not coming to Eden earlier. Bucky felt like crap for doubting her, for thinking she'd abandon him. He couldn't believe that he thought that she'd give up on him

"Don't apologize baby, I understand that its hard. I'm just glad that we were able to work it out. Do you feel better now baby?"

"Yeah I am." And it was the truth. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. For the first time in weeks, Bucky was truly happy.

"I'm sorry too Bucky."

"For what Edie?"

"For not talking to you about the changes I was noticing." It was still bothering her that she hadn't said anything to him about them. Eden felt, that she'd in a way, failed him.

"You don't have to apologize Eden. I should've been mature enough to speak to you about it instead of acting like a child. Don't feel guilty." He leaned in and kissed her.

Eden pulled away, her hands unbuttoning his shirt "So how about, we skip this thing and I show you just how much I love your body."

"I thought this event was important?"

Smirking, Eden slid the white material off his shoulders, "We'll just tell them that we were sick."

---

I'm open to doing a sequel to this piece, or making it a series or something. Maybe doing some headcanons or drabbles. Leave a comment if you want to see more of this work or simply if you enjoyed it.

My taglist is also open, so if anyone wants to be added, you can leave it in the comments.

[talkfastromance4]

adore you--harry styles

a/n: erm yeah, so this is something I wrote literally a year ago. It’s an open ended ending (I have no idea where I wanted to go with it but assuming by the title...) anywho. First time posting Harry as standalone, I’ve used him as an outside antagonist in other pieces but yeah. Let me know what you think!?

word count: just shy of 2.8k

warnings: slight jealousy? it is an OC but no definitive characteristics are described

**I used my taglist from 5sos but if you don’t want to be tagged for future (maybe?) harry writings, please let me know!

•••

Harry and Selah were writing buddies. He’d found her poetry on Instagram and had been hooked by her words ever since. He’d messaged her asking if she’d like to collaborate sometime and after a day of screeching about the direct message from none other than Harry Styles himself, she responded.

 I’d love to! But I don’t live anywhere near London or LA

 Not a problem. I’ll fly you out. H

 You aren’t serious

 I am 🙂 what do you say?

 And then she was on a plane out to LA to write a song or two with Harry Styles. She was a big ball of chaotic and anxious energy. She was excited but nervous and didn’t know what in the world to expect. She’d been a fan of One Direction when they started.

She’d even seen them perform live and it was so surreal she couldn’t believe she saw them in person. And now she’s actually going to meet 1/5 of one of her favorite boybands. If she’s dreaming she didn’t want to wake up.

Once her bags were claimed she noticed a tall woman with a blond bob and a tailored suit, she was holding up a small sign that read ‘Selah Grace Clark’ with the acronym of ‘TPWK’ underneath. This must be her ride.

“Um, I’m Selah Clark,” she says shyly approaching the woman.

“Oh! Hello! I’m Maeve, Harry’s driver but now yours while you’re here,” Maeve smiles extending her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Maeve,” Selah smiles shaking her hand.

“Is this all your luggage?” Maeve indicates to the three large suitcases next to Selah.

“Yeah . . . is it too much? I’ve never been to LA and I don’t know how long I’m staying for—“

“It’s absolutely fine! Don’t worry! Let’s just get a cart so you don’t have to lug it around to the car.”

 Selah was taken to a hotel and into the nicest room she’s ever been in.

“Harry wanted you to feel comfortable in your own suite, room service accessible and I’ll be back in a few hours to pick you up and meet him.”

“Where will I be meeting him?” Selah tries to keep her voice at a normal pitch.

“At his house. He’s doing some meetings today but insisted on having you for dinner. I’ll be round by six o’clock Miss Clark.”

“Please, call me Selah or Sel, not Miss Clark,” Selah winces at the formality.

“Absolutely Selah. I’ll see you around,” Maeve winks then exits the suite.

Selah takes a look around then squeals running to the bedroom and flops onto the bed. Is this real life?

+++++

 Selah opted for a casual outfit for meeting Harry and her nerves were a terrible bundle the closer she got to his house. What if she’s a blubbering, stuttering mess and he regrets bringing her out here? She’s never met anyone famous before and now she’s meeting (and going to be writing with) one of the most famous singers in the country.

“Here we are,” Maeve announces pulling through the iron gates and into the circle around driveway.

There’s a fountain in the middle of it and unlike her prediction, his house looked very homey and inviting.

“I know you’re nervous, Selah but really, Harry’s just like a regular guy,” Maeve tries to comfort her.

++++++

Selah peruses the photographs adorned on his walls while she waits for him. They’re snapshots of his whole career, faces she recognizes of celebrities and faces she doesn’t. In each one Harry is the enigma, his charisma exudes through the photographs.

“Sorry for keeping you,” a droll voice thick as honey says from behind her.

Selah whips around and her breath is stuck in her throat. Harry Styles is walking towards her wearing tan trousers and a band tee, his hair is styled in the perfect mess. His green eyes are excited and paired with a smile she’s only familiar with in pictures.

“Hello, I’m Harry,” he holds out his ring covered hand. “And you’re Selah Grace Clark.”

“H-hi,” Selah chokes out taking his hand in hers. It’s warm and soft and strong and she can’t breathe. “And just . . . just Selah.”

“Well, ‘just Selah,’” he mocks giving her hand one final shake before releasing. “Would you like to help me with dinner? I hope you like pasta.”

“I . . .” Selah takes a deep breath and exhales her nervousness. “I love pasta.”

++++

One year later, Selah and Harry have become closer than close and she’s become one of his confidante’s and most valued co-writer. She’s been through the thick of things with him and the first time he tried recreational drugs. Her heart still flutters when she remembers what he said to her while he was high.

They were at Mitch’s place working on a song Harry had no name for and only a quarter of the lyrics, when he came and sat down heavily next to her on the couch. His green eyes were dazed but not confused as he focused on her, his long arm falling onto her shoulders.

“Y’know somethin’?” he drags out.

“What?” she humors him with a laugh.

“Your eyes right now are like the ocean with stars in them,” he lifts his left hand to her face. His fingers ghost over her eyelashes then pokes her nose gently. His own brows furrow as he concentrates on her eyes.

She’s stood from the sidelines watching him fall into his despair after what Camille did to him. It made her own heart break but she knew he had to come to terms with it on his own, she knew he could do it and he did.

Little did Harry know that her friendship ran a little deeper, had a little more love in it then she intended it to. How was she supposed to know she’d fall for him?

And now, it’s the day after Christmas and she’s pulling up to his place. He decided to have a little get together for everyone that helped with the album. She opted for a red dress, fish net tights and heeled boots.

When she opened the door his house was already filled with laughter and cheer, Christmas music playing throughout.

“There she is! And looking hotter than ever, damn girl!” Mitch exclaims coming from the kitchen with a small crystal glass that looks like it’s filled with eggnog.

“Oh stop it,” Selah blushes setting her keys on the main table where everybody else’s were.

“C’mere, you,” he grins some more pulling her in for a hug. “C’mon, everyone’s in the living room.”

He keeps his arm around her shoulders leading her into the living room where Harry’s large tree was decorated and standing perfectly in the corner. Everyone you knew were sat around on couches and chairs, even Gemma was kneeling on the floor next to Michal who was sitting on the couch.

“Look who’s arrived!” Mitch shouts.

“Mitch!” she hisses feeling embarrassed as everyone turns their heads in unison to look at her.

“Selah!”

“Sel!”

Gemma is the first to run up and hug you, touching your hair delicately praising how much she likes it.

“Want a drink?” Mitch asks.

“Please. You know what I like?”

“’Course I do,” he shrugs kissing her temple then retreats back into the kitchen.

“You look amazing!” Gemma gushes eying up her dress.

“Thank you, I love your dress,” Selah responds with a smile. She spots Harry behind her, he’s wearing a deep green jumper with faded jeans, his stubble visible even from this distance. He sends a wink her way before continuing his conversation.

Selah tries to ignore the fact he didn’t come say hi but he was talking with someone else and Harry was anything but rude. Selah let Gemma grab her hand leading her to where Michal was. Mitch joined back quickly with her drink and wouldn’t keep his hands off her.

He’s usually pretty lovey dovey with everyone once he’s gotten a little bit to drink but this was a bit more outlandish for him. Selah played along with it and she thought she saw Harry give them a look but someone walked in front of him and he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

Selah is at the food table making a plate of cheese and crackers with some fruit and mini meatballs when she smells an all too familiar cologne and an all too familiar touch on her back.

“Before you dig in, I have something to give you,” Harry says lowly in her ear.

Selah turns her head sharply then gasps when she sees how close Harry’s face is to hers. She gulps then nods. Keeping his eyes strained on her, with one hand he puts her plate down and with the other takes her hand.

He leads her through the kitchen out into the small garden joined to his house. It’s decorated with fairy lights and it smells of fresh pine, which is odd because that doesn’t grow in LA.

“It’s out here?” she scrunches her nose.

“It’s quieter, don’t you think?” he grins back at her then stops her right in the middle of the small area.

“I guess,” she sighs. “I didn’t get you anything, Harry, I’ve been so busy flying home and getting presents for everyone else I just—“

“You don’t have to get me anything, love,” he shakes his head then picks up a pretty flat wrapped gift from a bench. He places it in her hands delicately. “Merry Christmas, Sel.”

“Merry Christmas, Harry,” she smiles then rips into the gift. She gasps, her eyes darting up to Harry when she sees what the thin box consists of. It’s the newest Macbook. “Harry this is—“

“It’s not too much, it’s just enough. You deserve a good writing tool, especially with your book coming along,” his green eyes twinkle.

“I’ll pay you back, I promise!”

“You don’t payback for a gift,” he chortles. “It’s yours. Merry Christmas.”

Selah sets the gift gently down on the bench behind her then throws her arms around Harry’s neck. Her toes rise off the ground as he hugs her back, his arms tight around her waist.

“I love it, thank you so much,” she says into the collar of his sweater.

“You’re welcome.”

They release their hold slowly, his eyes flicker down while hers flicker up. The air between them fills with static, something electric hangs in the air.

“Mistletoe,” he grunts tightening his hands on her waist.

“I don’t—wait what?” she asks puzzled.

“We’re under mistletoe, love,” he hums.

“Oh?” she squeaks. “Who put that there?”

Harry smiles at her petulance reaching his hand up to cup her chin with his thumb, he rubs her chin gently stroking up her cheek.

“I think the man of the house had an agenda.”

“That’s the narcissist in him,” she hums as he leans in closer, a chuckle escaping his lips.

She closes her eyes smelling the cinnamon and eggnog on his breath. Her heart is pounding loudly in her ears as she becomes hyperaware to everything he does. His nose bumps hers then his lips are soon to follow.

There’s a small pause as he waits for her to pull away but Selah is frozen. So Harry continues connecting their lips in the softest kiss she’s ever experienced, his lips mold hers into what he wants and she’s pliant under him. Where he leads she’ll surely follow.

At the touch of his tongue slipping over hers she lets out a quiet moan and kisses him deeper. Her fingers curl into his soft brown locks like many times before when he’d be lying on her lap complaining about a migraine. This is so much better.

Harry gets more excited as the kiss continues, he parts his mouth open welcoming her soft tongue and pushes her against the edge of the doorway to the gazebo garden. Selah grunts at the impact and he mumbles out a ‘sorry’ connecting their lips again. His hands travel lower on her waist until he feels the hem of her dress and the fishnet tights.

He squeezes her thighs hoisting her in the air and her legs wrap around his waist so she doesn’t fall on her butt. A surprised squeak at the sudden movement escapes her lips and Harry smiles at her cuteness.

“I’ve got you, love,” he grins and gives her thighs a squeeze for good measure. Her legs clench around him and Harry desperately wants to take her upstairs to his bedroom and have his way with her until New Year’s Day.

“We’re not under the mistletoe anymore,” she sighs stroking his stubbled cheek and the birthmark.

“You want me to stop kissing you?” he huffs cocking his head to the side. His green eyes seem dark in the lowlight but she knows him well enough that he’s anything but dark.

“No,” she murmurs through a smile.

“All right then,” his eyes dance mirthlessly as he presses his lips to hers again.

Selah’s heart is soaring, her fingers are tingling and her lips are zinging from kissing Harry like this. It’s everything she’s wanted and more. She never wants to stop.

Until they do when there’s a loud pop of champagne from the kitchen and they break apart in shock. Selah knocks her head on the windowpane and squeezes around Harry who grunts at the impact.

“Ow,” she whispers.

“Are you okay?” he asks setting her back on her feet carefully. He cradles her head delicately, the cool of his rings feel nice on her temples as he inspects her.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she nods then giggles at him.

“What’sso funny?” he smirks.

She continues to snicker and rubs at the top of his lip. “My lipstick is all over you, H.”

He rolls his eyes. “Not my color, eh?”

“Not like this,” she snickers trying to rub it off. “You’ll have to use soap.”

“Where’d Harry and Sel run off to?” Mitch shouts.

“Your boyfriend’s gonna be mad if he finds us,” Harry grumbles tucking her hair behind her ears.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He’s been over you all night, hasn’t he?” his dark brows furrow into an angry line.

“It’s nothing, Harry,” Selah rolls her eyes. “You know how he gets when he’s drunk.”

“He wasn’t drunk when you got here,” he shakes his head.

“O . . . kay? What are you saying? You brought me out here to kiss me and stake your claim because some other guy was showing me attention?” Selah pushes him away from her angrily.

“N-no! That’s not what I—“ he closes his eyes and exhales deeply through his nose. It’s his calming mechanism.

“That’s low, Harry, even for you,” she scoffs and tries to sidle past him to leave.

“Selah Grace, listen to me,” he uses her full name grabbing hold of her wrist spinning her around. She smacks into him and tries to push away from him with her small hand on her chest.

“Let me go!”

He grabs her other wrist pinning her fighting arms against her body. He ducks his head so his eyes are level with hers.

“That was a dumb thing of me to say,” he confesses. “You aren’t something to ‘stake a claim’ on, Selah. I just . . .” he closes his eyes then opens them again with a big breath, “I did have this planned. The gift, the mistletoe, it was all a plan to try and kiss you if you’d let me. Hearing him just made me think of how he has been all over you.”

She’s fuming silently, her lips in a scowl and her eyes hard. If he didn’t know she was mad at him he’d tell her she’s adorable as fuck when she’s mad but he’ll tell her that some other time.

“And that bothered you?” she asks quietly.

He licks his lips and nods. He slowly releases her wrists bringing them up to his mouth, he kisses the soft skin inside each wrist. His green eyes pleading her forgiveness.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles on her skin.

“You’re lucky you look like a dork with that lipstick on or I wouldn’t forgive you,” she says icily. He continues to kiss up her wrist and into her palm, his eyes on her.

“And because you fancy me,” he smirks now kissing her fingertips lightly.

“Shut up,” she scoffs rolling her eyes. “Go wash your mouth, Styles.”

“Can you help me?” he grins mischievously.

She leans up kissing him quickly, his lips chase hers as she answers with a simple, ‘nope.’ With a grin she skips behind him and picks up her laptop holding it to her chest.

“Better hurry before my boyfriend sees,” she smirks then leaves him standing there in disbelief.

Taglist: @calpalirwin​​  @thecurlsofgod​​ @myloverboyash​​ @rotten-kandy​ @tea4sykes​ @jannimoeller3​ @loveroflrh​ @iovehemmings​ @cxddlyash​ @princesslrh​  @katiaw2​ @g-l-pierce​ @fairyintheglass​ @gosh-im-short​ @lukeisbaby @spicycal​ @mysticalhood​ @notinthesameguey​ @wastedheartcth​ @itjustkindahappenedreally​ @calumance​ @babylon-corgis​ @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt​ @lanternlover2​ @istaywithmyjonas​ @calteahood​ @sarcastically-defensive17​ @another-lonely-heart​ @devilatmydoor​ @frontmanash​ @philthepegacorn​ @mantlereid @lukedorkyhemmings​ @addietagglikesbands​ @kikixfandoms @sanrioluke​ @mayve-hems​ @morguelth @haikucal​ @thatscooibaby​ @meghanrose05​ @idontneedanyone​ @dinosaursandsocks @haveufoundwhaturlooking4 @suchalonelysunflower​ @burstintocolor​ @zhangyixingxing1​ @dead-and-golden​ @mymindwide​ @everyscarisahealingplace​ @stardust-galaxies​ @blackbutterfliescal​ @redrattlers​ @lovelybonesetc​ @karajaynetoday​ @quasighost​ @i-like-5sos​ @creampiecashton​ @calpops​ @superbloomed-c​ @ophelia-enthusiast​ @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof​ @flaneurcth​ @dariangarcia

[queenofthefallenangels]

Think Twice Part 1

"I am going to make sure you never even think of touching my girl ever again. I am going to make sure you wish you never even met her."

Loosely based on the song “Think Twice” By Eve 6. 

Seth Rollins x OC x Jon Moxley

Rated: M 

Warning: some abusive themes, violence, drinking 

Tag Team: @sithstatlander @xladyxfatex @writtingrose ​

If anyone else wants to be added to the tag permant or for this story ask is open.  

As Always ENJOY

-----

~

Aria's POv~

“You don’t think this is too soon, do you?” I asked Alexa as we sat in the lunchroom break room together.

Alexa shrugged as she pushed a fork into her salad. “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt. It doesn’t have to be anything serious. It could just be you two ending up being friends. Besides, you need something to cheer you up and get you out. You have been depressed this whole time. It worries me honestly. You know that leads you right back to him.”

I sighed. She was right. Whenever I felt lonely, it was easy to back to him. I couldn’t help it. I was in love with him. He just wasn’t good for me.

~flashback a few weeks ago~

I was minding my own business, watching Netflix like any other night after work. Seth was working late on the books. It was pretty normal. I would have never expected what was going to happen next.

Seth came storming into the house. The door slammed so hard the pictures on the wall shook. I had no idea what had gotten into this time, but it wasn't good. I was too scared to even get up and ask. Not like it would have mattered because his long legs aided him to get to the living room fast. He threw his phone on the coffee table. "Is there something you want to tell me, Aria?"

I looked up at him confused. I could see the anger fueling in his eyes. The normal soft, caramel orbs were dark and harsh. It almost scared me. Anger like this I had seen before, but normally I had an idea what it was about. I moved towards the edge of the couch looking down at the phone. It was a screenshot of  text messages. My text messages. "How did you get these?" I asked him. They were from my Instagram. It was a completely harmless dm. To Seth, it was more. Seth had a huge jealousy problem. He didn't like me talking to other guys thought he was always talking to other girls.

"Why does it matter how I got them? Keep going I got more screenshots."

I swiped to the side looking at more. My heart sunk. I knew I should have deleted those ones. "Seth, this one isn't what you think."

"You told Alexa, you had a plan to leave me. That I was too overbearing. Too hypocritical. I can go on." He said as he paced infront of me.

"Well, don't you think going through my texts kind of proves that. You don't trust me."

Seth groaned. "I used to, but it’s hard to with all these pictures you post on social media."

I stood up at this. "Me? Me?! Show me one picture on your page where you wear a shirt that doesn't promote the gym or is of us which by the way barely exists!"

"Why do you keep turning this around on me?!" He yelled getting closer to my face. "We are talking about you."

I held my ground getting right up in his face. "Because you do the exact same thing. Let’s go through your dms. I bet I can find tons of flirty ones of you and Becky." I still had his phone in my hands. I took it and started walking towards the bedroom. He quickly ran behind me as he yanked me back, but he wasn't fast enough. I had already seen enough. "You...you…"  I couldn't get the words of my mouth as tears began to fill. The texts were beyond what I thought they were. They were dirty with pictures included. I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I was so mad, I slammed his phone against the wall. It broke into pieces against it. Seth stood there with his mouth open. He closed it glaring at me.

"What the fuck was that for!" He yelled his grip tight on me.

"You know what that was for," I said pushing him off me. I pushed him hard again making him fall back. "You motherfucker! You always make me look like a fool! Trying to pin cheating on me when looking at what you are doing! Sending your dick again. I forgave you last time, but you go and do it all again! How do you think this makes me feel!"

"You aren't any better!"

"Am I? I never ever sent someone else pictures of my naked body parts."

"We were sending pictures of our results." He said rolling his eyes. I hated it when he did this. He acted like everything I said was the stupidest thing.

"Really? I didn’t know you were working out your penis with her.” I said the sarcasm dripping as I spoke. I turned from him heading into the bedroom to grab my bag. I had one secretly stashed in case something like this happened. I hated being prepared, but with how Seth and I have always been, I couldn’t help it. This wasn’t the first time I caught him cheating and it wasn’t the first time I took him back thinking he would change. He doesn’t. I am no perfect angel in this relationship, but at least I try to make things right. He tries for a while. He makes me feel like things could be different this time, but every time, every single fucking time, I am wrong.

As soon as I come out with the bag, his eyes widened. “So you do have a bag. I thought you were just saying shit for Alexa to get off your back, but you actually have a bag.” He shook his head. “You aren’t actually going to leave.” He stated, trying to call my bluff. I wasn’t bluffing though I walked passed him hitting my arm against his shoulder. He shook his head grabbing me back. “You aren’t fucking going anywhere.”

I pulled my arm back, but his grip was too tight. “Who says? You aren’t the boss of me.”

“I say so.” He said as he pushed me against the wall. “I fucking love you, Aria.”

“Well, you got a funny way of showing it!” I screamed at him.

“God damn it,” He said punching the wall in anger. The drywall cracked under the pressure, dust hitting me. I screamed in shock as his hand went through it. He pulled his hand back as he started to realize what had just happened himself. “Aria, I am-”

I held my hand up before I pushed him off once more before I grabbed my bag and left for Alexa’s.

----

I hadn’t spoken to him since. He had tried to, of course, get in contact with me. He sent over a million apology texts and flowers. Becky had even come to apologize to me. I forgave her. I really didn’t hold any ill will towards her. She had said he told her we had broken up and were just living together until I found a place to stay. She would have never if she had known the truth. I couldn’t hold her against her if I tried. She was just caught in his web. If he really wanted to be with me, he would have told her the truth.

“Maybe you are right.” I finally spoke as I pulled myself from my thoughts. “I need some fun regardless of what happens.”

Alexa smiled at me. “That’s the spirit. Now, come to my house at seven and we will get you all ready.” She said before getting up.

----

I felt like the week sped by. Which was good because my nerves about this date were crazy, but also bad because I was still really nervous about the whole ordeal. It had been years since the last time I had tried to go out on a date and that was with Seth. I was sure that was going to be the last time that ever happened. Did I even want to try again just to go through it all again? Alexa was right though. Just go and have fun. What could it hurt just to go get to know somebody? It couldn't hurt right. 

I was in the car sitting outside the bar we were supposed to meet at. Trying to calm my nerves. Alexa did her best to psych me up, but I could still feel the nerves pool deep down. I slowly got out of the car. I had to hold my dress down. It was so tight. Alexa had given me a small black dress that hugged every inch of my curves. I pulled my leather jacket closer to me as I felt eyes fall on me. I could tell guys were staring. I shook it off finding a seat. I pulled out my phone looking at the time. I was a bit early so I had time to try and use some alcohol to relax. I ordered a rum and coke. 

"That is not all that I would have expected from a girl like you." The man in the seat nearby said when he heard my order. 

I wanted to ignore him, but I couldn't help but glance where the voice had come from. I should have known a deep husky voice like that belonged to a strong-looking man. His shoulders were wide and you could see his muscles from underneath his tight leather jacket. He was fit. I could tell he worked out. No man could look like that without it. His piercing blue eyes watched me as I moved to face him. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?" 

"You look like sex on the beach type of girl?" He said as he took a drink of what looked to be whiskey. 

I rolled my eyes, “Looks can be deceiving.” 

He raised an eyebrow, “Really? Well, why don’t you tell me, why a pretty girl like you is doing at a bar by herself on a Friday night?” He gave me a quick look up and down. “If you must know, I am waiting for a date. What are you doing here all by yourself?” I asked, crossing my arms. 

“Waiting for your date to be over with,” He chuckled as he put a drink down. 

“What do you mean?” I was taken aback by this response. I figured he was waiting for a date or a few friends.

"I guess you will have to wait since I think your date is here." He said gesturing as Kevin walked through the door. I had only spoken to Kevin a handful of times. He worked with Alexa and I, but he worked in a different department. I saw him for parties and other things. Alexa knew him better than I did and knew he had just gotten out of the relationship himself so maybe it would be good for us to get out. I think Alexa was just trying her hand at matchmaker. 

He smiled as he walked towards me, “Hey, Aria, sorry I am a bit late. Traffic sometimes can be hard to get around.”

I smiled back at him, “It’s fine. I understand, How about we get a table?” I said as we walked towards the table. I could still feel that man’s eyes on me. I wasn’t sure what to think of him. His whole waiting thing was probably some dumb cheesy pick up line, but yet as my date went on, every time I looked over towards him. His eyes were still there. I wasn’t sure if Kevin was aware of it. He didn’t show it if he was.

 The talk of the date mostly revolved around work and getting to know each other a bit better. He was a really nice guy, but I knew I wasn’t attracted to him in the slightest. It wasn’t that he was ugly or anything. He was a bit bigger built, but he was still fit in a way. He was a decent guy all around and it could have maybe worked out, at least for a second date, if it wasn’t for the man that was sitting across the way  watching us. He was hiding it quite well too. If I wasn’t watching him back, I would have never noticed. He talked to other girls, but it never lasted long. He talked to people about the game on the tv. 

Kevin excused himself to the bathroom when he took this chance to turn around and face me.. A smile was on his face. “So, are you enjoying the show?” I asked him 

“Greatly.” He said as he took a drink. He had switched to a beer. He must have been trying to sober up a bit. “I am also glad it’s almost over.” 

“How do you know that?” 

He shrugged, “I just know things.” 

“How about you let me know something?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “What’s your name?” 

“Jon, and you?” 

“Aria,” Kevin said from behind me. I bit my lip. I had no idea how this looked. Maybe it looked like an innocent conversation. I hope it did. “Can you come here?” Kevin asked. I nodded as I got up from the spot. 

“I am so-” Kevin held up his hand. 

“Let’s face it, Aria, we have zero chemistry. We both just agreed to do this for Alexa. How about we just end this night? You can go talk to him. I don’t want to hold you back. I know Alexa will kill me for leaving you alone, so if he turns out to be creepy just call.” I nodded smiling. 

I wrapped my arms around to hug him. He hugged back. 

“I am sorry it didn’t work out.” 

He shrugged. “Maybe, its for the better.” He said as he let go. I gave him a quick peck of the cheek before returning to speak to Jon more. 

--No POV-- 

Kevin sighed as he walked back towards his car. He kind of should have known Aria would have no interest in him. He honestly couldn’t blame her for wanting someone else. The date wasn’t the greatest. He still wasn’t over his ex either, so there was no way it could go good.. The whole date he just wished it was her instead of Aria. He was kind of glad that she found someone to take interest in so the night wouldn’t be a total failure. He remember Alexa mentioning that she was worried, she would run back to Seth and Seth was no good for her. Alexa really wanted to show her that there was more out there and she could find better. Hopefully that guy could help more than he did. 

 He walked towards his car hitting the button to find it in the parking garage. All of a sudden, a van with blacked out windows pulled up next to Kevin with two men coming out. They jumped on him almost immediately. Kevin tried his best to defend himself from the blows, but he was out number. He wasn't prepared to fight, but he would be damned if they got him. He had been a fighter before giving it up for a normal life. He was rusty but he knew he could take them. As a rush of adrenaline pushed through him, he was able to take out the two men. 

He heard clapping from behind him turning around to see one of his old foes, Seth freakin Rollins. "Well, looks like you still got it in you, Kev, after all these years." 

"What do you want, Seth? I told you, I wasn't coming back." 

"Why? The whole reason you stopped left you." Seth pointed out as he grabbed for something in the back of the car. "That isn't why I am here. I am here, because of your little date with my girl." He said as he held a steel bat in his hands. Kevin tried not to let this scare him. He was just trying to scare him. 

Kevin looked at him confused, "Both her and Alexa said she was single." He knew somewhat of their relationship. Not enough to think this would happen.  

Seth didn't respond to this statement. "I got a question though. Was she not good enough for you to at least walk her to her car? Make sure she got there okay? There are a lot of creepers out there. It would be a shame if something happened to her.”

Kevin scoffed. “You wouldn’t hurt her besides I didn’t leave her by herself. She met a guy she seemed to like at the bar.” Seth’s eyes widened. He pulled the steel pipe back and smacked Kevin hard in the stomach. “What the fuck?!” He yelled as he fell to his knees.

“You just left her with some guy! Who knows what kind of scum you could have left her with.” 

Kevin groaned, “She seemed to like him. He didn’t look like a bad guy. I mean she dated a guy who hits people with pipes. What could be worse?” Seth hit him again this time in the arm. 

“Akam! Rezar!” He yelled at the two men. They stood up and grabbed Kevin standing him up so he couldn’t move as Seth gave another blow to his stomach. “Now what did this man look like?” 

“Fuck,” Kevin groaned in pain. “He was just a guy with reddish brown short hair and a beard. He looked like any ordinary bar guy. I heard him tell her his name was Jon. He didn’t say a last name.” 

“Get him out of my sight.” Seth growled as he handed the pipe to Rezar. 

“Wait, no what?!” Kevin screamed as the men took him into the van. Seth walked off pulling out his phone. He dialed the number fast. “Murphy! Send me a picture of the guy Aria is talking to in that bar. He hung up the phone. It wasn’t long before the picture appeared on his screen. Seth could feel anger burn inside him as he looked at the image. He tightened his fist as he looked to the sky. “Ambrose.”

[nayutai]

Bad Boy Bakery

↠ Pairing Yeosang x Female OC

↠ Genre fluffy dirty angst

↠ Word Count 11.806

↠ Warnings infidelity (kinda sorta), mutual pining, unprotected sex, oral (f receiving), foul language, crude jokes, fingering, tattooed yeosang, mentions of criminal activity

↠ Summary Yeosang has a storied past and most of it is documented at the local police station. That’s the past though. These days he’s too busy running a semi-successful bakery with his best friends. After securing an order for the engagement party of well-known socialite Ivy Maxwell, he thinks his business might finally be taking off. He may have bitten off more than he could chew though.

It’s decided. Yeosang is going back to jail. Why he thought hiring the seven other misfits he used to run with to work in his bakery was a good idea he’ll never know. Bad Boy Bakery was supposed to be his way to get his life back on the right track and all these heathens do is test him every single day. He does a quick mental calculation of how much money is stashed around his house and he’s positive he’s got enough to post bail for a simple assault charge, but then again they might try to make an example of him considering his impressive arrest record. With the way he’s being tested at this moment though, he’s willing to spend every penny if it means he gets to beat Mingi into oblivion.

“Mingi, I swear to God if you fuck up another batch of egg whites I’m going to shove that whisk in your ear and beat your brains.” He glares at the clumsy giant vigorously whisking a bowl full of egg whites that already look like they’re begging for mercy. They have to have a full dessert spread ready for an engagement party that’s taking place in less than six hours and Mingi has ruined more eggs than Yeosang is even comfortable counting.

“Man, shut up. I did three years upstate. My arms are too damn strong for this which is exactly why I told your dumb ass to do it.” Everybody groans out loud at having to hear that exact phrase for what has to be the millionth time.

“That was over a year ago and you haven’t lifted anything heavier than a bag of flour ever since. Give it a rest.” Wooyoung garners a round of hearty laughter at his dig, looking quite pleased with himself at successfully bashing his friend.

“I make up for it by jacking off five times a day instead of four now so my point still stands.”

“I hope you wash your hands just as much.” The group of tattooed bakers loudly express their disgust when Mingi gives them nothing but a devious grin in response. Mingi, on the other hand, is phased by neither his friends’ disgust not Yeosang’s bristling anger as he dumps his third attempt at the egg whites into the garbage. So much for third time’s the charm.

Yep, Yeosang is going back to jail. 

Ivy is resigned as she carefully sweeps her brush across both of her cheekbones. The glittery gold of the highlight powder left in its wake perfectly complements the rich sepia tone of her skin. She’s just as precise in the application of her lipstick. Slowly, but surely, painting her lips a deep purple. She sighs as she gives herself a final once over in her vanity mirror. The inky black curls that normally adorn her head like a crown have been forced into straightened submission indicative of her mother’s urge to impress the crowd of people that Ivy can already hear beginning to gather downstairs. Her left hands feels uncomfortably heavy as it has ever since this nightmare first began.

As if sensing her procrastination, Ivy’s mother Yvette comes striding into her daughter’s bedroom. It’s easy to tell how much she’s enjoying playing her mother of the bride role. She hasn’t stopped smiling since Ivy’s engagement to her long-time “boyfriend” was officially announced last month. Needless to say, she’s the only one finding any joy in this situation.

“Ivy, sweetie, hurry up and come downstairs. Everyone is waiting to see you.”

“Yeah, right.” Ivy scoffs in response. “They just want to see this.” Yvette frowns at the way Ivy glares in disdain at the stunning ring adorning her finger.

“Ivy Elaine Peters, you better get it to together right now. Keeping this family business afloat requires sacrifice and its your turn now stop moping and get your narrow ass downstairs.” Her mother disappears back out the door before Ivy can get in a word of her own. Not that it would have mattered. Her fate has been sealed for the past twenty four years.

She slips her feet into the black patent leather pumps still sitting pretty in the box on her canopy bed. The red soled beauties are sure to provide more status than comfort, but such is life. Ivy gives herself one final pep talk, smoothing out the imaginary wrinkles in her slip dress. She looks more like a fashionable mourner than a blushing bride but this is her silent protest. She’ll make her damn sacrifice but she’ll dig her heels in wherever she can.

Ivy quickly spots her fiancee Seokjin cracking jokes with a few of her cousins near the front door. He beams at her when he catches her eye across the room, breaking away to come greet her. Not for the first time, Ivy wonders why she couldn’t just fall in love with him to make this whole process easier. Their families have known each other longer than they’ve both been alive so they grew up as best friends. Plus, Seokjin is genuinely a great guy. He’s charismatic, kind, and attractive to the point of unfairness. She has no doubt that he’d make a fantastic husband for someone. She just wishes that she wasn’t that someone. The only positive is that Seokjin feels the exact same way. He loves Ivy to pieces in the most platonic way possible. She’s quite possibly the last person he would ever consider marrying, but business is business and this is a merger that must be made.

“You look absolutely stunning, Vee.” She smiles gratefully at his compliment as he bends slightly to kiss her on the cheek. A camera flashes somewhere off to her right so she makes sure to play her happiness up for the photographer. With the combined notoriety of their families, any pictures taken tonight are sure to be all over the local and regional news outlets by morning.

“I could say the same about you, Jinnie.” The tips of his ears turn red as they always do whenever anyone compliments him. Ivy giggles playfully when he ducks the hand reaching up to tweak on of them like she always does, choosing instead to square up like he’s ready for a fight. Oh, Jin, ever the entertainer. The numerous peals of laughter that erupt around the couple as they take turns jabbing at each other like children tells her that their antics are paying off.

The two imposters spend the night putting on one hell of a show. Anyone would be hard pressed to find someone that didn’t think they’re madly in love with one another. Their parents couldn’t be more ecstatic about this outcome if they tried. 

Everyone is seated at the lavishly decorated tables set up in the backyard as an army of waiters replaces empty entree plates with various cakes and tarts that look almost too delectable to eat. The cheesecake placed in front of Ivy looks nearly too beautiful to eat. Topped with fresh berries and drizzled in what smells like some sort of hazelnut sauce. She wishes she hadn’t left her cellphone upstairs so that she could take a quick picture of it for her instagram. When she finally gets over her reluctance, she take a small bite. A borderline pornographic moan escapes her lips, catching Jin way off guard.

“What the hell wa-” Ivy cuts him off by shoving a forkful of the cheesecake into his open mouth. He groans in pleased delight, attempting to go in with his own fork for another bite, but she quickly slaps his hand away.

“Let me taste yours. Bite for a bite.” She pretends not to notice him sneaking another bite of her cheesecake while she tastes the chocolate tart in front of him. A hint of red chili lends a kick that perfectly rounds out the sweetness of the chocolate and the fresh whipped cream the dessert is topped in.

“I don’t know what bakery they used but we need to get them to do the cake for the wedding.” Jin declares as he practically inhales the chocolate tart. He signals the waiter to bring them two more for them to try while Ivy hums in agreement at his side. She makes a mental note to ask her mother who was hired to do the desserts tomorrow as she happily digs into the coconut cream cake being set in front of her.

Yeosang stares in awe at the payment he’s just received for the engagement party they’d done three days ago. His bakery has been faring better than most businesses do in their first year but the deposit currently pending with the bank is going to go a long way in making sure it stays that way. They had even sent two grand more than the $1,800 that the contract had stipulated. Yeosang had called immediately to make sure it wasn’t an accounting error because the last thing he wants is to be accused of stealing, but he’d been informed by the woman who had arranged the deal that her employers had been so satisfied with the food they wanted to “tip” him. Rich people are different.

He leaves his small office to clean up a little while it’s slow. He had let everyone else go early since there were no big orders to work on and Tuesdays are notorious dead zones. The bell above the door tinkles lightly as he cleans some wayward chocolate curls out of one of the display cases, cursing to himself because he’d told Seonghwa that he put too many but of course no one listens to him. Doesn’t matter that he signs those lazy bastards’ pay checks every week.

“Hello, how can I help you?” The young woman before him fidgets with the tie on her wrap dress inadvertently drawing Yesoang’s gaze to the womanly curves she possesses. The emerald green of the fabric highlights the warm undertones of her skin in a way that should definitely be illegal.

“My mother’s assistant told me that you did the desserts for my engagement party last night.” Yeosang curses mentally as he finally takes notice of the skating rink sitting on her left ring finger. He misses most of what she says next but tunes back in just in time to hear her ask if he’s available to do her wedding cake as well.

“What’s the date?” He questions, all business now that more money is on the table.

“September 9th. It’s going to be at the old vineyard across town.” 

Yeosang nods in acknowledgment. He pencils her in and schedules a day in two weeks for her to come back with her fiancee to do a tasting and make final selections for the other desserts they’d like to have. Ivy is turning to leave when she catches sight of a full-sized version of the cheesecake she’d fallen in love with at the party.

“How much is that cheesecake?” 

Yeosang follows her outstretched index finger to the hazelnut berry cheesecake that he’d come up with. It had taken him ages to perfect but hasn’t really taken off like he thought it would. Nevertheless, he makes sure to put one in the display case every day and he’s glad that he did.

“It’s $6 per slice. Did you want one?”

“How much for the whole thing?” Yeosang notices that she has yet to take her eyes off of the dessert.

“I’ll do $35 for you, beautiful.” For a second, he thinks that he may have overstepped his boundaries but she simply reaches into her bra to pull out a flashy, black card. The credit limit on that thing would probably pay off the loan on his storefront and then some. 

He tries not to focus on how warm it is when she places it into his outstretched hand. He could’ve sworn that she intentionally let her fingers graze his own in a less than professional way. Yeosang shakes the thought away as that can only lead to trouble. He packs her cheesecake up while she signs the credit card receipt.

���Have a great day,” Yeosang pauses to look at the signature line of the receipt. “…Ivy.”

“Right back at you.” She winks at him playfully and sashays outside to her car. Yeosang’s eyes are trained on her until she’s seated in her seated in the black Audi he’s just now noticing was parked across the street.

Ivy calls Jin the second she steers her car back onto the road, waiting patiently for him to answer. She’s practically vibrating from the few minutes she’d spent with…fuck she’d forgotten to get his name but there is plenty of time for that. One thing she’s sure she’ll never forget is how hot he is. Ivy would’ve never guessed that she’d be attracted to someone with quite so many tattoos but on him they had looked like priceless works of art worthy of being placed in the Louvre.

“Hey, Vee, what’s up?”

“Two things. One, the bakery that did the desserts for the engagement party agreed to do the wedding.” Ivy curses at a slow driver that cuts her off at an intersection, losing her train of thought for a second.

“And the second thing?” Jin presses. 

“Oh, I’m going to fuck the owner.” A thrill shoots through as she imagines those tattooed hands roaming every inch of her skin. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat as her body reacts to her impure thoughts. 

“Absolutely love that for you. What’s his name?” Of course he asks her the one question that she doesn’t know the answer to. She rolls her eyes skyward as Jin starts talking shit when he realizes that she didn’t ask her new crush his name.

“I hate you.” She pouts as she turns onto her street. “We have a tasting scheduled for the 17th so I’ll ask him then. I’m almost home so I’ll text you later.”

“Smell ya later.” Oh what she’d give to flip him off right now. 

The smile on her face when Ivy walks inside her parents’ house is genuine despite the fact that she’s spent all day doing wedding preparations which normally leaves her in a foul mood. Her high spirits don’t go unnoticed by her mother who is in the backyard pruning her orchids.

“What’s got you so happy?”

“The bakery that did the desserts for the engagement party agreed to do the wedding too. Also,” Ivy lifts the box holding God’s favorite cheesecake in the air. “he gave me a deal on the cheesecake that we liked.”

“Are you serious? He said that he was booked up the entire week of your wedding.” Ivy is a bit taken aback as he had specifically told her that he would be available, but she shrugs it off.

“Maybe he had a cancellation. Do want some cheesecake? This is your only offer because I fully plan to eat the whole thing right now.” Her mother tosses her pruning shears back into the box she keeps them in and follows Ivy into the kitchen where they make quick work of the heavenly dessert.

“Yeosang you fucking dumbass. How are we supposed to do a wedding and an anniversary party in the same damn day? Explain it to me.” Yeosang almost flinches when Yunho yells at him. He can’t think of a time the man has ever raised his voice before now and he’s known him since they were three. Not one to accept disrespect, Yeosang would normally react with anger of his own but even he has to admit that thinking with his dick has put them all in a bind. A socialite wedding and an anniversary party with a guest list longer than his body on the same day is going to take a miracle to pull off. 

“Listen these rich people gave us two grand more than they were supposed to as a fucking tip. If they had asked me to get ass naked and let people eat pineapple rings off my dick I would’ve said yes.”

“She had big tits didn’t she?” Jongho typically stays out of their petty arguments but he knows bullshit when he hears it.

“Yes, but,” The room erupts into a cacophony of groans as they all simultaneously throw the closest object at hand Yeosang’s hand. Luckily for him he’s always been quick on his feet. “What’s done is done you fuckwads so get over it and start mixing. We still have orders to fill.”

All eight of them are covered in flour from their frantic baking when they hear the bell jingling up front. Hongjoong happens to be the only one able to immediately stop what he’s doing so he washes his hands and goes to attend to the customer. Yeosang nearly falls backwards off of his stool when he hears the voice of the woman that had put them in such a bind. Wooyoung and San exchange curious glances before they wipes their hands on the front of their aprons and head up front as well. Yeosang feels like his stomach is going to fall out of his ass as one by one they all abandon their posts. 

“Satan, why are you doing this to me?”

There’s no reason for him to stay in the back like a coward so he follows suit, wiping his hands and going to the front counter as well. They’re all squished together behind the counter trying to get as close to her as possible. Yeosang shoulders his way between Jongho and Seonghwa and he finally understands why they all look like lovestruck school boys. He finds himself looking just as dopey as his friends when she turns that megawatt smile on him. She’s dressed a lot more casually today in a pair of jeans that had to have been painted on and a plain white baby tee. The little jewel glittering in her belly button looks like its winking at him and he has the overwhelming urge to flick it with his tongue. 

“Another cheesecake?” He nods his head towards the box cradled in her hands. She looks sheepish at being caught out. Yeosang thinks it’s cute.

“In my defense, it’s tasty as hell.”

“Just make sure you tell everyone where you got it.” He winks at her playfully which was an incredibly bad idea. She sinks her teeth into her plump lower lip and he knows immediately that despite the massive rock on her finger he would still make a move on her. Time to leave before he does something stupid.

“Alright you lazy sacks of shit, back to work.” They protest just as he’d expected but he pushes them all back towards the kitchen, rolling his eyes as they try to resist him.

“Hey, wait!” Yeosang shouldn’t have turned around. He should’ve kept going as if he hadn’t even heard her, but no, he just has to have manners. She’s propped herself up against the counter that makes her breasts nearly pop out of the scoop neck line of her shirt. “What’s your name?”

“Yeosang.” She repeats it back to him, testing it out on her tongue. Her voice curls around the syllables lusciously and he could die right where he stood. At this point, he’s convinced that she’s made it her life’s mission to ruin him.

Ivy is quick to call Jin when she gets back to her car which seems to be the norm every time she goes to the bakery. She knows that he’s going to make fun of her for being so excited, but she can’t exactly tell her other friends about the hot, tattooed bakery owner that she plans to screw so she’ll suffer the consequences. At least now she actually knows his name so he can’t hold that over her head anymore.

The 17th has finally rolled around which means Ivy has another opportunity to draw Yeosang into her trap. Jin currently sits cross-legged on the bed in his guest room where Ivy had spent the previous night as she models her potential outfit for the day. The yellow slip dress has potential, but Jin isn’t totally impressed. He sends her back into the closet to try on one of her other options. She reappears in a fiery orange tank top tucked into a pair of lightly distressed white jeans.

“Your ass looks great in the jeans so that’s a definite yes, but I’m not really feeling this shirt.” Jin comments as Ivy does a slow turn in front of him. He crosses the room to his closet to help her go through the clothes she’d brought with her to see what her other options are. He eventually helps her settle on a simple black tank top that perfectly molds to the curves of a figure.

“Alright let’s go eat some cake and hopefully get your cakes smashed.” Jin remarks as he herds Ivy towards the door. 

When they arrive at the bakery, Yeosang has just finished putting out the tasting plates that he’d prepared. Jin is too focused on the fact that he gets to eat cake before lunch without anyone scolding him for it to notice the way that Yeosang’s face falls when he sees him walking in with Ivy. She doesn’t miss it though. Nevertheless, he reaches out to introduce himself.

“Yeosang. Nice to meet you.” Jin reciprocates his greeting before pulling out a chair for Ivy to sit down in. 

Things are all business from there on as Yeosang slides the first cake towards them and Ivy has never been more disappointed in her entire life. Gone is the Yeosang that called her beautiful and responded well to her flirting. She blames Jin. 

“So this first one is a spiced vanilla cake with a raspberry cream cheese frosting with a little orange zest.” Ivy is so focused on the way Yeosang’s lips are moving that Jin has to elbow her to bring her back to reality. She sheepishly accepts the fork that she hadn’t realized was being presented to her to taste the masterpiece in front of her. 

As they talk about what they like and don’t like about the cake, Yeosang hands them each a scoring cards to rank their favorites. Regardless of the way she feels about him on a personal level, Ivy has to admit that Yeosang is incredibly good at what he does. He was able to take her obsession with his cheesecake and come up with such interesting cake options. She’d been slightly concerned that he hand’t asked for her likes or dislikes in terms of taste, but as they move from cake to cake she realizes that he didn’t need to. Everything tastes amazing. It’s no surprise that each cake receives the highest score possible on their scoring cards. Deciding which one to go with is going to be hell.

“If you don’t let me have the spiced vanilla one we tried first I am calling off this engagement and marrying Yeosang instead of you.” Ivy stands corrected. Yeosang chuckles lowly at Jin’s enthusiasm and the throaty sound sends a shiver down her spine. It’s unfair just how effortlessly attractive he is.

“Okay folks, let’s talk decorations.” Yeosang reaches to his right, pulling a sketch pad from the empty chair next to him. His hand loosely grips a pencil as he waits for Ivy and Jin to throw some ideas at him. Ivy would prefer to throw herself at him instead, but someone how she manages to focus her brain on cake design.

Both Ivy and Jin agree on the fact that they want something simple, but beyond that they have clue what they want. Yeosang busts out a quick sketch of a three tier cake with fondant branches bearing dogwood flowers climbing the height of it. When he presents the rough drawing to them, Ivy immediately falls in love. Thankfully, Jin agrees because she was prepared to fight him over this. They spend a little while longer picking out other desserts for people who don’t want or can’t have cake, but all too soon Yeosang is watching the happy couple disappear from his shop. 

The six months until the wedding seem to blend together. Business has picked up significantly in the previous weeks which has been good for Yeosang in more ways than one. The extra cashflow has allowed him to get ahead on some bills while also giving everybody a bit of a raise. According to Seonghwa, who is primarily in charge of the front counter since accidentally slicing his hand open, a lot of the new customers have been big names in the community that are connected to Ivy or her family in one way or another. The woman in question often stops in for a cheesecake. She always asks to speak to Yeosang, claiming to have questions about the wedding though he gets the feeling that she really just wants to talk to him. Every day it gets harder and harder to resist her flirtatious advances. He refuses to be a casual fling for some bored rich girl no matter how much his dick begs him to. Especially one with rapidly approaching nuptials.

Yeosang has never been a very spiritual person, but when he gets the call that the anniversary party he’d scheduled Ivy’s wedding over had been cancelled due to the wife having the flu, he knows that some divine being is looking out for him. He had planned to do his best, but with only one more week left to prepare he was still very unsure of how he was going to pull off two events of that scale in one day. The husband Johnathan Tooney, current district attorney in the next county over, sounds shocked on the phone when he offers them a full refund despite the fact that his contracts states that customers are only entitled to a fifty percent refund of any money paid if the event is cancelled the week of. Most of his customers pay half upfront and the remaining half afterwards, but they had chosen to pay for everything up front. Something Yeosang had greatly appreciated as it was a $2,600 job. Ultimately, Mr. Tooney tells him not to as they intend to reschedule the party as soon as his wife is feeling better and would still like for him to provide the desserts they’d contracted for.

The guys are all equally relieved when Yeosang delivers the news of the anniversary party’s cancellation. Things are smooth sailing from there as they throw all of their focus and energy into making sure that everything will be ready for the wedding next weekend. Not surprisingly, Ivy doesn’t make an appearance in the bakery that week, but what is surprising is that Yeosang finds himself actually missing her presence. Despite his avoidance of all her flirting, he actually likes talking to Ivy whenever she comes in. She may be a bored rich girl but her mind is just as captivating as the rest of her.

On the day of the ceremony, Yeosang is uncharacteristically antsy. He’s not sure what it is but he can’t seem to sit still no matter what he does. He’s itching to get this day over with so Mingi can buy him the beer he owes him. Wooyoung scolds him for being distracted when he almost drops one of the cake tiers on his way to load it into one of the delivery vans. No one has to vocalize just how disastrous that would’ve been because they all know but missing an opportunity to call people out on their shit is just not in Wooyoung’s nature.

“Look, I know you’re feeling some type of way because your crush is marrying a pretty boy that’s not you but I’m going to need you to at least pretend that you still want to get paid for this job.” Yeosang nods in acknowledgment because while he doesn’t like being yelled at like a child even he knows that he’s got to get his shit together and quickly. 

“Notice how he didn’t deny his crush on cheesecake girl though.” San pipes up as he hops into the drivers seat of the van. Everyone snickers, switching to full on laughter when Yeosang flips them all off.

Thankfully, the reception goes off without a hitch. The wait staff helps set up the extensive dessert table to save on time and it comes out just as Yeosang had envisioned it. He snaps a few pictures for the bakery’s website before they leave venue. Ivy and Jin had extended invitations to Yeosang and his staff to stay for the reception, but they’d all politely declined. They’re on their way out of the service entrance when one of the girls on the wait staff runs out with two giant paper bags in her hands. Apparently, Ivy had included enough meals in her catering package to feed the vendors that would be in the building on her big day which coincidentally included Yeosang and his gang of merry bakers. They’re all taken aback by the thoughtfulness of the gesture as Yeosang accepts the bags from the staff member who quickly runs back inside the dining hall.

“Cheesecake girl is a fucking saint.” Mingi hardly ever garners emphatic agreement from the rest of his friend group but today is one of those rare occasions.

Business continues as normal following the wedding. Product is flying out of the display case. Catering orders are still coming in left and right. Ivy still stops in once a week for a cheesecake and to flirt with Yeosang. The guys still tease him for his crush on said married woman. Everything is normal.

Until it’s not.

Jin looks like freshly printed money when he strolls into Bad Boy Bakery for the first time since the cake tasting all those months ago. The silver band on his ring finger glitters even in the fluorescent lighting. Yeosang is finishing up his closing routine when he hears the bell and emerges from his office.

“Seokjin?” The manila folder clasped in the other man’s hands makes Yeosang nervous. The last time someone in a suit approached him with a manila folder he was being presented with a plea deal and ended up doing ten months in jail for assault and grand larceny.

“We need to talk. I’ll wait for you to finish up.” Jin takes a seat at an empty table and hums to himself as he waits for Yeosang to join him.

He doesn’t have to wait long for the young business owner to emerge from his office with his keys and a denim jacket in hand. The mischievous smile on Jin’s face makes him uneasy, but he’s no bitch. Yeosang steels his nerves and schools his facial expression into one of bland indifference. He arches an eyebrow when Jin slides the folder across the table and produces a pen from the breast pocket of his suit jacket. The folder may as well be a poisonous spider with the way Yeosang refuses to touch it. 

“Whatever you think it is, I promise it’s not that.” Yeosang stares Jin down for a few seconds, looking for anything at all that would suggest he should end this whole interaction right now. He doesn’t find it.

With a resigned sigh, Yeosang flips through the contents of an envelope. He shoots Jin a look when he realizes that he’s currently skimming over a nondisclosure agreement. It looks to be focused around Ivy and Jin’s marriage. The word arranged jumps out him a few times and his eyes nearly bug out of his head. The agreement is vague on the finer details but Yeosang is comfortable enough with what he’s read to quickly scrawl his name at the bottom of the last page. Jin signs his name as witness and neatly tucks everything back into the manila folder.

“Now that we have that out of the way.” Jin relaxes back into the chair and fiddles with his wedding band. “Ivy likes you. She’ll never admit that because she’s stubborn but she likes you and wants you fold her like a towel.”

“Wait, wait, wait, are you saying that your wife wants to have sex with me? How are you okay with this?” Yeosang has always loved forbidden fruit but ruining relationships was the old him. He doesn’t know what to do with this information. Furthermore, he can’t imagine being married to someone like Ivy and being okay with her sleeping with someone else.

“That’s where the NDA comes in.” Yeosang sits in stunned silence as Jin gives him the true behind the scenes story about he and Ivy’s marriage and it’s nothing like the best friends to lovers trope that they’ve fed to society. Well, he guesses the best friend part is true, but they’ve definitely never been anything close to lovers and never will be. They’re simply holding up their end of a decades-old business deal. According to Jin, he and Ivy have already devised a plan to be divorced in a year.

“So,” Yeosang is a bit unsure on how to proceed. This is uncharted territory. “what exactly are you saying to me?”

“Stop feeling bad about wanting to fuck Ivy and just do it. She’s driving me insane at home talking about how hot you are all the time and I can’t take it anymore. She’s out of cheesecake so she’ll be in here within the next couple of days so make your move. Discreetly.” 

Yeosang lays in bed that night still shocked at everything he’s learned today. His mind and body have been at war over what he believes to be right and what his body craves. He’d love nothing more than to worship Ivy from head to toe and before today it had been a pipe dream. Now that he’s been given the green light, he’s still conflicted. It feels too good to be true. But he plans to take full advantage of all the good that comes his way until shit decides to hit the fan.

Ivy gives herself a final once over in the mirror. Her outfit is simple. Just a black bodycon dress paired with a denim jacket and her red converse. According to Jin, she should look like she’s making an effort but not too much of one. She’s hoping that this will do the trick as she grabs for her keys and purse, stuffing her phone into the latter as she waits for the elevator to reach the ground floor. 

She wants to call Jin for some last minute encouragement on the way over, but he’s being a boring businessman today and is in the middle of a meeting. Ivy is totally on her own and she’s panicking. Hopefully, Yeosang finds her nervousness cute enough to overlook the awkwardness.

When Ivy enters the bakery, one of Yeosang’s friends is manning the counter. A gentle giant with a kind smile. She remembers that his name also starts with a Y like Yeosang’s but she can’t put her finger on exactly what it is.

“Hey, cheesecake girl!” Ivy rolls her eyes humorously at the nickname the other guys in the bakery have given her. She can’t help that the damned cheesecake tastes as good as it does. Before the wedding, she’d had to up her trips to the gym from zero to one just to make sure she’d  still be able to fit into her dress on her wedding day.

Her heart drops a little when she scans the display case but sees no sign of the dessert that her soul craves. Yunho laughs are disappointment before disappearing into the kitchen. He returns with a box, smiling at the way her eyes light up. 

“Yeosang is with the other guys on a job, but he said you’d be in today so he boxed it up before he left.” He slides the box across the glass countertop into her waiting hands. Ivy digs in her purse for her card to pay for the cheesecake, but Yunho is quick to stop her.

“This one’s on the house. Boss’ orders.” Ivy is a bit taken aback. Hand frozen in her purse. Yeosang makes sure that she always pays a discount rate for her cheesecake, but she’s never gotten one for free before. 

“Oh…okay. Well, have a good day.” 

It isn’t until she gets back to Jin’s place — well she guesses it’s her place now too — that she realizes why Yeosang had decided to pre-package her cheesecake this time. A phone number is scrawled on the inside of the lid with a quick message from Yeosang asking her to call him. She squeals as frantically scrambles to pull her phone from the recesses of her bag. Yunho had told her that Yeosang was out on a job so she texts him instead of calling so as not to disturb him. 

She is happily digging her fork into a second piece of cheesecake when Ivy randomly recalls something weird that Jin had said this morning when he left for work. She was still half asleep and barely human, but now here she sits at the dining room table replaying the strange sentence that her brain had decided to finally comprehend.

Don’t forget to call the baker.

Ivy hadn’t been in the right headspace to question it then, but now that the puzzle pieces are clicking into place, it’s becoming painfully obvious that Jin had something to do with the reason she’s anxiously checking her phone every five minutes. The part of her that wants to chase him with a butter sock is overridden by the much larger part that wants to thank him profusely for whatever it is that he did. Unlike Jin, Ivy doesn’t have a harem of men, women, and others lined up to satisfy her needs whenever he’s feeling inclined. 

She’s three episodes into a Cold Justice marathon when her phone rings, scaring the living daylights out of her. It’s Yeosang. Ivy’s eyes widen comically as she freaks out over what to do. She chugs the rum and coke she’d been nursing and picks up the call.

“Hello?” She cringes at how apprehensive she sounds even to her own ears.

“Hello, Ivy.” He sounds tired which has given his voice a gravelly edge to it that’s making her blood sing. “I saw your message and thought it would just be easier to call you.”

Ivy isn’t surprised in the slightest when Yeosang tells her about Jin’s visit to the bakery the night before. That’s a typical Jin move to jump the chain of command to accomplish a job. Yeosang doesn’t seem to bothered by the strangeness of it all. He seems more relieved that his guilt for lusting after a taken woman has been absolved if anything.

“This is a first for me so I’m not exactly sure what to do.” Yeosang trails off. He’s out of his element here. It goes without saying that there will be no romantic dinners at expensive restaurants or long walks to the beach.

“This is a first for me too, but you’re a hot baker that laughs at my stupid jokes and I like that.” His throaty laugh in response makes her chest swell with pride at 

“I still want to take you on a date though so I guess your place or mine?”

Yeosang is sweating bullets as he punches in the elevator code for the penthouse suite in the swanky high rise at the address Ivy had given him. In his Michael Jackson t-shirt, ripped jeans, and sneakers, he knows that he sticks out like a sore thumb, but thankfully no one in the lobby had vocalized that to his face. He adjusts his duffel bag on his shoulder as the elevator smoothly ascends to the top floor. He’s been ecstatic when Ivy had told him that she wanted him to come spend the weekend with her since Jin would be out of town on business. This is going to be the first time that he’s seen her in person since they agreed to their little arrangement and he’s nervous to say the least.

The doors silently reveal a posh sitting area as well a lacquered black door adorned with a silver “P”. Yeosang grins at the door mat just outside the door. It depicts a crudely drawn cat with both middle fingers upturned and the words “fuck off” written in a speech bubble. It looks just as out of place as he does and for whatever reason it makes him feel more at ease. He reaches out to press the doorbell but the door is yanked open before he even gets the chance.

“Jesus Christ you scared me!” If his hands weren’t full of groceries, Yeosang would’ve clutched at his rapidly beating heart. Ivy chuckles, pointing to a little black dot above the door.

“We have cameras.” 

She grabs for a few of the bags in his hands, but he twists and turns to block her efforts. Their childish antics continue until Yeosang has finally had enough. He crouches down until he’s able to wrap his arms around her thighs, delighting in her squeal when he successfully lifts her from the ground. Ivy swats at his shoulders, but the brute simply crosses the threshold, kicking the door shut with his foot before walking deeper into her home. This first “date” is off to a great start.

“So what’s on the agenda for today, Mr. Kang?” Ivy drums on the marble countertop enthusiastically as she watches Yeosang unpack the groceries he’d brought with him. 

“As much as I love a good paying customer, It’s time for you to learn how to make this cheesecake yourself.”

“You better hope I suck at it or I’ll put you out of business.”

“I don’t mind a little competition.” Yeosang smiles deviously. “Especially when the rivals look as pretty as you.”

Ivy feels her cheeks heat up in the face of such flirtation and she’s never been more thankful for the fact that her darker complexion hides the evidence of it. She’s come to know him well enough to know that he would definitely rib her for that.

As it turns out, Ivy is a natural born baker. Yeosang’s heart swells in his chest as he watches her sway her hips to the music she’d turned on as she stirs the berry compote on the stove. His chest bumps against her back as he steps up behind her and he swears he sees her shiver. He rests his head on her shoulder, covering his hand with hers and slows down the speed of her stirring.

“You have to be gentle with the berries, love.” At the sound of his voice so close to her ear, Ivy’s insides turn to goo. 

“Maybe I don’t want to be gentle.” Her words hit him square in the chest and he wants to respond in so many ways, but he settles for a chaste kiss on her temple. He’d briefly contemplated taking it slow with her, but they’ve been dancing around each other for nearly seven months at this point and there’s no point in prolonging the inevitable. The wanton desire is mutual on both sides but he wants to hear her beg. Wants her desperate and needy for him.

He eventually removes his hand from hers, choosing to instead hold onto her hips as he continues to coach her through the next steps. She’s so focused on keeping her berries from sticking that Yeosang is able to catch her off guard when he slips his hands inside her tank top to rest them against her bare skin. The gasp she lets out makes him smile deviously. His hands drift up from her lower stomach until his thumbs are brushing the lacy cups of her bra. It’s Yeosang’s turn to be caught off guard when she presses her ass firmly against his front. The way she subsequently swivels her hips is nearly his undoing, but Yeosang has a game plan and he intends to see it through.

“You’re a naughty girl, Ivy.” He lowers a hand to tug on the elastic waistband of the tiny shorts she’s wearing, letting it snap back in place. She hisses at the sting but, if the way her head lolls back onto his shoulder is any indication, she loved it. Yeosang slides his hand lower as if he’s going to cup her over her shorts only to completely remove himself from her.

He busies himself with other things around the kitchen but he can feel her glare on him the entire time. She grumbles something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like the words “teasing asshole” but he choose to ignore it. For now. 

Ivy is visibly on edge as she waits for Yeosang to touch her again, but he doesn’t make a single move to do so. He simply dances around her in the kitchen as they finish up their cheesecake preparation. It has to cool once they take it out of the oven so they migrate to the living room while they wait. The episode of Bones that Ivy been watching before he’d arrived is still paused on the tv so she restarts it and settles in next to Yeosang on the couch. She lets out a girlish squeal when he hauls her into his lap instead. He spreads her legs so that they straddle both of his, letting out a content sigh as he rests his chin on her shoulder. Arms wrapped securely around her waist. 

He waits until she’s engrossed in the episode. Certain that he’s going to keep his hands to himself. If he’d been able to see her face, he would’ve been able to see the devious grin as she devised a plan of her own. Ivy shifts her legs around until both of her feet are planted on the floor between Yeosang’s. She swivels her hips in the cradle of his lap, snickering at the groan he lets out. Two can play this teasing game. She grabs both of his hands in her own and lifts them to her breasts. Yeosang just lets them linger there. This is her show now and he wants to see her directing skills firsthand. 

With her physical encouragement, he pinches her erect nipples through the thin layers of her shirt and bra. The breathy sigh in response to his touch gives him a high that he can quickly see himself becoming addicted to. She ups the ante by dislodging his hands to remove her shirt and bra. She places his hands back on her chest, sighing once more at the feel of him kneading her breasts without any hindrances. Yeosang licks and sucks at the column of her neck. He’s careful not to leave any marks which he’s sure she’ll be appreciative of later. Her needs grows and grows until she’s craving more than what he’s giving her.

“Yeosang,” The way she half moans his name sounds like the sweetest melody. “Touch me.”

“I am touching you, baby girl.” She grunts in frustration. Looks like she’ll have to take matters into her own hands once more. 

Yeosang is shocked when Ivy suddenly rises to her feet. He’s more than confused as he watches her disappear down a hallway off to the right of the living room. His breath catches in his throat when her shorts suddenly fly back into view followed closely by a pair of panties that match the bra on the floor by his right foot. He nearly falls over in his haste to catch up to her. He finds her in the bedroom that she’d pointed out as hers when she’d given him a quick tour earlier. She’s reclined amongst the mountain of pillows circling her swollen clit with her middle finger as she fondles one of her breasts. Her mouth is slightly ajar from the pleasure and he swears that he’s never seen a sight more breathtaking. Yeosang swallows, trying to get his wits about him when she speaks and breaks him out of his daze. 

“Clothes off, babe.” His limbs are a blur as he rushes to follow her instructions. With every inch of skin he reveals, Ivy finds herself falling deeper and deeper into his trap. 

She’d seen the tattoos that covered his arms and the back of his right hand, but the Hebrew script running down his side is new to her and she makes a mental note to ask him what it says later. Right now she wants nothing more than for him to hold her down with his weight and make her his. Yeosang’s eyes are practically glued to her center so shiny from her arousal. He licks his lips at the thought of how good she probably tastes and the mere idea of having her on his tongue nearly consumes him.

Yeosang tugs on his hardened cock as he slowly walks towards the oversized bed. She’s mesmerized by the appendage standing proud between his legs. It’s not over long but he can barely get his own fist around it so she knows that the stretch will be phenomenal when he finally gets inside. He grabs her by both ankles and pulls her into the center of the bed so that she’s flat on her back. She squirms in anticipation as he crawls over her. Lips and hands caressing every inch of her skin that they can reach. She moans deep in her throat when he finally covers her lips with his own in their first ever kiss. Her fingers find purchase in his hair, holding him to her as they ravage each other. Each exhale from her lips traded for his.

Ivy is brought back to the task at hand when a needy thrust of Yeosang’s hips has the engorged head of his erection pressing against her clit. She bites down on his bottom lip at the sudden onslaught of pleasure, rolling her hips up to get more of the addictive friction.

“Gotta taste you. Want you to cum in my mouth.” Yeosang’s words don’t match up with his actions as he continues to peck her lips over and over again. Eager to discover if his tongue is just as talented as his hands, Ivy pulls away to gently push at his head until he gets the message.

The first swipe of his tongue on her soaked flesh is purely self-indulgent. He’s thrilled to discover that she tastes just as sweet as he thought she would. Like the nectar of a fresh honeydew. He sucks her clit into his mouth, biting down on it gently before swirling his tongue around it to soothe the ache. Her eyes roll into the back of her head and she can’t decide if she wants to run from or towards his mouth. She doesn’t get the chance to decide as Yeosang anchors her squirming hips to the bed with one of his arms. 

He teases her entrance with a single finger, smirking at the filthy curses falling from her lips as she begs him to make her cum. He gives her clit a particularly harsh suck as he sinks his finger in deep. Her breathing starts coming in quick pants when he adds a second finger and then a third. When she starts folding in on herself, he pulls his fingers from her dripping hole. Her suddenly empty hole clenches around nothing as she complains about being denied the orgasm she was dancing on the edge of.

Her complaints die on her tongue when she takes in the sight of Yeosang walking on his knees towards her. Ivy sits up and meets him halfway. She can taste herself on his tongue as their lips meet for the second time and it has a fresh tidal wave of arousal all but gushing from her. His waning self-control is evident in the way he turns her around to face her headboard, pushing on her shoulders until she’s face down in in the sheets.

She whimpers at the heavy smack he rains down on her ass. He groans at the way it bounces before he grips both cheeks in his hands, pulling them apart to get a proper view of her waiting entrance. Part of him wants to tease her some more, but he doesn’t have it in him to wait one more minute. She nearly sobs at the satisfying stretch of him sinking into her eager flesh in one smooth thrust. He grinds his hips against her ass, relishing in the way her walls are hugging him so tightly. She clenches around him, trying to draw him back in as he eases his hips back only to roughly thrust his length back into her. He repeats that action a few more times to open her up before finally breaking loose. 

All forms of speech beyond broken curse words and his name are lost to Ivy as Yeosang demolishes her. His pace builds till it’s almost frantic. It feels like his length is vibrating within her and she can feel her orgasm approaching quickly. She tries to warn him, but he is already well aware. He slows his hips down to a gentle roll and the change in pace has her seeing stars as he can now expertly target that sensitive spot deep within her. He reaches underneath her to rub circles in her clit and she’s lost. Black dots dance around across her vision as the pleasure threatens to completely drag her under. His hips never stop moving as he fucks her through it. The erratic clenching of her inner walls soon proves to be too much for him. He pulls out of her wet heat just in time to release his seed onto her back.

Ivy collapses onto her stomach. Exhausted beyond measure. Yeosang falls next to her breathing just as hard. He’s not going to lie and pretend that he hasn’t dived into more than his fair share of pussy, but that was easily the best sex he’s ever had. He can barely breathe but that doesn’t stop him from leaning over to press his lips against hers once more. Their chests are still heaving when they separate, choosing instead to lean his forehead against hers. 

“I can’t feel my legs.” She whispers on a breathless laugh. 

“Good thing I’m the king of aftercare.” He pecks her lips once more before crossing the room to her en suite bathroom to get a warm towel to clean her up with. By the time he returns, she’s fast asleep much to his surprise. Normally, Yeosang likes to end his trysts with a massage, but she’s sleeping so peacefully. He cleans up his mess before sliding back into the bed next to her as he pulls a spare blanket over them. 

Yeosang awakens the next morning to an empty bed and the smell of coffee brewing. A shower is definitely in order before he seeks out Ms. Ivy. He walks into the kitchen a little while later to find her cooking breakfast in his t-shirt. It’s so domestic that for a moment he forgets that she’s legally spoken for until her wedding ring catches the sunlight from the picture windows.

“Morning.” He whispers into her ear. She jumps at the sound, obviously not realizing that he was awake yet. She relaxes against him when he wraps his arms around her midsection.

“Good morning, handsome. I’m almost done if you wanna grab some plates.” Yeosang preens at the compliment, kissing her cheek an obnoxious amount of times before grabbing plates and some silverware.

The sound of their forks clinking against their plates as they eat fills the pleasant silence as the two adults make faces across the table at each other like children. Yeosang can’t remember the last time he was this comfortable with a woman he was seeing. For the millionth time since he woke up this morning, he finds himself resenting the fact that she’s married. 

“I can feel you staring.” Yeosang doesn’t bother looking up see Ivy’s facial expression at being caught as he rinses the last breakfast dish to put in the drying rack. “Spit it out before I get old and feeble.”

“What does the tattoo on your side say?” He looks up at her then, searching her face. Ivy is beginning to feel that she shouldn’t have said anything the longer Yeosang remains silent. He drys his hands on a towel, walking towards Ivy where she sits sprawled across one of the cushy armchairs in the living room. He lifts her only to set her back down in his lap.

“May you rescue us from the hand of every foe, ambush along the way, and from all manner of punishments that assemble to come to earth.” Yeosang absentmindedly strokes his fingers back and forth across Ivy’s bare thigh. “It’s part of a Hebrew prayer of protection that my mom made me get when she realized that her scolding was falling on deaf ears.”

Ivy can’t help but giggle as Yeosang enthusiastically re-enacts his mother’s words all those years ago. She’s seen the articles in the local magazines. They all tell the same story of a young street kid that found his calling and turned his life around, but words on a piece of paper doesn’t capture the nuance of who Kang Yeosang is. He doesn’t shy away from who he was. He embraces it with open arms. She listens intently as he tells the story that will never be found in any magazine. The story of how he successfully graduated from small-time dealing to running guns, drugs, and the occasional fine artifact when he was only twenty three.

“Would you do it differently if you had the chance?” Ivy picks at the hem of the Thriller he’d been wearing the day before as she awaits his answer. She’s admittedly shocked when he he gives an emphatic no. 

“It wasn’t exactly something I could put on my resume, but it set this part of my life into motion.” She leans her head into the crook of his neck. Lulled into comfortable security by the vibration of his vocal cords. “I learned how to run a business. Granted, it was illegal, but I baked my first cake in jail which is what ultimately led to me opening the bakery and then meeting you.” 

Time is a forgotten concept as they sit in the armchair sharing embarrassing childhood stories and fleeting kisses when they just can’t help themselves. That’s how Jin finds them. Giggling like teenagers that have finally earned closed door privileges. Yeosang freezes when he notices Jin’s still unsure how to act around him. Ivy on the other hand is excited to welcome her best friend back home. 

“Jinnie!” She hops up to give him a quick hug and peck on the cheek before returning to her perch on Yeosang’s lap. Awkwardness is radiating off of the man beneath her in near tangible waves. He visibly relaxes when Ivy buries her fingers in the hair at the back of his head to scratch at his scalp.

“I missed you too, Vee. Good to see you again, Mr. Kang.” Jin winks conspiratorially at Yeosang as he cracks open the bottle of water he’d snagged from the refrigerator. “Take good care of my wife.” He adds as a parting shot on his way down the hall to his bedroom which sends Ivy into a fit of curses. Yeosang finds himself cracking a smile at the sound of Jin’s laughter somewhere down the hall.

It’s not the most conventional situation by any means, but Yeosang feels like he can make this work. He glances down at the grumbling woman in his arms. Yeah, he can definitely make this work.

Yeosang is elbow deep in bread dough for a new recipe he’s working on when he hears his phone ringing where he’d left it on the charger in his bedroom. He’s supposed to be heading to Ivy’s later tonight and he’s hoping to have her taste test his new bread when he gets there, meaning he can have no interruptions so he lets his phone go to voicemail. His phone rings again, but this time the song it plays catches his attention. The Alina Baraz song he’d set for Ivy’s ringtone drifts down the hallway. He instantly cracks a smile at the thought of the woman on the other end of that phone call. Passing up an opportunity to hear her voice is beyond Yeosang’s capabilities so he extracts himself from the dough, making a mad dash for the ringing device.

“Hey, babe.” She sniffles in his ear and all of his sense are suddenly on high alert. In all of the months since they started dating he can’t recall her crying. Ever. She’s just too happy. His mind runs through a myriad of horrible possibilities like film cuts. “Ivy, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“I need you.” Yeosang has absolutely no idea what’s going on but his heart feels like it’s being ripped in two at the sound of her crying. He pulls his phone away from his ear when it pings. He has to swallow to keep himself together when he sees that Ivy has sent him her location. 

“I’m on my way, baby. I’m coming.”

The other cars on the road look like blurs as Yeosang weaves between and around them at break neck speed. The hospital that Ivy is at is supposed to be a twenty seven minute drive according to google maps, but Yeosang is parking his mustang exactly sixteen minutes later. He’s honestly surprised that he wasn’t pulled over on the way, but his euphoric disbelief is short-lived as he dashes towards the front doors of the hospital. 

“Can I help you?” The woman manning the front looks at Yeosang with a barely concealed air of distaste. He follows her eyes to his tattooed arms on display in the short sleeved shirt he’s wearing. He’s still pretty much covered in flour from his bread making and he can tell that she doesn’t think much of him. Normally, he would make an attempt to assuage people like her and show that tattoos don’t make the man, but he doesn’t have time for that.

“I’m looking for Ivy Kim.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not we have someone here by that name.”

“Listen, lady if you-” Yeosang is on the verge of falling into the trap of the old wench’s bias when he hears his name being called. He turns his head to see Jin waving him over from where he’s holding the elevator doors open. He flips the old lady off, delighting in her scandalized gasp as he jogs towards the bay of elevators.

Now that he’s closer, Yeosang notices the cuts and bruises that litter his friend’s face. He looks like he’s been beat pretty good, but he brushes off any questions about what happened. Yeosang is on the verge of choking on his nerves as he follows Jin off of the elevator to room 437.

“I’m going to get some coffee. You guys need to talk.” Jin claps Yeosang on the shoulder once as he goes back the way they came. 

He’d risked life and limb to get here, but now he’s afraid to take one more step. He has no idea what’s going on, but he can feel it in his bones that nothing will be the same once he steps through this door. Yeosang’s phone vibrates just then with a notification from the Nike app about some stuff he left in his cart. The little nike swoosh on his phone screen feels like a divine sign for him to stop being such a pussy and go in the room. 

Seeing Ivy curled into a ball in the middle of the hospital bed is nearly his undoing. The tears steadily streaming down her face catch the light from the hallway when she turns her head to see who it is. A sob racks her figure as she reaches for him. Yeosang shuts the door, plunging the room back into darkness as he rushes to her side. He’s not used to her looking this fragile and it’s killing him. He kicks his shoes off and climbs into the bed next to her, careful not to jostle the IV needle in her arm. She leans into his touch as he brushes her hair away from her face. The fabric of his shirt is no match for the barrage of tears that Ivy dumps on it. He lets her cry until she has nothing left. For a moment he thinks that she’s fallen asleep, but she whispers something against the skin of his neck. Her voice is so low that he can’t make it out even with her lips being mere inches from his hair.

“You’ve gotta speak up for me, love.” This time when she speaks, he hears her loud and clear.

“I lost our baby.” 

He can hear her saying something about a car accident and blood, but her words don’t register in his brain. Yeosang feels like the ground has opened up beneath him, but he’s not falling. Simply hovering, drifting in the void. He hadn’t even known she was pregnant and that’s definitely something Ivy would have told him so he’s guessing that she didn’t know either. Visions of a tiny child with her doe-like eyes and his nose flash across his minds eye. Yeosang has never given much thought to being a father, but knowing that he’d created a child with Ivy only for them to be ripped away like this is tearing him apart. He holds her impossibly close, trying to anchor himself to reality. Tears are flowing down his own face as he attempts to process what they’ve lost. 

“This is all my fault.” The guilt in her voice is nearly palpable. Yeosang cups her face in his hands to force her to look him in the eye. 

“You did nothing wrong, Ivy. Get that thought out of you head right now, do you hear me?” Ivy nods her head slowly but Yeosang is not naive. No matter what he says, it’s going to take a while before she actually believes the truth in his words. 

Jin hates to interrupt them. He loathes it, but life is cruel and Ivy’s parents just texted him that they just parked their car and are on their way inside. His feet feel heavy as he treks back down the hallway. He pokes his head into the dark room and winces at the muffled sound of them crying together. 

“I’m so sorry guys, but Ivy’s parents are on their way up.” Yeosang gets the urge to laugh despite the fact that absolutely nothing is funny. This is just adding insult to injury.

Ivy clings to him like a koala when he tries to stand and he’s got half a mind to say fuck the consequences and stay. That wouldn’t be fair to Jin though. He harbors no ill will towards the man even though he’s living the life he wants so for his sake, he extricates himself from Ivy’s grasp to put his shoes on. Her bottom lip quivers dangerously as he leans down to softly kiss her forehead. Jin pulls Yeosang into a hug before he can walk past him and it takes a herculean effort for Yeosang to keep it together. His heart aches with every step he takes towards the exit stairs. It feels like someone is taking a jackhammer to his chest.

He leans his head back against the headrest when he finally reaches his car. A pained yell bursts from his throat before he can even think of trying to stop it. His horn beeps erratically as he pounds at his steering wheel in anger. Yeosang has been through hell in his twenty six years on Earth and yet, he can’t recall a time when he’s ever felt this much mental anguish and despair. Part of him wishes that he’d never stopped slinging coke and running the streets because he’d have never met Ivy and thus would’ve never experienced this. He hates that thought the second it materializes.

The shrill ringing of an old school phone that Yunho had insisted on having as his ringtone breaks through his misery. Yeosang has no desire to utter a word to anyone other than Ivy but Yunho is a persistent bastard. He’ll just keep calling until he gets an answer. He clears his throat and hopes that his childhood best friend is having an off day with those damn spidey senses of is.

“Hello?”

“Dude, have you been crying? No wonder my spirit is unsettled. The fuck is going on?” So much for eluding Yunho’s questions. Yeosang huffs out a shaky breath. He’s not even sure he’s even fully grasped what’s going on himself. He can hear the sound of keys jingling on Yunho’s end.

“Listen, I’m gonna go buy an obnoxious amount of alcohol and then I’m coming over to you place. See you in twenty.” Yunho doesn’t wait for a response, hanging up the phone with a sense of finality. 

True to his word, Yunho’s car is parked in front of his building when Yeosang makes it home. His car is empty, so he’s guessing that he must have used his key and gone inside already. He’s not surprised to find Yunho nursing a beer on his couch as he scrolls through something on his phone. His eyes widen slightly as he takes in Yeosang’s haggard appearance. He knows he looks like shit so Yunho’s reaction isn’t unexpected.

It’s nearly three in the morning when they finally crash. Yunho is passed out in the guest room but sleep evades him despite the multiple beers swirling through his system. If he was sober, he probably wouldn’t make this decision, but he’s far from it so he reaches for his phone to FaceTime Ivy. The second her face replaces his on the screen, Yeosang immediately feels like he can breathe again. He’d been avoiding the feeling before now, but after everything that’s happened in the last twenty four hours? He’s tired of beating around the bush.

“I love you, Ivy.” The smile that spreads across her tired face brings Yeosang so much joy. There’s no telling how long it’s been since she’s graced the world with one of her radiant smiles. He takes it as a victory that he was the one to bring that out of her. 

“I love you too, Yeosang.”

[melyaliz]

Past loves and future babies pt. 9

Masterlist

Fandom: Marvel (MCU) 

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OC 

Notes: I suck at action. that’s all I have to say about that 

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive​​

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

DONATE or REQUEST 

Trigger warning: Coming out and abusive parents 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Family Dinner was a bit later than normally tonight. 7’oclock. Carol North hated eating late, she had read somewhere it wasn’t good for your digestive system to eat after 8 so dinner was normally around 5:30 or 6. However the head of the house Richard had worked late so dinner had run a bit later. 

It had worked in Dixie and Mac’s favor since they had more time to get their stuff together before they dropped the bomb. Next to her Mac fidgeted with his food unable to look at anyone else. Leaning over Dixie’s foot bumped her brother. Their eyes met for a moment and she nodded. 

You can do this

“Dad I need to tell you something.” 

“Of course what’s up?” his father looked up at his son and Dixie felt sick. She wanted to run away. A weird feeling of dread and fear flooding her system. She wanted to protect her brother from this while also wanting to run away and hide. Hide like she used to when she was a kid and her dad would blow up at their mom. Hide like she used to when her parents would fight, screaming at the tops of their lungs ending with her mother leaving for days on end. 

Dixie was good at hiding. 

“Dad, I’m gay.” Mac said, Dixie wasn’t sure why Mac wanted to leave like this. They had planed their escape for years now. Waiting until she was 18 so it wouldn’t be considered child napping. Part part made sense to her. But when Mac had told her how he planned on doing things she wasn’t sure why. Why couldn’t he just hide like she did?

But regardless she supported him no matter what. 

“What?” Richard burst out laughing, “Are you trying to get some kind of reaction out of me?” 

“No dad, I just. I wanted to be honest with you.” Mac’s face was impartial. No emotion at all. Dixie wasn’t sure how he could be so calm while her heart was racing so fast in her chest she thought she might throw up. 

“Why are you trying to do this to us?” their father’s voice was so just as calm. So dangerously calm. As if he didn’t believe him. As if he was talking to a small child who just didn’t understand that dinosaurs were dead. That Santa Clause wasn’t real. “Honestly Macklin, what have I done to make you think this is ok?” 

“Nothing dad, there is nothing you did. This is about me.” his leg was jittering under the table the only sign that he was even nervous. Only Dixie could see it. Only Dixie could feel the nerves radiating from him. 

“Like hell it is.” Richard said slamming his hand on the table, “You are just upset that I won’t pay for you to dorm at college isn’t it? Well this is clearly why you can't. Gay my ass!” 

Dixie couldn’t deal with it anymore, that was her brother Richard was talking about. This was Mac he was accusing of throwing a fit when all he was doing was telling the truth. 

“Fuck you!” She snapped jumping up. They had agreed she wouldn't speak. That Mac would handle this but… she couldn't stop herself as the words spilled out. “He’s being open and honest and all you can do is focus on you.”  

“Dixie!” her mother snapped glaring at her, “Language.” 

They still weren’t listening. It was all about appearances. Don’t swear, don’t be out of the normal. Don't do anything we don't approve of. 

“Oh please you agree with this?” Richard said to his daughter. “You're my good girl.” 

“I love Mac. What is there to agree or disagree with?” Dixie whispered slowly sitting back down, her voice breaking. Mac’s hand found her’s under the table holding it tightly. 

“You love Mac,” Richard laughed, “If you loved him you would be telling him he’s being an idiot.” 

“And how is being gay being an idout?” 

“Because it’s wrong! It’s not normal!” Richard snapped his anger focusing back on his son, “Just because you want attention or whatever doesn’t mean you should do something so… so” leaning back in his chair their father took a deep breath before cutting some meat. “Dixie go to your room. Mac if you keep spouting this nonsense you can forget college. In fact, give me your phone.” 

“Dad, I pay for my phone.” Mac chocked out a bitter laugh. 

“My house, my rules.” 

“Yeah” Mac said standing up, “see that’s the thing. I’m moving out.” 

“M… Me too” Dixie said following her brother.

“Young lady! Don’t you move!” Richard roared. Dixie flinched that feeling of fear rushing over her. She glanced up at her brother who just smiled down at her. 

“Just keep walking” he whispered, pushing her in front of him. As if he could block her from their father. 

“What? Are you punishing me now?” Richard said standing up, “What happened to my perfect little girl Dixie. My little princess.” 

Dixie felt sick. Her stomach twisting in knots. Even now, even knowing for years what her dad really was. What kind of man he was. It still hurt. 

Because a part of her wanted to be his little princess. 

But her dad had always been right about her, she was unlovable. 

Because even her own father didn’t really love her unless she was his little princess. 

And she couldn't pretend anymore. 

They both couldn’t. 

“No dad, I am going with Mac.” 

“Don’t… if you two walk out that door you are dead to me!” Richard screamed, “Try me! Just try. You will never get a cent from me. Never get anything. I’m your father. I have done everything for you. Give you everything! And you just want to rip this family apart!” 

His endless screaming continued as they walked out. A stream of consciousness that held a sting that would echo in both their brains for much longer than either of them wanted to admit. Lie that his words meant nothing while it cut deeper than any scar they would ever receive from their future life on the streets. 

The white van Mac had gotten a few weeks ago was parked a block away. Already loaded up with all their belongings. Only the ones they personally owned. They had agreed to only bring what was truly theirs. 

So that they didn’t owe him anything. 

Because they didn’t owe him anything. 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“Shit” Sam mumbled fumbling with his gun as he stood next to Bucky pinned against a wall. The soldiers or whatever they were came barreling down the hall. Four of them dressed to the 9s in armor ready for a fight. Where did these people come from? Why were they here?

“Bucky?” at the sound of his name Buck felt dread fill his stomach. Turning he saw Dixie walking up to him eyes wide in a cute little black dress. Her hair in a soft curl, make up done. 

The date. 

Steve was going to take her on a date. And now she was standing there in the middle of a war zone.

“Stay back” Bucky hissed holding a strong arm out trying to keep her away from the onslaught of fire that was raining down on them. His eyes shifting from her to Sam who was trying to stop the bleeding from the gunshot wound in his side. However Dixie didn’t seem to notice as she took a few steps forward. Her hands ghosting over his arm pushing it out of the way. 

“You’re toast” all three heroes (well two heroes and one guest of the avengers) looked up to see the bad guy said holding up a gun. Eyes hard ready to shot the first person who dared to move 

Dixie raised her hands up so they were visible in front of her taking another slow step forward positioning her body between the two men. “Sir, please, he’s hurt.” her voice cracked slightly, obviously frightened by what was going on. Bucky’s body grew tense, his hand slowly snaking toward the knife he had strapped to his back. If he could grab her arm and pull her back he would be able to disarm this man with minimal damage to them.  

“We are just here for the time machine.”

“We don’t have any…” Sam started but the man snarled aiming the gun at him, 

“Was I talking to you?” turning to Dixie he smiled, “Now pretty lady…”   

Bucky’s fingers gripped the knife body tense, Dixie’s shifted slightly just a bit further out of his grasp but if he was just able to-- 

His thoughts were cut off when the man’s eyes grew wide at Dixie’s face, “Wait… you’re one of them!” There was a blast of purple light causing Bucky and Sam to blink. The sound of a gun going off and the smell of burning melted metal filled the air. Dixie’s right hand fell to her side, something that looked like a glowing purple fire saber burned in her hand. Moving forward she spun into the main hallway where the other men were. Bucky runs after her only to see her wing the blades in both hands stopping the bullets before slicing through one of the guys arm and another’s other’s leg. 

Standing up she pressed her hand toward her ear “Mac, can you see Steve?” she asked as she ran down the hall leaving the two men alone. 

“She’s not just some little human is she.” Sam mumbled as Bucky shook his head. He needed to find his best friend and soon. Or the time machine. Not that it was working, but that was probably where the goons had gone. 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Steve was in the hanger bay with Wanda. They had seen several men barging in through the open bay doors. It was hard to keep track of the soldiers, they seemed to fade in and out. When they had first arrived it looked to be about fifteen and now there was four. Two twins and a woman with a whip and a large man with two kusarigamas. Steve wasn’t sure how it was possible but he was also preoccupied with the large man advancing toward him. The chains from his kusarigamas screeching like a warning against the concrete.  

“Steve” Wanda gasped trying to block the twins that were attacking her. They seemed to be fading in and out as if ghosts. Turning Steve was about to help her when he felt a pain shoot through his back. 

Turning he saw the large man grinning at him. His silver plated teeth glistened in the light that streamed from the glass ceiling of the hanger. His blades glistening red.Next to him the woman smiled cracking her large steel whip.

“Get him lover” she hissed, licking her lips, her bloodshot eyes bright with excitement.

Some guy with a Mohawk and these huge kusarigama let out a snarling laugh bearing his silver plated teeth. Next to him a woman with a whip crackled it at Steve’s legs. 

“Come at me Mr America!” he hissed slashing at Steve again barely missing Steve’s ribs as the super soldier twisted out of large man’s way. Steve’s gaze drifted toward Wanda who was holding off the twins. It was hard to tell if she was gaining the advantage or not from where he was. 

The black steel of the Kusarigama smashed into Steve’s shield making Steve’s arms ring from the aftershock bringing him back to the fight in front of him. Before he could fight back, the man kicked him with a thick boot making Steve fall onto his back.

This wasn’t good. 

The man smiled holding up the blade bridging them down hard on Steve’s shield causing sparks to ignite against the shield. 

“I'm going to cut you open like a fish” the man howled , raising his hands again. A few feet away the woman laughed cracking her whip in a rhythmic crack, crack, crack. 

Steve braced himself as the large man lifted up his blades above his head ready to crash them back down. 

And then a bright purple light burst from the man’s chest. Burning through his sternum the smell of burning flesh filled Steve’s nose. Letting out a cough the man looked down at in shock. Blood dripped from his mouth before he stumbled backwards off Steve. Choking a few times before  he crumbled onto the floor. The life leaving his eyes

Steve sat up to see Dixie standing there, panting slightly. Blood splattered across her hands and over her chest and neck. Her eyes hard as she met him. He couldn't see any wounds so Steve could only assume the blood wasn’t hers. Another purple blade like the one that was glowing out of the man’s chest was in her left hand. 

The woman with the whip, seeing her comrade, out a screamed scream running toward Dixie. Turning Dixie held out her hand, the blade from the man’s chest faded away before appearing back in her hand. Taking a defense stance with both blades she stood over Steve. 

“DIE BITCH!” the woman screamed, swinging her whip. It was no match for the blades Dixie cut through the steel coil as if it was a hot knife through butter. Pulling out a gun the woman shot a few bullets toward Dixie but she quickly deflected them continuing to walk toward the woman. 

“Stand down” Dixie said, “and I won’t cut your arms off.” her voice filled with venom. Steve had never heard that tone before. Commanding, meaning every word. It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise. 

Something the woman didn’t seem to realize as she let out a snarl, tears in her eyes. “I’m going to kill you!” she cried grabbing a rocket launcher that was strapped to her back. As she pulled the trigger Dixie threw one of her glowing blades forward slicing the woman’s shoulder making the women scream falling to her knees. 

Moving quickly ignoring the pain in his back Steve bolted up grabbing Dixie by the arm pulling her back flush to his chest. Swinging his shield he hit the rocket up sending it spinning through the glass ceiling. 

Dixie looked up at him as shards of glass showered down around them. His blue eyes meeting her own as he held his shield up over them protecting them.

“Are you ok?” she asked, her expression softening and something in Steve shifted. He should be asking her that. He should have been rushing to save his little -not- wife. Yet here she was barging into the fight covered in who knows what’s blood checking on him making sure he was ok.

“I… yes” he said, a feeling of relief washing over him so strong he bent over gently kissing her forehead.

“Y… you weren’t supposed to be..” 

The couple turned to see one of the twins standing there with a gun in his hand. Wanda behind him, her powers holding the other, her eyes glowing as she reached up to grab the other when there was a whirring sound and a net flew out of nowhere tangling the man before electrifying him.

“Stay the FUCK away from my sister!” 

A curly haired man cried walking into the hanger, dressed in jeans and a black button up shirt, he had a pair of clear green glasses and was holding up a weird silver bracelet around his left arm. An army of drones followed him. 

“MAC!” Dixie let out a squeal pushing away from Steve crawling under his shield that was in front of both of them before dashing toward the man. Throwing herself into his arms she hugged him tightly. 

Steve knew the name. He had caught Dixie several times on the phone talking to a Mac. Her face lit up in pure joy and comfort. She had mentioned him before too. Her brother. The only person who she seemed to mention from her previous life. The one before this. 

“It’s always just been me and Mac” she would say with that look on her face. One he knew very well. It was the one reserved for those who were your family. Your most trusted. The ones you would go to the end of the world for. 

It was the feeling he had for Bucky. 

“What are you doing here?” she was asking him as Tony and a few other avengers walked into the hanger. 

“Who’s this?” 

“This is my brother.” Dixie said turning, the look on her face told Steve all he needed to know. She was worried they were going to rip them apart again. 

“He’s staying.” Steve said to Tony, “I need a shower.” 

“I… ok whatever” Tony shrugged knowing he would get all the information later. They had bigger issues to deal with right now. Like all the bleeding intruders. 

-------

Steve winced as the warm water hit his back stinging the deep cuts that were slashed across his back. They were going to be a pain (in the back) to fix up. Maybe he should go down to the infirmary… or maybe.

“Want some help hansom?” 

The sound that came out of him was that of a small child and a cat that just had it’s tail stepped on. Dixie stood there, eyebrows raised trying to fight back a laugh as she stood in front of the glass walk in shower. 

“Ok boys count chill I’m not going to jump you.” she said, “Can I come in?”

-GET TAGGED!- 

Masterlist

Forever tag:  @the-shadow-of-atlantis​​​ @coffee-randomness​​​ @0hmydeku​ @xx3fsxx​ @daisyboobear​​​  @jason-redhood​​ @hello-i-lovespiderman-blr​  @pinkwitch21 @tomhncharliep  @cdwmtjb8​ @thespacebuns​​

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[songtoyou]

Chapter One: West Bridgewater

Paring: Ransom Drysdale x Fabiola Rossi (OC)

Rating: This story will mostly be rated 18+ as it is revolves around a relationship that is Dominant/submissive. For each chapter, I will do my best to rate it accordingly, but please know that the overall story will have very adult themes.

Warnings: None for this chapter

Word Count: 2,305

Description: Huge “Ransom��� Drysdale always thought of himself as a powerful man. With his family’s money and status, Ransom could get away with anything. He had the power and control others would envy. Ransom could get any woman he wanted with a snap of his fingers. He was always in charge. He commanded attention. And he hated it. Never having a job in his life (thanks to his mother, father, and grandfather always there to supplement his bank account) or any real-life goals, Ransom felt incomplete and directionless. That is until Fabiola Rossi entered his life and turned it completely upside down.

A/N: I have not seen Knives Out. This is an AU of that world. I do not own any of the characters created by Rian Johnson. I have always thought of Ransom as a sub rather than a Dominant and this idea has been on my mind constantly that I needed to write it down. Anything in italics are to represent Ransom’s thoughts. 

I do not permit any of my fics to be distributed on other sites without my permission.

Updated for grammar and punctuation edits.

What is a dominant-submissive relationship all about? As mentioned previously, there is an energy dynamic between the two partners. It is the Dominant’s duty to protect and guide his or her submissive. The submissive, also called “the bottom,” relinquishes some or all control to the Dominant. He or she is playing out their own kinds and fetishes through the guidance of a Dominant. No actions or scenes can be played out unless the submissive has consented to everything the Dominant plans to do during a play session. A D/s relationship is not solely about sexual activities but exploring new and interesting ways to connect beyond sex. For example, the Dominate can set up simple rules that the submissive must follow, such as asking permission to stay out late or have ice cream for dessert. A healthy D/s relationship can lead to a life of self-improvement. 

“You got some mouth on you…I bet a ball gag would fit nicely around those pretty lips of yours.”

For some reason, Ransom could not get that comment out of his head. It was so unexpected and out of leftfield. He never had a woman said anything so bold towards him. No stranger to bondage with the opposite sex, it was always Ransom who was the one in charge. Women were more than happy for him to lead the charge. It was the only time Ransom was ever put to work, so to speak. Fabiola Rossi had managed to not only mystify the spoiled playboy, but he was not determined to find out more about her. 

So, Ransom did one any person in their mid-30s did when trying to find information about another person, he stalked her social media. He came up short. No Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram that he could find of her unless they were private.

“This is Fabiola Rossi. She is an inspiring editor herself. I have taken her under my wing as a mentor.” Ransom remembered from the night before when creepy old Charlie Van Houten introduced his grandfather and him to Fabiola. 

Of course, Fabiola had a LinkedIn page as she was a young working professional. Ransom saw that she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Psychology at Boston University. He noticed it had only been five years since she graduated from the university, so he suspected she was in her late twenties. Most of the jobs Fabiola received were internships or part-time positions. Not unusual for graduates looking to enter into the workforce. There was not much to offer due to the Baby Boomers not wanting to retire or companies being stingy with providing decent living wages or health benefits. 

“Intern. Van Houten & Thompson Publishing. March 2019 to current. Performs proofreading and editing of manuscripts and additional documents before the final publication,” Ransom read out loud as he continued to look through Fabiola’s profile.

He got up to reach for his coat to pull out his wallet. Inside was a business card of Charlie’s that he gave Ransom before leaving his grandfather’s party. Charlie told Ransom to keep in touch and that they both could talk about possibly working together. 

“If you have been working on anything, send it over. In fact, send it over to Fabiola. She’d probably love to read it and give you feedback. Give him your email address, honey. Any work you send over to her will be in great hands,” Ransom remembered Charlie saying to him last night. He looked over the business card and traced his thumb over Fabiola’s handwriting of her email address. 

He could not understand why this particular woman intrigued him so, despite only meeting her briefly the night before. However, Ransom knew he had an itch to scratch, and it was better to get it taken care of now before things got too out of hand. Before he became too obsessed.

Turning on his laptop, he waited for it to boot up. Opening his email account, Ransom began composing a new email to Fabiola. He kept it short and simple by asking if she was still up looking over what he was currently working on. 

Hi Ms. Rossi,

It was a pleasure meeting you last night. Hope you are doing well. If you are not too busy, do you mind if I send over the story I am currently working on? I do not want to impose if your schedule is too busy, but Charlie had such high praise for you, and I would appreciate the feedback and insight from you.

Talk to you soon,

Ransom 

He clicked the ‘send’ button and waited. Thankfully, he did not have to wait too long for a response back.

Hi Ransom,

I am so glad you reached out. Please call me Fabiola. 

Yes, I would be more than happy to beta read anything you send over.

Sincerely,

Fabiola

“Hook, line, and sinker,” Ransom said to himself with a smirk plastering over his face. He knew exactly which of his work he would send over. It was one Ransom had finished a while back. A story about the measures of what a mother would do to prove her child’s innocence when they are accused of a crime. It was one of his more personal pieces of work. He was somewhat anxious to get feedback on it. He sent it over to Fabiola as an attachment. Now, Ransom was in wait and see mode. ‘Who knows how long until she gets to actually reading it,’ he thought to himself. 

Three long agonizing days later, Ransom finally heard back from Fabiola when he checked his email that afternoon. 

Ransom,

How are you? 

Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner. Your story is amazing! I could not put it down. I actually read it twice. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and had a lot of heart. You are such a good writer.

I do have some suggestions for you if you do not mind. However, I do not want to merely give them to you via email or comments in the document. Would it be okay if the two of us meet up for coffee sometime this week? It would be easier to talk to you about the recommendations face-to-face.

Any suggestions on where we could meet up? I don’t mind traveling to your neck of the woods if it is more convenient for you.

Fabiola

Ransom was thrilled that not only did she like his work but was willing to meet him in person. He quickly wrote her back suggesting a meeting at a little coffee shop in West Bridgewater. It would only be a 34-minute drive for Fabiola to get to him. Honestly, Ransom was a bit taken aback that she was willing to drive all the way out to the boonies to talk to him in person. 

The two decided to meet up on Saturday afternoon at The Bridge Coffee House, a new town establishment. A Starbucks it was not, thankfully.

When Saturday finally rolled around, Ransom dressed in his usual simple attire: gray cardigan, white long-sleeve shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and Louis Vuitton black loafers. He gave himself a look over in the mirror one last time; he exited the house, got in his 1972 BMW 3.0 CSi, and headed to the coffee shop.

Once there, Ransom ordered an espresso and settled in a seat near the corner, but still visible for Fabiola to see him. As Ransom waited for Fabiola to arrive, his leg was shaking underneath the table. He was nervous, which was an unusual feeling for Ransom. Women hardly ever made Ransom nervous, but the woman he was meeting was for business, not pleasure. 

‘Note yet at least,” Ransom thought to himself as he sipped his espresso. 

The ding of the bell on the entrance door made Ransom lookup. There Fabiola was wearing a white long-sleeved fitted sweater with light blue jeans, white sneakers, and a light gray messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She looked around and noticed Ransom. Giving him a smile and wave, Fabiola made her way over to him. He stood up as she neared the table. 

“Hi. How are you?” she asked and stuck out her hand for Ransom to shake.

He reciprocated the gesture and replied, “I’m good. Do you want something to drink? My treat.”

Fabiola accepted Ransom’s offer with an iced tea. “Is there a restroom around that I could use?”

Ransom pointed to where the restrooms were, and Fabiola excused herself while he got her iced tea. Paying for the iced tea, Ransom went back to the table and proceeded to wait again. 

“That was quite a drive,” spoke Fabiola as she sat down in the seat across from Ransom, “Gorgeous scenery. I tend to not venture too far outside of Boston much.”

“Yeah, it is a nice quiet town. Not much goes on here.”

“I’m kind of surprised that you don’t choose to live in Boston. Figured you would want to be in a more urban area,” said Fabiola.

Ransom shifted in his seat to cross his legs, “I used to live in Boston during my 20s. Decided to move here a couple of years ago. Helped clear my head a little.”

Taking a sip of her iced tea, Fabiola asked, “Is that when you really began to write?”

Ransom let out a small laugh and cleared his throat, “Yeah…I just…needed a hobby to preoccupy my time.”

“Well, I have to tell you that it was a good idea,” said Fabiola as she began to rummage through her bag and pulled out a binder to place on the table.

“This story is outstanding,” she complimented.

Ransom felt the heat on his cheeks from her praise. It felt good to have someone appreciate his work, which was not a feeling he was used to. 

“I do have some questions if you don’t mind me asking? Nothing bad, just some clarifications.”

“Sure. Ask away,” Ransom responded casually. He was doing his best to not seem too eager. 

“What made you decide to have the main character a mother rather than a father? I ask that because, normally, male authors tend to write the protagonist as male. You don’t really see many male authors write crime novels with a main female character,” Fabiola pointed out and went on to tell him, “You also wrote the character really well. Like, she feels like a real person. She was fully developed and fleshed out. I was totally rooting for her throughout the whole story. And the side characters are nicely written as well. Each chapter kept the reader on its toes. You never knew what to expect. Nothing felt forced or out of place. Nothing dragged on. Here is a copy of my notes. Nothing too major. Only certain suggestions like clarification or more descriptive details for certain paragraphs.”

Ransom looked at her incredibly detailed notes. “I appreciate you doing this. Thank you,” Ransom said earnestly.  

“Do you plan on getting that published?” Fabiola asked him.

Letting out a light chuckle, Ransom told her that most likely he would not.

“Why?”

“I prefer to write for myself. Not for an audience. Plus, there is the likelihood that I’ll get compared to my grandfather or people thinking that nepotism is involved,” answered Ransom as he continued to flip through Fabiola’s notes.

Fabiola merely sat back and took the time to really look at the man before her. With dark hair and blue eyes, a strong jaw, and a somewhat crooked nose, Fabiola could not deny that he was handsome. Before the meeting, Fabiola asked Charlie about what he knew about Ransom. Boy, she got an honest earful from Charlie. While Charlie complimented Ransom, there was a hint of pity in his voice.

“He’s got so much potential, but he wastes it with booze and women. The poor boy did have a stint in rehab when he was younger. It’s so parents of his. Always giving him money instead of love and affection,” Charlie shared with Fabiola. 

 “You don’t want to fail at the one thing you believe you are actually good at,” Fabiola stated to Ransom and added, “So, it is easier to not put yourself out there in the first place.”

Scoffing, Ransom sat back and stared at Fabiola. Now it was his turn to really look at the woman before him. With her long dark hair, brown eyes, and slender figure, he had to admit to himself that she was beautiful. But he could tell that there was more to this woman than meets the eye.

“You like to think you have me all figured out, don’t you? You think I’m some poor little rich poor?” Ransom asked with a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

“Yes,” Fabiola simply said as she folded her arms to rest on the table and continued, “You’re not some riddle, Ransom. You are quite easy to figure out. Just as I mentioned to you at the party, you are bored. However, it is not the excitement that you seek. Instead, you want guidance. You want someone to look after you and care for you. You want to surrender control. Am I wrong? Tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll shut up.”

With his silence, she had her answer.

“I can give you what you need, but to do that, we need to develop trust between one another,” Fabiola communicated and reached out to grip one of Ransom’s hands. She entwined her fingers within his.

“How much?” Ransom spoke up as they looked at their entangled hands. 

Fabiola shook her head and clarified, “Nothing. I’m not proposing you sex Ransom. I’m proposing to you something completely different. What do you know about BDSM or a D/s relationship?”

[papipopsicle]

AFTERTASTE PART FOUR

Pairing: Archie Andrews X Short!Reader

Genre: fluff, smut

Summary: In which two best friends since childhood test whether friendship and can co-exist without causing conflict. Including my OC's Flick & Cherry, a lesbian couple and best friends of Y/N. Set Pre-Veronica.

Song: Feeling Good by Sofi Tukker

Warnings: Dom!Archie, Oral (fem receiving), swearing (probably)

Words: 3K

MASTERLIST

feedback is always appreciated

!PING!

Y/N giggled as soon as she saw the picture Archie had posted, it had been taken a few hours ago at lunch. She hadn't even realised he had taken one, off guard beaming up at Moose as he told the group how the Andrews boy had face planted the turf during football practice. The caption read ‘when you're having a lousy day, i'll try my best to make you smile like an idiot’ and her face lit up at the kind gesture.

Today had been utter shit; Michelangelo had gotten into a fight with one of the neighbourhood cats and lost very badly, Josie picked a fight for no reason in Maths and called her a ‘brain dead bimbo’ in front of everyone, and to top it off she'd overheard Chuck sharing very private, personal details with his friends like they were nothing.

She felt miserable and hopeless, wanting nothing more than for this day to be over already. While the boy wasn't there with her when any of these events happened, he knew as soon as he saw her saddened expression that it was his duty to turn her frown upside down. After an hour of cheesy jokes bad enough to make her father proud, Y/N felt a little bit lighter.

Now, the two sixteen year olds were being blackmailed into making dinner for themselves, Y/N's family and of course Fred too. It wasn't uncommon for this to happen though, since Y/S followed in her mother's footsteps when it came to cooking abilities, and they felt bad for always making Y/D cook. So the blonde had rolled up the sleeves of her grey sweatshirt and pulled her hair into a messy bun, while Archie gathered all the ingredients for the perfect steak dinner.

"Okay," Y/N huffed out, putting her arms up and looking over the boy's broad shoulders to see the recipe, "what's the first step, Nigella?"

Two frustrating and hilariously messy hours later, the two teens were serving their masterpieces. Y/N showered while waiting for the steak to cook, her hair now in damp ringlets as she wore a black concert t-shirt and a burgundy pair of gym shorts.

She carefully placed the piping hot plates in her mother and sisters respective places, returning for her own and Archie's as the boy brought out ones for their fathers. Y/D and Fred sat at the heads of the table, with Y/S and Y/M on one side and Archie and Y/N on the other. It had been that way since the very beginning, the teen's chairs always closer than necessary.

The radio played hits from the eighties and nineties in the background; the atmosphere warm and cozy as the group began tucking into their gourmet meals happily. Conversation flowed easily as usual, soft smiles mirrored around the room in the amicable scene.

"How's school been today?" Y/D asked casually as he piled food onto his fork dangerously high, it disappearing into his mouth seconds later.

"Shit." Y/N answered with a shrug and a wry smile as she copied her dad's actions and stuffed her face. Her eyes closed for a moment to fully appreciate the perfection of her cooking, but in that moment she missed the sad look the redhead threw her way. Everyone at the table was aware her high school experience wasn't rose tinted, and she was never able to lie to her family about it.

"McCoy's girl again?" Y/S asked defensively, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she even brought up said name.

"It's no biggie, honestly. She's just holding a grudge against me for something that literally happened over a year ago. She'll have to let go of it sooner or later." The y/h/c girl ended the conversation, continuing to fill her mouth with copious amounts of food. While her parents had moved on to talk about another subject, Archie kept his eye on her and she knew it.

Y/N didn't hate being pitted per se, but she couldn't stand to be watched by loving eyes when the person those eyes belong to wishes to fix her problems for her. Knowing that's what his mind was preoccupied with, the girl turned to Archie sharply and began chewing with her mouth wide open, sticking her tongue out for emphasis.

The redhead gagged and couldn't stop himself from snorting in laughter and Y/N took this as her queue to close her mouth. Not truly phased by the grotesque sight, Archie returned it for just a second, leaving them both giggling. Finishing the mouthful, she bumped shoulders with the boy, keeping her head resting there for a few moments as she spoke with a grin, "You've already done enough, stop making my issues yours. We do everything together anyway, leave me this little slither of sardonic sanity, okay?"

She sat up straight again and sent Fred a wink upon finding his knowing grin slung in their direction. Looking around the table, three other faces have the exact same looks, and Y/N only rolled her eyes, "Can we have just one family dinner without planning our wedding? For all you guys know we could both be gay and just use each other for style advice."

Y/D scoffed, eyeing up his daughter with amusement, "You're not gay."

"What?!" The blonde's cutlery clanged against her plate as she threw her arms up in exasperation, "I could be!"

Y/M cackled her usual laugh and rolled her eyes, chiming in, "Darling, have you seen your wardrobe?"

"Cherry and I share clothes!" Y/N defended herself, only halfheartedly as she knew the conversation was completely false, but still stood her ground.

"Yeah, well, she has a blue-haired girlfriend and you only share dresses when you're going out because you're the same size. I'm pretty sure she'd rather be dead than wear a pair of your heels." Y/S interjected and received her sister's glare with a smug grin.

Archie silently ate his food, but soon his best friend turned to him, "I could be bi, right? Like Elizabeth Olsen and Sebastian Stan both own my life."

"You can be whatever you want to be, Tiger." Taking a sip of his drink, the boy continued, "But, to be fair, have you seen The Bronze? Like if there's someone I'd turn for, it'd be Sebastian Stan."

"See!" Y/N raised her arms in the way Will Smith had when showing the world his beautiful wife, "This is why he's my best friend!"

They high-fived with matching grins and the bubbly atmosphere carried on until Fred left for the night, Archie staying over in lieu of helping with unfinished homework. After washing up, the three teenagers headed up to bed.

But before the elder Y/L/N daughter fully entered her room, she swung back on the doorframe and locked eyes with her younger sister in a deadpan manner, "I haven't slept properly in three days, please have the decency to wait until I'm asleep before you start boning, thanks."

Y/N swivelled in the direction of her room, cheeks dusted pink at the insinuation. She closed her curtains and headed straight for bed, exhausted by everything the day forced upon her shoulders. Finding her phone, she sent a round of goodnight streaks and scrolled through Instagram before the bed dipped and a tuft of red hair came into view.

"It's only just gone ten, you lightweight." He bumped her shoulder with his bare one, soon copying her actions with his own phone but not finding anything nearly as interesting.

"Well, I fancy wasting time on my phone instead of doing anything productive, problem?" The blonde hummed, not turning away from the device holding her attention. A few moments of silence and mindless scrolling passed before Y/N's phone was ripped from her grasp and set down on the bedside table.

"Yeah, I do have a problem with that, Tiger." Archie grinned at her clueless expression, climbing on top of her, either elbow caging her face in his hold. A light pressure appeared between her thighs with a small twitch, forcing a giggle from the girls lips. She hooked her thighs around his waist and linked her feet together, pulling his entire being closer to her own.

"Oh," Y/N forgot all about whatever had been on her phone screen moments ago, hands now brushing through Archie's fiery locks, "and what would that be."

The boy dipped his head without warning, lightly pushing her jaw to the left to expose her soft neck. His tongue slowly ran from her collar bone to the bottom of her ear, kissing small pecks along her jawline until their lips met. Y/N smiled into the kiss, lifting herself up while pulling his torso closer into her own. Her hips moved on their own accord, needing more friction to scratch an itch only his mouth could fix.

Archie broke the kiss, looking down at the petite girl with lustful eyes as his hand found her neck once more, "There's so many better ways for us to waste time than on our phones. But I'm going to need you to stay quiet for me, Tiger. Can you do that for me?"

As the words left his lips, his index finger lifted from her neck and pressed against her own. Y/N couldn't help licking a stripe down the back of it, taking the digit into her mouth and letting it drop with a popping sound. She nodded her head in agreement with an innocent smile and wide expectant eyes.

Archie watched her for a moment in awe, giving her throat a small squeeze before moving down her body. He lifted her ‘All Time Low’ t shirt up, planting wet kisses from her bra line to the waistband of her lycra shorts.

“You okay?” The boys soft voice sounded through the room, any dominance dropped from his tone but ready to be picked up if he got the right answer. Y/N sat up, planting each hand on either side of his face and pressed her lips to his nose lightly.

She grinned down at him, “I’m sure.” Her excited tone couldn’t be missed, and without hesitation she hooked her fingers into the shorts and pulled them away from her velvety skin, flinging them to the floor carelessly. Archie felt another grin filled kiss skim his forehead, a small hand carding through his hair as the girl relaxed back into the plush bedding.

Y/N closed her eyes in content as hot breath traced her thighs, up and down in a slow rhythm, leaving goosebumps of anticipation in its wake. Her hips rutted upwards needing some kind of contact, but Archie’s firm hand pushed her back into the mattress and held her in place. He settled with his legs hanging off the edge of the double bed, pushing her legs to rest open. The girl resisted the urge to squeeze her legs together, desire overcoming her body but submission overpowering her mind.

Archie’s lips left trails down her silky thighs, plotting temporary marks by nipping and sucking at the delicate skin. He enjoyed feeling her squirm under his touch, showing how much she needed his touch. This was more than just helping each other get off, there was a raw urgency and need within them for only one another. He licked around the edge of her pink thong, another unintentional jut from her hips pushing him closer to her heat as a whine escaped her lips.

The redhead’s hand moved from her stomach to her neck while he forced her to look down at him, “No noise, kitten. Okay?” He warned and Y/N’s bottom lip curled under her teeth as she sent him another nod. With that, her underwear, if it could be even called that, was pulled from her body and joined her shorts on the cool wooden floor moments later.

Archie carried on teasing the girl, licking down her inner thighs and getting dangerously close to what her body was pleading for, but he enjoyed watching her struggle to stay silent and it was far too easy to bring her to the edge by barely doing anything.

“Please.” Y/N’s voice begged with a shaky moan she’d tried so hard to keep in. The boy smirked up at her before giving her exactly what she wanted, feeling her fingers tighten in his hair as he latched onto her clit. But as soon as the pleasure started, it ceased once more.

“You want me to carry on, little girl?” Archie asked in a low tone, watching his best friend panting in want from the smallest of actions. “Want me to make you feel good?”

“Yes, please, Arch. Please.” The girl nodded again, never needing a release so badly in her life before.

Archie’s tongue lapped small circles around the bundle of nerves, pausing again to elicit a small noise of bliss, “I need you to stay quiet for me though, Tiger. Don’t want Y/S finding out what a slut her little sister is.”

In any other circumstance, Y/N would slap someone for calling her something like that, and Archie would never let the word slip from his lips. But in this moment, with his tongue skilfully taunting her clit and a finger dipping inside her wet pussy, it sent a wave of pleasure and praise through her entire body.

He was her drug, one touch and Y/N was completely intoxicated, whatever he wanted is what she wanted and there wasn’t a single thing she would say no to.

It didn’t take long for Y/N to reach the edge of release, with Archie’s fingers pulsing inside her while switching from licking at her clit and sucking on it with his tongue swirling her into a trance of ecstasy. He wanted to play with her more, keep her tilting on the edge until she couldn’t handle it any longer.

But Y/N had a difficult day, he could tease her any time he wanted, for now he just wanted to give her one reason for this day to be good. With that, he tactfully curled his fingers bringing them in and out of her hot core, not stopping his mouth from all but assaulting her over stimulated clit. Her hips buckled once again and this time Archie didn’t stop her, then they began rutting back and forth riding his face until her body couldn’t take any more

“Oh god.” Y/N whined in a hushed tone, her body convulsing in euphoria she finally toppled over the edge of her climax. Archie pressed a final kiss to her clit, resting his head on her spread thighs for a few moments as they both caught their breath.

The girl giggled as Archie appeared back at her side, pressing her lips to his not caring about the taste of her lingering in the air.

“You okay?” He whispered, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her under the duvet with him. Her head rest in the crook of his neck, leg over is stomach and hand lightly tracing patterns over his muscular chest.

“More than okay, pretty boy.” Y/N hummed into the dark room with a bright smile adoring her features. “Arch?”

He mumbled an agreeable response, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Archie’s hand found her thigh and he gave it a small squeeze, keeping his hand there to hold her close.

“Can we play a game?” The girl sounded apprehensive yet excited with her words.

She felt him nod, “What kind of game do you want to play, Tiger?”

Y/N couldn’t help but smirk at her idea as the words left her lips, “I’m proposing a little bet.

Clearly were both attracted to each other, and it ends there, yes? Nothing romantic, just two horny best friends who need an outlet. So, why don't we have a little fun with this? We tease the other to breaking point, bring them to their fucking knees begging for it, and the first one to cave, loses. Nothings off limits, but you can't kiss the other, otherwise you lose."

At this, Archie lifted his head wearing a matching smirk, though it couldn’t be seen as the street lamp sending orange hues into the bedroom only lit up their silhouettes, "What does the winner get?"

"Whatever the fuck they want.” Y/N’s hand made its way to the boy’s neck and she tilted her head upwards to whisper into his ear, “And, when I win the first thing I'm going to have you do is eat me out again."

The boy chuckled dryly and shook his head, "Tiger, I'll be doing that when I win anyway."

Y/N giggled, tempted to throw the bet immediately if the consequence was his head between her legs once more. “Game on, Andrews.”

Archie couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of this situation, though he had to admit he couldn’t wait to see what his best friend would do to try and make him lose.

“Okay little girl, it’s time to sleep I think.” His voice felt more authoritative this time, and Y/N loved that about him, he wasn’t afraid to tell her what to do.

“Goodnight, Arch.” The girl said with a smile in her tone, anxious to see what Archie would do to her over the coming weeks. She felt his head shake once more, knowing a grin was etched into his lips. Y/N rolled onto her side, the boy’s arm tightly wrapped around her still as she drifted off into a fairytale land where this was all real. Not just two friends messing around.

PART FIVE

[softforcal]

Bro Code : Prince!Cal

Summary: When Prince Ashton’s younger sister comes back to the kingdom for the summer after being at uni for years, Calum realizes maybe the ‘bro code’ isn’t so great after all 

Warnings: lil smut

Prince Cal Moodboard

OC Moodboard

Word Count: 11k

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     Calum had known that Ostara would be coming back to the kingdom for the whole summer, and he’d thought he’d be prepared to see her. He’d never not been prepared before, but, when his eyes landed on the blonde standing in the kitchen, he realized he had not been ready for the sight in front of him.

     They hadn’t seen each other in years. She’d gone off to boarding school and straight to university after. Calum had always figured that she’d stayed away on purpose, after all, the younger Irwin had never been a fan of being a Princess.

     When Ashton had told his friends that she’d be coming home for the kingdoms centennial celebration, the boys had been surprised. However, when Ashton mentioned that, in part, it was due to his parents deciding it was finally time for Ostara to begin courting all the princes who would be in the city for the celebration, it made a bit more sense.

     Calum had scrolled through her insta and had been shocked to see how much she’d grown, how much she’d changed. He’d had to admit to himself that she got hot. Long blonde hair, pretty green eyes, honey coloured skin and an adorable splatter of freckles across her little, upturned nose, she was still the girl he’d grown up with, but she’d glowed up in a big way.

     Seeing her in person was entirely different.

     Somehow, she was even prettier when not contained by the four sided walls of an instagram post. Which didn’t quite make sense to the young prince. But as his eyes scanned up her body, taking in the cute floral yellow skirt and the little white crop top, he couldn’t breathe.

     She turned and seemed to notice him for the first time, an easy, dimpled smile appearing on her face, “Calum!” she exclaimed, setting down the bag of chips she’d managed to steal from the palace pantry. She moved around the island table quickly, throwing her arms around the tall prince who immediately embraced her, breathing in the scent that he’d all but forgotten, and not realized how much he’d missed.

     As he set her down, he opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud “there she is!” as his friends walked into the kitchen behind him.

     “Leave it to Cal to find the only girl in the house.” Michael teased, pulling Ostara into a hug and away from Calum, whose body mourned her of its own accord.

     “How’ve you been?” Luke asked, getting his turn next.

     “Busy.” Ostara answered, which was so classic that it made Calum smile.

     “Busy bee.” Ashton said, finally getting a turn to hug his little sister.

     She grinned against his shoulder and the other princes in the room watched the happy reunion, “when did you get in?” Ashton asked when he set Ostara down.

     “A little while ago, I would have messaged but… well, thought you’d enjoy the surprise.” she shrugged, hands settling on her hips to look at everyone, “shit, you guys got tall.”

     “It wouldn’t be such a shock if you actually came home for Christmas.” Ashton said, jabbing at her ribcage as Ostara swatted his hand away.

     “You know why I haven't.” Ostara tutted, “besides, I face time you like every day.”

     Ashton opened his mouth to say something when a servant entered the kitchen, “Princess Ostara you’re needed in your parents office.”

     Ostara groaned and Ashton chuckled, “good luck.”

     She brushed past him and grabbed her bag of chips, glaring at her brother, “ha ha.”

     They watched her leave, Calum’s gaze drawn down, and once she was gone everyone turned to look at Ashton who held up his hands, pointing at the hot blooded males around him, “if any of you say it-”

     “Your sister got hot.” Luke stated.

     Ashton shoved at Luke who chuckled and moved away.

     “What’s the deal with Ostara and your parents anyways?” Michael asked, opening the fridge to grab a beer.

     “They have this whole thing about her finding a suitor, it’s very old fairy tale of them if you ask me.” Ashton said, pushing past Michael to find something to eat. He settled on an apple, taking a bite.

     “Shit, I heard about that.” Luke said, “my mom mentioned it to me a few days ago.”

     “How did that come up?” Calum laughed.

     “I think they’re hoping if they force us to date she’ll calm me down or something.” Luke said. Calum could feel his blood go cold.

     Ashton froze, turning to look at his friend, “force you to date? What the fuck are you talking about?”

     “I thought I mentioned that.” Luke shrugged, “doesn’t mean much to me. She’s your little sister man, I’m not that much of a dick.”

-----

     “Aren’t you supposed to be on a date with Luke?” Calum asked as soon as the blonde entered the kitchen.

     Ostara rolled her eyes, walking past Calum who was all but guarding the fridge, a beer in his hand, “can you even really call it a date? It’s a parentaly forced hang out.”

     “Did they teach you words like ‘parentaly’ at your fancy university?” Calum grinned.

     “Yes.” Ostara snapped but she was grinning, “what are you drinking?”

     Before Calum could answer, she grabbed the bottle from his hand, taking a swig and making Calum chuckle, “and now you drink too?” he mused.

     “A lot has changed.” Ostara pointed out, looking at the beer, “this is good.”

     “Yeah, which is why it’s mine.” Calum said, trying to grab the bottle back but the smaller girl danced away.

     “Pretty sure this is my palace Hood, which makes this my beer.” she took another drink, “when did this place become such a frat house?”

     “Ash invited us for the summer, besides, you have the whole extra palace anyways.” Calum pointed out.

     “Yeah, my extra palace.” Ostara pointed out, “which I usually get all to myself and Ashton, except now it’s run rampant princes.”

     “You say that like its a bad thing.” Calum smirked, going to the fridge again to find another beer to replace the one Ostara had taken.

     “It is when princes are the thing I’ve been avoiding for years.” Ostara said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

     “Why is that?” Calum asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest as he studied the younger Irwin.

     “It just feels weird, the expectation, and all you princes are the same-”

     “Ouch.” Calum laughed, “I assume you mean like Luke.”

     “Well he has been the one in the tabloids recently.” Ostara pointed out.

     “We’re not all like him, you know that.” Calum said, “was the date that bad?”

     “Don’t call it a date, and yes.” Ostara said, lifting herself up to sit on the kitchen counter, she kicked her legs absentmindedly, “did you know that he has this compulsion to check out every ass that walks past him?”

     “Yeah he does that.” Calum chuckled.

     “And you don’t?”

     He grinned, “no.”

     “So you weren’t checking out my ass when I left the kitchen yesterday?”

     Calum’s heart thumped, had she caught him?

     “I’m kidding.” Ostara laughed, “god, lighten up, I’m still me Cal.”

     He took a deep breath, studying the little mischievous glint in her green eyes that had been there since they were kids, “sure you are.”

-----

     “Two days in a row, starting to think you’re stalking me Hood.” Ostara said when the prince entered the kitchen.

     “We both just like the kitchen, that’s not a crime.” Calum shrugged, “you’re dressed up.”

     “Had another ‘date’.” Ostara said, grabbing ice cream from the fridge. She sat up on the kitchen counter, the place that Calum was already viewing as her spot.

     “Was it as bad as Luke’s?” Calum snuck a glance at her from over his shoulder as he reached into the fridge.

     “Hmm, comparable.” Ostara said, sticking a spoon into the frozen dessert which she proceeded to lick clean.

     “What was wrong with this guy?”

     “Prince Shawn is nice-”

     “He’s a softie.” Calum rolled his eyes, “definitely not your type.”

     Ostara scoffed, “oh yeah? And what’s my type Hood? If you’re such an expert.”

     He shrugged, “just… not prince Shawn.”

------

     “So this is what? Five days in a row of dates?” Calum chuckled when Ostara entered the kitchen, setting her purse on the counter before finding a banana to eat as she lifted herself onto the table.

     “Like I said, you’re a stalker.” Ostara groaned, kicking off her high heels which Calum dodged, grabbing a beer that he passed to her.

     “I’m starting to think you’re just picky.”

     “And what about it?” Ostara shrugged, “so what if a girl’s got taste?”

     Calum smirked, “nothing wrong with that.”

     “Hey aren’t you getting pimped out too?” Ostara asked, biting into her banana, “when are you ever going to tell me about your shitty dates?”

     “I don’t have shitty dates.”

     “Yeah, cuz I never see you going on any.” Ostara teased.

     “I’m just… I don’t know,” Calum sighed, “not a fan of the whole PR dating thing.”

     “Right, and I am?” Ostara rolled her eyes.

     They both knew why Calum could get away with no pr relationships, the same way Ashton could. They were the eldest sons. The only reason Luke got wrangled into it was because he was the third child, just as Ostara was the second. They would never have a crown, unless they married into it, and they were good candidates for royal courtship. Royals married royals. That was known.

     “Do you really want to hear about my bad dates?” Calum asked, running a hand through his hair.

     “Yes!” Ostara exclaimed.

     “I have one later tonight-”

     “You have to tell me all about it when you get back.” Ostara stated.

     “Hmm, not sure when it will be over-”

     “Then give me your number, text me.” Ostara suggested, pulling out her phone.

     Calum shrugged, taking her phone and punching in his contact info, “there.” he said, handing back her phone. He watched as she corrected his name from ‘Cal’ to ‘his highness’ and he couldn't help but smile.

     Ostara put her phone away, “I can’t be the only one with a shit love life around here.”

     Calum chuckled, “at least you’re not Luke.”

     “Yeah, you’re right, that would be worse.”

---------

     Calum’s knee bobbed up and down, his eyes fixed on the brunette who was going on about all the parties she’d been to in the past month. Gnawing at his lip, Calum tried to remain focused, but for some reason, his eyes kept straying away from the puffed up lips, protruding fillers and bodacious bust that every princess seemed to have. He wondered if they all went to the same surgeon.

     The small buzz of his phone captured Calum’s attention and the girl followed his eyes, sighing, “do you need to look at that?” she asked.

     “Uh, yeah, one sec.” Calum mumbled, picking up his phone to scan the screen. It was his friend group chat, the one with Luke, Ash and Michael.

     Someone had sent a picture of Prince Liam and it looked like the other boys were tearing the guy to shreds. Calum quickly tried to get caught up in the convo, realizing that Ashton had originally sent the picture with the caption ‘future brother in law? I think the FUCK not.’

     As if he hadn’t already been distracted by Ostara this entire date and now his friends were discussing her possible suitors? And Liam was not the kind of guy Calum wanted Ostara to be going out with. Sure, out of his gang of friends, Liam was… suitable, definitely better than others, but it just didn’t sit right with Calum.

     “Is something wrong?” the brunette asked.

     “What?” Calum looked up.

     “You’re frowning.”

     “Am I?”

     “Yeah.”

     Calum took one last look at the phone, eyes scanning a text from Michael that read ‘fuck that guy’ and then Calum turned off his phone, “sorry.”

     “You seem distracted.” the brunette mused.

     Calum sighed, “yeah, sorry-”

     “I’ll get the cheque.”

     Calum opened his mouth to argue but then stopped. It was true. It he didn’t want to be at that table with that princess. He wanted to be back at the palace, preferably in the kitchen, preferably with a blonde, preferably last named Irwin, preferably female-

     His thoughts were cut off by the waiter who had returned with the bill, Calum pulled out his wallet, throwing some bills on the table. He stood up, mumbling a quick ‘sorry’ before he all but ran from the restaurant.

     Calum made it back to the palace in record time, going to the kitchen immediately.

     It was empty. Calum’s heart sank in his chest.

     He pulled out his phone, looking at Ostara’s contact for a few moments before he began to type: ‘Back from my date.’

     The little messaging bubble popped up almost immediately and Calum’s heart lurched in his chest while he waited.

     ‘We’re at the firepit, come join.’

     Calum sighed. He’d been hoping to catch her alone. It was almost a ritual by now, one on one talks in the kitchen about bad dates. He didn’t really feel like disclosing the information about the bad dates with the guys. He didn’t want to have to share his attention. To hide the fact that his eyes would want to be on Ostara and no one else. It was something he’d already began to notice, the way he felt he had to act differently, to control himself, whenever Ostara and the boys were in the same place.

     He couldn’t be open about how much he enjoyed the younger Irwin.

     He knew Ashton would not be happy about it.

     Hell, if Luke thought dating Ostara would be a shitty bro move, that meant something.

     Calum sighed, grabbing two beers from the fridge absentmindedly, then he walked outside towards the firepit.

     The sound of voices greeted him as he came around the corner, eyes landing on the group of people all lounging in lawn chairs around the firepit. Ashton noticed him first “where’s your date?” he called with a grin.

     Calum rolled his eyes, going to sit by Luke who had pulled up a chair for him. “This for me?” Luke asked, taking the second beer from Calum before he could respond. The beer had been for Ostara Calum realized, but he wasn’t about to fight it, especially not in front of Ashton.

     “So spill.” Ostara said, making Calum’s attention flicker to her for the first time. He’d been avoiding looking at her, but he figured he was allowed to address her after she’d asked him a direct question.

     But now he had to figure out how to explain why the brunette had not been a good date. He had to come up with a reason that wasn't the truth: that she wasn’t Ostara.

     “Uh, she was just really-” he thought about it, was trash talking another princess in front of Ostara a good idea? “We just didn’t vibe.”

     “Isn’t this the girl who gave you a handy at the last banquet?” Michael asked, popping some chips into his mouth.

     “That chick!” Luke said, snapping his fingers, “she’s a fox.”

     Calum could feel his skin heating up, hot against the cool night air, and not because of the close proximity of the fire. “Yeah, that’s her.” he admitted, throat feeling thick as he swallowed and avoided looking at Ostara. He’d only half forgotten about that, he’d been very high.

    “You guys vibed okay that night.” Ashton pointed out.

     “Did her technique get worse?” Michael asked in confusion.

     “She didn’t- we were in a restaurant.” Calum stated, taking a deep breath.

     “So?” Luke grinned.

     “Yeah, wouldn’t be the craziest place you’ve ever-” Michael began and Calum groaned loudly.

     “Shut up Michael.” Calum commanded.

     “You guys are so mean to him.” Ostara tutted and Calum offered her a half smile. She could feel how uncomfortable he was and Ostara had been raised to navigate awkwardness like a professional, so she easily changed the topic and Calum thanked god for her, “what are you guys wearing to the ball on Friday?”

     “Velvet.” Luke answered immediately.

     “Oooh!” Ostara leaned in, “what colour?”

     “Red.”

     “Wow, you really like to stand out don’t you?” Ostara teased.

     “He’s six foot four, he always stands out.” Michael stated.

     “I’m six’ two at best.” Luke insisted.

     “Liar.” Ashton laughed.

     “What are you wearing?” Calum asked before he could help himself, curiosity getting the better of him.

     Ostara’s green eyes met his, “a lady never tells.”

     “Fucking tease.” Luke muttered, earning a shove from Ashton.

     Calum tried not to look at Ostara but she looked so cute, bundled up in an oversized red flannel. She looked so relaxed, so comfortable, so happy. He realized he had been staring a moment too long and tore his eyes away, looking instead at Ashton who was chatting with Michael about whether or not Michael would ditch the ball all together.

     Calum’s heart was thumping in his chest and although he appeared to be listening in on the conversation, his brain was occupied with other thoughts.

     He’d told Ostara that not all princes were like Luke, and yet it had just been made painfully clear that in some ways, they were. He regretted letting the brunette princess give him a handy under the table at that banquet. But, as much as he hated to think it, above all, he regretted the fact that it hadn’t been Ostara who had been the one to do it.

------

     The days leading up to the ball were tense for Calum. He’d pretty much accepted the fact that he was a terrible friend and a terrible person.

     He’d accepted the fact that he was lusting after his best friends sister.

     He’d tried to avoid her at first but that had proved to be impossible, they both just loved the kitchen too much.

     And then there was the fact that all any of them wanted to do was lounge by the pool. Calum couldn’t just stay in his room all day, that would have been boring and suspicious. So he found himself sitting in the shade with Michael, trying not to look at Ostara as she did her morning laps or tanned on a floaty.

     It was very uncomfortable for him, fighting the ever incessant urge to sneak a peak even though he knew what negative effects it would have on him, in certain places in particular.

     It didn’t help that Ostara was a happy, chatty girl who was always ready to ask him how his day was going any time they bumped into each other somewhere on the grounds. Calum didn’t want to be cold, but he didn’t want to be too warm either.

     So he’d made an impulsive decision. Something that would keep him out of the palace for a while. He’d decided to go dye his hair.

     It had seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was a good reason to avoid Ostara after. When she’d caught wind of what he was doing she’d messaged him ‘send me pics!’ and he’d replied with ‘hair reveal at the ball’ a text that he had stared at and hated himself for hours afterwards. But, he had justified not seeing her for three days and of course Ostara had respected his want to ‘drop a big reveal’ and had purposefully been avoiding him to not ruin the surprise. Which only seemed to make him adore her even more.

     Getting ready for the ball was a chore. The four princes all had custom suits and they dicked around, drank, and chatted while getting ready in Ashton’s room. Try as he might to get involved in the conversation, all Calum could think about was what Ostara would be wearing.

     Calum downed a shot, feeling the pleasant buzz wash over him. He was not about to go to a ball sober and he knew he was playing with fire. He knew that with lowered inhibitions, he could end up in high water fast, but he just couldn’t find it within himself to go to the event without being at least slightly tipsy.

     He’d been mentally preparing to see Ostara dance with other princes.

     He hoped that this time, he’d be ready for the view.

----

     Again, Calum was wrong. Seeing Ostara jump from prince to prince hurt his soul. Watching hands that were not his caress her waist, covered in a soft looking, baby pastel yellow silk dress, made Calum’s fists clench at his sides. The way she smiled, looking so graceful and so princess-like… it was making Calum’s head spin, or perhaps that was the glass of whiskey in his hand?

     Calum noticed prince Liam noticing Ostara and somehow his blood got even hotter. Especially as Liam began walking over when the song ended. Liam was upon Ostara within moments and although Liam may have missed the small micro expression that crossed her face as she turned to look at him, Calum didn’t.

     He drank the rest of his drink, clenching his jaw as he set down the glass. By the time he looked up again, a new song had started and Liam had Ostara pressed to his chest.

     “Look at that douchebag.” Michael stated from next to him.

     Calum said nothing.

     “One of us should go save her.” Michael continued, “Ashton looks pissed.”

     Calum looked over at Ashton who was busy dancing, but his eyes were on his sister and Liam. “i’ll do it.” Calum stated, moving forward immediately.

     He maneuvered through the crowd, eyes on his prize. His tattooed hand reached out on it’s own accord, tapping the prince on the shoulder, “wait your turn mate.” Liam said.

     “Nah.” Calum responded, “think I’ll cut in now.”

     Ostara’s hands were already moving from Liam to Calum’s broad shoulders and Liam didn’t try to fight it, sighing loudly before removing himself completely. Calum watched him leave and then turned to finally meet Ostara’s gaze.

     “Your hair looks amazing.” she stated, “and thanks for saving me.”

     “Was wondering if you were gonna come and say hi earlier.” Calum admitted.

     “I wanted to! But my parents said I had to dance the first six dances for appearances or something.” Ostara frowned.

     “So this is your last dance then you’re done.”

     “Have you been stalking me again Hood?” Ostara laughed.

     Shit. He had to stop just saying what was on his mind.

     “Your dress is nice.” he said, changing the topic. It was just as silky under his touch as he’d imagined it would be. Ostara’s hand gave his a little squeeze, her fingers dancing over his shoulder and sending electricity running through his body.

     “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

     She could feel his breath against her face and with their chests all but pressed together, she could also just imagine that his heart was racing as fast as hers was. His eyes were a deep, beautiful brown and she was finding herself lost in them.

     And the hair? Yeah, she was feeling it.

     They both just looked at each other for a few moments in silence, Calum’s gaze flickered down and Ostara’s heart lurched in her chest. They were so close, it would be so easy to-

     The song ended and Ostara caught movement of her brother walking over from behind Calum, so she pulled herself away, feeling her skin flush as she looked down.

     “That Liam guy is a fuck.” Ashton stated, “thanks for stepping in Cal.” Ashton said, patting his friend on the back.

     “Don’t mention it.” Calum said stiffly.

     “Gotta talk to my sister about her choice in men, give us a sec.” Ashton said.

     Calum didn’t question it, turning and leaving without so much as another word. He made his way to the bar where Michael caught up to him, “what the fuck was that?”

     “Vodka.” Calum said to the bartender, leaning against the table top instead of looking at his friend, “what was what?”

     “You and Ostara were dancing pretty fucking close don’t you think?”

     “Lower your voice.” Calum hissed.

     “I fucking knew it!” Michael said, voice low but still full of the arrogant ‘i told you so’ tone.

     “Knew what?” Calum continued to play dumb, handing a bill to the bartender in return for his quick drink.

     “You’ve been weird since Ostara showed up.” Michael said, “I thought maybe it was just because there’s a girl or whatever, but it’s because you like her, isn’t it?”

     “Yes Michael. I have a big, fat crush on Ash’s little sister.” Calum said sarcastically, shooting his drink.

     Michael laughed, “fuck man, you’re in so deep.”

     He was. Calum knew it. And if Michael noticed, then it was only a matter of time until Luke or Ashton noticed, and the former had a big mouth so as soon as the cat was out of the bag with one, it would be game over with the other.

     Calum turned around, leaning his back against the bar. His eyes searched before his brain registered what he was doing, finding the gorgeous blonde just as she slipped from the ballroom.

     “Don’t even think about-” Michael began but once again, Calum was already moving, chasing after the Princess like a lost puppy.

     His pace quickened, eager to catch the girl before she disappeared into one of the many rooms in the palace, never to be found again. Calum remembered playing hide and seek as children, Ostara had always managed to disappear, not that the boys had ever actually looked. Hide and seek had been more of an excuse to get her to piss off at the time, but not anymore.

     He heard her heels clicking against the marble floor and followed the sound, turning a corner just as she slipped from view. Calum groaned, running down the hallway to follow, “Ostara!”

     She turned and looked at him, “Calum?”

    He caught up to her finally, not sure what to even say. All he knew was that his heart was racing, from the running or the booze or maybe the beautiful girl standing in front of him giving him her full attention.

     Calum realized in that moment that his fears of losing inhibitions while tipsy were well merited. His hands reached out and cupped Ostara’s face, eyes searching hers momentarily for a reaction in case he was going bat shit crazy and she didn’t want him to kiss her.

     But when her eyes went to his lips, he knew that he had the green light.

     He moved forward, pressing his lips against hers. Ostara’s hands found his chest as she moved closer, kissing back immediately. Calum’s tongue swiped across her bottom lip and Ostara’s mouth opened eagerly, tasting the liquor on his tongue. His teeth teased her, nipping into the lipstick stained kiss.

     Ostara’s hand moved from his chest to his shoulders and then to his neck, locking him close to her as if she never wanted to let go. One of Calum’s hands left her face, going down to the small of her back, teasing just above the cute bum he wanted to grab so badly.

     His grip tightened and Ostara smiled against his lips, happiness contagious as Calum laughed slightly, eyes opening to look at the beautiful girl in his arms. Her fingers played with his hair, tugging slightly as he brought his lips down on hers again.

     His hand slipped lower, finally grabbing her ass as she moaned into his mouth. The noise made Calum groan too as he felt his pants getting tighter, the front of their bodies rubbing against each other in an effort to do the impossible and get somehow even closer.

     “Ostara!” Ashton’s voice rang out in the hall and the couple jumped away from each other. Ostara’s eyes widened as she looked at Calum immediately wiping at his mouth to get rid of the lipstick covering his face. Likewise, Calum brushed at her mouth which was also smudged with red.

     “Shit.” Calum muttered as the sound of footsteps got louder.

     “You need to go.” Ostara whispered.

     “What?”

     Ostara’s small hands grabbed at the front of Calum’s suit, dragging him to a door to a side room, she shoved him inside before he could argue.

     Calum stared at the closed door, heart racing in his chest.

     “There you are!” he heard Ashton’s voice, “what the fuck happened to your mouth?”

     “I wiped my lipstick by accident cuz I’m dumb.” came a quick and easy answer.

     No argument from Ashton on that subject.

     “What’s up? Im going to go fix this-” Ostara continued.

     “Mom and dad said if you want to leave you have to say goodnight to a few people first.”

     “They said six dances and I’m done-”

     “Yeah but they still want you to say bye.”

     “Okay, I’ll be right there, just gotta head to my room first-”

     “I’ll come with, need to talk to you about that Liam guy.” Ashton stated.

     Calum’s heart sunk as he heard retreating footsteps. He was so screwed.

----

     He’d gone back to his room immediately after to take a cold shower.

     He’d paced, eyes flickering to his phone obsessively, waiting for a text that never came.

      He’d considered going to her room, sneaking out in the dead of night to go profess his adoration like some prince from the fairy tales, the type of guy she deserved.

    Sleep had been difficult to come by, and every time he closed his eyes, images of her danced across his vision like a bewitching goddess demanding his devotion.

     At six AM Calum rolled out of bed, pulling on sweats and a plain white t shirt. He set off to the kitchen, hoping for some coffee to get his day started.

     Calum was rubbing at his eyes when he entered the room, groaning then removing his hands, he stopped in his tracks. Of course Ostara was in the kitchen.

     Standing over a pan with an egg in it, dressed in the tiniest little matching white and yellow starred sleeping shorts and crop top Calum had ever seen, her blonde hair pulled into a messy bun, she took his breath away.

     Her green eyes moved up to meet his and her skin immediately flushed all pretty and pink.

     “Hey.” Calum croaked, voice low and sleepy.

     “Hey.” she retorted. Silence settled over the kitchen and then: “coffee?” she pushed forward a french press that was half full.

     “Yeah.” Calum shuffled forward, grabbing a mug then pouring himself the drink. Ostara tried not to watch the beautiful way his tattooed hand wrapped around the white ceramic, all large and perfect-

     “How did you sleep?” he asked.

     “Uh…” Ostara laughed, blush returning, “not great, you?”

     “Not great.” Calum smiled, leaning against the counter next to her while she cooked, “cute outfit.”

     He was enjoying making her blush.

     “Oh my god.” Ostara groaned, setting down the spatula she had in her hand so she could cover her face.

     Calum smirked, “what?”

     “Stop that.”

     “Stop what?”

     She peaked at him through her fingers, “that! Being cute.”

     “If you don’t want to see me looking like this, maybe you should close your eyes.” Calum suggested.

     “What?”

     “Don’t you trust me?”

     “No.” Ostara laughed.

     “Your loss.” Calum shrugged, sipping at his coffee.

     Ostara groaned in exasperation, turning the stove off before she looked at Calum one last time, closing her eyes. Calum set down his coffee and Ostara said “now what?”

     “God, be patient.” Calum tutted, squaring his shoulders as he turned to her fully.

     He studied her for a moment. Taking in her pretty pink lips, the dimples already showing as she smiled with excitement, her long lashes, the way strands of blonde hair had escaped her bun to frame her face.

     His hand came up to brush one of the strands behind her ear and Ostara flinched slightly, one eye peeking open at him, Calum laughed, “eyes closed.” he whispered, caressing her cheekbone with his thumb as his hand came to cup her face.

     Ostara let out a shaky breath, following his command. Once Calum was sure her eyes were closed, his thumb that had been on her cheekbone moved down to her lips, brushing the bottom one, pulling it down slightly, “so pretty.” he whispered.

     Ostara’s heart was racing in her chest, body anticipating the warmth that Calum’s mouth would bring, the electricity that she knew would erupt over her skin like wildfire.

     Being completely at his mercy was torturous, her hands fidgeted at her sides, not knowing what to do with themselves while she waited.

     The first kiss was soft, a mere brushing, a tease. Ostara moved in for more immediately and Calum pulled away, she could hear his smile, “eyes closed.” he reminded her as if he could read her mind, knowing that she was dying to look at him.

     His thumb stroked her cheek as he kissed her again, lips moulding against hers as he finally allowed her to melt into the kiss, her fingers going down to the waistband of his grey sweats to pull him closer.

     He enjoyed cupping her face. It felt right. It felt intimate. It showed everything he was feeling but unable to verbalize. It proved how much she meant to him. How much he cared. His need for her to feel safe and protected-

     Music flooded through the kitchen and for the second time in a day the pair pulled away. Luke always walked around blaring music from his phone like an obnoxious prick, and he entered the kitchen moments later, stopping to look at Calum and Ostara who acted innocent, standing a few feet away from each other, Calum sipping on his coffee while Ostara grabbed a plate to put her egg on.

     “You two look suspicious.” Luke stated.

     “Says you, why are you even awake, its early.” Calum fired back.

     “Touche.” Luke sighed, “have another PR date thing.”

     “You mean you’re cheating on me?” Ostara said in mock shock.

     “No baby, I would never.” Luke stated, sounding offended.

     Calum’s jaw clenched at the pet name.

     “I’m going back to my room.” Ostara announced, “you two have fun.”

     Calum tried not to look at her bum as she left the room but it was so cute and perfect in her little star shorts, besides, Luke was looking too which pissed him off… but, Calum knew he wouldn’t get caught.

     Luke turned back to look at Calum, “at this point Ashton should be thanking god that I’m a good friend, because she’s cute as fuck.”

-----

     The noon sun was hot and piercing, the royals only leaving the air conditioned comfort of the palace to hang by the pool. Luke was still not back from whatever errand his family had sent him on, which left Calum, Michael, Ashton and Ostara to their own devices.

     Laying in the sun, Ostara was reading, while the other three tossed a ball around in the pool.

     “So bored.” Michael groaned.

     “This used to be so much fun when we were kids, what changed?” Ashton agreed.

     “When we were kids we’d play chicken which I fucking bet you is still fun.” Michael pointed out, “fucking wish Luke was here.”

     Ashton’s gaze shifted to his sister, “Ostara get in the water.”

     “Hmm?” she asked, having not been paying attention.

     “We’re playing chicken, come get on my shoulders.” Ashton commanded.

     Michael and Calum looked between the siblings, “I’m not going to shove your sister-” Michael began.

     “It will be fine.” Ashton assured him, waving his hand, “Ostara get in here or I will drag you in.”

     Ostara sighed, closing her book, she knew Ashton would follow through with the threat.

     When she stood up, Calum got the nicest view of her cute little pineapple print bikini. The girl had a thing for prints, but she always made it work, and Calum’s heart was soft as fuck.

     She waded into the pool and Ashton approached, bending down so his sister could get onto his shoulders, “I hate you.” she stated.

     “You better fucking win or I’m disowning you.” he warned her.

     Meanwhile, Michael had gotten on Calum’s shoulders and everyone had gone to the deep end of the pool to make it easier.

     “Michael-” Ashton began.

     “If I touch her chest I’m dead, I know.” Michael said, “it’s not fair.”

     “What’s not fair is the fact that you have like forty pounds on her.” Ashton pointed out, “okay, three, two, one.”

     The chicken fight started and everyone began to laugh as Michael and Ostara hesitantly pushed at each other. It was obvious that the two most dominant, competitive guys where Calum and Ashton, both of whom egged on their partners to “fucking push him already!”

     Calum felt kind of bad, just kind of, when Michael managed to shove Ostara into the water. She came up sputtering, slicking her hair back as beads of water rolled off her glistening, sun kissed skin, a massive smile on her face as she laughed.

     In that moment Calum knew he had to calm the fuck down, or he wouldn’t be able to get out of the pool. Calum’s heart was racing and Ostara stated “again!”

     Before Calum could object, she was scrambling onto her brothers shoulders to fight Michael once more.

     Calum tried not to look at her, tried not to notice the glistening water droplets adorning her body like jewels, jewels that he would buy her, jewels he would bathe her in if it meant he could even so much as hold her hand.

     Calum let Ostara push Michael into the water and when Michael surfaced a flurry of curses left his mouth as he shoved at Calum, “fuck off! You let her win you asshole!”

    They gave up after that, Ostara once more leaving the pool to continue tanning. Once Calum knew he had calmed down enough, he joined her, laying next to her on the large beach towel. He didn’t say anything, staring up at the cloudless sky, just enjoying the feeling of being close to her.

     A few minutes later Ashton sat between them and guilt panged through Calum’s chest.

     “Don’t you have another date soon?” Ashton asked.

     “Fuck what time is it?” Ostara shut her book quickly.

     “Two thirty.”

     “Fuck.” Ostara jumped up quickly and ran to the house, Calum frowned.

----

     Calum paced outside the restaurant.

     He’d taken one look at the outfit Ostara was wearing as she ran from the palace and he’d been blinded. The short, red silk dress had practically knocked him off of his feet, and he’d be damned if he let her slip through his fingers to whoever she had a date with that day.

     Calum knew he was about to be the biggest dick in the entire universe.

     He knew he was overstepping… probably.

     But as seemed to always be the case with Ostara, he couldn’t fucking help himself.

     Calum took a deep breath and entered the restaurant, stopping as the hostess immediately looked at him in shock, “I’m here to meet people, Ostara Irwin?”

     The girl nodded, “follow me.”

     The restaurant was high class and the hostess led Calum to a booth in the back where Ostara was sitting with a Prince that Calum recognized immediately.

    “Calum!” Harry grinned as Ostara said “Calum?!” in shock.

     Harry even stood up to give the younger prince a hug, “been a while mate, how’ve you been?”

     “Good.” Calum said, “You?”

     “Been great.” Harry smirked, sitting down, “you joining us?”

     “I’m sure he’s not-” Ostara began but Calum had already sat into the booth next to her.

     “Suppose you’re here to chaperone for Ashton? Knew that guy didn’t like me.” Harry chuckled.

     “He’s got high standards for his sister.” Calum stated.

     “I get that.” Harry nodded, “what’s your poison mate?”

     A waiter was waved over and Calum and Harry both ordered shots to lighten the mood, even though Calum knew that not even the light of god himself would persuade Calum to be even remotely inviting.

     After about ten minutes of Calum being cold, Ostara stated “Harry, I’m just going to talk to Calum for a second, need to call my brother and tell him not to be such an ass.”

     “Take your time pet, I don’t mind.” Harry said warmly, confidence oozing off of him.

     Ostara turned to look at Calum who stood up and let her lead him to the hall that led to the private bathrooms. “Okay, listen here-” Ostara began but Calum grabbed her hand and pulled her into one of the private bathrooms, not wanting anyone to witness the altercation.

     He locked the door behind them and finally turned to the fuming blonde, “you can’t just crash my dates! You are not my big brother and you’re sure as fuck not my boyfriend either.”

     “Let’s change that.” Calum stated.

     “What?!” she looked taken aback for a moment.

     “I said,” he grabbed her face, looking into her eyes, “let’s change that.”

     She wanted to be angry. She did. But damn it if she didn’t understand where he was coming from.

     Her heart was racing as he looked into her eyes, waiting for a reaction, waiting for acceptance or rejection.

     Ostara’s fingers tangled in his dyed blonde hair, dragging his mouth down on hers.

     Their teeth clashed but neither cared, too enraptured in the intense passion that had surrounded their hearts, burning hot through their veins as they grabbed at each other, desperate for contact. Calum pivoted, shoving Ostara against the door as his hands pushed up at the red silk dress, fingers dancing over every new milimeter of exposed skin.

     His thigh pressed up between her legs and Ostara moaned into his mouth, setting Calum’s heart racing impossibly faster.

     His digits made contact with something lacey and he groaned into her mouth, beginning to drag down the flimsy material of her thong but Ostara grabbed at his wrist, tearing it away as she pushed at his chest.

     Calum removed himself, breathing heavily as he looked at her, taking in the red smeared lipstick that covered the area surrounding her mouth yet again.

     She was flushed, back pressed against the door, eyes slightly hooded as she stared at him, chest heaving, dress still shoved up to her waist. Calum snuck a glance down, satisfied that the lacy thong was black, but it just made him want to grab her again. She pulled down her dress, tearing her eyes from him as she looked at herself in the mirror. “Fuck.” she cussed, wiping furiously at her face.

     “Here, let me-” Calum stepped forward.

     “I’m on a date Calum.” Ostara stated, shoulders falling in defeat, “and you’re my brothers best friend-”

     Calum stopped moving, looking at Ostara.

     He watched her remove all the lipstick from her face, not saying another word as she left, shutting the bathroom door behind her to leave Calum to his thoughts.

     It was obvious to Harry as soon as Ostara returned that something had happened, after all, a girl doesn’t just spontaneously remove her pretty red lipstick that matched her dress perfectly.

     “So you and Cal huh?” Harry grinned.

     “Fuck I’m so sorry-”

     “No, it’s fine love, don’t worry about me, but I am a little surprised that you’re going on dates when you two are obviously-”

     “We’re not together.” Ostara stated.

     “Hmm.” Harry looked her over, “could have fooled me pet.”

     “He’s my brothers best friend-”

     “So he should be well suited, doubt your brothers gonna be mates with assholes.” Harry mused, leaning back in his seat as he studied the obviously conflicted girl in front of him, “and if he doesn’t like it then fuck him.”

     “It doesn’t work that way-”

     “You’re a princess, he’s a prince, this is the only way this sort of thing works love and we both know it.”

----

     “Okay, so do you live in this kitchen or what?!” Ostara practically screamed as her eyes landed on the familiar strong shoulders hunched over while Calum grabbed a beer from the fridge.

     “I was here first this time.” Calum stated, still looking in the fridge, “how was the rest of your date?”

     “I-” Ostara began but stopped when Ashton and Luke entered the room, “okay there are so many fucking rooms in this palace, why is everyone always in the goddamned kitchen?!”

     “What’s got your panties in a knot?” Luke said, moving away from Ashton who tried to shove him.

     Calum’s heart clenched and Ostara laughed at the irony that was lost on everyone but her and Calum. He had her panties in a knot. Or at least he had the hour before. “You know what, I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

     “Its like five.” Ashton stated.

     Ostara left the room, “I don’t care!”

----

     Before Ostara even opened her door she knew who it would be. She’d been expecting Calum to turn up, they obviously had unfinished business and Calum had been on edge all day.

     As the large door swung open to reveal Ostara standing there in a black, long sleeved, sleeping button up with with cartoon pumpkins on it, Calum hated himself for still thinking she was the prettiest girl in the entire world. It brushed her mid thigh and Calum couldn’t tell if she was wearing shorts underneath, his hands twitching as they itched to reach out and discover the answer.

     Ostara didn’t say anything, simply moved to the side to let him in and close the door.

     “We need to talk about Ashton.” Calum stated.

     “Do we though?” Ostara groaned.

     Calum looked her up and down, “you don’t want to talk about this?”

     “Close your eyes.”

     “Are you serious.”

     “Don’t you trust me?”

     Calum sighed, hearing his own words back at him, he realized how suave he had been that morning. Crossing his arms over his chest, Calum made a big show of closing his eyes.

     “I still think we should talk about this.” Calum said.

     He waited for an answer that never came.

     Instead, Ostara grabbed his hands, pulling slightly to make Cal give in and uncross the arms that had been protecting him from what was to come.

     Holding his hands at his sides delicately, Ostara swung them a little, looking up at the beautiful Prince whose eyes were still closed. He looked composed, the only thing betraying his inner anxieties was the rapid beat of his heart, the artery in his neck fluttering as he breathed in and out.

    Ostara studied his pretty throat for a moment, stepping closer to allow his smokey smell to wash over her. She was a lot shorter than him, and she could just reach his neck with her lips, so that’s what she did.

     She pressed a kiss to the skin just above his racing artery and Calum sucked in a breath, hands tensing in hers.

     “Eyes closed.” she breathed against his neck, causing a shiver to run through his body. He swallowed thickly, adam’s apple bobbing in the most endearing way. Ostara kissed his throat again, parting her lips to allow her tongue to taste his skin, again, his heart beat faster.

     Her teeth grazed the artery and Calum’s body jolted, hands tearing from Ostara’s so they could land on her ass, lifting her up before she could so much as scream in surprise. Her legs wrapped around Calum’s waist as she clung to his shoulders, about to object when his lips met hers and every word in her brain disappeared.

     His kisses were hungry and desperate, tongue immediately sliding over her bottom lip before his teeth came down to gnaw at it teasingly. Suddenly she was falling, landing on the plush fur duvet that covered her king sized bed. Calum was on top of her, grinding down against her panty covered core as one hand slipped up her thigh, once more greated with lacy material.

     He groaned into her mouth, excited to discover that she had, in fact, not been wearing shorts. For a brief moment he wondered if she’d planned this whole thing but he didn't dwell too long on the idea, too enraptured by the princess writhing underneath him.

     His hips rocked, creating friction and pressure that made them both moaning messes in each others hands. Calum’s lips moved to Ostara’s neck and her fingers tangled in his hair, urging him on as he found the spot that made her toes curl, legs wrapping tighter around his waist.

     Pushing himself up with one hand he looked at her shirt, admiring the fact that she was wearing a Halloween themed sleeping shirt in the summer. His fingers were almost shaking as he popped open the first button, then the second, then the third. With each newly exposed piece of skin it became more and more evident that she was first, not wearing a bra, and second, totally prepared for this. She was in control. This had been planned. Calum had fallen into her trap. And he didn’t mind one bit.

     Once every button was undone, he teased the stripe of bare skin with a finger, paying extra attention to the area between her breasts as she watched, heart thundering with patient anticipation.

     “Take this off for me princess.” he said, voice soft.

     Pushing herself up slightly, Ostara wasted no time wiggling from the shirt. She already had goosebumps from his touch and she shivered as the fabric fell from her shoulders, exposing her to him for the first time as she lay back down.

     One finger traced up from her belly button to her left breast, circling closer and closer until he brushed his knuckles over her nupple, “so pretty.” he mused as she pushed up towards his hand, eager for more.

     “Please Cal.” she begged, the neediness in her voice was the sexiest thing Calum had ever heard in his entire life.

     He kissed her mouth, then began his venture downwards, pressing soft kisses on her neck, then her collar bones. When his lips wrapped around her nipple, teeth teasing, his right hand fully massaged her other breast. Her fingers tangled in his hair as breathy moans rang through the room, Ostara’s back arching slightly in an effort to get him to do something, anything, more.

     Calum’s lips continued downwards as he slipped from the bed, getting onto his knees as he pulled her to the edge, fingers hooking in the panties that he gingerly slid down her legs. Once they were discarded on the floor, Calum placed Ostara’s thighs on his shoulders, hands going to her hips to hold her down as he briefly enjoyed the view.

     “Close your eyes.” he stated, “want you to feel all of this.”

     Ostara’s breathing was ragged as Calum took a teasing lick, her right leg jerking slightly on his shoulder which made Calum smirk, fully putting his mouth onto her. His tongue flicked at her clit before sucking gently, earning breathy moans that egged him to go harder.

     Her nails scratched against Calum’s scalp and he enjoyed the sensation, groaning a little, the vibrations made Ostara jolt again, her grip tightening in her hair. “Calum!” she whined loudly. As a reward for how pretty she sounded, Calum brought up a finger, sliding it inside of her easily and curling.

     Her body reacted immediately and Calum knew from her whimpers, and the small tremors with each harsh suck, that she was close. He chased her high, having always felt entitled to a woman's orgasm. He knew he was good with his mouth and Calum refused to feel bad about that.

     Adding another finger, he began to thrust his digits in and out even faster, curling each time to hit the spot that had Ostara’s back arching, hands pulling at Calum’s hair as the orgasm rippled through her body, lasting longer due to Calum’s continued motions as she whined and moaned, putty in his hands.

     When her back touched against the mattress again to signify the complete end of her high, Calum pulled away, sucking his fingers into his mouth as he stood and pulled off his shirt.

     Eyes closed, chest heaving, Ostara made Calum dizzy.

     Calum was about to reach for a condom when four small words were spoken that nearly shattered Calum’s very existence: “I’m on the pill.”

     ‘I’m going to marry this girl.’

     Calum pushed the thought away, kicking off his pants and boxers. Ostara’s legs opened for him, inviting the prince to get back on top of her as he pressed a kiss to her lips, “you alright?” he asked, her fingers immediately finding their place in his platinum hair again.

     “Uh huh.” she breathed, one hand snaking between the two of them to grab the base of his cock, lining it up with her, all that was left to be done was for Calum to close the distance.

     As he entered her they both moaned, lips attacking again with the same passion that always seemed to be present when they kissed.

     The muscles in Calum’s shoulders tensed as he remained still for a moment to be sure she was ready for him to move, Ostara’s fingers dancing along the broad expanse of skin.

     Her legs tightening around his waist was Calum’s cue to move as he pulled almost all the way out before snapping his hips forward again, entering fully. Her warmth cocooned him and he let out a throaty groan, “you’re so fucking tight.”

     “You’re just big.” Ostara breathed against his lips, eager for more kisses as the prince began a quick pace.

     Her nails dug into his scalp and shoulder, a reminder, on top of the sinful sounds leaving her lips, that he was making her feel good.

     That’s when Calum remembered that, like most Princesses, Ostara had been forced into rhythmic gymnastics at a young age. He grabbed onto her thigh, moving it up slowly in case she had lost some flexibility. He was delighted when her leg went all the way up and over his shoulder, allowing him a new angle that had him going impossibly deep. They moaned louder and Calum moved back a little, lips mourning her loss but eyes adoring the new view.

     His hand moved up on its own accord, sliding across her collarbones and up to her awaiting neck that she craned for him, welcoming him, giving him access.

     The ring clad fingers of his left hand wrapped around her throat, giving a testing squeeze that only further excited them both, Ostara letting out the most sinful, whiney noise yet.

     Calum’s stomach lurched and he knew that if she kept it up with those sounds, he would be cumming fast.

     In an effort to slow the process, Calum began to remove his grip but suddenly Ostara was grabbing his forearm with both hands, forcing Calum’s chokehold to remain on her throat as her eyes opened, staring at him, more moans left her lips and Calum could feel her fluttering around him.

     She was just as close as he was and it was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

     All he could do was stare at the beautiful girl as his thrusts quickened and his grip tightened, chasing both of their highs with the determination of a king.

     Cold rings bit into Ostara’s flesh and after a particularly deep thrust, another orgasm washed over her, taking Calum with it as they both moaned loudly, bodies awash with euphoria.

     After the last aftershocks, Calum removed his hand from her throat and took her leg from his shoulder, letting it fall onto the bed as he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back next to her. Ostara immediately snuggled into his side, hand over his beating heart.

     They stayed that way for a while, trying to catch their breaths.

     Calum finally sighed, “do you want me to go?”

     “You’re silly.” Ostara stated, voice breathy and happy. Her finger traced circles on Calum’s chest, “stay the night.”

-------

     She was warm. Skin soft and beautiful under his delicate touch as Calum explored the curve of her shoulder and arm, bring goosebumps to her skin from the contact and the soft caress of his breath on her bare back.

     There was a soft sigh of content and Calum smiled, “did I wake you?” he asked.

     “Yeah, but it’s okay.” came a delicate response as Ostara snuggled back against Calum.

     “Will you go to the ball with me next week?”

     “Of course.” he could practically hear her sleepy smile.

     “And I want to take you on a real date.” Calum stated.

     “Hmm?”

     “I want to do this right.”

     Another happy sigh, “okay.”

-----

     As soon as the limo door closed Calum looked at Ostara with wide eyes. They’d been papped leaving the restaurant and they both knew that this could be bad. Neither knew how Ashton would react when the pictures dropped, which they both knew they would.

     Calum’s hand went to Ostara’s thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze, “if he gets mad-”

     “We can pretend we’re just friends-” Ostara began.

     They both stopped.

     They both knew that neither were good enough actors to get around this.

     They’d known each other their whole lives.

     They’d been flirting a few weeks.

     They’d fucked and gone on an honest to god date.

     Hell, Calum had pretty much asked Ostara to be his girlfriend in a fit of jealousy. They both knew they were in deep, and because of this, neither of them were particularly scared of Ashton anymore which was odd.

     Ostara laced her fingers with Calum’s, “it’s going to be okay.”

     Calum felt it too. Somehow, they knew they could make it work.

     They both felt naive and stupid. They both knew they were being very narrow minded, but there was just something about the way that they fit that told them they belonged together.

     They’d arrived at the palace when their phones began dinging, signalling the likelihood that the pictures were somehow already posted.

     With a deep breath and a reassuring glance, the young couple entered the palace where they were almost immediately sabotaged by Ostara’s giggling older brother, “guys have you seen twitter?” he asked, “apparently people think you two are dating.”

     His gaze lifted from his phone and that’s when he noticed how close the two were standing. The smile left his face, “is… is there a PR contract you two haven’t told me about-”

     “Would it be that bad if we are dating?” Ostara asked.

     Ashton’s gaze hardened, turning to his friend, “you have got to be fucking kidding me-”

     “Ashton-” Ostara began, moving in front of her older brother who had taken a step towards them.

     But Calum spoke, “didn’t mean for it to happen-”

     “She’s my fucking sister!” Ashton bellowed, finally exploding.

     “And he’s your best friend!” Ostara screamed, matching her older brothers temper, “so you know he’ll treat me right!”

     Ashton stopped moving forward, considering for a moment what had just been said, “there’s a code.” he spat.

     “I never agreed to a code!” Ostara insisted.

     “It’s a bro code, you don’t need to agree-”

     “Well when it affects me, I most definitely should get a say you sexist-” Ostara began to fume.

     “What is going on?” came a new voice as Michael and Luke showed up, both looking worried as the Irwin’s squared off against each other.

     “Calum and I are going to the ball next week together, because we’re dating, and you’re going to accept it!” Ostara told Ashton.

     “I will not!” Ashton glared.

     Ostara let out a loud groan of exasperation, grabbing Calum’s hand, she turned and dragged the platinum prince out of the room.

     “Can’t believe Cal backstabbed you like that.” Luke breathed.

     “Hey, it’s not that bad-” Michael began.

     “That’s my fucking sister!” Ashton screamed.

     Michael sighed, “okay, it is a little bit bad.”

-----

     Calum and Ostara spent almost the entire week outside of the palace out on cute dates that were incessantly papped. Ashton tried to avoid the pictures at first but he felt himself getting softer as each day passed and new shots of his sister laughing and looking genuinely alight with happiness were uploaded.

     And fuck it, Calum looked happy too.

     Michael pointed out on day four that Calum and Ostara seemed to really like each other, and Ashton couldn’t argue with it, which annoyed him terribly.

     Michael and Luke were trying to support Ashton in his endeavour to remain upset, but it was obvious that everyone else supported the new, happy couple. Especially Ashton’s parents who had known Calum his whole life and were more than thrilled that he had began to date their daughter.

     Ashton knew that Michael was still hanging out with Cal, and the two drank beer by the pool late at night when they thought Ashton wouldn’t notice. He couldn’t find it in his heart to be mad about it, especially when he’d almost stumbled across them and heard Calum saying “she’s really special man, I can’t explain it.”

     Plus, Ashton preferred having Calum where he could see him as opposed to in Ostara’s room, which is where Calum was practically living since Ashton had made a fuss about kicking him out of one of the guest rooms the day he’d found out they were dating.

     He was getting used to the idea.

     He missed his best friend. 

     He missed his sister.

     The night of the ball arrived and Ashton was at the bar with Michael and Luke when the happy couple arrived. Entering the ballroom, the two walked hand in hand, looking at each other and giggling as if nothing else mattered in the whole world.

     Ashton was surprised when prince Harry approached the two of them, from what he could see it looked like he was congratulating them? Ashton had a weird hate on for Liam and that included his friends, Harry being one of them, so seeing the fact that Harry seemed to be excited and supportive made Ashton’s blood boil.

     Had he really stooped lower than the notorious British playboy?

     Ashton groaned. He was making the whole thing about him. He knew he was being selfish and he couldn’t shake the fact that Calum had broken the bro code, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t toyed the idea of chasing after Calum’s sister at one point in time…

     Ashton sighed. He was definitely in the wrong.

     He spent a solid half an hour watching his sister and her new boyfriend.

     The soft touches, the lingering stares, the never ending smiles and giggles… it was sickeningly sweet. Ashton loved it. He hated that he loved it.

     His sister did deserve to be happy and Ashton knew that. He just wished it was with someone else.

     Ashton looked for a good moment to approach but never found one. The ball ended and Calum and Ostara disappeared. Ashton knew he should wait until morning to find them, but the guilt was already eating at him, and soon he found himself outside of his sisters room.

     He knocked and waited.

     A minute later the door opened to reveal his sister in sweats and a hoodie that looked somewhat haphazard and Ashton couldn't help the fire that burned through him momentarily, eyes shifting past her to Calum who was pulling on a shirt.

     “I came to apologize, but I don’t know if I can do that anymore.” Ashton stated.

     “Calum go to the bathroom.” Ostara said.

     “What?”

     “You’re bruising my brothers ego, go away real quick.” Ostara explained.

     Calum sighed and trudged to the bathroom, out of sight. It helped a little, Ashton had to admit.

     “You know, maybe I shouldn’t give you my blessing.” Ashton stated.

     “No take backs.” Ostara insisted.

     Ashton sighed, “but why Calum?”

     “Why is he your best friend?” his sister countered, crossing her arms over her chest.

     “Hate it when you’re logical.” Ashton groaned, “fuck, fine, you two look good together. I should go talk to Cal-”

     “Talk to him in the morning.” Ostara said, stepping in front of her brother to block his way.

     Ashton narrowed his eyes at his sister, “you two disgust me.”

     “You’re the one who showed up here at like midnight-”

     “You’re the one who chose to date my best friend-”

     “Well you’re the one who made the stupid bro code-”

     “I didn’t ‘make the bro code’ you silly, and besides, you’re the one who made Cal break the bro code-”

     “Oh I ‘made’ him break it?” Ostara scoffed.

     Calum listened to the siblings bicker, smiling to himself as he waited for the sound of Ostara’s bedroom door to close. When it did, he peeked his head out of the bathroom to make sure Ashton was gone.

     “Thought he’d never leave.” Calum mused.

     “Are you questioning my ability to fight my brother?” Ostara asked, opening her arms for Calum whose hands settled on her waist.

     “I think I used to.” Calum admitted, “but not anymore.”

     Ostara grinned, “so I’ve proven myself?”

     “Uh huh.” Calum chuckled.

     “Good, because if I was a wimp we’d still be in big trouble.” Ostara pointed out.

     God, he adored her.

     Part of him always had, and he knew that now.

     He was exactly where he was supposed to be, and for the first time, Calum was prepared for whatever the future with Ostara might bring.

[idea-garden]

oneshot #7 - dirty bathroom fuck - pt.2 | @minseoks-personal-trashcan

pt. 1 | pt. 2

Baekhyun/OC

Sequel to a request from @minseoks-personal-trashcan​

Written by @idea-garden​

This has been requested since I posted the first part, and we all know that was forever ago...

SMUT / 18+ / car sex / angry sex? / public sex / oral / orgasm denial / dirty talk / d/s / bdsm

3,800 words

SooRi left for a six-month internship. SooRi will never leave Baekhyun again...

If you like this like it, reblog it, and follow me!

This is trash.

ALL PROMPTS | SMUT PROMPTS | RULES | ASK | MY WRITING

SooRi stood outside her apartment door waiting for her rideshare to pick her up. The cool autumn breeze had picked up some and it made her shiver slightly in her nude bodycon dress. Finally, her ride came, the car’s lights cutting the dark sky. Collecting herself in the car, she gave the address, then sat back to observe the scenes outside the window. Everything she passed by looked so foreign and so familiar at the same time. Each place holding a different memory, giving her both nostalgia and nausea.

After a slow cruise, she reached her destination. It was her favorite restaurant. Ugh. She missed this place. She turned her eyes up at the bright place, took a breath, and slapped a few crumpled bills in her driver’s hand.

SooRi couldn’t believe it’d only been six months since she was last home. It felt good to be back. Of course, there was no place like home.

The fine dining establishment was set for dinner. Its floor-to-ceiling windows giving a beautiful view of the harbor. The decor was set in warm lighting. Cream carpet, cream chairs, off-white tablecloths, and various shades of gardenias were just a few aesthetic notes she observed.

This place was fancy. Too fancy. But, since she wasn’t buying, she had no issue eating there.

--

SooRi stood at the front of the restaurant, only waiting for a brief second before a hostess in a cute cocktail dress appeared before her. They exchanged brief smiles, as the hostess asked for a name. The restaurant was so exclusive that you could only eat there by reservation only. Apparently, according to her friend, you had to book at least six weeks in advance. SooRi appreciated the gesture. She was never one to want a big fuss to be made over her, but she had to admit it felt pretty great to be in the middle of the fanfare.

She stood for a second as the hostess scanned the seating chart, then guided her to a semi-private table set for six. Menus and neatly folded napkins were sitting on white plates that covered gold chargers. The hostess pulled out her chair and wished her a pleasant dining experience.

She was the first one to arrive to her own welcome back dinner. Typical--considering her immediate friend group. Jessi and Junmyeon were either doting on each other or having car sex in the parking lot. SooRi was convinced that Jongin and Chanyeol didn’t even know how to tell time. And Baekhyun… well he didn’t give a shit about anyone’s time except his own.

SooRi pulled out her phone, shooting a text to Jessi and noting the time. She was a little early, so she wasn't too irked. A response returned within two minutes. Her friend was on her way there--delayed traffic. SooRi told her it was no problem. She had the aching suspicion she and Junmyeon were definitely fucking in the car. However, SooRi knew her friend would never intentionally keep her waiting.

After about ten minutes, she saw Jessi and Junmyeon in lockstep carrying balloons and what looked like a neatly wrapped gift. Jessi passed her things to her boyfriend and enveloped SooRi in a tight hug.

"I missed you so much! I'm so glad you're back!" The pair teetered side to side as the hug continued.

SooRi had to chuckle, they talked every single day of her absence. There was a good chance Jessi knew more about her day than she did, but nonetheless it felt great to see familiar faces again.

"I'm glad to be back! It's good to be back with friends again."

Just as the words left her lips, Jongin walked up with Chanyeol in tow.

"There are my boys," SooRi pulled them in one after the other.

She noticed them dropping off little gift bags where Junmyeon had been previously.

"Have a seat guys! I guess we can get started," SooRi urged them to get comfortable.

She looked around the table with a smile, until her eyes rested on the empty seat.

SooRi knew she shouldn't have expected much from him, but she still wanted to see him.

"Where's Baek?"

"He just messaged me. He's on his way. He wanted us to start without him." Junmyeon reassured her.

He was probably still upset with her. She knew he had every right to be, but being on the receiving end of a cold shoulder was never pleasant.

--

The group eventually ordered their beverages and a palate cleanser. Meanwhile, Baekhyun sat in his car, deliberating whether or not he was ready to see her.

His thumbs twisted around the key fob as he was deep in thought.

She left him. She left him without a word. He didn't owe her anything, and she didn't owe him anything, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss her.

"Fuck it. I'm here now." Baekhyun slammed his car door on the way out, pissed he missed her as much as he did.

He spent no time waiting for the hostess to lead him to the table. He walked through with a confident stride. Dressed in fitted black jeans and a navy button down. The shirt, top two buttons open, gave a sinful hint of the body underneath.

In true Baekhyun fashion, he greeted the table with an off-handed comment before plopping down in the only empty seat.

Of course, it was the seat in front of her.

SooRi's mouth nearly went dry when she saw him. She hadn't seen him in six full months. Sure, she'd been stalking his Instagram, but nothing compared to the real thing.

Involuntarily, she clutched her dainty, gold necklace, rubbing it--most likely praying for the strength to make it through this dinner without crawling across the table to get on top of him.

He gave a smirk and reached across to her wine glass, taking a sip from it, daring her to react to him. He was truly a piece of work.

‘Lord, give me strength,' she mused as a strong breath filtered through her nose.

--

Drinks were scattered around the table and appetizers were spread and half-eaten.

“So, did you meet any cute guys during your internship?” Jessi snickered.

“Yeah, SooRi. Did you fuck them until they wanted to stick around, then hop on the next flight out of there?” Baekhyun grit his teeth under an annoyed stare in her direction.

“Baek, chill out!” Jongin rested a hand on his shoulder, while Baekhyun took a sip of his alcoholic beverage.

He was going to need to get drunk to make it through this damn thing.

“No, I didn’t have to do that. It turns out that most men are mature. They are upfront about what they want and don’t play games, then pout when they don’t get their way.”

“Now that I think about it, having you stay with a man is punishment enough. Perhaps, you’re doing us all a favor when you run away.” Baekhyun slammed his glass down to punctuate his malcontent.

“I think this is a good time for dessert.” Chanyeol piped up.

“God Chanyeol. We haven’t even had our entrees.” Junmyeon murmured under his breath.

“Well, it’s a better suggestion than watching a fucking cage match at our table!”

No one could argue with that.

“Let’s all cut Baekhyun a break. It’s difficult for us to see things from his perspective, because none of us can get our heads that far up our own asses.” SooRi winked at him and Baekhyun rolled his eyes damn near out of his skull.

“You just don’t know how much I’ve missed you, SooRi, “Jessi smirked at her boyfriend before the rest of the group had a hearty laugh at poor Baekhyun’s expense.

--

Before long, the main meals had come and gone. Now, the group sat around trading stories to catch each other up on the happenings of their life over dessert.

"I'm so glad to be back. I just want to settle into my old routine again."

Baekhyun scoffed, partly in disbelief.

"Which part of your routine? The part where you beg me to fuck you in every position known to man? Or the part where you act like you aren't interested in us being 'us'?"

Eyebrows shot up around the table. This was news.

SooRi cast her head down. This was one of the few times in her life she wasn't feeling too combative. Normally, she would've ripped Baekhyun a new asshole, or exsanguinated him with words sharper than knives, but not tonight.

"What's the matter, SooRi? You still haven't told them about us keeping up fuck buddy-status since Jongin's party?"

That cheeky bastard beamed at the chance to put her in her place in front of everyone.

"You know, just because your parents never gave you hugs as a kid, doesn't excuse you from being a complete ass." SooRi didn't want him to think she cared about anything he had to say, but enough was enough.

She took a deep breath, then sighed. "I'm sorry guys. I don't think I can stay here any longer." SooRi stood, reaching for her purse and phone.

"Don't leave your welcome back party! We'll kick Baekhyun's sorry ass out of here," Chanyeol snickered and stuck his tongue out.

"You're the best, Yeol. It's getting late anyway, and we've had such a nice time. I'd hate to ruin the night with an attempted murder charge."

--

SooRi hugged her friends one last time, before she departed. Her heels clicked with a soft echo in the concrete parking lot. She tapped her foot out front, waiting for her rideshare.

A strong hand gripped her waist without warning.

"You've got a lot nerve, walking out on me like that."

"I don't know if you were at the same dinner that I was, but you were the one acting all butt-hurt."

"When the going gets tough, SooRi gets going." Baekhyun shrugged, "If you want to get home you might as well let me take you. I canceled your ride. You're still on my account, remember?"

SooRi glared at him, fighting her instinct to curse him out.

"You'd have better luck asking Carmen Sandiego where in the world you lost your damn mind!"

"Get in the fucking car, SooRi. Let me take you home."

--

The tension was palpable as they rode in silence. Baekhyun cut his eyes over her frame. She looked amazing, as always. Since he'd had her, there was no one else he wanted.

"It killed me when you left." He spoke never looking in her direction.

"W-What?" SooRi tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"You just left me. I thought that we were, kind of, building something. Then, I find out through Instagram that you're on your way to New York for an internship."

"You always knew I had to go...," SooRi trailed off in a whisper.

Baekhyun's fingers tightened around the steering wheel, knuckles white and fully-flexed.

"That is not the point, dammit! You can't make people fall for you, then just leave them high and dry!"

SooRi's eyes widened, mouth partly agape, a series of questions ready to flow from her brain to her lips.

"Baekhyun-- W-Where are you going?!" She watched as he peeled off the path to her home and down some dark street.

Both of their bodies lurched forward as he came to a stop in the desolate alleyway. Putting the car in park, he turned to SooRi with a dark glint in his eyes.

"I wish I could get you out of my mind. I wish I could hate you."

--

Baekhyun pressed his lips against SooRi's, gently at first, gradually his force increased. She weakly tried to push him off, but she missed the feeling. His tone arm pulled her closer to him, SooRi's side digging into the center console.

"Ouch! Not so rough!" SooRi shifted uncomfortably around the console and his unrelenting grip.

"I think that's the least of your problems tonight, SooRi-ah. Someone needs to teach you some manners. It's not polite to leave your boyfriend without so much as a word."

"Boyfriend? Really, Baek?"

His hands grabbed her hips as best they could. "Ah, ah, ah! Tonight, I think you should address me as 'Sir,' don't you think? I am teaching you a very important lesson. Now, crawl into my lap, baby girl."

Against her better judgement, she shifted over his lap, "I bet you've missed this, huh?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Baekhyun."

He took no time to swat her ass quickly a few times. "What did I tell you to address me as?"

"...Sir...," SooRi looked off to the side. She'd be damned if she was going to make eye contact. Besides, she already knew he had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Good girl. Lift up your dress."

Baekhyun watched as she wriggled around to lift her dress around her waist. He eyed the microscopic piece of fabric that was her lacy, white thong. His tongue slithered out from between his lips, eager to have and taste her.

She gnawed on her bottom lip in anticipation. She could feel his fingers ghosting over her entrance, before a cool gust of air hit her skin. He clenched his teeth, snapping the panties at the waistband.

SooRi glowered down at him, but stifled a moan when he shoved the underwear in his pocket.

"Looks like someone missed me, too," he dipped two fingers inside SooRi, while his thumb massaged her clit. "How thoughtful of you to keep it nice and wet for me."

She released a hoarse, needy groan at his delicate touch. He always knew which button to press to keep her reeling.

"Feel good, sweet girl?"

She nodded erratically, bucking her hips up to meet his fingers. "Uh huh. Y-Yes, Sir."

His digits quickened as they curled to tease her g-spot. Baekhyun was quite amused watching her face contort in a mixture of pleasure and discomfort. Her shallow moans broke up the silence between her delicious wet sounds and the leather squeaking against their active bodies.

Baekhyun slapped SooRi's inner thighs when her hip rolling became too eager. "There is so much more fun to have, baby."

"I'm close, Sir." Her nails dug into his shoulders, body twisting as her orgasm neared.

Her whimpers were the sweetest music to his ears. He could feel her warmth pulsing around his fingers.

As she found herself teetering dangerously on the edge, Baekhyun withdrew his fingers, opting to taste her.

She whined, watching him savor her unique flavor, "Put them back, please...Sir. I want to cum on your fingers."

"This wouldn't be much of a lesson, without some form of punishment."

Wiping his wet fingers on SooRi’s inner thighs, Baekhyun gripped her face in a deep kiss. Their tongues danced around in desperation for one another. Mouths still connected, he tugged at the thin straps of her dress, all too impatient for it to come off.

SooRi wriggled out of the top half of the dress, rolling it to the middle of her stomach where the rest of the dress was. Baekhyun’s tongue dragged a fiery trail down her neck to her uncovered breasts.

His tongue flicked at her nipples, before he alternated with a light suctioning pressure. He pulled the soft skin through his teeth, gently biting her and leaving her chest covered in maroon bruises.

SooRi tangled her fingers in his hair, head dropped back and body still tense with the desire to cum.

“Unzip my pants,” Baekhyun smirked at her attempts to grind against him for any kind of sensation.

She didn’t have to be told twice.

In a matter of seconds, Baekhyun’s dick was stiffening in SooRi’s manicured hand.

“Go ahead, princess. Ride me.”

She lined him up with her entrance and sank down with a satisfying sigh. He filled her up so nicely. She fit around him like a glove.

SooRi wrapped her arms around the driver’s headrest, slapping her hips up and down wildly. Baekhyun broke up the monotonous sound with a few sharp ass slaps.

Kneading the tender flesh, he grunted, “Damn, I’ve missed this ass.”

SooRi leaned back to roll her hips, narrowly missing the horn. Her knees dug into the soft leather around Baekhyun, frustrated by the lack of space. His hands ran up the sides of her waist and settled on her bruised tits.

Palming them roughly, she mewled as he rolled her nipples between his fingers. She hissed watching him pinch and tweak the hard nubs.

He pulled on her nipples as if they were the reins of a horse--tugging them mercilessly enjoying her whinnies for release. When he felt he'd done enough, he closed a broad hand around her throat.

"I'm about to--," she was barely able to breath out.

They were both well aware of the fact that whenever his hands clasped around her throat, she would be drenched. It was like she was straddling Niagara Falls.

"Not yet," Baekhyun swiftly opened his door and scooped her off of his length.

--

She wobbled to find her footing as she stood right outside the car--totally exposed.

"Baekhyun, what the fuck?!" She tried to shield her nude form and scurry to the passenger's seat, only for Baekhyun to stop her in her tracks.

"That's 'Sir,' to you. But, since you want to be a mouthy little slut, I'll give you something productive to do with your mouth."

Baekhyun eyes gleamed darkly as he stared her down. He towered over her to drop his jeans more comfortably, before resuming his seated position.

"Let's see those pretty lips on my dick, hmm?" Baekhyun blew a kiss in her direction, meanwhile SooRi returned the evil eye.

If she felt that her knees were in an uncomfortable position in the car, the cold asphalt was certainly no improvement.

SooRi kneeled and looked up to him, teeth gritting as she gripped him at the base of his cock. Her hands glided up and down his glistening shaft, pumping him faster and faster.

She swiped his tip quickly, cleaning a clear drop of precum. Her tongue drug a sloppy trail up from his balls to the tip, before swirling around the head.

SooRi shivered at the cool, night air, smirking at the thought of being so naughty. The lonely, flickering street light cast a shadow over the pair. The sounds and faint lights of cars moving on the highway made them very aware of their daring deed.

Baekhyun sucked in a jagged breath as her warm mouth worked its magic. He stroked her curly hair with great care, easing her down on his needy, aching member.

His voice strained as she expertly handled his girth. She always knew exactly what he needed in exactly the right moment. It wasn't long before he had her lips motioning at the base of his member.

"Fuck, baby...," he eked out with a clenched jaw.

After a few muffled gags, SooRi bobbed up for much-needed air. She lapped at the new precum leaking from his head. She eyed him with sliver of rebellion, as her hands pumped him faster and faster. One hand massaged his balls, while she tongued his tip.

"Is it good, Sir?" She'd picked up his signature smirk with no practice.

Baekhyun lifted SooRi from his length by her chin, "Ah, ah, ah. I want to pump that pretty pussy full of cum."

Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she stood in front of him, lips glistening in the brief flashes of light.

"You think if I put a baby in that tight little stomach, you'll have a reason to stay with me?" He whispered roughly in her ear.

She nearly lost her breath at the new side he was revealing.

He stood up, leading her to the hood of the car with one hand and holding his pants to help his waddle with the other.

When he found a comfortable spot, he cupped his hands under her ass, lifting her on the hood of his sedan.

She landed with a soft thud, tensing at the cold metal beneath her.

"Spread those legs, baby," he took a few seconds to kiss her inner thighs and pass his tongue over her slick opening.

Baekhyun lined his shaft up to her entrance, rubbing her clit with his thumb and parting her wetness with his tip.

"Mmmmm, don't tease," SooRi panted, hips moving at the slightest sensation.

Her body was on fire and no amount of air could cool her down. She needed release and wouldn't be denied. Not this time, anyway.

He pecked her lips, pulling her bottom lip through his teeth, just the way she liked it. Within a moment, he shoved hard and pushed his entire length into her in one thrust, holding her hips to pull her against him.

"You. Never. Fucking. Leave. Me. Again. Got it?!" He blew through his teeth, each thrust more powerful than the last.

It was her turn to grunt, grit, and moan, feeling his length tunnel into her. His thickness stretched her more than she remembered. She dug her hands into the hood of the car, frustrated that there was nothing to grab and hold onto for dear life. SooRi felt like she was losing her grip--not only on Baekhyun’s car, but reality--as he started moving, drawing back, and thrusting his length into her again and again.

"Oh, fuck! Keep fucking me like this, Sir! I'll never leave you again, Baekhyun!"

His mouth dried before a broad grin covered his features, "Learned your lesson so soon?"

SooRi could barely respond when her eyes shut tightly, riding the wave of pleasure flowing through her body. An onlooker would have described her as possessed, the way she writhed, convulsed, and shuddered. She rocked back and forth, still sliding on his dick, moaning unintelligible, incoherent strings of words.

The rocking BMW didn't have much of a chance to still as Baekhyun tipped over the edge. He felt his balls contract up towards his body, anticipating the muscle contractions start that would send him cumming inside her, and he grabbed her hips with both hands again to pull her back into him.

The spasms lasted for what seemed like forever in those moments of release. He bucked into her erratically as his ejaculation subsided, slowly coming down from the high.

--

Baekhyun rested inside her for a few minutes, before slipping out, gradually softening while SooRi adjusted her dress.

He pulled his pants up and hopped back in the driver's seat, waiting for SooRi.

When she closed the door behind her, they buckled up and peeled out of the alleyway.

"Maybe, I should leave more often?" SooRi winked as they headed to her place.

"Maybe, you need another lesson?" Baekhyun gripped her thigh, as he sped off into the distance.

Idea Garden is a writing prompts blog. We focus mainly on smut prompts, however, our prompts do span genres.

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[hcneymilkks]

NCT Jaemin ‘BitterSweet’

A barista au in which Na Jaemin is most famous for his daily dose of coffee, alongside a girl whose taste buds are the opposite.

Pairing: Jaemin × OC

Content warning: none....maybe don’t die from all the cuteness

It had been a long day at the cafe. Jaemin, who was busy wiping tables for the third time sighed and ruffled his hair. When he agreed to take Jeno's shift, it was to get him away from his apartment that he spent the whole last week in studying. But yet, it felt as if time moved slower, the jazz music playing was not helping him stay awake. He put down the damp cloth in the back and prepared to make what was his second cup of his famous coffee in the past two hours. Venti iced americano No water With extra four shots of espresso The espresso machine whirred as it turned on, the smell of rich coffee beans wafting around jaemin enclosing him in a comforting hug. He liked the cafe as it was the best place to study, but after a week of no fun, it was the last place he wanted to be in. He poured his expressos in the plastic cup filled with ice, took a sip and smiled. He wouldn't change his favourite drink for the world. He took more sips as the jingle of the bell sounded in his ears. The sign of a customer. "Hi, welcome to NEO cafe-nevermind." He mumbled the last bit as he noticed the person was just using the washroom and left without a word. He sighed and took another sip, the coolness slipping down his throat. "You look bored." Someone said and Jaemin snapped out of his daydream of wanting to leave. He stood face to face with Taeyong, another employee dressed in regular clothes. Usually not working evenings, it was weird at first to Jaemin why was he the only one to work. But as five o'clock passed, he realized why. Most of the human population in the neighbourhood had gone home from a long day at work, not needing another cup of coffee to keep them awake. Jaemin rolled his eyes playfully, pouting as he took another sip, the drink halfway done. "No duh Taeyong. Everyone has gone home an hour ago while I started my day just then." Taeyong chuckled. "You'll live. Now can you make me a coffee? I need to cram my project in." Sugar was what she wanted, sugar is what she will get. It was now five-thirty in the afternoon, the sky turning pretty shades of pink and orange. It made Heyeon at ease as she breathed in the cool air. Book bag on her shoulder, she sent a quick text to her friend Eun Cha, telling her that she is inside the cafe as she opens the door. "Hello, welcome to NEO Cafe." The boy smiles at Heyeon and Heyeon swore she felt her heart swell. "Hi." She says softly and goes to sit down, taking out her laptop and her notes from her economic class, tying her hair up into a classic ponytail and got to work. Jaemin didn't care if the girl who just came in didn't order a drink. He didn't care if the cafe policy stated that in order to stay, you must buy a drink or a treat. Jaemin didn't care, his evening was more eventful. Heyeon tapped her pen on her notes, her habit of biting her lip was showing. Eun Cha had texted back that she couldn't come no more so Heyeon was left alone in learning the content. She looked around and saw that there were no more people around her and it was dark outside. She felt her heart drop. Just what time is it? The soothing sound of jazz was still playing, but the loud grumbling of Heyeon's stomach made her blush, thanking no one heard it. "You hungry?" Or so she thought. Heyeon stayed quiet, trying to divert her attention to her homework, sighing loudly when she couldn't take it no more. The boy chuckled and walked to her. "Having a hard time?" She nodded. "Economics is giving me a headache." He peered down at her work. "Wait we had homework?" She looked up at him. "What do you mean we?" "I'm in the same class. The one on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon right?" The one moment Heyeon made a classmate other than Eun Cha, the person just had to be a guy.....a cute one at that. "I'm Jaemin." He smiles. "Heyeon." He takes a seat and peers at her homework once more. "Which question do you need help on?" Heyeon points to the question and Jaemin reads it. "This is too much to read without getting a snack and a treat. Want anything? My treat." Jaemin starts to stand. "Oh no no I dont need-" the growling of Heyeon's stomach said the opposite of what she was going to say. "You need food and a drink, come with me." It was past nine in the evening. Jaemin flipped the sign from open to closed and locked the door. Heyeon texted Eun Cha to cover for her if her parents ask where she is, for they would never approve of her staying at a closed cafe, not much less with a boy. But to Heyeon, it was a way to get her grade up. "Here put this on and come into the back." Jaemin threw Heyeon an apron and quickly cleaned the counter. Heyeon followed. "What are we doing?" "I'm teaching you how to make coffee...the fancy one. Now do you want hot or cold?" "Cold." "Size?" "Uhh the largest one?" Jaemin chucked. "No no. You must use the fancy terms. Do you want a tallande, regularchino, or a granderista?" Heyeon laughed. "What the heck is that?" Jaemin shrugged and took the large cold cup, filling it with ice."I saw a video on Instagram of how fancy coffee shops are. I will say it's true, seeing how I went to other coffee shops and tried to order my famous drink but they kept asking me so many questions so I got a regular latte." "Milk?" "Two percent milk please. So what's your famous drink?" Jaemin pulled out the milk from the cooler and poured it in the cup. "I'll show you when I finish making yours." Before he gets to place the milk back in the cooler, Heyeon stops him. "Can I get more milk in there?" Jaemin looks at her dumbfounded. Did he just hear more milk? "Uh I guess. Here, I'll give you the milk so you can put how much you want." She nods and takes the milk, filling the cup three quarters full. Jaemin coughs awkwardly. "Moving on, do you want any flavorings?" Heyeon thinks for a moment. "Caramel" she says. "But oh, how many pumps do you put in per size?" "Three for tallande, four for regularchino, and five for a granderista." He playfully smiles and she rolls her eyes, putting in five pumps of caramel. "Now, we have the coffee in this container because you got ice coffee so just pull the lever down, fill it up, mix it and then you're done." Jaemin says and Heyeon nods in understanding, doing what he says. It doesn't take long for the drink to fill up fast, and Jaemin realizes it's from all of the milk. How can one even taste the coffee, he thinks but doesnt express his thoughts. Heyeon meanwhile saw his face the whole entire time and snickered softly, thankful for the ice coffee container not facing him. "Finished!" She exclaims and gets a straw, poking it through the hole. "Alright Mr. Jaemin, what's your famous drink." He looks at her cup, a pale beige colour. Totally different from his usual coffee. "I hope you can swallow it all down, seeing as how your drink looks." She looks confused. "Oh so you want me to taste it?" "If you don't mind sharing a straw." He winks. "Do you have cooties?" She pokes his side, earning a little laugh from him. "Nope!" "Then show me." Jaemin takes the large cup, filling it with the perfect amount of ice. Brewing four extra expresso shots, he pours it in his newly made americano, knowing he won't be able to sleep but oh well. Heyeon looks at the drink with wide eyes. Four extra expresso shots? Who is he? Jaemin sticks a straw in his drink before giving it to Heyeon to try. "Boy nuh uh. Not until I get food into my system. I can't die drinking that." He chuckles. Why hasn't he seen this girl before? Soon after getting food and sitting down, they go right back to work. It was ten thirty now, the moon visible from the lack of clouds. Both Jaemin and Heyeon had economic class at 9am but both didnt care. The economic homework was long done, food eaten and drinks halfway there. "Okay, but how come I haven't seen you around before?" Jaemin asks. "I dont know honestly." She sips her drink. "Next question, what is up with your drink?" Jaemin eyes her drink and she laughs. "If I try yours then you try mine?"she suggests. For a split second, Jaemin hesitates, he doesn't know this girl, but for the most part it feels like he's known her forever. "Deal." They both quickly exchange drinks, and on the count of three they take long sips. "Oh my God." Was all Heyeon said, before quickly switching her drink with Jaemin. "Its so bitter." Jaemin was frozen, what the heck was that? All he tasted was the milk. "Heyeon, next time put more coffee in there." He comments. Heyeon shakes her head. "Coffee is too bitter for me, I can't drink a lot unless I add a lot of sugar and a lot of milk. I have a huge sweet tooth I guess you can say." Jaemin looks at her. They were total opposites. "Huh." "But jaemin let's talk about your drink, what the hell was that? It's so bitter." Jaemin smiles. "Its how I like it. I actually used to drink it 6 times a day, but because all of friends think I'm gonna die soon from so much caffeine, I limited it to four times a day." "That is still so much caffeine, how did you even survive?" He shrugs. Heyeon then says goodbye after Jaemin dropped her off, both promising to sit beside each other in economics for the rest of the semester. ____ She comes back in the next day, with her now famous drink in front of her and a number. 'Don't die from too much sugar now ×××-×××-×××× Jaemin' She smiles, knowing just what to nickname him. Bitter Jaemin. He knows what to nickname her. Sweet Heyeon. When grabbing coffee together in the cafe, bittersweet is all they have to say. "Those two will be the death of me." Taeyong sighs while Johnny and Jaehyun laugh.

MASTERLIST

[bangtan-spells]

Yoongi Scenario: Cherry Blossom Girl.

Request: Artist oc and photographer yoongi(both are famous on instagram) in which oc liked on one of yoongis pic and yoongi started to stalk on oc's instagram then he just start spamming on oc's instagram post with likes because he thought it was very nice. Oc then dm yoongi and they started talking and stuff?

Genre: Fluff.

-Who is that?-

Yoongi felt his heart stopping and he clutched the phone to his chest glaring at the individual that had just interrupted him in his everyday ritual, to not say stalking session.

-Oh the cherry blossom girl- Hoseok answered to himself which made Yoongi glare harder.

-Why do you ask then?- he barked relaxing his posture. His flatmate sat beside him with phone in hand as well. Yoongi resumed what he was doing, staring down at your recent instagram posts.

He had found your instagram a few months ago in someone’s likes or in recommendations, he couldn't be too sure. He usually didn’t follow pages like yours, a mix of classic dance photographs with the life style that job required, you were both a dancer and a model and he could agree in the undeniable artistry of your work, it wasn’t just the thing he’d browse on the internet. 

But as he had very randomly looked at a few pictures of yours he realized there was something that caught his eye. At first the cohesive way you displayed your photos, the high quality of your pictures. Then he started to realize it was your eyes that had caught him, bright and somehow flirty even if you didn’t look directly to the camera, in other pictures it was your smile, full of that something that just made people turn their heads to stare at.  Your instagram id was DanceNBloom, not so much about cherry blossoms, but as you had several photos with or of cherry blossoms trees Yoongi had that secret nickname for you, and of course his little shit of a flatmate knew. Just yesterday you had posted a picture of you drinking coffee on a cup with cherry blossoms design, it had to mean something to you and that intrigued him as well as everything else.

He wasn’t a people photographer but he sometimes found himself wanting to photograph you, sometimes and more often than not he wondered who was your photographer.

-She is pretty cute- Hoseok continued making Yoongi turn to him to realize the little shit was also scrolling your instagram.

-What the fuck?- Yoongi smacked him and Hoseok laughed loudly.

-Calm down, I'm just checking out her posts-

-Don't-

Hoseok laughed again, somewhat amused of his friend outburst of jealousy, Yoongi was a cold person in general so seeing him like that wasn’t an everyday thing. -Easy, I'm not doing anything, but, I got to ask when will you?-

-When will I what?-

-Do something-

Yoongi sighed. He would be lying if he said he had not thought about getting to know you, but knowing himself he didn’t think how that could be possible. -Like what?-

Hoseok cleared his throat which made Yoongi roll his eyes, he was seriously taking advice over this?

-I'd say like a couple pictures of her, that way she knows you are interested in her, then you DM her-

-Bah- Yoongi sighed going to the balcony to light a cigarette. He decided to check out his own posts, his recent photograph was of an old door he had found in the outskirts of the city and it was receiving a lot of attention. He was recently a bit obsessed with doors which was both weird and cool at the same time. That’s when he realized you were there, in his activity. Yoongi almost dropped the cigarette and he saw your user name as you had given a like to his recent post.

It didn’t mean anything, thousands of people left likes on his photos, but Yoongi felt prouder about this one now. In some kind of rush he tapped the screen to go to your profile again, he felt a bit unsure but muttering a what the hell he tapped twice on a picture of you surrounded by flowers. He really liked that one as the shades of pink made perfect contrast with your black dress, you stared at the camera dreamily and Yoongi couldn’t help but think to capture that with his own len. He tapped on the next one as he scrolled down, to then give like to another in which the sun created a perfect shadow of your profile while you did a ballet posture. You had an eye for pictures, that was to not say he had his eye on you, a thing that was hard to deny when he came to realize he had just spammed you with likes.

-Shit- he cursed throwing the rest of the cigarette away to catch Hoseok staring at him. -What?-

-Are you ok?-

-Yeah- he lied, he felt like he had screwed up somehow.

-It will go well if you do it like I told you, just… don’t be creepy, no offense hyung but I know you can be a little bit creepy sometimes-

Yoongi scoffed not looking at Hoseok but the sight of the city before him, that warning came a little too late.

It was night, after a whole day of editing Yoongi laid down on his bed to find himself on instagram again, your instagram. He was thinking if he should really do this and if so what he could say, would you have something to talk about? did you want that? It was too frustrating thinking, but then you seemed to be into photography, that could be a start. Yoongi cursed and thought the words, just a greeting and then see how it went from there, it shouldn’t have to be a big deal, if you didn’t like it then to hell, he’d move on, it wasn’t a big deal.

Then he saw the new notifications and for a moment he thought he had sent the message without even realizing it. But no, it was your name written there, you had talked to him. You had actually DM him first.

DanceNBloom: Hey, you have a nice page too

Yoongi’s heart started to go faster and he recriminated at himself for it, why was he being so nervous over this? he felt like a freaking boy with a crush. Yoongi inhaled and stared at the message thinking what to answer, like the man he was.

MYGVision: Hey, you have nice taste

He stared at it, waiting. And then he panicked, maybe you thought he was referring to his own instagram when he was talking about your posts. -Shit- now you were going to think he was arrogant, which wasn't entirely a lie but still.

MYGVision I mean your pics, really nice

You bit your lip as you re read the conversation, or what you had sent so far. You had been a little nervous to actually talk to him but it was all going good. He thought it was nice, but just nice? 

You rolled in bed and thought about what to respond. He was such a professional and recognized photographer, what could you say to him? 

You had been following Yoongi’s page for quite some time, and in that time you had realized you weren’t just a fan of his fine work, but you actually found him hot. He almost never posted a photo of himself but he had some, you had scrolled down his whole instagram and then went on to his website to check out his work, and that face. Yoongi had a cool expression in the few photos of him you had seen, almost serious, he looked like the type who smiled only when he truly meant it and that made him seem twice attractive to you. So much you had actually talked to him.

-But he started it- you told yourself smiling at the thought of the shower of likes he had given you, almost lost in all the other notifications you received, but you had seen it.

DanceNBloom Thanks, I like your posts too, specially the work you do with shadows, kind of obsessed with them recently.

Yoongi chuckled reading, so you had recent obsessions just like him. He licked his lips and tipped his answer

MYGVision Shadows are quite interesting, not always easy to come accurate in photo, depending of the effect you want… But I see you have done several, they are good

You beamed at his answer, for some reason prouder of your posts, so much you went to check them out, like you wanted to see for yourself what he saw.

DanceNBloom Thanks, should I call you sunbae? lol

MYGVision Nah call me Yoongi, just Yoongi is ok

-Just Yoongi- you repeated out loud. This was going better than expected but now you didn’t know what to say. What were you doing talking to this guy like this? You wanted to keep talking but you felt shy all of the sudden. So after a bit of thought you sent him a smiley emoticon and waited, if he kept talking it meant he was interested, if not then you should just leave it.

Yoongi waited for your answer, he was growing frustrated and nervous seeing you didn’t say anything, and then you just sent an emoticon. What that meant? Shouldn’t you be saying if he could call you by your name? Or something else? With that he thought you didn’t want to keep talking. But Yoongi wasn’t good with that. -Shit-

He wasn’t the best at getting to know people but he believed he could put himself out there for a change. So he was going to do something and if you answered the same way he’d leave it.

MYGVision Should I call you hoobae?

You jumped out of the bed out of emotion and nerves when he answered, and then you wanted to face palm, you hadn't said your introduction or anything. That’s why you were single, you were subtle and smooth with your dance moves, not so much at flirting or talking to a guy.

DanceNBloom You don’t have to lol sorry I’m a bit awkward sometimes, call me Y/N, just Y/N ;)

Yoongi smiled, the relief he felt was bigger than expected.

MYGVision Alright, nice to meet you. I take you live here in Seoul

DanceNBloom I do, so do you, right?

MYGVision Right, Y/N, I want to keep talking to you, is it ok to ask for your number?

Yoongi bit his lip and left the phone aside feeling way too nervous for what it was. It wasn’t the first time he flirted with a girl or asked for a number but he was feeling quite like it. He was regretting his decision at sending you that too fast but then he saw your number on the screen followed by something that got him too giddy, he thanked heaven he was alone of Hoseok would pester him for his huge smile for weeks.

DanceNBloom Add me, now you can give me all those photographs tips.

Yoongi added you and this time talked to your whatsapp, feeling that giddiness too big in him, you were smiling to the camera in your profile picture, the cherry blossoms adorning the background, like enhancing your beauty. Or maybe Yoongi just found you too gorgeous and he was being cheesy as fuck.

MYGVision Giving my tips would require coffee, or a few drinks if you want the extended advice.

DanceNBloom I agree, couldn’t it be any other way

Yoongi counted himself a victory after reading that. He was going to meet you, the girl he was crushing so hard to the point of giddy smiles and nervous talk, his cherry blossom girl.