#its a little uneven in shade between the side of hair we started on n side of hair we ended at bc of yknow | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

agustdef · 4 years ago

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Pairing: Johnny Suh x Reader x Min Yoongi

Genre: Angst; Fluff; Friends to Lovers; Coworkers to Lovers

Word Count: 16.1K

Warning: Language; Past Infidelity (not by anyone in the pairing); Mild mention of not great mental health; Implied Smut at the end.

Rating: PG15

My Weird and Mildly Chaotic Banner Maker: @dee-ehn

My Lovely Dweeb Beta Reader: @guktro

A/N: This fic was crafted for the DramaVers collab hosted by the ever so lovely (never tell her I called her that) @namluve. My fic is based off the K-Drama/Web Drama, XX, which you can watch here if you feel so inclined. Would recommend. (Psst... it’s only 5 episodes all under an hour long.)

Summary: When you work your whole life to reach your dreams of owning a bar you hope that having that dream ripped from under you without notice isn’t a part of life’s plan. And you definitely don’t imagine that it comes with suddenly being business partners with your ex-best friend. But life doesn’t work in the way we want it. At the end of the day you try to focus on the things that make life better, until the two men in your life who hold your heart (something you didn’t think possible) meet and hit if off so well that you’re sure your life is moments from collapsing completely.

The entire time Hyuk spoke YN sat there feeling like she couldn’t process his words. She heard all of it and took it in, but she was stuck on what he’d said when she’d walked into their bar to do inventory on the one day they were closed. Hyuk wasn’t supposed to be there, so it shocked her to see him pacing about but then he blurted something out and she’d never had the chance to exit her shocked state.

“YN, did you hear me?” he asked.

She wasn’t completely pulled from the surreal feeling she experienced, but enough of her became present enough to look at him and nod. Of course, she wanted to retreat into thoughts that said it was all a dream when she saw the pity in his eyes.

“I really am sorry, YN. I had to sell it and I know I said I’d give you a heads up if I ever wanted or needed to give my share up, but it couldn’t be helped. It was the only way to get my father to give into appointing me a position on his board before he found someone else. But I found someone who's done well with other bars and she’s just trying to expand her portfolio, so I’m sure she’ll sell you her half when all is said and done,” Hyuk reassured.

None of his words helped her feel good about it though, if anything she felt worse after hearing him. It became more real as he explained things to her for the third time that night. Her dream of the bar being hers had been so close, she’d almost had all the money to buy him out and it all came crashing down.

To think her phone calendar had a day three months in the future as the day she’d succeed. For a moment all she could think about was deleting it, so instead of responding she pulled out her phone and did just that.

“What are you-” he started, until he noticed what she did.

“YN, I-”

Her standing abruptly was what cut him off the next time; plus startled him to the point where he almost slid from his bar stool. His klutzy actions usually brought her some joy no matter how brief, but nothing in her could muster up any positive emotions.

After she took a deep breath she stared at him with a neutral expression and spoke. “You can put everything I need to know in the office for me to check in the morning. Anything else can be sent to me via email. That includes the new co-owners contact information so that I can set up a meeting with them so we can discuss things. If I need something you didn’t give I will contact you. I hope everything works out just the way you want it, Hyuk. I’m leaving now, lock up behind yourself and mail me the keys.”

With that she turned on her heel and walked out of the door, she needed to put some distance between her and him. As well as her and the bar. Not even Hyuk calling out for her stopped her from leaving, nothing he had to say was something she needed to hear. At least not while her world crumbled before her eyes.

From there she went home. The process was a blur as she relied on muscle memory to get her on public transportation and then walk the rest of the way. By the time she came to she was inside and knocking on the door to her roommate’s bedroom.

“YN, I thought you wouldn’t be back until three,” Johnny said as he opened the door, voice laced with sleep.

However, his inquiry seemed to no longer matter as he took YN in. She’d stopped holding it all in and her body slouched, shaking slightly as the tears poured down her face. Every second or so she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out until the sob finally released itself.

Johnny had her in his arms instantly. Not a word was uttered as he used one hand to press her face close to his chest and the other to rub slow circles into her back. And even when she calmed enough to speak, he merely shushed her and pulled her into his room. She wasn’t allowed to say a word until she was dressed in one of his too big t-shirts and they were cuddled in his bed.

She appreciated it too, because even though she’d been ready to talk her mind needed time to collect itself before she blurted out nonsense.

“Hyuk sold his share of the bar to someone else. Needed to let it go for his dad to give him some position at his company or some shit,” she whispered.

She felt Johnny’s body stiffen as she finished and then felt him take several deep breaths as she felt his heart speed up. He wasn’t a person quick to anger, but in certain situations he just couldn’t stop how quickly it came to head. Especially when he was proven right in a way he wished he wasn’t.

Minutes ticked by as he did his deep breathing and YN expected him to blow up or point out how he’d warned her, but nothing came.

“No, I told you so?” she asked.

That got a laugh out of him, though it was bitter.

“You know I won’t. This isn’t like when you bust your ass trying to get down from a table while drunk. This is your dreams being tampered with by a prick who couldn’t even show his dad he was responsible by co-owning a successful bar, but still managed to get what he wanted at your expense.”

Displeasure coated his every word and though it should’ve made her sad to think of her former co-owner and his shitty behavior she couldn’t help but laugh. It was because as he spoke she remembered all the times Johnny had snubbed or called the man out on his bare minimum rich kid behavior to his face. Johnny had never liked him and it was always clear to everyone, so he never missed a chance to be petty.

Sadly, that amusement went as quick as it came.

YN sighed. “Well, it is what it is now. Can’t change what’s already done. At least he said they only want to own it temporarily to pad their portfolio or some shit.”

In an instant, Johnny pulled back and looked at her with wide eyes.

“So, there’s still a chance?”

Though the hope in his voice boosted hers, she couldn’t get herself to give in. So instead of being as enthusiastic, she nodded.

Johnny’s eyes narrowed at that. “I will allow your non-excitement to slide because you are in shock and hurt, but you’re not going to go back to thinking this is a pipe dream. You can and will get the bar all to yourself. And let’s not forget you’re close to saving enough to start your own elsewhere if it falls through. And before you say it, I know this is your dream place in your dream location, but remember you had another dream location before this.”

Naturally, her best friend didn’t even allow her to voice her negative thoughts, something she was grateful for in that moment. She’d had a rant about how she should give up and all kinds of downer nonsense ready to spill out before he’d called her on her bullshit.

Another sigh escaped her and she nodded before laying her head on his chest again.

“Are you opening today?” she asked.

“No. After the bridal party, who wanted to drink and make perfume all night, I needed a break. And because they went well over their time I got paid double so I could miss three days and still not feel the loss.”

“Then can we stay in bed all day?” she asked.

“Sure, we can order something and watch TV. But can we sleep first, you woke me up too early,” he whined.

It was noon.

YN shrugged. “Fine with me, but I need to go get a bon-”

Before she could finish that sentence a dark purple bonnet was shoved in her face and she barely grabbed it before a thought came to her.

“You did steal it!”

“No, you left it in here after you took down your braids that one day. I found it somewhere in my dirty laundry. I for one don’t need a bonnet and for two, after the time I borrowed your SPF lotion and you nearly murdered me I learned my lesson,” Johnny said.

“You almost made me go outside ashy. My skin was being uneven with its six shades of brown instead of one, I didn’t need it to be dry too.”

He rolled his eyes at that but adjusted them a little so he could press a kiss to her forehead and then got comfortable.

“Yes, yes I know. Now put it on and go to sleep,” he said.

Part of her wanted to say something more, but she simply slid the bonnet over her hair, which was twisted, and laid down.

As her eyes closed her brain drifted to the horror of her morning, but she fought it off and tried to focus on the positive. Johnny was right; she had options, which didn’t leave her at a complete loss no matter how things went and that was a good thing.

Plus, she had Johnny by her side, even if it wasn’t always in the way she wanted. That thought brought a twinge to her heart, but she cuddled closer and reminded herself that moments like that were enough.

“He just dropped it all on you at once? I knew he was a self-centered prick, but damn,” Yoongi commented.

YN had relayed what happened to her main bartender when they’d both come in to prep the bar before it opened. She planned to keep it from him until she met her new co-owner, but he saw through her the moment she walked in that afternoon. Fighting him was futile, something she learned within the first six months of him working there, so she just spilled everything as she wiped down the bar stools.

“Yup. No warning at all, just told me with everything done before I could object. Something about thinking just being straightforward would lessen the blow. Since I prefer bluntness and all that,” she mumbled.

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Yoongi pause as he wiped down the counter and turn to look at her fully.

“Does that dumbass still not know what the word blunt means? Because it’s sure as fuck not screw over your business partner and the only person who kept a business afloat while he cried to daddy about not getting the position he wanted because he’s a failure. Fucking weirdo,” Yoongi shouted.

Though it wasn't really funny YN couldn't help but throw her head back in laughter, pausing in her cleaning as it coursed through her. She couldn't even stop the tears that came along with it.

When she finally pulled it together Yoongi was cleaning again, but the smile he wore showed he was happy with his handy work. And YN was thankful for it. He always knew just what to say to make her laugh when she needed it, even if the joy only lasted for a few seconds. It was one of the things that drew her into him as they got to know each other. Past his introverted defense mechanisms was a sweet man who often just did his best to help wherever he could.

The only person keeping her sane most days.

“Well, yeah he is a dumbass I will finally and fully admit it. But, he was a dumbass keeping me from having to put off certain things to keep this place moving forward, so for a time he was worth something. Now he’s just a fucking headache fucking up my plans.”

Silence filled the room after that as they finished sanitizing everything and got the bar set up for patrons. They were ready an hour in advance, which wasn’t something they usually did with YN preferring it to be only thirty minutes before the last thing was finished, but she didn’t want them working as she met the new co-owner.

There was nothing in her that wanted to impress them, but she preferred all the things be in tip top shape and nothing left to worry over as she handled something so stressful. It shouldn't have felt like that, but meeting someone she didn’t know and didn’t choose in a bar they would both own wasn’t fun. Especially when she thought about other people who’d come in before wanting to be her business partner but wanted everything changed. Something that wouldn’t happen.

“You can take a break and go out if you want. I can meet them alone,” she said as she checked one of the mini fridges under the bar one last time.

She expected Yoongi to say he’d go grab coffee from his favorite place to give him that final boost to keep on his customer service voice all shift, but he shook his head no. He grabbed a bottle of water and sat down at one of the tables farther into the bar. It confused YN and she planned to say something, but then the sound of a door opening caught her attention.

They both turned their attention to the intruder and YN immediately felt like the wind was knocked out of her.

In the door of her bar stood Chae Hyungwon, her ex-best friend.

Thankfully, he appeared just as shocked as she was, though he tried his best to pull it together. His usual fake confident smirk made an appearance and his gaze shifted from her to the space around them. His head nodded every so often and soft sounds of approval slipped from his lips as he did.

YN knew it was him avoiding her gaze to prepare whatever non-caring act he planned to put on with her, but that didn’t ease her at all.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

After several seconds of blatantly ignoring her Hyungwon responded.

“Is that any way to speak to your new boss?” he asked.

Shock wasn’t the word that YN used to describe how hearing those words felt, mostly because it wasn’t what coursed through her. It was more like amusement at being some sort of joke to the universe. Amusement and immense sadness.

“Co-owner. You are my co-owner. And let’s not forget that I own most of it,” YN said.

Hyungwon’s eyes went wide. “You’re the co-owner?”

That was a small win for her.

“Ah, so Hyuk didn’t just decide to withhold information from me. At least he’s a consistent idiot,” she said.

There was a beat of silence before YN pulled herself together and decided that she would unleash her feelings later and handle her predicament in that moment.

“So, shall we sit and talk?” she asked.

Hyungwon stared at her for a moment before nodding. At that YN motioned towards a table she’d set up for them and went to sit down. She waited a moment for him to settle in before pushing a folder across the table. And though clearly confused he took it and flipped through the contents.

He scoffed. “What is this, a college orientation? Am I to read and sign all of these, then be punished if I fail to do them or disregard them?”

“Yes.”

That startled him, but YN didn’t give him time to recover.

“That contains all the information that you need to know about this business. How it is currently run, it’s vendors, it’s monthly costs, the excel sheets we use to track information so that we can make small changes here and there to stay on top of how to best run things. And as you saw on top, explains the rules that I’ve laid out for you as co-owner. They are the same for anyone who wants to take on that role and besides small adjustments have remained the same throughout my use of them. They are not fYNible. With a compelling argument I may be willing to bend something but the odds are virtually nonexistent. They must be understood and abided by and any of them that are major violations will be cause for termination of your co-ownership, without a mandatory buyout from me. Which is something that was in the contract that Hyuk gave you, so you’ve already agreed.”

“That’s not allowed. I saw it, but it didn’t go into-”

YN laughed. “You signed a contract without meeting with the other co-owner, the person who owns fifty-five percent of this bar. Thus, not allowing yourself the chance to get all the information. Which means you forfeit the right to suddenly demand a change on something you agreed to blindly. My rules are not outlandish, they are just specific and demand that you are serious or at the very least don’t get in my way.”

Laughter escaped Hyungwon, but it clearly held no humor. For a moment he looked prepared to argue or leave, but he simply reopened the folder and read over the first few sheets. Though there were a few sounds that were akin to disapproval that wasn’t what reflected on his face when he glanced up several minutes later. It was more so a look of mild amazement.

“This keeps anyone who buys in from doing anything slightly shady behind your back or straight up dumb without mutual decision. It’s ironclad, makes sense not to put it directly into the contract since you’re opposed to negotiating that part,” he said.

Part of her felt proud, though it was solely because she knew she’d done things well in that respect. But the other part of her was displeased that the pride appeared from hearing a form of praise from Hyungwon, even if it wasn’t directly from impressing him.

Naturally, he couldn’t leave it on a positive note though.

“Too bad you didn’t come up with one where it stopped him from fucking you over,” Hyungwon mumbled.

“Yeah, so sad, if only we could make those kinds of things for everyone we encounter. Though I guess something for me to hold people accountable for fucking me over wouldn’t be something you’d be personally interested in. Could be used against you,” YN said without missing a beat.

Hyungwon’s face went red after that and she could see a flurry of emotions playing out on his face but could pick up on none. Not that, that lessened her amusement at all. She’d gotten a reaction out of him and it was childish, but felt wonderful nonetheless.

“Is there anything else you need to show me?” Hyungwon finally asked after a minute.

YN nodded and stood from her seat.

“I can show you around the place and explain how things run. However, I ask that you hold all questions until you have absorbed all the information, I don’t mind if you use your phone or something to write things down as I talk. But if you think it’s important to know please stop me and ask.”

All she got was a nod before she led him around the space. She showed him the back rooms, including the office, and explained how things worked schedule wise with everything. Then she brought him back out front and pointed out things behind the bar to get him acquainted with how things worked. Then she led him through the space and showed him the balcony that gave the best access to their view of a skyline and water off in the distance. Once finished she brought him back inside and was about to wrap it up, but then he spoke.

“How many employees are there?” he asked.

“Including myself seven. With the way we currently operate, more aren’t needed, but there is still a chance we could hire a few more.”

Hyungwon nodded. “And I’m guessing he’s one.”

That was the first time YN glanced Yoongi’s way since Hyungwon appeared and she turned to see the male drinking his water and scrolling through his phone.

“Yes, Yoongi has been here almost a year now.”

At the sound of his name Yoongi looked up and while he didn’t seem particularly fond when he glanced Hyungwon’s way he did offer YN a smile, one she returned happily.

After that her attention moved back to Hyungwon who glanced between the two of them and looked prepared to say something but didn’t.

“Well, is there anything else you need or would like to see? We open pretty soon so we’re running low on time,” YN said.

Seconds ticked by as she watched Hyungwon stare at her but seem off in his own little world. It was something that was the norm for when he debated on what to say or do so it wasn’t surprising, but it made her uncomfortable.

“Hyungwon,” she called out.

He snapped out of it and cleared his throat. “No. I’m good. I’ll just sit off in one of the back corners for a while to watch how things go and then leave.”

A nod and then YN left him to do what he wanted. The two waitresses for the night arrived just then and everyone got their behinds into gear. Then minutes later their customers began filing in.

Though YN’s mind reeled from what happened she didn’t get the chance to linger on it, because work became the focus quickly. She enjoyed bartending so she did that alongside Yoongi and though the place wasn’t packed, people tended to order drinks rapidly. And since their bar had made its name for mixed and signature drinks it wasn’t just rounds of shots. They needed to mix drinks and do it right, half-assing it to get it out quickly wasn't something they did. Especially since part of the draw for some, besides the drinks, was watching them being made. They enjoyed some sort of show with it, though neither YN nor Yoongi went all out to impress, just did what they needed to with focus and a slight flourish.

So, by the time she caught her breath and wasn’t focusing on anything work related and glanced up to find Hyungwon she noticed his former spot taken up by someone else. He was nowhere she could see, so she assumed he left and felt herself sigh in relief. It didn’t clear the chaos she kept at bay in her mind, but helped it settle some.

However, she again didn’t get time to linger on it because they’d done the last call and an influx of orders came on. She and Yoongi worked to get them out and were thankful when people began to leave, some stumbling to the exit with the help of security.

From there everyone immediately began working on their sections to clean and an hour and a half later they were all on their way out the building. YN saw off her waitresses and security then prepared to say her goodbyes to Yoongi only for him to be giving her a look she saw when he’d offer to join her on the way home and she’d deny.

Which meant that fighting him on it would’ve been useless, so she just began walking towards the train station.

For several minutes they did so in silence and though YN seemed calm it was clear that she was fighting something off. Something she didn’t want to talk about or at least that’s what she told herself until Yoongi spoke up.

“You can scream if you want,” he said.

That made her pause and then laugh loudly. It brought on looks from the few people lingering about late at night, but she didn’t care at all. One would’ve thought she was laughing at the idea of screaming to release her feelings, but it was more so that screaming is what Johnny had her do when the incident happened years before. He got her drunk, took her to the top of a building and they screamed until she was a laughing mess on the ground. He’d had to carry her home after.

“I wish that was the fix for this. Hell, I wish I didn’t have such a strong reaction to him after all this time.”

Again, silence filled the space as they began walking away and neither of them spoke again until they were seated in a half-deserted train car. Yoongi took that as the perfect moment to bump her shoulder to get her attention and it worked.

“You could tell me about it. You don’t have to of course, but it could help the feelings a bit,” he offered.

At that YN sighed and her eyes closed. A lot of her screamed to let it die so she didn’t have to deal with the emotions again, but a smaller voice reminded her that the feelings would always be there and she probably only felt so intensely because she’d been forced to endure them in front of someone who didn’t know what happened. If it had been Johnny or her by herself she’d be better about it. And she had to remind herself she trusted Yoongi a whole lot, so telling him wasn’t the end of the world by any means.

Once she’d made peace with her choice her eyes opened and she turned so her back leaned against the small wall blocking her seat from the door. She knew that if she told him it had to be while looking at him.

“As you may know I have an ex that Johnny loathes with his entire being. I’m sure you remember that drunk rant that he gave the first month of you working there,” she paused to see his response and once he nodded she continued. “Well, I know he went on and on about planning to beat up all the people who’d ever hurt me, so there were a lot on that list. Anyway, he got to talking about an old friend before he ran to the bathroom to throw up. That friend was Hyungwon or my new co-owner, I don’t think I told you his name. But yeah, he was my best friend. Like that friend I made the moment I came to orientation and looked every bit of the confused foreigner I was. We clicked and he felt like the best friend I’d made in my entire life. Even helped me figure out how to work up the nerve to talk to my ex to ask him out.”

YN sighed and used her hand to push back a few loose curls that had slipped from her bun. The voice telling her to shut up got louder and she knew if she wanted to stop she could, but something about the attentive look on Yoongi’s face stopped her.

“In our senior year things were beyond stressful. He was dealing with family business stuff and his father has always been a difficult man. While I was dealing with trying to find a job so I could keep a visa and stay in the country, while also trying to graduate. We barely saw each other and I barely saw my boyfriend either despite usually sleeping at his every night. I decided to change that one night, I messaged Hyungwon to schedule a hang out and he agreed. Then I grabbed some food and snacks and headed to my boyfriend’s. I was at most an hour earlier than when I said I’d be coming, something not out of the norm for me and it wasn’t like he didn’t know.

“It was so quiet that I assumed he was asleep. I made sure to keep quiet as I settled in and then creeped towards the bedroom. However, I didn’t make it there, because while a few feet away the door swung open and I was met with him in his boxers and a disheveled Hyungwon. They didn’t notice me right away or at least I like to think so since they started making out and didn’t stop until I cleared my throat. The expressions of shock at that point are barely a memory because I’d started to tear up and just turn and left. They both attempted to reach out, but obviously I shut them down.”

After she finished Yoongi’s expression shifted to shock and then anger.

“And yet he acted like he was superior and has nothing to be sorry for when he came in today. What kind of bullshit is that? He should at least appear apologetic,” he said.

YN went to answer, but they were at her stop so she waited until they were off the train and up the steps.

“Hyungwon’s default expression is resting bitch face, especially when trying to hide some sort of emotion behind it. And he will lay it on thick. But he also is likely to force that and a haughty demeanor because he just does. It’s a defense mechanism, especially when he feels wronged in some way. He turned it on me a week after it was clear I wasn’t forgiving him. He’d prefer to be the one who is uncaring, then to endure too much emotion. No matter if he’s the cause of it.”

“What kind of fucked up shit is that? He messed up, not you. You had every right to refuse to deal with him or forgive him,” Yoongi said.

YN shrugged. “To a degree it’s a defense mechanism that I understand even if I don’t agree, but sometimes it does make him more of a douche than he’s going for. But it is what it is.”

They walked the short distance to her apartment in silence and YN couldn’t help but realize how much better she felt. It didn’t fix everything, but it helped more than she thought it would. Johnny usually was the one to get her calm enough to process the rest and she knew that once she told him the news he’d help her overcome the lingering emotions more, but with the chance to vent to the two people she trusted the most it was different.

Once they reached her apartment she turned and pulled Yoongi into a hug. He went stiff for a second before he hugged her back.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“No problem,” he said in return.

She held him for a few seconds longer after that and then let go, gently nudged him towards the cab that pulled up at the most convenient time out of nowhere. Or at least she tried to pretend she didn’t order it when he wasn’t paying attention, but just like every other time she did it he saw through her.

They waved at each other and she went inside once the cab pulled off. On the elevator up she couldn’t stop the smile on her lips. Her brain had halted its existential crisis and focused on the memory of Yoongi’s own smile as the car departed. It was beyond cute and she’d told him that when she’d first saw him do it, but what she felt in the elevator was different. There was an all-consuming happiness and a weird feeling in her stomach as she thought of it then.

The smile didn’t leave until she was sitting at the table with Johnny eating fried chicken too late at night and telling him what happened. He ranted and raved, even made a few threats, which brought the feeling back again, but that time directed at her roommate.

Weeks passed, and though YN hated the arrangement for multiple reasons she got used to it. Hyungwon didn’t try to implement any major changes and most of what he did was stuff she’d planned to do months later when they had more than enough funds for it.

Though there was one thing she’d agreed to that came with some regret. Or at least regret is what filled her as she had to endure a couple who didn’t understand distance and chose to sit at the bar.

The moment they strolled in, clinging to each other, they’d made a beeline for her side of the bar and told her how they’d seen the bar mentioned on the account of some popular new actor and then promptly shoved a phone in her face to show her. All it took was a single glance to know that she’d never seen that man in the bar before and the picture had been taken around a time they weren’t open. He was sitting on the bar’s balcony with a drink in hand and you could see people enjoying themselves behind him, but they appeared to focus on appearing in the right angle of the picture for it not to be fully staged. Which meant it was Hyungwon’s doing.

YN agreed to allow him to expand social media reach because though she did it, sometimes it wasn’t the best that it could be. However, their definitions of expansion differed and about four celebrities that had never been there had posted about having such a good time at that bar. Something that brought in business, but also forced YN and her staff to lie when asked by customers. And customers asked a whole lot when they came in, needing every detail down to what the celeb smelled like.

It was annoying but arguing about it with Hyungwon ended up with her just conceding in annoyance every time. Despite the nuisance of it, she truly didn’t have it in her to keep the back and forth with him on the subject. Doing it just didn’t prove to be worth it.

So, she and everyone endured the nonsense. Though as she watched the couple get increasingly touchier she almost stormed off into the back office to put a stop to it once and for all. In fact, she’d turned to tell Yoongi that she was going to step away but was distracted in a second.

“YN!” Johnny shouted as he approached the bar.

From the moment she laid her eyes on her best friend she noticed the offness. The giant stumbled a little while he walked and there was a slur to his words. His clothing was also a little less put together than usual and though not noticeable to most people it’s something she picked up on after years of enduring his quirks.

“Johnny, I thought you had a date,” she said.

That immediately made him frown at her. Of course, she guessed how well that had gone, but she knew that he preferred to explain to her about how bad it was, so she got the true dramatic effect. So instead of saying anything she allowed him to take up a seat at the bar and got him the coldest bottle of his favorite beer that she had. He took it happily and downed half of it before he began his story.

“She wanted me to be a third in her relationship. Brought the boyfriend and everything. Which we all know I’m fine with and my dating profile says that, but you warn a person beforehand. She said she was single and then boom, boyfriend suddenly.”

He paused and downed the rest of the bottle, which was quickly replaced with another by Yoongi who happened to be moving by. Johnny gave him a grateful nod and picked it up, but just held it.

“And that would also not be the worst thing in the world, but then the entire time the guy kept sizing me up and then asking the most sexually invasive questions. At one point he asked me how big my dick was and seemed ready to whip his out so that we could compare them. I had to drink to get through the entire thing and sped out of there the moment the bill for dinner was paid. Blocked her dating account, her social media, and number on the way here. Then had to block his number, because apparently blocking her wasn’t enough of a hint for them,” he said.

YN winced hearing that part, because she couldn’t imagine enduring something so awkward and then creepy as that. Nor could she imagine not understanding when someone wasn’t interested after such intensive blocking.

Pathetic was the word that came to mind.

“Well, I’m glad you escaped them. You get to drink that one and one more, then you switch to water. Also go back and heat up my lunch or have someone grab it for you, you need something else in you and I didn’t get around to eating it myself,” YN said.

That changed Johnny’s demeanor in an instant and he glared at her, but before he could scold her about not eating properly Hyungwon appeared.

“YN, if you’re not busy up here can you come back into the office to help me with something? It’ll only be a few minutes, I want to know I’m doing this right,” he said.

Johnny’s glare shifted from her to Hyungwon, but neither of them paid him any mind.

“Sure, I’ll be back there in a sec,” she said.

Hyungwon nodded and disappeared again. And though it was clear that Johnny had something to say YN ignored him, turning to tell Yoongi only to get shooed away before she could open her mouth. She shot him a quick thumbs up and then hustled back to the office.

“What’s up?” she asked as she closed the door behind her.

The moment Hyungwon had her close enough he pointed to the screen of their computer and started to explain how he’d tried to do something in the excel sheet for the month’s vendor expenses but something went wrong. He walked her through the whole process before she stepped in to show him what he’d done wrong for it to not to work. And then they went over some of the other sheets to ensure they were right, as well as some of the vendor request forms that needed to get done by that time the following week.

It was an easy conversation and though weeks before YN thought she’d still be awkward and apprehensive; she’d managed to find a good groove in dealing with Hyungwon as a business partner and ignoring the pain from the past. He was someone who put himself fully into his work, so it wasn’t hard to mesh with him on the subject. In fact, he got more work down in the weeks he’d been on board than Hyuk in the years he was YN’s partner. She never minded doing all of the work before, but she also would never deny that having some of the weight off her was refreshing. Even in situations where she had to double check and teach Hyungwon the ropes a few times.

When they were done she stood from her seat and stretched, her eyes meeting the clock to see she’d been back there for almost an hour.

“Is there anything else you need?” she asked.

Though Hyungwon shook his head at first, he stilled for a moment and then whipped around to look at her. The expression on his face startled her with its seriousness, his eyebrows furrowed and the frown on his lips was intense. There was also a glint in his eyes that she recalled from when he found out some not happy news and a part of her worried greatly about what he’d say.

“Actually. I would like to apologize,” he said.

That confused YN for a second because she’d still be in work mode, until she saw the way his body sagged and then it clicked in her head. Her hands went up in defense as she shook her head rapidly.

“You don-”

“Please let me talk?”

And though her whole body screamed to not let him continue she couldn’t find it in her to not let him get whatever it was off his chest. So, she took a deep breath and nodded so that he’d continue, she didn’t trust herself to say the right thing.

“I know I apologized then and I meant it, even if I did the thing where I pretended like it wasn’t my fault and that you should’ve forgiven me. I fucked up on so many levels and I didn’t mean to. I need you to know that it was never my intention, I just… I don’t know how to explain it. That night is a weird blur of sadness, drinking, and feeling someone wanted to be in my presence and cared about my feelings. I gave in for stupid and selfish reasons. He told me you’d broken up over a week before, but even then it wasn’t an okay thing to do. I know that. I knew when I agreed. I knew when it happened. And I knew the entire time after.

“I have no valid excuse for my betraying you like that. I just want you to know that I’m sorry. And I’m even more sorry that I’m messing with your dream. It wasn’t my intention at all. I swear to you I didn’t know you were the co-owner when the contract was signed. And I’d planned to back out after I found out, but it was too early in the contract for me to be able to sell it to you and I would’ve had to sell it back to him. And I’ve worked with Hyuk before, he will continue to fuck things up. And I guess I’m using a lot of words to say I’m sorry and I’m rambling, so again I’m truly sorry.”

By the end of his tangent YN was left confused and unsure. She could see the sincerity, something he’d never been able to fake, and she knew he felt sorry for his actions when it happened, but she didn’t know how to respond. There was nothing in her head that felt like an accurate response to what he’d said. Especially the apologies, because she’d forgiven him a year after the incident. Not in a whole ceremonious way of letting it go to move on, but she realized she moved one already. The hurt wasn’t gone and she knew if she saw him her reaction would not be positive, but she knew that if she did see him and he spoke to her she’d probably be willing to talk it through with him. Hell, she’d thought about it for half a second when he first stepped foot into the bar, but he’d chosen the snooty demeanor and she’d thrown it away in an instant.

All of that uncertainty must have been clear to Hyungwon, thankfully, because he cleared his throat to regain her attention and then smiled at her. A real smile. The first smile she’d seen on his face since the first time she’d seen him again.

“You don’t have to say anything right now. You don’t have to say anything ever really. We can act like I didn’t say anything at all and keep going how we’re going. I just wanted you to know that,” he said.

YN’s mind scrambled to find a response after that because it didn’t want to have said nothing, but she ended up nodding and walking out without saying a word. She’d made sure to keep her expression light and offered a small smile before she turned away so he didn’t think she was running from him or hated him.

With her mind going a mile a minute she stepped into the staff bathroom to use it and run a cold, wet paper towel across the back of her neck to help calm her down. When she got worked up she got hot and needed to be brought down before it spiraled. It only took five minutes before she felt ready to head back out to the bar, though she wasn’t completely herself as she went.

A large part of her wanted to go back and yell at Hyungwon and then have a heart to heart, but she willed herself to keep moving forward.

However, when she reached the end of the hall she wished she’d done that. People seated at the bar had left and moved elsewhere, which made it easy for her to spot Johnny nursing a glass of water. He looked ready to drink it, but something else had his attention. Someone else.

Yoongi was standing directly in front of him, body bent over so that his arms rested on the bar between them. He wore a wide smile and reached over to poke Johnny’s cheek as they laughed together.

They were so close to each other and so comfortable, that it was almost romantic. Then with bated breath YN watched as Johnny ran his hand through his hair and winked at Yoongi, something he only ever did when he was flirting. A quirk that she’d pointed out to him once that he’d never noticed he did. But that wasn’t what made her stomach churn, it was the light blush that coated Yoongi’s cheeks as he punched Johnny’s arm.

Both men were flirting with each other and by their expressions it was far from the playful kind they’d done once when some girl kept hitting on Yoongi and wouldn’t understand no until Johnny stepped in as his “boyfriend.” Oh no, their flirting was real and natural.

And YN didn’t know which one it hurt more seeing do it.

At least once a month there was an event held at the bar and so YN wouldn’t open it to the general public. And by some miracle one fell on a Sunday and was during midafternoon, which meant she didn’t have work the next day and they wouldn’t be open late into the night. Both things were something she needed after over a week of feeling at her lowest.

The down feeling wasn’t new by any means, but it didn’t make it easier. Nor did her avoidance of Johnny, who usually knew the right things to say to get her out of a funk.

It was a consequence of her avoiding her roommate.

After she’d seen his interactions with Yoongi at the club she’d gotten over things pretty quickly, but they didn’t stop there. Though both males had talked before their communication ramped up. They were texting often and sometimes even video chatting. Along with that came an increase of them hanging out. On one free day YN had swung by to bring Johnny food at his shop, but when she appeared Yoongi was already there and they were eating. Of course, they invited her to join and she did, but it hadn’t been fun for her. Which was how she described all her hang outs with them. It was the constant third wheel kind of feeling and seeing as she had no time to adjust to her realization of feelings for both of them, she definitely didn’t have time to adjust to them possibly getting together.

All of it was too much at once and only aided along the low she felt. Which meant she turned to avoiding them when she could. Some things were changing for the club and that meant she had a built-in excuse to be busy. That coupled with her clearly being down meant that they left her be when she said she wanted to venture out alone or with other friends. And they definitely didn’t stop her if she just said she wanted to lay in bed all day and be left alone. She’d ensured that she did it a normal amount so not to alarm them and it worked for her.

Well, only worked in the matters of not being forced to third wheel. Though the times they hung out in the apartment while she locked herself in her room didn’t do much for her whole, dealing with feelings plan.

Not that she dealt with them well when not around them.

However, the day of the event she saw the light at the end of the tunnel for her funk. YN woke up feeling on top of the world and everything ran so smoothly from then on. They’d set up, received the guests, and kept the event running without incident. Minus the very drunk man who got weirdly passionate about telling the story about how the wine he was drinking was made and then proceeded to spill it.

Hell, even seeing how Hyungwon and his boyfriend mingled without issue brought her some sort of joy. And that joy was how her brain drowned out the voice that told her that Hyungwon’s boyfriend seemed familiar and not in the good way. Something that would have persisted if not for Johnny having approached her.

“Isn’t that the guy who showed up to that weeklong dating event with a different person each time?” he asked YN.

That was all it took for her brain to kick into gear and her head whipped over to look where Hyungwon stood with him. It took a single second to see his face and then recall all the times he’d come in with people and sometimes left with someone else. Or at the very least flirted with others, slipping people, including YN, his number while his date was preoccupied. He’d made her uncomfortable.

Those things weren’t cool and alone were enough to alarm YN, but that wasn’t the issue she found herself focused on when she stared him down. No, the problem was that when Hyungwon had appeared at the bar and introduced his boyfriend he’d spoken of how they’d been together for almost two years. That series of events had happened only two months before he became her co-owner. Meaning the man was a worse cheater than she’d thought he was.

“Oh, fuck me,” she groaned.

“Yeah,” Johnny said.

Though YN avoided eye contact with him most days the tone of his voice made her finally meet his gaze and it wasn’t comforting. In fact, he appeared a bit uncomfortable and unsure of how to react to the situation. She thought it was because of what happened, but then she glanced down to his hand and saw a business card in it. It showed Hyungwon’s boyfriend’s name and work info, but with a quick flip YN saw another number scribbled on back along with something about calling for a good time.

The man held no shame. Hitting on people with his longtime boyfriend present and the photographer of the event no less. Someone they’d hired to work it and would report back to them for how everything went. Truly the worst possible person because despite the possibility of lack of moral compass, the odds weren’t that great that he wouldn’t tell the person who hired him what transpired with their boyfriend.

A headache from it all was an understatement for what YN felt about it. But she knew what she had to do despite it all.

“Just…” she trailed off, taking the card from him and slipping it in her pocket. “Just don’t talk to him about it. I’ll bring it up when we wrap up for the night. It’s better I do it.”

“Are you sure?”

She wasn’t but nodded anyway.

Johnny didn’t believe her, but when she shooed him away to continue taking the photos he went without much hesitation.

From there she just worked to get through the last two hours of the event. She kept the bar going and even took a turn as a waitress when things got a little hectic since she hadn’t thought she’d need many staff on hand for something not that big.

Naturally, she hoped that it all was enough to keep her mind preoccupied, but that wasn’t the case. Any time she wasn’t focused, even for a second, her brain thought about it. And it was worse whenever she glanced up to see the both of them together as if one of them wasn’t a horrible human being. So much of her hated the idea of Hyungwon being hurt like that, even with their own past. No one deserved that. Plus, they’d made a lot of progress since he’d made that apology and YN had started to feel good around him. Like she actively wanted to be there. They’d even eaten lunch together a few times.

By the time everyone had cleared out and the staff was almost ready to go she snapped out of her own thoughts of dread to pull Hyungwon to the side. She said something about something she needed him to look over before he left for the night and he followed her to the office without hesitation. Which was good for her nerves, but not enough to quail the new set of anxiety that hit when his boyfriend said he’d wait and sat down at one of the tables. She would’ve preferred if he’d not been there to be confronted in her presence, but she didn’t have the luxury, so she pushed through.

When they entered the office she took a deep breath and turned to face Hyungwon, who appeared a bit startled and she assumed her expression aptly portrayed the discomfort and nerves she felt.

“I could prolong this because that’s totally what I want to do, because this makes me extremely uncomfortable, but I feel like you need to know. Your boyfriend has been here before. And not like just a random patron, but a person coming here on dates with people. Even attended a few events with a date in the last three months or so. And for the most part they’re always different people. And to make matters worse he’s always flirting with someone else when his date is away or even right in front of them. He’s hit on multiple staff members before, including me. Also, he slipped Johnny his card, with his personal number and a… flirtatious message on it.”

YN spoke so quickly she wasn’t sure he understood her, so the frown that appeared on his lips was what she used to indicate she could continue going. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the card, but before she could hold it up for him to see or hand it to him his hand was on her wrist.

Startled, she looked up to see the frown had left his face and he’d gone for a much more neutral expression, though his eyes held fire behind them. It almost made her flinch.

Hyungwon scoffed. “I didn’t think you’d stoop to this. He’d never even heard of this bar before I told him I was going to become a co-owner nor would he have the time to do that. Also, what could possibly be the problem with coming here with other people if he did. He can bring friends to events or out for a night of partying. My goodness YN why would you even try to spew such false info-”

Before he could finish, YN put a hand over his mouth. That confused him but didn’t stop the way he looked at her. And that only made her angrier.

She’d listened to his little rant about how she was wrong and hoped that he would change course. Hoped that the way his tone wavered every now and then was indication of him not believing his own words, but he kept going. If she hadn’t stopped him YN was sure he’d descended into words much less passive in calling her liar and into much more hurtful talk. And with the way she felt she couldn’t endure that. She refused to be hurt by him when all she wanted to do was help.

“I would never make up something like that. And I am not as stupid as to think people hanging out in a bar or doing the bare minimum of hugging is cause to deem them together. Nor would I sit here and make up being uncomfortably flirted with and Johnny getting his number and a not so ‘I want to be friends’ note from him. Something I was just going to show you. But that doesn’t matter to you apparently. Because someone who's been harmed by something as bad as cheating would totally make that up for shits and giggles or for some sort of revenge. Because I of all people who has let much worse slide would do that, right? Don’t believe me, that’s fucking fine. Live your life thinking I’d lie about that or misunderstand. But if you want to pull your head out of your ass you can look at this card, you can look at the files on the computer to see pictures from events, you can check the bar’s website and social media for the pictures too. Hell, go ask Johnny for them. He has more than he gave up and with the way he was making out with most of them I’m sure he has something to show that.”

After that YN didn’t wait for a reply, she simply turned on her heel, grabbed her bag, and stormed out of the room. She went out front so she could tell her manager to finish locking up and tell Johnny she wanted to leave, but when she got out there she saw something that made her feel even worse.

Johnny and Yoongi were standing across from each other at the bar laughing and being all touchy. It wasn’t the worst thing ever, but then they leaned in close enough that they looked ready to kiss until Yoongi happened to notice YN and turned to look at her. His smile dropped and he stepped away, moving to get from behind the bar but she didn’t stay put.

YN all but sprinted out of the building with three voices calling out to her. And she didn’t stop until she was in a taxi, sobbing and asking to be taken to some bar that was far away from her own business and home so they wouldn’t stumble upon her.

From then on time moved in a way that she couldn’t comprehend. She reached the bar and immediately muted her ringer to avoid calls or texts. And once inside she greeted the bartender she was familiar with and asked for a drink. Something she did until she was so drunk that she just barely was cognizant of what was happening around her. Of course, she wanted more, but she needed to be responsible despite all the things that had crumbled right in front of her.

“I called you a taxi, it’s out front. Go home YN,” JB, the bartender, said.

Though part of her wanted to say no she simply nodded, paid, and headed out to the taxi that waited for her. She managed to walk normally until she reached the taxi where she stumbled a bit and had to be helped inside. Once she and her driver were in their seats she slurred her words and told him her address. He grunted and they were off.

The whole drive her brain kept trying to figure out how’d she’d deal with Johnny when she got home or Yoongi when she had to work. Her brain was so hazy that she couldn’t form full ideas for Johnny, but decided she’d just have someone else take her shifts with Yoongi. That answer made her so proud that she smiled and patted herself on the back.

However, the back patting stopped when the driver stopped and she got out, only to realize he’d dropped her a few blocks from her apartment. He’d driven off by then and she felt slightly more sober, so she started her trek home. There was some tripping over her own feet and stopping when her vision blurred but she did okay.

Ten minutes in though she felt her stomach drop as she heard a voice.

“YN? Got damnit, YN where have you been?” Yoongi called out.

Though she heard him clear as day she continued walking without even a glance backwards. She even put a pep in her step, though that was less about avoiding him and more about being miffed about the use of her full first name.

“YN, could you stop,” he said.

She continued ignoring him. Even when she stopped to put in the code to her building, when she stopped to wait for the elevator, and when both of them stood in the small space together. Yoongi was displeased, but he didn’t force anything simply followed behind her.

He tried to speak again once they entered the apartment, but he wasn’t the only one.

“Can you just answer m....”

“Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been calli...” Johnny started

Regardless of their concerns she continued to ignore them both, even tuning out what they had to say as she kicked off her shoes and deposited her bag on one of the hooks near the door. The plan was to walk past them and into her room where she would pass out, but as she made her first step she tripped over a box that she hadn’t seen.

Thankfully, they caught her and got her standing and steady. She muttered a quick thank you and then looked at what had been her undoing, only to see a box she’d asked Johnny to move multiple times.

That surely brought up some anger as her head whipped up so she could glare at him.

“Why can’t you just listen to what I say? Or better yet understand that there is an issue? That all signs point to a fucking problem if you do something like that? Why? I’ve almost hurt myself like ten times already and you have yet to move it!”

Johnny’s own anger subsided a little and he appeared sheepish for a second, mumbling an apology and moving the box out of the way. He turned to her after, but she didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say or talk about, so she attempted to storm off to her room as planned. Attempting was key in that, because the moment the foot that hit the box touched down on its own she cried out in pain.

“Fuck,” Johnny said as he caught her and held her up.

“Stupid fucking box!” she screamed.

“Oh, fuck. What can we do? How can we help?” a panicked Yoongi asked.

YN cursed a few more times as the throbbing settled in.

“Just take me to my room. I just want to sleep and not deal with this shit.”

Both men nodded and helped her to her room, carefully placing her down on the bed. From there she slipped off her jeans - she had leggings on underneath - and shrugged off her heavy sweater so she only had her sports bra on. After she got comfortable in the bed, using a pillow to put under her throbbing ankle and threw a bonnet over her hair, thankful to be wearing it braided.

As she got comfortable and prepared to sleep she realized that neither of them had left and when she prepared to tell them to both men crawled into the bed with her, getting on either side.

“What are you do-”

She wasn’t allowed to finish though because Johnny cut her off.

“Can we just stay? We know we stressed you out in the last few minutes and we feel like shit. It would make us feel better and if you say no, we’ll just sit on the floor or outside your door.”

Yoongi nodded. “We’d just feel better closer.”

Though she opened her mouth to argue she found that with the pain in her ankle and the alcohol wearing off she was too tired for it. So, she said nothing and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself and laying completely still until she fell asleep.

Or mostly fell asleep. With the two of them in her bed so close and radiating so much body heat she found it hard to slip completely. Not that either of them could tell that she wasn't asleep.

"It has to be more than the Hyungwon situation. I think I know what it is and that means we need to tell her soon,” Yoongi whispered.

"Wait. What? We have everything set for a week. Can it not wait?"

"Have you seen how she's been acting lately? She's pulling away from both of us and a week gives her more time to put more distance. We won't have a chance to come clean by then or even get a proper conversation in about it. She'll just think it's pity or not feel enough to care."

"Okay, tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, it's an off day and she's ahead of all her work, so even if she goes in it'll be fine."

Silence followed that and then soft snores.

Their words confused her, but she also felt her stomach drop as she imagined them saying they were together or any other thing that would make her distressed. Her mind couldn’t stop thinking of possibilities and she finally knocked out as a way to avoid the overthinking.

When she woke up it was around three in the morning and it was because she was overheated. Confusion filled YN as she couldn’t figure out the problem, only to open her eyes and see both men cuddled into her from either side. Everything came rushing back to her at once, but she was still tired enough that she prepared to ignore it and go back to sleep.

Until she noticed their hands intertwined over her body. Nausea hit fast and before she knew it, she slipped from the bed and exited the room. It was the only time she was happy that either of them were heavy sleepers.

She limped from her room and went to Johnny’s. She created a similar set up for her ankle and pushing down all negative thoughts she cuddled into one of his plushies and went to sleep. Though not nearly fast enough to stop the tears.

The day after chaos reigned, YN woke up surprisingly early but didn’t dare leave Johnny’s bed. She waited in the dark in silence until she heard Yoongi leave and then slipped into her room as Johnny was in the kitchen making coffee. She’d barely made it in without him catching her, but once she was inside and the door was locked, him knowing didn’t matter.

From then on she tried not to think about anything that occurred and just got undressed and into the shower. The focus was on getting clean and hoping that that hot water would help along her still sore ankle; resting it through the night had been enough to keep it from getting too bad and it hadn’t swollen.

After she was cleaned she made quick work of getting dressed and taking down her hair, allowing her twist out to take full form. It needed a little sprucing up and then she was done. Ready to tackle the day.

Though she didn’t know how.

Every few seconds her brain focused on the sounds of Johnny moving around the apartment. Mostly because he wasn’t in his room, but out in the living room near her door which meant that he awaited her exit. She hoped that he would leave and she would have an opening to slip out and avoid him a little longer, but she knew he was stubborn and didn’t have to work that day so he had all the time in the world.

Since grabbing her stuff and escaping wasn’t a perfect plan she was forced to sit on her bed and think out other ones. There was the obvious choice of talking to him, but with all that went on her head she didn’t want that. Plus, she wanted to be a punk for a while and not deal with whatever it was him and Yoongi planned to tell her. That left things like stay in her room all day, exit via the fire escape and come through the front to grab her bag and shoes, or just go out of her door and walk past him. Staying in her room would drive her up the wall and the fire escape on the building was not the best and she’d have to jump a foot or two to get off it, something that would agitate her ankle.

That meant that she had to walk past him, which meant she needed an excuse. She sat there thinking for a while until she remembered something important she’d put off and planned to do after the event. Something that was important to keep her business running and that she told Johnny about.

It was perfect.

So, after taking a deep breath she stood from her bed and exited her room with some faux confidence and a whole lot of fake indifference.

The moment she was in sight Johnny stopped his movement. He looked ready to move closer to her but seemed to think better of it. Something she was thankful for since she didn’t know if she could get away from him if he was close enough to stop her. He wouldn’t hurt her and would let her go if she asked but being stopped messed with the whole flow of things for her.

YN didn’t linger too long on what he was doing and just walked to the front door and slipped on her shoes. She then grabbed her bag and made sure her wallet and phone were there before her hand touched the door to open it.

And that’s when Johnny spoke up.

“Do you want to talk about what happened? I feel like we should talk about it. Among other things,” he said.

For a second that made YN freeze, but she recovered rather quickly. Maintaining her “indifference” she turned to look at his face for the first time since she walked out and shrugged.

“Maybe later. Don’t really feel like dealing with anything besides spreadsheets and those tax forms I need to get out by tonight,” she said.

Though Johnny still appeared prepared to push he seemed to resign himself when she said tax forms. As an owner of his own business he knew that was important and it took her awhile to get everything ready for her accountant. Which meant he simply collapsed onto the couch and nodded.

With that small victory YN opened the door and walked out. Part of her said she should at least say bye or when she’d be back, but she knew talking to him longer would’ve made it harder for her. She’d nearly cracked when she saw the worry and sadness etched into his face.

Time is what she needed.

No one foresaw five days of it to go by though. Not even YN.

After she’d bypassed Johnny she’d genuinely ended up too busy to have the energy for any sort of conversation. Mountains of paperwork hit and there were issues left and right. Even when she was in Johnny, Yoongi, or Hyungwon’s presence it was so work related that they didn’t even attempt to talk about anything else or ask her to speak later.

Even at home she was left alone, especially because she’d fallen asleep while responding to Johnny about what to order for dinner one night.

Friday night was when things slowed down and she took her usual shift bartending. It was a packed night because they were handling an event that they themselves were running to get more business. Which meant that most of the staff worked, as well as Hyungwon and Johnny who was hired to take pictures to go up on social media and their website.

It put YN right in the middle of all of them and it was uncomfortable, but she kept strong. Well, she committed to giving them the silent treatment unless it was about work. And it worked out pretty well for her, she managed to get through most of her shift without giving into any attempts to talk or pull her to the side.

The non-plan gave way for reasons she couldn't foresee though.

While she left to the backroom to grab more tequila she was trailed by Hyungwon, who’d tried to get her alone the moment she’d come to work that day. He was begging for a moment of her time even as they made their way back towards the bar, but she held strong. Something she regretted the moment she passed the bottles to Yoongi so he could prep drinks and then turned to see someone she didn’t want to.

Her ex, Jisoo, stood right in front of her bar with a few friend’s laughing it up. None of them noticed her for the first several seconds, which she was thankful for, but it didn’t last long enough for her to fully pull herself together. When Jisoo turned to request a drink he was met with a clearly shocked YN.

Jisoo appeared surprised as well, but he pushed that aside to smirk at her with a quickness.

“YN, I didn’t know you worked here. I just got back into the country and this was the first place my friends recommended. Small world. Oh, Hyungwon… what a surprise to see you here too,” Jisoo said.

That snapped YN out of it and she turned to see Hyungwon glaring at the male, his hand in a fist as he stared him down. For a moment she was reminded of the past as she looked at him. The pain rose up for a second and she felt sick having them in the same place, but she pushed it down. Despite their falling out they’d done well since reconnecting and she was mostly past it all, even close to asking him to hang out like a friend. Allowing a piece of shit ruin that wasn’t okay.

Never again would she allow Jisoo to ruin things for her.

With that spark of anger and confidence she turned to stare down Jisoo herself. She noticed Yoongi closer than before and Johnny standing behind the little group ready to pounce, but she waved them off. YN needed it to be her who went off.

“I own this bar and Hyungwon here is my co-owner, so naturally we would be here,” she said.

For a second Jisoo was knocked off his game, but it wasn’t long before he bounced back. He was like Hyungwon that way and YN hated it.

“Oh? I thought you two were no longer on speaking terms?” he said.

“Well, clearly what you thought was wrong,” Hyungwon chimed in.

Hyungwon’s words elicited a laugh from Jisoo for some reason and it made YN uneasy, but she held her ground. No matter what he threw she knew she could take it. There was no way she’d allow him to see her hurt or crying.

Jisoo shrugged. “I guess so. You’re still with Ji-ah though, right YN? Last I heard you and her hit it off.”

That was the thing to force a humorless laugh from her lips. Only Jisoo would mention her other ex whom he knew she’d broken up with a while ago when she’d moved to take a job at a company out of the country. A company that Jisoo worked at, at that.

Of course, he had to be a trash human in more aspects than one.

“No, but you know that. Since you hit on her, took her on a few dates, slept with her and then told her how you knew me. That's why you asked her out in the first place. You remember that, right? Oh, and you have to remember how she told your job that and so they demoted you, plus moved you to a different branch,” YN said.

And at last the smirk left his face. While pleased by that, YN didn’t ignore the way he tensed and the anger that covered every inch of his expression.

“I feel like you’re the one who should remember. Like remember how you cried when you saw us together. The hurt on your face as I kissed hi-”

Before he could speak anymore Hyungwon almost punched him in the face. If it wasn’t for YN hip checking him and thus making him stumble he would’ve made impact on Jisoo’s right cheek.

Once Hyungwon was settled and being held back by a staff member YN’s attention focused solely on Jisoo.

“I don’t want you or your friend’s here. Ever. So, I’m going to ask you to leave. There will be no argument. No putting up a fight. No asking to be given another chance. You will leave and never return, am I understood?” she said calmly.

Naturally, Jisoo opened his mouth to reply but YN cut him off by whistling. Within seconds two security guards were at the bar and Jisoo’s friends dragged him towards the exit. It was clear that he wanted to say or do something, but he left without much issue and after that YN could breathe.

However, breathing meant that it all came crashing down on her and the next thing she knew she ran to the office with tears streaming down her face.

The intention was to get in there alone and ride out whatever wave of emotion hit until she could pull it together and go back to work like nothing happened. Of course, that meant that the first part didn’t happen.

Hyungwon had followed behind her and slipped in before she could fully close the door. Though it bothered a part of her she didn’t have it in her to say anything or react. She did have the energy to cry harder though, her attempt at silent tears only lasting seconds before sobs wracked her body.

In her head all she could think about is what happened all those years ago. Except the pain she felt was amplified. YN knew it wasn’t because of that or at least the feeling wasn’t solely because of that. No, because after reliving that in her head her brain brought up every other failed relationship and honestly all the failures in her life. It didn’t stop playing the flashbacks until it reached the more recent things to fuck up her life plans and the uncertain romantic feelings she had to endure.

It was all too much, especially when it came at her all at once.

She ended up so in her own head that she didn’t feel Hyungwon pull her into his arms and hold her close. Didn’t hear the apologies and words of reassurance. Didn’t hear the curses about her ex. Didn’t even feel when he moved them from standing to sitting in a chair, her on his lap with her face in his neck.

And time passed so swiftly that she couldn’t tell how long they’d been like that once she’d come back to. But it didn’t matter because it heightened her embarrassment of what had occurred and she attempted to escape him, only to be held in place by bony fingers.

Once she stopped fighting Hyungwon removed one of his hands and used it to lift her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“Your crying is valid and don’t you dare think otherwise. None of that embarrassed or frustrated bullshit because you deserve to be able to release all that,” Hyungwon said.

Even after years apart he still knew her reactions to being overwhelmed through and through, and in that moment she was eternally grateful.

With a nod from her he didn’t stop there.

“That was unexpected and I’m sorry he was here. I forgot how horrible he could be and then he’s just gotten worse over time. You’d think someone would stop playing those games and trying to mess with people’s mental and emotional stability, but alas here he is. I think his company was planning to do an event here, I’ll tell them we’re canceling it and that he’s the reason. Might even throw in some security footage for good measure.”

YN opened her mouth to object, but Hyungwon gave her a look that shut her up.

“Besides that, and I know this is a horrible time, I want to apologize. The way I acted a week ago was uncalled for. When you said it, I believed you I really did. It was just something that wanted to deny that he would. Not necessarily for my own feelings, though they did come into play. But also, because he’s the one who came to me. I had no interest in him whatsoever, but he was persistent in a way that wasn’t creepy and I thought who would work that hard to just throw it away. Especially when they’d been the one to bring up the subject of marriage recently.

“So, I went on the defense and instead of just checking what you had to say or denying it and moving on I went to the worst possible conclusion. Said things I didn’t believe even as they left my mouth. And thus, for the second time since meeting you hurt you in a way that wasn’t okay in the slightest. And I understand that you may not want to work towards friendship. I like to think we were close to getting back or wanting to deal with me. I just want to apologize because you deserve one and I know I was in the wrong.”

What neither of them expected, least of all YN, was her to start crying again. Her head dropped onto his shoulder and she felt her body shake again as she let it out. Though she could tell he was confused by the way his body tensed, he didn’t say anything and simply rubbed her back gently as she cried it out.

About five minutes later YN spoke.

“You’re a fucking idiot and an asshole.”

Hyungwon laughed. “True. But you know what happened when you tried to get me to be nicer for that month. If we’re being honest you made me worse.”

YN laughed that time, remembering how Hyungwon spent every day being closely watched by her as he tried to not be snarky with people. By the end he’d given up and snapped on some annoying man that wouldn’t leave them be and she was sure she saw tears in his eyes as he ran away from the fuming Hyungwon.

He mellowed out after that, but when someone truly tried him he was a lot more than he used to be. YN marked that as a major fail and stuck to keeping him calm when he rightfully deserved to put someone in their place, which was oddly often at their school.

“Yeah, a mistake on my part. But at least I got you to start counting to ten before you unleashed yourself.”

“Ah yes, what a great help that is. Ten seconds longer of dealing with the idiots.”

They both laughed that time and when they pulled it together they talked. About everything in detail. Nothing was left off the table and by the end YN felt less weight on her shoulders.

By the time they were done about an hour and a half had gone by, meaning they’d been back in the room for over two hours and the bar was shutting down.

“I guess I should go help since I flaked on my shit at the end,” YN said as she got up from Hyungwon’s lap.

At first he nodded and got up too seemingly ready to follow her and the next he was giving her a look and grasping at her wrist.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“You need to talk to them.”

A groan escaped her immediately and her head tilted back as she blew out a puff of air.

“Nope. None of that. Talk to them. Tonight. And don’t be a stubborn brat and not let them finish what they have to say. I’m sure it would clear up a lot of things for her,” Hyungwon said.

There was no use in arguing because he would win and she knew he was right, even if she didn’t want to admit that to herself.

“Fine.”

And that was all it took for him to release her and take the lead on exiting the office. However, YN didn’t get the chance to leave right behind him. The moment Hyungwon was out, both Johnny and Yoongi stumbled in forcing her to take several steps back.

They both appeared nervous and disheveled, which helped calm YN for some reason. Though it didn’t get rid of all the feelings like she would’ve preferred.

“We need to talk. Now. We can’t keep putting it off,” Johnny blurted out.

If YN didn’t know how frazzled he got under pressure she’d be shocked by his actions, much like Yoongi who stared the man down eyes wide, but she’d known Johnny long enough to expect that kind of thing. What she was shocked about is how he didn’t dive into explaining right then and there.

Once she was sure he was done talking and that Yoongi had nothing to say she took over.

“We do need to talk. But it would be better not here. So, after we close up and at the apartment, yeah?”

That appeared to shock Yoongi more and Johnny too. They both probably assumed she’d be resistant or straight up tell them no. Things she debated on for half a second but couldn’t go through with.

“Okay,” they both said.

With that YN patted both of them on the shoulder and headed out to help.

About an hour after that everyone was done and headed out of the door. They said their goodbyes with the staff - and Hyungwon who hugged her while threatening what would happen if she didn’t give either man a chance to talk - then they got in a taxi to go back to the apartment.

Silence prevailed, which made YN awkward since she was sandwiched between them in the back seat, but she didn’t let it take over her. At least not too much. She held strong despite it and managed to make it out of the car and into the apartment without thinking of making a run for it.

The same couldn’t be said for either of the men though. YN hadn’t faced them until she was rid of her jacket and shoes and sat on the love seat, but the moment she did they froze. For a second they stared at each other both expressions unsure, but then they seemed to come to a consensus and finally fully entered the apartment, taking a seat on the couch.

Again, they were immersed in silence, but that only made things more tense.

“Go ahead,” she said.

Thankfully, they didn’t take long to react to that.

“We,” Yoongi started, pausing to look at Johnny before continuing. “We know we’ve done a horrible job at making things clear to you. We’ve been a little secretive and haven’t made the most effort in ensuring you were okay when we saw that something was off. It was a major fuck up on our part, one that could’ve prevented if I hadn’t been so stuck on keeping a certain timeline on how we should talk to you about this. And I’m starting to ramble when it was agreed upon that I would tell you so we could get straight to the point. And oh my fucking goodness, will I stop it already. Okay, basically we both want to date you.”

YN felt her entire body tense as confusion filled her.

“Excuse me?” she said.

That went unheard though.

“That’s not how we agreed you’d say it,” Johnny whined.

Yoongi scoffed. “It is. Well, not exactly but all the words I used were in the agreed upon statement.”

“Maybe, but you could have at least tried to eas-”

“Excuse me!” YN shouted.

That stopped Johnny and got both their attention.

“You don’t get to drop a bomb like that and then not elaborate. Especially to a very confused person whose last week has been trash. Explain yourselves.”

There was another silent moment of them staring at each other and then Yoongi gestured for Johnny to go ahead. Johnny rolled his eyes but turned his full attention to YN before speaking.

“What Yoongi said was true, we do both want to date you. But before you start to spiral and come up with your own conclusions let me fill in a few things. We’ve both known Yoongi for over a year now, you more than me. And he and I have always clicked despite how worried you were that he would slap me upside the head for being too friendly and getting in his space. It’s an easy kinda friendship we’ve had going, but then that day at the bar a few months ago we really clicked. I know we’ve been obvious about the attraction and it’s only built over time.

“The thing is we soon realized that both of us also feel something for you. Those feelings are from before we ever looked at each other that way and despite the growing feelings between us it was still there. Yoongi just about lost his shit when he realized and was very confused. And well, you know that most of my relationships have been poly, so it was nothing new for me. Though still kinda surprising because I thought I’d continue to live my life not acting on feelings for you I’ve felt for years.”

“I’m sorry what?” YN practically screamed.

The interruption earned her a glare which quieted her despite wanting an answer.

“As I was saying. I was planning to not act on them, but then suddenly someone else who I liked felt the same way for you as I did and it felt like a chance. That plus Hyungwon telling me I was an idiot for not realizing the crush you had on me before you got with dickwad back in college after he overheard me talking to Yoongi. But either way everything aligned and after I got Yoongi to accept that this was a viable option we started doing those group hangouts. To us they were test dates, but then we… well we…”

“We realized that we weren’t including you as much as we thought and could tell how third wheeling it felt,” Yoongi said.

Johnny nodded. “Yes, that. We failed to factor in as people who know each other, but don’t know each other and who are using those outings as dates we’d get caught up in each other. Which we realized but didn’t realize how bad until yet again Hyungwon overheard us. Told us we were idiots, because it was clear that you felt something for both of us and yet we were both going around acting like a couple in early days while dragging their friend who didn’t know we liked them around. And then we decided to fix things, but then the falling out with Hyungwon happened and nothing worked so we were unsure of what to do next besides maybe cornering you. So, yeah.”

With the way Johnny so abruptly ended that YN was left unsure of how to proceed. What had been said was a lot to take in. Not because it was wild or out of her comfort zone, but because despite feelings she’d had no time to process her own. She knew how she felt about them both, but she’d never allowed herself to linger on it too long to address how to handle things. And when she found herself finally admitting it things went to shit and she thought the only people she’d been interested in in years were on their way to dating each other without her ever having a real chance of seeing if either of them felt the same way.

Since YN hadn’t gotten that out of the way she definitely had no time to factor in any poly relationship. Like Johnny said she did know he was into it, but Yoongi wasn’t someone she knew well enough to know if he was down for that. He didn’t judge it, but not caring about how people lived their lives and actively participating were two different things.

Just the thought of having that conversation with him made her nervous despite it being more of what he would have done in the past and not in her present since she’d heard that he’d agreed with it. At least that’s what she thought they said. Her brain was frazzled.

“Hold on,” she finally said after minutes of silence. “So, I’m clear. You both want to date me and each other? You just failed to realize that you should’ve gotten to know each other better and go on dates alone, before trying to test out a poly relationship with me without my knowledge?”

“Yes,” Yoongi said while Johnny nodded.

Without warning pillows from the loveseat were in YN’s hands, she was standing, and said pillows were making contact with each male’s body.

“You. Two. Are. Fuckin. Idiots. How. Could. You. Not. Think. That. Through? What. Happened. To. Being. So. Got. Damn. Smart. Huh?”

Each word was spoken in time with the pillows swinging down on them. And though they squirmed they didn’t try to dodge or take them away from her. They let her keep going until she was satisfied.

Upon her clearly giving up her attack they both reach out and pull her down onto the couch so her body stretched out across them.

“Yes, we’re idiots. And we’re sorry about not thinking things through and telling you. But we’re idiots who are smitten with you and would like a chance to date you,” Johnny said, his hand moved to find the spot at the back of her head that she enjoyed being scratched. She didn’t even care that he was messing up her hair a little, just relaxed into the feeling.

“Ditto,” Yoongi said.

That drew glares from Johnny and YN, which he responded to by throwing his hands in the air in surrender.

“We are really sorry. And if you could let us date you, it would make me very happy,” he said.

His second response sated both of them and they relaxed back into their little moment. And as time ticked by they all grew more comfortable. There was more to talk about, but they cleared the space and it was clear they were all relieved. YN most of all.

Though she tried not to show it, YN felt giddy and wanted to giggle as she watched them both interact with each other and her. So much so that it slipped out when they both leaned over to press kisses to her cheeks. It seemed to amuse them, but she was so embarrassed she slipped away to change and scolded herself for the behavior. Not that she didn’t do it again when her mind replayed what happened.

They spent the rest of the night watching TV and eating food they’d ordered. It was peaceful and comfortable, so much so that they almost fell asleep on the couch.

Two in the morning rolled around before they all dragged feet to climb in Johnny’s bed and knock out. YN wanted to sleep on the outside of the bed, but ended up sandwiched between the both of them, not that she complained about it.

Once they were all comfortable they said their good nights and tried to sleep, but one adjustment by Johnny against her ass had YN slapping his arm.

“You cannot possibly be hard right now,” she whined.

Johnny pressed closer after that, grinding his dick against her ass more.

“You can’t possibly be calling me out on it right now as if it hasn’t happened before,” he mumbled.

“And both of you can’t possibly be having this conversation while I try to sleep. Go to bed before the next thing you’re both complaining about is how bruised and sore your asses are,” Yoongi chimed in.

Though it was meant as a means to shut them up all it did was elicit whimpers from both of them at the thought. That’s when Yoongi sat up and stared down at them and even in the dark they could see the smirk.

“Oh, you like that do you?”

They both nodded eagerly.

“Then strip.”

Neither of them had ever moved so fast in their lives and it was beyond worth it. Complaining was kept to a minimum the next day, but only because Yoongi took very good care of his babies and made sure to kiss their booboos all better.

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forever--darling · 4 years ago

Text

the frat boy’s boxers - s.m.

college frat au

warnings: 5.7k words of new beginnings, first day jitters, and the meeting of the roommate

prologue

It was late, dark, and the sun was no longer looming over campus. Your pulse quickened and your palms were dripping in sweat as you stared up at the three story house. The window was left cracked open and you watched as the breeze swayed the white curtains from side to side. This was insane and beyond anything you had ever done but you knew it was unavoidable. If you wanted to get into Alpha Delta Pi, it had to be done.

You could feel the lingering eyes of the sorority girls as they crouched behind a line of bushes and internally cursed. Emily had to set up a car wash by herself, Maggie had to teepee another sorority house, and those both sounded better than this; standing in front of frat boy central, forced to steal sophomore and hockey player Shawn Mendes’ boxers.

2 weeks ago

As you drove down the winding road, you couldn’t help but come to a stop in front of the entrance. The large stone sign stood proudly for all to see as they drove by and into the start of the next chapter of their lives. Tan bricks and copper letters stuck out from the sign marked the beginning of everything. In your packed black Volkswagen golf, you twisted your neck down as you stared out the window towards the sign. You blinked at it, hardly believing it was real and with a small uneven breath, you pushed your foot back on the gas and surged forward. Within seconds, you were back driving on the road, hands tightly around the steering wheel as your eyes scanned the newfound area.

Two years ago, no one ever expected that you would venture more than a few miles away from your house. That you would settle into the local university because that’s what your parents wanted. Or more specifically what your mom wanted. No one ever thought after what happened in the winter of 2016, you would have left your hometown in exchange for another state entirely. It was two years of being locked away in your house with little access to anywhere except school or your bedroom, and you had quickly gotten sick of its light yellow walls.

Your junior and senior year were spent bent over your homework and college prepping. You were doing anything to get you as far away from that place you used to call home. You needed to get away for a while, from your overprotective and over loving parents and your twenty-four-year old sister who had moved back home.

You used to love high school. With so many friends and guys wanting your attention, it was a fun two years then somehow the other two went down the drain by the two people who procreated you. Junior and senior you worked your ass off and above all else, obeyed your parents and clearly it paid off when you finished third in your class. You obeyed your parents, so it came much of a surprise when you told your family that instead of the local university that only stood ten minutes away, you would be attending the University of Washington.

It came to quite a shock, not only was the college in another state but on the other side of the country. Thousands of miles away from the only place you had ever known. It became even worse when you had packed up your car and refused to let your parents drive you. They were so shocked and so heartbroken that they barely were able to protest when you gave them a faint goodbye, long bone crushing hugs, and pulled out of the driveway.

Maybe, they were so certain that you relied on them and that town so much that you would never leave their sides. Or maybe they felt like they didn’t need a large goodbye and that you would be back in their arms within months of being away. That the thought of being alone in a foreign place would send your anxiety through the roof and ultimately drive you back home after what happened when you were just sixteen.

You had thought about the incident plenty of times. It was what changed your family and ultimately broke it. It was that very terrifying memory that drove the scary thoughts that you would be back in that small town in records time. And throughout the whole drive that took days to get to your destination, the reality hadn’t set in until you saw that sign. It was then as you stared at the letters, that you knew that if you didn’t want to run then, you weren’t going to want to run back home maybe ever.

Some time between graduation and driving onto campus, things changed in you. You felt like you when you were sixteen again except this time more free. Changing that obedient student who stayed in on the weekends to study for tests weeks in advance, to someone who wanted to go out and do all of the things she missed out on. She became someone that wanted to be the one who went out with friends and got drunk at parties on the weekends.

She wanted to be the girl that went on dates with random college guys on campus. She wanted to sleep with a boy and then kick him out of her dorm room the next morning. Somewhere between being eighteen to nineteen, the old you resurfaced. Like your parents weren’t there, trying to hide the world from you anymore. You were now a young adult who was capable of taking care of herself. In fact you were a college student who had no intentions of returning home to just sit back in that sad house and stare at those walls all day, separating you from the world that you had yet to know anything about.

Now here you were no longer dressed in those baggy grey sweatpants and holey oversized hoodies, face bare, with your hair pulled out of your face. Instead, hair flowing freely down your back, makeup gracing across your features as you wore a pair of tight fitted blue jeans with a white long sleeve t-shirt and a red flannel. Bunny slippers left lazily behind in the closet that was filled with your brother’s t-shirts and cozy socks. In their place was a pair of white converse laced tightly against your feet providing comfort and style. This was who you were at the moment and you couldn’t wait to go and have some fun.

As you were pulling into a parking lot near the hall that supposedly housed your dorm, you had caught a glimpse out of your window at the quad. A vast green area filled with small paths and large cherry blossom trees. They scattered the lawn providing shade and comfort away from the raging halls and campus parties. There was a part of you that wanted to just pull the car over and run to get a better look at the area, but knew that you had other things to do like eat and unpack. Maybe sleep. You had been in this car for far too long and now that you were here, there would be plenty of time to explore later.

Pulling the car into an empty parking spot, you turned it off and took the keys from the ignition, stuffing them into the pocket of your jeans. You opened the door and climbed out, stretching your arms over your head as you did so. Looking around, you could only see a few students hugging their parents goodbye all having tears in their eyes or traveling down their faces. You knew if you had successfully found the main hall to ask someone about where the keys to your dorm and schedule were that you would no doubt see the same thing but to a higher level.

You could have easily stopped and asked the many students that had been walking around the campus, especially the ones that were dressed in purple school tee shirts, bright smiles pulled across their faces about where to go. But for some unknown reason, you kept driving towards Parker Hall, thinking that your roommate was probably already settled into your sharing room and could just escort you to get your keys and your schedule. It was the best idea you had at the time since you were a freshman and didn’t know where anything was. Also considering, you were there without your parents, your roommate was the only option you thought you had at the moment.

You convinced yourself so much that you wandered into the building and up the stairs already gaining a sniff of the musty hallways that were coated in white paint. Your eyes scanned the hall that seemed to be empty with doors closed and already decorated with pictures and names of the girls that resided with them. Suddenly at the sound of a small hiss, your eyes directed towards the end of the hall and felt relieved at the sight of one door open on the end where a blonde girl was struggling to pull in a large mattress. Were we supposed to bring our own mattresses? You thought to yourself as you approached the girl trying to wipe off the confused and slightly frustrated look on your face.

“Need some help?” you asked, your voice gaining the attention of the girl.

Her head lifted revealing her smooth pale skin and large green doe eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled into a tight ponytail at the top of her head, curling at the end. She was around the same height as you dressed in a pastel pink sweater with a white collar and a pair of jeans to go with her squeaky clean white sneakers. Realizing you were talking to her, she nodded with a soft smile as you proceeded forward and grabbed the other end of the mattress. You began to push as she pulled, already feeling the mattress slowly shift forward through the door.

“Were we supposed to bring our own mattresses or something?” you asked, glancing at the stainless plush padding in your hand as your grip on the corner tightened, feeling your nails sink into it.

“No,” the girl replied, yanking at the mattress as her cheeks puffed out in discontent, “I just prefer it more than the ones they provide.”

“So, is there a reason you are trying to pull it into your room by yourself then?”

“Oh, yeah well I told my mom that I could handle it so she left and as soon as my roommate laid eyes on it she stormed out of the room,” she explained as the mattress moved forward about halfway into the room. “I’m Emily, by the way. Emily Willard.”

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you chuckled at her attempts to make introductions now of all times.

After that, silence consumed the both of you besides the casual grunt or hiss as your muscles burned from pushing and lifting at the mattress. Minutes later, you had managed to get it all the way into the small quaint room and nestled into the wooden bed-frame that sat up against the wall of the room. It was opposite of the other bed that was already made and full of decorative pillows. You let out a loud sigh after the mattress fell into its place onto the frame and ran your fingers through your hair, feeling the small beads of sweat that had gathered at your hairline.

“Thank you,” Emily smiled while bending over and holding onto her knees.

“Yeah, no problem,” you laughed, smiling back at the blonde.

As another minute passed, she finally stood back up seeming to have recovered from the lifting. She began to put a few boxes onto the mattress as she made conversation, “So have you gotten moved in yet?”

“Actually, no.” you admitted, causing her movements to stop and look over her shoulder towards you, “I was wondering if you knew which room was Maggie… Harting’s. I’m her roommate.”

“Oh, yeah. I met her. Dressed in leather. Total badass. She’s actually just across the hall, met her when my mom and I were unloading boxes,” Emily said, gesturing towards the hallway.

“Cool. Thanks.” the words were short as your attention now was drawn to the hallway and your new roommate that you had yet to meet but now were intrigued by.

“Not have your keys yet?” Emily’s voice perked up causing you to turn back towards her.

You shook your head as your hand found its way into your jean pocket fiddling with the material on the inside, “No, I don’t know where to get them. Just thought it would be easier to find the roommate and ask her instead of question one of the purple greeters.”

Emily laughed as you referred to the upperclassmen that were sprawled across campus ready to help and answer any questions to settle in the freshman or new students. “I completely understand. Well, if your roommate turns out to be anything like mine. Feel free to wander across the hall and I’ll be more than happy to show you where to go or help you move in.”

“Thanks, that sounds great. I’m sure I’ll see you around,” you waved, stepping out into the hallway with a small smile on your lips.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied reciprocating the wave before her door slowly clicked shut, leaving her to unpack and settle into the small room.

You took a deep breath as you walked over towards the door that held where you supposedly were going to spend the next, however, months of your life with a stranger as your roommate. Staring at the empty wooden door, one that wasn’t covered in pictures or had a name written across a white board, you lifted your hand and knocked softly. Your heart was beating loudly in the base of your chest at the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. Before you could even think it was pulled open quickly and you were met with exactly what Emily had described.

Badass dressed in leather. A girl who was a few inches shorter than you stood on the other side of the door with dark black hair that had pink ends pulled into a messy bun at the top of her head. She had olive skin and dark brown eyes that supported a black liner drawn with a wing. With black studded earrings that matched the black choker around her neck, she was wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket that hung over the blue tank top she wore underneath. As your gaze fell towards the ground, they fell on a pair of chunky black boots that had safety pins sticking out of the shoes’ flaps. Slowly, as your eyes lifted back up towards her face, you were met with a smirk etched across her mouth, the corners of her lips lifting ever so slightly.

“You must be Y/N Y/L/N. I was beginning to think you were dead or lost or not going to show up at all.”

You smiled sheepishly at how she was right with one simple glance at you, “Yeah and you must be Maggie.”

“You bet your ass I am,” she grinned, throwing the door open to reveal her -- well your room to you. “So what did you lose your key already?”

You stepped in slowly and shook your head as she closed the door behind you. Scanning the room, you took in the small space. On either side of the room, there were two twin size beds pushed up against the walls, one of which was still left bare. In between the two beds were two nightstands that sat under the only window. Just below each of the beds there were two desks sat up at the wall, yours being the one that sat really close to the door.

Over towards the bed that Maggie had obviously claimed was two closets one that was probably already filled with her black leather and jeans. With just being in Emily’s room, it looked almost identical to hers except it was in the opposite direction, but you were too focused on trying to drag a mattress through her front door to actually take the time to really look at it. The room still looked not all the way settled though Maggie’s black bedspread was wrinkled and there were clothes thrown over the chair at her desk. She was already settled but with your side still untouched and completely bare, the room overall looked incomplete.

Realizing that you had yet to answer Maggie’s question, you turned on your heels to see her leaning up against the door looking at you with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, no. I haven’t gone to get them yet. I was hoping you would show me where I’m supposed to get them and my schedule if you’re not busy.”

She snorted out a small laugh as she pushed herself up and off the door, “Please, I’ve been here since this morning practically waiting for you to get here so I’d be more than welcome to escort you to your keys.”

With that, she pulled open the door and strode out in the hallway giving you a view of the shave at the back of her head that was right above her neck. You stared at it for a second before you followed, closing the door behind you. From there you walked alongside her down the stairs and out of Parker Hall. She led you past the parking lot where your car sat, abandoned, and full of your shit towards who knows where.

For the next seven minutes, Maggie walked you down towards the main hall passed the groups of settling students and towering pine trees. All while making conversation of her home. She lived around an hour and a half away with her parents, younger sister, and Nana. Her dad was a huge business man and had a lot of money which was partly the reason she was able to get into this college. Not once had she seemed bothered by her father’s money and was rather comfortable explaining to you what her relationship was like with him and back at home. She also talked about what high school was like and how she had broken off things with her hot boyfriend of four years that drove a motorcycle.

Your favorite part was when she talked about her old friends and though people thought that they were bad news because they wore leather, they really were just hilarious outcasts that pulled pranks on each other all day. Just as you gained sight of the main hall that was lined with college students and parents all signing in and getting their own keys and schedules, you were pulled aside by Maggie’s arm gripping your elbow.

“What?” you asked, eyeing her raised eyebrows and curious smile.

You may have not picked up on it because you were pulled into her stories of home but she had easily noticed that you hadn’t said anything about yourself or your family. “You haven’t said anything about what it’s like where you’re from. Why aren’t your parents here dropping you off?”

Sighing at the question, only made her raise her eyebrows higher and you knew that because you would be living with her for the school year that you wouldn’t be able to keep everything from her forever. “It’s a long story. Simple answer, I didn’t want them to so instead I just packed up my car and drove here myself.”

You went to turn back towards the line but Maggie’s hand refused to fall from your arm and instead tightened causing you to look back at her, getting a little annoyed. “Wait, where are you from?”

Taking a deep breath, you muttered the name of the small town and watched as no recognition passed over her face but only scrunched up further into confusion. “Where’s that?” she asked.

“It’s across the country. Twenty-six hours across the country,” you replied, rolling your eyes lightly as hers widened, causing her brown orbs to broaden and her mouth to fall open. “Look I’ll explain as soon as we get my keys and schedule okay?”

Her confusion instantly fell away and in its place was pure determination. She smirked and her head tilted to the side as a glint filled her eyes. Her hand that had still yet to fall from your arm yanked as she turned around and began to drag you up towards the tables that sat in front of the main hall. She pulled you behind her as she passed fellow new students and parents resulting in some to gasp or call out the fact that you were cutting.

As you made it to the front, Maggie pushed aside a tall raven haired boy who was in the middle of asking the girl sitting at the table something, who was dressed in the same purple shirt you had seen on many people by now. He hissed as he stood off to the side feeling his mother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He glared daggers towards Maggie and your eyes widened as his arm reached out to grab a hold of her leather jacket.

“Hey, don’t you know it’s rude to cut. We all want to get settled in as much as you do, alright,” he hissed again, his chest rising up and down as he spat the words.

Maggie finally turned to look at him, seeming unbothered by his killing glare so much that she sent a smug grin instead. “Oh, put a sock in it. It’s not like we’re going to stand around asking questions to stall having to say goodbye to mommy and daddy. We just need our keys and schedules then we’ll be on our way.”

You could hear the gasp came from the boy’s mother at his side, causing his face to swell and turn red in anger but instead of stepping forward to spit more insults at your roommate, he looked away from her and began to tap his foot impatiently on the concrete ground. Maggie rolled her eyes at his childish antics before turning back towards the upperclassman that stood silent watching the scene play out. She was tall with straight honey colored hair and pale skin, her award-winning smile now vanished. Though looking like she was about to protest, she was silenced by Maggie’s piercing glare.

“Okay, we’re here to get keys and a schedule,” she said calmly, leaning down with her hands grabbing at the end of the table.

“What hall?” the girl asked, her voice soft, still refusing to look up.

Maggie bit onto her bottom lip as her index finger began to scrape against the table, “Parker Hall, Y/N Y/L/N.”

Silently the upperclassman began to push through the files sat on the table and after about a minute or so pulled out a cream colored folder along with a key hung around a dark purple spiral wrist key chain. Holding out the folder and wrist band, Maggie plucked it from her hands and smiled sweetly, “Pleasure doing business with you.”

She then took a hold of your elbow again and led you away from the table making sure to send a shit eating grin towards the boy and his parents. You were still shocked by the whole thing even as you were walking back towards your hall folder and key in hand.

You began to thumb through the folder, locating your schedule that had your classes and where they were located but were pulled away from the wristband in your hand. The silver whistle was colliding with the set of keys causing a small clink as you walked. Your eyebrows furrowed on it and as you looked up towards Maggie, who was walking eyes glancing from the sidewalk to her phone, you spoke up to ask.

“What’s with the whistle?” you asked, causing Maggie to look over towards you and the wristband in your hand.

“U.W. rape whistle.”

“What?” you asked, surprised by the answer but realizing that it could have made sense with that it was a much bigger campus smacked in the middle of a city.

She looked back over towards you and perked up before opening her mouth for a high pitch voice to replace her own. “Blow it only if it’s actually happening.”

You quickly caught on that she was imitating the upperclassmen or whoever clearly gave her the set of her keys and schedule. Chuckling, you shake your head and move the spiral wristband around your wrist putting the whistle aside from your thoughts. You didn’t talk again until you got back to the hall and as Maggie went to head towards the door she stopped upon noticing you walk into a different direction. She followed to finally lay eyes on your Volkswagen golf that was all the way filled from the trunk all the way to the passenger seat with boxes and suitcases.

“Okay, wow,” she said, shoving her phone back into the pocket of her jeans as she watched you pull open the passenger door and grab a cardboard box.

“What, didn’t I say that I drove here?”

“Yeah, but I never expected this,” Maggie shrugged as you grabbed a backpack and swung it on your shoulders while taking another smaller box for her.

“Well, I did drive twenty-six hours and I don’t plan on driving back any time soon,” you admitted, closing the passenger door and heading towards the door of the hall.

Maggie followed all the way in and up the stairs towards the hall. You stopped in front of your door as you noticed a blonde ponytail in the hall writing on a whiteboard with a pink dry erase marker. At the sound of your steps, she turned a smile instantly falling on her face as she saw it’s you.

“Hey,” she said, moving away to reveal the door to her room. It was decorated with pink cut out hearts and flowers all surrounding a whiteboard that had ‘Lindsey & Emily’ written across in perfect cursive with the color pink.

“Hey, nice job on the door!”

“We are so not doing that to our door,” Maggie leaned over to you, mumbling underneath her breath.

Emily ignored Maggie’s comment, “Thanks, need some help?”

You nodded, moving to open the door to your room, “Yes, please.”

Once you unlocked the door, Emily held it open for you as you walked in and dropped the box that happened to be filled with books onto your bed, a sigh leaving your lips as you did. You turned back to the door to see Maggie following and setting the box at the end of the bed just as she a glance towards the blonde in the doorway. “Maggie, you’ve met Emily right? She’s just across the hall.”

“Yeah we have,” Maggie smiled, sending a short wave, “Hey!”

Emily smiled as you exited back out of the room and began to head down the stairs towards your car. They both followed you, hot on your heels when Maggie’s voice broke the silence as your vehicle came back into view. “So, can I ask questions now or do you need to wait until Em is out of ear shot?”

You rolled your eyes playfully as you popped open the trunk and began to look at what had been stuffed in a day or so prior. “You can ask.”

“What are you asking about?” Emily voiced, curious at her name being brought up by Maggie.

“Oh, Y/N here lives in a small town twenty-six hours away and drove here by herself without her parents,” Maggie replied looking over towards Emily, who’s eyes had widened into saucers.

“Maggie!”

“What? I have a feeling that she is going to be around with us for a while. She’s cool so she can probably know.”

You nodded as you picked up some boxes and began to place them on the ground for them to pick up, “Alright fair enough. You can ask two questions, that’s it. Then once everything is unloaded out of the car and into our room, I will allow you to ask more as I unpack. Okay?”

They both nodded in agreement as they went to pick up the boxes. Maggie being the first to ask a question. “So why didn’t you want your parents to come?”

Picking up another box full of clothes, you followed them as they turned towards the hall, “It’s complicated but basically I wanted to do this on my own. Prove a point, plus I didn’t want them to have to drive all the way over here and then drive back.”

“Fair enough,” Maggie said, beginning to climb up the brown dirt covered stairs.

“One more,” you stated voice sharp, “Better make it good because it will be at least twenty minutes before I answer any more.”

“Why here?” Emily asked cutting off Maggie before she could get the chance, “I mean I can barely stand that I’m two hours away but twenty-six. Why choose Washington?”

You were about to walk through the door of your room but stopped in the doorway, looking over your shoulder towards the two girls you had a feeling were going to become close friends of yours. You sighed, your eyes falling to the floor as you spoke, “It’s far away that no one knows who I am and I can get a fresh start, plus it’s so far away that I won’t have to go back.”

After you gave two curt replies to the questions asked, the next twenty minutes unloading the car was spent talking about what the school year was probably going to be like, since they couldn’t ask any follow up questions until after everything was unloaded out of the car and up into your dorm room. You could tell that even though they were enjoying the casual conversation, Maggie and Emily were still well intrigued about your intentions of leaving home and coming here. You knew from just looking at them and hearing their lame jokes about the upperclassmen and the purple shirts, that by the time you were upstairs and in your room they would be jumping you with their questions.

So much so that the second the door slammed shut behind you, leaving the three of you enclosed in the room filled with unemptied boxes and cases, they were basically screaming. After they calmed down, you stuck to your word and told them basically everything. Well most of it.

The tragedy in your family and the secret with it, you couldn’t mumble out because they were basically still strangers and this was too important. Instead, you told them of what you were like as a kid and why your parents were so set on the idea of you going to local university or taking online classes. You explained the anxiety that had formed in your stomach as a teenager and why you had grown to be so used to blending in with everyone else. By the time you had said that you were here to start fresh and resign from your spot on the sidelines watching, there were smiles spread across both of their faces.

The first one to speak was Maggie who had expressed her opinion by sending you a solute and yelling out, “you’re a doer not a watcher.”

They obviously felt that it must be hard being so far away but admired your efforts to break out of your shell and flourish out in the real world. So much that within the next three hours, you all spent time in the dorm room unpacking and talking about everything about one another desperate to gain any information about the new friends you all had made.

You were straightening out the grey comforter on your bed and fluffing out the pillows when you heard a gasp come from the other side of the room. You turned at the sound towards Maggie’s bed where she sat criss-cross-applesauce, leaning against the wall with Emily’s legs swung over her lap. Her eyes were wide in excitement as her mouth was left slightly parted showing the smile that had formed. You and Emily shared a glance before looking back towards Maggie.

“What?” Emily asked leaning up on her elbows as Maggie sent a smirk from her towards you.

“Oh, no. What is it?” you questioned, already having a feeling that whatever was going to come out of her mouth was bound to be trouble.

Maggie was practically glowing as she moved from the bed and stood up causing Emily’s legs to fall from the bed in the process. “We are now college students and I say it’s time for us to celebrate.”

“Celebrate, exactly how?” you asked cautiously as she crossed her arms over her chest and popped out a hip.

“It’s the first day of everyone being back on campus there is bound to be a party somewhere,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

That’s when you noticed Emily sit up from the bed raising a hand to interject, “Yeah there’s one at the sorority house. Alpha Delta Pi, I think. Usually their parties are for sororities and fraternities only but my roommate said that because it’s the first official day of everyone being back that it’s open for everyone on campus.”

“I knew that I liked you for a reason,” Maggie stated proudly, “So what do you say, Y/L/N?”

“A party?” you asked, getting a nod from her causing her bun to bounce a little, “No, I don’t think so I haven’t even finished unpacking yet.”

“So, you can do that tomorrow,” Maggie persuaded, moving towards your closet that held half of your clothes so far. She thumbed through it before stopping at one hanger that held an off the shoulder black long sleeve shirt that still had the tag on it, “Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to have fun.”

At her smooth words and the hanger she plucked from within the rack, you felt your heart flutter with nerves. As your eyes scanned from the smug look on her face towards the shirt, and then to Emily who sat with a raised eyebrow and sweet smile, a smirk fell onto your lips with ease. “Yeah, I guess I did. So where’s this sorority house located?”

a/n: hey! here’s the first party of my new series and sorry if it’s a little boring but I wanted to get introductions and the reader’s backstory out of the way. don’t worry shawn will be in the next part! :)

next part

#shawn mendes #shawn #mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fanfic #my writing #shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes au #college au #sorority #fraternity #shawn x reader #shawn x y/n #shawn x you #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes x y/n #shawn mendes x you

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dokidokey · 4 years ago

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all you wanted was a banana cake but you also made a successful, albeit messy, red velvet someway.

fluffvember track 09: food fight

word count: 1575

warnings: mentions of fire & of burning a whole house that is all

notes: idek my exams are tomorrow but letssss gooooo

FLUFFVEMBER MASTERLIST

“Do banana cakes have frosting?” You ask Tendou as he stirs the batter of your banana cake, his apron matching the crimson shade of his head. You can’t help but admire him under the 8 AM sunlight filtered through your glass windows in your tiny apartment, his red hair and red apron standing out from the white background of your kitchen.

Tendou hums, looking up from the bowl to you. “Depends. Why?”

“Nothing,” you shrug, “all the banana cakes I’ve had when I was a kid were from this local cake shop and they’re all sliced. The carrot cake, too.”

“So you’ve never had a whole carrot cake with the frosting?”

“Nope,” you say, pouting and shaking your head side to side, smiling slightly to yourself as Satori pours the batter into two rectangular pans. For a chocolatier that only tried this recipe with you because you kept pestering him the moment you woke up, you think this experiment will end up good. You sure hope so or all your effort will go to waste.

Tendou taps the side of one of the pans and calls you over, tipping his head slightly at the side. “Do the honors of putting your precious banana cake in the oven.”

You originally wanted a carrot cake (one with frosting and like, a real cake) but it was so early you didn’t have enough energy for a quick early morning grocery run, so you ended up making a banana cake instead with what’s left of the banana sitting in your kitchen counter.

Picking up the pans, you crouch down in front of the oven and place them neatly inside, humming happily to yourself as you close it and click it on, satisfied at the sounds of the machine.

“There,” you stand back, rubbing your palms on your black apron, “we wait 30 minutes, right?” You ask Satori for confirmation because you really aren’t sure. You didn’t bother to read the recipe because Tendou was there to read it for you. All you did was mix whatever he told you to.

It’s not that you’re lazy. Not really. But the trauma of setting your kitchen on fire never quite left you. At eight, without any adult supervision, you almost set your whole kitchen (and house, probably, if your parents had not come home any sooner,) on fire. All you wanted was some omelet but somehow got distracted. You didn’t know the kitchen was on fire until you heard ceramics break. Walking back in the kitchen, you saw the ceiling and your cupboards (both the floating and the lower ones) on fire, the reason why the plates and glasses fell.

You’d never talk about how bad you got reprimanded for that.

Since then, you never cooked on your own, much less stay inside the kitchen, unless you have someone with you. It’ll take a lot of convincing for you to open the stove or light a candle inside your home.

“You could just make this on your own,” Tendou says, opening your fridge and taking out an orange juice box.

Scoffing, you get two clear glasses from your floating shelf. “As if. You’d never see me start a fire inside this home ever.”

“There aren’t any fires involved,” he says obviously, raising an eyebrow at the oven holding your banana cakes.

“No, thank you. What if I forget or whatever? What if it decides to, I don’t know, malfunction? I’d hate to set this whole apartment on fire, you know?”

Satori just chuckles at your little rant, pouring you both a half glass of orange juice. He’d once complained to you why you only have orange juice and not pineapple or cranberry or apple. Orange juice is the only juice you can stomach ever.

“If you had a longer attention span then you’d probably be a chef right now. An omelet at eight? Pretty impressive.”

You scowl at him. “Yeah, pretty impressive of me to almost turn our whole house to ashes. So talented of me!”

Tendou laughs, downing his juice and moving toward the sink. He starts piling the dirty plates and containers in the corner.

“You’re lucky you never got to－”

The banana sure will taste good if it ends up right because the batter is sweet on your lips, courtesy of Satori smearing it on you after dipping his fingers on the leftover batter on the bowl. Licking your lips to clean it off, you glare at him, eyeing the bowl that he put next to him.

“Tastes good?” He asks, holding back his laughter, scarlet eyes shining in mirth. You say nothing but you do quickly scour off some portion of the batter to your finger and wiping it on his cheek. You throw your head back at the light yellow color contrasting his pretty pale complexion.

“Tastes good?” You mimic, scooping some more and painting his chin and jaw with the sticky mixture. There’s a smirk playing at the ends of his lips and you should have seen it coming but the slimy feeling of the leftover eggs being thrown at your collarbone area is absolutely disgusting. A shiver whacks through your whole body as it trickles down the inside of your shirt and on your chest.

“Satori!” You complain, a scoff and a laugh merging into an absurd sound, laying a palm on your skin to somehow rid of the egg but you just shudder. “This is cheating!”

Tendou moves on the other side of the island, clutching a bowl of whatever leftover ingredients you had. “It’s not!” He giggles, clutching a handful of flour and flicking it on your face. A surprised gasp finds its way out of your lips, blinking repeatedly as you try to see through the power caught on your eyelashes.

A sudden idea for a payback lights up in your head as you whine. “Satori, I can’t see.”

“Oh, really?” He muses, clearly unconvinced. But you make an act of rubbing your closed eyelids and trying to blink your eyes open which you purposely don’t fully open, another whine of complaint coming from you.

This time, Satori relents. He puts down his bowl of flour on the marble top and makes his way over to you, a guilty expression on his face. He coos as he stands close, hands gentle as they hover over your face.

“Let me see,” he says and behind you, you grasp whatever it is you first touch, hoping it has something in it or else your act of revenge will fail. Gripping the container tight around your fist, you bring it forward and shove it on Tendou’s chest. He steps back, aghast, feeling his clothes soak in the water. You aren’t content though so you shove the rest of what’s left in the pitcher, this time on his face. His red eyes are wide in shock as he looks at you.

“Y/N,” he bemoans, a hand wiping the water off his pretty face, “this is cheating.”

“It’s nooooot,” you sing, shaking the pitcher on your hold tauntingly, moving away from him in case he tries to get you soaked too by hugging you. You place the pitcher on the island beside his bowl of flour, picking a handful and throwing the powder at him. A cackle slips past your throat at how he looks, cakes with flour that is sticking to his face because it was wet and the right side of his cheek and jaw a little uneven from the batter you smeared on it earlier. “You look really pretty, Tori,” you snicker.

“I bet,” he grins, winking at you and even holding up a peace sign in the air.

“We’re taking pictures after!” You announce, grabbing an egg and hurling it toward him, which he quickly dodges. The egg lands on the wall, slipping down the tiles in a yellowish goo. Damn him and his quick instincts. There’s a victorious, “hah!” from him, grabbing the banana peels on the counter and chucking it at you, hitting you square in the face.

“There you go,” he smiles, stealing the bowl of flour and grabbing a handful on his left hand, a handful of batter on his right. He molds the two to make it like a little snowball, the little ball barrelling in your direction. You barely step away from it, catching you by the neck. Your scream from the impact slowly bleeds out into loud peaks of laughter, head thrown back with a hand on the fridge door for support.

“Please, please no more,” you beg between giggles, eyeing Satori as he closes the distance between the two of you. His arms quickly make their way around your waist, his own laughter spilling past his lips.

He raises his eyebrows with a smile on his face, eyes shining. “You surrendered when I took most of the blows?”

You laugh harder, wiping his face clean with your palms. “You look like a badly made cake,” you wheeze.

“I’m your badly made cake,” he says, leaning his face closer to yours. With giggles still erupting from within you, you tip your head back away from his face.

“A red velvet one,” you grin, hands coming up at the back of his neck, playing with the red strands of his hair. Satori hums, pecking you once, twice, until you’re laughing again because he managed to smear what was on his face to yours.

this was late (and uh, a little all over the place) but whatever hahdiejdjd

#i am so behind smh #tendou satori #tendou satori x reader #tendou fluff #tendou angst #tendou headcanon #haikyuu #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu angst #haikyuu headcanons #fluffvember 2020

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fanfics-with-coffee · 4 years ago

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Beach Day

Beach day with your boyfriends, Akaashi and Bokuto, gone wrong silly?

Genre: P u r e fluff Characters: Poly!Akaashi x reader x Bokuto

As soon as you stepped off the bus you shielded your eyes from the glaring sun which had been blaring down on you and your boyfriends for days now. In front of you there was the never ending expanse of ocean, the horizon only broken by the uneven specks of islands far off in the distance. “WHOA, THERE'S SO MANY ISLANDS AROUND HERE, you think they can see us from all the way over there?" Bokuto's voice broke through the sound of the city behind you and the sound of the never ending noise of the people on the beach in front of you. "I think you should worry more about the people right here on the beach for now." Akaashi reminded the over excited man, squinting as he watched the people right below you three. Looking at the two standing on either side of you, you smiled and watched how Bokuto seemed to suddenly realize the sheer amount of people on the beach right now. Akaashi didn't seem as entranced by Bokuto's shocked face as you were and sighed, starting to lead the way down the stairs connecting the bus stop to the sand below. "C'mon owl-boy, we gotta look for a good spot to settle down or you're never gonna be able to play volleyball" you playfully teased, pulling on the fully unbuttoned, short sleeved, Hawaiian shirt and he obediently followed you, a volleyball stuck under his arm.

It was clear that you guys weren't the only people who thought today had been the perfect beach day as it was bustling with activity and people sunbathing, as well as people just normally bathing in the deep blue waves softly hitting the beach. Luckily everyone had dressed for the weather, Bokuto wearing the coolest outfit as he had just thrown on his swimming trunks and the fittingly silly hawaiian shirt which he had left unbuttoned, not that you complained. Akaashi went a bit more modest as he decided to at least throw on a proper white T-shirt with his trunks, a pair of sunglasses placed atop his head for the moment being. You dressed similarly, your bathing clothes working as a base together with whatever you felt was modest enough to travel on a bus with but nothing that would make you sweat in the summer heat. But you would be lying if you weren’t just waiting to get out of it and just lay in the shade, reading a book while watching your two favourite people play volleyball and maybe take a walk along the shore.

You quickly realised that that might be a much more difficult goal to accomplish then you had initially thought as every possible spot with availability to shade had already been claimed by people with similar plans. Akaashi had at this point taken your hand in his, afraid you’d be lost among the people. “Hey, Akaashiii, how come you’re not holding my hand huh? Aren’t you afraid I’d get lost too?” Bokuto sped up his pace to match yours, holding out his hand and making a grabby motion towards the raven haired man, pouting. “How could I? I’d probably hear you all the way from those islands you were talking about” He glanced back at you two, seemingly adamant about his decision to only hold your hand for now. But that didn’t last as he looked at Bokuto for more then two seconds and without another word he held out his other hand too. The older man instantly perked up and took ahold, happily being dragged along now. “You’re impossible..” “And yet you love usss.” You mused with Bokuto putting a hand on the small of your back, grinning. And so your trio moved across the beach.

“Hey, doesn’t that look like a good spot?” After only a minute or so you finally spotted a big enough place in the shade for you all to comfortable set up for the day. Bokuto vocally expressed his excitement, suddenly taking the lead and pulling you all along, no questions asked. Akaashi had almost tripped in the sand when his arm suddenly jerked in the direction of the spot but managed to catch himself before checking so you had survived the pull too. Thankfully you had, and not only that, you were laughing at the silliness of your boyfriends antics. But things didn’t go as planned as you got closer to the so called promised land.

“Oo- Half-n-half?” Bokuto stopped dead in his tracks, and dropped not only your hand but the ball he had been carrying too, surprised by the familiar face standing in front of him.

“Eh? What do you mean half-n-half… Your hair isn’t much better…” Kenma glared, a switch in his hands and a sports bag slung over his shoulder. You were about as surprised as Bokuto was and then you heard someone else speak up.

“What, you’re just gonna ignore me, owl bastard?” “ROOSTER HEAD?” “Don’t act like you didn’t ignore me on purpose!”

As the sudden dispute escalated between Kuroo and your own “owl bastard”, you took the moment to get your head around the situation, so did Akaashi who pulled up his own bag and picked up the one Bokuto had dropped in his shock. You looked to Kenma who was busy getting mildly annoyed at the two bickering men, impatiently waiting for them to calm down.

“So you and Kuroo are here for a beach day yourselves, huh, Kenma?” You smiled, taking a couple steps closer so you wouldn’t have to yell. He finally looked at you and vaguely nodded his head before looking back.

“I guess, Kuroo wanted to get a tan and dragged me along with him. I’m just planning on gaming though, I’m not looking to get a sun burn.” You hummed in acknowledgment, you weren’t surprised that Kenma wasn’t the one who initiated the trip. “That’s why we need the shade here, it’s difficult to play games with a sun glare on the screen”

The way he looked at you was almost challenging, like he made it clear that he wasn’t willing to give up the shaded spot. While you had been around Kenma a couple times along with Kuroo and Bokuto, you had never stood between him and something he wanted so were a little taken aback. Luckily, Akaashi was quick to back you up even if there was no real danger.

“I’m guessing its about as difficult as reading a book with the sun in your eyes.” Akaashi’s responded for you, clearly not backing down as he let a hand land on your waist. Kenma glanced at his hand and then the small bag you were carrying, quickly connecting the dots and pursing his lips. By now the two other people in your group had noticed what was going on and stopped their own shenanigans, curious about the situation that had formed. Kuroo was the first to separate from Bokuto, walking over to standing besides Kenma with a smirk. Bokuto in return walked over to Akaashi and you, putting his hands on his hips while wearing a confident grin.

“Seems like none of us are willing to give up the spot, eh?” Kuroo glanced at Kenma who was still staring at you three.

“Nope! So if you want it, you gotta take it from us fair and square! Right Akaashi? Y/N?” Bokuto quickly looked to you two, expectantly waiting for confirmation. While he looked like an owl, he reminded you more of a puppy.

“Right. It’s the least you can do for the spot, Nekoma.” Akaashi backed him up, something that Bokuto clearly got excited about. You looked to the two and sighed, smiling despite yourself.

The two opponents nodded and within seconds they were coming up with fair suggestions on how they could fight for the spot. Volleyball came up immediately but because of the little space on the beach, there wasn’t really a way to play during these busy hours. But after that, they came to the agreement of a race. To the ice cream shack and back to the spot, first team member to get there won it. Simple goal, simple rules.

“Y/N, you’ll be the judge.” Akaashi made eye contact to confirm his statement, checking so you would agree with it just in case. You nod, of course and straighten your back a little to prove your attention the assignment. Kuroo clearly perked up at this fact, getting playfully smug face.

“Hmm? How can we know they won’t be biased?” He asked, tilting his head. He knew you wouldn’t, you could see that in his eyes, but he couldn’t help wanting to provoke your boyfriends a little. Something that clearly worked as Bokuto puffed up his chest and furrowed his brows. Kenma gently slapped Kuroo’s arm, annoyed he had even agreed to this competition from the beginning and now he was prolonging the whole thing with useless teasing.

“Our Y/N? Never! That’s preposterous!” He argued, ready to get in another harmless tussle with the tall, dark-haired man. He was ready to defend your honor at the drop of a hat even if it was absolutely unnecessary as Akaashi mentioned that no one in this situation could be totally unbiased. Realising if you didn’t interrupt the situation now they would go on another discussion that would last god knows how long. And so you cleared your throat, gaining the mens attention while you pulled out a tissue from your bag, holding it up.

“Participants on your mark!” You said aloud, said participants quickly moving and pointing to each others feet as they scrambled to get on an even row, Akaashi taking an obvious leadership role in this. “Get ready!” You raised the tissue.

Paused. And..

“GO!”

You dropped your hand, the white tissue acting as the starting shot. They started running, throwing up sand behind them and leaving you in the shade, together with a Hawaiian shirt thrown off last second. You kept an eyes on them as they ran towards the ice cream shack but you noticed that Kenma was already falling behind, he clearly had a worse footing then the other three on the sand. While you wish you could’ve seen the whole thing with your eyes, they ended up getting lost in the maze of bodies, fighting to find the quickest way to the faded blue building. Bokuto and Kuroo were keeping their eyes on each other, throwing looks as they saw their competitor between unrelated bodies. Akaashi on the other hand was running his own race, his eyes darting from spot to spot as to find the smartest and most efficient way. Kenma got further and further behind, unable to keep up but still working logically, dodging people with practiced ease.

As they reached the shack, Bokuto and Kuroo slapped the side of the building only nanoseconds after each other, making eye contact before turning and sprinting back. Akaashi was only seconds behind, seeing the white and black tuft of hair diving back into sea of people and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, thinking back to you. But that didn’t stop him from taking another deep breath and giving it his all on the way back too. Kenma was a… different story. He had run out of steam quickly and by the time he had gotten to the shack, he had already seen Kuroo wave at him. But he kept at it, knowing Kuroo wouldn’t shut up about it if he didn’t.

Back in the shade you had pulled out your water bottle, sipping on in, waiting for someone you recognized. And there he came, jumping out of the crowd, chest exposed and covered in sweat, grinning from ear to ear. Bokuto. Kuroo was the second person you saw but you also realised he was about to get passed by Akaashi whose stamina training was showing. With a shout and a leap, Bokuto crossed the line, hands thrown up in the air and you waved your tissue in the air, grinning almost as big as he was. Kuroo and Akaashi crossed the imagined line at about the same time, both of them stopping to catch their breath, Akaashi leaning his hands on his knees and Kuroo going as far as to sit down.

“D… damn…” Kuroo whispered as he leaned is head back, tilting it so he could watch you and your boyfriends who were celebrating as if they just gotten into Japans national team. Bokuto had grabbed you, lifting you up and spinning around before kissing your lips. Akaashi approaching to congratulate him and got pulled into a sideway hug accompanied by a kiss to his temple from the other. Kuroo couldn’t help but smile before it hit him, where the hell had Kenma gone.

Crossing the finish line minutes after the others, Kenma arrived with an ice lolly, examining the scene and realising what had happened.

“I guess we lost the spot.” He walked up besides Kuroo, taking another lick of his ice cream as he watched your celebrations. You looked over to the Nekoma boys and watched as they started packing their things. While the whole thing had been fun, it wasn’t really your thing to not at least try to compromise. Walking up to them, you smiled and put your hands behind you back.

“Hey, you guy’s don’t actually have to leave”

It wasn’t actually too hard to get everything to work. Since there were now four people wanting to play volleyball, or at least Kenma agreed to play for a bit, they spent majority of the time going at it in the sun. And you enjoyed your time watching them between reading the pages of your book. You had enjoyed your time regardless but seeing your two favourite men, shirtless and shining with sweat in the sun, their muscles visibly moving as they tensed and relaxed. Yeah, you’d enjoy your time but this was way better.

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thedistantstorm · 5 years ago

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Tribute: A Kalluzeb Story (pt 3)

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Pairings: Kallus/Zeb (kalluzeb)

Chapter: 3 of 3 (maaaaybe I’ll write an epilogue, if there’s interest)

AO3 Link Here

Summary: Zeb works on a gift for Kallus, to replace something he’s lost. It’s a gateway to a conversation Zeb wants to have in the future, but there’s something a bit more urgent they need to talk about first.

Notes: Welcome to this monster of a chapter of (almost) 3k words. I haven’t written a good confession fic in probably 10 years. I’ll be over here cringing at how corny I am, let me know if I should write more of them.

<< Previously

The hottest part of the day on the jungle moon is the early afternoon, which seems to drag on for hours longer than the day itself. Most of the rebellion’s techs cope by slinging tarps between the wings of their ships or by dragging their toolkits and benches to rest among the shade provided by the trees, anything to escape the heat and humidity if they are not needed inside the repurposed temple.

Someone had commandeered a large fan, likely one that helped paint dry, and propped it up so that it would circulate air through Ghost's galley and hold, venting it outside more efficiently than the exhaust and creating a bit of a breeze. Zeb knew Kallus was likely responsible for it, and if not directly, he was at least responsible for making sure it stayed put when it was brought to someone's attention that Chopper had stolen it.

Otherwise, Hera would most assuredly return it and suffer in silence. Kallus still frightened enough of the recruits to get away with forcing them to share when it was feasible, but was smooth enough to manage to do so in a way that didn't warrant leadership's negative attention.

Not that Zeb thought anyone would begrudge Hera a fan, once they knew. Though, once everyone finds out about her condition, Hera will likely be so concerned with not showing weakness they’ll have to coddle her extra subtly. She’ll hate every moment of it, but she’ll put up with it from them more than the rest. He’s already resolved not to take any extended missions away while she’s with child. Where she goes, he goes. He doesn’t have the most tact, and he’s no covert operative like Kallus. But he’s a good bodyguard, and a pretty decent-sized shield, should she and the baby need.

The sound of measured boots coming up the ramp tip him off, and he looks up to see Kallus headed towards him. He looks better than last night, despite the absurd heat, he manages to look cool and collected in his jacket, hair swaying slightly in the breeze from the fan as he rounds it to head into the galley where Zeb sits at the round table. He looks good, Zeb thinks. Earthy colors suit him far better than Imperial black and grays.

Kallus strips the jacket the moment he sees Zeb, the freckled skin of his arms immediately visible, catching Zeb’s eye. There’s a wry smile on his face, a little crooked - bashful and unassuming, as if he’s apologizing for his happiness (though that’s diminished a lot over time) - but genuine.

“You’re late,” Zeb drawls, without any heat to it.

He scoffs, the sound disbelieving. “I did not know we had an appointment,” He quips lightly.

The Lasat rubs the back of his head. “I just figured your debrief would’ve been done a while ago. Hera’s already come and gone.”

“Mon Mothma stopped me. She noticed Hera looks a little…” He gestures to his stomach.

“Ah,” Zeb winces. “Y’didn’t-”

“Of course not,” Kallus replies indignantly. “I suggested that if she had any concerns about Ge-” A look stops him in his tracks, there are rules about formality aboard this ship, “about Hera, that perhaps it would be a good idea to go to the source.”

“Smart.”

Kallus nods. “So. You wanted to show me something?” His eyes narrow, focusing on Zeb’s yellow-green ones. “I realize I’m late now-”

“Ha ha,” Zeb interrupts. “I was... workin’ on somethin’ for you. Well, us,” He amends, having to look away under the intensity of Kallus’s baffled gaze, “But… Anyway, I got somethin’ for you. A gift.” The earnest look in his eyes betrays him as he rises, ears tucked back in embarrassment. He jerks the human equivalent of a thumb back towards the crew quarters. “Be back in a second. Don’t leave.” He makes a staying motion with both hands, and Kallus stares after him as he goes, he can feel that amber gaze on his back.

There’s hardly a chance that Kallus will leave unless they wind up under attack, but the words tumble out against Zeb’s wishes, choppy and uneven.

He opens the door to Sabine’s room, a place Kallus would never enter without the Mandalorian’s express permission, and therefore the perfect place to make sure both weapons fully cure unseen. He’d retracted his back to its most compact form already, but Kallus’s would need to be as well. He does so, and the sleek, matte black of the brand new J-19 bo-rifle lines up parallel to his, the engravings painstakingly aligned despite the differences in weapon design.

Fleetingly, he wonders if he shouldn’t have talked himself out of the jaig eyes that had adorned Kanan’s mask, but a moment of clarity strikes, reminds him that the best way he can honor Kanan’s memory - and his sacrifice - is to take care of Hera, to make good on their commitment to this rebellion. To keep moving forward.

He squares his shoulders, slings his weapon across his back and plucks up the one meant to be a gift. If he doesn’t get a move on, Kallus is bound to start getting anxious.

True to form, the rebel captain is pacing.

"And here I was, figurin' I'd be the nervous one," Zeb tries to joke. He laughs, a short sound from the second exit to the galley from which he'd come, keeping the gift out of sight.

"In my experience, a gift isn't always that," He murmurs, inspecting Zeb. "Though… I don't think you'd try to hurt me," He clarifies, softer, ducking his head before looking up, embarrassed. "Old habits," He offers meekly.

"S'ok, Alex," He smiles at the human, who never finds this particular expression to be malevolent or frightening, like a lot of others do. Apparently, to humans, Lasat have a default setting of frightening. Or, at least, Zeb does.

But not to Kallus, who tilts his head to the side, stepping back in what's meant to be a welcoming gesture. "So," He begins, and immediately trails off.

"So," Zeb rubs the back of his head with his free hand, his encumbered one holding the gift inside the doorway, out of view, "I, uh," He winces. Now he's nervous. He shouldn't be, he thinks. It's just Alex. Alex who knows him, sees through all his gruffness, usually knows what he's trying to say better than he does himself. He could just downplay it to practicality if he needs to, he supposes. "Well," He decides, after a five-count of the other man starting to look rather concerned, "Here."

Their gazes meet once more. "Zeb, what-"

The rest of his words get stuck, lodging in his throat as he admires the weapon. Of course, Zeb sees that flicker in his eyes, the self-doubt, the way Kallus believes himself unworthy. "It's not your old one, so you'll have to mod it again, but-"

Kallus finds his voice all of a sudden. It rises sharply in pitch. "Do you have any idea how much these go for on the black market?" He gestures at it, innocent and gleaming in the yellowish lighting of the Ghost's galley. "What am I saying, of course you do," He continues, frantically pacing to subvert some of his nervous energy, biting back what is likely a slew of self-destructive commentary. "Zeb, I-" He swallows. "This is too much. It must have cost a fortune. It's practically brand new!"

Quiet, still holding the weapon out with both massive paws, he waits. Kallus doesn't say anything more.

"It is," Zeb tells him, speaking slow, words carefully measured, as if trying not to send Kallus into a tailspin. When he stops, blinks back, Zeb continues. "New, that is." And then, before Alex can launch into another tirade about costs and how he's likely spent his life's savings on a weapon, he cuts him off. "It's not black market. Some friends a'mine were able to help get parts for my rifle, so I asked out they could help me replace yours."

"I-" His eyes blown wide considering the implications, "What?"

"I paid a fair price, if it makes ya feel better," And then, holding up a hand, he continues, firm, "And no you're not payin' me back."

"But-"

Zeb pads across the room in two big steps, thrusting the weapon against his chest, so that Kallus takes it without thinking, if only to prevent it from clattering to the durasteel floor.

"It's yours," He says, looking down at the shorter man. "I got it for you."

"Garazeb, I truly don't know what to say." He looks down at it, in wonder. "I have so many questions. How did your friends manage to find one so-" He pauses, finally seeing Zeb's handiwork. "Is this?" His eyes find Zeb's, blown wide in surprise, and maybe a little awe. "Did you do this?" He motions to the stock and the symbol etched there. "The detail is incredible."

His ears pull back in self consciousness, a tell arguably more noticeable than a blush in his eyes. His body isn't capable of the same color changing reaction his furless friends are. "Yeah," He says. "That one wasn't too difficult to stencil, it's a flatter surface, and the lines are neat 'n even." He pulls his own weapon over his shoulder. "This one," He says, gesturing to the right side of the concealed staff on Kallus's weapon, while holding his out to show how they match, "Bit more difficult. The curve is tricky, an' all the tails get…" He realizes he's rambling and stops, watching Alex's look of amazement crumple into something still composed, but right on the brink of emotional.

"Purrgil," He breathes, tracing his fingers across the design, eyes flicking over to Zeb's. By design, they look as though they're drifting towards each other. Perfect mirror images. "Zeb, I-" He shakes his head, swallowing thickly. "I really am at a loss for words."

"I was worried it might be a bit too much, but," He exhales, deflating just a bit. "I know you miss 'im too, and even if he joked a lot about how you might still be out to get us-"

"We came to understand each other," Kallus says, "Jabba and I." His laugh is short but fond at the nickname the child had given himself, years ago. "And I do miss him, strangely enough."

"Yeah," Zeb agrees, one finger ghosting over the engraving on his ivory staff. "Thought you might."

A sad smile lifts the corners of Kallus's lips. "You do know me far better than most," He admits. "I admit, I'll never be able to give you more than what you've given - and continue to give me." In the Lasat's eyes, Kallus's irises seem to shine as he continues. "What I mean to say is thank you, Zeb."

"Ah, well, uh, you're welcome," He answers back, rendered momentarily stupid by a combination of attractive ex-imperial and enough sincerity to sink a star destroyer. His blasted hand finds the back of his head to scratch at his fur, self conscious. "I mean, you know me pretty well, too," He supposes, trying to sound collected. "Y'know, how I feel about you and all that." Setting his bo-rifle on the circular table, he's able to gesticulate vaguely.

"I do?"

With perfect timing, Hera strides in, Mart and Hobbie on her tail, and Chopper bringing up the rear. One quick sweep of the room later, the rifles on the table, Zeb looking sheepish Kallus frozen, their hands gesturing towards each other in mutual confusion as a result of what can only be the conversation, Hera turns on her heels.

"Back outside," She orders them.

"But you said you needed your-"

"It can wait," Hera says, trying not to draw Kallus's attention. Chopper whirls the top of his frame around excitedly, and Hera bonks him once with a gentle fist before he can say anything. "One word from you and you'll be powered down." The manipulators don't stop waving chaotically, even as Hera pushes him back down the ramp. The boys follow along dutifully but confused, laughing nervously. Hers chances a glance back at Zeb and flashes a thumbs up before disappearing out of sight.

Zeb sighs, exasperated.

"What was that?" It's said with a touch of suspicion, though it has that slightly disbelieving breathy tone Kallus doesn't realize he has. "Hera was acting like she'd intruded on us-" He blinks, eyes widening in realization. "Oh," He says, dumbly, cheeks flushing a rosy shade or two darker than usual.

"Yeah." Zeb winces.

"I think I need to sit down," Kallus admits quietly.

"Sure." Then, realizing he'd be looming over the table or sticking to the perimeter of the room like he's try to escape, Zeb adds, "Can I, I mean, d'ya mind if I join you?"

Kallus waves at the open space in the booth closest to Zeb. He's not frowning, so Zeb supposes that's a good thing, as he says, "By all means."

"So."

"So," The ex-imperial echoes.

The table is small and their knees bump together. Both of them flinch away, as if burned on contact.

"We are not very good at this," Kallus ventures a brave smile. "You were saying something about-"

"Feelings."

"Yes." Thar hushed, breathy tone is back, and his cheeks have only gotten more red since he'd put the pieces together.

"We've, uh, been kinda dancin' around it - er, them - for a bit now, Alex, and-"

"Have we?"

Zeb pulls back, startled. Kallus reached out, almost like he's going to take one of his hands but stops as if thinking better of it. "Karabast," he says, and he can feel his ears prickled by his fur they're pressed down so far. "It seemed to me like you-" He deflates, curling in on himself ever so slightly. "But if you don't," He scrambles, rising, trying to salvage even some scrap of his pride, "Karabast, nevermi-"

On the tail of a big inhale, likely for strength, Kallus does actually make contact, thumb and index finger not quite entirely encompassing Zeb's wrist. "Sit back down!" He admonishes, sharply, pulling him back. He's very red-faced now. "Of course I do!"

"You do?"

"Did you suspect otherwise?"

"Well no," Zeb supposes out loud, "But you said-"

Kallus hangs his head, and everything quiets. "I did. I didn't mean it like… that." He releases Zeb's wrist, only so his fingers can instead fan over the Lasat's clenched fist. "I didn't want to be presumptuous and yet at the same time we're rather… open, with our affections towards each other." He sighs, tilting his head to look at Zeb clearly. "I realize in hindsight that it is a terrible contradiction."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Zeb presses. Beneath Kallus's hand, his fingers unfurl and flip, their fingers meshing together. "Is this-"

"Yes."

Zeb exhales, squaring his shoulders. Resolved. Ready. "Alright then. Let's start this over."

Whatever he's about to say is interrupted by Chopper, wheeling up the ramp.

"Bah bwaaaah," The droid mocks, looking between the human and Lasat as if disappointed. "Bah bahbah bahbahba!" He extends his manipulators to accentuate what was a very direct just kiss him already!

"Gee, thanks, pal," Zeb snarls heatedly. "I hadn't thought of that!"

"C1-DASH-10P!"

"Buah bo," The droid swivels around, looking frantically for a place to hide. Despite him deserving it, the tone of Hera's voice makes both men wince.

"Leave them alone!" She crooks a finger at the menacing astromech and he comes, arguing with her about how they just need to get on with it already, why are organics so awkward when they clearly know what they want already.

"That was-"

"Did you maybe want to-"

They stare at each other.

"You first," Zeb offers, cringing.

"Perhaps maybe you should-"

They sigh.

After a moment, when the general awkwardness seems to bleed into something that might be almost comfortable, given any other situation, Kallus's fingers gently trace the inlaid design of the purrgil. "It is beautiful," He says, reverent. "Your craftsmanship. I didn't know you did such detail work."

"Surprising, right? I can follow a design, I'm not like Sabine or nothin'," He traces the fulcrum symbol. "Jus' wanted you to have something custom. Figure it's not gonna replace what you've lost, but we can remember that stuff and move forward."

"Together?"

Zeb looks at him, green-gold eyes bright. "Yeah." Then, bold and enthused, he adds, "I mean, I've basically been trying to tell you that- mmph!"

Kallus looks smug, despite the very obvious blush and the way his fingers err on the side of caution, not quite wanting to dig into the fur on Zeb's arm as he pulls back from a very chaste, lightning-quick kiss. "You haven't told me much of anything," He quips smartly. "Most of this I've had to gather by context."

"I'll give you context," The Lasat roars, wrapping a muscular arm around Alex's shoulders and pulling him in. "C'mere, you."

He goes easily. This time, the kiss is only slightly less chaste, and ends with their foreheads pressed gently together. "You still haven't told me anything," Kallus reminds him, though he's smiling.

"You just want to hear me say it," Zeb grouses.

Laughing, almost giddy, Kallus admits, "I suppose I do."

"Fine. I've got feelings for you, Alex. Romantic ones." He squints. No, that doesn't sound right. "Er, well, they're more than just feelings, like-" He casts a helpless look up at Kallus, just as he begins to laugh.

"Oh, Garazeb," He says, unbelievably fond. "I love you, too."

#star wars rebels #kalluzeb #zeb x kallus #garazeb orrelios #alexandr kallus #hera syndula #chopper you little shit #sw rebels fanfiction #my writing #sw fanfiction #completed fic

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writersblockfreeflow · 5 years ago

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You don’t have a Codeword (Part Eight)

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Words: 2063

Author’s Note: A few things...

1) Thank you so much for being so patient and supportive with me as I worked to get back to A+ health. I really appreciate it and I hope you all can forgive me for the month-long hiatus.

2) I originally planned for this part to come out today, as I finished editing it last night. Imagine my surprise when I was finishing the final touches this morning and news about Marvel/Disney’s split with Sony broke through. I may or may not have spent most of the day between news and social media wondering what this could mean for the Holland-Spiderman storyline.

3) As we get closer to the end of this story, I wanted y’all to know that the parts will now be released further apart, instead of my original every-other-day timeline. This is because a lot of responsibilities were pushed upon my health concerns, and I reallyyyyyyyyy need to catch up on everything. Thank you for understanding!

You and Peter were running late. After landing on his apartment building, he quickly changed back into his regular clothes and began guiding you through the building. He said he would’ve lead you down the fire escape to his room, however it would just pose too many questions that he didn’t want to answer.

The building looked vaguely familiar to the building Peter took you to the night you told him the truth. You asked Peter if your suspicions were right, but he just blushed and looked away, changing the topic to how excited he was to see his friends. His smile reflected on your face until a voice in your head distracted you.

The nagging voice reminded you that you would be seeing the timers of Peter’s loved ones. It reminded you of the timer above Peter himself. The overwhelming feeling started coming back.

“(Y/N)” Peter called, waving his hands in front of you. You hadn’t noticed that he stopped in front of you, standing next to what you could assume was his apartment door. You whispered your apologizes but he frowned in response. Turning away, Peter bit his lip. After a moment, he spoke up, “Do you know why I-“

The door opened, stopping Peter mid-sentence. You turned to your father, who now stood in the doorway.

“Took you two long enough.” He teased with a small smile, grabbing both your and Peter’s shoulders and pulling the two of you into the apartment. You barely had time to glance around the home before someone was already eagerly shaking your hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Ned. I’m Peter’s best friend!” The boy greeted, still shaking your hand. You smiled at him as you tried not to glance up at the numbers that danced above his head. You looked beside you, however Peter was no longer there. You fought the urge to bite your lip and cross your arms as you responded to his best friend.

“Hi Ned. I’m (Y/N)” If he noticed the nervousness in your voice, he didn’t comment on it because he quickly began asking you about what it was like living around the Avengers. You responded to every question he had and took this time to look around the apartment. It was small but comforting. Your eyes traced the walls that were decorated with pictures of Peter’s family. Ned’s questioning was soon interrupted by another voice, one you didn’t recognize. Your eyes met with an older woman.

“Ned, sweetie? Can you help MJ and Peter bring the food to the table?” The woman gently asked. Ned looked at her abruptly, nodding his head, taking one more glance at you, before disappearing to the kitchen. “So you’re (Y/N). I’m Peter’s aunt, you can call me May.” She smiled down at you, as you looked at her gratefully. It was nice to have peace from the questions.

“Hey there, Sleepy” A voice came from behind you. A smile quickly found its way onto your face upon hearing it. Turning around, you came face to face with the Happy Hogan. Before Happy was in charge of Spiderman’s development, he was tasked with checking in on you. Although, you mostly stayed in your room- giving you the nickname ‘Sleepy’. A smile was returned to you as he ruffled your hair. You feigned annoyance as you tried to fix your hair back. He chuckled as he walked around you to stand next to May.

“It’s very nice to meet you May.” You politely greeted, feeling a lot more at ease with a familiar face around. You slightly turned your head to look at Happy, your voice taking more of a playful tone to it “Long time no see, Grumpy”

“Grumpy?” Asked May, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, turning to Happy. His cheeks grew a light pink shade, flustering when her eyes landed on him. You looked at him questioning. Was he blushing? Should you help?

“When I was younger, I was really into Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. And…” You trailed off, hoping she understood the reference. You were more interested in Happy’s response, however. May softly laughed as she nodded in understanding, her eyes twinkling as they met Happy’s.

“Why Grumpy?” She wondered. You smiled in memory as Happy looked at you, shaking his head slightly as the corners of his mouth took a slight upturn.

“He can’t help but get grumpy around me. One time, when he was especially wound up, the kid heard him grumbling to himself in front of the mirror about how ‘one of these days, I’m going to put Tony Stark in his place’” Your dad chimed in, putting his arm around your shoulders. He quickly looked between May and Happy, “But I think you might need to change it to Bashful, with that look” He joked. Happy choked on air as you nudged your dad in the ribs. “What?” Happy grew a deeper shade of red, so you quickly changed the subject, asking May about her life. He looked over to you, grateful for the change in topic, while your dad snickered beside you.

“Dinner is ready!” Peter called out from another room. May lead the three of you to where Peter and his two friends set up for dinner. The table held 6 chairs, and it looked like they grabbed a random chair from a different room to fit the 7 of you. Almost immediately, May took the head of the table. Happy took the seat to the right of May and Tony next to him. Peter took the other head of the table with Tony to his left and MJ to his right. Ned sat next to her and you went to sit between him and May.

The dinner was delicious but otherwise uneventful. Peter was speaking to his friends and family with ease and you couldn’t help but rest your eyes on him for the majority of the time. You justified it by explaining to yourself that he did say it was okay to do so when you were feeling overwhelmed and you were. He surrounded by his loved ones, and unbeknownst to them, his time was running out.

Peter’s time shortening was your fault even if you didn’t want to acknowledge it. And here you were surrounded by the people who loved him and who may have to live without him because of you. You could only hope that you were wrong. Taking a deep breath, you focused on your almost empty plate. You were full and awkwardly pushed the food around on your plate.

Throughout the dinner, Ned engaged in different conversations from TV shows to movies with you. You were trying your best to keep up, however you were easily distracted by Peter and MJ in their own private conversation. You tried not to let the sour taste in your mouth change how you behaved, slightly wishing that it was you that was having private conversations with the boy sitting on the other side of the table.

The wish only grew when you heard Peter laugh at something she said as she pushed his shoulder in mock anger. Ned stopped talking upon noticing your attention was elsewhere.

He sighed, envy etched onto his face, “Yeah, young love…” The sour taste returned, this time paired with a sinking feeling filling your chest. You looked down at your plate once more, trying to think of something- anything- to change the topic to. Your hopes were dashed as Ned continued, “Honestly, sometimes I think they were probably made for each. They are both into the weirdest things, you know?“

No, you didn’t know. From all your talks with Peter, he never mentioned anything that you would consider weird. Did that mean he did not feel comfortable sharing with you? You felt yourself sinking in your chair as emotions you never felt before over took you. It felt like there was a weight pushing down on your chest and you couldn’t focus on anything else that came out of Ned’s mouth. You wondered if you even had a right to feel the way you did. You’ve only just met Peter, but the anchor in the pit of your stomach didn’t lighten the load you felt in your throat.

“The fair is in town. (Y/N), have you been before?” May interjected as you felt Happy’s and your dad’s eyes land on you, softly trying to provide comfort. Your dad’s eyes then flitted over to Ned, narrowing slightly. Guilt seeped into your heart. It wasn’t Ned’s fault. MJ and Peter stopped their conversation at the question, turning towards you. You felt the tips of your ears burn as you straightened up in your chair.

“No, I didn’t even realize there was one that came to town.” You shook out, your voice a little uneven from the added attention on you. You coughed, trying to clear your throat as May smiled gently.

“Oh! You should go then, you should all go. I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be in town.” Your stomach tied in knots. You’ve always wanted to go, however the sight of timers made it almost impossible. But this time would be different, you thought, this time you would have a distraction. The knots started to loosen as you grew giddy at the thought of being able to attend and see what it was all about.

Before you could give your response, you remembered… Today wasn’t about you. You turned to look at Peter, biting your lip in hopes that he would be okay with going. He tilted his head as his eyes scanned your face. You weren’t sure what he was looking for but whatever it was he found, because after a moment he smiled and gave you a nod. You felt the smile return to your face as you turned back to May.

“I would love to” You responded, feeling the tension leave your body. Ned beamed next to you.

“Oh my gosh, you’re going to love it! I go every year. Peter, MJ, and I are going to go next weekend, if you wanted to wait until then.” He rushed out. Your eyes widened, swiftly glancing over to Peter. He made no effort to look away from you, taking a moment to himself, before turning back at Ned with a small smile, wavering in its portrayal.

“How about we go tonight instead?” He asked, slowly and purposefully looking around the table at Tony, you, Ned, and then MJ. Ned pursued his lips, mulling it over in his head. You held your breath, not sure what the response to the change of plans would be. MJ was the first to speak up.

“Ned, it’s not like we were going to do anything tonight anyways. We don’t have lives like that. Let’s just go.” She deadpanned, with a slight roll of her eyes. The harshness of the comment was undercut by the small curl at the edges of her lips. Nevertheless, your jaw dropped at what she said, as Ned and Peter laughed. The adults, other than your father who joined in the laughter, looked slightly uncomfortable at the jab. You rapidly blinked as you looked around the table with wide eyes, not sure how to proceed from the comment. Thankfully, Ned was able to continue.

“Wow, you can’t even let me have my moment in front of the Tony Stark.” He got out in between laughs. He was able to calm down a bit after checking the time, “We should head out soon. I’d rather not stay out ‘til midnight.”

“Heaven forbid you miss your bedtime” MJ loudly whispered. Ned stuck out his tongue at her as more laughs came out. Peter grinned at his friends, eyes softening as he looked between them. You took this chance to observe him. He looked so carefree with them, so happy. You wondered if you would be able to make him laugh as hard as MJ did. You wondered if he would ever look at you with as much ease as he did with Ned. You wondered if his heart pounded in his chest when he looked at you, like yours did.

Peter turned back at you, his grin widening as a soft pink filled his cheeks.

A warmth replaced the sour taste in your mouth as you grinned back.

Part Nine (coming soon)

Taglist: @shaydeevee33, @peter-spider-parker-man, @savedbystark, @antisocialprincessxox, @mxxkscreate-write, @stuckonpeterparker, @roserrys, @00midnight-thoughts00, @ironspider-girl, @mikariell95, @sailorcrescentpotter1, @spideykiks

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the-blind-assassin-12 · 5 years ago

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Sun-Kissed

A/N: the first of 19 smooch requests, and what better way to start than with sweet angel Ryan Brenner? This is connected to the story SPF found under the drabbles on my master list. So if you haven’t read that one maybe you want to?

Word Count: 1,632

Prompt: from @its-my-little-dumpster-fire

“When was the last time you got to see them all?” You asked, looking out your window as the scrubby bushes got thinner and thinner, the ground beneath them growing increasingly sandy.

Ryan caught you nervously picking at the cuticle of your left thumb out of the corner of his eye, something you hadn’t done in quite a while. She’s nervous. He took one hand off the steering wheel and slid it across the console of the rental car to cover your hand, stilling your nervous habit. He gave a light squeeze and wrapped his fingers around your hand until the tips could feel the sweaty cup of your palm. You still hadn’t looked over at him, but he felt you relax under his touch and it brought one of his cheeks up into his eye. She’s got nothin’ to be nervous about. They’re gonna love her like I do.

You’d been quiet that morning after the two of you had finally untangled yourselves from the thin white sheets. It had been a few weeks since you’d slept in a bed, a few weeks since you’d had a locking door, and you’d made good use of both. Ryan woke first, breathing quietly and softly so he wouldn’t wake you as you rested against his bare chest. Neither of you had remembered to turn the A.C. on before falling into bed and each other, and the room was warm, your close proximity making him even warmer. But it was nothing new, waking up wearing each other’s sweat, so he didn’t let it bother him, simply watching as your eyelashes fluttered in protest of the thin beams of morning sun slipping beneath the pulled shade. As he felt your cheek press deeper into his flesh, he smiled sleepily, bringing the arm that was draped around your torso up to trace the branch of delicate pink flowers inked there. You squirmed a little more, hooking your leg to pull his closer as he brought his hand up to your knotted, damp hair. Wakin’ up with her is the best part of wakin’ up.

“Mornin’, Bug,” he mumbled before turning his face to meet your forehead with his lips and the scruff covering his chin. “C’mon, gotta get movin’.” He’d pulled you out of the bed and into the shower, turning the faucet to make it cool, kissing your shoulders and your neck once the soap had been rinsed off.

You’d made two cups of coffee to go in the small plug in pot on the motel dresser, wordlessly handing him one with a quiet smile. He’d licked the drip from the cup’s lid before thanking you, throwing an arm around your shoulders, bare in the oversized tee you’d thrown on over your bathing suit, and grabbing the keys, headed outside locking up behind you. He hadn’t thought much about your silence, knowing by now that you needed your coffee before you opened your mouth. But now, almost an hour later and only a few minutes from the beach parking lot, he knew that it had nothing to do with a lack of caffeine. “Hey,” he pulled your hand over to his own lap and you turned as he did. “Why’re you nervous?”

You blew air out of your mouth and the way it made your hair float around your face only made you look more beautiful to him. “Because they’re the only family you talk about, Ryan. I know how important they all are to you and...I just…” you shrugged, trailing off.

“Well,” he pulled your hand up in his to tuck your hair back as he turned off the main road and down a gravely path, the car rocking over the uneven ground. “It’s been about six years since I saw all of ‘em. Jimmy was travelin’ and Taylor was with her husband’s family last time I came home,” he explained, answering your original question. “But you got nothin’ to worry about, okay Junebug? They’re real excited to meet you.” He laughed as he pulled into a spot between a well used truck covered in bumper stickers- Tommy’s, and a green Jeep that belonged to Fitz. “They’re probably gonna tell you lots of embarrassing stories from when we were kids, so if anythin’ I should be nervous, not you.” You smiled then, a real one, teeth and all, and he knew that you were still a little worried about meeting the gaggle of cousins, but that he’d made you feel better.

“Okay,” you said as he dropped your hand to pull the keys from the ignition. “Let’s do it.”

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Ryan was right about everything; his cousins had nearly tackled you to into the dunes in a series of hugs, surrounding you with smiles that all looked vaguely like the one belonging to the man that you loved. You’d laughed hysterically when Patrick tossed you a bottle of sunscreen, telling you to apply generously so you didn’t end up radish red like Ryan and Taylor had when the group was young and drunk and naive about sun safety, Ryan’s cheeks reddening with the memory as he shot you a look that said “See? Told ya.”

Zach wanted to know about living in Colorado as he was trying to decide between the Centennial State or somewhere on the West Coast for his next big move. You had learned from Ryan that Zach liked to spend a year or so in different places, but always landed back in Georgia for a few months in between.

Sprawled on the blankets that Taylor had set up, you leaned against Ryan’s shoulder, his arm around you as Jimmy expressed that he wanted the three of you to play together back at Ma’s after the beach, telling you that he had a keyboard that you could use.

Taylor abruptly pulled you by the hand from Ryan’s grasp, recruiting you to play volleyball with Fitz and Tommy in a battle of the sexes while Ryan, Zach and Patrick watched each with a beer in their hands. You’d earned even more points with the cousins when you dove to make a save, coming up covered in sand but grinning ear to ear at the hoots and hollers and the disappointed look on Fitz’s face at having his spike foiled.

“You know,” Patrick had told you once you’d traded out with Ryan to take a break from the game. “You’re the first girl Ryan’s really brought home.” You looked at the freckled face next to you, half hidden by a mop of brown hair similar to but slightly lighter than Ryan’s, and felt your lips drop open. “An’ I can tell he really...I can tell he loves you. You make ‘im happy. I’m real glad y’all found each other, an’ I’m real glad you could make the trip down here. I know it means a lot to Ryan that you’re here.”

You’d thanked him and clinked the neck of your beer against his before finishing it and heading down to the water where Ryan was wading in up to his waist. Can’t believe I was nervous. They’re all so… they’re great. This is him, this is his home. And they’re part of it.

Taylor and Zach were headed back up to the blanket, Taylor high fiving you again for your magnificent volleyball performance, but your eyes were locked on Ryan as he dunked under a crashing wave, emerging again and pushing his wet hair back. You didn’t waste time getting acclimated to the water, simply diving in to cool off, swimming over to where Ryan was, and circling your arms around him.

“Hey, you,” he said, strong arms replicating your action to hold you close as the salty water rolled against your bodies. “You havin’ fun?” You nodded, touching your nose to his. “Told ya you had nothin’ to worry ab-oof”

You cut him off with your lips on his, pulling him as close as you could. He laughed into your mouth as he kissed you back before you felt his tongue sliding against yours, the faint flavor of salinated water and cheap beer making the kiss taste like summer. The sun beat down on your wet shoulders as his arms tightened around you and the kiss changed as you poured another level of love into it. It had been almost two years since you’d been with Ryan, and you already considered him your family. But now he’d brought you into his, and you were celebrating the fact that your family had grown right there on that beach. You felt his forehead furrow as it pressed against your own, and you smiled as you pulled away, knowing that he felt what you were thinking.

“Thanks for bringing me here, Ryan,” you whispered, pushing the hair that had been plastered to the side of his face back.

“‘Course,” he said, dropping his lips to the rounded, sunkissed top of your cheek. “Thanks for comin’ with me.”

“Patrick told me you never brought anyone back here before.”

He nodded. “That’s right. No one before you meant enough to me.” His hands were still on you though his hold had loosened, and you felt his thumb moving across the top of your bathing suit bottoms under the water. “This place and my cousins, my aunts and… and all of this,” his soft leather eyes rolled up to the sun and the sky, over the white peaked waves and the soft, hot sand. “This is my home. And so are you. So it’s only right, to me that-”

You cut him off again, celebrating the way you both had let the love between you grow so organically, and he laughed again, pulling you close as the gaggle cheered and shouted at you from the shore.

@something-tofightfor @its-my-little-dumpster-fire @suchatinyinfinity @lexxierave @agent-bossypants @thesumofmychoices @songtoyou @ymariejp @breanime

#smooch drabbles #smooches #ryan brenner #smooch prompts #kiss prompts #in the water #because of a celebration #ryan brenner x you #ryan brenner x reader #passing through #brenner & the bug #ryan brenner fanfic #sunkissed

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kinsbin · 6 years ago

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Quick to Anger

Title: Quick To Anger Ship: Alexys/John Doe [Joker] [Self Insert/Canon] Word Count: 2038 Summary: John and Alexys go out on a date together, only to meet someone from John’s past that makes them a bit tense. Alexys remembers that she gets angry easily at the wrong time, and John is just awed that anyone would defend him.

A/N: A commission for @bad-blue-moon-rising again! Love you darl <3

Life since Alexys had almost been...good.

She had shown him a love that no one else had really done before. Sure, Bruce Wayne was a good friend and a brother amongst brothers, and Harley was very beautiful when she had been part of his life, but they were nothing compared to the woman standing at his side in the present. Her smile lit up his heart more than fireworks or jokes told at just the right moment. John had practically memorized the shape of Alexys’ lips from when they pouted to the cute half-smile she did when she was trying to stay serious and not laugh at a joke he had just whispered to her too hard. From the way her long, smooth hair felt twirled between his fingertips to the shade of her blue eyes during a sunset...One could say that, yeah, Alexys was definitely good for the man known as John Doe.

She was better than Harley...at least.

It had been a concept that had taken him some time to come to term with. With Alexys’ help, it rang true in the back of his mind that the woman known as Harley Quinn was less than an ideal partner for him in an amalgamation of ways. Together they had gotten so much done, they had helped him to discover just who he was meant to be, and he could never truly hate her for that reason alone. Without Harley, he was not the Joker. He never would have been. Now, however, he was the Joker without her at his side. He was the Joker with a different woman to support him, her hugs warmer than the sharp words exchanged between him and the previous one. Harley was like burning a candle on both ends, constant progress but never any true love. Alexys was like a bonfire, steady and bright and overall warmer than the simple stick of wax could ever provide.

Sometimes it was true that he wondered what life would be like had he chosen to stay with Harley rather than Alexys. If they had separated or not met before Harley had completely taken control over his life...Alexys often said that he shouldn’t think about those things, of course. That he should let her die in the past so that his mind and heart could truly move forward. He wished that he could take that advice from her, truly he did, but abuse was a powerful thing. It hurt both ends, but, certainly one more than the other. There was that one heavy and sick part of him that seemed to want to cling to the past like a spider to a web. LIke a fly trapped in that spider web, waiting in fear for its possible death...but not knowing if the spider was even there.

The night had started with this thought in his mind for no other reason than it was there. Alexys had done her best to shoo it away with kisses and words of encouragement, of course, as the two of them dressed for their planned date to a well-known local casino (a gathering place for some of Gotham’s more famous crime syndicates, but, of course that little detail was besides the point) for no other reason than one of the floors of it had an amazing arcade. They walked into the area, hand in hand, while eyes lingered carefully on their backs but never at their fronts. John’s flash of eyes and eerie grin was enough to make most divert their attention away from him. As his fame grew from being the Joker, so did their fear. It was kind of nice.

Nice up until they saw her.

John had stopped walking once he had recognized her. The diamonds painted neatly on her eyes were a beacon of remembrance for him. Memories flashed blue and black and red like the uneven ombre of her hair as she laughed with another group of villains, the mallet she loved to carry resting on the ground as she used it’s handle as a crutch to lean on casually. Hips jutting out, she as usual made her outfit look stunning. Guilt flooded his stomach in the fact that he dared think of her like that still. Attractive. Pretty. Out of his league.

She always made sure that he knew that last one.

Alexys furrowed her brow as he stopped, hand squeezing his own as she prepared to ask him just what was wrong, but, the words died on her lips as she followed his gaze. Her eyes settled on the same woman he was staring at. Her own body tensed up, hair bristling on end as she stared down the woman who had not yet seen them. Alexys had met Harley only once. It only took that one time for her to see just what she was doing to John. Never having confronted her, however, she had simply taken to gently guiding the man away from the other woman as best as she could without making either of them feel too guilty over the whole, complicated situation. It was a busy and tactile movement to get away from abusers and, Alexys promised, she had done her best.

Yet, somehow, she had found her way back to them. Alexys tightened her grip on John’s now shaking hand, giving it a gentle tug as she leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

“Come on, let’s just go somewhere else. We can see a movie instead? That arcade down the street a few blocks has a DDR machine.” She enticed John with as much as she could, promising him that they didn’t have to stay in the area if the sight of Harley made him too uncomfortable. Promising that, if they had to, they would be able to leave and forget the sight. John didn’t respond, however, and simply kept staring. He was hesitant, and it was natural. Part of him wanted to say something to her, but, the other part knew Alexys was right. He swallowed, the motion thick and difficult as he opened his mouth to respond, but, closed it quickly when Harley’s head raised itself up to lock eyes with them. She had felt herself being watched and, upon noticing the two, her own eyes narrowed and a dangerous smirk broke itself across her lips.

“Fuck.” Alexys cursed as the other woman excused herself from the group she had been entertaining and swayed up to them both, the bump in her hips a little too excited to be a casual meet and greet with old acquaintances.

There was no time to avert the situation nor was there a chance to hurry and leave, for the crowds of people surrounding them were too thick to properly push through. Harley’s gaze was like a hawk on them as she approached them both, hands on hips and head tilted to the side as she looked the both of them up and down. John averted his gaze unsurely, but Alexys held the other woman’s with a clear look of repressed anger as her firsts clenched at her side and the hand holding John’s tightened sharply and possessively around his own.

“Well, well, well,” Harley spoke with sarcastic delight as she finally acknowledged their presence fully, “Look what the cat dragged in! A funny guy and his little homewrecker. Fancy seeing you here, Mistah J~.”

John’s eyes narrowed dangerously, both at the way she spoke his past nickname and the way she referred to Alexys. Alexys bristled for the opposite reasons. Her mere existence was a strain on John’s psyche and she knew it, the hostility radiating from the shorter female was practically wave-like in its contingency. The very sight of her glare made Harley’s smile grow wide with amusement as she reached out, purposefully stroking John’s other arm with her own in a feathery and light touch that made him shudder.

“We were enjoying a night out,” Alexys spoke through gritted teeth, “Together.”

“And you can’t enjoy it still with me around? Why, I’m all up and upset about that!” Harley rolled her eyes with a laugh at the both of them, leaning again on her mallet as she hummed a light tune to herself that made John’s mouth twitch into a line. Harley’s eyes held his gaze for a moment, deep and unsettling, before she spoke again with a low, darker tone in her voice:

“You can’t tell me you’re not happy to see magain, John, can you?”

It was Alexys who broke the silence that followed, putting her smaller body between her boyfriend and his ex with a fire in her eyes that made them glow a darker, more stormy color than they had ever managed to become. Her teeth gritted together so tight she felt like her jaw was going to burst as she let go of John’s hand so that her fists could clench up at her sides. Both Harley and John’s eyes widened as she pushed herself forward, getting into Harley’s space with a finger jabbed right at her chest.

“He can’t, but I can,” Alexys snarled out with teeth bared for a fight, “He ISN’T happy to see you. Neither of us are. You know why? Because you’re a manipulative, stuck up ASSHOLE who used him for what he was rather than loving him for WHO he was. This man is one of the brightest, funniest, and sweetest people I’ve met in my LIFE and the fact that you, someone he loved and trusted, fucked him over how you did because you saw him as TOOL? That-” Alexys jabbed her finger hard on Harley’s body as she glared sharply, teeth gritted, “THAT pisses me off.”

Harley stared at Alexys, eyes wide in shock for a few moments before her brows furrowed into anger. It triggered something in John through his shock at the defense, a hand reaching out to touch his girlfriend’s shoulder.

“A-Alexys-”

She turned her head, catching his pleading look, before taking a deep breath and glaring at Harley one last time, her hand rising up to show her a middle finger before gripping John’s hand and tugging him through the crowd, disappearing away from the line of muttered and snarky curses Harley threw at them behind their backs.

They moved. They didn’t stop moving until Alexys had gotten them out of the building and ran down the street. John didn’t say anything to stop her until they were about a couple of blocks away, to which he dug his feet into the floor and called her name once more. A few more tries. Finally a shout and, at last, Alexys’ feet stopped. Her breath drew itself out, hot and ragged and slow as she tried to keep her breathing under control.

“Are you alri-”

“Do you hate me? For that?”

John reeled back in shock, eyes widening as she faced him. Tears warmed her eyes and fell down her face, brows furrowed in remaining anger as she bared her teeth and looked away to try and control the shaking of her muscles.

“I’m sorry,” She choked out breathily, “I got angry and...I know it’s ugly when I’m angry but! She treated you so bad and said such awful things and wanted to take you from me again and I just-”

John reached out, hands touching at her face and wiping away the tears that fell down. Alexys felt her eyes widen as she stared at him, his own gaze soft and smile bright on his lips as it always was before leaning down to kiss her. She accepted it, admiring the sweet taste he had while he took in her salty taste of tears and anger, as if trying to take it out of her and put it into himself instead. When he pulled away, he made sure his head rested on hers.

“Don’t ever think I’d hate you for anything like that,” John laughed, “It was...kind of cool how you stood up for me, really. I like it a lot...I like you a lot, way more than her. I promise.”

Alexys sighed in response, her hand touching his and her eyes shutting to allow the rest of the angered tears to pass through her body. She didn’t always have to be happy, she realized, because even if she wasn’t…

He could smile enough for both of them sometimes. And she could defend him in return.

#self ship #self shipping #sef insert #kinley writes #writing commission #telltale batman #telltale joker #john doe

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mysweetestcreature · 6 years ago

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Meus Amor (Hogwarts!Harry) Part III

(Banner by the lovely @pretty-hazza)

***

Series Masterlist

***

A large grey cloud lies above the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, blocking any chance for the sunlight to produce it’s much-needed warmth. Despite it being June and the end of another year fast approaching, the atmosphere that surrounds the grounds is one that none can describe. It’s the type of feeling that leaves nerves bouncing about in the chest and makes it hard for the lungs to function properly without reason.

So much has changed in these five months.

Five months. That’s how long it had taken for him and Draco to mend the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement. For the entire duration of that time, Harry had wanted nothing more than to see it fixed, so he could go back to his normal routine instead of spending nearly every night disposing of dead pixie bodies in the Black Lake. He’d been running out of excuses to give Y/n of why he’s been feeling so tired in the mornings. And maybe now he can focus more on keeping her as unaffected as possible rather than having to divide his attention with this bloody task.

Ever since Y/n had been sent to the Hospital Wing because of that dimwitted Hopkins, Harry can’t help but keep a close eye on her when someone that rouses his suspicion just as much as looks at her funny. At first, he thought his paranoia had been overriding his sensibility, after all, he and Draco are the only two death eaters within the student population (at least that he’s aware of). Although, it has come to his attention that there are those, much like Hopkins, that are well aware of the occurrences within the Dark Lord’s circle. The scariest part of this is that Harry doesn’t know what they know. He hasn’t been able to pinpoint the extent of their knowledge, and if they’re aware of what he has dangling on a thin thread.

As he sits on the floor, however; his back perched up against the cabinet’s sleek wooden exterior, he can’t deny the uneasiness that’s eating him up from the inside. The bird they had used for this final trial run pecks greedily on the feed he had laid out for it on a small napkin. It’s alive, so incredibly full of life and completely unscathed by its journey to and from the sister cabinet at Borgin and Burkes. He had checked it for any lost limbs but found it to be as healthy as ever.

“We’ve done it,” he says, although any traces of confidence are absent. The thoughts of what the Dark Lord will have in store for him refuse to leave the forefront of his mind. He’d be mental if he were to assume that this would have been the extent of his services. The mark on his forearm a constant reminder that he’s bounded to this world he wishes he had never known.

It’s almost comical how even through the use of concealment charms, he can still feel the dark mark sit heavy on his skin. Every single day he’ll feel it prickle with pain underneath his sleeves, as though someone were stabbing him with a hundred needles inflamed with the Fires of Hell. He’s grown accustomed to the pain, however; and he’s surprised that he still feels anything at all.

“So, we have,” Malfoy’s voice just as weary. His steel grey eyes mindlessly staring out in front of him. His usually slicked back hair disheveled from having run his hands through them one too many times in the past half hour. This isn’t where he ends.

The bird chirps its jaunty melody, a tune that would make even the grumpy Mr. Filch crack a wholehearted smile. Its song reminiscent of all good things that life has to offer, like warm summer days that one can spend lazing away underneath the cooling shade of an oak tree with his favorite person. But to the two boys sitting in the Room of Requirement, it serves as a prelude of what will happen come the fortnight.

An underlying feeling of apprehension burns at the pit of his stomach whenever he thinks about it. He wishes he didn’t know, at least that way his conscience would save him from the shocks of pained regret that leaves the blood running thin within his veins and the tips of his fingers becoming as cold as metal.

***

Recently, it’s dawned on Y/n that by this time next year, she’ll be a full-fledged adult (by Wizarding World standards, that is). Both her parents have started getting on her back about plans for her future in bits and pieces from each one of their lengthy letters, and it really has started to freak her out. It’s not that she hasn’t given it much thought because of course she has! It’s just that she seems to be incapable of coming to a solid conclusion because she doesn’t have the faintest idea of how she wants to go about making such an important decision, and she’s not even an indecisive person. Being a half-blood, she gets the best of both worlds, so her options are virtually unlimited. And she guesses that may be where she’s at a disadvantage.

There are two roads that she can choose from. She could proceed with her education and move forward and attend a muggle university. But what would she study? Arithmancy and Astronomy are two of her best subjects, but the idea of being a mathematician or astronomist doesn’t quite tickle her fancy. Her mum works as a clinical trials manager for a major pharmaceutical, having received a degree in biology from Imperial College London. The benefits that come with the job are more than satisfactory, whatever that means.

The other choice is to find herself a place in the Wizarding World workforce, but it seems as though it’s limited to jobs within the Ministry. Her dad loves being an auror, even though the hours have become quite hectic in the passing months. She remembers when she was a little girl and he’d take her to the office and let her play with some of the trinkets––all safely de-hexed, but cool nonetheless––in the Improper Use of Muggle Artefacts division because he and Arthur Weasley had always gotten along well.

As she lays wide awake in her bed, each one of her roommates fast asleep at this late hour––or would it be considered early? ––she lets out a long huff of annoyance because she knows she doesn’t need to worry about this just yet. But she hates the uncertainty of it all. From what Harry’s told her, he’s meant to take over his family’s business (they’re a manufacturing company that supplies various potions to hospitals all around the United Kingdom). In short, he’s got a himself a secure plan. And thinking about Harry and the future simultaneously just makes her smile because she can’t see one without the other.

***

“I presume you come here baring good news?” The greasy-haired professor doesn’t bother to turn around, his attention instead directed to the uneven taps of rain drops against the window pane. Harry can see a fogged image of the man’s reflection from where he stands on the other side of the deep colored mahogany desk. His face as undecipherable as ever, his eyes hinting no emotion as he stares forward into the storm.

Harry clears his throat then stretches his jaw as he gets a feel for the words that rattle in his mouth. “Yes, sir,” he reports, his hands digging into the depths of his pockets and toying with the fabric between his index finger and thumb. “Everything is in order for…” but he can’t find it in himself to say it aloud. His chest rises as the oxygen swirls through his flared nostrils. “It’s ready.”

Snape just barely turns his head, the side profile of his face shadowed out by the darkness that stretches across the four walls of the room. And yet, Harry can still feel the penetrating observance of his eyes.

A long-aggravated silence rings through his ears and pokes at the base of his spine. He swears there’s a hint of something else infused in the air that surrounds them. Could it be a fragment of hesitance that exudes itself with each calculated breath? Ever since Harry had learned about Desmond Styles’ participation within the inner workings of the Dark Lord’s army, it had seemed to be a known fact that Severus Snape’s loyalties had been with Albus Dumbledore…so the question remains as to why he’s found himself in a situation such as this one. Was the Dark Lord’s power and influence really that strong, that he could steal away an ally of the greatest wizard to ever live? (And yes, Dumbledore is the greatest wizard to ever live. Even a blind man could see it.) Or maybe he was holding something over Snape’s head as well. It definitely isn’t an unheard-of tactic.

The sound of the clock striking midnight from all the way in the tower can be heard over the lack of vocal acknowledgement. He supposes that now would be the appropriate time to bow out. With tired steps, he drags his feet over the creaky wooden floorboards. All he wishes to do is close his eyes and melt into the comfort of his sheets and sleep for the next week or so. Before he can fully push down on the door’s bronze lever, the man behind him finally speaks up.

“Protect her,” is all he says. Harry’s brows form a crease just above the bridge of his nose. His heart picking up speed as he turns abruptly on his heel, a sudden cackle of lightning revealing an absence in front of the window.

***

Tick.

The pendulum of the large clock sways back and forth, never missing a beat. Minutes being reduced to meager seconds, and the scribbling, scrabbling, scratching of students quickly jotting down their final thoughts becomes more frantic.

Tock.

Fuck. Where has time gone? Has it really been three hours already? Looks like the Pepperup Potion only does work if one has a cold.

Tick.

There’s a faint sniffling coming from somewhere in the back––poor lad has most likely cracked under the pressure. Is it question fifteen? It’s most definitely question fifteen.

Tock.

“Quills down,” Professor McGonagall announces to her sixth year N.E.W.T.-level class. A mixture of groans and sighs of relief spread through the space as the sound of chairs scraping against the floor fill every corner of the examination room. Some students look as though they’d just been on the end of particularly horrific bat-bogey hex, while others are just relieved that it’s all over, erupting in cheers because freedom is just upon the horizon, nearly tangible in their palms.

Y/n caps her ink bottle and carefully places each quill in their allotted slot in her pouch. If there’s one thing she hates, it’s when their feathers get all ruffled (the other day she’d scolded her boyfriend for just tossing them in his bag…tossing them!). “That wasn’t bad at all,” she says, looking up momentarily to smile at Liam who had been seated right in front of her for the last three hours.

“I thought it would be loads worse, honestly,” Liam snorts as he stretches out his arms. “That question about the bird conjuring charm? A first year could’ve easily answered it!” he shakes his head and lifts himself out of his seat.

“It was a bit harder than that, you modest,” she teases in response, reaching over and swatting his shoulder. Ever since she’d first met Liam in first year––they’d become friends when she sat next to him during the start-of-term feast––he’s been known to be exceptionally bright. (And although he’ll never admit it, she knows that he had a small crush on Hermione Granger up until recently. Poor lad had been in a horrible mood when her and Ron Weasley had come to a mutual understanding.)

As for her, she’s just excited that Harry will be coming home with her once they arrive back at King’s Cross. If all goes well, she’s hoping that maybe he can stay a bit longer…say the whole the summer? She mustn’t get too ahead of herself, of course, but she can’t help it! Just imagining all that they can do in the next few months has her feeling all bubbly inside, like whenever she eats a bunch of Fizzing Whizzbees all at once. Never before has she felt this happy and excited to have someone in her life to the point where she gets giddy just thinking about him.

Strong hands slide around her waist and pull her into their owner’s sturdy chest. Light kisses trail across the side of her face, and she can’t help but giggle as she relaxes into his inviting warmth. He’s like her own personal furnace when she needs it. “Go well?” Harry asks, turning her around in his arms. She hums a response, bringing up a finger to poke the crevice of his dimple that accompanies an utterly adorable lopsided smile.

***

“Do muggles really wrap their dicks in rubber or some sort?” Harry shoots up from the floor, only to hit his head on the underside of his four-poster, where he had been searching for something that he can’t even remember at the moment because the throbbing in his head shoots to the front that he can feel it just above his eyebrows. A string of colorful words rush out of his mouth like water through the pipes as he balances himself on his feet.

“What are you on about?” he shoots back, grabbing a pillow and chucking it harshly in Niall’s direction. He catches it though, then plops down atop Harry’s mattress, kicking his shoes off––he knows much Harry hates dirty feet on his perfectly clean linen––and linking his fingers together behind his head as he stares up at the drapes above him.

“Overhead Justin Finch-Fletchley in the courtyard earlier, said something along the lines,” he muses turning on his side to look at Harry, who still sports the scowl along his polished features. “Was just wondering if you knew anything about it or if Y/n’s already wrapped your willy up nice and snug.” Niall falls into a fit of laughter at the progression of emotion displaying on Harry’s face.

“No, she hasn’t,” he rolls his eyes at the blonde. What irks him more though is that he actually knows what he’s referring to because he’d begrudgingly asked Y/n this a short while ago, and how he wishes he hadn’t. When magic folk have sex, they mutter a simple contraception charm to eliminate the chances of an unplanned pregnancy or take the Morning After potion if they’ve allowed the hormones to gain the upper hand. But he can’t even wrap his mind around having to wrap himself in a pathetic piece of rubber whenever he wants to be intimate with his girlfriend because it really does seem like the ultimate mood-killer.

Other than that, he’s been making his best efforts into learning more about muggles for her sake because he’s fully aware of how important that part of her life is. So far, he’s learned all that he can about what not to do in front of those who think that magic is only a mere part of a kid’s birthday party entertainment act. Not to mention that he’ll be thrown into that mix in the coming days. And fuck, he’s so bloody nervous about the concept of it all. More than anything, he wants her parents to like him because he just really loves her, bless him he does. This could very well make or break them (aside from everything else going on). She says that they’ll love him, but he’s not fully convinced just yet.

***

It’s a day for the girls, or at least that’s what she’d been told when they’d dragged her out of their dorm room before she could fully open her eyes. She understands that she hasn’t been spending as much time as they had in the years prior, so this little expenditure is long overdue. Also, Hermione had given her a look of pure desperation because there’s no telling what will happen if Lavender says something to piss her off if she isn’t there to accompany them. They’re still at each other’s throats about the whole Ron ordeal, which is partially the reason that she spends so much time away from Gryffindor Tower.

That’s how she finds herself in the middle of Gladrags Wizardwear, scavenging the racks for something that will catch her attention. She has half the mind to purchase those socks that scream when they get too smelly, just for the fun of it. Or maybe she should look into buying her dad some new robes to wear at those Ministry formals because her mum has been complaining about him wearing the same outfit at the Christmas parties.

“Oh!” she spots a dark blue button-up that she’s certain would look absolutely amazing on Harry. He’s also in need of some more clothes because she may have nicked a few of his nicer shirts whenever she spends the night. They’re just so comfy and soft and have his scent embedded in each threat, and now over a dozen of them are stored away in her trunk.

“Is that for the beau?” Parvati comes up behind her, pushing her gorgeous raven hair behind her shoulder as she takes a closer look. When Y/n offers her a blushing smile, she claps her hands together. She’s always telling her how adorable her and Harry are. And since he’s taken to sitting at their table during meals more often, he’s less of a mystery (for the most part) to them. “That’s so sweet!”

The sound of hangers crashing to the floor disrupts their conversation. “It’s sickening, is more like it,” Lavender rolls her eyes. Yep, she’s still bitter. “Boys are nothing but immature assholes that’ll break your heart once they’ve taken all they’ve can from you because apparently you’re only good for a few months until he’s moved on to someone else!” Every person single in the store pauses what they’re doing, most offering their looks of pure sympathy because the young witch is so completely distraught. Even Hermione can’t even refute such a statement because deep down she does accept to be the reason that for her heartbreak. “Now which one of these dresses brings out the gold in my irises?” Had she not just had a mini fit, Y/n would have told her that the two dresses she’s holding up appear to be the same exact shade of purple. Despite herself, she points to the one on the left, the apparent ‘amethyst’ color, and Lavender rushes into one of the fitting rooms towards the back of the store.

***

The library is still his favorite place to snog his girlfriend, especially after exams when it’s left nearly deserted. They had snuck past Madam Pince’s desk while she had been interrogating a few students on their––ridiculously long––overdue books. No wonder the librarian is on edge all the time, with all of the nagging she has to do come the end of every year. They had caught the end of a particularly impassioned speech about how books are meant to be treated with the utmost respect, and not to be used as means for cleaning up niffler feces during Care of Magical Creatures. And Y/n can’t imagine the reason why one would even go about such a technique. (Everyone knows that Hagrid stores the really good cleaners in the shed!)

Harry has her pressed up against a bookshelf in the dragon section because it’s always nice and toasty compared to the others, and she still feels a bit cold despite it being so close to July. She never leaves her room without some sort of extra layer, and he’s resorted to bringing along a spare jumper with him just in case she might need it.

“We’re going to get in trouble,” she giggles into his mouth, and he swallows each one as he continues to suck fervently on her bottom lip. There’s a lingering taste of toffee on her tongue, one that he finds to be particularly intoxicating at the moment––but really, when doesn’t he find anything about her to be?

“Don’t care, love,” he mumbles back, his breath tickling the shell of her ear as one of his hands reach down to hook under her knee to lift her thigh to wrap around his hip. Goosebumps scatter all across her skin as his calloused fingers run higher and higher up her lower half. She bites her lip and tilts her head back, granting him access to as much of her as possible.

There really is no chance that he’ll ever get enough of her. From her love of all things sugary, to her obsession with reading Witch Weekly articles that he’s sure are written without suitable evidence to support whatever point they’re trying to get across. Even her animosity towards flying––which is not to say that he still isn’t trying to get her more comfortable on a broom because he really is trying his best. The other day he’d planned on giving her some lessons, but his Gryffindor is a determined little thing. She knows he can never resist her, especially when she ups the soft and cuddly factor by the tenfold. It only took a bit of convincing and sweet tender kisses to the base of his jaw, and the next thing he knew they were having a picnic by the lake with Ashes during a rare appearance from the sun.

They manage to go another couple of minutes before getting interrupted. It’s a low cough that barely reaches his ears, and he’s a bit annoyed because he was this close to getting to love on her proper. A part of him is afraid that it’ll be Madam Pince about ready to zap his bum into oblivious because they’ve been warned so many times before about this. She’s threatened him with multiple detentions until the day her leaves the doors of Hogwarts for the last time. But he turns only to meet…well, he’s not quite sure who she is.

“Can I help you?” he asks.

The girl, who appears to be no older than twelve stares up at them shyly, her nose twitching in the slightest. “Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office,” she barely squeaks out.

What? Professor Dumbledore wishes to see him? In his six years of being a student here, he doesn’t think he’s spoken more than ten words to the elderly wizard, and those had just been respectful greetings when they cross paths across the field.

Y/n rests her palm on his chest, smiling genially at the girl before offering her thoughts. “Are you sure he needs this Harry? I’m sure you mean Potter, yeah?”

“No,” the girl replies timidly. “I have a note requesting for Harry Styles.” She reaches into the pocket of her jeans and pulls out a precisely folded piece of parchment. Harry eyes it suspiciously for a moment, before taking it from in between the girl’s fingers.

Harry, please meet me in my office this afternoon for a spot of tea. I hope you like earl grey! The password is ‘sherbet lemon.’

All the best,

Professor Dumbledore

Now he’s completely fucked. He closes his eyes and leans forward against Y/n’s forehead, taking in deep breaths through his nose. “I’ll stop by Gryffindor later, yeah?” He gives her a departing kiss, letting his hands slide down from around her waist slowly until they’re at his sides.

***

Before his knuckles can knock on the door of the headmaster’s office, it swings open before him. Harry looks up from his feet and peeks his head into the spacious room with ceiling lights illuminating the space rather delicately.

“Come in, Harry,” he hears a voice call out for him, and he finds it to be so impeccably warm and inviting, and the type to hold so many stories about everything life has to offer. “You’re just in time! I’ve just got it up to the perfect temperature,” he motions to the pot, with blue floral accents lining the edges down by the base, as well as around its slender spout. He chooses to focus on this, rather than Dumbledore’s wistful smile as he walks forward.

A wave of déjà vu washes over him. He’s been in this type of situation before, albeit the sense of hospitality somehow making him feel a bit queasy. It was only some nights ago that he’d been standing on the other side of Snape’s less luxurious desk, delivering news that would affect the person in front of him now.

There’s a mumbling coming from above, he allows his gaze to drift upwards, where all portraits of former Hogwarts Headmasters scatter across the wall. An argument seems to have arisen, from the words he can just barely make out. “Will you lot hush, can’t you see we have company?” Phineas Nigellus Black yells out. Dexter Fortescue scoffs aloud, “I will if Fronsac would shut that bloody insufferable trap of his!”

“Gentleman,” Dumbledore turns around, his hands placed firmly on his hips as he gives them all such an authoritative expression that makes each pair of lips pull tightly in a straight line. “You all know how much I enjoy your company, but maybe take the day to visit your other portraits, hmm?” Each former headmaster beckons a departure, shifting to either side of the frame and disappearing from eyesight (although, he does hear one of them mutter a complaint of being kicked out of his own office). “Harry, my boy, please do take a seat.”

Harry climbs the platform that Dumbledore’s desk is situated on, a noticeable timidity as he takes them one by one. A chair––presumably for him––sits just opposite of the grander chair of the headmaster. It has a deep shaded red cushion sitting nice a plump atop of it. When he sets himself down, he finds his bum just molding in the awfully comfortable padding. “Profe-”

“Do you take milk and sugar in your tea?” the elderly wizard asks him.

“No, sir,” he quips. He listens as the steaming liquid pours into the matching tea cup. Dumbledore reaches across the table to hand him the cup with its matching saucer, to which he cautiously takes from his wrinkled hands. The seemingly charred skin rousing his attention for the time being. “Thank you, sir.”

***

She’s growing restless with each passing minute. When Harry had been called up to the headmaster’s office, she had expected it to only last a half an hour, tops, and that had been over two hours ago. What could Dumbledore possibly want with her boyfriend? He’s not a troublemaker by any means, well…unless you count getting yelled at by Madam Pince or Filch, but if that were the case, she would have been called up as well.

What if he’s going to talk to him about his father? Harry would absolutely dread it! It’s understandably still a touchy subject for him. She’s working on a letter to send her dad before they leave. It’s basically her begging him not to bring up anything about Desmond Styles and especially about You-Know-Who. She hears the snide comments that have been erupting from particularly obnoxious students about how the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. And if it weren’t for her mum teaching her to not let such heathens affect her in any way, no matter how much she wants to snap back at them for implying such things about Harry.

“Will you quit it? I can’t bloody focus on my book when you’re being all fidgety,” Liam scolds her, thwacking the cover of George Orwell’s 1984 to her feet rested in his lap. She sticks her tongue out at him, kicking the book enough that it lands face down on the carpet. “Oi, the pages will crease!”

***

“You and Ms. Y/l/n are an item, yes?” Dumbledore asks, genuinely curious as he sets the teacup and sauces down on the flat surface. Harry nods, a fondness in the way he smiles. “Ah, to be young and in love, as the saying goes, I think.” Both chuckle soundly. Conversation has been rather light, and there must be something in the tea because Harry’s feeling so at ease in spite of the internal chaos his nerves had been sending him through earlier. It’s definitely the tea, he thinks. There had been this natural sweetness to it that let his muscles relax enough so he could be a more sociable human being.

It’s also oddly satisfying to gush over his girl to someone that isn’t Niall. The blonde Irishman has been up his arse lately because his most recent date had gone horribly wrong by the time the food had come to the table. He still isn’t quite sure what happened, but he guesses it would be in everyone’s best interest to not pry into the matter. Which is why when Y/n had surprised him the other day with that button-up she had bought on her day out with the girls, he had to hide it under his shirt because Niall’s mood would only get worse if he were to have seen.

“And we’d do anything for the people we love, yes?” A twinkle in his eyes as he peers over his half-moon spectacles that look as though they’re about to fall over the tip of his nose.

“Yeah,” Harry finds himself saying, his lips formed into that boyish grin that could accurately tell anyone how enamored he is. “I’d do anything for her.” Then it hits him. The reason why he’d been invited for tea this afternoon was this. He wipes his mouth down with the napkin spread out on his lap. “Professor, I-”

Dumbledore sits back in his throne-like chair. His fingers stroking along his long grey beard, picking out a few crumbs from the biscuits they had been indulging in. “The thing about love is,” he pauses momentarily, chuckling to himself when he finds a particularly chunky crumb tangled in the tips. “Is that it has the power to drive us to do things––some that we may not be proud––because we fear losing those who mean the most to us.” Harry swallows hard, and suddenly the tea is leaving a tart taste in his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” his voice lost in the guilt. “I-I wish I didn’t have to do this, but he…I can’t lose her.”

“You shouldn’t apologize for wanting to protect your loved ones, Harry.” Dumbledore stands up and comes around the desk, leaning back along the edge just meters away from where Harry becomes restless on the plump red cushion. “You are a better person than you think you are.”

***

It’s a few days later, his girl fast asleep on his chest as places repeated kisses to the crown of her head. The curtains around his four-poster providing them with the privacy needed to shield themselves from his four––now three––roommates.

Tonight, is the night. The night that will spark the beginning of a war that he isn’t sure will ever cease to exist, at least in this lifetime. Maybe he can convince Y/n to run away with him to some place where the Dark Lord’s influence doesn’t reach. They could start their life there, in their own personal oasis where they wouldn’t have to worry about surviving into the next day. He would marry her, find her a nice rock that would look gorgeous on her fourth finger alongside her current ring. Then maybe when they’re ready they could have a few precious little babies, a mini him and a mini her running around in their diapers and making Ashes’ fur change colors each time they giggle whenever he tickles their squishy little bellies. He bets they’ll inherit a proclivity for sweets just like their mummy, and hopefully won’t jump on her ‘no flying’ business because he’s definitely planning on taking them out on his broom once they’re old enough.

She starts to stir in her sleep, burying her face further into the crook of his neck and mumbling his name ever so softly. He strokes her hair and whispers sweet nothings into her ear to keep her safe away in dreamland. “Shh, I’m here, angel. I’m right here.” And then she’s still again, the steady rise and fall of her chest comes as a relief.

It doesn’t last though. At exactly 10:49 pm on the 30th of June, the Hogwarts community says goodbye to their beloved headmaster. His body lays lifeless on the cold ground at the foot of the Astronomy Tower. Niall had woken them up in frantic haze, and the three of them rushed out to see if the spreading news had any truth to it. Although Harry had been dreadfully anticipating this moment for six months. And now that scene is right in front of him, it’s inexplicable and something he wished he could shield her from.

Harry holds on to her hand tightly as they become encompassed in the crowd gathered around the fallen wizard. The sniffles and cries of students and faculty alike are released into the darkness casted by the storm cloud overhead. When Y/n catches a glimpse of Harry Potter hunched over Dumbledore’s body, bitter sobs growing louder and louder as he shakes him, urging him to open his eyes.

But he doesn’t. And the sight bites at everyone’s heart.

Professor McGonagall is the first one to draw her wand. A small ray of light emitting from the tip as she stares up to the sky through a glossed layer of tears. In an almost practiced manner, hundreds of wands are raised up in the air, fighting off the shadows that creep around in the antagonistic night until a stroke of illumination nudges its way to disperse the cloud of its evil presence and give the headmaster the rightful parting he deserves, even if the world isn’t quite ready to say goodbye.

Y/n softly cries into his chest, her tears absorbing through the material of his thin grey tank and burning his skin. The last words spoken to him still fresh in his mind and holds such important meaning. It had been simple, but to him, it meant the world. Not because now he feels vindicated for having the dark mark permanently embedded on his left forearm, but because he was served hope on a silver platter. He sucks in harshly, his eyes scanning through the crowd in search for that unmistakable head of platinum blond hair that he had been working so close with for months.

Draco Malfoy is nowhere in sight, he had fulfilled his mission.

And now Albus Dumbledore was dead.

***

When Harry pictured himself meeting his girlfriend’s father, he hadn’t anticipated it being at a funeral. He knows Dumbledore hadn’t wanted him to feel guilty about this, but that’s easier said than done. What if his father had never become a death eater during the first Wizarding War? Would he have been forced to help mend the vanishing cabinet that still remains up in the Room of Requirement? He likes to that things would have turned out differently. He and Y/n walk into the Great Hall hand in hand when she suddenly releases her grip on him and runs towards the man, bringing him in for a big suffocating hug.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Nicolás pulls away and runs his hand down her ponytail with a faltered tug of the lips. He looks a bit older than she remembers him being over the holidays. A few greyer hairs sprouted at the roots of his hairline and the wrinkles just below his eyelids more prominent when he smiles.

“I’m fine, dad,” she assures him, running her hand up and down his arm. “Just shaken up is all.” She didn’t know how much she missed him until today. All her life her dad had been her protector, the one she’d run to whenever she was stricken with a nightmare or in a mood when she hadn’t done as well as she would have on a test. But now she has two men to make her feel protected. She looks to her side, anticipating Harry to be there, but instead he’s standing awkwardly where she had left him. Oops. “I’ll be right back,” she tells Nicolás.

Oh gods, he panics as her heels click on the marble floor. She holds out her hand to him when she’s about arm’s length, to which he takes gladly as a reflex. (Curse his desire to always be touching her in some way.) “Want you to meet someone,” her doe-like eyes beaming up at him as she gently tugs him her direction of origin. And now he’s staring directly into a similar pair of eyes, although these are much less loving and much sterner than what he’s used to.

“Mr. Y/l/n,” he acknowledges, “it’s…um…” breathe, Harry, breathe! “an honor to meet you, sir.” Fabulous first impression, Harry. Ten points to Slytherin! To think he’s been just centimeters away from Voldemort himself, and yet this is probably the closest he’s been to shitting his trousers.

Nicolás looks him up and down, and Harry can practically feel the judgment oozing with each moment of passing reticence. He tilts his head to Y/n, her lip caught between her teeth as she tries offer him glances of encouragement.

“Harry,” Nicolás finally breaks, “it’s about time we be properly acquainted.” Harry lets out a long breath––although it’s unobserved by the Y/l/ns––and nods gingerly. Even Y/n exhales in relief because she just wouldn’t know how to handle such a stiff situation at this time. She knew her dad would be sensible, after all, that letter she’d ending up writing him had been about fourteen pages, front and back, which included very clear directives to be nice to him.

They chat for some time, dancing around the topic of what’s actually happening around them until they’re forced to accept it and find their seats in an empty pew alongside Liam and Niall. Y/n hates funerals, probably more than anyone else she knows. Those hymns they play during the procession of the casket touches her the wrong way and she often finds herself feeling a bit nauseous. But never like this. Now more than ever, she swears that the pungent smell of incense floating around the room touches her nostrils in the worst ways possible. What is this wretched stench? Harry notices the faintest tint of green on her and wraps an arm around her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” his feels her forehead with the back of his hand. Thankfully she hasn’t got a temperature, but it still doesn’t overcome the fact that she looks about the shade of a green Anjou pear.

***

The train pulls away from Hogsmeade Station, the image of the castle gradually leaving their sites as the engine picks up speed. No one knows what’s to come in the next school year with everything that’s happened. Professor McGonagall had given a solemn message during the end-of-term feast that put things into perspective for many students. This is all really happening. It’s no longer a fear of the when, but a fear of the now.

“I’m glad we’ll be far away from here,” Harry says as he watches the countryside pass them by. Some of the land destroyed in one of the more recent death eater attacks, the once abundance of prosperous crops now reduced to ash beyond any magical repair. That’s the thing about dark magic, its effects can be irreversible, or as good as.

The Ministry has come out with a slew of statements, each one as desperate and unbelievable as the last. The people need security, not just near empty words promising a safer tomorrow. Because now the safest place in all of Wizarding Britain has been tainted so drastically that parents will most definitely withhold their children from returning next term; and if Hogwarts is no longer a refuge for security, then what place is?

“We should just stay away forever,” he says into a whisper. Y/n looks up at him through her eyelashes.

“Where would we go?” she dares to ask him, tracing her finger over his torso. He shrugs his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter, as long as I’ve got you, I could live just about anywhere.”

“You mean that?”

“Every word.”

***

Harry likes Muggle London. More than he’s willing to admit.

The idea of living here crosses his mind whenever he finds something new that he genuinely enjoys. Muggles have these nifty screens that have people inside of them that lets everyone know what the weather is outside before even setting foot out the front door. He’d been glued in front of the telly for a good couple of hours before Y/n had to forcibly drag him away because he’d been sitting too close and would definitely strain his eyeballs. She thinks it’s cute though, how excited he gets when he learns something new or is presented with some crazy invention unconceivable to the average pureblood’s brain.

He’s getting along with her parents as well. Linette Y/l/n is such a wonderful woman and now he knows where Y/n gets her sweetness from. The first day they’d arrived, she’d asked him what his favorite meal was and prepared it for dinner a few hours later. (Don’t tell anyone, but he thinks it’s better than what his house elf, Tin-Tin, has ever made. If word gets out, then he knows the poor little elf would punish herself.) Nicolás is at work most of the time, but they did go out for lunch yesterday, and the two talked all things quidditch, much to Y/n’s contempt. There’s still a smidgen of tension that linger in the air between them, but Harry doesn’t let it affect him for his girlfriend’s sake. He still isn’t certain if he likes him or not because sometimes he feels himself being observed a little too closely for his liking.

What he likes most of all, however, is that her room is right across the hall from his. And since this isn’t school, he’s actually allowed to enter her bedroom––which he’d been in once before on Christmas Eve into Christmas day––and really get a feel for who she is. Her room is just as adorable as she is, he decides now that he’s finally had a chance to soak in every detail. The walls painted a muted pink that appear white at first glance. She has a whole shelf full of pictures of her through the years in order of when they had been taken.

“You were such a cutie, just look at those pigtails!” he gushes, picking up a picture of her from when she was only five years old. This of course causes her to blush and give him that pout that always manages to make him swoon. “Now you’re a right beauty, aren’t you? My beautiful girl that I love to bits and pieces.” He pulls her into his lap and nuzzles into her cheek. “Love you so much, I do.” These muggles are making feel even softer than usual.

“Yeah?” she giggles, giving him a quick peck to the lips as her fingers tread up into his brown curls. He nods thoughtfully and kisses her chin. “That’s a relief because I love you lots too.”

Their loving looks soon turn into much more, their lips languidly moving together while their hands roam over each other’s bodies. Her parents aren’t home, which makes this the ideal time to show her just how much he means every word of his affections. (Imagine the look on Nicolás’ face if he were to walk in on them.) He’s quick to pull her shirt over her head, laying her down on her back on top of the mattress.

***

She washes the mixture of sweat and sex off her body, humming along to a Beatles song she had heard her mum blasting before she’d left for work. Her strawberry scented body wash all nice and foamy on the loofa that she moves all over her skin.

“Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes there beneath the tides-ow!” she drops the loofa on the shower floor and cups her breasts in her hands. The girls have been feeling awfully tender recently, and she thinks it might be because her period will soon be gracing her with its presence. She’d nearly punched Harry in the gut earlier because he’d taken to tweaking one of her nipples in his mouth, which under normal conditions would have definitely gotten her motor running, but they’re so ultra-sensitive right now that it just didn’t feel good at all. This could only mean that its symptoms are going to hit her like a load of bricks.

***

They take the Piccadilly line from Gloucester Road to Covent Gardens. (Harry’s become completely taken with the London Underground, says the tube is his favorite muggle invention of all time.) She figured she’d show him the wonder that is Neal’s Garden, with the eccentric multi-colored buildings that spread throughout the alley. It’s not as crowded as other parts of London that she’d taken him to. There are definitely less people here than when she had taken him down the entire length of Oxford Street. No, this place has just the perfect number of civilians to make it feel alive and vibrant.

The tight passageways lively with different stores to fit all the health and wellness needs anyone could ever have––Y/n drags Harry to the location’s namesake organic beauty shop the second she spots it, and the two invest their money in lovely smelling moisturizers for both the body and face. She’s seen his toiletries bag, and there’s just as much product (maybe even more) than in hers. This really does explain why he’s got such perfect and pore-less skin.

When their stomachs grow a bit peaky, they find a quaint little restaurant at the end of the street that Y/n claims to serve the best pizza in all of London. Both moan at the taste of the gooey cheese stringing along after each bite from the wood-fired crust that has just the most delectable crunch to it. The two share a few innocent kisses here and there that taste of tomato and basil but are sweet nonetheless.

“You’ve got a little…here, I’ll get it for you, love.” He leans in attaches his lips to the side of her mouth to rid it of a tiny dribble of pizza sauce. “There, all clean,” he cheeks, winking at her before helping himself to another slice.

Because there’s always room for dessert, at least as Y/n so proudly believes in, they share a large cup of gelato between the two of them on a bench in one of the more secluded areas. The lady behind the counter had only given them one spoon, so she feeds the both of them, alternating who gets to take a bite from the creamy goodness of stracciatella. But Harry is a bit greedy, directing the spoon to his awaiting mouth when it had been on its way into hers.

“Hey!” Y/n gasps, furrowing her eyebrows because that bite had had a good amount of chocolate on it––and he doesn’t even fancy chocolate as much as she does! She dips her finger alongside the inner edges of the cup, coating it nice and even with a chunk of cold sweetness before rubbing it all over the side of Harry’s face. “You’ve got a little-” she mimics him, stifling a fit of giggles because he just looks so absolutely scandalized.

“So that’s what you’re playing at, yeah?” He takes a fingerful of gelato and smears down the entire length of her nose and over her cupid’s bow. And they end up getting in a little food fight, ignoring the stares of those around them as they flick whatever remains in the cup at each other.

By the end of it all, they’re both a sticky mess, and Harry pulls them into an empty washroom and freshens them both up with a cleaning spell that rids their clothes of any evidence of a mess. And they may have taken longer than they thought because someone comes banging on the door as though meant to punch through it. “Oi, no shagging in the toilets, there are people out here that need to have a wee!”

***

He’s happy, so unexplainably and purely happy that he doesn’t think anything will ever top the feeling. It’s like all of their problems have been left behind in the Wizarding World, and now they’re free to carry on with their lives without fearing for the worst.

As they head back in the direction of the tube station, he revels in how the warmth of the sun radiates onto her hair, casting somewhat of halo around the rim of her head. Gods, he didn’t think it was possible for her to look even more angelic than she already does. And he just can’t help himself. He presses her in between him and the outside wall of a store, one hand on her waist, the other just above her entire height. His lips hover over hers, breathing into her mouth as he looks down at her through half-lidded eyes.

“My perfect angel.” She can feel the air of his words puff in her face as she reaches up and cups his face to finally press her trembling lips to his in a passionate exchange that has her knees buckling and barely able to support her weight had it not been for him holding onto her so tight.

***

“You two seem to have had a nice time,” Linette says when they enter through the front door.

Y/n kisses her mum on the cheek. “Sure did,” she smiles, pulling out all of their shopping bags from her little purse. Extension charms surely are a blessing to this world.

“Did you have fun, Harry? Hope this one didn’t tire you out too much. I know I’m always an exhausted mess when we go out,” Linette pokes fun at her daughter, who in turn scrunches her face into a pout. “Oh, don’t be like that. If you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck that way.”

The playful banter between a mother and her child, it all feels so foreign to him. He can’t remember the last time he and Anne had shared a laugh, or even a look of admiration like Y/n and Linette are now. He and Gemma used to pick her flowers from the garden every morning when they were smaller. Tin-Tin would help them pick out the prettiest ones with the largest petals and greenest stems and wrap them up in some fancy colored paper to give to her at breakfast. Those are the memories he holds dearest to his heart because it’s all he has left of their once happy family.

“What’s wrong?” Y/n asks, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him out of his thoughts. “Haven’t said a word since we’ve gotten here.”

He shakes his head and pecks gently at her forehead. “It’s nothing, love. Just tired is all.” She eyes him suspiciously for a moment but decides to drop the subject. They talk about the day’s events with Linette. Y/n shows her all the things she bought, from the boots she had gotten off a clearance sale to those hydrating facials masks from Neal’s Yard Remedies that are meant to tighten the skin and leave it looking young and refreshed.

***

Y/n hums happily as she helps her mum in the kitchen, that same Beatles song from earlier today.

“Since it’s just us girls here,” Linette speaks up, popping her head out the archway leading to the dining room. “Tell me about him,” she bumps their hips together as they chop the vegetables for stew she plans on serving later.

“Well,” Y/n starts, overwhelmed by all the things she can say about him because she could go on and on about even the simplest of his habits that she can’t decide on where to start. “He’s amazing, mum. Really, really great.” A smile lifting the edges of her lips. She really does feel like the luckiest girl to someone like him love her the way he does. “I always get butterflies in my tummy when I’m around him, he treats me like I’m a princess.”

“I’m happy for you, lovey. He seems like a nice boy.”

Knowing that her mum approves of him means the world to her, and she knows that her dad will come around full circle as well.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk about this, but as your mum I feel obligated to ask.” Uh oh. “Have you two,” she bops her head as if that would make what she was trying to elude to so blatantly obvious. “You know, you’re young and sometimes young people get into these moods and one thing leads to another and…”

“Mum!” she gasps, dropping the knife on the cutting board and covering her ears. “You’re right, I don’t want to talk about this!” La, la, la. She much rather engage in the whole ‘future’ conversation because at least that doesn’t involve something so private.

But Linette’s fingers wrap around her wrist and forcefully remove bring them away from her head. “I’m not entirely sure how you magic lot take care of this kind of thing. Just promise me you’re being careful, yeah? That’s all I ask!”

“We are, mum. Promise,” she groans, ignoring the way her stomach flips over into somersaults. Thankfully Harry’s still asleep in his room, and won’t ever have to listen to how mum is making her cheeks flush a violent shade of red.

“I’m just saying!” Linette pokes her sides. “And I think you’d appreciate me talking to you about this than your dad because God only knows he’d sputter out.”

***

He stretches out the knots in his back after having waken up from a rejuvenating nap. The sheer white curtains allowing some of the sunlight enter into his room and lighten his aura. Although, he’s feeling a bit annoyed because he could’ve sworn that his girlfriend had been asleep next to him when he had closed his eyes. She’s probably in the kitchen snacking on those Mars Bars that she bought while in queue at the Waitrose yesterday. His feet swing over the side of the bed, his head still trying to wake up along with the rest of his body.

There’s an unaccounted-for gust of wind that blows his hair onto his face. Maybe he had left the window open, or maybe Y/n had done so before she left? He finally lifts his bum off the soft cushioning and limps his way over. He moves the curtain aside, but he’s despondent to see that everything is sealed and locked. His eyes instinctively move up to look past the window as a sudden chill rattles his bones.

Across the street is a man dressed in all black robes, his long white-blonde hair pulled back into a small low ponytail. He stands there with no regard for the curious glances of pedestrians that pass him on the sidewalk. This man shouldn’t be here. That had been part of the deal. Harry’s fists curl tightly into his palms, his nails digging crescents in the skin. The man outside signals for him to come down with just a finger. He’s taunting him, trying to intimidate him, and gods, he hates that it’s working.

Harry grabs his wand from the side table then apparates to the empty alleyway a few houses down. He skillfully lands firmly on his feet without a hint of imbalance. His wand shoved back into his front pocket, it’s handle covered by his shirt.

The approaching footsteps kick the bits of rubble on the ground. A daunting laugh nearly venomous to the ears. “How’s life amongst the muggles, Styles?”

“Get the fuck out of here, Yaxley.” He grips his neck tightly in his hands and shoves him harshly into the brick wall, half the mind to choke him on the spot.

The death eater struggles to breathe, but a smirk still remains on his face. “My, my, someone’s got himself a temper,” he chokes out. With the tut of his tongue he draws a letter from his robes pocket, his name addressed on the front of the envelope in finely printed lettering. “A message from the Dark Lord.”

He eyes it cautiously before releasing his strangling hold and snatching the letter from his pale fingers. Yaxley coughs out as he tries to absorb more oxygen in his lungs. He glares at Harry but doesn’t act on whatever bitterness he may have racked up.

No, instead he decides to push all the buttons he knows will emit a desirable reaction. “Got yourself quite the girl there, lad. Would be right shame to see something happen to that pretty face of hers.”

Ignore him, he tells himself. It takes all the strength given to him the forces above to not react. Not when her and her mum are so close distance.

“Couldn’t have just sent an owl?” he sneers, tearing the top of the envelope and pulling out the folded piece of paper that he expects to have some sort of new assignment he’s meant to complete. When he unfurls it, however, there are two words written.

We know.

“What is this bullshit?” Harry looks back up at Yaxley, crumpling the paper up and throwing it at him. “This some kind of joke?” ‘They know’ what? Harry can truthfully say that he hasn’t an idea of what this could be pertaining to. He’s not an idiot, he would never do something to put his girl’s life at risk.

“Interesting,” Yaxley circles around him. “The Dark Lord will be absolutely floored when I tell him. Might want to consider paying mummy a visit.”

“Wha-” But before he can get out another word, black smoke fumes into the air as the death eater flies up into broad daylight. He hears a medley of gasps from the main street, his dropping in frustration.

What doesn’t he know?

***

The next day he makes up an excuse that he has to pop back home for a bit because his mum has come down with freak disease, and Gemma is stuck working overtime at St. Mungo’s. Y/n seems to be understanding, although she does get a bit pouty because she had planned for them to head up to Hampstead Heath this afternoon. He promises her that he’ll be back to get a show of the sunset, and then he’s off.

He apparates into his childhood bedroom at Styles House, a rush of nostalgia hitting him as he takes a good look around. It’s just as he left it, not a single speck of dust cloaks over any of the surfaces.

“Master Harry! Tin-Tin is so pleased to welcome Master home!” he turns around at the pop of the house elf.

“Where’s Mum?” he asks her, patting her head.

“Mistress is in the den. Would master like Tin-Tin to let mistress know that he’s here?” she smiles widely at him. She’s always been very attentive, and he remembers how he almost set her free when he was younger.

Harry runs out the door and descends down the grand staircase, nearly tripping over his own feet in the rush he’s in.

“Mum,” he breathes out once he’s stood under the archway. Anne snaps up at him, her eyes growing wide surprise as she covers her mouth with both hands. They stare at each other for what seems like hours.

It’s Anne that makes the first move, she gathers him in her arms and pulls him in for a tight embrace. She cries softly, and he’s not sure what kind they are. The way she rubs his back tells him she’s happy to have him here, but then there’s something else saturated in each one of her tears.

“Mum,” he repeats, grasping her shoulders and pulling away far enough to look directly into her eyes. “I need to know if you’re not telling me something.”

Her mouth opens but closes immediately after. She peers behind him as if looking for something. “Where is she?” she questions sternly. He returns the stare. “Come with me.” She takes hold of his wrist and leads him outside through the gardens and towards the cabana that he’s only ever been in a few times in his life. The doors open before them, and close loudly when they’re fully situated in the room. This is where they keep the Styles family tapestry. The faces of its members dating all the way back to the fourteenth century.

Anne walks further into the room, towards the middle where the most recent generation is located in this intricate web. Her arms are crossed over her chest as she stares at the bottom of their family’s section. Harry follows her eyes, starting from his grandparents, down to his parents, then Gemma and himself, then finally…

***

A/N: Oh goodness, it’s been a while! Thank you all so much for your feedback and support for this series.

What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me here!

#hogwarts!harry #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x reader #harry styles drabble #harry styles fluff #harry styles au #harry potter #harry potter au

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tyranttortoise · 7 years ago

Text

Napstaton x Reader fluff

Raffle Winner One-shot for @bigfanofpuns Napstaton x Reader || Underswap Pacifist Surface timeline Reader specifics: aerial acrobat. ... I went a little further and did an aerial acrobat with a specialty in silk acrobatics.

*Hope you like it!

You didn't know what to expect when you got the call from a rather shy, soft-spoken person that claimed your talents were requested--but of all the possibilities you entertained, standing in front of a literal, smiling robot was never one of them.

"Yo! You must be Y/N! Gotta say, it's great to meet you in-person. You're exactly what my next show needs!"

They beam at you, and your eyes sweep over their metallic body, taking in the sight of their blue jacket and matching hat (turned around backwards to sweep the gray locks of hair from their face), the headphones around their neck, and the fist now extended out to you.

"Don't leave me hangin', dude." The robot shakes their hand toward you, and you finally snap out of your shock to awkwardly fist-bump them.

"Sorry, I just..." You trail off, so many different questions running through your mind at once, that it was difficult to pick just one.

"I know, it's kinda overwhelming meeting a star as big as me, right?" The robot reaches out and claps a hand on your shoulder, leaning forward. Your spine stiffens in surprise, but you have to admit... He's actually really handsome.

And totally a robot.

"I don't think I know who you are," you manage, your best apologetic smile plastered on your face. The robot blinks slowly, pulling back yet not breaking the physical contact. He stares at you for a moment longer before he suddenly breaks into a grin.

"Ohhh, dude! You really had me going for a second there. I doubt there's a home out there that doesn't know the name Napstaton. My NTT line is pretty rad, after all!"

The name sounds vaguely familiar. But, if this robot's famous... then...

"How do you know who I am?"

"Your video!" He releases your shoulder to give you a thumbs up. "Once I saw how talented you are with acrobatics, I was, like, so entranced! Holy cow, you're limber! How did you even start doing aerial silk shows?"

You feel your face heating up. It's always been a passion of yours; you got into gymnastics as a child, and then went from there, using uneven bars to propel yourself into flips and corkscrews mid-air. But, the moment you saw an aerial silk show, where the acrobat would twist their body between two hanging strips of silk, combining the acrobats you loved with the sensual beauty of the silk, well...

You wanted that to be you.

So, it had become a hobby. You were known for how versatile your moves were, how you basically made it into a dance. But, you only did small local performances. You never expected someone from Ebott City to take notice. And you especially never expected that someone to be a celebrity robot.

... Did he even count as a monster? Would it be incredibly rude to ask?

"It was just something I wanted to try," you finally answer, finding your voice as the initial shock wears off. "I've always been an acrobat, but the silk shows are something new I've been trying."

Napstaton raises a brow. It amazes you that their mechanical features are so expressive. Who in the world built them?

"Woah, you say that like it's so easy! Aren't you scared of falling?"

You shake your head. "Nah, I've walked tight-ropes before. As long as the silk is secured well, I won't fall."

The robot whistles low, crossing their arms. "Well, in that case, you've got nothing to worry about! We'll make sure you won't literally break a leg." They grin wide, and there's something so charming and relaxed about that expression. Is it in their programming?

Or is their something more to them?

You find yourself eager to discover what that something is.

The first day of rehearsal, you sit back and watch the performance. Napstaton is spinning records and remixing tunes in a massive DJ booth to the side of the stage. A literal pink ghost is singing, and it's the same timid voice you heard on the phone before--only it's beautiful and relaxed when put with the music. There's an equally-timid-looking, yet absurdly-muscular horse monster singing backup vocals and adding a deep baritone timbre to the mix. The two of them harmonize well, especially with the tone of the music.

There's also a blue-haired rabbit monster is scowling off to the side, dressed up as... the scenery. In fact, it seems like the only thing he adds to the performance is standing there with a crude bush costume around him, and his head sticking out of a hole.

You wisely decide not to question it.

The group runs through all of the songs, and you find yourself getting lost in the music. When they stop, you realize why they're so popular; they're mesmerizing, even without the hook of being a monster band.

Napstaton deftly jumps off the edge of the stage, landing with a metallic clunk in front of you. They're wearing their usual charming grin, filled with the content confidence of someone quite comfortable in their own skin--or metal casing, rather. "Whaddya think?"

"It sounds pretty amazing, honestly," you respond, your brows raised.

"We always sound rad," he agrees, although he does seem to brighten at your compliment. "So, can you make up a routine based on that? I can give you some CDs with the songs to take home."

"Yeah, that'll definitely help. I can come up with something."

"Cool! How about we rehearse again in a week?"

You spend all week listening to the songs and practicing at the studio your friend runs. You don’t know why, but there’s a part of you that’s eager to impress the robotic celebrity.

You can’t stop thinking about the way they smiled at you, the confidence exuding from them in waves. They had accomplished so much since ascending from Underground (you finally Googled them, and hoo boy, they weren’t joking when they said everyone knew them. Their NTT line was everywhere), and yet, they hadn’t been stuck up about it. Instead, thye’d been warm and friendly, casual even, like you were friends despite just meeting.

It was refreshing, and you want to make sure your routine is perfect. If you play your cards right, this could even be what propels you further in the world of acrobatics.

At the first rehearsal, the stage looks the same, only there’s now two long silk ropes hanging down, in the same shade of blue as Napstaton’s jacket. You’re wearing a simple leotard as you examine the silk, tugging on it, and then jumping up to swing on it slightly, making sure its secure.

“Don’t worry; I’m, like... 95% positive you won’t fall to your death.”

Napstaton’s voice startles you, and you nearly let go. They reach out and place a hand on your back, steadying you, and their fingers touch the skin exposed by the leotard. Surprisingly, they don’t feel cold, but warm... and slightly buzzing. It makes your skin tingle. “Sorry,” they chuckle. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you...ah...”

They seem to trail off, and you notice their gaze on the exposed skin of your legs. You can’t help but shift on your feet, feeling a little self-conscious. You don’t have much experience with monsters--much less robots--and aren’t sure if your attire is crossing some strange boundary. “Is this okay? The silk tends to slip if I’m wearing leggings or tights.”

“What?” They snap out of it, shaking their head. “No, no, i-it’s fine. I was just thinking that Happy is gonna have to whip you up some rad threads for the show!” There’s a soft blue glow to their cheeks suddenly that you find fascinating.

... Is Napstaton blushing?

Instead, you query, “Happy?”

That charming grin is back in-place. “Yeah, my cousin! He does lead vocals! Name’s Hapstablook, but I’ve always called him Happy.” They shrug. “It’s stuck.”

A robot with a ghost cousin? Monsters are so interesting! And so strange.

The rehearsal starts, but this time, it’s just you and Napstaton, the song playing from a CD. They still sit at the DJ booth to the side, kicked back in a chair with their feet up and their arms behind their head.

You can feel their gaze on you, intently watching.

Your face flushes, and you try to block it out.

When the music starts, you immediately grasp both ropes and climb, twisting the silk around your body as you do so with practiced ease. You invert in the silk, hanging upside down, slowly spinning in a circle as you dangle and wait for the moment when the beat of the music begins to rise. At just the perfect moment, you drop, rolling down the silk and catching yourself with your legs to spin upright. Even over the music, you catch Napstaton’s startled gasp, and when you spin around toward them, you see that they’re no longer chilling in the chair, but leaned forward with both feet planted on the ground in front of him.

Your performance is perfectly choreographed, filled with inversions, flips, and displays of your upper body strength. At one point, you slide down and catch yourself with only your ankle wrapped in the silk. At another, you stretch out sideways and spin in the silk, wrapping yourself up, only to slide down further. One song slides into another, and you keep the moves up, timing each feat with a portion of the song. When the song ends, you end up rolling down the silk from the top, only to catch yourself at the bottom, still wrapped up. One leg is bent behind your head, the other with your toe pointed down toward the floor, an arm stretched taunt and wrapped in silk, and the other extended toward the imaginary audience.

Napstaton breaks into applause and gives you a thumbs up. Their grin is the widest you’ve seen yet.

“Your rad performance is definitely going to be our grand finale!”

The next week, Napstaton’s made some notes on your cues. The adorable pink ghost, Happy, films you during rehearsal, and Napstaton remixes a few of the beats to better fit the fluidity of your moves. They’re mostly content to let you do whatever you want on the silk--NT seems utterly blown away by your flexibility, and super chill about the entire thing.

It’s nice and sets you at ease.

Later that week, Happy gets your measurements and runs some costume designs by you. It’s fun sitting just talking to the ghost, and although he seems really shy, when he talks about music, his entire face lights up.

“.....Napsta has been watching your video a lot,” Happy comments quietly a few days later, while hemming part of your outfit.

“Yeah?” You quirk a brow, twisting your neck to glance at the pastel specter. Happy’s cheeks are even pinker than usual when he nods. “Isn’t that how I landed this gig in the first place?”

“N-not that video.... the one from rehearsal. They’re really impressed...”

You can’t help but feel the flush rise to your cheeks. The idea of Napstaton, watching your perform with that same intensity they had in their gaze the first time they saw your acrobatic feats in-person, well... It made you happy.

“I’ve been listening to their music nonstop lately, myself,” you admit, omitting the fact that you bought an NTT shirt with Napstaton’s face on it a few days prior. You maaayyy or may not be using it as your new favorite sleep shirt.

In the mirror, you see Happy’s smile brighten.

After rehearsal the following day, Napstaton catches you once you change out of your leotard and into normal clothes. “’sup? Wanna grab a bite before you go home?”

Dinner with a celebrity? You should probably feel nervous, but instead... that charming grin makes you feel at ease. “Sure, is Happy joining us?”

NT shrugs. “Nah. Said he already ate, so I guess it’s just you and me.”

Now that makes you feel slightly jittery, but you’re happy to accept their offer. You wonder what kind of fancy restaurant a famous DJ would like to eat at. You’re not exactly dressed for anything that they could possibly--

They park the car at McDonald’s.

You can’t help but laugh, and Napstaton rubs the back of their neck. “Uh, you don’t like Mickey D’s?”

“Just not what I was expecting,” you claim with a grin. “You’re just... down-to-Earth for a monster celeb. Or robot celeb?”

“Either works. I’m still a monster, ya’know. Got a SOUL and everything.” They tap their chest with their fist, and the heart-shape imprinted in their design begins to glow a faint white.

A robot with a SOUL? Maybe that’s why they’re so expressive.

“But yeah. I mean, I try to be. Never have been the fancy type.” They shrug, looking slightly abashed. “Were ya, like.. hoping for somethin’ more? We can go somewhere else.”

You open up the car door, shaking your head. “This is perfect, NT. Let’s go.”

The two of you order burgers, chicken nuggets, and fries, then find a corner booth to sit and talk. You learn a little more about what drove Napstaton to stardom, and you finally ask them how they’re cousins with a ghost.

“Easy-peasy. I used to be one, too, before the totally awesome Doctor Undyne built me this body!”

“What? Are you telling me you’re a literal ghost in the machine?” Your eyes are huge. “How did you become a ghost? Did you die?” The inquires get blurted out before you can think about how insensitive that sounds. Whoops. You start to back-pedal. “Sorry. I mean...”

NT waves their hand dismissively. “No biggie. I was born a ghost.” Their grin turns amused. “Humans have such weird ideas about ghosts.” They get up and throw away the trash, but instead of heading back to the car, they tilt their head toward the nearby park. “Wanna walk off all of that greasy fast food.”

You want to prolong the night. “Why not?” With a shrug, you follow them down the sidewalk, chatting about yourself--what got you into aerial acrobatics, why you decided to try silk ropes, the first time you had successfully walked a tight rope--and Napstaton gave you their full, undivided attention.

There’s a moment of silence before you decide to voice a question that’s been weighing on your mind. “Why did you want a robotic body?”

NT’s smile fades around the edges slightly, the light in their eyes seeming faraway as they look straight ahead. They’re quiet for a moment, and you immediately regret asking, but then they speak up, “I wanted to be like the humans.” That admission catches you by surprise, and when you turn toward them, Napstaton reaches out and takes your hand. “I wanted to be corporeal--to be able to touch and be touched, and not just with my music.”

You don’t really know what to say to that. Your fingers shift to lace with NT’s, and you squeeze their hand. “I’m glad you got to do everything you’ve dreamed of, NT.”

Their charming grin returns, and they squeeze your hand in return. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The day of the show, you discover the stadium is packed. There are even people sitting in the grass past the seats, and large jumbo screens situation on either side of the stage to showcase the performance.

Holy crap, you’re nervous.

Napstaton grins, winding an arm around your shoulders as you peek out from behind the curtain. “Ready to give ‘em a show, Y/N?”

“Maybe,” you mutter, your nerves fluttering in your stomach. NT laughs, pulling you against their side and squeezing your upper arm.

“You’ll knock ‘em dead. So totally dead, in fact, that they might even become ghosts and haunt the place. Isn’t that, like... the human stereotype?” Their grin is shit-eating at this point.

“Ha ha. I think Happy’s the only ghost we need haunting the place. And, well--you, if you count. But Happy wouldn’t scare a soul.”

“Not on purpose, anyway,” NT comments, laughing. They squeeze you one more time. “Alrighty, it’s totally showtime. Let’s put on a rad performance!”

And they did.

You watch most of the show from the side, listening to the haunting (ha) vocals and melodies, followed by a few more up-beat songs. When your cue comes, you cross the stage to a chorus of cheers, all because of your costume, courtesy of Happy.

You’re dressed like Napstaton.

Your leotard has a blue heart in the center, and you’re wearing the same baggy-style dance pants as them, completely with a hat turned backwards. Your grand entrance involves a backhand spring toward the silk, which suddenly tumbles down from the ceiling. When you regain your footing at the ropes, you rip off the dance pants (Happy was sure to just have the sides snap in place, making the feat easy) and throw the hat into the audience like a frisbee.

Of course, they eat it up.

Your blood is pumping in your ears, your nerves jittery. If it wasn’t for the rush of adrenaline, you’re certain your hands would be shaking, but at this point, you’ve practiced so much that you can do the entire routine on auto-pilot. As you spin upside-down on the silk, waiting for the right moment in the song to fall, your gaze catches Napstaton’s, and he takes a hand off the controls to give you a thumbs up and that grin that makes you so weak now.

You hit your cue perfectly. The crowd loves it. You can vaguely hear Happy’s singing over the pounding of your heart. There’s a couple of times where your motions could have synced better with the music, but overall, you’re giving the performance of your life. By the second-half of the last song, you notice another voice join the vocals, a tenor complimenting Happy’s soft voice. Slowly, it begins to overtake the vocals, rising in volume and absolutely stunning. That had never happened in rehearsals.

At the end, when you roll down the silk ropes, coming into your final pose where your body is stretched within the binds, you realize who’s been singing. And you definitely don’t remember those lyrics.

And I can’t sleep at night ‘cause the ghost of your touch still haunts me.

Napstaton is standing in front of the silk ropes, and they reach up and skillfully untangle your ankle, freeing your leg. With your arm still wrapped in the bright blue silk, NT slides an arm around your waist and dips you back with a smirk. The audience goes nuts, but it all fades to white noise in the background. You’re too entrance by the face that’s only inches from yours.

“I thought you hated ghost stereotypes.”

They shrug, looking mischievous. “Thought it was most def ironic--you hauntin’ me.”

You blink slowly. If you weren’t already out-of-breath from several minutes of showcasing your upper (and lower) body strength, your breath would have hitched.

“You mean, you wrote that part.... about me?” you manage, your gaze wide and searching theirs.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

In the next moment, you grab NT’s hat, pull it off their head and to the side of their face--and then wrap an arm around their neck and kiss them right then and there. The entire stadium erupts in the loudest cheering and applause you’ve ever heard. When they pull back, NT looks surprised, their lips still slightly parted.

“Maybe for my next song I can write about how your kiss makes me malfunction.”

You groan, swatting them with their own hat, while they just give you that grin.

If you wrote a song, it would be about how it never fails to give you butterflies.

(* Mobile Imagine Masterlist )

#undertale imagine #napstaton #underswap #fluff #drabble #fic raffle #raffle winners #i've never written anything for napstaton before #so i just rolled with it #also kudos to night for the silk suggestion #i watched a ton of videos and then didn't go into that much detail #but hopefully still enough to make it cool #i really hope you like this!

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