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bigbangclappin · 5 years ago

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Wounded

Genre: Werewolf au, angst

Pairing: JacksonXReader

Warnings: Mentions of heat, thoughts of infidelity, mentions of smut, cursing? I don’t remember but just in case.

A/N: this is going to have one more part I think and it may just go on my Ao3 we’ll see.

Word count: 2,560

Summary: Going in to heat can make you act on the irrational and unheard of.

Heat cycles were such a pain especially when your mate was out of the den. Although it was frowned upon highly by your people, you considered finding an unmated wolf to help you out.

That’s how crazy heat made you. You would do anything to flush the heat. You moaned as you rolled over on to your bed nothing was distracting you from the pain and hormones coursing through your veins.

Your good friend was doing her best to talk you through it but it was so hard.

“Jackson said he’s returning to the pack in two days but I’m sure he’d hurry if he knew your heat came early.”

You shuddered at the thought of your mate, his sun kissed skin, rippling muscles, and handsome smile. God you were never going to flush this heat at this rate. Not when every time you closed your eyes you could hear Jackson’s voice in your ear and his light caresses on your body.

You cursed yourself for letting him answer the call of a distressed alpha that Jackson was good friends with. You both were aware of your incoming cycle but had thought you had some more time before it hit you like a ton of bricks.

How stupid you were.

“I can’t ask him to return when he’s out there protecting the pack, it’s selfish.”

“Well I’m afraid the moment you smell an unmated wolf you’re going to pounce on him…”

“I have some self-control. I just don’t know how long it’ll last.”

“(Y/n)-ah do you want the chains?”

“I’m not quite there yet, I don’t think.” you sighed in frustration, “But if he’s not back tomorrow I might need them.”

You sighed in irritation; how could he have left so close to your cycle? Without him you only had two options, tying yourself up (which was more excruciating) or to try and flush the heat with another unmated wolf. You wished you were strong enough to take being locked up, the fire that burnt through your body was enough to make you wish you were dead.

“Would you stay bound?” Jakyung asked you warily, “Last time you broke them the moment it became too much.”

“...I think I’m going to need Jinyoung.”

You heard your friend’s sharp intake of breath; her uneasiness more potent than before. You knew you were breaking something, a silent law and a promise. A very sacred bond between yourself and Jackson, and Jakyung didn’t want to help you destroy that bond but she felt duty bound. She was your best friend and she knew what it was like to go through a heat so intense without your mate present to relieve it.

“You should really think about what you’re doing (Y/n)-ah,” your friend advised, “We can call Namjoon and ask if he can let Jackson return early, if he knew what you were going through surely he’d let him come home.”

“Even if he allowed Jackson to return it would still take him at least a day to get home from Hong Kong, and then another half a day to return to the packhouse. I’m not going to be able to make it--he should have never left me…”

“It’s not like he could have ignored the call of another alpha who needed help. You know your mate is loyal to those he cares about. Please (Y/n)-ah think about what this could do, your bond will never be the same if you do this.”

You groaned and rolled about on your bed once more, your thighs clenching trying to lessen some of the intense pressure building up in your core. You were desperate, aching, and you’d do anything to have your mate between your legs.

“I’m going to try to sleep for a little while Jakyung; I’ll call you before I decide to do anything.”

You hung up and stared at your home screen before opening your imessage.

You threw your phone down on your bed miserably; you were suffering and he didn’t care. Sure the more rational side of your mind understood the loyalty he had to uphold to Namjoon. Of course an alpha like your mate would always come to the aid of a friend in need. It was wrong of you to think poorly of your mate for doing what was expected of him.

With a moan you laid your head down on your pillow, wiping the sweat away from your forehead. You were going to try to rest it out and as you laid there your restless thoughts only increased your desire for satisfaction. You couldn’t take it anymore.

You texted Jakyung asking for the chains.

***

Your packmates had come in often caring for you, feeding you, giving you water, keeping you cool. Jakyung even came to help rub salve on your aching wrists. Every time a male entered your home mated or not you pulled at your restraints, your wolf acting on instinct just to be mated.

On a particularly bad afternoon your best friend was cleaning you off and you caught the scent of a delicious unmated male. It had to be Jinyoung he hadn’t gone with the others and you recognized the inviting smell of pine and musk. It was similar to Jackson’s but your mate’s was more intoxicating.

You yanked on your chains with a snarl trying to get the male. Jakyung cooed to you trying to settle you and get you to stop pulling so hard against your own wrists but you’ve always been one of the strongest females in your pack.

“Jinyoungie help me...:” you cried in the most pitiful voice you could muster.

The male looked at you with widened eyes and flared nostrils. He could smell your neediness, sense your desire; he’d be crazy to act on it. Jackson was his good friend and if he were to act on his own instinct his friend would kill him and his reputation with the pack.

“(Y/n)-ah.” Jakyung scolded you, “You know better.”

“You try withstanding this pain Jakyung.” you snapped at your friend, “Jinyoung…”

Jinyoung swallowed hard and you followed the way his Adam’s apple moved; licking your lips you surged forward again, your arms screaming in pain.

“I can’t (Y/n)-ah,” Jinyoung replied woefully, “Besides I came with a message from Jackson, he should be home soon in about an hour or two. Just hang on ‘til then.”

An hour or two was a lot to ask for a female who's been in heat for four days with no relief. It was getting so hard to just stand up straight, you didn’t know if you could hang on for ten minutes let alone a couple of hours.

Your nose was twitching rapidly in annoyance; Jinyoung was so close and he could help you but he refused. How irritating it was to be a female. How annoying that Jinyoung still had his wits about him while you were slipping into madness.

“No one has to know,” you pleaded with him, “Please, it hurts.”

From beside you, you had noticed Jakyung had pulled out her phone and her fingers were rapidly tapping away. The sound was aggravating to your already over sensitive ears. You nearly snapped at her but Jinyoung had taken another step back.

“Jackson would know,” Jinyoung announced, “I will not betray my friend (Y/n)-ah, I’m sorry you just have to be strong.”

You whimpered in defeat; just wait til your mate’s rut came around. You’d let him experience what you were going through.

“He’s abandoned me,” you looked to Jakyung tears in your eyes, “He’s left me”

Your friend patted at your tears with a tissue gently, “That’s just your heat talking Pabo, Jackson loves you he’s on his way now.”

The overwhelming feeling of your mixed, irrational emotions were too much for your mind and body to endure. Your friend was right you knew it was just your heat causing you to think crazy thoughts but in your stupor you believed it more than you ever have.

Within a moment you let out a painful howl and yanked at the chains once more with all of your strength.

You were free.

Shifting before you even have had a chance to calm down You bolted from the house plowing through the storm screen taking off for the woods.

All your wolf wanted to do was run. She wanted to run away from the pain your mate had caused you.

You didn’t know how far you ran or for how long but when you finally came to a clearing you laid on your side with a huff and plopped your head down on the grass.

The area was safe so you decided to rest.

—————————————-

Your ear perked up at the sound of a snapping twig. You feigned sleep as you scented the air, your hackles raised at the familiar scent of Jackson.

Chancing a glance you popped an eye open, he stood maybe ten feet from you. He was larger than your wolf and he was easily capable of dominating you. But that wasn’t his way. He respected you too much.

His black coat gleamed in the dimming sunlight as he took another step toward you.

You bared your teeth at him in warning. You were still pretty upset with the entire situation. Your guilt was brewing and resentment was building steady in your heart. How could he have left you at your most vulnerable? How could you even think of betraying him?

He cocked his head to the side in confusion and attempted another movement to which you rose from your spot ready to run.

You let out a low growl; giving him a chance to back off. But your growl seemed to set him off for he snarled at you harshly.

You were nearly tempted to submit by instinct. Not only was your alpha demanding you to stand down but your mate too. The emotions running rampid in your blood and the deluded thoughts in your brain made you decide to take off instead.

The grass was plush beneath your paws as you rocketed across the meadow into the treeline ahead of you. Dodging the lush forest greenery was no easy task on a normal day, but with Jackson hot on your heels the entire dash was worse than the obstacle course you were drilled on when you were a pup. A few times you could feel his teeth nip at your hind leg. It caused less pain than him calling out to you through your telepathic bond. It hurt your heart to ignore the pleas of your mate but all you wanted was to be alone.

Jackson would have none of that though. He came up beside you and nudged you with his strength knocking you off balance. You tried to get up and run again but he pummeled your wolf with his to the ground.

You snapped at his jugular to which he growled sharply at. He weighed you down as you lashed out at him. Head and neck whipping wickedly trying to break free from his grasp, your teeth mashing together in frustration. He let you tire yourself out until all you could do was whimper in submission.

He nuzzled your neck affectionately, coaxing you to relax, scenting you so you would feel safe. You licked at the wound you had left on the side of his face near his nose, doing your best to show how sorry you were.

You whined in sorrow everything had just been so overwhelming in the state your mind and body were in. Your mate continued to console you the best he could; it made you feel worse with how compassionate he could be. Sometimes you felt you didn’t deserve him. You knew you didn’t deserve him. The loving, caring, alpha he was.

Slowly your wolf began to loosen her reins on your emotions and allowed you to shift back. Sensing your tantrum was over Jackson followed suit, he hovered above you eyeing you gently. Searching for any marks he may have left on you.

“Jacks I’m so sorry.”

He gave you a small forgiving smile while running a calloused hand through your hair, “I know you’ve must’ve been in a lot of pain and I’m sorry that I left you when you needed me most.”

You scoffed not really at him but at yourself. You felt worse than before, did he know what you were thinking about doing because he wasn’t there? The guilt was eating you alive and here he was your sweet, loving, mate apologizing to you for obeying the laws of your people.

You moved away from his soothing touch. You weren’t worthy of his comfort. Jackson was too good for you. Especially since you were so willing to forget about his mark just for a moment of relief. Not even true relief at that.

“Please don’t do that Jackson.”

He looked at you with hurt and it broke your heart even further. If he knew what you had tried to do to one of his closest pack mates he’d never forgive you. You couldn’t blame him either.

“What’s wrong (Y/n)?” your mate questioned, confused trying to reach for you again.

Another step back you wrung your wrists, “I need to tell you something.”

The tears filled your eyes almost instantly. God what if he hated you and never wanted to see you again? Of course you’d accept his decision if that were the case but your heart burned at the thought of losing him for good.

He nodded his head for you so you inhaled deeply, “I tried to convince Jinyoung to mate with me…”

Jackson was the one to take a step back this time; his nostrils flared wide in anger. You could practically see the steam exploding from his ears, his eyes turbulent with both hurt and jealousy.

“I’m so sorry Jackson I knew it was wrong but the heat was making me delirious and it hurt so much, much, worse than before…”

He ran a hand down his face as if he were trying to collect himself, “Did you act on it?”

You shook your head immediately, “Jinyoung refused right away.”

A growl rumbled through his chest at your answer and it made your wolf whimper in submission.

“I didn’t ask about him, I asked if you acted on it?”

His anger was rarely seen since it took a lot to rile up your mate to that point of no return; you weren’t really sure how to respond. Yes you initiated the conversation but you never did anything but proposition the beta.

“No I ran after he rejected my offer,” you said softly, afraid to say the wrong thing and tip your mate’s tank.

“Your offer?”

Jackson spat like venom he growled after a moment lost in his thoughts, “I’m going to hunt. Go back to the packhouse, if you aren’t there when I get back I’ll hunt you down and punish you no matter where I find you…”

A shiver rand down your spine as your mate shifted mid air; his back to you as he ran deeper into the woods. You sniffled the tears you felt away and began the journey back to your home.

You had some serious groveling to do.

#jackson wang scenario #got7 werewolf au #jackson wang werewolf au #got7 angst #got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #jackson wang au #jackson wang angst #jackson wang imagine #got7 writing #bigbangclappin #woo angsty #got7 #jackson wang

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sjjms · 5 years ago

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a hundred times

pairing: jacksonxreader length: 2.3k words genre: romance & mentions of the supernatural warnings: reference to suicide summary: based on Jackson Wang’s 100 Ways. If you had to reunite with your soulmate each and every one of the hundred lifetimes you lived for eternal love and peace, would you do it? This follows one of those times... notes: this was a requested fic “can i request like a jackson au based off his 100 ways m/v?”

The wind grew gently in strength as you knelt beneath the tree, you glance to the solemn moon above you, the tree branches intercepted your vision. You take a deep breath filling your lungs with the night’s air and finally pick up the candle beside you. A rustle in the leaves causes you to turn around. Your maid was here.

“My lady, it’s time we leave.” Her words spoke with caution.

“Just a few more moments, please,” You say, you don’t hear another peep out of her allowing you to carry on.

“Are you watching over me?” Your voice becomes a whisper placing the candle into your lap. Your maid was aware of who you were talking about, but still, it didn’t feel right for another person to overhear these words.

Casting your eyes downwards away from the light brought by the lantern your maid held, your eyes begin to fill with tears as you say, “You made a promise to return to me… you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Twice. The number of times you said goodbye to the man you were in love with two times, each one more painful than the last. Those two moments would be vividly staining your heart for as long as your spirit ventured in this world.

“Do not go.” You capture his fingers before he could escape from you. Whether he had planned to leave without saying goodbye to soften the blow is one thing you did not want to discover, but you ask anyway.

“Were you planning on leaving without saying goodbye?” You muse with a soft tone hoping he would turn around and face you.

His head dips down towards his chest, and after a moment of composure, he faces you. There was no need for you to hear his words his sorrowful eyes said them for him. Jackson curls his fingers around yours and presses a delicate kiss to your hand.

“I’ll come back... I always do,” A weak smile forms on his lips, it doesn’t appease either of you.

“How many times will I have to say goodbye to you before you realise I don’t want to leave my side… ever,” Your voice becomes a strained whisper. Soon, the tears held back by your own sense of grace, as a woman, a part of a family who held honour over emotions would no longer remain silent. His eyes clenched shut in an attempt to speed up the parting, if he stayed, he feared he would never be able to take his leave.

He slowly opened his eyes, his hand brushing against your cheek one last time, he took his time cherishing you. The two of you may have been able to have married for love, but you had suffered bruises and batterings that would cling onto the retelling of your love story for years to come.

"I'll return to you before the leaves hit the ground." The promises you two made each other throughout the years, you were able to keep through pure luck or coincidence. You took those words pledging your new life to them.

“Let him leave,” Your father’s dominant voice surfaces at the entrance. With no hesitation, his fingers let go of yours as he turned away. Trying to rebel against your father’s orders, you grasp the ends of his fingertips.

You allow your fingers to run against his harsh hands, all the wars he'd fought as a brave soldier had done this to his hands. His fingers were once the softest things you'd had touched, but time and multiple wars get the better of people.

“The leaves are starting to fall…” You continue to murmur in a reminiscent tone. You couldn't help it if this was your only way of communication. Wasn't it better to look back on all the moments you did share? Despite your last moments together being of sorrow, you at least had the chance to say your farewell to one another.

“I forgive you.”

A shift in the wind sends cold shivers through your body, you tug on the shawl covering your shoulders and pull it closer to your heart.

“My lady, we should head inside, it is growing colder.” Your maid’s voice gains in sound as her footsteps come closer toward you. You let out a quiet sigh, if you were to linger any longer, you feared either your father and mother would chase you back to your quarters.

“I won’t keep you waiting much longer. We’ll meet each other soon,” You whisper into the candle. You light the candle from the nearby lantern. The flame flutters with the wind, despite its growing strength, the light was still there.

A good omen.

You lift the bottom of your dress as you grew in height before the candle. You were never much one for fairy tales and fables, but you wished the guidance of the candle would bring Jackson back home to you in his new form.

"Let us go back inside," You smile and lead the way across the courtyard to your quarters.

“Do you think it worked?” The soldier pesters the group of soldiers gathered, the four of them hover over the general. Bruised, battered and bloody were most of the likes of these four soldiers and the bodies that surrounded them on the battlefield.

“If you’ll just be quiet!” The leader of this newly assembled group spoke through his gritted teeth. His focus returns on the general’s body below just below his feet. “Let’s try one more time,” He says, holding on to those words like it was the only hope he still had.

Once again, the four men lifted their hands up, focused all their energy into awaking the body below. Jackson awoke before them. His eyes took a few moments to adjust as he glances to the figures overshadowing him.

“General!”

“I can’t believe this actually works,” One of the soldiers mutters.

“What did you do?” Jackson asks. He stands up, only to start patting himself down excessively.

“General. It’s time to go home,” The interim leader of the group proudly announces. He mentally had resigned himself as leader of the group because the true leader had risen.

“Has the battle ended?” Jackson was curious about so many things that his mind began to spin in loops. Until he found his focus. You. He wondered whether you were alright, whether the news of his death had reached the household yet and whether he would be able to go home.

He steadily looks beside him, enveloped by the bodies of fallen men, hundreds all dead because of a measly war. Some of them he had killed himself and others were his men, but the men beneath him all had equally fought with bravery until their own demise.

“If we were to talk of the truth, you fought until your last breath and died from the injuries you sustained. You’re alive because we performed the Lovers Resurrection, the power of love is keeping you alive right now until you are able to reunite with your wife." Jackson’s mind began to whirl again, the what?

Cultivation was known and practiced in this world. However, the families that did usually were in hiding. There was an outcry of fear towards what danger the cultivation world would be able to do to the people. Regardless of the secrecy, cultivation practices were still spoken about and performed when there was a willing cultivator. And yet, four of them stood before Jackson.

“The Lovers Resurrection?” He mutters to himself, scrabbling through his thoughts to find any piece of information that he might have heard or read about.

“Yes… There’s one downside to this though.” Jackson meets the soldier’s eyes waiting for the answer, “The connection that you and your wife have is crucial. Her love for you is what brought you back to life.”

“How long do I have…?” Jackson’s words stained the back of his throat as they struggled to go down.

“That’s the thing… we don’t know. If she’s alive and her love for you burns strong, you’ll stay alive until you can meet again. But..” The soldier hesitates.

“But?”

“If your wife is dead… you’ll die when her spirit leaves this world. This could either be a day from now, a week or even a month from now.” Time was ticking away as sand was falling through an hourglass. A question still on his mind is what would happen you were alive and you could reunite, wouldn’t it be cruel to die in your arms? The unnecessary pain he was about to bring you…

“Let’s go,” Jackson whispers. How could he be thankful for the soldiers in front of him right now? They should have just left him for dead and let his wife grieve for him.

Walking through the forest was just as treacherous as the battlefield littered with dead bodies. Foliage at their feet rustled and would stir at the slightest movement. If bandits were on the same trail they were, the men would stand no chance of making it safely through. The soldiers heard movement that didn’t belong to their group in a close perimeter. The leaves couldn’t quiet themselves down as the men used trees for cover.��

Jackson’s fingers graze the rough bark clinging on to it in silence, his breath caught in his throat as he brashly glances between the branches. He squinted into the distance locating the source of enemy noise. A bird is found where Jackson’s vision takes him, he passes a silent sigh before signalling to the other soldiers of his findings. The sooner they were out of this forest, the percentage of dying would significantly reduce.

A sharp pain swiftly tore through his heart. He grabbed the fabric of his clothing, tugging it while he struggled to breathe. His fingernails dug deep into the tree. What was happening? Was this the side effect of the resurrection? Was this the way the world was trying to rebalance itself out by trying to kill him again. The pain bit by bit began to falter, allowing Jackson and his men to reach the end of the forest. However, it still lingered enough to cause him discomfort.

As night fell upon the courtyard, Jackson’s laborious footsteps dragged along the cobblestones. His men followed equally as tired as he was behind him. He spotted candlelight burning brightly in front of the oak tree, his eyes settling onto the leaves that had yet to fall, he’d kept most of his promise.

A startling gasp along with a crash led to Jackson turning his head to the side. The poor maid had let the pot she was carrying fall from her grasp.

“My lord…” She whispers in horror. Was Jackson that terrifying to look at? He didn’t have the chance to glance at his appearance when they had stopped off at a nearby river during their journey. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

Ah.

“Where is my wife?” The wait was over, he could finally say the question that had consumed his thoughts.

The maid hesitates, her eyes lower from Jackson's piercing gaze. She composes herself, she begins to recall the last week to him until reaching the most vital part. She had not been sworn to secrecy, but her lips fail to move when prompted to say the words.

“Tell me, is she alive?” Jackson dryly swallows.

The maid shakes her head with reluctance, her words start to tumble out, “I found her this morning… a bottle of poison was discovered in her room not too long ago.”

“She’s dead.” He whispers, trying to accept the hard truth. The maid nods and starts to carry on with her duties for fear she would be caught for the mess she had made.

Jackson’s eyes slowly close as his knees smack onto the cobbles. He was too late. A thought never crossed his mind during this journey home that his wife could have died. Yet, he had been the cause of her death. She wasn’t able to cope living in this world without him.

"The two of you can still reunite, you just need to call upon her spirit," He gladly took the guidance from his men and thanked them for their service. Jackson wasn't a cultivator himself, however, his men taught him the necessary gestures that any human could perform to summon a spirit.

Jackson sent away his men. He questions whether they would lend their cultivation skills to another person, or would they also depart from each other? The leaves began to fall as he raised his hands and used up the last bit of strength he had within him. Summoning your spirit here would be the right place. It was the last time you saw each other and Jackson knew you were the one that had left the candle out, to guide his own spirit home.

You appear in front of the tree, you open your eyes slowly and find the man who called you. “You’re here.” You mutter quietly, unsure of the strength of your voice. Jackson’s eyes soften as you approach him.

“I’m home,” Jackson muses. Both voices gently speak to one another, welcoming each other home from the torments of their sufferings.

"How lucky we must be that fate took pity us," You share a small smile with him. Not being able to hold back any longer, your arms and his, wrap around each other.

A mutual promise was made.

Jackson’s thumb runs across your cheek despite the rough texture; to you, it was the most delicate touch he’d ever laid upon your skin. You clasp your eyes shut leaning your head against his chest. The drum of his heartbeat lulls your own, at last, the brewing storm settles into a wave of peace.

Jackson brushes his lips against your head and takes a last look at his surroundings. If he had to go through a hundred lifetimes, each time getting to fall in love with you all over again, he would choose you. His eyes close, and finally, your spirits descend from this world, ready to reunite in the next one...

#i hope it's okay!#jackson #jackson wang #got7 #got7 au #got7 fanfic #got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #imagines #scenarios #fanfic #au #request

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to-fly-with-clipped-wings · 11 months ago

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A Sea of Sorrows -> Act 1, Part 1

Act 1: the Fall of the Gods

Dear Percy. This was the year the Gods fell from Olympus, and I fell from you. I miss the us from that year. I wonder, did either of us know what was in store?

Series Summary: A chronicle of the moments you fell in love with your enemy, Percy Jackson. An epilogue to your fate and an epitaph to your grave.

AKA in a universe where you are a traitor to Camp Half-Blood. This is an ode to the boy that led to your downfall: Percy Jackson.

Series Masterlist

Percy Jackson Masterlist

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

i. “OH, OH, tell us again how the legend goes?”

Your eight-year old self bounced on the heels of your feet. The little blue birthday hat atop your head started to slip, the elastic string too long to fit snugly around your head, but you hardly bat an eye. You clap your hands together, giggling, staring in awe as yet another star sparks in the sky and, it too begins its spiralling descent from its heavenly abode and to the feet of your earth-dwelling mortals.

The star’s trail of divine dust, marking its venture across your frail vision, was reflected in your eyes. You raised an arm, as though trying to pluck the celestial from the sky.

Silena Beauregard giggled as she reached over to fix your askew birthday hat.

You didn’t know if it was the mind of your eight-year-old self manipulating a shroud mist around the girl or if she genuinely held the most ethereal, luminous pieces of the sky within her dark blue eyes. You didn’t know, or perhaps, didn’t want to remember, if her midnight silk hair, glossed and draped over her shoulders as the night enveloped the horizon, had been anything but that. The bracelets around her wrist tinkled as she went about drawing your astray strands of hair back. You could smell her perfume as well, but its scent was so fleeting that you could never seem to recall it once she left.

You smiled at her, like if you had even the slightest chance, you wouldn’t have hesitated to delve into the velvety curtain of the night to retrieve only the finest of stars for her eyes to hold.

She smiled at you, as though — impossible as it may have sounded — as though, in that moment, she loved you.

“Well,” she started, leaning over to place both you and Annabeth on her lap.

Clarisse La Rue took that chance to rip off her birthday hat (red, she had insisted) and replace it with her usual bandanna. The Stoll brothers, apparently, took great offence to that gesture, as they too whipped off their own hats to brandish like daggers at the Ares girl. Clarisse snarled at them, before taking her own, very real, spear and threatening to shove it down their throats or in some other choice places.

Beckdorf smirked, crossing his arms as he turned his head to appraise the face-off between the brothers and Clarisse, but he didn’t make any move to discourage the oncoming fight. And then, as was usual, Luke — the golden boy, the older brother to all campers (no matter if you were younger or older than him) — sighed, as though he’d just lost fifteen years of his life from their spat, and then plucked Clarisse’s spear out of her hands and lightly pushed his half-brothers into each other, sprawling onto the ground like dominoes.

“Can’t you guys ever settle down?” he asked, rolling his eyes. But then he smiled, so all of you knew that he didn’t really mean it. “I mean, it’s little Major’s birthday today and all we want is to enjoy the meteor shower in peace.” “Little Major is contradictory,” frowned Annabeth. An onlooker might’ve thought that Luke had just wished a deadly curse upon her entire bloodline, from the way her grey gaze furrowed. “How can she be little and major at the same time? It doesn’t make any sense!”

Before Luke could make a teasing remark (you could tell from the way the outer corner of his lip, the one without the dimple, twitched upwards), you cut in. “Please, Selly, pretty please! Tell me about the shooting star?”

“It’s a tale of wonder,” Silena finally began, her pearly white teeth shining through her picture-perfect smile. Her tone was hushed, like she was whispering a super-secret secret to the girls, “forged by immortals under a sky, much like this one.”

“In the days of old,” continued Beckondorf, his contribution to the conversation surprising you. The muscular boy was of few words, but you supposed that Silena’s presence had drawn him out from his carefully crafted shell. You and Annabeth shared amused looks, far more knowing beyond your years.

“The Greeks looked up to the heavens and saw the gods in every corner of the night. They believed that the sky was a grand canvas, a blank machine of sorts, where the gods etched their stories in constellations and galaxies.”

“Now, the gods, they weren’t distant watchers,” said Silena, glancing at Beckendorf as she spoke. She looked at him as though she wasn’t reciting the tale to you, but to him, the only other person in the world. “They were keepers of hopes, weavers of destinies. And sometimes, just sometimes, they would lean so close to Earth that a star would slip through their fingers and streak across the sky. That’s what we call a shooting star.

“The legend goes that in those fleeting moments, the veil between us and the divine thins. It’s when the gods are listening, truly listening, to the heartbeat of the world. And if a mortal, pure of heart and full of hope, makes a wish upon such a star, the gods take notice.”

“They say that Aphrodite smiles upon lovers,” spoke Luke softly. He gazed up at the sky, and then toward the pine-tree in the far distance. “Athena guides the seekers of wisdom, Ares leads man into war, and that, if you were truly of a golden heart, Zeus himself might offer his insight.”

His voice dwindled off, and if, at the time, perhaps you hadn’t been so caught up in your childish, insolent elation, you might’ve picked up on his bitter tone.

Annabeth turned to you. “So, on your special night, let’s wish on all the shooting stars. Together.”

Silena nodded, resting her head on Beckendorf’s shoulder. “Close your eyes, you wish on that star. You wish and you dream wish with all that is there in your heart, and just, believe. Believe, as the gods are kind, and they cherish the dreams of their children.”

“But you remember, Major,” Luke turned his saddened gaze back to you. “That old star can only take you part of the way. You have to help it along with some hard work of your own, and then, yeah. You can do anything you set your mind to.”

“Just promise us one thing,” murmured Silena. “That you'll never, ever lose sight of what's really important.”

“I don’t know what to do,” You stared up at her anxiously, fiddling with the string of your birthday hat. “Could you show me how to wish?”

She smiled once more, and it felt like the balance of the stars and sky had been reborn to take the form of Silena Beauregard. “Oh, I’m sure you already know how to do that.”

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

ii. Against all odds, you would say that you were looking forward to the Yancy school trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Yeah, you didn’t really care about art or architecture or the weird little naked statues of the gods (you definitely didn’t appreciate that), but you were looking forward to your first extraction mission as a demigod — even if this little outing of yours couldn’t be considered a quest, and even if it was long overdue.

Being undetermined was a disease in the world of Greek mythology, and it was a disease that followed you like the plague. it was a curse when your Godly parent refused to claim you, refused to acknowledge you. You were cursed from the start, cursed to run around, seeking kleos, and for what?

For absolutely nothing.

That was something no one let you forget. From your spot on the floor in Cabin Eleven, to the brown mass of curls on Grover’s head that frantically kept glancing back at you to make sure that no monster had snuck up on you during the last thirty seconds he hadn’t been looking at you. It even took Chiron about three years worth of convincing to let you go out, as he used the same reason (excuse) over and over again: you aren’t claimed. You don’t know how to defend yourself. It is too dangerous.

That’s what it always boiled down to.

You weren’t claimed, fine. You didn’t need to be claimed to be able to fight.

It was always the same broken record that played whenever someone opened their mouth, but instead of sweet melodies or even sweeter, praise, it was the string of never-ending, ‘you aren’t strong enough. You aren’t brave enough. You aren’t good enough.

You aren’t claimed.’

A voice in the back of your mind churned traitorously. Although, you supposed that you shouldn’t be the one to talk about betrayal.

The speculations held merit, it had whispered.

Once a demigod was claimed, it was said that their powers grew exponentially. A claiming was essentially a blessing from your divine parent’s hand, a way of saying ‘I, as your parent, grant you your birthright as my child.’ You became blessed by Olympus to become faster, better, and stronger, a means to defend yourself from the monsters that lurked in the outside world.

But the thing was, once a godly parent claimed their kid, their godly side also began to radiate monster-attraction scent that enhanced their presence to monsters in a nearby radius. One would argue then, that meant unclaimed half-bloods would be better suited to high-risk jobs since they were at a lower risk of monster attacks than claimed ones.

“But,” Clarisse La Rue had argued, “that also means that you have less experience fighting monsters, so what happens if you encounter a beast like the minotaur on the field? Less experience, plus no divine blessing is a stirring pot for demigod death.”

“So,” Chiron blinked at you, not unkindly. “You need to understand, we simply cannot be sending you out of camp, Major. Your mother is not in a state where she is able to ward off monsters, and you…”

You…

You are not strong enough, you finish in your head bitterly. You were not strong like the others, not because you weren’t good with a sword or spear, but because you were not good enough to register as a child to your divine parent.

It was always Major, the side-kick. The pathetic little Robin to Luke’s Batman, or the golden rope to Annabeth’s Wonder Woman. Always the damsel in distress, never the prince. Always the one in the shadows, never the hero. Always the angel, never the god.

Since your mother’s passing four years ago, you had become a year round camper so you had more training under your belt than, say, ninety percent of the Apollo cabin. Yet, even they were allowed to leave camp and get up to all sorts of nonsense.

Were you not enough for your godly parent to look up from whatever divine duties they needed to do? Were you not good enough for your godly father to come down to save your mother when she was on her deathbed? You weren’t even sure if your father knew your name.

You sent Grover a small smile when he glanced back at you again.

Next to you, Percy Jackson, pulled a face.

Percy was a thirteen year old boy. With staggering sea-green eyes, black hair and tan skin, he was the half-blood Grover had called Chiron out for. For a year, it had been you, him and Grover fighting your way through the hell-hole that was Yancy Academy. Between failing classes, cheating off each other during tests (and failing those anyways because apparently both of you sucked at academics equally) and throwing dirt into Nancy Bobofit’s eyes, whenever she threw her weird bits of peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwich on Grover, you would say that you and Percy were probably each other’s closest friends. Throughout the year, you and Percy had become each other’s anchor. You shared the burden of academic challenges, often finding peace in the fact that if you were going to fail, at least you’d do it together.

There was a certain comfort in Percy’s company, a sense of acceptance that was rare and maybe even precious. He never looked at you with eyes of thinly veiled judgement that others often did, nor did he offer unwanted pity, that felt more like a burden than a comfort. It was probably because he had no idea of his demigod heritage, but with Percy, you were just you.

Unclaimed, maybe, but never unseen.

You liked Percy’s company, and you were impatiently waiting for the day Chiron gave you the all clear to return to Camp Half-Blood. There you and Percy could spend your days picking strawberries, sparring, whatever it was you two wanted to do. And hopefully, Percy would end up being unclaimed, or maybe even the son of a minor god, so you could ride out your days in the Hermes Cabin forever. Maybe one day, you would even be promoted to having a bunk. That would be especially great.

“Excited for the trip, Major?” Percy grinned at you.

You sighed, tilting your head on your seat so you could glance at him through the corner of your eyes. “Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

Ahead of you, Grover squawked when Nancy Bobofit threw another bit of her sandwich at him.

“I’m going to kill her,” muttered Percy, his eyes darkening at the red-headed girl.

You patted Percy’s knee, trying to stop him from leaping toward Nancy. She sucked, but it wasn’t worth Percy getting expelled from Yancy just yet.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

i. “It’s easy,” said Luke, clapping your little, eight-year-old self on the back. “Wait and watch.”

And that you did. With bated breath and rapidly trembling fists, you waited and waited until the stars started to pour once again from the sky. They streaked down the horizon, the eyes of the sky shedding them like divine tear drops or that raindrops that slid down a window — the sort you would bet on with Annabeth about which would reach the sill first.

Beckendorf pointed at the brightest one he could find. He cleared his throat before saying his wish under his breath.

You tilted your head in confusion. “I didn’t hear the wish,” you frowned.

Luke smiled gently, his facade of happiness not quite reaching his eyes. “That’s the catch. You can’t let anyone find out about your wish, otherwise it won’t come true. It’s just between you, and the gods.”

He turned to the sky once more, and uttered his own wish. This time, you tried extra hard to pick up what he was saying, but you couldn’t hear much. You did catch a few words, something about history? It didn’t make too much sense to you though.

It was Silena’s go next. Her cheeks were pink as she made her wish, and she looked at the ground instead of the stars. Her wish was so quiet that even though she had placed you and Annabeth on top of her, you couldn’t hear a thing.

Annabeth Chase, Clarisse La Rue, Travis and Connor Stoll, Harmony Crosscov and Critos Lyalin all prayed for their wishes as well. It wasn’t hard for you to predict what theirs might've been about. Annabeth’s probably had to do with architecture, Clarisse’s with her spear (possibly making it more deadly, even though you didn’t know why exactly a ten year old needed a super deadly spear in her collection). Travis and Connor probably asked to get a key for the camp’s gift shop so they could raid it even when it was locked.

Harmony, a daughter of Apollo, had picked up the lyre she was strumming and held it to the sky as she wished, so you suspected hers had to do with maybe creating the most beautiful melody mankind had ever heard with it (although she already did that, so you didn’t know why she needed to use her wish on that). Critos was a son of Demeter, and he was the only one who weren’t entirely confident about, but you thought maybe it had to do with one of his plants — like the petunias that kept wilting? He had always complained about those.

Now, everyone had made their wish. Everyone but you. Your birthday posse turned to face you, the birthday girl, as you prepared to make what was going to be the most important wish of the night.

You were beside yourself in excitement. Today was your eighth birthday! The gods had to grant your wish, that was the intrinsic birthday rule, wasn’t it? The gods had to be looking, heck, maybe even your godly parent was looking. Maybe, just maybe, today would be the day you would get claimed.

You thought about using that as your wish. ‘I wish to be claimed.’ But you decided against it. You had only been at camp for about two months, that wasn’t that long compared to the other camper’s claiming stories. You had plenty of time ahead of you to get claimed, so you didn’t need to rush and waste your wish on something that was inevitable anyways.

Maybe you should wish to win the next capture the flag game? Gods know that the Hermes cabin would be ecstatic if you did. What about acing the Ancient Greek vocab test you had the next day? No, you shook your head. You were going to fail that anyways, wishing on a star wouldn’t save your pitiful grades. You would just have to hope Annabeth would be in a ‘helping-Major-cheat’ mood tomorrow.

Maybe you should wish for something to do with your mother? You frowned.

The thought of her laughter, her warmth, her guidance - all the things you missed the most - flooded your mind. ‘If she could come back, would she be the same?’ you pondered, the uncertainty a heavy stone in your stomach. ‘And what would she think?’ The frown deepened as you considered. It wasn't just about what you wanted; it was about the balance of things, the natural order. But… she’s gone now. Was she? Could this wish bring her back?

You opened your mouth, but before you said anything, another thought struck you. And with that thought, a sense of peace began to settle over you, as if your mother's wisdom had reached out from beyond, guiding you once more.

That was it!

The most perfect wish. The gods had to grant it, there was no way they could refuse. It would be the best blessing, the most perfect divine grant that couldn’t possibly be refuted.

In your excitement, however, you forgot about the wishes-were-supposed-to-be-super-top-secret-so-you-must-whisper-them rule, and ended up just blurting it out of your mouth, words churring out faster than you could comprehend.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

ii. Chiron — sorry, Mr. Brunner, led the museum tour.

It wasn’t anything you hadn’t seen before. Ancient Greek armour (that you knew weren’t that ancient), pots with little dancing figures painted on them, steles with, to no one’s surprise, weird naked statues of gods running across them. It was really nothing special, just the usual artsy stuff mortals were crazy for, but you did get a kick out of Percy snapping at Nancy when Chiron was rumbling about something to do with Greek depression or something.

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Percy gave her his nastiest stink-eye.

Everyone laughed. You nudged Percy’s shoulder, and he turned his gaze to you, kicking your shoe in retaliation, before remembering that Chiron and Mrs. Dodds were still there, and they didn’t look happy at all with Percy’s interruption.

Mrs. Dodds was an interesting character. She despised Percy with all of her being (not heart, you weren’t sure if she had a heart), but you would say she had a soft-spot for you. Like whenever she gave Percy after-school detention for blowing up a bin or something, you would turn, smile at you and hand you this weird melted candy bar that tasted oddly like hot fudge and sea salt?

While the chocolate was a much appreciated gesture, you didn’t enjoy the way she snapped at Percy, and you agreed that there was something off about her. Like in the way she wasn’t exactly… normal? But you doubted anyone would listen to you anyways, and if Chiron hadn’t picked up on it, then it probably wasn’t important.

“Mr. Jackson,” began the centaur in disguise. “Did you have a comment?”

“No, sir,” said Percy, his cheeks burning red.

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”

Percy looked to where he was pointing. He nodded slightly, that he knew the answer to that question (if he didn’t that was fine anyways, you would’ve just whispered it to him). “That’s Kronos eating his kids, right?”

“Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, raising an eyebrow. “And he did this because…”

“Well… Kronos was the king god, and —”

“God?” Mr. Brunner asked.

You flinched slightly when Percy said it; you didn’t think the gods would be willing to hold back if they caught him making that little comment. The gods had incredibly short fuses, and it was often their temper that caused the most destruction — like when Ares shot that one archduke back in 1914 and started World War 1.

“Titan,” Percy fixed. “And…he didn’t trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—”

“Eeew!” squealed a girl from behind you.

“—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,” Percy powered through, “and the gods won.”

Nancy Bobofit mumbled, “like we’re going to use this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, ‘Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.’”

You didn’t like Nancy much, but there was probably some merit to her question. The gods cared so much about themselves, that one day they probably would manage to hijack mortal job interviews into a pop quiz of ‘what is Aphrodite’s favourite brand of perfume’ or ‘write a one thousand word essay on why Zeus is most supreme god, explaining clearly why his brothers Poseidon and Hades suck ass.’

You rolled your eyes.

“And why, Mr. Jackson,” Brunner said, “to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?”

“Busted,” Grover muttered.

“Shut up,” hissed Nancy, her face even brighter red than her hair.

Percy looked pensive for a moment, the most pensive you’d ever seen him apart from when he needed to decide between blue cookies or blue jelly beans. “I don’t know, sir.”

“I see.” Chiron sighed. “Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld.”

Kronos. The name sent chills up your spine. The Titan lord who had once ruled before the gods, now a whisper from the past, yet his legacy lingered like a shadow. As Chiron recounted the tale, you couldn’t help but feel a twinge of foreboding, a sense that the history of the gods and Titans was not as distant as it seemed.

Your gaze shifted downwards to your trembling hands. You clasp them together to try and steady them. The tales of gods and Titans, of heroes and monsters, they all seemed like distant echoes of a world you were forced into but never truly belonged. You felt the weight of your unclaimed status, a constant reminder of your place, or lack thereof, in this mythological nightmare.

You watched Percy. His fate was yet to unfold, and you couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy. He had a path, albeit unknown to him, but you… you were adrift in a sea of uncertainty, a ship without a sail.

The gods, those mighty beings who played with the lives of mortals and demigods alike, they were the root of your turmoil. How easy it must’ve been for them, to watch from their celestial thrones, to judge and to ignore the pleas of their children.

In the days to come, I would stand by you as you discovered the truth. But, when the weight of your destiny became too much to bear alone, my greatest regret was that I could not stand beside you. Your bond was a testament to the strength that friendship and loyalty could bring. Mine was a testament to the darkness and hatred of our world.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

iii. The battlefield was before you, a canvas of chaos painted with the scars of war. The earth itself seemed to mourn, its once green flesh torn and charred. The battlefield stretched out, a vast, open wound upon the ground. The grass was soaked with the blood of fallen warriors, and squelched underfoot as you walked among the remnants of what had once been a fierce and vibrant camp. The air was thick with the metallic tang of blood and the acrid stench of burning flesh, a sensory assault that would haunt you for all your days.

The earth, which had once cradled life, now cradled the fallen, its bosom scarred by the violence it had witnessed. The camp, once a beacon of hope and strength for demigods, lay in ruins, its vibrant pulse silenced, save for the mournful wind that whispered through the shattered remains.

Luke Castellan had returned, but not as the triumphant hero he had set out to be. His quest to retrieve the golden apples had failed miserably. The cost of his ambition was written in the blood and lives of his quest mates, who had perished along the way. The monsters he had inadvertently brought to the camp's boundary were now a symbol of his failure, their snarls and roars a chorus of impending doom.

Amidst the cacophony of clashing steel and the cries of the wounded, a shadow loomed large. The dracanae, a beast of nightmares, slithered through the chaos, its presence a dark omen. Its scales, as dark as the void, absorbed the light around it. They were fighting not just for their lives, but for the very soul of the camp, against forces that sought to extinguish their light forever.

Monsters had breached the camp's defences, and panic had taken hold.

Luke stumbled across the boundary line of the camp, his face marred in blood, blood, blood. Luke's arrival had been a tragic procession, a lone figure staggering under the weight of failure and loss. His face, a mask of agony, was a stark reminder of the cost of their endeavours. The blood that stained him was not just his own but that of his questmates, their lives extinguished.

One of his eyes was doused in the red, liquid, acid, and you could make out a gruesome scar that trailed from above his eyebrow right down to his jaw. You sucked in a breath.

You had watched, your heart shattering, as Luke's knees buckled, his strength waning. The monsters he had unwittingly led to the camp's boundary now surged forward, eager to feast on the grief and fear that hung heavy in the air.

His face was as though it had been split open. You dropped your sword, and immediately rushed toward your old friend. Luke cried out in pain as he brought a hand up to his wound in an attempt to hold his face together.

“Luke! Luke!” you shrieked, almost tripping over the armour that was too big for your ten-year-old body. “Luke!”

You ran toward them, engulfing him with your arms. You had run, small legs carrying you faster than they ever had, toward the brother who had taught you to be brave, to fight, to hope.

The battle raged on beside you, but you could hardly care, for your oldest brother was in your arms with his heart and soul bore open and torn to shreds.

As you had reached him, the world seemed to slow, the sounds of war fading into a hushed lull. You had wrapped your arms around him, a futile shield against the tide of darkness that threatened to engulf you both. Luke's eyes, once bright with mischief and courage, now mirrored the devastation that was before you.

The battle had raged on, indifferent to the small, poignant scene at its fringes. But for you, in that moment, there had been nothing else—only the piercing grief of a child holding onto the last remnants of a family that was swiftly being torn away.

“Archers!” Lee Fletcher called out to his fellow half-siblings. “On my mark!”

The sky above was a tumultuous canvas, where the wrathful gods seemed to paint with clouds the colour of bruises and ash. Their indifference hung heavy, a suffocating blanket over the carnage below.

You had once prayed to them, believed in their wisdom and justice, but now their names left a bitter taste on your tongue.

“Now!”

A volley of arrows spiralled through, each one hitting its mark. One, two, three arrows in rapid-fire succession knocked off the beasts that stumbled into camp boundaries. A cyclops that had been standing over a bloodied mass of a young girl, hollered in pain as an arrow pierced its singular eye. A draco aionius roared out a blast of fire, but your eyes were so wrung out with tears and blood that you couldn’t see who it had shot down before it had been killed. The dracanae lashed out one final time before exploding into a heap of golden dust.

The cries of the wounded rose around you, a haunting chorus that melded with the wails of those mourning their kin. You saw families torn apart, sisters cradling lifeless sisters, brothers with eyes hollowed by a brother’s loss. Each face was a mirror of your own despair, reflecting a shared agony that would bind you to them in grief.

You stumbled upon the body of the young son of Demeter, his chestnut hair matted with blood, his eyes forever staring at a sky that offered no solace.

Critos, you sobbed. Critos…

A mistake that no amount of tears could wash away. A young camper, a son of Demeter known for his gentle spirit and his ability to make the flowers dance, lay still on the ground.

With a heart heavy as lead, you made your way to the infirmary, the air thick with the scent of herbs and the low hum of healing chants. There, among the rows of cots, you saw her—a daughter of Apollo. Harmony.

The sight of her, your friend who had once filled the air with melodies so sweet they could make the sky weep, struck a new chord of pain within you. Her hands, those delicate instruments of beauty, were now disfigured by the violence in the name of the gods. She had dreamt of music that would touch the divine, but now her dreams lay as shattered as her bones. Now, those hands were stilled, and the music was no more.

Her hands, once so deft at the lyre, now lay motionless by her side.

Her eyes met yours, and in them, you found not blame, but a silent understanding. It was the cruelty of fate, not the will of gods, that had brought this upon her.

She looked up at you, her eyes not accusing but filled with a sorrow that echoed your own. In that gaze, you saw the reflection of every broken promise, every shattered hope. She had been there to celebrate your life, and now here she lay, a casualty of a battle she had no part in starting.

Anger surged through you, a fiery torrent that threatened to consume everything in its path. The gods, those distant arbiters of fate, had watched impassively as your world crumbled. They had remained silent, their celestial indifference a stark contrast to the cacophony of grief that filled the camp.

Your mother, a casualty of their indifference. Critos, your dear friend, your found brother. Harmony, who would never play her instruments again. Her god-given gifts, the blessings bestowed upon her by her father had been ripped away from her. You knew it — injuries, bone fractures, that were severe beyond repair. No one apart from the gods could save her, but you knew that no matter how much you wished on the stars, they would never answer.

You wept for Thalia, who you had never known but who had died for you and your family. You wept for Annabeth, her face wrapped in a cast of bandages, and was laid on the cot next to Harmony. You wept for Luke, who was only a few steps away from the white bags that enshrouded that bodies of—... of the fallen.

They were all lives that could have been saved.

Silena cried in Beckdorf’s arms. Their shared silence was louder than any words could ever be, a mutual understanding of the depth of their sorrow.

In this moment of profound loss, the realisation hit you like a wave crashing against the shore: wishes were but fleeting thoughts, powerless against the tides of fate. The gods, distant and enigmatic, offered no solace to the grieving hearts of mortals. It was a harsh lesson, one that stripped away the veneer of mythical heroism to reveal a truth as old as time itself.

Was this what they had meant about not relying on some magical stars to make a wish?

The gods, those distant beings, had taken from you the family you had found in this band of warriors. They had watched from their lofty thrones as you had fought, bled, and wept, mere pawns in their celestial games. And in that moment, as the weight of loss bore down upon you, you felt the seeds of hatred take root. Hatred for the gods who had forsaken you, hatred for the fate that had been thrust upon you, and hatred for a world that could be so cruel.

In the end, you could only truly rely on yourself to make wishes come true.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

iv. Strapping your head-piece securely on, blue plumes spilling from the top. Your armour was strapped on and you were decked out in metal from head to toe. You double-checked that your sword was tucked into your sheath before joining the Athena alliance in their march for the Capture the Flag match.

You quite liked Capture the Flag. It was one of those games where you had to do something and everyone got to run around and play — albeit, Camp Half-Blood kids did run around like headless chickens most of the time.

Percy scrambled to catch up with, tripping over his shin-guard that was a few sizes too big for him. “Hey.”

“Hi,” you grinned at him.

“So what’s the plan?” He asked. “Got any magic items you can loan me?”

You shook your head. “Nah. Sorry. Magical items are things you get from your godly parent when they feel like it. I haven’t got anything.” you waved at your basic sword for effect. “That’s why I usually go with one of the spare swords from the training shed.”

You pointed at his pocket. “You’ve got Riptide, though, haven’t you? That’s more than enough.”

Percy shrugged. “I don’t have it anymore, it vanished. I’m stuck with a regular, boring sword like you.”

You frowned at this. Didn’t Chiron give it to him? He should still have it, shouldn’t he? “That’s strange. Just make sure Clarisse’s spear doesn’t touch you, it's electric and stings like hell. Annabeth will handle getting the banner from Ares.”

He gave you a lopsided smile. “Okay, Major.” He said ‘Major’ with the same tone you would call someone ‘Bossy’.

You laughed before catching him by the strap of his armour when he tripped over again. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Border patrol, whatever that means.”

“Ah,” you nodded. “That’s easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away.”

“What’re you doing?”

You rubbed your chin thoughtfully. “I think I’m supposed to be a decoy for Luke when he runs for the flag.”

Percy looked at you appraisingly. “I guess you do look like him. I see how that would work.”

He swerved to avoid getting a faceful of the dirt you’d kicked up at him with your shoes.

Percy then started chasing you down to the creek where the Athena alliance were planting their flag, similar to how the satyrs would chase the dryads near the strawberry patch albeit a lot slower because of his armour that was triple his body weight.

You stopped when you reached the silver flag, causing Percy to topple into you and send the both of you flying into the ground. You laughed, tugging the boy up with your hands and punching him in the shoulder. He huffed before waving at you and walking down to the creek to assume his duty of border patrol.

You went to stand by Luke.

Overall, you would say Capture the Flag was a success.

The Athena win streak was not lost this match, and you got to beat down one of the Hephaestus kids with your sword, which was always a pretty good bonus. The blue team cheered loudly, carrying Luke on their shoulders as he waved the Ares flag about in the air. You were going to join them when you saw Percy, drenched in water, arguing with the air.

“I told you. Athena always, always has a plan,” said the air before shimmering and revealing Annabeth with her invisible yankee cap.

“A plan to get me pulverised,” snapped Percy. His arms were crossed as he stared down the daughter of Athena.

“I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but…” She shrugged.

“You didn’t need help?” you suggested, popping up between them.

Percy’s glare dropped as he saw you. “Sup, Major. I’m guessing decoying for Luke went well?”

“The best,” you agreed before noticing the wound on his arm. “How did you do that?”

“Sword cut,” He said, rolling his eyes. “Stupid Clarisse and her pig-headed minions.”

“No,” Annabeth interjected sharply. “It was a sword cut. Look at it.”

You watched, incredulous, as the blood disappeared. Where a gaping wound had been, only a faint line lingered, and even that was fading fast. In moments, it dwindled to a mere scratch, then vanished as if it had never been.

The smile slipped from your face.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

iii. Being a demigod was a curse.

It was a relentless burden, especially when you had been confined within the walls of Camp Half-Blood for four years, and still, your divine parent remained a shadow, unclaiming and aloof.

You lifted your face to the heavens, rain simmering on your face like little angels doting you with frigid kisses, each drop mingling with the silent tears that trembled down your cheeks. It was almost as though you were praying, but you knew better than that.

Prayer had once been a solace, a hope, but now it felt like a bitter reminder of divine neglect.

The pyres stood ready, a grim assembly for the ritual of farewell. The rain fell in a relentless drizzle, each drop a cold, indifferent tear from the heavens. You stood before them, the shrouds of your fallen family draped over the lifeless forms that had once been vibrant souls among you.

Being a demigod had always been a double-edged sword, but never had the blade cut so deep. The walls of Camp Half-Blood, which had once offered sanctuary, now felt like a prison, holding you captive with your grief and rage.

You raised your face to the sky, the rain washing over you, a cruel mimicry of the comforting touch you so desperately needed. It was as if the gods themselves were mocking your pain, offering water when it was solace you sought.

Your heart was a cauldron of fury, simmering with a silent rage that threatened to boil over. The gods, those distant observers of mortal toil, had turned their gaze away, leaving you to fend for yourself in a world that seemed to crumble at your feet.

As you stood there, the injustice of it all seared your soul, igniting a fire within that no amount of rain could douse. Betrayal was a bitter pill to swallow, and it lodged itself firmly in your throat, a constant reminder of the gods' neglect.

Your hands, though trembling, were resolute. The delicate tremor was not a sign of weakness, but a testament to the strength that surged through your veins—a strength born of anger, of loss, of an unwavering commitment to those you called family.

With a heavy heart and a spirit ablaze with determination, you stepped forward to light the pyres. The flames caught quickly, their hungry tongues licking at the shrouds, consuming the last physical remnants of those you loved. The smoke rose to the heavens, a silent scream of defiance against the gods who had forsaken you.

In that moment, as the fire crackled and the rain wept, you made a silent vow. You would do anything for your family, for those who had stood by you when the gods had not. You would be their protector, their avenger, their unwavering support. And though the gods may have turned their backs on you, you would never turn your back on those you loved.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

iv. “I—I don’t get it,” he said.

Annabeth was deep in thought, face wrinkled in concentration, and you could only imagine the intense mental gymnastics happening behind her gaze. “Step out of the water, Percy.”

“What—”

“Just do it.”

Percy emerged from the creek, hair plastered to his face and body bone-tired, but strangely enough, completely dry. He swayed on his feet, and you reached out to steady him, your touch firm.

“Oh, Styx,” Annabeth cursed. “This is not good. I didn’t want…I assumed it would be Zeus.…”

You could only meet Percy’s gaze in a muted horror.

Of course you’d picked up on Annabeth’s train of thought. But the revelation left you reeling. You couldn’t believe it. You thought… of course they wouldn’t stick to the oath. This — the one thing! How could they? What?

Your jaw clenched, and your grip on Percy tightened subconsciously.

Percy opened his mouth but before he could say anything, a canine howl reverberated throughout the forest.

Everyone tensed and Chiron barked out “Stand ready! My bow!”

Above you, a monstrous creature crouched on the craggy ledge, its silhouette massive against the sky. Its eyes burned like coals from the depths of a forge, and its massive jaws bristled with teeth, each one as lethal as a freshly honed blade. It stared down at you with an intensity that pierced through your body.

A hellhound. Your eyes widened, gripping the handle of your sword.

Nobody moved except you, who yelled, “Percy, run!”

You tried to step in front of the boy, your sword clutched in between your fingers. The hellhound barked, and although you expected it to forget Percy and redirect its course to you, it dove past you (ignoring you completely) and ripped into Percy’s armour.

You didn’t look back as Chiron and the Apollo cabin took care of the hellhound, focusing on Percy whose chest was blooming with deep, red bloodstains.

“Percy!” You cried out, dropping to your knees beside him. Your fingers fumbled with his chestplate, trying to ignore the slick, warm blood that coated your hands.

“Di immortales!” Annabeth exclaimed. “That’s a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don’t…they’re not supposed to…”

“Someone summoned it,” Chiron announced, trotting over. “Someone inside the camp.”

The dead body of the hellhound melted into the shadows, presumably returning back to the Underworld, only, you didn’t care. What you cared about right now was Percy Jackson who was drenched in blood with a horrific gash torn into his body.

“You’re wounded,” Annabeth told Percy as if no one knew that. “Quick, Percy, get in the water.”

You draped Percy’s arm around your shoulder, helping him step into the creek with little protest.

“Chiron, watch this,” Annabeth said.

As Percy staggered into the creek, the water seemed to greet him like an old friend. The blood that had painted his clothes a grim crimson began to dissolve, carried away by the gentle current. You watched as the gruesome wound in his chest closed before your very eyes. The torn flesh knit together, leaving not even a scar behind. It was as if time had reversed, as if the claws of the hellhound had never touched him.

But that wasn’t the part that stunned you the most.

“Look, I—I don’t know why,” Percy tried to apologise. “I’m sorry.…”

“Percy,” Annabeth said, pointing. “Um…”

There was a sign above Percy’s head, an unmistakable one that no one did not know. A hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

“Your father,” Annabeth whispered. “This is really not good.”

“It is determined,” Chiron stated solemnly.

Campers knelt around you, even those from Ares’ cabin, though they did so grudgingly.

“My father?” Percy was bewildered.

“Poseidon,” said Chiron. “Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”

A shadow was drawn upon your face, eyes fixated on the trident above Percy’s head. The throb in your head returned and all you felt was a torrent of fervent, quivering, absolute rage that coursed through you.

I know that it wasn’t your fault, Percy, but at that moment, I couldn’t think of anything else.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

iv. The shroud burning had already taken place, the flames extinguishing along with the last rays of twilight. The camp was shrouded in darkness, a reflection of the sorrow that enveloped your heart. You stood alone, the grief a tangible presence that seemed to suffocate you with its intensity.

The gods had remained silent, their absence in your hour of need a betrayal that stung sharper than any blade. The ritual had been meant to offer closure, but it had left you feeling hollow, the embers of the pyres like the dying light of your hope.

That night, as the world around you faded into the quiet hush of slumber, a curious sensation took hold—a dream, or so it seemed, yet not quite. Dreams were fleeting. They often slip through the fingers of your mind, vanishing from your memory once you woke up. But for some strange reason, you felt the trickling trail of deja vu climbing up your spine.

You thought that you’d had this dream before. Probably.

A shiver of recognition danced up your spine, a whisper of memory that felt like an old friend—or perhaps a ghost from the past. It was a dream that had etched itself into the grooves of your mind, returning with the silent stealth of a cat prowling in the night.

You strained to recall the last time this dream had visited you. It could’ve been a year ago, a month ago — even last night. But you did know that you’d had it. This dream had treaded the halls of your sleep before.

In the realm of dreams, you found yourself wandering through an ancient forest, the moonlight casting ethereal shadows upon the ground. The air was thick with the scent of pine and the whisper of leaves. The moon, a sliver in the sky, provided scant illumination, casting long, haunting shadows that danced between the ancient trees. Your footsteps were muffled on the forest floor, as though the earth itself conspired to keep your passage secret.

With a heavy heart, you spoke into the storm, “You could have saved her, but you didn’t.”

The words hung in the air. “My mother. She was one of your most faithful, but, when she needed you most, you turned away. Why? Was her devotion not enough? What about Critos, who died alone, without his family, on the battlefield? What about Silena, who lost her sister? What about Harmony, who will never be able to use her hands again, never able to exercise the blessing that you gave her. What about all the countless other demigods, older and younger than me, who died for a cause — your cause — whose names you will never bother to remember.”

The silence that followed was your answer.

Your voice broke as you continued, “What about me? For years, you ignored me — you still ignore me. For years, you left me to fight for myself in a world that you created. I don’t understand. We’re your children, aren’t we? Aren’t we supposed to matter to you? We deserved better.”

“You’re supposed to be our parents. We deserve someone who would fight for us, who would value our lives. But what do we get instead? Fucking selfish deities, with all the power in the entire goddamn world who leave us to suffer and die in some sick game you orchestrate just because you can!”

“You don’t understand! I’ve waited my whole life for just a sign from you. Our whole lives revolve around you! What more could you want from us?” The tears of the sky dripped onto your shaking form.

“You take life after life! You take, take, take when we’ve already given you everything you could have ever wanted!”

The thunder seemed to mock your pain, and you trembled with a mixture of cold and fury. “You say these stupid things, give us stupid, stupid, naive hope — wish upon the stars, wish upon you and all will come true? We looked up to you! We wished, and wished and wished, but instead, you killed my family, tortured us beyond cruelty. What do you want from me?!”

You were screaming at the sky now, your mind pulsing with nothing but red-hot rage. “I’m done waiting! You’ve shown me exactly what we mean to you — nothing!”

Something clasped your shoulder.

Turning around, your heart caught in your throat. Your eyes trembled, pupils dilated at the sudden contact. As you turned away, a presence enveloped you, not the warm embrace of a father, but the cold touch of something ancient and powerful.

A dark mist surrounded you. The air crackled with static, a lingering feeling of something you couldn’t quite name.

And then, without warning, the forest fell away, and you found yourself standing at the edge of a clearing. The mist swirled here, gathering strength. From the heart of the mist, a figure materialised. It was tall and imperious, its form shifting and wavering as if woven from the fog itself. Its eyes, when they met yours, were bottomless pits of darkness, and you felt yourself falling into them.

“Child,” it spoke, and the words seemed to resonate with the very fibres of your being. “I have watched you, and I know the suffering you’ve been dealt by the gods.”

“They have wronged you, as they have wronged me,” the figure continued, the mist swirling with every gesture. “They sit in their celestial palace, blind to the struggles of those below. But I see your potential, your desire for justice. Together, we can make them regret.”

In the quiet of your dream, your heart stirred. You did not know who this figure was or what he wanted from you, but his words reached you. The gods, those distant watchers, had become but silhouettes against your tribulations, their figures blurred by the tears of your unanswered calls. Beings who had turned their back on you, refused to acknowledge when it mattered. Left you unclaimed, left your mother to die, left your brothers and sisters to die, and since the beginning of time, left humanity to suffer in a cyclic torture.

And, so close, was the embrace of the mist — echoing your fury, validating your resentment.

“Why should I join you?” you asked, though part of you already yearned for the vengeance he promised.

“Because your rage is a weapon that can reshape the world,” the mist replied, its form growing more defined, more commanding. “The gods fear what they cannot control, and they cannot control the fury of the heart. I will help you shield the loved ones you have left. If you join me, I promise they will be safe in the end. We will turn your fury into a force that will shake even the heavens. And you, my dearest, Major, will see to it that your family is treated better than the gods would ever care to allow.”

The mist’s words were a poison, sweet and lethal, the dream reached its peak, as you teetered on the cross-roads of a decision that could alter the course of history.

You stood still, the realisation dawning on you like a cold sunrise. This was Kronos, the Titan King, the very essence of time and treachery. The air around you grew colder, the mist swirling with a newfound intensity.

The mist around you thickened, and Kronos’s voice became more insistent. “I can help you,” he whispered again, the words slithering through the air like a serpent.

You felt the anger and sorrow within you stir, manipulated by his words. It was a dangerous game he played, but in your heart, the seeds of rebellion had been sown.

“Join me,” whispered Kronos.

“Yes,” you found yourself saying, the word escaping your lips before doubt could take hold. “Yes, I will join you.”

With a resolve born of grief and betrayal, I turned my back on the sky and walked away. That was the moment, when I was only ten years old, that I swore my life to Kronos. It was the moment, I think, that sealed our fate.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

i. “I wish that we would all stay together.” you said.

“That’s my wish. I wish that, no matter what, no matter what place or lifetime we’re in, we will always, always, be family.”

“Promise me, ‘kay?” you continued, not fully sure if you were still talking to the gods or the people around you. “That in this life and the next and the one after, we will always find each other. Because we’re family.”

You turned to the demigods around you, who have all taken on some form of shock. The younger ones look appalled that you spoke your wish out loud (“how will it come true now?” protested Annabeth, though her face was tinged with a pink blush), while the older ones wore expressions you couldn’t quite discern.

“Major…” Silena breathed, her eyes, for some reason, glossy. Was she upset that you had said your wish too loud?

“I mean it!” you looked to the heavens earnestly. “We’re family now, we have to stick together. Forever and ever and ever.”

Another star crossed the twinkling night tapestry. It was a dark, terribly dark, night, but unless someone else had been sharing this story, to you, the moment would remain of the most bright, luminous scenery you’d ever had the honour of bathing in.

The gentle hand of the gods met their mortals upon the ground through the sky’s scattered stars, and they coated you and your family in their mystical star dust.

Luke blinked himself out of his stupor. He offered you his hand to shake. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Major. Gods or not, we promise. Family.”

He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, a gesture as warm as the sun's embrace, which seemed to spark a chain reaction. Annabeth, with a smile that could light up the darkest of nights, followed suit, her arms joining his. One by one, the rest of your family, a patchwork quilt of half-bloods, each with their own stories they bore in their hearts, came together in a tangle of limbs and laughter.

Under the star-swept sky, a canvas dotted with celestial wonders, the group hug grew, a living, breathing entity of connection and joy. You shrieked with laughter, the sound mingling with the chorus of chuckles and snorts around you. It was a symphony of happiness, a melody that resonated with the very core of your being.

You tried to pull your head out of the mass of limbs you’d become entangled within, seeking a breath of air, only to be lovingly dragged back into the fray. Someone’s hair tickled your nose, another’s elbow nudged your side, but it was all part of the beautiful chaos that was your home.

The hug was more than just a physical act; it was a promise, a silent vow of unity and support that needed no words. It was the understanding that no matter where life's journey took you, these bonds would remain unbroken. And as you stood there, enveloped by the people who had become your world, you knew that this moment would be etched into the stars above, a memory as eternal as the night sky itself.

“This is— the— best birthday— ever!”

And thought you meant that. You really, really did.

I wish I could’ve said sorry to you, Percy, back then.

Maybe then we could’ve stood a chance. * . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

Random fun fact: Major is anti-government and hates taxes 🥶😊, she also likes liquorice

taglist!!! (comment if you want to be added): @itzmeme

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anonymouswriterposts-blog1 · 6 years ago

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Hey guys! So this is my first fic on Tumblr. I posted a preview but decided to go ahead and upload the first chapter since I already had it written. Whether I post more about this story would pretty much determine the feedback that I get from readers. I don’t want to post a story that nobody will read so PLEASE let me know what you guys think, and what you would like to see in stories (ie your personal preferences) I will try to write for everybody! :)

Chapter 1

“You’re going to have to get out and find someone, laying around after work isn’t going to get you anywhere.” This is what I’ve heard for the past four years from my best friend. It was every weekend when she wanted to go out. She knows that I have “sensory defensiveness” yet she continues to disregard the fact that I hate physical touch and attempts to gripe for hours after work that she wants to go to the bar. “I know, but not today. I’m sorry Autumn. Maybe next weekend.” I look at my best friend with a small smile. She frowns, she knows I don’t mean it. But if it meant she’d leave my house then I was fine with it. “Fine, but just know that I will make you go next weekend whether you like it or not so just go ahead and prepare yourself” I turn away from her while simultaneously rolling my eyes. The only thing I’m going to have to prepare myself for is the incessant nagging that I will hear from her starting on Monday and only ending next Friday when I turn her down for the millionth time. After I hear the door close, I roll back over to face it and sigh. Trust me Autumn, I wish I could do it too. A tear hits my collarbone before I realize that I’ve slipped up and allowed myself to fall into the same mood that occurs every Friday night. I wipe my the tear from my eye, and head to my bedroom. I told myself that I would not allow myself to feel like this again, eventually I would learn to get over this but it’s been years and I’m suddenly ready to find a solution to this problem that is ultimately ruining my opportunity to live a happy life with someone. I fire up my laptop and search “Ways to combat your sensory defensiveness” after an hour of research I slammed the computer shut. This is going to be harder than I thought. I just wanted it to go away, everything I read talked about taking it slow, and coming to terms with your partner or family with what you have. I was diagnosed with Sensory Defensiveness after college, throughout my life my family just thought of it has a quirk I had developed, never a serious problem, partly because I never told them of the emotions that I felt when they brought me in for a hug or simply touched my shoulder for longer than 5 seconds. I would simply hole myself up in my room and just cry out of frustration. If they saw how I uncomfortable I was with it, why did they continue to do it? To this day, my family doesn’t know that I actually have a diagnosis. I don’t go around them enough to actually feel as though I need to tell them also. After sitting on the bed deciding how I could possibly get rid of this uneasiness with touching, I suddenly pushed myself off the bed. Fuck it. I grab my phone and text Autumn, I’m on my way, send me the location of the bar. I throw my phone down and head to the closet to look for an outfit. After noticing that I did not own a dress appropriate for clubbing, I settled on a pair of ripped jeans; with a black bodysuit underneath, and black heels. It wasn’t the best for the occasion but at this point it wasn’t so much about the outfit as it was just getting out there. My phone dings notifying me that I have a text. 198 West Boulevard. The club is called Club 152! I’m SO EXCITED!!! I didn’t reply, I called for an uber and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do.

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agataroman · 4 years ago

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One Moment Changes Everything (Part 2)

A/N: Okay, part 2, enjoy

Pairing: Jackson (GOT7) x Reader

When you must wake up for breakfast because it ends at ten o’clock. After a concert… Never imagined it like this. How I didn’t want to get out of bed.

But then again, I will have breakfast, will return to my room and sleep all day long.

That woke me up a little bit, so I got up and prepared. Almost nobody was having a breakfast (it was 9:30). I had time to order my thoughts. I still couldn’t believe that I saw them. Like… OMG!!!

And I even talked to Jackson Wang. Maybe for less than five minutes, but even that counts. I am happy that I got tickets for fansign too. I felt like I could fly, like gravitation wasn’t working on me.

I decided to stay whole day in my room. I can go explore LA tomorrow, the only free day I have, before I have to go back to my country. When I got back, I just fell on bed fully clothed. I even fell asleep for a moment.

When I woke up I still had some time, so I looked at my Got7Amino. The concert was yesterday, not even 24 hours ago and there were blogs about me and Jackson. My photo was nowhere and I sighed with relieve.

The messages where almost the same. Mostly speculated about us. „How do they know each other?“ „Was that only a fan or someone Jackson knows more?“ And more similar sentences. Luckily nobody knew. I think that after today, someone will know my face. I was little scared about that. What would other ahgases think about me? What if someone found me on SNS?

All those thoughts crossed my mind. But then I thought of Jackson. If he can endure it, so can I. Even if it will take long to get used to it.

I really had nothing to do. Again I played games on phone, because I didn’t want to take my laptop with me… What if I lost it somewhere? Rather not. So I was mostly playing games. Or reading some fanfics. I won’t even tell what fanfics… I would be so embarrassed if anyone knew.

Finally it was time for me to go on fansign. I’ve never been there, so I don’t know how it will go. I dressed and checked if I didn’t forget the ticket and went. It was held near the stadium so I already knew the way.

I didn’t want to come on time, because I wanted to talk to Jackson again and I thought I could do that only after it ends. But I got there only an hour after the start and I had another hour and half. So I found myself a place to sit and I waited. The members didn’t notice me but that didn’t matter.

It was kind of fun. Sometimes it was little under because Got7 had to sign someone the album and didn’t have time to pay us attention. But those funny times, I can’t. One of the cutest things there was when Jackson gave Bambam a piggyback. Also Jaebum put on this silly headband with big leopard ears. Kyaa!!! I couldn’t. When you see it on picture it’s not as powerful as when you see it up-close.

I am telling you. Why does it always end so soon. Like 15 minutes from now, but still. So I stepped up and went for my signing. First I went to Yugyeom. He was in all black and had flowers in his hair. How can such devil look so angelic? Tell me!

„Hello,“ I said.

„Annyeong,“ he replied. I put album on table and he signed it. He didn’t recognize me. Lucky. I wanted to be recognized only by Jackson. And maybe Mark as he saw me already.

„The flowers are pretty,“ I said. He smiled at me.

„Thank you.“ I bowed and went to next person.

Bambam. He is fashion killer! Come on, he is always so perfectly clothed, fully in black like Yugyeom. And he had black cat‘s ears!

Instead of greeting I dabbed… I couldn’t help it. And he dabbed back. Both of us laughed.

„Where you yesterday on concert?“ he asked me.

„Sure thing Bam-oppa,“ I smiled wider.

„I’m really your oppa?“ he couldn’t believe it.

„I’m two years younger.“ He just nodded and signed my album. When I went to next member, Bambam sent me a hand heart!

The next person was Jinyoung. I knew that he heard my conversation with Bambam, he was judging me with his eyes. I just put my finger on my lips, I didn’t want anyone know… yet. We didn’t talk, he just signed album and on the way he gave me high-five.

The forth person in row was Youngjae.

„What’s up!“ his usual greeting.

„Hi,“ I waved. I really couldn’t do anything more. With the flower in his hair he looked so innocent! He smiled at me wide and we handshaked.

The next one was tougher. Im „Chic & Sexy“ Jaebum. And why did he have to have expression like that! I really wanted to fan myself. What a pity he didn’t have the ears anymore. But we know how he is with these kinds of things. He simply waved at me.

„Hi,” I managed weak hello. As I said, I am usually shy in front of people, more likely people I don’t know (personally).

I felt little better with the next person. Our cute visual Mark.

„Hey, you’re the girl from yesterday,” he said. I knew he would recognize me.

„Yep, that’s me.” I smiled.

„How did you even meet?“ Suddenly someone put their arm around my shoulders. I jumped in fear and scremed a little bit. When I turned to see the person, it was Jackson.

„Dammit Jackson, don’t do that! I am even worse than you when scared.”

,,Hey what do you mean by that?“

,,Nothing,“ I said while trying to look innocent.

,,Au, you hurt my feelings,“ he pretended to be hurt.

,,Oh don't cry my little baby,“ I made childish noises. Suddenly Mark started laughing.

,,Be quiet Mark.“

,,Sorry but it was kind of funny. So how did you meet?“

,,Now that's funny story. I was coming for concert when I saw this little lost child. I went to help him and what didn't I saw… It was Jackson,“ I said with laugher.

,,(Y/N),“ Jackson said with dangerous voice. I started to run around the table and Jackson was right behind me. Everyone was definitely watching us now. I looked back to confirm he way still behind me. When I turned back Mark was standing there and I had to stop.

Suddenly Jackson was next to me and he kissed me!! It was on cheek near lips but I froze and no thoughts where coming. I was blank. I couldn’t think! Standing there looking who knows where. Someone was waving their hand in front of my face, but I didn’t pay attention to that.

,,I think we broke her,“ said Jackson. That woke me up.

,,Jackson!“ I shouted. I advanced on him and he was going back. Suddenly he put a mic in front of my mouth.

,,Sing,“ he said. Yeah sure, I thought sarcastically.

,,But I can't sing! Plus I am tone-deaf!“

,,So what?“ OK now I wanted to kill him.

,,Do you want her to sing?“ he asked the audience. Everyone started to shout. Wow thanks guys. Maybe it was the kiss or I don't know, but I thought whatever and took the mic.

,,OK guys I'm gonna try it, but I am telling you, you will be wishing you said no.“ So I decided to sing this one song Genie in a bottle by Dove Cameron. So I started singing.

When I finished everyone started clapping.

,,Wasn't so bad,“ commented Jackson. I blushed. I knew that I sing bad even if I like singing and I sing all the time, but…

,,I am not that good.“

,,You were brilliant!“ Jackson was jumping around me and others where noding.

,,Well thanks guys.“ At this moment a woman came on stage and said GOT7 should say goodbye. Everyone was sad. Again it had to end. Jackson gestured to stay there so I went to the background to wait. I really couldn’t think anymore. So many things happened today that… oh never mind. Suddenly someone was hugging me.

,,I don’t want you to go,“ said Jackson. I think he felt same as me. I was so sad to go away and probably never meeting again. At least not anytime soon. He released me and I saw hope.

,,Give me your phone.“ I took my phone out of a pocket and gave it to him. I didn’t know what he was doing. But he explained it.

,,I will call you as soon as we arrive home.“ My eyes wide-opened. Did he said what he said?

,,OK,“ I said still trying to figure it out. He returned my phone to me and hugged me again. This time Mark came too and other came closer.

,,We're going to miss you,“ said Jackson.

,,Definitely. Yesterday he wouldn't shut up about you,“ said this time Mark.

,,Be quiet Mark.“ Now they really had to go. I released them.

,,I am going to miss you too.“ Tears where coming down my face. Jackson leaned closer and kissed me again on cheek. They than turned and went backstage.

I knew most ahgases stayed there so it will definitely end up on net, but I didn’t care. Right now I was trying not to cry and fall on my knees. To hotel I came like in a dream. Didn’t know how I got into my room. But I didn’t care. I fell on bed and cried myself into sleep.

A/N: part 2 is done, next and last part 3 coming up

Part 1

Part 3

#got7 jackson #got7 #xreader #jacksonxreader #kpop #love #friendship #fanfiction

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dusty-kookaburra-blog · 7 years ago

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Girls {Jackson x Reader x Bambam} (on Wattpad) https://my.w.tt/uHasMN4KBK "Jackson... I hate bars" "But you love me so lets go!" A shitty best friend. A cute stranger at a bar. A one sided love. The story of the maybe-not-so-messed-up love triangle between two guys and girl. ((This is probably cliche af)) *Slow updates*

#fanfiction #bambam #bambamxreader #dabdab #got7 #jackson #jacksonwang #jacksonxreader #jaebum #jinyoung #mark #othergot7members #xreader #youngjae #yugyeom #books #amreading #wattpad

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natural-antidepressant · 6 years ago

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Morning Coffee Run (JacksonXReader)

Warning(s): none Word Count: 548 A/N: I saw the post @jacksnschild made about wanting an imagine over these images, and I wanted to do one. Besides, it’s late, I’m bored. Let’s go!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You pushed your way through the busy crowd of people late for work. You were simply needing to get coffee for your boss as she pressed for a big meeting later today. At first, it was just a normal morning.

When you finally got to the cafe, a sign was hung on the door, informing their customers that they were closed. You couldn’t go back empty-handed, so you pulled out your phone to find the next nearest cafe.

You sighed heavily, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” It said the next cafe was a few blocks over, clearly in walking distance, but in the opposite direction of your job.

After finally making your way there, you were disappointed at seeing men in suits blocking the door. “Excuse me?” As you spoke, another rush of people came through, knocking you over. Or, at least trying to.

Before you recognized the arms around you, you heard his voice. “Are you alright?” You looked up, finding yourself engrossed by his voice, deep but soft. The expression on his face was worried, but he tried not to seem too involved. You understood his reasoning, you didn’t know anything about him (aside from the fact that you found him very attractive) and he didn’t want to seem like a creep.

“Yea... Yea, I’m fine.” You stood up out of his hold, his hands guiding you. “Thank you.” You didn’t look at him, you just needed to get inside. You had never intended any weird or new interaction today, all you wanted was to get some coffee.

“Y’know, I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” he said questionably. “The name’s Jackson.” His hand came out to shake yours. You hesitated, not sure if you should, but gave in and shook his hand.

“Y/n, nice to meet you.” You smiled at him, liking that you had finally found someone polite in this city. “But I really have to get going. The boss’s waiting.”

You waved your goodbyes and went inside.

Stepping up to the counter, you took your order and took out your wallet. Before you could ask the cost again, an arm reached over you and handed a card to the barista. You looked back and saw Jackson standing behind you.

You crossed your arms and acted offended, “I can support and provide for myself,” you said, turning up your nose.

He mimicked your posture. “Can I not be nice?” You kind of giggled, and then you both laughed about your antics.

The woman scanned his card and went to make your drinks. You and Jackson talked until she gave them to me. “Thank you,” you said calmly, a different dynamic from how you spoke to Jackson a second ago.

“Have a nice day, ma’am.” She turned to Jackson afterwards. “Nice to see you, Mr Wang.”

You turned to him and gave a snarky remark along the lines of, “They know you by name, Mr Wang? Is your coffee addiction that bad?”

“No, they know my name because they're smart enough to know their boss.”

Your breath caught and you felt your face heat up as he smirked down at you.

You had one of those cliche, Did I just say that out loud? moments when you uttered, “I’m definitly coming back tomorrow.”

#imagine #imagines #got7 #got7 imagines #got7 imagine #jackson wang #jackson #team wang #kpop #kpop imagine

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writersrealmbts · 7 years ago

Text

Sunlight off the Water

Description: When you’re assigned to participate in some sort of vacation show that a foreign music group was doing, you meet some strange guys. Jackson is this vibrant being, strange and excited about new things and constantly paying attention to you. How he managed to make a camping trip in one of the least dangerous States in the United States into an adventure you’ve never experienced before you may never know.

Warnings: N/A

Posted: 8/18/2018

Tags: Jackson Wang, JacksonXReader

Fluff? Angst? Both?: 12,438 words

A/N: I’m sorrrrrryyyyyy. This is my first time writing for a different group and I’m sorry if I didn’t do them justice. Also, it’s based in Michigan because I know Michigan better than any of the other states, second best being a tie between Florida, and Ohio, followed by Tennessee and Texas. Also, there’s only one poisonous snake. You’re far more likely to get killed by a moose. I love Jackson, so I hope you guys like this. Apologies Mobile Users…I did use a Keep Reading thing but it doesn’t work on mobile!

You flinched back in surprise at the antics of the man in front of you, surprised and trying to hide the smile and laughter from your coworker who was definitely not amused. But he noticed and sneered. “You think this is funny, y/n?” You debated whether to come clean or not, noticing that the man had stopped, a wary look on his face. “Does it matter if I do or don’t? It hardly seems relevant to the outcome of the situation.” You tried to ease around the question, turning to walk away since there was nothing more to be done. Your coworker caught your wrist in a grip that was way too tight. “Hey!”

“Don’t walk away from me, y/n. You haven’t finished your job.” His grip seemed to tighten with each word. “You’re hurting me!” You glared at him, ready to kick him you-know-where. “Let go of her,” the man said in a voice you would classify as dangerous from the look on his face. “Before I call the police.” Your coworker sneered. “Oh so you can be serious! How interesting! What do you expect the police to do?” The man stepped between you and your coworker, his own hand gripping your coworkers wrist. “Let go of her.” You were a little surprised when your coworker let out a pained sound and dropped your wrist. You snatched it to yourself, cradling it in your other hand as you backed away from the two men. “Jackson,” another man approached from the elevators with a group. Jackson glanced at them for a second, then continued staring down your coworker, having let go the moment you were free. You stepped forward, gently touching Jackson’s shoulder. “He’ll leave now.” He slowly nodded, backing up but not tearing his gaze away from the red-faced coworker. The guys that were looking for him came over and seemed to understand what was going on, casually forming a protective circle around you. Your coworker huffed. “This isn’t over, y/n!” You tensed to prevent shivering at the chill that slid down your spine. Could this day get any weirder? It was odd enough that you were going to be doing some strange reality show with this guy, Jackson, and some other guys (probably the ones surrounding you). But to also have today be the day your coworker snaps? “You’re y/n, right?” Jackson asked, facing you. “Are you okay?” You blinked in surprise, then nodded. “I’ll talk to my boss about him.” “I’m Jackson.” You smiled awkwardly. “Nice to meet you. I understand that I’m taking you and a few others camping for some sort of show?” “It’s going to be me, Mark, and Jinyoung,” he replied, oddly calm and still compared to before. The boys seemed a little put off by it too. You nodded. “Right. Um. I look forward to working with you.” You bowed slightly, knowing it was a custom, before excusing yourself. “Where are you going?” He asked, falling in step with you. “I have to get my bag from my room and check out of the hotel.” You were a little bewildered by the fact that he kept up with you. He nodded and kept walking with you, stopping and standing like a bodyguard at the door while you went inside. You shook your head a bit, gathering the last of your things and making sure nothing was left behind before lugging your duffel bag and backpack out into the hall. He wordlessly took the duffel from you and held his hand out for the backpack. “Um, I’ve got it. Thank you, though.” He nodded and grabbed your hand leading the way back down to the lobby while you were still in a bit of shock. “So, do you go camping often, y/n?” “Um, yeah. I’ve spent half of my life out there. I mean, we’re using cabins which is a bit different for me. But it’ll be…different.” “You’re not afraid we’ll run into bears?” “Um, well, I didn’t say that. There’s always a possibility of bears, but raccoons, possums, and deer are far more likely.” “Raccoons and possums?” He repeated, looking concerned. “Scavengers, small mammals, same size or bigger than cats. Generally more scared of you than you are of them. Don’t worry. If we don’t leave food out we shouldn’t have any issues.” You shrugged, not really worried about running across any creatures. You were worried about the three men you would be spending the next two weeks with and the camera that would be filming you. He fell silent again as the elevator doors closed. You watched the numbers slowly go down. “Do you cook?” “Yes I do. That was actually one of the requirements specified when I applied for the project.” He nodded. Then turned back to you. “You have nice skin.” “Th-thank you?” Nice skin? What was that supposed to mean? Sure, you were having a pretty good day as far as acne and such went, a pretty good week actually, but nice skin? Wasn’t exactly the kind of compliment that you normally got. So why did it make you so happy? “So, you are not igot7?” “Uh, I’m not sure what that is.” “Oh, my group is Got7 so our friends are IGot7s.” “You mean your fans?” “They’re more like our friends.” “Okay, So you hang out with them and eat meals together, and talk about important things? Support each other?” “Yes…” “Really?” You gave him a disbelieving look. The doors opened before he could respond and your boss saw you. “Ah! Y/n! They told me that they’d met you! Are you all set?” “I just have to check out.” “Good, good, now,” he guided you away from Jackson and toward the desk. “You take good care of them, don’t make them uncomfortable. These are valuable customers. And don’t worry too much about having to share a cabin with them—“ “With them?!” You hissed, but then you were at the desk and your boss had scurried off like the rat that he was to the boys again. You couldn’t believe this. Not only would you be camping alone with three—technically more with the cameraman—men, but you also had to share the cabins with them? You stalked back over to them, knowing you had no choice. The three that were going with you were saying goodbye to the other members, with Jackson being very…dramatic. Why did you find that so cute? Oh God, did you just…giggle? Thankfully Jackson was being loud enough that no one seemed to hear. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad being around them. Awkward beyond belief, oh yes. But they seemed nice enough, maybe a little weird. Definitely handsome though, all of them, but there was just something a little…extra about Jackson that made him stand out. “Wait! Are there lots of snakes?” Jackson suddenly asked. “Um, there are some. But there’s only one poisonous snake here and it’s really rare. Your company chose Michigan because there aren’t as many threats. Worst bites you’ll probably get will be from mosquitoes. We don’t get massive earthquakes, we get tornadoes sporadically and they never get as bad as they do in the tornado belt. Our bugs aren’t huge. And you can swim without the fear of sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, alligators, or crocodiles. So, relatively safe.” Mark looked pretty amused and Jackson thoughtful while the others looked lost. “If it’s so great, why don’t more people live there?” One of the other boys asked. “Winter,” you answered simply. “We get cold in winter.” Mark nodded. “That’s a good reason not to live there.” You shrugged. “Some people are just sissies.” Jackson started howling with laughter. Mark looked a little surprised but he was smiling and laughing slightly too. The one who had asked about the population was translating for the others and they started laughing as well. One of them stepped forward and gave you a high-five. You watched Jackson come down from his laughter and shrugged at Mark. “So, where are you from?” “L.A.” “I’m sorry,” you apologized. He smirked a bit. “I’m sure you are. Not everyone is as lucky as me though.” Jackson was almost bouncing, he seemed exciting. “But what are we actually doing? Like, what can we do?” “Um, we can do a lot. We’re going kayaking, I’m taking you to sleeping bear dunes, if weather permits we’re going to try windsurfing…” You tried to remember the rest of the loose schedule that you had outlined for their agency. “Hiking, Iargo Springs, Pictured Rocks, Mackinac Island—which isn’t as exciting but it’s an experience I’m told is essential. Then you guys will fly out of Houghton down to Chicago and meet back up with your group.” “What will you do after we leave?” Jackson asked, looking concerned. “Um, go home?” “Where do you live?” “Um, small town. About an hour from here. Nothing special. We should get going, we still have to drive to the first stop and then to the campground and get groceries for dinner.” You deflected, thinking it wasn’t a good idea to get into that. The boys quickly bid farewell to the rest of their group farewell in Korean. You started walking toward the SUV with your suitcase and backpack. You were glad you only had to look after three of them. Seven would have been nearly impossible. “Are you driving?” Jackson asked, seeming surprised. “Um, yes. How else would we get there?” Their manager was waiting by the vehicle and talked to them, handing them each a camera and you a camera as well. “He asks that you get some footage of all three of us together,” Jackson translated. You nodded, having already agreed to do that. “The car cameras are already in place and I have the house cameras. One of the camera crew will meet us at each cabin we stay at, correct?” Jackson translated with Mark, then Mark nodded. “Yeah, But they cant be there all the time like you’re going to be. Also, one of them is meeting us in the…Christmas town?” Jackson nodded, confirming the translation. You nodded, understanding. “Frankenmuth. Right.” The man bowed slightly and retreated. “Can we listen to your music?” Jackson asked. “Um, wouldn’t you rather listen to your own?” You asked, worrying about sharing your music with strangers. It was always really awkward because unless people were close to you they usually didn’t dare skip songs that they didn’t like and you had some strange songs on your preferred playlist. “No,” he answered. You gestures to the other two. “I’m sure they have an opinion on the matter.” Mark was already putting in his own earbuds, but froze. “Uh…I don’t really care. I’m probably going to listen to my own music.” Jinyoung just looked a little lost. Jackson said something to him in Korean and you sighed silently wishing you hadn’t wasted so much time on French when your job had you working with people (tourists) who spoke Chinese, Japanese, and now Korean. Jinyoung had a pretty blank look as he replied. “They don’t care,” Jackson said, turning back to you. “Fine, but if you guys cringe I’m turning it off.” You spun around and to put the luggage in the trunk. “That bag is pretty heavy, let me get it.” He hurried to help you. It was seriously throwing you off how considerate he was. Either he was being kind or he actually thought you couldn’t handle it. He looked concerned when you gave him a perplexed look. “Did I say something wrong?” “I can handle it, you know,” you said carefully, not wanting to offend him. He nodded. “But you shouldn’t have to do all the work. You’re already going to be doing so much.” You nodded slowly, accepting his reasoning. “Then thank you.” The resulting smile he gave you made your chest tighten and a strange desire rose inside you to try and keep him smiling, prompting you to take some extra time before you got into the vehicle to put a couple of his group’s songs onto The playlist you were going to use. It already had everything from country, to pop, to whatever Fall Out Boy was. There was even a little bit of k-pop on there from songs you had found when you were researching for your job that fit the sort of vibe that the playlist was geared toward—summer and beaches. You just hoped these new songs were good so that you would have to feel bad. Jackson had taken the shotgun seat, the other two in the back seat talking softly and fully prepared to listen to their own music. You flashed them a smile as you checked to make sure they were buckled up, then started the car and turned on the music—quieter than it would be if it was just you. Jackson remedied that, turning it up and bopping along with the song. Mark got a little excited. “Oh! From Shrek!” You nodded, deciding to focus on driving and not on the eclectic nature of your playlist. “So, where are we going first? The Christmas town?” Jackson asked. “Frankenmuth. Um, it’s home to the worlds largest Christmas store, Bronner’s. Frankenmuth is a town of German heritage, specifically Bavaria, and keeps a German theme to its buildings. German is still a common language spoken there and it attracts a lot of tourists because of that and because of how they go all-out for Christmas. It’s going to be crazy with the re-enactment happening this weekend, but it should still be interesting.” “You mean fun? What’s a re-enactment?” “There are these groups that act the way people, specifically soldiers, did back during times of war. Sometimes the Revolutionary war and sometimes the civil war. And they do demonstrations and usually sell things as well. But I think we’re just exploring Bronners, then the the stores on Main Street after we get lunch.” You were talking a lot, trying to calm your nerves. “You act out your wars?” “No, well, yes, but not really. It’s an educational experience, I guess. Help people appreciate what we have and how we got it.” “I didn’t know there were events like that, I knew people acted them out from some shows but I didn’t think there were actually events,” Mark said, gesturing for Jackson to turn the music down a bit. “Yeah, they’re really dedicated. They set up camps and cook over fires, there are shops with old-time foods and beverages, clothes, and other things. There’s usually at least one blacksmith present, and at least one trader with furs and stuff. And people just walk around and ask questions and buy things and learn.” “And we aren’t going?” Jinyoung asked hesitantly. You shrugged and shook your head. “Too crowded. Your managers didn’t want to risk you guys being recognized and having to maneuver the camera.” “You’d take us in, though?” Jackson asked, looking like trouble. You hesitated. “I don’t know.” “Please? I want to see it. You guys want to see it, right? We don’t have to stay for long,” he pleaded. “I’ve never heard of them before. Can’t we at least see? Maybe get food?” You pursed your lips, considering it. “I do like kettle corn.” Jackson screamed excitedly, causing you to jump a bit. You gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I didn’t say yes!” “This is my song!” You blinked a couple times, listening to Dawn of Us and trying to equate the chill vibes of the song with the hyper man in the seat next to you. “This song?” “Yes! You don’t believe me?” You shrugged. “No, I believe you I’m just…surprised.” You’d found the song by accident and liked it. “It’s one of my favorite songs currently.” From the glances you managed to get at him, he was ecstatic, grinning at you but also jamming to his own song. The three boys fell into Korean, talking to each other about whatever. You tapped out the beat on the steering wheel, trying to soothe your nerves since he screamed and got your adrenaline going. If you didn’t calm down you’d have a serious case of suppressed road rage by the time you reached your destination. “So, have you lived here your whole life?” “Michigan?” He nodded. You nodded, sighing. “I’ve gotten to do a little traveling, but yeah. Born, raised,” You replied, leaving off the ‘stuck’. You didn’t have any specific place you wanted to go, you just felt like you were never going to grow past what you already were. Like you needed to take a step and do something more, but all you had in front of you was darkness and empty space. It was one of the reasons you had jumped at the unusual project of filming a vacation show with these boys. It was quiet, them listening to the new song—which was a country song (Compass by Lady Antebellum)—while you navigated the highway. “This is country music, right?” Mark asked. “Yeah, you can skip it if you don’t like it. I don’t care.” “It’s fine,” He replied, looking out the windshield. “So, how far is the town?” “Another twenty minutes,” You answered, glancing at the clock. “Give or take a couple minutes for traffic.” “Give or take…” Jinyoung said in a quizzical voice. Mark explained in Korean. You sighed, a little frustrated that you were limited in your ability to communicate with them. It was your job to look out for them, make sure they were fed, and show them different things. Take them on adventures that won’t risk their health. “Hey, what’s your favorite spot?” Jackson asked. “Like, in Michigan?” He nodded, smiling at you curiously. He was turned toward you, his attention focused entirely on you and your answer. “There’s a beach on lake Huron, with a clearing underneath a willow tree. My family went camping there when I was young. I would walk the beach for hours, then sit under that tree and draw. It wasn’t summer unless we went to that beach.” You sighed, thinking about the many summers you spent staring at the horizon, searching for inner peace. “Do you still go there?” “I haven’t been there in a couple years. Too busy.” You shrugged, taking the exit. “That’s sad.” You knew he meant it was sad that you weren’t able to get to a place you obviously loved, but it kind of sounded like he was saying it was a sad excuse not to go, or that it was a pathetic sentiment. You kept your mouth shut firmly. “Could we go there?” He asked suddenly. You glanced at him, a little surprised. “It…wouldn’t really fit in the schedule. From here we’re taking a two hour drive to the cabin at Tawas Point. We’ll reach there about…six, eight at the latest.” Six was already factoring in delays that were inevitable, like traffic and these guys getting wildly off-track.” “I thought there wasn’t a rigid schedule. There isn’t, but there’s enough of one that going all the way to Harrisville would be largely out of the way.” “How far out of the way?” Mark asked. “A little over an hour. Tawas is already out of the way, but it was the best option for staying overnight that was relatively close to our next stop.” You had been planning on camping out in a tent while they were in the cabin, but I guess the reservations that your boss made were a little different. You would have to stay in the cabin with the boys. At all of the stops on the trip. “Y/n,” Jackson said. “Yes?” Another question? How many did this guy have? “Jinyoung wants to know if we’re eating before or after going to the Christmas place.” “After. Why? Is he hungry? I have snacks in the cooler in the back seat.” Jackson relayed the information, sounding a little awed. “Wow, you’re really well prepared,” Mark said, sounding amused. “Done this before?” “Only a couple dozen times,” You replied, smiling. “With family and for myself.” “And with boyfriend?” Jinyoung asked. You scrunched your face. “No. I tried once, after we had been together for a few months. We broke up before night even fell.” “What happened?” “I told him we weren’t sharing a tent. Apparently that went against his plans.” You gripped the steering wheel. “Oh?” Jackson said. He sounded curious. You turned onto the road. “We’re here. Welcome to Christmas Wonderland.” ——————— You were seriously glad that they had been okay eating hot-dogs the night before. You all had arrived at the campground at about four, and after hastily dropping luggage, you all had hurried to the beach. The staff staying close to the boys while you enjoyed swimming away from the rowdy boys and relaxing in the water after the stress of the crowds in Frankenmuth. The staff had to leave around nine-thirty, and leaving you with the boys. Alone. Thankfully you had had the foresight to pack games that were easy to understand and explain. Like dice. Six dice, basic math, and a little friendly competition. But around the time you all got ready for bed, it got a little awkward. They automatically gave you the other bedroom, so that you could have some privacy. Jinyoung somehow managed to reign Jackson in and convince him that sleeping was a good idea and not another game. You retreated to your room after planning out what to make for breakfast, and managed to sleep until about five minutes before your alarm went off. You got dressed and sneaked out to the beach for a walk in the early morning sunlight. It was a beautiful morning. You quietly went back into the cabin. The boys were awake. And shirtless. It shouldn’t have mattered. It really shouldn’t have. Shirtless guys were sort of a dime a dozen when you were near a beach. You looked away, feeling embarrassed as they acted both surprised and embarrassed. “We thought you were still asleep,” Jackson said, holding a shirt but not putting it on yet. He sounded surprised. You gestured to the camera. “I went to the beach. Caught the early morning light.” He picked the camera up and watched the clips of the morning. You felt like your face was about to burst into flames. You didn’t expect him to watch what you had filmed and you hadn’t deleted the one video you got while you were walking back through the campground and stopped to pet the dog. “Wow, meotj shineyo,” He said, eyes fixed on the small screen. He was calm right now, still waking up, but when his gaze came up to meet yours, he smiled and looked at you so kindly. So, of course, you quickly looked away, back to the food that didn’t actually need your attention at the moment. You got the eggs ready to scramble, not wanting to go for something fancy when easy was just as good and less likely to get ruined. “Bacon?” Mark asked, coming over and looking. “Hope you like it crisp because…” You quickly pulled the pieces out, clenching your teeth as some of the grease popped and splattered on your hands. You were used to it, honestly. Besides that, you needed to make tomorrow’s breakfast as well since you didn’t fancy trying to cook breakfast on a grill or over a campfire. You were going to make breakfast burritos and wrap them in foil so that in the morning you could just heat them up and go. Which meant that after you finished making their breakfast for this morning, you would have to start on breakfast for tomorrow, and probably send them to walk around or to one of the playgrounds. Jinyoung started doing the dishes for you after they finished eating, though, defying your expectations. “Not that one, I’m going to make tomorrow’s breakfast.” You took the pan back and started preparing to cook eggs, bacon, sausage, onions, peppers, and potatoes for breakfast burritos. “Tomorrow’s?” Jackson questioned you, coming over and drying the dishes for Jinyoung. “But you just finished today’s.” “I wanted to make tomorrow easier. You guys can go to the beach or something while I cook. We have two hours before we need to hit the road.” You got out the packages of tortillas and then looked at them. They were all fixated on the ingredients you had out. “What are you making?” Jinyoung dried his hands and checked the peppers, looking mildly relieved for some reason. “Breakfast burritos. I know it’s nothing fancy but…” You trailed off, worried that you had wildly miscalculated when it came to feeding them. “Will they be spicy?” Jackson asked. “I can leave the peppers off,” You replied, glad you hadn’t cut into them yet. “You know, if you want I can just cook up the ingredients and you guys can tell me what you want in yours…” “We can help!” Jackson smiled at you. Mark had the camera and had been filming this whole time apparently, but he agreed with the other two boys. After the ingredients were all cooked (aside from the cheese, of course) and in seperate dishes you made your own burritos to show them how to roll them and wrap them in foil. You also did Mark’s burritos since he was filming the making of the burritos. Jinyoung managed to successfully fold his into burrito form and then wrap them in foil. Jackson tore the first attempt, which you ended up wrapping differently for him, but got it on the second try. Then they went down to the bathrooms to clean up and officially get ready for the day while you used up the rest of the ingredients in extra burritos, then put them in the cooler and finish packing up the rest of the supplies. Their staff came and picked up the major luggage and then left to get to the next campground ahead of you all. They would spend tomorrow with you all, since you had told them that rain was in the forecast and you had that cabin for two nights in the first place to allow them to recover from today’s activities. The first of which was the stop at Iargo Springs. Jackson looked down as the stairs continued. “How many steps are there again?” “Three hundred,” You answered, continuing down the wooden stairs. “And if we’re quiet, we might spots some wildlife, particularly birds.” He nodded then took your hand. You had noticed that he would take your hand, and walk between you and other groups of people. He was actively trying to take care of you, and protect you, treating you better than anyone ever had. It made you feel incredibly guilty, because it seemed like you weren’t taking as good of care of them. “What kind of trees are these?” “Hemlocks, mostly, though farther down I think there’s some white cedar and birch,” You answered, having learned about the trees from your many adventures. In all honesty, you had chosen this place because you liked it and because it might burn some excess energy from the boys. You hadn’t known what to expect for the trip. It was beautiful and peaceful and you could pretty much recite the significance of the area that was written out in signs at the Lumbermen’s Monument down the road further. The one crawling with kids and families where all you really saw at the bottom of the steps was a historical replica of a raft with wax food in glass cases explaining the life of lumbermen. Iargo springs, in comparison, had some wildlife and the springs themselves created waterfalls that gave the whole area a sort of tranquility that you sincerely needed after the awkward night and morning in the cabin with the boys. “So, this place…” Jinyoung asked, looking back at you. “Several springs come out of this hillside and feed the lake, which was used largely for transport of timber. It’s really…” You felt stupid for planning this stop. “There isn’t that much to see, but it’s…” “It’s seems really peaceful,” Mark said, giving you a smile. You attempted to smile back, but failed to smile convincingly enough for Jackson. “I want to know everything,” He said, gently pulling alongside him and down the rest of the steps. “Where’s the water?” You stopped him and pointed. “There’s where some of it is coming from right there.” He looked and then looked at you. “It’s coming out of the ground?” “Yeah, there’s a sign explain—” “I want you to tell me.” You stopped yourself from finishing the sentence and slowly nodded. “Groundwater. It flows deep in the soil until it reaches a point where it breaks the ground surface such as on a hill. This water will be…almost completely uncontaminated at the mouth of the spring. At least, what I know of it.” He nodded slowly, processing what you said. “Then what?” “The water flows down the hillside together in a stream or creek or whatever you want to call it, meeting up with other bodies of water. This is a place where you can see many stages of streams because there are a few springs that come out of this hillside and all of them go into the lake.” You pointed to the larger stream. “Why is there a dam?” Mark asked. “I have no clue. I’ve been trying to figure it out for years. Maybe they were trying to create more wildlife habitat or maybe they didn’t want to damage the hillside or anything by trying to tear it apart.” You shrugged. Mark nodded, then he and Jinyoung wandered off down one of the sections of boardwalk. Jackson was studying the water. He was quiet, which was unusual. He seemed to talk almost constantly, seeming unable to abide silence. Part of you was relieved because you often didn’t know how to fill the silence, and because your life had had so much silence lately. The other part of you was bracing for the onslaught of questions that would follow his silence. You took a deep breath, and leaned against the rail. “Sorry you’re stuck with us.” You looked over at him, surprised. “What?” “I’m sure you’d rather be hanging out with friends than taking us around.” “Oh, no, this is probably the most exciting thing I’ve done in months.” He didn’t say anything else, just took your hand again and started walking down a boardwalk toward the lake. “What do you do in your spare time?” “Sleep, watch TV, volunteer at the animal shelter,” You replied, shrugging slightly. Jackson tilted his head. “You…” He seemed to be struggling, mouth opening and then closing with no words coming out. “You’re okay with the trip? I know you weren’t expecting to stay with us. I saw the tent in the trunk.” “It was a surprise. Um, we should both probably be using the cameras.” Although, Jinyoung had been using the main camera. Jackson nodded and took out the camera. He started talking to it in Korean and filming the scenery. You let him film alone, walking back up to the stream, taking off your shoes and dangling your feet in the freezing water. It was so cold it almost hurt, but you knew your feet would go numb soon and match the rest of your body. Jinyoung crouched next to you, startling you for a moment and giving you the camera, then went off down another branch of the boardwalk. You sighed and carefully started filming the area. You did your best to capture the area, and the boys in the area. All three boys were chatting on one of the decks that was out in the lake, goofing off and laughing—mostly because of Jackson. You caught them laughing on camera, doing your best to capture each of them as they were. Jackson noticed you and laughed again, grabbing Mark, and looking embarrassed. You smiled a little and then gestured for them to continue whatever it was that they were doing. They started talking to the camera, every once in a while asking you questions about the history of the place or clarifying different things. They were definitely used to being in front of a camera. You pointed out into the water. “Ducks.” Jackson looked and got excited. “Hi ducks!” You sidestepped carefully so that they wouldn’t catch you on their cameras. Finally, they started heading back to the stairs. You followed, keeping up with them as they talked, not understanding a single word they said. It was strange and lonely, being with people and yet not being a part of the group. Once you were all back in the car, the boys were in the back, still talking about the trip and everything while you drove. You were bummed. You were second guessing everything you had planned for the trip. You hadn’t wanted to do anything too cliche, but maybe you should have. More activities. “Y/n,” Jackson touched your shoulder. You flinched. “Yes?” “You said we were going to go hiking?” You chewed your lip. “Um, possibly.” They had liked the beach. The beach was a good idea. Hiking? It didn’t seem likely that they would enjoy that, especially since this stop had been such a dud. “There isn’t time?” Jinyoung asked. “No, there’s time…” You answered, but you weren’t sure how to explain that you didn’t want to bore them. “Are we hiking today or another day?” Mark asked. Jackson pointed out the window. “Ice cream! Can we get ice cream?” You automatically pulled into the ice cream shop. Things like this were one of the reasons that you had scheduled extra time between stops and extra down time. For ice cream. The boys piled out and you pulled out the money for their food. “So, we normally have to play some sort of game to get money for food,” Jackson told you. “Um…” You looked at the three boys. “Like what?” “Uh…” The other two boys conferred with him, but they seemed to be stumped. “Like…Simon Says?” You asked, scratching at your arm where you got a mosquito bite. “Yeah, like that,” Mark answered, then said something to the other two that seemed explanatory. They nodded and got excited. Mark nodded to you. “Go ahead.” It was probably the weirdest thing you had ever done, playing Simon Says with three full-grown men, in the parking lot of an Ice Cream shop with the few guests there watching. You also had to figure out the criteria for getting money for food because at the moment they were just playing. Jackson was the first one out and he sort of shrieked and ran to the van to hit his head against it. Jinyoung got a pass one of the times because he hadn’t understood what you had said and the other two were okay with it, but then he did something when you didn’t say ‘Simon Says’ and left Mark as the winner. You made your way over to the menu to check out prices, having overheard what each of the boys was really wanting, you finally came up with a plan and handed each of the boys their share according to who won and such, but made sure they each still had enough for what they wanted. Jackson got excited, hugging you and and then growing still as he waited almost impatiently for his turn to order. He looked back at you and pulled you up next to him. “You have to get ice cream too.” “I’m the driver,” You answered, but you couldn’t help but smile. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get ice cream. I’d feel bad if you didn’t get any.” You shook your head. “I’ll get a milkshake then.” You dug into your purse and checked your wallet for cash. A small milkshake it would seem. You must have left your cash in your backpack, which was underneath the boys’ backpacks in the trunk. Jackson kept you close. “Are you having fun?” You nodded, only partially lying. Watching the boys play Simon Says was funny, and the time in Frankenmuth the day before, as well as the time on the beach both last night and this morning had been great. But constantly being an outsider, in charge of their entertainment, feeding and general welfare and safety was…hard. You hadn’t realized how lonely you would still feel, even distracted as you were. Jackson gently pulled you forward again as the line moved. “You are?” “Yes,” You replied, making sure to smile. He looked at you, looked in your eyes, and somehow you knew that he didn’t believe you. That he was worried. He got a little solemn, his gaze darkening. “We really did like that place. We don’t get to go somewhere that peaceful very often. It was beautiful.” “Beautiful, yeah,” You looked away, still smiling. Jackson took your hand. “Where are we going hiking?” “You guys don’t want to go hiking, it’s not exciting enough for you guys. You’ve seen everything,” Your said, then your eyes widened as you realized you were complaining out loud to him. “I’m sorry, ignore me, I’m just rethinking my plan for the trip.” “What? But why?” Jackson asked, squeezing your hand. “The plan looked great.” “It doesn’t take a mind reader to know that you three are city boys. There’s only so much of being one with nature that you can take. I don’t know what I was thinking with all of this. I should have planned more city stops.” He said something in Korean, then put his arm around your shoulder. “We’re doing everything you planned. If you don’t think the boys will like it, then you and I will go. That way if I get hurt, you can go for help and if you get hurt I can carry you.” Mark turned. “We could always cook dinner while you two are gone and make it a sort of competition. Whoever cooks you the best dinner gets the most spending money for the day.” Jinyoung, the only one following the instructions of filming everything since you had put the camera away after filming them playing Simon Says (because it was too good to miss), slipped up next to Mark so that all four of you were on the camera. You turned away, shielding your face. “They’ll blur your face out later,” Mark reassured you as Jackson pulled your hand from your face. “Stop it, you’re beautiful, they should see you.” Jackson finally trapped your hands away from your face and turned you toward the camera. “We’re getting ice cream! Then we’re going to go hiking and it’s going to be great!” You felt your phone vibrate from a text, and checking it let you know that their staff already checked you all into the next cabin, had dropped off their luggage, and were checked into their hotel rooms. “Oh, it’s your turn, Jinyoung,” Mark said, pushing the other boy to the window to order. You got closer to the prices and realized, after checking your wallet for change, that you didn’t actually have enough for even the small milkshake. You had really messed up. Jackson gave you a confused look as you pulled out of line and went back to the van, pretending you had gotten a call. You went into the van after ‘ending your call’ and waited in the driver’s seat, feeling like an idiot. You texted your mom, letting her know that you were alive and that everything was going ‘great’—because if you had used ‘fine’ your mom would be calling you and you weren’t about to deal with that. A little while later, all the boys piled in, Jackson getting in the front seat. He set a chocolate milkshake cup in your cup holder. You looked up, surprised. He was looking at his ice cream as he ate it. “We should get going if we’re going to hike, right?” You glanced back at Jinyoung and Mark, but they were also carefully avoiding looking at you. “Yeah,” You murmured, facing the road and turning on the van. Mark had his headphones on about five minutes into the trip, and Jinyoung was following suit. Jackson was seemingly absorbed in his ice cream, but the minute the boys were listening to their own music he cleared his throat. “You didn’t have enough cash. All three of us had some left after getting our own.” “Thank you,” You murmured. The rest of the hour-long drive was spent talking to him. Nothing major or personal, just talking. You guys talked about dogs, friends, cats, television, food, and books. Once you reached the campground, he woke the boys while you got out and went to unlock the cabin and check out the bedding situation. Three bunk beds, one with a full-size bed on the bottom. All one room. Fire pit and grill outside for cooking. Propane heat if it got cold. “I got your backpack for…” Jackson trailed off as they came in. “One room?” “Yup.” You took a deep breath. “It’s fine. I’ll figure it out.” “She gets the big bed,” Jinyoung said, putting his backpack on one of the top bunks of the twins. “Oh, no, that’s okay…” They were already moving around to make sure it was that way. Mark and Jinyoung checked out the cooler to figure out what they could try and make for dinner in a few hours and you went over the campground maps. “We’re not far from two of the lakes, so you two could go down to them as well while we’re hiking.” Mark nodded, coming over to look at the map. “Where will you two be going?” “Probably the Au Sable trail.” You traced the path, considering your options. Jackson was changing into better shoes for walking, talking with Jinyoung. You grabbed a couple extra granola bars, and water bottles, shoving them into your backpack with the first aid kit. “We’ll drive down to the parking lot here, near the trail head. That way if your staff planned on the museum it won’t be a repeat for you.” Mark nodded. “How long will it take?” You shrugged a little. “Two hours, maybe? It’s hard to say.” He nodded. “We’ll aim for dinner being ready at seven.” “Sounds good. Ready Jackson?” Jackson handed you the camera and case, and grabbed his camera. “Ready.” ————— Jackson’s arm wrapped quickly around your waist and pulled you back, insistent on taking a picture with you. You groaned in mock frustration, giving in to his goofiness. He switched the camera to his other hand cupping your cheek and jaw as he turned it toward the camera. Except he turned your head so that you were facing him, looking at his face, his smile. At first you were surprised, then you sort of lost your train of thought as you just admired the man that was completely off limits. Then you regained your senses and ducked out of his grasp. “Were you smiling?” “I don’t know, you were squishing my face,” You replied jokingly, flashing him a grin. He started protesting, saying that you had to take another, but gave up when he realized you were getting farther ahead of him and he didn’t want to be alone. He caught your hand as he caught up, noticing that you had filmed the whole thing. “Oh, come on…” “It was cute, your fans will like it,” You teased, surprised at how easily the two of you were interacting after talking in the car. He was quiet. “Cute?” You looked over at him, worried he had taken your sentence the wrong way, but he was looking at you, a bit of a smile on his face. Actually, the look on his face just made your cheeks burn with the amount of teasing you expected from him. He kept a firm hold on your hand as you hurried to keep moving. You had to remind yourself that as long as one of the cameras was on there was an audience. You weren’t about to keep flirting (oh God, you didn’t even know you knew how to flirt) with him when someone else would see this. But you wanted to. You wanted to keep teasing him and flirting, and see how far past the limits you could push yourself before remembering that you only had a few days with him. He seemed more natural alone with you. He talked about his parents and the other members, his brother and his music. Maybe it was because he knew they would probably just have the hike on fast-forward or something. “So…you’re thinking of quitting your job?” He switched the topic almost seamlessly, but left you stumbling. “Um…” You huffed slightly to calm yourself. “I don’t know. I’ll probably try and get a different job before I quit this one. Maybe try a different town. It just…it feels like it’s time for a change, but I don’t know what that change is. It’s just something in the air…” He squeezed your hand, which somehow said so much. It made you think of how he had acted like a body guard at the hotel, standing outside your door while you packed up your things, and then took your suitcase as if it was his job. It was like you two were in this little dance of who was taking care of whom, and both of you wanted to win, but also wanted the other to win. “Oh, watch the branch,” He said, hand covering your head and guiding you under it as you tried not to laugh. “Be careful.” “Yes, Jackson,” You responded in a teasingly patronizing voice. He immediately went into a sort of hyena laugh. “Sorry, sorry.” You started laughing, then impulsively kissed his cheek. Then you panicked and ripped your hand away, running down the path. You watched your steps so that you wouldn’t trip and fall, but you were scolding yourself. You couldn’t just kiss his cheek! “Y/n!” You ran around a bend, and down to a huge white pine, ducking behind the trunk to catch your breath and possibly your sanity. Forget quitting, you could get fired for this. “Y/n!” Jackson called again, sounding worried. Finally he reached a point in the path where he could see you. You gave him a shrug and a smile. “Let’s keep moving.” He caught your arm, stopping you. “Hey…” You didn’t look at him. He leaned in close and softly kissed your cheek. “Those guys that you dated were idiots if they lost you.” You looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. You didn’t know what to say. His gaze was intense, serious. “You’re so caring. Loving.” You almost wanted to run away again, but you were glued to the spot. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. “Maybe you felt a change in the air because you were about to meet me.” He then took your hand and gently pulled you down the trail. The two of you didn’t speak the rest of the hike, but kept glancing at each other with soft smiles and secrets. He would squeeze your hand gently, then pull you closer to him, almost like he felt you start to drift back to reality. Drifting back to the knowledge of the fate of any relationship the two of you could form, only to be drawn back to his side. Every once in a while, he would stop to admire the scenery, then steal a kiss. And with every stolen kiss, you felt this bond between you grow stronger. You didn’t know what would happen if you were torn apart. Jackson sighed when the trail-head came into view. “Can’t we…I just wish…” “We should stop now, before we hurt each other.” He frowned. “I don’t want to stop now. We have time together. We’ll figure out what will happen later. Let’s just…enjoy each other’s presence right now. Can’t we just…” “Don’t you have a contract?” He froze, his gaze shifting away from you. “Yeah…I do…” “So technically, you’ve already broken it just by kissing me. Don’t risk your career on me, Jackson.” “You researched me,” He murmured. “You already checked to see if I could have a girlfriend. You like me. You like me enough to check and see if I could even have a girlfriend. When did you look that up?” “I was in the car for a while pretending I was taking a phone call.” You hugged yourself, pulling your hand free of his. “Besides, it was just to try and knock me back to the ground. I mean, while there’s something romantic in the idea that a guy would give something up for a girl he likes…but I would feel guilty for the rest of my life if anyone ever did that.” “What if…what if we just talked? What if we just got to know each other? If we’re still interested in each other when my contract is renewed…” He stepped in close, gently pulling your arms from around you so he could take both of your hands in his own. “I may not seem like it, but I’m patient. And I come to America for tours. It could be fun to sneak around and see each other.” You shook your head. “You already miss seeing your family. You deserve to find love and happiness at the right time, with the right person. That isn’t me.” He just held onto your hands more tightly. “But…” “Don’t, Jackson. We both know how this ends. We part ways and never come back together because this is one of those things where we’re just thrown together and once we part there is nothing to bring us together again.” “I’ll bring us together again,” He argued, his arm going firmly around your waist. “Don’t you want to at least try and fight for us?” You looked at his face, so serious and determined. You did. You wanted to forget all the things that would prevent you from being together and just enjoy being with the sweetest, most considerate man you had ever met. But after fighting yourself, fighting work to just get through the day… “You do,” He answered, reading your face. He licked his lips, the pressed his forehead to yours. “You’re tired, but you want to fight.” You closed your eyes. “You’re the first man I’ve ever been drawn to so strongly. The first person I’ve ever spent so little time around and yet felt so attached to.” “This feels right,” He finished your thoughts in a low tone, his voice deepening attractively. He gently pressed a kiss to your lips. “But you’re tired. You’ve been fighting since before you met me. Stop fighting, rest, then fight for us.” You instinctively curled into his chest, resting his head on his shoulder. “Okay.” “Really?” You nodded, then peeked up at him. “I’ll fight for us.” He grinned. “So, we can worry about the dating ban later?” You nodded again. He kissed you again. “Good. Because I like you a lot. The guys will help us sneak around, not that we need to since we’re basically doing all the filming ourselves. They already thought that…well…they knew that I liked you. They only backed out of the hike because they knew.” You groaned. “Ugh, the schedule. I have to work on it, refine it. We should—” “Whoa, hey, the schedule looks great to us. We thought it looked good. We especially liked the extra time on the beaches.” He grinned and wrapped his arms around your waist. “Now, why don’t we take that other trail?” “Why do I feel like you don’t want to hike?” You teased. He kissed you again. “I do. I just want to do it with you. I want to hold your hand. I want you to show me your favorite things about the trails. I want to be alone with you while I can.” You smiled at him. “Or we could go back to the cabin to make sure our dinner is edible.” “They can cook!” “How well?” You asked, folding your arms. He looked away blankly. “Yeah, we should go make sure our food is edible.” You kissed his cheek. “We’ll have plenty of time together.” He smiled again and nodded. “I hope we don’t accidentally poison you and ourselves.” “That’s what I hope to prevent. Mostly I just want to make sure that they figured out how to use the grill. Charcoal can be tricky.” He nodded and led you back to the car, arm around you protectively. A perfect gentleman. —————— Sneaking kisses, holding hands, getting hugs, and sharing conversations with Jackson had become your favorite part of the trip. No matter where the two of you went, even with the other two guys and you making sure you did your job, it was like a whole new adventure. Beaches were the best. You all would goof off for hours at a time, and you felt like you hadn’t smiled and laughed so much in ages. The sunlight reflecting off of the water dazzled your eyes, making it seem so much brighter and more beautiful than ever. Which was the same thing that Jackson had done for your life. You had always guarded yourself from defining your life by who you were dating. You didn’t need a boyfriend to have a place in the world. But Jackson definitely brought out the best in you. He knew exactly how to make you smile, or when you just needed a hug, and he listened when you talked about things that you loved. He helped you be happier, just by existing, and even just listening to him talk gave you this sense of peace that you had been missing. There had been times over the trip when you definitely snapped at him, or he got upset with you. There are always those times, with anyone. Like today. You had been worrying about the schedule because if you fell behind today, then you might be late the next day. For their departing flight to Chicago. You were tired, worried, and dreading their departure because you knew you would have to say goodbye to Jackson and you just snapped at him. So he got upset and you two ended up arguing because you were ‘worrying too much’ and he was ‘being inconsiderate and delaying things’. Mark and Jinyoung separated you two for the ‘mission’ of finding souvenirs and eating once you reached Houghton, after arguing for the las half hour of the car ride from Pictured Rocks. You sighed, already feeling guilty. “I’m sorry,” You murmured to Mark, scanning the stores for content. Jinyoung and Jackson were eating and then shopping while the two of you did the opposite. “You’re tired. Arguments happen.” He shrugged, stopping and looking in a window. “But I hope you two work it out. I’ve never seen him so happy and peaceful.” “I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I have since I met him. I know it can’t last. You guys are leaving tomorrow,” You said, silently cursing the way your voice sounded. “And I have to make sure you do leave. It’s my job. It’s my job and I hate it. Besides…there’s also the whole contract issue.” Mark opened the door to a store. “Yeah…contract…” You stopped and stared at him. “What was that tone?” He shook his head. “I just forgot about it.” You didn’t quite believe him, but you let it go for now and followed him into the store. “You know, they’re really impressed with you. And this trip was really great. I mean, we ate good food and got to have fun and go to the beach. We learned a lot too. I mean, I’m from California. This is a lot different from what I’m used to, but it was also cool to learn about another state. You cooked for us, and you made sure that even though we had a lot of activities we also had time to just chill and do our own thing. They might consider hiring you.” He gave you a smile. You managed a tired smile in return, then turned to the owner and made sure it was okay to have the camera filming Mark, then nodded your thanks. “Maybe.” The two of you went around the store, then several others, finally finding a souvenir that he was happy with. Then the two of you went to a restaurant. You sat across from him, trying to figure out how to apologize to Jackson. “We’ll try and get you two some time away from the cameras after this,” He said, pretending you weren’t still filming him. There wasn’t enough time left in the day to talk to Jackson much more than to say that you needed to talk to him in the morning and to share a look that showed how sorry you both were. You cried late into the night, and your alarm woke you up far too early in the morning. You felt shaky and tired. You just wanted to lay back down and go to sleep, but no. You had to get up and make sure the boys would have something to eat before they got on the plane. You made a quick trip to the store and got some donuts, muffins, mixed fruit, and croissants. Since you had no way of heating any food up or keeping any food cold, you made the executive decision that they could spare the calories and that fruit was healthy enough. Then you cleaned up all of your stuff and set the food up on the desk in your room, getting out the plates and plastic utensils, and then hiding your luggage in the closet. You went to their room and knocked. Mark opened the door and smiled at you, but it was strained. The staff were already in their room. Before he could even say the good morning his half-asleep brain was still working up to, you flashed a smile. “I have food for you guys. Want me to bring it here?” “Oh, no, it’s—” One of the staff nodded. “Bring it here.” You nodded, still forcing a smile as you went back to your room, packed everything back into the bags and took it to the boys’ room to do what you had already done, again. You set it up, still forcing the smile. Jinyoung helped you pull things out of the bag and sort them on the table. “Did you sleep, y/n?” “Yes. How did you sleep?” “It was an early morning,” He answered, then put a hand lightly on your shoulder. “We didn’t know it was starting this early.” You just nodded, your heart heavy. Then Jinyoung knocked over the jug of orange juice, all over the food. “Ah! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” He rushed to grab the paper towels to try and clean it up. You looked at it blankly, stunned at how he had managed to accidentally knock it over and get all of the food, effectively ruining all but the fruit. The staff started making a big fuss. Jackson said something in korean, then repeated it a couple times before grabbing your wrist. “Come on. Let’s go.” You let him pull you out of the room and down the hall, then out to the vehicle. He opened the driver’s side door and basically picked you up and set you on the seat facing him. He kissed you, then rested his head on your shoulder. “I’m so sorry.” “It was my fault. I was tired and stressed and…I…” He looked up at you. “I lied to you.” You froze, choking up and ready to cry at those simple words. He lied? About what? Did he not…love you? He gave a shaky smile. “I don’t have a dating ban anymore. I just…wanted to make sure you really actually liked me. I had to see…you have to understand…I wanted someone who liked me for me.” You stared back at him. He wiped your tears away, looking upset. “I wish I didn’t have to leave you, but…can’t you…can’t we keep going?” He looked like he might start crying as he held a water bottle to your lips. “Drink.” You swallowed some water, then sniffled. “You can date?” “I can date. And I can love you better than anyone else. I should have told you sooner. It was stupid of me to hurt you like that. I’m so sorry for hurting you,” He murmured, closing his eyes and looking at the ground, holding both of your hands. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” You whispered. “I’m sorry you’re always having to comfort me.” He kissed your forehead. “You’re always taking care of me. You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. I’m the one who lied. I’m the one who hurt you. I’m the one…” His voice cracked. “I’m the one who’s not going with you,” You said, taking the blame for the inevitable separation. “I’m the one who is letting go of us, and pushing you back toward your career.” He shook his head, breath hitching. “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you, you know.” “I’m the one saying goodbye.” “I couldn’t stand how that man treated you. He should be in jail.” You closed your eyes. “I’m the one driving you to the airport, and making sure you leave.” “You knew my song even though you didn’t know me, and you know all this history but you spout it out like you’re embarrassed you know it. You always seem to know when one of us is hungry.” You really had to fight that sob before you said, “I’m the one saying it won’t work out between us.” He was crying. “The way you look in the sunlight…” “I’m the one forcing you to let go of me.” “You’re sunlight off the water,” He said, and it stopped all the words in your throat. “If I look too long, I could go blind from how beautiful you are. You are the happiest place I’ve known in a long time. You’re someone I would have to show to my mom and dad so that they could try and share some of the happiness that you bring me.” You looked over to see Mark and Jinyoung and the staff all watching you two now. “Jackson…” “Please,” He pleaded, looking up into your eyes. There was so much pain and regret. “I know I should have told you. I know I’m asking a lot from you. But please? I’ll work everything out, just…come. I know you can’t come right now, but maybe later? Quit that job that hurts you and come with me and we’ll find you something better, together. The last ten days have been the best days of my life, and I don’t want to stop seeing you. Or we could meet in a couple weeks, when we’re in New York, so you can go and see your family. Just don’t tell me it’s the end. Don’t you dare tell me you don’t love me because I know you do. You wouldn’t be acting like this if you didn’t love me. You wouldn’t be pushing me away if you didn’t truly want what was best for me.” You let your forehead rest on his. “Of course I love you.” “I love you. So don’t tell me this is over.” “There’s so much in the way. Your fans won’t like—” “I don’t care. I’m not going to let anybody get in the way of being with someone that makes me so happy.” “Jackson—” “No. I love you. That’s it. If I could, I would give it all up for you. I would live wherever you wanted. But I can’t. I have a commitment, and…” “They’re your family. I know. I would never dream of taking you away from your job or your friends. I just…I don’t know Jackson. I don’t like not having a plan, or some sort of security…” He kissed you. It was weird since you were both crying and your noses were stuffed and honestly it was just awkward, but it was still nice because it was with him. “I will be your security.” “No. It’s too soon for that—” “Look, we don’t have time for more arguments. You have my phone number. Just tell me where you’ll come visit me when you decide. If you don’t text me or call me, then I’m going to assume you’re in the hospital. Got it?” You looked into his eyes and saw that he was as serious as the day was long. You kissed him again and nodded. “Got it.” He pulled you into a tight embrace. “I’ve got you.” ——————— You had to be out of your mind, and yet your parents—ever the voices of reason even in the craziest of times—were the ones helping you dive further into the insanity. They supported you when you quit your job, helped you move out of your crappy apartment and into their basement, and were now attending the Got7 concert with you. And it was great. You had delved into the world of K-pop to know some of their songs at least, and so that you could understand what it was he did and they were honestly one of your favorite groups. Their concert was amazing so far and even your father—the most closed-minded to music—was getting into the music and bopping along. You watched Jackson performing, loving him even more for it (it was hard not to). He had a sort of charisma on the stage, focused yet spontaneous. Present and yet so far away. Goofy and serious. He performed diligently, doing all the choreography with what appeared as practiced ease. He seemed more confident than ever. “You all having a good time?!” He asked enthusiastically as they all took a break from performing. The place erupted in cheers, and your mother’s was almost louder than some of the teenage girls around the three of you. Jinyoung was staring in your general direction, looking somewhat confused, then he was smiling and waving and you figured you might have just imagined he was looking your way when he was actually reading one of the signs. Your mother whooped in delight at something BamBam said to the crowd and suddenly you had a feeling that you just threw your parents down a bottomless pit. “Honey, any of these boys will be just fine with me!” Your mom yelled over the crowd to you. “I need one of those flashlights!” You handed her yours (the boys had given it to you at the airport for their little vacation show), turning it on for her. She grinned in delight and you were seriously concerned as she showed your father. “Sweetheart, that one there is Jackson, right?” Your father was leaning over to you behind your mother. You following his hand to where he was pointing and nodded. “Yeah. That’s him.” Since you hadn’t been paying attention, you weren’t quite sure what they were doing, but now that you were looking that them again you realized that Jinyoung and Mark were talking to Jackson. Jackson’s face turned to one of astonishment, then he looked in your direction until his gaze fixed on you. He brought the Mic up to his mouth, then let it drop, before bringing it up again. “We had fun recently, doing a split vacation. Jinyoung, Mark, and I were all in the same group and we went to a bunch of beautiful places and met a bunch of amazing people. Like my dawn.” The breath you didn’t know you had been holding left your throat, and you drew in another, holding it and wondering what he was thinking. “Every day was more beautiful than the one before. Except the last day. That was the worst. We didn’t want to leave, but we knew that our lovely igot7 were waiting for us!” He hyped it up, but you could tell he was still fixated on you. The other boys were smiling and laughing a bit. “Can I trust our lovely igot7 with a secret?” Jackson asked, looking around the place. Son of motherless goat…what was he doing? “Alright, I need all cameras off. I need your help.” He walked across the stage. The other boys seemed to know that this was going to happen. “I’m trusting you,” He said sincerely to the crowds. “Mom, we need to leave.” You grabbed her arm. “What?! But—!” “Alright, everyone, are you ready?” “Yes!” Your mom screamed with everyone else. Traitor. “You all will still love me, even if my love is shared with someone special, right?” He asked, looking out over the crowd. “Aw! You love whoever you want!” Your mom gushed. Your father busted a gut, dropping back into his seat since he knew that Jackson was talking about you—a fact that had apparently slipped your mother’s mind. “There’s this woman, I’m going to call her Dawn. Ever since I saw her, I started imagining my life with her. I want you guys to help me get my dawn up here. My sunlight. She’s here tonight, and I need you guys to help me because I can’t let her get away. I can’t let her be taken away.” He dropped his gaze to the stage. “I need you to love her as much as you love me. She’s scared of dating an idol. I’m scared of losing her.” He had the audience wrapped around his finger, and you had to admit that the way he was approaching this did seem to be the right way. That’s when you noticed that Mark was making his way towards you with the security guards. You had to make a run for it. Just, get out of the isle and run. You weren’t an idiot. You knew someone was still filming even though he asked them not to. Even though he said he trusted them. You certainly didn’t trust them. But you did trust him. Your thoughts delayed you from making your escape. Mark held out his hand for you, grinning. Your mom pushed you. “Go! We’ll see you back at the hotel whenever you decide to return.” You blushed at the implication, as if you weren’t already embarrassed enough, but took Mark’s offered hand and followed him and the security team back to the stage. Thank God you’d had the sense to dress well, and do your hair and makeup. Jackson’s smile as you came up on stage soothed any embarrassment you had though. He looked so excited that you were there. Damn you had missed his smile. Before you knew it, you were in his arms, your face hidden in his shoulder as he thanked the crowd for cheering. There. Right there is where you belonged. Not on the stage—there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell you belonged there—but beside him. You felt more whole than you had since he had left. You couldn’t get comfortable at home, or anywhere. You hadn’t been satisfied with anything and had felt restless. Thoughts drifting to him all the time and now you were here. Sure, he smelled a little since he had been dancing and it wasn’t exactly cool in there. His arms went around you while the other boys hyped the crowd up for their next song in a couple minutes. “Come to Korea with me.” You just nodded, not wanting to try and talk about the crowd from there. Or leave your hiding place. He took you backstage and kissed you. “I love you. Don’t go anywhere.” You nodded again. He grinned and ran back out. You leaned in an out of the way place and watched him shine on the world. Yeah, you could get used to this. It seemed like forever and only the blink of an eye before the boys were done with the concert and getting ready to go back to the hotel. You stayed in your spot, afraid of getting in the way. Jackson found you there and kissed you again. “Follow me.” You followed him out to a vehicle where the other members were, and greeted you with teasing smiles thrown at Jackson. “What about your parents?” Mark asked. “I’m meeting them back at the hotel.” “Those were your parents? I want to meet them.” You nodded. “Okay. They really loved the concert by the way. Mom is officially a fan and even Dad seemed to be into it.” Jackson grinned and the other boys seemed pleased at least. The rest of the ride was polite conversation. Then Jackson led you up to his room. “Are they expecting you tonight?” “Not exactly…” You murmured, feeling a little guilty. He smiled. “Let me take a shower, okay? Then we can talk.” He handed you one of his shirts. “Make yourself comfortable.” You met his eyes and smiled a little, but you were almost certain you were blushing again. After he was in the shower, you changed into his shirt and crawled into the bed, burying your face in the comforting scent of him on his pillow. A couple minutes later he crawled into the bed as well, arms wrapping around you and lips pressing kisses to your neck. “Comfy?” “I missed you,” You murmured. He seemed to relax. “I missed you too.” “I quit my job.” “Good.” “I love you.” He grinned and kissed you. “I love you too. Maybe it was fate that you had already liked one of my songs.” “Mmm, sing me to sleep again?” You rolled over so the two of you were spooning. He got comfortable and started softly singing some Chinese song. You could hear the happiness in his voice. In Jackson Wang, you had a permanent happy place. “Marry me,” He whispered. “Okay.”

Masterlist.

#jackson wang #got7 jackson #got7 fic #got7 #readerxjacksonwang #jackson wang x reader #sunlightoffthewaterfic

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