#like whenever I suddenly get reminded of her I always freeze up and think back to the event that took her away I fuckin hate it

[purpleterror91]

This game is one of the best sonic games I've ever played!!! And it hurt my heart so so much!!

[candiiee]

Requested(?)by @lovelywritersgarden !

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ɪɴᴛᴏxɪᴄᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴇᴀ ᴘᴛ.2 ✧.*

Drunk! Izuku Midoriya x reader

Warnings: swearing and slight suggestive thoughts

part 1

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Pain. Pain. Pain. Izuku groans, holding his head as it throbs. Drinking. It’s coming back now. Y/N helping him to his house. He blinks, hearing some stirring beside him. He glances beside him, and freezes. Y/N is sleeping beside him. His face goes red. He immediately glances down at himself, oh thank god.. he thinks, I still have my clothes on. We didn’t do anything inappropriate. He pauses. What did we do though? He can’t remember.

He breathes, calming himself down. He can’t think straight because of the pain. Thank god Y/N gave him water and gave him kisses to convince him. Wait, kisses? What. The. Fuck. He feels sick. His face is flushed. Not only because of the hangover, but because he may have let his feelings for Y/N slip out. He messed up so bad. She was so understanding during his drunkenness. He mentally slaps himself. He wants to pull out his hair and scream. Stupid stupid stupid. He berates himself. You fucked up so bad. Now she’ll never wanna date y-no, no, you’re friends! FRIENDS I SAY. YOU CALLED HER PRETTY, (well she is, but you meant it in not a friend type way) What would Kachan do? He’d probably freak out and just spill his guts. But who knows. He continued to think a mile a minute, turning redder and redder.

Suddenly, his thoughts stopped, and his brain froze. “Izu? That you?” He gulped, glancing down to his side. Y/N had awoken. He nervously scratched the back of his head. “Uhhhh, no?”

Y/N blinked, sitting up and muttering to herself. “How’s the hangover?” Through all his panicking, he had completely forgotten about the pain. Now that she had reminded him, he felt it. “Fricking awful.”

Y/N nodded, rubbing her eyes. “Figured as much.”

He cleared his throat, better talk about it now than never. “So… how much do you remember about last night?” He said, blushing furiously. Y/N blushed as well, her face turning a deep shade. “Um..I’d say all of it.”

He buried his face in his hands. “I’m so sorry!” Y/N patted his back. “I know. But.. did you mean it..?”

He gulped, “I-I-I-yes! Everything! Except that part about water tasting bad!”

She cracked a smile, though it quickly disappeared once his words registered. “I..I see..”

She paused, taking a deep breath. “Izu, I really don’t know what to say.” He nodded, looking at his hands. “It’s fine. It’s my fault for ever drinking in the first place. Are we still friends?”

Y/N paused, taking a deep breath. “Honestly? When you confessed, I had never really thought of you in a romantic way. But…”

He held his breath.

“It got me thinking. I had always pushed away feelings during Highschool. Whenever I felt something fluttery in my stomach I blocked it out. Didn’t dwell on it. And, well, now that I remember, you were the one who usually gave me the fluttery feeling.” He blushed, gripping the bedsheets. “R-really?!”

Y/N nodded. “Really.” Izuku deeply inhaled. “So.. now what? You basically just confessed you like me to, so..”

Y/N bit her lip. “I honestly don’t know.”

Izuku paused, then gathered his courage. He took Y/N’s hand in his, blushing deeply not looking at her. “Y/N, can you please consider going out with me? I really really like you. And I want to be more than friends.”

Y/N blushed deeply, the red hue covering her cheeks. “I..yes, Izu.” He mentally pumped his fist into the air. “R-really? Yes! I mean, that’s cool. That’s cool.” Y/N giggled, and he practically melted. He had done it. He had actually managed to get the girl. He would rub that in Kachan’s face. Denki and Uraraka were gonna be so proud of him. Oh wait, he was supposed to be feeling the effect of the hangover. Oh, there it is. Oh shit he’s gotta vomit. WHY NOW??!

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Soooo, was it good? I tried. If anyone wants me to write another one shot for MHA, I’d be happy to :))

(I only do x readers cause I have no imagination.)

I gotta figure out how people organize their oneshots so pretty-

[0tivez]

Out of topic but "geto apologist" is the funniest title i've seen all day 🤣🤣 anways. May i request an hc for gojo's crush being a blunt/natural flirt but not realizing that's she's flirting? Like in her pov she's just conversating like normal?

note: haha thank you anon! i will defend my man every day and every night. sorry it took a while to post this! this turned out more story like rather than headcanons, so heads up for that

characters: gojo

warnings: none, fluff

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⁜ oh he would be confused and pissed

⁜ even after a while he'd make it into a competition without you even knowing

⁜ so he just sits in his room, confused, thinking if you like him or not

⁜ i mean, gojo is also a natural flirt, but he wouldn't expect someone else to initiate that friendly flirting stuff

⁜ he thinks you love him or something and then the next day you're flirting with nanami and shoko too

⁜ but for some reason, it just doesn't register in his mind that you're unaware of this

⁜ so he'll flirt back

⁜ you greet him one morning. gojo approaches you and initiates a conversation to work his magic

⁜ he says "good mornin' sweetheart" as he inches closer to you

⁜ you look at him, smile and say "mornin" back carelessly

�� gojo is DUMBFOUNDED

⁜ he starts talking about something and as you're listening, you look him up and down, smile, nod, and flutter your eyelashes just like always

⁜ and for the first time in his life, gojo panics

⁜ he stutters, his voice shakes, he losts his train of thought

⁜ you stand there confused, "is everything okay?" you ask him

⁜ gojo looks at you with embarrassingly red cheeks and reply "y-yeah, must have been the c-coffee"

⁜ you raise an eyebrow and smirk. "but you don't drink coffee"

⁜ gojo widens his eyes at your low tone of voice, impressed more than he's willing to admit. he says goodbye and leaves

⁜ oh man he's PISSED

⁜ how dare you don't look affected by his flirting techniques? ones that are enough to make ladies swoon and leave him 500 messages

⁜ surely, you must have been doing it to get his attention

⁜ "two can play a game"

⁜ suddenly he starts buying you random gifts that "reminded him of you," bringing you lunch, making sure he makes subtle physichal contact with you whenever he has the chance to, just like he does with his friends

⁜ now you're confused

⁜ cause although you're not complaining, you're surprised at this sudden change of behavior

⁜ but you admit, you like the attention a little too much

⁜ and satoru enjoys spoiling you a little too much, more than he likes spoiling others

⁜ but when you ask him one day, "why?" gojo freezes

⁜ no really, why was he doing this? is it actually to compete with you or is he actually enjoying flirting with you?

⁜ "what do you mean why?" he replies

⁜ "you started buying me stuff, calling me sweet names overnight. are we in a relationship or something?" you jokingly ask

⁜ "well you're the one that started it!" he furrows his brows

⁜ you look at him confused. "huh? what do you mean i started it?"

⁜ "you've been flirting with me this whole time! and then you go around doing the same with others, i know you're trying to make me jelaous!" gojo says, not jealous one bit

⁜ your cheeks get red as your eyes open wide. "i'm not flirting with anyone!"

⁜ now you're both yelling

⁜ "what do you mean you're not? the..." gojo starts imitating you with exaggeration, it almost looks comical. he holds his hands together and brings them to his cheek as he flutters his long eyelashes non stop. "and the good morning baby, missed me?"

⁜ "nonsense! i'm just talking normally!" you defend yourself. "and i don't sound like that" you pout

⁜ gojo stands there dumbfounded, again

⁜ "wait, you weren't actually flirting?"

⁜ "no"

⁜ "but then-"

⁜ "i'm just talking. it's how i talk. does it... actually come off as flirting?"

⁜ "i mean..." gojo hesitates if he should tell you the truth or lie and comfort you

⁜ "fuck, am i easy?"

⁜ "no! no no, i mean, i do it too, do i look easy?"

⁜ you look at him, not wanting to answer. you both know the answer lol

⁜ gojo pouts his lips. "maybe we both are"

⁜ "shut up!" you smack his arm

⁜ silence

⁜ "but i did enjoy being spoiled" you finally confess

⁜ gojo laughs. "i enjoyed spoiling you"

⁜ you two look at each other

⁜ "what happens now?" you ask

⁜ gojo lookas around. "well, we're in too deep now, aren't we? we can't just randomly stop one day, people will notice"

⁜ "are you suggesting..."

⁜ "let's just act like nothing happened. you talk -not flirt, talk, and i respond the same way"

⁜ you smile at his offer. you're not going to question why he wants to continue play-flirting is it made him too annoyed, or if it meant something more, because hell, you loved having satoru's attention

⁜ "deal. i'll talk with you- not flirt, talk, and you respond" you reach your hand out, and satoru shakes it. you two nod at each other, and go on with your day

⁜ except it's not the same, is it? how can you go on knowing satoru felt intrigued by your gestures so much? how can you erase the image of him towering over you with a small box in his hands as he calls your name with his deep voice?

⁜ and him, how can he erase the image of you looking up at you with cheeks red from embarrassment, how shocked you were when he confronted you? how you asked him what are we? and how you knew he was flirting with you this whole time, and let him go on?

⁜ how long will you last before someone actually falls in love?

i don't know why but this CHALLANGED me. i became a rusty old woman. i need to step up my game

[silentarborinah]

Svo hljótt

“Inah!” Tataru exclaimed, clearly taken aback, “I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. No one was.”

Inah gives her a small, knowing smile. “Yes, time works in the strangest of ways.”

Tartaru moves in closer, inspecting her. She says, quieter, “You look exhausted.”

Again, trying to play off the intense fatigue she feels in every fiber of her being, Inah lets out a small, dismissive laugh, “I suppose it was a long journey.”

She hates the concerned look Tataru gives her, as if she can see straight through her posturing. Then again, she probably can.

“Your eyes…”

Inah immediately looks away. She's not used to the change herself. The gradual lightening of the color a physical manifestation of the strain her body was under. Of her anxieties. Of her near catastrophic failure. She had hoped that the light being expunged from her body would return the dark, forest green, but it didn't. She is now left with a permanent reminder.

Tataru must sense the shift, as she reaches out, grabbing Inah's hand. It's comforting, it reminds Inah of Ferah, how she would silently hold Inah's hand whenever she was nervous, but didnt want to show it. That only makes her feel worse. Would any of her family members even recognize her?

“Come, let's get you into a room to rest. I can brush your hair, if you'd like. It looks a little tangled from the journey.” Tataru smiles gently up at her.

Swallowing down the anxiety knotted in her throat, Inah nods, following Tataru further into the Rising Stones.

She's not even entirely sure why this anxiety lingers, or what specifically she is so anxious about. Maybe it's a culmination of everything she has gone through, still so recent and raw. Maybe it's her eyes—that no matter how long she stares at herself in the mirror, she can't see the young, excited adventurer that was once there.

The moment she settles down on the edge of the bed, Inah feels the weight of her exhaustion. She practically melts down into the mattress below, using all her remaining energy to stay sitting upright.

Tataru grabs a hairbrush from the vanity before making her way over to sit behind Inah. Slowly and gently, she begins to work her way through a long section of her hair.

Until she suddenly stops.

“Inah, have—well, your hair…”

Her heart starts to race.

“I'm sorry, it just, it doesn't feel right. It feels fried.”

Inah clenches her eyes shut, forcing the tears not to fall. “What should I do?” Her hands clench together, feeling her nails digging into the backs of her hands.

“Well,” Tataru starts, running her hands through her hair, focusing on the roots, “The good news is the new growth seems perfectly healthy and smooth. So for now, we can cut the dead hair away and let it grow back out.”

Inah feels herself freeze. She has rarely ever received haircuts, and they were always the lightest trims from Ferah. Her stomach thrashes, this can't be happening.

Then she reaches out, running a small piece through her hands, and feels the damage left behind, no doubt from The light. It's dried and course and frizzy—all characteristics that could never be attributed to her hair prior

“The roots, they seem healthy?” Inah practically chokes out.

“Yes, it seems like the newer hair is fine. We'll just have to watch it closely, but I think it might grow back healthy again.”

Moments of silence stretch between them. Finally, Inah lets out a deep, ragged breath.

“We can cut it.”

Tataru squeezes her shoulder in support before going to get some scissors.

“I'll do my best to make it super cute,” Tataru says, giving Inah her most supportive smile before settling behind her again.

“I know you will,” Inah whispers back, body barely trembling.

As soon as the first long section falls to the floor, the tears finally come in ugly, body-wracking sobs.

And by the end, when all the tears have dried and hair has been cut, Tataru passes over a hand mirror. Inah truly doesn't recognize herself, and not because her hair is now shorter and her eyes a different shade of green, but because the person staring back at her looks so sad, so tired, so broken.

“I know it's pretty different,” Tataru gives her shoulders another comforting squeeze, “But despite everything, it's still you.”

[raphmybeloved]

Mama

This is a little fic I made for @idiot-mushroom 's Teenage Turtle Ninja Mutants iteration. This is not canon to that iteration but I was just thinking a lot about shitty parents who suck at boundaries and the combination of oldest daughter syndrome and this was born.

TW there is no actual incest but Splinter makes an incredibly poor taste joke along those lines that's uncomfy to read

Raph doesn’t know when her brothers first start calling her mama. They mostly use it to tease her or complain that he’s a mother henning them. She thinks there may have been a time where it annoyed her but these days he likes it. 

As far as nicknames go it’s pretty solid and better than the normal dipshit and dickface that they tend to call each other. 

It doesn’t bother her. Until it does.

At first none of them put any thought into Leo entering the kitchen with a “hey mama what’s cooking?” It’s practically a guaranteed reaction from Leo when he sees Raph wearing an apron. It's normal.

They aren’t thinking about the fact that Splinter is in the room.

“Mama?” Splinters asks and Raph watches her siblings all freeze. This could go bad. Splinter's parenting is one of those things he’s sensitive about and there's always a chance he’ll have a reaction even to something as small as a nickname.

Splinter laughs and Raph knows it should be her cue to relax like her brothers are doing but she just can’t. She just has a feeling of dread that keeps her shoulders tense.

“Oh Mama, that is hilarious. Raphael is such a good mama after all. Always taking care of cooking and cleaning! It’s like he is my little wife ha!” 

Raph watches her brothers relieved awkward smiles transform into uncomfortable grimaces. He has no idea what his own face looks like or even how to fix it to an appropriate expression. Splinter seems to be immune to the clear discomfort that is drowning the rest of them as he continues laughing.

“Alright ‘mama’ I am going out,” Splinter says, patting Raph on the back before heading to the door. “Make sure to put the kids in bed.” 

The silence after he closes the door is suffocating until it isn’t. His brother’s are talking but Raph doesn’t really know what they are saying. Everything is a little too fuzzy to understand and it's hard for Raph to fully comprehend anything except this feeling of wrongness..

She feels weird. She feels gross. He can’t even quite pinpoint why but the feeling just consumes her. Eventually he must have shaken it off even if he can’t remember doing so because suddenly he’s in bed and everyones eaten and the lights are out.

She has no choice but to try to fall asleep and ignore the phantom feeling of bugs crawling all over her.

Like a lot of things they don’t talk about it. Her brother’s stop calling him mama as much and she tries to ignore the feeling of wanting to vomit whenever splinter says it.

She would have probably continued to never talk about it if it wasn’t for Casey Jones.

It's a fire escape night. A routine for just Raph and Casey to look out at the city, eat snacks, and shoot the shit. No siblings, no responsibilities, just a flimsy little platform that could give out any moment and two teens who don’t care. 

“So is something up?” Casey asks. The snack of the night is sunflower seeds and Casey seems determined to get as many shells into a flower pot on a balcony across the alley between apartment buildings and is mostly failing at his goal.

“What do ya mean?” Raph asks. She wishes she could join Casey in his quest but he eats her sunflower shells whole in a way that horrifies her friends and family and therefore has nothing to throw. Instead she picks at her nail beds.

“You’ve been weird, Mikey called you mama and you flinched. You’ve never done that before.” Casey says and not for the first time Raph is reminded that Casey is far more observant than he lets on.

“It’s nothin,” Raph mutters. 

“C’mon you know I don’t believe that.” Casey stops his sunflower seed mission and turns to look at her. There's something about the look Casey is giving him that Raph actually wants to tell him. 

“Splinter caught on to them calling me ‘mama’ and now he's started doing it,” Raph tries to keep her voice even as she stares out into the city but she can feel the bitterness sink in. “Pretty sure he can tell I don’t like it but he won’t stop.”

There's a moment of quiet before Casey lets out a hiss of air from his teeth.

“That sucks.” There's another moment before Casey lets out a small laugh.

“What’s so funny asshole?” Raph says glaring at the boy who is unfortunately her best friend

“Your dad is such an ass that he accidentally validated your gender. I mean obviously he’s being a dick but it’s just kind of funny that he is doing it in a way that uses feminine terms after trying to ignore your whole deal for so long.” Casey snorts, “What a fucking idiot.”

Raph looks at Casey. In a way he’s right. Splinter has brushed off any attempt Raph made to come out and now he’s using a feminine term. Sure it’s in a shitty way. At best it’s a crappy consolation prize and it doesn’t fix the weird gross feeling but-

Casey is trying. Raph shared an actual feeling and Casey isn’t mocking isn’t ignoring he’s trying to make her feel better. It’s.. nice. It helps Raph push away that gross feeling Splinter brings.

“Yeah,” she says. “What an idiot.” 

Things aren’t really better. Splinter is still an ass and Raph is still stuck in a situation where he just has to deal with it but when Casey smiles at him it's not hard to smile back.  

She at least has that.

[savemefromanepicoftimewasted]

Why I Never Said What I Meant To

Actor! Joel Miller X Actress!Reader

Your mouth gaped open, there was nothing you could tell him to truly show how sorry you were, that you’d kept your mouth shut because the producers told you to. You weren’t allowed to tell anyone about the changes, not even Ellie who could keep a secret like her life depended on it. a/n:this fic deals with heavy topics of anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, if any of those are triggering please read with caution! feedback is much appreciated! wc:7k

Ellie was walking back and forth on set, ignoring the people rushing around to make sure that everything was indeed in place. Joel had been talking to one of the producers, mentioning how he didn’t feel comfortable with one of the upcoming lines. They’d been filming for nearly twelve hours, going from late in the night to the early hours of morning. She had half expected to see you running over with a new cup of coffee for the pair, but you still weren’t there. Neil, the director, looked more annoyed than a few minutes prior. Suddenly the sound of your boots echoing inside the large room caught everyone’s attention.

“I’m so sorry! My alarm never went off and traffic was a nightmare,” You were already in costume which would speed things along.

“About time, we couldn’t film without you here,” Ellie threw her arms around your waist, pulling you into a tight hug.

“I know, I’m so sorry for making everyone wait,” You rubbed a hand over her back gently.

Ellie had grown attached to you and Joel rather quickly, it didn’t matter that the girl was old enough to drink. At least in Canada. You’d joked that you and Joel had become her surrogate parents during filming, taking over when she had questions. You’d practice lines together whenever the three of you had some time off together. It was comforting, knowing you got along so well with your costars. There had been plenty of times in the past where no one had gotten along, so this was a nice change of pace for once.

“Today’s the big day for you sweetheart, sorry this is how it ends,” You always knew your character was going to die, you’d thrown the idea around with the director a few times.

“Aww, are you gonna cry over me as I slowly die in your arms?” You batted your lashes at Joel, snickering when he groaned.

“Well it’s in the script that he does cry, but I don’t think he does it til he’s all alone,” Ellie loved teasing Joel, it was one of her favorite pastimes.

One of the makeup artists ran over to Joel before filming could commence, fixing up his right temple that was supposed to still have “fresh” blood. It was a gripe you had a lot, especially when it was cold and the blood would end up freezing to your skin.

“Alright, everyone get into place and then we can go ahead with this scene,” You let go of Ellie, walking around to the opposite side of the room.

You were going to get bit by one of the infected and fight them off before Joel realized what was happening. This was the scene you’d been dreading since the table read, once you’d gotten closer to Ellie and Joel you didn’t want to be done so soon. The lights dimmed, bathing the room in a soft darkness that would normally comfort you, however with one of the infected actors standing nearby, it was nerve wracking. Joel checked over all of his weapons, making sure everything looked good.

“Joel! Gonna need you to move back about a foot, Ellie take two steps to the right, and perfect!” Neil sat down behind the wall of monitors, looking over every inch he was filming.

Your heart was racing, it didn’t matter that nothing around you could actually do any harm but knowing that your character was about to die? It sucked. You were all ready to go on Neil’s instruction, the fake knife holstered on your thigh was an uncomfortable reminder.

“Action!” Neil’s voice echoed through the room, startling you for a brief second before the infected actors ran into the room.

You turned and ran towards the opposite side of the room, grip tightening around the handle of the fake knife as one of the infected managed to grab your arm. What neither of you had prepared for was the small slip of rug that had been flipped up, the pair of you tumbling to the ground. The other actor slammed into you before sliding to your side, groaning in pain. Everyone began to rush over to make sure neither of you had been seriously injured, nothing worse than realizing you couldn’t work for an extended period of time.

“Shit! Are you okay?” Joel knelt down beside you, gently cradling your head as he looked over you for any actual injuries.

“Think I just slammed my ribs, nothing feels broken,” You were a little nervous with Joel so close, especially after harboring a crush on the man for years.

They had the onset medic check you over, and after getting the all clear finally you resumed shooting. The bite mark took a little while to apply once filming was over which meant none of you could even leave for lunch. Why did the thought of leaving suddenly fill you with so much dread? Was it because you would be leaving Ellie, or did it all have to do with the absolute hunk of a man that Joel was?

No, don’t start thinking of your costar like that, he’s absolutely married with at least two children looking the way he does. Sure you’ve never discussed your personal lives and he absolutely refuses to answer those questions during interviews, but whatever. Then again if he was married it felt a little weird to openly thirst after him.

“Alright, time for everyone’s favorite scene to film, Joel’s about to find out you’re infected,” Neil had gone over the script with you a handful of times, bouncing off different ideas that could work.

You sat down in the corner of the room, shifting into place to make sure you gave off the aura that you were terrified. The now “dead” infected was lying about five feet away from where you were curled up. Joel didn’t know how the scene was going to play out, he’d just been given his lines and was told to follow your cue.

“Action!” Neil’s voice was muffled from where he sat.

The sound of Joel’s boots echoed throughout the set, something they would later cut down so it didn’t echo to the point of giving away how big the soundstage was. Your arm had started to annoyingly itch right above the prosthetic and instead of scratching at it, you had to ignore it entirely.

“Jess, what-” You held your hand up, lip quivering as tears began to build in your lash line.

“Don’t, please,” The bite mark was just barely visible with the way you’d tried to hide yourself.

“Are..sweetheart did..did you get bit?” Joel’s expression gave away nothing, but his eyes, they told the entire story.

You chuckled softly, lifting up your arm so that the wound was more visible, blood shining in the dim light that was pouring in from a window nearby. It was a simple mistake, you could’ve avoided all this mess had you just listened to Joel.

“I’m really sorry, they came out of nowhere and I couldn’t stop them before this happened,” You stood up slowly, watching the way Joel backed away out of instinct.

“Darling you got bit, what the hell am I supposed to do about that?” It was a natural reaction for Joel to get angry.

“You know I love you, right? I ran in here because it was going to stop that goddamn infected from getting either you or Ellie. I know that she’s immune, Jack, but there’s nothing we can do about this,” Tears were streaming down your face, a reminder that everything was one sided.

You reached for the gun that you’d had holstered in the waist of your pants, pressing it against your temple before Joel could react and pulling the trigger. Blood sprayed against the walls and floor as your lifeless body collapsed. Joel’s horrified gasp was louder than everything, everyone sitting behind the camera waited with baited breath. No one, except for yourself, Neil, and the makeup department knew about what was going to happen.

“Shit,” Joel glanced around the room, most likely looking for Ellie to see if she’d had to witness the same exact moment that would sit with him for a while.

He glanced down at you one more time before running out of the room, his hands had begun to shake uncontrollably. How was this happening? Things were going perfectly fine and now you were dead, he’d fucked up so badly. Leaning against the wall Joel hadn’t realized he’d begun to slide down until his ass had hit the ground. Ellie was now his main priority, no one was going to stand in his way when it came to protecting her.

“Cut! Holy shit that was amazing!” Neil was ready to start screaming with excitement, this was surely going to win a lot of awards.

“Alright, let’s get Y/N cleaned up so she can head out,” Wow, they were really letting you go so quickly? Then again the sooner you could get all this fake blood off of you, the better.

Looking around you’d noticed both Ellie and Joel were missing, which wasn’t unusual but it definitely didn’t leave you feeling comfortable. The walk to the makeup department was quick and thankfully not crowded. Joel was standing over by his trailer, hands thrown into the air in what looked like anger. Shit, had he gotten a phone call that was upsetting him?

“Hey there, let’s get you settled so we can get all these off,” The makeup artist, Lala, was a godsend and you thanked your lucky stars the two of you had met.

“Hey, have you seen Joel at all?” Sure you’d just seen him about a minute prior, but you hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to him.

“Not today, Kat’s been the one doing touch ups for Joel and Ellie all day,” Huh, that was weird, normally Lala did the touch ups and makeup for the three of you.

“Oh, okay,” You didn’t want to let it bother you, they would be filming for the rest of the day while you got to leave and actually have a decent dinner for once.

Lala didn’t say anything as she helped take off the prosthetics, but you knew the answer was laying right in front of you. Joel was clearly upset and wasn’t going to talk to you, so you could either buckle up and apologize, or wait until he finally cooled down.

“Am I doing your makeup for the premier?” Lala knew she’d be the only person you called for any event makeup, she would work her magic and make you look stunning for everyone to see.

“You already know I’ll be calling you the moment I found out when the premier is,” Hopefully it wouldn’t conflict with another project.

Maybe you and Joel could go to the premier together, have to avoid spoilers so no one realizes one of the other main characters gets offed halfway through. Then again, if he was still upset that wouldn’t happen, especially if Ellie backed him up. Craig, one of the producers, had wanted to get Joel’s genuine reaction to you dying, which was why you’d improvised.

“Hey, can we talk?” Your eyes widened as you noticed Joel standing in the doorway while Lala worked on getting the fake bullet wound off your skin.

“Yeah, if you want to talk outside she’s almost done,” Joel nodded for a second before heading off.

Lala winced slightly, as if the awkwardness between you and Joel was palpable. It was though, you could feel his judgment sinking into your bones. If Joel was this upset by the improvisation of the scene, how had Ellie reacted? If you managed to ruin two friendships in a single day it would definitely be the worst thing that had happened that year. That did not include finding out your partner had been cheating right before you were supposed to start filming either. That was a whole can of worms you vehemently refused to even deal with until you could go back to therapy.

“Alright we are all done, just make sure not to be too rough when washing your face later, your skins gonna be sensitive still,” You already knew the drill, having worked with many fake prosthetic pieces in the past.

“I know, I’ll give you a call if something goes awry and I need advice.” You stood up from the chair, stretching your back with a soft groan.

Lala waved goodbye as you headed out to find Joel and see how you could try and apologize for everything. Taking a few moments you composed yourself before heading to what would be your imminent death. Joel was exactly where you’d expected him to be, by the coffee. Most of the extras and crew members were off doing their own thing, or even gone for the day. Right now you need to talk with Joel and head back home.

“Hey, you wanted to talk?” You grabbed a bottle of water off the table, clutching it to your chest.

Joel’s shoulders stiffened so briefly that if you had blinked you would have missed it. Shit, this wasn’t going to be pleasant at all. As long as you could get all of your words out without freaking out this would be fine. The moment his eyes landed on you every thought in your head suddenly vanished. There was nothing but anger coursing through the dark depths. Wow, you’d really and truly fucked up.

“I’m sorry Joel, they wanted to get your honest reaction to the scene to make it more authentic, I wanted to do what I could,” Your heart was racing, palms sweating as you waited with baited breath.

Joel chucked to himself, chin dropping down to his chest as he shook his head slowly. This was it, your entire life was about to be destroyed in three, two, one.

“You know I knew they were going to change something in the script to help give it a little oomf, but I never expected this to be the case.” Joel dropped two sugar cubes into his coffee, stirring it absentmindedly with one of the wooden sticks.

“Now if you were to tell me beforehand that they had changed the script I would’ve been a little more prepared, but instead you end up blowing your brains out without warning me.” He turned to face you fully, sipping the hot black coffee.

Your mouth gaped open, there was nothing you could tell him to truly show how sorry you were, that you’d kept your mouth shut because the producers told you to. You weren’t allowed to tell anyone about the changes, not even Ellie who could keep a secret like her life depended on it. 

“I really am sorry Joel, my intention wasn’t to hurt you,” You wanted to let them in on the secret, but Neil and Craig had forbidden it entirely.

“You know, normally I would believe you, but this right here? Hiding something this severe doesn’t mean shit.” Joel threw the nearly full cup of coffee into the trash before angrily storming out.

You wanted to run after him, to explain that your hands were bound and that under contractual obligation you could not tell anyone. That wasn’t going to happen though, at least not any time soon. The entire situation was heartbreaking, knowing that you were tearing apart the trust between you and Joel as if it meant nothing to you. Thoughts began to swirl through your mind, how would the premier go if Joel was still refusing to speak with you. Shit, that wasn’t going to be a fun conversation to relate to Neil and Craig.

“Hey by the way Joel and I aren’t on speaking terms anymore because of that suicide scene, good talk.”

Yeah that wouldn’t go over well at all, they’d have nothing but questions and with no answers to give them, you’d be running in circles. With one final glance towards the doors that Joel had walked through you decided it would be best to leave for the day. You’d give it a few days and reach out to Joel to sit down and talk more, this would all get resolved soon enough.

~~~~~~~Unfortunately that was not the case at all, you’d reached out to Joel multiple times to sit down and have a conversation and each time he ignored you. The first time you just assumed it was because he was busy, it made sense right? After the fourth time you tried you finally got the hint, if Joel did not want to speak with you, then you wouldn’t try anymore. Ellie would text you here and there, but she was still a kid(in your eyes at least)and it didn’t feel right lying to her. She’d asked if you had talked to Joel at all after filming, you had told her you were busy doing other projects and didn’t have time. In reality you were sitting on your couch, crying into a bowl of ice cream while your favorite movie played in the background.

Lots of news sites were reaching out for interviews before the upcoming premier of the show which did nothing to help ease your mind. Had Joel done any since the teaser had dropped a couple months ago? Or had he been radio silent waiting for you to break the ice and let every in on the secrets of the show. Of course you wouldn’t give away much detail as you wanted people to at least tune in to at least one episode. Ellie had been traveling with her mom and her moms best friend, according to what she posted on Instagram. You’d hearted each post, leaving a comment here and there about how she looked to be having a great time.

Now with the premier only two weeks away you were starting to get nervous, should you wear something black or something colorful? How would you do your hair and makeup? God, this was all so damn stressful and you couldn’t even ask Joel what he planned on wearing without sounding like a creep. Before you’d realize your eyes had begun to fill with tears, lip quivering as it began to truly sink in that you’d lost that entire friendship. A loud ping from your phone brought you out of your reverie, bringing you back to the present.

Joel had posted something and of course curiosity got the better of you. You opened up instagram to see what it was, your heart sinking at the image in front of you. It was a photo of Joel and someone else. You could only make out the silhouette’s of them as the sun set in front of them. The photo was gorgeous, something you would normally be amazed at and study all the tiny details. It wasn’t until you noticed the hearts in the caption, nothing more. Joel had found someone, someone that he loved enough to put online.

Your heart was shattering in your chest, the pieces cutting through everything in you like glass. Now you had never pursued Joel because he was your friend first and foremost, but seeing this truly put it all into perspective. He would never love you the way that you did him, never see the feelings that you harbored for him so deeply. It didn’t matter that everyone on set would joke that you two were an old married couple, that you spent so much time together on and off set. None of it fucking mattered anymore. Angrily you threw yourself off the couch, storming over to the kitchen and ripping open the cupboard you rarely used. A bottle of whiskey that Joel had given you as a housewarming gift sat inside.

Without thinking you reached for the bottle, cracking open the top and taking a long swig of the dark liquid. It burned more than you’d expected, but right now you just wanted to numb the pain, to bury all of your feelings in it. It didn’t take even a quarter of the bottle before you began to feel its effects, half the bottle got you severely drunk. Your body swayed almost dangerously as you struggled to stay upright. Once the last drop finally hit your tongue your mind was blissfully blank, nothing but the sweet relief of ignorant bliss.

The sun streaming through your blinds is what woke you up, and brought forth the worst hangover you’ve ever had before. Why the hell had you even had an entire bottle of whatever in the first place? And where the hell were your clothes?

You sat up quickly, instantly regretting it as a strong wave of nausea rolled through your stomach. Taking a few heaping lungfuls of air to help prevent anything you’d had the night before from coming up, you waited until it seemed to have passed. You looked around the room slowly, shame suddenly pulling at your mind at the scene of disarray. Shit, had you managed to go on a full on temper tantrum last night?

Scooting towards the edge of the bed, you rested your feet against the hardwood, noting that while your body was sore, it didn’t feel like that kind of sore which relieved you. Nothing worse than getting blackout drunk and inviting a stranger into your home. You grabbed a pair of shorts and a shirt to throw on, not ready to show your face to the world. Slipping your phone into your pocket you headed over to the windows. Closing the blinds brought an almost instant relief to the pain that was raging in your head. Surely you hadn’t done something too drastic, it looked like the mess was mainly in your bedroom.

Sighing you headed out to the kitchen, noticing the empty bottle of whiskey that sat on the kitchen island. Huh, no wonder you felt so damn shitty. You tossed the bottle into the recycling and pulled out your phone, frowning as you noticed the abundance of notifications sitting on your phone. There were a few messages from Ellie, a ton from your agent, and even a few from Joel. It hadn’t surprised you that your agent had called no less than fifty times, considering each text sounded more urgent than the last. The last message Ellie had sent was regarding a post you had made on Instagram, but the last thing you’d posted was about your final day of shooting.

You glanced at the app on your phone, the daunting little thing almost taunting you before you clicked open. The first image that popped up was from a friend you’d grown up with, she was getting married. You couldn’t help but smile at that, she deserved nothing but the best in life and deserved something positive. But that was as far as your good mood went, as you clicked on your personal page your eyes widened in horror. It was a photo of you, body barely covered with the sheet on your bed. It was clear that you’d been crying in the photo, or had been crying before the photo was taken at least. Something about it looked almost deliberate, the way your hair fell over your shoulders, body covered both seductively and insecure. The caption is what caught your attention next.

“They say the eyes are the window to the soul, when I saw nothing but hate in yours, I knew I had truly lost the one thing that I would ever know to love”Oh god, oh god.

You had royally fucked up, flickers of the night before coming to mind as you looked through the comments. People were speculating that you’d gotten your heart broken by someone, whereas others were trying to figure out if you were teasing a new role. How could you possibly admit to everyone that post had to do with the fact that Joel was dating someone? It was stupid and childish! Everyone with a brain and two eyes would see that you were acting irrationally and make fun of you until the end of time.

Swiping over to your following you looked for Joel’s name, clicking on it to find the photo he’d posted was gone. You had seen it, it had caused a goddamn breakdown and now it was fucking gone?! Instead of being upset, or even sick anymore, you were downright pissed off. This man refuses to speak with you for months and then has the audacity to blame you? Who the fuck-

“Y/N? Are you home?” Ellie’s voice sounded so small outside of your front door that every ounce of anger suddenly vanished.

You ran over to the door, swinging it open to the teenager in front of you. She looked shocked for a brief moment before her arms wrapped around your waist. Her tears had begun to soak through the soft cotton of your shirt. You shut the door quickly and wrapped your arms around her shoulders, keeping her flush to your body.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Ellie wasn’t one to open up to new people easily, so when you two had become close friends you wanted nothing but the best for her.

“Please don’t leave me! I don’t want to lose you too,” Her body was racking with sobs, body shaking as she tried to pull in air.

“I’m not going anywhere Ellie, I can promise you that,” Ignoring how much pain you were in for the moment, you gently ushered Ellie over to the couch.

She didn’t say anything as you both sat down, watching the way she all but cuddled into your side. You ran a gentle hand through her hair, doing anything you could to help comfort her.

“But those texts you sent me.” Her lip quivered as she looked up at you, eyes shining with tears.

“I wasn’t myself last night, I had too much to drink and had a breakdown, I can promise you I’m not going anywhere,” Pressing a gentle kiss to her hair you pulled her in even tighter.

She let out a soft sigh, relaxing further into your hold as you’d both started to slowly relax. That was, until the sound of your front door opening caught your attention. The last thing you needed was someone trying to rob you while you consoled your friend. Your agent, Tess, all but barrelled inside the door.

“Why don’t you answer your damn phone? I’ve been calling for hours!” Tess was beyond pissed, she’d gotten word that you had texted a few people saying you couldn’t keep living.

“I’m really sorry, I woke up and by the time I got to check my phone Ellie was at my door,” It wasn’t a lie, you couldn’t even fully grasp the situation yourself.

“You're lucky that photo didn’t get you into any trouble, I already had Neil calling me this morning asking what the hell happened,” Shit, you were in some deep trouble.

“Do you want me to delete it? I don’t mind.” You pulled your phone back out of your pocket, keeping one arm wrapped around Ellie’s shoulders.

“No, it’s not the worst thing you could have posted and a lot of people are now interested in seeing you in the show,” Of course, the show.

Tess had started to make herself a cup of coffee, replying to a couple texts and emails on her phone as you and Ellie stayed locked together on the couch. Sliding your button over the messages app on your phone, your stomach dropped out as you opened yours and Ellie’s thread. It was obvious that you were in the middle of an emotional breakdown, each text sounded worse than the last. And now you had a teen afraid you would off yourself if she wasn’t there to stop you. Did you have the strength to open Joel’s and read the things you’d sent to him?

Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath you clicked on his icon, glancing back down at the screen in your hand. You’d congratulated him on his new relationship, saying that you were happy he could find someone in this shitty world. The multiple texts you’d sent throughout the months sat above that very message, reminding you of why you did what you did. His response was kind, thanking you and leaving it at that. But suddenly the texts seemed more urgent, nearly begging you to reply since you were also ignoring Ellie.

You typed out a quick message, letting him know that you were fine and just forgot to plug your phone in and that was why you hadn’t replied sooner. Even though it was tearing you apart inside that Joel would never return those feelings, you could at least be civil. You only had to see one another for the premier and then afterwards you could become strangers once more. You set your phone to do not disturb and slid it back into your pocket, glancing down to see how Ellie was doing.

“I’m really sorry if I worried you, you know I would never do that on purpose,” Ellie didn’t need to know all the embarrassing details of what had happened. No one did.

“Promise?” Ellie was too afraid to let go of you, afraid this was all a bad dream and you’d taken your life before she could stop you.

“I promise.” You glanced over to see what Tess was doing since she was uncomfortably quiet,

Your front door opened once more, except the person stepping inside was the last one you ever wanted to see ever again.

“Ellie, Joel and I need to have a discussion so can you and Tess go down into the guest room to give us some privacy please?” You kept your tone friendly, not wanting to even remotely hint at what was about to transpire.

She looked as if she wanted to protest before silently slipping off the couch and following Tess down to the spare room across from your own. You stood up slowly, walking over to Joel and staring the older man down.

“What do you want?” Joel winced at your tone, the anger simmering below the surface waiting to be let free.

“I think we need to sit down and talk.” Joel moved to step closer to you, watching how you flinched away from him.

“We do not need to talk Joel, I tried for months to reach out to you only for you to ignore me, there is nothing for us to discuss.” You pushed past him towards the kitchen, heading to your fridge to get a bottle of water.

“Listen, about last night.” You whipped around, anger coursing through your veins like lava.

You slammed the bottle down onto the counter, nearly popping it open with the tight grip you had on it.

“We can ignore the fact that I have feelings for you, those don’t fucking matter anymore, but this? I apologized to you about that day, and you left me high and dry, ignoring every single message I sent to you. You do not get to stand there and say that we need to talk when you refused to do so in the first place. Did you suddenly expect me to forgive you? It’s been nearly six months Joel, six months! I’ve learned how to crochet and watched Ellie celebrate her twentieth birthday with her mom while you pretended I never existed. So do me a fucking favor, and get the fuck out of my apartment.” Joel was shocked, he’d watched shows and movies where had to portray anger, but nothing was as severe as your true anger.

It was the realization that he had messed up by ignoring all of those texts, by putting someone else in the place you had at his side and refusing to be an adult about this situation. He’d lost the person he held so close because he was angry and selfish. Without another word Joel turned and left, shutting the door softly behind himself.

You had wanted to talk to him, to really sit down and just talk like two adults, but Joel couldn’t put aside his pride and here you were. Were you going to be able to come back from this? Or were you going to lose some of the people you cared about the most?

~~~~~~~

Lala had just finished applying your lipstick, watching as your favorite hairdresser, Kat, did the final touches on your hair. You were originally going to keep everything a little more simple and so a smokey eye with a stunning black dress, but Joel derailed everything. You chose a dark red dress, the plunging neckline doing little to hide your chest(thankfully tape keeping everything together)with a long slit up to nearly your hip. Your eye look was more simple, a sharp winged liner with a soft cut crease. Your lip color matched the dress perfectly, giving off a femme fatale type of look. You paired it with sleek black heels, your nails a black french tip. You had the ladies take photos until they were satisfied with what they chose to be the best picture. 

Your skin was glowing, your body silhouetted perfectly in the dress. It left just enough to the imagination while still being risque. You made sure both ladies were paid, along with hefty tips, before heading down to the limo. Ellie had texted you that she was already on the way, riding with her mom and Joel. The limo was mere minutes from pulling up as you posted the photo onto instagram, giving everyone a look at your outfit, hair and makeup. You were parked behind Ellie’s limo, watching as the three of them slipped out. Joel, ever the gentleman, helped both Ellie and her mother Anna get out of the limo.

Once they took to the carpet the other limo drove off, letting yours pull up to let you out onto the carpet for interviews and photos to be taken. You took a quick breath before sliding out. The cameras were flashing even more now, hoping to catch even the smallest glimpse of you. Joel was talking with one of the many interviewers, laughing at something they had said. You kept your head high as you stepped onto the carpet. Ellie nearly screeched as she laid eyes on you. She was dressed in a suit, which you of course helped convince her to do, you knew deep down she would never have worn a dress.

“Holy shit, you look smoking hot!” Ellie wanted to hug you so bad, but she didn’t want to mess up your dress.

“Thank you sweetheart,” You smiled at her, pulling her into a brief hug.

Anna was glancing between you and Joel as if trying to figure out when he’d realize that you finally arrived. You simply smirked at her before heading over to some of the fans that were hoping to get an autograph. Of course you also posed for a few photos, if it wasn’t for the fans you wouldn’t be where you were, and you would always show appreciation.

“Sorry, I have to go before they start yelling at me!” You blew everyone a quick kiss before rushing back to the middle of the carpet. 

It was then that you noticed Joel had finally realized you’d arrived. His gaze didn’t waver as he took you in slowly. You smirked lowly before posing to show off the slit in your dress, silky skin on full display for all the cameras. It was your time to shine, and by god you were going to do just that. Tess caught wind that you were in fact there and tried to usher you down and into the building. Joel felt his heart stop as you walked by, the scent of your perfume wrapping around him like a viper. He had wanted to tell you the truth, but he couldn’t do that with so many cameras flashing and possibly ruining everything. Once Ellie and Anna were back by his side they all made their way inside. Ellie wanted to grab a bite to eat and then get her seat with her mom.

“Go ahead, if you need to find me go ahead.” Joel ushered them both off carefully, eyes in search of you.

He could see you talking to Tommy, his brother, and for some reason that seemed to downright piss him off. Why the hell were you talking to Tommy if you knew that he’d recently gotten married to his wife Maria, he posted the photo.

Oh, oh.

That’s why you were so upset, you had thought Joel had found someone. Oh shit it was a total misunderstanding. Joel took a look around to make sure no one would try and get his attention, noticing a clear line towards where you were standing Joel started on the move.

“Yeah! We just got married a few weeks ago, the best thing I did was meet her,” Tommy’s eyes sparkled as he stared over at his new wife.

“You two are absolutely adorable together, I’m so happy for you,” You had known Tommy longer than Joel, having met on an indie film a few years prior.

You were the first person he had told about Maria, nervous so much as to ask her on a date, and here they were happily married. They would probably start discussing children before anyone knew it, you were positive of that.

“Yeah, Joel put a picture of us on his instagram since neither of us had our phones on us, just wanted to enjoy the night,” The sudden realization hit you like a ton of bricks. That photo was of Maria and Tommy? Oh shit.

“Hey, the man of the hour!” Tommy held up his glass of whiskey, grinning over at his brother.

“Don’t tell me you’re already drunk off the free bar,” Joel didn’t need any instances to ruin this night.

“Nah, just enjoying, Maria’s off talking to Ellie and Anna right now anyway,” The three of you glanced over to where the other three were talking.

Tommy looked at Maria as if she hung every star in the sky, your heart sunk as you remembered that was the same way you’d looked at Joel. Had it all been a horrible misunderstanding this entire time?

“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go and see the Mrs.” Tommy didn’t wait for you or Joel to reply before heading off.

Your mood had suddenly turned sour, where before you felt confident, ready to take on everything that came your way. Well now you just felt like someone putting on a front to keep yourself from getting hurt.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about that day, that the picture was for them and not myself.” Joel turned towards you slowly, waiting to see how you would react.

“That doesn’t negate the fact you all but cut me off for months, Joel, I wanted to reach out to you and discuss everything but you treated me like I was the worst person to exist.” You crossed your arms over your chest, staring angrily up at him.

Joel was at a loss for words, he couldn’t put any of the blame on you because this was all entirely his fault. He’d been the coward that ran and hid instead of actually sitting down with you and talking. He pushed you away because he was afraid of his own feelings for you.

“I would pick up my phone every single day, wanting to reply that we could sit down and talk about everything but I was too afraid you would see right through me. That you would see I had feelings for you as well and think I was a liar. No one can hate me more than I currently hate myself, I can promise you that darling.” Joel cupped your cheek gently, making sure not to smudge any of the makeup on your face.

Your eyes welled with tears but you refused to let them fall, instead of uttering another word you grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and pulled his body down so his lips were flush with yours. Everything and everyone in the room seemed to vanish as you stood there, lips pressed to the person’s you loved most. Joel wasted no time, wrapping his arms around you to pull you flush to his chest. Was this what it felt like to kiss your soulmate? Nothing else in the world but the two of you standing together, taking in this moment. Joel was the first to pull away, pulling in a harsh breath as his eyes opened to see the wrecked expression on your face. 

If he hadn’t known any better Joel would’ve assumed you were still angry with him, ready to start screaming at how inappropriate that was. Except it wasn’t Joel that kissed you, you had kissed Joel, and now he was addicted.

“Fucking finally!” Tommy screamed loudly in the room, causing everyone else to laugh.

Joel shook his head, resting his forehead against yours as the room erupted into a ravenous applause. You took that as your cue to press your lips to his once more, smiling into it this time. Everyone had been hoping the two of you would realize your differences and see that you were meant to be. Unfortunately it took Joel pushing you away, and you posting a rather scandalous photo onto your Instagram for things to start coming to a head.

“Next time there’s an argument, just talk to me, okay?” Arguments were something that couldn’t be avoided, but you’d be damned if you didn’t spend another moment without Joel by your side.

“I promise,” You couldn’t help the giggle that slipped out, saying the same thing to Ellie just a few weeks ago.

You’d have to tell everyone the good news and let them know that even in the darkest of times, there was always a light to help guide your way.

[lightsnowydreams]

Yandere Male x Fem Reader

Warnings: yandere themes, implied stalking, breaking and entering, slight nsfw themes

——————

a/n: Please go easy on me

——————— Minors DNI ———————

“Don’t forget to finish up the essay that is due Monday!”

A few students let out a small groan at the reminder. While some had a look of accomplishment, meaning they had already finished it.

Unfortunately, you were with the few students who groaned. Not looking forward to doing the essay.

College was a big step for you, especially because you left home. Whether things were good or bad, it was still a weird feeling. The college were one of the few that didn’t offer dorm rooms. Thankfully, you had secured a place to live.

There was an apartment complex nearby, offering school housing for college students. A two bedroom apartment, where you and another student would live. Of course, per their policy, the roommate would be of the same gender. You were grateful that your roommate, Hannah, was kind and helpful. She was also a good roommate, cleaning up after herself, and making polite conversations whenever she saw you.

While you were packing your things, you started thinking about how to spend your weekend. Not knowing if you wanted to visit your family or spend it hanging out with your friend.

Once everything was packed, you started to head towards the classroom door. Relieved that you get to go back to your room and relax. Walking outside the building and being met with the autumn breeze was pleasant. The colorful leaves were falling as students were walking around. You had always enjoyed the walk home. Since your apartment was close to the school, it was easier to walk and save up on gas. The walk also gave you time to think and reflect on things. One of them being where to go for the weekend.

You looked up, not realizing that you’ve already made it back home. Grabbing the keys from your pocket, you unlocked the door and entered. Noticing that your roommates lights were off, you assumed that she had already left to visit her boyfriend for the weekend. You proceed to drop your backpack on the floor and fall on the couch. Noticing how tired you were, you decided to just go to your room and take a nap. Eating lunch can wait. You reluctantly get up from the comfy couch and start walking towards the door to your room. Standing in front of the door, you open it.

Your heart drops.

The sight of your room makes you freeze in place as you take in the scene.

Your room looks like a tornado passed through. Papers were scattered everywhere around your desk. Decorative items had been moved around, some were even on the floor. The dresser drawers were left opened, clothes scattered around. Your bed, that you made every morning, had signs of activity. Someone had been on it. Moving in closer, you notice something else. It makes your stomach turn. On the bed there were three pairs of panties.

Your panties.

They were sprawled on the bed. Goosebumps littered your body as you looked at them. As you stared frozen, you realized something was off. Why were they covered in white stuff? It took a second before realizing what it was. Immediately you bring a hand up to your face. It made you want to vomit. The person used your bed and your panties to ‘relieve’ himself. Looking away from the scene, you suddenly noticed the little note on your wall. Hesitantly you peel it off your wall, not wanting to get too close to the bed, and read it.

‘Sorry about the mess but I couldn’t help myself, I missed you. I hope you like my gift, darling~. Don’t worry I’ll still visit you tonight. I’ll be watching you.

⁃ Your secret boyfriend’

Horror filled your body at the revelation. Tears start to build up. You couldn’t help the questions that flooded your mind. What does he mean by ‘watching’ and ‘visiting’? How long has this been going on? Why hasn’t the staff done anything? Where is he watching you from? How does he get in? Has he memorized your schedule that well? Why is he doing this? More importantly:

Who is he?

You no longer feel like taking a nap.

[lyndonriggall]

Goodbye Ellie

I can’t believe that I am writing this. It is too soon.

Shockingly and suddenly, four-and-a-half years into caring for her, my dear friend Robyn discovered recently that Ellie the greyhound had become very sick. Sadly, the vet confirmed that she was not going to get better.

Ellie, I am very sorry to say, is gone.

Ellie was a special creature. Like a lot of greyhounds, she had at least fifty percent more nose and leg than should have been reasonably allowed by law, and she had a way of looking into your eyes that sometimes made you think she knew absolutely all of the secrets of the universe, and sometimes made you think she knew almost nothing at all. When we filled the main hall at Launceston College with hundreds of people to launch the book we had created about her and she stood on stage looking out at the crowd, I always wondered… did she know that it was all for her? It seemed to me like she had just dropped down to Earth from another planet, and she was trying to work out what it meant to live here. Sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I half-expected to catch her sitting up in an armchair and covertly flicking through the pages of a book called How to Dog.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, a couple of weekend ago, as the early mists rose over the high suburbs around Launceston, I was lucky enough to take Ellie for one last walk with the two of us together. It was certainly memorable. It was a Sunday morning, and from where Ellie and I wandered we could see the city and the river in the distance: a whole world below us to explore. As I returned back to the house and tried to drink my cup of tea, Ellie persisted in squeezing her head under the palm of my hand.

I went home with my jeans covered in slobber and tea splashes. I went home happy.

One thing that never quite came through in our picture book was what Ellie taught me about running. Reading Becoming Ellie, you might have thought that part of the story’s message is that Ellie will never run again. But Ellie was the master of what dog-people call “the zoomies.” Whenever the mood took her, the screen door would swing open and down the concrete ramp she would fly, onto the grass and around the backyard, running in circles and spinning at the same time, impossibly making the square of grass seem endless. She would freeze, launch, freeze again, and then bound this way and that, chasing some invisible wonder in a dance that was all her own.

Ellie ran again, she just ran differently. She ran chaotically. She ran without purpose. She discovered the simple truth that so many of us who turn our passions into vocation or competition need to learn: winning is one thing, but the best part of life is simply finding joy in the act itself.

Dogs like Ellie remind us of who we should be. To them, every opportunity to explore the world is a miracle, and every interaction with others is the best thing that has ever happened. Dogs like Ellie show the world that all of those carefully-curated layers of artifice that we drape over our lives in order to try and make them more reasonable, more sensical, or work more in our favour are an illusion: the only way to true joy is to embrace life with all its flaws and all four paws.

I hope that Ellie is free now. I hope she dreams of a field that goes on forever, where she can run and run and run and never reach the other side. I hope that she can rest somewhere with stolen socks and smelly old toys, and a thousand corners in which she can flip upside down, her four ridiculous legs poking up in the air like the skyward-reaching masts of a big furry pirate ship. I hope she knows that tonight someone is reading her story, and that she is remembered. We are lucky to have known her.

I feel sad for my friend Robyn, who has lost her mate and companion. I find it hard to look at the smiling dog on the front cover of our book, or to walk past the artwork of her that hangs on the walls of my house, and know that the star of the show is no longer going to come prancing into the room when I visit, looking for that just-right spot to have a lie down in, where she can get herself perfectly in the way of everyone’s feet and ankles. The sky seems a little dimmer today because Ellie isn’t here.

We are going to miss you, Ellie-dog. Thank you for being part of our story, and thank you for letting us be part of yours.

[soulless-angel25]

alright so this will now haunt me if i don't write anything for it-

(Prev tags:#doctor gets in a bind and they’re hurt and delirious and then they hear donna’s voice shouting at them OI!!! GET UP!!! YOU ARENT GOING TO#DIE HERE!!! THATD JUST BE EMBARRASSING!!!!#and they get up. they get up because donna told them to.#thinking about the doctor just in the tardis where time doesnt flow quite righr. is always happening all the time. catching echoes of his#companions.#of martha’s laughter and amy teasing him. walks around the console and freezes in their tracks because for a moment they could have sworn#they smelled rose. haunt them.)

It should've been easier. Brand new regeneration. Nothing to tie her to the past. And yet this regeneration seemed the most haunted. Female, great, something to distance herself with, none of the others had been female. No way for her to feel that attachment. Blonde with brown roots, not so good.

The way her hair looked now, it reminded her of Rose. Rose with her wide smile and the way she could light up any room, Rose who had been so very dear to her. she looked like Rose, but that made sense as she thought about her final self's previous words now that she was back in the TARDIS.

Most everything fit who Rose had been, was this who she was now? Would she be like Rose, kind towards all. Or would she be like Martha or Donna? Would she be a flirt like Jack or River? Someone who'd be willing to wait for another like Rory, or perhaps she'd be willing to die for someone (like she had for Rose, part of her mind whispers)?

It was strange. In the past the TARDIS had phased in ways, making her be reminded of the past and those who had walked through these halls before. But this was especially cruel.

Rose's laughter seemed to be echoing around her as the smell of her shampoo seemed to seep from the TARDIS. For a moment it fades but is replaced by the sound of Amy and Rory and River talking, and-

And then she hears Susan, her granddaughter and part of her wants to desperately cry out. whywhywhywhywhywhy?

It's not only when she's on the TARDIS, no. It's when she's on adventures too, be it with the Fam or not. (some of the adventures when she's alone err too close to dangerous, to heavy bleeding and ignoring everything and then she hears them and it Hurts in a way she didn't expect.) Bill asking if she's okay, and she's not because Bill Is Not Here, because Bill is gone and has been gone any why- why does she have to hear her now?

Donna speaking in her wonderful brash tone, hints of weakness just barely appearing. Martha with her questions and want and-

Nardole with his dry remarks and Missy with her teasing tone and Clara- oh her Clara. Walking and laughing and dying.

Why? Why now, this isn't anything special. So why when the Doctor is near-dying does she hear Donna shouting at her to get up, why does she feel the phantom touch of Rose pulling her up and Jack helping? Why does she hear the exhilaration that would come from River whenever she spoke?

People who have been gone for centuries, their voices and faces suddenly clear in her head once more. Ardric, Nyssa, Teagan, Jo... Ace, all of them. Victoria, and Jamie and-

The memory of them haunts her. More the before. When she was all chin and bowties she could ignore them because she had the Ponds and if she didn't have the Ponds' she had the mystery of Clara and she was never alone so it was easy to ignore the voices. (except at night, when she swore she could feel Rose against her body breathing and shifting and being There.)

She could ignore it when she was all eyebrows and cold (she couldn't, their voices seeped into everything and when she lost her vison everything felt more real and she lost track of what was real and what was in her head).

So this damned her, with everything more clear and more damning then ever. She hates this, she'll drag the Fam on more often, maybe that'll dull the voices and the feelings and the phantom touches that aren't there, that Cannot be there and maybe she'll find herself grounded?

doctor who would benefit from more of the doctor hallucinating his ex-companions in times of need.

[shinsukeee]

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

"𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧' 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰?"

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨, 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞

masterlist

Prim continues to rehearse in the room Diluc showed her earlier, struggling to find a song that could somehow fit the atmosphere and Mondstadt's vibes or agendas.

Hmm...what does Mondstadt...

She freezes as she remembers that song, it was...'her' favorite song. Prim could barely even remember anything or think of anything whenever Dandelions start playing, just remembering the girl she fell for.

"It wouldn't hurt, this could serve as my small step to closure...right?"

She hesitates as thoughts drown her once more, she closes her eyes and takes deep breaths.

"I think...I need fresh air..."

She slowly heads outside, telling one of the maids before heading somewhere in Dawn Winery. As she takes in the beautiful scenery, she slowly feels the pain leaving.

It'll continue hurting me like this until I truly get the closure...I want...

Just for me to remind myself that 'hey, you guys are friends now. No need to hold on to the past'

She hums as the breeze gently caresses her cheeks, feeling relaxed that somehow it made her calm. Grounded her more than anything and made her realize that she has to get over it somehow. After all, it's that girl's loss not hers. That girl lost someone who truly cared and dedicated themself to her despite seeing many beautiful girls and boys, Prim remained loyal and didn't care if the distance was too wide nor the wait would be longer than expected.

She sits on top of a hill nearby and hums.

"Every day we started fighting, every night we fell in love"

The pain kept clawing at her, as if telling her she deserves to feel it. She shouldn't move on from it, yet Prim ignores that and continues singing. The only way to calm her down.

"No one else could make me sadder, but no one else can lift me high above~"

She grips the clothing where her heart is, brows furrowing as the pain gets deeper and deeper. She had to let it out her chest, she's tired of crying. Tired of feeling like she should cry when no tears could ever come out. One where only a song could heal her a little, save her a little...a habit she used to have and escape reality's cruel reminders.

"I don't know what I was doing...when suddenly we fell apart~"

Back to December but I'd go back to November back when we were alright...

We fell in love in October...more like we fell apart in November...

Bound to falling apart...

Prim pushes those thoughts away and sings her heart out, only softly. It'd be rude to wake some people up at night just cause she's in pain.

"Nowadays, I cannot find her...but when we do, we'll get a brand new start..."

If you find her then what?

Will you let your walls fall apart again?

Will you let yourself be hurt again?

How many times do you have to do this to yourself?

You can't change the past, you never could

Enjoy this moment than hurting yourself over it

Heal yourself

Whether your walls fall or not, never expect anything from people

That way, you wouldn't be as hurt as much anymore

You're used to always being left alone, aren't you?

She grits her teeth as the voice comes back.

"I'm in love with a fairytale, even though it hurts..."

She couldn't feel anything that could make her cry, she feels like she should but she couldn't. No tears could come out anymore, as if what remained was an empty shell back to discarding her emotions and feelings.

"I don't care if I lose my mind, I'm already cursed..."

She opens her eyes to see crystal flies surrounding her, wanting to comfort her as it seems they feel what she feels. Prim chuckles and gently touches one, closing her eyes with a smile on her face.

"Thank you, lovelies..."

She mumbles before watching them fly away, she lays on the grass and watches the moon. One of her favorite activities during childhood, back when she was always bored in night and couldn't sleep. Her father would take her outside and they'd watch the moon together, he'd tell her stories and they'd wait for a shooting star to make wishes, how innocent and naive she was. Which Prim later found out the 'shooting star' is just a meteor or meteorite in Science Class.

"The Moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

She blurts out and sighs, enjoying the cold breeze of the night and peaceful view.

"It is"

She looks at the side to see Diluc, wearing a cloak and is holding his claymore before making it disappear.

Ah, just like in game, huh?

Yet I'm quite disappointed in that response...

He just stands there, watching her look at him before looking at the moon.

"The sun watches everyone yet the moon keeps our secrets, amazing, right?"

She says, clearly didn't mind him just watching her. She pats the unoccupied grass and he sits there, just looking at the beautiful night sky.

"It's dangerous out here, Your Grace"

He says, trying to persuade Prim into getting back inside. She didn't listen though.

"I can't always be trapped inside forever, Diluc. It feels like I'm back to being a perfect puppet"

He didn't quite catch the last one yet he couldn't help but feel peaceful for once, maybe it was the atmosphere or Prim's doing...maybe the place and the moon did make it seem like that.

No words were spoken the rest of the night as the peaceful atmosphere lasts before the two went back inside.

Somehow, that small interaction seemed to comfort the two at the quiet dark night.

Until they hear monsters lurking around the forest, Diluc immediately summons his claymore and goes infront of Prim.

"Get inside, Your Grace. It is dangerous for you to be out here"

Prim sighs.

"I understand you're worried for my safety, Diluc dear but I must remind you that I am not called the 'Divine One' for nothing"

She says as she feels an attack happen from behind, she quickly puts a hand out and all of a sudden dark vines come out of her palm and trap the 'monster' caged in her dark vines.

These...aren't vines...

As more monsters seem to attack, Prim holds her hand out in shock and summons a lightning in panic.

Diluc hears the clap of thunder as he fights the monsters away, they are a bit far from the Winery so the Winery is safe.

"Your Grace, was that you?"

"I-I think so..."

Prim's heart started beating harshly, she couldn't breathe as her hands started to shake. She first released those 'dark vines' before summoning thunder, heck, she isn't even Raiden Ei to do that.

"Eyes on the battle, My Lady"

Kaeya says as he joins the fight.

"We can talk about your abilities that aren't said in the prophecy later, for now, let's focus on this lovely battle"

Diluc groans at Kaeya's way of smooth talking, Kaeya and Diluc lends their hand out to Prim who looks at them in fear.

"Shall we three dance, Your Grace?"

They ask in unison as Prim hesitantly holds their gloved hand.

"We shall"

[chloegong]

that semi-AU romajuliette + benmars fic

i need a permanent place to store this after dumping a random google doc on twitter so here it is, the author writing fic for her own book because people gave me headcanons and they were too good not to make use of

__

the one where juliette and marshall go out for a night out on the town and roma and ben have to go along to supervise because one time they accidentally committed arson —headcanon from twitter user @leonidasvaldz

a semi AU where Benedikt and Marshall were hanging out with Roma and Juliette in those happy months R&J had together in 1922 before everything went wrong (aka you can take this as canon because it will fit the timeline but the characters won’t have memory of this in the actual published books)

Disclaimer: i wrote this in one go inside a starbucks please expect ao3 user chloegong and not Author Chloe Gong who does multiple rounds of edits on her books

Second Disclaimer: nobody go putting this on goodreads before someone on my publishing team kicks my ass (rightfully so, i’m on deadline rn and i’m writing fanfic instead of my real contracted manuscript)

Mandatory reminder that Our Violent Ends is available for preorder with all links here :)

__

It wasn’t supposed to happen again. And yet, somehow, Benedikt was watching fire curl around the side of the building, the roof beams giving a loud groan before shuddering and caving in on itself.

He turned a look onto Roma. “Your girlfriend is a maniac.”

~

Five hours earlier...

Juliette climbed in through the window of Roma’s bedroom, careful to hug the burlap bag close to her chest as she landed on his carpet. The howling wind outside drowned out some of the clinking, but the glass bottles were still making a racket no matter how carefully she hugged the bag. She had gone full throttle for tonight; when no one was watching and her relatives were downstairs crowing over a game of cards, she had snuck around and robbed the liquor cabinets at the Scarlet mansion quite generously. Now she dropped the bag onto Roma’s floor with a huff, brushing a curl of hair out of her eyes.

“Where’s Marshall?”

Roma looked up from where he was reading, putting his book down and rising from the bed smoothly.

“Well, hello.” He strode toward her, stopping before her with his arms crossed. “Lovely to see you too. You do know it is my bedroom you just snuck into, right?”

Juliette pretended to jump in surprise, looking around wildly. “Do you jest? Oh, bother. Let me climb back out and go find my real lover. Marshall! Where are—”

With a huff that seemed to double as a laugh, Roma grabbed her wrist before she could turn around and leave through the window again.

“You’re hilarious,” he said dryly.

“I know.” Juliette reached up with her free hand, clasping her cold fingers right onto his neck. Though her palm was freezing from the bitter temperatures outside, Roma hardly flinched, he only shrugged his shoulder up to keep her hand there. He couldn’t fight back the grin. For several seconds, the two of them only stood there, looking like a pair of idiots smiling at each other.

Then his door opened.

“Are we interrupting something?”

Marshall bounded into the room, throwing the door wide open. With a horrified expression, Benedikt hurried in after him and closed the door quickly, listening for movement on the other side.

“Yes, leave the door wide open,” Benedikt said. “While any White Flower strolling the corridor can peer in and see the Scarlet heir standing there in a silly coat.”

Juliette stepped away from Roma, peering down at herself as if she had forgotten what she put on. “I didn’t think it was that silly. It’s my disguise.”

“You do look a little like a housewife,” Marshall said, considering the coat.

“A fifteen-year-old housewife?”

“I suppose that is exactly why you look a little silly.”

Juliette pulled a face, but refrained from arguing further. She was here tonight because Marshall wanted to see the new Scarlet club that opened along Thibet Road, and she had promised she could sneak him in. Unfortunately, Marshall was bad at keeping secrets, and the worst at keeping secrets from Benedikt. The moment that Benedikt heard Marshall was planning on entering Scarlet territory, he had decided that he would come in accompaniment.

Juliette supposed it was only fair. Benedikt didn’t entirely trust her, but he was nice enough. He tolerated her presence and always kept an eye over his shoulder to make sure she wasn’t spotted on their territory if she poked her head in to see Roma. While Juliette didn’t know much about Marshall either, he was far warmer than his best friend, and for the first time last week, they had even enjoyed an outing with just the two of them. Juliette Cai and Marshall Seo—out and about in the border territories on a quaint evening.

That outing had ended with accidental arson though, so it was rather possible that exacerbated Benedikt’s desire to play chaperone. And of course, if Benedikt was coming along, Roma wanted to tag along too.

The arson was hardly their fault, Juliette and Marshall had maintained when the Montagovs asked questions. What kind of person left a stack of hay out beside a bar? And what kind of hay was that easily flammable just from accidentally whacking one of the lanterns on the awning onto the stack?

“All right.” Juliette hauled the bag up again. “Are we ready to sneak onto Scarlet territory?”

“Absolutely not,” Benedikt muttered, strolling past her for Roma’s window. “But is that going to stop either of you?”

Before anyone could answer him, Benedikt had already hopped the small gap between windows, climbing into their neighboring building for their route out unspotted.

“Great!” Juliette said. She passed the bag to Roma so he could do the carrying. What was the point of converting a rival gang enemy into a lover if not to lug around her heavy things? “Glad we’re all so enthusiastic.”

Roma sighed, clambering onto his sill and making the climb too. “The things I do for you, dorogaya.”

Marshall hurried after him. “I would argue you’re actually doing this for me, dearest Roma!”

With a snort, Juliette climbed out last, and pulled the window after her.

~

The Scarlet club had been a bust. Of course, Benedikt had figured that would be the case from the get-go, especially if they were sneaking in at such a late hour to avoid being seen by anyone important in the Scarlet Gang. At least Juliette had provided good alcohol, and now he squinted at the label of the wine bottle under the street lamps while they walked, taking the smaller main roads along the periphery of the city.

Up ahead, Roma and Juliette were whispering to each other, though they didn’t sound like they were talking in full sentences. Those two always communicated in looks and gestures, swapping languages whenever they felt like it and ending up with some incoherent tangle of words that no one else could comprehend.

“Is there anything left in that?”

Benedikt glanced to his side, shaking the bottle to show Marshall. “One last swig. All yours.”

Marshall took the bottle. He put it to his lips and swung up, his head tipped to the sky and the line of his throat bared to the night. Benedikt shivered suddenly, a line of goosebumps rising at the back of his neck. The season had turned cold and the wind that blew onto his face was biting. He wrote off his shudder to the chill, to the temperature dropping with the longer they spent outside at such an hour.

Suddenly, Marshall was squinting into the distance. “Hey.” His call summoned Roma and Juliette’s attention from ahead, who both turned around to see what the matter was.

Marshall pointed to the dark shape off the end of the road. “Isn’t that the abandoned factory we lost to the Scarlets?”

“Is it?” Juliette asked, a sudden glee in her face.

“Why would you say that?” Roma bemoaned. He didn’t bother trying to stop her as Juliette hurried ahead, eager to explore the factory. “Look what you’ve done.”

But Marshall was wearing a similar expression, his eyes scanning the factory as they approached closer and closer. Wordlessly, he handed the bottle back to Benedikt, and though Benedikt’s head was spinning from the drink, he still recognized the exact face that Marshall made before he was going to get himself into trouble.

“Mars—”

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” he insisted, tipping his chin forward. Juliette had disappeared into the factory. “You two be look-out. We wouldn’t want someone finding us here, right?”

Benedikt scarcely had a second to argue back. Marshall was already hurrying off.

~

Inside the factory, Juliette trailed her hands along the dark walls, her eyes wide. The machines looked strange in the moonlight, but stranger while sitting so idle. She was used to seeing rows and rows of workers in the daytime, trailing after her father as he ran inspections on the work of their trade partners. It might have been the wine in her system, but everything seemed to sway: sitting so inactive in movement that her eyes were imagining movement.

“Pst.”

Juliette almost jumped out of her skin.

“Christ,” she muttered, whirling around with a hand on her heart. Marshall slunk out from the shadows, both his hands in his pockets. “You gave me a fright.”

“Me? Frightening?” Marshall picked up a strange object on the table, inspected it for several seconds, then set it back down. “I am the least frightening person on the planet.”

“Yes, well, when it’s so dark, even a cuddly teddy bear would be terrifying.” Juliette felt around her dress. She thought she had tucked her lighter in here somewhere. There were little pockets sewn around the sleeves and armholes that she kept all her weapons, though if anyone asked, she would say she had the ability to materialize them out of thin air.

“Do you scream often at teddy bears?”

“Only when they sneak up on me.”

“I don’t see you screaming at Roma.”

“He gets a special pass. He’s only a teddy bear on the inside.”

Marshall snorted. He leaned down, trying to read the paper taped down to the table. At last, Juliette found her lighter—it was actually in her sock—and she brought it close, thumbing down the sparkwheel for a flame.

“Do not touch—for demolishing,” Marshall read under the new light. “Are the Scarlets going to build something new here?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Juliette replied. “My father doesn’t include me in his business meetings yet.”

“Hmm.” The shadows of the factory danced. Juliette thought she saw someone darting in her periphery, and she whirled around, but it was only Marshall’s shadow. Unfortunately, she had scared Marshall with her movement, and he bumped into her, asking, “What? What is it?”

The lighter flew out of her hands, landing on the paper.

“Nothing, nothing!” Juliette assured. “I was seeing things.”

But Marshall wasn’t convinced. He swiveled around. Peered hard into a corner. “Was it ghosts? I know this city has ghosts. All that death creates so many ghosts.”

Juliette tried to look where he was looking. She couldn’t see anything except the dark.

“There is no such thing as ghosts.”

“Just last week, I felt something walk by me and then there was no one when I looked. I swear to you, if it wasn’t ghosts then I—” Marshall stopped suddenly, turning around to look at the table. “Uh… is that supposed to happen?”

Juliette whirled around too. The whole table was on fire. “Oh, God.”

With a sudden pop, the fire sprung up and licked up to the walls. There had to be something sprayed inside the factory already to prepare for demolition, or else the flames would not be traveling with such intensive speed.

“Marshall,” Juliette said simply.

“Yes?”

She looked at him. “When the Montagovs ask, we blame the factory and say we have no idea what happened. Run!”

~

Benedikt and Roma kept watch in relative silence. Benedikt’s head was spinning, and his cousin looked like his head was doing the same if his swaying was any indication. Roma was humming softly under his breath, toeing the grass that grew around the abandoned factory.

Then, there was a sudden sound from inside, and the first tendrils of flames blew out from the topmost windows.

“Roma,” Benedikt said plainly. “I’m willing to bet my life savings that Juliette Cai just committed arson.”

Roma tilted his head up, his jaw dropping agape. At first, he could only stare at the growing fire, eating up the roof beams. Then, he said: “To be fair, it could have been Marshall.”

Benedikt threw his arms into the air. “Who looks more like the arson type, Juliette or Marshall?”

“Is that a trick question?”

“The answer was Juliette!”

Benedikt pinched the bridge of his nose. He was rapidly growing concerned, but before he could suggest they go in to search for the two, Juliette and Marshall ran out from the factory—laughing. The factory was burning down, and they were laughing, grasping at each other and spinning in circles right in front of the factory. They looked a sight: seconds away from collapsing atop of each other in utter delirium.

Benedikt turned to Roma. “Your girlfriend is a maniac.”

Roma was struggling to hold back his laugh watching her with Marshall. “I think she’s magnificent.”

Marshall stumbled, and Juliette squealed, reaching out to grab his arm before he could trip and land flat on his face. Benedikt almost—almost—let a smile slip. Before Roma could sight it and tease him for enjoying himself after all, he cleared his throat.

“What happened?” he bellowed.

“Faulty factory!” Marshall called back.

Benedikt shook his head, turning on his heel. They needed to get out of here before someone reported the fire.

“Come on!” he called back to the three. “Let’s go before the Municipal Police arrive.”

Upon Benedikt’s summons, Marshall left Juliette’s side and hurried to catch up. He slowed to a stroll once he was beside Benedikt, but Benedikt could feel Marshall watching him.

“What?” Benedikt asked. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his cousin was following too. Thankfully he was, though it was mostly Juliette hauling him along, their hands clasped together and swinging while Roma kept looking at the fire.

“I think you enjoyed yourself,” Marshall replied smugly. “After all that complaining about sneaking into Scarlet territory.”

Benedikt reached out and rapped his knuckles on Marshall’s skull. With a shriek, Marshall darted ahead.

“You want me to enjoy myself?” Benedikt shouted after him, breaking into a run too. “Come back then! Let me throttle you!”

FIN.

[achillieus]

we’re fools (bucky barnes x reader)

summary: for all bucky barnes knows, he hates clichés. and this thing between you two, happens to be the biggest one.

(enemies to lovers trope or i watched the society on netflix recently and based this entirely on harry bingham and cassandra pressman)

pairing: college au!bucky x reader

warnings: alcohol, a lot of sexual references, but also a lot of fluff, bucky and reader are in love, also bucky gets cheesy and he hates it

(other parts)  (masterlist)

part 3/3:

Bucky thinks he fell in love on a Tuesday.

“This year, I’m gonna ask Peggy Carter out.” It’s the first day of their third semester and Steve is putting his black baseball cap in his perfect hair, checking his reflection on his phone screen. One of the freshman girls winks at him and he shyly half smiles.

Usually, Bucky would tease him about it, but now he’s attention is wholly on something else. Someone else.

A girl at the other end of the hall, holding a paper juice box, wearing a gaudy denim dress that stops right before her knees.

He’s certain he hasn’t seen her before and judging by the adrift look on her face he deduces she’s in her first year. Is she pretty? He can’t decide. She’s definitely something. And if he stares at her a bit longer than socially acceptable, well let’s say, it’s completely unintended.

“Buck, did you hear what I said?” Steve says at one point and Bucky isn’t sure for how long he has been lost in her figure.

“Yeah sure.” The girl starts walking at their direction -it must be your lucky day, Bucky-, clutching the golden heart jewel around her neck. She’s looking at the doors, she’s looking at the big campus map they have on the wall. She’s looking everywhere but at him and it’s almost offensive considering the amount of time he spent looking at her.

“I’m sorry,” And then she’s there standing a few steps behind Steve. Almost hidden behind his colossal demeanor. “I can’t seem to find the Admission Office.”

A small nervous laugh escapes her lips and Bucky watches the little wrinkles around her eyes, the subtle blush on her cheeks. She doesn’t look pretty. No. She looks consuming.

“Admission office is on the left, doll”. He replies a little too fast. He had to beat Steve. He had to talk to her.

She smiles at him and somehow, along that smile, Bucky thinks he fell in love. With you.

-

(bucky barnes has been in love with you for 563 days)

-

“Did you just kiss me?”

His voice is barely a whisper and his vision is blurry and it’s weird because suddenly he realizes how scared he’s of you. Of the power you have on him. An alarming craving. Every addiction he can’t control combined. Bucky isn’t afraid of many things, not exactly. But he’s afraid that you’ll take his heart and break it, if you want to. And he’s more afraid that he’ll just allow you to. He wonders, for the split of a second, if you have any idea how everything changed when your lips met his. How something inside of him shifted.

“I’m sorry,” You finally answer and he needs a moment to compose himself, “I’m so sorry I just thought-”

“Shut up, I’d died if you hadn’t kissed me.”

“What?”

It’s innocent and terribly oblivious, the way you ask him that and he half smiles, almost touches your palm before his mind stops racing. Ignores the alcohol in his body. Reminds him that he’s Bucky Barnes, that he’s clever and brilliant and a little bit narcissistic and that he doesn’t do love.  Not anymore. And that people adore him for that. And that he needs to uphold it. At least try to.

“I’m not repeating that soppy thing I said,” He drawls and smirks, his teeth gleaming in the fluorescent light of the hall. He has his mask back on. He’s playing his part again. And then he takes a quick step, opens his door and turns around, swift motions and hard grips and suddenly your spine hits the walls of his room. “But you can repeat that sexy thing you did with your tongue.”

Bucky isn’t stupid. He knows he’d perish and wither in a blast if you asked him to, yet he would never admit that. At least not so fast. And specially not to you. He has built his persona so carefully, wore it like an armor, it has become a second skin.

His chapped lips scratch soft against your neck, his hands play with the end of your dress and you observe the way his orbs are colored darker now. He knows what he’s doing. It’s a show he’s practiced. His touch is sharp, like a razor, cuts through your epidermis, comes close to your veins and the muscles of your heart.

And you’re ready to close your eyes, savor every minute of it, offer yourself like an altar and let him wipe the rationality out of you, but the moment his fingers find the wet silk between your legs there’s pain and your throat dries out instantly.

“Bucky, wait.”

“What’s wrong doll?”

“Can we stop?”

There’s the cruel split of a moment where the anxiety inside of you flares up dangerously and you fill like on the edge of a cliff, like falling and it’s horrible. And then you see his body relax, breathing a sigh of relief and laughing.

“Thank God you asked.”

“Barnes,” you hit him with your elbow, “You’re doing wonders for my self esteem right now!”

“You’re an idiot,” he replies with a grimace, “It’s just that I’m drunk and I prefer if I’m not drunk when we have sex. I want to remember the whole thing.”

A strange sensation tingles somewhere between your ribs and your stomach, something so pure and new, and it raises goosebumps all over you. And you smile at him.

And somehow along that smile, Bucky’s mask starts to fall.

/

Bucky Barnes, you learnt within your first month in college, is a year older than you, a proud boy that always asks the right questions and always gives the right answers, with charms and wits of a living god.

Bucky Barnes, you learnt the night you kissed him in the narrow aisle, may have a sharp tongue but he also has the sweetest lips, soft and liqueur like.

Bucky Barnes, you learn some days later, doesn’t want many people to know about you two, and sits three tables away during lunch.

/

“Are you embarrassed of me?”

Your mind is racing with dozens of hurtful possibilities, some more or less, and Bucky looks at you, eyes widen and surprised.

“Why would I be embarrassed of you?”

“I don’t know,” you take the tea cup in your hands, drink and stay silent for a while, observe the way he’s fidgeting with his fingers, “Why else would you avoid me whenever there’s someone else but Sam around?”

It takes some time before he walks closer, sits next to you by his bedframe and touches your hand, your skin freezing under his.

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

Your heart almost stops, because Bucky is never scared, and his answer feels strangely heavy and bitter from his lips when he says, “I just don’t want anyone to ruin this.”

He doesn’t smile, doesn’t even smirk like he usually does, just stares at you with narrow eyes and a quick breath.

“Bucky, I hate it to break it to you,” you say, a glint of amusement in your voice, “But I don’t think others care that much about us.”

You cup his face in your hands, guide him backwards, his back hitting the pillow and it’s the first time he has no choice but to comply.

“And even if they do,” you breath in, wet your lips and tease the corner of his mouth with your finger, “It’s not our problem.”

Bucky grabs the back of your neck, shifts even closer to you, his heart not missing a beat. And when you kiss him, he smiles. And somehow along that smile, Bucky becomes more of himself.

/

It goes like this;

People read it in his eyes. How his gaze never leaves you even while you’re writing a test and he needs to concentrate, how he looks mesmerized when you braid your hair while scanning the textbook in front of you. How he could find you even in the middle of the biggest crowd.

People see it in your reactions. How your fingers always wrap around his wrist, almost instinctively, before he leaves, and you kiss him one time on the lips, and then one more on the cheek. How your voice changes as soon as he enters the room. How you’d know he’s here even without looking.

You really have to try to be oblivious to love.

/

(text messages between classes)

(10:26 AM) bucky: hey does taylor swift have to be playing in the background when we have sex

(10:27 AM) you: it’s not even noon bucky what the hell

(10:27 AM) bucky: i went through your spotify and APPARENTLY you have a  “🍆🍆🍆” playlist

(10:27 AM) bucky: and it’s just taylor swift and hozier???

(10:27 AM) bucky: who the hell wants to have sex with a taylor swift song playing

(10:28 AM) you: I’m gonna kill you

(10:28 AM) bucky: nah <3

/

It’s surprisingly easy, dating Bucky Barnes, and by the end of the first month, you feel at home, at ease.  He talks a lot, way more than you expected him to, he shares his favorites, the way he always underlines quotes he likes in the books he’s reading or how he never eats anything that has soy in it. He shows you everything about him, not just who he is, but who he’s ever been. And it’s beautiful.

And you observe how he breathes easier now, smiles more. He doesn’t keep his guard up, doesn’t flinch when nobody’s looking at him.

/

He thinks it’s weird.

He thinks it’s weird, because kissing has always been an act of foreplay to him and he never paid much attention, but now, with you, he could spend his whole life kissing you.

But when you start pulling at the buttons of his black expensive shirt, well, it’s not like he’s complaining. He presses his body against yours, his hands almost shaking, his fingers burying in your hair, slowly tugging.

“Bucky,” You breath in his neck, “I may be bad at this.”

“What?” He whispers as he leaves wet trails all the way to your chest.

“I haven’t done this before, so I may be bad at it.”

He stares right at your lips, notices your sweet cherry scent mixing with the sharp notes of his aftershave, touches the spot under your eyes and smiles.

“Guess we’ll have to do it over and over again then.” He’s half laughing, half kissing your shoulder and you can feel your cheeks flush and your entire being tighten.

And then his cold fingertips draw circles on your inner thighs and you close your eyes, and Bucky forgets how to breath.

/

“I probably sound like a fool but, I’m in love with you.”

You didn’t plan on saying it that early, but he’s here, warm and glistening and in your arms and you can’t go another minute without hearing the words out loud.

“And I probably sound competitive but, I’ve been in love with you since God knows when.”

/

(AH IT’S FINISHED BUT YAY THEY’RE IN LOVE)

tagging: @tonystankschild @osterfieldshollandgirl​ @roguesthetic @buckyjms​ @ohladymacbeth​

[slyvieselkie]

Johnny Depp - Bad Boy Cliche

Hi Lovelies! This is my first posting on Tumblr and the first addition of my Cliche series with real life actors. Hope you enjoy!

This work is purely fictional. Please take it with a grain of salt and as a form of entertainment.

Warning; alcohol abuse and implicit drug abuse, violence, depression, please notify me if there are more

Johnny Depp was a bad boy.

The whole world knew this and so did you. And you as a small actress receiving her first roll on the big screen wanted nothing to do with it. Even if the role was just a minor reoccuring character. Your plan was to interact with him if necessary, and get the fuck away when it wasn't.

So you walked onto the set for the first time and bounced about with energy, giving everything your best shot. Immediately matching with Leonardo Dicapro, or Leo as he told you to call him, the two of you always enjoyed yourselves with games and pranks behind the camera. Leo reminded you of a comforting younger brother, there was something homely about this innocent boy that just melted your heart. However, he was still a boy, and a mischievous one he was. And sometimes it influenced you as well, the supposed goody two shoes of the cast. Sometimes, the staff loved you two and other times you guys were the biggest pains in the butt. But oh well, you two were still youngsters and it was nothing they couldn't handle.

You and Leo were crouching in the dirt, in the middle of arguing about norts and crosses when a shadow towered over you.

Confused, your eyes turned up to the figure. And you sucked in a breath speechless. Standing there was a gorgeous man; long pale locks illuminated by the sun on his back, deep eyes, and such gentle features. 'Woah', was all you could think and held yourself back from saying anything stupid aloud.

Then his eyes hardened, "Shut up, dumb brats", and suddenly your heart eyes shattered, "What?", you asked mouth slowly turning to a sneer.

Leo then jumped up, "Sorry Johnny!", the older boy scoffed and walked off, "Whatever."

You glare at his parting figure and began stabbing the dirt with your stick, pissed off that a bastard like him could be so handsome, 'I hate this world, so fucking unfair.'

"What the hell's wrong with him this time? Or is he just consistently an asshole?", the blonde boy beside you shrugged, "Who knows? But at least he's not causing trouble for us."

Johnny Depp wasn't too different from his character in 'Cry-Baby', he was a real bad boy. He had a temper which sometimes led to a physical outburst, he was snarky, he was always too touchy with the other female actresses, there was always a scent of alcohol lingering around him, and no one would be shocked if more was happening in his hotel room.

As you promised yourself, you kept away from him. Interacted with him when needed and stayed away from him the most you could. You stuck to Leo and a small group of extras, wishing the simple days would last forever.

Yet, every time you saw Johnny...there was something about him which always caught your attention and eyes. Was it the mask that he wore? Or the turmoil in his eyes? The way anger radiated off of his figure? Or the way the atmosphere fell whenever he appeared? You liked to watch him, especially while he was acting. He truly embodied the emotions of the 'Gilbert Grape', every joyous moment and every painful part.

"Gah!", everyone turned to the cry and found Leo on the floor, "Hmm?", Johnny who was walking away looked back and clicked his tongue, "Should've gotten out of the way then", your jaws dropped to the ground.

Desperately, you tried to swallow the words but it was impossible by now, "Hey!", your voice rung through the silence and regret instantly attacked your system.

Freezing, the pale brunette turned around with a raised eyebrow, "Hey?", you took a deep breath and walked up to him, "You should've apologised since you were the one who ran into him", Leo immediately jumped up and beamed brightly, "It's all good! I'm perfectly fi-"

Johnny shoved him away and you tensed up as the man towered over you, "Why should I? If he's dumb enough to not move, then he can deal with getting pushed around a little bit", smelling the alcohol on his breath you shook your head calmly, "He would've moved if you'd just as-", "Shut the fuck up, ugly bitch."

Your eyes widened in shock as Leo frowned stepping in front of you, "Johnny-", "Little shitheads like you don't fucking listen unless they get beaten up, don't they?!", suddenly growing aggressive the pale brunette grabbed the younger boy's collar, "Johnny! Hey! Hey!", the panicked staff ran over to intervene as the director massaged his temples.

Finally stable from his insult, you reached out shouting, "Let go of him! He's a fucking child!", "Fuck off, bitch!"

Then there was a dull thud and you grunted falling back onto your bottom, that was followed by a small trickle down your face, "Blood! There's blood!", someone shouted horrified.

Leo and Johnny stopped dead glancing down at you. Watery eyes trembling, you tried to smile pass the swollen red cheek and the small trail of blood from your nose. The blonde screamed your name and knelt down cradling your face, you whisper reassurance in a shaking tone trying to stay calm. Staggering back, Johnny glanced around before running off and muttering to himself. No one cared since they were busy taking care of you.

In about twenty minutes, the doctor in town was finished and smiled softly, "The injury is minor, nosebleeds happen often due to the fragility of the nose. Since the inside of our noses isn't covered with tough skin, the blood vessels can easily be broken and cause bleeding. For the swollen cheek, you have to consistently ice your cheeks and gently massage the area every now and then."

And like that, he was gone.

You turned to the golden puppy beside you and chuckled, "What's with that pouty face?", Leo huff as his invisible ears flopped over, "Why would you interfere? It's not like he would've done anything bad to me", with a warm smile you poked his frown, "Hey, how can an actor spouting such nonsense? Your face is the most important asset, sir. Take care of it."

Leo crossed his arms, "What about you then?", he glared as you sighed and leaned back relaxed, "My situation is different, excuse you. I have four more scenes to film before my job here is basically to have fun and make sure you don't annoy anyone else."

The blonde boy still wasn't satisfied and you rolled your eyes, "Come here, you little stubborn brat", pulling him into a gentle hug you sighed, "Things like this happen all the time, and we as small actors can only deal with it...So make sure to become famous enough that no one can bully you in the future."

He spent the rest of the afternoon with you until his manager dragged him away for his scene, you chuckled waving. 

The rest of the day was easy for you, essentially wasting time in the hotel room. 

Boredly staring up at the ceiling, you massage your cheek and think about the perpetrator. Annoyed your eyes sharpened, 'It’s been several hours since he did this to me and he has the audacity not to visit me?!', you snarled at the ceiling, "That's it! I'm suing that bitch for property damage!"

"Don't bother, it's not like there was any property for me to damage", instantly recognising the dead tone voice you slammed your door open, "Really, then what the hell is this?!"

Johnny winced at the bruise and held out a plastic bag sighing, "Fine fine fine, I'll cover for your plastic surgery costs", you huffed angrily and snatched the bag, "Die in a hole!"

Looking inside your eyes blinked at the bottles and patches, "Pain medicine and swelling patches, I heard from the doctor", the pale brunette glanced away scratching his neck.

A small smile grew on your face, "You’re a fucking asshole you know?", he snorted, "Sure do."

Deep eyes stared at your small injury, "Does it...still hurt?", 'Of course it fucking does', but you giggled and cupped your swollen cheek, "Well, it's better than it looks. After two weeks, I should be back to normal", the older boy nodded and the two of you began to stand there in silence.

Then he cleared his throat, "Well, take care of yourself then...bye", you stared at him for a second before nodding, "Yeah. Thanks for the stuff", "All good."

As you watched him walk away, you whispered realising something, "...He didn't say sorry, that fucker."

A week later and everything returned to usual, in fact things were a little bit better than before. Things meaning Johnny. It seemed that the incident had been a little wake up call to him, he was using less alcohol, acting less grumpy, and overall improved his acting. Everyone was shocked to the core by this transformation. You leaned on your non-swollen cheek watching Johnny and Leo film an emotional scene. The whole crew was enamoured by their skills, this wasn't acting anymore, they were intruding on a family.

"Cut!", the director's voice rang out and he beamed, "Perfect! Perfect work you two!", Leo beamed while Johnny showed a small smile before walking off.

It was during lunch when Leo kept trying to steal your fried chicken that Johnny's manager held out a tabloid mangazine for you two, "Hmm?", your eyes peered down and read the front page.

Your blood ran cold.

'JOHNNY DEPP SEEN BUYING MEDICINE FROM SMALL SHOP IN AUSTIN, IOWA! WORKER SAID HE WAS BUYING FOR A WOMAN! HAS HE ALREADY GOTTEN OVER EX-FIANCE WINONA RYDER?!'. The picture below showed the clothes he was wearing the day he knocked on your door, and the small box he held was also in your room.

"Oh god", they nodded grimly and Leo frowned, "Has Johnny seen this?", the silence answered everything.

"How could they do that?", you whispered horrified and thought of the poor man, "How is he?", "Locked up inside his room. I saw him walk in with a bottle of booze half an hour ago, but he probably has even more inside. He doesn't answer me when I try to talk to him. I have no idea what to do anymore. And it sucks since it seems like he was just starting to get better."

Leo glanced over at you and asked his manager, "What do you want us to do?", "He seems fond of you guys, maybe you two could coax him out?", the blonde raised an eyebrow, "You want us to disturb a drunk Johnny? Do you not remember the last time we did that? Look at her cheek to jog your memories."

Lips pursing you stopped Leo, "Alright, I'll try and see what I can do", eyes popping out Leo jumped up, "Are you crazy? What are you trying to do?! Get a matching bruise on the other cheek?!", you rolled your eyes and held his hand, "I'll be fine. The only one whose getting a bruise is you for that snarky mouth!"

Like that you followed Johnny's manager to the door of death and smiled as they left wishing you luck, 'Alright, let's do this'.

You knocked once, twice, and thrice before calling out, "Hey Johnny? It's me...I saw the magazine, would you like to talk about it?", there was no answer and you frowned, "Johnny, drinking alcohol all day won't help you. Please stop hurting yourself", and you received a growl, "Leave me the fuck alone! I don't wanna hear it!"

Clenching your hands tightly, you called out leaning your hand on the door, "Joh-", but stopped when the door clicked open and slowly moved, 'He left it unlock? Did he forget?'

With a gulp, you pushed the door open further until the dark abyss was revealed and you took a step inside. Immediately, the scent of strong booze attacked your nostrils and your heartbeat began picking up.

"Johnny", the older boy cooped up the corner.

His head snapped to yours and the man staggered up, "You, what the fuck are you doing here?! Who told you to come in here, huh?!", eyes widening you felt paralysed under his cold and insane glare, "I TOLD YOU TO FUCK OFF!"

And then you screamed as glass scattered against the wall beside you. Terrified, you fell down to your knees and muffled the sob. Leo was right. This was a mistake, this was a terrible mistake and you needed to get out of here. Before there was a repetition of last time, or before something worse happened.

"What would you know?! What would you fucking know?!", your eyes squeezed shut as he stumbled towards you, "Johnny please-", "I hate you, I fucking hate you and everyone in this shitty world! Because of all of you, I lost her!", you gasped as he grabbed your shoulders, "Look at me! Are you happy now?!"

Suddenly everything sounded as if you were underwater, your erratic breath and pounding heart filled your ears. 'What do I do now? Push him away? What if that makes him even more angry?!', tears flowed down your cheeks as you watched the crazy man before you. You realised why you found Johnny so interesting, the "something about him" which caught your eyes was the flickering between Johnny and this beast.

Then there was a sob which didn't come from you, it came from Johnny who sunk to your level and leaned on your shoulder, "I hate everyone so much", it was silent after that.

You continue to stare at the empty space he used to occupy as the drunk man slept on your shoulder, "...Me too, I hate you the most", lips sealed shut to stop your cries from escaping.

Johnny was dragged to an armchair as you began to clean up his room. Your trembling hands picked up the shattered glass, threw all of the bottles on his bed and floor into a trash bag, and cleaned the table free of white powder. Every now and then, you'd have to  take a break to wipe away an astray tear. Soon enough the room was clean and boozy scent was escaped through the open window. Hauling Johnny back to his clean bed, you wiped down his miserable face and placed a glass of water on his night table with some pain killers.

You entered his bathroom to clean your hands and noticed a small cut on the non-swollen cheek. It was little, but still enough for you to break down into tears and bitter laughter. Leo was right, and so were you. You should've stuck to your stupid plan and left Johnny to drown in his sorrow and booze. Why act like a good person now?

Exiting the bathroom, you stared at the dead man on his bed before walking out and closing the door behind you.

Leo was right outside your door, anxiously waiting. He fell silent upon noticing your red eyes, then the boy flared up with anger. Instantly you reached out and tightly wrapped your arms around him, you sighed and hummed softly. The blonde only gritted his teeth and squeeze you to death.

Two days and Johnny was still unseen, the director was getting tired. They had less than ten scenes left to go until the filming would be complete, yet their lead was nowhere to be seen.

You sat in the diner of the hotel eating pasta when a brunette woman approached calling out your name, "Hey! How's it going so far?", you smile confused as she sat down, "Hello? Sorry, do I know you?", she frowned, "Oh? We met at the beginning of filming, you didn't forget me did you?"

Sighing you smile softly, "Sorry it's just so much has happened recently", "Oh no, is everything okay?", the woman frowned and leaned in, "It wasn't anything to do with Johnny, right?", you tensed up and laughed, "No no, Johnny's always off in his own world. He hasn't got time for small actresses like me."

She nodded before asking, "But wasn't he going out to buy medicine for you though?", then her eyebrows wriggled, "Clearly there's something going on between you two, right~?", you gave a smile but faltered, '...It couldn't be', "Hmm? Why would you think it was me?", "Come on, you got injured and then a few hours later Johnny was buying medicine. What a reeeally big coincidence, right?"

'Maybe she isn't', "How's your injury going so far?", you hold your cheek and answer, "It's okay, it was much better than before", the brunette woman glance at your cheek, "So it was the cheek? How did the injury happen, I heard Johnny had something to do with it."

Your suspicion flared up again, "...I'm sorry, how did we met again?", the woman laughed confused, "What? Are you okay?", "Were you an extra? I don't quite remember?", "Yeah, I was an extra-", "For what scenes?", her smile slowly died away, "Just small ones, part of the crowd. Oh, I heard the injury caused quite a big commotion, so what happened in the end?"

The chair creaked as it was pulled out, "I'm sorry, but I need to be leaving", you stand up and grab your stuff when a hand reached out gripping your wrist tightly, "Hey! Where are you going?!", she sighed frustrated and ran fingers through her brunette curls, "God, this fucking bitch."

And your heart dropped. It never feels nice to be called a bitch.

"Oi, are you the little rat the tabloids sent?", both of you turned to see Johnny.

He wore a white button up beneath a brown jacket and blue jeans, and unlike the last you saw him, he wasn't drinking away in misery. There was a small curse from the woman beside you, somehow these two knew each other. Johnny's sharp eyes glanced between the two of you before looking down at your forcefully joined hands. 

His tongue clicked, "I heard from Leo and the others there was a strange woman snooping around, it must be you then", the brunette woman stopped her act and answered curtly, "What of it then? What are you going to do?", he raised an eyebrow before smirking, "Well, you'll find out right now."

Panicked you stepped in between them, "Let's not do anything harmful to each other!", you smile nervously placing your hands on his chest to stop the man, "Okay?", Johnny stared down at you blankly before moving back, "You have one minute before I'm stepping in."

Turning to the tabloid woman, you frowned and she sneered, "What, got a problem with me?", "Yes, I do", you walked up to her until you two were face to face, "I have a problem with you hurting a man who is already beaten. I find you so pathetic that you are willing to prey on a person in their weakest moment. And it's embarrassing the things you will do to achieve a front page for a single day."

Her face scrunched up in anger, "You-", you grew angry remembering Johnny's broken state, "And it's laughable that you're offended by these words when you've destroyed the lives of people who were in need of help", then you reached into her bag and pulled out a voice recorder, "Hey-", "And this, this is a crime."

The woman's stunned eyes then turned to the man right behind you who smirked and mouthed 'Bye bye bitch', she quickly stormed off.

Instantly you let out a big breath and slowly calmed your heart down, "Are you okay?", a gentle voice asked and Johnny moved around to show his worried expression, "Yeah."

Suddenly the pale brunette then pulled away as if he was electrified, "Johnny?", you asked confused and he looked to the ground uncomfortably, "I-I...I'm sorry for what I've done to you, all of it. I have no excuses and I'll take all of your anger, you can punch me or tell that woman everything I've done if it makes you feel better."

A smile spread across your face, "Oh Johnny, even if you were my worst enemy I would never run to the tabloids", he gave a shy laugh, "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't after that speech."

With a giggle you asked softly, "How are you feeling?", he answered sincerely, "I'm working to be better. After that...I really hated myself, but I thought of you. Something clicked inside me, and I just wanted to change. To make sure I won't make the same mistakes", Johnny reached out again but quickly stopped, "Can I?"

You nodded curious to what he would do, then your eyes widened and your breath hitched as Johnny cupped your cheeks and ran his thumbs around your bruise and cut, "Thank you for saving me", he smiled warmly.

"That woman...is around the corner", he chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, she's taking a lot of photos. Want me to destroy her camera?", you break out into a bright laugh, "Please don't", and looked into his mellow eyes, 'Ah, this look...'

Your hands landed over his hands, "Nice to meet you, Johnny", he blinked in shock before chuckling, "Nice to meet you too, girlfriend."

Rolling your eyes, you pulled away but the man wrapped his arms around your shoulders, "Come on, let's go and bully Leo-oww!", "How about we don't do that", you raised an eyebrow when he leaned in and pecked your temple, "Sure, whatever you want", and your face beamed red, 'Lord save me.'

He cackled leading you away. Was this what they meant by bad boy?

[lunaastoir]

fluff/relationships w the mondstadt crew

characters included: diluc, kaeya, and jean

gn! reader as always <3

tw: fluff??? domesticity??? crack??? ideal relationships w people who will never be real??? also mentions of alcohol!

an: so i’m back w a sequel to my “fluff/relationships w the liyue crew” since you guys seemed to really like it <3 thank you my heart is literally melting 😩 this post was getting too long so i excluded some of the characters but expect a part. 2 (more like part 3 but part 2 to the mondstadt version)! 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

diluc

man. this MAN.

that’s it, that’s the headcanon. 

he would literally be the most doting lover in the softest ways

SUCH a soft romantic like you thought you knew love??? nah this man will show you what love is

will constantly leave you things around the winery to convey his silent thank you’s and appreciation for you putting up with him being busy for most of the day

it’s always the most thoughtful things ever too like-

you mentioned how nice it would be to have some fresh lemonade with the hotter weather outside but it was too late in the day to actually go to the market in search of fresh lemons 

the next day you walked downstairs only to be greeted with a pitcher of cool lemonade with a side of lemon bars

there was a note attached to the handle of the pitcher <3 

“i recall you mentioning how lemonade would be perfect for the warmer weather so i decided to make some for you this morning. i hope it’s still cool by the time you drink it. love, d” 

pls sir your hand in marriage

he secretly loves it when you usher him to bed after waking up in the dead of night to see him working by candlelight on reports 

soft hands on his cheeks gently whispering about how, it’s been far too long and come to bed, darling and there will be time for this in the morning

his protests are light given the dark purple hues under his crimson eyes but he’ll still make a little fuss 

don’t let this man fool you tho he’s so so touched that you care enough to check up on him and drag him to bed!!

sometimes on the days he has a bit more free time, the two of you will quickly grab your dinners and race to the highest spot in the winery to watch the setting sun

these moments are always filled with laughter, something you’ve found you’re easily able to pull out of diluc, simply because it’s you 

uncontrollable sobbing

he would let you paint his nails black like the angsty man he is 

frankly he would let you do anything to him if it makes you happy <3 

ok but wait diluc w bLACK NAILS?? AND RINGS??? i would die on the spot ⚰️

on the topic of makeup, this man is surprisingly really good w it 

i like to think he learned after practicing on kaeya when they were younger bc kaeya was really into makeup

you found out after babysitting klee one day and trying failing to draw eyeliner on the sweet girl after her “big brother ‘bedo!”

you hastily grabbed some wipes, gently wiping off the messed up design before attempting to dive back in 

diluc however, had some down time so he decided to check up on his favorite chaotic duo 

only to be met with a pile of dirtied makeup wipes, your frustrated expression, and klee’s growing jitteriness 

swiftly moving to your side, he quietly asked if you needed help 

you glanced up quizzically before handing him the eyeliner, already looking around to find more makeup wipes when this inevitably goes wrong 

to your utter surprise tho the eyeliner is perfect??? two perfect winged lines??? in less than a minute??? WHAT

you just stood there like 😦 before diluc got back up and handed you the eyeliner 

you were short-circuiting, klee was ecstatic, diluc was worried about you 

ok last thing abt diluc 

crack! warning but the both of you like lowkey pranking kaeya 

for diluc it’s revenge on his annoying brother; for you it’s good - natured sibling rivalry fun 

every time the two of you see kaeya, one of you always swipes something of his 

small things really, it could be a pen or a handkerchief

one time, diluc swiped kaeya’s spare eyepatch and from the looks of it, kaeya’s only spare black eyepatch bc he was frantically looking for it yk he’s desperate when he even asked diluc if he saw it

the two of you spent an hour nearly laughing your asses off 

all in all, life w him is so sweet 

kaeya

pretty boy? pretty boy. 

while i can’t guarantee stability, life would never be boring w this man that’s for sure

piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 

he LOVES it, the feel of you on his back while he’s walking around mondstadt most likely carrying you to your commission 

he finds it comforting especially since he can hear the rumble of your voice against him while you recount stories, or just babble on about everything under the sun 

he is SO dramatic so obviously when y’all reach the site of the commission he has to kill all the monsters even tho the both of you agreed to split it up evenly 

he makes quick work of his set before stealing some of yours much to your chagrin 

you scold him but can you really be mad at him when he looks drop dead gorgeous freezing the hilichurls the answer is no, no you cannot be

oh my god ok wait-

he does this thing where he tries to spook you in public 

so say you’re getting groceries at the mondstadt general store

you round the corner just minding your own business, looking around, taking in the sunshine 

and suddenly you just hear someone drop in behind you but before you can register anything you hear a soft “boo” and hands circle your waist 

you jump SIKE let’s be honest you shrieked 

meanwhile kaeya’s just laughing his ass off 

you can hear his rich peals of laughter while you attempt to regain your bearings 

he does this so often you SHOULD be used to it but you really aren’t bc mans is SNEAKY-

he cards his fingers in your hair whenever you’re speaking 

he doesn’t know why, it’s just a cute habit and he finds the feel of his fingers in your hair soothing

oH on the topic of comfort, kaeya really likes resting two fingers on the back of your neck???

ik he seems like the type to throw his arm around your shoulder which yes he totally is but during more serious conversations his hand automatically seeks out the warmth of your neck 

your neck feels amazing especially during the warmer months due to his chilly fingers contrasting with your warm skin  

he likes that he’s able to access such a vulnerable part of you and you would willingly let him 

HE GETS YOU MATCHING OUTFITS

no i will NOT take criticism on this i just kNOW he’s that type of guy

it would be those stupid “i’m his” and “they’re mine” sweatshirts like BYE 

it’s so cringy but for some reason it’s oddly adorable and you truly despise it but you can’t seem to say no whenever he asks 

you pretend to ignore the look of pity diluc throws your way whenever he sees you like this

kaeya really loves accessories so i think he would be the type to give you a promise ring or something similar to show that he truly does care for you 

he would brush it off, flirting a little like usual before handing you the ring 

with the way his cheeks softly darken though, you know he’s being genuine 

TICKLE FIGHTS ik i mentioned this for childe but shhhh

he has tickle fingers??? his hands just loOK like they’re itching to tickle someone so you’ll most likely be the unfortunate victim 

he will not show you mercy. at all. he’ll tickle you until there are tears streaming from your eyes, your face is hot, and your voice is hoarse from laughing so damn hard 

it gives him such a rush of serotonin its SO CUTE 

i feel like this goes without saying but he’s super into pda,,, anything and everything is on the table 

hand holding? duh. ass grabs? ofc. carrying you bridal style around mondstadt? why not 

ik he’s typically very playful but once the relationship reaches a certain stage, he’ll slowly start to let down the walls that surround his facade 

very very slowly show you the more realistic parts of him 

the real, damaged pieces of his soul 

he’ll be carefully monitoring your reaction though, any sign of fear or disgust will have him recoiling within himself again and you most likely will never see his true nature ever again 

SO BE CAREFUL 👹

once you’ve seen the parts of him he’s offered to you, the hushed whispers of his past, and the uncertain lines of his future, he will take off his eyepatch 

pretends like he’s not super nervous but he’s SWEATING- 

the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen though hands down 

you can understand why he covers it up but you would like it if he felt comfortable enough to take off the eyepatch occasionally when he’s with you 

also!!! sleeps with his eyepatch side facing you (in the event he wears it to bed) 

if this happens you KNOW he trusts you bc it’s his blindside <3 

anyways life w kaeya will never be boring but he is a very complicated man 

stay with him though, i promise it’ll be worth it 

jean

the key to jean’s heart is coffee and food 

GET HER COFFEE AND FOOD

i am begging you she deserves it 😭

the poor woman works so hard bc the knights are so mf understaffed, this is literally the best way you can ever show her your love and appreciation when she has work

she will MELT if you have a hot shower and dinner waiting for her when she inevitably returns later than she promised

will completely refuse at first with, “you did not have to do this, it’s too much” but shush her as you shOULD bc she deserves the entire world 

she’s the definition of “you do something for me, i’ll return the favor ten times grander”

you leave a flower on her desk bc it reminded you of her??? you’ll wake up to find a whole bouquet of the prettiest windwheel asters you’ve ever seen the next morning along with a thank you note

she’s so sweet BYE

she gets flustered extremely easily so you obviously use this as an opportunity to tease her 

when you’re in public rest your hand on her waist and inch it higher until your hand is underneath her shirt and in contact with her warm skin 

she’ll actually short-circuit its quite adorable 

sometimes y’all will be cuddling and you’ll hear whispers of her insecurities 

“am i a good grand master? will i ever be as valiant as vanessa?”

reassure her!!! tell her that she doesn’t need to be like vanessa, she’s already amazing as jean 

if you haven’t seen her in awhile, track her down and schedule a lunch date 

she never misses appointments and if it’s for you, she’ll gladly make time to see you even if she has to stay up even later than usual 

OH-

GIVE HER MASSAGES 

she has so much tension and the sorest muscles from hunching over papers and running around on errands 

if you sneak into her office and quietly stand behind her before gently pushing down on the sore tendons of her neck, she’ll genuinely fall over on her desk 

so make sure you steady her 😀

after you feel how tight her muscles are though, you drag her to barbara bc she needs a healer asap 😭

while most of your time is spent in her office - you helping out in the ways you can while jean is overseeing knight duties - you still have your fair share of life outside of the favonius headquarters

jean never likes to sit still so whenever you have free time, the both of you head off looking for monsters to clear

bouken da bouken???

adventuring w jean is seriously the funnest thing you could ever do 

it’s just non-stop you accidentally getting into trouble and her having to come help you 

even tho the both of you are dead tired after fighting, what? 20 hilichurl camps now??? the laughter and joy in your eyes shows how you both truly loved every minute of it

it’s both a stress reliever, good fun, and a work-out <3

you’re definitely prone to getting dragged to angel’s share w kaeya 

kaeya and jean sometimes hang out after work at the tavern so inevitably you’re dragged along too 

all three of you are drunk out of your minds which just makes everything a MILLION times funnier 

kaeya slurring over his words makes the two of you start cackling endlessly while diluc just shakes his head making sure to not give you more wine despite your pleas 

angel’s share ft. kaeya and bartender diluc are always the best times fr fr 

life with her literally feels like y’all are married 

so much domesticity it’s so NICE ALJDKSFH

your house is always so clean and the color scheme is impeccable bc jean has such a good eye 

you have a chore schedule 😎 but it almost never works out bc jean ends up doing everything without you knowing- 

you always confront her abt it and she’s like 😁 “i had some time so i did them! no worries tho” like i- time??? where bitc-

oH- she has amazing style so you can bet shopping w her is literally the best experience 

she takes you to all of the hidden gems some places lisa recommended and helps you pick out things 

will 100% get really blushy if you come out in something and ask her for her opinion tho she’s literally the cutest

basically jean is a sweet girl who deserves the entirety of teyvat that is all. 

thanks for reading! if you have any requests don’t hesitate to send them in <3 

[pingutats]

i just had such a good request for a fic. dom/sub dynamic with dom!harry where y/n is being spanked for misbehavior and she ends up crying during it because she feels like she deserves to be hurt, and harry stops immediately and there’s a lot of fluffy aftercare and physical affection

thank you for the request!! i know it took me a million years to get to writing this but finally did it... i know it strays a little bit from all the details of your request but i hope you enjoy regardless!

warnings: spanking, dom/sub dynamic, descriptions of anxiety (maybe don’t read if you’re in a weird headspace, it’s not exactly pleasant!)

word count: 1.7k

.                               .                           .                               .                           .

As soon as Y/N hears Harry’s car in the driveway, she dashes from the kitchen to the front door like a kid that’s heard an ice-cream van. After the day of work at home she’s had, of redoing paperwork she’d messed up the first time and struggling through technical issues and communication errors over email—she just needs Harry so badly.

In fact, she’d texted him earlier to let him know. Quite blatantly. With a photo she prays he opened when there was nobody else around.

When Y/N opens the door for him he freezes, taking in her appearance. She’s wearing just panties and one of his shirts, her bare legs completely on display for him. His gaze sweeps up and down her body for a second, then he swears under his breath and strides in quickly. Y/N jumps back to give him room, waiting a few feet ahead in the hallway.

He shuts the door with his arm swinging back behind him, not even glancing over his shoulder to watch it close.

There’s a second of silence as they stare each other down, and it’s in this second that Y/N feels them slip into the roles of the game she’s been wanting to play all day. His eyes go from wide in shock to steady. Her head bows almost of its own accord, responding to the straightening of Harry’s shoulders after he drops his bag.

He inhales sharply through his nose and drops his keys into the bowl on the bench. “You’ve been doing this on purpose, darling,” he says in a measured tone. It isn’t a question. He won’t be asking questions now—she won’t have to think, she can just listen to him, let him take over now.

She plays with the bottom of his t-shirt that she’s wearing, pulling it up enough to reveal the slightly paler skin where her shorts would usually cover.

Harry’s tongue darts out to wet his lips. “Come here,” he says, beckoning her over.

She considers refusing, just to be a brat, but it’s a lot easier to just go along with him now she’s getting what she wanted. She twists her hands in the t-shirt in front of her as she approaches him, averting her eyes from his as he watches her, suddenly vulnerable under his gaze.

When she’s close enough, he reaches out and grabs her wrists to yank her grip on the shirt free, pulling her off balance so the only thing that stops her falling flat on her face is his arms. She tries to relax into his grip, tries to let herself go.

“Been so fucking needy today. That photo — nearly had me getting hard in the studio right in front of everyone, love,” he says, squeezing her wrists almost painfully. “And look how you answer the door, nearly naked for anyone walking on the street to see.” He shakes his head, clicking his tongue condescendingly. “Do you want to apologise for anything?”

She looks at him, pretends to think, and then shakes her head.

He sighs. “Of course not, you little brat.” His grip loosens. “Alright then. Go upstairs for me.”

She blinks at him.

“I’ll be up in a minute. Go on.” He spins her around and nudges her towards the stairs with a gentle push.

She glances over her shoulder at him before she goes and he only raises his eyebrows expectantly. She’s almost tempted to pull the back of the t-shirt down over her ass to cover herself, but that wouldn’t get her what she needs, and what she needs is Harry to take care of her—so she keeps her head bowed as she walks up the stairs, adding a little swing in her hips with each step just as the icing on the cake. She smiles when she hears his deep inhale from the hallway as he watches her the whole time.

Upstairs, she sits on the end of their bed with her hands in her lap, scratching at days-old nail polish she’ll need to redo soon. There’s a knot in her stomach that’s been twisting all day, stresses piling up and morphing into some ugly feeling she can’t shake, not without Harry’s help. She manages to peel all the bright pink colour off her left thumbnail while she waits.

It seems like forever before she hears Harry’s footsteps up the stairs but when she does, she straightens up. The sound of the door opening makes her jump in nervous shock. She flexes her fingers, trying to calm her jitters. It’s Harry. She needs him.

“Being such a brat today,” he says when he’s finally in front of her. “Aren’t you? Don’t know how to behave.” He sits beside her, squishing her cheeks with his thumb and forefinger. “Need me to teach you a lesson, hm?”

She nods at him, eyes moony. Yes, this is what she wants, needs from him—to let him take over for a little while, let him take out his frustration on her, help her let go of her own.

His grip softens a bit. “This okay, baby?” he asks more quietly.

She swallows. “Yeah.”

He leans forward and gives her a quick kiss. She feels like melting against the softness of his lips, pressing against her own, the mouth she knows so well. It’s a comfort in the mess that her mind is feeling like right now.

But he isn’t so gentle as he drags her over his lap a moment later, her face roughly pushed down into the mattress. His hand squeezes her ass, only barely covered by her panties, and her breath hitches.

“Count for me.”

“Yes sir,” she breathes, closing her eyes.

Her exhale is cut short by the force of his palm cracking against her skin, jolting her forward over his lap. The sting dissipates quickly, taking none of the tension inside her with it.

“One,” she says.

“Good girl.” His hand comes down on her again, harder this time.

She screws her eyes shut. “Two.”

It isn’t feeling like how she wants it to feel. She’s too tense, restless, her mind unwilling to float away under Harry’s touch. The pain, which usually is laced with something brilliant and exciting, is just pain today. But with all the mistakes she’s made today, all the things she messed up that have just added to her workload and her stress—maybe this is what she deserves. Punishments are called that for a reason.

So she stays where she is, her head lowered so Harry won’t see anything wrong. She gasps at the third, and it takes her a second to remember she needs to count. “Three,” she says, her voice shuddering.

Harry pauses and she fears she’s made him upset, spoken too quietly, taken too long—she can’t do anything right.

“Love,” he says. His hand comes to rest on her shoulder gently. “Are those good tears or bad tears?”

She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment and in the pause, realises her cheeks are wet. “Um,” she says. Her voice shakes.

Harry’s arm snakes underneath her and pulls her up, manoeuvring her so she straddles his lap and he can see her face. The crease between his brows is deep as his eyes dart over her face, his thumb coming to her cheek to brush a tear away.

She leans her head into his palm that was cracking down onto her skin just a minute ago and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“What happened? When did it change?” he asks, his voice soft again, his character leaving.

She shrugs. She doesn’t trust herself to speak without crying more, and she feels stupid enough already.

“It’s alright, love,” he says, shifting so he can sit up straighter and pull her closer to his chest. He rubs her back, kissing her hair. “Let’s just rest for a moment, alright?”

She nods into his shoulder, hiding her face. His hand cradles the back of her head. The panic that she was feeling is dissolving into nothing. All day she felt so tense with so much twisting inside her, and she’d thought she could force it out painfully—she was wrong, of course, and now she feels awful for roping Harry into her misguided attempt to fix herself.

After a couple minutes, Harry taps her to get her to look up at him. “Why’d you want a punishment today?” he asks, without accusation.

She shrugs, raising her shoulders as high as she can and then letting them drop sharply. “Just felt like I needed it.”

He nods. He understands that sometimes she feels like this—needs to lose herself in playing a role for an evening, forget about real life and its responsibilities—because he knows the feeling too. She’s helped him in this way before. They take it in turns: give each other what they need, when they need it. “Wasn’t helpful today, though?” he prompts, his eyebrows raised sympathetically.

She shakes her head, looking sheepish. “Sorry.”

“Hey,” he says. He smiles a little bit and a shallow dimple appears in his cheek. “That’s fine. It’s just a game. We play it whenever you want to, we stop playing when you’re not enjoying it. That’s important, alright?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “Sorry.”

“Need to stop apologising, baby,” he tells her. “Just keep talking to me. I don’t want to hurt you.” He kisses her cheek and the gesture raises butterflies in her stomach, even still after all the months they’ve been together. It reminds her that he’s there for her, to look after her, to take care of her when she can’t do it for herself. His lips stay close to her skin as he asks, “How can I help, though, really?”

She buries her face back into his shoulder. “Dunno,” she says, her voice muffled. “Just need you.”

She feels his chin gently knock against the top of her head as he nods, his arms tightening around her again. “You’ve got me, baby. Always got me.”

.                               .                           .                               .                           .

thank you for reading! if you did like it, a reblog would be really appreciated as well as any feedback/comments you might have! you can find more of my writing on my masterlist.

[dreamescapeswriting]

All Bets Are Off ~ YJG & LMH [Request]

​

WORD COUNT:3.3.k

PAIRING: Jeongin x Fem!Reader x Minho

GENRE: Angst, fluffy ending, swearing

A/N: I hope you like this, I sort of went for a different way of writing it so I hope you like it and understand it 

"Did you hear about Jeongin?" You looked up from the makeup palette you were using to see some of the other stylists all crowding around one another as they spoke in hushed tones, the mention of his name sent shivers down your spine. It was as if someone had just taken a cup of freezing cold water and poured it down your back bringing you into a harsh reality that was the real world,

"I wouldn't worry too much," Sana spoke softly as she noticed the worried look spreading across your face, after working with you for almost all of her career she was able to read you like a book, she knew every look you gave meant something and this was a worried one. The simple mention of Jeongin's name made you want to burst into tears at any given moment but you couldn't, you couldn't let on that what they were gossiping about was about you and Jeongin not only was it embarrassing but it would also lead you to get fired on the spot. 

"There's always some kind of gossip, but it's nothing." She reminded you as she placed her hand on top of yours, running her smooth pale skin to try and calm you down but nothing was working. Your skin was starting to feel clammy as you heard the gossip getting louder and louder, normally the gossiping would go over your head but this time you knew it was going to be about you and Jeongin. The more they spoke the harder your heart began to beat against your chest, so hard it felt as though it was going to spring out of your chest as you slowly placed down the brush you had been using on Sana's face, 

"I heard it was a stylist," One of them giggled before looking around the room, none of them had any idea what was truly going on. They only knew what they had heard and even that wasn't the full truth, the only people who knew the truth were you, Jeongin, Sana, Nayeon and Minho and the boys Jeongin had created this whole thing with, you didn’t want the entire JYP Entertainment company knowing the in’s and out’s of your personal life, 

"Do you want to go and get some air?" Nayeon questioned as she noticed how faint you began to look, there were beads of sweat beginning to collect on your forehead and all you could do was nod your head in answer to her. Both her and Sana got up before taking you out of the room and headed towards the quiet room so you could take a minute to yourself. 

Breathing heavily you tried not to look out of the glass walls of the quiet room instead you were trying to focus on Nayeon and Sana as they tried to calm you down,

"You need to forget about them, they don't know it's you." Nayeon reminded you as she cupped your face in her hands, running her small fingers under your eyes to remove the tears that you hadn't even noticed had begun running down your cheeks. 

"It's not even that big of a deal, it'll blow over soon," Sana reminded you but you weren't listening to them now, your eyes were locked onto Jeongin as he came down the hall out of one of the studios. The boys were standing with him laughing about something, all you could think about was them laughing at you even if it wasn't what they were doing. They were lost in conversation with one another but as soon as Jeongin saw you staring at him he froze in place, this was the first time he'd seen you around the building in months. He figured you'd quit but seeing you there brought back all of the emotions he had for you, another pair of eyes made their way to yours as he saw you sitting with the girls. Minho. As soon as you saw him it was like a wave of relief washed over your body and the panic you had been feeling about Jeongin suddenly disappeared from your mind as Minho gave you a small reassuring smile. Jeongin frowned as he saw you staring behind him, he glanced over his shoulder to his Hyung as he scoffed, storming off in the direction he was going originally. The girls had been hiding you whenever Jeongin came around asking to speak to you, there was no way you were ever going to be able to face him or even speak to him after what he did to you what he put you through for the last year of your life. All of the times you spent together came crashing back into you like a wave hitting the sand, even if Minho was by your side nothing could stop you from feeling the hurt you experienced with Jeongin and every time you looked at the young Maknae it hit you over and over again.

Things between you and Jeongin had been going great, you were dating in secrecy since it was in your contract that you weren't allowed to date any of the idols that worked for JYP Entertainment and you had signed and agreed to that. Dating wasn't a problem since you seemed to get along with all of the idols really well, Stray Kids treated you like a sister as did the members of Itzy and Twice since you worked with them the most. 

"Hey, are we still meeting at the dorms?" Jeongin whispered in your ear as he ran his hands up and down your side, you let out a shaky breath as you nodded at his question, Jeongin was the only one that didn't treat you like a sister since you guys were together.

"It'll be just the two of us, Channie-Hyung is working late and the boys have agreed to let me have the place to myself," He placed a quick kiss on your shoulder before moving away from you, going to sit down on the sofa that was inside the styling room you were working in. You were currently practising some of the hairstyles for Twice on a mannequin head so you could make sure you had it perfect when it came to doing live shows. 

"You're doing great, you've been getting better ever since you got here." That was Jeongin for you, always trying to make sure you felt confident in everything that you were doing in the company. You were an apprentice stylist getting paid below the minimum to train there while working alongside some of the greatest idols and stylists in the business,

"You have to say that, you're my boyfriend." You rolled your eyes at him as you continued to pin some of the curls onto the head of the doll and then spraying it with some glitter hairspray before stepping back to look at it from behind. 

"I would tell you if it looked bad, you know I would." He pressed his lips against your ear as you let out another shaky breath, he knew what all of his small touches and kisses did to you but he never acted on any of them. It was all part of the game for him, he was just going along with the game he and some of the boys had arranged with one another and so far you were falling into the trap. The two of you had been together for almost a year now which meant it was time for all of this to come undone soon but as the date drew nearer Jeongin couldn't help but want to postpone the day and tell the boys that the bet was off. That he couldn't break up with you because he was starting to fall in love with you for real but he knew they would laugh at him, and joke about it. The bet was to see who could date you the fastest and break up with you within a year, Jeongin won the dating side and decided he was going to make it a painful breakup until he got to know you. The more he got to know you over the past year the more he began to realise how much of an awful person he was for making this game with you, you had human emotions you weren't just some toy for him and the boys to play with whenever they got bored but it was too late now, he was too far into the "relationship" to tell you what it really was and he didn't want the boys to laugh at him and call him whipped over someone he barely knew but he knew you. He felt he knew you well enough to fall in love with you and what did it matter if it was all some kind of joke, to begin with? It wasn't as if you had to know the details, he could just tell the boys it was off and that would be it, you'd never have to know about it or the money that was included in the bet.

"Everything okay Innie?" You questioned as you glanced over at him, his face was pale as he stared down at your feet clearly he was thinking hard about something since he hadn't heard what you asked him. Waving your hand in front of his face you waited for him to snap out of the daydream but when he did he jumped up from the seat, 

"I need to go and talk the boys," He stuttered out nervously as he looked at you, smiling at you as he leant forward to give you a quick kiss in the empty styling room only for you to playfully hit him with a brush, 

"Go before you get us caught," You hissed at him, giggling as you watched him running away from you and down the hall, the giggle you let out filled him with hope as he raced to find the boys hoping they hadn't left already. 

As you were leaving the building you walked by one of the studios when you heard Jeongin's voice sounding strained as he spoke back and forth with someone, you knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but when you heard your name you wanted to see what it was all about.

"Look, it wasn't our idea to make her fall in love with you, all you had to do was date her," Felix said as he looked at a worried-looking Jeongin, he'd come to the boys for advice, telling them that the bet was off but they claimed there wasn't just a way out of it since they'd all put money down into it. 

"You can't tell me you're starting to have real feelings for her," You heard Seungmin laugh loudly as he spoke to Jeongin, Jeongin added an awkward laugh as he began to scratch the back of his neck playing it off as though he was playing a trick on the boys.

"No! Of course, not. I was joking, I'm going to do it tonight." He laughed looking between Felix and Seungmin as he tried not to seem as bothered about this as he was. The bet was between the three of them, they didn't want the older boys getting involved since they got along with you the boys, Chan looked out for you like you were his twin sister and Seungmin knew damn well how Minho felt about you. Minho had been in love with you since you started working for JYP, he'd never been able to keep his eyes off you but the two of you were nothing more than friends.

"Besides, she's just a stylist you need someone better than that." As soon as Felix said that you felt your heart clench as you thought about what they were talking about and that was when you heard it, 

"₩700,000, is a lot of money Jeongin and it's all yours. All you have to do is break up with her before the end of the week," The way Seungmin spoke so apathetically made you shiver, normally they were the sweetest guys in the group but hearing this only made you want to throw up. 

"You decided to get in on this, we didn't force you to ask Y/n out, you did it and now you have to dump her before the time is up," Felix said smugly as he turned to leave the room, you gasped as you darted out in the other direction sliding yourself into a different studio as tears rolled down your cheeks. 

"Y/n?!" Minho asked in a panicked tone as soon as he saw you crying, he dropped what he was doing and walked over to you placing his hand on your arm but you flinched away from him.

"Y-You can give it up! I know you're all in on it right?!" You choked out a sob as you wiped your face, moving away from the door and from Minho as you shook your head. 

"You think just because I'm not some famous Idol that I don't have feelings?!" Minho stepped away as you yelled out at him, he'd never heard you raise your voice to anyone before and now you were crying and screaming about feelings.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to steady you but you weren't having any of it, 

"You can quit pretending, I know Jeongin only asked me out because you all bet he could dump me within a year. I get it. I'm the joke," But the look on Minho's face read that he had no idea what you were talking about but that he was angry about it, his face was getting redder by the second. 

"They did what?" You stopped sniffling as you turned to look up at him wondering why he hadn't known about the bet but he heard laughter coming from down the hall and he stormed out of the studio you were standing in. 

"Jeongin!" His voice boomed and it almost sounded as deep as Felix's did as the Maknae froze in place, turning to look at you and Minho. Your eyes were bloodshot as you continued to silently cry into a tissue, 

"Everything okay, babe?" Minho put his hand on Jeongin's chest to stop him from coming any closer to you, he didn't want Jeongin to be near you in this state. 

"Don't call her babe, don't pretend that this is real when she's just heard you betting money on who could date her and dump her!" Jeongin flinched, he'd seen Minho angry before but never this level of anger and he didn't like this side of his Hyung. 

"Are you stupid? Incredibly sensitive or just a complete and utter idiot?!" Felix and Seungmin came out of the room they had been standing in to see what was going on outside when they saw Jeongin, his body was slumped down as he stared at the floor not looking at either you or Minho as he yelled at him. 

"Answer the question!" Minho demanded, his anger boiling up even more at the thought of someone hurting you emotionally or physically. 

"I- I wasn't thinking when I agreed to it," Jeongin mumbled as he still couldn't look up,

"Please! Minho is only angry because he's in love with Y/n." Seungmin spat out making you tense up as Minho turned to him next, 

"You know what, yeah I am but that doesn't mean that you get to toy around with someone's emotions! Do you have any idea how fucked up that is?!" Sana and Nayeon came out of their dressing rooms when they heard the yelling, they took one look at you before dragging you into a friendly embrace while Minho continued to get into a heated argument with Jeongin about what he had done. 

"We were bored," Seungmin mumbled, rolling his head back against the wall as if he didn't care what he had done, 

"You were bored?" Minho scoffed, running his tongue along his teeth as he shook his head, 

"I'm bored sometimes but you don't see me going around and betting money on people's feelings...You make me sick, give me one good reason I shouldn't tell Chan what you've done!?" Jeongin's eyes locked with yours and then to Minho as panic ran through his body,

"Because I'm in love with her, for real...I love her and I...I wanted to call this whole thing off but the boys weren't going to let me," He explained but you didn't look up from Nayeon's arms, you felt nothing when he said he loved you. 

"You should have thought about that before you got into this mess," Minho snapped, watching as Felix and Seungmin walked over to you, apologising before leaving without another word to one another.

"Y/n I'm sorry...I just-" You slapped Jeongin across the cheek as he tried to speak to you, you knew that violence was never the answer but right now it was what he deserved for ripping your heart out and stamping it into the ground. 

"Do you think you can forgive me?" You stared into his eyes as you watched tears roll down his face, you searched them for any sign of sincerity that he meant that he was sorry and you knew he was but it didn't mean you could accept this. 

"No. I can't...Maybe if you had told me about it instead of laughing behind my back things would have been different but now?" You looked him up and down before sniffling, 

"Now I can't even look at you," You whispered turning into a sob as you walked away with Sana and Nayeon to find a girls bathroom where you could clean yourself up for the night.

"Hey," Minho whispered as he replaced Nayeon and Sana in the quiet room, the two of them going off to change before heading home. 

"Hi," You whispered back to him, leaning your head on his shoulder as you tried to come down from the small panicky feeling you had experienced. Minho placed his hand over yours, locking your fingers together as you both sat down on the stools in the room. 

"It'll get easier to look at him, I promise." He whispered to you as he traced small patterns into your hand with his fingertips, just having him this close to you made you feel so much better. The two of you had been dating for a month, deciding to try it out together and it was working. 

"I don't know how you do it," You laughed sarcastically as you looked up at Minho through your lashes, he and Jeongin had gone back to acting as though nothing had happened, in fact, the whole of the Maknae line were pretending it never happened and the money was never spoken about again. That was of course after Jeongin tried to give it to you as an apology but you told him you wanted nothing to do with that part of your life anymore.

"I can tell how sorry he is, it doesn't mean I forgive him for hurting you it just means I'm capable of letting it pass but if he hurts you again I'll break his knees," You laughed at him and shook your head at him, 

"No, you won't. He's your friend, you should go though." You nudged him as you noticed the boys manager staring at you through the glass walls of the quiet room, 

"I'll make it up to you, your place tonight?" He questioned as if there was any other place you would go together. The two of you would always hang out at your apartment since you didn't have the bravery to head to the dorms just yet. 

"Yeah, bring food." You ordered as he walked out of the door, sending you a playful wink as he walked away from you.

Tagline: @taestannie @kneel-begyourpardon @sw33tnight @acciocriativity @mwitsmejk @minholuvs​