#look at their faces when the other explains why they did it

[hizumi-cchi]

I got lucky. I finally found the place that sneaky person frequents. Now, I need to stake out there until he makes an appearance.

Hehehe. Wait for me!

I'll uncover the veil covering you and give you the recognition you deserve. Oh, our hero!

The place where the hero will appear is a chapel, it looks like it also functions as an orphanage. According to my information, it's an ordinary chapel, and there hasn't been any trouble lately.

When I arrived, everything was, as expected, normal. The chapel was spacious and clean. The staff were working happily. The children were healthy and full of energy. It doesn’t seem like a place that needs help.

I'm still unsure about the reason why the hero would come here. He's known for being elusive and appearing only when he needs to deal with big troubles. Like terrorism or natural disasters.

The children started surrounding a man. They seemed to like him as they were all talking excitingly. The man, on the other hand look at them with hardened expression, sometimes patting the heads of the children. After a while, he brings some bags and starts distributing what looks like gifts. The children look thrilled, and the people of the chapel make a troubled smile and thank the man.

The man's face looks pale, and his movements are slow. He's always supported by one of the people who came with him. They all have complicated expression, some even look sad, though they act happy around the children.

I asked one of the staff about the man. It seems like he is a big benefactor for the chapel, donating huge sums, visiting and bringing gifts for children, it looks like he helped them a lot, the person talked about him with reverence and deep loyality.

I went closer to the man and heard his conversation, or more, the children's excited chatter. They were begging him to tell about the kidnapping case.

Why would the children be so interested in kidnapping cases? And why ask Him? The latest case of kidnapping was mass disappeance case that was solved by the hero....

Does that mean, he is... ?!!!

As I looked into his face more deeply I felt weird, that person...

As I was concentrating, I felt a menacing presence and looked to my side to find an old man smiling at me, but I couldn't help but be terrified by his silent aproach to me.

The old man politely asked me to follow him and took me to a secluded part of the chapel grounds. In my surprised stupor, I asked the old man if that man was really the hero. The old man, introducing himself as the butler, told me that his liege doesn't like to be called hero and doesn't consider himself one, but all the hard cases that troubled the country was solved by him. The butler was talking with seeming pride.

I was still confused, I was sure that the hero would come here, and the butler didn't seem to be lying, but for him, for the hero to look so pale and weak. That hero that helped us so many times with great powers bordering with miracles. That strong person, why did he look like a sick person?

The butler, though his face was unchanging, looked sad. He explained how the hero's power worked, that the miracles he performed weren't without consequences, that he coughed blood so many times, that his vitality was seeping from him little by little until he became like this.

I was furious. If he knew that, why didn't he stop? Why did he shave off his life?! What reason does he have?

The butler was silent for a while. He knew his liege was wearing down his life. But he also knew his liege's kindness and compassion.

He asked me if I liked the chapel. I told him that it was nice and the butler smiled contentedly. He explained to me that every person here was rescued by the hero.

The victims of the natural disaster that lost their home and living got to work here. The children who lost their families to the terrorists stayed here. The people who lost their places and were left alone, like particles of sand slipping through fingers, were gathered here. He not only saved their lives but also gave them another life.

How could such a kind person exist. That thought filled my mind. As I listened to the butler, I was overcome with sadness.

When I came here, I was filled with pride that I would finally get to meet the hero that I respected for a long time, but to know the truth of his sad sacrifices. If this is what it means to be a hero, there shouldn't be one. If being a greater existence means carving into oneself, being mediocre is much better.

The butler told me that his liege intends to rest and recuperate. He continued with a troubled tone that it may be of no use because of that meddlesome nature of his.

Hearing this made me restless. If he were to continue helping people, he might overdo it again. If so, won't having more people around him help him, even a little? Even by helping with one part, even just by nagging him to take care of himself,even by just staying beside him, if I could make the smallest change, I want to do it. To my hero who saved me at every turn, when I was taken as hostage by the trrorists, when I was buried under the buildings during the disaster, when my child was kidnapped. If I could return the favor, even by a little. I will follow him for him to find his happiness this time.

You're the detective looking into the elusive superhero who's saved the city, and the world, several times over. You know who they are, now, and it breaks your heart.

[aphrodicci]

ᴛʜᴇ ᴜʟᴛɪᴍᴀᴛᴇ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴅᴇɢʀᴇᴇ ❦ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

❦ follow for more content! ❦

join my discord :)

❦ beautiful divider by @uzmacchiato ❦

remember a number shall not define your beauty, but describe it. if you do not have this, this does not mean you are not beautiful.

❦ did you know that the 23 degree is known as the ultimate beauty degree? like how the 29th degree is known to be the ultimate fame degree. the star of god. but the 23 degree is the star of aphrodite.

❦ it's usually perceived as a degree of extreme beauty or as someone who receives extreme attention. considering that it is naturally ruled by aquarius and it's the last degree of aquarius as the first one is the 11th degree.

❦ its critical when it lands in venus, but with my own research, all the celebrities who are considered to have an extreme charm, influence and beauty to them have this degree in any placement. as with its uranian influence it gives the number the wheel of fortune [as the wheel of fortune is about a random series events good or bad, which aquarius/uranus rules].

❦ as the degree gives exageratted allure it does put off people, for example. megan fox who has this degree on her gemini venus is usually playing roles that involve her being a bombshell, someone who has the type of beauty that wonders if they're from the same plane as you. which could be considered why she is given roles where she is a "robot" "siren/succubus" characters.

❦ another example is rihanna who carries this degree on her north node, and she is known for her incredible beauty. and with it being in north node pisces, it explains why many musicians/people within a similar industry of her always wanted her, considered her to be their future wife. and with it being paired with north node/rahu which is known for its temper, it connects to why men are usually fighting over her. what else i've realised is that she has also been associated with being a siren.

❦ this aphrodite degree brings someone a distinct appearance, which makes it easier for other people to tell when someone is copying them. ariana grande has this degree on her pluto. rihanna has this degree like i've mentioned before and adriana lima holds this degree on her neptune which falls in the 1h. and the women i have listed usually have people wanting to do ANYTHING to look like them.

❦ these women who have this degree not only have extreme beauty but they share innovative style which makes people fall in even more in love with them. megan fox and the other beautiful women i have mentioned are known to have many clones on social media it's always joked about, whether it be through music style, clothing, hair, make-up. peope unintentionally treat these women to be the trend-setter of commodites they're strong in.

❦ you could be wondering how is the 23 degree associated with venus? and it's because through numerology and spirituality, the number 3 is associated with venus and the empress. and when you multiply the 2 and 3 together it adds up to 6 which is another venus essence degree [notice how i said venus essence and not mercury, that'll be a post for another day!] but the number 6 is associated with aphrodite who is sometimes deciphered to be lucifer. [lucifer who was known to be the most beautiful angel].

❦ at face value, the 23 degree adds up to 5. which is another beauty degree. on the other hand when we look strictly back to the signs being assigned to the number. the 23rd degree is a uranus degree, and uranus can give extreme and even off-putting beauty.

❦ usually neptune is considered with sirens, yet so is uranus as it governs over alien species. to us, sirens are a type of alien as they're about the unfamiliar and the unknown.

❦ the aquarius influence gives it an untouchable glamour which makes people want to replicate it even more. to attain the "unattainable". and this can also manifest in social dynamics, besides the individual having much beauty. they carry a charm and essence that make people attracted to it, almost worship it. which falls into the "uranus god complex" trait.

❦ aquarius rules over memorable beauty, for example annalynne mccord. her role as naomi in 90210 made me shocked by her beauty more. the more episodes she was in the more i was taken away.

❦ with this uranus energy, the degree becomes a beauty where someone learns how to own their beauty. owning what makes them look unique and breath-taking instead of letting current trends direct you to what you think you should do.

❦ the venusian and uranian cross over gives the person a magnetism that is easy to reach, like an icon.

❦ another example is cassie ventura, she has this degree on her mercury in leo. and it's a collective agreement that she's one of the most beautiful faces that we've ever seen.

❦ and like the previous women i have listed down. she was also a trendsetter. when she had many people shave the side of their head so they could feel like they are her? that is the 23rd degree energy. she has the type of beauty that feels too unreal, and with it also being in leo it shows how many people wanted her attention + her beauty being one of the things that gives her fame [lets ignore the who shall not be named].

❦ both the 23rd degree and leo are fame commodities in astrology, these two being alligned together shows that cassie is a powerhouse.

❦ thank you for reading! ❦

❦ join my discord :) ❦

❦

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Start A New

Fandom: The Pitt

Pairing: Dr. Jack Abbot x F!Reader

Summary: In a tragic car accident, Jack loses his wife, who was your best friend, and you lose your husband, the father of your child. Now both of you navigate life together and co-parenting your daughter, Evelyn, while also trying to figure out your feelings for each other.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who loved the first part! Now here's that happy ending you all wanted...

Undeserving (aka Part 1) | The Pitt Masterlist

Jack tried to get some rest. He really tried, but he kept going over his argument with you. Did you really not see how much he loves you and Evie? Do you really not know how heartbroken he'd be if you left?

He sighs and checks the time on his bedside. It's almost noon and Evie usually takes a nap around this time. It might be a good time for him to talk to you again so Evie doesn't see if things get heated.

He kicks off his blankets and drags himself out of bed. He exits his room and heads to the kitchen. You're there again, looking at your laptop. He hopes you're not looking at apartments again, but it's likely.

"Can we talk?"

"You should be sleeping."

"I can't. My mind is going all over the place," he takes up the empty chair beside you. He glances at your screen and, sure enough, you were looking at apartments.

He rests his arms on the dining table, "Please, don't leave," he says in a broken, pleading tone.

You fully face him, "Jack, I love you. I really do, but...I feel bad. You were my Anna's husband. She was my best friend. The one she was supposed to grow old with. I feel guilty that she's not here, that you and her never got to have kids and grow old together. I feel bad for practically replacing her."

"You're not-"

You hold your hand out, "Let me get everything out...please."

He nods, "Okay."

You take a deep breath, "I feel guilty for being here when she couldn't be. I also feel guilty for loving you when it should be Andrew here helping me raise Evie. I feel guilty for taking up your space, your time. I-I feel like I don't deserve you. You're such a good, loving, caring man and I shouldn't be taking over your life the way that I've been these past few years.

"That's why I want to move out. But also, my therapist think it'd be good for us to live separately. We've become too dependent on each other because we lost our partners in the same accident. We need space in order for us to have a healthy relationship. And I really hope you understand that."

He gulps and nods, "I get it...but fuck, sweetheart. You and Evie are the first and last thing I think about when I wake up and go to sleep. I'm gonna be honest, it's gonna fucking suck not having you two around all the time."

You reach out and place your hand on top of his, "Again, this isn't happening any time soon. I still have to find a place."

"Have you looked at places nearby?"

You nod, "Yeah. I don't wanna be too far from you."

That brings a small smile to Jack's face, "That's something at least," he murmurs. He leans in and presses his lips to your head, "I love you so much, sweetheart." He turns his hand up and laces his fingers with you.

"I love you too," you whisper. You lean back to look at him, "We'll get through it." you cup his face with your free hand, your thumb grazing over his five o'clock shadow, "We've gotten through worse."

He chuckles and shakes his head, "Yeah...we have."

_____________________________

In the upcoming months, you continued to apartment hunt. Jack would accompany you to provide input. You looked at various apartment complexes within two to five miles away from Jack's home.

You eventually found a place just three blocks away from him and much closer to the park the three of you frequented.

Leaving Jack was hard, but you knew it would be good for you two. Evie took it hard, obviously. She didn't want to leave her Uncle Jack Jack and her cries brought tears to your own eyes.

Jack held Evelyn close as he explained everything, "You'll still see me, honey. I'm not going anywhere. We'll still go to the park together and have family time. I'm not leaving you, baby. I promise," he holds her tighter and you see tears welling up in his eyes as Evelyn sobs, "I promise, Evie. I'll always be here for you and mommy."

When move in day came, Jack helped you as much as he could. When he was at work, some of the day shift nurses and doctors came to help you.

Robby grunted as he set a box down, "So...I heard you two confessed your love."

You rolled your eyes, "Yes. We did."

"You know, usually when people love each other like you do, they move in together. Not move out."

"We need the space and more independence. We did everything backwards, Robby." You explained as you begin to unbox the box he brought in.

"I know. But don't tell Abbot I told you this, but he's been really anxious about this. He doesn't know what he's going to do without you girls."

"We'll figure it out eventually. We've spent a majority of these past few years always at each other's sides and we weren't even officially together. It's going to be a big change, but we can get through it. After everything we've gone through, especially Jack, I think we'll make it out okay."

The doctor nodded, "I hope so 'cause now his bitchin' is even more sad and depressing."

You giggled and shoved his shoulder, "Get back to work, doc."

He salutes you, "Yes, ma'am!"

_________________________

Three months living in the apartment with just you and Evelyn was a rough start. Evie was constantly asking for her Uncle Jack Jack and you had to explain that you couldn't go to his house every single day.

Eventually, she got used to it being just you and her. Some nights did feel lonelier than ever. You had to fight yourself on not inviting Jack all the time. But so far, he'd been coming over once a week and you've been going to his the same as well.

It was an adjustment for sure, but you three of you eventually used to it.

Any downtime he had during his shifts, Jack would call you, wanting to hear your voice or see Evie via video chat. You thought things would be tense for a long time between you and he. But, thankfully, it was only tense for the first month and you two fell back into how things were before. You'd joke around, share about your days, but now it's coupled with some flirtatious banter.

It was weird in the beginning, hearing him flirt with you and you flirt back. But now it's second nature with you two. Your flirtatious banter would be silly or cute or downright sinful, but only when Evie wasn't around.

Jack: what're you wearing?

You snort when you read his text. You text him back:

You: aren't you supposed to be working?

Jack: was thinking about you and I'm on my lunch....so what're you wearing?

You take a selfie of you wearing one of his old Army shirts and reply to him with that.

Your phone suddenly starts ringing and you laugh, answering it, "There's no way I'm having phone sex with you while you're at work."

"Well can I come over after my shift and we can have real sex?"

You clasp your hand over your mouth to muffle your laugh. You look beside you to see Evie still passed out after you two started watching a movie.

"Won't you be exhausted?"

"I'm wound up today and sex is a great relaxer." You can hear the smirk in his tone.

"Yeah? Says who?"

"Me, I'm a doctor, remember?"

"Last time I checked, you're a doctor in medicine. Not sexology."

He hums, "Fine. You caught me...I just miss you."

You soften your voice, "I miss you too. I miss you a lot but...this time apart has been good for me."

"I know, but don't get too comfortable. Once your lease is up, you're moving back here. Got that?"

You chuckle, "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure. I want us to be whole again. It's so fucking quiet in the house now. Fuck, the other day, I had Bluey playing in the background just so it feels like you two are around still."

That tugs on your heartstrings, "Jack-"

"Shit. I gotta go. They need extra help and we're already down a doctor. I gotta go sweetheart and I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Jack. Bye." He ends the call and you lay back in bed. You bury your face into his shirt, wishing it smelled like him again.

_____________________________

It felt like deja vu. You're at the park, sitting on the picnic blanket with Dana like you had all those months ago. Jack and Evie are playing on the playground like they always are.

Dana, feeling the same sense as you goes, "Funny to be here with you guys again but now you and Jack are together. Separate, but also together."

You nod, "I know. Weird, right?"

"That was a rough patch you guys went through, but look at you now. You two have gone through a lot and keep overcoming it. Shows how strong the two of you are," Dana lifts her bottle of water as if giving you a cheers and sips from it.

You smile at the older woman, "Thanks. None of what the both of us have gone through was easy, but we did it together. Loving him is easy. I still feel sad and guilty sometimes. For Anna. For Andrew."

"They would've wanted you two to be happy," Dana says with confidence.

"I know, still doesn't mean I don't feel bad about it sometimes." You sigh, "Therapy has helped a lot though."

"That's good, honey. Really good."

"Sweetheart!" you look up and see Jack looking your way, "You want ice cream?"

"Rainbow pop please!" You glance at Dana, "You wany anything?"

"I'm good."

"Just one for me, baby!"

"Got it!" he gives you a thumbs up and guides Evie to the ice cream truck.

Dana wistfully sighs, "You guys are so fucking cute. I really am happy you two are together."

"Thanks, Dana. I am too."

______________________________

Three Years Later

Evie was at a sleepover at her friend's apartment in the same complex. So that meant you and Jack had the place to yourselves since Jack was off that day.

After a few rounds of sex, you two were just cuddling in your bed. Your head is resting on his chest, his arm wrapped around you and tracing lines along your back.

You two were laying in a blissful silence when Jack slid out of bed, "Where you going?"

"I wanna grab something from my pants," he grabs his jeans from the floor and found what he was looking for in his pocket.

He sits back in bed and presents you with a tiny box. You immediately sit up and look at him with wide eyes, "Jack..."

"Sweetheart, you already know how much I love you. There aren't really words that I can say that you haven't heard before. I love you and Evie so much. We've gone through hell and back. Our lives have been intertwined since that night. I didn't expect to fall in love with you, but I did. I didn't expect to love Evie as much as I do.

"I love the life we've built together, even though the start of it was unconventional and, frankly, extremely traumatizing-"

You snort, "What a way to propose, baby."

"Well I didn't necessarily say the words yet, did I?"

He opens the box to reveal a gorgeous ring. The cut was perfect and it was a ring you definitely see yourself wearing forever, "Y/N, will you marry me?"

"Of fucking course I will," you press your lips to his and you feel him smiling into the kiss, "I love you," you mumble against his lips.

He breaks the kiss, grinning, "I love you too," he takes the ring out of the box and slips it onto your finger.

You look at how it sits on your finger. You didn't think you'd be wearing another wedding ring again, yet here you are.

You giggle and Jack looks at you, "What's so funny?"

"I can't believe you proposed with your dick out and made a comment about our shared trauma."

He shrugs, "Well isn't our entire relationship built on unconventional and traumatic events?"

You roll your eyes and climb onto Jack's lap, "Shut up and make love to your fiancee."

He smiles wide, "No need to tell me twice."

_____________________

"DID HE DO IT?! DID HE ASK YOU TO MARRY HIM?!" Evie asks as into the apartment after her sleepover. Jack follows her inside, chuckling.

You hold up your left hand, "He did, baby!"

"YAY!" Evie wraps her arms around you and then gasps. She turns to Jack, "Can I call you dad now?!"

Jack looks at you. You two have talked about it before. You're okay with Evie calling Jack her dad. He practically is.

He softly smiles at the six year old, "Yeah, honey. You can call me dad." Evie launches herself at Jack and he catches her. He hugs her tight.

It's funny. You and Jack thought you were undeserving of each other, but turns out, you were just what the other needed this whole time.

[alisonsfics]

you are my sunshine

pairing: bucky barnes x thunderbolt!reader

summary: a team bonding day is just what the thunderbolts need after a string of rough missions. you set aside all your other stress and make one goal for the day: get bucky to finally kiss you.

word count: 1.7k

warnings: extremely soft and fluffy bucky

A soft knock on the door brought you out of your thoughts. You already knew it was him. His metal fist making an echoing sound as it knocked against the wooden door.

You swung the door open.

“Hey, Bucky.” You said. Your smile made him weak in the knees.

Then he saw it.

A yellow sundress with small white accents ending right below your knees. The way it hugged your waist, made him crazy. It perfectly outlined your figure, like it’d been poured on as a liquid.

He just wanted to melt into you.

He sunk his nails into his thighs to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing your waist. “I…uh, hi,” he mumbled incoherently.

You watched his gaze roll down your frame, barely able to look you in the eye. “You’re allowed to compliment me. I won’t be offended.” You tried to encourage him.

He let out a sigh. “I don’t even know where to begin. You look like sunshine in human form.” He was in awe. You were like a magnet drawing him in, and he couldn’t pull himself away. And he didn’t want to.

Your heart swelled. That may have been the nicest thing Bucky, or anyone else, had ever said to you. “Anyway…uhh, the rest of the team wants to leave early. They sent me to check if you were ready yet.” He explained.

You nodded. “I’m ready.” You said, sweetly. “I’ll take this for you.” Bucky said, taking your tote bag out of your hands and leading the way to the car outside.

Bucky carrying your bag full of beach supplies made you feel like there were butterflies bursting out of your chest. You didn’t know why. It was so surprisingly domestic, which wasn’t a look you saw on him very often.

After your last mission, which had been a rough one. The team decided to rent a house close to the beach for the weekend.

It was nice to see Bucky recharge being in an environment that wasn’t life-threatening at every turn. You both had spent all of last night giggling and playing card games til midnight. You could feel his hardened exterior chipping away as he opened up to you more and more.

You walked down the driveway to the car where the rest of the team was hanging around. The girls cheered when they saw you. All of you piled into the car.

Alexei, naturally, was driving. Yelena was in the passenger seat and in charge of the aux cord. You were squished between Bucky and John in the second row, while Ava and Bob were sitting in the third row.

Bucky started telling you some goofy story about growing up in Brooklyn. Seeing him happy made you happy. It was like when you saw a baby or a puppy and it was so cute that you got cuteness aggression.

Watching Bucky gush about his happiest memories was like that.

It was like your skin was electric, and you physically couldn’t sit still. You wanted to hug him, or hold his hand, or pepper kisses all over his face.

You tried to restrain yourself. He’d probably think you were crazy if you did all those things. You tried to tone it down and still get your energy out.

You rested your hand on his thigh. He stuttered for a second, then jumped back into his story. His hand slowly inched over towards yours, letting his pinky brush against your own. It was like being zapped by an electric current.

You both froze for a second, catching each other's eyes. Embarrassed, you both looked away.

The car pulled up to a red light. You refused to look at Bucky, but you knew he was watching you. Your face burned under his gaze.

“Everybody, say cheese.” Yelena said, holding up her phone to talk a selfie of the group.

You smiled quickly sticking bunny ears up behind Bucky’s and John’s heads. Ava tried to stifle a giggle as she noticed your small prank. Alexei stuck out his tongue and held up a rock n roll hand.

“Bucky, scoot in. I can only see like half your face.” Yelena said.

He turned, resting his arm along the seat behind you. “Hey, no bunny ears for me.” He said, finally noticing as he scooted closer to you. He was shoulder-to-shoulder with you. If he’d been any closer, he would’ve been in your lap.

“Is that what you’re doing?” Walker asked, grabbing your hand and pulling it down. He glanced over your head at Bucky, who nodded at him. They both quickly put bunny ears behind your head.

“You’re a bunch of children.” Yelena teased as she snapped a couple photos.

When you got to the beach, Alexei, Bob, and Ava all dropped their bags and quickly ran down to the water. The rest of you starting setting up the beach chairs and towels.

“Hey, Bucky. Can you put some sunscreen on my back?” You asked. It took a lot of effort to hide your smirk as Bucky got flustered.

He finally looked at you, realizing you’d taken off your sundress and were standing before him in a white bikini. His pupils grew. His mouth felt dry as his eyes raked across every inch of your skin.

He tried to memorize every detail. He never wanted to forget the golden glow that the sun gave your skin. Or the way your bikini perfectly fit your body. Angelic— was the only word he could think of to describe it.

He’d gained Yelena’s and John’s attention by now. Watching as he fumbled around his words, not a single coherent sentence leaving his lips.

“I think what Bucky is trying to say is that you look amazing.” John said. The compliment was sincere even though his main goal was embarrassing Bucky.

“Sorry, doll. Yeah, I can help ya.” He said. He spread his legs, patting the place between them on his lounge chair. Realizing where he wanted you to sit, it was your turn to be flustered.

Still, you sat down. His thighs were pressed up against your hips. Your stomach turned in knots. A warmth starting to pool in your belly.

A sudden cold stinging on your back. Except— it wasn’t from the sunscreen. It was his metal hand.

Oh fuck— you hadn’t thought about how soothing his hand would feel on your burning skin. You felt unbelievably hot. Like you expected to see steam evaporating off your skin. But the cold jolt of Bucky’s metal digits provided a relief that made you melt into his touch.

“Sorry, doll. My hands are a little cold.” He had a cocky smile plastered to his face. The smug soldier knew exactly what he was doing. He heard the sigh that left your lips as he massaged your back, rubbing in the sunscreen— the same sigh you’d tried to disguise with a cough.

“It’s alright…feels nice,” you whispered, so only he could hear you.

He rubbed in the last bit of sunscreen, then let his hands sneak around your waist. He rested his chin on your shoulder, pressing his chest against your back. “Make yourself at home,” you teased him.

“Maybe I will,” he retorted, nestling his face into your neck.

“Alright, come on lovebirds. Say cheese for the camera.” Yelena said, standing in front of you both.

You squinted at the camera, the bright sun making it impossible to open your eyes. You held your hand above your eyes to block the sun.

Without thinking, Bucky took his sunglasses off his head and slid them on your nose.

Your hands ghosted over his hands resting on your stomach as you both posed for the picture. “Okay, I’m done. Proceed with your canoodling.” She teased.

You turned over your shoulder; your face only millimeters from his. “You want to go swim?” You asked, pretending like you didn’t see his eyes flick down to your lips.

He licked his lips and quickly nodded his head. “Last one there is a rotten egg, super soldier.” You mocked before you took off sprinting towards the ocean. You couldn’t outrun Bucky, you knew that, so you were shocked when he hadn’t passed you yet.

Then, you felt your feet lifted up off the ground. You squealed as Bucky threw you over his shoulder. He ran down to the water, trying not to drop you as you squirmed.

He made it to water and softly placed you down beside him. “That is cheating. You’re disqualified from the race.” You said, poking your finger into his chest.

You waded into the water, and Bucky followed behind.

John and Yelena watched from their beach chairs. They both had books abandoned in their laps because it was just so much more entertaining to watch you and Bucky pretend like you weren’t in love.

“No way they’re leaving this trip without hooking up, right?” John said, looking over at Yelena. “Oh absolutely not. I’d say by the end of the day.” She countered. John raised his eyebrow, “wanna bet?” he asked, reaching his hand out.

“Oh, you’re so on.” She said, quickly shaking his hand.

“It feels so nice to just relax and not have any missions to worry about.” You said, talking to Bucky as you both walked deeper into the ocean. His hand brushed against yours, sending a jolt through your body. “Mhmm,” he responded, softly.

You went to step forward, but it was deeper than you expected it to be. Your foot slipped against the loose sand, but you felt two hands grab your forearms.

Bucky held you up, keeping you from falling under the water.

At the same time, you both realized how close you were standing. He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you even closer til there was no room between the two of you.

“Would you be mad if I kissed you?” Bucky asked. His voice came out soft; so soft he wasn’t sure whether he’d spoken the words or thought them.

“Mad? Oh definitely not. I’d encourage it.” You replied.

He chuckled before leaning in and pressing his lips against yours. Your bodies melded into one. To Bucky, you felt the missing puzzle piece of everything he’d ever wanted in life. His lips curved into a smile as he kissed you.

“I win!” You both heard Yelena scream. You both pulled apart and saw her jumping up and down and sticking her tongue out at John.

“Looks like our friends had bets on us.” You said, giggling.

“I’m really not surprised.” He said, leaning back in to kiss you again.

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[samisverycool]

I love your yandere prince! I was wondering if you could write a scenario in which we we broke something of his in his room without wanting to, and we go out to get something to clean it, but when we come back we see him and a lot of the maids in his room, he thought someone else had broke it, but then we come and explain to him it was actually our fault. It would be so funny seeing him changing his mood so quickly haha

yess i can totally see him doing a complete 180° lol, thanks for the req <3!

sorry i've been super busy lately, but i've got some drafts that r coming soon :'(.

࣪ ִֶָ☾. yandere prince . part four

part one

part two

part three

"oh crap."

staring down at the puddle of water, shards of ceramic, and sprawled out white gardenias, you quickly realised that you had made a big mistake coming into the prince's chambers uninvited.

you stood, frozen, the rare, hand-painted vase from the eastern provinces, now laid like spilled blood on the marble floor.

the prince was dragged away to a meeting with some nobles, though he was very grumpy upon realising he was unable to bring you with him.

you were just cleaning and dusting his room while he was away, keeping yourself busy. but now, looking at the mess, you swallow hard.

you quickly slip away from the room to grab some cleaning supplies, nerves fraying.

unbeknownst to you, a fellow maid, concerned after hearing a loud crash, wandered into the room. and, as if on queue, the prince's meeting had just ended.

you start to make your back, dustpan and rag in hand, when you heard it─

"what did you do?"

you stand at the doorway, freezing at the sight of the prince looming over a trembling maid.

"you broke it?" the prince speaks, eerily calm.

"n-no, your highness! i heard a crash and went to go check the commotion, please believe me!"

the peince takes a step. "that was a one-of-a-kind gift. you dared to just waltz into my private chambers? your audacity almost amuses me," his eyes narrow.

"it wasn't me! i swear─ i didn't─" the maid's voice cracks.

"my prince," you finally find your voice, carefully setting the cleaning supplies down as the prince whirls around.

you bow your head. "it was me. i broke the vase, i was cleaning without your permission. she came inside because she heard it fall."

the silence was unbearable, thought it was only a few seconds, it felt like an eternity you stood there.

"oh," the prince suddenly smiles, entire face softening like a storm stopping mid-rage.

he gently grabs your hands and leads you towards him, as if afraid you'll break next. "why didn't you tell me, my sweet? you're not in trouble, don't worry. that vase was useless to me, anyway."

he snaps his head to the maid that was shaking like a leaf in the wind. "you can go."

she didn't need to be told twice.

his attention is fully on you now. he smiles, rubbing his thumbs against your hands. "you're not hurt, right?"

you shook your head. "i apologise, my prince. i will clean it up immediately!"

"no, no, you might cut yourself," he coos. "i'll get one of the other maids to do it. just make sure you tell me if anything like this ever happens again, alright?"

you gulp as his grip starts to seem unyielding. "yes, my prince."

[ribbitrabbot]

speculations

pairing : frank langdon x fem!resident

plot : you and frank have been friends for a long time , so much so that there’s always been a fleet of rumors circling you two . the rumors have never been without reason ; there’s always been sort of a shy tension between the two of you , but you’d never acted on it on the basis that dating between friends and coworkers has always been complicated . but a bad day at work seems to be enough for the both of you to finally acknowledge it .

warnings : uhh none that i can think of , just a bit of a spat with robby . just a bunch of sweet stuff , some fluff and comfort :3

a/n : frank’s not married in this ( idk if this is obvious or not , i’m just saying ) . this is my first x reader in a fat minute , i hope y’all like it !!

word count : 4.4k

“Besides,” You continue, braving the hot slice of pizza enough to gingerly pick it up, “If there’s any ‘next time’, Robby’s gonna kick my ass all the way around the block.” 

“No, he’s not.” Frank picks his own slice from the box, and you do little to hide your somewhat judgemental facial expression as he takes a bite from it, ice-cold. “You’re clearly the favorite. Unless you, I don’t know, kill someone, he’ll always let you off easy.” 

“Easy for you to say, you weren’t in here.” 

“Did he do the face?” 

“What face?” 

“You know, the face. The face he does so you know he’s really disappointed in you.” 

“Frank, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.” 

“Like this.” He says, dropping his piece down and then doing his best arms - crossed, head tilt, eyebrow raise Robby — an imitation that looks so stupid on Frank that you can’t help but laugh. You have to hand it to him, though. It’s a pretty accurate disappointed depiction.

The thing about hindsight is, is that it’s usually even more of a bitch than karma. Most people use hindsight to refer to obvious things — in hindsight, I wouldn’t have drunk that much, or in hindsight I wouldn’t have given that creep my number. Your hindsight was mostly about how much you should have listened to your gut screaming at you to call in sick this morning when you rolled out of bed and how stupid you were to ignore the dragging feeling on nights where you’d only gotten a couple hours of sleep. There was no reason for you to feel as crummy as you did; you’d worked in the pit long enough to at least try and shake the feelings away at the end of your shift, shower, eat whatever was left in your refrigerator, and turn on some show you’d already seen three times over. Maybe it wasn’t really healing, but it was enough to get by.

The adrenaline would fix you, anyway, it always did. Or at the very least you were hoping so. Maybe that was the real reason you’d picked emergency medicine as a specialty, besides the usual reasons of helping people, because you were half addicted to the rush of it all. But you were three hours into your shift, and not even the narrow rescue of four victims in a vehicle collision or being included in Perlah and Princess’ gossip had done much to raise your spirits. It must have been written all over your face, too, because it wasn’t just the interns who were tiptoeing around you like you were surrounded by eggshells.

“Mister Grant,” You sighed now, the very last your beside patience being damn near worn to a fray, “You need to understand how much this surgery could help Phoebe. Quite frankly, the longer we wait, the worse it could be for her.”

“But she doesn’t need the surgery right at this second. We can see if she gets any better.” The man insists. You can see the worry in his dark eyes, the entirety of his features aged by concern for his teenage daughter that had been brought in unresponsive by her friend. Any other day, you would feel more sympathetic for him; you would hold his hand and explain in painstaking detail why this procedure could be lifesaving. No parent wanted their child to be cut open needlessly, you can understand that, but today all his stubbornness does is grate on nerves you weren’t even aware of.

“I understand how upsetting this must be for you —“ You begin, a sentence from the nonexistent but universally known manual of Bedside 101, but his sudden anger cuts you off, his eyes flashing with accusation.

“Don’t give me that. All you doctors, it’s the same thing. You understand, you aren’t trying to upset me. You don’t understand. How could you possibly understand, you’re all trying to cut up my kid! Do you have a kid, Doctor? Can you honestly look me in the fucking eyes and say you understand? Fuck you.”

Your jaw ticks. You can see the emotion there, the fear, the need to find someone to lash out at. To blame. Everything in you is screaming to give him the benefit of the doubt, to chalk it up to a parent who sees tubes and wires sticking out of their whole world and immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusion. It’s not altogether an irrational reaction. Hell, if you were in his shoes, maybe you’d react the same way.

And then there’s the small voice within you that just manages to convince you that he’s an asshole. You shouldn’t listen to it. You shouldn’t. Had you been in a cartoon, it would have been the little devil whispering in your ear.

“Fine.” You say, with a sort of edged coolness that parents normally have when their children say something just a step too far. Your smile is tight lipped, and you wonder if your eyes flash with the barely restrained anger that you feel jumbling up inside of you. “Fine. I can tell that you, Mister Grant, clearly know more than me. It’s not like I’ve seen a dozen of these cases before. Hey, I’ve been to medical school, but you’re right. What do I know? I don’t have any kids.” You shrug sarcastically, then turn towards Donnie, who looked as though he was trying to walk past unnoticed. In fact, it looked like the entire radius in which you were speaking to Mr. Grant had suddenly turned into a danger zone. “Donnie, can you get Mister Grant any medical records he may need for Phoebe? And let O.R know — “

“Doctor L/n, can I consult with you?” The voice behind you stops your locomotive of orders dead. You turn just enough to acknowledge Robby, whose normally playful brown eyes have hardened to a coolness reserved for cocky interns and hardass superiors. But you’re surprised by the spike of annoyance that greets you, instead of any sort of remorse. The last thing you need is a chew - out from Robby, but there’s no avoiding it.

“Yeah. Fine.” You say curtly.

“Mister Grant, I’ll be back with you in a second, okay?” With a quick sentence, Robby confirms the trouble you’re in. ‘I’ll’, not your name or even we. He barely casts you a glance before turning on his heel, Mr. Grant still too stunned to even give a real reply. You pinch the bridge of your nose, tilting your head at the ground before sighing and following him.

You know the way to the break room, and even the looks that you’re getting as you follow Robby, even though you’re usually on the other side of them. The both of you are lucky it’s empty, and Robby almost slams the door behind him as he follows you in. You watch, biting the inside of your cheek as he tiredly rubs his face; you lean against the counter.

“Wanna tell me what the hell’s going on with you?” He asks, crossing his arms as he looks at you, head tilting.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve had a stick up your ass all day, so if I need to schedule OR to take it out, let me know.” Had he not been snippy, it would have been a better joke. Instead it makes you clench your teeth.

“I’m just tired.” It’s an excuse you’ve used a million times. Robby smiles and shakes his head.

“Oh, bullshit.” He’s right. You both know it. “You’re not the ‘just tired’ type, Y/n. You’re tired, take a walk. But you cannot talk to your patients like that.”

“Come on, Robby, you saw how that guy was acting. He was a fucking asshole!”

“It doesn’t matter, Y/n!” The laughter in his voice is stressed, dangerous. “You’re smarter than this. You’re tired, you’re stressed, take a walk, eat, do whatever you need to do. But you don’t lose your shit. Got it? Can you do that?”

You know it’s not personal. You know Robby has a thousand different things on his plate, that your temper is just another thing for him to worry about. That this is him keeping his own temper towards you — but it doesn’t make you feel any better. You want to feel angry at him, to only wallow in the hollowness that has haunted you since the day’s start. It makes his tone feel more patronizing than it normally would.

“Gee, I don’t know, that’s really hard, but I think I can handle it.” You sneer, your voice dripping with sarcasm. Robby looks at you, and for a moment you feel sorry. But before you can admit it, he gives a short sigh.

“Take a minute.” He’s out of the room before you can say anything else. Half of you wants to defy him, to stride out of the room and get back to work to prove a point. You don’t need Robby to put you in timeout, to punish you for acting the same way anyone would with the difficult Mr. Grant. Instead, you stare at the door he closed behind him, hands wandering up and pressing to your eyes after a long moment. The other half of you doesn’t care enough to prove a point. That half of you knows that it’s a losing fight, that if you go out there as hotheaded as you are right now, that it’s less a get back at Robby and more making everyone around you tense without reason. Maybe that would slide in any other sort of job, but the pit needed to work like a machine. No one could afford to be worrying about their coworkers when they already had worry enough with the patients that constantly came pouring into the door.

You’re just about to open the refrigerator to see what forgotten food you could raid when a knock snags your attention. You can’t place whether or not you hope it’s Robby or you hope it’s not, either way you scarcely bother to glance at the door before you call out.

“What?”

The door opens, but only some.

“Safe to come in?”

You’re unprepared for how welcome the familiar voice is, and it suddenly comes with a realization that you hadn’t heard it much at all today. You don’t bother to look behind you, but you answer.

“Whatever.”

Frank takes it as a yes. He closes the door gently behind him, then creeps up to look over your shoulder at the shelves of the refrigerator.

“Pizza’s probably your best bet. Unless you want to take your chance with yogurt that is either the same flavor or the same carton that was here in January.”

God, he’s so fucking annoying.

He’s close enough that his voice buzzes in your ear. Had anyone else done this, there was a very real possibility that you would have flipped your shit — someone with a lack of personal space would be a cherry on top of the shit show the last few minutes had already been. Instead, you try not to roll your eyes and slap your hand on top of the cardboard box.

“Move.” You order, and you can feel him back off from behind you. When you finally turn to face him, he’s already looking at you. His hands are tugging mindlessly at the stethoscope around his neck — you’d noticed a long time ago that he usually needed to be doing something with his hands. To ask him to sit still and do nothing for five minutes was as good as medieval torture. It was endearing most of the time, although a bouncing leg or a mindless tapping of his pen could get annoying. You don’t indulge him, instead you pull out a chair from the table and slap the cardboard box down.

Although you’re not in the most talkative of moods, you’re glad that he’s here. Truth be told, he was probably the only one you could handle being around at the moment.

You’d met him when you’d first started your residency at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical, not too long ago although it now felt like a lifetime. He’d been even cockier then, if that was even possible — a scrappy, difficult, smartass who had to learn things the rough way before he developed a begrudging admiration for Robby, which would later turn into a mutual bond. In those days, you remembered fondly, he often had unshaven stubble and a shadow under his eyes; those who didn’t know any better would think him a med student for all the time he spent here. You’d gotten along with him even then, even when people found his humor irritating and his doctoring methods questionable. Granted, the road had not always been smooth; there’d been a lot of banter in those early days. Well, maybe calling it banter was being a little too nice. Usually, he’d say something irritating, and you’d respond with something that would make him crack a smile of amusement. And other times he’d say something to make you laugh, genuinely, and he’d smile in response to that, too.

But the fun that came with the back and forth was only part of why the two of you had ultimately ended up being so close. Frank was smart, genuinely smart. Anyone, you’d learned, could memorize stuff from books and lectures and hours and hours of classes and tests, spit out the facts that they’d been forced to memorized like they were computers accessing files; and most did. But Frank knew people and because he knew people he knew his business. Most doctors you’d worked with diagnosed them and treated them like the print advised them to treat them. Frank would diagnose them and then treat them to get better whether it was textbook or not, and he did it in the span of a few seconds or the span of a few days. There was a genuine care that was veiled by the guise of a blunt sense of humor. Perhaps your ability to see past the veil was what had allowed you two to work so excellently together at the beginning, and later become a duo not unlike … well, whatever duo worked together really well.

“You’re a popular girl.” Frank murmurs, pulling a chair to sit, uninvited, next to you. You scoff and roll your eyes, fiddling with the pizza box as you try to decide whether you’re hungry or just upset. It’s unsurprising, the fact that the news of your flip - out on a patient’s concerned father has made the rounds so quickly. “Want me to try it first, make sure it’s not too moldy?” Frank asks after a beat, nodding towards the box. He’s worried, even if he’s trying to disguise it with a stupid tease. You can hear it in his tone. When you work with somebody almost every day, you get to tell what every single inflection means, every single pitch.

“You see me freak out?” You ask, turning your head as your rest your cheek in your hand.

“Uh, no, but you did that screeching thing you do when you get really mad.”

“Fuck you.” You have to try not to crack a smile. “I didn’t screech.”

It’s almost like just sitting in the room with him is relieving a tenseness you hadn’t even realized had been so heavy on you, like his voice was dusting a layer of soot away from your insides.

“Okay I wasn’t there, but Perlah said it got pretty ugly.” Frank drags the pizza box towards himself, then gets up with it, wandering over towards the microwave.

“Perlah said! Perlah’ll say anything if it’s good gossip.”

“Well, I gotta keep myself entertained somehow, and if you’re not gonna talk, Perlah’s my next best option.” Frank manages to find a plate to put what you imagine your slice, and you have to hand it to him — he’s got you backed into a corner where you have to answer.

“It wasn’t that bad.” You insist after a moment after Frank puts your pizza in to heat up, and then rotates to face you. “It’s just. Parents, you know. Sometimes they can be … “ you trail off as you search for the right word. “Irritating.”

“Stupid.” Frank agrees, giving the word that you were a little too nice to say outright. “I swear to God, I don’t know how some of them raise a whole person.”

“They’re raising a person that’s gonna end up with a bunch of disorders.” You joke, which pries a chuckle out of Frank as he pulls your food out of the microwave.

“When you flip your shit on a parent next time, can you make sure I’m there to watch? Or better yet, I’ll record it and then play it at your funeral in fifty years.” He puts the plate down in front of you, then sits back down with the box in front of him.

“You’re insane if you think you think you’re gonna be invited to my funeral. And I’m gonna outlive you anyway.” You smile. It’s strange thing to think of you two staying friends for so long, but then again it’s almost like you can’t even remember what it had been like when you didn’t see Frank most every day. You two were practically joined at the hip whenever you were on shift together, working together in sync the way doctors rarely did. It was no surprise that the rumors had begun to spark just a week or two after you two had just met. You wouldn’t be surprised if there was actually a monetary pool surrounding the idea if you two had actually slept together, considering that you’d been asked more than once if you two were an item. There were a thousand reasons to shoot it down — dating in the workplace, especially one where so much hinges on trust and teamwork, a fallout would be the last thing anyone needed. And you two had been friends for so long, there was the fear that anything more would ruin what you had already. But then again, there was the looks that lasted a little too long — the flirtations that lingered somewhere between a joke and the real thing that made you wonder if there could be something more.

“Besides,” You continue, braving the hot slice of pizza enough to gingerly pick it up, “If there’s any ‘next time’, Robby’s gonna kick my ass all the way around the block.”

“No, he’s not.” Frank picks his own slice from the box, and you do little to hide your somewhat judgmental facial expression as he takes a bite from it, ice-cold. “You’re clearly the favorite. Unless you, I don’t know, kill someone, he’ll always let you off easy.”

“Easy for you to say, you weren’t in here.”

“Did he do the face?”

“What face?”

“You know, the face. The face he does so you know he’s really disappointed in you.”

“Frank, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Like this.” He says, dropping his piece down and then doing his best arms - crossed, head tilt, eyebrow raise Robby — an imitation that looks so stupid on Frank that you can’t help but laugh. You have to hand it to him, though. It’s a pretty accurate disappointed depiction.

“You’ve had a lot of experience with that?” You ask, unable to tamper down your grin as he smiles back at you.

“Absolutely more than my fair share.”

“Poor you.” You coo mockingly, and it’s his turn to roll his eyes as he chuckles.

A silence drifts over the both of you. Frank’s chuckle fades into a gentle smile as he observes you in a way that almost makes you nervous.

“You okay though? Seriously?” He asks, playful tone fading into something more genuine.

“Uh,” you shrug. “I dunno. Weird day.”

“Well it’s a slow day at the office. I can see if he’ll let you knock off early.” The fact that he’s willing to brave a likely already pissed off Robby for you is definitely sweet, and the offer of going home is enticing.

“I have patients.” You try to use that as

your excuse, but Frank is already shaking his head.

“I can take care of them, don’t sweat it.”

“You sure?”

“Look who you’re talking to.”

“Oh, I forgot. You’re Superman.” You mock, but Frank looks prideful at the obvious poke. “Nah, it’ll be okay. If you pick up my shift there’s bound to be speculation. More speculation.”

“What speculation?” He tries to play it off innocently, but you know better. The sly smile ticking across his features is enough to make you shake your head at him, tongue poking into your cheek to try and quell a matching smile.

“You know exactly what speculation, you’re too smart not too.” You remark like it’s supposed to be an insult, yet there’s a certain sort of softness to it as you look at him. The gesture, even if you had not taken up him on it, was an impossibly sweet one. Even if was a “slow day”, as Frank put it, that guaranteed nothing. It could be that things could pick up if you did leave, or that one of your patients could have difficulties, leaving him with a lot to juggle with his and yours. Not to mention the ruthless teasing that he would be sure to endure. You pick up the pizza slice — mostly cool by now — with the intention of finishing it off.

Frank watches you with the same gentle expression on his face as you do so. Had you been intent on going back home, he would have convinced Robby to let you — but then again, he knew you had the same sort of stubbornness that he did, and you weren’t likely to take him up on the offer even if there was cause for more concern. Had he thought there was something seriously wrong, he would have coaxed you into taking the day off. But just like you knew him, he knew you. He knew every tick of your face, what every inflection meant and every offhanded remark. He knew you the way he knew his own mind. There was no doubt in his mind that it was just one of those days; but even if you weren’t going home, he made a mental note to watch you for the rest of your shift, make sure you were really alright. After all, when Perlah had said something about your “flip - out”, he could feel the concern grip him like a rock in his stomach almost immediately. Dana had given him a knowing look when he’d asked where you were so he could check on you. You were right, he wasn’t taking a whole lot of care to avoid fanning any flames of speculation about the both of you; but it wasn’t like they were baseless, either. He cared about you so much it was almost stupid.

“Compliments will get you everywhere, my friend.” He returns with a cocky half smile that you were so familiar with as you turn put your plate in the sink behind you. For a break room, it sure is cramped if you don’t even have to stand up to do so. There’s another bout of silence as you look back at him. Even though he’s hidden it under a mask of light humor, you can still see the slight worry in his eyes. He wouldn’t have hung around this long if he genuinely didn’t want to make sure you would be alright. Again, there’s a slight pang in your chest — a momentary question of what if.

“Thanks for hanging out with me, though.” You say, trying to make it sound casual.

You can tell that the sudden genuineness catches him a little off guard. His cocky half smile fades into something almost unsure; his fingers tap at his knee like a nervous fidget.

“Yeah, you know,” he tries to shrug it off. “I’m around here. A lot. And I like you, so.” You blink, cock your head a little as he shakes his head, tries to reword his statement. “I mean, we’re friends. I wanna know you’re okay.”

Objectively you’ve never seen him so nervous, not even when Robby’s voice boomed across the pit in the tone he uses when he means business and not when the occasional patient, stunning, blonde, and, let’s face it, with a rack that would be the envy of almost any woman flirted shamelessly with him. He’s always been the picture of suave, knowing exactly which lines to say and how to look. But with you, he’s like a high - schooler on a first date. It’s like you disarm him completely — and the shyness seems to be catching.

Barely audible is his name on your lips. Perhaps you meant something to come after it other than the kiss that was maybe him or maybe you or maybe the both of you — almost timid at first and quickly something more intimate; something finally released that had too long been locked away behind harmless flirtations and barely disguised jokes, behind whispered rumors and the knowing looks the nurses and other doctors would give whenever the two of you would pass by, practically matching each other in your strides. Any trace of denial that you two had maintained for the years you’d been here was wiped away in the moment. When you finally pull away from him, your mind is spinning; but it’s almost like an invisible weight has been lifted from you, and you can’t help the subtle smile that plays across your expression.

“So.” He murmurs, practically against your lips still.

“So.”

“We should probably get back.”

“Probably.”

And then he kisses you again, quicker this time, something much more domestic, like he already could get used to kissing you in the days ahead, weeks … years? Yet he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. Even if it was hard not to.

You’re the one to get up first, considering that he’s still looking at you like you’re a muse of some sort. Whatever cloud had been hanging over your head, he had managed to whisk away completely.

“Come on.” You urge as you move to open the door, and with the instruction, it’s like he’s snapped out of some sort of reverie. He gets up out of his chair, wasting no time in following the command, and beats you to pulling open the door as if your kiss has turned him into some sort of gentleman.

“Doing anything tonight?” He asks softly as you fall in step with him, the two of you cautious to avoid any curious glances your way. You crack a grin at how quickly he gets to work, yet something about it is endearing.

“Besides sleeping?” You quirk, and you half expect him to make some lewd comment in reply, but he skips it.

“I have some excellent week - old Chinese food in my refrigerator.” He offers, and you snort and nod, taking a beat to try and come up with a satisfactory reply.

“Hard to turn down free food.” You finally come up with, and you can’t help but think that it’s cute that eyes seem to shine with hope. “We’ll see how this shift goes?”

“Heard.” He responds, before Whitaker snags his attention by calling out his name. As he strides towards the direction the voice came from, he turns on his heel to give you one last glance — one that is impossible not to grin at.

[flofaiiry]

thank u so so much for answering my shy!reader x jack abbot prompt, i really appreciate it! u write them so well hehe 

adding onto shy!reader & jack 🫣 i think it’d be so cute for reader to particularly avert from jack’s gaze because they’re completely smitten by him; in comparison, reader is actually great at holding eye contact. 

i see jack being generally, unknowingly jealous at his observation and his need for eye contact w/ reader, especially when reader is smiling so genuinely and attentively maintaining eye contact w/ others while he gets fleeting glances and politeness 😭😭

AAAAA THANK U!! im so glad u liked it!!!

i love this idea so much omg reader who normally can look right into people's eyes but for 'some reason' just cant when it's jack!!! he would be sooo jealous i think, but also so confused. one day he would notice it happening a lot, like no matter what he says you don't catch his eyes for any longer than a few seconds. i can see him trying to subtly ask dana&robby if he did anything to piss you off or something like that to make you not want to look at him bcs he is racking his brain and cannot think of anything!!! later on in the shift he just cant take it anymore and pulls you aside into an on call room or empty hallway to ask you if everything's okay and if he did anything. he's stumbling through his words and trying to apologize for something he thinks he did wrong, not hearing you say his name a few times to try and explain. a bit more rambling and you decide the best way to get through to him isn't words, because he's clearly not hearing those right now, but actions. so you lean forward and kiss him. it's soft & tentative, you're not even sure if he feels the same way you just need him to know how you feel because you cant stand the idea of him thinking you're mad at him. you pull away after a few seconds, his eyes stayed open the whole time. "that's why i don't look at you, jack. because if i did for any longer than a few seconds i wouldn't be able to hide how i feel about you and-" you start to ramble now, and it's jack's turn to cut you off. he pulls you against him by the waist and kisses you again, it's less awkward, less hesitant. it's everything you've imagined. his tongue slips into your mouth, his hands travel up your sides- it's like he's desperate to discover as much of you as you'll let him in this moment. when he finally pulls away, he rests his forehead against yours. both of your breaths heavy, your lips the teeniest bit swollen and matching smiles on your faces. "let me take you out tonight." he phrases it like a question, but he already knows the answer. you nod, taking a deep breath to collect yourself. you look up, your eyes meet his, and this time you don't look away.

[jaellyfishh]

The Corner Where We Met · Part 5

trope: art teacher!azzi x PE teacher!paige

content: miscommunication, HUGE azzi dialogue and mature content towards the end

dc: i was struggling on this one fr. this chapter’s a mix of Azzi and Paige’s POV. i’m planning on dedicating a chapter mostly in Paige’s POV soon. still thinking as i go. feedback is appreciated!

word count: 9.8K

Thursday, fourth period

Paige was whistling her way down Moore’s second floor high school hallways, heading downstairs towards the school’s clinic to bother Kayla during her free period - her usual Thursday activity. Suddenly, she heard someone call for her name.

“Psst, Paige!”

The blonde whipped her head towards the voice to be greeted with a familiar face peeking out the music class’ door.

“‘Ms. Burrell, wassup?” Paige fully turned around and walked slowly towards her.

“We finished up our rehearsal, so my piano’s free,” Rae explained, eliciting raised brows from Paige. “How about I give you a proper lesson instead of just letting you sneak in here to play it when I’m not around?”

”Hey, I did ask permission the first time. And you were there the other time, busy writing your composition or something. So, technically, I wasn’t sneaking around,” Paige raised her arms up in defence.

Rae laughed. “Alright, alright. You gonna take the lesson or not?”

“Mmyeah, why not?” Paige shrugged with an animated frown before stepping into the class.

As Paige took her seat on the long piano stool, Rae nervously sat beside her, her muscles partially tensed when their arms brushed against each other.

“So…anything in particular you wanna learn? Since you already know some chords,” Rae asked, eyes cautiously glancing at Paige, who stared blankly at the piano keys while humming, thinking of a song.

A few seconds passed and a faint smile etched across Paige’s face.

“Elvis Presley. Can’t Help Falling In Love,” the blonde said plainly.

Rae raised her brows, head tilting with amusement. “That’s interesting. I thought you’d pick Yurima’s Kiss The Rain or something like that”.

“That’s too common. I wanna learn this,” Paige said with certainty while facing Rae.

The taller woman felt a warmth grow on her cheeks as Paige looked at her, to which she quickly covered with a chuckle.

“So you chose the most common romantic song?” Rae quizzed.

Paige shrugged again, looking back at the keys. “I dunno, maybe I’m feeling a bit…romantic these days”.

Rae held her breath, her heart thumping loudly in her chest, a small wave of hope creeping on her mind.

“Ooo, got somebody on your mind?” she asked cautiously, playing it cool.

“Uh… perhaps,” Paige shrugged.

“Anyone that I know?” Rae pressed a little.

“Maybe,” Paige answered with a polite smile. The vague answer making Rae’s heart race, feeling both hopeful and dejected.

But Paige didn’t feel the need to tell anyone else about her and Azzi. To her, it was a mutually exclusive, going nowhere, yet intimately growing relationship - and she’d like to keep it that way. It was comfortable enough.

“O-okay. Well, I’ll show you a beginner’s way to play the song. We’ll start with the right hand first, then practice with the left. Just follow what I’m pressing,” Rae started placing her hands on the keys, Paige following suit.

The familiar tune filled the empty room as the pair continued pressing on the notes in a slow tempo. After a few mistakes and several melodic repetitions later, the fourth period bell rang for lunch, causing the pair to stop, halfway done with the song.

“Wow, Paige, you’re a quick learner,” Rae smiled.

“You’re not too shabby yourself. Dang, now I gotta remember all of it,” Paige laughed while sighing.

Rae chewed on her inner cheeks before an idea popped in her head. “Hey, maybe I could teach you over the weekend? For reinforcement, of course”.

As Rae fiddled with her fingers in anticipation, hoping to score an unofficial date with the gym teacher after school. Paige hummed to think.

“I appreciate it, Rae. But, I’ll have to decline. I made…plans,” Paige smiled sympathetically, partially lying.

Well, the blonde had yet of a plan. She didn’t want to say that she reserves her weekends in case Azzi would be free after school. It wasn’t for anyone else to know, anyways. Fudd had days being on the brink of exhaustion, barely left with free periods ever since taking up the high school’s art classes, which limited the pair’s time to seeing each other at work or after school.

Rae didn’t want to push, but still wanted to take her chances. “I understand. Look, if you have spare time fourth or sixth period tomorrow, we can do our lessons then”

“Aye, I’m free fourth period,” Paige smiled at the schedule’s alignment.

“Then it’s booked,” Rae shrugged with confidence as Paige chuckled.

The blonde exited the class, thanking the music teacher briefly before heading downstairs. As Paige descended the last flight of stairs, her eyes caught a familiar figure walking down the adjacent hall. The two locked eyes, Paige smiling widely as she stepped on the ground floor.

“Hey, stranger,” Paige greeted Azzi, whose eyes wandered to the stairs behind.

“Coming from somewhere?” the shorter woman asked curiously.

“Yeah, just played the piano a bit. The usual. Rae was teaching me,” the blonde breathed out, still smiling at the Azzi.

Azzi’s expression slightly dropped. “Rae taught you?”

Paige tilted her head. “Yeah”.

“T-that’s nice of her,” Azzi stuttered, trying to give a polite smile.

“I know, right? Inês would’ve bit my head off before I even thought about touching her piano,” Paige joked, making Azzi half chuckle. ”Once I get good, you’ll be my first audience”.

Azzi smiled. “Yeah?”

”Mm-hm,” Paige looked at her, almost smitten.

Azzi bit her inner lip, her mind repeatedly asking the one simple question she’s been wanting to know. Then a voice interjected from nowhere.

“Coach B, you stare at yo’ mama with those eyes?” a young boy snickered, while the rest of his group stifled a laugh.

“Stay right there, Michael!” Paige yelled at the high schoolers, who raised their hands pretending to be scared, nonchalantly walking towards the gym. “I’ll have to go, but I’ll see you if I can”.

“Don’t worry about me, go,” Azzi chuckled.

Paige tapped Azzi’s arm lightly before jogging towards the boys, hooking one arm around Michael’s neck and giving him an aggressive noogie.

Azzi half smiled in endearment, watching them walk further away before returning to her own classroom.

“What did I say about minding your own business, man?” Paige scolded as they walked.

“Ow! Sorry, geez! Stop being such a simp then!” the young boy yelled in a whisper.

“A simp? I’m sure Cassy knows all about that, huh?” Paige retorted.

“I dunno what you’re talking about!” Michael turned red in self-defense before his friends made teasing noises to taunt him.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, buddy”.

—

Friday, fourth period

“You’re getting the hang of it now, Paige!” Rae cheered for Paige, who was mastering the first half of the song with both hands already.

“What can I say? I’m a natural,” the blonde responded with a common line.

Rae giggled. “If you can do this, the second part won’t be as hard”.

“I trust you. I have to give you credit for your teaching skills, though. Inês would’ve made me cry,” Paige joked with a grin.

Rae smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind one ear. “You’re pretty charming, Paige, I have to admit.

Paige was caught by surprise, appreciative of the compliment before making another light-hearted joke. “Wow, that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever told me today”.

Before Rae could speak further, the bell rang, alerting the pair that it was lunch time.

Azzi ascended the last stair of the second floor before hearing some chatter. For some reason she paused in her steps, peering through the wall’s edge. She caught Paige and Rae leaving the music room, which Fudd assumed was empty when they were inside. Closely observing them, they looked deep in conversation, laughing at each other probably over some lame joke Paige told.

Azzi’s breath hitched, the twist in her stomach returning.

And for the first time in a while, Azzi was reminded of her past, the image of her old self taunting her. She began breathing erratically, stumbling backwards.

Just then, a voice snapped her back to reality.

“Azzi, you going to lunch?” Kayla’s softly voiced as she held Fudd’s lower back, her face slightly concerned.

“Huh? Oh, um…Of course, ha ha” Azzi laughed dryly.

Kayla took notice. “You good?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? C’mon,” Azzi’s sudden change in expression left Kayla unconvinced, but she didn’t press further, unsure of what to suss out.

The friend group were in their usual spot again, in the corner of the room, noisy as usual. The common buzz of teachers chatting was like white noise to Azzi, whose mind went on autopilot. Her reactions to her friends’ conversations were half-hearted as she pretended to listen, her thoughts elsewhere. Paige, who sat beside her, noticed she didn’t get her usual attention from the curly brunette.

“Azzi, try this,” Paige smiled, motioning her fork that held what looked like a honey-garlic glazed salmon.

Usually, the younger woman wouldn’t hesitate to try a bite, but she just stared at the fork, emotionless. “I’m good, P, thanks.”

Paige furrowed her brows slightly, retracting her hand back. Before she could ask her something, KK’s loud voice called for Azzi, asking her to recount some funny story during last year’s field trip.

The blonde let it be, resuming eating and observing the woman beside her, whose emotion was hard to decipher.

Is it me? Or maybe she’s overworked? Or maybe it’s actually me? Paige’s thoughts ran.

After half an hour of empty exchanges between them, the lounge had already emptied out and the pair seemed to be the last to leave the vicinity. Before Azzi walked out without saying a word, Paige tugged on her arm just slightly, trying to catch her before they parted ways.

“Az, what’s wrong?” Paige was straight-forward, looking at her in bold concern.

The younger woman’s eyes scattered, her head turning the other way before looking down, then back up again. “Nothing’s wrong”.

“I don’t believe it,” Paige stated.

“It’s…it’s just work”. Azzi partially lied, unsure of what to say, or rather, afraid to admit her underlying feelings.

Paige sighed sympathetically. “If it’s work, you know I can always help out, right? Show me the assignments. Tell me what to grade, I’ll share the load with y-“

“No, no, it’s not like that. This is just…one of those days, kinda thing,” Azzi trailed, her reasoning vague.

Paige tilted her head in confusion, this angle of Azzi’s behaviour quite new to her. Although the blonde didn’t know what was really going through the brunette’s head, she thought maybe Azzi needed to unwind, take a break from school work, even for a day.

“Come by mine tonight. I’ll cook you something nice,” Paige said quietly with cautious eyes anticipating Azzi’s reaction.

To Azzi, that was the most tempting offer. But, maybe it was luck or unfortunate timing as she had already made plans.

“Thanks, Paige, but Caroline and I made plans over the weekend. We’re leaving tonight for Montgomery, a mini staycation. I figured I needed to unwind”.

Paige half smiled, relieved to know they both knew Azzi needed it.

“That sounds great, you deserve it,” Paige rubbed her arm.

—

Azzi and Caroline spent a good three hours at Montgomery Hotel’s famous bath and spa, the knots in their muscles kneaded out at the massage parlour and their bodies detoxified at the sauna. The pair were now ending their night in a secluded corner of the warm baths, catching up on life.

“Alright, spit it out, you don’t look like yourself,” Caroline couldn’t hold it in. She had hoped her best friend would’ve opened up about something early on, but her patience ran thin.

“I know, I know,” Azzi responded dispirited. “I was really hoping I came over it, but I thought wrong”.

Caroline tilted her head, scooting closer to Azzi.

She continued to ramble on. “It’s about Paige. About what we have. And the flashbacks. And… Rae“.

“Flashbacks? Rae? What?” Caroline looked lost, shaking her head as if to hear better.

“Sorry, I’ll try that again. You know how I told you Paige and I have no label? Well, we never had the chance to properly talk about the ‘rules’. Or, more like, we didn’t really care much about it ‘cause I think we know where we stand. Until Rae, you know the new music teacher, came into the picture. I had my suspicions, but I ignored them at first. Then two days ago, she asked me if Paige was single”

Caroline’s eyes widened. “For real? And what did you say?”

“I said yes. And I also said she wasn’t seeing anyone-“

“Girl, why did you say that?” Caroline asked in a light-hearted manner.

“I know. I realised my mistake then, but I didn’t take it back because when I thought about it, Paige and I never specified if we’re only seeing each other”

Caroline furrowed her brows trying to think. “But Paige isn’t actually seeing anyone else, though, right?”

“Yeah? Maybe? You never really know. Technically, we should be allowed to meet other people until we figure out what we want, right?”

“Azzi, have you seen Paige spend her free time outside of school with anyone else besides you?”

“No”

“Well, do you want her to meet other people?”

“No”

“And do you want to see other people?”

“Not really. I only like Paige”

Caroline remembered the other word Azzi mentioned. “What about the flashbacks?”

“Well…Paige told me she was getting piano lessons from Rae in school- Yeah, I’m hoping it’s not anything like that. I saw them walk out the music room together yesterday, smiling, laughing at each other… I was reminded of how I was treated back then. I guess I didn’t wanna disappoint myself again, so I-“

“You let Paige go”

“It shouldn’t have clouded my judgement, but I couldn’t help it.”

Caroline only frowned sympathetically, rubbing on Azzi’s arm.

“Azzi…I know it’s too much to ask, but why don’t you just tell Paige the truth?”

Azzi shook her head. “Truth about how my ex treated me like shit when we’re not even dating officially? It might be too much on her…”

Caroline sighed. “Isn’t that what’s holding you back from wanting to be in a relationship with her, though?”

“I…” Azzi thought long and hard about it. “I guess so.”

“Then talk to her. Next Monday, tell her after school or something. It’ll be fine. Knowing Paige, she’d drop everything for you”

Azzi nibbled on her lower lip, semi chuckling yet still covered in anxiousness. “Yeah, I’ll see how it goes.”

—

It was a Saturday afternoon when Paige was busy cooking for lunch, when she received a notification from her phone.

Camera Arnold (1)

The blonde halted her activity momentarily to unlock her phone, curious to know what would KK like to annoy her with on a weekend.

KK: Boogers! You free tonight?

Paige sighed, her mind thinking about Azzi and what could’ve been a day shopping for groceries and cooking her food, but is now in her apartment ready to binge watch White Lotus alone.

Paige: Maybe. Why?

KK: Bar Lobo at 8? We’re giving Rae her welcome to Moore moment. Everyone’s coming, minus Caroline and your wife

The blonde chuckled.

Paige: Wife is crazy. But I’m down. See you later bookie!

KK: See ya bookie!

. . .

Paige made her way to Bar Lobo, the breeze of the chilly night hitting parts of her exposed skin. She didn’t wear anything too fancy, just a white crop top and a black leather jacket with wide faded jeans, her infamous boxer shorts revealing just above the pants, and some platform boots. Her hair was down, with light waves, and a no makeup, makeup look on.

As she walked in, she was already greeted with the booming sound of music, a remix of familiar songs playing, the dance floor crowded as usual, and the DJ lighting putting her in a trance. It didn’t take long before she spotted her friends in the rounded booth in the centre, all of them chatting and taking sips of their glass.

“Paige! You made it!” Nika yelled in high spirits.

Paige laughed as she approached them before her eyes locked onto a new face among her usual crowd, who was already staring at her. Rae was sitting in the middle almost tightly squeezed in between Aaliyah and Kayla, purposely compressing her body to make space for herself.

“Y’all realise how much you’re torturing Rae over there?” Paige pointed out with a chuckle, causing the other women to notice.

A chorus of profuse apologies sang before the girls shifted outwards, causing Rae to laugh at the scene.

“Thanks, Paige. You look good, by the way,” Rae commented.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” Paige responded coolly before taking her seat at the edge as she was the last to arrive.

Paige started easing her way into the group’s conversation, everyone enjoying each other’s company and the overall atmosphere of the night club, when a certain pair of light brown eyes kept glancing at the blonde over several minutes. Rae was almost blushing and quite nervous, the aura Paige radiated almost too enticing for the teacher. She wanted to get as close to the blonde, hopefully strike up a conversation, maybe flirt a little. Then she quickly thought of an idea.

“Guys, sorry, I need to use the toilet,” Rae interjected.

The ladies were quick to get up, slightly struggling in their movements but had made enough way for Rae to leave.

Just minutes after, she had sauntered back to the booth, her eyes targeting Paige with a level of confidence she hadn’t tapped into before.

As the women saw her, they almost stood up again when Rae stopped them.

“No, no it’s okay! I’ll sit here for now, makes it easier,” she said before the girls scooted a little to make space for Rae at the edge of the booth, now sitting beside Paige.

She noticed the blonde extend her arm across the table to where she had sat previously and returned her drink to her. The kind gesture made Rae’s heart swell, her infatuation for Paige cementing.

“I thought you had plans, Bueckers,” Rae was able to start.

Paige scrunched her nose briefly. “I had to make some changes”.

Rae got excited, perhaps assuming the blonde cancelled for her. She noticed Paige only having a glass of water. “You’re not gonna drink?”

“Uh, I don’t really drink. They’re used to it, I’ll be fine,” the blonde explained with a small smile. “You like the place?”

“I do, it looks fun. Inês told me about this place before, but seeing it in person is kinda cool,” she responded, taking a sip of her glass.

“Guys, I got us more shots! You better drink up!” Kayla yelled as everyone else cheered.

As the waiter came in with a plate full of shots for everyone, except Paige, KK took out her phone to take videos and pictures.

“To Rae Burrell, welcome to Moore!” KK toasted.

As each person downed their shot, KK continued taking pictures, capturing a moment of Rae laughing and leaning towards Paige, who said something about ‘you’re gonna regret that later’ with a wide smile.

After an hour and a half of nonsensical conversations and safe alcohol consumption flew by, the girls soon made their way to the dance floor, encouraged by the intoxication.

“This DJ’s so good!” Rae shouted, her eyes half-lidded and her mind getting lost in the sound, a drink in her hand.

“She is! You never want to leave the dance floor!” Paige yelled back, swaying next to her, enjoying the music.

Just then, the DJ creatively transitioned the song to something slower and sexier, the familiar tune of Muni Long’s Hrs & Hrs started playing. KK was way too excited a row behind them as one of her favourite songs played, picking up her phone to once again video the crowd.

Just then Rae, gathering the confidence from her almost lost inhibitions, turned her head to Paige. The blomde was still swaying by herself in the same motion, mouthing some of the lyrics and slowly bobbing her head.

Rae’s hand moved first before she could think, suddenly touching Paige’s arm to grab her attention. In one swift move, Rae slowly wrapped her arms around Paige’s neck, while carefully holding the drink in her hand.

The blonde froze at first.

Rae didn’t say anything. She just smiled dopily, instinctively inching closer, not wanting to kiss Paige yet, but wanting to feel her body close, relish in her touch.

Paige clenched her jaw, a mix of confusion, guilt and sympathy washed over mind within seconds. Soon enough, she gently grabbed hold of Rae’s arms, carefully detangling them from her neck and putting them back to her sides.

“Rae… I’m seeing someone,” was all the blonde could say, twitching her lips to the side and shoving her hands into the front pockets of her jeans.

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” she said faintly enough for the blonde to hear it, a tinge of embarrassment in her tone.

“Not your fault. Don’t feel bad,” Paige shook her head, trying her best to console her.

Soon after, Aaliyah tugged on Rae’s arm when the song transitioned to another R&B classic from Ray J.

“Rae, that’s your song!” Edwards exclaimed giddily, swaying the arms together as they danced away.

Paige just bit her inner cheeks, unsure of what to feel. Amidst her guilt, her mind was already picturing Azzi, her dimpled smile that she loved and her touch that she craved. Paige already misses her, even if it’s been two days.

A couple hours went by when Paige decided to end everyone’s night after being completely wasted. Before the potential of Nika vomiting again, Paige had timely called for some of their Uber. She carefully guided Nika, Kayla and Rae into the car, making sure the driver knew where to go. And then dropped Aaliyah and KK home as they lived the closest to her.

It was almost 3am when Caroline and Azzi were in their hotel room, the ending credits of the movie rolling, signalling to stop their never-ending gossip session. Azzi and Caroline’s screen lit up showing a notification that KK sent a message to the groupchat.

As the pair unlocked their phones, tons of media from the night were sent, waiting to be downloaded.

“Oh, it’s from the girls tonight. Looks like they’re having fun,” Caroline tiredly commented.

Azzi was silent, scrolling through the pictures knowing Rae would be there. She saw some group selfies and pictures of the food. But what caught her attention the most was Rae and Paige sitting next to each other in the booth in some of the group pictures.

Azzi felt a pang in her chest.

There was that shot KK took of Rae leaning on Paige, both of them laughing as they held their drinks. Then there was one video, it was blurry and quick in motion. The sound of Muni Long’s Hrs & Hrs blasting through Azzi’s phone speakers. It was hard to tell what was going on at first with the amount of bodies in the video, but then she caught it.

Slightly further from the view, she could see Rae wrapping her arms around Paige before the camera turned away.

Her heart shattered.

Azzi locked her phone off and flung it towards the end of her bed before going under the covers, her eyes welling up.

“Azzi?” Caroline was confused. She got up to take Azzi’s phone to unlock it, revealing the video. She replayed it again before she noticed the same thing again.

“Oh, Paige,” Caroline whispered to herself in disappointment before turning her attention to the blanket-covered lump on the bed in front of her.

After Azzi’s last break up, she tends to shut people out when she needs time to think. Then when she had figured it out in her head, she’d pretend to be fine the next day until she’s ready to address it. Or until her breaking point. It was a coping mechanism she developed after her last breakup, sparing no time to wallow in emotions when she’s got a job she cared more about.

Caroline knew this and just let Azzi be for the night, allowing her to rationalise her thoughts and let the sleep take over.

—

Monday, morning assembly

Paige was lightly huffing and puffing as she jogged her way to the gym. She could only blame herself for snoozing her alarm long enough for her to be late. But the blonde couldn’t help it, she was up all night over the weekend thinking about Azzi.

Paige had been ghosted by her the entirety of Sunday when the blonde was curious for an update on the staycation, unable to contain her yearning. But after a whole day of no response and rejected FaceTime calls, Paige could only worry that something might’ve happened.

Paige barely made it on time at the start of the assembly, quickly making her way to the row of teachers and subtly waving her head around to find Azzi. Unluckily, Nika and Aaliyah had already taken their seats beside her, leaving only one empty seat just behind them… right next to Rae.

Oh, great, Paige thought. Not so much in disgust, but more so in nervousness, uncertain of what Rae must be thinking, if she can even remember what happened last night.

Before sitting down, she noticed Azzi glance behind her before whipping her head back to the front, emotionless and stoic.

“Morning,” Rae quietly greeted with her lips pursed.

“Hey,” Paige plainly replied, sighing as she sat down.

As the announcements went on, Rae’s leg kept on bouncing, her thoughts going a mile a minute. Paige noticed immediately, frowning a little.

“Rae, can we talk later?” Paige whispered as she leaned slightly towards her.

The nervous woman stopped bouncing her leg, turning her head to face Paige with a surprised but guilty look. “Yeah, okay”.

As the pair sorted out their arrangements, Azzi was able to eavesdrop the entire conversation, lowering her head and swallowing hard to contain her sadness.

Azzi might have lost faith, that the mistrust she had on people she fought hard to overcome was all for nothing, an effort in vain.

By the end of the assembly, Paige tried to approach Azzi, who was leaving her seat to get to her students.

“Azzi-“

“Breanna! Your mom did your hair today, huh? It’s beautiful. I like the pink beads, it’s my favourite colour,” Azzi smiled widely at the young middle schooler, who beamed brightly at her teacher.

Paige could only stare as the two kept each other close until the end of the hallway, leaving the lone blonde hurt and confused among the scattering crowd. She rubbed her hands on her face, giving herself a moment before shaking her head. With a long sigh, she brought herself to the second floor, to where she needed to meet Rae for the first period.

“Paige. I-I just want to say I’m sorry. Had I known, I wouldn’t have done it. And the alcohol,” Rae rambled on, her face painted in guilt.

“Rae, relax, it’s okay. You didn’t know,” Paige reassured before taking a seat on the chairs, motioning for Rae to sit as well. “I didn’t feel compelled to tell you because…honestly, I didn’t know you saw me that way”.

Rae half smiled before Paige continued.

“I’m seeing Azzi”.

The name piqued the taller woman’s interest, causing her to raise her head, her mind piecing things together.

“I…I knew it,” Rae slightly smiled to herself, a soft sigh escaping her mouth almost in relief. “I had my suspicions, but I didn’t wanna be too invasive at first”.

Paige chuckled in amusement. “Didn’t think we’d be that obvious.”

“Paige, are you kidding me? Dropping her to class every morning? Feeding her your lunch every day? Anyone would think y’all were dating. Heck, I thought y’all were dating,”

Paige grew red, rubbing her forehead in embarrassment. “But because Azzi said you weren’t seeing anyone-“

“Wait. Azzi said that?” Paige asked, puzzled and betrayed.

“Yeah. She said you were single and I should ask you to find out for myself. Great, now I feel like I was set up,” Rae shrugged, leaning on her seat.

Paige furrowed her brows. “There’s something she isn’t telling me. She’s been ghosting me since yesterday and she completely ignored me this morning. I have to get her to talk to me”.

“A good ol’ lovers quarrel, I see,” Rae chuckled.

Paige shook her head at the comment before Rae asked. “Is that why you chose that song to play the piano on?”

A small upward curve formed on Paige’s lips. “Yeah”

Rae pursed her lips. “This feels like a romcom, for real.”

Paige laughed, a small sound of embarrassment escaped her lips. “I wanna finish learning it. I wanna show her. Maybe get a laugh out of her when she sees me mess it up”

“Well, if you can learn quick enough, we won’t have to do more lessons and I won’t have to feel like a homewrecker,” Rae got up, taking a seat on the piano stool waiting for Paige.

—

The blonde seeked an opportunity after lunch again, tugging on Azzi’s wrist before she could leave for fifth period. They stood just by the fridge, Paige waiting for everyone to leave the teacher’s lounge so they could be left alone.

“Azzi, you got a minute?” the blonde let go of her hand. “I’ve been trying to reach out. What’s going on?”

Paige inched closer, trying to ease her way into getting Azzi to talk, get an answer she’s been dying to know. But Azzi stepped back, catching Paige off guard. She could see Azzi’s eyes scan the space behind her, thinking. Then her face grimaced before lowering her head to hide it.

“You enjoyed your weekend?” she asked suddenly.

“Sure…could’ve been better with you,” Paige admitted, a softer tone in her voice.

But Azzi was not buying it. She’s experienced a similar scene before, the outcome not exactly something she wanted to remember.

“I-I have to get back to class,” she croaked before turning her heel and speed walking out the door.

Paige was left alone in the teacher’s lounge, frustrated yet again thinking about Azzi’s recent deflections.

—

It was another school day on a Wednesday and Paige felt like the world was punishing her.

After two days between empty text responses and Azzi purposely dodging any encounter with Paige at school, the blonde was in a hopeless state. She was teaching her gym class in a different head space, forgetting to blow the whistle after the high schoolers had finished their reps with jumping jacks.

“Ms. Bueckers, you need to blow your whistle!” a young voice yelled, the rest of the students groaning.

“Sorry, guys! Alright, everyone let’s line up for a warm up jog!”

“Coach B, we did that already, remember?” a short girl at the front put her hands on her hips as if stating the obvious.

“Right, um, what is it we haven’t done yet, Stella?” Paige tried to ask nonchalantly, not admitting to losing her focus

“We’re supposed to start dodgeball,” the young girl reminded sternly.

Paige nodded with pride. “That’s correct! See, I was just testing you.”

As Stella shook her head in disappointment.

While the kids were busy playing, a student had walked up to Paige after being eliminated.

“‘Sup, Ms. B,” a familiar voice grabbed Paige’s attention.

“Look who it is. Mr. Simp,” Paige teased.

“Haven’t seen you around art class lately. And you look down. Your love life alright?” Michael teased back.

Paige shook her head. “I’m not discussing my business with you, boy”

“C’mon, you’re no fun when you’re sad. Same goes to Ms. Fudd,” the boy replied.

“W-what, she say anything?” Paige grew curious.

“Why don’t you ask her?” the high schooler raised one brow.

“Sure, if you can get her to talk to me fourth period on Friday,” Paige joked sarcastically.

“Alright, bet,” Michael nodded, to which Paige shook her head, not taking him seriously

—

Azzi’s middle school art class was peaceful as usual, the sound of sketching pencils scratching the papers. Leo’s quaint voice called for the teacher in the corner.

“Ms. Fudd, can you help me with this?”

”Mm-hm,” a soulless reaction from Azzi, getting up from her seat to approach the young boy.

“How do you draw the hands like this?” Leo asked while showing his drawing.

The older woman took his pencil and started drawing on the paper. “You got the proportions all wrong, Leo. Make this base shape longer and the fingers shorter, just like this”.

The monotone voice, the absence of an initial positive feedback, and the lack of getting the student involved made Leo worried. It was all uncharacteristic of Azzi’s style of teaching. And the student has noticed it since the beginning of the week.

“Ms. Fudd. Are you alright?” Leo asked. Azzi got taken aback by the question.

“Of course, Leo,” she chuckled, however the young boy wasn’t convinced.

“I haven’t seen Ms. Bueckers around. She do something to you?" The usual bluntless of her student made Azzi half smile.

“Don’t worry about us, Leo,” the woman shook her head.

“I can talk to her for you, if you want,” the boy looked determined.

Azzi lightly laughed. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Leo. But I’ll talk to her…when I’m ready”.

The woman mumbled the last sentence, intelligible enough for Leo to hear.

As the bell rang for lunch and the students started shuffling out of art class, Leo was making his way out before someone tapped his shoulder.

“‘Sup, Leo!”

The younger boy was greeted by a familiar high school student. “Hey, Michael”.

After dapping each other up, Michael was quick to the point.

“Listen, something’s going on between Ms. Fudd and Coach B and it’s just not the same teasing them anymore. So, I’ll be a good person for once and help them out a little. Coach said she can’t get Ms. Fudd to talk to her, so we need to get them to talk. You in?”

“I’m in. Ms. Fudd looks a bit down these day, I don’t like seeing her like that. But Ms. Fudd said she won’t talk to Ms. Bueckers until she’s ready”

“At this rate, they won’t talk at all. C’mon, let’s do it before the week ends. Got any ideas?”

As the pair pondered for a while, Leo twitched his head.

“Maybe get them to a room? A classroom would be difficult,” Leo started off.

“Yeah, yeah. Maybe the janitor’s closet?” Michael thought.

“Too dirty”

“Yeah. Oh, I know, how about the school clinic?”

“You think you can get Nurse Williams to leave?” Leo wondered.

“Li’l Leo, I can get Nurse William to be in on it,” Michael smiled proudly.

Leo shook his head. “Alright, but then how do we get them to come to the clinic at the same time?”

“Easy. Find the day they have both have free periods”

“Ms. Fudd’s only free period is fourth period every Friday. Sometimes she helps me draw on those days”

“Bruh, is this a coincidence? That’s exactly the period I need!”

—

Friday, fourth period

Azzi stood in front a section of the colourful boards of her classroom, replacing the sheets of drawings to newer ones for the new lesson on Pointillism. After sticking the last drawing on, a loud voice erupted from the doorway.

“Ms. Fudd! Leo’s nose started bleeding in math class, he’s in the clinic right now and Nurse Williams said she needs your help!“ Michael panted, his acting spectacular.

Azzi instantly grew worried, making her way out the class and slightly jogging to the clinic nearby.

Meanwhile, at the gym, Paige was busy playing basketball by herself when Leo came bursting through the door.

“Ms. Bueckers! Michael got into a fight in the toilets, he got hurt real bad. Nurse Williams said to come get you!”

Paige threw the basketball away, immediately running out the gym to where the school clinic was.

As the two women saw each other approached the school clinic, they slowed their pace until they were just near enough to talk.

“Michael got into a fi-“

“Leo’s nose started blee-“

They both paused, confused at what the other said before their eyes turned to the closed clinic door beside them. Paige turned to face it, extending her arm to reach the door handle before turning it open.

The clinic was empty except for the bed on the side of the wall that was closed off by the white curtains, indicating that someone might be behind it. As Azzi followed Paige inside, her hands immediately went to the curtains to slide it away, revealing an empty bed.

Before they had time to process, they heard the clinic door shut behind them, the sound of a lock following right after, the pair sensing they were now trapped inside. They heard a couple of youthful giggles and saw shadows of feet emitting from the door’s small open space below.

The two women turned to each other, no words coming out of their mouth at first, except for their breathless panting.

“Michael’s so gonna get it when I see him,” Paige muttered under her breath before taking a seat on the bed.

Azzi just stood there, fiddling with her fingers with her head low.

“Azzi. Sit”

The two words surprised the younger woman. She stared at Paige for a moment before reluctantly taking a seat beside Paige on the bed. It was quiet for a while. The blonde hunched over staring at the ground, her hands clasped together as her arms rested on her lap, just thinking, not knowing what to say first. The brunette was still fiddling with her fingers, also unsure if she should start.

“I miss you,” the blonde spoke up, eyes glued to the ground. Azzi shifted in her seat, her emotions mixed.

“Why have you been ignoring me?” Paige continued, hurt in her tone.

“I”m sorry,” Azzi whispered, her guilt creeping up.

“I’m gonna need more than that,” Paige brought herself to sit up straight, now turning to face Azzi. She could see her eyes slightly watery, biting her lower lips to contain her sadness.

“Paige, I’m sorry for ignoring you. I just…” the brunette paused, trying to formulate a better answer before sounding too distraught. But Paige didn’t have the patience anymore.

“Azzi, no. If you’re just gonna shut me out and leave me in the dark, I at least deserve an explanation right n-“

“If you wanna see other people, I have to be fine with that,” Azzi added, her voice gloomy.

“I- what?”

“Look, if you wanna start seeing Rae, then I don’t wanna be the one to hold you back”

Paige shifted her body closer. “Azzi, there’s nothing going on between me and Rae”.

“Yeah, I thought so at first,” Azzi said soullessly. ”Even after knowing you were getting piano lessons from her. But I still had my doubts. Then the video of you and Rae at Bar Lobo-“

“What video?”

“The video KK sent on the group chat. I saw Rae wrap her arms around you. Y’all were probably making out with each other for all I care”

A pang of guilt hit Paige’s chest. “I never saw the video. I didn’t really read the group chat after that night. But, Azzi, you’re getting it twisted-“

“Don’t tell me I’m getting it twisted when you still talked to her on Monday after assembly,” Azzi took shallow breaths, lowering her head.

Paige just stared at her before taking a deep breath.

“Azzi, you told Rae I wasn’t seeing anyone else. Ever thought about asking me about my own feelings?” Paige started off. Azzi’s breath hitched, her face even more regretful.

“But I’m not entirely wrong,” Azzi trailed, still fiddling with her fingers. Paige bit her inner cheeks before reaching out to grab Azzi’s hands, caressing it as if to console her.

“Well, you are. We never made out at Bar Lobo. Honestly, I was caught off guard myself when she wrapped her arms around me, but I stopped her before she could do anything else. And she apologised for that. Then that Monday morning, I asked if we could talk because I knew she felt bad. She’s still our colleague at Moore, I didn’t want to burn bridges over some miscommunication. I told her, Azzi. I told her I was seeing you”

Azzi’s head lifted, her watery eyes scanning Paige’s face. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Paige gave her a small smile. “And the piano lessons. At first I thought it was just for fun, but then I got inspired. By you”

Azzi’s head tilted in confusion as she watched Paige fetch for her phone. She opened her gallery to show a video of herself in the empty music room sitting by the piano.

“Okay, Azzi, don’t make fun of me if I mess this up, but this is dedicated to you.”

The video proceeded to show Paige nervously pressing every key, the familiar melody in the same slow tempo. Azzi let out a small laugh whenever Paige’s face winced every time she hit the wrong key, a strong feeling of endearment felt through her body.

When the video ended, Paige returned her phone to her pocket before giving Azzi an anticipative stare.

“I’ve never been digitally serenaded like that before,” she smiled weakly.

Paige gave a small shrug. “A special serenade for a special girl”

“I love it…but I’ll have to give it a seven out of ten. You hit the wrong keys way too many times,” Azzi joked with a weak voice.

Paige lazily laughed before leaning forward, touching their heads together as they laughed together, her hands still holding onto Azzi’s.

“I only have eyes for you, Azzi,” Paige breathed out, eyes closed.

The younger woman was left breathless.

“Me too… Sorry, I got insecure. It’s just…something coming back to haunt me,” Azzi trailed off, but Paige squeezed her hands.

“We can talk about it after school, if it’ll give you peace of mind. Come home, I wanna cook you something,” Paige consoled, retracting her head back to fully face the younger woman.

“I’d like that,” was all Azzi could say before her eyes darted down to Paige’s lips.

It wasn’t hard for Paige to notice before she leaned in, connecting their lips.

It’s been a while since the pair shared a kiss that they yearned so long for. They scooted closer to each other, making it easier for Paige to wrap her arms around Azzi’s lower back. The brunette hummed into the kiss, the softness of Paige’s lips devouring her own, feeling like home. Her hand gripped Paige’s jaw with possession, pressing their mouths together so they could never part, not even for a moment.

After a whole week, how could they not miss each other?

But in the midst of their passionate makeout session, the bell rang for lunch, causing the pair to jolt. And then a knock from the door followed after.

The pair pulled away, scrambling as they pretended to dust something off their clothes before yelling “Come in” towards the door.

“I didn’t cockblock this time, huh,” Kayla peeked her head in, smiling proudly.

The trio laughed before making their way to the teacher’s lounge to join everyone at lunch.

—

Paige’s bedroom door remained locked as muffled sounds of moans and pants barely escaped the room.

Dinner had been eaten an hour ago. They were cuddled up on the common sofa where Azzi was curled up next to Paige, who had her arms wrapped around the younger woman, holding her close. Between the idea of being alone in Paige’s apartment and the neediness for each other’s touch, one thing led to another, and now locked they’ve themselves away from the rest of the world.

“Fuck, Azzi,” Paige moaned as the curly brunette grinded her clit against hers, hovering over Paige as she struggled to keep her grip on Azzi’s waist. She continued moving her hips in a circular motion, causing more air to escape Paige’s mouth. Then Azzi leaned in to kiss her, almost sloppily and swallowing her breaths.

“I need you bad,” Paige whimpered when Azzi traveled her lips to Paige’s neck, leaving a new hickey and sucking on the previous ones.

“Mm, patience,” Azzi sighed on her neck before traveling down Paige’s long torso, giving light kisses on the way.

As soon as she reached Paige’s centre, the blonde gripped Azzi’s head, lifting her hips, so that Azzi’s mouth came in contact. But the curly brunette gently held her waist and lowered it down, trying to get Paige to relax. Then almost immediately, Azzi dipped her mouth into her entrance, her tongue playing around the folds.

“Mmm, just like that,” Paige moaned, the vulnerability in her voice turning Azzi on.

Azzi quickened the pace of her tongue, the erratic movements and wet sounds making Paige shiver. The blonde still had her hands on Azzi’s head, caressing her hair with her thumb, the younger woman feeling more encouraged. Then Azzi slowly inserted two fingers, thrusting it in a semi-fast tempo before enveloping Paige’s entire clit in her mouth at the same time.

The sensation made Paige jerk her hips up, instantly arching her head back into the pillow as she could feel herself climax.

“Azzi, I’m gonna,” she voiced tightly, her hands gripping her head harder.

“Look at me,” Azzi demanded, lifting herself to hover halfway over Paige so she could see her.

Azzi quickened her fingers into her, the sound of Paige’s entrance getting more and more wet. The blonde was struggling to keep her stare on Azzi, her moans starting to get shorter and frequent. Within seconds, Paige reached her climax, a stretched out moan escaping her lips as she came all over Azzi’s hand.

After Paige had relaxed, she had her eyes slightly closed and her eyebrows furrowed. She was recovering with laboured breaths, the sight almost sexy to Azzi. The brunette licked her fingers to taste Paige before straddling her waist again, dipping her head to leave soft kisses on her chest and neck.

The blonde just rested her hands on Azzi’s lower back, enjoying the sensation of her warm mouth on her. Then Azzi shifted so she could lay back on the bed, settling beside Paige and wrapping her hand around her waist.

Paige sighed, rubbing Azzi’s arm while looking at her with hooded eyes.

“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered.

Azzi only smiled, her eyes gleaming. Then a soft expression of guilt washed across.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you for that long," she croaked. Paige just continued rubbing her arm whispering ‘it's okay’.

Azzi continued. “Seeing you with someone else. I was scared of going back to my insecure self…when I was with my ex.”

Azzi was hesitant to talk, biting her lip as she let her thoughts run. But Paige lightly wiped her cheek with her finger, to grab her attention.

“Talk to me. I’ll listen," with a soft smile, she reassured.

Azzi sighed. "Her name was Destiny, quite ironic, isn't it?”

A small air escaped through Paige’ nose.

“We were childhood best friends, did a lot together; same school, sleepovers, family dinners. We had similar personalities, the quiet kids in the back. But she definitely changed in high school, started becoming more outgoing, made lots of friends. I struggled on that front, but she still kept me close. In tenth grade was when our relationship began to blur, we started developing feelings for each other, subtle flirting but didn’t do anything more”

Azzi sighed again, thinking of how to say the next bit.

"When she decided to go to UConn for Computer Engineering, she had to convince me to join her. It wasn't even my top college. I actually wanted to go to Rhode Island, they’ve got the best design institute over there… But remember when I told you before that my feelings for her were just mere infatuation? I’ll admit that I was, in fact, in love, at the time. So, I did it. I followed her because I loved her”

Paige just made subtle nods while listening.

"College life. What can I say? Stereotypical as it can get. First year was alright, assignments were doable for me, a bit demanding for her. But we did make a good group of friends; most from hers, some from mine, even met Car through book club. And then there was Amanda, or Mandy, as we called her. She was Des’ classmate, a girl with conviction, spoke with confidence. Polar opposite to me. They studied a lot together, hung out when I was busy. They were getting close, almost too close to my liking. So, I started getting scared. The more weeks passed, the more I felt my chances with Des were disappearing.”

Azzi shook her head now, remembering the next part of her story.

“There was this house party over summer break, some senior of Des. All of us went. And there were so many people, everyone was drunk, I think I went a li’l too ham on the alcohol, too. And then I caught them sitting on the sofa, just chatting, a little touchy, a little flirty. Seeing them together made me feel so upset at myself for pussy’ing out. I dunno what got into me, but I shoved myself onto Des… And I started making out with her.”

Paige raised her brows surprised, Azzi scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Yeah, not my proudest moment. Des was shocked, at first; not expecting this side from me, I didn’t either. But she said she’d been waiting for us to date for a while. And, so, I got the outcome I wanted then. Our first two years together, it was sweet. We did a lot for each other; gifts, dates, you name it. We talked a lot about our future together, too, having a family, buying a house, all that stuff. We invested a lot into our relationship, it was going so good. But at the background of it all was Mandy. Des still kept her close. And I couldn’t say anything, I didn’t want Des to think I was too possessive. I was worried my insecurity would put her off”.

Paige furrowed her brows, subtly shaking her head as if to say Azzi’s feelings were valid.

“Our third year was…something. We were getting a little distant. Des got tied with her assignments, her coursework got more difficult. I had to brush off the fact that day in and day out, Mandy and her were always at the library studying together. I’d even drop by every so often at Des’ dorm to keep her company. Until one day she said not to visit, saying it’ll be too much of a hassle for me. I reassured her it wasn’t, but she was insistent, promised she’ll make time for me, even hang out after studying. Well…I didn’t know her definition of ‘hanging out’ was just sex at my dorm every time she was frustrated. Regardless, I still enjoyed any type of company with her. And we still went out on dates, so she did keep her promise.”

Azzi went silent for a bit to gather herself.

“Then it started getting dry, our dates lacklustre. I had to give her the benefit of the doubt, I knew her major was a difficult one. So, one day I decided to keep her company at her dorm again, even brought her favourite snacks and everything. But when she opened her door, she had this shocked look on her face. When I looked inside, Mandy was there. Nothing out of the ordinary, though, she was sitting on the floor busy with her books. Des reasoned with me that she was there to study, but I was confused…that’s when I started overthinking. Study in a cramped up dorm room? When the library was open 24/7? Is this why she told me not to visit anymore? Things were starting to click for me.”

Paige clenched her jaw, almost knowing what would come next.

“I pondered it for weeks. But between our dry conversations and soulless sex, I finally had the courage to confront Des about it when she came to my room for another ‘hang out’. She told me I was ridiculous, that my judgement was clouded. She said Mandy was just a friend and nothing more, but I wasn’t convinced. I told her to stop hanging out with her if she loved me that much, cared about my feelings. Then, all of a sudden, she got defensive; saying I don’t trust her, that I was too insecure…and have always been. That hurt the most. She knew I wasn’t the most confident person growing up, she knew how much I struggled to overcome that, too. We fought that day, I didn’t talk to her for weeks. But then she came back, showed up with flowers at my dorm saying she’ll spend more time with me and that she’ll stop hanging out with Mandy, I figured she felt bad. So, of course, I forgave her. I was still upset, but I still wanted to trust her. I wanted to overcome that little voice in my head.”

Azzi paused to give Paige a small smile. “You hanging in there?”

Paige chuckled lightly. “Yeah, don’t worry”.

“We’re getting to that part now,” Azzi said before a long sigh.

“For another year, it was the same story. She continued to leave me in the dark without realising, I pretended to be happy. There was no more romantic talk, no more sweet gestures from her. When I’d get upset, she’d continue to gaslight me, saying it’s her major, saying that my insecurities are getting the best of me again and that I needed to trust her. Then to make it up to me, we’d have sex. And it kept happening again, like a vicious cycle. I was beginning to feel so useless. One day, Des made dinner plans for our fourth year anniversary. Of course, I was really excited about it. But when time came ‘round, she wasn’t responsive on text, calling didn’t work either. So, I went to her dorm. Knocked on it, no response…then I heard something through the door. Someone moaning her name. I froze at first. I didn’t want it to be true, but I had to see it for myself”

Paige lifted her hand to caress Azzi’s cheek, giving her a touch of support.

“And there they were. Having sex, on her bed. Books and papers scattered. Apparently, they had been seeing each other since the start of our third year together. I knew I wasn’t being delusional, but I…I just felt more ashamed of myself. I kept asking myself why did I believe I could still trust her all this time? So I just left. She texted me saying it was a mistake, then blabbered on about how Mandy was ‘different’. It was all bullshit. She’d throw all those years down the drain to be with someone who was… a projection of who she wanted to be, maybe someone who was a better version of myself. Because I knew I wasn’t good enough for her, no matter how hard I tried to change. So, I cut her off. She moved to Australia after graduation and I couldn’t care less what happened after. So… there you go.”

It was quiet for a moment. Azzi shifted to have Paige on her hold more properly, staring at her with full attention.

“Honestly, it’s not so much what Des did, but more so what I became when we were dating. I lost my trust in a lot of people since then, it was hard overcoming my low self-esteem and it felt like I had to start all over again. Caroline’s the only one who kept me grounded all those years. She never liked Des from the beginning, kept telling me to leave her. But I never listened.”

Paige gave a half smile. “I…I understand what that’s like. Healing isn’t linear, there’ll always be lapses, but I’m proud of you for working on yourself since then. I’ve never met a person more confident in themselves. You know your worth, Az”.

Azzi hummed, lost in Paige’s blue orbs.

“Thanks…that means a lot. Paige, I…I didn’t think I’d share this part of my life so early on, but…I felt I had to”.

Paige shook her head. “Only if it felt right to you”.

“Yeah, it did. That’s, um, that’s why I wanted to ask you something,” Azzi nibbled on her bottom lips just subtly.

“Sure,” Paige whispered.

“It’s been almost two years and I want to try dating again. Ever since meeting you, you’ve changed my perception on everything I knew about trusting people, loving oneself, caring for others. I guess, all I wanted to ask was…will you be my girlfriend?”

Paige sharply inhaled. She couldn’t think of anything initially. The moment she heard the word ‘girlfriend’, it was like she had been electrocuted. It had been a while for her, too. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to give so much love and commitment to someone. The prospect of that seemed daunting to her, what if things go wrong again? How badly will she take the blame on herself? Just like before, Paige thought.

But one thing was for certain. Azzi made doing that all so easy, so natural. And Paige knew it well. Perhaps the blonde didn’t feel ready all this time because she didn’t meet anyone worth being ready for.

“Yeah. I want to,” Paige smiled, nodding slightly.

Azzi let out a deep breath nervously, almost relieved. “Okay…yeah, okay”.

Paige laughed before rubbing her back. “Happy you’re gonna get full access to me now?”

“Why do you have to say it like that and ruin the moment?” Azzi groaned into her neck.

“It’s not entirely false, though,” Paige pulled herself away so she could get Azzi to look at her.

“Yeah, whatever,” Azzi replied, defeated.

Then Paige grabbed her cheek and leaned forward, giving Azzi a soft peck.

“We’ll take it day by day,” Paige reassured.

This time Azzi gave her a small peck. “I appreciate that”.

They kept each other close as the night was beginning to end, settling in the warmth of their naked bodies. But between heartbeats and soft breaths, their minds raced in the darkness. There was fear as much as there was excitement for what’s to come tomorrow.

[maxinehufflepuffprincess]

Work and Food

Yeon Si-eun x Reader x Ahn Su-ho

Taglist. Masterlist. Progress Update. Love at First Fight Collections.

Summary: Su-ho is late for work, so you all pitch in to help.

“I’m sorry I’m late Emo.” Su-ho spoke as he rushed into the restaurant, bowing as he did so. You stood between Si-eun and Beom-seok. A smile on your face as you watched Su-ho for a moment. 

“You’re very late, but you’re here. Have you eaten?” The woman asked as she looked at Su-ho. “Have you eaten?” She asked him curiously. Her eyes shifted to you, and she smiled. “I see you brought you’re better half. How are you, dear?” She asked you. 

You let out a laugh as Su-ho pouted. “I’m good. I’m sorry we got here so late.” The woman waved you off with a kind smile. Su-ho shook his head lightly. “I’ll eat later. Okay?” 

“You must have had a tough day.”

Su-ho gave a slight nod of his head before he turned to face the three of you. “We’re late because of you two. So, you’ll help out, and then we'll eat. Si-eun, let Baby take care of your hand before you help.”

“Are these your friends?” Emo asked, curiosity clear in her voice. 

You nodded with a bright smile. “They sure are. This is Oh Beom-seok, and this is Yeon Si-eun.” After the introductions, Beom-seok gave a bow and nervously said, ‘Hello’. Si-eun quickly copied his action and bowed. You couldn’t help but think of how adorable Si-eun looked right now. You turned to Su-ho, who sent you a soft smile. 

You turned back to Si-eun and held a hand out to him, giving him the option to take your hand or not. “Come on, Sweetheart. Let’s get your hand patched up.” There was that nickname again. He was sure you had called him ‘Sweetheart’ more times than his actual name at his point. Though he couldn’t say he minded. He liked the way you said it. He liked the way you called him ‘Sweetheart’ like it was his name. He liked how, when you called him that, it felt like your voice was wrapping around him like a warm, safe blanket. He couldn’t quite understand why it made his stomach flutter, though. Just like he couldn’t understand why locking eyes with Su-ho always made his heart skip a beat. 

Si-eun looked at your hand for a moment. Then his eyes fluttered between you and Su-ho. With a small sigh and one last look at your hand, Si-eun slipped his hand into yours and let you lead him away from the others. 

—----------------------------------------

Sitting at a table, you had Si-eun’s injured hand in yours. You had just finished cleaning it for him and were starting to wrap it up. Throughout the whole process, you had explained to him exactly what you were doing and why. 

Si-eun watched quietly as you worked. It was. The quiet. The feeling of being taken care of. So far, you and Su-ho had shown up for him over and over again. First, during the test. You left your test to check on him. Then, when he beat Yeong-bin, Su-ho stepped in to stop him from making a horrible mistake. You had both tried to be his voice of reason. Then, during the fight, Su-ho had swooped in like some kind of hero. You were here, patching him up. Maybe you were his guardian angels. It seemed like the two of you popped up when he needed you the most. 

“How do you know how to do this?” He finally spoke up. His chin nodded towards the first aid box on the table. 

You couldn’t help but smile. “Well, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but Su-ho sometimes gets in fights. Some are intentional and some aren’t. But either way, I got tired of seeing him bleeding. So I learnt pretty quickly how to clean and bandage a wound. Sometimes he walks away without a scratch, but other times- ” Your voice trailed off for a moment. You shook your head and finished tending to Si-eun’s hand as you spoke again. “It’s my way of keeping him safe. Of showing him I care. That I’ll be by his side, no matter what.” You smiled softly and turned Si-eun’s hand over so it was palm up. 

His eyes drifted towards the locket that sat on your chest. A pretty heart. You always seemed to wear it. Whenever he saw you, the locket was always there too. You smiled when you noticed he was looking at it. You opened it up. 

“Su-ho got it for my birthday with some help from my mum. It only has one picture so far. Su-ho said he wanted me to take time adding to it.” The only picture was in the first slot. A picture of you and Su-ho. The two of you wrapped in each other’s arms, your back was lying against Su-ho’s chest, his arms held you, pressing a kiss to your temple as you sat on the sand, the ocean and sunset being the perfect backdrop. It had been a magical day. 

“It’s pretty.” Si-eun told you with a small nod of his head. Though he wasn't sure if he meant the locket itself or the picture.

Your heart swelled. “Thank you. Who knows, you might find your way into the locket one day.” You winked. “Right, all done, you were a great patient. Which means you get a lollipop.” You unzipped your bag before pulling out a bag of colourful, heart-shaped lollipops. “I have all the different flavours. Strawberry, cherry, apple, raspberry, blueberry, coconut, orange, watermelon, mango-”

“Is there a flavour you don’t have?” Si-eun asked you with a raised eyebrow. Did you really just carry lollipops around in your bag all day? Of course you did, you were that kind of girl. 

You shook your head, flushed a little. “Um, I don’t think so. Oh, I don’t have lime. I ran out after my dad stole the last one.” You shrugged. You opened your bag again and pulled out a bag of only red lollipops. He watched curiously as you pulled out a bright red one. “How about strawberry? It’s my favourite flavour. I don’t let anyone have these, well, except for Su-ho.” 

Oh, it was so incredibly sweet of you. You were letting him have your favourite flavour. A flavour that you kept in a different bag from the other lollipops. A flavour that you only let your boyfriend have. He watched as you lifted his hand, placing a soft kiss on his palm before placing the lollipop there. You stood up and placed the rest of the lollipops away. You then cleaned everything up and closed the first aid box.

“I’m gonna go but this way. Why don’t you go and find Su-ho? See what he needs help with? Sound good, Sweetheart?” You asked him curiously.

Si-eun could only nod as he began walking off in the direction he saw Su-ho go. Not once did his grip loosen on the lollipop in his hand. In the hand you had kissed. A silent hope settled in his heart. He wanted a place in your locket.

—----------------------------------------

Si-eun’s first task was to mop the floor. Su-ho had given him the task after noticing the quiet boy coming his way. He, of course, had noticed the lollipop. He made sure to tell Si-eun to make the floors ‘sparkle’ Whilst Si-eun mopped the floor, Beom-seok was washing up in the kitchen with Emo. 

Si-eun’s second job was to help Su-ho put away the new bottles on the bridge. Su-ho carried two crates like it was nothing, while Si-eun struggled with the last one. He sat on a chair and handed Su-ho the bottles one by one as Su-ho put them away. From where he sat, Si-eun could see you fluttering around the restaurant. You were a pretty waitress. 

“Do you work two jobs every day?” Si-eun asked as he picked up another bottle. 

“What?” Su-ho asked, Si-eun’s voice had snapped him out of his own thoughts. “I only deliver food three days a week, not every day.” Su-ho explained as he continued putting the bottles in the fridge.

“Isn’t it hard?”

Su-ho took the next bottle from Si-eun, his hand gripping the middle of the bottle, causing his and Si-eun’s fingers to brush lightly. Su-ho smiled. “It’s no big deal. I work for a moving company on weekends. Why?” He asked curiously, causing Si-eun to finally meet his eyes. There was that smile, still sat on Su-ho’s lips. “Do I seem too mature to you? Or what?” He tossed the bottle up slightly, turning it and catching it by the neck. He then placed it in the fridge. Never once did Si-eun look away. Not until new customers came in.

—----------------------------------------

From his spot at the table, Si-eun watched as you and Su-ho moved in sync, like a well-oiled machine. One cleaned tables while the other brought out food, and one took orders while the other brought drinks. He noticed how whenever the two of you passed one another, you’d touch. A brush of the hands or Su-ho would squeeze your hips, or you’d place a kiss on his cheek. You both smiled at each other and remained professional. 

His attention was drawn away from the two of you to Beom-seok. He was apologising for the mock test. Si-eun forgave him. He knew Yeong-bin had threatened Beom-seok. So he chose to move on from the grudge. 

“Ah, I’m hungry.” Su-ho spoke as he walked over to the table. He sat down. He patted the space beside him for you. You sat down in the seat between Su-ho and Si-eun. The two males watched Su-ho as he got some lettuce and began to add meat and a few other things. He then folded it and shoved it into his mouth. 

“Does it taste better like that?” Beom-seok asked curiously.. 

Su-ho gave him a thumbs up as he chewed. He then immediately began making one for you. He swallowed his food and looked at you, holding his creation in his hands. “Open up, baby.” You giggled and opened your mouth, letting Su-ho gently shove the food into your mouth. You happily chewed on it, the flavours instantly hitting your taste buds. 

“I’ll try it.” Beom-seok said as he made his own. He balled it up and shoved it into his mouth. He smiled and nodded as he chewed it. 

“It’s killer, yeah?” Su-ho asked, proud that another person liked his way of eating. 

“It’s hot,” Beom-seok spoke. “So hot.” He tried not to laugh since his mouth was full. 

You were happily eating your food and taking pictures as Su-ho began making a third one. “Well, dear Si-eun-ssi, wanna try? Meat’s always better when you stuff your mouth and eat it in one bite.” Su-ho spoke up.

"Know that from experience, do you?" You asked your boyfriend in a teasing tone, a grin on your lips.

Su-ho poked you in the side. "Yah! You're such a brat sometimes."

“You can eat it.” Si-eun told him as he focused on the food in front of him.

“Ah, Hey. No one’s ever lost anything from listening to me. So come on now. Mmm? Say ‘Aah’.” He screwed up the lettice held it across you and toward Si-eun. 

Si-eun leaned away. “Are your hands clean?”

You couldn’t help but laugh as Su-ho's face dropped in surprise and sight of offence. “What the? … This guy had no idea. Food tastes better this way. All right? It’s okay. ‘Aah. aah!’ Baby can feed you instead if you want? You’ll take a lollipop from her but not this from me. Double standards. Come on, ‘Aha’, Open up. ‘Aah!’ Yeah.” 

Si-eun finally opened his mouth as Su-ho leaned over you to get the food closer to Si-eun’s mouth. Su-ho saw the opportunity and shoved the food into Si-eun’s mouth, his fingers pressing against the smaller male’s lips. He pulled away as Si-eun used his tongue to drag some of the lettuce that was on his lips into his mouth. He chewed, never once breaking eye contact with Su-ho.

“It’s good? Awesome, right?” Your boyfriend spoke as he sat up. “Right?” He was smiling brightly, happy that he had gotten Si-eun to try the food his way. It was a victory. And whilst Si-eun said nothing, there was this flicker in his eyes that showed that yes, he did enjoy it. That was enough for Su-ho.

You happily ate your food as you listened to Su-ho and Beom-seok talk. 

“The meat is great.”

“It is. Come whenever you want.”

“Can I really?”

“Yeah, of course.”

You looked between the boys. “Hey, pass me your phones and I’ll add mine and Su-ho’s numbers.” You said as you held your hand out to Si-eun and Beom-seok. Beom-seok didn’t even think twice before he gave you his phone. You grabbed your phone and added his number before sending a quick text saying ‘Hi’. You then saved your number in his phone and named your contact with your name. You then did the same with Su-ho’s phone before passing Beom-seok his phone back. 

You then turned to Si-eun and smiled sweetly. You held your hand out for his phone. “Pretty please? I'll even download those songs for you as well.”

Su-ho shook his head. "Say no. Once she drags you into her obsession with Stray Kids, there is no escaping. Trust me." 

You glared playfully at your boyfriend. "You weren't saying that when you were singing 'Thunderous' in the shower last night or commenting about how pretty Felix is. Admit it, you're a fan."

Si-eun was silent as he watched the two of you for a moment. But he handed his phone over nonetheless. He watched you smile in excitement. He watched you add his number to Su-ho’s phone, saving him as ‘Baby Boy, 🩵’ and send a test. You then saved Su-ho's number in Si-eun’s phone as ‘Guardian Angel ❤ ’. 

You then did the same, but with your phone. You saved Si-eun’s number in your own phone as ‘Sweetheart 🩵’ before saving your number in his phone as ‘Pretty Angel 💜’. His eyes widened slightly. You had saved him as Swetheart. 

You looked at Si-eun and smiled. You began making a playlist for him of different songs for him to try. Some of your taste, some of Su-ho's and some that you thought would just fit Si-eun. You titled the playlist for him as 'Songs from the Angels.'

“Do you have Instagram?” You asked Si-eun and Beom-seok curiously. You smiled when Beom-seok told you he did.

“No.” You gasped at Si-eun’s words. 

“That’s downright criminal. I’m making you an account so you can follow me.” You told him as you downloaded the app on his phone. He should have stopped you. A part of him wanted to, but you seemed so happy, so he let you do it. 

It didn’t actually take you long to make Si-eun an account. The first thing you did was follow yourself, Su-ho and Beom-seok. You then took a couple of pictures and posted them as Si-eun’s first post. It was of the four of you, of the food. You made sure to tag yourself, Su-ho and Beom-seok. You then gave Si-eun his phone back. 

“If you don’t like it, you can delete the app. Su-ho deleted the app months ago. He only posts on my phone for important days or when I force him to. Otherwise, he’d never touch the app again. I like it, though. It holds a lot of good memories.” You told him as you picked up your phone to make your phone post with the pictures you took of the food, yourself and the boys. You made sure to tag Si-eun in the picture and video of Su-ho feeding him. 

The four of you stayed there for a while. Happy, enjoying each other’s company, getting to know each other past names and reputations. 

Later that night, Beom-seok looked through your and Su-ho’s Instagrams. Su-ho had worked, leaving your home with a kiss on your forehead, a bento box in hand and the promise to be safe. You fell asleep shortly after his departure, curled up in bed, hugging your Bbokari plush close to your chest. Your Jiniret plush lay in Su-ho's empty space in the bed. Si-eun fell asleep at his desk. he had been studying, though on his phone was the post you had tagged him in. The post he had liked just before drifting off to sleep.

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

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[sturniololuvz]

Can you do Chris has a son and a daughter (twins) and the brother pushes his sister and she runs to tell Chris while crying and he explains to his son why he can’t hurt her and stuff

A SHIT TON of draft are about to be posted !!!!!!!

⸻

“Gentle Hands”

The afternoon sun poured through the living room windows, casting long shadows across scattered toys and a trail of crayons. Laughter had filled the air only minutes ago — the kind of bubbly chaos that came with being a father of six-year-old twins.

Chris was in the kitchen, half-focused on cutting up apples when he heard it — the sharp thud, a cry, and the hurried patter of small feet.

She rounded the corner first, cheeks blotchy and wet, her tiny hands rubbing at her eyes. “Daddy!” she sobbed, rushing straight into his legs.

Chris immediately dropped the knife, crouching down and scooping her into his arms. “Hey, hey, sweetheart. What happened?”

“He—he pushed me!” she wailed into his shoulder, clutching at the back of his shirt. “I didn’t do anything! He just got mad because I took the blue marker!”

Chris held her close, rubbing small, slow circles on her back. Over her shoulder, he saw him standing stiff in the hallway, arms crossed, a scowl half hiding the guilt in his eyes.

“Okay,” Chris said gently, brushing her hair from her face. “You’re okay now. Daddy’s got you. Just breathe for me, alright?”

She nodded into his shoulder, hiccuping softly.

Chris stood, still holding her, and turned to his son. “Come here, bud.”

He didn’t move at first. But after a second, with a huff, he shuffled over — eyes avoiding both of theirs.

Chris crouched so he could talk to them both, one in each arm now, feeling the tension between them like a storm cloud.

“Look at me,” Chris said softly, and finally, he did.

“You can be mad,” Chris said. “It’s okay to feel angry, especially when something feels unfair. But what is not okay is using your hands to hurt someone — especially your sister.”

“But she—”

Chris raised a hand, not to scold, just to stop the excuses. “No. I need you to listen to me.”

He glanced down at her. She was sniffling quietly now, curled up against his side.

“You love her. I know you do. She’s not just your sister, she’s your twin. Your best friend for life. And when you hurt her — even if it seems small — it tells her she’s not safe with you. And that’s not something we ever, ever want someone we love to feel.”

His son blinked hard, clearly trying not to cry himself. “I didn’t mean to make her cry…”

Chris nodded. “I believe you. But it still happened. So now, we fix it. With our words. With kindness. And with the promise that next time, you’ll come talk to me instead of using your hands. Deal?”

There was a long pause before he whispered, “Deal.”

Chris looked to his daughter. “You okay if he says sorry?”

She looked up, quiet, and nodded. Chris shifted slightly so they were face to face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “I won’t do it again.”

She looked at him for a long moment before leaning forward and wrapping her little arms around his neck. “It’s okay,” she mumbled.

Chris felt his chest loosen. He wrapped both arms around them, pulling them into one tight, warm hug.

“You two will fight sometimes,” he said softly. “But we never stop loving each other. And we always, always fix it.”

And with that, the storm passed — for now.

⸻

[ldydeath]

I'm Still Waiting | Kwon Ji-yong (G-Dragon)

Summary: You and Jiyong have always toed the line between friends and more than, but you can’t seem to take the plunge and actually be with him. So he waits. Word Count: 1.3k Warnings: Mentions of cheating (not by reader or Jiyong), some angst, some fluff Author’s Note: I wasn’t going to write anything this week but as I was looking through requests I stumbled across this one and the inspo hit hard. This is based on a Tate McRae song called Greenlight. Enjoy <3

When you first met Jiyong you’d both been in relationships, a tragedy really because there’d been instant sparks. You were both too good to ever act on it. You’d stayed friends over the years though. Rooting for each other and supporting each others successes in life. 

Despite the sparks, you’d gotten engaged to someone else. You’d been with him for years, it  just made sense. Besides, Jiyong was in a committed relationship too, and he seemed happy. Until one day he’d texted you that they’d broken up.

You’d been knee deep in wedding plans when you’d gotten the news and had rushed to his side. You’d supported him through his breakup. You never crossed that line though. No matter how much you wanted to. His heart was broken, and yours belonged to someone else. 

Jiyong had smiled at your wedding, danced with you like a friend when he’d always wanted more. Was on good terms with your husband. He would love you from afar if that was all he was allowed to have. 

But then the affair happened. Jiyong saw red. How could he cheat on you? Jiyong had shown up unannounced and punched him in the face. You’d followed him out, explained to him that couldn’t happen again. You loved him. You’d change for him if it meant he wouldn’t do it again. 

Jiyong didn’t get it. He loved you. He would never take advantage of you like that, never cheat, never ask you to change. Why couldn’t you see how great you were? He just smiled and nodded though, let you go after what you wanted.

It happened again a few months later and you filed for divorce. Jiyong offered his home to you, but you declined. You couldn’t live with him. It wouldn’t be right. So he’d helped you move into an apartment down the street. And he hoped. 

“I appreciate you helping me, Ji. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You hugged him as he sat the last box down in the kitchen. 

“You never have to thank me. There’s no place else I’d ever be.” He grinned. “Should we get dinner?” 

You nodded and he led you out of the house. Dinner was more flirty than it had ever been. Now that you were both single there was nothing stopping either of you. That spark from years ago was still there, not that it had ever faded. You heart longed for him. And so when he walked you home and leaned in for a kiss, you didn’t stop him. You kissed him back like you’d been craving him for years. 

∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘

“You think you’ll ever want to take that next step?”

It had been months of this game. Dinners, movie nights, kisses. But you hadn’t committed to him. Every time you thought it was about to happen you would chicken out. 

“Yeah. I just, I’m not ready yet.” You shrugged, giving him an apologetic smile. 

He nodded like he always did when you gave this answer. Jiyong didn’t understand why you couldn’t just jump in with him, but he would never pressure you. When you were ready, he’d be ready. He could wait. 

Another month passed and Jiyong was officially going crazy. He’d done everything he could think of. Even wrote a song about you, his eyes on yours the entire time he sang it when he debuted it at a show. Taken you to all your favorite stops along his tour. You still weren’t ready. He was running out of ways to show you how much he loved you, how much happier he could make you than anyone else. 

“Ji, you didn’t!” You practically jumped into his arm when he presented the tickets. 

“Of course I did. They’re your favorite band, right?” 

“Yes! Thank you, oh my god!” You squealed before leaning in to kiss his cheek. “I love you!” The words were out before you could take them back. 

Jiyong stilled in your arms and you leaned back to look at him, wide eyed. He never thought front row to your favorite band would be what made you crack, but here you were. 

“You do?” He was hopefully, almost too hopeful and you nodded.

“Yeah, but I’m not ready.” You sighed, pulling away from him. 

“Why not?” You paused, turning to face him. This was off script, but you guessed you started that. 

“We were together for a long time, Ji. He hurt me really bad. I’m not ready to get my heart broken again. And what if we don’t work out? I just lose my best friend? I can’t do that.” 

“But what if we do work out?” He moved to stand by you, “I love you I would never do what he did. I think we could end up being something beautiful.” 

You let out a sigh, it was too much. Your feelings for him had always been too much. You’d always known he’d loved you, but hearing it out loud was doing something to you. 

“Ji, I don’t know.” 

“Give me a chance.” 

“I’m scared.” 

“Me too.” 

You almost caved, you almost said yes. You wanted to say yes. He was giving you everything you needed but you still couldn’t pull the trigger. As if reading your mind, Jiyong just nodded, a sad smile on his face. 

∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘

As time went on, Jiyong still tried. Not as hard as he used to, but he couldn’t help how he felt about you. The time you spent together was always the best, it made you feel alive in ways you hadn’t before. Made you wish you weren’t so afraid to let him be more than that. 

And then one night, it finally happened. You’d been out for drinks and a girl had hit on him right in front of you. Jiyong being the shy guy he was had laughed it off but she’d been persistent. He’d bought her a drink, offered to let her hang out with you guys. She’d been flirty the whole night. You stayed in the car as Jiyong walked her to her doorstep, watched in agony as he placed a kiss on her cheek, smiled at her before she walked in her house.

“What was that?” He’d hardly made it back in the car before you were fuming. 

“I was making sure she got home safe, it’s called being nice.” He shrugged. 

“Jiyong, please. She was flirting with you all night.” You sighed leaning back in the seat. 

“Was she?” His brows raised. “I didn’t realize.” He turned to face you. 

“Yeah, well she was.” You folded your arms with a pout. “And You were flirting back.”

“I was not.” He snorted. “I told you I wouldn’t do that to you and I meant it. Believe me, I only have eyes for you no matter how painful it might be.” 

“I’m sorry.” You sighed, looking at him. “I don’t know why I can’t just let myself be with you. I want to, I really do. I just…can’t.” 

“Ever?” 

“I hope not. But if you don’t want to wait for me, I get it.” You nudged him, “Maybe you shouldn’t.” 

“I’d wait for you forever.” 

Your heart skipped a beat at his words. There was something about the vulnerability in his voice that made you want to jump off the deep end and finally give into this whole thing. You’d find a way to make it work, right? 

You moved in closer, your lips brushing against his softly. His mouth moved against yours, his arms finding their way to you as he pulled you closer. You’d done this a million times but today it felt different. Like a promise instead of a no. 

“We try.” You whispered as you pulled away, your forehead resting against his. 

“We try.” He nodded, a small smile on his face.

He’d waited years for this, but he knew he needed to move slow if he didn’t want to lose you. He vowed to never make you feel the way your ex did, he’d protect your heart for the rest of his life. He’d already been doing it for all these years anyway.

tag list: @wcnderlnds @infinetlyforgotten @berfgrimm @aizshallnotbefound @loveesiren @gdinthehouseee @tulentiy @petersasteria @ttturnitup @flymetothexmoon @mashtatosworld @alosss-blog @sooyasya @dprvivi @mirahyun @breakmeoff @1950schick @sherrayyyyy @bettelaboure @allthoughtsmindfull

[that-smallinjured-bowylamb]

Hello, nice person!

I’d like to ask for headcanons for Riddle, Deuce, Jade, Vil, Epel, Lilia, and Silver wherein they lose a bet with their lovely significant other and have to wear a maid’s dress that their S/O picks out for a week as payment for losing. If that’s too many characters for you to write or it’s too overwhelming, just Riddle, Deuce, Lilia, and Silver would be fine!

No pressure to answer this ask, take your time if you decide to write or feel free to ignore it! I just thought there’s no harm in asking!

Signed, 🫡🍞 (Soldier Loaf)

A/n: Hiii! Sorry if delayed! But ofc I'd love to put headcanons, Soldier Loaf !!! Lol, I was busy with my drawings, but I hope you enjoyed it! Oopsie, Loaf did you read my rules b4 asking?? Wheteves, I broke one of my own rules anyway 😔... 5 is the limit! I'll do the other ones in the next post (if I can)

💋🪽The winner takes it all, The loser gives it all💋🪽

Gender neutral, use of 'you'.

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Deuce Spade, Jade Leech, Lilia Vanrouge, Silver Vanrouge

Upcoming characters: Vil Scheonheit, Epel Felmier.

Genre: Romantic, fluff, relationship?? (Oops! I think you forgot to read the rules... it's okay! Riddle doesn't mind !! he'll let this slide :>)

Summary: He lost the bet, now he has to wear that maid dress you picked out for him. For a week straight. Oh dear.

Warning ⚠️: Grammer, OOC(?), my rules broke b4 I noticed it, not much to be warned abt except the use of 'you', Jade might be a little weird, slight cussy (my fav part of the day), it might be short, goodness there are a lot of unanswered asks in my inbox !!!

Riddle Rosehearts

Okay so maybe he shouldn't have accepted it, but he did anyways, I mean, your his s/o, of course, he'd accept your request. So when he lost? Never had he ever felt so much embarrassment. And the fact he had to wear a maid dress for a week.

Dear rose, he loves you, he really does. But what in the great queen of hearts are you making him out of this? What is the purpose, rose...

Please don't look at his face, he's clearly normal. No, he's not red, please stop teasing him already. If he hears his dormmates laughing? OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!

The view could only be for you, no one else. It'd be embarrassing. But hey, at least he looks adorable in one! It's those long skirt maid outfits, nothing too sexual. It's cute.

Yes, he does the thing. The heart thingy idk what to call it omg. BUT HE LOOKS SO HUGGABLE WITH HIS POUTT AKSJSJDJD

WISJDJJDNSKSJDNSNKWNDKDKSJBDCKJSNDKDJDJ-

Deuce Spade

Okay, so what he didn't expect was you to come by, ask him if he could play a game with you, it was a challenge, but he didn't knew. So, when you explained the rules, he was fueled to play. But the fact you were better than him in that game? Baffling. The fact he also had to wear a maid dress for a week was mad embarrassing. Are you and Ace trying to humiliate him behind the scenes???

The whole week he had to wear a maid dress to school, my bro looked less intimidating with the scowl. Oh, but the outfit was meant for you so dw, your lucky he loves you.

....Just don't expect him to wear that ever.

OMS NO HES NOT GOING TO SERVE YOU-

Jade Leech

Oya. You're quite brave, nagging him to play a silly game of yours. But, as you wish, dear~

As you explained the rules and how it works (buy let's say you were vague on some parts) I'm not sure how you fucking manage to make THE JADE LEECH LOSE but, whatever method works. So when he lost, he sighed. (<-he lost on purpose but he don't know what's coming)

Then you told him to wear a maid dress for a week. Aren't you brave? The fact your asking your boyfriend, no, a literal LEECH, to wear a maid dress?

Fuck yeah he's doing it, I mean he's a butler so why not switch the roles a little bit? So here he is, wearing a silly maid outfit he wasn't meant to wear (but have you seen those fanarts of him wearing it? Damn, he might be better than me) and yes, he is, at your service. Order him however you'd like.

And then he gets cuddles. Bc why not, love, love, soft Jade. (<-I will wait for the day someone tags me in a soft Jade fic lmao/hj)

Oh, but don't think you're off the hook, [Name]. It'll be his turn to win next time you ask. Fufufu~

Lilia Vanrouge (hi Hana 🩷)

Just know he might've been the one that asked you to play a challenge with him ngl. Knowing this guy is known for mischief, why not he play a little game with his precious bat, hmm?~ ♡

So when you agreed to play the game with him, he's excited, for very obvious reasons. Placing down the rules, getting prepared, and strategizing on how to win, you've managed somehow.

Anddd, after maybe 4-6 rounds non-stop (<-at the game) he... lost? Well, isn't this surprising? I wonder what you'll make him do!

In comes your devious plan to make him wear a maid outfit for a week. Well, what a peculiar challenge, but if that's what his precious bat wants, then he'll do it! All for you!~

So he comes to school the next day wearing a maid outfit, everyone is glancing at him, some mistaking him for a girl and tries to flirt with him, but no, he goes: "Ah, my apologies, but this is only reserved for my lovely s/o!~ So sorry, but, I am taken, by yours truly!" *Skips away with the truffle layers just bouncing* I swear his maid outfit is soo adorable I can't-

He shows up to your classroom all dressed in the outfit and was like, "Look! Look! Don't I look adorable???" Yes, you are Lils. No need to barge in during exams 🎀

But, nonetheless he just floats over you with the cute outfit (did I mentioned if the maid outfit had ribbons on the skirt?)

Yeah, that week wasn't him getting flustered, it was you. 🫶

Silver Vanrouge

So he fairly lost because he either didn't focus or just almost dozed off and was too late to do it the last second. He sighs and embraces for the dare that might embarrass him.

An smirking Lilia, dumbfounded Sebek, and astonished Malleus was all looking at Silver.

Wearing a maid outfit.

"...HUMAN! WHAT IS THIS!? WHY ARE YOU WEARING A MAID OUTFIT?? DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARRASSING IT'LL BE FOR WAKA-" "Phahahhahahaha! Oh, dear Silver- *Wheeze*" "...How peculiar..." the three of them were laughing on the inside [<-except his father- Lilia, though] man, why must you do this to him?

He sleeps around campus the whole week he wore the outfit, it was embarrassing sure, but he's glad you were smiling at your own antics. You're lovely, and he'll let you do anything as long as you aren't hurt or sad by it.

He wonders if this is worth it, though. Oh well, it is. You smiled at it, he smiled at you. That's all that matters. Now, he'll just dream about his and your future together. Even in this outfit...

The End.

Enjoy this pic of Rook with hangers that he's using for practice. Idk what this guy is on.

[wooahaes]

the intimacy of knowing the other

pairing: non-idol!changbin x gn!reader

genre: fluff. established relationship.

warnings: food mentions. introverted reader. first time saying "i love you" to each other. they're kinda sappyyyy

word count: ~0.9k

daisy's notes: ohh binnie how i love writing u being the absolute sweetest dork...

Changbin considered himself an expert at dating you. Maybe it was a little arrogant to say, but he knew you well. That was why when one of his friends (Chris, the well-meaning guy that he was) suggested throwing a birthday party for you, he immediately shut the idea down. You were an introvert who worked with people and couldn’t get your birthday off: the last thing you wanted was to go from one busy job into what you would consider another. You liked his friends just fine since you met them several months ago, but he knew you. He knew that for your birthday, you’d rather receive their well-wishes and go home to cuddle with him.

“Oh.” Chris had blinked after Changbin finished explaining. “Ohhh,” he grinned, “you’re in loooove.” Before Changbin could correct him (he was, but he also knew you), Chris just continued with a friendly pat on the shoulder, “I get it. Tell them we thought of them, then?”

He would. He told you over the phone that night while he was finalizing his plans for the two of you, being the multi-tasker extraordinaire that he considered himself to be.

“Oh my god. Thank you.” You sounded exhausted now from work, and he could practically see you sprawled out on your couch. “I love your friends, but I don’t think I could make it through a work day and a party. I barely survived getting dragged to parties in college.”

He still found ways to make it special, though. Like he said… he considered himself an expert on you. He knew your favorite restaurants, the kind of sweets you preferred, and the kind of night-in you would enjoy. And, thankfully, Changbin had already been given the go-ahead from you to go into your apartment while you were at work the day-of. As far as you knew, he’d just be setting up for a cozy movie night for the two of you. 

Little did you know that he’d bought your favorite takeout and had carefully plated it so that it could be a romantic dinner for the two of you. He’d light a candle after you made it home… just to make it a bit more romantic.

That wasn’t it though. He’d bought you your favorite dessert, a portion entirely for you, and something for himself so that you wouldn’t have to share your birthday treat with him unless you wanted to. The couch already had your favorite blanket on it (sprayed with his cologne, since you told him how much you loved the scent). He’d bought you a teddy bear for your birthday that he might have dressed a little bit like himself, just so that you could cuddle with it when he wasn’t around. You’d saved him in your phone as your ‘teddy bear’ (with several hearts around it) for a reason, after all. He’d sprayed his cologne onto it, too, just so you really had a tinier, plush version of him around when Changbin was busy or away for work trips. He’d wrapped the little guy in your blanket, cozy as he could be. 

The second you opened the door, he was racing to greet you. “Hi, baby.” His eyes were twinkling as he looked at you. “Happy birthday.”

The weary look on your face seemed to melt all too quickly, and you dropped your work bag by the door. “I love you,” you mumbled as you made your way closer to him, immediately wrapping your arms around him and melting into him enough that your face was smushed against his shoulder. “You’re too sweet.”

He wrapped his arms around you, trying to ignore the fact you just told him you loved him for the first time as if his heart didn’t start racing the moment the words left your mouth. Changbin wrapped his arms around you, swaying in place for a moment. “I bought you dinner… and a new friend.” 

You perked up, watching him. “Huh?”

He nodded toward the couch, where the bear was sitting. “Happy birthday,” he said again. “There’s dessert in the kitchen.” 

He’s too sweet. You immediately leaned in to press a kiss against his cheek, only to turn the one into a barrage of kisses against his face. He let out a peal of laughter, arms quickly bracing you as you peppered kisses until you felt satisfied with yourself. 

“You’re adorable,” you squished his cheeks with a delighted laugh. “And the sweetest. I’m gonna go change into something comfy, okay?” 

He let you go, watching you with this lovestruck look on his face. As you disappeared into your room, he sprang into action to light the candle for your romantic candlelit dinner (... and technically still lit by the rest of the lights in your apartment, to be fair—he only had the one and he wasn’t going to turn down the lights just yet). You re-emerged all too quickly, sitting across from him as he started to ask you about your day, letting you talk as much as you wanted before he filled the space with conversation.

Then he spoke up. “Should we talk about that?”

You looked up. “Huh?”

“You said you love me.” His cheeks were faintly red. “Did you mean to…?”

You hadn’t. But you reached over, cupping his cheeks. “I do. I love you, angel. It never feels like I’m burning energy when we’re together, y’know? It’s like you recharge my batteries or something.”

Changbin’s gaze grew softer as he turned his face to kiss your palm. “I love you, too.” He said it slowly, quiet enough that it felt intimate between the two of you—even if the two of you were alone. “I didn’t want to say it too soon in case…” 

“You wouldn’t scare me off,” you giggled, pulling your hand back. “If you love me, then you can always say it.”

“Good.” His eyes sparkled a little. “Happy birthday, baby. I love you.” 

[nineteenninety-six]

Maybe Robby's daughter is dating someone from Er? I imagine Robby being a jealous father. It's all a funny situation, haha.

Pairings: Frank Langdon x Reader, Michael Robinavitch x daughter!reader

AN: It's short, I apologise.

Your giggles are muffled against Frank’s lips as he tries his hardest to make the most out of the five minutes you had together. 

Your relationship was a secret one, kept between only the two of you, mostly out of Frank’s fear of your father’s reaction and despite your attempts to assure him that your father will be relatively fine with it, Frank feared his mentor's reaction. So aside from dates that were held far from the hospital and the chance of bumping into one of his colleagues being decreased, you had these little chance moments. 

You had initially only come to the hospital to drop some things off for your father but he was busy with a patient- but Frank was free and so he dragged you into a supply closet and pulled you into a kiss. 

“We’re gonna get caught” You murmur through kisses. 

Frank pulled away enough so that you could see him roll his eyes, “It’s been almost a year and we haven’t got caught, that’s not going to change now”

“That’s because we’ve never been kissing in the supply closet at the hospital” You remind him, “Quite literally anyone can walk in here.”

“And who’s gonna tell?” Frank shrugs, “The only person currently here who might be Dana and all I have to do is beg a little and she won't say anything.”

You stare at him for a moment before conceding with a nod, “Okay…you’re right”

“Of course I am” Frank winks at you before his hands cup your face and pull you into another kiss.

You lose track of time while you’re in the closet with Frank but it couldn’t have been longer than five minutes when the door is open, spilling white artificial light on both of them.

“Frank? Why are you-what the hell?!” Your father freezes in his steps, eyes wide as he catches you.

As you and Frank stare wide eyed at your father, he hurriedly closes the door behind him, trapping all three of you in the cramped supply closet.

“Robby…” Frank attempts to speak and explain but a heavy glare from your dad makes him retreat into his shell.

“Dad…” This time you attempt to speak, hoping that your dad would be softer with you and he is but it just means that his glare is less angry.

“What the hell did I just walk into?” Your dad crosses his arms as he looks at you and Frank for answers, “Does anyone want to answer?”

You and Frank exchange looks before you step forward figuring it would be better if you spoke since your dad was always soft with you.

“Frank and I…we’ve been seeing each other for a while now-“

“How long is ‘a while’?” Your dad interrupts.

You hesitate before you answer “…A year”

You’re pretty sure your dads eyebrows disappear into his hairline after he hears your answer.

“This has been going on for a year and what…you didn’t think it was important to tell me?”

“I was worried about your reaction” You admit, “Frank is your senior resident and I know it would complicate things.”

“Why do you think it’ll complicate things?”

You roll your eyes at your dad playing dumb, “Oh come on. You get weird with every guy I date. You act cold and standoffish and if you do that to Frank then it just doesn’t affect us! It affects everyone at the hospital if you get mean with him.”

“I can be professional” Your dad defends himself. 

“Sure but let’s not act as if you wouldn’t make it awkward”

Your dad doesn’t even attempt to look ashamed as he shrugs. 

“I do really love your daughter, Dr Robby” Frank speaks up as he steps forward, “And I apologise for uh-keeping it a secret.”

Your father stares at him silently for a moment before he turns back to you, "You chose Langdon, out of everyone?"

Frank makes an offended noise behind you at your fathers words.

"Would you prefer I dated Jack?" You ask, knowing your father's close relationship with Dr Abbot.

A frown forms on your fathers face at your words, realising that you were right.

"Can I speak to Frank alone?" 

At those words, Frank's hand darts out and wraps around your arm, squeezing it in panic as he stares at you with wide eyes, silently begging you not to leave him alone with your father.

"Sure" You chirp with a smile.

It takes a few tugs to free yourself from Frank's hold and the last thing you see before you close the supply closet door behind you as you leave is Frank's panicked and wide gaze as it flickered between you and your dad.

[somuchforahobby]

I don’t have to guess

Summary: Obi-wan x jedi master reader / oho wan joins your class of Force projection / no warnings this is just pure fluff and teacher appreciation <3

Words: 1k

Writer’s note: Billie’s verse in guess makes me go feral so i wrote this lols<3

“Good morning, young apprentices” you started as soon as you walked through the classroom. “Can someone please remind the rest of us what we learned last time?”

The eight year olds looked at each other in silence until one raised a hand. “To find our Force signature”

“Yes” you smiled fondly, “and how have you been doing? Have you mastered it?”

“Yes!” They answered in unison.

“Well then… today we will work in bins so, grab a friend.”

The kids’ faces brightened as they turned to their chosen partner, all the while you saw a familiar face walking into the room.

“We seem to have a visitor today” you said with a smirk.

The students turned to the door and bowed, as he made his way into the class. You did as well.

“General Kenobi, what brings you around?”

His eyes lightened and a mischievous grin appeared on his lips. “Same as this padawans, master: learning.”

You faced down to hide your smile, “Please join me, General.” You signaled at the spot next to you in front of the class.

Obi-wan obliged with a nod.

“Now that we have mastered our Force Signatures, we can start projecting on other people, but most importantly, to other Force users.” You started walking around the room, explaining.

Obi-wan’s eyes trailed you as you do.

“Every one of you will write their name and a color next to it” you placed your data pad on one of the kid’s hands. “I’ll explain later.”

“You can reach another person’s mind through the Force. You can have thoughts as if they were your own, see through their eyes, feel through their skin and so on.”

“Like at all times?” One kid asked.

“Powerful Force users can, but Jedi only do it with the other’s consent.” Your voice was firmer, “now, make sure the person you will work this exercise consents to you being in their mind.” Grabbing the data pad again, you examined the list of names and colors.

“Do I have your consent General Kenobi?” You asked him quietly, a step away from him. Your eyes still fixed on the data pad.

“Of course, my dear.” His warm voice wrapped in your ears.

“Good” you turned to your students, beginning to walk between them “Please stand in front of each other. Feel the Force flow through you. Identify your signature and let it take you over; your arms, your legs, your head and chest. Let it flow freely through you. When you are ready, let it reach the person in front of you. Let your signature curl around them, nuzzle them. Do it kindly, do not crash into them. You are a guest, behave like one. And likewise, allow your partner to enter your mind. Now, focus on what they are looking at. Look at yourselves through their eyes; make yourselves comfortable through the bond and then, find their color.” You finished with a smirk, returning to the front with Obi-wan.

His eyes shone with pride and enthusiasm.

One by one, the children in your class said their partner's color as you checked your notes. They all got it right.

“And can you see everything?” One of them asked.

You exhaled before answering, “If the person whose mind you are looking into does not have barriers, then yes. But us, as Force users, should always have them.”

“A more powerful jedi can look into my mind without my permission?” A little girl asked.

“Ah” you smile, “bold of you to assume Jedi are the only Force users in the galaxy. But answering your question, yes. Other Force users can and will fish through your minds to look for the information they want. That’s why you must prepare, to protect yourselves from more powerful users.”

“So, General Kenobi can look into your mind?” Another kid questioned you.

You were about to answer when Obi-wan started. “Make no mistake, young ones, a teacher is much more powerful than a soldier.”

“He can try,” you teased. “But I can try as well.” You walked back to the front of the room. “Would you like us to?” You asked the group with a grin.

The children erupted in excited cheers.

“What would you like to know about General Kenobi?” You asked your students.

“His favorite color!”

“Favorite drink!”

You stood in front of Obi-wan rolling our shoulders to relax as your signature brushed his. He didn’t even try to pull a barrier, he let you in without any opposition.

“Blue and Jawa Juice” you declared as fact.

He merely nods. “Now, what would you like to know about your teacher?” Obi-wan asked the crowd with a grin.

“Favorite student!”

“If she has a boyfriend!”

A scoff left Obi-wan’s mouth. “She does not have a favorite student” He took a step closer to you, “and Jedi do not have boyfriends.”

The groan was general.

“Thank you, General Kenobi. Do we have any other questions?”

A child raised her hand, “So if any other Force user can look into our heads, does that mean they can see anything?”

You nodded, “yes, that’s why we must protect ourselves.”

“Even the embarassing stuff?”

“yes”

“So if I remember I got dressed in the morning, can they see that too?” She asked, horrified. “Like even your underwear?”

You laughed, “well we should have it on our mind then but yeah, I guess so.”

“Can General Kenobi tell us if he can do it?”

You turned to him, eyebrows raised in a challenge. The corners of his lips quivered upwards, but before he could answer you started. “General Kenobi will do no such thing because one: he is too much of a gentleman to do so. And two: we as Jedi do not intrude into other minds and look for information that does not belong to us. Remember that and see you tomorrow.”

The kids walked out giggling, excited with their new knowledge.

“Blue lace?” Obi-wan whispered in your ear.

With a flick of your wrist you closed the door of the classroom, granting you privacy.

“That’s not fair, now is it?” You turned to him with a blush growing on your cheeks.

His eyes are embedded into yours, his pupils blown and wide looking at you. “How so?”

“Because you saw me get dressed this morning, General.” You murmured against his lips before finally locking the kiss and wrapping your arms around his neck.

[allmightstoehair]

— ➔﹒ { ㅤ꒰ — No Idea ꒱ }.’ㅤ ۪ ୧, Katsuki Bakugo—

GENRE: established relationship | slice of life oneshot | post-timeskip. PAIRING: timeskip!bakugo x fem!reader

SUMMARY: After a long, grueling mission, Pro Hero Katsuki Bakugo returns home to find chaos—his kids running wild and his exhausted spouse barely holding it together.

❵ ﹏﹏﹏❵ ﹏﹏﹏❵ ﹏﹏﹏❵ ﹏﹏﹏❵ ﹏﹏﹏❵ ﹏﹏﹏❵

“Mori! Stop using your Quirk on your brother!—“ you say with a high tone as you try to keep the kids from literally killing each other. They’re scrambling to get to each other and you have your hands grasping their shirts to keep them apart. Your hair is messy, clothes filled with food that went everywhere when Kaisuo, your son, got upset with you over having to eat his whole plate. Mori was trying to use her Quirk to get back at Kaisuo for shoving her in the gut. You would’ve expected they’d be more behaved since Katsuki was their dad, but when he was at home, they ran the household.

Heavy boots thudded against the hardwood as Katsuki Bakugo trudged into the kitchen. You didn’t hear him. Sweat matted his forehead and his blonde hair stuck to it. His uniform was torn at the edge, soot smudged down the side of his face, and his gauntlets hung loosely at his sides. Sweat clung to his skin, hair matted to his forehead.

“The hell is going on?” You looked at him with deadpan exhaustion, arms still extended, hands still clutching your children by the shirts like unruly shopping bags.

“Hey,” you said, breathless. “You’re home.”

You dropped your arms, finally releasing them as they sat on the floor with defeated little plops. “They were trying to kill each other. Kaisuo threw mashed potatoes at me. Mori almost electrocuted the dog. There’s something growing in the corner of the kitchen that may or may not be alive now.”

Katsuki tilted his head. “…Mashed potatoes?”

“Don’t ask.”

A beat of silence passed. You let your hands fall to your sides, the shake in your breath more emotional than physical. “I really tried today, Kats.”

He walked up to you without a word and cupped the back of your head, pulling you into his chest. You didn’t fight it. You just sagged into him like your bones had been waiting for permission. The kids just stared up at you both, lips parted as they saw the interaction. Katsuki kissed your head and let you go. “Lemme handle it,” he murmured.

“You just came from work, baby, I got—“

“Go sit’own,” he put his hand on your waist and moved you to the side.

You nodded, finally letting go of whatever thread you were still holding on to. Your knees carried you to the couch before your brain caught up. The moment your body hit the cushions, it was like someone flipped a switch—you melted.

Katsuki turned to the children, arms crossing, the familiar burn of a scowl settling over his face. “So you brats wanna explain to me why you were actin’ like jerks all day? What, does my leaving give you the right to disrespect your mom?” He asks. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to, but it was enough to make the children’s legs buckle under pressure.

Mori’s spark fizzled our instantly and she deflated. They both looked solemn, like they felt bad almost immediately. Their eyes darted to the floor in shame and Kaisuo kicked his foot to scrape the floor. “So you’re not gonna talk.” Katsuki said, more of an obvious statement than a question. He shifted his weight and dropped his arms, his tone sharpening just enough to dig in. “You think keepin’ quiet’s gonna fix what you did? That silence counts as sorry?”

“No,” Mori said softly, almost a whisper.

“We just didn’t think—” Kaisuo started, but Katsuki cut him off with a raised hand. “You didn’t think. You acted. Like punks,” he said, voice even but edged. “Your mom’s been run ragged all damn day tryin’ to keep you alive and fed and happy. You treated her like crap. And I don’t give a damn how ‘bored’ or ‘mad’ you were—you don’t treat her like that.“

He let the words sit for a moment, then nodded toward the kitchen. “Start cleaning the mess you made. Then you go say sorry to your mom like you mean it. You don’t fix this, we’re training until your arms fall off.” He wasn’t serious about the extensive training, however it was an effective way to get them to do what they were told.

It wasn’t long before the shuffling footsteps of hesitant children made their way back into the living room. Mori clung to the hem of her oversized shirt, fingers twisting it nervously, and Kaisuo stood behind her like he was hoping her apology would cover them both.

Katsuki didn’t say anything as he made his way over. He just tilted his head toward you, giving them the space to make it right. Mori stepped forward first, voice barely louder than a whisper. “I’m sorry for treating you bad, mama. It wasn’t nice and you should be treated better.” She murmured. Kaisuo’s brows furrowed, a familiar expression you’d seen on his father. He was reluctant, and the most stubborn so it was hard for him to apologize.

“Sorry, mom. We shouldn’t have yelled—or used our Quirks on each other—or threw food—“ his sniffled, holding his arm in shame as he cried with an angry expression.

Your heart ached and almost immediately, you kicked yourself off of the couch, crouching to their height to wrap them both in a gentle embrace. They shuffled over carefully and sat down on either side of you, heads ducked low.

A kiss to each of their heads. “I know you’re still learning. And I know sometimes it’s hard. But you two have to understand—when you act wild like that, and you don’t listen, it wears me down. I love you, but I need you to help me too.”

They both nodded. “We’ll do better.” The kids said simultaneously. You smiled and looked at Katsuki who huffed and made his way out of the living room because he knew you had it handled.

“Thank you. Now, both of you go brush your teeth and get into bed. You have that playdate at the Kaminari’s.” You say as your grip on them loosens. They both kiss your cheek and run off to their bedroom. With Katsuki’s absence, you wander off into the house looking for your spouse. After finding him in your bedroom, you smile. He was in the middle of pulling his briefs up and following them with a pair of black shorts, seemingly fresh out the shower. His chest adorned with scars he’s had since he was a teen. The sight always tugged at your heart. You trudge lightly into the room and he doesn’t look up at you. He knows you’re there.

“How was the mission?” You ask him. Katsuki shrugs and rolls his shoulders.

“It was fine.” He responded flatly. You could understand his exhaustion, and something weighing him down that he probably wasn’t saying. You move to sit on your knees on the bed, and see him sit beside you. Shifting yourself closer, you watch as he leans on the headboard, looking at a packet of paperwork in his hands. His glasses are on and you look up, biting your lip stupidly at the sexy sight.

“You’re so handsome when you wear those,” he looks at your expression and snorts. “So I’m ugly when I don’t, huh?”

You blink. “No! Shut up you know what I mean!” He chuckled, low and gravelly in his chest, his fingers still holding onto the packet but his attention now fully on you. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, adjusting the glasses on his face with one hand.

You rolled your eyes and leaned forward, resting your chin on his shoulder, peering down at the paperwork like it was a forbidden mystery. “What’s that for?” you asked, your voice soft, more curious than anything else.

He let out a slow breath, the kind that came from long days and longer thoughts. “Just some agency crap. Assessments. Scheduling. Bullshit about partnerships.”

You hummed, your fingers brushing along his bicep absentmindedly. You turn your face to press your lips onto the smooth skin. “Mm. Sounds exciting.” You tease sarcastically.

He sighs and tosses the packet aside on the nightstand. He glances in your direction again and smirks.

Katsuki smirked, the corners of his mouth twitching up with that familiar cocky ease. “Y’know, I should’ve known you weren’t actually interested in the paperwork. You just wanted an excuse to touch up on me, you little shit.”

You scoffed, dragging your lips along his arm again with exaggerated slowness. “Can’t I show appreciation for my husband’s hard-earned muscles without being accused of something?”

“You’re such a dumbass,” he cooed, leaning towards you to catch your lips in a passionate kiss. He grunted, moving his hands to grab your waist as you pulled yourself up and onto his lap. Katsuki groaned, your weight pressing down on him further relieving the tension he felt from the hard labor of today.

Katsuki’s fingers slid beneath the hem of your shirt, calloused palms dragging up the soft skin of your back as he let out another low groan. “Damn it… you have no idea how much I needed this,” he murmured against your lips, his voice rough and frayed at the edges. He was awfully touchy, and as long as as you’ve known him, he’s never this needy.

“‘Missed me, hm?” You mumble against his lips and he furrows his brows.

“You have no idea.”