#lunch or a snack afterwards and sitting so small in the back seat during the car ride home....... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eremiie · 4 years

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Hi! I love your writing! Could you maybe do something for Eren where the reader is good friends with Jean and they hang out a lot, which leads to a heated argument with Eren, who ends up admitting his insecurities about losing her and it gets all fluffy and cute from there? Thank you💜🥰

futile competition;

❥ eren x reader | 3k words | fluff

❥ in which eren gets a little envious & reader has to reassure him

❥ hi! thank you sooo much<3, i hope i did this request justice aksjskak, enjoy :)

"jean, how did you even sprain your ankle in the first place?" you were sat idle on the wooden bleacher with jean next to you, the two of you conversing freely instead of jean being out practicing with the rest of the football team because of his sprained limb.

"i landed wrong during practice a couple days ago. when i went to the doctor they told me to sit out for two weeks."

"two weeks? so you're gonna miss next weeks game?"

"yeah but your boyfriend and reiner are two of the best players, they'll be fine without me for a game."

you shrugged your shoulders looking towards the field, looking for eren. during games you'd be able to spot him quite easily as he always adorned the large number five on his back, but of course like majority of the team he was shirtless, the only reason you could spot him being the way his bun was on the verge of falling out his hair and cascading over his shoulders.

"you're like the weakest link on the team, they're doing much better without you." you joked, causing jean to roll his eyes and shove you over in the slightest. "jean, i will kick you in the leg that's hurt, stop." your giggling made him break out into a smile, him putting his hands up in mock surrender.

jean and you were quite good friends, occasionally hanging out in and out of school, you having met him through your closest friends sasha and connie. the only reason that you two were hanging out during his practice was because you told eren you'd wait for him afterwards so you could spend this friday with him to his request.

"jaeger, focus!" the coach exasperated, flailing his arms outwards at eren's fumble. eren cursed under his breath, and wiped the sweat off of his brow, looking away from you and jean before picking himself up off the ground. "go run a lap and stop letting your girlfriend distract you. everyone else go get water then locker rooms!"

you chuckled at eren being disciplined, watching him make his way out the field to the track to run his lap, jean laughing beside you. "he's such a kiss ass, he's just trying to impress you." jean shook his head as he spoke.

"i don't know why, we're already dating."

jean nodded his head in agreement, grabbing his crutches and pulling himself up. "do you need help?" you questioned standing up abruptly to help him steady himself, a subconscious reaction if you must, as it was just in your nature to be helping.

"nah, nah, i'm good, i'm not disabled or anything, it's just a sprained ankle." jean shrugged you off, and it's true, he was of course fine for the most part, but he also didn't want eren getting angry at a simple gesture from you, as he tended to do quite often. "let's just go back to the gym."

୨୧

eren exited the empty locker rooms, clear irritation spread across his face. his lack of concentration during practice, and jean's stupid face flirting with you was fogging his mind.

"eren!" you called out to your boyfriend, him turning his head after nodding a small goodbye to his coach. you gave jean a small hug before he started waddling away on his one foot and you starting to make your way towards the brunette, eren struggling to suppress an eye roll. "hi baby," your arms wrapped around his waist and he hesitantly reciprocated, letting his circle your shoulders.

"hey." his tone grumbly and dry, but you didn't let your mind wander too much on it.

"i see practice wasn't the best today. was it because of me?" a mischievous grin graced your face as you and eren began to exit the gym, heading towards his car.

yeah, something like that.

"no, it was fine, i just slipped up a couple times." your thumb brushed over eren's hand a couple times before he pulled back to pull his keys out of his backpack that was hung over his shoulder. "get in the car," and then him unlocking it with a press of a button, his presence leaving your side as he went over to the drivers side of the car. you didn't like the way he so casually brushed you off, as eren was usually excited to see you after practice. he would occasionally shower you in kisses, and wipe his sweat all over you and have you shuddering in disgust, but the aloof personality taking place was never present to you, so of course you couldn't help but think it was strange.

you slid into the passengers seat with your own bag sat in between your feet on the floor, and initially decided not to converse with the boy for the rest of the car ride, leaning your head against the window and occasionally glancing at eren who you didn't even see look your way once. seriously, what was his problem? if you knew he was going to act like this while you were at his house the rest of the evening you'd would've went home faster than he could blink.

"______, c'mon." eren murmured before he shut the door to the drivers side, walking towards his front door leaving you still attempting to collect your belongings so you could follow him. you were so stuck in thought that you didn't even realize the two of you had made it to eren's house.

"_____, hi! it's been so long since eren has brought you home, how are you?" mrs. jaeger's (who many times has insisted you called her carla) cheery tone flooded your ears as you entered the household, eren shutting the door behind you and barely even uttering a 'hi.' to his mother or mikasa. despite this you couldn't help but smile at carla, the lady was so sweet and kind and you genuinely couldn't figure where eren got his temper, or stubbornness from.

"hi mrs. jaeger-"

"please, just call me carla." her figure danced her way towards you and her nimble fingers turned you around facing the stairs so she could shed your backpack off for you, and only then did you realize eren had disappeared from sight, leaving behind only the sound of creaky stair steps.

you sighed, and of course carla put two and two together, but not before mikasa who was sat on the kitchen stool facing the stairs as well, in the middle of helping eren's mom with kitchen work. "what's wrong with eren?" she brushed aside her ebony hair and made her way over to the stairs, carla placing a hand on her shoulder to halt her movement.

"mikasa honey, just leave him alone for now, he gets like that sometimes." carla gave you a sorry smile already knowing her sons antics. "i'm sure _____ will get through to him if that's what he needs, right?" mikasa's eyes flickered to you, an unreadable, almost blank expression on her face before she nodded and you let out a small, "right," her walking back over to her position at the stool.

"do you want any snacks, or anything? i know it's been a long day at school and all,"

"it's fine mrs. jaeger, i'm not hungry."

"alright, will you be staying for dinner, i could make your favorite?"

"i'm not sure yet," as many times as your answer would be yes you weren't lying, with eren's strange demeanor you weren't sure how long you could stay in the household even with carla catering to you, her joyous aura wasn't enough.

"okay well let me know, i'll let you go now," she leaned into your ear, her black strands tickling your face, "let me know if anything."

soon enough you were following in eren's steps on your way to his room. you slowly pushed the oak door open seeing eren wasn't in his room and assumed he went to take a shower. you had no problem sitting and waiting as it gave you a second to conjure your thoughts as well, you taking a spot on his bed.

it wasn't long before he appeared back though, him opening and closing his door, eyes flashing to you for only a second. he threw the towel around his neck that was stopping his damp hair from dripping onto his abdomen onto his desk chair and slid on only a pair of sweatpants before crawling on his bed. "scoot over," and you did, making space so he could lay next to you, the smell of his body wash evident on his skin.

the slight tension was unnerving as you played with your fingers where they sat in between your crossed legs, eren paying you little to no mind. "what's your problem?" you couldn't help but ask, as many times as you played the details of the day back in your head you couldn't find a bump in the road, anything that would make him act so distant.

"my problem? i don't have one."

you struggled to not roll your eyes, instead raising a brow. "seriously? you didn't talk to me in the car, you're barely talking to me now, didn't you want me to come and spend today with you?"

"yeah, but i'm sure you rather be spending today with jean, right?"

oh.

you pursed your lips, narrowing your eyes at the boy who's eyes were finally fixated on you. your arms crossed and you bit back an insult, since one was definitely a part of the options you were weighing in your brain. "excuse me?"

"you heard me," he sat up, his muscles flexing underneath his skin as he propped himself up on the bed. "you and him have been so comfortable lately. i'm pretty sure you hang out with him more than me anyways." he huffed, a fire blazing behind his turquoise eyes (which not to mention you always found mesmerizing, even through his anger.)

you grimaced, eren was clearly blinded by his frustration. he seemed to forget how you came over almost every weekend, not to mention a few times throughout the week as well, how you spent majority of lunches with him and how the two of you were a literal couple. it wasn't your fault you and jean had more than one class together, and seemingly got along. he was good company, you couldn't deny that, and you knew him before you even knew eren.

"eren i spend so much time with you, what the hell are you talking about? is that what's bothering you?"

"it doesn't bother me," and of course he was lying straight to your face. "i could care less. do what you want with horseface."

okay now he was being dramatic.

you stifled a laugh at the stupidity that escaped his mouth, how could he make such a vague assumption? "you could care less? so why are you acting all pouty and not talking to me? if you didn't care we'd be all good right now, stop being all mad for no reason."

"i have a reason to be mad,"

"so you admit that you're mad?"

"i mean-"

"and if you're mad then you obviously care?"

"can you let me talk, damnit? you always do that, just let me talk."

"then talk, eren, it's gonna be nonsense anyways. why can't you just trust me? i've been friends with jean before we even started dating, if i wanted him then we would've been a couple before me and you."

"that doesn't stop him from flirting with you and being all touchy and shit, i don't like that,"

"it doesn't matter what you like or not, it matters what's true, and whats not true is that he flirts with me, he doesn't, and he's not touchy either, you're literally being delusional."

"i'm delusional?" this time eren rolled his eyes, his voice raising in the slightest and he was now sitting straight up, giving you a small shove in demonstration of what jean did earlier. "when he shoved you like that he wasn't flirting with you? and when you two were laughing and shit he wasn't trying to flirt with you?"

"eren don't touch me," you pushed his hand away once it made contact with you, a crease in your eyebrow evident from your rising anger as well. "we can't laugh now? like what the fuck sense does that make to you? you're literally just jealous."

"jealous of what? of kirstein?" disbelief was evident in his tone.

“who else? nobody just acts like that for no reason, you’re jealous, eren.” you began to stand up ready to just leave, crawling over eren’s body to make your way towards the door. you couldn’t stand when eren couldn’t admit to his fault, i mean; it was his fault right? he was stubborn, and it was irritating.

but eren on the other hand couldn’t let you leave, he didn’t have time for his mom to scold him for upsetting you, or for mikasa to bombard him with aimless questions, better yet, for jean to find out the two of you were fighting, or worse, fighting over him.

before your hand could reach his doorknob his hand reached your wrist, eren pulling you backwards towards him in the gentlest manner he could muster, you turning towards him your expression still vexed. “eren, just let go of me, i get it.” but his grip remained, him using his other hand to turn your frame towards him by your waist.

"i’m not jealous, i just feel like i shouldn’t be having to compete with another guy for my own girlfriend!" he sputtered abruptly, and the hand on your waist clenched at your t-shirt, while the grip on your wrists tightened. you were caught somewhat off guard looking up at eren, curiosity brewing at his sudden outburst.

“what?”

“i just... i don’t want to lose you to some idiot,” he could no longer meet your eyes, his facade dropping and a new side of him he hadn’t shown being unveiled to you.

“eren..” your free hand rested on his shoulder and you slowly walked him back towards his bed until the back of his knees hit it and caused him to plop down on the covers, “baby, you’re not gonna lose me... you couldn’t lose me over something like that.”

eren’s gaze was still shy to meet yours, but his other hand made its way to your waist as well, pulling you down on top of him until you were straddling his lap, him pulling you close so his arms wrapped around you. “i know, but...” he struggled to get the rest of his words out, not even sure how to convey them to you regardless of how understanding you’d be with him.

“eren, look at me,” you grabbed his face between your palms, smoothing out his loose brown locks so you could get a clear sight of him, training your eyes on his. you loved the way blue swam across his green eyes, and the way his bottom lip jutted out slightly as if he was constantly pouting. he was so gorgeous to you, even through his anger. “i’m yours, i’m all yours, and you’re mine. nobody, not even jean can get between me and you, i love you, i date you. jean and i are just friends, and you don’t need to let him get in your head like that.”

eren pouted his bottom lip before leaning his head against your chest, you raking your fingers through his hair until the hair tie loosened around it. he relished in the feeling of your warm skin against his and your hands attempting to place another messy bun in his strands of damp hair. “i just feel like i’m not doing enough for you sometimes... like he could give you something that i’m not.”

“eren you are enough for me, like i said, i’m dating you, not anyone else, if you weren’t doing enough for me i wouldn’t be with you. i love everything about you baby.”

“you sure?”

“yes, why wouldn’t i be sure? even with how stubborn you are, and how angry you can get, and how jealous,” you lifted his head from your chest, pressing your lips to his forehead with a grin. “you can get, there are so many good aspects about you that i love and i won’t leave you because. you know... just don’t hurt me.”

eren couldn’t help but let a smile grace his own face as well, hands drifting up your back until they reached the back of your head, pulling you down to connect your lips to his fervently. you loved the way his lips felt on yours, his slightly chapped but so perfect when paired with your own. his attempt to deepen the kiss was futile as you pulled back with a giggle, eren shaking his head and laying back pulling you on top of him some more, his arm wrapping around your shoulder as he pecked a kiss to your hair.

“so i’m not gonna lose you?”

“no baby.” another peck to his chest.

“you love me? and my anger issues, which i don’t have?”

a roll of your eyes and another laugh let out from you as you kicked his leg from under yours causing him to laugh as well, subconsciously squeezing your body tighter on top of his. “i love you, and your anger issues which you do have.”

eren pinched your sides, smirking from above you. “i love you too, babe.”

a quick knock at the door made both you and eren turn your heads, but the door was open before eren could even utter a “come in,” carla’s figure with a worried expression on her face that quickly turned to surprise when she noticed the two of you cuddling. “oh! i’m so sorry, i heard the two of you arguing earlier and i thought she had left when i was upstairs, i-“

“mrs. jaeger, it’s perfectly fine.” you smiled picking yourself up off of eren awkwardly who sat up as well.

“mom! you could’ve waited after knocking!” eren groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“you guys are so cute,” her hand covered her mouth as she squealed, smiling sweetly at her son and you. “are you staying for dinner, _____, it’s almost ready, i’m having mikasa set the plates now so i want to know.”

there was no harm in staying a little longer. “sure, i can stay.”

“great! okay, i’ll leave the two of you alone now.” soon after, eren’s door was shut and the remnants of carla’s voice wandered as she walked down the hall, something resembling an “oh, they’re so adorable!” and you and eren couldn’t help but laugh.

#eren jaeger x reader #eren x reader #eren yeager x reader #eren jaeger #attack on titan #eren jeager #eren yaeger x reader #eren fluff #eren angst

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starshine583 · 4 years

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New Girl on the Block (7)

(I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to check out the mini series connected to this fic called Journal Entries. I will warn whoever reads it that I’m not sure how long I’m going to keep it up, though.)

Ch.1 / Ch.6 / Ch.8

Chapter 7: That Happy Glow

“This is gonna be so much fun, Tikki!” Marinette exclaimed as she slid on her light pink flats. “I can’t wait to get to the aquarium!”

“Don’t forget your purse!” Tikki reminded, zipping around her chosen’s head. “I want to see some of the fish too!”

Marinette laughed and reached for her coat. The weather had been reported to drop over the weekend, and she didn’t want to take any chances. “Of course! I’ll make sure to pack some cookies for you too.”

When Felix told her last Monday that Adrien came to Rosemary looking for her, She’d been understandably distraught. Dupont had been given strict instructions to keep her new school’s name a secret, yet her old classmates were still coming to talk to her. It left many questions that needed to be answered. For example, how did they find out? Did Bustier tell them? Felix had mentioned that a girl was the one to give Adrien the information, though that hardly narrowed down the suspect list. Was Adrien the only one who knew? If not, were her other classmates going to try to come for her too? She’d asked her mother about it as soon as she got home, and as expected, Sabine flew into a rage.

“I send my daughter to a new school to get her away from her old classmates, and what do they do? They follow her there!” She’d fumed. “Unbelievable.”

Once Marinette talked her down from calling the police to file for harassment, they called the school, and Mme Bustier insisted that they’d been tight lipped about Marinette’s new school, but Marinette didn't buy it. Who else could have told Adrien? No one knew about her attending Rosemary, not unless Nathalie managed to find the information, and that was highly unlikely.

Although the situation was a mix of frustrating and worrisome, Marinette took comfort in the fact that Adrien seemed to believe she wasn't actually attending Rosemary. At the very least, he hadn’t stopped by again- as far as she knew -and hadn’t visited the bakery again either.

A small sigh passed her lips at the thought of how close she'd come to exposing herself as a Rosemary student. Thank goodness Felix had been out there to greet Adrien instead. His quick thinking had really saved her, and he even offered to give her a ride home afterwards. (For the second time) She never intended on asking Felix for help with things like this- mostly because she didn't want to bother him -but it was good to know she could depend on him when she needed to. Not only did he help her with Adrien, she also noticed him trying to keep others around her during the day after everything blew over. Allegra would order lunch with her more. Claude would join her to go to the lockers more. Allan would walk her to classes that they didn't have together. Things like that. Felix even offered to accompany her himself on a few occasions. It was a sweet gesture, and although the extra attention wasn’t necessary, it was greatly appreciated. Maybe she should make him a little thank you gift. What sort of things does he like again? Books and chess.. and silence.. how could she make a gift out of that?

Either way, Marinette couldn't thank him enough for his kindness, and now that six days of blessed silence has passed, the nervousness from the Adrien encounter was replaced with giddy enthusiasm for the aquarium. She buzzed around her bedroom to finish getting ready, putting on her scarf and earmuffs as quickly as she could. Allegra was supposed to come pick her up, but they were all going to meet up and walk into Aquarium de Paris together. She didn’t want to hold anyone up.

Marinette wrapped her purse around her shoulder, finally finishing her outfit, and bounced over to the trapdoor to go downstairs. Allegra should be arriving in about five minutes. That gave her just enough time to snag a few cookies for Tikki, a croissant for herself (and maybe Claude), and say goodbye to her parents.

“Goodmorning, sweetheart!” Sabine greeted warmly.

“Morning, Maman!” Marinette smiled, briefly pausing to let her mother kiss her on the forehead.

“Did you have a good sleep?” Tom asked, holding out an arm to her.

Marinette let out a nervous chuckle as she gave him a side hug. “Yes and no. I was kind of too excited to sleep.”

“You and me both.”

Marinette turned to one of the small tables in the bakery to see Allegra sitting with a smile and a cup of coffee. She was bundled up too, which told Marinette that she was probably right to put on her winter clothes.

“You’re already here?” Marinette asked, panic briefly seizing her chest. She looked around for the time. “How long have you been waiting? Am I late again?”

Allegra chuckled and stood up to pull Marinette into a hug. “Not at all! I just happened to get here a few minutes early, and your parents offered me a coffee while we waited for you to come down.”

Marinette relaxed a bit and hugged Allegra back. “You could have come upstairs to get me.”

“I didn’t want to rush you.” Allegra shrugged. “Besides, your parents are fun to talk with!”

Tom and Sabine both smiled and straightened with pride, causing Marinette to giggle.

“Here,” Tom said, taking a brown, paper bag out from under the counter. “We packed some breakfast for you.”

“And made sure to put plenty of croissants in for Claude and the others.” Sabine added with a smile.

Marinette took the bag with a sincere “thanks”. That saved her time on sneaking around for snacks.

“Oh, Claude is going to love those.” Allegra smirked, touching the bag to feel how warm it was.

Marinette giggled and nodded in agreement. It’s been almost three weeks since she started at Rosemary, and Claude still asks for croissants every lunch period. “Are we ready to go?”

“Yep! My driver’s waiting out front for us.” Allegra replied, tilting her head in the direction of the door.

“Have fun, you guys!” Sabine cooed.

“Make sure to take plenty of pictures with the fish!” Tom added with a wave.

“We definitely will.” Allegra beamed, looping her arm with Marinette’s.

With a final wave, they stepped outside together, and Marinette sharply inhaled as the chill of the air immediately gnawed at her features. She knew it was going to be cold, but she didn’t think it would be this cold.

I hope Felix didn’t decide to get there early today. Marinette thought to herself as they scrambled into the backseat of the car.

“So are you excited?” She asked Allegra while buckling in. Claude had been bouncing around the school walls all week for this trip, but Allegra hadn’t said much about it. Neither had Allan. Of course, they didn’t have to be excited. Marinette was just curious as to whether they were or why they weren’t.

“Absolutely!” Allegra grinned, bringing a smile to Marinette’s lips as well. Guess people show their excitement in different ways.

“Probably not as excited as Claude, though.” The blonde continued, a humorous expression crossing her features. “How many fish did he text on the group chat again?”

Marinette squinted slightly as she thought about it. “I think.. Twenty seven? Maybe twenty eight.”

“Twenty eight sounds about right.” Allegra said with a nod. “I swear Allan was this close to blocking him.”

Marinette laughed. “That knife meme was hilarious! I still can’t believe that Felix was the one who sent it. I was starting to think he didn’t read the group chat.”

“Yeah, he surprises us every now and then.” Allegra mused, a fond smile coming to her lips. “Like this aquarium trip. I don’t think he’s ever once agreed to go somewhere with us after the first invite.”

Marinette shrugged and settled into her seat as the driver pulled out onto the road. “Well, he did say that you were going to force him either way.”

Allegra’s smile turned devilish. “And he’s absolutely right. If he had said no to coming, I would have dragged him there myself, but that’s never stopped him before.”

Marinette tilted her head in a nod. That was certainly true.

“Maybe he just likes aquariums?”

Allegra hummed, a mischievous glint in her sky blue eyes as she said, “Or maybe he likes someone who’s going to the aquarium.”

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. Like as in like like? Like a crush? Felix didn’t seem like the type to have a crush on someone, though after hearing him talk about the lovers in his classical playlist, she supposed it was a possibility.

“Is there someone else you guys know that might be there?”

A short laugh burst from Allegra’s lips, almost like Marinette had missed the point of something, and she shook her head. “No, nevermind. Forget I said anything. Let’s just enjoy our agreeable Felix while we have him.”

Marinette nodded, though her thoughts still lingered on the comment. Felix developing romantic feelings for someone sounded like such a foreign concept to her. Not that he was unlovable, or anything. He was just.. too logical. He didn’t dote on feelings. The only circumstance where she can clearly see him acquiring a spouse would be an arranged marriage. He’d probably be the one to plan it, too, seeing it as the most beneficial choice between both families. What type of wife would he pick, anyway? She’d probably be beautiful and quiet, right? Not to mention smart. Felix wouldn’t be able to stand someone ‘incompetent’. Maybe she’d be a bit of a perfectionist like him?

A soft hum passed her lips. It was definitely a thought.

~~~~~~

Felix grit his teeth as the biting chill of the morning seeped into his clothing. It was times like this that he wished those jokes about the incredible inaccuracy of weathermen were true. He hasn’t even been outside for ten minutes, and his fingers were already numb. If Felix had known that his coat and gloves would be this ineffective, he would have taken the second coat that his mother tried to insist he wear earlier.

A shiver ran up his spine as a particularly cold burst of wind whipped past him, and he pulled his coat tighter around his waist. What time was it? Were the girls going to be arriving soon?

He flicked his wrist upwards to catch sight of his watch. Allegra said that they would be meeting at Aquarium de Paris at 10am. Being 9:58am., they should be arriving any minute, but that didn’t stop him from heaving a deep sigh towards the wait. Note to self: Don’t arrive early to activities that take place outside during the winter.

A nudge to the arm brought Felix’s attention to Claude. He’d also arrived early- probably out of sheer excitement. He’s been blabbering about this trip all week -but the cold didn’t appear to affect him nearly as much.

“Are you nervous?” The brunette asked, causing Felix to shoot him a flat look.

“Why on earth would I be nervous?”

“Oh, no reason..” Claude said, his tone light and teasing. “I just know that Marinette’s going to be here.”

Felix rose a brow. “And?”

Claude smiled knowingly, but Felix couldn’t imagine what the brunette thought he knew this time.

“You two have gotten pretty close lately.”

“In what way?” There was the physical way or the mental way. Granted, both ways were incorrect, but it was an important distinction.

“Well, you talk to each other all the time.” Claude answered, as though that should be some monumental fact.

Ah. So it’s the mental way.

“That’s usually what happens when two people are in the same friend group.” Felix responded. “They talk.”

“Yeah, but what about the library?” Claude argued. Why did he feel the need to argue? “You two were practically touching noses, and no one else was there besides me.”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows. “Yesterday? When we were sharing headphones?”

Claude nodded, a Cheshire grin crossing his features. Why did he look triumphant? No one had won anything. “Yep. That’s the one I’m talking about.”

“Do you share headphones differently?”

“Well, no..” Claude half-shrugged. “But you guys are still pretty close, don’t you think?”

Felix paused. The label of being close to Marinette wasn’t a bad one, save for the fact that it was completely untrue. In light of a physical closeness, the only moments that they were close would be times when Marinette fell on top of him or yesterday, when they shared headphones in the library, and the latter scenario is being taken entirely out of context. They don’t walk around holding hands or hugging or sitting shoulder to shoulder next to each other, and in all honesty, Felix wouldn’t want to. He doesn’t enjoy constantly touching people. And as for the mental closeness, Marinette hasn’t told him anything that she hasn’t told anyone else. Felix knows a lot about her, yes, but almost everything he knows has been found out secretly, through silent observations. He would hardly call that “close”.

“No, I don’t think so,” he finally answered, “but I’m still confused as to why that would make me nervous.”

Claude pursed his lips, studying him for a moment, then sighed and crossed his arms. “Oh, nevermind. Either you’re in denial or you’ll figure it out eventually.”

A hint of frustration started to stir in Felix’s mind. Figure out what?

Before he could ask anything else, another voice cut into their conversation.

“Oh, there you guys are!”

It was Allan, and when Felix looked up, he noticed that Marinette and Allegra were accompanying him as well. Wonderful. He’d somewhat forgotten about the cold during Claude’s maniac ramblings, but now that his focus had shifted, the weather was hitting him full force again. He needed to escape inside before his feet were frozen to the sidewalk.

Claude perked up and waved to the three as he ran over to them. “Hey guys! What took you so long?”

Felix hobbled over to them as well, catching sight of Marinette’s sheepish smile as she said, “Sorry, Claude. We got here as fast as we could.”

Claude, of course, waved off the apology. “Nah, I’m just kidding. We weren’t waiting that long.”

The brunette scooped Marinette into a hug, coaxing out a laugh from her. She was so bundled up with coats and scarfs and gloves that Claude had to squish her between his arms to hold her, and it vaguely reminded Felix of a marshmallow.

In weather like this, though, being a marshmallow didn’t sound half bad.

Claude blew out a contented sigh as he nuzzled his face into Marinette’s shoulder. “Man, Mari, you’re so warm! I need to start using you as my personal heater.”

Marinette chuckled and pulled back just enough to hold up a brown, paper bag. “Thanks, but I think it’s just the food Maman sent with me.”

A gasp flew from Claude, and he immediately set her back on the ground. “Food, you say? As in, croissants food??”

“Yes, Claude.” Marinette giggled. “Croissants food. Maman packed a few extras especially for you.”

Claude literally let out a girlish squeal and made “grabby hands” for the bag. Marinette gladly obliged, letting him dig through it for his favorites.

“Your mom is the absolute best.” Claude said, his voice muffled from the chocolate croissant he bit into. “Please adopt me.”

The group shared a small laugh, but Felix rolled his eyes. Claude was always overdramatic.

“You better not let Aunt Felicity hear you say that.” Allegra spoke up. She was also bundled to the max- though her coat was light purple -and looked about ten times warmer than Felix felt. “Remember the last time you asked Allan to adopt you?”

Claude scoffed. “That was different! This time I want to be adopted because of Mme Sabine’s cooking, not because of how many games Marinette has.”

“Oh, yeah.” Allan snorted. “That’s completely different.”

“Hey, mom will understand.” Claude insisted, placing his hands on his hips. “She knows she can’t cook anything to save her life. That’s why we have a personal chef.”

“Wait, are you two cousins?” Marinette cut in, confusion flicking across her features.

A slight frown came to Allegra’s lips. “No, why do you ask?”

“You called his mom ‘Aunt Felicity’.”

“Oh!” The blonde’s face lit up with understanding. “Yeah, we do that. Claude’s parents are Aunt Felicity and Uncle Albert, and Allan’s parents are Aunt Meridith and Uncle Theodore.”

Allan nodded in agreement. “I think it started back in middle school when Claude accidentally called M. Chanson ‘Uncle Arthur’ while taking some snacks.”

Allegra snorted. “Oh, yeah, that was definitely the start of it. Dad wouldn’t stop talking about it for days. He thought it was the best.”

Claude sighed, running a hand through his hair with a bashful smile. “That was totally embarrassing, but at least he liked it.”

“Can we all go inside?” Felix interjected. Talking about how they address the adults is nice and all, but his arms and legs have been burning from the cold for the last five minutes. Can’t they continue this conversation when they’re not standing in below-thirty-degree weather?

Claude laughed, throwing Felix a teasing smirk. “Aw, poor Fe. Are you cold?”

Felix scowled at his babying tone. “Of course I’m cold! Frost is slowly growing on our hoods as we speak!”

“Well, I’m not cold.” The brunette replied, swinging his arm around Marinette’s shoulder. “Because I’ve had some of Marinette’s delicious croissants to keep me warm.”

Felix scoffed and tugged his coat tighter around himself. Eating warm croissants certainly didn’t help him.

“They are pretty warm.” Allan said next to him. “You should try one.”

“He doesn’t have to.” Marinette, being the kind person she is, hastily jumped in. “We were planning on going inside, anyway, right?”

“Yeah, but I think Felix needs to taste one.” Allegra remarked. “It’s simply shameful of him to refuse them for this long, in my opinion.”

“I don’t like sweets.” Felix pointed out in annoyance. Just start moving towards the aquarium.

“Well..” Marinette faltered. “Maman did pack a regular croissant and a cheesy croissant..”

He held back a sigh. Though her intentions surely weren’t foul, his only ally had officially condemned him. It’s not that he cared to try one of Marinette’s croissants. After eating supper with Marinette’s parents last week, he had no doubt that anything they made was delicious. No, the problem came with the fact that he was being pushed to eat them. (The group wasn’t quite pushing yet, but he’d learned to pinpoint the signs of oncoming pressure.) If Felix says no, despite how unreasonable it might be, he expects that answers to be respected. The same way he would respect anyone else who told him no about something.

“See, there you go!” Claude smiled. “A nice, warm, non-sweet croissant to make you forget about the January weather.”

“I’d forget it just as easily if we walked inside.” Felix bit back.

“Oh, come on, Felix.” Allegra scolded. “Live a little! You don’t have to eat the whole thing, just one bite!”

“Guys, he really doesn’t have to eat it.” Marinette spoke up again. Felix silently thanked her for her efforts, but her previous comment made any resistance futile now.

“Oh, he’s eating it.” Claude stated. “He needs to know the pure bliss that is Mme Sabine’s croissants.”

“Plus, we’re not going inside until he tries it.” Allegra added.

Allan snorted. “Felix.. I think they want you to try the croissant.”

Felix’s eyes narrowed to a glare. “I’ll walk inside without you.”

“No, you won’t.” Allegra shot back. “You know why you won’t? Because you actually don’t mind trying the croissants. You’re just upset that we told you to try them.”

Felix was thankful for his pockets, because it hid the way his hands clenched into his fists. He absolutely hated when Allegra saw through his intentions. It made him feel transparent, vulnerable. Not to mention embarrassed. Was he that horrible at hiding his emotions or could he simply not match her level of observation? It was probably the former and that ticked him off the most.

“Just give me the dang croissant.” He finally bit off, jutting his hand out to Marinette. If he stared solely at her, he wouldn’t have to see Claude or Allegra’s victorious, blood-boiling grins.

Marinette flinched at the sudden movement and knitted her eyebrows, concerned. “A-Are you sure-”

“Positive.” Felix ground out, hoping she didn’t take it personally. Just give me the food so we can get this over with.

Although wary, Marinette handed over one of the croissants. The specks of yellow around the edges told him it was the cheese-flavored one.

With a deep breath to regain some composure, Felix took a bite of the breaded treat, and..

And it was incredible.

The croissant was piping hot, immediately stealing away the bitter coldness of the air as Claude had claimed. The cheese inside was stringy and practically melted in his mouth, and the softness of the bread allowed you to enjoy every bit of the doughy taste.

It took everything Felix had to keep a neutral expression. If they saw how much he enjoyed the food, they would never let him live it down. He’d be trying everything else under the sun merely because the trio was right one time.

“Well?” Allegra pressed. “How does it taste?”

“.. They are delicious.” He admitted, if only for Marinette’s sake. Downplaying Mme Sabine’s baking skills would only allow him to keep a small bit of his useless pride. He might as well be honest.

A smile slipped onto Marinette’s lips, but Claude’s triumphant laugh took away any satisfaction Felix might have gotten from it.

“I knew you would like them!” The brunette cheered. “Anyway, let’s go inside. It’s freezing out here!”

Felix scoffed, throwing a sharp glare at Claude. If it weren’t for how good this croissant was, he would have thrown it at him.

“Yeah, I think they’re open now.” Allan agreed as he checked his watch.

Curious, Felix checked his watch too. 10:10am.

“Oh! Race you guys there!” Claude abruptly announced, before breaking into a sprint.

Allan chuckled and humored the brunette by going into a jog, and Allegra picked up the pace as well. Felix, however, elected to keep walking as he munched on the croissant. The heat radiating off of it was enough to stall the looming chill around him anyway.

“So..” Marinette began, drawing Felix’s gaze down to her. She’d apparently decided to walk with him instead of running after Claude.

For some reason, that gave Felix a sense of accomplishment.

“Did you really like the croissants?” She asked, her hands fidgeting with the paper bag.

Felix nodded, taking another bite of the croissant as ‘proof’. “Claude wasn’t joking when he said that she made them fluffier than the clouds. I’ll have to buy them for Mother sometime.”

A small smile graced her lips. “I’m glad you like them.”

Felix offered a small smile in return. “Yes, me too.”

After Agreste’s visit earlier in the week, Marinette had been rather stressed. He noticed her looking over her shoulder often, checking windows before exiting buildings, spacing out during classes.. It was obvious that the encounter had unnerved her.

He tried to ease her mind by rallying the trio to help. They recognized her sudden anxiety as well, and although Felix couldn’t tell them the exact reason, he hinted at it possibly being the usual nervousness of their first round of tests that was coming up. This caused them to swarm Marinette for study dates and extra lunches, asking questions about different subjects while they walked her to her locker or to her classes. When this strategy failed- which wasn’t often -Felix would also offer to accompany her.

If she suspected his involvement in the extra attention, she didn’t show it, but she did relax after a few days of the special treatment. Felix took that as a success.

Marinette and Felix caught up with the rest of the group a few seconds later, and they all entered the aquarium together. Another shiver ran over Felix as they walked inside, the warmth of the building washing over him. He would have smiled with relief had it not been for the amount of people pushing against them. Despite the aquarium opening a little less than twenty minutes ago, people of all ages were already piling inside. Adults, teenagers, kids.. Felix supposed this was the price they paid for visiting on a Sunday.

“Everyone stay together!” Allegra instructed over the noise. She grabbed onto Felix’s wrist and Allan’s hand for emphasis. “We don’t want to get separated before we even pay for our tickets.”

Although it irked him for Allegra to be latching onto his wrist, Felix didn’t argue. Past experiences with the trio have made him well aware of how easy it was to get separated in a rushing crowd like this.

They weaved through the giddy schoolgirls and the tired parents until they found a steady line for the ticket both. There, they talked about which attractions to see first and which ones to save for later.

“I think we should just walk through.” Claude said, unsurprisingly. He was never one for order. “It’ll be easier if we just go.”

“But if we don’t have a plan, we’ll never get through it all.” Allegra pointed out. “It doesn’t have to be strict. We just need a vague goal to work towards.”

“We could start with the jellyfish?” Marinette suggested. “Those are always cool.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Allan agreed. “Then we could start working our way around to the shark tank. I say we save it for last since it’s the main reason we came.”

Claude let out a small whine. “Aw, what? Why would we wait till the end to see it if it’s the reason we came?”

“Come on, Claude, you know how the saying goes.” Allegra commented, flicking Claude on the shoulder. “Save the best for last.”

Claude grabbed his shoulder, even though the flick hardly hurt. “I never understood that expression.”

Allegra rolled her eyes with a smile and turned back to the group. “Are we all in agreement then? Start with the jellyfish and move to the sharks?”

“Works for me.” Allan shrugged.

“I don’t have a preference.” Felix stated, not that his opinion would matter much to anyone but Marinette.

With a (somewhat) solid plan, the group purchased their tickets and merged with the flow of the people to get to the main part of the aquarium. The first item on the list, aside from seeing Jellyfish, was to find lockers or another place to put their winter coats and gloves. Felix didn’t fancy the cold, but melting in a packed building also wasn’t preferable.

Allegra still held onto his wrist as they searched, but that didn’t stop the people around them from shoving and prodding to get through first. Felix jostled about, a scowl quickly forming on his lips after getting hit for the fifth time. How can it be so rowdy during the thirty minutes? Goodness knows what’s going to happen when more people start arriving! Why did he even agree to come here?

A gasp cut through the white noise of the crowd, and Claude called out Marinette’s name as she rushed forward.

She stopped in front of the jellyfish tank they came upon and pressed her gloved hands to the glass, smile bright and eyes sparkling with awe. The jellyfish circled in the water with the current, glowing blue and purple and pink under the aquarium lights.

A laugh of pure delight escaped Marinette, and she glanced over her shoulder at them. “Do you see how many there are? This is so neat!”

The sheer giddiness of her voice caused another smile to crawl onto Felix’s lips. Ah, yes. He remembered why he quickly relented to the aquarium visit. It was the first time Marinette had personally invited him to something, and he didn’t want to upset her if he fought against the activities as he usually did. After all, what thanks would that be to someone who constantly tries to keep him comfortable and respect his boundaries?

“Yeah, they look amazing!” Allegra grinned, tugging Felix and Allan forward to follow the ravenette.

Felix followed with a slight glare. He knew that holding onto each other was for the best, but-

Another person slammed into his shoulder, and Felix full on growled at them as they walked off like nothing happened.

-but perhaps the next time he feels the need to repay Marinette’s kindness, he should simply send a ‘thank you’ letter instead.

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#felinette #Felix Culpa #Quantic Kids #New Girl on the Block #Rosemary AU #Marinette

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svtkillua · 4 years

Text

milk and tea > 2

rating: [pg-13 / angst] genre: soulmate au pairing: todoroki shouto x reader warnings: cursing, heartbreak, angst! word count: 9.5k

listen while you read here! join the discord!

1 - chap 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 [final]

The pendant hanging from your neck felt heavier the longer you wore it, like the days of the week that had ticked past added pounds to the object by the hour. You simultaneously adored it and loathed it, constantly catching yourself staring at it and fiddling your fingers around the chain. You loved that it reminded you of him, that the present special from Todoroki somehow made you feel like you yourself were special, like the gift was as close to a boyfriend like gesture you’d ever get. It made you feel adored, like the silver chain was a harsh contrast to the gold on your palm because it was a different reality, one that for a moment didn’t seem like a daydream. You hated it, however, when you stared too long and remembered that a few minutes after he slipped it on your neck he left to be with her. You loathed it for being a constant whisper reminding you that it was just a necklace, just a birthday present, not a declaration of love in the form of jewellery, but a kind gesture between friends. Because that was all you could be to Todoroki as hard as you tried to imagine otherwise.

“Are you listening to me?”

Your head lifted from its downward angle, eyes trailing from the wooden table top to the wide windows of the cafe, the sounds around you feeling too loud for the small space. People were tucked in at all the tables, several offices on the upper floors of the building leading to a packed cafe every lunch rush. You almost always came down to grab coffee and a bagel, used to the hoards of people that blended in with the beige and brown walls, familiar with the scent of roasting coffee beans and the hum of the espresso grinder. You shifted in your seat as you looked back over at your friend, setting down the sandwich you’d been picking at, brushing your hands together in a silent clap in an attempt to brush off the crumbs.

“Sorry, Izuku.” Your head shook side to side as you eyed his pouting features, cracking a smile at the way he huffed out a breath of air, lips puckered like a child who hadn’t gotten their way. Midoriya was perhaps your closest friend next to Todoroki, someone who had never pitied you but rather tried to fill your life with brightness. It was no wonder his soulmate was so enamored with him, you couldn’t blame her, his personality was affectionately child like, so awake and full of life you almost envied him for his eternal positivity. “I sort of zoned out.”

“It’s alright, I was kind of rambling to be honest.” He chuckled with a shrug, the sweater he had on bunching slightly around his neck, the fabric looking too thick for the warm spring temperature. He had on wide, round glasses, his hair a bit more curly than normal from the small amount of humidity in the air, fingers wrapped around a huge plastic cup full of peach tea. “How was your birthday? We missed you at the bar.”

“Okay I guess.” The fidget you made in your seat was involuntary, fingers trailing over the line on your palm out of habit. The light was hitting it just enough to make it seem to glow, the gold glinting in your irises as you flickered a glance between it and Midoriya, shoulders bobbing in a shrug. “Todoroki came over for a bit, we had a pizza.”

“That sounds like a boring birthday celebration.”

“Well I didn’t exactly feel like throwing a wild party, Midoriya.” Your eyes rolled at him, fingers drumming into the table top as you glanced at someone who waved in passing. Part of you felt anxious, wondering where Todoroki was even though you knew he was more than likely working out. He tended to work during his lunch breaks most days, which was what got you in the habit of bringing him coffees and snacks on your way back to the office across the hall.

“Are you okay?” His palm landed on top of your knuckles, the gesture innocent but filling you with a bit of warmth, the genuine flash of concern on his features almost comforting. “I mean, I know you’re probably upset but, you know.”

“I don’t know.” You sighed, shrugging and glancing at his soulmark, the bright blue on the face of his hand in a swirly pattern, almost mimicking that of a flower. The color bloomed against his skin tone, like a spot of blue sky poking out from clouds on a summer day, Midoriya himself the ball of sun beaming through the air. “It’s not like there’s much I can do to change how things are, everything just feels wrong. It feels unfair, like something’s not making sense how it was supposed to. I don’t know how to be okay when I’m supposed to be happy alone. I don’t feel happy alone, I feel lonely.”

He nodded slowly, hand retreating to instead pick at his sweater, cup lifting as his lips wrapped around the straw and he took a gulp, adam’s apple bobbing. His eyes danced around the room as he debated what to say, eyelids fluttering as he blinked when the sun hit him directly in the face. You could almost see his thoughts forming, could picture the words as his messy scrawl put them down in his head, the ink bleeding into his tongue as he set his cup down to speak them into existence.

“Just because you don’t have a matching mark doesn’t mean you have to be alone.” He reasoned, nodding once towards you with a half hearted smile, his gaze flickering over the planes of your face while you tore your focus away. You knew what he was referring to, that several people without soulmates had ended up together, that people with circumstances like yours made their own destiny and chose their own path. It was illegal to not be with your soulmate but if you didn’t have one all bets were off, anyone else who was alone was up for your taking, but somehow that idea didn’t sound right in your head.

Maybe it was because you’d gotten so hung up on Todoroki but you didn’t feel like you were meant for just anyone, didn’t feel like you could make a deep connection with someone even if you could sit and talk to them for hours. Most everyone you heard of who didn’t have a soulmate was content being alone, didn’t feel so desperate for affection as you were, didn’t long for someone to hold them and be beside them all their life. For everyone else like you, it sounded like they were indeed made to be alone and they liked it that way, but you loathed it.

You constantly felt lonely, like the rest of the world had left you fend for yourself, like everyone else was paired off and had forgotten you were still there. It was hard to go outside and see people holding hands, getting close to the person that was meant for them. It stung to hear your friends had met their match, to go to their weddings and smile wide knowing that it would never get to be you standing there in white across from your soulmate. It made your chest burn to picture yourself marrying someone you weren’t made by the universe for, to look at the mark on your hand and know you’d never see it on another person for as long as you lived. It was cruel, like going out most days were torture to the beating muscle in your chest, like being happy was going to be one of the hardest challenges to achieve in your life.

The only thing that made you feel that way was Todoroki, and anymore that happiness came laced with the longing that you’d grown for him in your gut. You’d fallen so in love with Todoroki that it was hard to see past that now, that picturing him was enough to make your pulse quicken and throat constrict. Now the mere idea of watching him marry someone else made your eyes burn, fingers itching to feel him when you pictured someone else touching his beautiful skin you’d grown so attached to. Knowing he was a few floors up in the gym made your lips pull into a faint smile, almost like you could feel him there, could sense the warmth that radiated from his body and imagine it baking your skin.

Todoroki made you feel things others wouldn’t, and in a way perhaps that was why you’d found yourself growing so infatuated with him. That was always how they made soulmates seem in movies, like they would understand you in facets others couldn’t, that they would be the person that just clicked into place, like a missing puzzle piece you’d finally found. You couldn’t understand how you’d fallen so in love with someone who wasn’t meant for you, couldn’t grasp that even though you felt all the things you were supposed to feel for a soulmate, he wasn’t that person. Things had been hard before he met Momo, but afterwards it all felt worse, the love in your chest like a weight that made your feet drag and posture slouch.

“I gotta get back upstairs.” Your head lifted as Midoriya stood, your body following suit as he pulled you into a quick hug, smiling faintly with a nod as he walked off right after. You remained in place for a beat, watching his figure with a sigh, jealous of him, jealous of how easy he tried to always find a bright side in his head. You envied how second nature it was for him to be positive, to find a light in a room full of dark. It’d never been that way for you, never so easy to become a spark that filled everyone with vibrancy, if anything, you’d become the one that always turned the lights off.

After grabbing another coffee and pastry from the counter, your feet carried you up the flights of stairs towards the office, the steps resonating with loud smacks in the half empty staircase. They complimented the sound of your heart beat as it pounded in your ears, matching in rhythm the quicker you ascended them, the heavy door slamming behind you serving like a crescendo to the song being created behind your rib cage. This had slowly become your favorite part of the day, the short walk down the hall towards the double paned glass doors facing your own, admiring the way the sunlight sprouted through them and created hazy shapes on the carpeted floor. It looked so welcoming, like it was the perfect package just waiting for you to unwrap it, like the universe knew someday Todoroki would work there so they created an entry as warm as he was.

You spotted him as soon as you walked inside the studio room, waving at the receptionist as you strolled past her and further into the space, fans running that created a quiet hum that mixed with the clicking of cameras. He was always tucked back into the corner office whenever he was taking a break, the one directly across from the main studio space, the room with the most windows that overlooked the streets below even if he insisted he didn’t like heights. He was hunched slightly over his desk, camera laying idly beside his laptop as he moved his finger over the keyboard, brows furrowed together and a pair of glasses perched on his nose. His hair was pushed back off his forehead though pieces fell forward, like he kept fussing with it, lips parted as he exhaled, the angle of his jaw accentuated by the light streaming into his space from outside. He was oblivious to your approach, completely deaf to the outside world as he poured himself into his paperwork.

And gosh was he stunning.

“Todoroki?”

His head lifted in a flash, lashes fluttering against his cheeks as he blinked rapidly until he focused on you, the curve of his lips spreading until his cheeks bunched upwards, eyes slipping faintly into half moons. The pang of guilt you felt for interrupting him washed away as he took his glasses off and moved to stand while you waved him off, moving closer to set his coffee and lunch down beside his computer. He was staring at you now as incessantly as he’d been doing to his computer, the sound of his foot tapping into the hardwood floors beneath his chair faintly reaching your ear when he sank back into his chair.

“You didn’t have to bring me lunch.”

“I knew you wouldn’t eat if I didn’t.” Your shoulders rose and fell with a faint laugh falling from your lips as you used one hand to push your hair away from your face. You looked his way long enough to catch his gaze before tearing your own away, pretending you didn’t feel the way his focus was making your esophagus feel too tight, like your heart had made a new home there. “Someone’s become quite the workaholic lately, hm?”

“I have not, I just have a lot to do and I’m too tired to continue exercising.” His fingers landed on top of yours as you took a step back to move towards the door, focus shifting back onto his features as he nodded once in your direction. You swallowed hard, trying to force down the rock forming in your throat as he slipped his fingers between your own long enough to give your hand a squeeze with your palms flushed together. It was almost sad how incredible a him barely holding your hand could make you feel, how the smallest amount of affection from Todoroki felt like he’d dropped to his knee and asked you to be his forever. “Thank you though. Stay for a few minutes and keep me company?”

He hardly had to put up an argument even if you should have shaken your head no, fingers slipping from his grasp as you sunk into the chair across from him, the desk serving as a barrier to separate your bodies. His posture relaxed once you were seated, lips wrapping around the opening of his cup as he snapped his eyes shut and took a quick sip, adam’s apple bobbing slightly as he swallowed and dropped the cup back down. The shirt he had on was gray, like the color of a sky after a thunderstorm in the middle of the summer, the colour making him look more drained as he pushed his wheeled chair slightly back from the confines of his desk, dark jeans clinging to his legs.

The simple smile that flashed over his features as the paper bag crinkled open between his fingers made your own cheeks tug upwards, nothing but a pastry and the spare half of your bagel shoved inside but it was enough to make him feel appreciated. He always looked grateful when you dropped him off a coffee or snack, always made a point of thanking you for days after, like you’d single handedly made the world spin for him. It was one of the million things you loved about him, how humble he was, how he considered every act of kindness he received as a gift, one he couldn’t wait to return the first chance he got.

“So what are you working on that’s so interesting?” His head rose when you spoke, eyebrows furrowing together as his lips pursed, jaw moving while he chewed on the sandwich. It made you grin, his cheeks full like a hamsters as he shuffled forward and swiveled his laptop around for you to see. The screen illuminated an article of breaking news covering crimes in the neighborhood, images of black and white mugshots dotted around the paragraphs in order to send a scary effect across to the reader.

“New villains showing up everywhere we least expect.” Your gaze flickered over to him when he spoke, eyes following the way his tongue poked out from between his lips, licking a crumb away from the pink flesh. He nodded his head once towards the screen before you focused back on it, voice thick as he half yawned, arms stretching forward and straining against the fabric of his shirt. “They want to be mysterious, I guess, but they’re not too good at covering their tracks. Quite an easy job for all of us right now.”

Your head bobbed in a nod as he trailed off his speaking, lifting the bagel back to his lips as you leaned back in your seat and turned slightly to look out one of the windows. You had to squint, the sun steaming in just high enough to cover your face in heat, burning your irises in comparison to the pale coloring of the room. It felt peaceful, your eyelids drooping shut and arms folding over your chest, heartbeat at a steady rhythm while you listened to Todoroki’s quiet humming as he ate. For a moment you let yourself pretend you were at home, that the pair of you was married and this was any regular work day evening, content just spending your time together not speaking, because the love you felt in your chest said enough.

It was so easy to fall into with him, the lull of security he provided simply by being there was too comforting to fight off. It’d become so natural to tune out the rest of the world when you were alone with Todoroki, like second nature to forget that the day dreams in your head were complete fiction. Being alone with him made it feel like it could be real, like the way your heart rate spiked when he laughed was normal because it was made for him to hold. His presence raised up the bubbles of hope in your chest until you felt like you were floating, like he’d placed you on top of a cloud and was letting you feel that sense of love you’d never really get, like he was letting you pretend your feelings for him were reciprocated without him even knowing it.

It was like you craved Todoroki as much as you wished you could get away from him, like you wanted to fight the pull he had on you but feared how you would continue to breathe without him there giving you oxygen. He was simultaneously becoming your perfect dream and your nightmare, and slowly the two ideals were mixing into one muddled mess of emotions you were having trouble sorting through. You weren’t sure how to separate your feelings for him from reality anymore, weren’t sure how to continue being in his life without completely destroying your own heart in the process.

A quiet click made your head move, eyes rolling as you groaned loudly and raised your hands to cover your face, Todoroki’s laughter mixing with the sound as he continued snapping away at you with his camera. You could hear his chair scraping against the wood as he stood up, footsteps indicating he was moving closer to you as your legs lifted, knees bent to try and curl yourself into a ball on the chair.

“C’mon, stop covering your face, the lighting looks great right now.”

“Knock it off.”

“Please?”

It felt right, with just the two of you there giggling over something so pointless, like that was how it was supposed to be. It felt like this was what the universe was supposed to have done, that all along it should have made the pair of you for the other, that you should have been the one that got to make him laugh like that every day. It felt like everything, for a moment, was how it was supposed to be, how your heart had decided it was supposed to be from the first moment you saw him in the park. Just you and Todoroki and no one else, nothing there to interrupt you besides the sounds of your own hearts beating.

“Stop!” You laughed at his insistence, peeking out from between your fingers to find him bending closer to you, his cheeks pulled into a wide smile as your eyes connected for the second he lowered his camera slightly. He took another picture, you could tell by the sound of his shutter releasing, another groan falling from your lips, this one laced with laughter as he reached a hand out and started gently tugging at your wrist. The contact felt electric, like he was shooting fireworks off that were spreading up your arm and making your heart skip a few beats out of surprise, his laughter only serving to heighten how light everything felt.

“Todoroki?”

It was laughable how quickly your mood could plummet, the air no longer feeling light and delicate, but rather too thick for you to breathe in, spine locking up as your legs dropped back to the ground with a gentle tap from your shoes meeting the wood. Todoroki’s touch on your wrist vanished, his laughter trailing off as he stood upright and cleared his throat, your eyes burning into his as he stared at you before focusing off at the door. You didn’t want to look at who it was, didn’t want to see her smiling face when Todoroki moved past you to give her a hug, just knowing it was happening right beside you enough to make your fingers dig into your thighs.

“Momo, I didn’t know you were stopping by.” His voice was pleasant but you could tell he was surprised, his posture stiff as he slowly came back into your line of sight with her in tow. You focused on her back at first, on the way her hair was tied up into a tight bun, on the clasp of her necklace that was catching the light as Todoroki pulled a chair over from the corner of the room for her to sit in.

“I wanted to bring you lunch.” Her voice was delicate, like her full volume was someone else’s whisper, her arms folding in her lap as she sat down, Todoroki’s palm on her lower back as she did so enough to make you swallow harshly. She was wearing one of his jackets, you noted, that brown one with the elbow patch you’d sewn on for him when he ripped it during a night out. “I hope I’m not interrupting something.”

“You’re not.”

Her head whipped over to focus on you once you spoke, the smile on your lips feeling as ingenuine as it did uncomfortable, your fingers weaving together as she flashed you an tense grin with her nod. She was holding a paper bag with Todoroki’s name written on it in swirly black ink, a heart scribbled beside the T with a smiley face inside. She passed it off to him, her fingers brushing his own as he nodded in appreciation, setting the bag beside your own crumbled up one, it almost seeming like a metaphor for the two of you, one that made you exhale like a deflating balloon, the false sense of comfort you had now ripped away. Todoroki cleared his throat awkwardly, a silence falling over the room that made you itch to escape it, like the walls were closing in on you the longer you sat there watching him glance between the two of you.

“Well, good.” She pressed her lips into a thin line as she nodded and looked over at Todoroki, your eyes flickering to her palm, seeing her soulmark when she flexed her fingers back and forth mid air, like she was trying to stretch out a muscle. Your own palm suddenly felt like it burned, like your subconscious was reminding you of how badly you wished you had that mark. You would have given anything to be in Momo position, to be the person that Todoroki would marry and have a forever with, to be the person Todoroki loved so strongly it was all consuming and soul changing. “How’s your day been?”

It almost felt like you weren’t there, watching Todoroki turn his screen towards Momo as he started rambling on about his morning, like you were seeing a scene from a movie you didn’t want to be watching. You could almost picture them like that, like this was how they’d be as the years passed, chatting in their kitchen while the rest of the world fell away behind them, their skin growing wrinkles but their palms staying matching and pristine. It stung, like the bubbles of hope you let yourself build up were all being popped one by one, like wasps were stinging your insides just to put you back in your place.

“Todoroki we need you out here for a second?” A girl poking her head into the room looked apologetic as she motioned for Todoroki to follow her, his eyes darting between your own and Momo’s before he was slipping out. You wanted to grab his wrist and drag him back in, wanted to force him to stay and serve as a barrier protecting you from talking to your own worst fear. Momo was everything you wished you were, the person you were most envious of and found yourself loathing when none of this was her fault.

She couldn’t help it the universe had paired her with Todoroki, she couldn’t help it that she was made for him and you weren’t. It wasn’t her fault that you didn’t have a soulmate and yet on the nights you laid alone in bed you found yourself blaming her, because she had gotten the person you craved like a drug. She couldn’t change the fact that you were made to be alone, that you had fallen in love with a man that was made for someone else, someone you could never be. You could blame her all you wanted but none of this was Momo’s fault, and deep in your chest you knew that, you just wanted someone to be mad at. Disliking her had seemed the easiest way of avoiding the demons you liked to ignore, the truth of knowing that you were meant for no one and there was no reasoning behind it too much for you to accept. You wanted a cause, wanted an explanation, even if you’d never truly get one.

And through your jealousy that temporary bandage of an explanation had become her.

“He works too much sometimes, don’t you think?” Her light voice made you lift your head, eyes flickering over her features as she stared at his desk, drawing on the surface with the tip of her finger. She had a half smile on her lips as she shook her head side to side, laughing faintly as she adjusted in her seat, the dark jeans she had on almost matching the ones Todoroki had on, pale pink sneakers poking out beneath the ends of them. “I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and find him typing away on his laptop.”

You tried to laugh, tried to ignore how your chest stung picturing them in bed together, tried to pretend the mental image didn’t make you want to curl up in a ball and scream until your lungs gave out. She meant well, she was trying to make conversation rather than sit there in silence in her boyfriends office, but you doubted your amusement was even half convincing. You weren’t sure it was possible to be genuine when your insides felt like they were rotting, weren’t sure if you could even be truly happy when your soul had stopped trying to a while ago.

“Yeah, he gets sucked into it sometimes.” Your head bobbed in a half nod as you focused back down on your legs, tracing circles around the red scratch on your knee from when you bumped into your bed frame earlier in the week.

“I’m sure it’s just because he’s so passionate about it, but sometimes it worries me. I’d hate to see him overwork himself.” She trailed off, eyes focused on you judging by the slight shift in voice and the subtle goosebumps rising on the back of your neck. You lifted your head to lock eyes with her, hands overlapping each other in your lap as she pressed her lips into a thin line, like she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. “Does he mention it to you? That he’s tired or unhappy?”

Todoroki was never really one to share emotions with people, not the ones that he didn’t deem good or important enough. It took you months of persistence before he opened up about any problems he had, any unhappiness that lingered in his heart. He took a lot on himself, held the weight of the world on the tops of his shoulders but still stood tall with a smile on his face. He didn’t like admitting he needed help or comfort, besides with a few people, and somehow you’d become lucky enough to be one of them.

You’d become the friend who he called in the middle of the night to talk about the things that were keeping him up. You’d become the one who heard of all the problems his parents had caused for him, the one who listened to the things he disliked about society and the way the world worked. You were his confidant and his comfort blanket, and in many ways he was yours, the one person who never judged you when the mark on your hand made you want to ball your eyes out. He never pushed away from you when the rest of the world sent you judging looks, never let others assumptions change the way he acted around you.

All he wanted at the end of the day was to be happy, and for the people he cared about to feel the same. You knew how heavily it weighed on him when someone was upset or unhappy, and sometimes he felt the need to try and fix things himself. He always went out of his way to do extra work if it’d help his co workers, always volunteered to be the one paying for other’s lunches so it wasn’t a burden. He always went to his family dinners even if they made him miserable, always put up with his parents nasty remarks and harsh judgements because he thought he had to. He pushed back in little ways, with his career and choice of friends, but sometimes you wondered if it was enough for him.

He had a heart that was surely even more golden than the shimmering line on your palm, one that shined like a lighthouse in the dead of night, but also weighed heavily in his chest. Sometimes you wondered if he was stopping himself from being as happy as he made most everyone else. You questioned, if he could have anything in the entire world, what he would want, what the secret wishes were he had that he’d never uttered out loud.

If you could wish for anything, you would wish for him.

“No, but I don’t think he would admit working too much is a problem anyway.” She nodded, glancing away to focus out the window at your response, the light falling over her features like a spotlight on a beautiful painting. “I should get going, my lunch break is ending soon.”

Her head moved up and down as you stood, eyes not turning towards you as you tugged down on your skirt, making sure it hadn’t ridden up. She was outlining her soulmark, you noticed, the dark lines stretching along her palm almost dark as the night sky, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. You could picture it on Todoroki’s, could see the mark you’d memorized and tried to wish away like a movie playing in your subconscious. They probably traced eachother’s all the time, probably had dreamed their whole lives of meeting the other and lucky for them they had. Lucky for them they had someone who matched them, they got to love the person they wanted to love and didn’t have to hide it under blankets of self loathing.

From the time you were a child it was all you heard about, soulmates, how magical and wonderful it would be when you met them. Everyone talked about it, about how that one person was the only one meant for you, society ensuring that with the laws preventing non-soulmate relationships over a certain age. There were people who didn’t like it, those who found the laws oppressive and out of date, considering most people ended up with their soulmate anyway, but fighting back was pointless. It was all so ingrained into society at this point, the nursery rhymes you’d sing at recess even laced with the messages of your one and only being the one you matched marks with.

They always said the only person you’d truly love would be your soulmate, and maybe that was why ignoring how strongly you felt for Todoroki hurt so much. Because he wasn’t your soulmate, he didn’t match your mark and yet you’d fallen so damn in love with him it seemed impossible for your brain to accept he didn’t belong with you. Even there in his office, staring at the girl with a mark on her palm that was an exact copy of Todoroki’s, it felt wrong, like the burning in your chest was more than just jealousy. You loved him more than all the stars loved the night sky and you couldn’t help the thought that maybe you loved him more than Momo could.

“I like your necklace, by the way.” You paused your movements towards the door when she spoke up, spine tensing as your fingers subconsciously rose to toy with the pendant hanging from your neck. You turned back towards her, her eyes drawn to where your hand was, her lips spread in a half smile that curved downwards as her fingers curled, hand palming into a loose fist on her lap. “Todoroki gave it to you?”

She phrased it like a question but didn’t seem to want an answer, your lips parted slightly as you swallowed down hard. Your hand slipped away from the necklace, landing back at your side as you nodded once nonetheless, her eyes drifting away from the jewelry to instead float back up to your face, smile faded as she blinked a few times. The air felt heavier, more thick, like the unknown thoughts running through her head were clogging up the space, skin feeling too hot like suddenly you had on a hundred layers of clothing.

“I found it one day, when I was doing the laundry. He’d forgotten to take it out of his jacket pocket before he tossed it in the hamper. I actually had thought it was a present for me. ” Her voice had dropped in volume, her head shaking as she exhaled all the oxygen from her lungs and took a quick glance at the necklace again. Your stomach felt like it dropped, like it had been filled with cement and was too heavy to stay put, an irrational sense of guilt crawling up your spine from the look on her face. She looked wounded and confused, wistful but unaware of what she wanted to say, mouth opening and closing twice before she finally spoke. “Is something going on between the two of you?”

“What?” You could feel your heartbeat in your throat, surprised by her rather upfront question, and judging by the way her eyes widened momentarily she must not have meant to be so forward. She cleared her throat, pursing her lips and exhaling heavily as she looked out the windows again, your fingers curling into your palms to close into tight fists to hide how they were shaking.

“Do you like Todoroki?”

“Sorry about that.” Todoroki’s rush back into room cut off anything you would have said, lips parted and pulse pounding in your eardrums as you took a step back towards the door. It felt like you’d been caught red handed doing something you shouldn’t, like you were a little kid with their hands shoved into the cookie jar before dinner. Todoroki’s palm landed on your back as you stumbled slightly into him, his eyebrows raised when he focused down on you, hair falling onto his forehead like he’d just combed his fingers through it. “You okay?”

“I have to go.” The words tumbled out as you stepped away from the warmth of his palm, ignoring his fingers as they tried to grasp onto your wrist, clearly confused as to why you were hurrying out. You could feel Momo staring at the pair of you, could sense Todoroki’s apprehension to just let you run off so clearly bothered. You knew he wouldn’t follow you, not with Momo there, his soulmate, with her perfect packed lunch for him waiting on his table top.

It was like you were in a haze, barely anything registering in your eardrums as you walked back into your office, sitting down to riffle through the papers waiting for you on the desk, eyes moving over the words but not reading them. You couldn’t feel anything besides the pounding in your chest, the force so strong it felt like it might burst through your ribcage and fall onto your keyboard.

You didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to handle the situation or the question she’d thrown at you. What would she do if she found out you were in love with her soulmate? Would she keep him away from you and cut off the thing you cared about most. Did she know for a fact you liked Todoroki or was she just insecure? Was it that painfully obvious you were completely in love with him? If she knew you liked Todoroki, than did he know? It felt like the room was spinning and no one else could notice but you, like the walls were caving in and on them was written all of your secrets, ready to swallow you whole.

All the worst case scenarios were flooding into your conscious and making your eyes burn, eyes squeezing shut, the paper fluttering between your fingers as your hands slightly shook from your nerves. It felt like all your emotions had skyrocketed and you didn’t know how to handle it. You simultaneously wanted to call Todoroki to listen to him talk until you calmed down and wanted to run as far away from him as possible, wanted to lock yourself in a room where no one could see you anymore. It was all too much for you to deal with alone but was too heavy of a secret to spill on anyone else.

Who exactly could you tell that you were madly in love with your closest friend and his soulmate had perhaps figured that out?

Who could you tell that your world felt like it was about to fall apart?

Sometimes when you were thinking too much your eyes stopped focusing, the world becoming fuzzy as all your attention poured into daydreams rather than what was right in front of you. It felt like a filter, like you’d applied a blur to the colors coming from your laptop, barely registering the sounds of laughter pouring from the speakers. You could fall into a fog when you were like that, could get so distracted away from the world around you with a few dazed blinks at nothing in particular. It always seemed to happen when you had the most on your mind, the loss of focus, your quiet breathing the background noise to the scenarios running through your mind.

Right now those scenarios were all about Todoroki.

You’d been thinking about what Momo said all afternoon, that alone enough to make a wave of panic ripple through your gut. She’d looked so distant, so unreadable but somehow intimidating, like she had your entire world in her palms and didn’t realize it yet. You questioned how long she’d been thinking about it, if finding the necklace from Todoroki was what spurred her self doubt or if she’d known from the first time she answered his phone for him and found you on the other end. You wondered if it poured out of you so visibly that everyone knew but just hadn’t had the heart to shut you down, that you were a silent laughing stock to the haves, the only have not there seemed to be who didn’t know their place.

Your lungs deflated as your lids fell shut, feet shuffling beneath the blanket covering your legs, the sounds of the stupid action film playing on your laptop coming to a stop when you blindly reached out and smacked at the keyboard. The enveloping silence was both too quiet and too loud, letting your thoughts run rampant until they were so aggressive they felt like blood chilling screams. You didn’t know what to do or where to go now, you didn’t know how to handle a situation that hadn’t even happened yet. There were too many what ifs, too many possibilities for how Momo’s question came about and too many options for how bad the outcome from it would be.

You’d never imagined loving someone would be so messy when you were growing up, always idolizing that passion for another human being as something almost magical, something otherworldly. Everyone made it seem like once you found it nothing else would matter, that the world would stop being so loud until all you could feel was that love in your chest. No one told you how bitter it would be, how acrid the taste in your mouth would be watching the person you loved be with someone else. No one took the time to sit you down and tell you maybe things wouldn’t work out how you wanted, no one set you aside and traced the gold on your palm to warn you maybe you wouldn’t be as lucky as everyone else.

No one told you back then that maybe you’d be alone now.

No one told you that love was only magical when someone was loving you back.

The buzzing beside your thigh made your lids flutter open, the fuzzy light still coming from your computer painting your legs the color of a blue sky. You squinted at your cell phone, blinking rapidly as Todoroki’s name came into focus flashing across the front. He’d texted you a few times since you rushed off so suddenly earlier, always able to tell when something was bothering you even when you wouldn’t admit it. He had a way of knowing things about you before you knew them yourself, always noticing little quirks and habits that he’d point out before you realized you even had them. He knew you better than you did and at times it made it harder to ignore how strongly you felt for him, made it scarier to imagine moving far enough away you wouldn’t see his face everyday.

Part of you was tempted to let it ring, to ignore his voice just a little longer, to try and peel yourself away from the strong hold he had on you without even realizing it. You didn’t know if he’d talked to Momo, if she told him her suspicions and was now just calling to let you down easy, didn’t know if he was calling to tell you he couldn’t be around you anymore because it caused her discomfort. You didn’t know if you could listen to him reject you, didn’t think you could handle how crestfallen you’d be if he quietly whispered that he couldn’t see you again. You didn’t know what you’d do if your worse case scenario was true and Todoroki was about to be ripped away from you, but the stronger part of your will power was desperate to hear his voice ringing in your ear drum, regardless of the words coming from his parted lips.

“Hello?”

“Thank gosh, I was starting to get worried.” His relieved sigh made your lips tug slightly up into a smile on your cheeks, picturing the way his hand was probably tugging through his hair in his bedroom, his legs folded up like a little kid. “You weren’t texting me back all afternoon.”

“Sorry, I was just sort of out of it.” Your lips pressed into a thin line as you leaned back in your bed, palm resting flat on your stomach, the huge t-shirt that was serving as a pajama top bunching around your waist. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s alright.” He hummed for a moment, ears picking up on the sound of his bedroom window being pulled shut, before he let out a heavy puff of air, presumably moving to sit back down on his oversized bed. You wondered if he was alone in it, gut churning picturing Momo there beside him, nerves swelling with the unknown of where this conversation was going. “You just rushed out so fast earlier I thought I’d done something. You don’t usually ignore my texts and I guess I just thought the worst.”

His faint chuckle at his own worry made your chest ache, eyes squeezing shut in relief that Momo hadn’t said anything to him, or at least if she hadn’t he didn’t seem to be taking it to heart. You still felt apprehensive, shaken up, like you were on the edge of a cliff and unsure of how good your balance was anymore. It was soothing to hear his voice nonetheless once you got over the initial panic, swallowing hard to get down the rock formed in your esophagus before you spoke.

“You worry too much, Todoroki.”

“Only about you.” The laugh that followed the syllables made your lungs feel empty of oxygen, body rolling onto its side and face nuzzling slightly in the pillow. If you closed your eyes tight enough you could almost imagine it was Todoroki’s chest you were burying yourself against, could almost smell his cologne you’d memorized the scent of long ago. It was like you were intoxicated and the only think you’d ever tasted was him, like was your drug of choice and biggest addiction, one you didn’t want to worry about the consequences from. “I can’t stand when you’re mad at me. “

“I’m hardly ever mad at you.”

“Remember that time I broke your coffee table and you didn’t talk to me for a week?”

It was so easy to fall back into him, so easy to let the conversation flow naturally into your eardrums with him giggling through the phone and rambling everytime you responded. It was simple, loving him, when the rest of the world was quiet. It was easier to love him from afar, through the safety of a phone where you could hang up and close yourself back off once it was over. It was more difficult to hide the stares when you were in front of him, harder to swallow back the praises you wanted to shout at him, to stop yourself from grabbing his hand and never letting go. When you were apart you could pretend everything was fine, you could close your eyes and imagine your soulmarks matched, that he was yours and he was close enough for you to touch. When you were in front of him you were reminded of everything you didn’t have, reminded every time you saw his palm that he already had his someone and it wasn’t you.

He made things feel easy, made the rhythm of you talking feel easy over the time that passed with him speaking to you through the phone. He chipped away at your unease and put a fog over the worries that had been burning into your brain, if only temporarily. His chatter about his afternoon and tangents about things you already knew were enough to make everything feel warmer, more gentle. He knew how to get to the deepest parts of you and brighten them, knew how to pull you from your own thoughts without much effort, in a way that you could only hope you did for him as well.

“I wish I was there right now.” His heavy sigh made you swallow, rolling onto your back as you took a peek at the alarm on your bedside table, reading the blinking red numbers with a muted yawn. You ignored the fluttering in your stomach at the idea, picturing him momentarily there in bed beside you, imagining how incredible he’d look with his hair all fused up and his chest rising and falling like the rhythm of a slow ballad.

“I’m sure Momo will be back soon from her parents, it’s not like you’ll be home alone that much longer.” Her name sounded foreign coming from your tongue but you tried to ignore it, arching your back and moving your legs as you tried to pry the blanket up from underneath you, slipping it over your body soon after. It was soft, like the texture of a those giant teddy bears people got for valentines day, the same color of the sun the sky had been wearing that morning.

“She probably will, but that wasn’t what I meant.”

You paused momentarily as his words floated through the phone, unsure of what to say to that, not positive what exactly he meant. It made your pulse quicken, pounding in your fingertips and eardrums like you’d just run a marathon in the middle of summer. He seemed to be contemplating how to continue, judging from the deep breathe you heard him suck in before he spoke again, voice somehow more gentle than before.

“I wish I was there in your bed, in your apartment, with you.” He paused and cleared his throat slightly, the sound of him flopping onto his pillows melding with the car honking as it drove by down below on the street. “I miss you.”

“You saw me a few hours ago.” You laughed faintly, heart in your throat and pounding so violently it was hard to breathe, something about his tone and choice of words feeling more intimate than you were used to with him. Suddenly the phone didn’t feel like it was giving you much distance from him, felt like it was making you more vulnerable without seeing his face to try and work out what was going on inside his head.

“I don’t care, I miss you.” His voice dropped in volume, your lids falling shut as you took a heavy breathe, one that felt like it wasn’t enough oxygen even with your lungs swelled like close-to-popping balloons. “I miss your laugh and your smile and that look you get when you stare out the window too long and forget what we were talking about. I love when you do that, have I ever mentioned that to you? I love when you get all embarrassed or angry and try to act like you were listening to a single thing I said.”

“What are you doing, Todoroki?”

“I love your soulmark too. I know you hate talking about it and hate seeing it even more but it’s so beautiful. It’s the prettiest shade of gold, it reminds me of what the sun looks like right before it sets.” He ignored the slight wave to your voice as his kept getting softer through his rambles, your hands shaking as you used one to grip the blanket around your waist. It felt like the room was spinning, like your brain couldn’t keep up with the things tumbling past his lips. “Sometimes I wish mine looked like that. Sometimes I wonder how different things would be if mine matched yours.”

You nearly dropped the phone, your lips pressing into a thin line to stop yourself from saying anything. Your eyes burned as you squeezed them shut, trying not to make a sound as you let the words replay in your head, fingers shaking as you gripped the blanket tighter. It was something you’d thought about a lot as well, about how desperately you wished your marks matched, about how different things would be if he was your soulmate. It was almost strange to hear him saying it, like you were daydreaming rather than being awake, like your dream had come a reality but was laced with a nightmare.

“I was so disappointed that day in the park, when I ran into you and I saw your palm when you went to brush off your sweater. Fuck my stomach just sank to my feet, like someone kicked me in the chest and tried to bash my ribcage in.” His bitter laugh sounded thick, too loud for how mutely he was speaking, your teeth clamping down onto your bottom lip in an attempt to stop yourself from letting him know there were stray tears slipping down your temples onto your cotton pillowcase. “I never hated my own soulmark before that, I never wanted so badly for it to go away or be someone else’s instead. ”

“Don’t say things like that.” Your voice shook as you interjected him, sniffling once as you shook your head reverently on the bed, the room feeling too small, the air too hot, heart still like a drumbeat in your eardrums.

“I wanted it to be you so bad.”

You didn’t bother hiding the quiet cry that fell from your lips as you rolled over onto your side and pressed your cheek into the damp pillow, muscles too tight from how hard you were trying to hold yourself together. It felt right and wrong, it sounded like heaven and hell, hearing him tell you how damn much he wanted you to be his one, because it was what you wanted all along. You’d always wanted Todoroki, you’d wanted him since that day in the park and him finding a soulmate hadn’t changed that.

But even if he meant the words past his somewhat tired and rambling state of speaking out loud it didn’t matter. Even if he was as in love with you as you were with him, the two of you could never happen, it was never and would never be allowed. Todoroki had a soulmate, and by law he had to be with her. You would never be allowed to touch his skin or kiss his lips, you’d never get permission to marry him someday or fall in love with the eyes of the world watching you. You could never have Todoroki, even if somehow what he was saying held as much weight as it felt like it did. Even if you both loved eachother, you couldn’t be in love, and that was what crushed you the most.

“Todoroki?” You could faintly make out the sound of Momo’s voice as she called out in the background, cutting off Todoroki as he cleared his throat to say something else, your eyes snapping open, like someone had woken you up from a too deep sleep. Without thinking you pulled the phone from your ear, hitting end and tossing it away to the end of the bed, like it’d been on fire and you’d only now realized.

Everything felt twisted now, more confusing than before, because Todoroki had never said anything like that to you. He’d never brought up that day you two met in the park, never said that he’d felt as stopped in his tracks as you had been. He never told you that he wished his palm looked like yours, never informed you of how angry it made him that you didn’t match, how much he hated his own palm after seeing yours.

Todoroki had a soulmate, he had Momo, and he was supposed to be with her, but the words that had tumbled from his lips felt like ones he’d been stopping himself from saying for a long time. He sounded lost, confused, desperate for someone or something to give him a sign on what he was supposed to do, what all the things he’d bottled up meant. You didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to handle the world piling all of this onto you, onto your already fragile heart and weaning self acceptance. You didn’t know how you were supposed to stop yourself from loving someone when he was making you feel like somewhere in the back of his mind, he loved you back.

Your hands rose, covering the entirety of your face as you cried quietly into them, chest shaking as you choked on the air you tried to get down, everything feeling like too much once again. You were exhausted and wide awake simultaneously, desperate to sleep but scared of what you’d dream. You didn’t know didn’t know what was the right thing to do and what was the wrong, and weren’t sure which path you even wanted to take. You felt like the world had swallowed you whole, like you were thrown down a pit and left to figure out how to pull yourself free.

There in your bedroom with his whisper of how much he’d wished you’d been made for him replaying in your head, you had never felt more confused.

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#todoroki shouto #shouto #todoroki #todoroki x reader #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #milk and tea fic #todoroki fluff #todoroki angst #todoroki smut

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barbecuebabybackribs · 4 years

Text

Emmett Cullen Having a Male Mate would include:

(I haven’t Slept in 72 hours so if this is bad I’ll rewrite it as soon as I’m able to get some proper sleep :) just let me know. This is also a long one and I hope y’all enjoy. Stay safe y’all)

Requested by: @shamelessloverhairdopainter (If this isn’t to your liking feel free to dm me and let me know)

He was not expecting you to walk in the door

Not because you’re a man, because he thought Alice would have given him a heads up

Doesn’t approach you at first, he’s to starstruck.

You notice his stare and offer him a small smile

He would normally feel slightly embarrassed for being caught gawking at you but he’s to busy being an extremely excited goofball

“Edward! What’s the new kid thinking!”

Edward had been shifting his eyes in between the two of you since the moment Emmett saw you

“He think’s your ‘kinda cute’ but is mainly confused about where he’s supposed to be going.”

“I know how to solve that!” He exclaims, slamming his hand on the table as he gets up

The man is nervous as hell walking up to you but the overwhelming urge to be near you over-rides the nerves

He forget’s about personal space for a second and walks up right behind you

“Uhm, excuse me.” He’d say tapping your shoulder

Not expecting you to flinch so hard you drop all the papers your were carrying

“Oh god I’m so sorry.” Suddenly those pesky nerves flood back

You’re still having a small heart attack as he starts to gather up your papers

“I-It’s okay, you just surprised me is all.”

Your heartbeat quickens slightly when you realize your jump scare mystery man was the cute guy who was staring at you- this does not go unnoticed by Emmett

“I’m Emmett, you just looked sort of lost so I was going to ask if you needed help.” He smirks handing your papers back.

“Oh? Was it that obvious?”

“Well the fact that you had your head stuck in a map was a dead giveaway.”

He ends up showing you around for the rest of the lunch break, talking and joking around as he does.

You didn’t know why he had decided to help you- considering everyone else just ignored you- but you were glad he did

He was glad he did too

You end up meeting everyday at lunch to hang out

Meeting up with him becomes on of the highlights of your day.

He is constantly bugging Edward and Jasper to know what you’re thinking and feeling

“Emmett If you want to know what he’s thinking just go and ask him!” Edward snaps after Emmett had caught him in a bad mood.

You overhear the conversation and although are a little confused at the context, you can’t help but get a little pissed off he was talking to Emmett like that.

Emmett awkwardly walk over to you and ask’s what your doing

“Nothing much, Hey can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Why’s your brother being such a dick?”

Emmett nearly chokes he laughed so hard

Edward sulks in the corner

After a few weeks you both get a bit restless only seeing each other during lunch but are to nervous to ask the other to hang out another time

You work up the courage to ask him to hang out outside of school tomorrow- randomly ambushing him the parking lot

“Yes!” He answers a tad to quickly, “Er, I mean that would be cool.”

Dude is absolutely pumped

Both of you realize you forgot one main part- planning what you wanted to do.

He clears his throat awkwardly “Well, If you want, you could come over to my house.”

You curse internally as you feel an unwanted blush spread across your face “Yeah, sure.”

Drives you to his house, showing you his favorite music on the way.

Has to fight back a laugh when you point out he didn’t buckle up

“Uh, can you wait here for a second?” He asks when you pull up to the house.

“Sure..”

He rushes inside and warns everyone you were here

Alice already saw it coming, everyone is on there best behavior making food for you

“Just play it cool.” He warns everyone before rushing back out to you.

“Everything alright?”

“Yup.” He answers smirking

You’re surprised when you walk in and everyone is staring at you.

“Uh... I hope it’s okay I came over.”

“Of course it is! A friend of Emmett’s is a friend of ours!” Esme beams, finally getting a look at this boy that had her son practically giddy

Emmett tugs you further into the house almost immediately, partially because he didn’t want you to feel ganged up on and also because he finally got to have some alone time with you

You end up playing a lot of video games- you lose your mind when Emmett plays Guitar Hero’s hardest level perfectly- Super speed really came in handy during gaming.

Esme and Carlisle show up in the middle of your gaming sesh with a snack for you

You gratefully accept it but insist they really didn’t have to

They insist it was there pleasure

They leave the two of you alone, they both are already consider you family

You eat while commenting on Emmett’s game play, nearly choking when he dies and throws the remotes across the room.

That day forward the awkwardness is basically gone

Bro Emmett

Protective Emmett

Playful Emmett

Emmett that throws you over his shoulder and run books it down the halls

Emmett that challenges you to fights despite the fact he towers over you and is all muscle

You can tell he let’s you win- although he does absolutely “pummel” you

He never actually hurts you- although you have hurt yourself a few time attempting to sneak attack him

He didn’t even flinch and you fell flat on your face

You still to this day have yet to live that down

You’re basically already dating without it being official

You go out constantly- you take a small chance and joke it’s almost like your dating

You keep your eyes straight forward expecting some “Ew gross no homo” response

When it comes you spare a single glance and see him with a big grin spread across his face

That was when it clicked your feelings might be mutual

He already knew how you felt due to bugging Jasper

but that was when he knew it was time to ask you out

“Hey, Y/N?”

“Ya?”

“Do you want to go out?”

“Like..... a date?”

“Yup.”

Remain calm- remain caLM

“Yes!”

You both quietly sit there for a moment absolutely loosing your minds

“Awesome.” He smiles wrapping an arm around you and pulling you closer

“Hey Emmett?”

“What’s up Y/N?”

“I didn’t know you were into men.”

“Neither did I until you came along.”

Once you two started dating it was like a damn burst and all he wanted to do was be near you.

The feeling was mutual

Movie and Arcade dates are some of your favorites

You’ve made out in school, at your house, in the forest, in movies, almost everywhere

Almost always has a hand somewhere on you- mainly your thigh

He also adores taking you hiking, If you get tired he just picks you up and keeps on going

He’s a lovable bro

and a lovable teddy bear

If your parents were homophobic Emmett is alright with pretending to just be one of ‘the boys’ until your ready

When you are ready, he’s on his absolute best behavior. He knows he won’t be able to suddenly make them no homophobic but god damn he’s not going to give them a reason to hate him

If they treat you badly at home because of it you suddenly are spending most of your nights at the Cullen residence

Even Rosalie starts to live you

Emmett has no quarrel with revealing there secret to you

You’re doing your homework in Emmett’s room when he suddenly emerges, giving you a pat on the back and straight up telling you.

“It’s about time you know. Y/N my family and I are vampires.”

“....?”

Convinced it’s some weird joke

“Halloweens not for months... and April first was months ago... I don’t get it.”

He just laughs, sitting on the small futon couch next to you and tells you he’s telling the truth

You just let out a nervous laugh when you realize he’s serious

“Emmett are you feeling okay?”

“Yes? Why- I’m not crazy Y/N. Here let me show you.”

Takes you by the hand and leads you outside, past his nervous looking family who you cast confused looks at

He takes you out back, lets go of your hand, and then jump nearly 30 feet in the air and lands on a tree

“what the fuck” you whisper, watching your apparently not human boyfriend look down and laugh at you.

When he jumps down and lands next to you, your almost the one jumping 30 feet in the air

“You all right.”

“UHM!” You motion to the tree and back to him a few times, pure shock clouding your mind

“HOW?! WHEN?! WHY?!” You nearly yell

“I was attacked by a bear and Rosalie saved me in 1935.”

“A BEAR?!?- wait your almost a hundred?”

Big smile and a nod is the only response you get

This goes on for almost 20 minutes before you sigh and mumble “well ok then?” and head back inside

The rest of the cullens got a front row seat to the whole thing and considering the circumstance you’re handling it well

You’re relationship ends up being pretty much the same except you force him to watch Dracula and interview with the vampire, along with other vampire movies a lot.

You buy a vampire romance novel for “Research”

With the big secret out Emmett finally feels ready to talk about going a bit further in your physical relationship

You wait until your parents are away on a trip so you’re away from certain immortal with heightened hearing

Edward and Jasper give him side eyes as he leaves the house

Your heart is beating almost a mile a minute when you hear a knock at the door

You invite him in and in a matter of minutes things are picking up speed

You have both been repressed for so long it’s no surprise

You fall asleep on his chest afterwards- of course after the two out you chatted a bit

He spends the night breathing in your scent, stroking your hair, caressing your cheek- such soft touches for someone so inhumanly strong

When you wake up and the memories all come flooding back and your cheeks burn hot and your heartbeat steadily increases, you shine and bury your head in his chest when he starts laughing at how easily flustered you are

Flustered or not you both agree it will become a more regular activity

Emmett is so damn proud when you graduate, if he could cry he probably would’ve

Carries you out on his shoulders chanting some ridiculous rhyme he made up

You guys party all night

Will deny it to Carlisle but he definitely got you a little tipsy

Months later some nomad vampires start wreaking havoc for the cullens

When they threaten you Emmett goes major protection mode

Only leaves your side to eat when absolutely necessary

He can tell it’s taking a toll on you and everything else

That’s when he suggest’s turning you for your protection

Besides Rosalie everyone agrees

Carlisle tries his best to make it a pain less process

although nothing could truly stop the mind numbing burning sensation that consumed you for days until it suddenly all went black

When you woke up, everything was heightened, you’re hearing, your smell, your taste, you’re sight, everything was so intense.

You went to stand but got thrown off by your force and speed

Two strong arms held you steady

“Emmett?”

“ehm, yes.”

“That sucked.”

Earned you a small chuckle from him

He insists on teaching you everything, hunting, fighting, acting, how to go crazy but not to crazy

He show’s you how intense everything is now

And by everything I mean everything

You two became a force to be reckoned with

Those Nomad’s stood no chance

No matter where you guys were you were a power couple

The Strongest and gayest power couple to ever walk the earth

And it was going to stay that way for a long time

#Emmett x reader #Emmett cullen x reader #Emmett Cullen imagine #Emmett cullen #Emmett #Emmett cullen x male reader #malereader #vampire #twilight #emmett x male reader

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ashsapple · 4 years

Text

Tamaki Amajiki - Stargazing

This is my gift for @soradragon for our discord server’s secret santa. I hope you’ll enjoy it, Happy Holidays Sora <3

Life with a pro-hero wasn’t always easy, their schedule was always packed and between interviews and rescue missions they rarely had time for their partner. Which is why when Tamaki came home tonight, you weren’t expecting him at all.

Sat on the couch of your shared living room, you were trying to select a movie to go with the mood you were in.

Tamaki had been busy this week and you missed him, the holiday season was always more dangerous because of all the crowds forming outside and the multitude of events in preparation. Dressed in your comfiest clothes, you had decided to take time for yourself to forget your sorrow and somehow get in a more festive disposition. So when you heard a key enter your front door’s lock, your whole body tensed up.

Eyes locking on the front door, you grabbed the remote control and slowly got up, the door cracked open and a “Sunshine ?” resonated in the room. Dropping your “weapon”, you let out a laugh and headed quickly to the front door. Your boyfriend was standing in the doorway looking slightly confused with a blush covering his cheeks.

“ Sunshine are you okay? I heard something loud, did you drop something? Are you hurt?”

“No, no Tama I’m fine, sorry. I thought you were a thief, and I grabbed the remote control in a desperate attempt at self-defence.”

He breathed out a laugh and you smiled at his relief. Stepping forward and wrapping him in a welcome hug, you let your mind wander.

Tamaki had been struggling with anxiety ever since he was young but his constant worry about others weirdly helped him in his job.

You two had met during his internship in Fatgum’s agency while you worked as the secretary’s assistant. You don’t think you could forget how panicked he looked when he first entered the building: slumped over, eyes locked on the ground with his entire body slightly trembling. He couldn’t let out a word after arriving at the secretary’s desk and you don’t know how he managed to get to Fatgum’s office after being in such a frantic state.

The first few weeks after his arrival were quite peculiar, he looked alone most of the time and seemed to avoid every contact he could with other individuals. So when you arrived, bento in hand, one Thursday and asked if you could eat with him, you thought he was going to refuse.

Yet a few minutes afterward, here you were sitting on the bench next to a tense Suneater, eating your lunch. You quickly managed to make this a ritual of some sort. You two ate together at least once a week when he was at the agency and you had noticed his shoulders always seemed to relax when you were around him.

During that year, you had learned that Tamaki Amajiki was a wonderful listener. He never interrupted you in your passionate rambling and always wore a small smile on his face when you got lost in your thoughts, sometimes leading you back on the trail you had formed, others letting you find your way back in hopes of learning even more about you.

Stepping out of your dreams, you looked up to meet the eyes of your partner. Seven years had gone by now and Tamaki became a high ranked pro. His anxiety still got the best of him at some points but his firm resolve and the bit of self-confidence he managed to build up over time made him one of the most beloved heroes of the nation.

Smiling softly at your expression, Tamaki stepped out of your embrace and let his bag fall on the ground. He took off his shoes and walked towards the kitchen, turning on the heating plate.

" I'm making some hot chocolate, do you want one darling? "

You nodded at that and began to prepare a tray, setting down cookies you made during the afternoon on it and opening a small bag of marshmallows. The sweet scent of chocolate soon filled the room, and your heart swelled with bliss. You filled the cups and moved to carry the tray to your couch before the spark of a candle caught your eyes. Now heading to your balcony, shine changed into soft lighting as you got closer and candles multiplied on your path.

"Tamaki, are you out there ?" you slipped your head out of the window to see him, standing outside trying to lay down big blankets for you two to relax on.

"Ha... huh I'm sorry, I thought this would take less time but lighting all those candles and trying to lay down our blankets directly to surprise you with ended up being way more difficult than I thought, I feel like I've ruined the surprise I'm so sorry Sora, I just wanted to create a small place for us to relax by because I know we didn't get much time together these last few days but I didn't succeed-"

"Tama" you whispered, stopping his panicked rambling "It's ok, you can relax, thank you for your surprise. I wasn't expecting it, it's really sweet of you to think about us" you topped your sentence with a smile.

Stepping forward, you put the tray down, right next to the messily laid blanket.

"Tama, can you ?" you asked while grabbing two corners of it, you smiled when he mirrored your actions and let down the fluffy cover "Thank you, darling".

Tamaki and you were now sat, hot chocolate in hand, narrating your day to each other and laughing at a few jokes you would get out at all the perilous adventures he lived trough.

"How do you manage to not quit after all that ?"

"Sunshine, I have no idea. I like to think that it always ends up helping others and I have to put my quirk to good use. Yes, I do admit, some situations are quite terrifying but rescuing is one of the best parts of the job."

"I mean, the scariest thing I've ever done looks like a piece of cake next to yours" he laughed for a bit before turning his head towards yours.

"And what would that be ?" he sounded genuinely confused. You looked at him then burst out laughing.

"Pretty sure it was six years ago, I had this really big crush on a guy I met during one of my internships." His eyes widened as they filled with worry. "I don't know if you know him, his name was Tamaki Amajiki" you laughed "He was really cute, and I had no idea how to ask him out, I was sure he was going to reject me."

"Don't be an idiot, I was head over heels for you already."

"Well, I wasn't aware of that at the time! My heart was beating out of my chest and I thought I was going to stop breathing when your eyes met mine after I called your name that day"

---

"Tamaki ?" your hands were shaking behind your back "Can I speak to you for a second ?"

The hero in training rose from his seat, nodding. You were fiddling with your hands now, cold sweat running down the nape of your neck.

"So, we've known each other for a year now and huh... I think I might have developed a crush on you" lowering the volume of your voice at the end of your sentence. Seeing his frozen expression, you kept going. "And it's perfectly ok if you don't like me back because I would hate to ruin our friendship but I also wanted you to know how I feel because I felt like it was important in a way."

You looked up from the spot on the ground you were starring at to see a pale and close to fainting Tamaki.

---

"I thought you had a heart attack at that point," you added.

"I was not expecting it !" he said, defending himself. "It was a shock"

---

"Tamaki, are you ok? Did I break you? Oh, gods, I broke you, I'm so sorry"

"No, no" he whispered. "I-I'm fine, huh I like you too. I- are you sure you like me? Because I know I can be a lot and difficult to deal with at some times but I'll try my best to not be too annoying"

"You're far from annoying, and yes I do very much mean it. I like you and I would like to go out with you. If that would be fine of course"

"Yes." he responded quickly "Sorry that was quick, I- hum, I'm really happy that you do" he smiled at you, the tip of his ears reddening before he hid his face between his hands.

---

"Well, that fear was all worth it. I'm really happy that I managed to make a move. And that I'm still here with you today."

"How could I let go of you Sora, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Oh, but I wasn't planning on doing so." you laughed.

"Apart from my scary experiences at work, I've had my fair share of frights in our relationship"

"I know, I'm terrifying."

"We both know that's not what I meant !" he said, blushing "I meant that even if I wasn't the one to confess, I've had my "shaky hands and sweaty palms" moment" he paused for a minute, tearing his eyes from the stars to look at you, snuggled in his arms, reddened nose and cheeks.

"Do you remember the first time I told you that I loved you ?"

---

It was in late March, the year you started dating. The cherry trees had started blooming and you and Tamaki were planning a picnic date in one of the parks near UA.

---

"Of course I remember, I tried making takoyaki for you and failed miserably !" you said, laughing at the memory.

"They were not that bad, I swear"

"You're only saying that because you love me Tama, you're not impartial"

---

So there you were, sitting on a blanket under big cherry trees with not so well made takoyaki and other snacks stuffed in a basket sitting in front of you.

"Are they good ?" you asked tentatively

"Well, I- I wouldn't say they're awful" he paused for a bit

"There's a "but" right ?" he sighed.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. Don't be sorry, it's not your fault, you're not the one who made them. Here let me taste them" you grabbed one and did as you said... Just before almost spitting it out. "Eww, Tama, you liar. Those are disgusting, how could I have made this..." you gasped "How could I have let you eat all of those ?"

"Now you're being dramatic Sora. They're not terrible, there's just room for improvement"

"That's just a nice way to put it," you breathed out a laugh "they are terrible, and you're way too nice. I guess the day has come for us to realize that you are the good cook of our relationship." you giggled, shortly followed by him.

His laughter died down as he gazed at you.

"I- hum I love you" he looked down, blushing. "I wanted to say "I love you" for the first time without stuttering, but that failed"

You smiled brightly, a spark in your eyes.

"I love you too..." you let out "I also failed my takoyaki, so I guess we both had to fail at something"

---

"I was right, we were even, we usually are"

"Are you implying we didn't change ?" he wondered

"In a way... I mean I still love you as much as I did at the time, well, maybe more. But I hope my takoyaki skills improved, for your sake"

"Well, that's debatable"

"Hey !" you hit him lightly, laughing at his blushing ears. He still felt bad teasing you sometimes but you were glad he felt confident enough with you to do it.

You settle back inside his arms, your back against his chest. Empty hot chocolate mugs left out on the tray and plate of cookies almost clear after all the reminiscing.

You couldn't wish for anything other than this, living and getting the chance to stargaze with Tamaki Amajiki.

#tamaki amajiki #bnha #bnha fanfiction #oh gods i hope you'll like it #secret santa gift #tamaki amajiki x reader #boku no hero academia

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scarletwinterxx · 4 years

Text

First and Last Finale

And that is it for First and Last. I had so much fun writing this! I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to give this series a chance. Thank you for kind words and for supporting this story! I hope you enjoy this ending. If you have any suggestion, do leave a comment or a message to my blog. I love hearing abt what you guys think!

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

See you on the next series! xx -A

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2020 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

PART ONE || PART TWO || PART THREE || PART FOUR || FINALE || BONUS

If someone asks me to summarize the happenings these past couple of months, I’d only say one word. The first one that comes mind.

Past me would freak out over this but this me just smiles at the thought.

Back when I agreed to this arrangement I said I had nothing to lose, and I didn’t. But I did gain a lot. I gained new friends, ones who genuinely care for each other like family, I gained confidence in myself and now i’m able to say yes to things I would’ve said no to before.

And of course I’ve gained a close companion, a friend almost but I already know he’s more than that to me.

All those things lead me here.

While being lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice someone standing beside the table I was currently occupying, I only looked up after the person cleared their throat to catch my attention.

“Huh? Oh sorry, I didn’t see you come in” I said, Lia shot me a quick smile before occupying the seat in front of me

“Do you want to order something or-” I asked her but she just shook her head in return

“Didn’t really come here for that, so why did you want to talk?” she asked back

“To say sorry” I could tell my answer caught her a bit off-guard, she gestured for me to go on

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot, so I apologize for that”

“And for the whole fake girlfriend fiasco?” she asked, I knew she was going to ask, it’s why I wanted to talk to her. To finally clear things up.

“I admit we were at fault for lying to Hyuck’s friends, we already cleared that up” I told her, “Why did you do it though? If you knew all this time why didn’t you say something?” I asked her, for a second she looked away before speaking again.

“I wanted to know why he was doing it, when I first met you at that party I already knew. I wanted to say something already but I didn’t because I wanted to find out why you were doing it”

“Months passed by, when I see the two of you around campus it looked like you weren’t doing just to make me jealous. Which was my initial guess. So I wondered why”

“All I can say is whatever it was when it started out is not what it is now” was the answer I gave to her, admitting it openly was definitely something new for me.

Nothing is sure in this life, everything can change with no warnings. But for now, I’m very sure about my feelings. It was nice not feeling conflicted over something and just letting it be.

“You hurt him, you know. I’m not going to judge you because I don’t really know you but what you did hurt him a lot. He deserved better” I mumbled

“And now what? You’re that better?”

“Anything is better than being cheated on, no one deserves that. He didn’t deserve that” my statement made her look away from me and stay quiet

This wasn’t my battle to fight. I just wanted to say something that should’ve been said all along.

In the midst of the silence my phone rang, it happened to be laying on the table with the screen on display. Hyuck’s name flashing, with a cute picture of him that I secretly took during on of our study sessions.

I see Lia looking at my phone, I can’t help but smile sadly.

Their situation was a mess. Hyuck deserved better, but I also don’t have it in me to be mad at someone I didn’t know.

“He really likes you” she chuckled, not a sarcastic one but almost a sad one

“I know”

“It’s the way he looks at you that convinced me you two were something more than this whole facade you’re trying to put on” she told me, I didn’t know if i should smile or not

“I hope this clear things up, I’ll get going now. You take care, Lia” I smiled at her before gathering my stuff.

“He loved me first, now I know I won’t be the last” I hear her say, a moment of guilt and regret could be heard in her tone but she quickly masked it with a side smile. I bid a goodbye then I walked out of the cafe.

My phone stopped ringing before it started to go off again, Hyuck’s name flashing on the screen once again

“Finally, she picked up. What are you doing that’s more important than answering my calls?” he asked, I knew he was joking

“Just talking to someone”

“Who?”

“That’s a story I’ll tell later” I chuckled, I hear him grumble something but I didn’t quite catch it

“I’m already here by the way, you’re late” he said, we were supposed to meet today to get some lunch. I wasn’t late, he was just really early but I don’t tell him that

He was waiting somewhere not that far form the cafe, I saw him waiting by the park. He hasn’t seen me yet.

“I am here”

“Where?” he asked, he was looking around but still wasn’t able to see where I was

“Right here” I laugh at the way he was turning left and right trying to spot me, when he did he hung up his phone. A displeased look on his face

“Hi” I said with a big smile on my face while Hyuck just snickered at me,

“I’ve been here for so long” he told me, already reaching out for my hand intertwining our fingers together. I felt warm all over.

“No you weren’t. Stop being dramatic”

“Whatever, at least I wasn’t the one who was late” he told me

“I wasn’t late! You being early doesn’t make me late” I retorted back, I let him pull me wherever we were going to get lunch

“I thought you were going out with Mark and the rest of your hyungs” I asked, remembering his story about his older friends. I haven’t met them yet but with so many fond stories from Hyuck made me feel like I knew them too.

“Said I was going out on a date” he said, the word date making my cheeks turn red. He of course knew this.

“Aigoo, look at you. You’re so cute” he said, reaching out to pinch my cheek with the hand that wasn’t holding mine. I swatted his hand away making him laugh out loud.

“Where are we going anyways?”

“Where do you want to go?” he ask me, I just blinked up at him “I thought you knew where we were going”

“No, I was following you” he answered back with an equally confused look on his face

“I was following you! You’re the one pulling me” I say, holding our hands up together. His eyes landing on our intertwined hands, I could see the small smile creeping on his face. He was trying to fit it, I wanted to call him out and tease him about it but I let him be.

We ended up just walking around, looking for a random place to get lunch. Then we just hung out afterwards. We haven’t really talked about what we are now that the whole pretend to be his fake girlfriend is over.

Right now, this feels like the beginning of something better.

We were just talking about how the weekend went, the boys came over then they had a movie night. Jeno was happy everyone was talking again. We were talking about anything and everything.

“I was talking to Lia” I said out of the blue, I saw him look over at me in surprise.

“Do I want to know?”

“I just wanted to clear things with her, I don’t know her it would be unfair if I get mad at her. She doesn’t know me either so, I just wanted to say my side”

“You didn’t have to, this was my fa-”

“If i recall I agreed to it, you weren’t alone in all that” I stopped him from saying yet again that it was his fault. I wanted the both of us to move on from it, I didn’t want it to be another thing to weigh on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, she didn’t say anything embarrassing about you” I told him, trying to lessen his worry because I could already see it written across his face.

“Speaking of talks, we should talk”

“Why? Are you breaking up with me?” he asked, this made me stop speaking and just look at him

“What... we’re... I...”

“You.. what... we’re” he said repeating after me

“What are you saying, break up with you? We’re not even dating”

He acted like I hurt him by putting his arms across his chest, clutching on his shirt were his heart is. I can’t help but smile at him.

“This is what I get after taking to all those dates. Wow” he made this face where he pokes the inside of his cheeks with his tongue when things don’t go the way he wants it to. One of the many things I learned about him.

“Stop smiling at me, I’m trying to be mad at you” he told me but instead of acting mad he just pulled on my hand again then started to walk the both of us back to our dorms.

“Ya Lee Donghyuck” I said, pulling him back

“What Y/L/N Y/N? You know I don’t even know why you call me Hyuck”

“Because it’s your name” I answered, I also know that I’m the only one who calls him that around campus. Even his bestfriends call him by his nickname,

“it’s your name isn’t it. Why? Do you want me to change it? Call you Haechan?” I asked, if he wanted me to I’d probably would. It will take some time to get used to since I rarely call him by his nickname

“Better if you call me boyfriend” he answered cheekily, “You would want that won’t you” I answered back. He looked like he didn’t expect that answer, so instead of replying to me he just started to walk again.

No words needed to be said, with our hands swaying gently back and forth we walked back home.

We decided to have a movie night, that’s how we ended up over at Hyuck and Renjun’s dorm.

“I actually have something to ask you” Hyuck suddenly speaking up

“What is it?”

He set the bag of snacks he was holding, sitting up straight on the couch looking like he was contemplating whether he should say it or not

“There’s... I should... I should say this now or I’ll keep putting it off so here goes nothing” he mumbled to himself before turning to face me

“I know I’m... Me... and I feel like you deserve better than me but I like you a lot I can’t even think about someone else making you laugh so much you snort, you don’t notice it but I think it’s the most adorable sound to me. I can’t think about someone else seeing how easily you blush when you get compliments or when you get shy. I guess what I’m trying to say or what I’m failing to say is that I hope I could still be that person to witness you do all those cute things. I hope I can make you laugh some more, I wish I can just hold your hand all the time so you don’t get lost in the crowd. I wish you’re fine with this cause if not I’m going to move out of this country and change my name”

His confession, although wasn’t a big surprise, made my eyes water. His words were so genuine, I could see the worry in his eyes I wanted to assure him those feelings were returned but I just can’t find the words

“Oh my god why are you crying? I’m so sorry. Don’t cry if you don’t feel the same way, don’t cry oh my god I made you cry” he said clearly panicking, he hurriedly wiped the tears away

“I don’t snort” I mumbled

“Huh?”

“I don’t snort when I laugh” I said with a pout on, he closed his eyes for a second before smiling down at me. Wiping the last of the tears but keeping my face in between his hands.

“You do, you cutie. Don’t worry, I like it a lot” his assurance made me feel all giddy and warm, my eyes started to tear up again. I was just so happy I think my brain is confused about how to react right now.

I rested my hands on his, trailing idle patterns on it as he still held my face in his

“You know this is the part where you say you like me too...” he said making me laugh, I collapse forward into him so now I’m hugging him. My arms around his shoulders while I feel his arms wrap around my waist

“I like you too. Like a lot” I mumbled to his ear, I feel a kiss atop my head. I just snuggled closer to him, burying my face on the crook of his neck.

“For real this time time, will you be my girlfriend?”

“I’ll think about it”

“Yah don’t be like that, my feelings are fragile too you know” he said acting mad but instead of pushing me away he just pulled me to him more.

If someone asks me to summarize the happenings these past couple of months, I’d only say one word. The first one that comes mind.

Hyuck. Donghyuck. Haechan.

it’s all the same but he’s the first one that comes to my mind.

“So boyfriend, should we continue on with the movie” I asked him with a smile. The same way I asked him that night of the party months ago

He smiled at me, putting some space between us. I notice him leaning closer and closer until he rests his forehead on mine. His breath tickling my face making my cheeks burn bright red

“You okay with this?” Hyuck asked, his voice quiet. Also the same question he asked me that night

Before I could answer him, someone screamed by the door making me jump from my seat

“OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE JENO IS RIGHT”

“Three days!? Three days! You couldn’t last two weeks?”

“WHAT IS HAPPENING”

The three guy s were all speaking at the same timee, it was pure chaos.

At this point Hyuck was resting back on the couch with his arm across his face, probably trying to drown his friends out

“Wait, what do you mean Jeno is right?” Hyuck asked, sitting up and looking at his friends skeptically

“Nothing, pizza is on me though if you let us join in on your movie night”

Hyuck was about to say no but I already gestured at the seats and snacks infront of us. It wasn’t my dorm anyways so I couldn’t say no.

“We were having a date night” I hear Hyuck grumble from beside me.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have other date nights” I told him with a smile, knowing well this won’t be the last.

193 notes · View notes

nochuwrites · 5 years

Text

redamancy

oneshot

pairing: jungkook/reader

genre: !bestfriends in high school au, fluffy, mayb angst, mayb,

word count: 9538

a/n: haha so this might look familiar but it is bc i posted this sometime last year but as a chapter series! however i felt really uncomfortable about the chapter sizes so i decided to condense it into a oneshot! also this is still one of my first fics so feedback is greatly appreciated ! also would love to make mutuals with people !

—SYNOPSIS: Faking a relationship with Jungkook was not going to be a breeze as you thought it would be. Especially when some feelings still linger.

The first time you met Jungkook was in your freshman year. You never noticed the boy in your class but you did know a few things about him from your friends. You knew that Jungkook had a gathered quite a lot of attention around the school due to his ethereal looks and to the school, he was known as the golden boy since he was known for his many skills. Whether it was dancing or sports, Jungkook would completely go above and beyond to prove that he was the best. His competitiveness and talent gathered attention from many of the girls at your school. Despite Jungkook’s popularity, many of your friends claimed that he was generally a shy kid and did not approach many people.

But this was before you talked to him.

When you met him, it was during a game of Kahoot in your computer science class. You had never noticed him being in your class since most of the time, you had your eyes trained on your laptop coding. That day had been a different day however. That day, there was a substitute teacher and most of the class time was free time. Using this time wisely, you set up a Kahoot game about Minecraft and waited for tablemates to join the game. The thing that made the game entertaining was that none of the people in your group played Minecraft so they all chose the Kahoot topic as a joke. You angled your laptop towards the edge of the desk so that the rest of them could see the screen.

What you didn’t notice was that Jungkook could see the laptop screen from a table across and decided to crash the Kahoot game. After a couple of minutes, a bundle of immature usernames were displayed across the computer screen. There was an extra player logged on the screen but no one in your group noticed or cared enough to mention it. Not until after a couple of rounds. After the fourth round or so, you noticed that one player had completely dominated the rest and scored correctly on all the questions so far. Specifically, that player’s name was “thelegend27,” which earned a couple of laughs from the others at your table. “Ok, which one of you lied about not knowing anything about Minecraft?” You finally asked. Your friends denied of being the player and said that they did not know who it was. So you continued the game. By the end of the game, you make it your mission to catch whoever it was that joined your Kahoot game. And as expected, the player with the username “thelegend27,” wins the game. Immediately, you look up from your screen seeing if you could catch your culprit. The moment your eyes leave your screen, you are very surprised that they are met with Jungkook’s brown eyes. His eyes were crinkled from laughing but as soon as he noticed your eyes on his, his demeanor immediately switched. He stifled a cough and his eyes traveled back on his screen playing out his usual cold demeanor.

Target spotted.

During lunchtime, you get your lunch at the cafeteria and look around for tables to sit at. Surprisingly, you find Jungkook sitting by himself at a table. You walk to his table and decide to greet him with the first thing that came to your mind.

“Hey ‘thelegend27’,” you say as you approach Jungkook and he immediately looks up with his eyes wide. You plop down in the seat in front of him and gently place your lunch in front of him.

“So you know quite a lot about Minecraft, huh?” You continue and this earns you a small chuckle from Jungkook.

“Yeah, yeah I do. What? You got a problem with that?” He replies while trying to hold back a laugh.

“No,” you shake your head, “I’m just surprised..is all. I mean who would’ve guessed Jeon Jungkook, the golden boy, star athlete of the school, is actually a complete Minecraft dweeb.”

Jungkook laughs in response your reply and the sound immediately lifts your mood. “The last time I played Minecraft was in middle school. I just happen to have a good memory of the game,``he clarifies.

“Alright, sure…” You look at him skeptically and the two of you continue to have an argument about whether Minecraft is for nine year old boys or not. Lunchtime comes to an end and you excuse yourself to go dispose of what's left of your lunch. “Well, I will see you tomorrow.” You stand up from the table as you exit the cafeteria to head to your next period. Leaving the cafeteria, you glance back at Jungkook and he sends you a friendly wave.

Afterwards, Jungkook is the first to approach you and show you a funny meme on his phone. The two of you talk for a long time and it leads to him inviting you to his home for a game of Overwatch, to prove that he’s a real gamer of course. Your friendship with the boy skyrocketed and you two became so close that it became a rare sight to see you or Jungkook walking around in halls without each other. Shortly after, rumors began to spread about you and Jungkook being a thing. Obviously, you both denied it. You had to admit that in the first few days, you had conjured up a tiny crush on him but soon these feelings became dismissed as you wanted to maintain your friendship with him. As expected, you both remained unchanged by these rumors and cleared up the misunderstanding to anyone who mentioned it.

But that was before the proposition.

“I need your help with something,” he said one day during lunch, “There’s this girl I like...and I need your help to get her.” You had agreed to the proposition. It was the right thing to do. This was your best friend after all and it would not cause too much trouble...right?

It was on a typical Friday night when you were laying in Jungkook’s bed while he played games on his computer. While his eyes were completely trained on the screen, your eyes were focused on him. From his smooth brown hair (which you would love to put your hands through), to his broad shoulders that you could see through his white t-shirt, to his veiny hands, and his muscular thighs. Since when did Jungkook become so…attractive?

When Jungkook had asked you to help him get together with his crush, you had imagined you would be helping his create a poster to ask her out or something simple like that. But instead, he had told you to fake a relationship with him to make her jealous. The whole idea seemed absurd at first.

“Come on, Y/N,” he constantly pleaded, “We’re best friends so it would be believable. It would totally work out.”

After his countless requests and convincing, you gave in and skeptically agreed to the plan.

So here you were laying in his bed thinking about how the past few days had changed you. You noticed how your heart rate immediately spike up the first time he locked hands with you but when you looked up, his eyes were somewhere else. Specifically, on the girl he talked to you about. You tried ignoring the jealousy rising up your throat every time he talked about her as if she was the sun. Or the urge to interrupt Jungkook and the girl whenever they had a conversation. You didn’t know when exactly these feelings began to occur because from the beginning of the fake relationship, you ignored the odd emotions in your chest whenever Jungkook initiated something that was a little more than friendly. As you laid there on the bed in your own deep thoughts, you mind wandered off to the girl and why Jungkook liked her so much. Her name was Rose. It was no surprise you felt insecure next to her. She was well liked at her school and her natural beauty was no joke. You had met her a few times and she was so friendly and nice. No wonder Jungkook liked her. There it is again, that nasty, green, jealousy feeling. You were so deep in your own thoughts that you didn’t notice Jungkook pausing his game to ask you a question.

“Y/N,” he said, “Hello. Earth to Y/N,” he waved his hand to get your attention. “Hmm?” You focused your attention back on him. He had his face close to yours. Curiosity written all over his features. The sunlight from his window outside had been angled perfectly at the side of his face and just when you thought you couldn’t fall deeper for Jungkook, you did. You thought about his lips and how badly you wanted them on yours.

“You look upset. What’s on your mind?” He questioned. I think I might have feelings for you. You wanted to say. But you never would. Why? Because it would ruin your friendship. Everything would become awkward and you cared too much about Jungkook to let him go.

“Nothing at all,” you finally answered, “I’m just tired. That’s all.”

“Oh,” He said blankly.

You stand up from the bed and grab your bag. “Umm..I think I’m going to go home to get some rest,” You said. Jungkook makes a pouty face in response. “No, you can’t leave. I’m going to die of boredom without you.” “Don’t worry Jungkook. Just call Taehyung over. I’m sure he has nothing to do either.”

With that, you leave his house re-thinking about your friendship with him and whether you should tell him how you really feel or just let it be.

“I think it’s just physical attraction, to be honest,” Taehyung said as he passed the game controller over to you to grab a snack.

“Really?” You questioned, “But Tae, I told you. I used to have a crush on him. I don’t know maybe it’s coming back or something.”

Taehyung opened up the bag of chips and you reached over to grab a chip. “Look, I understand that at this age, these changes you may be going through your body are very confusing but—”

“Tae!” You yelled as you threw a chip at him to indicate that he was getting off topic.

“Okay, okay. I’m just kidding,” he admitted while resuming to the game on the TV screen, “But to be honest, you should talk to him about it and see how he feels.”

You sighed in defeat knowing that he was right and that you lacked the courage to confront your problems. You grabbed the bag of chips sitting on Taehyung’s lap and continued eating the chips vigorously.

But instead of letting you mope in peace, the world decided to be cruel and throw your problems in right in your face. Just as Taehyung’s screen flashed the words, ‘You were eliminated by EdgeLord69,’ there was a knock on your door. You stood up to go open the door while Taehyung remained busy with his game.

Standing at your doorstep was Jungkook, dressed in a simple T-shirt and ripped jeans but he still managed to look so good. His face glowed with his signature bunny smile that you’ve always loved.

You froze for a moment, not expecting his present but you managed to stutter out a couple words, “H-hi Jungkook. What are you- what are you doing here?”

“Oh, just stopping by. You haven’t really texted me much lately and I’m just worried, that’s all,” he responded. It’s true that these past few days you have been ignoring him and responding with only short answers. You felt a bit guilty for cutting him off like this but remembered that you needed your space for a bit.

His eyes wandered around for a bit until they landed on Taehyung, seated on your living room floor holding a console in his hands, his smile disappeared for a moment and was replaced with another expression that you couldn’t quite read. It was like a forced smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Oh. So Taehyung’s here already,” he said walking in and taking a seat on the beanbag chair, it became a habit of his to just come over and sit on that chair after countless hours spent at your house whenever your parents were out of town.

“Hey Jungkook,” Taehyung said when he finally noticed Jungkook’s presence in the room. “Hey man,” Jungkook replied back, “So were you guys just playing Overwatch?” He questioned. “Yeah,” Taehyung replied nonchalantly. “Why didn’t you guys invite me?” Jungkook finally asked the question he’d been wondering since he got here.

Your eyes widened as you glared at Taehyung, hoping that he won’t say or hint anything that could possibly reveal your secret. “We were just about to invite you over before you came,” he said while keeping his eyes trained on the screen. The room was packed with awkward silence except for the chaotic sounds coming from Taehyung’s game. You decided to end the silence by asking Jungkook if he wanted anything to drink. To which, he responded with a ‘no, thank you’ so you returned to your old spot on the floor next to Taehyung.

As Taehyung finished the first round of the game, he handed the controller to you, expecting you to pick up from where he left. “I’m gonna use your restroom, Y/N. I think the gatorade and nachos I had for lunch are starting to act up,” Taehyung said, clutching his stomach. “Ew! Gross!” You laughed as you shooed him off towards the hallway. Behind you, you heard Jungkook chuckle at Taehyung’s straightforwardness.

You fingers moved around the buttons on the controller as you tried to choose which character to play for the upcoming round. “Hey, did I do something wrong?” Jungkook finally spoke up. You turned around in shock as you were confused as to why he thought this was his fault. “It’s just..it feels like you’ve been ignoring me lately and I don’t know if it’s something I did or sai—” “Jungkook,” you stopped his rambling, “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay. I just..I needed some space and I accidentally ended up neglecting you in the process so I’m really sorry about that,” you apologized sincerely. Jungkook’s eyes filled with relief to know that you weren’t mad at him or anything.

You stayed there for quite some time staring into Jungkook’s eyes while he did the same. ‘This is your chance,’ your mind said. You wanted to take a risk. To lean in a bit and finally kiss those soft lips of him but before you could even move an inch, Taehyung’s voice boomed from the corner of the room as he yelled, “Y/N, the game’s starting!” You snapped your neck back towards the screen to see that your team was already trying to defend the point without you.

After that, the three of you continue talking about various things like Taylor Swift’s new look to the new hero added to Overwatch.

“I’m just saying he reminds me of the guy from the Old Spice commercials,” Jungkook says.

“I think he is supposed to remind you of the guy from those commercials. Smart advertising,” Taehyung replies.

The three of you laugh recalling some of the ridiculous old spice commercials that you have seen when Taehyung suddenly brings up the topic of prom.

“So who do you plan on going with Jungkook?” Taehyung noticed how Jungkook’s eyes flickered over to you for a bit but then back to Taehyung as he answered, “Uhhh...I don’t know. I’m thinking of asking Rose out. What about you guys?”

“Wait, how are you going to ask her out if you’re ‘dating’ Y/N?”

“Oh,” Jungkook looked at you again for a moment, “I’ll just tell her we broke up over the weekend or something.”

Your eyes wandered to the ground and you started to play with the drawstrings on your shorts. “You guys never answered my question though. Do you guys already have dates for prom?” Jungkook asked, curiously.

“I’m not even sure if I’m even going. I have no one to go out with,” Taehyung answered. “Oh, come on. Dude, almost every girl in the school wants to go with you. You’re just being like this because Irene rejected you,” you replied.

“What about you, Y/N?” Taehyung asked, “You thinking of asking anyone?” You sighed knowing that Jungkook was the only person you wanted to go with but there was no way Rose would reject him.

“Uhh..no..there’s no one in particular,” you answered back, “I think I’ll just go with Somi or something since she said she didn’t have a date either.”

“Hey, you could just go with me since I have no one either,” Taehyung suggested.

“Yeah, sounds good,” you said in response since there was nothing wrong with two friends going together.

However, Jungkook didn’t seem to like the idea. Jungkook frowned at the suggestion and argued, “What if people think you guys are dating or something?”

“Who cares what other people think? There’s nothing wrong with going with a guy friend,” you argued back. Jungkook nods as he realizes that he shouldn’t complain about who you want to go to prom with because that’s not his business.

“Well, I think I’m gonna go. I should probably go study for tomorrow’s Psych quiz,” Jungkook said and stood up as if he was in a hurry. “Oh..” you said disappointed that he wasn’t going to stay longer, “Bye Jungkook, and good luck on the quiz!” He waves at both you and Taehyung as he opens the door to head out.

Taehyung waited until Jungkook until was long gone before turning to you, “Ok, I was wrong, Y/N. He is really into you! You’re just too blind to see the way he looks at you.” You roll your eyes at Taehyung’s comment because he could be just getting your hopes up. “Whatever, doesn’t explain why he’s asking Rose to prom instead so..” you said as you focused your attention back on the game and ignored Taehyung’s rambling about Jungkook.

To your surprise, Jungkook never ends up asking Rose out to prom. There’s no word going around about Rose and Jungkook going together to prom and Jungkook keeps his distance ever since that day with Taehyung. He still talks to you regularly but is nowhere to be seen when Taehyung comes in the picture.

As prom gets closer and closer, your friend Somi ends up getting a date and you are left to go with Taehyung, your date in case you can’t find anyone else you want to go with.

“Should we be matching?” Taehyung asked through the phone while the two of you are preparing for prom.

“Ew, no. I think that’s what couples do.”

“Oh, well then…I think we’re all prepared. I’m just going to wear a pair of jeans and a shirt then.”

“Tae,” you warned him, “We don’t wanna look like a couple of hobos either. C’mon be serious.”

“Fine. But I just think that we should be a little bit coordinated so I need to know what you’re going to be wearing,” he responded.

“Ugh… I don’t know yet. I wanna choose a black dress but I also don’t wanna look like I’m going to someone’s funeral.” Taehyung chuckled at your comment.

“What about red?” He suggested, “It also happens to be Jungkook’s favorite color.” Knowing the pervert Taehyung was, you could already imagine him doing his usual lenny face through the phone.

“Oooh..red seems nice,” you said, “But I’m wearing it because I think it would look good. Not because it’s Jungkook’s favorite color. Just wanted to make that clear.”

“Well then, it’s set. We’re going with red,” Taehyung agreed, “But don’t worry, I won’t overdo it. I’ll just wear a funky tie and a regular suit.”

“Okay, good,” you said, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow at school, okay?”

“Aight, bye,” Taehyung said and the phone beeps twice signaling that the call ended.

You return to your depressed state as you sigh and fall back onto the bed. Why was it so hard to read Jungkook? If he doesn’t like you in the way you want him to then why doesn’t he ask Rose to prom like you expected he would?

It was prom day and Taehyung arrived at your house in his mom’s small compact car like you expected. You were glad that he didn’t go overboard and listened to your advice about not getting limousine because that would have been too much.

Taehyung opens the door to walk out in a black suit and a maroon red tie around neck. You noticed he had a plastic container in his hand and as walked towards you. He pulled up the container in his hand to reveal a small ring pop in it.

“I thought since we were just going as friends, I didn’t need to buy you an actual corset so I put this together last minute,” he explained.

“Wow, what a gentleman,” you joked, “And by the way, it’s called a corsage not a corset, you uncultured swine.”

The both of you posed a couple times for your parents before getting in the car and saying goodbye to the both of them.

When you arrived at prom, every nervous thought about Jungkook and what you were going to do when you saw him was thrown out the window when you saw the snack bar. Almost every one of your favorite desserts were displayed out on the table in bite size servings and you quickly rushed to it to get dibs on fanciest looking one.

While you and Taehyung were busy smuggling the snacks from the table, Jungkook walked over to make his presence known. Your eyes widened when you spot him staring while Taehyung was shoving as much chocolate strawberries into his hand pockets as he could and you were trying to fit as much candy as you could in your bra.

“Oh..uhh..what’s up Kook?” You awkwardly greeted him as you adjusted your dress. “I’m not even gonna ask,” he said with a traumatized look on his face.

“So uhh…how’s Rose?” Taehyung asked.

“Oh, she didn’t want to go to the dance with me,” Jungkook replied awkwardly while scratching his neck, then glancing at you.

The three of you shifted around awkwardly until Taehyung decided to cut the silence by declaring that he was going to try to talk to Irene. “Good luck!” Both you and Jungkook exclaimed.

“So…do you want me to get you something to drink?” Jungkook pointed at the barrel filled with berry juice.

“No, it’s okay. I think I’ve had enough and earlier Yoongi tried to offer me some booze that he managed to sneak in,” you said and Jungkook chuckles.

The air is once again silent except for the sounds of other students yelling and mainstream songs playing over the speakers around the gym. After a couple of moments, Jungkook suggested to ditch. “You wanna just go get some ramen and hang out?”

You were surprised at his suggestion since he wanted to ditch prom to get some ramen. But as you look around at the bland scene around you, you decided that getting some ramen with Jungkook sounded much more entertaining. You nodded your head at him and he gave you his signature bunny smile in return.

“Should I get us the chicken cup noodle or the beef?”

“Chicken,” you replied to Jungkook while contemplating between the Sour Patch Kids or the Haribo gummy bears.

He grabs both of the chicken cup noodles and asks, “Don’t you think it’s a little too late for candy?”

“Jungkook, my dear, there is no curfew for candy.” You take both of the packages and march towards the cash register, “And it’s barely 10:32, you nerd.”

Everything about Jungkook had always captivated you. As you are seated in the front of the window of a ramen store, you are left amazed at the way Jungkook basically inhales the ramen in his bowl.

“Holy shit, were you that hungry?” You questioned him. He looks up at you mid-chew and nods furiously, his mouth stuffed with ramen. Cute, you thought. Jungkook then picked up some of the ramen in his bowl. He stuck it in front of your face, some of the soup from the noodle dripping onto the table.

“What?” You raised your eyebrow at him.

“Try it. It’s good.”

Is he serious? You think as you start to lean closer to the noodles, opening your mouth. You take the noodles into your mouth. Hmm..he wasn’t lying..it is pretty good. You raise your eyebrows and give him an approving look. “See? I told you it was good,” he replied.

“So how do you think Taehyung’s doing with Irene?” Jungkook asked.

You laughed as you imagine the thought of Taehyung flirting with his crush, “Probably embarrassing himself but I’m sure he’ll be fine. Irene’s a nice girl and they share the same type of humour.”

“You know, I always thought you would end up with Taehyung,” Jungkook said while looking down at his ramen.

You tilt your head in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, you and Tae seem really close,” Jungkook said, still not looking up from his bowl.

“We’re close too, Jungkook,” You rebuked.

“Well, do you..do you like Taehyung?”

“Of course I do! Why else would I be friends with him?”

“No, you know what I mean,” He explained.

Your eyes widened and you threw your head back in a fit of laughter. “O-Oh my god. Jungkook, dude. Look, Taehyung’s great and all but no. Not my type, I guess.”

“So what is your type?”

You. “I don’t know, a guy who’s nice? Can cook?” You faked a laugh.

“Wow Y/N, that’s it? Those are some pretty low standards,” Jungkook jokes.

“Okay that’s not only it,” You retaliated. “I’d like a guy who’s tall.”

“Of course you would. That’s so cliche,” He mumbled with his mouth stuffed with noodles.

“Oh my god Jungkook I’m not done,” You say giggling, “I want him to have the same sense of humor as me which is pretty rare to find. Remember that guy that stopped talking to me after I kept mentioning that boneless pizza thing?”

Jungkook laughed remembering that unfortunate incident.

“Anyways that was a long time ago, expired meme now, but...I want a guy who’s willing to go to a place like this with me and consider it a date. Like if you can’t handle me at 1am convenience store date then you don’t deserve me at a 5 star restaurant in the fancy part of town.”

Jungkook chuckled at your statement and asked, “Then does this count as a date?”

Your eyes grew wide once again and your cheeks turned into tomatoes, “I-I-I don’t know...I mean if you want it to be.”

In return, Jungkook gives you the brightest smile and offers you his hand.

“Jungkoooook..where the hell are we even going?”

“You’ll see, it’s a surprise,” Jungkook reassures you.

“I’m slightly terrified.”

Jungkook rests his hand on your thigh as if it’s the most normal thing ever, “Relax, okay? Just trust me, you’re going to love this. This will be a real date.”

“Okay,” You sink back into your seat, too flustered from the unexpected skinship and flirting to argue any further. You look at Jungkook while he has his eyes trained on the road. Your ramen date had escalated to a late night drive in Jungkook’s car after you told Jungkook that you wanted to do something random, spontaneous.

You had no idea where he was taking you. But you felt happy, at peace, and that was the effect that Jungkook had over you. He was a light in your life and he had always been for a while. You hoped that by the end of this “date,” as he called it, things would change between the two of you, for the better. That he simply wasn’t just messing with you and that his intentions were genuine.

“We’re here.” You’re stirred awake when you see Jungkook’s brown orbs staring into yours intensely. “Oh..umm..where are we?”

“It was my favorite place when I was a child,” he said.

You became aware that Jungkook’s favorite place as a child was a beach which became intensely beautiful at night as the moon shone onto the glimmering sea and the waves crashed onto the shore continuously. Nothing could be heard except for those sounds of nature and Jungkook turning the engine of the car off. He stepped out of the car door and soon appeared by yours, opening it and asking you to come out. As Jungkook ran towards the sea, he began stripping his clothing, loosening the tie and taking off his shoes. He turned back to you and raised one of his eyebrows, a teasing look on his face. “You gonna join or what?” By now, he was shirtless and you finally had a chance to see the result of all those hours this muscle pig put in at the gym.

“Alright, I’ll join but turn around first.” Quickly, you took off your uncomfortable heels and stripped down to your underwear, leaving your expensive dress by your shoes. “I’ll deal with the sand later,” you thought.

“Are you done?” Jungkook asked, reminding you of his presence and how odd and risky this whole situation was. “No, don’t look until we’re in the water,” you ordered. “Alright then,” Jungkook chuckled, walking towards where the water met the sand and soon emerging into it until only his shoulders could be seen above the water.

When you finally reached him in the water as well, you hooked onto his shoulders, not knowing where the boldness came from, “You can turn around now.”

He swiveled around in the ocean water to finally meet you face to face. In the moonlight, Jungkook looked as ethereal as ever. Knowing that this was one of Jungkook’s secluded and sacred spots during his childhood made this moment so much more intimate.

He trusted you and shared a piece of him with you today. In that moment, it felt like Jungkook was closer to you than ever before. His eyes fervently staring into yours with a tender and soft quality in them. His arms which you now noticed were wrapped around your waist, pulling you tighter into his embrace and shielding you against the coldness. His erratic breathes, showing you that this was not only affecting y—

“Can I kiss you?” Ohmygod did Jeon Jungkook, my best friend who I’ve been in love with for almost all of high school really say that? Your lack of response prompted a look of shame and regret on Jungkook’s face until you came to your senses and nodded eagerly at his request. Instantly, his face lit up and he leaned in.

The rest of the night became a blur. You felt like you were living on cloud nine as you kissed him back passionately in the water and after a couple of minutes, you took it to the car, where the session continued. With tongue. And you grinding on his lap. Your hands tangled in his ebony locks and his groping you all over.

When Jungkook drove back you back to your home, you remember him humming to songs on the radio with his hand caressing your thigh. Except this time, you didn’t feel flustered at the contact. You thought that something had changed. That it might have.

Across from you in the small cozy cafe, Taehyung takes a sip of his carbonated drink, intently listening to your recalling of prom night. “Wait so he left? Without a note or anything?” He questioned.

“Yes, when I woke up he was gone and I-I’m starting to think that the reason, he did all of that, you know, kiss me and everything, was because I was a rebound for Rose after she rejected him.”

Last night, after Jungkook had dropped you off at home, he also came in with you since your parents were away on a business trip. It didn’t lead to anymore as the both of you were too drained from the day to initiate anything. You remember him tucking you into your bed and then you, asking him to stay by patting the other side of the bed. In the dark room you can see him avoiding your gaze, mulling over the idea of staying with you. Finally, he gave in and climbed over to the side of you. After he was settled into the bed, he tried to keep his distance from you. His attempts were futile as a couple moments after, you rolled over to his side to hug his torso like a teddy bear. He gave in again. He wrapped his arms around your waist and the two of you fell asleep like that. In the morning, he was gone.

“I don’t think Jungkook is using you as a rebound,” Taehyung said, taking another sip of his drink, “Jungkook.. He’s not like that.”

You took a sip of your latte as well, taking the fact that Taehyung had known Jungkook for quite some time as well into consideration. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn’t. He still left without a word or any kind of note.

“You need to talk to him,Y/N,” Taehyung continued, “You need to confront him because I’m sure he has his reasons...Also I still can’t believe you guys didn’t do anything more PG-13.”

“Tae!” You yelled at him. “Anyways,” you looked down, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Can we talk about something else? Anything else? Like I don’t know, how’s umm..your drink?” You asked.

“It’s alright,” he replied. You feel guilty for inviting Taehyung out to coffee since you now remembered that he has never liked coffee.

“Hey, there’s this party at Jennie’s this weekend! I think you should come. Get your mind off of things. I know you’ve been working on homework for weeks now and I think you should allow yourself to indulge,” he interrupted your wallowing. You eyed him skeptically. To most, it seemed like an innocent offer, just a friend encouraging the other to get out there more. But you knew Taehyung too well. And there was a mischievous glint in his eye. “Come on, Y/N,” he nagged. You budged, deciding that you deserve a break and that whatever shenanigans Taehyung was storming in his busy brain, you would take it head on.

“Alright I’ll go,” you said, “But I’ll head home right now to work on assignments to make up for that time.” You grabbed your canvas bag and threw on your coat. “You fuckin’ nerd,” Taehyung mocked you.

As you finally stepped out of the door and left the site, Taehyung reached for his phone from his pocket and pulled up Jungkook’s contact.

You check your phone constantly. The illuminating light tormenting you as days have passed and you’ve received no word from the boy with the dark brown hair and doe eyes. It’s not like you haven’t thought of messaging him and initiating a discussion yourself. You’ve spent hours opening and closing your chat with him, playing out scenarios in your head and weighing the good and bad in facing him.

But every time your finger hovered over the small “send” button, you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t risk it. Your heart would break if Jungkook told you to disregard that night. Or that it was a mistake.

You concentrate your energy on preparing for Jennie’s party. You decided you would look your best. It isn’t easy to be invited to these events and you were lucky your friend Taehyung was such a social butterfly to give you an opportunity like this. You throw on a velvet black dress with straps that hugged onto your body tight and a pair of long earrings that accentuated that 90s look. After your face was dolled up, you checked your phone again for any messages. No messages.

As soon as you entered the house, you were met with the sight of a drunken teenager preparing to ride down the stairs on his front. “Dude, get down from there. What the hell are you doing?” His friends scolded him. You didn’t stay to see the end result as you made your way to Taehyung who was mingling with others in the living room that had been become a hub for horny teenagers.

“Hey! Taehyung!” You forced yourself to walk through the space where teenagers were touching each other and shoving tongues down each others’ throats. You looked at them in disgust as if you and Jungkook hadn’t had the same moment a couple of days ago.

“Y/N! You came!” He shouts through the loud party music. “Jennie, this is Y/N. I invited her.” You smile and shake hands with Jennie. You both know each other from school but have never talked, only having Taehyung as a mutual friend. “Nice to meet you. I really like your dress,” she complimented. “Oh thank you!” “Hold up, I’m gonna go reprimand that lunatic sliding down my staircase but I’ll talk to you guys later,” she said looking towards the drunken teenager that you spotted when you first walked through the door. “Oh yeah I was going to say something about that..” you murmured as she left. “So..” Taehyung said awkwardly once she was gone. There was that mischievous glint in his eye again. “Tae..” you squinted at him. “IalsoinvitedJungkooktotheparty.” You gasped at him. “Becauseya’llneedtotalk,” he rushed the words. But before you could cuss him out for meddling in your affairs, the man bolted. Fucking coward.

After sauntering around the house for a while exploring rooms and catching up with classmates, you decided to go upstairs to freshen up and fix your makeup in the bathroom. Thankfully, the staircase surfing guy has been dealt with and the space is occupied by bored teenagers glued to their phones instead.

“Hi.. umm excuse me? I’m looking for the bathroom,” you asked one of the people passing by in the hallway. He pointed lazily at the right end of the hallway which narrowed it down to...four rooms. “Umm..alright,” you said, not believing that he deserves a “thank you” for his unhelpfulness. Your feet ached in your heels as you made your trek to the end of the hallway, stepping on party decor and trash thrown on the carpeting while wondering how Jennie was ever going to clean this mess.

The first room was silent. You gripped the doorknob and twisted it, disappointed to find out that it was locked. If this is the bathroom, then what if someone is using it already?, you thought. You knock on the door and moments later, the door is opened by the most handsome guy you’ve ever seen in your life. He had the most perfect face ratio and the plumples lip—

“Do you need something?”

“Umm..this isn’t the bathroom..ha..ha..” you laugh embarrassingly but before you could ask him where it actually was, the beautiful man rolled his eyes and then you were met with the slam of the door. “Geez.”

The second door was slightly open. The creak in the door allowed you to see that it was not the bathroom and that it was dimly lit inside. You were about to move onto the next room when a certain strawberry blonde head of hair caught your eye. Rose? You knew it wasn’t right but you were curious. Was Rose with somebody else? Was that why Kook was rejected?

You moved to the left of the door, peeking through that small creak to see the other side of the conversation. However, the sight shot a pain through your heart as you realized that in the tenebrous room, situated on the bed was no one other than Jeon Jungkook. You clasped a hand over your mouth as you held back the urge to gasp. He sat close to her on the king bed, listening intently to whatever she was saying you couldn’t make out. The sight confirmed your speculations. That night didn’t mean the same to Jungkook as it had meant to you. You moved onto the third room, not wanting to look at the pair any further to want to know what they were discussing.

After freshening up in the bathroom, you strode to Jennie’s kitchen where the majority of kids were opening her parents’ cupboard and taking the most expensive alcoholic drink they could find, not that Jennie would care. She could always get away with it.

Shots after shots, you downed them hoping that it would wash away that ache that grew in your chest from seeing Jungkook and Rose together. You began feeling drowsy but a little bold. In the living room, you can hear an obnoxious and familiar tune. You looked to see a scrawny, young man holding the mic. Every few intervals, he monotonously spoke “Tequila” into the mic. What was this ass doing? That is literally the worst choice for karaoke—is he- is he just fucking with everyone? Driven on by the alcohol in your system and your irritance, you marched your way over, ready to call this motherfucker out for commiting a karaoke crime, not realizing how petty you were being. However, when you were footsteps away from the gentleman, who was still oblivious to your presence and still dully singing Tequila by The Champs, a hand halted you and pulled you back. “Woah, slow down there Y/N. Why do you look like your about to murder that guy?”

You turned around to tell the voice off in irritance until you recognized him.

“Hobiiiiii.”

“Hey, Y/N. You didn’t answer my question,” he grinned at you.

“I ‘aven’t seeen ya in so long,” you hiccuped.

“Jesus, Y/N, how much did you drink?” He asked as you latched onto his arm like a koala. He smelled real nice.

“Ju-jus’ enough.”

“Y/N, what are you doing?” A third voice cut in.

“Wahh,” you turned towards the voice that you recognized so easily, “Googieee I missed you s’mush.” You run over and hugged Jungkook tightly. Drunken you had forgotten your recent interactions with the man, or rather lack of interaction.

Jungkook glared at Hoseok suspiciously as he took in your intoxicated and vulnerable state.

Hoseok raised his eyebrows and put his hands up.

“You need to get home Y/N. You are so drunk right now,” Jungkook put his attention back on you when you began to play with the hem of his shirt. “Okayyyyyy,” you whined.

You held onto Jungkook’s shoulders tightly as he carried you to the front of your house on his back. “Where are your keys?”

“It’s somewhe-where” Hiccup “Unde the doorstepp,” you managed to say.

“That’s so unsafe, Y/N,” Jungkook said worriedly. He gently lets you down from his back as he raises the cliche “Laugh Love Live” doormat to find a key the size of his thumb.

“Well Jungkookie boi, myy middle namee is.. dangerr,” you retaliated smugly.

“Drunk you is a mess ohmygod,” he said as he unlocked the door.

You sat on your parents’ grey couch as Jungkook slipped off your heels one by one. “Can you keep still?” He asks after you legs kept dangling. “Sorryyyy Kook.”

“It’s okay,” he said as he lifted you up from the couch into his arms and he carried you into your room, “I’ll find you some clothes and we’ll get you in bed.”

“Koo, you’re s’good to me.”

“Anything for my favorite girl.” Your heart skipped a beat.

After brushing your teeth, you plopped down on the soft bed while he searched for clothes in your drawer. “You still have my hoodie from the last time I stayed over,” Jungkook whispered, grabbing the black piece of clothing and strolling towards you. He placed it in your hands and turned around as you began unclothing. “Kooooook, you can turn aroun,” you said, unlike that night at the beach, “It’s not the firs’ timee you’ve seen this.”

Still, Jungkook stubbornly stayed facing his back to you. A couple moments. “Kookie ‘m done.” He turned around and you can see how he was blushing from your comments earlier. He takes in the sight of you tipsy and adorned in his favorite hoodie. Cute.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” says flicking the light switch off and walking out.

“Nooooooooo, Kook stay wit me pleaaase,” you whined, “Please don’t leave.”

“Y/N—”

“C’mon Googie,” you patted the other side of the bed, “It-It’ll help me sleep.”

Jungkook hesitated. “Alright,” he strode to the other side of the bed, mirroring the events of that night.

He sighed when you quickly rolled over and threw yourself into his body, embracing him securely in your short arms. “I really really really really like you Kookie... Kook. Kookster... Ratkook…like you a lot.” Jungkook stiffened under your touch. ‘She’s drunk. It doesn’t mean anything,’ he reminded himself.

“Don’t say stuff like that, Y/N.”

“Whyy not?”

“Shhhh...go to sleep. We’ll see if you still like me in the morning.”

You settle for this compromise and hope that this time, he does stay.

Your eyes stung as they desperately tried to get used to the sunlight spilling in from the windows. You were burning up under the blanket and you felt heated up in the baggy hoodie that you were adorned in. Your head was throbbing and you couldn’t remember why you were wearing it .. until you did. It hit you all at once. Party. Jungkook. Bedroom. Drunk. Home. And suddenly, it felt cold. So cold on the other side of the bed when you realized that Jungkook wasn’t there. Not like he promised.

Clang! You heard a loud drop from outside the bedroom. Is there someone else in your home? You decided to act quick. You grabbed the closest weapon you could find near your queen bed: a fan, and hoped for the best as you tip-toed towards the door. As you approached the living room and were slowly coming into view with the kitchen, you heard sizzling noises. Is someone cooking? You soon found out that that someone was no one other Jeon Jungkook. Wearing your Hello Kitty apron. Caught like a deer in the headlights making .. pancakes?

“Oh hey..” he said while grasping the pan in his left hand, eyes wide.

“Jeon.. are you making pancakes?”

“I wanted to surprise you in bed.”

“That is .. very sweet,” you replied. And very domestic.

At the thought of that, it became too much. Jungkook’s messy hair in the morning was something that you’d never you’d find so cute on your best friend. Thinking about how domestic this situation was and how likely that it was just a short term thing made your headache worse and you needed to sit down. “I’m going to my room,” you stated abruptly, “And then we can talk over pancakes.”

“Ummm.. okay,” Jungkook obeyed. And you dragged your feet into your room.

Outside in the kitchen, Jungkook gulped as he recalled your demeanor and words. What did you mean about that talk? He placed the pancake gently on your plate and poured more batter into the pan to make more. Is the talk about our relationship? He thought. He let his thoughts wander and he slowly became paranoid.

Did she find out about the talk I had with Rose?

Does she know how I feel about her?

Shit. Jungkook was so afraid to have that talk with you. In an attempt to calm his nerves, he focused on making the perfect pancakes for you. He placed strawberry slices in a perfect circle around the pancake and a square of melted butter in the center, for the aesthetics. If he couldn’t win your heart over, he could at least impress you with his culinary skills.

After quickly shutting the door, you finally exhaled when you were alone in the room. You also realized that maybe you were blowing it out of proportion. Your feelings about Jungkook should not have been bothering you this much. You let it affect your relationship and it was the last thing that you wanted to do. Jungkook’s friendship meant so much more to you than some recent crush you’ve been harboring on him.

You flicked on the bathroom lights and grabbed your toothbrush. You were going to freshen up before you were going out there to have that talk. You didn’t know exactly what you were going to say to him. Maybe you would tell him about your feelings and hope that it doesn’t drive him away. Maybe you dismiss what you said and nonchalantly go outside to devour some breakfast. No, you needed to get out whatever you needed to get out now. You were going to tell him how you feel and try to salvage the friendship as best as you can.

After brushing your teeth and getting rid of your morning breath as quickly as you could, you walked out of that door and slowly creeped out onto the hallway for the second time that morning. You found Jungkook finishing up on the pancakes. Still adorned in that ridiculous Hello Kitty apron, he was sprinkling powdered sugar on the pancakes and humming to Bad Guy by Billie Eilish. Sheeesh, why does he have to be so cute.

“Hey.. Jeon,” You called him sheepishly.

He looked up from what he was doing, “Oh Y/N, I finished the pancakes, do you wanna sit down?”

You nodded and he was quickly pulling out the chair at the dinner table to seat you. Not only is he cute but he’s sweet, you were so screwed.

It’s not like Kook wasn’t sweet before. He’s always been sweet. From the day you met him until now. Even after making through the torture of high school, the man you met in the beginning still remains the same. You remembered that time you had lost the cap to your water bottle and he chugged his entire water bottle on the spot so that you could have his cap. It was a small gesture but it was still selfless and it showed you what type of friend Jungkook as. You remembered when Jungkook would stay a bit later after school events to help clean up the trash that his classmates left. He was always such a polite and sweet boy. You couldn’t believe that it took you this long and a fake relationship to really see and appreciate these qualities he possessed.

“Y/N? Hello? Earth to Y/N?” Jungkook called and you snapped out of your daze, “You haven’t touched your pancakes yet? Is everything alright?”

“Huh? Oh no, everything’s fine,” You covered your tracks. You stabbed your fork at the edge of the pancake and began eating. The pancakes were fluffy and tasted perfectly sweet with the powdered sugar. It was a nice touch.

“So.. are they good?” Jungkook asked while raising his eyebrows jokingly, trying to ease up the tension between you two.

“Really good, Jeon. I didn’t know you could cook like this,” You said and resumed gobbling up your breakfast.

There was a pregnant silence before you finally spoke.

“Can we talk about last night?”

“Uhh sure.. What do you remember from last night?”

“Not that much. I was really drunk. I just remember getting drunk and calling out some idiot with a terrible choice for karaoke,” you lied.

“Oh so you don’t remember me bringing you home?”

“Nope, could you remind me again?” You lied again hoping you could take the cowardly route. If Jungkook doesn’t mention what you said to him last night then that meant it didn’t hold any significance to him. It would be a clean slate for you.

“Oh.. umm.. You ran into Hoseok at the party while you were really drunk and then I came to get you. And uhh.. I took you back to your apartment. You were, shitfaced, by the way. Like super drunk. You were drooling on my shoulder, slurring your words. You couldn’t even find your own roo—”

“Okay, I get it, Jeon,” you stopped him.

“Yeah.. so anyways, I just took you to your bed and tucked you in.”

“That’s it?

“You also asked me to stay and sleep there beside you,” he continued.

You nodded while eyeing him, a tiny part of you wanting him to say the next part.

“Youalsotoldmethatyoulikedme,” he rushed out the words.

“Huh?” You acted oblivious.

“Uhh.. You uhh t-told me that you like me .. a lot,” he blushed red as a tomato as he talked, “But I mean.. You were drunk right? So it couldn’t mean anything, right? I mean you probably didn’t even recognize m—”

“I meant it,” you managed to utter out those three words despite your nervous heartbeat telling you otherwise. After processing your words, you didn’t believe Jungkook could turn redder.

“Wh-what?”

You took a deep breath in.

“Look, drunken words are just sober thoughts right? I .. didn’t mean to catch feelings. I know this isn’t what you wanted when I agreed to fake that relationship with you and I know you and Rose are probably a thing now. I guess it’s good that our plan worked like you wanted. Or not really.. Not for me really,” you rambled, “I saw you guys at the party so I’m really happy for you and Rose but I think I’m going to have to take a brea—”

“Hold on, hold on, what? You said that me and Rose were a thing?”

You nodded your head slowly at him as if this was obvious.

“Where did you get that crazy idea?” He asked incredulously.

“I.. uhh saw you at the party,” you answered hesitantly.

Jungkook’s brows furrowed as he desperately tried to remember what moment you were referring to.

“Did you mean when I was talking to her privately?” He emphasized privately and it hurt more than it should have. “Yes, I didn’t mean to see. I was just looking for the bathroom and I stumbled into that same room that you guys were talking.”

You and Jungkook sat in silence as Jungkook was trying to find the right words.

“Rose confessed to me,” he said bluntly.

“Wow.. That’s good for you Kook. But seriously, I get it. I don’t really need to know what comes after that. I told you how I felt—”

“But I didn’t get to tell you how I feel.”

You narrowed your eyes in confusion, “What do you mean by that?”

“I rejected Rose,” he took a deep breath, “Y/N.. I like you a lot.”

This time you were even more shocked.

“You better not be playing around with me.. That would not be a cool best friend prank and I don’t care if this is revenge for those times I airdropped embarrassing videos of you to Taehyung.”

“No, Y/N I’m serious. I’m not fucking around I swear. I’ve liked you forever.”

“Well, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m a coward. C’mon you know me, Y/N.”

“And what was all that fake dating because you ‘liked’ Rose?”

“I felt.. it was time I initiated something. I just..was too afraid to tell you about my actual feelings so I thought maybe I could..uhh.. ease into it and maybe convince you to fall for me in the meantime?”

You snorted, “Well it worked, you clown.”

“Yeah no shit Sherlock, you got it bad for me.”

“Do not get cocky on me. I will walk out that door,” you threatened.

“Yes ma'am,” he tried to hold back his laughter, “So uhh .. what do we do now?”

“Guess we’re dating now..” you smiled as you tried to resume to your breakfast nonchalantly before, “Do you wanna make out after we finish our breakfast? Because I’ve got all these repressed feelings dying to get out.”

You’ve never seen Jeon gobble down his food faster.

526 notes · View notes

cordonian-literature · 4 years

Text

The Aftermath - Ch. 1

The Met

Summary: Riley and her husband take a visit to a museum while their kids have lessons

Word Count: ~2.0k

Warning: Mention of character death

*All characters belong to Pixelberry, except those that are unique to my story (I’ve also used some characters and fictional instances from Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch”*

Catch up here!

After giving Eleanor, Gabriel, and Theodore breakfast, Riley made her way to the kitchen of their New York penthouse and began making turkey sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies, for what she hoped could be for a picnic in Central Park in the late afternoon after the kids’ practices.

The sound of the mixer didn’t allow Riley to hear her husband walk into the kitchen. She feels his stiff arms around her waist and chuckles.

Kissing the back of her head, Theodore asks, “Making a treat for me?”

Riley laughs, removing herself from his grasp to preheat the oven on the other side of the kitchen. “For the kids.”

Theodore looks into the bowl. “Isn’t it a little early to be making dessert?”

“Actually,” Riley goes back and stops the mixer. “I thought we could go on a little picnic?” She looks at her husband thoughtfully. Bringing her attention back towards the cookies, she continues, “After Gabe’s soccer practice and Ella’s dance class, of course.”

“Of course,” he repeats. He watches her put the cookie dough in the fridge. “We should ask the kids.”

Riley turns, holding a piece of bread in her hands. “Do you think they might not want to go?”

“Nah, I’m sure they do.” He walks up to her and collects her in his arms. “But I had other plans for us today.”

A shy smile spreads across Riley’s face. “Which is?”

“A visit to the Met. They’ve a new exhibit.”

“With the kids?” she removes herself from his embrace with her free hand and goes back to making sandwiches.

“We can ask them to come with.”

“And if they don’t want to?”

Theodore laughs. Letting go of Riley, he goes into the fridge to grab an apple. “Gabe’s old enough to watch over Ella for a couple hours. We’ll bring them back dinner.”

Gabriel had just turned ten, and Eleanor was still many weeks away from turning eight. Even though her husband argued that they were old enough to be somewhat self sufficient, Riley still felt nervous leaving them alone.

Noticing the concern on her face, he suggests, “We could also just go during their practice times if that’ll make you feel better, babe.”

“Thanks, Theo,” she smiles, eyeing the apple. “I just... get worried sometimes. Especially for Gabe.”

Theo gives an understanding nod and takes a bite into his apple, but not before Riley notices the irritation on his face. After ten years, she no longer let it bother her, unless Theo’s annoyance of her and Liam’s son got excessive. She understood that it was difficult for Theo to raise a child that wasn’t his, especially when his wife made it very clear that she was still in love with the father of that child.

Even though Theo agreed to parent Gabriel with Riley, he was glad that they had their own daughter, Eleanor, so he could at least be a father to her in the ways that he wasn’t with Gabe.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that, right?” Riley turns to fully face him, wanting to keep her husband in a good mood, she tries to explain herself. “It’s just that I don’t want them to do anything foolish or—.”

“Riley. Babe,” Theodore looks at his wife, in her old, dark tank top and a worn pair of jeans. “I know. I worry about them, too. I wanna keep them safe, too.”

Riley smiles and gives her husband a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispers. Turning back to the counter, she finishes making the sandwiches as Theo stands behind her, eating his apple. “I’ll leave these for lunch then, if we’re not going on the picnic. We can get Chinese for dinner, and maybe the cookies could be a snack for later today?” She looks at Theo, and he nods in silent agreement.

-------

Ella and I raced down towards the elevator, Mom and Dad trailing far behind us. We hold the “close doors” button and leave them on our floor as the elevator falls towards the lobby.

We tumble out, giggling, but Ella freezes and cries, “I forgot my water!” She starts throwing things out of her bag and onto the lobby floor. When Mom and Dad finally come out of the elevator, Mom starts laughing.

“Forgot this?” she holds out Ella’s bottle to her and helps her put everything back in her bag.

The four of us walk together towards the waiting limo. Once we’re inside, Mom and Dad turn to us.

“While you guys are at practice,” Dad begins, “Your mother and I will be seeing a new exhibit at the Met.”

“Ou, take pictures for me, please!” Ella requests.

“We’ll pick you up on time, promise,” Mom reassures, caressing my cheek. “You both have your phones on you, yes?”

Ella and I pat our pockets, signaling where we put our devices.

We reach the indoor soccer courts first. Mom gives me a quick kiss on my forehead and Dad gives me a pat on the back as I fumble out the door with my large bag. I wish Ella good luck during dance practice and head inside.

I played until I could barely breath. I skipped some of the water breaks, my body wanting to keep moving, so when everyone was hydrating themselves, I continued to dribble and chase after the ball. During the third water break, coach yells at me to “Sit the hell down!” so I relent and down my water in one breath. My parents are planning a trip to Italy next week, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to lose that much practice time; I was motivated to work ahead.

After practice, I wait in the lobby with some of my friends. We talk, but we’re not fully engrossed in the conversation: everyone either has their eyes glued to the doors or to their phones, waiting for their parents to give the signal that it was time to go home.

I turn on the ringer of my phone and sit back on the bench, waiting for my parents. Dad was usually the punctual one, but since they’d gone to visit a new exhibit, I guessed he wanted to spend a little more time there; Mom and Dad weren’t always free to be able to do things together.

I take a nap while I wait, but when I wake up, I realize that I’ve been waiting for almost half an hour. Ella’s session would end in a couple minutes, so I shoot her a text hoping that she would see it as soon as she got out.

Hey.

hi. r u guys on ur way?

No. Mom and Dad haven’t picked me up yet.

rlly? whats taking them so long?????

I’m going to check their location

She leaves me on read.

It says “loading” but then says unavailable. The Met has wifi right?

weird

Can you check, please?

yessir

After a few moments, she texts me back.

it says the same for me :(( im worried

Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s a reason

I sit in the lobby, trying to calm down Eleanor through text and wave goodbye to all my friends as their parents pick them up. After another half hour, the next set of lessons start for the older kids. The receptionist steals glances at me before finally saying, “Hey Gabriel, is your mom coming to pick you up today?”

“Um,” I look down at the phone in my hand, contemplating whether I should call one of my parents. “I’m not sure.”

“What about your dad?” she asks.

“No, they should be in the same place. They usually pick me up by now.”

“We have your grandmother as an emergency number. Want me to call her up and make sure everything’s alright?” she suggests. I want to say no, that there’s no reason to worry, but the sense of dread in my chest threatens to yield tears.

“Sure,” I allow.

My mother’s mother lives in Northern New Jersey and visits often, since it’s not too long of a train ride — she’d drive, but parking was difficult, and our reserved underground parking spots in the building was already filled with Dad’s cars. The receptionist introduces herself, then waves me over to talk on the phone.

“Hell-o!” Grandma greets. “How was practice? Everything okay?”

“Good. Yeah everything’s fine,” I say. “Practice ended almost an hour ago, but I’m still here. And Ella says that Mom and Dad haven’t picked her up, either.”

“Uh oh,” she says, and I can hear her face fall. “Do you want me to come pick you up? You both can stay with me tonight. Then we will call Mama and tell her you guys are alright. How does that sound?”

I give a sigh of relief. “Yes, please. I’ll tell Ella.”

“Okay, baby. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

I fill in my sister, but she doesn’t reply to my texts.

Twenty minutes later, I throw my bag into the trunk of Grandma’s Buick and slide into the back seat next to Ella. She stares at her lap, and I know she’s feeling the same amount of worry and confusion that I am.

When we reach Grandma’s small town, she asks us if we want dinner. When both of us say we’re not hungry, she still grabs us McDonald’s.

Mom and Dad don’t answer our calls. We even call Dad’s assistant, but she also says that she hasn’t heard from him.

We eat dinner quietly, with Grandma giving us encouraging kisses and pep talks while we talk about our practices. Afterwards, we go into the living room to quietly watch some Netflix while Grandma makes some apple pie. The smell of it baking in the oven makes me nostalgic for something unknown, and it reminds me of the cookies that Mom was making earlier today. I hear Ella sniffle, and turn to see her silently crying.

After desert, Grandma gives us some of Mom’s old baggy clothes to sleep in. Ella gets to sleep in Mom’s old room while I sleep in the guest room. My eyes burn from the amount of tears I held back today, and its almost painful to close them.

...

I wake to the smell of pancakes and a familiar rumble in the pit of my stomach. I brush my teeth, but don’t bother to fix my hair. Ella eats quietly on the island in the kitchen. I slide onto the seat next to her and watch Grandma start making another pancake.

“Good morning!” she says to me. “Could one of you please turn on the news in the living room?”

I allow Ella to keep eating and walk towards the little doorway that separates the living room from the kitchen. Turning on the news, I increase the volume. The image of police cars, ambulances, and firetrucks from a helicopter view flash on the screen while a female reporter narrates the incident.

“On the evening of May seventeenth, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was bombed by an unidentified group. Investigations are underway and the city has been closed off, including trains and bus routes into and out of the city, along with roads and bridges.

“Many dead bodies have been found, and many others are severely injured. CEO of Blaise Enterprises, Mister Theodore Blaise, has been found dead. The whereabouts of his wife, Riley Brooks, are unknown. Senator Nicolae Adebayo sustained serious injuries, as did many other persons.”

Ella’s screams drown out the sound of my heart thundering in my ears. Grandma rushes towards her and collects her off of the floor and into her arms. I stare at them, the reporters’ voices and the smell of the pancake burning melt into the background as I take a shaky breath and allow my tears to fall.

#the royal romance #cordonia #liam x mc #drakewalker #hanalee #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis #choices trr #trr riley #riley brooks #liam rys #chocies fanfic #trr fanfic #trr fandom

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herohotline · 5 years

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Steps to Being a Hero (Shinsou x You)

A/N: this was originally a song fic but the song borderline didnt make sense with the story so i just got rid of the lyrics completely.

Prompt: You’re in the business class and inspired by Shinsou’s performance at the Sport’s Festival, you decide to lend him a hand in his path to heroism.

Shinso Hitoshi. He made quite the scene at the Sports Festival- if people didn’t know about him before, they certainly did now, even if he did lose during the first branch. His little speech and quirk caught many eyes, including your own. You felt a little bad when he lost- but oh well, right? You didn’t know the guy, and the person who beat him, Midoriya, ended up losing to someone else anyway. You weren’t involved with any of them since you were in the Business class- but you played close attention constantly. Besides, who would take a sale from someone who didn’t know what they were talking about?

Shinso… you felt like he might have more potential than he’s being given. You’d have to keep your eye on him. There’s only up from here for these heroes in training- and that includes him.

Curiosity guiding you, you seek Shinso out during lunch. He’s sitting with a group of who’d you assume were friends if he was talking or initiating with them- but instead, he seemed to just blend in with the scene as he quietly ate. Maybe bothering him won’t be too much of a hassle...

“You’re Shinso Hitoshi, correct?” You tap him on the shoulder, effectively getting his attention and the attention of his peers. He looks up at you as if he’s annoyed- but still curious with his eyes widening just a bit.

“Correct,” his voice is smooth and deep, surprisingly deep for a high schooler, “Who are you?”

“___ ____, I’m in the business course,” you hold your hand out for him to shake and you take note that his hold is firm. Good, you think, nothing worse than a weak handshake - especially for a future hero. “I have an assignment where we all have to interview a future hero of our choice and make future references for them- such as what agencies they’d excel in, what programs they would show up in- that’s the gist. I was wondering if I could interview you?” You gesture to the notepad and pen in your hands. “It shouldn’t take long.”

His brows pinch together in confusion, a frown twisting on his face as he gives you a bizarre look. “Shouldn’t you interview the Hero Course students if you’re looking for future heroes?”

“We’re all in U.A, aren’t we?” You throw back at him. “And you said it yourself. You said you’d get into the Hero Course and get certified, become a better hero than any of them.” You straighten your posture as you look down at him. Also, I want to stand out by interviewing someone that no one else has, but that’s not important. “I believe you, so I thought I’d get a head start on your career. So will you let me interview you or not?”

Shinso stares up at you in wide eyes, his friends ooo’ing and giggling in the background. His lips purse as he nods, slowly standing and waiting for you to lead him somewhere else.

You take the hint and take him to the library. From there, you discuss agencies, news networks, and net worth. What locations are full of villain activity, and what insurance companies he should look into for his benefit and where they accepted said insurance companies. You accidentally lied about how long it would take- since he never really thought about the business side of being a hero, you had a lot to lay out and carve for him as you put together your essay.

In the end, you got the dead-eyed purple mess to laugh at least twice. Maybe, you think, you gained a friend and work partner. But… only time will tell. All you know is that it’s a damn shame leaving his side once the class bell rings.

---

Like many nights, you cram your studies as best you can and end up restless in bed afterward. It’s late- arguably too late to try and get sleep before class starts. So, you reason as you roll out of bed and put on some decent clothes, you might as well take a midnight stroll. The late-night/early morning air was always refreshing anyway and helped clear your mind.

Maybe once you take your walk, you’d make some coffee. Your dorm had an espresso machine in the kitchen and you could make a pretty good latte with it- or even just some steamed milk if you needed something simple and warm.

Once you fix your bedhead a little and get outside, you put in your earbuds and begin to walk. You don’t even notice how far you’ve gone until you reach the entrance to U.A- where a familiar purple haired boy is coming from.

You take out an earbud and call out to him. Once you have his attention, he turns to you and you notice plastic bags in his hands. You walk toward each other quietly and meet halfway with equally surprised faces.

“Where are you shopping at this hour?” You point toward his bags.

“Convenience store… it’s nearby,” Shinso shrugs, and now it’s his turn to make a remark. “I didn’t think I’d see anyone else up this late.”

“I’m in the business course,” you reason. Without asking, you reach for one of his bags and peek inside. You’re surprised that he doesn’t even stop you. “Canned coffee?”

“And other snacks,” he gestures to the bag left in his hand. You keep the one that you have as you start to walk backwards-- towards the dorms. Shinso follows, looking at you with tired eyes.

“Ditch this stuff,” you say. “It’s not that good. I bet the coffee I make tastes way better and has a stronger kick.”

“You can make coffee?”

“Yeah, we have an espresso machine in the kitchens. Do you?”

“No.”

You roll your eyes. “Must be a business class thing. We’re teenagers but they’re still trying to get us addicted to coffee like the rest of them.” You almost trip on a crack in the curb, making the tired boy snort in amusement as you fluster and decide to start walking normally by his side. “I can make you some. It’s a few buildings down from yours, I think, but if you don’t mind then it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

He shakes his head. He doesn’t mind, then. The rest of the walk back is filled with small talk- nothing like your first time together. It’s more witty and familiar, probably because you’re just talking as peers rather than planning the future of taxes and checks.

When you reach your dorm building, you slowly open the doors a crack for both you and Shinso to slip through before closing it just as slowly so you don’t alert anyone. Then you lead him to the kitchens, going right toward the espresso machine and Shinso placing his plastic bags on the counter.

“So,” you start up the machine, grabbing the different tools you might need and milk out of the fridge. “What would you like? Latte? Espresso? Americano?”

“Whatever you’re having,” Shinso takes a seat on the counter as well and you chuckle.

“Smart choice. Alright, what snacks do you got?”

“Mm,” he hums as he rifles through the bag and places the contents down beside him. “A few different candies, some pocky… and gum.”

“You have a sweet tooth?” You eye him as you make your drinks with the machine. He gives you a small smile.

“Maybe.”

Eventually, you’re talking as if you’re old friends while you make the coffee. You convince him to try and throw candy in your mouth- eventually, he stops wasting them since they all end up on the floor.

Drinks finally ready, you both sit at the couches in the common area as you sip on them. And as you knew it would, quirks come up.

“You really weren’t put off by my quirk when you saw it at the festival?”

You shake your head with a smile. “Not at all. I mean- you’re here taking classes learning how to be a hero or at least how to support them. If you really were weak or a villainous type, you wouldn’t be here, right?” You relax in your seat and sigh. “You being here is enough reason to believe in your abilities.”

“You talk about U.A pretty highly,” Shinso notes. “What about you?”

“Honestly?” You give him a look, smirking sarcastically. “I don’t even want to be here.”

He seems surprised at that. “Really?”

“Yeah. I’m just here because my parents pushed me so hard. All I really want is to just… I don’t even know. But I don’t want to be a hero, so I might as well learn all about business so I can do something else once I graduate. I don’t have the quirk to be a hero, anyway.”

“Do you not have a physical quirk?”

You hum and sip your drink. “Basically. My quirk is that I can tell if people are lying or not. It’s not as much of a quirk as it is just really good intuition, you know? It’s not something I activate. It’s just… something I know.” You look towards Shinso with a smile. “It’s why I like you. You aren’t really the lying type, are you?”

“It’s exhausting to lie.” He says honestly and you nod in agreement. “And I don’t need the reputation of a liar so people think I’m a villain more than they already do.”

Suddenly, several beeps startled the both of you. It’s coming from your phone and you quickly silence it as you look at the alarm you set. “Well, it’s officially time to start getting ready for class. Joy.” You groan and roll your stiff shoulders, standing up with Shinso following. “Sorry if I kept you up later than you wanted…”

“Not at all,” he places his cup down on the coffee table and you know he’s not fibbing. “I was going to stay up anyway. I’ll head back to my dorm now, but I’ll see you later, yeah?”

You grin broadly as you lead him toward the doors. “Yeah!”

You both wave as he heads off to his dorm, and you watch as he leaves until eventually he fades from view. Yeah… maybe you’ll pay him another visit during lunch.

But for now, you’ve got coffee cups to clean. There’s no time to rest.

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stellar-imagines · 5 years

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HEADCANONS REQUEST: ❝little sis, little crush.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kirishima Eijirou, Shinsou Hitoshi ]

「Headcanons for with Bakugou, Todoroki, Kirishima and Shisnou visiting S/O’s house for the very first time and meeting their 5 y/o little sister who immediately gets a crush on them.」

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

♤ It's hard to convince him to even come to your house to begin with. But your persistence made him give in. Ever since the dorm system was established, there was almost no reason to invite Bakugou to your house. Before that, there were tons of reasons to bring him over, good and reasonable too. Things like needing to do homework, study groups and group assignments together. But now, everything could be done easily because you all share the same abode.

♤ So when he finally agrees, it'd be for a few reasons. One, he's sick of you whining, begging and clinging onto him like a child who desperately wants a toy. Two, you made an offer that he couldn't refuse. But if there's an occasion where your parents invites him over for dinner, he wouldn't refuse because he has to appeal and get on their good side. No, he's just soft for you and he'd rather die than admit that.

♤ The moment he arrives at your house, he greets your parents who were about to leave the house. They told you to look after your younger sister who was sitting in the living room. She was scribbling on a piece of paper with crayons, drawing something that you couldn't see. You didn't anticipate your parents to leave you in charge of baby sitting your little sister. You had no problems with doing so because it's been a while since you played with her.

♤ Bakugou was roped into this against his will and now you both sat in the living, your sister was quiet and continued drawing on the piece of paper she was given. You were sitting next to her, brushing her hair while she showed off her drawing to you and Bakugou. Your boyfriend wasn't that good with children and often scared them away. But your younger sister didn't seem afraid of him at all, much to his relief.

♤ But she reacted differently from what he had expected. Your little sister acted a bit shy instead of afraid. From time to time she would glance at Bakugou with bright red cheeks.

♤ When you headed to the kitchen to make some food for the three of you, he was stuck with the girl who looked around for you like a lost child. She made eye contact with him and flinched before running off to the kitchen. Did he do something? Did he look scary in her eyes? He didn't even do anything! On the other hand, you found it cute how bashful your younger sister was acting towards your boyfriend, it was easy to tell that she has a crush on him.

♤ Once it was time for you and Bakugou to head back to the dorms, he can't help but ask if he had scared your sister or something. At first you tease him for caring about how your family thinks about him and he denies everything you say with a bright blush on his face. But it's nice to see that he's genuinely trying to get along with your family members. Bakugou remains confused until you tell him that your younger sister has a little crush on him. He scoffs, muttering about how he's only interested in you.

TODOROKI SHOUTO

☆ Todoroki is an extremely awkward person. But that aside, he's the youngest in his family and rarely interacts with children. He's never been in a relationship before and he tries hard to ensure that he doesn't mess up anything. He asks for advice from his friends and takes it quite seriously. His feelings for you is strong and he wants you to understand that.

☆ The first time you invited him to your house, he was a bit nervous. You invited him over to just relax together, watch some TV and do other things. Well, you just wanted to spend quality time with him. The dorms had been your usual place to relax but you were missing home so you decided to drag your boyfriend along.

☆ It was during the weekend when you decided to visit your home, bringing a few belongings with you. When you arrived your house, your parents had left to buy some groceries for dinner and insisted Todoroki to at least stay till dinner. He couldn't refuse such an offer when your parents were so enthusiastic about having him over. Before they left, they told you that your little sister was inside and that you're in charge of making lunch and looking after her.

☆ He has heard about you having a younger sibling who was no older than 5 years old. When he meets your younger sister, he was a bit surprised to see how quiet she was. She greeted you with a hug, saying how she missed you a lot. When you introduced your boyfriend to her, she looked up at him with these wide eyes, looking at him like he was a tall skyscraper.

☆ The entire time he was in your house, your younger sister wasn't opening up to him. She's acting a bit shy around him, talking in a small voice and peeking at him. You found this kind of amusing. Your sister was quite the lively one, always doing something whenever she's free. She watches TV, draws and sometimes leave the living room a mess. But today, she's being a bit docile.

☆ You even left her alone with your boyfriend at one point and told Todoroki to talk with your sister while you run off to watch from a distance.

☆ It was cute to see Todoroki being fawned over by your younger sister—when he was not looking—who seemed to like him right off the bat. Well, Todoroki was a handsome guy and it's no surprise that a lot of girls are interested in him. But he's pretty clueless to others' feelings unless they're forward with it. He tries to talk with your sister but she would run away to her room.

☆ He thinks that your sister hates him or something and he seemed a bit serious when he said that he wanted to get along with her. But you assure him that it's not the case and you decide not to tell him that she has a crush on him.

KIRISHIMA EIJIROU

♡ Unlike the previous two, Kirishima is excited to go to your house. it's an undeniable fact that he's nervous but he's always looking forward to spending time with you. Originally, it was because you were both a bit sick of studying at the same place and you suggested changing places for a change of pace. He has never been to a girl's house before and this was his first time. What should he do if your parents were there?

♡ When he arrives at your house, it was your little sister who answered it for you two. You picked her up, saying how you had missed her and that she had grown so much. She let out a few giggles before training her attention on Kirishima. He has heard stories of your younger sister from you and is a bit eager on meeting her. Your sister shyly glanced at Kirishima who beamed at her. Much to his surprise, she gazed at him timidly, clutching onto your hand which earned your attention. You shook it off, assuming that she was probably shy with strangers. Of course, you assured your boyfriend that it wasn't that she was afraid of him or anything.

♡ It bothered Kirishima a little that your sister seemed to keep her distance from him. The two of you were seated at the couch, eating some snacks while playing a game. And midway your little sister peeked her head in, her eyes trained on your boyfriend. You stopped to look at her, wondering why she was hiding. On the other hand, your boyfriend seemed a bit oblivious, more focused on the game you were both playing. You waved her over, telling her to come sit between you and Kirishima to join in on the fun.

♡ When you had left to replenish your bowl of snacks, Kirishima was left alone with your sister. There he tried starting a conversation with her. Your sister was usually lively but she was acting bashful around Kirishima and you began to suspect something.

♡ Kirishima wants to be in good terms with your family members, he doesn't want to separate because one of your family members disapproves. He makes an effort and tries not to trouble you with this. He blatantly asked your sister if she hated him or not.

♡ He was surprised when she yelled that she didn't hate him at all. But at the same time, he's a bit confused to why her actions are contradicting.

♡ Poor boy is just confused when your sister just runs off, red face and probably feeling so embarrassed. You found yourself smiling after watching the entire interaction and approached your boyfriend. He was wondering out loud if your sister is uncomfortable with him. You only laughed, stating that it was almost impossible to hate someone like him.

SHINSOU HITOSHI

♧ Shinsou acts neutral when you invite him over to your house. He acts like he's pretty cool with it but inside, he's already visualizing numerous scenarios that might happen when he visits your house. You talk about your family from time to time and from that he was able to figure out what kind of people your family members were. Even if he was nervous, he doesn't actually show it.

♧ He wasn't that good with people since he has been avoided for having a villainous quirk. He's lucky to find someone who accepts him for who he was. Sure he's able to spark a conversation with anyone and he's quite clever in making others into replying his words. Its a natural ability that he had and thanks to this, he's able to start conversations with almost anyone. The fact that it was his first time made him even more nervous than he was supposed to be.

♧ Upon arriving your house, your mother opened the door when you rung the doorbell. She was a friendly looking person that Shinsou was sure that he could get along with. Originally, you wanted to meet up somewhere else to discuss your homework. And afterward, you planned on watching TV and cuddle on the couch until you decide to go back to the dorms. But since the two of you moved to the dorms, you're barely at home and your parents insisted you two to stay for dinner.

♧ And so, your parents left to buy groceries, leaving the two of you in the living room to do your own work. The two of you were working on the homework, seated on the ground with your books and notes sprawled out on the coffee table. It was when you both decided to relax on the couch that your sister woke up from her nap. She was carrying her favorite stuffed cat, rubbing her eyes as she called for you.

♧ You held her hand as you brought her over to the couch. The young girl hid behind you as you slowly approached your boyfriend who was seated on the sofa. She had sheepishly asked you who he was while hiding behind your leg.

♧ It didn't take forever for Shinsou to figure out that your younger sister was acting a bit bashful around him. She was playing with her cat doll, glancing at him from time to time. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable but he didn't say anything about it. And when he catches her gaze, she would look away. Just like a lovesick girl who was caught staring at her crush.

♧ By the time you both decided to go back to the dorms, Shinsou was asking a few questions about your sister while you laugh about how cute it was to see your sister acting like that. "She must've liked you." was what you said.

Total: 2020 words Published: 14.11.2019

Thank you for requesting! *｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و*｡ So, uh, I was half asleep when writing the request and realized that Shinsou wasn’t even requested??? So think of it as some sort of bonus ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ I’m STRUGGLING with my assignments! Anyone out there studying Landscape Design? uwu ― author Hibiki/Lou

Thank you for requesting! It was our mistake for adding Shinsou. It was as if Lou was drunk while doing this request because there were tons of typos and the sudden appearance of Shinsou’s name shocked me. Poor girl is struggling with Landscape whatever..... ― author Natsuki

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

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thistangledbrain · 3 years

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I think I’m going to add Day 28 a day early, because I just finished it. This one took me 3 days to write...I had to keep putting it down. I think because meltdowns are our strongest reminders that we are NOT like other people, and that can be hard to accept sometimes, especially when we’re trying so hard to blend in or go along. Also, meltdowns are when we are in a raw, illogical space - which is highly unsavory, to put it mildly. We are vulnerable. Naked. Stuck. Entirely in fight or flight mode - or both. For as baffling and upsetting as you find it to be - trust me, we aren’t having a good time, either.

*takes a deep breath*

Ok, here goes.

Day 28

“Dealing with meltdowns”

Well, this one’s fun. (sarcasm)

I’m glad I got a few days ahead, because this one is hard to think about, so I keep putting it down and then coming back to it. I asked my youngest some questions, but he didn’t want to talk about it, either.

We hate meltdowns. It feels like the whole world is ending/everything is crashing down at once. I don’t CARE if what triggered it was “small” - all the repressed stuff we’ve been trying to squash comes crashing in like the fuckin Kool-Aid Man through a half open door.

But, I’ll start with how you can help.

First and foremost: DO NOT TOUCH!!! NO! BAD NEUROTYPICAL!! NO TOUCH!! (One exception: if we’re trying to blindly bolt from our environment. STOP US.)

I know this is completely counterintuitive to typical human nature, especially with young children. You want to scoop them up and cuddle them and make them feel safe. Sorry, but you just did the opposite of that - you freaked us out even more, and your need to touch and comfort is entirely yours, in that moment. Let us come to you if we want physical comfort - when we do need that, we can be like clingy little monkeys (and if an Autie child clings to you during a meltdown, you *honor* that shit & throw all the loving calm energy you can out there for them - do not say anything or try and talk them out of it - just let them cling to you and cry. Literally - JUST be there). I will say, AFTER the meltdown, we will possibly need some reassurance and kindness, if you can manage it. We will sometimes allow holding when we don’t feel good, with our absolute closest humans, but generally we really want you to just be there but not touch, until we’re ready. Lots of us don’t really want you to leave altogether, at least not for long - even if it seems like we do.

If you want to help, start with keeping your energy (your “vibe”) as calm, gentle, and peaceful as possible. Try not to get frantic or frustrated. If we’re at home or in a familiar space, do things that make our space feel better - drop the blinds/make it dark, place our weighted blanket over us/find our stuffy if we have one, light a candle or burn sage/waft a favorite calming scent, like lavender. If you say anything, use a soft, gentle voice - try not to talk too much...but if you sing, that can be very soothing. Sing very softly - I don’t know why, but soft singing and rocking (if you can stay on key...sorry but it’s grating when the tune is off!) can go a long way towards calming. Things like this can head a total meltdown off or stop it in its tracks, sometimes. Or get us out into an environment that makes us happy (like a nature trail)...but if we’re past a 4 (I’ll explain in a moment), we might not be willing to.

If we’re in a school setting, get us out from under those GOD DAMNED FLUORESCENT LIGHTS...YOU might not pick up on their eye-and-head hurting flicker, but we can. They suck even when we’re in a GOOD mood. See if you can get us into a darker room, or at least one without those &$@!;!! lights. Small things like bright lights, or sounds that usually only cause mild annoyance can become HUGE - for example, my dogs. In my best moments, the sound of them licking themselves will set my teeth on edge - if I’m trying to come out of a meltdown, those sounds - or almost any sounds, really, except white noise stuff - are infuriating. I hate to say that, but 🤷🏻‍♀️ it’s just true. All your sensory shit is dialed to 11 and someone broke the knob off - there is NO “just deal with” whatever, at that point. We aren’t dealing with SHIT right then, so removal to a quiet spot is pretty damn important.

Try to distract or divert us before we’re over a 4 on a 1-10 scale, though, and absolutely before we start looping (the suggestions so far are for when the meltdown is in/almost in full swing - and I’m only speaking for older auties and into adulthood, here, though most of this stuff helps littles, too).

Let me explain “escalation scale” and “looping” - with the help of my husband, who recognizes patterns of escalation as well (in us, and in dogs ☺️). “Looping” is his word. It means no matter what you say, we keep looping back to what’s got us upset/how much we hate ourselves right then/all the bad feelings/past hurts that are piling on to the current problem. You’ll pull us out of it for a second, but then we loop right back to it. Ideally, you want to intervene before we get to the looping, which is about a 7+ on the escalation scale. Once we’re at a 7 and above....we’re consumed by it, and it gets much harder to diffuse. Think of the 1-10 scale like this: 1 is calm, 10 is completely nuclear - above a 7, almost nothing will distract us, almost nothing will divert us except bodily removal from the situation/environment & then leaving us the fuck alone (maybe figuratively but not literally - it depends on your Autie) for a while until we exhaust ourselves one way or another. If you can intervene and remove/distract right around a level 4 - which is right when you start to notice someone is getting quite agitated, you’ve got a good chance of heading the meltdown off at the pass. But if we’re already looping - repeating phrases over and over, looping back to our most upsetting feelings no matter what you say or do, sometimes while rocking or banging, you’re way too late. Now we have to ride it out together...as safely as we can manage. Now you need to make things dark, private, and as calming as you can, if possible. Or just get us the fuck out of the situation that set us off. That helps, too...obviously. I’ll tee up a possible scenario: you’re at an amusement park with your Autie. WHOA stimulation, right? You’re all having a fab time, but suddenly your Autie starts to cry or get angry or otherwise exhibit “I am SUPER OVERWHELMED” energy. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s just a lot to process, even when all the things are pretty fun. So, find a quiet place in a park like area to chill. Grab food from a stand - or go back out to your car and sit and eat a packed lunch or have some snacks. Don’t make a big fucking deal about it, either. Just “oh okay, I think now’s a good time for a quiet break”. Keep in mind all autistics are living in a sensory rich environment, and it can get mega overwhelming sometimes. It’s not always bad shit that sets us off.

I’ve mentioned in prior posts how it can feel like someone else is driving the car (controlling the emotions), while we sit in the back seat and scream and hit and try to get them to stop the fucking car and let us out...it’s in these moments that I TOTALLY understand how doctors got autism and schizophrenia mixed up, in years past. At least, that ripping in half is what my youngest son and I feel. YOU’RE frustrated with us right then? BRUH. WE are so fucking pissed and frustrated and upset that we can’t stop the car, too. You’re not helping if we know you are frustrated, either - that’s why I mention keeping your “vibe” as level and gentle and “no biggie” as possible.

I have some tips for head bangers and stuff, that I won’t include in this post but I’m happy to tell you what I’ve done/what can work.

Basically? “Dealing with” meltdowns is just....TRY SHIT. If you’re an Autie trying to manage your own, play around with what helps you calm down. It could be a brisk walk away from anything human, time under your weighted blanket, time in a dark warm shower or tub (idk about you, but in this house - water soothes nearly anything, most of the time), holding your pet, screaming all the cuss words you know into the void lol ....and the same methods might not work all the time (I was “feeling unsubstantiated feelings” the other day, and got into the shower before they overwhelmed me - a usual go to - but this time, the water felt disgusting, being wet just made it all worse. It surprised even me, but you gotta roll with it & try something else). But try as hard as you can to do something that will soothe you. Or find a safe place to let it all out, without hurting yourself. Pro tip, though: do not add alcohol. It not only takes away all the barriers you’ve probably put up to keep from going completely off the deep end, but it also magnifies all the bad feelings. I am, however, a big fan now of smoking a little green. I started trying that about 3 years ago and oh my god where has this been my whole adult life. I can’t take antidepressants or even most anxiety meds...but I can smoke. I use carefully chosen calming and pain relieving indica strains - sativa can sometimes make me feel more anxious. (YMMV)

If you’re the Emotional Support Human™️ of a melting down Autie, the same applies. Just try stuff. Trust me you will know if said Autie finds your efforts upsetting. It’s ok to want to talk to us about it afterwards, in a constructive way. Once we’ve calmed down, we know you’re trying to help. We’re raw and exhausted immediately after a meltdown though (meltdowns usually lead to shutdowns), so give us a little time, maybe. Or maybe not - maybe your Autie will be in a more communicative frame of mind, since it’s fresh. You won’t know unless you ask, maybe like “could we talk about this, or would you like some time to be quiet?” (Again - gentle tone and energy is important.)

Meltdowns are hard for me to write about because these days, they’re super rare, but when they happen, they’re ...well, brutal. Like really, really bad. I had one a few years ago that I think terrified my husband. We were in the car. I was getting so upset (screaming, beating my fists and probably thrashing a little) that he had to stop the car. Luckily we were in the boonies, but...not long after he stopped the car, I attempted to bolt. I felt trapped in between his efforts to soothe and the small confines of the car, and just wanted to bolt. Run. Far away. There was ZERO thought of personal safety at that point. His efforts to contain me were met with violence. I will be ashamed of that for the rest of my life - I don’t even have words for what an amazing human my husband is, and the LAST thing my non-melting-down brain wants, is to hurt him. But all I could think about was doing whatever needed to be done to escape this hell I was in. God. Just writing about it hurts, and I feel fresh shame. I’m telling you all this, so that you understand that *in that moment*, we are a cornered and overwhelmed animal, who wants to just bite bite bite or run away (fight/flight). The things we usually cling to - logic and reason - don’t exist right then. Nothing is logical - which actually adds to our upset.

There may be a time when your Autie feels like this too - and that’s one time where you DO need to intervene even if we don’t like it/hate it/get furious with you for it. If we are trying to hurt ourselves or run, do what you need to to not allow that. I truly believe this is how many young Autie kids get lost - we were upset and we just bolted blindly. We don’t react well to you stopping us....but it’s necessary.

There’s a moment in the Disney movie “Soul”, where 22 becomes a lost soul. Her little bright blue body is engulfed by swirling blackness, and inside that blackness is every bad or negative thing that’s ever been said to her. She starts looping - “I’m not good enough”, “I have no purpose”, over and over and over. This is what a meltdown feels like. In the movie, her mentor quietly hands her a small token reminder that starts to make the blackness melt away - it’s not the token that “society” thinks she should have, it’s a personal one. Shouting at her, blah blahblah talking, trying to reason with her makes her hiss and run away - but *quietly* handing her a tactile object that means something to her, brings her back to the present, and is what breaks the looping.

Here’s the clip of when he breaks through her meltdown. I hope it explains things in a way I’m struggling to. I’ll end with that...if the subtitles distract you, I apologize, I can’t find a “clean clip”.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nmapZFDUkBk&t=41s

#asd #autism #autistic #acceptance #awareness #actuallyautistic

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aedelia · 5 years

Text

The Best Gifts

How do you thank someone for not only saving your friends and family’s lives, but your future too? Saying it is a good start, but Danny thinks a gift would be nice too.

Danny was bored. He was beyond bored actually. Two days into Spring Break and he has nothing to do. Sam and her family were off on a trip to somewhere in Europe. Tucker has relatives visiting and can't hang out, and Jazz has practically been living in the library to work on some big senior project that will be due when school gets back. Even his parents were gone, some exclusive paranormal conference in New York, and they wouldn't be back until the weekend.

Danny heaved a heavy sigh. No ghosts had attacked for the last four days and now knowing the value of good time management, he had already managed to finish all of his schoolwork. He listlessly tapped his fingers against the kitchen table where he was seated. Playing Doomed solo was an option, but it's nowhere near as fun by himself, and it feels weird to play video games so early in the day. He got up from his seat and paced for a bit. He could go flying, but he didn't want to tempt the peace or any ghosts hanging about. He stopped and drank a whole glass of water just for something to do. Hydration is important, right? He resumed his pacing for several more minutes, wracking his brain for any ideas that could interest him. He would work on a model rocket, but he had finished the one he got for Christmas over winter break.

He stopped in front of the fridge and glanced at the clock on the wall, it's not too early for lunch. He grabbed a box of saltines out of the cupboard and pulled out a handful. Setting the box back on the counter he eased open the fridge door.

"Hey guys, I have a nice snack for you." he said as he checked for any loose ectoweenies. He couldn't help the sad noise that escaped him when he saw the plate with last night's leftovers had been cleaned bare. At least one weenie must have gotten out of the drawer. He placed a cracker on the plate to lure the escapee from hiding. Small, high-pitched growls greeted him as he slid the duct taped drawer open a couple of inches and sprinkled crushed saltine in the gap.

The ectoweenies were kind of cute when they weren't eating his lunch. Jazz was by far the best cook in the family and he had been looking forward to enjoying the meatloaf again for lunch. His musings were interrupted by tiny crunching sounds. "Aha!" he exclaimed as he snatched the miscreant up off of the plate.

"You've had enough of an adventure, time to go back home," he dropped the weenie through the open gap in the drawer. "Ouch!" he yelped as it managed to bite his thumb on the way down. Danny pouted as he stuck his thumb in his mouth to suck on the bite. The returned weenie was growling its story to the others as he toed the drawer closed before using his free hand to reseal the duct tape.

"For some reason, I'm not that hungry anymore..." Danny muttered as he inspected his thumb. Thank goodness for supernatural healing, what was a bleeding cut a moment ago was already reduced to a light pink line.

Danny resumed his pacing for a moment before sitting back down at the table. He rested his chin on his arms as he watched the seconds tick by on the clock.

‘I have so much time and all I can think of doing is watching the clock tick.’ He mused on the irony of trying to make time and when he finally has some, he can hardly use it.

‘I wonder what Clockwork does when he isn’t pretending to try to kill me. To think that he had planned for us to try to escape to the future to see Dan in order to set me on the path of overcoming that future.’ He frowned, ‘Even then I didn’t actually make it in time to save anyone. It was really nice of Clockwork to not only save them, but to set me further back afterwards so that I could keep my secret and do some damage control. I didn’t even get a chance to thank him for his help.’ He rose to his feet and started pacing once more. “I really should thank him. I think I remember where his lair is. It might take an hour or two of flying if nothing interferes… Should I just show up? That seems kind’ve rude. Maybe I should get him a gift? Thanks for saving my family and friends, and you know, not killing me when you could have. Yeah I should definitely bring a gift, that would be the polite thing when just showing up at someone’s home.” His pacing slowed as his thoughts deepened.

“But what gift do you give the ghost who can control time? And also saved you and your family from terrible fates... He said time is like a parade that he watches from above but it was more like he was helping to direct the parade than just watching.” Danny grinned in delight as inspiration struck, “I know the perfect thing!” he said as he dashed out the door at a quarter to eleven, patting his pocket to check for his wallet as he went.

-----

A quick scooter ride later and he was at the outlet stores by the mall. He looked fondly at the video game store before parking his scooter and walking into the music store. He browsed around the aisles, poking at one or two of the display instruments. ‘I remember when we came here so Jazz could pick an instrument in Middle School; I don’t think she’s played since then.’

When the lady at the desk finished with her short line of customers (mostly band kids buying reeds or random accessories), Danny popped out from the shelves to ask her, “Hey, do you guys have the kind of baton that bands use in parades? I’m looking for a gift for a conductor I know.”

She pursed her lips in thought before sliding her chair over to her computer next to the register. “Hang on; let me see if we have anything like that in stock.” Danny tried to keep from fidgeting as she spent a couple of minutes typing and clicking away at the computer. He was trying to decide whether or not to scratch his nose when she turned back to him.

“So we don’t have anything like that in the store right now. You could special order one if you’d like but that would take a while and unless you wanted a gag gift, would be pretty expensive…” At his crestfallen expression she continued, “However, if you would like to get your conductor friend a conducting baton, a good quality one runes about $20-30 and we have a nice selection I can show you.”

Danny’s face lit up, “It’s not my first idea, but that would be just as good!” The store clerk smiled at him and standing from her computer chair, she led him to one of the display cases by the register.

“These are arranged by price and material. This side is the lower end and is mostly fiberglass and cheaper wood or rubber,” she said, gesturing to Danny’s left, “and these are the nicer, more durable ones to your right. My favorite is the rosewood style right there.” She pointed to a medium priced baton with a nice reddish wooden bulb.

“Tell you what, since this is for a gift, if you get one of the wooden ones I’ll engrave a name for you for free.”

Danny grinned at her, “That rosewood one you pointed out would be great! For the name, could you put it as Clockwork?”

She smiled back at him and chuckled a little, “As in, when they’re conducting everything runs like clockwork?”

“Yeah kinda like that, it’s a nickname, so could you capitalize the C?”

“Of course, that’ll be $25.96 after tax.”

Danny paid her and watched as she pulled a slim case from below the counter. She popped the end cap off and pulled out the new baton.

“Looks to be in perfect shape, give me a minute and I’ll have the name engraved for you.” She picked up a small tool slightly thicker and longer than a pen and flipped a switch on the side. A low buzzing filled Danny’s ears as she carefully engraved the name on the shaft in neat handwriting. The tip of her tongue was sticking out of her mouth as she concentrated. She flipped the tool off and stowed it out of sight before blowing on the engraving to help cool it and to remove any dust. She waved it a couple of times before neatly sliding it back into the case and handing it to him.

“There you go, one personalized baton for your friend!” she chirped.

“Thank you so much, I’m sure he’ll like it!” Danny effused before heading out the door with a wave to the friendly salesperson. He retrieved his scooter and helmet and headed back to Fentonworks. The whole trip only took about half an hour.

-----

Once back at home, Danny stowed his scooter and made a quick stop back in the kitchen. He slapped together a peanut butter sandwich so he wouldn’t have to deal with the ectoweenies again. He scarfed it and washed it down with another glass of water.

“Ok!” he said, talking aloud to help psyche himself up. “I should leave a note for Jazz somewhere in case I’m out when she gets home, and then I need to store the gift in my ghost space pocket so I don’t lose it on the trip. I think that’s everything,” he said with his arms crossed and tapping his fingers against his elbow. He nodded and then reached for the notepad next to the fridge to write out a quick note for his sister.

‘Hey Jazz, I’m going for a visit to see Clockwork, he’s the guy who helped me out during the CAT stuff. Nothing is wrong. I’m going to thank him and probably visit for a bit. Don’t know how long it’ll take but don’t worry if I’m not home yet.’

“She’ll probably still worry and tell me that it’s her job as my big sister, but at least she’ll know I wasn’t kidnapped or something. This should keep her from looking for me too. She’s not going to go searching for me in the ghost zone unless I’m gone a really long time.”

He put the note in the middle of the table then grabbed the gift and lightly skipped down the stairs to the lab. A quick flash of light and Danny tucked the slim case into the special space pocket where he normally keeps his thermos and cell phone. Discovering that ability had made his ghost fighting a lot simpler, no more racing to his locker to grab a thermos or trying to discreetly pull it from his bag when he says he’s going to the bathroom. He still keeps a spare in his locker and under his bed. Sam and Tucker both keep a few too. It never hurts to be prepared, especially when it comes to ghost fighting.

He pulled off his glove and unlocked the portal. It was kind’ve funny that his DNA was still recognizable to the Fenton scanner in ghost form. After pulling his glove back on, he slipped through the portal and was on his way.

-----

Danny hummed cheerfully as he flew through the green and purple mists of the ghost zone. He had been so bored, but he found the perfect thing to do! Even better, since his parents weren’t home, he won’t have to worry about being locked in the zone.

He did a loop and waved at some cute blob ghosts before significantly increasing his speed. ‘I might be able to shave off some of my travel time if I fly near top speed, it’ll be good exercise too.’

Danny continued to increase his flight speed until his surroundings blurred and he weaved among the floating islands, rocks, and other debris with minute adjustments to his path. Amazingly enough, he didn’t encounter any ghosts itching for a fight. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m in the Zone, most ghosts that come through the portal have some sort of goal. Most in the Ghost Zone just want to be left alone. It could also be partly the speed I’ve been going, harder for anyone to try to fight me if I’m already gone by time they notice me.’

He slowed his pace down as the floating gears that fill the space near Clockwork’s lair began to appear. ‘I wonder where all these gears come from. He does have a lot of clocks. Maybe he used to have more? I can always ask him later if the visit goes well.�� Danny gently touched down in front of the large door to the lair. He took a deep breath, thinking, ‘I hope he doesn’t mind a visit. Of course he probably already knows I’m coming here, but still.’ and then firmly clanged the doorknocker.

A few seconds passed and then Clockwork opened the door with a slight smile, “Daniel. Please come in.,” he said while beckoning with his free arm.

“I hope it’s ok that I just showed up.” Danny said as he stepped into Clockwork’s lair for the second time.

“It’s perfectly alright. You are welcome here Daniel, I can always make time for you.” Clockwork replied as he closed the door behind them.

‘Did he just make a pun?’ Danny wondered, pausing in his surprise before following Clockwork into a lounge area that he hadn’t seen on his initial visit. ‘Not that I really had much time to look around with everything going on and Clockwork manipulating us for a better future. On the subject of that diverted timeline, I shouldn’t forget what brought me here in the first place.’

Clockwork, currently in adult form, had stopped and was now floating by a flat gear suspended at coffee table height.

“Clockwork,” Danny said, “I really want to thank you for your help with that horrible future. I really appreciate that not only did you save my friends and family; you also gave me a second chance to fix my relationship with Mr. Lancer about the cheating thing. He let me retake the test and actually let me study for it during detentions. He even answered questions that I had about the material!” Danny paused to take a breath, “To show my gratitude for your help and to say thank you for giving me a chance, I got this for you.” He rotated his arm slightly to reach into his sub-pocket and pulled out the slim case holding the engraved baton.

As he handed it to Clockwork he said, “It’s not much but I was thinking about how you said you see time like a parade that you’re watching from above, it felt more like you were directing the parade a bit and I’m really glad you kept it from marching off a cliff…” Danny trailed off, halting his ramblings as Clockwork opened the case and gently withdrew the baton. He phased to his older form as he lightly ran his gloved fingers over the engraving of his name.

“It is a lovely gift, thank you Daniel. It is very thoughtful and especially fitting in your case. I will cherish it.,” he said as he slid it into an invisible pocket up his sleeve. “I am glad that you decided to come by. Due to my actions on your behalf, I have been given charge and responsibility for you. Think of me as your ghostly guardian, or mentor. You should feel free to visit me anytime, whether you have questions, are looking for advice, or just want to spend time in a safe place. Cookie?” he offered as he switched to his child form.

Danny was sure his jaw was hanging loose as Clockwork finished informing him of their new potential relationship. Given that he was currently in ghost form, that could be a lot more literal than normal. He was still trying to process this bombshell when his whole train of thought derailed at the sight of the cookie that Clockwork was holding out to him.

“That cookie is green. And glowing.” he said as he cautiously reached out for it.

“Of course it is, “Clockwork replied, “The flour was soaked in raw ectoplasm before it was baked.”

Danny looked slightly repulsed but curious as he examined the cookie now in his hand, “Is it safe for me to eat?” he asked.

“Yes it is, and actually, on the subject of nutrition,” Clockwork said, phasing back to his adult form once again, “You need to increase your ectoplasm intake if you want to remain healthy while using your powers. The easiest ways for you to do this would be to accept it into your diet, such as with these cookies,” he gestured towards the still uneaten cookie in Danny’s hand, “or you can absorb ambient energy from spending time in the Ghost Zone.”

“Wow, you’re being a lot more straight forward now than when you helped save the future.” Danny remarked.

“When I helped you, my hands were tied by my employers; they wanted me to eliminate you instead of solving the root of the problem. Now that I have responsibility for both you and the alternate phantom, I am able to directly advise you when you have a problem as opposed to the convoluted run around that was necessary to keep the Observants from interfering further.” He shifted to his elder form and concluded with, “Maybe they wouldn’t be so shortsighted if they had two eyes instead of just one.”

Danny smiled slightly at the dig at the pretentious eyeballs. He had encountered them a few times while exploring the zone but hadn’t known what their jobs were at the time. “I know I promised that I’ll never turn into Dan, and I’m planning on always keeping my promise! But, is there anything that I need to watch out for to keep everything on track?”

“Do not worry. The actions that you have taken and the choices that you have made have decisively prevented you from ever becoming Dan. You have committed yourself to doing what is right, and remember, Dan was not just you, he was a combination of Phantom and Plasmius. You have nothing to worry about as long as you keep going as you have been. Eat your cookie.”

Danny nibbled at his cookie and was surprised that it tasted really good to him. It was a sugar cookie with a lemon-lime aftertaste that somehow worked really well. As he finished the cookie, he realized that it satisfied a craving that he hadn’t realized he had. Like finally scratching an itch. Danny ate another ecto-cookie from the plate on the table as Clockwork looked on in his child form.

“So I can visit tomorrow too?” Danny asked.

“Of course you may Daniel, you are welcome here any,” he paused and smirked slightly, “…time.” he finished, shifting to adult form.

Danny grinned at him, Clockwork liked puns too! He floated over to the older ghost and tentatively reached for a hug. Clockwork did not hesitate in holding him tight and completing the embrace.

“You are a good and precious child; I already am anticipating your next visit. Unfortunately, you will need to be leaving soon if you do not want your sister to form a search party. She has finished early at the library and will be heading for home shortly.”

Danny hid his smile against Clockwork’s chest as he felt his hair being ruffled. The ticking of the clock under his cheek was comforting.

“Thank you again for saving my whole world. And thanks for the advice and the open invitation. I’ll definitely be visiting more this week.”

Clockwork gave Danny’s head a final pat before separating, “As long as you fly the same speed or faster going home as you did coming here, you will avoid any encounters and will make it home with plenty of time to reassure your sister and to tell her about your day.” Clockwork shifted to his elder form and with his characteristic smirk, stated, “Later Gator.”

Danny beamed with delight as they floated to the door.

“After a little while, Crocodile.”

“We’re far too gharialous for a traditional parting.”

It took Danny a moment to work gharial and garrulous apart before he could shoot back, “Caiman, these puns are getting old.”

Clockwork replied by waggling his eyebrows and shifting to his child form, “Actually, you will find that they are getting younger.”

Danny laughed and waved to his new mentor as he floated out into the ghost zone proper, “I’ll see you tomorrow, bye!” he shouted as he turned and sped off towards home.

Clockwork shut the door once Danny was out of sight and moved to his time viewing room where Danny flying home showed on the main screen. Some of the smaller screens floating off to the side showed him dropping the ecto-weenie back into the drawer in the refrigerator and eating dinner with his sister.

“There are some advantages to being the master of time, and taking care of such a wonderful and delightful child is definitely one of them. The puns are a bonus too.” he mused with a slight lisp and fingering the baton that he’d been gifted. He watched Danny talking to himself during his flight home.

“…and I should ask him where those gears around his lair come from tomorrow. Oh! And if the ectoplasmic contamination in Mom’s cooking is actually a good thing for me. I need to learn about more types of animals and things so I don’t run out of puns!” He was flying home with a huge smile.

-----

True to Clockwork’s words, Danny once again didn’t have any unfriendly encounters while he travelled. He had even managed to shave a couple more minutes off of his flight time! He slowed down as he approached the Fenton Portal and slipped through at normal speed. When he popped through he startled his sister where she was fiddling with some ghost hunting gadgets. “Danny!” she yelled, dropping a Fenton Thermos and some miscellaneous inventions that didn’t actually do anything. She threw her arms around him as he transformed back to human form. “I read your note but I was starting to get worried! I finished early at the library so that I could get dinner started.”

Danny gave her a quick hug back before responding, “I’m fine. Actually, I’m way better than fine! I’ll tell you all about it upstairs, do you think you could make meatloaf again? An ectoweenie ate all of the leftovers.”

His sister ruffled his wind-swept hair before tugging him towards the stairs. “Of course, little brother, I’m so glad that you had a good day and weren’t just playing video games or bored the whole time.” They headed upstairs together and Danny started off his story, “So I was really bored this morning. Incredibly bored. Then I got the perfect idea…”

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dreamiehrs · 5 years

Text

dream run ➛ nct dream

genre: fluff, crack (it’s the dreamies what do you expect), roadtrip!au, bestfriends!dreamies

summary: you and your besties (nct dream) go on a road trip to this beautiful beach before summer ends.

note: a bulleted fic bc idk how to write this tbh... also this is completely platonic love!! just you and the dreamies being besties <3 enjoy! (gif credit: @softkooky)

warning: some swearing

so you and your best friends, the dreamies, are all hanging out in their dorms, moseying around and playing video games on jeno’s computer from time to time

until hyuck runs in

“guys!! I’ve got an idea!”

everyone internally groans (sorry hyuck)

“we should all go on a road trip together! wouldn’t that be fun? injunnie can drive!”

cue renjun tossing a pillow at hyuck’s face

“well, I’m interested. where are we gonna drive to?” jaemin speaks up from behind the kitchen counter, snacking on some sugar cubes

“I haven’t thought that far yet.”

now everybody is throwing a pillow at hyuck as he tries to defend himself while you pull out your phone beside chenle

“what ya doing?” he asks beside you and leans over your shoulder

“trying to figure out where we should go.”

“see! y/n agrees with me~!” hyuck calls out and runs behind you to look at your phone screen as well

the first thing that pops up is this beautiful condo right near the beach. a lighthouse sitting on top of a mountain right beside the condo, and you swear you can see a restaurant only a mile or two away from it

you jump up quickly from the couch “guys, let’s go here.”

everyone reads what's on your phone one by one and all of them agree

“should we go now?” chenle asks, almost leaping from his seat

“I think we should wait until tomorrow. it’s already the afternoon and if we start now, we won’t get there until midnight or later.” renjun remarks and jisung nods his head

hyuck has a frown on his face and chenle does as well, jeno looks indifferent but you know he really wants to go

"I say f-it and let's just go." you declare and everyone but renjun jump up in glee, while he just facepalms

now everyone is running to their rooms, rustling through their drawers and bringing out the suitcases

you excuse yourself to go back to your apartment and grab your things

no one notices because they’re too busy running around frantically

thirty to forty minutes later, you arrive back to their dorms to see everyone standing outside of it with all of their suitcases

renjun passes by you and states “I hate this fucking family” (wow what a vine reference king)

you laugh loudly as you all shove your suitcases in the trunk of the car

now it's time to decide who sits where inside the car

you all play rock-paper-scissors except renjun because... he's driving (unfortunately)

jaemin wins passenger seat in the front and literally glomps renjun

you, jisung, and chenle are sitting in the middle row all together, and they both decide that you're gonna sit in between them

RIP you... but not really because the maknaes are tons of fun and you'll probably be cracking up during the way there and back ^^

jeno and hyuck lose and are in the back, but they don't seem to mind

because they downloaded tons of shows and movies to watch so... they're completely prepared for this trip

you all shuffle into the car and bring some things to keep you guys entertained... renjun even bought those tiny screens with a DVD player so you guys can watch movies LMAO

renjun pulls up the address on the GPS and you guys start your adventure there!

the first hour or so is full of bantering and teasing the others, then you go to your own devices

lele brought board games, books, card games, tons of electronics, etc

while jisung just brought... food

we all know how much this boy loves to eat

you just chuckle at how his bookbag is overflowing with snacks while he just lightly pushes your forehead back before handing you some chips

you accept them and lele pulls out a card game for the three of you to play

nana is in the front listening to an audiobook with his airpods... it's titled "how much sugar is too much sugar?"

jeno and hyuck are watching a movie in the back and sharing a blanket together... you can see jeno slowly drifting off and hyuck tapping his shoulder every few minutes to wake him up

injunnie is just... well... driving as nana would update him about his audiobook from time from time

the card game between you, lele, and jisungie is getting intense and finally, the winner is revealed... it's you!

lele and jisungie already planned that if you won, you would be surprised with a tickle attack

they send each other 'the signal' and start jabbing your sides rapidly, you squirming around like crazy to avoid their hands

the three of you decide to watch a movie together, putting the small movie players injunnie bought to use

you all attempt to watch on one movie player, jisung having to scoot even closer to you

you're now squishing lele but he just lifts his left arm and places it on the top of the seat behind your head, giving you more room

now hyuck starts complaining about how he's hungry and jisungie just throws a snack at hyuck before going back to the movie

"I need to go to the bathroom~~" hyuck whines out, jeno sleeping soundly on hyuck's right shoulder

“hyuck, we’ve only been driving for an hour and a half by now.” renjun calls out and disturbs jeno’s beauty sleep, him groaning and clinging even more to hyuck

“and? you guys know I have a small bladder, right?”

hyuck’s complaints finally get to injun’s head “alright, when I find the closest rest stop I’ll let you all know.”

hyuck hums in content and lets himself slowly drift off to sleep, him and jeno now cuddling like no tomorrow

after about 30 minutes, renjun stops at a little rest stop and the stillness of the car makes everyone aware of where they are

hyuck literally jumps out of the car and sprints toward the bathrooms... naruto who?

you all waddle over to the bathrooms and do your business

afterward, you guys head over to the little snack shop nearby to try to buy lunch

jeno let you borrow one of his airpods so you’re... extra careful because you tend to be pretty clumsy

he has a bomb playlist ngl... you did your best to not bust out dancing in the middle of an aisle earlier

so you’re all in the line waiting to check out when one of you realizes...

you lost jaemin

“where’s nana?” hyuck asks and everyone goes into panic mode

so you guys abandon the check out line and go searching for jaemin who just disappeared

you were passing by the frozen section of the shop when you swear you saw someone who looked like jaemin trapped in one of the freezers

...wait a minute

you take a double take and behold... it is jaemin whose stuck in one of the freezers

you quickly open the door and tell him to get out, while he just replies with: “no, I’m done with this road trip by now.”

“jaemin you’re actually going to freeze, get out of the freezer.”

“make me.”

you curse at him underneath your breath and call jeno for help, who just looks wearily at nana “jaemin, what the actual fuck are you doing?”

“trying to hide from you guys so you won’t make me go back in that cursed car.”

you and jeno share a glance before dragging nana out of the freezer

you give nana your jacket so he doesn’t actually freeze to death and tug him along by his hand as you spot the others

“why is jaemin blue?” jisung inquires as hyuck back hugs nana, attempting to warm the poor boy up

“I tried to escape you guys by freezing myself in the freezer. it didn’t work out as planned.”

...okay jaemin

so you guys buy all your lunches and head back to the car

renjun revs it back to life and all of you get situated before driving off

time skip to 3ish hours later bc... I’m lazy :)

you arrive at the condo and it’s !! breathtaking

you're not too far from the beach and there is a restaurant and a convenience shop nearby

once you get in the condo you guys play rock-paper-scissors (once again) to figure out the situation of the rooms

jaemin wins the biggest room of all but, to be honest... he deserved it

except he has to room with jisungie... you can just imagine it now: jaemin cuddling and babying jisung until no tomorrow

hyuck & jeno get their own rooms!! hooray!

you and china line have to share a room... time for them to be speaking in Chinese and you looking far off in the distance like you’re in The Office

it’s around 4 pm and you all decide to go to the beach because!! why not

you all change into your bathing suits as fast as you can and slather sunscreen on each other and go running to the beach

at first, you guys were just gonna all sit down on the chairs you brought and take it easy because... it took a while for you guys to get there

however, everyone was forcing each other in the water so... you just went with it

the water was super cold at first until hyuck picked you up by the waist and dragged you deeper into the ocean (like he did to mark in that Miami vid)

jisungie just laughs at how relentless hyuck is and stays a safe distance from you and him

hyuck eventually gives up and lets you go before chasing down jaemin and doing the same to him

you go and bother renjun whose trying to build a sandcastle by poking his sides until he gets annoyed

“y/n... do you want to die?”

you just laugh and keep on annoying him until he gets fed up and almost puts you in a headlock

lele is chasing jisung across the beach and jeno is surfing on the waves with the surfboard he brought himself

about an hour later... you’re all exhausted so you bundle yourselves in the towels you brought and trek back to your condo

when you get back, you all take quick showers and change into your pajamas

lele decides to stay up with jisungie and hyuck to play video games while you and the others go to sleep

you wake up the next morning to a body draped over you and to be honest, you’re not surprised when you find out its lele

he’s clinging onto you like a koala and you just laugh at his sleepy face nuzzled into your stomach

you don’t wanna disturb him but at the same time... you really have to go to the bathroom, so...

coincidentally, at the same time, someone starts clashing pans together, which you presume is renjun

lele jumps out of his skin and you just pat the top of his head before slithering out of his snug hold

you go do your business and end up taking another shower bc... why not

you slip into some comfy shorts and a loose, long-sleeve shirt before making your way to the kitchen

you plop down on a barstool beside a groggy jeno and lie against the cold, marble counter

hyuck follows your actions on the right side of you and his bedhead is... extreme... let’s just say that for now

you guys didn’t stop by the grocery store on your way here so basically... you had no food except the snacks jisungie brought + the ones you guys bought at the convenience store

renjun looks up the closest breakfast restaurant and it’s only 15 minutes away... that’s definitely a win

you all shuffle into the car and this time you sit all the way in the back with jeno just so you could sleep on your way there LMAO

you get woken up by both lele and hyuck screaming in your ears... cue renjun saying “I hate this fucking family”

just kidding, you love these dorks so much

after you guys order and everything you kinda just... chill out

you and nana play around with the snapchat filters on his phone

renjun is talking your ear off with all the conspiracy videos he watched earlier

hyuck is... sleeping

jeno is tuning the whole world out w his airpods

and jisung and chenle are quietly screaming about the pubg game they’re playing on their phones right now

when your food arrives you all gobble down without wasting a second

...that was a bad choice on your guys part because everyone is dozing off now LMAO

you guys shuffle back into the car and drive back to the condo to get ready to go to the beach (again, I know)

you guys arrive and you brought a lounge chair to sleep on because... you’re that tired from stuffing your face this morning

you unfold your chair and plant injun’s purple umbrella beside your chair

you’re just drifting off when you hear someone’s footsteps approach your chair

you expected someone to tackle you but however, that’s not the case

you open one eye to see nana unfolding a lounge chair and planting it beside yours

“take a picture, it’ll last longer.” you can hear him say and you just groan

“shush, nana. I’m trying to sleep.”

“well, I’m trying to get my beauty sleep too, so don’t disturb me.”

you start dozing off in the middle of his sentence LMAO

you don’t know how long you’re asleep for until you feel someone giving you a piggyback ride

you open your eyes for a second and see a tuft of light pink hair before dozing off again

you don’t even remember being slid off of jisung’s back into the back of the car with jeno beside you

all you remember is waking up the next morning with no one lying by your side, which probably meant you slept in

you go freshen up in the bathroom and change into some actual decent clothes before heading out of your shared bedroom

however, you’re only met with hyuck and jisung sat on the couch watching a channel on the tv

“where’s everyone?” you ask as you walk over to them and squeeze yourself between both of them

“oh, they’re getting refreshments because hyuck and I are really worn out from the past two days. so today’s gonna be a chill day.” jisung explains

“but wasn’t yesterday a chill day?” you inquire as you look back and forth between jisung and hyuck

“it was a chill day for you and nana. everyone else was playing hard while you two got your hard-earned beauty sleep.” hyuck answers back and you nod before all the three of you are in an intense episode of Game of Thrones

all your legs are tangled together as you three wanted to cuddle bc you guys kept on complaining about how cold it was... however, jisung untangled his legs to go grab a humongous fluffy blanket and threw it on top of you and hyuck

jisung proceeds to snuggle underneath the covers once again with you on his left, and you struggle to keep your eyes open until you guys hear the front door open

“we’re back! wake up, sleepyheads!” renjun shouts which makes all three of you simultaneously flinch

him, nana, lele, and jeno all set down the grocery bags on the coffee table in front of you guys

“geez, how much did you guys buy?” hyuck asks from your right as jisung snuggles closer to you on your left

“tons, if you couldn’t tell. everything’s up for grabs, so get it while it’s fresh.” you rustle from underneath the snug blanket and search through the bags, eventually settling on green tea ice cream, chocolate, bottled water, and sour cream and onion chips

you sit back down on the couch and you hear hyuck snicker from beside you. “so unhealthy..” he says

“don’t say that like you don’t have a whole bag of Cheetos in your lap right now.”

he just nudges you in response and somehow all seven of you guys sit on the couch together

jeno has control of the remote and he puts on Spirited Away

it was eight when you guys started and it was a two-hour movie so... you guys finished around ten

after the movie, you guys had cleaned up all the trash from the snacks you ate and got ready for bed... jisungie invited you to stay up with him to play video games and you took up that offer for about an hour or so

when your head hit the pillow later that night, you were out cold LMAO

the next morning renjun wakes you up by shaking you, and you just hit his chest to make him stop

“y/n... it’s our last day here.” this made you get up

you just pout and he ruffles your hair before pushing you towards the bathroom... basically telling you to hurry the f up

once you’re all situated, you head out to the kitchen to see him serving everyone pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon

what a god

this particular morning, all of you take your time eating. savoring everything before you guys have to leave tomorrow morning

lele lets you share one of his airpods and his playlist is actually filled with every nct song known to exist... taeyong is *crying in proud mom noises*

jaemin plays with your hair from beside you while he scrolls through Instagram, already done with his breakfast

and yes... you guys go to the beach once again... how could you not? and especially on the last day

you guys are already all prepared for the beach so you jump in the car and drive to the beach for the third time

jeno brings his boards to teach you guys how to surf!! how fun!!

as a team effort, you guys try your best for 15 minutes straight

you actually got the ropes of it, but the other five kept on getting aggravated because they kept on losing balance every 5 seconds

you thank jeno for giving you some lessons on how to surf and he grins at you before you start to head to where lele is seated on the sand

he’s making a sandcastle, and now it’s a competition on who can make the biggest one

after a few minutes, he glances at yours and starts hyena laughing until he just starts to silently laugh

“oh gosh, what is it now?”

he wipes a tear from his eye. “yours reminds me of jisung’s big head.”

before you can even react to his statement, jisung comes up from behind chenle and necks him before sprinting off in the other direction

lele is quick to get up and start chasing after jisung. you don’t notice that hyuck has come up from behind you and lifts you from underneath your arms

“hyuck, don’t you d―“

“too late.” he carries you bridal style to the ocean and the both of you go under for a solid 10 seconds before you come back up again. your wet hair is now sticking to your back and hyuck is grinning at you like an idiot

he comes closer to you and you know he’s gonna dump you back into the water... but there’s nowhere to go to escape from his antics at this rate

“if I drown I’m blaming it on you.” you say as he lifts you up once again

he smirks. “fair enough.” before dunking you back into the water and doing the same to himself as well

you come back up for air and your ears are... full of water

thanks, hyuck

lele is still chasing jisung on the beach while renjun stares at them like their madmen

it’s all fun and games until jisung trips and lele literally pounces on him LMAO

and at this rate... you’re extremely burnt and everyone is wiped out from being at the beach for... 2 to 3 hours...

you get jeno to piggyback you to the car because... you’re too tired to even try to move

he does like the sweet guy he is and even sits in the back with you so you could lie your head on his shoulder for a bit... can you tell that I love jeno?

it's around 4 pm and you guys decide to freshen up for a bit before heading out to dinner

you try to look decent and ask the guys for their opinions on what outfit you should wear

they all have different fashion styles, though, so you just reside in hyuck who has the closest style to yours out of the others

when you put on each individual outfit and walk out of the bathroom like you’re striding down the runway, hyuck is your hypeman

even if he isn’t digging the outfit that much, he’ll still compliment how great it looks on you or how it describes your personality

once you settle on an outfit that both you (and hyuck) agree on, you guys head out to the Mediterranean restaurant nearby!!

you’re situated between lele and hyuck... the loudest ones of your friend group... god help you

the three of you scan the menu, helping each other figure out what they’re gonna eat and such

whatever you guys order looks really good... you’ve never been more excited to eat than at this moment lmao

you then proceed to entertain the two boys beside you, playing truth or dare and never have I ever until you guy’s food arrives

you inhale your food like earlier, and you have to force yourself awake because this time, no one was going to give you a piggyback ride TT

when you guys get back to the condo, you all change into pjs and renjun decides to go to bed first, having to drive for a great deal tomorrow

you wipe off some of the makeup you had on for dinner and jump into bed alongside renjun, opting to watch a short youtube video of cooking asmr to help you fall asleep

before you even know it, you’ve fallen asleep in the middle of the video

yes, you were that tired

you wake up, tangled in your earbuds and renjun still fast asleep beside you

earlier renjun said he wanted to leave around nine... it was already eight

“injunnie, wake up.” you lightly shake him and he groans

“no.”

“oh my gosh, stop being a baby. it’s already eight o’clock.”

his eyes suddenly open and he jumps up to get ready

you just shake your head and decide to make the rounds to see if anybody else was awake

...no one else was awake LMAO

you wrestle with the others to get them up and ready to leave, and at this rate, it seems like you guys are gonna leave at ten

you put on some sweats and an oversized t-shirt before packing all of your stuff... you’re definitely not going to tell renjun that you stole his cream cleanser and almost used all of it... (sorry renjun TT)

you also went to bed at 1 am... yolo

it’s now 8:30 am, and you guys are dumping all your luggage into the trunk of the car

renjun is still planning on driving, so he situates himself inside the car and waits for you guys to finish up with the seating arrangements

jeno is sitting up front with injun

hyuck, jisung, and chenle are sitting in the middle row

and you’re in the back with nana

he lets you listen to the podcast he’s currently listening to while the three in front of you guys are screaming

jeno is deadass playing The Sims on his phone (big mood)

after an hour everybody’s calmed down

you fell asleep on nana’s shoulder and his head is resting on yours

you guys get home safely and you drive yourself back to your apartment

time skip to a few months later... all of you are hanging out at the dreamies’ dorm and hyuck comes running in again

“let’s go on another road trip!!”

here we go again...

#nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #nct dream blurb #nct dream drabble #nct dream fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct blurb #nct drabble #nct fluff #donghyuck #haechan #renjun #jaemin #jeno #chenle #jisung #featured

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alindakb · 5 years

Text

How Love Hurts - Chapter 1.5 - by Alinda

A small hand clings to Harry’s hand. Harry glances to the side and sees his son, his hair styled to perfection, wearing a clean and perfectly pressed suit. Only he looks young today, younger than thirteen, too young to go to a funeral. Harry wishes he could change things, that his son wasn’t here to support his best friend who had just lost his mother.

Together they step into the church. Their steps echo around while they pass the wooden pews that are mostly empty. The sun shines through the stained glass windows, casting lights over the stone steps, lighting up the coffin at the front. It’s surrounded by beautiful blue flowers, all in perfect condition. They must be preserved with a stasis charm to keep this well at this time of the year. Next to the coffin stands Scorpius, his face is turned away from the crowd. Malfoy stands next to the boy, his hand wavering in the space between them. His face scans the church and he gives Harry a small smile when he spots him. Harry nods at him, glad that his presence is appreciated. Harry never knows with Malfoy, sometimes he’s civil, sometimes he’s rude, sometimes he doesn’t say a word at all and just flees as soon as possible. Albus told Harry he shouldn’t worry about it, that it was nothing personal, that Scorpius’ dad just likes his privacy.

When they move closer Harry has to swallow away a lump in his throat. Malfoy’s face is puffy and his eyes are red. It’s obvious that he’s been crying. Harry had never expected Malfoy to not cover it up, make sure no-one could see it. But appearances don’t seem to be kept high when it comes to the funeral of your own wife.

“Dad?” Albus says next to Harry. Harry turns to face Albus. “Can I sit next to Scorpius?”

“I don’t know, Al. I think the front row is reserved for family only.”

Albus’ shoulders drop and he looks down at the ground.

“But we can ask them,” Harry continues.

“Can we?” Albus says in a small voice.

“Yes, we can. But I can’t promise you anything.”

“I know, dad,” Albus looks towards the front of the church again. “It’s just, that if you or mom would be dead I would like Scorp to be next to me.”

Harry lets go of Albus his hand to place his arm around Albus’ shoulders and pulls him against his side. “Scorpius is lucky to have a friend like you, Al,” he tells him. In ways, the two boys always remind Harry of how he and Ron used to be, ready to do anything for each other, no matter the consequences. Harry just hopes Albus and Scorpius never start doing things that can potentially kill them.

When they reach the front of the church Harry lets go of Albus and lets him approach his friend by himself. The boys stand next to each other, a little bit unsure about what to do. Scorpius wipes his hand across his nose, his mouth is downturned as he silently cries. Albus shuffles his feet over the floor and gently pets Scorpius on his shoulder. He says something to his friend and it seems to be the right thing. Scorpius gives Albus a hesitant smile and then lets himself fall into Albus his arms to hide his face against Albus his shoulder.

“Thank you for bringing Albus today,” a voice says next to him. Harry jumps a little and turns to look at Malfoy. “Scorpius was afraid that Albus won’t be able to come.”

“Ginny wasn’t too happy about it, but I remember how it was like to lose people, friends are important at those times.”

Malfoy stares at his hands that are clasped together in front of him. His voice breaks a little when he says that he wouldn’t know. Harry’s heart breaks at that statement. He suspected that Malfoy didn’t have a lot of real friends, not like he has Ron and Hermione, but hearing it out loud is an entirely different thing. What happened to all the people that used to swarm around Malfoy when they were at school? Did they all abandon him after the war, afraid Malfoy’s bad name would taint their own?

“Albus asked if he could sit next to Scorpius during the service. I told him he probably can’t, so if it’s not possible, that’s fine. He’s just really worried about his friend.”

“No,” Malfoy shakes his head and looks at the boys. “I think Scorpius would like that. And I’m sure Daphne won’t mind either that she has to slide one chair down. Not when it helps Scorp.”

“Okay, I’ll leave him with you then.” Harry looks around, wonders where he should sit. There aren’t a lot of people and they all sit scattered over the pews.

“You can sit behind us, if you want,” Malfoy says. His voice wavers like he’s not sure if he should ask. Harry looks at him in surprise.

“I don’t want to…” Harry starts but is cut short when Malfoy shakes his head.

“Astoria wouldn’t have mind, and it’s her party isn’t it?” A tear falls from Malfoy’s eye, he looks back at the coffin and wipes his hand over his eyes.

“I guess,” Harry agrees and he turns to the pews right behind the family.

“Do you and Albus want to join us at the wake, afterwards? We would both…” Malfoy’s voice breaks and he seems to be swallowing away more tears. “We would appreciate it if you could.”

“Yeah, no problem. Albus is off school for the entire day,” Harry answers him. In all the time he’s known Malfoy he’s never seen him like this. The shields let down, showing the brokenness and pain on the outside. And for the first time, Harry really wished he hadn’t pushed Malfoy away as a child. Somehow he’s sure they could have been friends, just like their sons are now.

Malfoy thanks Harry and turns back to his son and Albus. They all sit down and the vicar starts his long speech. A few songs are played, Daphne tells about how her sister was when she was younger, Malfoy breaks down when he is giving his speech, Scorpius helps him back to his seat and Harry is surprised to feel tears fall down his own cheeks.

After the service Harry and Albus find a little pub to have lunch before they make their way to Malfoy Manor for the wake. A shiver goes down Harry’s back when he enters the gates and walks up the long driveway towards the big house. He slips his hands into his pockets and glances at the massive doors at the front. Albus steps next to him are fast, he looks in a hurry to get inside and out of the cold.

A house elf opens the door for them and shows them to a small sitting room. People sit around on the sofa’s, talking quietly. Another house elf walks around with a plate filled with snacks. Harry looks around, spots Daphne talking to Luna Lovegood. He takes a step in their directions once Albus takes off to sit next to Scorpius, who was staring into his cup of tea like it was poison. Only Harry never makes it to the sofa. He spots Malfoy standing next to the hearth, his back turned to everyone around. His hand holds onto the ledge that holds pictures of Astoria and Scorpius and a large vase that holds the same flowers as at the funeral. Harry changes direction and comes to a stop next to Malfoy. Harry clears his throat and tries to think of anything to say.

“She loved Delphiniums, planted them all over the garden once Mother was gone,” Malfoy says. His voice breaks a little and he turns towards the flames.

Harry takes another look at the flowers, he assumes they are the Delphiniums and he can understand why Astoria would have liked them. The small blue flowers crowd around a long strong stem, standing tall and proud.

“They are very pretty,” Harry says and he feels like a klutz.

“Just don’t touch them, Potter. Don’t want you to drop dead at my wife’s wake,” Malfoy says. There is no heat in his voice like when they were still at school. It just sounds hollow. Harry wants to pat Draco on the back, or even pull him into a hug. The urge startles Harry and he looks back at the pictures. It’s strange to be in this house and see the signs of a happy family inside of it. It has been years, but the last time Harry was here it was taken over by Voldemort, the walls dark, the persons inside all out for his blood. Harry shakes away another shiver that runs down his back.

“You okay?” Malfoy asks next to him.

Harry shakes his head. “Bad memories,” he explains.

“Fuck, you haven’t been here since the war, haven’t you?”

Harry shakes his head again, he’s afraid to speak. Hermione’s screams ring in his ears, the world around him starts to spin, Dobby smiles at him and then closes his eyes. Harry needs to get away, get out of this place, but he can’t move.

And then a strong hand grabs his arm and pulls him out of the room, across the hall and into the garden. Harry gets pushed into a garden chair and he rests his head in his hands.

“Breath, Potter, just breath with me,” Malfoy says next to him. Harry breaths in, holds his breath until Malfoy tells him to let it out. He lets Malfoy guide his breathing until his ears stop ringing. Harry looks up to see Malfoy on his knees in front of him, his hands on Harry’s chair, making sure Harry can’t fall off. Worry is written on his face.

“You okay?” Malfoy asks Harry.

“Yeah,” Harry chokes. He can’t take his eyes off Malfoy, of his light grey eyes that are puffy from too much crying, his splotchy skin, his short blond hair, his pointy cheekbones, his bleak lips.

Malfoy lets his head fall down, looks at the floor. “Don’t scare me like that again, you bloody bastard.”

“Sorry,” Harry responses. “I’ve haven’t had one of those in years.”

Malfoy gets up and sits down on the chair next to Harry. He signs. “In those first years, I woke up almost every night screaming, afraid he would still be here.” Malfoy looks out into the garden when Harry looks at him.

“Why did you never move?” Harry asks.

Malfoy shakes his head. “Mother, I couldn’t leave her alone.” Malfoy plays with one of the rings on his hand, Harry remembers it. Malfoy already had it when they went to Hogwarts. “And after she was gone, I couldn’t bear to pull Scorpius away from his favourite places by moving away from here. He doesn’t see the dark things that happened here. For him, it’s just his home.”

“Albus is always so amazed about this place, I never had the courage to tell him what happened here, how one of my closest friends died saving me.”

“Dobby,” Malfoy says. It isn’t really a question but Harry answers it anyway with a nod of his head.

“I loved that elf. Before you set him free he always tried to help me when Father would be angry at me. It was fun growing up with him around. I’m glad you gave him freedom. It’s all he ever wanted. To go see the world for himself.”

Harry’s eyes fill with tears. “He tried to harm me on multiple occasions in second year because he wanted to save me. I ordered him then to never save me again. Sometimes I wish he hadn’t.”

They are quiet, just stare at the flowers surrounding the patio. Blue Delphiniums are everywhere. Harry isn’t sure, but it feels the wrong time for them to flower.

“What’s up with all the flowering plants? I’m no herbalist, but I’m sure freezing weather means no flowering plants,” Harry says.

“Astoria did something with them, I’m not sure. They flower almost the entire year.”

“It looks amazing.”

Draco laughs. “Wait until you have to look at them every day, you’ll get bored quick enough.”

A door behind them opens and two pair of footsteps move closer.

“Dad, can Al and I go up to my room?” Scorpius soft voice asks. Malfoy turns around and Harry follows his gaze. Albus and Scorpius stand close together, both their eyes red from tears.

Malfoy nods shortly. “Sure, Scorp. Just tell Mila if you need anything, okay?”

“Yes, dad,” Scorpius answers. He and Albus turn around and leave Harry alone again with Malfoy. His nemesis from his school days, his enemy during the war. And now they are having a civil conversation. Harry can’t quite believe how easy it is to talk to Malfoy, how he says things he usually keeps to himself. Time goes on, Draco tells about Astoria, about her crazy ideas, her illness and Harry just listens. His heart aches when the sun starts to go down and Malfoy tells Harry that he and Astoria used to sit down on their balcony together to watch it set behind the trees. It sounds like the perfect end of a day. Only Harry has no idea, Ginny never cared about privet shows of affections, still doesn’t. She prefers to shout at Harry for being home late again from a job she won’t let him quit.

A little later the house elf that had opened the door for Harry and Albus comes to bring food and announces that all the guest have left and that Daphne is asleep in her rooms. Harry watches as Malfoy pushes his food around on his plate without really eating any of it. Harry takes a couple of bites and is amazed by the perfectly cooked steak in front of him. He finishes it completely before he tells Malfoy he should better get Albus and bring him back to Hogwarts. They get up together and Malfoy shows him the way to Scorpius room. When they open the door they find the two boys asleep on the floor, a big album filled with pictures next to them. Malfoy walks into the room, ready to wake them up.

“Let them sleep,” Harry says. “I’m sure Minerva will be okay with Albus taking an extra day off.”

Malfoy looks back at Harry, relieve clear on his face. “Thank you,” he utters. “Scorp will be happy to have Albus with him.”

“I can come to pick him up on Sunday afternoon if it’s not too much trouble to have him here.”

Malfoy nods. “That’s fine, Mila and Toby will help out if necessary.”

They stand together in the doorway, silence surrounds them. Harry knows he should leave, go home and face the firing squad. Only he doesn’t want to, he wants to stay, talk some more with Malfoy. He shakes his head, what is he doing? Malfoy and he aren’t friends, never have been and never will be.

“Can I floo from here? I really hate to walk all the way down that creepy driveway again,” Harry finally asks.

Malfoy seems to snap out of whatever he was thinking. “Yeah, of course. The floo is in the drawing room, let me show you.”

They walk down the stairs in silence, say nothing while entering the drawing room. Harry takes a hand of floo powder and steps into the flames. He takes one more look at Malfoy and then he’s spinning, back home.

#drarry #Harry Potter #Draco Malfoy #death of astoria #funeral #HowLoveHurts #fanfic #AlindasStories #Scorpius and Albus #panic attack

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