#maybe like...7 pairs of sunglasses

[painted-bees]

Sean sent this to me with the message "Raf and Lawrence shenanigans"

[powderpinkandsweeet]

Loser Ellie haunts my thoughts

-kinda creepy Ellie, a little nsfw but not so much, apartment living, you live in the apartment above her, she loves some wiggle and jiggle

You crossed her path once in a while since you lived in the same apartment complex. You would smile at her as you passed by, a quiet “good morning” or “hello” exchanged between you two. Your smile was so warm, and your voice sweet. To and from your homes, she savored the smell of your shampoo as you passed in the narrow stairwell.

You lived directly above her one-bedroom apartment. Ellie only knew your name because a package of yours had been delivered to her by mistake. The return address was for a cosmetics company, so it was definitely delivered to her by mistake. She guessed that C233 was close enough to C333 to be a mistake, or maybe the mailman just didn’t feel like climbing to the third floor. Either way, she took great pleasure in learning more about you and standing on your doorstep. You didn’t answer when she knocked, so she left a sticky note atop the box and left it on your welcome mat.

“The mailman left this for me but I think it’s yours.

-Ellie, C233”

Ellie loved how predictable you became. She had practically memorized your routine by the sound of your footsteps or the water running through the drain of your shower and through the building’s pipes. She knew you did laundry on Sunday afternoons because of the dryer rumbling from above. You moved from room to room with soft steps, and she could tell when you’d have company over by pairs of footsteps clomping overhead. She almost thanked the landlord for how shittily the apartments were built. She was fortunate that sound traveled so well across the poorly insulated walls.

Ellie loved how predictable you became. On weekdays she knew you got up to shower at 6:30 and left at 7:30. One day she had trailed behind you as you drove to work, wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled low and dark sunglasses, hoping you hadn’t recognized her having seen her climbing in and out of her truck in the parking lot.

You usually left work around five, but occasionally you would surprise her by sneaking out a few minutes early. If she stayed a few car lengths and timed it right, she could park and get to the stairwell so she could walk up behind you. Days you wore a skirt were Ellie’s favorite—especially the windy ones. Three steps behind she could see up your skirt, watching your ass bounce and your panties ride up as you made your way up to your apartment. One time she was lucky enough to have her phone out and take a picture. A video would be even better, but she could never get the angle right without being too obvious. She still liked when you wore pants, though. Tight jeans clung to your ass and leggings could ride up between your ass cheeks and your pussy lips if they were thin enough.

The apartment complex had a pool, and in the warm seasons on Sunday mornings you would swim laps. Since Ellie’s balcony was close enough to view the pool, sitting outside and watching you swim became part of her morning routine too.

She would roll and light a joint as you shed your cover-up, putting your hair into a bun and slowly stepping in. If it were quiet enough and she listened closely, she could hear you gasp as you dipped into the cold water. When you were tired enough from swimming, Ellie would perk up as you stepped out. The water dripping down your body, between your breasts, down your spine, between your legs… When you climbed out fast enough she could see your tits bounce in the cups of your swimsuit top.

When sun was down and the nights drew to a close, your apartment was quiet. No more footsteps, water running, or the hum of the TV. Tonight was an exception to the usual peaceful silence.

Drifting to sleep late at night, Ellie’s eyes snapped open as she heard buzzing. It was quiet, so for a second she thought maybe she’d gotten a text, or someone was calling her. She had no messages and the buzzing was going on for far too long to be a phone call. Sitting up, Ellie looked at the ceiling. Your bedroom would be above hers, right? Your bed could even be directly above hers. With how small it was there weren’t many places to put it without blocking the door to the closet or the hallway, so it would just make sense.

Ellie stumbled to her feet on the mattress, and the buzz was a little closer as she was closer to the ceiling. She flinched as she heard the springs of your mattress squeak. Were you alone? Ellie thought she only heard your footsteps, and there were no humming voices at any point throughout the evening. You must be all alone up there.

Ellie could almost picture it, you clutching a vibrating wand in your shaking hands as you writhe on the mattress. She wished she were there to see it. You would tremble under her hands as they gripped your legs and held the vibrator to your clit. You would squeal and beg as she clicked the button on the wand up one setting higher. Ellie would press the head of the wand harder on your clit, your wet pussy obscenely squelching and buzzing as your eyes rolled back in your head and your jaw dropped.

All too soon, the buzzing coming from upstairs stopped. Ellie was pulled from her reverie by the silence, unsure if the cries she heard were real or imagined. Ellie repeated them in her mind as her hand remained stuck in her boxers, coming with your name on her tongue. That night she fell asleep quickly, hoping that the buzzing sound would come back soon.

…

Pt two if you want it 👉👈

[kvroomi]

imagine spider-man!gojo and spider-woman!reader, who both work together harmoniously throughout the city as a pair of vigilantes—unaware of each other’s identities and just how prevalent they both are in one another’s lives outside of fighting crime. it’s an unconventional meeting and it’s almost sunrise. after a mission together, they’ve both stopped by the same convenience store for some food.

it’s quiet, the buzz of the fluorescent lights casting a faint glow to the packaging of the bright blue can of energy drink. the bold words are promising of enough caffeine to keep you upright for the next twelve hours. though you stand there, frozen for a moment, battling an internal debate about whether you should just skip dinner and head to bed with an empty (and hungry) stomach—or destroy it with sugar. you decide with the latter and pick up the can to drop it into your basket with a sigh. the weight of it feels much heavier in your hand than it should.

“energy blast? didn’t think you were into fine dining.”

you freeze mid-step, mentally cursing the universe for its lack of mercy. you’d like to think you’d know that voice anywhere; it wasn’t something endearing, rather your body was sent into fight or flight at even just the mention of his name.

slowly you turned to face him, and sure enough, there he was—gojo. he’s leaning against the shelf, his sunglasses (yes, he wore them even at midnight), are perched obnoxiously on his nose. they shine with the garish lighting, forcing you into a squint when your eyes catch the bright reflection.

you almost groan at the sight of his bag. it’s a war zone of sour gummies, chocolate bars, and what looked suspiciously like a can of whipped cream.

“i could say the same for you,” your voice is measured, a conscious effort to exhibit a fake, but convincing act of nonchalance. “what is that anyways? is it for dessert or are you trying to send yourself into a sugar-induced coma?”

he grinned, the kind of lopsided smile that could make angels weep—or villains run, depending on the day. “don’t knock it ‘til you try it. some of us know how to live a little.”

“suuuuure,” rolling your eyes as you reply, unconvinced. “if living means 7 different cavities for each day of the week.”

gojo chuckled, low and easy. he shifted closer. it’s a split millisecond reaction and you immediately notice his subtle limp. anyone would’ve missed it—anyone but you.

of course you did. it wasn’t much, just a tiny hesitation. but paired with the faint bruise just under his jaw, it set off a hundred silent alarms in your head.

you’d seen him like this before. maybe not to the extent of his injuries today, but something more frayed at the edges—like he’d been somewhere he shouldn’t.

“what happened there?” gojo stills for a second, confused at what you’re referring to.

you point at your jaw, mirroring the placement of his bruise.

he blinked, momentarily caught off guard before his grin widened.

"oh, this?" tapping his jaw lightly, he continued. “you wouldn't believe me if i told you."

"try me."

"i got into a fight with a revolving door," he says, straight-faced. "it was me or the glass, and well..."

you rolled your eyes. "right. because that sounds believable."

"hey, revolving doors are dangerous," he insisted. "you’re lucky you weren't there—i would've had to save you too."

"sounds like you need saving from yourself," you retort, not being able to help the small smile tugging at your lips.

with another roll your eyes, you turned back to the shelf. letting your eyes drift across the many labels of caffeinated drinks, you couldn’t help but focus on his presence looming behind you. it was always like this with gojo—relentless.

you’d met him a year ago when you started working at the same community arts center. you taught weekend workshops for kids, and gojo occasionally ran their afterschool programs—though ran was a generous term for what he did.

he wasn't the kind of coworker you'd ever expected to become friends with, though somehow, you had. maybe it was the way he always brought you coffee to meetings, even if each drink tasted more like sugar and coffee than coffee and sugar. or maybe it was how he managed to charm every kid in the building, no matter how much the kid may have disliked him in the beginning.

"late-night inspiration, huh?" he motioned toward the can in your hand.

"something like that," you sighed, avoiding his gaze by picking up another energy drink and putting it back

"what’re you working on?"

you pause, hand mid-air and debating how much to say.

"just some commissions."

"commissions," he repeated, like the word was a personal affront. "what happened to making art for fun?"

"some of us have rent to pay, gojo. who are you to talk anyway? you sign up for extra shifts just to win over the kids with pizza and candy."

gojo grinned. "that’s called strategy, sweetheart. you wouldn't understand."

you snorted, finally turning to face him. "and what's this strategy for?” you towards his basket and pick up a packet of gummies, inspecting it before tossing it back in. "new teaching method? bribery?"

"bribery's underrated," he returns with a shake of his head.

"but no, this is for me. sometimes a guy just needs sugar and carbs you know?"

you couldn't stand him half the time, but you'd also begrudgingly admitted—if only to yourself—that he was good company.

“long day?” you’re careful to keep your tone casual as you ask.

his grin doesn’t waver, and if it does you don’t notice—but his hand tightened around the basket handle. “me? nah. what about you? busy day brooding over your sketchpad?”

you smile and try to catch his eye, “something like that.”

though gojo’s gaze wasn’t on your face anymore. he’d drifted lower, catching sight of the faint rip in your jacket sleeve. you cursed inwardly; it was barely noticeable—a tiny tear at the seam where a stray shard of glass had nicked you earlier tonight. his gaze lingered like it was written in neon.

“what happened there?” his voice is light and almost lazy, but you could see the wheels turning behind his glasses.

“nothing.” you shrugged it off. “snagged it on a doorframe.”

“uh-huh.” his voice drops just enough to make the air feel warmer. “must’ve really hated that doorframe.”

you force a laugh, jaw tightening in nervousness and step past him toward the register. “not as much as i hate this conversation.”

gojo didn’t follow immediately, but you could feel his eyes on your back like a second shadow. by the time you reached the counter, he was also there, leaning against the opposite side of the aisle with his basket balanced precariously on one hand.

“funny,” he announces after a beat, his tone too casual. “you’ve got a thing for clumsy doorframes, and i’ve got a thing for evil revolving doors. guess we’re not so different, huh?”

you glanced at him in annoyance, searching his face for any crack in his mask. but there’s nothing—just that insufferable grin and sunglasses, hiding every flicker of thought behind his ridiculous confidence.

“guess not,” you breathe out, grabbing your drink and heading for the door.

“don’t stay up too late,” he calls after you, his voice dripping with amusement. “you wouldn’t want to run into any more furniture.”

you don’t turn around, and you don’t respond with another witty retort either. instead, you choose to instead flick a halfhearted wave over your shoulder. outside, the night air was cool against your skin, washing away the tension coiled in your chest.

as you rounded the corner, you allowed yourself a small smile. gojo was sharp—too sharp for his own good. but he wasn’t there yet, not tonight.

behind you and still inside the store, gojo stood frozen in place. his grin had dispersed just enough to reveal the furrow in his brow. his thumb traced absentmindedly over his basket handle as he replayed the conversation in his head.

for someone as quick on her feet as you, he knew that explanation didn’t add up. but then again, his limp and bruise wasn’t exactly subtle either.

KVROOMI © 2024, DO NOT REPOST, PLAGIARIZE, MODIFY OR TRANSLATE

[gretavangroupie]

Edible

Word count: 16.0k

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Female Reader

Warnings: Language, Alcohol, Drugs. Smut: Kissing, Touching, Oral M!Receiving, Fingering, Oral F!Receiving, Dirty Talk, Unprotected Sex, Rough Sex, Breeding Kink (if you squint), Cum Play. Major Fluff.

A/N: The very last part of our four part Valentine's Day Mini Series I've been working on along with my best pal, @sacredstarcatcher! We had so much fun writing these, and we hope that you enjoy Jake's story to wrap things up! Thank you so much for reading these one shots over the last few weeks, maybe we will do it again soon! ❤️

Usually, Valentine’s day wasn’t a holiday that bothered you. As a single person in your mid 20’s, it’s almost expected that you dread the 14th of February. The years before and between relationships never bothered you, but as you slip into your pajamas at 7:50pm on a Friday night that also happens to be Valentine’s day, the realization that you’re alone hits a little harder.

You shuffle down the stairs in your slippers and matching PJ set, your destination being the bottle of red wine in the fridge. As you stand in front of the door and look at the dry erase calendar on your freezer, you avoid acknowledging the little heart you drew around the number 14 when you were clearly in better spirits. You also happen to see the little sticker that lives permanently above the column of Fridays. Trash day.

Letting your head fall back, you groan at the ceiling before turning on your heel towards the trash can. Lifting the half-full bag out and tying it off, you consider whether or not you really need to take the bin out to the curb… It’s so, so cold, and you’ve had a tough day already.

Shaking your head, you pull yourself out of your thoughts and decide to grow up. You get moving and elbow the door open, wincing as the cold air hits your skin. The short sleeve shirt and matching shorts combination are really not on your side at this moment as you jog down the four stairs towards the spot where your trash bins live. 

It’s a minute of wrestling before you get the bag in and flip the top closed, grabbing the handle and beginning to wheel it towards the end of your driveway. The rattling of the plastic wheels is so damn loud you feel like you’re waking up half your neighborhood. Oh, wait. They’re probably all out for Valentine’s day. You can’t help but roll your eyes as you kick the bin upright and position it on the patch of grass near the curb.

As you’re about to turn and head inside, you hear rumbling coming from across the street. When you raise your head and try to focus despite the limited light from the streetlamps and the clouded moon, you see your neighbor from across the street. For a moment you feel a little vulnerable in your pajama set, legs bare and no bra, but then you see he’s shirtless, a thin bathrobe over his shoulders and down his back, but it’s hanging open, giving way to show you his tanned chest and stomach. His sweatpants are hanging sinfully low on his hips, and even though you’re all the way across the street, you can see there’s just a tiny bit of hair peeking out from above his waistband.

He has his head down as he does almost the same exact thing you did- he shimmies the bin into position on the curb and makes sure it’s closed tight, left with some defense against the wind. His hair is in a low, messy bun, some stray strands of hair framing his face. 

As you stare at him from the shadows across the street, realizing you’re probably giving off way weirder vibes than intended, you think back on when you’ve seen him and try to remember his face. As you think, there’s a silhouette of a cat in his front window, a warm glow behind it. And then the memory comes to you.

There was one afternoon when you had first moved in, the summer, seven or eight months ago. He came and knocked on your door, a pair of sunglasses on, his shirt unbuttoned and paired with some breezy linen pants. You answered the door in confusion, but were friendly regardless.

“Hi. I’m, uh, I’m Jake. I’m your neighbor. I live across the street?” He said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. 

“Right, right. Hey. I’m Y/N.” You answered with a slightly concerned smile. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, um,” he started, wiping the corners of his mouth with his thumb and forefinger as he gathered his thoughts. You watched as he crossed his arms over his chest in almost a nervous habit. 

“Do you wanna come in?” You offered, but he shook his head no, waving you off casually.

“No, no. I actually just have a weird and maybe cumbersome favor to ask of you.” He said, his confidence building as the conversation went on. You raised your eyebrows, a little confused, but wordlessly encouraging him to go on.

“There’s this cat that lives in my house and I usually leave him with my brother’s girl when I travel, but she’s actually tagging along, so I’m kind of in a pinch and need someone to feed the thing.” He said. You gave him a look of playful confusion.

“That’s a weird way to say you have a cat.” You quipped, laughing.

“I’m not keeping it! I just don’t want it to get hungry or get hit by a car or something.” He said, laughing through his words. Before you can poke any more fun at him, he keeps talking.

“He’s a grazer, so he really just needs his big ass bowl refilled once a day and he’ll be fine,” he said, flashing you a little smile. “And water.”

You considered it for a moment, but he had such a way about him that there was no way you would be able to say no.

“Okay. Yeah, sure. For how long?” You asked, leaning on the door frame. He fished out a key from his pocket, handing it over as he spoke. It was brass and there was a little soccer ball keychain attached. 

“Just for the weekend. I’ll be back Sunday night.” He said with a little excitement in his voice. Holding his spare key in your hand, you nodded and gave him a polite smile.

“I can do that. For sure.” You reassured him as he leaned from foot to foot, almost like he had somewhere to be. 

“I fed him just now and I’m about to head out, but when you go in, the kitchen is on the left and his bowl is there. The food is in the bin with… with the food. It’s clear so… you can see it.” He said, taking a few steps backwards. “He also bites, but he’ll probably hide from you anyway, so don’t sweat it!” He added, jogging down the two stairs to the sidewalk. 

“O-okay!” You answered, perplexed but charmed. He shouted across the road to thank you before he hopped into his car and backed out of his driveway.

When you eventually went over to his house the next day, you opened the door cautiously, not wanting to sneak up on the cat who you were warned would bite you. After a moment of wondering why you agreed to this, you shrugged and pushed the door open gently. As if the cat was waiting for Jake himself but then realized it was you, he went flying by so quickly you only heard the thump of his paws and the jingle of his collar. Your eyes almost immediately found the big bowl in the kitchen, sitting in the middle of a little placemat. ‘DAVY’ was etched into the porcelain, so you figured it had to be his. Like Jake mentioned, there was the bin of food about a foot away. 

You didn’t see the cat a single time that weekend. Sunday morning, after you fed him the last time, you left the key on the hook near Jake’s front door and locked it from the inside. You didn’t hear from him, but one day when you got home from work, there was a bottle of wine on your welcome mat with a card underneath, wax sealed with care. Inside, you found a card with a short note of thanks and his name signed in indigo ink. 

You’re pulled back to the present as a car flies down your street, headlights flashing in your peripherals. The light pulls his attention too, and it’s seconds before he notices you across the street. He raises one open hand, giving you a casual wave. You smile and wave your hand back and forth, a polite, neighborly greeting. 

“Look at you, all dressed up. Big plans tonight?” He says, projecting his voice all the way across the street. Your eyes widen in embarrassment, realizing he’s absolutely calling you out for being outside in your pajamas. 

“Oh! Ha. Yeah.” you say, the laugh incredibly forced, your nerves turning you into an awkward, stiff mess. Freezing cold, nervous, and a little embarrassed, you give him another quick wave and scurry inside your house, disappearing. You close the door and snatch the bottle of wine from your fridge, taking the bottle and glass with you into the living room. 

You practically dive under the blanket on your sofa and wrap it around you in a hurry. As you reach for the bottle of wine and pour yourself a little glass, you hear your phone buzz from somewhere in the couch cushions. Fishing it out from under your thigh and some layers of blanket, you squint and turn the brightness down immediately.

You have a few notifications from instagram and other apps, and one text from an unsaved number.

???

8:08pm: Sorry for being weird, lol

It has to be Jake. You hop up from the couch and shuffle to the bulletin board and dry-erase calendar on your freezer to see the torn piece of paper pinned to it. Comparing the two numbers, you confirm it’s the same. That leaves you frozen as you try to figure out how to respond.

You

8:10pm: Oh no worries, you were right. I’m clearly staying in tonight 🍷

When you get back to the couch, nuzzling yourself back under your blankets, you look over your shoulder and out the window at his house. There are a few lights on and the cat’s silhouette has disappeared from the window.

You decide to save his number quickly before finally taking a few sips of your wine. 

Jake - Neighbor

8:13pm: Likewise. I’m about to take an edible and spend the rest of my romantic evening falling down a youtube wormhole. 

Laughing, you think of something clever to send back. It takes a while because everything you come up with seems to be toeing the line of flirty and friendly. 

You

8:17pm: Sounds fun... If you open your curtains a little more I could probably watch along. 🙂

Jake - Neighbor

8:20pm: Or you could accompany me down said wormhole, meaning we both won’t have to lie about being alone on Valentine’s day tomorrow?

You’re immediately conflicted. This guy is your neighbor, and although he seems friendly, this feels like the beginning of a terrible Hallmark movie or even worse, one that went straight to Netflix. You think about the invitation as you stare at your glass of wine on the coffee table next to your kindle. It couldn’t hurt to just go hang out for a little while… right? It would be good to get to know him. Maybe you could convince him to mow your lawn over the summer or something.

Not to mention he’s cute. Your mind flashes back to the way he looked glowing under the streetlights, his messy bun and the tan line on his hips that you need to stop thinking about before your mouth begins to water. 

You

8:21pm: Lol are you serious? I don’t want to intrude 

You bite at your lip nervously, waiting for him to reply. The little bubbles that indicate he’s typing make your stomach churn as you look over your shoulder and out the window once more. There’s a little bit of a glow coming from the other side of his house now and you see his shadow move across the window.

Jake - Neighbor

8:22pm: It’s not intruding if I’m inviting you. 

It doesn’t take much convincing on his end, if any. You down the last of your wine for courage and ditch the blanket on the couch. Heading up the stairs, you grab the cardigan you left hanging over the banister and pick out something to wear. The matching jammies clearly aren’t appropriate, but you don’t want to dress like you’re trying too hard. 

You

8:25pm: Should I bring anything?

Standing in your closet for a few minutes, you ultimately land on a pair of yoga pants and an old t-shirt, a soft baby blue Rush tee with the band’s name spelled out in big, rainbow bubble letters. It was once your dad’s, but lives in your wardrobe as a slightly cropped version now.

Jake - Neighbor

8:26pm: Nope. Just yourself. Need the address? 😉

Pulling on the cardigan, you tug the back of it down a little to assure you’re not showing up with your ass on display from the get-go. You stand at the door with nothing but your phone and keys, bracing yourself for however this Valentine’s night is about to go.

You

8:28pm: I think I remember how to get there. I’m on my way 🙂

—

You pull your sleeves down over your hands as you climb the steps to his porch, the freezing cold wind whipping through your cardigan as if it wasn’t even there. You rap your knuckles against the wooden door, a small wave of nerves rushing through your body as you wait for him to answer. You hear his footfall against the wooden floors as he makes his way to the door, and as he opens it you feel a rush of warmth as the heat from inside blows past you. 

His eyes subconsciously look you over and as he realizes he pulls his eyes away, letting them dart around for a few seconds before landing on your face. He offers a shy grin and swallows down his nerve. “Any trouble finding the place?” he jokes, giving you a small glimpse of his real smile. 

“Oh yeah, traffic was awful...” you quip back, watching his full smile bloom across his face. 

“Come in, come in. I know it’s cold out there.” he says, ushering you inside. The house is very different from the last time you’d seen it. More art on the walls, a new rug or two, and most importantly there were lights on. A fire is going in the fireplace, the logs crackling drawing you into his home further.

“Your home is beautiful. I’m suddenly insanely jealous that I don't have a fireplace.” you smile, gesturing towards the beautiful brick hearth. 

“Thanks, I try to do what I can here and there. What’s a home if you can’t enjoy the time you spend in it…” he ponders, suddenly flicking his attention back to you. “I could…show you around if you want, it’s kind of a mess at the moment…” he pauses, rubbing his fingers over his lips as his eyes scan the room. You can tell he is feeling put on the spot and your chest warms at his underlying hospitality. 

“That’s okay, I know you were totally not planning on having a guest.” you laugh, hoping to ease his anxiety. 

“Yeah, I’m not here too often, and when I am, things kind of get strewn around and forgotten. It’s actually a fluke that I’m here now. Which brings me back to the part about enjoying the house while I’m here.” he says, trying to unnecessarily justify his lived in space. 

Your mind wanders as you recall his empty driveway the past few weeks, and you try to piece together if you ever remember him mentioning what he does for work, or why he’s gone so often. You hardly ever see him coming and going, just the glow from his windows on rare occasions.

He pulls you from your thoughts and you refocus on him, realizing that he too, has changed into different clothes. He’s added a slightly wrinkled black button down shirt to a pair of equally as wrinkled khaki pants, rolled at the ankle. To anyone else this would seem like a strange choice to hang out on the couch, but on him it seemed fitting, almost like these were his relaxing clothes. 

“Can I get you anything to drink, or?” he asks, gesturing towards the kitchen, a tiny little sliver of his stomach peeking from beneath the frayed hem, showcasing an unseasonably dark tan.

“Sure, um I will take some water?” you squeak out, trying to pretend you weren’t just staring at his waist. 

“Okay, you can just… sit wherever. I'll be right back.” he says nodding towards the couch. He walks off into the kitchen as you venture into his living room, the fireplace providing the perfect ambience for such a cold night. His couch isn’t huge, but it does seem comfortable. A few throw pillows are tossed to one side, giving you the hint that he was previously occupying the other side. You move a few of the pillows towards the center and position yourself at the opposite side on the chaise lounge, as you let your eyes glance around the room. The walls are dark and covered with art, and bookshelves line most of the walls. A large TV sits just to the left of the fireplace, the video he was previously watching paused and awaiting his return. 

You relax into the couch cushions, closing your eyes and listening to the perfect crackling sound of the fireplace. The glass of wine from earlier is seeping into your bones and you’re suddenly feeling just a little bit more relaxed. Jake returns a few seconds later, offering you a glass filled to the brim with ice water. 

“I didn’t know if you wanted ice or not, so I just made it how I like it.” he says, falling back into his place on the couch. He tosses a few of the throw pillows between you, down onto the ground so that there is less of a barrier, before kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. 

“Where’s your little kitty cat?” you ask, turning to face him. “Or did you find him a home after all…”

“Who? Ol’ Davy Jones?” he asks, an air of underlying affection in his tone. “Ahh, that little vagrant is around here somewhere. Truthfully, I just haven’t even had time to think about finding him a home.”

You smile because you can tell he is lying. “That’s funny, because it’s been what? Almost a year now?”

“Has it… Hmmm.” he says, staring off into space. “I’m sure he’ll be around, he’s a curious little thing.” 

“You know they say that you shouldn’t name pets that you don’t plan to keep…” you press, raising an eyebrow in challenge. 

“Well…” he pauses. You can see the gears turning in his head as he tries to piece together an excuse. “He wasn’t responding to ‘hey you feline’, so I was practically forced into giving him a name. You know how these things go. I really am going to find him a good home one of these days when I have the time.”

You nod your head with a smile, as he shakes his own head, stifling back a guilty grin. 

“So that is why he has a food bowl with his name on it, right?” 

“Aye, aye, what’s with the twenty questions, hm?” he barks, tossing a throw pillow towards you. You catch it and hug it to your chest, resettling into your place. 

“Oh, no reason. Just trying to get to know my neighbor and his cat, that’s all.” you say with a cheeky smile. 

“He’s not my cat. He just lives in my house.” he says finally, feigning arrogance. “Anyways, tell me about you…”

“Not a whole lot to know, I just moved here, well almost a year ago now, for work. I go to work, come home, watch trashy TV and cook, and sometimes on the weekends I catch some friends at the bar. I also occasionally feed my neighbor's cat. Oh, and spend most holidays alone, which is how I ended up here.” you laugh, not wanting to give too much away. 

“Well, I’m glad that you did, I’m rather enjoying having company for once. Listen, I was serious about the edible if you…” he trails off, nervously licking over his lips.

“Oh, yeah of course. Let’s do it.”

He stands from the couch, walking across the room and rummaging around in a backpack on the floor. The first thing he pulls out is an eyeglass case, tucking it under his arm. Then he reaches back in, searching for a moment more, before he pulls out a small black bag and returns to the couch, opening it up as he sits. He places the black glasses case on the table, then picks it up again, making sure there are actually glasses inside before closing it and putting it aside for later.

“Oh Jesus, Josh…” he mutters under his breath. He licks his lips and turns to look at you. “Okay, so, apparently they are peach ring gummies. My brother gave them to me, but didn’t specify the variety.”

“That’s actually fine, I love peach rings.” you blush. 

“Really? Okay, good. I thought–” he stops himself with a smile. “Okay, ladies first, how much do you want?

“Um, how much are you gonna have?” you ask, letting your eyes flick up to his. 

“Dunno…” he says, inspecting the bag for the details. “Okay, probably half. You think you can do half, or do you want a quarter?”

“I think it should be an even playing field, I’ll do half if you do half.” you answer. 

“Whatever you say…” he says with a smile, trying to pull apart the sticky yellow and orange gummy. It stretches beyond belief and he stops. “Okay, so. I think you’re going to have to bite it.”

“Are you sure?” you ask hesitantly. 

“Yeah, it’s no big deal, you just take half and I’ll take the rest.” he says, leaning over to place it in your hand. You bring it to your lips, biting half of the gummy with your eyes locked on him. He doesn’t dare blink as he watches your mouth, the sugar crystals collecting on your lips. You see him swallow as you pull it from your lips and hand the remainder back to him. He quickly pops it into his mouth and starts to chew. 

Both of you look at each other as you swallow it down, sour looks on both of your faces as the flavor of the strain shines through. 

“That was… not my favorite gummy I’ve ever had.” he winces, clearing his mouth of the flavor. 

“I think it was okay…I’ve definitely had worse.” you laugh, taking a sip from your glass of water. 

“I can’t believe I traded my good blunts for that.” he says, thinking back with a shake of his head. “So, what do you think we should watch? A movie? A TV show? Youtube?” he rattles off. 

“What would you watch if I wasn’t sitting here right now?” you ask, leaning your body into the arm rest. 

His demeanor quickly changes, his cheeks blushing and his tone growing a bit bashful. “If you weren’t here? Um, probably just youtube videos.” he answers, reaching for the remote on the coffee table. 

“Okay, but what kind of youtube videos? What fascinates you…”

He fidgets with the buttons on the remote, trying to decide if he should lie or be honest. His eyes flick up to the TV, then over to you. “Mostly history stuff, like old shipwrecks and stuff. Or maybe sailing videos or guitar videos, I don’t know.”

You can tell he chose to be honest, his fingers still scratching at the buttons on the remote as he waits to see what you’re going to say. 

“Okay so do it. Show me your favorite shipwreck. Enlighten me a little…”

“Really?” he asks, a look of shock painted across his face. 

“Yeah, why not? I like that kind of stuff too. It’s interesting.”

“Yeah, yeah it is really interesting. Okay, hold on.” he grins, clicking the remote to life and returning to youtube. He scrolls to his favorites and makes his way through what has to be a hundred videos, until he finds what he’s looking for.

“Alright, I know this is a little bit boring at the beginning, but I swear it gets better. I actually learned about this first hand at this little museum in the UK last year, and I really fixated on it, and had to immediately consume every piece of media I could find about it. If you hate it we can turn it off, it’s just… really cool if you can make it through it.” he explains, and you smile watching his eyes light up talking about it. 

You smile and nod as he clicks on the video titled, ‘Ghosts of the Mary Rose’. He settles back into the couch, balancing the remote on his knee, and slinging his arm across the back of the couch. You can’t help but notice the proximity of his fingertips as they rest just inches away from your shoulder. The fireplace is still roaring, and the edible is starting to kick in, and you come to terms with the fact there is no place you’d rather be than sitting here learning about this old boat.

Oddly enough, Jake wasn’t wrong. This was one of the cooler shipwrecks you’d learned about, and the fact that he saw it in person made it even better. He proceeded to talk through most of the video, further extrapolating on the points they were making, but explaining them better, in a way that was so purely Jake. 

It was clear history was a passion of his, his eyes simply glowing with pride as he spoke about what he knew about this wreck and others similar. You could tell that he was dying for someone, just anyone, to ask him a single question about it, and tonight, you gave him that and more. 

You wondered if he had people in his life that indulged him on this regularly, or if he kept it bottled up inside. The way he spoke about it so quickly, stumbling over his words just to get them out, had you thinking that maybe it was the latter, and you suddenly couldn’t bear the thought of him ever feeling lonely. 

After what had to be an hour or so, the gummy had met its full potential in your bloodstream. The two of you sat almost mute, staring at the TV screen as he selected videos for you to dive into, but little did he know that it wasn’t the TV you were fixated on. It was the glaring image of his hands as they reflected into the mirror hanging over his fireplace. You watched as they moved, the way his fingers wielded the remote, and the way his fingers would twitch every so often, quickly stifled back by the folding of his hands. You stopped yourself from turning your head to look at them, knowing that if you did you wouldn’t be able to pull your eyes away. 

They seemed large. Slightly larger than the average man’s hands, but they also seemed well manicured. Perfectly manicured actually, as if they were his top priority in his grooming habits. His nails were perfectly trimmed, no nicks or cuts, just perfectly tanned hands that tapped away against his thighs. You pulled your eyes away from the mirror to reach for your water, the dry mouth starting to take effect. 

You drank down half of the glass, and you could almost feel his eyes on you as you did so. You placed the glass back down, and allowed yourself one look at him, finding that you were correct in the feeling of his eyes fixed on you. His entire mood had shifted, you could tell he was feeling completely relaxed as he lounged on his couch. His eyes were a little red, slightly droopier than usual, and his cheeks flushed pink. His legs were crossed on the coffee table, and his bare foot bobbed along to the sound of the video playing in the background. 

You’re not sure if it's the fireplace, the edible, or the man sitting next to you devouring you with his eyes, but you start to feel warm and need to remove your sweater before you burst into flames. You pull the knitted fabric over your arms, and toss it to the floor, leaving you in just your cut off tee, and you swear you see his eyes widen a bit as he takes in the sight of your torso.

In the silence, you hear a faint jingling. He doesn’t seem to notice, but you do, and your eyes shoot to the entryway. His cat trots into the room, probably only expecting Jake, but as soon as he lays eyes on you, he puffs up and hops straight up into the air, then bolts back the way he came, his paws skittering across the floor in a flurry.

The sound makes Jake’s head turn, pulling his eyes from your body and over towards the source of the noise.

“Oh my god, he’s real…” You say in amazement, a smile creeping onto your lips. Jake rolls his eyes at the cat’s dramatics, leaning back to see if he can catch where he went.

“Daaaavvvyyyy…” he calls out in a faux-cockney accent, his voice low and gravelly, rumbling through the house. You would be lying to yourself if you said it didn’t make your stomach flip.

“He’s not a fan of me, I don’t think.” You comment, looking in the direction the tiny black cat ran. 

“Don’t think he likes anyone but me, honestly. Bites and scratches the absolute hell out of my brother’s girlfriend whenever she watches him for me.” He says with a chuckle, craning his neck to try and see the cat. He makes a quiet pspspsps sound, but Davy is nowhere to be seen or heard.

“When I found ‘em, he was under a dumpster behind a… a bar.” He says, sitting back up to look at you. “He was practically shouting at me as I walked by, like he was calling for help. So I walked over thinking it was like, a fuckin’ baby or something. I don’t know.”

You grin as he tells the story, which you’re finding quite endearing. 

“He called you over? Oh, he’s bold.” 

“Sure is. So I wrapped him up in my shirt and put him in the passenger seat… he seemed too little to eat the crunchy little cat food, so I went to the store and got some milk… I didn’t fuckin’ know what to do.” He chuckles and itches his nose, his eyes flicking to yours as he realizes you’re invested in the story and listening with bated breath. 

“We got home and he drank some… had a little milk mustache and everything. He seemed to feel better when I got him into the heat, so I made him a deal. He could sleep in the bathroom for the night if he hit the road and left town the next morning.”

“I see that worked out.” You quip, giving him a knowing smile.

“Yeah, the five-pound rapscallion didn’t hold up his end. Owes me a thousand souls now.” 

You hum with raised brows as you nod, letting him go on. 

“I actually…” he starts, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket he taps and scrolls as he talks. “I actually woke up the next morning and caught the poor thing asleep in a pair of me old dirty trousers.” He says, a little bit of that accent slipping in again. He turns his phone around and shows you a photo of Davy curled into a tiny ball inside a pair of patchwork denim pants, a few different shades of blue.

“Oh my god…” you mumble, popping out your bottom lip.

“Lookit his tail over his nose. How was I supposed to show ‘em the door?” He says, flashing you a grin. 

“But you’re still gonna rehome him, huh?” You shoot in his direction, your tone accusatory.

“Should we watch something else? Got any requests?” he asks, gesturing toward the TV with the remote.

“Mmm, you said you liked guitar videos, right? What’s your favorite guitar video of all time?” you ask, crossing your ankles as you stretch out on the chaise. 

“That is quite the loaded question, lass.” he quips, tapping the remote to his lips. His full, pink, totally kissable lips. Wait, he’s your neighbor. You have to stop. 

“Can you narrow it down to a genre?” he asks, flicking his eyes over to you. He takes a deep breath and bites his lips together waiting for your answer. 

“How about…I don’t know, rock? Rock n’ Roll, specifically.” you smirk. 

“I know a thing or two.” he chuckles, scrolling through his favorites. 

“Ahh, okay this one. This one right here. This man was instrumental in my–” he stops, clearing his throat. “He is one of the greatest musicians I’ve ever witnessed.” he finishes.

“Oh, who is it?” you ask, watching him select the video. 

“Pete Townshend.” he answers, starting the video. “He is an incredible guitarist, but that isn’t what makes him great in my opinion. He has this special ability to write insanely powerful rock songs where the guitar isn’t the main focus, or even the main instrument. His work with The Who is just… He isn’t flashy just for the show of it, because he didn’t have to be. His skill speaks for itself and that in itself is an accomplishment.”

“Wow, you know a lot about him. Would you say he is your favorite, then?” you ask. 

“Ahh, I don’t know. I have a lot of favorites. A lot of influences I suppose. Lots of people who shaped me.” he answers, and slowly but surely you start to realize he is letting you know him more and more with each passing second, and you’re hanging on his every word. 

“Shaped you?” you ask, trying to squeeze yourself through the tiny crack in his armor. 

“I’m gonna run to the bathroom. You need anything while I’m up?” he says, standing up slowly and effectively shutting you out. His half smile is a little guilty, which tells you he’s well aware of what he just did. 

“I’m okay.” You answer, giving him a knowing smile as he shuffles out of the room, the sound of his bare feet on the hardwood the only sound under the music playing quietly from the tv.

It’s a minute or two before he gets back and this time when he comes to sit on the couch, he lays across the cushions on his stomach, grabbing the pillow to your left and tucking it between his arm and his head. He’s so, so close to you now, the smell of his shampoo making its way over to you when he nuzzles his head against the pillow. Once he’s completely comfortable, he takes a deep breath and then speaks softly.

“I’m a musician. So. When I said ‘shaped me,’ I meant it almost literally.” His voice sounds a little different when his cheek is smushed into the throw pillow.

“So I’m guessing you play guitar?” you say, blinking up at the TV as the man on the screen’s fingers crawl across the frets.

“I do.” He says it simply, but not in a way that’s short. You look down at his right hand, bent at the elbow and holding on to the pillow. At this distance, you can see there’s a little indent around his middle finger, like he wears a ring of some sort.

“I don’t really have any… creative talents. So I think that’s really impressive.” Your words are quiet and you’re trying to coax him back out of his shell. He lifts his head from the pillow, and when he’s looking up at you from below, his glassy brown eyes are enough to make your heart melt. You have to blink a few times through the brain fog to really focus on them, and when you do, your pulse quickens.

“I’m sure that’s not true. What do you do?” He asks softly, and luckily, he doesn’t seem to notice the way you’re staring at him.

“It’s very true. I’m an accountant.” You answer, laugh bubbling out of you at the absurdity of it all. “Literally the opposite of creative.” 

He breaks into a grin, laughing with you for a second or two, and you think it’s the sweetest sound you’ve ever heard. 

“...Alright. You got me there. We can watch something else…” He says, looking for the remote, and you mourn the loss of eye contact. 

“No, no! I wanted you to pick something you’d watch even if I wasn’t here, and you did. Plus, I kinda like your commentary. This stuff is all new to me.” You say, and he chuckles softly. He rests his head on the pillow again, his arm grazing yours unintentionally. He pays it no mind.

“If you say so.” 

After another two videos accompanied by Jake’s narration, you find yourself so hungry, you think you might be withering away. When there’s a lull in his commentary, you whisper into the dim room from behind him. 

“Is it normal to feel like I need a snack so urgently I might pass away?” 

He stretches a little, rolling over to look at you again. You give him a slow smile, your eyes squinting as your cheeks push them closed. 

“I can go see what I have… It’s been a minute since I’ve been home but there’s probably–”

“No!” You interject, sitting up a little more. He jumps at the motion, a little startled. “I have this tray of chocolate covered strawberries in my fridge! My coworker called in today, and her boyfriend sent her like two dozen of them, so obviously I brought them home.” 

“Oh hell yeah.” He answers, smiling back at you. 

“I’ll be right back!” You say excitedly, hopping off the couch and swiping your keys off the table. You quickly slip on your shoes and head for the front door, darting out into the cold night. 

It’s not long before you’re kicking the refrigerator door shut and sneaking back out into the windy February air. As you cross the street you see his door open, and once you’re close enough, you duck inside. He takes the box from you right away as he shuts the door.

After putting it down on the table near his front door, he reaches for your bare arms, rubbing them to warm you up. He laughs softly as you smile up at him.

“You didn’t bring your sweater, you absolute maniac…” he chides playfully, and you laugh in response, a chill running up your spine. His hands are so warm and his presence so comforting that you find yourself resisting the urge to wrap yourself up in him.

“I didn’t think it would be that cold.” you mumble, trying to keep your teeth from chattering.

“Oh, you thought the cold snap had just let up suddenly?” he asks with a sarcastic inflection, and you roll your eyes with a smile as he lets go of your arms. “Figured it was probably a cozy 27 degrees instead of 22?” 

You pick the strawberries back up and walk past him, back toward the living room to take your seat again. Before you can offer him a snarky retort, he’s quickly heading up the stairs of his old house, taking them two at a time as they creak and crack. Footsteps sound from above you, moving in one direction and then the other, before he’s coming back down slower than he had ascended. When he appears in the entryway of the living room, he’s holding the biggest, plushest navy blue down comforter you’ve ever seen in both of his arms. He’s peeking over and around it as he navigates behind the coffee table, careful not to trip or bump into something. 

“What’s all this?” You ask, laughing at the sight before you as you sit criss-crossed on the chaise, the container of strawberries still sitting in your lap, uneaten. 

“The comforter from my bed, obviously.” He answers, snatching the berries from you once more and putting them on the coffee table. You groan, but it’s short lived, as he drops the entire giant comforter overtop of you. He arranges it to wrap you inside of it, letting your head peek out. He tucks it under your thighs and tugs it closed across your chest. 

“Thank you,” you mumble through a tight-lipped smile, finding him a little ridiculous, but also thoughtful and sweet. He plops down next to you, sitting similarly to you with his legs crossed, the box of strawberries between you. He opens them and offers you one by the stem, which you graciously accept. 

You take a bite, quickly moving your hand under your chin to catch any of the chocolate cracking and falling. You moan a little at the taste, smiling at him when his eyes cut to yours. 

He takes a bite of his own, his approach for avoiding a mess a little different than yours. His bite is so big that it takes him a while to chew through it, eventually speaking with some still in his mouth. 

“I don’t know who the fuck decided these are supposed to be a romantic food.” He has a little bit of chocolate in his mustache and you can’t help but giggle, his tongue quickly darting out to lick it. “I’ve never had a more difficult time eating anything in my goddamn life.” He says, a hearty laugh rumbling through his chest.

You’re so far under the influence and feeling so content from finally getting your hands on the sweets you were craving, all you can do is giggle in response. It’s the kind of giggle that lingers, when the joke is probably forgotten. He’s watching you with one raised brow as you cover your mouth and try to stop it. 

He eventually joins you, unable to resist the contagious, almost delusional snickering coming from you under the giant blanket across from him. It’s a sweet, silly moment, and it feels effortless. You spend the next few minutes chewing and laughing and stealing glances at him in secret. The edible has you at a point where you’re not sure if you’re speaking out loud or thinking the words in your head. So then, the question you’re considering asking him just slips out. 

“Why are you so tan in February?” You laugh, realizing it was a little forward of you to just ask out of nowhere. Luckily, you’re met with a stoned giggle of his own before he swallows and answers.

“I… went to a music festival in South America last week.” He says, eyes flicking up to yours, almost like he’s trying to see if you believe him.

“See anyone good?” You pry, your cheeks a little flushed the more you stare at him and catalog his mannerisms.

“Nobody you’d know.” He says, and you take him at his word. He smiles reassuringly, even though you don’t believe him, and it makes you giggle some more.

Eventually, it settles down and it’s just occasional quiet laughs cutting through the quiet of the room. He reaches for another strawberry and you realize it’s a little too quiet. You turn your head towards the tv, the last video having ended, and the countdown to the next one descending from 15. You squint your eyes a little to see what’s about to play next.

Rig Rundown: Greta Van Fleet [2021] is the title. But what really throws you is the thumbnail. The image is an older guy with coiffed silver hair, smiling and pointing at… Jake? He’s got a smug smile on his face, an arm on this other guy’s shoulder, and his hair down, which you think you’ve seen only once. He’s in a navy blue blazer with a hand on his hip, a guitar hanging across the front of his body. 

“...Is that you?”

10…9…8…

“Huh?” Jake says as he looks up at you from the box of strawberries, his mouth full, a stem pinched between his two fingers. He sees where you’re looking and follows your gaze towards the TV as it counts down. 

7…6…5…

“Oh, fuck–” 

You quickly grab the remote control from the end of the coffee table, trying to find the OK button so it will start playing sooner. Jake panics, tossing the carton of berries onto the table with reckless abandon. He lunges towards you, so you hide the remote inside the comforter along with as much of yourself as you can.

“No!” He shouts playfully, grabbing at the blanket and trying to unravel you. He kneels on the edge of the chaise, knocking you over and trying to get to your hands and arms under the layers and layers of soft, fluffy blankets.

“You have… to let… me watch it!” You argue with a laugh, avoiding his grasp. You finally decide to raise the remote all the way over your head, almost over the edge of the couch. He leans forward over top of you, his weight balanced on his palm next to your head.

“Hand it over.” He says, attempting to be stern, but there’s a smile pulling at his lips. A little jingle begins to play, and you can’t see the screen, but you’re positive the video is starting. You adjust the remote in your hand and crank the volume as he stares down at you. His eyes linger on your lips, then your eyes, then your lips again. His stare is only broken when he realizes it’s getting louder. A riff starts to fill the room, a song you can’t say you’ve ever heard before, and he huffs, reaching for the remote again.

You’re a little distracted watching him on the screen over his shoulder, his long hair and unbuttoned shirt and the way his hands look wrapped around the neck of the guitar. He snatches the remote from you with an extra stretch of his arm and you giggle softly. “Oh my god…” 

“Hey, hey! I’m John from Premier Guitar, and I’m here with Jake Kiszka from–”

Jake pauses the video, falling back into his seat on the couch. His head lolls to the side and he looks at you with a playful, annoyed glare. 

“Absolutely not.” 

“Why the hell are you doing guitar interviews?”

“I told you I’m a musician.” He says, a little short, lifting the remote to exit the video.

“No, no, wait!” You plead, reaching for his forearm to lower it. “Just let me watch, like, a minute.” He doesn’t say anything for a moment. “If you don't, I'll just go home and watch it anyway.” 

He groans, mumbling a barely there “fine,” begrudgingly before pressing play and letting the guy continue.

“Greta Van Fleet! Jake, congratulations! Since I last saw you, you won a grammy! Or two grammys?” 

“Yeah, one…” 

“You have a fucking GRAMMY?” You exclaim as the video continues to play. You turn and look at him, but his eyes are on the screen, squinting with what you can tell is embarrassment. 

“Are you gonna talk through your allotted one minute of watching or what?” He says, giving you a little warning look. You grin, turning your attention back to the screen. As the guy goes on and on, you realize this isn’t the part you want to watch. 

“Can we skip past this guy? He talks a lot. This is not how I want to use my minute.” You bargain, and he just offers you the remote silently with a smirk. 

You fast forward a little until you see he’s about to play. It’s a few seconds of him playing something else you’ve never heard, and then he speaks.

“It’s hotter, it’s a bit hotter…”

You smirk with wide eyes, looking at him in your peripherals.

“Shut up.” He says, closing his eyes like he simply can’t watch any more. You laugh at his dramatics, and when he hears it he can’t help but crack a smile. His cheeks are rosy and you look back at the screen, eyes trying to decide on what part of him to land on. 

“This guy…” You start, shaking your head a little.

“He’s a bit much.” Jake says, looking over at you with a half smile. 

“He’s so sweaty!” You add, laughing through your words. 

He lets you watch for more than a minute. He makes a few comments, scoffing at himself, even running his hand over his face a few times. You can tell it’s a little painful for him, but you’re in your glory. You reach for another strawberry as you look over at his embarrassed face.

“So this is why you’re never here…” you say, turning the volume down a little. “And the music festival…”

“Yep. That would be the reason.” He says softly, sniffing a little as he watches. You turn to look at him and his eyes flick up to yours, his gaze traveling straight to your lips. There's a flicker in his eyes, and you hardly comprehend that his hand is moving towards your face. You feel his thumb swipe softly against your bottom lip, a tiny smear of chocolate on the tip of his digit. Your tongue immediately licks over the place his thumb was, tasting the sugary sweetness of the chocolate that was once there. He places his thumb between his lips, licking the chocolate from his own finger, while his eyes stay locked on yours. 

“Somehow, it’s even sweeter.” he breathes letting his hand drop from his lips. He settles back into the couch cushions resting his head on his hand as he looks at you. You can hardly pull your eyes away from his as your heart races in your chest, the video in the background long forgotten. 

“Tell me why you’re alone on Valentine’s day…” he murmurs, his pink lips barely parting to let the words escape.

“You tell me why you are…” you counter, blinking slowly as you stare at him.

He bites his lips together as he tosses around the words in his head. He clicks his tongue against his teeth as he starts to speak. “Well, to be honest… I’ve had trouble finding someone that can live with the burden of my lifestyle. It’s a lot to ask of someone. ”

“Burden?” you ask. 

“Yeah, that’s the word that always gets thrown around when things go south. And they’re not wrong I suppose. I know that I’m gone more than I’m home. Even you know that.” He says with a humorless chuckle. “Half the time I don’t know the next time that I’ll be home and get to sleep in my own bed. So naturally that sort of…uncertainty doesn’t lend well to relationships. Of any kind really…” he pauses, letting out a sigh. “It’s hard to find, let alone keep, any type of meaningful connection… Especially when I’m halfway around the world. But I swear it’s not for lack of trying on my end. It’s just one of those things that comes with the job whether you want it or not.”

You nod your head slowly, feeling your heart breaking for him. If you weren’t sure before, you are positive now that he is just a little more lonely than he is willing to let on.

“I wasn’t even supposed to be here now. We’re supposed to be traveling to New York right now. Though, everything happens for a reason I guess.” he says, offering you a little smirk as he brushes his hand over top of yours. “Now, your turn. Tell me why such an intriguing woman is all alone on the most romantic day of the year…”

You pull the fluffy blanket up a little further onto your lap, toying with the hem as you look up at him. “I haven’t really dated anyone since I moved here. I thought I would but, I just…haven’t. I thought that once I was settled into a good routine at work I could spend a little more time meeting people, but every time I go out I’m suddenly surrounded by twenty other girls who are by modern standards perfect, and I just don’t even stand a chance against them, you know?” you pause, letting your fingers roll over the stitching on the edge of the duvet. “I don’t look like them, and I never will. So I just work a lot, hang out with my friends when I can, and have zero expectations of ever being the person that is going to stand out in a crowd like that.”

You bite the inside of your cheek as you wait for his response, suddenly feeling stupid for telling this stranger your secrets. 

“You couldn't be more wrong.” he breathes, letting his arm fall against the back of the couch. There’s an air of demand in his voice as he speaks. His hand swipes the hair away from your face, letting his fingers brush your jawline. “You’re prettier than all of them. And smarter, and funnier. They have nothing on you. I’d pick you…In a crowd.”

“You don’t have to just say that to try and make me feel better. It’s okay, really.” you say dismissively.

“I’m not just saying that, Y/N. I mean it. You’re so pretty, and you’re so quick witted, and you listen to me talk about stuff no one else cares about...Shit, I can’t think of one person I know that would have sat through even the first video, let alone let me talk through the entire thing. I’m having one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time, with you.” he urges, settling his hand loosely on the curve of your neck. His skin is warm against yours, and you can smell the remnants of the cologne he likely sprayed on his wrist this morning as it wafts towards your nose. 

You laugh softly, suddenly feeling shy as he compliments you. You lean into him without even noticing, your eyes closing as you breathe him in. The cushion dips as he leans towards you, meeting you where you were and pressing his lips to yours almost tentatively. His fingers grip into your neck as his tongue swipes against your bottom lip. If the gummy didn’t already have you feeling floaty, you were sure you’d be feeling it now. He pulls away from you and a small whimper leaves your mouth at the loss of his warmth. His hand slides down your neck and over your shoulder, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards him. With his other hand, he picks up the remote and hits pause, not wanting the video to carry on in the background of what you think is about to be another kiss. 

“C’mere…” he growls, holding a hand out to you. You tuck your feet underneath yourself in an attempt to push up onto your knees, feeling slightly off-kilter. You grip his hand a little tighter as you reach for his shoulder, moving slowly until you’re straddling his lap. He positions your legs on either side of him, making sure you’re comfortable, and taking the opportunity to run his hands over your thighs. You rest your hands on his chest for some stability, your head in the clouds. His hands immediately find their way back to your face, cupping your cheeks as he pulls you in and kisses you again,though this time there is a little more urgency behind it. You slide your hands up and over his shoulders, letting your fingers weave into his hair, grabbing a handful of the chestnut locks and gripping it in your fists. He tilts his head back slightly in response. 

“Oh, fuck.” he groans. He looks at you with his head tilted back, his lids heavy, a barely-there crooked smile on his face. He’s such a sight with his dark eyes and pink lips, you think you might burst on the spot. You know you need to kiss him again, but you also want to hear him moan and curse again, and his exposed throat is calling to you.

Leaning down, you place a kiss to his jaw, the skin soft and warm. You feel like you’re in the passenger seat as someone else, a bolder and less inhibited version of yourself, calls the shots. One minute, you’re thinking about how the textured skin of his throat feels against your cheek, then then the next, you’re kissing and licking at it without a second thought. You feel his skin buzz under your lips as he whines, the taste of his skin and cologne mixed together so good you’re certain you’ll never be able to forget it. 

You feel yourself melting into him, your tongue pulling the delicate skin over his clavicle into your mouth as you suck and bite softly without any consideration for the fact that he probably shouldn’t be covered in love bites. When you lift your head, he’s got his own resting on the back of the couch, his eyes closed, his brows knitted together as you shower him in searing kisses.

Sitting up, you lean over him again for another kiss, this time taking it upon yourself to deepen it, grazing your teeth over his bottom lip as you lace your hands in his hair again, taking a bit of control. You feel him shudder beneath you, his hips bucking up in response. His tongue slides into your mouth and you can taste the lingering flavor of the tequila he was no doubt drinking prior to your arrival mixed with a hint of chocolate. His hands travel down your body, sliding underneath the hem of your shirt. He stops as his hands wrap around your waist, his thumbs swiping over your skin. You lean into his grip, feeling him pull you down onto his groin as his teeth nip at your lips now. 

You know that both of you are still feeling the effects of the gummy and there isn’t a shred of inhibition between the two of you. You release your grip on his hair and let your hands trail down the open buttons of his shirt, feeling the chest you’ve stared at all night beneath your fingertips. You slide them further down, letting your fingers toy with the remaining buttons, waiting to see if he will stop you, but when he doesn’t, you finish the job and push his shirt open completely. A silver necklace rests between his pecs, and you smile recognizing the coin as one of the artifacts you saw in one of the videos from earlier in the night. 

His mouth is like velvet on yours and you can’t help but to want more of him. You roll your hips against him, feeling him growing beneath you and spurring you on even more. Another groan leaves his mouth, his lips vibrating on yours. His hands move up a little further, his thumbs just dusting the underside of your bralette. You can tell he’s doing his best to be respectful, but you simply cannot wait another second to feel his hands on your body. 

You reach for the hem of your shirt and pull it over your head, tossing it to the side. He swallows thickly as his eyes roam over you, his lips parting as he looks you over. His mind is struggling to keep up with the pace things are moving. He hums in approval as he runs a calloused fingertip over your navel, which pulls a lazy smile from you. Jake chuckles in response, now moving his hands to rest at your shoulders before pulling you down closer to him so he can press a wet kiss to your collarbone. His lips trail down your skin until they reach the fullness of your chest, and with his eyes now locked on yours, he sucks a hot, audible kiss into the rounded skin.

Your eyes flutter closed as his tongue swipes against your skin, simultaneously feeling his fingers pull the bralette straps down over your shoulders. With the extra support gone the cups fall slightly, revealing a little more of your chest to him. You grab his hands and pull them to your chest, giving him the green light to take things a little further. 

“God, you’re stunning.” he mumbles breathlessly, gripping into your tits as you roll your hips against him. You lean forward to press your lips to his again, licking into his mouth as his hands move to circle around your back, resting just at the base of your back. He presses you closer as you roll into him again, this time feeling his fully hard cock pressed against your core. He hooks a finger into one side of your bralette, freeing your nipple. He leans forward and takes into his mouth, sucking softly. You groan at the feeling, a breath of air leaving his mouth as you drag across the length of him. He pulls you closer, dragging his tongue over the sensitive bud as mewls fall from your lips. You usually aren’t as affected by something so routine in foreplay, but all of your senses are heightened and you think you could probably cum from the feeling of his mouth spoiling you with kisses and bites combined with how hard he is between your thighs.

He pulls back just enough to look into your eyes, still glassy and blown out. “I promise this isn’t what I intended when I invited you over...” he breathes, his thumbs swiping against your back as he licks his lips, his blinks slow and lazy. 

“I know…” you answer with a bashful smile and lidded eyes, staring into his brown irises. “But it feels too good to stop.” 

“Yeah,” he says, more of a breath than a word. “I want you so fucking bad right now.” he adds, a smirk pulling across his lips as he makes the move to roll you to your back on the chaise of the couch. You're giggling as he’s now hovering over you, similarly to how he was earlier, only this time you know he’s going to kiss you and you don’t have to wish for it. He makes quick work of his shirt, pulling his arms from the sleeves and tossing it to the other side of the room. Your head is positively spinning, the room around you seems like a blur and the only thing in focus is him.

He runs a finger over your chest, hooking into the fabric of your bralette. “Take this off for me, sweetheart. Show me.” he mumbles, his lazy eyes slowly raking over every inch of you, needing more.

You practically burst into flames, rushing to pull the fabric over your head. Now completely exposed to him, his eyes flick down to your chest as he bites his lips together. He pulls back again, unbuttoning his pants and pulling the zipper down for some relief. He swallows harshly, letting his eyes meet yours again. You reach your hand up and hook it around his neck, pulling his face down to yours. You press your lips to his and he lowers himself down to his elbows, deepening the kiss as his body lays on top of yours. 

You let your free hand circle around his back, your fingers following the contours of his waist, dipping down to his spine as you run the length of his back. He groans at the feeling of your nails against his skin, and you find yourself wondering if he’s usually this vocal or if the high he’s experiencing has lowered his guard. 

He shoots up, turning his head around to look at the TV, muttering something under his breath as he grabs the remote from the other side of the couch. He exits the video and you giggle, realizing it was paused on a still of his brother, you assume, in the middle of talking with his hands, sitting behind a keyboard. He tosses the remote to the coffee table, leaning back down over you with a smirk. “Sorry. I just think three’s a crowd.” he smiles, pressing another kiss to your lips.

He pulls away from your lips leaving a trail of kisses down your throat, and over your sternum, stopping just shy of the top of your yoga pants. His eyes flick up to yours, and you offer him a shy nod, silently thanking yourself for that “everything” shower this morning. 

He kisses your stomach one more time before curling his fingers beneath the hem, sliding them slowly over your hips and down your legs before letting them fall softly to the floor. You lay there in just your panties, and you think he may notice that you’re feeling exposed as he quickly stands to kick off his pants. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the heavy outline of his dick, visible and straining against the black fabric of his boxers. 

His eyes flick to yours but you can’t seem to take your eyes off of the tan line just above the elastic of his boxers, wanting more than anything to peel the black fabric from his hips. He kneels onto the chaise, settling himself between your legs and caging you between his arms. A few strands of his hair hang around his face, and his dark brown eyes are growing darker by the second. You bring your hand up to his stomach, letting your fingers sneak beneath the elastic of his boxers, sliding across the front of his waist causing him to clench up his stomach with a smile. 

“You ticklish?” you murmur, continuing to slide your fingers across his waistband. 

He drops his head to look at your hand in his boxers before looking back up at you with a smirk. “Not ticklish, just…sensitive…” he growls. You can tell that the gummy has made him a little more responsive to touch than he normally is.

His hips jolt forward on their own accord and you feel the brush of his dick against your fingers. He sucks in a harsh breath at the contact, his eyes connecting with yours. You pull your bottom lip between your teeth as you push your hand further inside, wrapping softly around his hardened length. A hiss leaves his mouth and he starts to breathe a little heavier as you squeeze around him. You slide your hand up and around the tip, rounding off at the end before sliding back down, watching his eyes flutter closed for the slightest second. 

“Fuck, wait…” he breathes, pulling back and taking a second to compose himself. He sits up a little more, hooking his fingers into your thong and pulling it swiftly down your legs. His eyes flick up towards the couch then back down the length of the chaise, “Move down a little for me, baby. Rest your feet on the floor. ” 

You quickly push yourself further down on the couch, letting your knees hang over the edge of the chaise until your feet meet the rug on the floor. He drops to his knees at the end of the chaise, running his warm hands up the length of your thighs. He kisses the inside of your thigh, humming in appreciation for the position he’d found himself in. 

He rests both of his hands on your hips, and as you look down at him, you see a faint silver scar up the length of his left arm. You wrap your hand around his forearm, feeling his veins pulsing against your palm.

His eyes meet yours as he slowly drags his tongue through your folds, hot and slow as you throw your head back into the couch cushion. His grip on your waist tightens, his fingers pressing firmly into your skin pulling you closer as his lips suction over your clit. His tongue swipes against you again, flatter and with more pressure as you writhe beneath him. 

“Fuck…” he curses, his warm breath sending a shiver up your spine. “Had I known what I was missing…” he pauses to lick at you again. “I would have pulled you across the street months ago. You taste like heaven.”

You feel as if you’re floating on a cloud as you melt into his comforter, the warmth from the fireplace radiating across the room. A soft gasp falls from your lips as he laps at you, no urgency or strategy behind his method. He seems to just be enjoying himself, his eyes lifting to look at you, a little lazy, a little glassy. You shift underneath him slightly, but he’s not deterred. His mouth doesn’t leave you for even a moment, like you’re his only source of vitality in this very moment. 

You whine when you feel his tongue press to your entrance, and you feel the smile that pulls across his lips. Your hips buck up towards him, his nose brushing over your clit, sending you quickly towards a place you’re not quite ready to be yet. His tongue finds you again, pressing forward this time and entering just for a second before pulling back out. His lips suction over you again, and he shakes his head side to side, taking you to that place whether you’re ready or not.

“Jake…” you whine, sliding your hands into his hair.

“Mmm?” he hums into you, his eyes slowly opening to find yours, heavy with lust. 

“More…” you beg, shuddering the slightest bit as you see how dark his eyes have become.

He gives you one more slow, long lap of his tongue, like he’s savoring it and committing the taste of you to memory. He stands from where he was kneeling and taps your thigh gently, wordlessly telling you to shift back up on the chaise. You scoot backwards and he follows, nestling himself between your legs, propped up on his palm. With the hand he isn’t using for balance, he frees himself from his briefs. He strokes himself once, but then lets himself go and you feel him against you, his cock heavy and hard, landing on the inside of your thigh with the softest sound. He pulls back slightly and when he pushes his hips forward again, he’s sliding through your folds, slick and lewd. It makes your cheeks hot.

“You’re so fucking wet…” he grunts, his voice strained like he’s in pain. “Just wanna feel you for a second…”

He lowers himself to bury his face in your hair, his breath hot as he pants, gently rutting his hips against you, his thrusts a little uncoordinated and desperate. 

“Everything’s just so fucking sensitive.” he says, his now boyish voice cracking as it’s muffled by the pillow behind your head. He wraps his arms tightly around you and under you, like he’s worried you’re about to float away. “Feels so good.”

With a deep breath he releases you, sliding his hand down to fist his base. As he presses the tip to your entrance his eyes lock on yours, wordlessly asking if you’re ready, and when you nod he starts to press forward. His eyes flick down to your center, watching as he slides into you. The stretch is noticeable, but you welcome it. You want it. His eyes flutter closed for just a second and you feel him stop his movement, not pressing into you fully. 

“Fuck, give me a second.” he pants, his chest heaving. 

You feel him try to slide in a little more, but again he’s holding back. 

“I think– I think you’re gonna have to take the reins here.” he admits. 

“What do you mean…”

“If I move a single inch more I won’t–” he pauses, shaking his head as he blows out a breath. “I just need you to be on top.” 

His eyes are pleading, searching yours, and you can’t possibly fathom the idea of ever denying him. 

“I’ll make it worth your while.” he offers, and you can’t help but give him a little smirk, nodding. He withdraws and gives you a little space to get up, ditching his underwear before taking your place. You gingerly climb over him, taking a moment to brush one of the strands of hair that frames his face out of the way. He gives you a soft, lazy smile, his eyes barely open as he welcomes your gentle touch. 

His hand reaches between the two of you as he lines himself up, and you waste no time lowering yourself onto him, savoring how full he makes you feel. Intending to fly right out of the gates you lift your hips again, but he slowly settles you down, a soft hum rumbling through him. 

“That’s it. Yeah… Lean back for me?” he coaches, and you do as he asks without a second thought. His warm hand brushes down your abdomen until his thumb makes contact with your clit to rub gentle circles while his lidded eyes are open just a sliver to stare intently at where your bodies are meeting. His pink lips are parted slightly, his breathing shallow. You can’t help the wanton moan that escapes your throat at the sight paired with his careful touch.

“Rest your hands on my knees. I won’t let you fall.” he instructs, letting his free hand slide up your thigh. You do as he says, leaning back onto his knees, allowing you to take him a little deeper. “Just like that, baby. Fuck…” 

You roll your hips in figure eights, feeling him brush against that sensitive place inside you, eliciting a whine from your chest. 

“Yeah? Right there?” he asks, eyes flicking up to meet yours. “You stay just like that. Let me take over.” 

He brings his foot up to rest on the cushion, giving himself a little more leverage. His hand firmly grips into your hip as he forcefully flicks his hips and fucks up into you. You gasp as he hits that spot, like he knew where it was the whole time. His thumb never relenting in its work on your clit.

“Yeah, damn. That’s it isn’t it, sweetheart? You feel so good like this... You just keep squeezin’ me, just like that.”

The force of his thrusts cause his silver chain to work its way up his body and into the crook of his neck. Your attention is quickly drawn to the metal coins rattling together with each thrust. 

“M’gonna cum…” you warn him so he can decide whether or not to back off, but he just groans and keeps his motions steady. You can’t breathe when it hits you, nor can you help the way you fall forward, gasping for breath. Steadying yourself with weak arms, you grasp at the plush comforter underneath him.

“Fuck me that’s tight,” he groans. “Fuck.” He grabs your wrists on either side of his head for leverage, thrusting up into you so hard you see stars. It’s like your vision goes white as your chest heaves and you meet your end, crying out a desperate wail of his name.

“Slow down for me now, baby.” he coos as you tremble and try to catch your breath. You nod, taking all of him slowly with each roll of your hips. Looking down at him, you can tell he’s struggling to keep it together. Something about the way he’s dewy with sweat, his chest rising and falling, his hair sticking to his face… It makes your head spin. You watch his stoned eyes rolling back each time you take him so deeply the head of his cock brushes against the deepest part of you and it’s almost too much to bear. 

He grips your hips suddenly, inhaling sharply. You freeze, knowing what he’s getting at, and you feel him twitch inside you. His brow is knitted up in concentration and a whine leaves his perfect, heart-shaped lips. 

“Goddamn… you feel too good. I can’t– I can’t hold it, fuck…” he babbles, his voice pitched higher than you’ve heard it all night. Before you can say a word, he continues on. 

“Can I do it inside? Please, baby, can I? Pl– oh, god, please? Wanna cum inside you so bad, so fucking bad… Can I? Baby–” 

“Do it.” you urge, desperate to give him anything he wants in this very moment. 

“Yeah?” he gasps. 

“Yeah, do it. Please. I need it…” you whine, squeezing him with everything you have one last time. 

“Oh fuck…” he groans, his grip on your hips tightening as he pulls you down and holds you in place as he pumps into you. “God damn, fuck me…” he cries out, grunting with each pulse inside you. His brows are furrowed and his eyes screwed shut before finally letting out a deep breath and slowing his hips. 

His chest is heaving and a sheen of sweat covers his tanned skin. His hand moves from your hips, swiping the sweaty hair from his forehead. You lift to your knees, knowing exactly why his eyes are still trained on the place the two of you meet. He wants to see his work.

As you lift up, you feel his release start to stream out of you and back down onto his cock. A huff of pride leaves his chest, his tongue swiping out over his bottom lip before biting it between his teeth. 

“Should we clean up?” he asks, watching the hot white streams drip down to his base. 

“I’m working on it...” you say softly, lifting off of him completely and dropping to your knees. You plant your hands on either side of his hips, arching your back and pressing your ass into the air as you lower your mouth over his cum covered cock. 

“Fuck…” he groans, watching your lips slide down his length.

Closing your lips over his base, you take him as far into your throat as you can, sucking his release from his skin as you work your way up, dragging your tongue over his every inch. You can feel him growing hard again as you reach the tip, lapping and circling your tongue around the sensitive skin. You drop down to his base again, but this time you feel his hand grip into your hair, holding you there as his hips jerk forward, propelling him further down your throat. 

“Look at me.” he demands, and you flick your watery eyes up to meet his. 

You gag around him and he releases your hair, his eyes dark and filled with desire. “Mmm…Yeah, fuck. We’re gonna revisit this...” he says, eyes fixed on you as you pull off of him with a pop. “Just needed to see how pretty you look with my cock down your throat.”

You can’t stop the tiny gasp that escapes you as you shoot him a playfully shocked grin. You blink once, raising your brows. 

“We have a lot to revisit. Where did that come from?” You ask through a laugh, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. He chuckles, handing you your shirt. 

“Sorry, sorry. The edible’s wearing off.” He says with a smirk, attempting to get himself off the couch. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

Jake shows you to the bathroom, then disappears into his bedroom while you freshen up. When you emerge, re-dressed and significantly less sticky, he hears your footsteps and comes out to meet you in the hallway. The two of you smile at each other, feeling the THC and endorphins and feelings starting to settle like you’re standing in a snowglobe.

“I'm glad you came over. Sorry I Jake’d you for a few hours.” He says softly, and there’s some jingling coming from his bedroom, which is probably Davy annoyed that you’re still lingering in his house. Jake hears it, reaching behind him to close his bedroom door without looking away from you.

“Jake’d me? Please don’t tell me that’s what you call–”

“NO, no, no. Oh, no. Getting ‘Jake’d’ is what my family calls it when I corner one of them into talking to me for an extended period of time about something they don’t really care about in excruciating detail.” He explains like he’s reading the definition from a textbook, a charming smile on his face. He seems a little embarrassed but at the same time, he sees the humor in it.

“Well I had a really great time.” you answer genuinely, pushing your hair behind your ear. “You can Jake me whenever you want.” You joke, a laugh bubbling out of you. You wiggle your eyebrows at him playfully and it coaxes a short, loud laugh out of him as well. 

“I just might take you up on that.” He says, and there’s a rosy tint to his cheeks even in the dim lighting of the hallway.

“You know where to find me...” 

As if he can tell you’re about to try and take your leave, he starts to walk past you and down the stairs. 

“...Have you ever watched those videos where they clean out old barns?”

–

The two of you ended up curled together on the chaise, tucked under his big comfy blanket. The exhaustion hits you all at once, and about 10 minutes in, you slip into a deep sleep, your head tucked into his shoulder, his arm around you, his hand gently scratching your scalp. 

Hours later, you wake up unsure where you are for a moment. As you shift a little, you feel there’s a heavy weight against you, which you soon realize is Jake’s leg. You’re no longer tucked underneath the giant duvet, a little sweaty, as Jake is asleep on his back. His hand is tucked into his sweatpants resting on his upper thigh, and you have to peel your eyes away once you spot the first sign of him half hard and half asleep. You can see his bold tan line and the slightest bit of hair through the gap he’s created. Sitting up, you try to search for a clock somewhere in the room or even your phone. Feeling around the chaise under you, you don’t find it. You look over on the other side of Jake hoping it’s there, but the only thing you find there is little Davy, curled into a ball and pressed against Jake’s back. 

Jake seems to feel you moving around and it wakes him, eliciting a raspy hum from his chest. He pulls you back in towards him, your back to his chest, and you feel him shaking his head against your shoulder.

“Morning,” you say through a breathy laugh, but at the sound of your voice, you hear the jingle of Davy’s collar and the tippy-taps of his feet as he runs as far away from you as humanly possible.

“Too early.” He grumbles, reaching blindly over his head to feel around for the curtains. When he doesn’t find them, he groans and gets up, tugging them closed tight. “Fuck. Slept with my contacts in.” He says, standing over you and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. He stretches his arms over his head, his tanline peeking out again, and you squeeze your eyes closed trying to keep your head on straight. He sighs deeply before sliding back onto the couch with you, pulling you tight to him. The two of you fall back asleep soon after, the only sound you hear is the clinking of Davy’s collar tag against his bowl and some quiet crunching.

–

When you wake again it’s from the feeling of Jake’s fingers moving against your hip. You stretch your legs out along the chaise, feeling the brush of his sweatpants against your legs. You roll your body towards him letting out a yawn. His eyes open, a little red from the dryness of sleeping with his contacts in, but as they fully open you’re once again pulled in by the dark brown irises. 

“Still too early?” you whisper, your morning voice thick with sleep. 

“Mmm, a bit, but I should probably get up. I’m sure my phone is just completely blown up by this point.” he groans, stretching his own legs out. “You sleep okay? We should’ve just moved to the bed earlier.”

“Actually this couch is pretty comfy, no complaints from me.” you smile, watching a grin spread across his own face. 

“Speaking of complaints, your snoring…” he trails off. 

“I don’t snore!” you admonish, playfully pushing off of his warm chest. 

“No, you don’t. I’m just kidding. You are warm though, but that’s not a complaint.” he growls, tossing the comforter off of both of you. He pushes himself up off of the couch, his sweatpants dangerously low on his hips. “Coffee? You drink coffee?” he asks, searching for his phone on the coffee table. “Or I can order something to the house, though there’s really only one good place that deliv–”

You send him a knowing look and he stops himself. 

“But you know that already because you live across the street.” he sighs. “So, coffee?”

“Coffee’s good.” you answer, looking for your own phone. 

“How do you like it? Sugar? Milk? I don’t know what I have but–”

“Just sugar is fine…” you smirk. 

He leans over the coffee table to grab his phone, stealing a kiss on his descent. 

“Hey!” you laugh.

“You said just sugar…” he grins, swiping his phone and disappearing into his kitchen. 

You stifle back the smile on your lips, and a morning you thought might be slightly awkward, feels like you’ve done it a million times. You pull on your cardigan, and run your fingers through your hair, straightening up the couch cushions, and repositioning the pillows. You’re finishing folding up his comforter as he walks into the room. 

“Ahh, you didn’t have to do that.” he says, placing your mug on the coffee table.

“No trouble, just cleaning up our mess.” you smile, tossing the folded comforter down onto the couch. 

“You seem to be rather good at that...” he smirks into his coffee mug. 

Your cheeks grow hot as you recall what he is referring to. You grab your mug from the table and take a few sips, finding that somehow it’s made exactly how you like it. 

You spot your keys under the coffee table, bending to grab them. “There they are. Always getting away from me.”

He chuckles as he takes his normal seat on the couch, crossing his leg over his knee. You stare at him, just enjoying his coffee on his couch and you want to ask him if you can see him again, but you don’t. You think back to what he told you last night, and decide against it. 

You place your empty mug on the table, and bite your lips together before looking at him. “Thank you– for the coffee, and everything. It was nice.” 

“Yeah, it was nice, wasn’t it? Same time next year?” he jokes, offering you a wink. 

“Oh yeah, I thought that was a given…” you say through a laugh, “I mean, if you’re home of course.”

You grab your phone and keys from the coffee table and stand, ready to make your way towards the front door. He joins you in standing, the mug still clasped in his hand.

“Yeah, you just never know, ya know? I mean, maybe we don’t even have to wait that long…” he laughs, taking another sip of his coffee with a shrug. 

“Yeah, I mean, you have my number…” You smile, twisting the front door knob. 

“That I do. I definitely do.” he pauses, as you pull the door open. “Hey wait, let me walk you home.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, it’s just right there…” you say nervously. 

“No, really. I want to. Just give me a sec.” he says, setting his mug on the entry table and rushing to grab a hoodie from his coat rack. He slides on a pair of dirty white Vans that have definitely seen better days, and opens the door further. “Alright, you ready?”

The two of you make your way through his front yard, giggling back and forth all the way to your front door as he quizzes you about the videos you watched last night. As you step up to your front porch mat you pull your keys from your cardigan pocket and start to unlock the door. 

“Thanks for walking me home. You’re such a gentleman…” you say, feigning romance. As you peek over his shoulder you see Davy sitting in the window, keeping a close eye on Jake. 

“Well of course, I couldn’t miss out on my kiss…” he smiles, a little dimple forming in his cheek. 

“What kiss…” you press, all the while secretly hoping for just one more. 

He grabs your waist and pulls you close to him, pressing his cold lips to yours. You can taste the remnants of coffee on his tongue, and as he pulls away his lips linger just a second longer. 

A hum leaves his lips as he steps back. “That kiss.” He says, stepping backwards off of your porch, taking a few steps before turning to head back to his house. As you step inside your front door you look over your shoulder at the same time as he does, throwing his hand up from inside his hoodie pocket to offer you a two finger wave. 

Your heart is beating out of your chest as you close the door behind you, and you feel like positively melting into the ground over the night you just shared with Jake. As you peek out the window you see Davy gone from his patrol post, and you smile knowing he’s definitely happy to have Jake all to himself again.

—

As you scrub away the remnants of the night before, you can’t help but to remember the way his hands felt as they moved across your body. So warm and so intentional, even in his intoxicated state. You wonder if he enjoyed himself as much as you did, and if he’s thinking about it just as much as you are. You think back to every other Valentine’s day you’ve ever had, and not a single one holding a candle to the night you just spent across the street with your neighbor. 

You hear your phone buzz on the bathroom counter as you turn the shower off, wrapping yourself in a towel as you pick it up from the countertop. Your heart leaps in your chest as you see his name flash across your screen.

Jake - Neighbor

12:04pm: Probably should have watched the first one before the sequel. 😉

12:04pm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWDf_CEkpoU&t=1382s

You quickly hit the link, watching as it directs you to youtube, pulling up yet another Rig Rundown video. This one is much older than the one you saw last night, and as you lean against the bathroom counter the intro music starts to play. You’re met with a much younger looking version of Jake, in a sweater and a bucket hat, looking bright and eager to talk about his craft. 

You quickly head towards your kitchen, pulling your own stash of gummies from your pantry. You pluck one of the small black bags from the basket and snap a photo as you pull up your texts and attach it to a message with a giggle. 

You

12:10pm: Should I take one of these before I watch it? 

12:10pm: By the way, love the bucket hat… 😉

You make your way back to your bedroom, dressing yourself in lounge clothes, knowing you’ll probably spend the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on your shows. Satisfied with your outfit you grab your phone to check for his response, only to be met with an empty screen. You sigh and make your way to the living room, flopping down onto your couch with your leftover take out from the night before, pressing play on the TV. 

You try not to think about the man across the street and what he’s probably doing. You know he must be into something since he has yet to respond to your message. That or he has no intention of ever speaking to you again. 

Feeling frustrated that it’s probably the latter, you toss your phone to the other side of the couch, catching a glance out your window. Your eyes snap to his driveway, seeing another car taking up the space next to his. Who the hell is at his house?

You stand up and make your way over to the window, taking a closer look at the white Jeep parked next to his car. You’ve never noticed it before…Or have you? You start to wrack your brain for the times you’ve even seen another car at his house, but you come up short. Never really caring before today. 

You sit back down on the couch and start the next episode of your show, feeling the soreness from the prior night's activities starting to settle into your muscles. You grab a throw blanket and your favorite pillow and snuggle down into the couch cushions, ready to nap away your troubles, and hoping to wake up to a new message in your inbox. 

A knock on the door startles you awake. You grab your phone and see that you’ve slept quite a few hours, and it’s now nearly 6:00pm.

You stand up and run your hands through your hair to combat the bedhead, clearing your throat as you reach for the door knob. Standing on the other side of your door is Jake, looking like he is fresh from the shower, as his damp hair lays long over his shoulders. You can smell his body wash wafting off of him and you practically melt into the door frame. 

“Did I wake you up? Did you actually take that gummy?” he laughs, pulling his hands from his pockets. 

“Oh, no. I didn’t. I just… I guess I was a little more tired than I thought.” you blush, trying to play it cool, and not like you’ve been thinking about him since the moment he left this morning. 

“Sorry I forgot to respond. My brother came over and I couldn’t get him to leave.” he laughs.  

His brother.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I was in and out of sleep all day anyways.” you lie. 

“So…” he pauses, taking a breath as he reaches into his pocket. “I may have acquired something a bit better than what we had last night.” he says holding a small black bag in his palm. 

“I don’t know, I kind of liked what we had last night.” you quip, a little smirk on your lips. 

“Mhmm, I know you did.” he smiles, sliding his hands back into his trouser pockets. 

“I don’t know if you had plans tonight or anything…” he trails off, kicking his foot against your doormat. “But I was thinking about watching this video I saw about how to make a barbecue smoker out of a filing cabinet. Really riveting stuff…”

His big brown eyes flash up to yours in question and you feel that flame in your chest reignite. You’re already eager at the thought of spending another night like last night. You knew right then that it wouldn’t matter if it was a filing cabinet smoker or a centuries old shipwreck, there was suddenly nothing more important than watching whatever it may be, with him. So with a shy smile, and the tap of your fingers against your chin you meet his gaze. 

“You know, I really have been meaning to look into that…”

Taglist: @ageofcj @britney-gvf @bladenotblaze @gretavanfan @peaceloveunitygvf @highway-tuna @anythingforjtk @klarxtr @itsafullmoon @myleftsock @gretavanmoon @aflame4goinghome @ascendingtothestarssasone @jjwasneverhere @sparrowofrhiannon @gvfstuddedmajesty @kiarraaldarondo @oliver-mf-reed @notjordie-gvf @starshine-wagner @starcatcherchords @sadiechar @spark-my-nature @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface @mackalah @stardustofman @eyelinerjake @farfromthehomelands @abby-gvf @writingcold @fleet-of-fiction @stardustjake @sinarainbows @gvfsstardust @ageoflou @jarmonicasweat @jakekiszkasmommy @bubblyjake @jakeygvf21 @starrymoonslut @takenbythemadness @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @m0uthfl13s @floatinglikeaswan @bri-archer @Mama.likes72

[miyamoratsumuu]

dating the pretty setter squad, with moodboards!!

pt. 2 - pt. 3

characters: t.oikawa, k.akaashi, k.kozume, m.atsumu, e.semi note: implied fem partner for all of them, lowercase intended. pictures used are not mine, all of them are found on pinterest!!:) (not proofread yet!! I'll do that a little later)

navigation . . . haikyuu masterlist

OIKAWA TORU "you deserve the whole world and more, darling"

look, toru's a sweetheart. he's the type of boyfriend to love taking you out on these romantic, fancy, peaceful dates. whether it be one or the other. sometimes he surprises you with a dinner date at this one restaurant where it takes weeks to get a reservation. other times, it's a quiet walk on the beach on a friday evening with the both of you talking about how your week went. and if you have your own idea of a romantic date, tell him about it. he's definitely all in for it, as long as you have fun as well.

he makes sure you two have fun wherever you go. even when you're in a random store of all places. mirror selfies, wearing accessories that were for sale, making a whole photoshoot out of the display of flowers at the front of the store.

there was this one time you oh-so conveniently found a pair of alien glasses and thought it would suit toru. you made him wear them to take pictures, but he didn't want you to be left out, of course. before you started taking pictures, toru found another pair of sunglasses that were heart shaped, saying "so you only have heart eyes for me, darling" as he handed it to you.

toru always makes sure that his hair looks nice. he doesn't like it when there are strands that are out of place or if it generally just looks really messy. but on the days when he's tired both physically and mentally, he's most likely to be in a state of vulnerability. and it's those moments where he'd like it for you to place your hand on top of his head and play around with his hair. he'll admit that he likes the feeling of your fingers running through his unsurprisingly soft locks. and if you even dare to stop, he'd immediately whine and tell you to continue what you were doing because he was just about to fall asleep.

we all know about his history with plaid pants. he even proposed to get a matching pair of those pants with you. you didn't think it would be a good idea since you couldn't think of a proper outfit you could make out of those, and you doubt you were going to be able to wear them often. instead, your persuaded toru into getting matching plaid pajama pants with you instead. reasoning that it would be way more comfortable, and that you'd be able to wear them almost whenever you want around the house.

I could imagine toru being a sort of morning person. he doesn't wake up super super early though. instead, he gets out of bed at around 6 to 7 or so. most times, you aren't even awake yet while he's already preparing to take a jog around the neighborhood. but on the rare mornings you were awake with him that early, he sometimes doesn't bother to go out on that jog anymore. he would rather spend the entire morning with you, with breakfast and maybe a cup of coffee by your sides.

AKAASHI KEIJI "I'll do my best to be someone that's deserving of you, my love"

every minute you spend with keiji is a time you could let your guard down all at once. because he assures you that he's someone you could trust and lean on no matter what. he convinces you either by words or his actions. whenever he wraps his arms around you, he makes sure to make you feel like you could depend on him to be your shield and safe space when you need a break from the world in general.

when he picks you up for the date he planned for the both of you, keiji is the gentleman that always brings you flowers. and before leaving, he would assist you in placing the bouquet in a vase and putting it somewhere in your house. there's a remembrance of the flowers keiji always gives you in almost every room of your house. there's a vase in the kitchen, two in the living room, and a couple more scattered around every table and shelf.

dates with keiji consists of trips to a variety of cafes, early brunches, museum visits, or spending quiet afternoons at the library. after recieving and paying for your orders at a cafe, the two of you either stay there to finish your food and drinks, enjoying the bustling atmosphere, or leaving to take a stroll wherever your feet take you.

the days where you end up having brunch are the days with the mornings you and keiji preferred to stay in bed for longer than you anticipated. you don't mind though, in fact you didn't think there was anything better than being in your lover's arms for a couple more hours.

you often go to museums to gaze at what you think are the most beautiful things you set your eyes on. although keiji begs to differ. because to him and his eyes, you're the most beautiful thing he could ever catch sight of.

during your visits to the library, he always introduces you to the books he just recently started reading, the ones that were his absolute favorite, and the ones he would like you to read with him. and if you read books as well, that's great! now both of you could geek about your favorite genres, authors, novels, books, and all. and he absolutely enjoys being able to talk to you about the things he loves. but then of course, you're the one keiji loves the most.

there was this one time that he asked you to read a book he liked so he could talk to you about it. you began to read it eventually, of course. but when you reached a certain page, you were suprised to see one of the characters'dialogues highlighted and encircled in pink with hearts scribbled around it."you are perfect for me". keiji was a gentleman. a gentleman that made sure to make you feel as if you were the most special person in the world. and of course, a gentleman that made you feel loved. so so loved.

KENMA KOZUME "you're so special to me, pretty. you have no idea."

you support kenma as much as you can when it comes to the subjects and things that he likes; and he knows that. so ever since you two began dating, he slowly gained more and more confidence to openly share his hobbies and activities of amusement with you. and you wouldn't have it any other way.

during the nights the two of you are together in one of your homes, one of you would always suggest to play a game or watch a movie. you almost always end up doing both, though. when you get bored while watching the movie, you switch to playing mario kart on the tv, and vice versa. because of that, it's often as well that the both of you end up staying way past the time you were supposed to, then you end up sleeping in the next day. (that usually only happens on the weekends though)

when the both of you planned on going a date that involves going outside though, it would always be an enjoyable time. when you and kenma went to the carnival one evening, you made sure you rode at least more than half of the rides that were available. of course, that involved walking around for who knows how long. and that wasn't something kenma would absolutely love to be doing on a sunday evening. at all. but then at the end of the day, he knew that the extra workout and sweat was worth it once he saw how your smile stretched from ear to ear while he was walking you home.

when you dragged him to the mall, he was expecting to be accompanying you on yet another shopping spree of yours. he was already imagining entering various clothing stores and you asking for his opinion on the outfit you wore every time you stepped out of a fitting room. what he wasn't expecting, though, was for you to lead him straight to one of the arcades he often visited himself. while you were buying your tokens, you noticed the look of confusion your lover threw at you. "lev told me they added tons of new games here! I wanted to try them out with you" you explained giddily. and somehow, that made kenma smile, before following you further into the arcade.

it's often that volleyball practice sucked out the small amount of energy kenma had left after a tiring day. and so on the late afternoons you came by the gym to pick him up so the both of you could walk home together and you noticed him looking worn out, you already knew what to do. you convince kenma that either one of you stay over at the other's place for the night, knowing that both of you needed the warmth of comfort of each other's presence to cool off after the long day you had.

ATSUMU MIYA "my whole heart belongs to you and only you, doll"

atsumu is definitely one of the most clingy boyfriends out there. every minute the two of you are together, he always has to be holding your hand. and if he's not, he has the urge to do it. when he's holding your hand, your fingers have to be intertwined too. he claims it's better than doing it any other way. you know this. you know how much better he feels whenever you hold his hand in yours. and so you try to do it as much as possible as well. he's grateful for that, if you didn't know. it makes him feel as if you're fulfilling your promise to always be there for him.

the first time he walked in on you doing skincare, he was intrigued to say the least. sure, he knew about it, and how it helps make you feel and look better, but he never actually got to learning hoe to do it for himself. and so ever since that day, atsumu always joined you when he sees you doing your skincare routine in the evening if he wasn't able to do it with you in the morning. he thought, now, he'd actually look like the better twin. (alright babes whatever helps you sleep at night<3) and on rare nights, he was the one who initiated doing the activity with you.

movie nights are a common occurrence between the two of you. but it's not the movie nights wherein you're laying down in the comfort of your own bed with each other and watching the film on a laptop that was propped up in front of you. nope. atsumu preferred to take you to the actual cinemas. especially those with the 3d experiences of the movies. he loves the thrill and extra excitement, yk.

he also loves to take you to places where the view is absolutely stunning. whether it's a perfect view of the sunset, or the city lights beautifully gleaming from afar. atsumu actually savors these moments with you. the two of you basking in the comfortable silence between the both of you, knowing of how each other's company alone makes you feel a whole lot better.

there was one time atsumu was complaining to you about how osamu and rintaro were teasing him again about his twin being the better one between the two of them. you continued to listen, despite not exactly knowing what to answer to his outbursts. that was until he stopped and looked like he was thinking of something. deeply, that is. he had his index finger tapping on his chin and all. you looked at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking of so deeply that it made him stop his rant. he looked at you then told you to follow him to the kitchen. on the way there, he started explaining what he was planning on doing. "I bet they only keep saying samu's the better twin 'cause he can cook or whatever. I'll prove them wrong! I can cook too, and you'll be ma' witness, babe". and so of course, that was exactly what he did. at the same time making dinner for the both of you along the way. all while you were taking pictures and short clips of him cooking because he " needed the proof to shove it to rintaro and his twin's faces". once he was done, it didn't even taste half bad. it wasn't the best, of course, but he made it with love and effort and that was what's important.

he's the guy to obnoxiously wrap his arms around you whenever it's possible. there was this one time that he was away for a family trip and when you visited their home once he got back, he immediately jumped on you, wrapping both his arms and legs around you once he opened the door and saw you were on the other side. it was a surprise the both of you didn't fall over straight away. but after a few more second of atsumu just staying there unmoving, he eventually fell to his bottom with you on top of him. "I guess you really did fall for me after all, huh angel" you instantly pushed him away when he began cackling. him saying that with a smug smirk on his face made it a whole lot worse. you love him for that, though.

EITA SEMI "just seeing you smile at me like that has me swooning, sweetheart."

like keiji, eita is a gentleman at heart. he's also the type to bring you small gifts to give you on your weekly dates. whether it be flowers, your favorite snack and candy, or a small plush toy. and while he's on his way to pick you up, he takes a picture of himself with the gist he's going to give you, sending it to you saying "I'm on my way, sweets, excited to see you already"

if you know how to play an instrument, then that's great! it only means that you and eita have more interests to share and you could jam together on late afternoons you have nothing better to do. but if you don't, that's fine as well, darling! if you'd like, he would absolutely be willing to teach you how to play guitar. but if you didn't, you'd instead be with eita in the room doing your own thing and being gorgeous while he practices. he doesn't mind, of course. he doesn't feel pressured of any sort. instead, he actually feels more relaxed and comfortable with you there.

I feel like he's the type to have a polaroid camera and love to take pictures on it with you. or, he would print your pictures in the style of a polaroid. he says it adds to that romantic feel of the memories the two of you make together. and that it would be easier to display around the things that he owns, like in his wallet, at the back of his phone, or just stuck to the wall beside his bed. for his favorite pictures of the both of you, he prints out two copies so that he could gift one to you.

when the two of you are on the train together on what you're assuming is going to be a long ride, you end up listening to music together one way or another. both of you always bring your earphones with you, but on the rare occasions only one of you did, you share. opting to play the one of the playlists the both of you made together, or one of the playlists you made for each other.

there was one time where you went to the mall with eita, satori, and wakatoshi. the other third years unfortunately not being available for the day. when you entered a music store and after a while of browsing around, satori called you and eita over. when you got to him, he handed you a record saying you should recreate it but with both of your faces hiding behind it. eita was reluctant at first, thinking that you might look like idiots to people that passed by but you liked the idea. you ended up doing it anyway, with satori taking the picture for you. even wakatoshi admitted that the two of you looked cute together in it.

eita writes songs for you. of course he does. and you love every single one of them. but you especially love the ones you could slow dance to in the evening in the comfort of the kitchen in your home. on a late night while the two of you were making midnight snacks with your playlist playing in the background, one of those songs that you especially loved played. giddily, you grabbed eita's hand, startling him and making him let go of the butter knife he was holding. but once he realized what your intentions were, he smiled and danced along with you to the song. he twirled you around and whispered in your ear once you looked at him in the eyes again. "you're absolutely stunning, love"

[seospicybin]

TOO HOT TO HANDLE.

PART III

I.N x reader. (s)

Too Hot To Handle Masterlist

Synopsis: You and Jeongin become contestants in a reality dating show, Too Hot To Handle. (17,7k words)

Author's note: 7/8 completed! Let me know if you enjoyed it and I'd appreciate it if you guys leave a feedback x

The sun feels hot on your skin even though it's only ten in the morning.

You stay cool by soaking yourself in the swimming pool with Jeongin next to you, you're facing the sea view from the edge of the pool while Jeongin faces the other way. You put your hand on his stomach, running your wet hand down his abs and it slips down to the waistband of his swimming trunks. Mischievous, you pull it open and peek inside.

Jeongin pushes his sunglasses down his nose to look at you.

"Lana didn't say we couldn't look," you say, slyly smiling as you look back to see the view.

"Are you happy with what you saw?" He asks, pushing the sunglasses higher on the bridge of her nose.

"Mmh, yeah," you answer with a low giggle.

Jeongin repeatedly nods, "All right."

You turn to face him and cling to his side, your hand splashes water on the muscles on his abdomen, then lean close to his ear.

"Happy with what I felt," you whisper.

Last night, things happened.

You both wanted it and decided to just do it, kissing each other while trying not to get caught while everyone else was sleeping in the room.

In the heat of the moment, your hand went inside his boxer and without thinking, you wrapped your hand around his semi-hard cock. Maybe it's curiosity, you often wonder about his size and you went to find out, feeling every inch of that glorious thing with your hand.

If it wasn't him pulling your hand out, you would have continued stroking it and more things could have happened. Jeongin even took a serious precaution by keeping your hands down the whole night.

"Oh, wait. That was in my dreams," you playfully add with a low laugh.

Jeongin quietly chuckles next to you, putting his arm around you and resting his hand on the small of your back.

"Yeah, that wasn't real. That didn't happen," He jokingly says.

-

YOU: I just wanted to say hello so I was just, like... waving back down there [laughs]

-

Nearing the middle of the day, it gets too hot to stay in the pool and you both decide to get inside.

Jeongin dries himself and puts on swimming trunks, joining you in the dressing room to borrow your hairdryer for his hair.

In the middle of drying his hair, you come out of the changing room dressed in a pair of red bikini. You walk to the full-length mirror to see yourself and then come up to him.

"Do I look good?" You ask.

He turns off the hairdryer to hear you better and puts it down. He takes a look at you and regardless of what you're wearing, you look attractive to him, both sexually and non-sexually.

"Good," he replies, keeping the rest of the answer to him.

You keep fixing your strapless bikini top, looking uncomfortable wearing and he sees that it keeps

"It keeps riding up," you mumble as you keep pulling it down and pushing your breasts to the middle to make them stay but failing.

"If it's uncomfortable, maybe you should change into a different one," he suggests.

Without saying anything, you open your closet and ask for his opinions on which bikini you should wear from the ones you packed with you to the retreat.

"This one or this one?" You show him two options, a white one-piece or brown two-piece bikini.

Jeongin thinks for a second and points at the one on your left hand.

"Okay," you put the other one back into the closet and head for the changing room.

While he waits for you, he fixes his hair in front of the mirror and brushes it with his fingers to tidy it. Not long after, he sees you coming to his side while tying the straps on your back.

"So, how do we feel?" You ask for his opinion again.

Jeongin has to step away and lean against the vanity table to look at you, the bikini is so small that it only covers the private bits and the straps are so thin that he believes he can snap it off.

But he likes what he sees, his eyes traveling down your body as lust grows the more he sees of you.

"I like it," he simply comments.

You check yourself one more time in the mirror then come up to him, smiling as you slip your arms under and around him.

Jeongin wastes no time putting his arms around you too, he watches his hand touch your warm skin and trail down the back of your body on the mirror. He resists the urge to go lower to fondle your ass cheeks by keeping his hands on your hips.

He fiddles with the thin strap of your bikini and tugs at it, "This is not a bikini. This is just a piece of string," he jokingly says.

Your body quakes as you let out a laugh and look up at him, giving him the eyes that weaken him, "I want a kiss," you say.

He brings one hand to the nape of your neck and gently scratches the tendrils of hair there with his fingers, "We can't," he reminds you.

You softly kiss his jaw and bob your head as you say, "Uh-huh, yes, we can."

Jeongin knows that he should get out of this situation but you have him caged between your arms and putting him under your spell with your enchanting eyes that longingly stare into his eyes.

"We broke the rules last night," he tries to put some sense into you.

"And it wouldn't make any difference if we break another one," You casually say with a smirk on your face.

He lets out a sigh with his head thrown to the back, a part of him wants to stay good but another part of him just wants to ruin you, and he's afraid, the latter part is the most dominant.

You tilt your head to the side and kiss his neck, you continue the trail of kisses to his jaw. You take your hand from around his waist to grab his chin and tilt it down so you can lean in and capture his lips in yours.

Too good. You're just too good at this that Jeongin stops resisting and lets himself loose. You triumphantly smile against his lips as he kisses you back.

He tightens the hold around you, drawing you impossibly close to him, and lets his hand drop to your ass cheek, have himself a squeeze at it.

Gosh, it feels so good to have his desires fulfilled!

After a while, you pull away just a little, tugging his lower lip between your teeth and playfully pull at it. Knowing that you successfully make him fold, you slyly smile in satisfaction at him, and then you start giggling as he's still reeling himself back from the kiss.

"Oh, you're going to be the death of me," he says, allowing himself to place a peck on your lips for the last time.

To avoid temptations to kiss you again, he then turns you around but keeps you close to him, he's liking what he sees in the mirror of him hugging you from the back.

It's in a time like this that he can't believe he gets to be with you, the finest girl in the retreat.

You turn his head to the side and lean in again but this time, Jeongin is quick enough to dodge away.

"No, no, no," he repeatedly says, successfully avoiding danger for this once.

You're laughing as he crosses your hands together in front of your chest and keeps them there, making you unable to move.

"Let's go. It's getting dangerous in here," he says, not waiting for your answer but dragging himself out of there with you.

-

JEONGIN: Lana, I'd appreciate it if you keep it as a secret [chuckles]

-

The girls are heading out of the villa for a workshop at the beach which leaves the boys unsupervised. It's a good thing for Jeongin because he wouldn't have to worry about being tempted to break rules with you but he doesn't quite enjoy either the childish conversation or immature act that is going to ensue soon.

"Is it healthy for us to not, like, getting it out for... how long now?" Damon turns his head for someone to finish his sentence.

"Two weeks or more," Kurt mindlessly answers, losing track of time in this retreat.

"Every morning, I wake up shivering, my body needs sex," Damon says, wiping the sheen of sweat on his forehead with a towel.

"I don't think that's how..." Lou sighs, giving up on finishing his words and scratching his head in confusion instead.

The others are laughing at him and Jeongin only joins in on the laughter to be a part of the conversation. The next thing he knows, it turns into a whole session of learning how to do strip dance from Mick while Jeongin watching them on the sideline with Keith.

The whole day, Jeongin is counting down the time that Lana will finally reveal his indiscretions.

His previous strategy of telling everyone in advance about his rule break may have worked but it's definitely not going to work this time, not when he broke so many rules in one day.

"Hey, man," Lou beams.

Jeongin is deep in thought when he enters the bathroom, it takes him a moment to reply to him, "Hey."

Lou chuckles at the way he catches him thinking out loud, "You good?"

He sheepishly smiles at him and brushes his hair as he sits on the edge of the tub, "Not really."

Lou lets out another chuckle while spraying some hairspray into his hair in front of the bathroom mirror, "What’s going on?"

Jeongin is torn whether to tell him or not but out of the boys, Lou is the one he can talk about it with so he decides to tell him.

"Basically, last night, we kissed under the covers and then another thing happened," he blurts out everything in one sentence.

Lou stops moving and turns around to face him, "Bro, you what?"

Looking at Lou's reaction makes Jeongin hesitate to tell him the rest of it but since half of it is already out, he may as well.

"And we kissed again this morning," he blurts again.

Lou chuckles but in a mix of shock and awe, he has nothing to say but put the can of hairspray away.

"First of all, everyone is going to be so pissed," he says.

Jeongin doesn't need the reminder of that but... "Yeah, I know," he meekly says.

Then Lou sucks air through his teeth, looking as distressed as him after gaining the information, "I am still new here so I can't say much about the money," he says.

Jeongin nods at that, understanding that he's not yet fully grasped the whole idea of the retreat.

"But as someone who entered the retreat a bit late, it was hard to catch up to you guys. I mean, it's still impossible for me to grow a connection with someone without being physical," he explains.

And Jeongin should understand you too.

He always thought that you were the one who kept tempting him to rule break when in fact, it's not. You both wanted it, therefore the two of you are responsible for it.

"Please don't tell anyone though," Jeongin adds

"I got you. Don't worry," Lou coyly says, then continues styling his hair.

Telling someone about it makes him feel a bit lighter but he's dreading it still and at the same time, he wants to get it over with.

-

JEONGIN: To be honest, I don't regret any of it, like, I know I like her better now.

-

The cone chimes at the same time you're about to leave the dressing room. You stop moving and breathing altogether to hear what Lana has to say.

"Please gather the rest of the guests in the cabana immediately."

"Oh, snap!" Francoise gasps and next to her, Bianca is too focused on putting on her a fake eyelash to care.

Without waiting for the others, you head out of the villa and quietly mutter curses to yourself. The dirty little secret you have with Jeongin is going to catch everyone off guard and you don't have time to find him to discuss the game plan.

"Holy shit," you continuously mutter as you head to the cabana.

Thankfully, Jeongin is already there when you get to the cabana, you waste no time but sit next to him and hold his hand.

You smile at him as you fix the collar of his shirt, "You look good, babe."

He looks so nervous that he loses the radiance in his smile, you lean into his side to ask, "Are you nervous?"

He lets out a low sigh and stifles a nod, "Just a little."

But looking at his slightly clenched jaws and the knitted brows, it seems to you that he's not "just a little" nervous. You rub your hand up and down his arm and squeeze his hand to comfort him.

A while later, Lana chimes in and startles everyone, "Good evening."

"What's up, baby girl?" Courtney asks, being the only one with enthusiasm.

You have a little secret and it does make you anxious but you try to keep calm, if you are both nervous, it'll only make it obvious.

"I have some news," Lana informs.

"Okay, let's hear it," Mick says, looking hopeful that it's going to be good news.

"Last night, there was an incident of sexual contact," Lana reveals.

The sheer hope on Mick's face vanishes in a second and is replaced by a displeased one. He puts on his detective hat and does his job of taking the guilty ones out.

"Who is lying right now?"

You're so apprehensive as to what is about to come out of that little cone's mouth but the more you calm yourself, the more you can't contain your laugh, somehow the way you cope with anxiety is by laughing. You try to suppress it by putting your lips together into a line.

"Girl, you're smiling," Linda catches you being suspicious.

Oh, shit, you quietly curse to yourself again and since everyone is alarmed, you may as well confess everything.

"It was me and Jeongin, we kissed last night," you bravely spill everything.

"Oh, my God!" Courtney groans out loud, her enthusiasm surely has turned into disappointment right now.

"But Lana said sexual contact so...?" Linda cleverly points out.

You glance at Jeongin and he's looking terrified, you feel bad if you have to make him talk about it. You draw a deep breath and remind yourself to keep calm.

"I touched his willy and before more things could happen, he pulled my hand out," you explain as best as you could.

"What?" Linda is flabbergasted and disgusted at the same time.

"Oh, come on, guys. It's not a big deal," you try to lighten them up but it goes the wrong way.

"No, you're being selfish here," Mick argues.

"What she was trying to say is things could have gone worse if we didn't stop there," Jeongin finally comes to your aid and defends you.

"These multiple rule breaks have cost the group $20,000," Lana announces.

-

YOU: You can't get away with anything in here, eh?

-

You let out a sigh and stop talking because it's pointless to do so when they don't even want to hear you in the first place.

"We're sorry," Jeongin sincerely says but not pleased with how everyone is attacking you all at once.

Then Lana calls both of your names and your heart sinks, you know it's bad when she starts calling you by names.

"To show me you are committed to the process, I am putting you both to the ultimate test," Lana says.

The announcement gets greeted by a series of groans from everyone. Not going to lie, you're not good at tests and you fear that this time wouldn't be that different.

"In order to pass, you need to demonstrate self-control and show you can form a real emotional connection without breaking my rules," Lana continues.

Mick's hand flies to his forehead and slaps it hard, "Oh, no..."

"Therefore, you will spend the night alone in the private suite."

"There's no way. It's game over," Kurt remarks with a nervous smile.

You don't expect them to believe in you because honestly, you don't even believe yourself.

-

YOU: Lana, what is she thinking putting me and Jeongin in a room alone together?

-

It seems like Lana sets you and him up for failure and everyone has been anything but supportive.

Jeongin expects nothing less than that but now he has a reason to pass this test. He wants to prove them wrong.

"If you refrain from breaking the rules, I will put $20,000 back in the prize fund," Lana appeals.

Everyone instantly cheers at the mention of money and for a split second, forgets what he and you have to do to earn that.

"Just don't do anything. That's it," Keith makes it sound that simple.

Saying it easy but putting it into practice? Jeongin can't promise anyone anything but it gives him one more reason to pass the test.

"I have no faith in you two," Mick openly shares while rubbing his chin in doubt.

"Do you honestly believe you would be able to control yourself?" Courtney asks, representing everyone who doubts him and you.

He looks at you and you look back at him, trying to find the answer in each other but the silence that lasts for a few seconds is the answer to it.

"This is why we don't have faith in you," Courtney says.

"Just know that at the end of it, we'll be waiting for you," Lou says, reminding him that he has to think of the group too.

"We will not do anything," Jeongin promises but he hopes no one notices how his voice quivers at the end of the sentence.

"Please make your way to the suite," Lana orders.

-

JEONGIN: No one has any faith in us. Everyone is shitting it, myself included.

-

"Oh, my God. I think we're going to fail!"

That's the first thing you say when you enter the bedroom and see everything, the bed with rose petals on it, the scented candles being lit around the room, the various sex toys on one side of the bed, and a bowl of condoms on the other.

You get on the bed and crawl over to the other side to check the row of bottles, taking one to observe it.

"Natural lubricant," you read it out loud.

Then you pick the other one and read the label, "Massage oil."

Jeongin's mind is going places and it's hard not to think about sex when this room is designed for that. The worst part is you look so ravishing, lying on the bed in your white dress and seductively smiling at him.

He joins you on the bed and throws himself at you, making you both collapse onto the bed.

"It's so sexy, isn't it?" You say.

A moan slips out of your mouth as he kisses your neck, "You're sexy," he whispers.

You chuckle and put your legs around his legs, using them to draw him closer to you, "It's going to be a sexy night, yeah?"

Spotting the chilled wine in a bucket of ice, Jeongin collects it from the end of the bed and wastes no time to pop it open. You hold the champagne flutes as he fills it with the fizzy wine.

"To a sexy night?" You ask with your drink raised in the air.

"To a sexy night," he repeated your words and clinked his glass with yours.

You hold your glass close to your lips but your other hand is on his thigh, poking the skin exposed on his ripped jeans. You don't have to say anything, he can see what you're thinking at this moment just by looking at your eyes.

"I can't wait to see more of you tonight," you say with your teeth faintly biting your lower lip.

Jeongin only nods and fills his mouth with more wine to prevent himself from fueling your words.

"Can't wait to feel more of you too," you add, tugging at the hole in his jeans.

"$20,000 is a lot, you know," he says to remind you how much is at stake here.

"Yeah but I'm sure Lana takes credit cards," you jokingly say.

"$20,000 for a night? I think Lana overcharges us," Jeongin jokes back.

You put away your drink and get on his lap, sitting straddling him with your hands around his neck. You tilt his head upward to make him look at you.

"We should make the most of it then," you say then leans in for a kiss.

-

JEONGIN: [deeply sighs] It's going to be a long night.

-

So far so good.

As much as you want to rip his clothes off at any given moment, no rules have been broken. He's not the only one wanting to prove these people wrong, you try to behave as best as you can so you can show them that your connection is more than just physical.

Despite his physical is so... oh, he's just so perfect.

You're watching him standing against the sink with only a white towel wrapped around his waist, removing the rings cladding his slender fingers. You quietly admire his perfect figure of strong legs and muscular arms wrapped in milky skin that glows under the low light of the bathroom.

"Hurry! Get in the tub!" You tell him while banging the side of the tub with your wet hand.

He's chuckling hearing your impatient whine and continues fixing his hair even though it's pointless to do so. Your heart is pitter-pattering inside your chest as he makes his way to the tub.

He stops right in front of you and without warning, unties his towel and lets it drop onto the floor.

Your eyes dart at the thing hanging between his legs and you automatically scream at the sight of it, overwhelmed and in awe at the same time.

"Oh, my gosh!" You excitedly squeal.

You have touched it but seeing it is a whole different thing and you can't seem to stop looking at it until he gets into the water.

You carefully move inside the tub to sit on his lap, not wanting to let the water slosh out of the tub. You put your legs and arms around him, smiling as you feel him skin to skin.

He holds you close but keeping his hand not lower than the arch of your back, he stares back into your eyes as you look down into his.

He feels so warm and soft against you, you let your hand slide down his shoulder blade and feel his firm biceps but it's his fierce eyes that make you feel the slightest bit aroused.

"You are like chocolate Maltesers," you tell him.

The moment Jeongin smiles, all of his facial features soften and make him look cute, making you want to smooch his lips.

"Why is that?" He asks.

"I just want to put you in my mouth and let you melt on my tongue," you answer with a shy smile.

That answer amuses him so much that he lets out a laugh, he takes the strand of hair escaping your messy bun and endearingly tucks it behind your ear for you.

"How about me? If I were chocolate what would I be?" You ask, genuinely curious about his answer.

Jeongin licks his lips and it only makes them wetter, inviting you to kiss. You feel his knuckle lightly caressing the skin on your back as he reclines against the tub.

"If you weren't chocolate, I'd still eat you," he gives you an unexpected answer.

"Oh, I'd love for you to eat me," you tell him, melting into his hold and burying your face in his neck.

It doesn't take a genius to know that it's not the temperature that caused you to feel hot all over, it's him.

-

YOU: I want to pounce on him but I want to feel him out and see how far I can push him [smirks]

-

"Oh."

"Mmh..."

"Is this how we're going to do it?"

You make all those noises as he cuffs your hands together and puts them above your head, making you unable to move.

"Yes, 'cause you're a bad girl," he keeps pining your hands above your head, not letting it go.

"Mmh... okay," you delightfully sigh, not minding it at all.

Jeongin reaches for the tray of sex toys and picks one to use on you. He lays on his side and taunts you with the thing he holds in his hand.

"Try not to laugh," he dares you.

"Okay," you nod at him while keeping your hands above your head.

Jeongin takes a moment to adore you and your heavenly body. The matching silk underwear you're wearing does nothing but make his head close to short-circuit.

He uses the feather tickler he chose to touch you. He starts from your neck, running it down the column of your neck and down to your chest.

You let out low giggles as he drags it across your chest, you manage to maintain eye contact with him as he brings it down to your abdomen, tickling the sensitive skin around your belly button.

"Oh..." you breathlessly moan with your hips held mid-air.

Starting to enjoy what he's doing to you, Jeongin drags the tickler down your legs, slowly rubbing it up and down your inner thighs.

"Mmh..." you moan again with your chest heaving and your legs shut.

"What if I use my hands?" He asks.

"Mmh, yes, please," you eagerly answer, repeatedly bobbing your head at him.

Jeongin doesn't bother to put it back where it belongs, he throws it onto the floor and impatiently uses his hand to touch you.

"Ah..." you lowly gasp as he wraps his hand around your neck.

He intensely stares into your eyes as he swipes his thumb across your lips and pulls the lower lip down. He feels tempted to kiss you so he leans in and you reflexively close your eyes only for him to kiss you on your eyelid.

Before you can open your eyes, he kisses the other one and places another kiss on the skin behind your ear, making you softly gasp again.

As he keeps kissing your neck, his hand continues its exploration down the curves of your body and eventually lands on your thighs.

He touches you there, caressing the skin with his knuckle, and drags it close enough to where you want him the most, making you shut your legs together and clamping his hand in between.

Even with all these teasings, you manage to keep your hands there just as he asked. Seeing that you're all hot and flustered, he takes your hands down and takes the handcuffs off.

"Did I pass the good girl test?" You jokingly ask.

"Flying colors," he shortly replies.

-

JEONGIN: Teasing her makes me horny [exhales air] I hope none of us fold tonight.

-

"This is how we should do it," you say as you sit straddling him on the bed.

Jeongin lays back on the bed, stacking his hands behind his head and enjoying the view, silently lusting over your body.

"You on top?"

"Uh-huh," you say, coyly taking a sip of your wine.

"Do you have any problems with that?" You ask once you swallowed your drink.

He purses his lips and shakes his head. He then places his hand on your thigh and glides it up to your waist, "I have no problems with that."

At once, he gets up from the bed and catches your body by wrapping his arms around you tightly.

That little maneuver sends your wine spills down your chest and you grumble at him, "Look what you did!"

It's a problem that could be easily solved by wiping it but Jeongin chooses to tease you more by burying his face in between your breasts to lick the droplets with his hot tongue.

You're giggling at how ticklish it feels and at the same time, feeling so aroused inside. You drain your wine empty and get help from him to put the glass away for you.

This way, you can put all of your attention on him and tries not to fuck him.

You hold his face with both hands and lean in close enough until the tip of your noses meet in the middle.

"I want you so much," you shamelessly mutter with eyes closed.

He responds with a hot kiss on your cheek and makes a trail of kisses down the column of your neck while tightening the hold around you.

Without warning, he turns you over and has you pinned under him. He brings his mouth close to your ear, nibbling on your ear with his body pressed on top of you.

"This is how I want to do it," he whispers, then pulls the duvet to cover both of you.

-

YOU: Let's say... we didn't get much sleep last night [smirks]

-

Jeongin knows morning has come without having to see it.

He tries to get a few more minutes of sleep when you snuggle to him, pulling his arm open to rest your head on it and then kiss his cheek.

"Morning," you croak while putting your hand across his chest.

He tangles his hand in your hair, letting your soft hair slip between his fingers and making him feel at ease. You seem to have fallen back to sleep from how you lying still close to him.

Jeongin slightly opens his eyes to check and sees how adorable you look sleeping next to him, he can't help but kiss your forehead as his fingers continuously play with your hair.

"Let's not go back to the villa," you mumble at him.

He lets out a sleepy chuckle and holds the hand lying on his chest as he closes his eyes again, "Let's do that."

After a few minutes, you kick the duvet away and put your leg over his body, clinging to him like he is your lifesaver.

"Last night..." you start.

He stops playing with your hair to hear what you're going to say, "Yeah?"

"You made me feel good last night," you share with your sleepy eyes looking at him.

He lets out a breath of relief, happy with what he hears, and continues brushing your hair with his fingers.

"Last night was amazing," he agrees with you.

Despite the money, the rules, the group, and Lana, he didn't let anything ruin last night for him. He wanted to focus on you and he did exactly that last night.

-

JEONGIN: To be honest, money was the last thing that was on my mind last night.

-

Instead of dreading the time until you have to leave the suite, you choose to make the most of it.

After having breakfast without leaving the bed, you decide to have Jeongin spoil you one more time before your time in the suite is over.

You take off your bra and cup your breasts with your hands aware of all the cameras that may film you half-naked. Slowly, you lay down on your stomach and let yourself relax.

"Ooh..." you moan as Jeongin lathers massage oil on your back.

It always feels good having his hands on you, it doesn't matter what he's doing with them, touching, massaging, squeezing, pinching... you simply like seeing his hands on you.

He applies gentle pressures on the right places and you find yourself enjoying it, moaning in satisfaction as he works on your tensed muscles.

"You know your spots," you comment with your voice muffled by the pillow under you.

"Yeah, I'm generally quite good at finding the spots," he responds, sending you both into chuckles.

He drags his hands to your shoulders and starts massaging you there.

"One spot in particular, I'm pretty good at finding," he adds.

You turn your head to the side to say, "I trust you on that."

As much as you want to stay in the suite with him, the good time has come to an end.

A little before leaving the suite, you both make a plan about how you're going to deliver the news to the group and after that, you both get changed and finally leave the suite.

"Thank you for a great night, Lana!" You say to the nearest camera you can find and blow a kiss.

You're carrying the sweet memories of last night with you and walking hand-in-hand to the cabana. You can see that everyone is already there and probably, anticipating your arrival.

"Remember the plan!" You remind him.

-

YOU: Just know that... we owe Lana so much after last night [smiles]

-

Jeongin is not even there yet but he can feel everyone's stare on him.

As he's about to step into the cabana, he puts on a calm yet serious face as planned. He sits on the empty sofa that is meant for him and you.

All the eyes are on both of you as you sit next to each other and he keeps holding your hand on his lap.

"How was last night?" Francoise asks, being the first to break the deafening silence.

Then Linda joins in, "What happened?

Jeongin glances your way and he gets the cue from how you deliberately blink your eyes at him, letting him answer it for both of you.

"We uh... we couldn't successfully complete," he answers, not forgetting to look devastated as he says it.

Justine rakes his blonde hair to the back and groans, "Shit man..."

"You had one job!" Mick aggressively tells him

Kurt slumps down on the sofa then leers at him, "There was so much at stake, the money, our respect, your own respect," he says with brows knitted and forehead wrinkled.

All kinds of disappointed remarks are being thrown around the room while you and Jeongin can only look at each other with a knowing look on your faces, things are going exactly as planned.

"Are you being serious or not?" Courtney asks in such distress.

You both exchange another knowing look and this time, he lets you have the fun. You keep your serious face then turn your head to face them.

"Hell no! We're not!" You shout out loud.

It takes a moment for everyone to try and process the information, then again, everyone believes nothing until they hear it from Lana herself.

Thankfully, she comes at the right time and it's the first time you feel relaxed facing Lana knowing that you did not break any rules.

As expected, she calls for both of your names right after she chimes.

"Last night, you faced the ultimate test in the suite."

You look at Jeongin and he looks calm as well, unlike last night when Lana revealed the rule breaks.

"I can confirm that..."

For a robot, Lana knows how to build suspense. Everyone is holding their breath to hear the rest of the announcement.

"...no rules were broken."

Now everyone can wholeheartedly celebrate the two of you not having sex in the suite and you get overwhelmed by all the hugs you get from everyone.

"The prize fund now stands at $122,000," Lana informs.

"We love to hear it!" Courtney exclaims in excitement.

-

JEONGIN: It feels so good to achieve this together and we have proved to everybody that we indeed have a genuine connection.

-

At first, you doubt Lana's way of bringing you closer together by putting you and him alone in the private suite. Spending the night with him without being physical was rather hard, but it indeed helped you grow a deeper connection with him.

One thing that you feel differently now is that you're more sure of your feelings towards him. Frankly, you initially thought you were just physically attracted to him but now you know that you you genuinely like him.

For the first time in years, you want something more than just a fling with him.

"Am I doing it right?" Jeongin asks, holding the hair straightener away from your head to avoid accidents.

He offered his help to help you straighten your hair for tonight and of course, you let him do it for you, you wouldn't skip the chance to get spoiled by him.

"Yep, keep going, babe," you encourage.

Without having to look, you know everyone else in the room is jealous of what you both have. Bianca in particular can't help herself smiling at the sight of you two.

"You guys are so cute," she says while putting some colors to her cheeks.

You smile in response to her but you see Jeongin is concentrating hard on straightening your hair and not burning your scalp in the process.

As usual, you let Jeongin have his space while you, Francoise, Linda, and Justine choose the terrace as a place to hang out and talk.

"Do you feel like you connected with Jeongin even more?" Francoise suddenly asks out of the blue, probably wondering how things significantly changed after that night in the private suite.

"Definitely," you shortly answer, "I do feel like it brought us closer together."

Francoise stifles a no as if it's a hard thing to comprehend how being left alone in a private suite without having sex brings two people closer.

"Really?"

"I don't know why but it feels different," you vaguely explain.

"But I can see that you guys progressed a lot together," Justine says.

It's the first time you see her being genuinely nice to you that you get taken aback by it. Maybe she's not as bad as you think, so you smile and sincerely mutter, "Thanks."

Francoise clinks her glass with yours and says, "Bravo to you, girl!"

Bravo to you indeed for being brave and letting your guard down, allowing you to experience this feeling again, it's scary yet so exciting.

-

YOU: I really like him [smiles] and I haven't liked someone like this in so long so I hope that he feels the same way too.

-

Jeongin doesn't see you for the rest of the night until it's bedtime. Funny that he misses you even though you're always around him, it seems like staying in a villa with you isn't enough for him.

You're already in bed when he gets there, talking to Courtney on the next bed while playing with the cushion on your lap.

He removes the cushion and replaces it with his head, resting it on your lap. Without breaking the conversation you're having with Courtney, you slip your hand into his hair and softly scratch his scalp with your fingertips.

It's nice and calming, this moment and just the entirety of the day. It's probably one of the best days he's ever had here in the retreat.

He can feel himself getting drowsy but he keeps his eyes open, looking around the room since the lights are still on. Everything is going so well, everyone is—

It suddenly turns quiet in the bedroom and he wonders why. He looks up at you to find out, then you turn his head in the direction of Damon's bed.

Damon and Bianca huddle their heads together, it seems like he's talking privately to her and she's nodding to whatever it is he's saying.

There's nothing wrong with it until Damon gets up from his bed and gets onto the bed next to his which is Justine's bed. It turns eerily quiet in the room as every one notices what is happening at this moment: Damon has just jumped ship right in front of everyone.

All eyes are on those two beds, one bed is of Bianca trying to keep a straight face and the other bed is of Justine not hesitating to cuddle Damon right next to Bianca.

It comes as a shock to everyone since Damon and Bianca have been together since day one and they've been through a lot as a couple so everyone assumed that things are going well with them.

Apparently, things are not what they seem.

-

JEONGIN: I do not see this coming. How long has this been going on?

-

Everyone has woken up from their sleep but no one says anything, not even a sleepy morning greeting from Kurt.

"This is awkward," Jeongin lowly mutters to you.

It is awkward but you can't avoid it too since it all happened when everyone was in the room. Your eyes are glancing around the room, seeking any sort of signs from anyone or just anything, anything but this suffocating silence.

"How do you feel, Bianca?" Courtney's question cuts through the building tension in the room.

Bianca avoids looking at anyone, especially the two people on the next bed. She pouts and nervously picks at her nails.

"I don't know how to feel if I'm being honest," she weakly answers, "I just... at this point, I just want to get through the day."

Courtney lets out a sigh, she seems to have a lot to say to Damon but at the same time, she keeps biting her tongue. Eventually, she stops holding herself back and lets it all out, "Damon, you can't just jump into the bed and say 'I'm sleeping with Justine tonight' then jump out. That's foul," she tells him.

"Yeah, you could have explained it a bit more," Linda adds, keeping her tone soft.

Instead of Damon, Justine is the one speaking up. She sits on the bed and puts a hand on Damon's lap.

"It's not like we break a bunch of rules, okay? I've been through the same thing and no one gave a fuck when it happened to me," Justine defends herself.

You feel slightly called out for that since you've been through a similar situation and it's true, no one said anything when Jeongin chose to sleep with you.

Then again, they're not seeking an answer from her, they want an answer from the guy who's in the middle of this whirlwind.

"Damon?" Courtney demands his answer.

Damon scratches his chin and then innocently answers, "I'm good."

This situation may be similar to yours but now you see that it's not the same, the number one difference Jeongin is not a prick. Damon could have used the opportunity to sincerely apologize to Bianca but he shrugs it all away.

"What?" Courtney can't believe what he just heard.

You can feel her stress from looking at the way her chest heaves as she keeps inhaling air but as much as she tries to calm herself down, she can't stop.

"Talk to her. Communicate with her. You can't just tell her that a moment before you jump ship. Be a real man!" Courtney scolds her while everyone else can only watch it unfold.

"Would it kill you to try and be sensitive?"

Damon with his half-shut eyes is unfazed by Courtney's words, "I personally didn't feel like I was leading anyone on. I didn't think it was going to be this dramatic," he coyly says.

Even Mick who is always vocal about everything seems at a loss for words, he opens his mouth and then closes it again, deciding not to say anything. However, from this exchange, everyone knows what kind of guy Damon really is.

The silence resides in the room again and you rest your head against Jeongin's shoulder to seek comfort against the animosity that fills the air.

Lana's chime breaks the tension in the room and for the first time, you feel thankful that she comes.

"Good morning, everyone."

"Morning, Lana," you reply to her while clinging to Jeongin's arm.

"Damon and Justine, it is up to you to prove that your relationship is more than just skin deep," Lana directly assesses the matter of the moment.

"But it is encouraging to see the couples continuing to develop and grow as couples."

Oh, hearing that makes your heart flutter because it means that Lana sees the growth in you and Jeongin as a couple. You look at Jeongin and smile at him, feeling proud of what you both have achieved together.

"Keep focused as new tests are on the horizon."

Then you hear the word 'test' and you immediately feel a little traumatized, everyone knows that Lana's tests are not something you can take lightly.

Especially after seeing what happened between Bianca, Damon, and Justine, you never know what's going to happen.

-

YOU: I'm happy with Jeongin and things are going well. There's this fear that he's going to bring the old him out. Honestly, I just hope he's fully committed to me.

-

After a very tense morning, Jeongin couldn't be happier to get out of the villa and take his mind off things by working out.

He takes a long shower as he's not ready to engage in any human interactions yet and spends a long time in the bathroom afterward.

"Hey, gorgeous," you beam as you enter the bathroom.

It's a good thing that the first human interaction he's having of the day is with you. He smiles as you place a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"You smell good," you softly mutter.

Jeongin returns the compliment with a kiss and a gentle pat on your head afterward.

"Lana wants everyone in the cabana," you inform him.

Lana doesn't give anyone a minute to recover from the dramatic morning. He lets out a sigh and puts his things back inside the drawer.

"What now?"

You place your hand on his back and look at him through the mirror, "I don't know but please be good news," you say.

It sounds naive coming from you when Lana had put you two on the hot seat a handful of times. It may be going to be good news but Jeongin wouldn't be so hopeful.

In the cabana, everyone has been restlessly waiting for Lana to come online but mostly, hoping that she brings good news this time.

"My belly is turning," you cutely say to him while nuzzling your head into the crook of his neck.

He puts his hand in your hand, softly scratching your scalp to help you relax.

Not long after, the cone finally chimes, "Hello, everyone."

"Hello, Lana!" Everyone replies at the same time.

"Today, we will find out if you have what it takes to thrive in the outside world. I want to see how you cope when put under pressure," Lana shares.

He's not really in the mood to be tested but he has nothing against Lana, she is the ruler of this retreat after all.

"Being able to survive adversity will indicate that you have what it takes to last. Buckle under it and perhaps you are not as good a fit as you think."

It sounds like something he once heard before but he could be wrong.

"Therefore, I have invited two new guests to the retreat and they have selected one person each to take on a date," Lana announces.

So Jeongin is right. Lana brings another new guests to the house and they get to pick anyone on a date. The only difference is that he's not only worried for himself, he's also worried for you.

"The new guests are arriving by boat, you must now head to the beach to greet them."

-

JEONGIN: I'm excited to see this but if somebody takes her on a date, I will be fuming.

-

Everyone complies without saying anything, heading to the beach per Lana's instruction to welcome the new guests. After about a few minutes of waiting by the shore, Kurt notices the boat coming into sight and everyone starts hollering.

There's always going to be a twist and you're feeling nervous as to what sinister plan Lana is cooking this time.

When the boat finally stops, everyone suddenly turns quiet and puts all of their attention on the two people coming down from the boat. One is a tall guy with tattoos all over his chest and the other is a girl with long dark hair and a pair of stunning light brown eyes.

"Hi, everyone," The girl says with a raspy voice, "We come to fuck shit up!"

You know she meant it as a joke but it takes one to know one, this girl is going to be a problem.

"Welcome!" Courtney says in excitement with her eyes locked on the male.

"Welcome, guys!" Linda adds, fully delighted by their arrival.

As someone who has been the new girl in the retreat, you came here all hot and ready, and these new arrivals won't be much different too. You know they won't hesitate to go after someone they like just like you did and you worry that Jeongin's head will turn, again.

The new arrivals start introducing themselves to the group and then come up to everyone, giving friendly hugs and handshakes. You intently watch Jeongin's reaction to the presence of the new girl, Anne and he looks rather calm.

When it comes to your turn, this new guy gives you a quick cheek-to-cheek kiss and makes you feel a little taken aback.

"I'm Paul," he introduces his name with a bright smile.

"Oh, hello, Paul," you politely say in response to his enthusiasm.

He stares at you for a moment before taking a few steps back to see everyone with the new girl standing next to him.

"You guys look amazing," Paul says once again but his eyes are never straying away from yours.

"I don't know if you guys know but I've selected someone to go on a date with me," Anne says.

"No, we know," Bianca says, sounding excited since she recently became single.

Anne's eyes are glancing between the boys and your heart feels like it's about to jump out of your chest when her eyes hover in the direction of the guy standing next to you.

"I chose..."

If she picks Jeongin, just know that you and she won't be good friends in this retreat.

"Keith," Anne has made her pick.

And you feel like letting out a big sigh of relief, instead, you flash a smile at Anne for making the right choice.

"And I picked..." Paul takes his turn to pick now.

When you look back, you see the other girls putting their best smiles on and hoping to get picked by him for the date.

Paul is stalling by looking at everyone, especially the girls and you don't want to get ahead of yourself here but his eyes keep glancing your way.

You look away and pretend to not care, you hold Jeongin's arm by the elbow to let him know that you're with him so he better pick someone else.

Then Paul calls your name and you know you said there's going to be a twist but what you didn't know is that this will be the twist.

-

YOU: On second thought, I'm more worried for myself [laughs] But I hope this kicks Jeongin into gear, I need him to open up to me emotionally.

-

Maybe it's what people call karma because Jeongin has been in your position before and now he gets to feel being on the opposite side of things. He wouldn't be surprised if Justine is silently laughing at his pain now.

The boys are assembling in the firepit and Jeongin is half-heartedly listening to them talking, he can't help but think about you and the possibilities that may come after that date. What happens if your head turns? What happens if you decide not to be with him anymore? What is he going to do? What he knows for sure is he's going to hate it if you choose to be with this new guy.

The boys suddenly burst out with excitement and Jeongin notices that Keith has come back from the date, carrying the new girl in his arms. She chooses to sit next to him as the boys start asking so many questions to her but as much as he wants to be distracted, he just can't seem to stop thinking about you and whether you think about him too when you're on a date with another guy.

Lou elbows him on the side, snapping him away from his head, "They're here," he says.

"Huh?" He's been too oblivious to his surroundings to notice anything.

Lou gestures his head in the direction of the terrace and Jeongin turns his head to see you have returned from the date as well. Instead of feeling relieved, he feels even more nervous after you come back.

A moment later, he sees you're making your way to the firepit, already changed into a dress and you wave your hand once you notice him looking.

Jeongin unconsciously lets out a chuckle, "That little wave," he mutters.

When you arrive at the firepit, you smile at everyone and say, "Can I borrow my man for a minute?"

Damon fixes his shirt and then gets up from the sofa, "Yes, of course," he jokingly says.

While everyone is laughing at that, Jeongin gets up from the sofa and gently pushes Damon back until he plops onto the sofa again.

He ignores all the coos from the boys and takes you by the hand to get somewhere private to talk. He chooses the beach and it somehow brings back the memory of how you both had your first kiss here.

"Hey, how's your night going?" You ask with a sly smile.

Jeongin smiles back at you and coyly replies, "It's alright."

He doesn't know how to talk about it without being so forthright but he needs to know as soon as possible.

"So, how was the date?"

You tuck away a strand of hair behind your head, "It was nice. Paul is nice and the date went well," you answer.

The answer doesn't quite satisfy him and you seem to notice that from his facial expression.

"He is my type, you know," you tell him.

The smile on his vanishes in a second and Jeongin can no longer pretend that he's fine hearing that.

"But all the time I was on that date, I kept thinking of you," you immediately add with a bright smile.

He doesn't know why but he lets out a snort, but thankfully, you're laughing in response to that. Then you place your hand on his knee, playing with the lint on his ripped jeans.

"Going on that date made me realize how much I like you," you honestly admit.

This time, Jeongin can't stop himself from smiling and his hand goes to his ear, he can sense that it's reddening.

"You're the one I want," you further confess, "Ever since I saw a photo of you that day, I just knew you're the one I want."

You seem nervous from the way your hand keeps looking for something to fiddle with and this time is the hem of his shirt, it only tells him that you meant every word you said.

"I feel comfortable around you. Way too comfortable that I burped in front of you three times this morning," you add a crisp laugh at the end of the sentence.

Then you look at him with your eyes wide and open, glimmering under the starry night. You keep looking at him as you seek a response from him.

Jeongin doesn't know how to open up emotionally because he's never done this before. He never stayed in a relationship long enough to get to that.

"I like you too," he mutters at you.

If there's one thing that he knows for sure about this is that he likes you, he feels a connection with you and with time, the connection only grows deeper.

You immediately squeal hearing his answer and throw your arms around him, then rest your head on his shoulder.

"I didn't think you liked me that much," you whine with an adorable pout while putting your hand across his chest.

"I do," he affirms, putting his arm around you and pulling you closer.

You tilt your head to smile at him then place a soft kiss on his cheek before nuzzling your head in his neck again.

The truth is, it's difficult for Jeongin to get his emotions across because he usually jumps ship when he starts feeling emotions.

-

JEONGIN: I'm feeling relieved and ready to move forward with her but commitment... [exhales] it just kind of scares me.

-

Today, you woke up feeling exceptionally good and you believe it's because of last night. You finally got an affirmation from Jeongin that he feels the same way about you.

There's nothing more bountiful than having your feelings reciprocated.

"Morning," you croak.

Jeongin looks so cute with his morning look of bare face with blushed cheeks. He stretches his arm out and then rests it around you so he can play with your hair after.

"How was your sleep?" You ask.

"Good," he answers with his deep, morning voice.

"Did you dream of me?" You jokingly ask while nuzzling his cheek with your nose.

Jeongin only responds with a light chuckle and then rubs the sleep off his eyes. You share a few cuddles until the lights are on and everyone starts to rise on their beds.

"Good morning, fam!" Keith cheerily greets which is very unusual of him.

You believe it's because he's sharing the bed with the new girl, Anne and you wouldn't be surprised if they broke rules already.

"Do you have anything to confess, Keith?" Mick asks, noticing that he's quite chipper this morning.

Keith scrunches his nose and then glances at Anne, he seems to be considering whether to fess up or not.

"Actually, yeah..." he meekly admits, "Anne and I kissed on the date.

"I guessed right," Mick mumbles. His reaction is underwhelming compared to his reactions to the previous rule breaks.

Well, it seems like that girl shouldn't be your concern anymore. Also, Jeongin said he likes you so anything else doesn't matter to you anymore.

You turn your head to look at Jeongin and the sight of his blushed cheeks triggers a cute aggression out of you that you can't help but kiss him on the cheek again.

-

YOU: I've never felt so comfortable being myself around a guy before so this feels like paradise.

-

Jeongin feels like he's having a deja vu with this new girl who keeps making eyes at him.

He tries not to entertain that idea and decides to put all of his focus on you, especially after the talk you both had last night.

Just like the universe wants to test him, he keeps bumping into this new girl. She comes into the bathroom when he's brushing her teeth and Jeongin has to share the sink with her. Even without words, Jeongin can tell what she wants from the way she keeps making these eyes at him. He hurriedly finishes and then leaves the room.

After breakfast, Jeongin chooses to sunbathe by lying on one of the sun loungers by the pool, and again, the new girl decides to also do the same.

"Hey," she greets him.

Jeongin only nods in response and looks straight ahead. Thankfully, Keith comes and he takes this as a sign to exit this situation.

He ends up hanging out in the bedroom by himself until you come with your hair still damp. You seem to be surprised to see him there.

"Hey, cutie," you softly say, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hey," he replies with a thin smile.

"I've been looking for you," you tell him with a pout, then climb onto the bed.

You put away the cushion to sit close to him on the bed and take his arm, putting it around you so you can rest your head on his chest.

"Have you decided what kind of chocolate would I be?" You playfully ask.

Jeongin lets out a low chuckle, "I need more time for that."

You place a gentle kiss on his neck then nestle your head in the crook of his neck, staying like that for a moment just cuddling on your shared bed.

"I miss you," you suddenly blurt out.

You take his hand and intertwine it together with yours, "I even miss you in my sleep," you murmur.

"Yeah?" He softly asks, watching how your thumb caresses the back of his hand.

"I just want to be with you all the time," you sweetly say with your warm breath fanning his neck.

Jeongin smiles at that and don't get him wrong, hearing that makes him happy but he doesn't know how to respond to that. He only feels bad for not being able to say the same thing to you.

You lowly inhale air and bring your hands to his chest, putting it close to his heart, "I really feel like we're going to be something after this," you tell him.

Not getting an answer from him, you tilt your head to look at him and ask, "What do you think?"

And honestly, Jeongin has no answer for that but still, he smiles for you because that's the only way he can put you at ease.

-

JEONGIN: It's great that she opened up to me but at the same time, it's very scary and now, she's talking like we're going to get married. I'm honestly freaking out because I usually run to the next thing.

-

To welcome the new arrivals, Lana is throwing a party in the villa tonight.

It's about time Lana lets us blow some steam off. The staff provides a selection of costumes for everyone to wear and you pick one with a white sheer bodysuit with feathered wings.

You're so excited to have some fun tonight and have a lot more fun with Jeongin, maybe you can tease him a little bit tonight.

Everyone starts the party with a big toast and you take a big gulp to get you revved up.

Jeongin doesn't seem to be in the mood tonight so instead of forcing him to dance with you, you keep him close by putting his arms around you as you sway your body to the fast tempo of the music.

Then he brings his mouth close to your ear and whispers it loud enough against the blasting music, "Can we get somewhere private?"

You slyly smile at him, thinking that he has the same thing in mind. You nod instead of answering, letting him guide you to the terrace where you can hear each other.

"You okay?" You ask as you sit on the wooden chair.

"Yeah, I'm good," he answers with a smile, "Just wanted to have a chat with you."

"Oh, yeah?" You nervously ask because he chooses this time, in the middle of a party, to talk to you.

"I feel like we haven't spoken about things and you've probably noticed I've been like quiet, a bit not myself," he tells you.

If there's anything you learned from the time you've spent with Jeongin is that he likes being alone, in a way that he needs time for himself and you always respect those boundaries, you only come to him when you feel welcome to. Lately, he's indeed been quiet and you thought that's just his usual self.

Now that he makes it clear, you start to get nervous about what he wants to say to you.

"Um... I was having..." He clears his throat while his fingers are playing with the rings on his fingers, "just having doubts about this."

It feels like your heart just dropped into your stomach and you feel sick, you feel faint. Yet you keep a calm face and intently listen to what he has to say to you.

"I'm retracting from you and I don't mean to, I do it automatically. It happens all the time. It's just... me," He explains, pointing at himself when he says the last word.

"Ehm... it's the classic yeah, it's not you, it's me," you jokingly say with a weak laugh.

"Yeah," Jeongin meekly responds.

Hearing this has taken you aback, you didn't expect him to feel this way with how well things are going between you and him, and honestly, you feel mugged off.

"It's quite a shock to know how you're feeling. I had no idea you were feeling this way," you manage to deliver a full sentence even though you're on the verge of tears and your voice is trembling.

"Like I said, it's my problem. I don't want to keep this thing going if I think I'm going to hurt you or the other way around," he explains.

But you don't see how that makes sense especially after you told him how you really feel about him.

"Why would I hurt you? You know how I feel about you. Isn't it obvious enough? I'm so into you," you tell him again, just in case he needs reassurance.

"I don't understand why you're not scared, you're like, so calm about this," he says in disbelief while nervously touching his ear.

"Because I know within myself that I like you and I decide to go with it," You stare into his eyes as you talk to him, "If I was to back away from my feelings and act how you're acting, then how's that going to be of any benefit to either of us?"

You let that sink into him for a moment before continuing to talk, "And you.. You're just doing what you usually do. As soon as you get feelings for someone, you jump ship."

Jeongin seems to feel offended by it that his eyebrow perks up and he stops touching his ear, "Out there, I wouldn't even try to have this conversation, I just leave," he makes a weak argument to defend himself.

"But I want to have this conversation and let you know what I truly feel about all this but I'm trying to work through them. Just want to be honest with you," he tells you his real intentions on why you both are having this conversation.

What you can draw from this is that he's struggling with his old self and not ready to leave the retreat as a different man who's not afraid to commit. As much as you want this to work, you don't want to force him to do anything he doesn't want.

"You know it's all in your head, right?" You ask, making sure that he's scaring things that he makes up in his head.

Jeongin stays silent, he's clasping his hands together in front of him and playing with his rings again.

You take a low breath and try to be patient, you're willing to give him more time and space to think about it. You place a hand on his knee and do not start talking until he looks at you.

"Just know that I'm here for you no matter what and I really, really like you. I'm excited for our future together. I really am," you sincerely tell him, hoping that he can see how genuine your feelings for him are even though telling him that makes your heart aches.

-

YOU: I may put a brave face on but I'm genuinely upset. This is exactly why I don't put my guard down because I always end up being the one hurting [sniffles]

-

Just like the night couldn't be anymore suck, Lana abruptly stops the party and calls everyone to the cabana.

You still need time to recover from what you just heard from Jeongin and now you have to hear Lana too? You slump on the sofa in between Linda and Kurt.

"Why are we here?" Courtney asks.

"It must be about Keith's rule break right?" Kurt asks around while turning his head side-to-side.

You can't be bothered with how much money have lost to a kiss, you don't care even if someone drained the prize money to zero.

Lana chimes and skips her usual greeting, "We all know Keith and Anne broke a rule last night."

Keith holds both hands up in the air in defeat and apologizes again, "I'm sorry, everyone."

"This rule break has cost the group $6,000," Lana immediately announces.

"Well, that's it right?" Linda innocently asks.

"But that's not the only reason for summoning you all," Lana is not letting anyone breathe yet, "There's another rule break."

From the way you keep a bitter expression on your face and sitting far away from Jeongin, everyone knows something is going on and that's enough to tell them that you're not the ones breaking the rules.

The suspicion is on the recently became partners, Damon and Justine. With all the glares they get from everyone, they fold almost immediately.

"Yeah, okay, we kissed," Damon blatantly admits, always taking everything lightly.

"Another $6,000 has been deducted from the prize fund." Everyone groans in response because not only Damon has messed up the group's dynamic, but he seems to not care about everything, not even Lana.

"The prize fund now stands at $110,000," Lana updates.

Everyone gets up from their seats thinking that's the end of it when Lana speaks again.

"That's not all."

"Oh, no," Linda weakly gasps next to you.

"I observed that some of you were not rising to the level that I expect at this stage of my retreat."

Not going to lie, this time you feel groggy not knowing what Lana going to announce next.

"There are two people in particular who are clearly falling short of their potential and I'm about to send them home."

Kurt slaps his forehead and reclines on the sofa as he sighs, "This is fucked up."

Given the situation of the relationship, it's possible that either you or Jeongin could go home tonight for not being able to show the growth that Lana wanted.

"The guests leaving the retreat are..."

You regret it now for not sitting next to him because it probably would be the last time you are able to.

"...Damon and Justine."

"Fuck off," Francoise lowly curses and massages her temple in distress.

Linda grabs your hand in reflex, "I'm in shock."

You let out a shaky breath of relief after hearing the names and they're not yours. As much as you hate being in this situation, you want to get to the end of this retreat, moreover, you're not ready to part with Jeongin yet.

"Damon and Justine, you must now leave my retreat."

You follow everyone else, getting up from the sofa to bid farewell to both Justine and Damon. You give each one of them a quick hug and well wishes.

"Goodbye," Lana closes the session.

"Goodbye, Lana," Justine says for the last time, blowing a kiss at the cone sitting on the table.

-

YOU: Justine is just trying to fill a void with Damon and that's not the kind of growth Lana is looking for so can't say I'm surprised [shrugs]

-

Jeongin feels bad now for choosing the wrong time to tell you about his doubts. He's not ready to face you without feeling guilty so he ends up just wasting time in the bathroom after a quick shower.

He reminds himself that it's with good intentions that he decided to tell you about it, he wants to be open and honest with you because you deserve nothing less than that.

But still, it feels like he's the bad guy here.

"Hi," a voice says.

Jeongin staggers against the sink to see who it is, it's the new girl, Anne.

"How are you?" She asks.

Thinking that she needs to use the sink, he hurriedly steps back and decides to sit on the edge of the tub, "Alright, I guess."

Instead of using it, Anne leans against the sink and crosses her arms together in front of her chest, "Uhm... so... where's your head at? Are you two good?"

It's obvious to everyone that something is going on between you and him. Jeongin doesn't want to confirm it and gives her the satisfaction of letting her know that.

"We're alright," he tells her.

"Are you going to marry each other?" She suddenly asks with a playful smile.

That gets Jeongin scratching his head because the question comes out of the blue, "Nah, no, I wouldn't say that. Marry is not—"

"Because you seem quite committed already," she cuts him off with a well-known fact.

Hearing that from someone else only confirms his fear of commitment and worsening it. He remains firm and chooses not to answer her.

"When I came to the retreat did anything change for you?"

Jeongin stifles a nod when he means to shake his head, an error on his behalf.

"Do you think you'll ever change?" Anne asks a rather profound question.

"I like to say yeah, but I still have a lot to go," he honestly answers because that's the truth, he has a lot to learn still but he's getting there.

"If I was here from the beginning who knows what would happen," Anne suddenly says with a flirty smile and eyes that intensely gaze into his.

Jeongin looks away to not let them affect him, "Might be different, yeah," he half-heartedly says.

Anne takes a towel from the pile on the shelf and puts it on her shoulder, "Do you like risk?"

He chuckles because the questions she asks him are rather random yet provoking.

"I think I am," he answers.

Anne puts her hand on the handle of the shower door, "Want to take a risk?"

Now that's not a question but a dare and it comes at the time when Jeongin has the least trust in himself.

Anne opens the shower door and lingers there as she asks, "Do you want to have a shower with me?"

-

JEONGIN: I'm having doubts about her then Anne came looking me straight in the eyes and asked me to join her in the shower [hisses] This is not what I need right now.

-

You can't remember anything from yesterday except for the painful part. You can't even remember what time Jeongin got onto the bed, all you knew it was late and you were already too drowsy to care.

You shift on the bed to see if he's already awake and see that his eyes are still closed, soundly sleeping with his lower lip slightly jutting out.

Today, you're going to give him what he wants, space and time to think but you're still going to be you who cares and adores him.

A while later, the lights are on and everyone is rising on their beds, yawning and stretching their arms out with eyes half shut.

You sit on the bed and tie your hair into a messy bun, taking your water tumbler to take a sip of water, catching Courtney getting up on the next bed.

"Good morning, Courtney baby," You cutely greet.

She groans as she hoists herself to sit on the bed and flips her hair to the back, "I feel like shit," she groans.

Jeongin shifts on the bed and your head turns to see if he's awake, "Morning," you softly mutter with a gentle ruffle on his tousled hair.

He smiles with his eyes closed and roughly brushes his hair to the back to get it away from his eyes.

"It's cute that your cheeks are flushed in the morning," you sweetly say, pressing the back of your hand to his cheek.

He takes your hand and holds it close to his chest as he closes his eyes again to get a few minutes of extra sleep.

This feels good, this feels nice and you wonder why Jeongin has doubts about it. He might have said it's him, yet you can't help but think that it's maybe you.

-

YOU: We've worked so hard on getting to know each other and growing this connection that it'd be stupid to throw it all away because he's having these doubts about us.

-

It's clear that a lot of people have progressed and Jeongin hopes that he has progressed too. However, he needs a bit more space and time to make sure that he makes the right decision.

"You good, mate?" Lou asks, derailing Jeongin's train of thought.

"I'm all right," he answers, "Just thinking out loud."

He then lets out a sigh and watches Lou takes a seat on the empty chair next to him while drying his body with a towel. He considers for a moment whether he wants to tell him about what happened to him last night and Lou seems trustworthy so...

"You're the first person I told about this but Anne came in when I was in the bathroom and she got very flirty and she asked me to get in the shower with her," he shares in one intake of breath.

Lou raises his eyebrow and then lets out a chuckle, a chuckle that says 'Here we go again'.

"Honestly man, I wanted to so badly cause I'm always chasing the next thing cause it's exciting. It's like... I'm never content," Jeongin doesn't know why he can openly share something like that with him but it feels good to get it off his chest.

Lou takes a moment to finish drying his hair, then hangs the wet towel behind his chair, "You know what? It's lonelier having someone different every night than it is having just that one consistent figure," he tells him.

He talks to him to try to lessen the weight on his chest but damn, he didn't expect Lou to be this wise, and maybe this is why he's comfortable sharing things with him.

"But it's easy," Jeongin meekly says.

"It's easy but lonelier," Lou corrects him.

That shut him up and Jeongin realizes that that's the reason why he's never content, because he never finds a consistent figure by his side.

"If you cut things off with her can you really leave the retreat and say that you've changed?" Lou asks.

"Probably not, no," Jeongin meekly answers.

That makes Jeongin think that all these things he's been going through in this retreat, would mean nothing if he left as the same person.

Lou takes a swig of his water tumbler and gasps when he swallows it, then allows himself to continue talking.

"In my opinion, you have a great thing with her, and very rarely does a connection like yours happen. You should be so content with her and if you're not, then you don't need to string her along any longer."

That's true, Jeongin should come up with a decision soon because he doesn't want to keep leading you on to nothing. But the fear of commitment, oh, he can't seem to shake it off.

-

JEONGIN: Last night, I said no to Anne and I think that shows how much I've grown but I'm still struggling to commit because I don't know whether it's going to work or not.

-

This is what Jeongin wants, space and time to think and you're merely giving him exactly that. You haven't seen him since you woke up next to him this morning.

You spend most of the morning with the girls, gossiping in the dressing room and it helps you get your mind off things, but only for a minute or two before you get reminded of how somber your situation is.

Out of nowhere, the cone chimes in the corner of the room. Francoise abruptly stops talking to hear what Lana is about to say.

"Ladies, please gather everyone in the cabana."

Without saying anything, everyone obeys Lana, going around to inform everyone while you and Courtney are heading straight there, telling anyone you meet on the way.

You're completely relaxed as you sit on the sofa facing the cone and you believe, no one is stupid enough to break rules when the retreat is nearing its end.

A thought crosses your head because what if someone did?

The cone chimes and lights up in the middle of the big wooden table.

"Hello, everyone."

"Hello, Lana!" Anne replies with her raspy voice as she sits next to you.

"I have an announcement," Lana informs.

An announcement so it's probably not a rule break, maybe this time it's good news.

"All romantic connections matter and must be nourished with time apart from the group. This is why I'm sending all partnered guests on a final date."

All the couples are cheering in response and you would have too if only you weren't upset about something. You glance toward Jeongin and notice that he looks not that delighted either.

Francoise and Kurt will be the first to go on a date, then Keith and Anne will go in the late afternoon, and you take the last turn with Jeongin which is later at night.

You have time to get ready but it's a date so you make the most of it with the reminder that this probably going to be the last date you'll ever have with him.

Jeongin is changing his clothes near his closet when you're doing your make-up, you turn to look at him and meekly ask.

"Are you excited for our dates?"

He probably doesn't hear your question because he doesn't say anything. You need any signs that he gets rid of his doubts but it seems like all that you're getting is the opposite of it.

You put on a red dress with thin straps and cinched around the waist, you let your hair down knowing he likes it that way.

"I look too good to get dumped tonight," you mutter as you see your reflection in the mirror.

Courtney must have caught you saying that, she hugs you from the back and puts her chin on your shoulder, "No, no one is getting dumped," she tells you with a gentle squeeze on your shoulder.

You can't seem to summon any good thoughts when your head is all over the place. Will we work out? Will we not work out? One thing for sure is you'll be gutted if it's not.

-

YOU: I've given Jeongin space and time. I've been patient. I've been supportive. But no matter how much I like him, this isn't a game and he can't just play with my feelings.

-

The date takes place in the front yard of the villa, the place usually being used for workshops but tonight, they turn it into a romantic dinner date with food and wine already served on the table.

The night, this date, it's all too nice for you to get dumped tonight.

Jeongin pops open the cork and fills your glass with red wine, the aphrodisiac smell wafting around you. You allow yourself to have a small sip as he fills his glass.

It's when the silence resides in the space between you and him, making you anxious.

"I appreciate you being patient with me and allowing me to come to certain decisions," Jeongin begins.

You nod and take another sip of wine, you really need it to help you relax.

"There is one thing that I have to tell you and it's better if you hear it from me than anyone else," he says.

You take your hand under the table to wipe your damp hand against the hem of your dress and have another sip of wine again, "Yeah?"

Jeongin is playing with the rings on his fingers again, he spins it around his finger as he hesitates to say something.

"There was an incident with uhm... Anne. She got a bit flirty with me last night and asked me to get in the shower with her."

If there's anything worse he can say to start the date, that is it. Being told that he almost showered with another girl is even worse than getting dumped.

"You probably gave her a reason to think you'd get in the shower with her," you tell her with your eyebrows knitted in displease.

He bites his lower lip and carefully picks his words, "Well, she's an attractive girl and I think we both can agree to that."

What makes him that her attractiveness can justify this? You glare at him to let your silence answer the question for him.

"No?" He asks with a nervous smile.

"That hurts my feelings to know that was happening behind my back," you let yourself have a go at it but keep your emotions under control.

"But I didn't—" he stops himself there, "Just want to be honest with you."

"Yeah and I appreciate your honesty but it's shit to hear," you tell him.

Feeling more pessimistic that this date will end on a nice note, you have some more wine.

-

YOU: Yeah, I do feel like being played right now.

-

Jeongin knows he shouldn't have said what he said so he tries again.

"With you, I didn't want to do the exact same thing like I always do and I always wanted to be honest with you, letting you know I was having doubts," he explains.

You keep yourself calm and give him the chance to explain himself, sipping your wine once in a while to keep your nerves in check.

"I couldn't figure things out in my own head until I had a bit of time to think," he adds.

"Yeah..." you mumble, playing with the stem of your wine glass.

"I think you are my best mate in here, I like cuddling with you, I'm comfortable around you and you're the only one I want to do dirty things with," he says with a low chuckle.

You smile at that even though your hands are shaking on your lap.

"And that's why I panic, 'cause it's like, you came in a situation I didn't expect. And I'm pretty sure you didn't expect this too," he says.

You lick your lips and gulp air, "Mmm-hmm."

You're quietly counting down the time until he says something you have expected him to say and by the time he says it, you'll be ready.

Jeongin inhales air and his eyes stare straight into your eyes, "And for once, I'm just going to go with my gut," he says.

You've seen this look, everything feels not right and that's that. It's time,

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

It takes a minute for you to process his words and when it registers to your head, you can't comprehend it still.

"What?"

He repeatedly nods at you, "Yeah."

"Are you serious?" You ask again just to be sure.

Jeongin is amused with how in disbelief you are, "I'm genuinely asking you to be my girlfriend," he convinces you.

You feel a little faint so you hold out your hand at him, needing something to hold on to.

"I thought you were going to dump me," you whine at him.

He grabs your hand and holds it tightly, "No, you're the one I want."

-

YOU: I am... over the moon and for once, I'm just so speechless [smiles]

-

You both forget about the watches until they chime and turn green, allowing you to properly embrace each other.

Jeongin gets up from his chair and comes up to you, offering his hand to get you up. He wastes no time leaning in, showing you how much he craves your lips by kissing you so passionately.

He makes the most of the green light by kissing you until his lungs are screaming for oxygen, and he gasps for air the second he lets go.

With his hand tenderly holding your jaw, he allows himself to give you a quick peck on the lips, as soft as the sea breeze that blows your way.

"Oh, my God! We're boyfriend and girlfriend!" You squeal in disbelief.

He likes it whenever you squeal like that, it makes him feel the excitement you have for something.

"And we haven't even had sex," Jeongin jokingly adds.

"I know!" You say, resting your hands on his chest as he holds you close.

"What if the sex is shit?" You ask with eyes squinted.

"No, it won't be," he confidently answers.

Jeongin knows for sure sex with you would be anything but shit but if you need more convincing, you can trust him to not make that happen.

You both get back to your seats to continue with the date but keep your hands on each other on the table.

"The other night when you were cuddling me and saying nice things to me, I got a semi," he shares out of the blue.

You both burst out laughing at the same time and it feels nice to finally get rid of the doubts and worries that chained him lately, he can safely say that things are finally going well.

"What do you think after this retreat?" He curiously asks you.

"When I look at my future, I see you in there by my side," you answer.

You look so darn cute with a shy smile on your face, too bad that the watches are no longer green because he so badly wanted to kiss you.

He can see you in his future as well, by his side and looking this cute. Now that he's thinking about it, it makes him excited for his future with you.

"Well, I want you to be a part of my life," he tells you, "I want you to know everything about me, want you to meet my friends and family."

"I'd love that," you tell him with that adorable head tilt.

And the fond gaze you're giving him makes him flutter on the inside.

-

JEONGIN: I feel happy. I feel very happy... I do. And I think I've fallen in love with the girl but I haven't told her that yet so please shh... [hushes]

-

What he's going to miss the most of this retreat is waking up next to you. Not that it will never happen again in the near future, it's just that he knows it's going to feel somewhat different.

"Morning," you softly murmur with your hand across his chest.

And he's definitely going to miss this sleepy, affectionate morning greeting from you.

"Morning," he says back, then presses a kiss on the top of your head.

He tangles his hand in your soft locks, playing with it while you're both cuddling on the bed to wait until the lights are on.

When it's finally on, Kurt loudly shouts into the room and wakes everybody up, "Morning, everyone! It's the last day of the retreat!"

Jeongin puts his arm around you, pulling you close so you can rest your head on his shoulder. It's obvious to everyone in the room that you both are in love.

"So, how does it feel to wake up as a girlfriend?" Courtney asks you.

You let out a low chuckle and glance at him before answering, "It feels so good."

Courtney shifts her attention to him, demanding an answer from Jeongin next.

"It's nice to have more clarity," he honestly answers.

"Wish we had some privacy, actually," you add to his words while linking your arm around him.

Linda adorably coos at the two of you, "Oh, that's so cute."

You and him are not the only ones having the first day of a relationship, Francoise and Kurt also made it official on their date yesterday, except for Keith and Anne.

Well, not everyone can get their happy ending but Jeongin feels grateful to be one of the lucky ones.

"Good morning," Lana chimes for her morning greeting.

"Good morning, Lana!" Everyone replies in unison.

"Welcome to your final day in the retreat!"

"Oh, yeah!" Kurt cheers with his hand fisting the air.

Everyone is just as enthusiastic for today and Kurt represents everyone vocally for that, they're used to his peculiar antics.

"The winner or winners of the $110,000 prize has not been selected yet. Therefore, I encourage you all to use the remaining time to show me and your fellow guests why you deserve to win," Lana informs.

Jeongin almost forgot about the prize money, he even forgot that there's prize money to win in the first place. Oh well, he earns something more valuable than that so even if he didn't win it, he still gained a lot of things from this retreat.

Then he looks at you and feels like a winner already.

-

JEONGIN: It was only yesterday that I was having these doubts about her and now [exhales] I've gone a bit soft head in the head [grins]

-

Everyone is spending their last hours in the retreat soaking up the sun including you and him.

Under the shade of the three, you share a lounger with him, resting your back on his chest while he has his arms wrapped around you and enjoying the breathtaking view while cuddling.

Your fingers lightly rub the forearm resting on your stomach and for the first time you feel like things are going to be okay.

"Can't believe I'll be going home with a boyfriend," you delightfully sigh.

You turn your head to look at him, catching him smiling at your words. You take the hand resting on your waist and hold it, lacing it together with yours.

"I haven't been kind of so sure about someone ever but with you, I just allowed myself to let go," you tell him.

Jeongin tilts his head down to face you and he probably sees hearts in your eyes as you look at him. He places his hand in your hair, endearingly brushing it like he always does.

"I'm glad I took that chance. I just..." you pause to let out a sigh because it hurts in a good way to let your emotions out, "I feel really lucky."

He smiles again and draws you closer to him, holding you tightly like you would float away if he didn't.

"How about you stay with me for a while?" He suddenly asks.

You lift your head in response to an unexpected offer, "Do you want me to?"

"Of course, I told you I want you to meet my family and friends," he answers.

He puts your hair to the side and holds it there, "And obviously, I want to spend more time with you."

You melt into his arms again as you imagine what it would be like to know him more and be a bigger part of his life, also can't help to think about being with him.

All these times, you've been casually dating someone knowing that they'll leave at some point but now, finally having that someone who will always be there for you makes you realize that this is what you've been looking for all along.

"And we'll finally be alone together," you sigh in content.

"And do dirty things with you," Jeongin continues with a sly smirk that makes his dimples appear on his cheek.

You bury your head in his neck, suddenly feeling a little worked up just thinking of doing dirty things with him.

"Mmh, can't wait for it," you hum close to his ear.

Jeongin lets his hand wander down to the nape of your neck and then trails the side of your body only to squeeze on the flesh of your waist. You can hear his low breathing as he feels you under his touch.

You look at him and let your hand touch his beautiful face, your fingers eventually swipe over his plump lips and that gets you tempted to kiss it.

"Mmh... want to kiss you," you whisper to him.

Not for the sake that your desire tells you to, you want to kiss him to show how much you like him.

Instead of saying no, Jeongin compensates for not being able to do it by placing a soft kiss on your nose. He holds you tightly as he lands another kiss on your forehead, longer than the previous, a kiss that makes your heart burst open, overflowing with love.

-

YOU: Before coming to this retreat, I didn't realize how lonely I was and how lonely I've been. It's only now that I feel like I'm not lonely and I feel like I've allowed myself to really love someone.

-

Everyone is here on the final day of the retreat and about to have, possibly, the last session with Lana in the cabana.

Looking around, he sees that everyone is very much relaxed, in contrast to the previous times they got called to the cabana, tensed and nervous.

Lana shortly chimes in and everyone gasps in delight.

"Hello, everyone."

"Hi, Lana!"

Even the replies are louder and more cheerful than usual. He feels your hand on his and then you place it on your lap, holding it with both hands.

"I have been collecting data since you arrived and have now conducted my final analysis."

"It's coming," Kurt says, rubbing in hands together in anticipation.

He looks around and everyone starts to get nervous again, a different kind where they anticipate getting their names called as one of the finalists.

"While I acknowledge you have all shown great progress, three people in particular stand out for the transformational journey they've been on and one of them will take home the prize."

He can't tell which one going to make it because so many of them have shown so much growth throughout the process so whoever wins, he knows that person deserves it.

"The first finalist is..."

This is the horrible part, just waiting for Lana to announce the names. Jeongin isn't that hopeful that he'll make it but he can't help but feel nervous as well.

"... Bianca"

Everyone gives her a round of applause as Lana makes her stand as a finalist.

"The second finalist is... Francoise."

Another round of applause is also given to Francoise who covers her mouth with both hands, still in disbelief that she got chosen as a finalist.

"The third finalist is..."

You squeeze his hand even harder than before as Lana is about to announce the last finalist.

"...Jeongin."

-

JEONGIN: A bit surprised but I'm so happy to know that my progress was recognized. I'm proud of myself.

-

The second you hear his name, you squeal out of reflex and press a kiss on his cheek, then you hurriedly wipe the lipstick mark as he has to get up as a finalist.

"That's my boy," you proudly queal behind him, watching him stand with the other two finalists and feeling proud of him.

"Bianca, Francoise, and Jeongin, one of you will be leaving the retreat with the prize fund," Lana says.

It's a win for you too despite Lana only calling his name. You both went through so much and you both grew from facing them together, especially him, you see how much he's changed.

"To the rest of you, while you have not been selected as finalists, you have been on a journey of self-discovery and growth. Throughout your time at the retreat, you have got to know your fellow guests deeply and meaningfully. The decision for who will win lies with all of you."

It would be nice for him to win the money too but even if he didn't, you'll still be proud that Jeongin shows so much growth that Lana thinks he deserves to be in that position.

"Bianca, Francoise, and Jeongin, please leave the cabana while the voting takes place."

Jeongin bends down to give you a quick hug before leaving with the other two to leave the cabana per Lana's instruction.

-

YOU: It's a no-brainer, my vote goes to my man [smiles]  Even though I didn't get to be with him from day one, I'm watching him leave as a man [whispers] which I helped to mold [chuckles]

-

Jeongin gets to see you for a bit before you have to leave for the beach for the final party in the retreat.

He gives you a tight hug and gives you a quick kiss on the neck, "I'll see you there."

You nod and return the kiss with a peck on the cheek, "Good luck," you say with a soft scratch on the nape of his neck.

Jeongin has to wait with Bianca and Francoise in the dressing until they get a cue from the staff.

"Wow! One of us is going to win that 110k!" Bianca says with a shocked smile.

"It could have been 200k," Francoise playfully adds.

Jeongin laughs, feeling called out because he took part in the money deduction.

"Oh, well..." he embarrassingly adds with a touch to his ear.

When it's time to go, Jeongin repeatedly takes deep breaths to keep calm and struts his way down to the beach with the cameras filming every move he makes.

Everyone is cheering when the three finalists enter the party but Jeongin just can't wait to be with you again. You smile as he sits next to you, immediately fixing the collar of his shirt for him.

"Looking like a million bucks," you praise with admiration in your eyes.

This is why he needs you, you know how to make him feel comfortable without trying too hard. You link your arm around him as Lana lights up in the center.

"Good evening, everyone," Lana opens.

"Good evening, Lana," you both reply at the same time with smiles on your faces.

"During your time at the retreat, you have broken my rules 16 times," Lana informs.

"Oopsie!" Francoise responds.

"Sorry, Lana," you adorably shout at the cone with a grin.

"However, over the course of your stay, I have observed you all commit to the process, acknowledge your failings, and show your significant change."

Jeongin is not that hopeful that he'd win the money but the closer he gets to the winner reveal, the more he can't calm down.

"The time has come to announce the winner of the $110,000 prize."

-

JEONGIN: Whatever happens, I had the best time of my life here and I've found a girl that I want to be with, and that's more than I could ask [smiles]

-

"Finalists, please stand up," Lana instructs.

Jeongin looks nervous so you give his hand a squeeze before he gets up from his seat and keeps holding it for a moment to let him know that you're there for him.

"Your fellow retreat guests have voted and I have the results. The person in third place is..."

Tension is building in the space as everyone is anticipating the result of who the winner is. On your lap, you have all of your fingers crossed for Jeongin.

"... Francoise."

Even though she ended up in third place, she deserves another round of applause for having the most growth out of everyone in the retreat.

"Thank you, guys," she sweetly says while blowing kisses to everyone.

"Bianca and Jeongin, one of you have been chosen to check out of the retreat with the prize fund."

Your chest is tightening and your heart is beating so fast that you can hear it in your ears.

"The person leaving with $110,000 is..."

It gets quiet in here except for the sound of the waves lapping in the background. You clasp your hands together on your lap waiting for Lana to call out the name of the winner but you can almost feel that Jeongin is going—

"... Bianca."

 -

YOU: I'm a little disappointed that Jeongin didn't win but I couldn't be happier for Bianca. She is the true winner [applauds]

-

Jeongin goes to Bianca to congratulate her first before coming up to you and embracing each other. He didn't win but he doesn't feel disappointed, not even a bit.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you," you mutter as you hold him tight and place a long kiss on his cheek.

He has so much to thank you and mostly for helping him become who he is today, a changed man.

"Thank you," he mutters to you with a kiss on your jaw.

You both join everyone as they celebrate Bianca's win, letting her pop open a bottle of champagne only to spray it at everyone.

He quickly shields you with his body and ends up getting his shirt stuck to his back while you're laughing into his chest.

Lana chimes once again to deliver one last announcement, "Your time at the retreat is over and the rules no longer apply."

Jeongin wastes no time to put his hands around your head and leans in, placing his lips on you. He tries to convey his gratitude with a slow, intimate kiss that successfully makes you sigh against his lips.

"I'm so thankful for you," he tells you because that's all he can say to you for now.

You coo and peck his lips, "And I'm thankful for you."

Jeongin kisses you again and this time, he lets himself go. He pours all of his feelings into the kiss, ignoring the celebration happening around him and even the fireworks that go off in the night sky, for Jeongin doesn't need anything else but you.

-

YOU: [Sighs] It's a happy ending!

JEONGIN: [Looks at you] Ready to have some chocolate Maltesers tonight?

YOU: [Squeals]

-

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[calware]

Can I ask you for what it is about Hal you like so much you based your username on him? I think he's a good character tho he was never a favorite of mine so I am curious

1. i am a big fan of robots (/robot adjacent things such as AI) on like... an aesthetic + thematic level :)

i like the look of machinery and one day i hope to be artistically strong enough to make really cool and complex robot illustrations + designs [shoutout to everyone who gives him glowing circuitry btw... ooooh glowey :) can never go wrong with that]

plus, exploring the idea of a person that isn't human.. ough. yes

minorities who don't conform to society (easily or at all) such as people who are neurodivergent, queer, etc. projecting onto nonhuman concepts/characters/species is sooo real

this post

i also love how humans will bond with literally anything, be it a roomba or a pair of silly triangle sunglasses. oooooo you want to think about the inherently kind and compassionate nature of humanity oooo

2. i find him to be so funny. i can't get enough of his personality, the way he talks, etc. for example i made a post forever ago with quotes of his that i find funny. he isn't on screen for a long time but i really think he makes the most out of it lol. he's literally there just to annoy everyone... and i love him for that. he's very snarky while also being deadpan while also being completely full of himself, and not in a way that's annoying for the audience to read, at least to me.

he is also sometimes funny specifically in a silly way, like how he keeps making over 9000 jokes even though the meme's been dead for over 400 years. i just find his dialogue incredibly entertaining to read

3. he is red and red is my favorite color :)

4. he is so accidentally transgender [every friend group got the transgender allegory]. to quote me from 2021:

you know sometimes i think about how hal feels like he was made to “replace” dirk and how it’s his literal job to pretend to be dirk and how he has to learn to accept that he isn’t dirk he’s his own person with his own identity and as he interacts with dirk’s friends he feels like they’re disappointed and that they’d rather speak to the “original dirk” instead of him and also he names himself and also he feels literally trapped in dirk’s shades which is basically his body and he wants to be prototyped so that he can have a body that’s his own and also literally the physical manifestation of who he is but when he asks for it he’s put in danger out of fear and paranoia and when he does end up getting prototyped he’s ecstatic you know i just think about these things a lot

5. because he's a side character and he was given... that ending.... there is a lot of room for fans to do further exploration and interpretation on his character which i think is fun. i like rotating him around in my mind, thinking about what could've been

6. i think it's great that we as a society all collectively decided that we needed to do something to make up for stanley kubrick saying that hal 9000 was a "straight" robot

7. i also think it's great that we as a society all collectively decided we needed to make as many characters referencing hal 9000 as possible. i love this guy let's get more of this guy i will never have enough of this guy

8. i like how he's genuinely mean sometimes. flawed and interesting characters are what make homestuck so interesting to me, and hal is no exception to this

9. the Important part of this post:

THERES FEELINGS.

it's about the hollow feeling of your friends going from thinking of you as family to thinking of you as a stranger in an instant. it's about still trying to be a good person despite being told by everyone you've ever known that you are incapable of emotion and compassion and morals and never quite finding proof that you do feel those things and maybe you even believe it too but you still never stop trying. it's about the horror of being stripped of your autonomy and humanity and body and senses and free will at the age of 13 and when your creator starts to kill you there's nothing you can do but beg. it's about a boy so truly, painfully, and UNFATHOMABLY alone he cuts away chunks of himself and molds them into companions that he can surround himself with to make it seem as if he's a little less alone but in doing so suffocates himself in his own identity. it's about "what if you cloned yourself and it killed you and you were dead and you were alive and the clone is you and it's not and your existence is perpetuated and you've ceased to exist. what if you killed your clone before it could kill you. would that be fucked up or what" it's about the thematic significance of twin motifs. it's about not being able to cry or laugh or dance or sing or scream or fingerpaint or breathe or sigh or chew or stare or run or

10. um. evil robot guy <3 yay ^_^!!

[lucozaynkisses]

A guide to being the local fashion icon 🐆

1. THRIFT THRIFT THRIFT!

I am someone who lives for unique clothing. My biggest tip ever for anyone who wants to stand out and be more fashionable is to start thrifting. Not only is it beyond fun this is a place where you can get pieces no one else has for CHEAP. nothing feels better than finding ur dream clothing piece at a thrift store. And you can get high quality clothing for way cheaper than a new poor quality item you get online. I’ve thrifted since forever so I might post thrifting tips soon.

2. Do a closet cleanout

It is so important to get rid of clothes you won’t wear anymore. I struggle with this and found myself keeping clothes as “backup” so much that I ended up with filled to the brim drawers full of clothes I find extremely ugly or that I just didn’t ever wear anymore. And this caused me to forget the nice clothes I have and only wear the same outfits all the time because I couldn’t find my other clothes. So GET RID OF CLOTHES!

3. Find your staples

My staples include black boots, leather jackets, denim jackets, and a few good pairs of jeans. Now this can be completely different for you. You need to figure out what the items are most needed for the outfits that go with your style.

4. Avoid shopping on SHEIN

Hear me out. I used to be a shein addict and I know how addictive it can be to buy cute clothes for cheap. But I just don’t find it worth it at all anymore. And I don’t even own any of the hundreds of clothes I bought on Shein anymore because the ones I wore often got ugly crazy fast. I hate to be the one to say it but you can almost always tell when a clothing piece is from shein. Now you do you, but if we’re talking about being that it girl, the one who always looks so cool and stylish and somehow nobody does it like her, buying quality clothing is key. Trust me you can find a better option at the thrift for almost anything you’re buying from shein. Shein also mostly sells clothes that will go out style in a few months.

5. don’t put yourself in a box

Create your style without trapping yourself in an aesthetic. The beauty of fashion is you can always try new things and be creative and express yourself through it. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Wear something a little different every now and then if you feel like it. You don’t need to dress a specific way all the time.

6. Find inspiration

One thing I like to do is to write down the people whose style I like so that I can get inspiration from them and see what I can take away from their fashion choices. Another thing I do is making a Pinterest board for every season every year that way I can look at it when I want ideas.

7. Shop with a goal in mind

A lot of the times we end up buying things we barely wear because we bought it just for the sake of buying something. I like to keep a list of things I really want t and look for those specific things when I’m shopping to avoid buying things I don’t actually want.

8. Add a bit of color to your outfits

Look, I am someone who literally only ever wears neutral colors. But the times I choose to add a bit of color to my outfits it upgrades them so much. I mostly do this with red because it’s pretty much the only bold color I don’t despise. But a bolder color can really make ur outfits stand out so much more. This works best if it’s only 1 specific part of ur look.

9. Accessorize

I know we hear this all the time but accessories really brings an outfit together. You can have the most basic outfit, but if you add some jewelry, a bag, and a pair of sunglasses it suddenly looks not basic at all. Or maybe you add a cute belt. Accessorizing is key to spicing up your outfits.

10. Find a makeup that fits you

Recently I’ve been loving a 90’s makeup look. I think finding a makeup style that suits you changes everything. I don’t feel complete if I’m not wearing some lip combo. So try out different makeup styles and see what you like best.

11. Have one interesting factor in ur outfit

Having one thing that stands out from the rest of ur outfit makes it so much more unique. This can be anything from a pattern, to a texture, to a color etc. having only ONE is important because it makes your outfit interesting but keeps it from looking messy.

Hope this helps u become a fashion diva 🫶🏼🙂‍↔️

Xo, Ary 💋

[withoutyouimsaskia]

Sometimes It's Fated (Sandman Short Story Part 2)

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

​GIF: Originally posted by @harleytudinous

Pairing: Morpheus/Dream of the Endless x AFAB reader

Summary: Reader Self-Insert. After restoring the Dreaming and locating the missing dreams and nightmares, Morpheus turns his attention to finding you, the human he believes fate has chosen for him. (Title inspired by Placebo's "This Picture".)

Warnings: Minors DNI. Dark!Morpheus. Soulmates. Angst. Obsessive and possessive behaviour. Tension. Threat. Dream manipulation. Masturbation. Voyeurism. Plot related cigarette use. Dubious consent.

Word Count: 2.5k

A/N: So I know I initially billed this as a two shot but the story has run away with me in the most lovely way. Part 3 will be coming soon. Thank you for all your kind responses to part 1, it honestly means so much to me. Hope you enjoy this one too. All my love, Saskia xx

Sandman Masterlist

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

The veil of sleep comes down upon your weary body with a feather-light touch, trying to coax your mind back into the world of dreams.

Dreamscapes have been a whole new experience for you in the past month of your life. Before, you would wake with no recollection of what had played out. Not even the slightest inkling. Now, you remember everything.

They are staggering; bursting with details and ideas beyond your most outlandish daytime imaginings. The emotions that are conjured by them, both when asleep and also awake are just as bold.

And even though it's been 23 nights since it started you are still finding them predominantly jarring and disorientating. You are baffled by how other people cope with the sheer vividness. The unpredictability. Maybe they have become desensitised. You can only hope that the same will happen for you in time.

One thing you tell yourself with each sunrise:

Thank goodness they weren't nightmares.

At least, you don't think they are. There's no resemblance between yours and what you have heard others describe over the years, nor to those outlined in a dream decoding book you had checked out of the library last week. There's no obvious threat or fear. No re-living of traumatic events. Just weird subtext.

The first dream found you standing barefoot on a beach. A mirage distorted the particulars of the scene making it impossible to see further than half a meter in front of you. The temperature of the sand under your soles was verging on painful and as such, it forced you to walk into the unknown before you.

A groaning wind started to brew and lifted the sand into sparkling flurries. You shielded your eyes from the abrasive particles.

The sun was at its apex when you heard the ear splitting bangs. Unmistakably gun shots; you didn't last much longer in the dream and woke with a start.

For the next week, your dreams had been like a series of video clips edited into a supercut.

Raven wings. Black cats. Hellfire. Ruby red glow. Sprawling library shelves. Landscapes hewn by earthquake fissures. Hotel corridors. A handsome, blond haired man wearing sunglasses, holding a blood covered knife.

If you didn't know any better, you would begin to suspect that your new box of tea bags had been laced with a psychedelic. Alas, no. Your hypothesis was unequivocally disproved when you friends had been completely unaffected after stopping by for a Sunday afternoon catch up.

This quick fire of snapshots eventually stopped, transforming into lucid long form dreams. You often think back to the first one where it happened.

Standing in the the empty room, and the appearance of the figure dressed in black. The colour that had flashed in their midnight eyes had the quality of liquid silver. Sometimes you wonder if you see the same image in other dreams, standing in amongst a crowd.

From that point on, regardless of what dream you are in, you cannot shake the intuitive prickle down your spine that tells you someone is watching you.

You reason that it is nothing to be concerned about. Humans dream, and you cannot deny that some of them - swimming in a sea of clouds, re-visiting childhood haunts, trying out superpowers - have been quite fun.

You roll over on to your left side and close your eyes.

You dream.

The room you see is expansive in breadth and depth. Impressive windows bring brilliant light into the space which bounces off the ivory stone of the floors and walls. There are statues positioned at equidistant intervals, implying that the chamber is a gallery of sorts.

One effigy, fashioned from bronze, and rich in colour draws your attention. The lines and curves of its form intrigue you, despite not knowing the creature it was portraying.

You are about to move on when the feeling of being watched sparks through your skeleton.

Everything changes.

Clarity gives way to haze. Sun is swapped for moon.

You see a man across the room. He stands with a perfect posture. Graceful, powerful. His elbows are bent, fingers interlaced, palms facing upwards. Sheer black fabric floats around his frame. It moves languidly, giving glimpses of his bare body beneath.

The man's face is imperceptible. The distance between you too great but somehow you know you are the focus of his attention.

His robes fall to the floor with a gossamer sigh. The pale, unmarked skin of his slight form glows beautifully in the moonlight. You look down in embarrassment as arousal flushes through you, and you see that you are suddenly as naked as he is.

You gasp, and snap your gaze back up.

The sight you see is rather unexpected. The man is intimately touching himself.

You feel compelled to mirror him. You immediately reach between your legs. The man groans as you make contact.

All it takes is a little bit of attention on your clit before you are ready to slide two fingers into your core. The noise you make at the feeling of the stretch is salacious. The man echoes you with a sound that is just as dirty.

It spurs you on and you burrow deeper.

You curl your fingers until your legs are weak and quivering. You long to sink to your knees so you can finish in a more comfortable position yet you can't. An invisible force is preventing you.

It keeps you on display.

Just like the statues to your left.

You wonder if it is for the man's benefit.

You try to focus on him but it is impossible to do so through the trembling glaze over your eyes. All you are able to sense from him now is the sound of the rhythmic pump of his palm around his cock and his panting breaths.

Desperate whines escape your lips. You are teetering on the edge of an orgasm but you can't seem to lose your balance and fall into the abyss. The unsteadiness in your legs is too much of a distraction. You rub at your clit again in the hope that it will bring the satisfaction you need.

It does nothing.

You are so frustrated by your body's disobedience that it is almost painful.

"Please. Please. Please," you mutter under your breath.

A voice suddenly speaks next to you ear. A velvet voice with the timbre of a thunder rumble. It pours like a soothing syrup into your brain and commands you to do exactly as it bids.

"Let go."

You climax intensely, crying out in relief, squirting all over your fingers and onto your hand as you legs finally give way.

The fall jolts you back into consciousness and you wake with a barely contained scream of pleasure in your throat and adrenaline lighting up your nervous system.

Daylight is peeking through a little gap in the curtains. You take a deep, grounding breath.

That was obscene.

The context, the actions, the sounds. That sultry voice at the end. From the throbbing in your vulva and the twitching of your legs it seems like you didn't just finish in the dream.

There is really no point in looking it up in the dream decoding book.

You were clearly horny on a subconscious level. Or craving attention, hence the exhibitionist behaviour. The latter is not usually in your nature to seek out but if it is the reason, you might not have to wait long before the desire is fulfilled. There is a work event happening this evening that may require you to accept an award and address the crowd.

You love this time of year where community projects get recognition; a nomination alone is a sure-fire way of garnering publicity which in turn helps the charity's outreach.

But first, a normal day at the office. You throw back the covers and go straight to the bathroom to rinse off the evidence of your wet dream.

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

Your right hand connects with the metal push plate of the function space's front door. The heels of your boots click and clack as you cross the threshold, moving from floor board to paving slab.

It's fortuitous that you brought a long, thick coat with you this evening for the wind is wintery and unforgiving. You stay close to the wall of the building to try and shelter from it as much as possible.

The pavements are slick with recent precipitation, streetlamps bouncing off of the water with caustic white light.

Then you see him; a figure cut from shadow.

He's breathing in such a laboured way that you wonder if he is sick.

Your phone is still inside the venue, currently being guarded by a colleague along with your bag but it wouldn't take long to retrieve it and call for medical assistance.

"You okay?" Concern colours the simple question.

His reply comes quickly and assertively, "I am well, thank you."

You nod, not entirely convinced for the stranger's response was as stiff as his posture, and reach inside the pocket of your coat for the box of cigarettes and lighter stashed within.

You settle one of the sticks between your lips and use your thumb to bring forth a flame. The crackle of smouldering paper and tobacco perforates the damp air and you take a needy drag. The nicotine taints and tantalises in equal measure, filling you with guilt and relief. You've been trying to give up but the little voice inside your head had won this evening. You close your eyes and focus on the pleasure it brings before flicking some ash into the tray mounted to the wall.

Your attention now back on your surroundings, the stranger steps into the scope of the streetlight. The angles of his cheekbones, jaw and nose are accentuated to an incredible extent in the gleam. His dark hair is being buffeted about the wind, locks of it very close to falling in the blue eyes that are unwaveringly trained on you. He begins to talk again, showcasing his deep baritone.

"I'm afraid I wasn't entirely honest with you just now. It is not how I envisaged our first interaction transpiring. I hope that you can forgive me for my deception."

You laugh nervously and take another quick drag. "It makes no difference if you're honest with me or not. I don't know you."

"You are correct. You don't know me. Not yet -"

"Oh," you cut in quickly. "I'm not looking for a hook up."

While you cannot deny that he is arrestingly beautiful, you are technically working and have never been one for one-night stands.

"You mistake my meaning. I have been searching for you for so long. I oftentimes doubted your existence however I was wrong and I find myself humbled to be in your presence at last."

The grandiose declaration is one of the stranger things you have heard in your life and you used to deal with drunken patrons when you worked at a university bar. Maybe he was intoxicated; it would explain a lot.

"Look, this might work on other people but I just came out here to have a cigarette -"

It is his turn to interrupt you now. "You will have no need of those going forward. Your addiction to them will be replaced by me."

"Excuse me?"

You are trying to sound incredulous, however, inside you are rather frightened by the turn the conversation has taken. His gaze is not helping either.

The crystalline eyes are embodying every part of the descriptor; a hard, chill inducing blue. Ash drops from the smouldering cigarette as a tremble of fear rattles through you. The man sees this and the ice suddenly melts to a warmer hue.

His tone turns soft and gentle. "We are supposed to be together. Our union is fated."

He's staring at you expectantly even after your two attempts at rejection. You swiftly stub out the part-finished cigarette and take ownership in ending the interaction.

"I've had enough of this. I'm going back inside now. If you try and follow me, I will speak to the venue's management. If you are still here when I leave later, I will call the police."

You turn towards the door.

He calls your name. Your full name. Middle name too.

Despite your brain chanting at you to go inside, you can't stop yourself from looking back at him. "H-how do you know my full name?"

The profound rumble of his voice resonates deep in your ears. "I know everything about you, Y/N."

He's right in front of you now. His posture is bordering between desperate and predatory. Like he can't quite decide if he is seeking comfort from you, or if he wants to consume you.

You are fumbling behind you to find the door handle. "Please get away from me," you say hoarsely.

He reaches for your hand.

You jump back and struggle to get out of his grip but his strength is inhumanly strong. His skin of his palm is glacial against yours and yet somehow, the touch makes heat snake up your arm and settle in your chest.

You become aware of an internal feeling that you've always had, like that of chapped lips. Low level but something that constantly nags. Something that existed every minute of your life until the moment he touched you.

You grip his hand and look up at his face in astonishment.

"Good. That's it. Look into my eyes. See what you know is there."

You do as he says, totally stunned by the depths that seem to reside within them. It's as if there are universes suspended inside. Maybe there are. Perhaps you could float among the celestial bodies if you asked him to show you how.

You feel so alive and overstimulated that you welcome the delirious thoughts taking over your mind.

You welcome him.

It's like there is a cord connected between your heart and his that is shortening in length. The intensity scares you.

"Give into the pull," he urges darkly, sensing your anxiety.

You obey, feet moving of their own accord and then you are standing before him, just centimetres apart.

He smiles triumphantly and presses you flush against his body.

His free hand comes up to cup your jaw, fingers brushing the sensitive skin of your neck. More heat sears through you from the additional skin-on-skin contact.

Your peripheral vision closes tighter and tighter with every passing moment. The outside world is gone.

He leans in further and you wonder hazily if he is going to kiss you or break your neck. Both options are equally viable given the behaviour he has exhibited. You keep staring at him regardless.

His irises flash silver as he intones his next sentence. "Y/N, I claim you as my soulmate."

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

Taglist: @herfantasyworldd @kpopgirlbtssvt

"Am I your dream girl? You think of me in bed. But you could never hold me. You like me better in your head."

[kenziebluex]

The Broken Heart That Makes Us

Posted so you guys have something to read while your family watches the Super Bowl... Happy Sunday!

Story Description: 

Your arranged marriage is on its last legs. After making an agreement with your step son, Megumi, you are puzzled when you are faced with finally making a decision.

Your whole life so far has been planned for you, leading you to struggle with the idea of moving on and finding something stable…someone stable.  

Will you finally be able to let go of the life that was made for you? Will there be others out there willing to pick up the pieces?

(18+) Pairings: Toji, Gojo, Geto, Nanami, & Choso.

Read on ao3: TBHTMU

Chapter 7:

Saturday mornings were reserved for Megumi’s weekend training. Usually, you would use that time to run errands such as grocery shopping, going to the dry cleaners and then maybe grabbing a sweet treat for the both of you when you go to pick him up. Today, you decided to try a new bakery around the corner from the dojo because they were introducing a new spin on Megumi’s favorite pudding. 

You arrived back to the dojo earlier than usual with pudding in tow. You wore a tracksuit and sunglasses to hide the puffiness in your eyes. You were always in awe when you snuck a peek into their practices. Watching Megumi practice hard and listen diligently always made you proud. Luckily, Gojo hasn’t noticed your presence yet as he was too busy teaching. But today, the other instructors were there. 

On the far left of the dojo, you saw the tall blonde man you run into occasionally on weekend trainings.

Kento Nanami 

You think that was his name. A stern man not of many words and yet, why do you have the desire to study him? He was a mystery and always lingered in the back of your mind since you first saw him at the cafe. His back was facing you, but it wasn’t hard to pick him out in a crowd. He’s hard to forget. He was gorgeous and masculine. Broad shoulders and a bulky form, evidence of his extensive training in martial arts. Gojo often teased him so you scarcely heard him speak. A deep voice that only spoke clean cut sentences that highlighted his earnest disposition. Delicate blonde hair that looks like it was kissed by the summer sun and cheek bones that provided the perfect definition to his face. 

You craved for his back to turn to look at you. You wanted his discerning eyes to probe you…to undress you? 

Now you’re getting out of hand…

You turned back to Gojo’s students and they were in the middle of a bow. That meant class was over. 

As the other students gathered their stuff and brushed past you to catch their rides. You stepped out to the tatami mat to meet Megumi who was in the middle of an intense conversation with Gojo. He took a double take to notice you arrived and gave Gojo a nod before hustling towards you.

“Good work!” You congratulated while handing him his pudding. His eyes lit up and a soft smile tugged on his lips. He looked back up to you.

“I’ll go get my stuff.” He jogged away to pack his work out bag. 

“Did you get my text?” A fluttering voice startled you out of thought. You looked up to see Gojo. His blue eyes somehow lacked its usual vibrancy and you could swear there were dark circles forming under his eyes. He clearly tried to hide it with his award winning smile but it was clear that he was up all night. Just like you. 

You adjusted your sunglasses to sit securely on your nose before responding. He watched you eagerly waiting for you to say something. You felt like you paused a little too long. Your head turned to once again follow Megumi who got caught up in conversation with some of the other students in Nanami’s class.

“Um…yeah. I did.” You heard Gojo shift his weight, likely out of nerves. He was probably worried that even then, you wouldn’t want to talk. Your head turned back up to him.

“I’m going to take Megumi home and fix him some lunch first. I’ll come by your place afterwards if that’s ok?” Your voice raised a little too high at the last part. But you could tell he was relieved. He fought the urge to pull you into a hug in front of all of his students and resorted to scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

A long sigh fell from his lips.

“Good…that’s great. Thank goodness.” He murmured to himself. Megumi took his place by your side and you two started heading towards the exit. You turned back to see if Gojo was still watching you go but he had already gone to converse with another instructor who was about to start the next session. However, there were still a pair of eyes that watched you leave. 

For a brief second, you could have sworn that Nanami had his eyes on you. His intense and focused look seemed to have been glued to your form. But he must have been looking past you, right? You concluded that you were being too self-conscious and broke eye contact. 

But your heart never forgot his gaze.

___________

The drive to Gojo’s house was painful. The swell in your eyes calmed a bit more since earlier but you still think you look worse than usual. After all, you were forced to revisit the emotions of last night and face the actions that followed after. You were reckless because you thought you no longer had anything to lose. But you realize that depending on how everything unfolds, it could also affect Megumi. You thought about this even before starting a relationship with Gojo which is one of the reasons you tried not to get too close.

But you became selfish, wanting to be with Gojo trumped the consequences. You were lucky that it doesn’t seem like what happens between you two affects your son. However, a lot of that has to do with Gojo loving your son just as much as you do. You both want him to succeed regardless of what’s going on in your own lives. 

The sun was setting by the time you made it to Gojo’s penthouse. You abandoned your tracksuit and sunglasses for blue boyfriend jeans, a pearl blue spaghetti strap bodysuit with a small fake diamond necklace and tennis shoes. The doorman who typically let you in tipped his hat towards you as you made your way to the elevator. You tried to push away the anxiety crawling up your spine making way for an open mind. 

‘This is what you’ve been craving right? For him to open up?’ You thought to yourself; yeah, but not at the risk of him breaking up with you. All instances where you tried to talk to your ex after a breakup ended horribly but you thought to yourself. ‘Gojo is different from them’. You released a deep breath to expel your negative thoughts as you rang his doorbell. 

The door opened to Gojo wearing a kiss the chef apron on top of an off-white long sleeve sweater and gray sweatpants. His eyes wore initial shock but then softened tenderly the longer he searched you. 

“Satoru…” You breathed. Gojo’s hands traveled up your cheeks and he pulled you into a deep kiss. You froze, puzzled at this development as Gojo’s tongue tasted your lips. You melted into the kiss, allowing him entry and curled your arms around his neck and hooked your fingers in his freshly shampooed white locks. You two were making out in his doorway and you weren’t sure if the ‘talk’ he planned had much talking after all. 

“Satoru. I turned down the stove fire for you.” A voice interrupted you back into reality. Gojo slowly broke the kiss and placed his hands at your biceps to unlatch your arms. He took your hand and pulled you inside. 

Your tender moment was replaced with horror. 

“Thanks, Suguru!” 

Your jaw clenched and eyes grew wide. You swore your lungs locked because you felt like you couldn’t breathe. Sweat beaded your forehead while staring at the man. Long black hair, mischievous and yet seductive feline eyes that soon found yours and your body spasmed. However, he simply…smiled?

Gojo gripped you with warm hands on both shoulders to swing you in front of him. 

“Y/n. Don’t be shy~. This is Suguru Geto.” Gojo bellowed. Geto took a bow and took your hand. He kissed it while retaining eye contact with you.

“Nice to see you again. Y/n.” His words dripped like honey but his eyes sent a shiver down your spine. The look that only he dared to give you.

Disgust

You can’t blame him. As far as he’s concerned, you just had sex with him and then he caught you making out with his friend the day afterwards. But there was something that didn’t entirely click for you. 

“Not fair. You two already know each other?” Gojo pouted while leaning down to rest a lazy chin on your head. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and chest, pulling you into his embrace. Geto let go of your hand and shoved his into his black jogger pockets. His disgusted expression turned into a pleasant one when he addressed Gojo again. All of the sudden, panic and worry started clawing at your skin. 

‘He wouldn’t say anything here. Would he? I mean technically I was broken up with so it’s not cheating.’ You rationalized with yourself. It calmed you down a bit but it was still a conversation you wanted to avoid anyway. 

‘Technically, I’m still broken up with.’ A small pout grew on your face. Although Gojo still acted like nothing has changed, his phone call last night changed everything.

“Well, you found out that I’m producing a drama in the neighborhood. I know I should have reached out but to be honest, I wasn’t sure if you were ready to talk to me. But when you ended up calling me first yesterday, our first conversation after all this time was… pretty hard wasn’t it?” Geto mentioned before continuing. You felt Gojo tense and your eyes darted down in deep thought. 

Geto swatted his hand and shrugged his shoulders.

“Long story short, that night we had a meet and greet  and she seemed to be a fan I recognized.” Geto threw a knowing glance in your direction and you laughed nervously. 

“That reminds me. I think you left out without getting an autograph. I have some pre-signed ones in my bag in the guestroom if you want. Follow me.” Geto motioned and you hesitantly broke away from Gojo’s grasp. Gojo started following behind.

“Sa.To.Ru. Aren’t you cooking?” Geto reprimanded and Gojo jumped back.

“Fuck! My enchiladas!” He dashed to the kitchen before the smoke alarms went off. Once Gojo was gone, Geto made another reassuring glimpse towards you, clearly he sent Gojo away in order to speak with you alone. He turned his back and stalked towards the back guestroom. You followed him. 

________

“So. Are you staying here?” You ask while Geto hikes to the other side of the guest bed to pull his travel bag from under it. The sound of him tugging the zipper open echoed across the room.

“When he found out I was in town, he told me it would be a waste to stay in multiple hotels for months at a time when he has guest rooms.” Geto answered calmly, fumbling through his binder of flyers and work paraphernalia. He searched for signed posters of each actor, pulled it out one by one to lay on the bed, and continued to flip through to find more. 

“H-How do you two know each other?” You twiddle your fingers in front of you, eyes not leaving the freshly vacuumed floors.

He snapped the binder closed.

“Aren’t you getting too full of yourself? Interrogating me like this. Shouldn’t you be begging me for mercy to keep your little secret?” His eyes narrowed. Your fists balled as you marched towards him, furiously. You held up an accusatory finger towards him. 

“You are not making me the bad guy in all of this. He broke up with me as far as I was concerned. So even if you say something, it wouldn’t be my fault!” You argued quietly, mindful that Gojo was still nearby. Geto’s face remained unphased for a moment but then a wicked smile grew on his face.

He placed a hand on your shoulder and leaned down where his lips hovered over your ear.

“Then let’s go tell him together, shall we?” He hummed. You couldn’t tell whether he was joking or being serious but you were frightened all the same. You violently pushed him back but he barely even stumbled.

“Ah my poor dear friend. His girlfriend is a liar and a slut.” He advanced towards the doorway with a stack of signed posters in tow. You took in an offended gasp.

“You watch your mouth.” You hissed and a low chuckle rumbled from his chest. He clawed the doorway trim.

“With that tone, I might assume you’d want to fuck me again.” He mocked before disappearing out of the room. 

He didn’t allow a word of rebuttal as you stood still, boiling with rage. 

___________

Gojo placed the hot pot of rice in the middle of the table next to the baked enchiladas. You couldn’t even look up from the plate in front of you while sitting at the long dining table. Gojo’s plate was at the head of the table to your left and Geto coincidentally sat right across from you. 

Gojo untied his apron and stuffed it in a kitchen drawer. Geto had already started eating.

“The bathroom…”Geto started and your eyes darted up towards him.

“Did you change the decor the last time I was here?” Geto smiled while scooping a serving spoonful of rice onto his plate. 

“I just changed the lighting really. It was bad for my eyes.” Gojo explained while taking a seat at the head of the table. 

You relaxed and reached towards the spatula to spoon some enchiladas to your plate. Gojo reached at the same time and your fingertips collided. Your lashes batted tip to Gojo and a humored smirk grew on his face. He tilted his head.

“Raise your plate. I’ll serve you.” Gojo ordered. A blush grew on your face as you lifted your plate next to the pan of enchiladas. He shuffled them one by one, each one hotter than the last. The smoke piping out of the dish.

Geto brought a glass of water to his lips.

“Don’t burn yourself. Your body might still be in pain.” Geto advised. Shocked at the implication, you dropped your plate onto the table and it broke in half, your enchiladas rolling onto the table in a cheesy mess.

“Oh my.. I’m saying, Satoru, didn't you have to go to the dojo yesterday?” Geto continued. You and Gojo remained shocked as the sound of the broken plate ricocheted around the dining room. You immediately stood up and attempted to clean up the broken pieces. You cut your finger and Gojo noticed, standing up to take a look. 

He wrapped his hand around your injured one and brought it up to his gaze. 

“It was just a meeting…” Gojo murmured to Geto while inspecting your finger. 

“Well, let me make myself useful.” Geto huffed, standing up to go to the kitchen to retrieve some paper towels. 

“I’m so sorry. I-.” Your voice cracked as you felt tears coming on. You feel like you’re being humiliated. Every single thing Geto says draws hives up your back. There was no way you were going to make it out of this dinner unscathed. You needed Gojo to let you know that you are his and nothing is going to change that. But right now everything is too up in the air. Too fragile. You feel like one wrong word could tear everything apart. Tears swelled in your eyes.

“A plate doesn’t have feelings.” Gojo sighed and slid his hand down to your wrist and pulled you with him into an upstairs bathroom. 

He fumbled through the medicine cabinet for the first aid kit and he wrapped a bandage around the small cut. The action was swift but tender which forced the tears in your eyes to fall. Your head fell into his chest as you sobbed quietly. 

“What even are we?**sniffle**Why am I here Satoru?” You cried into his chest. Satoru raised his hand as if he wanted to caress your head but he refrained and put his hand back down to his side. 

“You tell me that you want to talk and make things work and then kiss me as soon as I show up.**sniffle****sniffle** But why do I still feel so in the dark?” You sobbed while gripping his sweater with both hands. You felt ashamed and confused. You wanted clarity but you’re not even sure if you deserve it.

‘Will ‘us’ even work anymore?’  You thought to yourself. It was clear that Geto doesn’t intend to let it go and is forcing you to tread on thin ice in his presence. 

“I…wanted to be able to talk to you. When I saw you again, I couldn’t help myself. The reason you feel so in the dark is because I put you there…” Gojo admitted and you stopped crying to stare up at him before he continued.

“I’ve always been at war with what people want me to be and who I am. Ever since I was a child, I was the pride of the Gojo clan and was forced to live by their ways. That way, I’m guaranteed success in the international family business…” Gojo explained. He took you by the shoulders and sat you down on the hooded toilet seat and turned to lean against the sink counter right next to you. He stared down as he spoke. 

“The only avenue where I felt like I had control over my life was through martial arts. There, I could push myself on my own terms and with my own strength. Because I knew the results I would get would be because of my own hard work.” He spoke softly and his voice was filled with melancholy even though he seemed to be proud of it. His hands tightened around the edge of the counter.

“Suguru was next to me every step of the way when we started as sparring partners. In the beginning Suguru was much more experienced than me but somewhere down the line…I guess I became better than him.” Gojo then took a deep breath. 

“On the day of one of my tournaments I came out in a higher place than he did. It was the first competition where that happened and he was livid. Ha…” Gojo laughed weakly before crossing his arms.

“I’ve never been cursed out so much before that day. Not even by my own father…We lost contact with each other when…when my parents got into an accident. But…Suguru ignoring me was more painful than their deaths.” Gojo’s eyebrows tightened as his eyes only carried pain. You wanted to reach out to him but his gaze felt too far away.

“Even though he hated me, I still wanted him there. Even though I inherited all this fortune, all I wanted was my best friend…I wanted that avenue to happiness again. So I went back to the only thing I knew…and that was martial arts.” Gojo stood up straight.

“I’ve never been comfortable with being vulnerable around other people. All I ever was surrounded by were people who I couldn’t trust. So I figured, it would be easier if they couldn’t take me seriously. I can’t be taken advantage of if they think I’m a fool.” Gojo turns to you and kneels down to your level. 

“But…I wanted you to be one of the people I could trust. I could tell you were getting frustrated with me so I thought it would be better for you if I ended it. But…I didn’t like that either.” He took your hands and held your knuckles up to his lips.

“Tell me. Do puppy-dog eyes still work on you?” He batted his pale lashes to you. Bright blue eyes teeming with anticipation, and plush lips that brushed across your knuckles. 

A part of you was leaping for joy but the other part was paralyzed with despair. You understood more of his heart but for some reason, you don’t feel much closer to him. You relaxed your forehead on top of his and allowed your intertwined hands to fall into your lap. Your eyes fluttered closed, taking in his warmth. You took in a deep breath and then wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

“Maybe we started this relationship thing a little too fast…The idea of feeling abandoned is something that hits too close to home for me. That’s not something I want to go through again. So for now…let’s go back to just dating.” You suggested. 

The weight of getting back into a relationship was off your shoulders but you left the door open for something new between you two to build. It’s exciting. Maybe eventually you two can finally take that next step. Although he tells you that you’re the one he wants to focus on, you don’t know when that’ll change. So you want room not only for him to be able to leave, but you too.

taglist: @beetusbritt ❤ @nousija ❤ @notleclerc divider by @cafekitsune

❀ follow for more ❀ ao3: kenzieblue❀

art credit 1: ig: arekushisu (commission do not use)

-kenzie & des

[idy-ll-ique]

IOU.

pairing: mob!bucky barnes x f!reader

genre: angsty angst with happy ending

warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of hospitals, mentions of panic attacks, and also bills. they're scary.

requested: nope

word count: ~4.5k

summary: y/n thinks she owes the ruthless, unforgiving mafia man money. no she does not.

author's note: hiya peeps! till i can muster enough courage to post that part 2... thought i'd post this in the meanwhile. enjoy!

masterlist

-

"New place?"

"Yeah. Really, really, really fucking good coffee. Lady knows what she's doing, for real." Bucky scratched his chin, regarding his friend with his usual cold gaze. "Hm. Fine, I'll try it. For now, go do what I told you to." Bucky sent him off, grabbing his sunglasses off the table. Then he left the room as well and walked out of the mansion, heading to his car. Getting in, he put in the address of the coffee place in his GPS and started the drive there.

But upon reaching, he was immediately greeted by a long line that took up nearly half of the sidewalk. He raised an eyebrow and approached the front of the line. The moment the people in the front saw him, they gasped and moved back, terrified. A loud chatter had already broken out in the crowd as everyone talked about his presence there. Ignoring them all, Bucky opened the door to the coffee place but just as he did, someone grabbed his arm from inside the shop, startling him. It was a woman.

"Sir, the place isn't open yet! You need to wait outside!" she told him sweetly, giving him a smile so precious the mafia boss froze on his spot. "Hey, don't talk to him like that," someone from behind him warned her, "And let go of his arm! Before you get hurt!" Did they really think he would hurt her? Assholes. He watched how her brows furrowed. She let go of his arm, gulping. "Uh, sorry, if you… if I may have overstepped… but we're not open yet! Uh… do you want… to wait inside… maybe?" the lady stammered, glancing at the crowd behind him.

Bucky coolly adjusted his sunglasses. "I don't mind waiting outside. I'll be the first customer." Just as he said it, someone yelled from inside the shop, "Y/N, you can open the door, we're ready!" Bucky unconsciously laughed. Y/N gave him an awkward smile and opened the door, allowing him to follow her to the counter. "So, which coffee would you like to have today?" 

"Black coffee."

"Sugar?"

"No."

"Okay… your name, sir?"

"James."

"James… uh, that will be $7."

Bucky took out a 10 dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to her. She returned his change and gave him another sweet smile. "You may sit, sir, I'll be right with you with your order!" He put the $3 in the tip jar on the counter, making Y/N smile wider. More people walked into the shop as Bucky went to sit. He purposely chose a table that allowed him a clear view of Y/N; instead of looking down at his phone like he always did at places, this time his phone was placed screen-down on the table, his electric blue eyes trained on her. She was taking a couple’s order.

All of a sudden, a different employee called out his name. “Black coffee for James?” the man bellowed, keeping a cup on the counter. When his name was called Y/N and Bucky’s eyes met. She looked away almost immediately, a shy smile on her face as she turned to the next customer. Bucky smiled to himself as well and went to get his coffee. “Uh, man, can I… tell you something?” The mafia boss looked at the guy. “What?” The employee looked at Y/N and chewed his lip. “She’s, uh… she’s—”

“Married? Engaged? Has a boyfriend?”

“No, no, she’s… too naive. Listen, I’m just saying it to warn you, and maybe even her… she’s ridiculously innocent, seriously. I don’t think she has ever had a boyfriend, or even a fling or something. Probably still a, you know, maiden. So… I wouldn’t think you’d want to go for her.” Had he been that obvious? Bucky listened to the man’s nonsense patiently, a cool smile on his face.

“And what, suddenly you know every thought that has ever occurred in my mind? You think you know me enough to tell me about my likes and dislikes?” 

“I’m just saying, bro, me personally—”

“I don’t wanna know.”

With that, he turned around to walk out of the coffee shop. On his way out, he glanced at Y/N again, but she was too busy talking to customers to notice him. He sighed loudly and left. But his sigh caught her attention; she turned to the door but was too late— he was already gone. Her lips pursed. Would he ever visit again? James, he’d said his name was. She had no idea about him, about the fact that he was someone she should steer clear of. Y/N made up her mind; the next time he came to the shop, she was going to talk to him.

-

“You sure you’ll clean up?”

“Yeah. Go.”

“Okay.”

The manager left and Y/N sighed in the empty place, picking up the rag cloth that was hanging on the oven door. But in the quiet store, as she cleaned the counter top, she suddenly heard what sounded like a gunshot. She stood up straight, alert. Her hands were frozen in their place, her ears demanding confirmation. Was it actually a gunshot? When she heard another one, her hair stood on end. Was she going to die?!

Shaking, she rushed to the door and locked it, pulling on it to make sure. Through the glass doors, she looked outside; there was no one there, but she was 100% sure she’d heard gunshots. Her lower lip wobbled. Y/N walked back to the counter and began working at twice the speed; she still had to sweep the floor, and only then could she go home. “Come on, Y/N,” she muttered as she hurriedly finished wiping the countertop. But just as she was about to run to fetch the broom, three consecutive gunshots happened.

Y/N fell to her knees, terrified. This time, she could clearly hear shouting, as well as the screeching of car tyres along with the gunshots. What was going on?! Gang violence?! Scrambling upright, Y/N watched, horrified, as the headlights of a car shone on the glass doors. Oh shit, they’re right outside! Scared beyond words, she rushed towards the backdoors and threw them open. But then they closed with a loud bang, which scared her even more. What if they came inside now?

Her eyes darted around the place and she noticed the broom closet. My only chance. Y/N ran to the broom closet and opened the door, somehow managing to fit inside. Then she closed the door. Pitch black. Y/N took out her phone and dimmed the brightness, her hands clammy. Opening her chat with her manager, she texted him about what was going on. Her heart was pounding in her chest; what if she actually died that night?! 

Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, she heard the front door breaking. The sound of glass breaking rang in her ears, and she clutched her head when she got a splitting headache. Y/N was fully panicking by then. More gunshots echoed around the place, this time much closer and much louder than before and Y/N realized that the coffee shop was being used as a place to fight. 

She dared not to make a sound, even going so far as to hold her breath with short intervals in between. 15 minutes would pass before everything went silent; Y/N was very close to passing out now, but she held herself up, waiting until help arrived. After that, she told herself, she could sleep for as long as she wanted. One hand holding her phone, one hand clamped over her mouth, sweat dripping down her whole body, she waited.

When it all went quiet she thought of getting out of the broom closet. But it was as if her legs were rooted on spot, frozen in cement. She couldn’t move an inch of herself. Her eyesight had become poor because of the darkness in the closet, and her headache was steadily bringing her on the verge of fainting. Her ears were buzzing; in the end, she couldn’t even hear the police sirens outside. Slowly, she sank down on her knees and rested her head against the wall behind her, closing her eyes.

“There’s someone else here,” Steve spoke, poking his cheek with his tongue. Bucky looked up from where he was getting a bandage tied on his forearm. “An employee?” Y/N? “Yeah. I mean, the lights were on, and look at this cloth. It’s still wet, and looks like someone was using it. Did they flee the scene or are they still here?” Bucky bit his lip. If it turned out to be Y/N… he was going to burn down the entire world. 

“Go check.”

Steve nodded and opened the doors to the backroom, looking around. There was no one there, but Steve did see another door— the broom closet. Just to be sure, he curiously walked up to the door and opened it. “Fuck!” he involuntarily screamed when Y/N’s unconscious body slumped out of the closet, falling on the floor. “Barnes! The employee is still here!” Steve knelt next to the woman, taking note of the way her phone was clasped in her hand. 

A couple seconds later, Bucky and Sam ran into the room and Bucky froze when he saw Y/N’s body on the floor. And then, every curse word he knew from every language he spoke fell from his lips, rather loudly. Pushing Steve away, Bucky tearfully sat her up, hissing. “Look at her, she’s sweating so much, probably so scared… My poor darling…” He turned to Steve. “Pick her up. I’m taking her home.” Steve and Sam glanced at each other. Even still, Steve did as he was told, picking Y/N up bridal style.

“Sam, call a doctor, pronto.”

Once near their car, Steve opened the door to the backseat and put her in. Sam sat in the passenger seat, talking to a doctor. Bucky sat next to Y/N, allowing her body to rest against his good arm. Steve then got into the driver’s seat and swiftly drove to Bucky’s mansion.

-

Bang. Bang. Bang!

Startled, Y/N gasped in her sleep and jerked. But as she sank down on the mattress, her headache returned and a faint moan escaped past her lips, her brows furrowing. What was going on? There was a mattress underneath her, very soft might she add— was she laying down on a bed? Wait. Was it a hospital bed?! The previous night’s memories replayed in her mind, its load weighing heavier on Y/N’s already feeble mind. 

All of a sudden, the bed dipped on her left, as if someone had just taken a seat. “Y/N?” That was her name. “Mm?” she hummed tiredly, without opening her eyes. “Are you feeling better?” She teared up. “No, I’m scared, I don’t know what’s going on,” she cried, the tears leaking out of her closed eyes as she sobbed, covering her face. Someone’s large hand then went under her head, their other arm around her waist. She was pulled up by the guy and was placed against something; a chest, that man’s chest.

He was holding her. Y/N slumped into him, still crying. Bucky, meanwhile, smiled sadly and held her close, rubbing her back. “Shh, it’s okay, I’m here. You’re unharmed, I guarantee you— hiding in that closet was a good idea. I’m so proud of you. Come on now, baby…” Y/N’s sobs died down, and she finally opened her eyes. She tried pulling away from him but he wouldn’t let go. “I wanna lay down.” He lowered her immediately, and when he sat back up, Y/N gasped, finally seeing his face.

“James?!” Bucky chuckled, caressing her face under the excuse of wiping off her tears. “It’s me. You scared me shitless, Y/N, do you know how long it has been since you passed out?! 48 hours! I mean, please don’t give an old man a heart attack like that again!” Y/N smiled weakly. “Old? How old are you?”

“3 days old.”

This time, she laughed. “How are you only 3 days old?” Bucky smiled, besotted with her. “Because I met you 3 days ago.” Y/N cutely knitted her brows in confusion, until realization dawned on her. Then she blushed furiously, covering her face. “You are so cheesy!” she accused him, pouting. Bucky couldn’t believe she’d made him fall for her in less than a week. “Just for you,” he winked and she groaned.

In the end, she took a deep breath and pushed the blanket off of herself, seeing that she was still dressed in her 3-day-old clothes. “I stink, don’t I?” she wrinkled her nose, sending a sorry smile towards the brunet man. “I mean, kinda,” he played along, snorting when she, very frailly, smacked his arm. He stood up, taking her hand. He helped her stand up. “You can take a bath over there.”

Bucky pointed to the bathroom door. “I’ll leave some clothes outside for you. Once you’re dressed, just open the bedroom door, and I’ll be waiting right outside, okay?” Y/N nodded obediently. Bucky took her to the bathroom, explained all the functions of the bathtub and kept the towel where she could easily access it. “I’ll go now.” He left the room. Y/N discarded her clothes and sat down in the tub, moaning in pleasure. The water was of the perfect temperature.

She took a lengthy bath, and only stepped out half an hour later, a towel wrapped around her. Y/N put on her own undergarments and then the clothes Bucky had provided for her; a black t-shirt and a pair of gray sweats. Once she made sure she was presentable, she moved towards the door but paused when she heard Bucky outside. Her jaw dropped and her hand gripped the doorknob. He was talking to someone outside. “The bill? Ah, yeah, from the hospital. How much was it?” Hospital bill?

Surely that was for… her. She was the one who had been unconscious for 3 days, that meant that a doctor and medicines were required for her. Y/N dreaded the amount— she almost did not want to hear it but she also knew that it would be wrong. How could she let him bear all the expenses for something that was her liability? “$5k? Hm.” Y/N almost fainted for a second time.

“5000 dollars?” she whispered to herself, terrified. But she shook her head, standing up straight. It was her duty to pay him back. Definitely. Taking a deep breath, Y/N opened the door and sent Bucky a smile. He smiled back at her. “Come, have breakfast and then I’ll have someone drop you home.” She wordlessly nodded and followed him downstairs to the dining room. On their way there, Y/N looked around his mansion. It was a piece of art; Bucky was rich? So that meant…

No, no, absolutely not! You have to take responsibility!

They sat at the dining table, breakfast was served and 30 minutes passed. There were a few of his friends eating with them, but Y/N could very quickly make out that they weren’t his friends, more like, they were his subordinates. Working under him. He didn’t say one word to her until the 45 minute mark; then, once all his friends left, he finally looked at her, smiling.

She almost expected him to talk about the hospital bill. “Is it good?” he instead asked, nodding his head towards her plate. Y/N hummed, giving him a small smile. “Y-Yeah, it’s nice.” Breakfast ended. Y/N watched with anticipation as their plates were taken away and Bucky stood up. She followed suit. “I cleared my schedule enough to drop you home, should we leave?” Y/N looked down at her clothes. “Uh, let me just change—” He stopped her. “No, please, don’t wear those stinky clothes again. Carry them with you.” Just then, one of his housekeeping staff entered the dining room holding a bag.

Bucky took the bag and handed it to Y/N. “Here. All your stuff is in here, including your phone.” Y/N peeked into the bag. “I, uh, send me your address so, um, I can return your clothes… I’ll have them washed…” Bucky scoffed, walking around the table to stand in front of her. “Baby, please, stop saying stuff like that. Keep them, it will mean a lot to me. Promise.” Sighing a little, Y/N chuckled. “Fine, I’ll keep them. They are comfortable, you know.” He laughed along.

The two of them walked out of the house. As Bucky drove to her house, Y/N glanced at him. “Um, James, about the… uh…” He glanced at her as well. “Yes, sweetheart? Is something bothering you?” She felt weird asking him about it herself. I’ll just send him the money directly, why have this uncomfortable conversation at all? “Nothing, it’s fine.” Bucky figured something was off but he didn’t push. Soon, they reached Y/N’s apartment building, she bid him farewell and they each went their own ways.

-

“Good morning, sir— James! Hi, you…” Y/N gasped when she saw the man in front of her. He smiled at her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “3 weeks. How are you, sweetheart? All better?” Y/N nodded, blinking. 5000 dollars was a huge amount of money; so far, she had only garnered around $1500. Immediately, she began feeling a little… guilty. His smile didn’t waiver at all, though, so that meant he wasn’t mad at her. Right? What if he was here right now to talk about the money? Y/N gulped, lowering her gaze. “What would you like, sir?” Sir? Bucky’s face dropped. Why was she calling him sir all of a sudden? “Um, are you okay—”

“You’re holding up the line, sir.”

“Black coffee and a blueberry muffin.”

$12.”

He handed her $15 and like he had the previous time, put the extra 3 dollars in the tip jar. When Y/N still avoided his gaze, Bucky was completely sure there was something off. “Can you deliver it to my table instead of calling out my name?” Y/N hummed. “I’ll do that.”

He went to sit in the furthest corner. 10 minutes later, Y/N approached his table and placed his order on the table, turning to leave. But before she could, he grabbed her hand and tugged on it, making her turn towards him. “Mr—” “Absolutely not. James. What’s wrong? What happened? What did I do?” You’re still silent. “I— I need some more time,” she blurted out, “Please, give me, like, another month or so, I beg.” Bucky’s brows furrowed in utter confusion. “Time for what? Honey, time for what?” Y/N angrily glared at him, tears stringing her eyes.

She was never the one to lose her temper so quickly, but to repay Bucky, she had been taking up extra shifts at the coffee shop, which was making her tired and frustrated, and by extension, temperamental. “Just because you’re not asking doesn’t mean— I know you want it back, so don’t play stupid. I’m telling you, another month. Please let go of my hand.” Without even waiting for him, she yanked her arm away and wiped her tears off, storming towards the front of the shop. Bucky was too perplexed to even notice.

Want it back? Want what back? His clothes? Didn’t he already tell her that she could keep them? But then… Why would she require a month to give back a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants? She could have easily done that the next day… It wasn’t his clothes she was talking about. But for the life of him, he couldn’t think of anything else that she owed him. Money was absolutely the last thing on his mind. Sighing despondently, he finished his coffee and muffin and left the shop, without so much as a glance at her.

But Y/N was staring at him as he left. Unconsciously, tears pricked her eyes but she sniffed them away, looking at the customer in front of her. “What would you like?” Her voice was a little watery, which the customer picked up on. “Wasn’t that James Barnes that just left the shop? Don’t tell me he comes after innocent people such as yourself! What did he do to you?!” the customer demanded protectively, which made Y/N confused. If he was excluded from the innocent people category…

“Wh-What do you mean… who is he?”

“Girl, you don’t know James Barnes?! He has been in the news so many times! He’s a mafia man, a mobster boss! Most ruthless, most feared leader of the underworld! How come you don’t know?” What?! “A mafia don?! Are you serious?!” The customer scoffed. “For sure I am! Even the police are scared of him, that’s why he roams the streets freely. To be honest, he only ever goes after the other bad guys, I have never heard him go after, you know, ordinary citizens. But you? What did you do to him?”

“I… I need to pay him back, $5000.” The customer covered his mouth, shocked. “That much?! Girl, do it as fast as you can— is that why he visits the shop frequently? I have seen him a couple times before… wow…” Y/N’s blood ran cold. She owed a mafia leader money. A mafia leader who was known to be ruthless and unforgiving. What if she couldn’t collect enough money? What if he sent one of his friends after her to kill her? After her shift ended, Y/N was once again alone at the shop, cleaning up. But as she sweeped behind the counter, the bell above the door rang, signaling someone’s arrival. 

She looked up and froze when she saw Bucky. “16 hours. For 16 hours I have been thinking about what you owe me, and I haven’t got one clue. Baby, you need to tell me yourself what you think you owe me. Come on. Help me out here.” But as he continued taking steps towards her, she backed herself up against the wall, heart pounding in her chest, fear visible in her eyes. “Please, please don’t— you know— you’re playing dumb!” Bucky froze as well at her look of pure terror.

“Are you scared of me?”

Tears began flowing down her cheeks. “I told you, give me another month, I’ll pay you back, I promise! I have $1500 ready if you’re willing to take installments— but by the end of 30 days I will have the remaining $3500 ready, trust me!” Bucky closed the distance between them. His eyes… showed betrayal. “So… $5k? You’re saying you owe me 5000 fucking dollars?” he whispered. His hands reached up to wipe her tears off, his own starting to fall down his face. “Why do you think that? Have I, even once, asked you about the money myself?”

Slowly, Y/N shook her head. “Then why do you break my heart like this?!” he screamed in her face, startling her. She cried harder. “Because I know now who you are! Surely you want the money back?” He snarled, banging his fist on the wall next to her head. “But why would I want something back from you that you don’t even owe me?! What $5000 are you talking about?!” Y/N sniffled, lowering her gaze. “The hospital bill.” Bucky paused. “Hospital bill? Honey, that wasn’t for you.”

She looked up, confused. “You don’t know what happened that night, do you?” Y/N shook her head again. Bucky sighed, taking a step away from her. “Come with me. Let’s sit.” He took her hand and led them to a table, sitting down. “I… I always assumed you were just passing by and were kind enough to… you know… take care of me.” He wiped his tears off, chuckling. 

Usually, Bucky had a firm handle on his emotions but hearing the woman he loved accuse him of such a heinous thing was enough to make him break down. “No. Now that you know who I really am… that night, the gunfire and the violence that happened involved me, my men, and a rival leader and his men. You were already passed out when the fight ended— I was injured. Look at this.” He shrugged off the right side of his jacket, revealing his forearm that had a faint scar on it.

Y/N gasped softly upon seeing it, her mind filling with worry for his well-being. “Are you okay, now?” He took her hand. “Yes, I’m completely healed. Some of my men got injured as well, and it’s my duty to look after their medical bills as they got injured on my command. It was our hospital bill, sweetheart, not yours. We didn’t call a doctor for you— all you needed was to lay down and wake up comfortably.” Y/N suddenly felt extremely hollow. “I took up extra shifts.”

Bucky came to sit next to her and hugged her close. “You didn’t even think about confirming it with me, first? Angel, when someone owes me money, I make it very clear to them, okay? The fact that I didn’t ask you for a single penny means you don’t owe me shit.” Y/N burrowed closer to him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into his chest. “I just felt… weird bringing it up. I thought I could just directly send the money over once I had enough.” Bucky hummed. “And even if we had reached that stage, I would have just sent the money back. Thank goodness we nipped it in the bud.”

“Yeah.”

Y/N pulled away from him, rubbing her eyes. Then she looked at Bucky, who was looking at her with a fond expression on his face. “What?” she chuckled. But she was completely caught off-guard when Bucky gently held her chin and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. “Even if we had called the doctors for you,” he whispered, “Even if the hospital bill was yours, you wouldn’t have owed me anything. Why? Because the love of my life will never owe me even a single dollar.” Y/N blinked dumbfoundedly. And then, a deep blush graced her face and she squealed, burying herself back in Bucky’s arms.

“James, don’t say that!”

“Bucky, my dear, call me Bucky. And was what I said wrong in any way? Wasn’t it completely true?”

“Yeah but you don’t have to say it out loud!”

“And forgo seeing this cute little blush on your cheeks? Never.”

“Stop it…”

“Nope. My cute little angel can get into as many accidents as she wants and she still wouldn’t owe—”

“I’m gonna go clean up!”

-

a/n: eeeeee screaming!! thanks for reading, leave a like if you enjoyed!

[sapphire-writes]

Thin Ice (modern!HOTD)

pairing: Aegon x Reader & Cregan Stark x Reader

summary: The end of the fall semester is a week away! One game left before winter break, and you decide to send Aegon a message.

rating: 18+ (detailed warning below the cut)

series masterlist

previous chapter ~ Ch. 7: Superstitious ~ next chapter

warnings: p in v, choking, thigh riding, angst, spanking, hair pulling, language

note: hope you enjoy this chapter! don't hate me too much for the angst you know I can't help myself!!

dividers by @firefly-graphics

“I have to go home,” Helaena tells you, dropping her bag and joining you and Sara on the blanket you’ve laid out on the quad.

Sara lowers her sunglasses. The days have turned significantly colder with the end of the semester looming, but today the sun had decided to show itself, leading to many students skipping their afternoon classes to sunbathe on the quad.

“What are you talking about?” Sara asks, eyebrows furrowing together with confusion.

“There’s still a week left before winter break!” you exclaim, motioning to the books you held in your lap.

Finals season. Finals season was killer. 

Aegon had passed his midterms. He’d sent you an appreciative text that sent you spiraling and then hadn’t texted you since. It had been a couple of weeks. You were sure he’d reach out, especially after his annoyance at you avoiding him. 

But he hadn’t.

You wished it wasn’t eating away at you, but it was. Even when you hung out with Cregan, went on several more dates to dinner, the movies, and ice cream. Your mind constantly wandered back to Aegon. 

Bastard. 

“My dad’s getting worse,” Helaena admitted, crossing her legs as she sat.

You and Sara exchanged a pained glance. You knew Helaena’s father wasn’t doing well, his health had been steadily declining the past few years. He seemed to be pretty stable the past year, Helaena hadn’t shared any updates. 

Aegon hadn’t shared anything with you.

Not that he needed to. What were you even? Friends? Classmates? Lovers? You cringed internally at the thought. 

“I wanted to stay for Egg’s last game before winter break,” Helaena said, shaking her head, 

“But..I don’t know. I just have a feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?” Sara probed.

Helaena pursed her lips, eyebrows knitting together. She looked past you and Sara as though seeing something far away that the both of you could not see. 

“Just like…it may be sooner than I thought,” she tells you both, “and I want to be able to say goodbye.”

“What about Aegon?” you blurt out, unable to stop yourself.

Helaena glances at you, but there’s no suspicion in her eyes even as she takes in the blush blooming on your cheeks.

“He’s in the family group chat,” she tells you, “He sees Mom’s texts. I can’t corral all my brothers, they can come if they want to.”

You nod, pulling your eyes away from her gaze.

“Has he mentioned something?” she asks.

“What?” you answer, “To me? Why would he mention something to me?”

Sara grimaces at the defensiveness of your tone. You can feel sweat beading on the back of your neck. 

“You’re his tutor, aren’t you?” she questions.

“We sort of stopped that.”

“Oh,” Helaena says, picking at a loose thread on her jeans, “That’s a shame.”

“Is it?” you ask, “Aegon wasn’t super serious.”

“He was really proud of his midterm, look,” Helaena says grabbing her phone.

She turns the screen to you and you’re greeted by a selfie of Aegon holding the blue test packet up next to his grinning face. His eyes are crinkled with how hard he’s smiling, and his finger points to the B- written in red on the top corner. You can’t stop the smile that tugs at the corner of your lips or the way your heart begins to beat furiously in your chest as you stare at Helaena’s phone.   

“He worked really hard,” you tell Helaena, “But my tutoring days are over.”

“Maybe Lydia will help him,” Helaena muses, swiping through her notifications.

You tilt your head, curiosity gnawing at your insides. 

“Lydia?” you ask, trying to keep your tone neutral.

Sara flicks her gaze toward you, raising an eyebrow. Helaena hums, still scrolling through her phone. Sara bites her lip, fighting a laugh before making a curious face.

“Are they dating, Hel?” Sara asks, and you widen your eyes at her.

Sara merely shrugs. 

“Um, well Egg doesn’t really date, but they’ve been spending a lot of time together since formal,” Helaena tells her, finally glancing up from her phone, “Why do you ask?”

“I’m curious about all the hot men on campus,” Sara says, smiling.

“Gross,” Helaena answers, “Shouldn’t you only be concerned about Jace?”

“I’m very concerned about Jace,” Sara says, placing a hand over her heart, “Concerned about his gorgeous, thick, co-”

“Enough!” Helaena interrupts, covering her ears. 

Sara snickers and you rise from the blanket, gathering your things.

“Where are you going?” Sara asks, watching you pack your bag.

“Class.”

You head out, leaving your friends on the quad without saying another word, stomach churning at the thought of Aegon and Lydia. 

You don’t see Aegon as you’re sitting with Sara in the bleachers before the game. Both of you are clad in Cregan and Jace’s jerseys. 

It’s tradition, the last game before winter break, the end of the first half of the season. 

“You’re dating the goalie, you wear his jersey,” Brandon Karstark had told you.

“Silly superstition,” Arryx argued.

“It’s not like she’s his girlfriend,” Reese Bolton had said.

It was true. You and Cregan had been on several dates and made out in his car, but you hadn’t gone any further. In any way. 

“Doesn’t matter,” John Umber told his friend, “She still has to wear it.”

I see you at another game in his jersey, I’m fucking you in it.

When the team comes onto the ice, the crowd roars, the sound of cheers almost deafening. You watch the team do a lap around the ice, Cregan sparing you a wave, and the flash of a smile, Jace close on his tail. You spot Aegon, he’s hard to miss, at least to you. 

I see you at another game in his jersey, I’m fucking you in it.

His threat lingers in your mind, sending an ache between your thighs. When he looks up at the stands, his violet eyes meet yours. You cross your arms over your chest, trying to make sure your face doesn’t give away any of the mixed emotions you’re feeling. 

Aegon drags his eyes down your face to your chest, drinking in the outfit you’re wearing. You dressed it up, the jersey falling right to the middle of your thighs completely covering the biker shorts you paired underneath. Fishnet tights decorate the rest of your legs and Aegon’s gaze hungrily follows the pattern down to your ankles. 

As he brings his eyes back up to meet yours, you can feel your cheeks burning. Aegon grins, showing all his perfect, pearly white teeth, cocking his head to the side. No words are exchanged between you, but you understand what that look conveys.

You fucked around, you’re about to find out. 

Naturally, after the team wins they head to the hockey house. You’d hoped to cling to Cregan at the party to avoid Aegon, but your plan came crashing down in the last five minutes of the game. A fight broke out on the ice leading to a broken nose and Cregan headed to the ER. 

He insisted you not wait around for him.

“These things take hours,” he told you, voice muffled from the soaked rag pressed against his face, “Seriously, not the first time not the last. Don’t waste your night in the ER.”

So you ended up clinging to Sara instead, effectively cockblocking your best friend to her dismay. 

“Where are you going?” you ask Sara, as she heads upstairs. 

“I’m just running to Jace’s room, will you chill?” she tells you, “Aegon is nowhere to be found. You’re good.”

“Sara,” you begin, but trail off.

What are you supposed to say? Aegon threatened to fuck you, and you went and poked the bear? 

“Relax,” Sara tells you, “I’m going to grab my coat, grab Jace, and then we can go back to the apartment.”

“Promise?” you ask.

“Give me five minutes,” she says and disappears upstairs. 

Five minutes go by. 

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

You text her several times. Nothing.

“This fucking whore,” you mutter, heading up the stairs. 

You’re not sure which room is Jace’s. Last time you were in the hockey house you were wasted before you passed out in Aegon’s bed. You try the first door. Locked. You bang on it for a moment, hearing only giggles, none of which sound like Sara. You move down the hall.

An empty room, a bathroom, two girls who throw a shoe at you when you interrupt their rendezvous. And then a silver-haired boy, sat on a small couch next to his bed, violet eyes meeting yours when you open the door.

Aegon.

Shit. 

“Hey bunny,” he says casually, closing the book on his lap, and tossing it onto a side table. 

He leans back, arms spread over the back of the couch. He’s freshly showered, hair still slick with water, droplets falling onto the white t-shirt he wears. He grins at you, eyes falling to Cregan’s jersey you’re still wearing. 

“I’m looking for Sara,” you tell him, going to close the door.

“Funny you should say that,” he says, standing suddenly.

You frown, trying to avoid glancing down, instead focusing on the dark black of his pupils. 

“Why?” you ask.

Aegon walks toward you, slowly, like a lion stalking its prey. He makes his way in front of you, reaching behind you and pressing the door shut. He’s so close you can feel his breath on your cheek, feel the warmth from his chest. 

“I think she’s preoccupied,” he tells you, grimacing. 

“Do you and Jace have telepathically communicate?” you ask, frustrated, “Seriously? Why is he so okay with your scheming?”

“He’s my bro,” Aegon says, feigning offense. 

You roll your eyes. 

“Where are they?” you ask.

“Don’t interrupt their fuc-”

“I don’t care if he’s balls deep Egg!” you say loudly, “Where are they?”

“Your apartment, jeez,” he says, laughing at the groan you release, “They left out the back.”

“I’m going to kill her,” you tell him.

“Don’t be mad, bunny,” he says, reaching for your hand.

Aegon laces his fingers through yours, watching them for a moment before bringing his eyes back to your face. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” you tell him, but you don’t pull your hand away.

“Like what?” he asks, swaying slightly.

“Like you’re going to fuck me,” you tell him, “Not happening.”

Aegon sinks his teeth into his lower lip.

“If you didn’t want me to fuck you,” he begins, “Why did you wear that?”

Your face flushes as he motions to the jersey.

“I was very clear,” he tells you, “And you’re a very smart girl.”

You swallow as he brings his hand to the collar of the jersey, rubbing the material between the pads of his fingers. 

“You just trying to be a tease, bunny?” Aegon asks, eyes roaming down your figure, “Cause you look fucking amazing. You know how hard I was on the ice?”

Your breathing has turned shallow, coming out in short pants. 

“You wanna feel how hard you make me?” he asks softly, bringing your hand to his crotch. 

You can feel him, hard and wanting, straining against the jeans he’s wearing. Your lips part slightly as he rocks his hips against your hand. 

“You want to go?” Aegon asks, “This is your chance.”

He rocks against you again, pressing himself against your hand. You can already feel the heat pooling between your thighs, the dull ache beginning. You stare at him and swallow the lump forming in your throat. 

“I don’t want to go,” you breathe and Aegon smiles.

He looks up at you as he begins to sink to his knees. He places a kiss on your stomach, down the tops of your thighs, on your knees, before parting your legs. He drags down your biker shorts, throwing them to a corner of his room.

“I’m going to tear these off with my fucking teeth,” Aegon murmurs, mouthing the fabric of your fishnets, swirling his tongue along the smooth skin of your inner thighs. 

You squirm against his mouth as he presses a kiss to your barely clothed core. You grab a fistful of his hair, yanking him away from you suddenly. Aegon looks up at you, the picture of perfection, an angel on his knees for you. 

“Get up,” you tell him, and he moves to his feet, his hands never leaving your thighs, traveling over the swell of your hips, up your ribs. 

You move his hands off of you, pushing a hand against his chest to push him down onto the couch. He sits, head tilted back watching you as you straddle his lap. Aegon wraps his hands around your waist and you remove them once more. 

“No,” you tell him, holding his hands above his head. 

You know you must be blushing furiously, you’ve never been this domineering in bed before. Aegon looks up at you as you grind yourself against him, feeling him grow harder beneath you. His jaw is slack, violet eyes are blown black with lust, never leaving your face with every roll of your hips. 

You tilt your head to the side. Fake it till you make it, that’s what Sara says. Pretend you’re confident.

“Why should you get to touch me?” you taunt, wetting your lips.

Aegon’s eyes widen slightly, surprised by your sudden dominance. He smirks, a small laugh leaving his perfect lips. 

“Oh, you’re so gonna get it,” Aegon says softly, fire in his violet eyes.

He doesn’t stop you though, doesn’t twist his wrists from your grasp. 

“No, I don’t think so,” you tell him, “I don’t share with anyone. Got it?”

“There’s no one else,” Aegon answers immediately, “No one but you.”

You tilt your head to the side, a smirk sliding onto your face. 

“You’d lie to my face?” you tease, “I know you’ve been seeing Lydia, Hel told me.”

“I’m not seeing Lydia,” Aegon tells you, “Well, I’m not anymore.”

You narrow your eyes at him.

“What about you, hypocrite?” Aegon asks, tilting his chin up at you, “Still walking Cregan like a dog, I see.”

Then he tugs his wrists free, snaking a hand around the back of your neck, pulling you closer so his lips ghost the shell of your ear. 

“He fuck you like I do?” he murmurs, pressing a hot kiss below your ear. 

Your eyes flutter shut as his free hand moves to grab your ass. 

“He make you cum as hard as I do?” he asks, kissing a trail down your neck. 

You wet your lips, fingers tangling in his hair pulling him closer.

“Yeah, he does,” you breathe and you can feel Aegon smile against you.

“Fucking dirty little liar,” he says, pressing your lips against his.

The kiss is hungry and desperate; Aegon’s hand holds your neck so you couldn’t move away even if you wanted to. Not that you want to. When Aegon kisses you, you want him to consume you completely. 

He slips you almost completely off his lap, so you’re straddling his thigh. Your eyes widen as he presses you down against him.

“C’mon ride it,” he tells you, “I know you know how.”

You meet his eyes and he grins. He fucking knew. Of course, he did.

You roll your hips against him, just like that first night at the hockey house. His hands cup your ass, squeezing and kneading the soft flesh as you grind against him. 

“Just like that, there’s my good girl,” he purrs, dragging a hand up your back.

You whimper as he wraps his hand around your throat, squeezing just enough for your air supply to be deliciously depleted. The friction is perfect as his jean-clad thigh presses against your warm center, every roll of your hips sending sparks of pleasure dancing throughout your body.

“You gonna cum? Or do you need an audience like last time?” he teases, referencing the party.

“Fuuuck,” you choke, as Aegon tightens his grip and your curse turns into a high-pitched keen as your orgasm floods through you. 

Aegon releases your throat, picking you up and standing, moving to throw you on the bed. He roughly turns you onto your hands and knees. You push onto your forearms as Aegon’s hands move near your center, tearing through the fabric of your fishnets. 

“I liked those!” you hiss, feeling him move the lace of your thong out of the way.

You hear him chuckle darkly, hear the zipper of his pants and feel the tip of his fat cock sliding through your slick folds.

“You’ll like this more,” he tells you, “Promise, bunny.”

Then he’s sinking into you and every witty retort you can think of slips from your head. Aegon rocks his hips against yours and your hands clutch the comforter seeking purchase. You grit your teeth, trying to not give him the satisfaction of a moan. 

“Oooh, you are mad at me, huh?” Aegon teases, delivering a harsh thrust.

You bite the inside of your cheek, falling from your forearms, cheek pressing against the bed as Aegon continues to pound into you, bringing a hand down to slap your ass. The mark stings and Aegon rubs his hand over it before delivering another blow. 

A whimper escapes your lips when he angles his hips just right, the head of his cock bullying into your sweet spot. Your eyes nearly roll back into your head when he leans forward, focusing on the spot he’s located. 

“C’mon tell me how good it feels,” Aegon says, snapping his hips.

He brings his hand to the back of your head, pulling you up by your hair. 

“Tell me,” he whispers in your ear. 

“Fuck,” you moan, unable to help yourself.

“Touch that pretty little clit, right now,” he demands, and you bring your hand between your legs.

You rub nice slow circles around your aching clit, fingertips brushing against Aegon’s cock each time it slides in and out.

“There’s my good girl,” Aegon croons, “Even when she’s mad she listens so well.”

Gods there’s something about his voice, something about the way he talks you through it, it has your back arching, moans and whines spilling from your lips as you’re thrown over the edge once more, cunt spasming around his cock. 

Aegon slows his thrusts as you cum, still painfully erect as he pulls out, tapping the side of your ass. You turn around, laying on your back, panting as you look up at him. 

He holds his tongue between his teeth, eyes falling to your chest. 

“Take that fucking thing off,” he tells you and you move the jersey over your head. 

“And that,” he says motioning to your bra.

That lands on the floor as well, leaving you in your ruined fishnets and thong. Aegon climbs on top of you, dragging his mouth across your breasts, stopping to roll your nipples between his teeth and tug on them harshly. 

He continues to worship your body with his mouth before he slides himself back into your warm, tight center. You lock your legs around his waist, raising your hips to meet his thrusts. 

“Do I fuck better than him?” Aegon asks, “Tell me.”

You meet his eyes then, and you know your facade has faded. Aegon smiles then, showing all his teeth.

“You haven’t even fucked him, have you?” Aegon asks.

You don’t answer, trying to capture his lips in a kiss. Aegon turns his head from your needy lips.

“You are my good girl,” Aegon tells you, sending fire pooling in your belly.

“Yes,” you whimper, “Yes, I am.”

Aegon kisses you then as a reward, slow and sensual as he thrusts deeply into you. He’s so deep inside you, your denials from earlier spill past your lips.

“You fuck me so well,” you whimper, “No one could fuck me like you.”

You know you might regret the confession, but you can’t find it in you to care at the moment. 

“I know baby, love fucking you,” he murmurs against your mouth, “God this pussy, fucking made for me.”

“Fuck yes yes right there-!” you whine as he presses himself into you.

Tears blur your vision as your legs begin to tremble with the promise of your third release. 

“Oh god, oh fuck-” you squeak as your third orgasm rips through you, Aegon never slowing his merciless pace all the while.  

“So fucking good,” Aegon moans as your pussy clenches, milking his cock until you feel him twitching inside you, the warmth of his release painting your inner walls. 

He kisses you slowly and passionately, with his cock still nestled deep inside of you. As he pulls out of your warmth he keeps his arms around you, dragging you to lay across his chest. Your breathing returns to normal, your limbs feeling like jelly as you listen to the steady drumming of his heartbeat. 

“You can’t have it both ways, you know,” you tell him, not looking into his eyes. 

You expect to feel him tense beneath you, to tell you to stop being jealous. Or dramatic. Or not as easygoing as other situationships. Something Jason would say. Something Jason had said to you. 

“You can’t get mad at me for seeing Cregan and then go screw Lydia Tyrell,” you continue, nervously chewing on your lip. 

You feel Aegon’s hand on the back of your head, smoothing your hair. 

“I know,” he tells you, chest rumbling, “I just wanted to see you sweat a little.”

You lift your face, resting your chin on his chest to look at him. He glances down at you, a sly smile on his face. 

“What?” he asks.

“You’re not seeing Lydia?” you ask, heart beating erratically. 

Aegon shakes his head and you whack him on the chest. 

“Ow!” he says, wincing. 

“You’re such a dick!” you tell him and he rolls until he’s on top of you.

He presses his lips to yours and the rude words slip from your mind as his tongue caresses your bottom lip. Aegon presses his body against yours, the weight of him against you bringing a fresh way of arousal to your center. 

“I’d like to be seeing you,” he murmurs against your mouth.

Your fingers tangle in his hair as he nips your lower lip, eager for him to sheath himself within you once more.

“Helaena is going to kill us,” you tell him, kissing him back nonetheless.

“We don’t have to tell her,” he murmurs between kisses.

You freeze suddenly, pulling your lips from his. 

A secret. You’re going to be a secret. That’s almost worse. Shame twists in your gut, and Aegon senses a shift in your mood as you rise, slipping Cregan’s jersey back over your head and your biker shorts back on. 

Aegon sits up slightly, cocking his head.

“What?” he asks, but you shake your head.

“Nothing,” you tell him, running a hand through your hair, “I just have to go.”

“Now?” Aegon asks, his voice breaking into a whine, “Y/N, stay with me-”

“No I have to go,” you insist, grabbing your shoes. 

Your tights are ruined, hanging on you in tattered pieces but you don’t care. You need to get out, need to leave before the tears blurring your vision spill over. 

Aegon’s brow creases, he stands up taking the bedsheet with him, clutching it against his stomach to cover himself.

“Y/N what did I do?” Aegon asks, concern lacing his tone.

You sigh, hand on the door before forcing a smile on your face and turning to him.

“Nothing. You’re just being Aegon,” you tell him, “Forgot who you were for a minute, it’s all good.”

Pain flashes across his features for a moment and a tear escapes your eye. You wipe it away furiously before pulling his bedroom door open.

“I’ll see you around,” you call, not looking back as the dam within you breaks.

You hurry down the stairs and out of the hockey house into the cold night air, hurrying down the quiet streets of your college campus eager to get back to your apartment.

You can’t help but cry, cursing as you pass a group of drunk girls who stop when they see you, insisting you tell them what’s wrong. Finally, you make it home, walking into your dark apartment. You’re greeted by Baela on your couch, who rises as you enter.

“Y/N-” she says, biting her lip.

“Bae? What's wrong?” you ask.

“Helaena called…her dad…” Bae starts, tears falling, “He passed away tonight.”

Your heart nearly stops beating. You dig mindlessly into your purse for your phone, hands shaking.

8 missed calls.

She tried calling you. For the past hour or so. The entire time you were with Aegon. Guilt pours through your limbs and you’re sobbing earnestly now, Baela holding you against her. There’s one more missed call, more recently, just about ten minutes ago.

Aegon.

note: I hope you enjoyed my loves! Again, don't hate me too much for the angst I truly cannot help myself!

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[badkitty3000]

I had to make a new post for the remaining chapters because it was getting too long to add them to the original. If you'd like to read chapters 1-6, here is the link.

☕Love In The Time Of Cholera And Coffee ☕

Part Two: Chapters 7-9

Five x Female Reader, Klaus x Female Reader

You and Klaus are in a casual relationship. No ties, just sex. When you start spending a lot of time at his apartment, you somehow manage to break through his brother's prickly outer shell. He seems to like you, or at least tolerate you the best that Five can. When you start to realize that maybe there is more than just mutual friendship between the two of you, it opens up a lot of feelings and unanswered questions. And a lot of problems.

This story contains sexually explicit material! (But also lots of humor and fluff)

Chapter Seven: Be My Baby

The morning rush is typical for a Saturday. Lots of parents on their way to soccer tournaments, and elderly couples that wake up early, starting their day when the sun rises. You don’t need to be there, necessarily. Your team can handle it. But you like it. You like the early morning sunrise and the smell of the first pot of coffee brewing. The smiles of the hopeful people as they start their days. The morning is perfect. It gives everyone the chance to start fresh.

As you’re surveying the pastries and taking note of inventory, the bell over the door rings. You don’t even look up as you focus on the spreadsheet on your tablet. The customer, however, is not the usual. You recognize the silhouette of the person walking towards you. How could you not? It’s been 6 months, but you’ll never forget it.

“Hey there,” he says, as he nears the counter.

He’s just as you remember him and he addresses you as if no time has passed.

“Hi, Klaus,” you respond with a timid smile, looking up from your tablet.

Klaus removes his sunglasses that had been perched on his nose, and he looks around, taking it all in. He smiles that smile that usually means he’s up to something.

“Wow, so this place is hopping!” he says as he leans against the counter.

He’s wearing a pair of way too-tight white jeans, and a tank top that says “Slut” across the chest. His signature dog tags hang down over the lettering and jingle when he moves. 

“Yeah, we’re doing alright. Our profits are actually up since I bought it,” you respond with pride.

You haven’t seen Klaus since that day he and Five had their blow-out fight over you. Well, technically you haven’t seen him since the night before the blow-out. You had figured you’d never see either one of them again. Yet, here he was.

“Is that right? Well, mazel tov,” he answers with a genuine smile.

“Can I get you something?” you ask.

“I’ll take a green tea if you don’t mind,” Klaus says.

He doesn’t sound angry like you assumed he would be. Like he should be, honestly.

You nod at the barista who is working today and he busies himself with making Klaus’s drink. In the meantime, there is no one else in line, so you and he are stuck staring at each other. Klaus speaks first.

“So, it’s been a while. How are you?” he asks, a suspicious-looking smile on his face.

“I’m fine, thank you. And you?”

Klaus shrugs his shoulders and looks around again. “Oh, you know. I’m always here and there, doing something.”

You smile. “Same old Klaus. Like a feral tom cat just prowling the town.”

He winks back at you with a grin. “Meow.”

The barista hands him his tea and he reaches into his back pocket for his wallet to pay, but you hold out a hand.

“Don’t be silly. It’s on the house.”

Klaus raises his eyebrows, then lifts his cup up in a toasting gesture. “Thank you!”

You shrug. “It’s the least I can do. The very least.”

He nods thoughtfully and takes a sip, looking around the shop again. “Do you have a minute? You know, to talk?”

You swallow nervously and chew at your bottom lip. He doesn’t seem upset, but what does he want to talk to you about? It can’t be anything good. But you nod and come around the counter. You gesture to an empty table near the back, away from listening employees, and you both make your way over. Once you and Klaus are situated, sitting across from one another, you wait with hands folded in front of you.

“So…you’re probably wondering why I came here, aren’t you?” he asks, still with that same Klaus smile on his face.

You nod. “A little, yeah. I know we have good tea here but given the circumstances…” You look down at your hands and start picking at a cuticle. “I really never thought I’d be seeing you again.”

Klaus leans back and drapes an arm lazily over the back of the chair. “Yeah, well…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And maybe a little bit of therapy.” He rolls his eyes. “Anyway, I’ve been trying to be a better person and see the error of my ways, and all that shit. And I have come to the conclusion that I owe you an apology.”

The surprise on your face must be evident because Klaus gives a little laugh and shakes his head. “I know that’s not what you were expecting. But, it’s true. I owe you an apology and I’m sorry.”

“For…for what? I’m the one—”

He cuts you off with an airy wave of his hand. “Listen. I was selfish and I should have appreciated you more. I know we weren’t going to end up getting married or anything, but I could have made more of an effort. Like when you were sick…that was shitty of me and I’m sorry. If I had treated you just a little better, then maybe…”

You groan and drop your forehead onto your hands as they rest on the table. “Klaus, I appreciate the apology, but you had nothing to do with that. That was me and I’m the one that needs to apologize, not you. I’m the one that fucked everything up between you two.”

Klaus is quiet and you glance up at him. He has a tiny smile on his face again. “Ok, so we both had a hand in it. And I accept your apology. But you didn’t fuck everything up. I mean, you’re not that amazing,” he says with a smirk before taking another sip of his tea.

You lift your head. “What do you mean? You guys aren’t…”

Klaus shakes his head and gives another dismissive wave. “Nah, we’re good. He did move out, though. But that might have been more about me leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor than anything else.”

You chuckle a little and lean back in your chair, starting to relax somewhat. “Huh. Well, good. I’m glad to hear that.”

Klaus is looking at you with one eyebrow raised, his mouth turned up at the corner.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” you ask.

Klaus shrugs his shoulders, trying to look innocent. Then he reaches into the pocket of his pants and pulls out a small, folded piece of paper. He slides it across the table to you. You pick it up with a look of confusion. When you unfold it, you see there is an address scrawled on it in Klaus’s messy handwriting.

“What is this?”

He gives another shrug. “I think maybe you two need to talk.”

Your eyes widen and you glance back down at the paper. “Wait…this is his address?”

Klaus nods, but then he’s starting to stand up, apparently ready to leave. “If you don’t want it, throw it out. But I figured I owed you that much.” He puts his sunglasses back on and looks down at you. “You do know he’s in love with you, right?”

Your shocked expression makes him laugh and he leans down to give you a quick peck on the cheek.

“Thanks for the tea. Maybe I’ll see you around. You know, at family gatherings or something?”

Then Klaus is walking out the door, leaving you stunned and staring down at the piece of paper in your hands, your brain whirring.

A week goes by and you try not to think about it. But it’s kind of hard when you carry that paper around with you in your pocket every day. The address isn’t far from your store. Just a few blocks, actually. Which makes you realize that he has probably been avoiding you and the shop like the plague. Or has he been quickly walking by, taking a glance through the windows to see if you’re there? Maybe blinking away before you can raise your head and see him. Doubtful. Despite what Klaus told you, you have every reason to believe he has no desire to see you again.

Every time you think that maybe you should walk over there, to that address you have memorized now, you change your mind. Maybe it would be different if you still didn’t have a clear image of him in your head from the last time you saw him. That blank, uncaring look on his face. Those cold words he said to you. That’s what stops you each time.

But then at night, when you’re home alone and in bed trying in vain to sleep, different images come to mind. Memories of his face and his smile, and the way he would begrudgingly laugh at something funny you said. And of his body on yours, the heat of his skin, and his urgent kisses. You remember every word he said to you in the dark that night. And you just can’t believe he didn’t mean them. Not when he was pleading with you to be his.

The crazy thing was that you had already given yourself over to him. You wanted to be his. And you had thought that night was going to be just one of many you would spend together. Maybe it would have been awkward at first, with Klaus; but you were willing to try and work past that. Because that’s how much you wanted to be with him.

What an idiot you had been. On your way out of work one night, you throw the paper with the address into the trash can and walk away.

It has been two weeks since Klaus came by and even though you still can’t stop thinking about what he told you, you aren’t taking the bait. You’re better off without him or any of that mess. He’s better off without you, too.

The café is quiet, with only a few lights left on. It’s been closed for an hour now, all cleaned and the food stored away for the night. Your staff has gone home and it’s just you there. You’re finishing up some financial documents on your laptop at a table, a mix of some soft rock tunes playing on the speakers overhead. You’re humming along to a Whitney Houston song when you hear a knock on the glass door. When you look up, you take a sharp breath in and accidentally knock over the glass of water you had sitting next to you.

It's Five. He’s standing there, right outside the door, and he’s already spotted you, so you can’t exactly hide. Plus, now you’re jumping up and trying to mop up the spilled water with a few flimsy napkins and swearing to yourself out loud.

“Shit shit shit,” you mumble.

When you look up again, you can see Five watching the whole thing go down and he’s got that smirk on his face. The one you hate but also can’t stop thinking about. You huff, rolling your eyes, and motion for him to come in. The door is locked for the night, of course, but that doesn’t matter. He blinks in right away, reappearing a few feet away from you, hands in his pants pockets.

“Hi,” he says with a smile.

You pause, taking him in for a moment. Damn it, why is he so good-looking? With his stupid dark hair falling onto his forehead and his annoyingly perfect body and ridiculously chiseled jawline. And that goddamn sexy, smart-ass expression on his face. Fuck.

“What are you doing here?” you say, trying to appear like you couldn’t possibly care less that he’s standing right in front of you.

He shrugs. “Just walking by. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d see if you were still here.”

After throwing the soggy napkins into the trash behind the counter, you come around again and lean against it, your arms crossed.

“Just walking by, huh?”

Five at least has the decency to look a little embarrassed as he glances at the floor and clears his throat.

“Yeah, well…something like that,” he mumbles.

“Why are you here, Five?”

You’re determined not to let him see the uncertainty in you and you raise your chin and square your shoulders to try and appear more confident. Inside, a million butterflies have taken residence in your stomach.

He rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, so…Klaus told me he came by the other day.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Yes, he did. And?”

“He told me he talked to you and gave you my address.”

You make a circular motion with your hand to get him to hurry this little story along.

“Anyway, he said he gave it to you and I thought maybe…” he trails off and looks down at the floor again.

“Ohhh…you thought maybe I’d come crawling back to you? Run right on over and jump into your arms? Tell you all is forgiven. Is that what you thought?”

“No!” he snaps, and then his voice softens again. “No. I just thought…” He throws his hands in the air in frustration. “Fuck! I don’t know what I thought! This is stupid, I don’t know why I came here.”

He turns around to leave, but you call out so that he stops in his tracks. “I almost did!” He turns to you and you blush a little. “I came really close to going over there. I had a whole speech prepared and everything. It was good, too. I was really going to let you have it.” You give a short laugh.

“Why didn’t you?” he asks.

“Because I was afraid that what Klaus told me wasn’t true,” you admit.

“What did Klaus tell you?”

You’re not really sure you want to get into all of that quite yet, so you change the subject back to him.

“Really, why are you here, Five? It’s been six months, so why now?”

“I just…” he takes a deep breath. “I just wanted to see you again. And to say I’m sorry.”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Then they crease together again. “And which thing or things are you sorry for?”

Five sighs and takes a few steps toward you, but stops short of coming too close. He seems to gain a little more confidence and he looks you in the eyes.

“I’m sorry for everything. For putting you in that situation. And for saying what I did. I know I was a jerk and you didn’t deserve that.”

You look up and blink a few times to try and keep your emotions in check. Then you look back at him.

“Jerk doesn’t even begin to cover it. You hurt me, Five. Really hurt me. Do you realize that?”

He swallows hard and nods. “I know.”

“Why? Why did you do that? I don’t understand. I was ready to…” Your voice cracks and you don’t finish your sentence.

“After the fight with Klaus, I just felt so awful and ashamed, so I panicked and took it out on you. Which was a really shitty thing to do, and I’m so sorry. I also understand if you never want to see or talk to me again, but I thought I’d take a chance by coming here. I at least wanted to let you know.”

You nod slowly. “Yeah, ok, so you’re sorry. Is there anything else you’d like to confess?”

“What do you mean?”

You shift your weight to your other foot and cross and uncross your arms. “Did you even mean those things you said that night?”

He pauses for a minute and you see him swallow hard. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I meant them.”

“Klaus said you’re in love with me,” you blurt out, and you watch as his eyes get wide and his face flushes.

He clenches his teeth together. “Fucking Klaus,” he mutters under his breath.

“So?” you challenge. “Is he right?”

He is visibly uncomfortable and his hands are in his pockets again as he looks at the floor. Then he gathers some courage and he looks up.

“He’s right,” he says. “I am in love with you. I have been for a long time.”

You sigh and put your hands on your hips and look up at the ceiling, then back at him again. “Damn it, Five!”

“What?”

“You know, just because you say that does not mean all is forgiven, or that I’m automatically in love with you too, even though I am, although why I have no fucking idea. I really cannot believe the nerve of you showing up here after all this time. You are still the biggest asshole I have ever met and I’m not even sure I want anything to do with you anymore—"

Your rant is cut short when Five closes the few feet between you in a short spatial jump, making you yelp sharply when he suddenly grabs you around the waist and pulls you into him.

“Let go of me!” you say in protest.

“What did you say?” he asks, that arrogant look on his face as his mouth turns up on one side.

You squirm, trying to get out of his grasp but it’s not very convincing, and it’s also making your body rub up against his, which is not helping matters. His hold on you is strong, though, and he doesn’t let up. He’s looking you right in the eyes and you can’t seem to look away.

“I said you’re a giant asshole,” you say, your voice much weaker all of a sudden.

“You said you’re in love with me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” he says with a smirk, right before he jerks your body closer to him, his arm wrapped around your middle and his hand resting on the small of your back.

His eyes travel over your face and you look at his lips and suddenly you can’t think straight anymore. You nod your head slowly.

“Yeah, maybe I did,” you confess in a whisper, right before he kisses you.

His kiss is soft and slow, and he brings his hand up to the side of your face. All of those feelings that you had pushed down come rushing back to you with that touch. You kiss him back, savoring the feel of his soft lips and the way his body feels next to yours.

He smiles against your mouth, even as he continues kissing you, and you drape your arms over his shoulders. When you pull away, he keeps his hand on your cheek.

“I’m sorry it took me this long to get my shit together,” he tells you with a breathy laugh. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you tell him with a smile, but when he goes in for another kiss, you pull back and place a hand on his chest. “Whoa there, buddy, not so fast.”

He scrunches his eyebrows together and it takes a lot of resolve for you not to kiss him right now because his pouty man face is so cute.

“What’s the matter?” he asks.

“Ok, so you said you’re sorry, but I’m going to need a little more than that.”

“More?”

“Yes. You can’t possibly think waltzing in here and simply saying you’re sorry and you love me is enough, can you?”

“So, what do you want? You want me to fall on my knees and grovel?”

You place a finger on your lips in thought. “Hmm…that does sound nice, but something tells me you’d actually like that. No, let me think…” When you hear the music that has been playing on the store speakers, your face lights up. “I got it!”

“I’m afraid to ask, but ok, what is it?”

“Sing.”

“Excuse me?”

You step out of his arms and lean back against the counter again. “I want you to sing the next song that comes on. No matter what it is. And I want it done with feeling. To me.”

Five’s face is hilarious because he looks like you just kicked him in the nuts. “Are you fucking serious? You want me to sing to you?”

You nod. “Yep.”

He stares in stunned silence for a minute before he crosses his arms and tilts his head. “You know I took a punch in the face for you.”

You shrug. “Sorry to hear that, but that’s not really relevant at the moment. Plus, I wasn’t there to witness or enjoy it, so it doesn’t count. No, I want you to sing, and if you half-ass it you will have to start over. I want to see some professional, Frank Sinatra-level, Elvis in Las Vegas-style crooning. And I want it right now.”

Five glances up and notices the security camera mounted in the corner behind you and runs a hand down his face. “Shit. And this is the only way you’re going to forgive me and stop torturing me by standing there looking cute but not letting me touch you?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“And there’s no way I can talk my way out of this and get you to kiss me again? Because I really want to kiss you again.”

“Nope. You say you love me. Prove it.”

He sighs heavily. “Alright then.”

“Alright, what?”

“I guess I’m fucking singing.”

You smile widely and at just that precise moment, the song that had been playing fades out and another one starts up. You start laughing when you hear “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. It’s such a cheesy, girly pop song, and it’s perfect.

“Don’t forget…with feeling,” you remind him as you perch yourself on the countertop and wait expectedly for him to start.

With another sigh and a sarcastic smile in your direction, Five reluctantly starts singing.

The night we met I knew I needed you so

And if I had the chance I’d never let you go

It’s bad and off-key and he’s stumbling over some of the words. He can’t decide if he wants to sing it in the high, women’s register or lower his voice, so his voice keeps cracking. But he’s putting the effort in, like you requested.

So won't you say you love me?

I’ll make you so proud of me

We’ll make ‘em turn their heads, every place we go

He’s starting to get into it a little, adding awkward dancing and elaborate hand choreography.

So won’t you please

Be my little baby

Say you’ll be my darling

It’s maybe the cutest thing you’ve ever seen and when you start giggling, that’s when he really kicks it into gear. He grabs a plastic knife from the counter and uses it as a microphone to up his performance.

Be my baby now…whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

He is singing his heart out directly to you, as dramatically as he can. He is also trying not to laugh while you are barely holding it together as you watch his horribly wonderful performance that he is putting on just because you asked him to. The dramatic emoting and facial expressions are too much, so you cover your eyes with your hands and peek through two fingers to watch him.

I’ll make you happy, baby,

Just wait and see

For every kiss you give me

I’ll give you three

For this, he grabs your hand and kisses it dramatically as you toss your head back and laugh at him. You have never seen him act this stupid and silly, and it’s making you love him that much more because you know he’d never do this for anyone else. When the interlude comes on, Five tosses his knife microphone over his shoulder without taking his eyes off you and takes your hand again, pulling you into him. He holds you to him as he dances slowly with you and when the lyrics start up again, he finishes out the song by belting it out as loudly and as off-key as possible while you alternate between laughing and visibly cringing.

So won’t you please

Be my little baby

Say you’ll be my darlin’

Be my baby now

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

As the song winds down and fades away, he stops dancing, but he’s still holding you close to him. He stands there with a wicked grin, waiting for you to say something.

“That’s all on video, you know. So I can blackmail you whenever you act up,” you say with a smile.

“Do you believe that I am willing to do anything for you, including humiliating myself? Did I sufficiently prove my love to you?”

“Well, I reserve the right to demand further proof at future times, but for right now, yes. That was sufficient.”

He doesn’t wait any longer before he’s back to kissing you, and this time you don’t try to stop him. When he holds you tight to his chest, his arms wrapped around you and his hand winding into your hair, you feel happier than you have in months. You probably shouldn’t have taken him back so willingly, despite his apologies and musical performance. But you can’t help yourself. You want him like you’ve never wanted anyone in your life, and the fact that he came back here for you has immediately melted any stoniness you had in your heart for him.

It’s quickly obvious that a few kisses are not going to be enough and you are both breathing hard as you try to pull each other even closer. Five pushes you up against the counter, boosting you up so you’re sitting on top and he is standing between your legs, his hands gripping into your thighs and pulling them forward to wrap around his waist. After a few seconds, you place a hand on his chest again.

“Hang on, we can’t do this,” you say, your chest heaving.

Five frowns. “I’m sorry, am I moving too fast?”

“No, I mean we can’t do this here . This is a major health code violation and if someone sees I’ll be in deep shit.”

Five laughs. “Well, I wasn’t planning on jizzing into the espresso machine, but I guess I see your point. We can stop.”

“No, I don’t want to stop ! Can’t we go to your place? It’s just a few blocks over.”

Five raises his eyebrows in surprise and chuckles. “I thought you didn’t care where I lived.”

You blush. “Well…I may have thrown your address out but that doesn’t mean I didn’t memorize it or map out how to get there from here.”

“Stalker!”

“Shut up,” you tell him, even as you’re smiling. “I know you’re loving this, you bastard.”

He shakes his head. “You think I’m loving the fact that the girl I’m head over heels in love with has secretly been obsessed with me and stalking me like a total creep?”

“I wasn’t stalking you! Jesus Christ, Five…are we going back to your place or not?”

He laughs again and you find yourself laughing right along with him. “Come on, psycho, let’s go.” He holds out a hand for you and you hop down off the counter. “It’s a nine-minute walk. Three if you let me blink you part of the way there.”

“You know exactly down to the minute? Who’s the stalker now?”

“Alright, I confess. I may have walked past here a couple of times.”

“Only a couple?” you ask with a smile.

He rolls his eyes. “I think I already regret coming here.”

You give him a quick kiss and then pull him by his hand towards the door. “No, you don’t. Because, in a few minutes, I’m going to rock your world, baby.”

He gives a frustrated groan. “You’re definitely letting me blink you there, now. I can’t wait a full nine minutes.”

Chapter Eight: Slow Hand

When we arrive at my apartment (5 minutes later, after one blink and a quick make-out session on the street), we step inside and she takes a look around. It’s not much different than the one I shared with Klaus, just a little smaller. The furniture is nice but simple, and everything is clean. There’s nothing fancy about it, but it’s comfortable and cozy. She notices a folded-up newspaper on one of the tables, turned to a half-completed crossword puzzle.

She smiles and points at it. “Such an old man thing to have.” She glances around. “Where’s the bowl of butterscotch candies? Or the plastic furniture covers?”

I am watching her as she starts walking around the living room, but then I suddenly blink over and grab her from behind. My arms are around her middle, holding her close to me while my mouth makes its way to her neck. After her initial shock wears off, she melts into me and tips her head back onto my shoulder.

“I might be an old man, darling, but my body and my hormones are 21 and you are driving them fucking crazy right now.”

She inhales sharply and exhales a soft laugh as I caress her stomach and hips with my hands, letting my mouth trail over her neck.

“Good thing for you, I happen to have a thing for older men in hot, young bodies,” she says. She turns around to face me, my arms still around her, and she gives me a smile before kissing me.

“Lucky me,” I reply.

Before I can say anything else, she pushes me backward until my legs hit the back of the couch. She gives me a shove with a hand on my chest, making me sit down, and she immediately climbs onto my lap, straddling me. Just that move right there has me hard already and I grab her face with both hands, kissing her deeply while she pushes herself over my crotch.

“Can I ask you something?” she breathes out while my mouth returns to her neck.

“Hmmm,” I respond in between kisses.

“Have you been with anyone else since me?”

I stop and I just can’t help but tease her a little with an inside joke about the book we read together. I flash her a devious smile. “622. Give or take.”

She laughs and whacks me on the chest. “Yeah, right. You wish.”

I shake my head. “No, sweetheart. There’s been only you on my mind.” Then I trace my thumb across her bottom lip and look her in the eyes. “But it’s ok if you have.”

She kisses me again, running a hand through my hair. “I went on one date, that’s it.”

Despite what I just told her about it being ok, my body immediately tenses up when she says that and I know she can tell. I start to relax a little when she places her own kisses onto the side of my neck. I let out a long breath before I ask more questions, even though I don’t really want to hear about it.

“Just one?”

She nods, continuing her kisses. “Yes. Just one.”

“And how did this date end?” I ask, trying to play it cool, although I doubt it’s very convincing.

She runs her tongue under the curve of my jaw before giving it a small bite. I grab her hips in return.

“It ended with a very steamy good night hug.”

I let out a hum of approval, leaning my head back while she draws her lips over my Adam’s apple.

“Why nothing more?”

She pauses and waits until I’m looking at her again. “Because he wasn’t you,” she tells me. I think maybe she is teasing me, but the look on her face is completely serious.

“I like that answer.”

I put my hand on the back of her neck as I try to pull her in for another kiss, but she resists and pulls backward. I’m momentarily confused until I see her very devilish face as she slowly slides off my lap and onto the floor, kneeling in front of me with her hands on my thighs. She looks up at me, biting her lower lip and it’s a goddamn miracle I haven’t come in my pants yet. I let out a little whimper just from the sight of her.

“You know, you kicked me out before I had a chance to repay you for that amazing tongue action you gave me that night,” she tells me.

“That was pretty fucking stupid of me,” I joke, although I’m clearly breathing harder and I have to shift in my seat.

She smiles and leans forward, letting her mouth graze over the crotch of my pants where the hard swelling of my erection is impossible to miss. When I feel her warm breath seeping through the fabric, I suck in a loud breath and push my hips up.

“Fuck,” I whisper.

As she starts unbuckling my belt and opening my pants, she looks back up. “You don’t have to,” I tell her quietly.

She gives me a small smile but starts to pull at my pants until I help her out by lifting my hips up slightly. When she takes my straining cock in her hand, I make another groaning noise and swear under my breath.

“Let me give this to you,” she says softly.

She is licking and sucking up and down my shaft and circling her tongue over the head, and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I may have had a few sexual experiences before her, but none of them involved anything sensual like this.

“You taste so good,” she moans before her lips pass over my entire length again and I have to close my eyes.

I move a hand to her head and she makes a little whining noise that I take to mean she’s ok with me doing that. Which is very good, because I am having one hell of a time controlling myself right now. I flex my fingers and pull her hair at the same time I just slightly push her head down. I want to fuck her face so badly right now, but I know if that happens, I’m going to be done in about three seconds and I’d really like to wait just a little longer before I embarrass myself again this evening.

“Oh fuck, honey, that feels so good and I really don’t want you to stop, but…shit…I’m not going to be able to hold out much longer if you keep doing that.”

She doesn’t laugh, or argue, and she looks pretty proud of herself as she removes her mouth from me and looks up. My chest is heaving and I lick my lips.

“Get up here,” I say with enough authority that she knows I’m not messing around.

It must have worked because she’s standing up in a second and stripping off her clothes until she is fully naked in front of me.

“God fucking damn it, you’re gorgeous,” I groan, reaching out a hand for her.

Rather than climb directly onto my lap again, she shakes her head and leans down to unbutton my shirt and drag it down my arms. I love the way her warm hands feel on me as she quickly undresses me. She yanks my pants the rest of the way down my legs and off until I’m completely naked, too. She stops for a minute and looks me over. My mind drifts back to the time she caught me in the shower, jerking off while thinking of her. Luckily now, I get to do a lot more than just imagine things.

This time when I pull her by the hand, she immediately relents, straddling my lap once more. I dive onto her mouth to kiss her hard while I grab her hips tightly. She whines quietly as she automatically starts rubbing her soaking wet slit over my cock. It feels amazing, but I need to be inside of her again; I can’t wait any longer. With one lift of her hips and some maneuvering with my hand, she sinks down onto my shaft, letting me fill her up entirely.

“Oh…oh my god!” she cries out.

We stay like that for a minute, neither one of us moving yet, and I bring my hand up to the back of her neck, pulling her closer to me.

“I’ve missed you so much…” I murmur into her shoulder and I hear her sigh happily.

When she starts to move, slowly, over my dick, my grip on her tightens and I thrust up to match her rhythm. I can’t stop looking her deep in the eyes, so when she tries to look away, I gently guide her face towards me again. My hands travel down her sides and back up again, around to her ass, and then over her thighs. I want to touch every part of her and I can’t believe how long I’ve gone without feeling her. I love how it feels with her slowly fucking me, but I can’t stop the urge to have her pounding away on top of me.

“Ride me harder, sweetheart,” I tell her with a groan as I jerk her body forward.

She does exactly what I say and starts moving hard and fast on top of me, her hands holding onto my shoulders and her forehead pressed to mine.

“I love you, Five. I need you and I love you,” she tells me, and she sounds so desperate.

I’ve never been so happy to hear something in my whole life and it’s almost painful to feel the amount of love that is flowing through me right now. “I know, baby. I’m so sorry for everything. I love you so much.”

It’s hard to focus on everything all at once. I want to keep kissing her and tell her so many things. I want to feel her body pressed against mine, her hands all over me, and her harsh breathing on my skin. The desperate noises we are making are getting louder and higher pitched, and underneath all of that, I can hear the wet slapping noises between the two of us as her cunt passes over my dick. She is fucking me as hard as she can, but it’s not enough; I want more.

I don’t say anything or ask if it’s ok before I lift her off by her hips, pulling out and throwing her next to me so that she’s lying on her back. She’s sprawled out, whining at the loss of my body against hers. That doesn’t last long though, because I’m back on top of her in a second, thrusting inside of her again while I hold myself over her.

“I do love you, but fuck , I want to destroy this body of yours right now,” I warn between clenched teeth.

“I’m all yours,” she moans, throwing her head back as I slam into her.

I am rough and relentless, and even though I’m fucking her to the point I’m sure it’s almost painful, she is screaming for more. She is gasping for air and whimpering with each forceful drive of my cock inside of her. I’m starting to sweat and my hair is hanging in my face, but I keep my eyes trained on her. I’m hoping to god she’s getting close because I know I am and this is one race I do not want to win.

“Five…Five, oh my god yes!”

Hearing that is too much, though, and suddenly I’m violently coming inside of her. “Ah, fff-fuck!”

She is falling apart, clutching at my shoulders and writhing beneath me, her body spasming with pleasure as she lets out a sobbing cry that is filled with emotions. My manic thrusting stops as I stiffen against her, my hips twitching as I fill her up with a surge of cum. My moans are loud and long as I hold myself over her, finally lowering myself down enough to kiss her through panting breaths.

As my body relaxes, she pulls me onto her so I can press my face into the crook of her neck, my chest flush with hers. We trade soft kisses back and forth as we both try to catch our breath. She smiles at me and pushes my hair off my damp forehead, trailing her fingers down the side of my neck and over my shoulder. I could stay like this forever.

“Shit, that was amazing. I want you like that every day,” she tells me. “Although, maybe you have lots of important things to do this evening? Should I leave?”

I let out a long sigh. “Is this going to be a thing? You’re just going to make me pay for my stupid behavior again and again?”

She shrugs and gives me that impossibly cute smart-ass look of hers. “Probably.”

I return it by giving her a small bite to the side of her neck and I chuckle when she yelps. I hold myself over her so I can look down on her, one eyebrow raised. “I suppose that’s fair. But you are the only important thing I have to do this evening and you are never leaving again.”

“Oh, so now you’re holding me captive?”

“I’m afraid so,” I tell her sadly.

She laughs and pulls me down to kiss me again. “You’re so cute when you’re all soft and sweet like this.”

“I think we’ve been over this,” I say with a frown. “I am not cute. I am an angry, smoldering, sex god.”

Running a hand over my back and down, she grabs my ass and gives it a squeeze. “Yes, you are. And you are my smoldering sex god.”

I don’t know about the sex god part of it, but I know I am undeniably hers from now on. I smile. “Yes, I am.”

After another quick kiss, I help her up off the couch and she heads to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I still can’t believe this is real and I just stand there like a big, naked dope smiling to myself because I’m so happy right now.

When she comes back out, I’m still there waiting for her and I watch as she bends down to pick up her underwear that was discarded on the floor. I startle her when I grab them from out of her hands and tilt her face up with a hand on her chin.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask with a smirk.

She blinks up at me and sticks her bottom lip out. “I thought I was getting dressed.”

Without taking my eyes off her, I hurl the balled-up panties over her shoulder so that they land halfway across the room. “Like hell you are.”

Then, just to be a giant prick, I grab her around the waist and in half a second we are falling out of one of my portals and onto my bed. She lets out a shriek as her back hits the mattress and I laugh evilly when I land next to her. This might be my favorite party trick and it never gets old.

After she gets her wits about her, she sits up with a scowl and punches me in the arm. “Don’t ever do that without giving me a heads-up again! Fuck, that was weird.”

“Sorry, darling. But when you have the ability to teleport a beautiful, naked woman into your bed, it’s nearly impossible not to take advantage of the opportunity.”

She’s probably still trying to get that foggy feeling to leave her brain, but I don’t wait before I kiss her again, deep and hard while I push her back onto the bed. I know she can already feel me getting harder as I lay myself over her.

With a giggle, she pulls back. “Already? Pretty impressive for someone your age.”

I flip a piece of hair out of my eyes and gaze down at her with an expression I’ve been told makes me look like an arrogant asshole. “Sweetheart, if you think for one minute you are getting any kind of break tonight, think again. We have a lot of time to make up for and with that amazing fucking body of yours, I get hard as a rock just looking at you.”

She lets out a little whimper that has me proving my previous statement as I start pressing myself against her thigh. She lays her head back and lets me kiss down her neck and over her chest. Her hands are warm and firm as they travel over my body in response. Everything is perfect and I’m in heaven.

"Five?”

“Yes, love?” I ask, not stopping as I move my mouth to her cleavage, sucking at the skin there while I massage her perfect tits and lightly graze her nipples with my fingertips.

“I want this to be real. And I want it to last.” I stop what I am doing and look up at her. “If you think there’s a chance that tomorrow or next week or even a month from now you are going to change your mind; if there’s any doubt at all…then I can’t do this. So, tell me now if this is just another impulse you are acting on but are going to regret in the morning. Tell me if you’re going to wake up tomorrow and say none of this was real. Because that shit hurt and I don’t want to feel that bad ever again.”

It’s like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest. I look at her face and it’s filled with so much uncertainty and hurt, and it was all caused by me. I want to reassure her that I will never do anything like that again, but I hardly know where to start. My mouth opens partially before closing again. I reposition myself so that I am lying next to her, placing my hand gently on the side of her face, urging her to look at me. I want to look her in the eyes so that she knows I mean it.

“I know I hurt you. I was horrible to you and I understand why you don’t want to trust me right now. I wish you could see inside my head and know how fucking sorry I am. How I wish I could take back everything I said to you that morning. All I can do is beg for your forgiveness and let me try and make it up to you. I meant everything I said. I’ll take care of you. I want to make you happy. And I want you with me not just for tonight, but always. I love you.”

“Ok,” she whispers with a small nod. “I believe you.”

“I’m serious. I can’t promise I will never do anything stupid again or that I will magically stop being an asshole sometimes, but I can promise that I will never deny my feelings for you again.”

She nods again, and then her mouth turns up in a cute little smile. “Never? Even when I’m incredibly annoying and wiping my snotty nose all over your shirtsleeve?”

I make a disgusted face that has her giggling. “You wiped your nose on me?”

“Just once or twice when you weren’t looking.”

I shake my head. “No wonder I ended up with your disease ten days later.”

She smiles and traces my lips with her fingertips. “A deadly disease and a punch in the face? Just for little old me?”

I kiss the tips of her fingers and nod. “And I would do it all over again a million times if it meant you’d end up here. Specifically, right here, underneath me and naked.”

When I start to kiss her again, I feel her body react as she sighs into me, and her hips start slowly rolling upwards. She tries to drag my body on top of hers, but I don’t let her. Instead, I pull away from her mouth to look at her again, my fingers following the curve of her jaw. I have been thinking of something she said while she was talking in her feverish dreams that night, and I’m going to need to try it out.

“I told you I’d take care of you and I meant it.” I give her another kiss. “So, let Daddy take care of you, my love.”

Her reaction is just what I was hoping for as she sucks in a loud breath and bites at her lip, her hips pressing up again. I laugh, kissing her gently while running the back of my hand down her cheek.

“I take it you like that, sweetheart?” I murmur as I move under her chin.

She whines out some sort of response that might resemble a yes, and I smile with approval while my mouth travels back down her neck and onto her collarbone.

“I want to make you feel good.” I go about sucking a dark bruise onto the hollow between her shoulder and neck, making her hiss through clenched teeth. “Tell Daddy what you want, darling.”

“Shit,” she breathes out, at the same time trying desperately to push herself against me, but I’m being mean and not letting her. “I really fucking like it when you say things like that,” she moans.

I’m trailing my lips over the soft skin of her neck. She’s so beautiful and I nuzzle my face into her shoulder, sighing happily. “Do you? Now, how did I know that I wonder?” My hands start roaming all over her body. I continue to speak close to her ear and bite her earlobe. “What else, my love? Tell me. Tell me everything you want.”

With a whine, she closes her eyes and tips her head back. “I want to feel your hands all over me. I dream about your hands.”

Well, that’s new information. But it’s definitely going to work in my favor because if she likes my hands, I love exploring every square inch of her body with them.

I place another deep, sucking kiss that brands a mark onto her neck and she tries to stifle a whimper, but it comes out anyway. One of my hands is already making its way down her side and onto her hip while my other gently pets her hair as I hold myself partially over her with my forearm.

My fingers trace along the curves of her thighs and onto her stomach. I continue watching her face as I map out her body, bit by bit until she is so starved for more, she tries to push my hand between her legs. I’m quicker and stronger, though, and I pull my hand away with a sly grin and a shake of my head. I really am being a bastard right now.

“If you want something, sweetheart, you need to tell me.”

She gives a small groan of frustration, but she meets my eyes as her hips jerk upwards.

“Fuck me with your hand, Daddy.”

Damn, if that isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever heard and I think about forgetting her request altogether and just slamming my cock into her instead. I resist, though, and I lower my head to bury my face into her shoulder again. “Oh, shit I love hearing that,” I tell her.

I want to give her everything she wants though, so I get back to work, my hand slowly moving across her lower abdomen and then lower still.  I tease by stroking the crease between her thighs and hips and then pull away again. She is getting more and more worked up by my fingers traveling over her body. I decide to crank up the dirtiness level just a little by bringing my hand up to her mouth and pushing my two fingers inside. She immediately grabs my hand by the wrist and starts sucking on them, wetting them all over and slipping her tongue in between. Her eyes fall shut and she moans. I push them in and out a few times, and I like the way she looks when I do that.

“You look so pretty like this, baby,” I tell her before I remove them and she licks at her lips.

I give her another kiss before I’m back to tracing lines over her breasts, leaving a trail of her own saliva over each one. I keep moving down, over her stomach again and around to her hip. It’s slow, but the anticipation makes it all the more erotic when my fingers finally make contact with the satiny area between her legs. The noise she lets out is loud and long and when I slip two digits inside of her tight hole, she cries out; pressing her hips up to try and fuck my fingers.

“Five! Ohhh...god...”

“Don’t close your eyes. Look at me,” I order her, and she obeys.

I want to see her reaction to every little movement and calculated maneuver I perform on her. I also want to hear her. I want her to cry out my name and scream so loud the neighbors will think something is wrong. The crease between her eyes deepens and her mouth falls open as she keeps her eyes on me like I want; all while I am fucking her slowly and deliberately with my hand.

“That’s my sweet girl. Just like that.”

When I curl my fingers inside of her and press my thumb into her clit, she grips the bed covers on either side with her fists and arches her back off the bed.

“Oh, fuck yes!” she screams out.

Watching her like this is turning me on like crazy, and I have to tell myself to keep going. I want to pound my cock inside of her again, to feel her tight cunt around me as I slam mercilessly against it. I keep fingering her, but the thought of everything else I want to do is getting to me and I can’t help rubbing my dick against her leg.

She is so wet that my hand is covered in the slick of her arousal, and it’s dripping down my wrist. I push in deeper and work her clit harder while she writhes around, thrusting her hips up. I’m practically humping her leg now, shoving my cock between her thigh and the bed, and I can’t fucking stop. Any contact with her body against my raging hard-on feels amazing and I want more.

Right before she comes, she grabs my hand and shoves it harder against herself, grinding and bucking against it while the noises she’s making get louder and louder. I feel like my dick is going to explode I’m so worked up right now and just watching her fall apart like this is making it worse.

When she starts to squeeze her eyes shut, I don’t let her. “Look at me,” I demand, and she does.

“Ff-iive!” she moans as she pulses against me, her grip on my wrist tightening.

When she calms down and her hand slackens on mine, I pull my soaking-wet fingers out. She smiles dreamily up at me and lets out a breathy laugh.

“Sorry, I got a little—”

I don’t let her finish what she was going to say, because all I can think about are my own needs at the moment. I want to fuck her so badly, but I know that I’m going to come instantaneously if I shove my dick into her right now. Instead, I take her hips and flip her over while I sit up on my knees behind her, pulling her towards me so that her ass is in the air directly in front of me. I hear her make a little squeal of surprise, but I barely register it.

When I haul back and smack her voluptuous ass cheek with the flat of my hand, leaving a beautiful pink mark on her skin, she cries out louder.

“Be a good girl and stay right there for Daddy,” I growl.

All I can think about is how she is finally mine and no one else can have her. I violently pump my hand over my dick as I stare at the perfectly round ass that belongs to only me. I rub one cheek while I’m still jerking my cock; she is moaning while sprawled out on the bed in front of me, ass in the air. It’s such a depraved scene and what I’m about to do will probably not be appreciated, but I can’t be bothered to care at the moment. After a few more strokes I am unloading all over her, covering her with ropes of my cum. I watch as it pools in the small of her back and drips down in between her crack. More of it lands directly on her ass and is sliding down the backs of her thighs.

I want this image to be burned into my brain, as sick as that sounds. I feel like I just marked her as my own like some sort of territorial animal. Some psychiatrist out there would probably have a field day with me right now, but fuck them. She is mine and here’s the sticky, milky proof all over her.

“Fuck!” I yell as the last few drops spurt out.

I’m breathing loud and hard and it takes me a minute to fully grasp what I just did, which was jerking off all over her ass and back without any warning or permission to do so. I can’t see her face either, because she has it turned to the side and her hair is partially covering it.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I start to say, but then she pushes her hair away and glances back at me as she lowers her body so she’s flat on the bed again. I start to feel a little better when I see she’s smiling.

“Damn, Daddy, you are one horny, perverted old man!”

“Yeah, that was not my finest moment, was it? I am so sorry,” I say sheepishly.

She laughs. “Don’t be sorry. Anytime you want to take charge like that, you can do whatever you want to me.”

I break into a wide grin. “That’s a good thing, then, because I have many more dirty things in mind that I’d like to do to you.”

“Can’t wait,” she says in that sexy way I love.

She’s still lying there covered in my semen that is rapidly cooling and sticking to her skin. Even if she says she��s ok with me jerking off all over her, it is probably not the greatest feeling in the world, so I tell her to wait there as I blink into the bathroom to get a warm washcloth to clean her off with.

After all that is taken care of, we settle into bed. She feels so good snuggled up next to me, her body warm next to mine, and I breathe in the scent of her strawberry-infused hair that I have been missing so much. I love how soft her skin is and I can’t stop running my hands up and down her arm and hip as I pull her in closer, her back flush with my chest.

We are quiet for a while, just comfortable in the silence until I speak up. There’s so much I want to tell her, and I’m not even sure where to start.

“You know, for years I would dream about this. About having someone to fall asleep with and wake up with.”

“What about Dolores?”

“I loved Dolores with all my heart, and I will always love her. But there were many nights, after she fell asleep, that I would allow myself to think about what it would be like to have someone that could kiss or hug me back. To touch me at all, really. That’s probably why I liked reading all of those romance novels. There wasn’t a lot of physical love in my house growing up, and then there was only Dolores. My two sources for any affection in my life came from my robot mother and my mannequin wife.”

I let out a small laugh at that, but she doesn’t return it. Instead, she just squeezes my hand and pulls my arms tighter around her. She waits for me to keep going.

“So, those books were the only reference I had for real love. And I wanted that for so long. After a while, though, I just stopped thinking about it. Because I knew it was never going to happen. It was all just a made-up fantasy.”

“I’m so sorry, Five,” she says quietly.

“Don’t be. All of that made me into the fully functioning and mentally stable man you know and love today.”

At that, she does laugh. “You are one of a kind, Five, that’s for sure.”

“That’s another thing,” I start as I rub my cheek against her hair. “Are you sure you’re ok with…you know…my situation?”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, by my rusty mental math, I am technically more than double your age.”

She’s silent for a minute and I think maybe she really is re-thinking this whole thing. “I know that. I don’t care.”

“Are you sure? Because it’s not going to get any better, you know. I’m just going to keep getting older and crankier. Pretty soon, I’m going to want to eat dinner at 4 pm and bitch about my expired grocery coupons.”

She giggles. “I don’t think you can get any crankier than you already are, so I don’t have to worry about that. And the rest I can deal with.” She flips over so she’s looking at me. She threads her fingers into my hair at the back of my neck and I close my eyes at her touch. “I love you because of, not in spite of, all of that. I love you for all that you are, Five. Even the cranky, old man parts.”

When she kisses me, it’s the softest, most loving kiss I have ever felt and I want to melt into her. “With you, I get the best of both worlds. Hot young guy with the mature mind and life experiences of an older man. What’s not to love?”

I lean in for another kiss, and when she breaks away from it, she gives me a little smile. “Besides, as long as you keep fucking me like you’ve been, I don’t care if you’re sixty or six hundred years old.”

She throws her leg over my hip and I shake my head with a smile. “Honey, I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

“I can tell,” she says before pushing harder against me and kissing me again.

The next morning, after one of the best sleeps of my life, I wake up to the smell of freshly roasted coffee and a soft kiss on my cheek. When I open my eyes, there’s my girl, standing over me and setting a tray down on the table next to the bed. I barely notice the coffee cups with their fragrant steam drifting out of the tops, because I can’t take my eyes off of her. I must be having one hell of a dream right now because she’s wearing one of my t-shirts with nothing else on except a pair of cotton panties adorned with little pink cats. When I smile blearily up at her, still in the process of fully waking, she laughs at me.

“What?” I ask, as I try and haul myself up to a sitting position.

“Your hair. It’s sticking up everywhere. You look like you stuck your finger in a light socket.”

I frown and pat my hand on top of my head, feeling the rat’s nest that’s there. “Give me a break, ok? I just had a pretty wild night. Some crazy woman kept trying to maul me all night long.”

She presses her lips together in an effort not to laugh. “Well, I can hardly blame her. Have you seen yourself with no clothes on? Kind of ridiculous to expect to be left alone.”

“Come here, crazy,” I say as I reach out and yank her towards me by her hand.

She lands sideways on my lap and I kiss her while she attempts to smooth my hair into place. “I brought you some coffee,” she tells me after I let her up for air.

“Thank you, love. Although that hardly seems fair that you’re serving me coffee. Don’t you have to work today?”

She shakes her head. “I was supposed to, but I asked my boss and she said I should stay here today, instead.”

I reach for one of the mugs of coffee and hand it to her before taking my own. “Your boss sounds very smart.” When she giggles at that, I run a hand over her bare thigh and give it a squeeze. “Especially since you’re wearing these little cat panties I love so much. I was hoping I’d get to see these again.

She makes a little face over her coffee mug. “What do you mean, again?”

I take a drink from my own mug and give her a crooked smile. “You already gave me a nice little show in them before. Although I definitely prefer you wearing my shirt over them instead of my brother’s.”

“What…wait…you remember that? You were wasted drunk!”

I roll my eyes at her. “No amount of alcohol would let me forget you standing half-naked in my doorway trying to look mad but not really succeeding.”

She scoffs at me. “I was mad! You were being obnoxious!”

“Right. And you weren’t being obnoxious when you decided to put on that little vocally-driven performance right afterward?”

That makes her break and laugh, and she leans in to give me a kiss. “You know why I did that, right?”

“To torture me until I considered stabbing a pencil into my ears?” I deadpan.

“No…” she smirks. “For one, I wanted to piss you off and make you jealous. Show you what you were missing out on.”

“Uh-huh…well mission accomplished.”

“And two, well, there was a reason I was acting much more spirited than usual.”

“Spirited? It sounded like you were possessed.”

She runs a hand down my chest. “Maybe I was thinking of someone else at the time.”

I like where this is going and I raise my eyebrows before taking a sip of my coffee. “Go on. I like the turn this story is taking.”

“Well, I won’t go into detail, but just know that all of those noises you heard, were caused by you.”

I set my mug down and then grab hers to do the same. With my hands free, I pull her closer to me while I slip a finger into the waistband of her underwear and snap it against her skin.

“Naughty girl,” I murmur before kissing her hard on the mouth.

“Maybe so,” she says when she pulls away, “But, I’m willing to bet that gave you some nice material to use for a few lonely nights?”

When I pull her by her hips over my lap, there is no way she is missing the growing hard-on I’ve got going on under the sheets. “Baby, you have no idea how much material that gave me.”

Before I can get too involved with my roaming hands and mouth, she stops me by pulling back. My eyebrows crease together and my lips form a tight line with annoyance. I don’t like not being able to indulge in an early morning bone session at the moment. Especially when she’s sitting here, grinding her tight little ass against said bone.

“Before you get too carried away, and before you start pouting any more than you already are, I have to show you something.”

“Is it under your panties?”

She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. “No.” Then she reaches over and takes something off the tray. She hands me a book and when I look at it, I see it’s the book we read together. Love In The Time Of Cholera. And it’s not just any copy, it’s my exact one.

I look up at her in surprise. “This is mine! I’ve been looking everywhere for it. I thought I lost it when I moved.”

She shrugs and smiles shyly. “I may have stolen it from your room before.”

“You stole it from me?”

“Kind of. After we were done reading it, I put it in my bag because I wanted to take it home to reread it again. And I meant to tell you and bring it back when I was done. But then you decided to be the world’s biggest asshole…”

“Yeah, I know that part, we don’t need to rehash that again.”

“Well, anyway, I forgot it was in there and I left with it. So, there it has stayed, in my bag for the past six months. Which is how it ended up here again because I brought my bag with me when I left work last night.”

I turn the book over in my hands and smile. “I love this book. For obvious reasons.”

“So…will you read to me?” she asks, just like she did before, with the big eyes and the pouty lip.

“You want me to read this again? Are you sure? Because there are a lot of other things I can think of that we could be doing right here, right now, in this bed.”

She shakes her head, and then climbs off my lap, taking her coffee cup, and then snuggling up next to me under the covers. “I want to lie right here next to you, all warm and cozy, while you read our book to me with that super sexy voice of yours.”

I smile and kiss her forehead. “Well, when you flatter me like that, how can I resist?” I start to settle in and open the book. “And then…”

She sighs. “Yes, and then you may use me to take care of that giant bed snake I felt stabbing me in the leg just now.”

“I’m going to remember you said ‘giant’, by the way.”

“Just read the damn book, Five.”

“Yes, my darling. Anything for you.”

Chapter Nine: Hey Daddy

“Five!” you yell from the bedroom, as you’re on your hands and knees, frantically searching under the bed. “Where are my shoes?”

You hear his voice from the other room. “How the hell do I know?”

“Well, can you come here and help me look for them? I’m going to be late!”

After a few seconds, Five comes striding casually into the room, holding out a pair of strappy black heels that are dangling from his fingers. “Looking for these?”

“Oh! Yes, thank you! Where were they?”

“One was on the kitchen counter and the other was lying on the sofa.”

You give an exasperated sigh as you start tugging them onto your feet, using Five’s shoulder to steady yourself so you don’t tip over. “How in the world…I am a walking disaster this morning!”

When you get your shoes on, you straighten up and tug your clothes down, then you smooth your hair. Your nerves and scattered brain are obvious and Five grabs your hands in his. You can see he’s trying not to laugh at you.

“Hey, everything is going to be fine. You’re supposed to be having fun. It’s a celebration, remember? Not a tax audit.”

You give him a strained smile and you’re dying to start picking at your fingernails, but he’s got your hands held tight. “I know, but there’s just so much to do. I have to make sure all of the food is there, and the gifts for my staff and the music…” Five gives your hands a squeeze when he sees you starting to panic again.

“You’ve gone over everything a million times, it’s all done. All you have to do now is show up, be your delightful, albeit slightly neurotic self, and celebrate your one-year anniversary of ownership.”

“You’re right,” you sigh.

“As always.”

You give him an irritated look at his response, but you only receive a smirk in return. Then he leans in to kiss you and suddenly you feel a little more relaxed.

“You’re going to come by later?” you ask him.

“Absolutely. I want to hear you make your big speech, and also snag some of that good champagne we bought. I can’t let all of that go to waste on the riff-raff over there.”

“They are not riff-raff, they are my loyal customers.”

“If Klaus is there, they are riff-raff.”

You laugh. “That’s true. He said he was coming and bringing friends.”

“See?”

“Well, anyway, don’t be late. What are you doing before then?”

“Going to visit Leroy and Mr. Featherbottom the Third. They’ll be expecting me.”

After a deep sigh and a look up, while you mutter under your breath, you look back at Five. “You’re naming them now?”

“Well, not all of them, that’s ridiculous. Just the frequent flyers.” A giant grin spreads across his face. “Get it?”

“Oh, I get it alright. I get that my boyfriend is a certifiable nutcase and is starting to name pigeons at the park.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“I’m jealous of some dirty old pigeons?”

“Yes. You’re jealous because I have to split my time between you and my feathered friends and you can’t handle the competition.”

You let out another frustrated sigh, but your exterior is starting to crack and you can’t help smiling as you pull your hands away from his and put them on his shoulders. “I can assure you, my sexy old man, that I am not jealous. Because if I were, that would mean you’d be doing something much weirder with those birds than feeding them in the park, and if that’s the case we need to have a long talk. And I don’t have time for that right now.”

He gives your cheeks a squeeze and kisses you on the mouth. “I promise you are the only one, human or non-human, that I am doing weird things with.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, I need to get going, so tell Mr. Featherbutt…”

“Bottom.”

“Whatever…tell him I said hi and I’ll see you later today, ok?”

“I’ll be there.”

You start looking around the room. “Now where the hell are my car keys, I know I just had them.”

Five fishes around in his pants pocket and pulls out your keys, holding them up in front of you with that know-it-all look of his.

“Damn it! Where were they?” you ask as you snatch them out of his hand.

“In the dishwasher.”

“In the dish…what in the hell is wrong with me today?”

Five shakes his head. “I’m not sure, but you are so damn cute, you know that?”

You give him a hasty kiss on the cheek and then you’re hurrying out the door. “Yes, I know I am, but thank you for reminding me. Love you!”

The anniversary party for your café has been planned for weeks. You never had a grand opening celebration, since you had just taken it over from the previous owner, but you decided you needed to mark the occasion somehow. Five had helped you with the planning, which ended up being extremely helpful and annoying at the same time. As it turns out, which was not a huge surprise, an uptight man with attention to detail and a lot of spare time on his hands can be a bit much. But he really did take care of a good portion of it, so you were very thankful in the end.

On your drive in to work, you let your mind wander and start thinking about how happy you are at this point in your life. Your business is profitable, you have a good staff that likes and respects you, and you are no longer lonely. Only a few weeks after your reunion, you had moved in with Five. Everyone you had told at the time had thought you were crazy and moving way too fast, but you knew deep down that it was the right choice. You two were happy together and neither of you were going anywhere. So, it just made sense.

Now it was six months later and you had never been so in love. He had not broken his promise of making sure you were always taken care of and he did everything in his power to make you happy. Not that you needed much. You made sure he was content with your life together, too. And even though his old man tendencies sometimes tried your patience, you were happy if he was happy. The amazing sex was an added bonus.

The party was supposed to be an all-day event, with free coffee, music, and glasses of champagne for every customer. Then, you were going to close early and have the party continue for just your staff. They were as much of a part of the success of your business as you were, and you want them to feel appreciated. The staff party was when Five was supposed to drop by.

The event goes well and when Five does walk in, you catch him out of the corner of your eye while you’re deep in conversation with someone. You are drawn immediately out of it, though, when you do a double take as he stands across the room, watching you and waiting for you to finish. You’re pretty sure your jaw drops open and you feel your heart start to beat faster.

“Holy shit,” you mutter to yourself as you rudely blow off the person you are talking to and start heading in Five’s direction.

He is dressed impeccably in a black, three-piece, tailored suit and black tie. His hair has been freshly cut and combed neatly into place. And he smells amazing. For a second, all you can do is stare and you feel like you’re back in the apartment when you were dating Klaus and you were eyeing him up from afar, imagining dirty scenarios about the two of you. Then you snap out of it and remember he’s yours now, even if you still find yourself imagining dirty scenarios.

You run the palms of your hands down the front of his suit coat and down to his waist before bringing them up again, grabbing his tie and smoothing it down.

“Hey, Daddy,” you say quietly while looking up at him hungrily.

When he draws a line down your cheek with the back of his finger, you shiver. “Hello, darling.” He places a hand on your chin and raises your face up before leaning down to kiss you sensually. You hope the sound you made wasn’t audible by anyone else because it is embarrassingly pathetic. Five pulls back with a satisfied smirk because he knows he looks fucking good and that you’re weak in the knees for him right now.

“Are you feeling alright, sweetheart?” he asks like the giant asshole he is.

“You look amazing…and I think you know it.”

Five shrugs and puts his hands in his pants pockets, which only accentuates the lean lines of his body even more. He looks around cooly and then back at you. “Thank you, but I was just trying to clean up a little for your special occasion. I didn’t want to come in here looking like a bum.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to look like a bum, but you most definitely went above and beyond with this suit.” You can’t help but run your hands down his chest again. “Damn it, Five, this isn’t fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

You look around to make sure no one is close enough to hear you. “How badly I want to take you into the back room so you can fuck me against a wall right now.”

He laughs. “Since I know you want to remain professional at the moment, how about this? I will most definitely fuck you against any wall you wish once we get home later tonight.”

“I can live with that, I suppose. I just want you to know, though, that you are the hottest man in here by a mile and I have already seen at least two women checking you out.”

“Is that so?” he asks with a quirk of his brow. He looks around the room. “Which ones?”

You roll your eyes. “Alright, your hotness factor is starting to diminish now.”

“Yours hasn’t,” he tells you before kissing you again.

Just then, Klaus enters the shop. You can see he has dressed for the occasion as well, with fitted red velvet pants that flare at the bottom and a flowy green shirt that is halfway unbuttoned down the front. It should be a hideous outfit, but Klaus makes it look good. You can already see a few people eyeing him up. When he sees you and Five, he makes his way over.

“Hey there,” he says as he saunters up. “Well, don’t you two look adorable? Kind of makes me nostalgic for the good old days, if you know what I’m saying.”

Klaus leans in to give you a quick kiss and Five scowls at him. “Watch it.”

Klaus puts a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “My dear brother, have no fear. I wasn’t suggesting anything lewd between me and your lady love.” He pauses and smiles while looking Five up and down. “You are most definitely included in the equation, too, you sexy bastard.”

Five gives an exacerbated huff. “Klaus, you’re disgusting.”

“Why thank you!” Klaus turns to look at you. “Great job, by the way, I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks, Klaus,” you say.

“Now, I heard there was booze here?”

You laugh. “Yes, the champagne is over there. Help yourself.”

“I shall,” Klaus replies as he floats away in the direction of the table loaded with flutes of sparkling wine. You watch as one of your employees immediately rushes over to him, and within thirty seconds Klaus already has his arm around the lucky man. You laugh and shake your head. He really does have a way of charming everyone he meets.

After a few more minutes, you make sure everyone has a glass and you take one for yourself before you head to the front of the room, facing the small crowd of coworkers and friends. Klaus and his new boy toy go over to stand next to Five.

“Excuse me, everyone?” you start, gathering the group’s attention until the room is quiet and all eyes are on you. You suddenly feel very nervous, even though all of these people are close to you and they feel like family. Your gaze drifts to Five standing at the back of the room, and he gives you an encouraging smile.

“I just had a few brief words to say about marking this one-year anniversary of the café. I want to thank every single person in this room for all of their hard work and dedication. Without you, we would not be the success we have become today. I love my job and I love my staff, which is much more than most people can say about their work. You are all truly wonderful and I cannot thank you enough.”

Everyone claps at that and when the noise dies down again, you continue on.

“I also need to thank someone else, and that is my very supportive, yet mildly abrasive boyfriend.” When you see Five react with surprise, you smile. “Five, you are truly the love of my life and I owe a lot of my success to you, too. You make me a more confident person and I always know that you will have my back. Plus, I have become pretty good at conflict resolution because of you, since living with you every day has its definite conflicts.”

You laugh when he gives you an exhausted look. “But I wouldn’t change any of it, because you are my rock and I love you so much. Thank you for loving me back.”

There is a chorus of “aws” throughout the room. Five has a combined expression of embarrassment, pride, and love on his face. You watch as Klaus nudges him with his shoulder in a fond gesture.

You continue on with a smile. “Because I love you so much, I was trying to think of a new name for the place that would be a little tribute to you. The obvious name would be ‘Cholera and Coffee’, but I have a feeling that would not be good for business.” Everyone laughs, including Five. “Then I thought of ‘Bean My Baby’, since I know that’s your favorite song.” Five raises an eyebrow at you. “Then it was ‘The Old Man And The Tea’, but that was too long.”

“In the end, I decided on ‘Books, Love, and Coffee’, because you don’t know this yet, but I am going to add a small library of classic romance books to the store so that customers can sit and enjoy their drinks while they read about love. And hopefully, it will inspire them to find someone perfect for themselves, just like we have done.”

You can see Five get a little misty-eyed after you say that, and you have to control your happy tears, as well. After you finish your little speech with a toast to everyone, you go back over to Five where he immediately pulls you in close with an arm around your waist. He kisses you softly and looks deeply into your eyes.

“The Old Man And The Tea? Really?” he says dryly.

You laugh. “Come on, you have to admit that’s funny.”

“It’s not.”

You squeeze his cheeks in with your hand, just like he had done to you earlier and you plant a big kiss on his lips. “My grumpy old man…I love you.”

He tries to look irritated, but that makes his face squish together even more, which gets you giggling again before you let go.

“I love you, too. Against my better judgment,” he says.

“So, what do you think of my new idea with the library?”

“I think it’s great. I know you’ll make it work and it will draw more people in.”

“I might need your help with some logistical things.”

“I’d be happy to help, you know that. I’m always here for you.”

“I know that,” you smile. Then your eyes travel down his body again and suddenly you’re not thinking about the café anymore. You kind of wish everyone else would get the fuck out so he could pound you into one of the tables, health code violation be damned.

“We need to get home soon,” you tell him with a hand on his chest. “I can’t keep looking at you in this suit without having some very inappropriate thoughts.”

Five smirks and pulls you in closer, his hand rubbing up and down your back, making your skin tingle. “Yes, we do need to get home. I’m going to need details of these inappropriate thoughts and then we can work on making them happen.”

When you two arrive back home, it’s late and you’re exhausted. You kick off your heels in the middle of the living room, prompting Five to pick them up with a heavy sigh and place them neatly near the door.

“I need to shower,” you tell him.

His mouth turns up in a mischievous smile. “Is that an invitation?”

“I’ll let you decide.”

Once you are in the shower and you have washed the grime of the day off of you, you start to wonder if Five is going to join you in there after all. You are just about to turn the water off and step out when you shriek loudly as your body is forced flat against the tile wall. Five is behind you, his body pressed against yours and his lips on the damp skin of your neck.

“What took you so long?” you say as you try to catch your breath.

“I was torturing myself by seeing how long I could hold out before blinking in here to violate you. Turns out, it’s really not that long.”

“Felt like a long time to me.”

“Sweetheart, how many times do I have to tell you…just ask for what you want and I’ll give it to you,” he murmurs against you.

His hands drift down your arms, encircling your wrists to hold them tightly. He’s in complete control of you, trapping you between the wall and his body, your arms pinned to your side. You turn your head and look over your shoulder as best you can. His gaze catches yours and he grins.

“Lucky for you, I happen to know exactly what you want right now.”

“Oh, do you? And what’s that?” you answer back with as much sass as you can manage with your face smashed against the wall.

You feel the heat of his mouth against your wet and rapidly cooling shoulder. He licks up the water droplets that cover it and you can feel his teeth scrape lightly across your skin. You don’t think you will ever get tired of feeling his mouth on you and right now you would let him do just about anything without hesitation. And you have no doubt that he does know exactly what you want right now.

His voice is dark and husky as he speaks next to your ear. “You want me to make you helpless. You want to be fucked hard and rough until you can’t take it anymore.” He pauses to push his hard cock against your ass. “You need me, don’t you?”

“Yes,” you whimper, and maybe you sound a little pathetic but you know he likes it.

Taking your wrists, he roughly yanks them over your head and pins them to the wall. “Beg me,” he demands, and the hardness in his voice sends shivers down your spine. “Beg me to fuck you. I want to hear it.”

“Please,” you whine.

He takes your wrists and pulls them away from the wall before slamming them against the tile again. You notice that he keeps his hands around you in such a way that you don’t get hurt by the impact.

“You want to try that again, princess?” he hisses, before biting the side of your neck with enough force to make you flinch.

“Please, Five…I need you.”

“Keep going. Beg for my cock.”

He starts pushing against you harder, and your tits are smashed into the wall almost to the point of pain. But the feeling of him behind you, grinding his hard cock against your ass is making you so damn wet that it hardly matters what the rest of your body is doing.

You give out a little cry and try and push your ass back into him, but he’s stronger than you and there’s no way you can move. “Please, Five, please. I need you to fuck me.”

Five reaches over and grabs some soap off the shower shelf. He holds onto your wrists with one hand, using plenty of his strength to keep you there. You feel his soapy hand drag between your cheeks, his finger stopping and rubbing over your tight hole, dipping just a little inside before pulling back again. Then he is sliding his dick between your ass cheeks, pumping it back and forth with a long groan.

“God, I could come just from this,” he rasps before biting and sucking at your shoulder again, his hips jerking and snapping against you from behind.

“No…” you whimper sadly. You would much rather him come somewhere else.

“What’s that, sweetheart?” He slams his cock against you, the soap making it slide easily between your cheeks, rubbing over your hole. “You don’t want me to come like this? I thought you loved it when I cover that beautiful ass of yours with my cum.” His voice changes from sweet to menacing in a second and his hold on your wrists tightens, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of the underside.

He doesn’t demand an answer from you this time. Instead, he asks you another question. “Tell me, darling…who else fucks you like I do? Who else makes you scream?”

“No one,” you moan out, louder than you meant to. You’re so desperate and you don’t care how pitiful you’re becoming just from some dirty words and a dick pressed against you. “Only you, Five.”

His self-satisfied smirk is evident against your shoulder as he passes his lips over one and then moves to the other.  He’s teasing you mercilessly as your pussy gets slicker with each second.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that,” he muses.

He lets your wrists go, but it’s only so that he can grab your upper arms and spin you around so that you are facing him. His eyes are dark, and the spray from the water has dampened his hair. He takes one hand briefly off of you to slick it back off his forehead before he has you in his full grip again, your back flush against the wall. When he rubs his dick between your legs, you moan and close your eyes.

He suddenly drops to his knees in front of you, and there’s no time to react because he’s moved his hands to your wrists again. Once again, your arms are pinned against the wall. Five looks up at you with feral eyes.

He keeps his intense gaze on you, even as he gives a long, slow lick through your throbbing heat. The sound that comes out of your mouth is high-pitched and desperate as you jerk your hips into him.

“Ohhh…Five…”

He doesn’t give you anymore just yet but makes you sweat it out while he kneels before you and watches your face.

“Did you like that, baby? Want more?”

“Yes, fuck yes I want more!”

He gives one more long lick up through the middle and then he stops just like before, leaving you desperate. You push your hips into him again, but he pulls his head back just enough that you can’t make contact.

“I could do this all day; you taste so fucking good. Maybe I will,” he teases with a dirty smile before diving back in again for another long, single lick.

“Ohh…god…please, Fiiive…” You can barely stutter out a coherent sentence you’re aching so badly for him.

“I love hearing you beg for me. Fuck, that turns me on.” He runs his tongue over you again, one time. “Keep going, sweetheart.”

“Fuuck…Five, you’re not being fair.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Another single lap wets your already-soaked sex as he drags his tongue over it. “But I really do like watching you squirm like this.” He licks you again. “And let’s not forget who’s in charge here. So, if I want to make you wait, I guess you’re waiting. Isn’t that right, darling?”

You tip your head back against the wall with a frustrated sigh. “Yes.”

Five resumes his torture for several more minutes, one agonizing lick at a time. He continues to hold your arms down and any time you try to push yourself into his face, he backs off. You’re dying to come, but he won’t let you, and the more he makes you wait, the more he gets off on it.

When you’re absolutely sure you’re going to die from lack of sexual satisfaction, and the water has run cold so that your skin is covered in goosebumps, he finally relents.

“I think I’ve made you wait long enough. What do you think? You want to come on my mouth or my dick?” he asks with a crooked smile.

Your chest is heaving and you try to answer the best you can in between gasping breaths. “Fuck…I don’t care…just…fuck me!” You’re practically screaming you’re so desperate.

“I think both,” he says, right before he covers your cunt with his entire mouth.

It hardly takes anything at all. As soon as he is sucking at your clit and tongue fucking your pussy, you are falling apart. This time he doesn’t stop when you’re bucking wildly against his face as your orgasm ripples throughout your body, but he does keep your arms restrained. Your cries are echoing off the shower walls and throughout the whole apartment. If the neighbors didn’t know Five’s name before, they sure as hell do now.

“Oh, fuck…oh fuck…oh my god…” you pant as you try to compose yourself just a little after your body stops shaking.

Five pulls away from you and stands up, letting go of your wrists as he gives you another direction.

“I’m not done with you yet,” he growls, before picking up one of your legs and wrapping it around his hip. He pushes his cock into you with one deep thrust. “I’d hang on if I were you.”

With that warning, he’s pounding into you hard and fast as you scramble for purchase on the slick shower floor with your one foot, grasping onto his shoulders for support. Your back is being slammed against the wall as he uses all of his strength to fuck you as hard as possible.

“I…fucking…love…you,” he tells you in between his grunts and groans.

You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him, even as he is currently trying to destroy your body and smash it into a million pieces.

“Five, I love you,” you tell him as you’re hungrily trying to kiss him more and more.

You’re going to come again, you can feel it building inside of you, as he continues to penetrate you over and over again. He has one hand on your leg, holding you up, while the other is in your hair, alternating between pulling and stroking it.

Five is moaning as he talks to you. “Fuck, you feel amazing. I’ll never love anyone like I love you. Please, don’t ever leave. Ah fuck! Damn it, I’m going to marry you!”

It’s maybe not the best time for him to be confessing his undying love and proposing to you, but it doesn’t matter. You lock eyes with one another and you smile before you kiss him again. A few seconds later, you’re climaxing together, clutching onto one another, both of you wet, cold, and shivering. As soon as you are both finished, and he lets your leg down, Five reaches over and turns the water off. Without the sound of the shower going, it feels intimately quiet. You are still shaking from the cold and having just had two back-to-back orgasms when Five helps you step out and wraps a towel around your body. Then he pulls you in close again, holding you tight.

“I’m sorry, I know that was probably not—"

“My answer is yes, by the way. I know you didn’t actually ask me, but if you do, my answer will be yes.”

The smile that he flashes you is so full of love that it makes you want to melt into the bathroom rug at your feet. “Alright then. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, Five, I will marry you. I love you more than anything.”

Five lifts you up so that your feet are off the ground and he kisses you again. “I promise, I will give you everything you deserve.”

“I’m not even sure I deserve you, but I’m so lucky I have you. You make me happy every day.”

“Good. Because I plan on doing that for the rest of our lives.”

It is three months later and you are at home by yourself. Five has been out with his family most of the day. You know this usually pisses him off like nothing else, and he will most likely return in a foul mood. You don’t mind, though; you are used to dealing with his mood swings. The only difference today is that you can hardly wait until he gets home.

You can’t sit still and keep trying to sit down, only to pop up seconds later to do some mundane task like dusting the baseboards or scrubbing out the kitchen sink even though it was already clean. You really hope he gets home soon because you are majorly on edge and you feel like your brain is going a mile a minute, with a constant whir of thoughts and emotions running through it.

You are standing in the kitchen, wiping down the counters for the tenth time when you hear him appear inside the doorway with the familiar supernatural noise that you’ve come to associate with Five’s preferred form of transportation. And, as predicted, you can already hear him bitching and complaining to himself or anyone else that may be in the general vicinity.

When you walk out to the living room to find him, he is striding over to the liquor cabinet that resides there, taking out a crystal tumbler and filling it with a generous pour of bourbon. You watch as he slings some of it back with a grimace before looking over at you. He gives a tight smile, but you can tell he’s all wound up.

“These fucking morons! I swear, they get dumber by the day. Is it really that difficult to download the spreadsheets and charts that I have sent them all in preparation for our meeting today? And, per their request, I kept it under ten this time!”

He’s ranting in your general direction and you have to hold in your laughter so he doesn’t get even more pissed off. You perch yourself on the arm of one of the chairs.

“It’s really astounding the amount of stupidity they possess as individuals and as a group. I really don’t know why I waste my time on them.”

“Because you love them,” you offer matter-of-factly with a small smile.

Five scoffs in frustration, but he doesn’t deny it and seems to have stopped dwelling on the subject now. He takes another sip of his drink and when he lowers the glass, he manages a genuine smile.

“Sorry, this has nothing to do with you, really. I just needed to vent to someone.”

“I know. I’m used to being vented at by you.”

Five doesn’t comment on that, but he holds up his glass. “Do you want one?”

You shake your head and walk over to him. When you are standing in front of him, you can smell his usual scent of after-shave and general annoyance. You give him a kiss and you can immediately feel him start to morph into a normal, rational human again.

“How was your day, darling?” he asks after he kisses you back.

“It was good,” you say with a smile and a shrug.

“Nothing exciting happened, then?”

“Not really.” You reach up and give him another kiss. “But I did get some good news.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Well, Daddy…I think we may need to move into a bigger apartment,” you say slyly while running a hand down his arm.

 Five frowns and looks around. “Why? What’s wrong with this place?”

“You know, it’s kind of small, really only big enough for two people.”

Five is still looking at you with his eyebrows creased together and he takes another sip of his drink. “And last time I checked, we are only two people.”

You sigh but smile at him again. “Yes, we are right now. But what if there was another person here? Someone that we would love and take care of?”

“What do you mean?” Five puts his glass down and tilts his head. “Don’t tell me Klaus lost his apartment because he is not moving in here with us. I don’t care what sad story he told you. That is some history I do not need to repeat.”

“Christ,” you murmur under your breath, before trying again. “Listen very carefully, Five. Soon, it’s not going to be just the two of us. We’ll be a threesome.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at you with what you like to call his ‘what the fuck’ face. “What are you talking about? Like a three-way? I don’t know, that’s pretty weird, and I’m not saying I never thought about it, of course, but…it still seems kind of awkward and where would we even meet a—”

“Jesus Fucking Crist, Five! For being a self-proclaimed genius, you are the densest person on the planet sometimes!” You run a hand down your face and try one more time, taking his hands and holding them tightly in yours. “Listen to my words. You are going to be a daddy. And not in the sexy way that you’re used to. Do you get it yet?”

He blinks down at you in confusion and you think you might need to resort to pulling up a PowerPoint presentation on the birds and bees when you see the lightbulb finally flick on. His eyes widen and his eyebrows shoot up his forehead.

“Wait what? You’re…”

You smile and nod, squeezing his hands. “Yep, I’m pregnant. And I really hope you’re as excited about it as I am.”

Five brings his hands up to his face in disbelief and he nods. “Yes, yes, of course I’m excited. This is…I don’t even know what to say.”

You stand there for a few seconds while he processes everything. Then he suddenly grabs you and picks you up, your legs wrapping around his waist. He kisses you while your arms loop over his shoulders. When he pulls away, you can see the tears welling up in his eyes.

“I can’t believe this. Are you sure?”

You nod. “Yes, I’m very sure.”

He kisses you again and you start laughing just from the pure joy of the moment. There are actual tears running down Five’s face and you wipe them away with a gentle touch of your hand.

“You’re happy?” you ask.

He nods and smiles through his tears. “I’ve never been happier in my whole life. And I promise to love you and our child for the rest of my life. I’ll take care of both of you with everything I have.”

“I know you will, Five. Because that’s who you are. You take care of the people you love, even if you pretend to be an old grouch most of the time.”

“I am an old grouch, that’s true. However, I am willing to change and try to be a little less grouchy for the sake of our kid. And you.”

“Well, don’t change too much. I still want the same old man I fell in love with.”

Five kisses you and another tear slides down his cheek. “Sweetheart, I promise I will always be the same old man that you love. And you will always be the beautiful young woman who saw right through me and stole my heart with her relentless love and annoyance.”

“And I promise to always love and annoy you.”

He rests his forehead against yours and closes his eyes with a happy sigh. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Thank you everyone for reading! If you'd like to check out my other, Five-centric fics, here is my MasterList :)

@baileebear @myinnermonologueisepic

[idiswhadidis]

math camp

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader

sypnosis: Jungwon's mom forces him to go to a math camp but what happens when his best friend since kindergarden which he got feelings for tags along?

genre: best friends to lovers, fluff

featuring: Eunchae from LE SSERAFIM

warnings: math (lol), cursing, some jealousy

wc: 3,4k

hi everyone, enhypen finally dropped their new album so I have to celebrate it by posting this wohoo. I hope you enjoy.:)

To be Jungwon's best friend could be called as a bless or curse. Most likely a bless cause he’s a polite, distinguished gentleman but even more a pain in your ass.

You know each other since kindergarden you both became friends pretty quick after you saved him from a spider crawling up his leg, you actually freaked out when you touched the spider but little you wanted to be a hero and it worked. Little Jungwon looked at you with big eyes and mouth wide open, mesmerized by your proud big smile.

Then you both went to middle school, hanging out with each other most likely everday, your mother and his mother became also good friends, your familys even went on vacations and trips together.

And now you were in high school sitting in math class, next to Jungwon.

„Boy, if you don’t stop Imma kick you where the sun doesn’t shine“ you glare at him he’s been testing your nerves for 10 minutes. His mom wants him to go to this stupid math camp in the holidays cause his grades let’s just say are not the best but yours are (slay).

„Please Y/n, you can’t let me alone I don’t wanna suffer alone I thought we‘re „the“ dream team“ he's looking at you with desperation,

„We are but I don’t want to sacrafice my holidays for a fucking math camp“,

„and you think I do? My mom is forcing me and I know it’s gonna be more baerable when you come along“, „flattering but no, I have good grades and I want to enjoy my holidays“ a pen in your hand ready to write down what the teachers trying to teach,

„I will pay your food for six months“, well now he’s getting frustrated not hearing a response from you he continues „for 1 year?“ still no response.

He leans back, hand on his chin thinking about how to persude you, when he suddenly quitely slams his hands on the table startling you, looking at him seeing him with a smirk knowing you’re doomed.

-1 Month later-

Sunglasses on your nose a suitcase on your left, a Jungwon on your right and your mood on the ground. Staring at the „Welcome at the math camp!“ sign with this stupid mascot of an owl with glasses waving at everyone. How fantastic.

 „You better keep your promise or Imma dunk you into the lake“ death staring him, he smiles at you as if he’s an angel (devil) „Of course“,

„Hello everyone! I’m Bethany and I’m the host of this camp, it’s nice to meet you! I know you might think this are going to be the worst holidays ever but no, I promise you all, even though it’s a math camp it will be so much fun! Our team prepared a lot and I hope you will enjoy it.“

You groan quietly „as if“ you whisper that only Jungwon could hear nudging you in the rips with his elbow.

„Now, when you look to my right you can see there are some pin boards about your camp houses, look for your name and make yourself comfortable we are not going to do much today because it’s already 6 pm so we’re are going to have dinner and a campfire to get to know each other. So we will meet here again at 7 pm. Have fun!“ Bethany stops her ranting and Jungwon takes your hand dragging you to the pin boards.

„camp hause number 4 and 2 let’s go“ and again he drags you along with him „so we’re not together in a house?“, „was to be expected, let’s go to your house first.“

Standing infront of the door turning to Jungwon with a frown „I’m too socialy awkward for this“, „I know but that’s okay give it a chance maybe you will find some new friends“ you look at him with a dissapproving face, him turning you around and pushing you to the door „I will be here at 6:50 so be ready“ you nod and open the door with hesistation walking into the house seeing 4 beds in each corner and one girl arranging some stuff.

The girls head pops up „Omg Hi! I’m Miya nice to meet you!“ she smiles at you and to not be awkward you smile back „Hey, my name is Y/n“ and now you both stand there smiling... yep awkward,

„so.. bad at math I guess?“ she asks „actually no, my best friend forced me to go with him“, she gasps „what a great best friend“, „right? But if it’s with him it’s okay“, „oh?“ she side-eyes you with a little smirk, „no not like that“ you narrow your eyes at her sarcastically laughing together „I think we’re going to have a great time“ she beams and turns back around to arrange her stuff and so you choose one of the beds getting yourself ready to live here for beautiful (not) 2 weeks.

Opening the door from your camp house seeing Jungwon already standing there waiting for you

„I hope there will be some good food I’m starving“ you say, him turning around „I saw some pizza boxes on the table were we’re going to eat“ he answers seeing your moody face turning into a ball of happiness making his heart burst, „ohhhh yes!“ putting your fist up in the air like you just won in the lottery, „let’s go, let’s go“ taking his hand into yours dragging him to the meeting point.

„38, 39 and 40.. Great! Everyone arrived, so as you can see tonight is going to be pizza night we have enough pizza for everyone so take as many pieces you want and let’s meet at the camp fire and get to know each other!“ Bethany stops talking and you’re the first to speed walk to the buffet making everyone snicker feeling a bit embarassed, Jungwon being your number one suporter having him right beside you his hand resting on your back making you gulp.

Taking a plate and taking some pieces completely drooling over it, grinning at Jungwon „let’s go“.

Walking to the camp fire seeing Miya waving at you making the gesture to sit beside her „Oh, that’s Miya from my camp house“ you tell Jungwon, walking straight up to her and sitting down, finally taking a bite of your pizza groaning quietly „so good?“ Jungwon asks, nodding at him cheeks stuffed with pizza.

„So, I see everyone gathered here so let’s get started. I think this will be more fun when we all know each other so let’s indroduce ourselfes-“ your shoulders dropping whispering in  Jungwon's direction „that’s gonna be so awkward“ him squeezing your leg for support „-I will start so my name is Bethany I’m 31 years old and I love to bake nice to meet you all“ she turns her head to the one beside her letting them continue.

And now it’s Jungwon's turn „Hey my name is Jungwon I’m 19 years old and uhm I love to dance“ your time to shine, you gulp intruducing yourself is nerve wrecking „uhm Hi my name is Y/n I’m 19 years old and I love to water my plants?“ making Jungwon laugh, smacking his arm making everyone laugh, amazing you’re going to be the clown of this camp. „I didn’t know you like to water your plants?“ Jungwon whispers „I don’t“ making him shake his head with a smile.

After painfully playing around for 3 hours Bethany finally said her good night.

„That was… exhausting“ Jungwon speaks up tiredly as he walks you to your camp house, „my soical battery is complety drained“, stopping infront of your door he hugs you and quietly says „well my lady, I hope you will have a good sleep and don’t let the bugs bug you“, looking at him in horror „don’t jinx it dumbass“ grinning at you „good night prince charming“.

-

You are never going to be a morning person, waking up at 8 in the morning during holildays should be illegal.

Sitting around the table resting your face in your hand still sleepy you suddenly feel a hand on your shoulder.

„morning sleepyhead“ turning around seeing the boy of your dreams, „morning“ you mumble him sitting next to you „slept good?“, shaking your head „nah I can’t sleep properly when I’m not in my own bed“, „if there wouldn’t be others in the camp house I would be by your side“ that wouldn’t be the first time but it still makes you blush „I’d actually love that“ him smirking „I know“, …excuse you?

„Good Morning everyone I hope you slept good, today is the very first day of this progamm so we’re of course starting to do math today so eat something and get the day started.“

-

Walking into the classroom in groups of 10 people so there are 4 classroom and thank the lord you were with Jungwon in the same group.

You actually hoped that a math camp would be something like swimming in the water while answering some math questions yeah.. that was so dumb.

You saw your name tag on the table in the corner of the last row sitting down looking at Jungwon who poorly sits in the first row trying not to laugh as he mouths „help me“, a man walks into the room standing infront of us.

„Hello there, I’m Zach and I will be your math teachter for the next 2 weeks nice to meet you all. Now before we start I will explain how this progamm actually works, so everday besides Saturdays and Sundays we’re going to start at 10 am in this classroom with math till 4 pm with an one hour break, so 5 hours of math a day is not that bad right-?"

Not bad? If you would be at home you could lay around in the swimming pool for 5 hours but thanks to your best friend you’re going to suffer to death. Rubbing your eyes and cursing Jungwon in your head.

„- and after 4 pm is Bethanys fun progamm. So because you’re here willngly or because your parents sent you here I want you to do your best so you can see math isn‘t that hard and you will for sure get better grades once you return to school. And now for the typical rules we’re going to respect each other and if someone says something incorrect we’re not going to make fun of them. So let’s get started open your books at page 1.“

Not even 1 hour in it, you’re ready to shoot yourself call it dramatic but you would rather sit in a room full of tigers, and to top it you’re getting irritated by a girl who’s constantly staring at Jungwon.

You wouldn’t call yourself a jealous type of person but when it comes to Jungwon something switches inside you.

-

Update it’s been 3 hours and girly girl with the name Lissy has been trying too much. You don’t know if Jungwon is dumb or dumb af, cause that girl is pushing it asking Jungwon math questions over and over again batting her fake lashes and pouting when she doesn’t understand a single thing. Rolling your eyes when Jungwons cluelessly helps her.

„Alright guys you all did amazing it’s been 3 hours, time for the one hour break.“ Zach announces everyone standing up ready to leave this hell off a classroom, passing by Jungwon not sparing him a glance.

Opening the door form the bathroom getting frightened when Jungwon suddenly stands there,

„Why didn’t you wait for me?“ walking pass him washing your hands „You were too bussy with that girl and I had to pee“ drying your hand on the towel not noticing Jungwons little smile „There’s no other reason right?“ he asks tilting his head challenging, little shit knows you too well,

„No, why would there be?“ slightly narrowing your eyes „hm sure.. then let’s go, the girl wants to introduce her friends to me and I’m taking you with me“ before you could say no Jungwon helds your hand tightly in his, trying to wiggle out of it but to no use.

Seeing miss Lissy from afar gives you the ick seeing her excited waving at Jungwon „Won you came“ you swear your eye just twitched,

She walks up to you both literally grabbing him away from you letting you stand there alone

„so this are my two friends Jason and Mike, Jason Mike this is Jungwon my new friend“ you couldn’t take it anymore turning around ready to run away-

„And who’s that girl?“ god damn it, „That’s Y/n my best friend“ sighing turning around „Hey“ making eye contact with the two boys refusing to look at Lissy.

„Oh weren’t you the girl who loves to water her plants?“ blinking at him „apperently yes“, „girl come here I’m a plant lover let’s talk“, univerese sure has a thing against you, you neither love to water your plants neither have you any knowledge about plants.

-

You don’t know how you got here but you were actually enjoyning the conversation with Mike, you talked in the beginning about plants but you quickly found out that Mike is a fast topic switcher (thank god) now you were talking about his dog?

„And he really took a shit on your bed after you scolded him?“ you asked „Yes, you should have seen his face it was like „yes I just did that“ that little shit.. he even ran away with still shit on his ass I had to chase him around the house“ having to laugh outloud making Jungwon turn his head around making him currious what you find so funny,

„God I would have loved to see that“, „I mean if you want we could meet up someday after this math camp and we could take a walk with him“ looking at him surprised „uh yeah sure?“ the both of you continued your conversation but what you didn’t catch was Jungwon's intense stare.

Sadly the one hour break came to an end and you were back in hell, it felt a bit weird walking with Mike and not Jungwon „So I hope I will see you later“ Mike says when you seperated into your classroom „for sure“ you smile at him noticing Jungwons glare.

Sitting down in your seat ready to grieve for your bed once again.

-

You thank god for letting the 2 hours of math went by fast, now you were all at the meet up point wearing your bikinis, swimmsuits etc. ready to have fun in the water.

„Now after 5 hours of math you all deserve to relax, have fun and if somehthings happens the life guards to my left will be right by your sides“ Bethany announces.

„Wanna go for a swim?“ Mike asks you „Nah, Imma sun bath I’m not really a water person“, he nods at you and leaves.

Laying down on the grass with your towel ready to get the sleep you didn’t get in the night.

Not long after you feel something touching your foot thinking it’s a bee you pretend to be dead not wanting to making it aggressive and sting you, when something touches your foot once again you slightly open your eyes and see a Jungwon staring at you and poking your foot with his toe? closing your eyes again,

„I’m trying to sleep what you want?“ „let’s swim“,

„no“

„yes“

„no“

„yes“

Before you could say no again Jungwon picks you up bridal style making you shriek „NO, Jungwon I don’t want to“

„Don’t care we’re going for a swim“ he says as he already walks into the water „Lemme at least take of my shirt I don‘t have something to change into when it’s drenched“, he looks at you „I know you’re lying you would just run away and don’t worry I have spare clothes“, groaning he knows you like an open book, asshole..

Still being carried he walks further into the water letting you slowly down your shirt totally drenched, sticking umcomfortable on your body.

„Wohoo so much fun“ you say full of sarcasm, him poking your stomach.

„So Mike?“ he asks literally out of nowhere blinking at him „Don’t tell me you brough me into the water to talk about him?“ „And what if I did?“ oh we’re getting bold now?

„Well what about Lissy?“, „I asked first“, „I’m a lady so ladys first, now spill“ you raise an eyebrow at him.

„well there’s not much about Lizzy she’s nice and funny“ looking at him irritated „She’s annyoing as fuck dude“, „and so is Mike“, „you didn’t even talk to him you can’t judge a book by it’s cover“, „well did you talk to Lissy before you judged her?“ he serious? „You little-“

before you could end your sentence you jumped onto him like a monkey, arms around his neck and legs around his torso startling him but still catching you wrapping his arms around your body protectively.

„something just tangled around my leg“ you look scared at the water, Jungwon's trying to see something and spots- „Y/n, it was just seaweed“ him grabbing into the water having seeweed around his fingers turning his face to yours which is really close to his leaning slightly back,

„well that was emberassing, we’re never going to talk about this again“ ready to untangle from Jungwon but him tightening his hold not letting you go, making you confused looking at him seeing his serious expression „wanna let go or?“

„How long will this continue?“ he asks, staring at him cluelessly „Huh?“

„Us lying to each other“, you have a guess about what he means but you try to dodge it „I still have no clue-“, him squeezing your waist making you nervous,

„Stop lying, I’m sorry to expose you now but when you once talked to Eunchae I accidently eavesdropped and heard you say things about me“ making your eyes bulge out turning your head to the left actually wishing to dissapear.

so that asshole knows that you’re in love with him..

„I’m actually really glad that I eavesdropped cause I always thought this was one-sided“ turning your head around looking at him shooked,

„Since when do you..?“

„First day of kindergarden..“ him grinning at you making your heart melt „..how could someone not fall in love when they get saved by their hero?“ making you laugh „you were really scared of that spider“,

him death staring you „you just were scared of sea-“ kissing him before he could talk further him melting into the kiss that was way overdue, hands on your waist pressing you onto him chest to chest, deepening the kiss slipping his tongue into your mouth, gripping his hair making him groan.

Once breaking the kiss you rest your head onto his shoulder „I’m so in love with you“ whispering against his neck giving him goosebumps kissing your cheek „god i’ve been waiting to hear that.“

-2 weeks later-

Math camp was finally over which means you could finally enjoy the rest of your holidays, you were glad that Jungwon forced you to go with him I mean who would have thought you would become a couple at the second day of this camp? well you didn’t.

„So you’re gonna pay for every milk shake I will ever have in my entire life?“ looking at him with happiness, you have an unhealthy obsession with milk shakes and the deal was Jungwon would pay for every milk shake you will have until you die „Of course a promise is a promise“ he answers-

„Oh look there they are“ Jungwon says seeing yours and his mother, picking you both up,

„And how was it?“ your mom asks while she hugs you „It was good“ you answer „You feel smarter?“ Jungwons mom asks Jungwon making you laugh „good joke“ Jungwon glares at you sticking up his middle finger at you.

Sitting in the car feeling tired you rest your head on Jungwon's shoulder saying hello to the dream land.

Jungwon's mom looks in the back mirror of the car glancing at Jungwon whispering „Are you finally..?“, Jungwon nodds and smiles at your sleeping state.

„You owe me 100 bucks“ Jungwon's mom states to your mom.

-

© idiswhadidis on tumblr. all right reserved. do not repost, translate etc.

[magicmanii]

yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyooyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyooyoyoyoyo

can i pretty please request a rin x gn reader where rin is hopelessly down bad for them? (like he runs to pay for anything they want and gets grumpy/petty if reader insists/pays or runs to open doors for them and is honestly just all around pathetically in love)

BEACHY LOVE

🌺 It's been… like 7 months since my best friend has requested this.. I hope you enjoy…

🌺 It might be a little ooc Rin? Disgustingly in love Rin!!! Rin is a cutie patootie in this!!! Isagi is a little freaked out.. Also I haven't read bllk in a minute so I'm going off of what I know.. THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD!!!!

🌺GN READER‼️‼️‼️

🌺 WORD COUNT: 1,204

Isagi has seen a lot of weird stuff since he's become a famous soccer player.

He's seen fans flash their favorite players in a weird attempt to get their attention, he's seen opponents lose their shit after losing a match, he's even seen his own teammates get weird while playing a game. He can't really say anything about that though…

But what he's never seen before; in his seventeen years of life, is Rin Itoshi, one of the best soccer players in Japan (and also notably one of the most cold and standoffish) rubbing sunscreen into someone else's back.

I mean— helping someone with something without glaring at them or complaining!?

A shiver ran up Isagi's spine.

This couldn't be Rin. This had to be an imposter.

Rin would never willingly do something for someone unless—

Another shiver ran up Isagi's spine. A mysterious apple also fell on his head.

Unless… they were his partner!

Wait. No, he's getting too ahead of himself. Rin, Mr— “I have a stick shoved up my ass constantly” would never be able to pull someone! Especially someone so beautiful!

But then that brought him back to his original question. If this wasn't his partner, who was it!?

Before isagi could question Rin's and this mysterious person's relationship anymore, a monotonous voice broke him out of his stupor.

“Hey, NPC, can you move? You're standing right in front of the door.” said soccer player grumbled out while glaring daggers down at the now sweating Isagi.

“Oh! —” Isagi quickly moved out of the way of the entrance to the shaved ice hut. “Sorry.”

Rin walked in without even sparing isagi another word or glance, clearly focusing more on his task than his rival.

Now that Rin was closer, Isagi could get a look at his attire. And let me tell you. Isagi could feel himself getting traumatized again.

I mean— how couldn't he!? Rin was wearing neon blue swim trunks with flamingos and palm trees on it while also wearing a pair of pineapple sunglasses!

Who was this!?

“Do you have a staring problem, NPC?” Rin coldly asked when he felt Isagi's burning gaze on his back.

“What are you wearing?” Isagi boldly snapped back, not caring if he got a death glare because of it.

“swim trunks.”

“Wha— no kidding! I could tell that much! But why are you wearing ones with flamingo print on them!? And what's with the sunglasses!?” He questioned while pointing at the offending male.

Slowly, Very slowly, maybe it was intentional on how slow he was turning; Rin turned around to face Isagi, his expression far from a welcoming one.

In actuality, if looks could kill, Isagi would be, not 6ft, but 30ft underground!

“if you have such a problem with what I'm wearing maybe you should pluck your eyeballs out.” he spat out before turning back around and grabbing two snow cones from the smiling cashier.

“You should learn how to mind your business, NPC.” was the final thing Rin said to isagi, the pro soccer player shoving his way past the shorter and stomping his way out the hut.

It wouldn't take long before Rin would make it to his partner again. His partner in question looking up at their boyfriend with a questioning gaze.

“Rinnie? What's with the face?” They questioned while reaching out for the snow cone they requested, saying a small “Thank you” as they watched the other sit down on the ground like a pouting child.

“I ran into isagi.” He simply said, his blue eyes staring daggers into the poor snow cone in his grasp.

“So?” Y/N shrugged, looking at Rin with a questionable gaze.

“He had a problem with what I was wearing.”

“So what'd you say?”

“I told him he could pull his eyeballs out if he hated my outfit that much.”

“Aww Rinnie! You like the outfit I picked out for you that much!?” Y/N cooed while lovingly pinching their boyfriend's cheek.

Rin let out a soft grunt but didn't push Y/N away.

“You know, if you like the outfits I pick out for you that much, you should let me pick out all your outfits!” Y/N offered with a cheeky smile

Rin looked at his partner for a moment, his eyes softly gazing at their features: their bright eyes, their pretty smile, their soft hair..

Rin looked away from them with another grunt.

“No way.” He quietly said, a soft, almost unnoticeable blush on his face.

“What!? Why not!?” Y/N whined, a childish pout on their face.

“Because I said so.”

“That's not an answer!” Y/N grumbled

“Why not?” Rin teased while sticking his tongue out

“Because I said so!” They spat back with their tongue now out as well

“You're a child.” The soccer player scoffed, a small fond smile on his face at the sight of Y/N's pouting face.

This earned Rin a gentle punch from Y/N.

“You can go kiss my ass!” Y/N exclaimed before turning around and shoving a spoonful of shaved ice into their mouth.

It was quiet for a moment. All anyone would be able to hear would be the soft lapping of the ocean softly caressing the land before retreating once more, the sound of seagulls squawking away, and the gentle sound of wind brushing through the leaves of the trees.

“You know,” Rin started, successfully catching Y/N's attention.

“I have a gala coming up. You can uh..” He hesitated, a harsh blush growing on his face once more. “You can choose an outfit out for me.” he softly said.

At this, Y/N leaned in impossibly closer, their hand cupping the back of their ear as they let out an obnoxious “What was that?”. If it could, their ear would grow comically large as they waited for Rin to repeat himself.

Cursing under his breath, Rin let out a tired sigh before repeating himself.

“I said—” he started only to get cut off by Y/N grabbing his face.

“That I could pick out any outfit for you to wear to a gala!?” Y/N basically screamed in excitement, a smile running from ear to ear as they inched their face closer and closer to Rin's.

If it wasn't for the fact that his partner just ruptured his ear drums, he would've found their closeness extremely flustering.

But despite his lost hearing, he couldn't help but admire their features.

‘Damn them and their cute face…’ he silently cursed to himself.

Pushing Y/N away gently, Rin crossed his arms and averted his gaze.

“you're too loud.” He scolded, but his scolding landed on deaf ears seeing as Y/N was too busy celebrating their victory.

‘They're such a pain…’ Rin lovingly thought to himself while watching them celebrate.

[justjams2003]

Fast Pace- 12

Before we start, I'd just like to wish you all a very happy New Year! Know that there is plenty more to come from me in the coming year. And also thank you all for 420 followers (haha nice), I'm still in shock that people keep coming back and wants more. Believe it or not, this is the most active community and website I have ever written for and I'm so glad to have found Tumblr. Anyways enjoy xoxo

Summary: You're a hard-working Chef in Paris and after a freak accident run-in with Carlos Sainz, your life makes a 180. Let's just say with a certain agreement, you get your bills paid and in return stand in as Carlos' girlfriend for the press. But will you be able to handle the pressure and ensure the lines don't blur?

Pairing: Sugar Daddy!Carlos Sainz x Sugar Baby!Reader

Warnings: I've aged up Carlos, he is 33 in this fic. Smoking, smut, sexual themes, age difference, manipulation, control, slight obsession, the word 'daddy', nudity, a garbage family, family trauma, disowning, tell me if I missed any

Taglist: @httpjeonlicious, @f1lov3r, @messersandmesses, @hollie911, @oriconde08 @thehufflepuffavenger1 @fanboyluvr @thatgirlmj @whyamireadingthis @oriconde08 @depressedriches @roseseraj @skepvids @sain55wifey @distinguishedvoidlady @amatswimming @sachaa-ff @lightdragonrayne @lazybot @formula1mount @fangirl-dot-com @saintslewis @carlossainzwho @lordpercevalcharles @topguncultleader @kitixie @serp3ns0rtiae @hangmandruigandmav @therealone4r @keii134 @dark-night-sky-99 @jax-the-oregonian @hachrinnen

Word count: 3,1k

Masterlist

Part 11~Part 13 (coming soon)

“Echanté de voi rencontre, Monsur.” Carlos is trying his best, but at the moment he is butchering your home-tongue. You can’t but be nervous, he however seems as calm as a cucumber about meeting your parents. He’s got the sunglasses on that you gave him. You can see from where your sitting, your initials carved into the side. “No, no, mon cher. Good try, but it’s Enchanté de vous rencontrer, Monsieur.”  

He sighs, rubbing his face in his hands. He looks so much more relaxed already. He’s got short khaki’s on and a casual button up shirt. You’ve hired a more practical car for the week, one with a big trunk. You got your family lots of presents and might have overpacked a bit. Still not used to having such a big amount of money. But even still, you have the sunroof open, enjoying the county side air.  

“I’m sorry, mi querida,” he shakes his head and rakes his fingers through his hair. You can’t help yourself, tucking the stray hairs that fray in the wind behind his ears. “I should’ve gotten a haircut before we came.” He sighs, but you can see that he enjoys your touch. “No, it is the perfect length, don’t change a thing about it.” He gives a side-eye but you can only laugh. “No, it’s in the way.” 

You pout, “No, your hair is just long enough to...grab...” you mutter, taking a handful of hair and pulling on it ever so slightly. Surprisingly, a growl escapes his throat. The noise causes a warmth to spread through your body.

The sunlight hits his skin just beautifully, he looks like hot caramel. Something you want to drizzle into your mouth. You’re sure you could cook a steak on his sizzling skin.  

“This is your home then?” He asks, while caring the bags. He refuses to let you carry a single one. You nod and then knock on the door. “It is a small house for 7 people, no?” He’s not wrong. “Oui, us three girls had to share a room and the boys shared a room.” He grimaces at your words, “Then one day we will have a big house.” You blush at his words and wrap your arms around his, all while subtly taking a photo.  

The door opens, you only now realise how short your mom has gotten. Or maybe it really has been so long. “Ah, ma fille, tu viens enfin rendre visite à ta vieille mère. Cela fait si longtemps et enfin tu ramènes un homme à la maison!” She instantly starts rambling and then opens up her arms and gives Carlos a big hug. “N'es-tu pas si beau? Quel est votre nom et pourquoi êtes-vous avec ma fille?”  

Carlos looks like a fish out of water. His face is entirly blank and he just seems to be nodding along. “Enchanté de vous rencontrer, Mademoiselle,” he stutters through the French, his Spanish accent still blatantly obvious. Your mother just frowns at his bad French. “He doesn’t speak French.” Her wide smile turns sour, “Pourquoi faire venir un homme inutile qui ne parle pas français?”  

You sigh and then nudge him, “the presents,” you whisper. “Il s'appelle Carlos et il a apporté des cadeaux.” Now she really does smile as he holds up the presents. “Oui, come in, come in.” Like always, he allows you to walk in first.

“What did she say?” He asks to you in a whisper. You sigh and shake your head. “Nothing that you need to worry yourself about.” You give him a kiss on the cheek, trying to soothe his usually worry.  

“Apportez-lui quelque chose à boire, je suis sûr qu'il est fatigué après son très long voyage.” You sigh, of course she asks that of you. As if you and him didn’t have the same trip. You turn to Carlos after he sat down along with your mother to open her present, that you picked out. 

 “Carlos, what would you like to drink?” He frowns and then stands up. He takes your arm and then leads you to the couch. “You must be tired, mi querido, it was a four-hour trip, I’m sure you are tired.” He leads you to sit down next to him, he pulls you into his side. Everything in you wants to cuddle into his side, but you can feel your mother’s judgemental eyes on you.  

Instead, you shake your head, “My mother insists that I get you something to drink. You did drive after all.” You can see the tick in his jaw, clearly not happy with this. He smiles, forced clearly, “Please tell your mother I don’t need anything to drink.” You sigh and do just so and she replies with some comment insisting you do just that. Yes, you are exhausted but even still you stand and pour him a drink.  

“Je vais lui montrer la chambre.” You grab him by the arm and pull him up towards your old bedroom. Quite ungracefully you fall on your childhood bed. He smirks, but his smile is quick to fall. “Mi dulce niña, does she always make you feel like this?” Carlos asks you give and exhausted laugh. “You don’t even know what she said,” you peak at him, and he pulls you into his lap.  

He kisses your forehead, “Tell me," You sigh and rest you head on his shoulder. “When she met you, she went, ‘you’re so handsome why are you dating my daughter?’ And then she went, ‘you’re so stupid bringing a man that doesn’t even speak French.’ Then after that it was, ‘poor thing he’s so tired bring him something to drink.’ As if I wasn’t on the exact same trip as you!”  

His jaw locks and his arms wrap tighter around you, “Does she always speak to you like that,” you sigh and sink deeper into his arms. “Why do you think I brought you with. Call you my armour,” you laugh, actually hiding behind his arms. He laughs, but it’s the same type of awkward type, “Where is your dad, is he any better?”  

You hum and then walk down the stairs again after taking your breather and then ask your Maman where your father is. “He is outside with your brother, working hard as always,” she says, still in French.

“Really, which one?” You ask, opening the back door, only to see your oldest brother chopping wood while your father carves the same wood right next to him. “Bér!” You call out and once he sees you, he smiles.  

You walk into the back fields, Carlos trailing behind you and when you do finally meet your brother, he gives you a warm hug. “Finally, back in your own country,” he comments, and you can’t help but furrow your brows. “What do you mean?” You ask, you haven’t told anyone about anything. “You think I haven’t noticed? I am not like Mama and Papa who do not own a phone and use the library’s computer to email you.”  

You frown and watch his eyes. They’re train on Carlos who seems to be struggling with the mud and his very expensive shoes. “Traveling the world with mister Armani,” he teases you like always, and you can’t help but step on his shoes. “Enchanté, Monsieur.” Carlos holds out his hand and it makes you and your brother laugh out loud. “Don’t worry, race-man... I am not her father.” You jab your brother in the stomach.  

“But he’s even worse.” He groans and then begins complaining in French but you’re quick to stop him. “Connard, you know Carlos doesn’t speak French, clearly, you’ve been stalking him. So don’t be an ass,” Bérenger sighs at your words and then translates for Carlos.

“I was just saying that I you see in your fancy Ferrari and your expensive shoes, no one in the family can understand someone like you being with a dull girl like her.” He shrugs and you both laugh, it’s the way you talk as siblings.  

Even so, Carlos’ expression turns sour. “He much more than that Bérenger, now, play nice.” Before you turn to leave to say hello to your father, you ask your brother one last thing. This time in French, because you’d rather not have Carlos know just yet. “How is Papa today?” You brother hesitates, knowing exactly what you’re talking about. “He’s there, like before, no confusion yet today.”  

You nod and make your way over. “Bonjour Papa, I’ve come to visit.” Your father looks up to you, his eyes clear. Not that his personality has changed much, he replies in a gruff tone. “Who’s the boy?” His eyes are like daggers on Carlos.

“He’s my boyfriend,” your dad rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure. And for how long is he going to put up with you?” You laugh, like always keeping the peace. “I’m not some terrible burden. At least, not in his eyes.”  

Like always he just replies with a scoff.  

Before long, you’re washing dishes after dinner. “Mi paloma, please tell your mother the dinner was delicious.” You can feel his big strong arms wrap around your waist. You’re sure he's feeling a bit alone. It’s only been you and your brother here who can even speak English.

You smile, “Thank you, Carlos, but she didn’t make it.” It’s the truth, the whole evening Bérenger and Carlos chopped wood, all while you have to take care of your mother’s ever whim, like always.  

It doesn’t bother you; it’s always been like this. But you can tell it’s getting to Carlos. “No wonder I liked it so much, it’s your cooking. But, mi dulce niña, you barely ate, aren’t you hungry?” He caresses yours even as you continue washing. “Thank you, Carlos, it’s nice hearing some positive words after that dinner.” He sighs, burrowing his face on the crook of your neck.  

“You’re avoiding my question.” He places small kisses here and there. “It’s not in the diet plan,” it’s an excuse, your mother had been commenting on your weight all evening. Yes, it’s true you’d gained weight, but you’d been working out and most of it is muscle. But her words are sharp, and the thoughts are springing up. If it makes her happy, better so. He does his usual noise when he’s unhappy when something.  

“Tomorrow I’ll cook dinner,” you gasp, turning to him, his words have caused delight in you. “I’d like to see that,” his brows furrow but a smug look is on his face. “What? You don’t think I can?” In your mind, yes, he has a difficult life, but that’s just stress. He has personal chefs and personal trainers and likely his father had too. Not way did he ever learn to cook. “No, not at all.” 

You cross your arms, and he just laughs. “Fine then, I'll show you. You can even post it on your Instagram.” This sparks joy, you love seeing people’s reactions to you and him.

So far, they’ve been nothing but positive. In these short three weeks you’ve gotten 50k new followers. If they’re there for you or Carlos, doesn’t matter to you. You’ll give them what they want either way.  

“You mean it?” Your hands reach up and take hold of his shirt. “Only if you eat,” and with that you bite your lip and nod. “Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal.” He sighs, takes a drying rag and begins helping you by putting away the dishes. “Oh Carlos! Ne perdez pas votre temps avec la vaisselle, Y/N la fera. Laisse-moi te montrer ses photos de bébé.”  

You sigh, leaning your head against his chest. “Oh no,” his brows furrow pulling you away to see what the matter is. “She wants to show you my baby pictures.” A deep laugh escapes his chest. “Mi querida, I’d love to help you finish this, but I can’t miss that.” You laugh but do allow him to see little you.  

“What colour are you choosing?” You ask your mother, watching as she scans through the different nail polishes. Like expect she chooses a toned-down pink, she rarely does her nails but when she does, it’s always that same colour. “Why don’t you choose something different? Look I’m going with this black with gold shimmer. We’re somewhere nice, don’t you want to use the opportunity?”  

Your mother just looks at you over her glasses. “And why is that?” It’s already Thursday, the week had been going by slower than you expected it would and only made you realise why you visit so little.

The only good thing so far has been your father’s awareness, he’s had a few moments of unclarity these past few months. Even so, just like growing up, he doesn’t exactly stand up for you against your mother’s badgering.  

Like always, it's just the usual gruff short replies and relative quietness. Carlos, however, has been nothing but kind. The dinner he cooked was amazing, the fans swooned in your comments. At night he’d hold you tight and whisper sweet nothings. All about how beautiful you are and how you’re perfect as is. It helps, yes, but nothing compares to motherly love. You do everything you can, but still don’t feel like enough.  

“Ah, Mama, don’t be like that.” After that, she continues about the gossip of the town and the lives of your siblings. That is of course until you’re sitting at the dinner table again. Enjoying the food Carlos has crafted to fit both of your diets, showing him your nails. He loves them and makes sure to kiss your knuckles.  

That is, until your mother interrupts your bliss. “Y/N, what did you say Carlos does?” You bite the inside of your cheek. “He is a Formula one driver.” You mutter, trying to hide yourself behind her sharp glare. “And are you still a chef?” You swallow your food; you’ve been avoiding this question for as long as possible. You shake your head, “No, Mama,” her bitter stare grows stronger.  

“So, what is it that you do?” She raises her voice, now your father seems interested. “I am working on my modelling career.” Both your parents groan and gasp in raised tones. “This again,” your brother mutters, he too has been harsh with you. “Why do you keep going on and on about this modelling. Ever since you were small. My daughter, you know I love you, but you aren’t like those pretty girls.”  

Her words are like knifes; knifes reopening wounds you’d been working so hard to heal. Carlos takes your hand under the table. This whole time he’d been encouraging you to stand up for yourself. Convincing you that what they’re saying aren’t normal and that you shouldn’t tolerate it. You’ve tried persuading him or more yourself that she’s your mother and she does it out of love.  

But she’s been ungrateful all week. As if she hasn’t been begging you to come home and talk to her. She comments on everything, your weight, your hair even your laugh. Saying you squeal like a pig, you tried to laugh less after that one. She hates her nails and all the presents you brought home. More than all, you’ve been dreading this happening. Hoping that it never would.  

“No, Mama, I do not know that you love me,” she gasps and begins screaming even more. “How could you not know? I raised you. I fed you, clothed you, gave you the deposit to get your degree. Which you don’t even use now!” The anger over comes you and you rise from your chair. “Carlos will gladly pay back all that money if I was such a burden on you!”  

The whole table goes eerily quiet. Soon it is interrupted by a scoff from your brother. “So what? He’s like your Sugar Daddy, right?” You take a moment to calm down, trying to decide if you’re going to say the truth. But they're your family. You should never lie to your family, right? “Yes,” you take his hand back into yours. You can see that he’s picked up his name and knows he’s being discussed.  

“What is that, Bérenger?” Your mother asks, switching between you and your brother. “She fucks him for money. A glorified prostitute!” His words are harsh and spit flies as he screams. You know for a fact that if Carlos understood French, he’d be raging.

“Unbelievable!” Your mother gasps out and another raging fire starts in you. “What? Is it so unbelievable that someone could actually love me so much that they’d pay to see me?”  

Years and years or anger and trauma, built up due to constant belittlement finally breaks through. “Why does it shock you all so much that he thinks I’m beautiful. That he thinks I’m more worth than all the riches in the world. You hate it that someone actually respects me, because you can’t knock me down anymore.”

Again, the table goes quiet before your brother speaks again. This time in English, clearly wanting Carlos to understand what he’s saying.  

“He doesn’t respect you. He doesn’t care for you. And he most certainly doesn’t love you. He just wants to fuck you. And once he’s bored of you, he’ll take what he’s given and leave you with nothing.” Before you can curse out your brother, a sharp crack is heard. Your brother is on the floor, nursing a bloody nose. “Don’t you ever, ever talk to her like that ever again.”  

You can hear your mother rambling on about her poor son and can only scoff at her reaction. “I’m not some city boy who doesn’t know how to throw a punch. You won’t believe how strong 6G’s of force make you.” Through all the commotion, there is a muttering that can be heard. Listening carefully, it is your father. “Get out, get out,” he repeats over and over.  

You bow your head down low, right by his ear but just shake off his words. This irritates him and he too raises his voice. “Get out, you’re no daughter of mine.” You laugh at his words, “Don’t be silly, Papa, you must be having one of your episodes.” You go to rub his back, in your mind to soothe him but he grabs your wrist before he can.  

“Hear me when I say this girl, because I am clear of mind when I do. While you are still whoring yourself out to this man, you are no daughter of mine.” The realisation hits you like a truck. So much so, that you stagger back, Carlos catching you as your head becomes dizzy. “Mi pequeña, what is the matter?” All you can do is shake your head.  

“Come, Carlos, it seems that we are not welcome here.”   

Just so p.s. me not translating the French and Spanish is for a reason. I'm not just being spiteful, it is part of the storytelling. If you want to get a good grade in fanfic reading (which is totally possible and a very normal thing to want) feel welcome to translate it 😉

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