#mick is an old lovesick puppy

[the-red-sniper]

*Sniper opens wide eyes when he sees Spy addressing his parents. Tears come to his eyes. How many times has he dreamt of introducing someone that matters to him to his parents...? Yet he never could and never did. But what also got to Mick was Spy's reaction. He didn't tell him that he was a disgusting freak for liking men, he didn't push him away, or throw his drink into his face as that had happened a few times in the past with other people...*

I... You...

*Sniper looks away and wipes the silent tears in his sleeves.*

Thanks.

*His voice is muffled as he says it in his sleeve.*

It's the first time I say it to them and to you too. Or maybe you knew that too.

*Sniper drinks some more to give himself strength.*

Anytime in the past I tried to say it, I found myself drenched in whatever drink the other bloke has, sometimes I even take a punch or two... I can't read people, sometimes I think things are goin' well but they ain't, or maybe I just see what I wanna see.

*He sighs.*

Might be the biggest mistake I've ever made, tellin' you about this, eh? Now you'll go around blackmailin' me with it...

*He chuckles.*

Truth is, I'm tired of hidin', and I'm tired of bein' scared. D'you know how many times I wanted to tell people who I saw as more than friends to me, but then I preferred to keep the friendship rather than risk it all...?

Spook... You're one of'em. But with you, it's different. Half of me wants to tell you so much, and the other half is holding my lips together, cause I've seen everything that could happen if I did tell ya, and I know how much I'd lose. It'd hurt too much.

We're a bunch of lunatics fightin' in a desert. If I lose you... I'd lose too much.

I was jokin' about the weight comment. You're perfect as you are... *Sniper blushes and looks away before finding his way out of this compliment that might backfire on him*...even with yer twig legs...

Anyway, let's hop on the front of the van. Anywhere in particular you wanna go or d'you wanna trust your old Bushman?

*Sniper quips, playfully.*

- @the-red-sniper

Hm, you’re hilarious sometimes, did you know that? Perhaps save those compliments for a nice woman, hm?

*Spy has a small smile as he watches sniper. Never taking his eyes off him. He knows his words are not relevant for sniper, he just wants to see his reaction to such a comment.*

You’re the driver, mon ami. I trust you are actually good at driving.

*that was a dumb joke and spy tries to laugh it off quietly*

[lemonietrinket]

Jae’s Divine Intervention ||| Wonpil x Reader, Jae & Reader

Summary: Jae finds out about your crush on Wonpil and naturally takes the mick out of you. And when you get to play detective, you find out he’s perhaps more supportive than you would normally imagine.  Genre: Humour, fluff [if you guys dont find this funny then i... its just me] Warning(s): Some cursing all done in jest (2x sh*t) Word Count: 7735  Theme Song: Tonight - The Solutions; Dive - iKON; Hold - Winner AN: A request from anon, hope you enjoy! I’m sorry it took a while, it’s a lot longer than I usually write tho so I hope that makes up for it gender neutral reader

~~~

“Wonpil?!”

“Jae, I swear to christ—”

“Wonpil?!” Jae’s voice was rising in pitch by the second, a look of astounded horror on his face.

“Yes, Wonpil, what’s so—”

“Our keys? The snake? Our snake that plays the keys?”

“Really, you’re still using that? That’s like, three years old Jae—”

“You—you took one look at the pink sweater and went hmmm, yes, this is the hot stuff, real sexy—”

“Jae!”

“—any man that wears this I will date him on the spot—!”

“Jae!” 

The man cackled, leaning right back into his gaming chair with his head tipped over the side. “Oh my god this is just...!”

You pressed your tongue to your cheek, waiting for the grown man to gather himself up. Though, knowing Jae, it could well take a while. “You finished?”

He swung back, elbows coming to his knees with his eyes incredulous. “Kim Wonpil?”

“Yes.”

“Not Brian?”

“Why would it be Brian?”

He inhaled through his teeth, tutting. “It’s always Brian. And then, of course, yours truly.”

You sighed, rolling your eyes. “I regret ever talking to you.”

He sat back, sending you a smirk. “Nahh, you would never regret me.”

“Can we just go back to discussing like, dinner tonight?” you glanced distastefully around at his room, taking note of the pile of laundry abandoned by his wardrobe. “Like I came into your lair for in the first place?” 

“Hey, easy there—!”

“Honestly Sungjin would have a fit if he comes in here,” you announced, a mischievous glint in your eye.

“Well it’s a good job he isn’t coming in here.” Jae easily met your stare, pursing his lips, knowing full well that starting a battle with him would be the hardest you could try to win in the dorm. You backed down, but didn’t shy away from his stare as he pressed his fingertips together, taking on the role of a faux mastermind, “But no, dinner can wait, because this—this—is much more intriguing.”

Taking in the nod of his head, and the smug grin on his features, you realised that you weren’t going to escape as you’d hoped. Might as well be comfortable.

“Now,” he began once you took a seat on his bed, flicking a rogue sock to the floor, “start from the beginning. When did you realise that you were hopelessly in love with this, Mr Kim.”

“Since when was this an interrogation?” you interjected. “Also I am not ‘hopelessly in love’!”

“Infatuated?”

“No!”

“Lovesick?”

“Not a bit!”

“Helplessly inclined on the edge of your seat to hang upon his every little word?”

You didn’t even answer him that time and merely glared at him. 

He nodded pensively, patting a finger against his chin as he murmured, “In denial, interesting...”

“What?!” 

He changed tact. “Do you not know the exact time for your realisation for your deep feelings?”

“Even if I did I wouldn’t tell you,” you sulked, folding your arms crossly. He let out a quiet ‘aww’, which you ignored to the best of your capacity. “What has gotten into you?”

“I’m just trying to work out if you are,” he cleared his throat, “fit for my closest colleague and good friend. After all, we’ve been through so much, I wouldn’t want any harm to come to him—”

There were many things wrong to his wistful, jesting sentence, but there was one thing that you had to refute: “Last week you told Sungjin you would sell Pillie out for half a churro.”

His smart mouth stopped for a few seconds, and you figured briefly that you’d perhaps won and could leave. Alas, you were mistaken.

“Refers to Mr Kim as ‘Pillie’, indicating a very special degree of endearment, interesting...”

You groaned, falling back onto the rest of the mattress, asking the world what you’d done to deserve this.

Truth be told, Jae wasn’t worried for his bandmate or you in the slightest. Hearing your accidental slip of your feelings, everything seemed to come together at once and fit like two missing jigsaw pieces. You both had traits that accentuated the other, and you got along so well. If you two got together, he discerned, there would be few power couples that could compete.

He didn’t understand shipping culture, but this was perhaps his one exception. It just made sense! His soft charms next to your harder ones, your sense next to his sunny optimism, the both of you still sharing much in common.

“Six months,” you suddenly admitted.

“Hmm?”

“My, you do delight in my torment,” you grumbled before shooting him a look that softened as you continued, the memory trickling to the surface and making it impossible for you to not smile. “I’ve liked him for six months. It hit me when he fell asleep on my shoulder on our trip up to Incheon.”

One of those shared things being bouts of shyness.

He decided in that moment that it was time for some divine intervention.

“That’s a long time ago,” he mentioned, “and you haven’t done anything about it?”

“How could I?” you countered, though it was more sad than feisty. “How do I confess to the gentlest, happiest soul? How am I supposed to even know if he likes me back? He’s cuddly with everyone, you know.”

One glance at your crestfallen eyes that shone through your little chuckle lit a spark in his head.

“Don’t you worry, Y/N. God works in mysterious ways,” he reassured, sending you a wink.

And so began the grand unravelling of The Great Jae’s plan. 

Step 1: Establish if the Feelings are Mutual

The first step, as Jae understood it, was crucial—nothing else could be done until he knew if the keyboardist also had a whopping crush on his friend. And they had made some fair points about how hard it would be to calculate whether Wonpil was just being friendly affectionate or more than that.  

So, to get the answer cleanly without collateral, Jae concocted a plan so cunning he could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

The next day, Jae slipped into the practice room, after locating his whereabouts through a super secret and effective method dubbed as ‘asking Sungjin’. He strode up to the keyboard set where the younger was staring intently at one of the keys, swiftly adopting a confident stance—he would not be swayed by any sneak attacks, and especially not attempted deflections with puppy eyes: a weapon he knew his bandmate was highly proficient in.

Hearing him mumbling about whether they should invent a H note, Jae made the choice to enact Step 1, taking advantage of the possible surprise characteristic.

“Wonpil, do you like Y/N?” 

Peering up with his classic bright smile, Wonpil answered him swiftly, “Yeah!”

Jae frowned, the response seeming too quick. He had to comprehend it as a misunderstanding of his question. He pressed the charge. “Well, yeah, I figured you liked them, but I meant it as in more of a—”

“I know how you meant it, hyung,” he looked back at the keys, testing a C tentatively.

“Oh.” Jae was surprised to say the least. “How did you...?” 

“I’ve been waiting for one of you to ask me,” he explained poutily, “you always seemed to tease me about it when I didn’t have someone, and then as soon as I actually fell, not a peep.” 

Jae had to admit that the entire exchange had caught him off guard, as he became distinctly aware of how slowly the cogs were turning in his head. “You were... waiting?”

He nodded urgently at the sound board, twisting a dial as he held his ear closer to the instrument.

“You know the sound isn’t on right?”

“The key is squeaky.”

“Oh.”

“Of course I was waiting,” Wonpil replied simply, taking a simpering pause, “aren’t you going to ask me?” 

Jae watched as the younger suddenly sat up and swung himself to look at the legs of his keyboard stand, giving them a good wobble. There was no doubt a squeak then.

“Ask what, about what you like about them?” he suggested, not really sure himself. 

“Finally!” The younger threw himself back out from underneath the instrument. “Everything, hyung, I think I’m actually in love! Their laugh, their kindness, their eyes, their jokes—I feel like I’m going to burst whenever I see them, like into just, laughter, I can’t stop smiling, I just want to hug them and kiss their nose...” When he knocked his head back up to him, his smile was even brighter, his cheeks lightly blushed. “Is this what Younghyun-hyung means when he says that love hurts?”

Jae was more than happy to hear proof—it meant Step 1 was a success after all—but hearing the sap did mean he had to hide his grimace.  But now he was presented with a more severe problem, as he knew full well that wasn’t what the bassist, who could dip into the realms of emo territory, meant at all by that phrase.

It didn’t mean he was going to explain it. Especially seeing those eyes brimming with adoration for his closest friend—he cursed at himself giving into the puppy eyes after all. 

“Yeah, probably,” he answered vaguely, opting to change the subject, “well, I’d better be off, thanks!”

“Hey, hyung, where do you think you’re going?” Wonpil called after him as he attempted to make a tactical retreat, having gathered the information he needed. 

Jae turned around, lying through his teeth as his brain searched for an excuse. “I... well, I need to go and do...”

“Without wishing me good luck on fixing my keyboard stand?” he enquired, pouting childishly from the other side of the room.

“Good luck...?”

“Ok, you can go!” he announced, sending a wave. “Bye!”

And with that, Jae exited the practice room, frowning at his reflection in the glass of the window as he passed through. Wonpil was strange sometimes, that was for sure. 

It didn’t matter in the long run though, it was going to be your problem soon rather than his—a thought that elicited a snicker from him—and with Step 1 complete, he could proceed to Step 2. 

Step 2: Create the Confession Arrangement

Jae had figured that the third step would have required the most work, but he had be drastically wrong. He’d presumed coming up with the perfect scenario for a confession would have been easy, but once he’d sat down in the living room to think in peace, an hour later he found himself lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, without a single idea in his head. 

Chasing the tails of all the ideas that taunted him and skipped just out of reach every time in his head, he barely heard the sound of someone else entering the fray.  And he would have continued to have done, had the newcomer not come to stand beside him and peered over his sprawled body.

“Hyung, are you ok?”

The deep voice snapped his eyes from where they were transfixed on the ceiling to the cherubic face of Dowoon, currently in the process of devouring a pretzel.

Jae snorted, still barely comprehending his presence. “Of course.”

The younger tilted his head to see him somewhat the correct way up. “Are you sure? You’re laying on the floor.”

“I am aware, and yes, a hundred percent,” he answered, putting on a confident front as best he could, “this, young padawan, is the sight of a master at work.”

Dowoon hummed in an agreement of sorts, “Oh, right.”  He took a deep bite of the sweet dough. “What are you working on?”

Jae finally recognised the notable rustling of a paper packet, his eyes falling to the treat. “I am devising the most wondrous plan the world has seen to—is that my vanilla pretzel?”

“No.”

He said it so quick and devoid of emotion there was no way to tell whether it was a lie or not. Jae was left peering up at the man as he took another bite, who sent him a thumbs up as a form of endorsement.  “Right. Well... I am devising a plan that will get Wonpil and Y/N to admit their feelings for one another and finally unite as the planet’s best ship and sail off into the distance together!” A victorious grin on his lips, he looked like a man that had already found success. “I have already completed Step 1 with peak success, now I must move to Step 2 and—”

“What was Step 1?”

“Finding out whether their feelings were mutual, of course!” Jae guffawed, surprised that Dowoon could not connect the two dots.

He peered over to him again to see him frowning as he angled himself to take the final bite of the pretzel. Before he could ask what the matter was, he preempted him, stating, “You didn’t know?”

That caught the eldest off guard. “What?”

“You didn’t know that they both like each other?” he glanced towards him, eyes expectant as he shoved the dough past his lips. “I thought everyone knew.”

“Well, I...” Jae coughed, quickly covering his back, “...there’s a difference between assumption and ascertaining proof, maknae. Now that I have evidence I may move onto Step 2.”

“And that is?”

Jae caught the tone of curiosity this time in the intonation of the man’s deep voice, making note to take advantage of it as soon as possible. “Create the confession arrangement. I must make a scenario where the only possible eventuality is that the two confess to one another their true feelings.”

Dowoon nodded, licking his fingertips free of leftover sugar.

“You wanna help?” he enquired, angling his head to get a better view of his band mate’s features, waiting for the smile to arise.

“Sure.” Discarding the paper bag on the coffee table nearby, he lowered himself to the floor, laying on his back and mimicking his elder. 

“Good choice,” Jae clapped, turning his attention back to the ceiling.

“What ideas have you got so far, then?” Dowoon began, drumming his fingers against his stomach as he followed suit.

“Well...” Panic filtered through Jae’s system, as he suddenly realised he didn’t have even the tiniest beginnings of a thread to follow, let alone a part of a suggestion. “We could lock them in a room,” his mouth said before his brain could catch up. He cursed to himself in his head. No, that was stupid. It was so inhumane! 

“What, like an escape room scenario?”

Jae’s head immediately tilted towards the man lying beside him. Yoon Dowoon, as things turned out, was a secret genius. 

Without warning, he laughed, getting to his feet and grabbing the younger by his hand to pull him up after him. “Yes! Exactly like an escape room!” He held him by the shoulders and asked, “Do you have any ideas for any puzzles? Or riddles? Could be an anagram, or a pattern somehow, maybe general knowledge based?”

Dowoon thought long and hard for a moment, and it showed on his face, his dark eyes going wide as his jaw dropped. “No, but I know where to get the keys to the locks on the doors.”

Their eyes met for a good few seconds as Jae mulled over the decision of whether to bring up how he had obtained such knowledge. He finally rationalised he’d ask at another less frantic time. 

“Great!” he exclaimed, before ordering, “You go sort that. I’ll go get some pens and paper. Be quick!”

And so Step 2 was in motion.

Step 3: Organise the Confession Arrangement

“Ok, listen up soldiers,” Jae declared, “because here’s the plan.”

He was stood at the front of the work room beside a board that he’d stolen from the marketing block, proudly displaying a rudimentary plan of the dormitory and accompanied by several haphazard arrows drawn in a dying pen. He overlooked the rest of the room courageously, eyeing up his gang of abductees volunteers, who merely stared at him confusedly in return. 

“Why am I here, again?” Sungjin suddenly enquired, glancing around the room. “This surely is one of those Things-We-Don’t-Tell-Sungjin-About things, right? I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to know about this.”

“But none of us do...!” Jae uttered, rolling his palms to encourage the others to catch onto his meaning. They didn’t. “None of us know about it, yeah? Because none of us did it!”

“But that makes no sense,” Sungjin rationalised immediately, “because someone will have had to have set all the puzzles up?”

Jae didn’t have an answer to that. To both a blessing and a curse, however, he didn’t have to reply to that question. He just got another one in its place.

“I’m sorry, wait, what are we even doing?” Younghyun interjected, glaring at the hastily dictated plan with a curled lip. 

“Getting Wonpil and Y/N together, we’ve been over this, Brian.”

“Surely they can just... do it themselves though, right?” Sungjin countered, squinting at the header of the board. “It really doesn’t require an all-out, multi-step plan—is this Step 3?” 

“Good to see you’re checking the diagram,” Jae retorted.

Younghyun’s voice was incredulous, “How many steps are there?!” 

“Four.” It was Dowoon’s turn to interrupt, it seemed, and he piped up fluidly before Jae could try to regain any control upon the late night board meeting.

“What were steps 1 and 2?!”

“Step 2 was inventing this beautiful idea,” Jae started.

Only for Dowoon to finish, “Step 1 was him working out if Wonpil liked Y/N back.”

It was their turn to eye Jae up in disbelief, a chorus erupting:

“You didn’t know?!”

“How can you’ve not known?!”

“All he does is pine after them...!”

“Alright alright!” Jae called, pleading for the three to settle. To his fortune they did, but most likely only out of the prospective joy of him further making a fool of himself. “The past steps don’t matter, I need your help now to complete Step 3. You will all reap the benefits of Step 4, when this is all a success because—as you said—all Wonpil does is pine after Y/N. This,” he pointed assertively to the diagram, “will put a stop to all that!”

Silence settled over the room as the three all glanced at each other, all nodding in some form in agreement. 

Jae took the chance and continued, his hand laying out the directions on the board as he spoke, “So, all we have to is move Wonpil to Y/N’s room, and set up the puzzles in there. Sungjin, Dowoon, you’re on set-up, Brian you’re on lift duty. It is all objectively simple, but one wrong move could wake either of them up thus exposing the entire ploy and I’ve yet to come up with an excuse so you’ll be on your own.”

“Of course,” Younghyun muttered, not even bothering to look Jae in the eye to convey the sense of how done he was. 

“You’re not helping?” Dowoon piped up, his soft features portraying a slight hue of hurt.

“I can’t, Y/N already expects me. If I’m caught then there’s zero opportunity of a follow up plan—at least one that features me,” Jae explained, ignoring the mumbles of ‘perhaps it would be better that way’ that echoed around the room. He shot a look to the one he suspected the most of being the owner of said grumblings, watching as he leant back in his chair. 

“Can this not at least wait ‘til tomorrow?” Younghyun requested, emphasising his point with a yawn. 

“No! Y/N is out Saturday, and regardless we must strike while the iron is hot!”

This sent the energy of the room from benevolent boredom to startled flurry.

“It’s happening right now?!” The leader desperately looked to the eldest for reassurance that this was most certainly not the case, only to find none.

“Yep,” he stated, a shrug on his shoulders and a smirk on his lips. “Once you’re done, you make sure you leave no trace of yourselves and lock the door. Leave the key on the living room table and then you may return to your own rooms and do what you wish—as long as there is no noise. If their sleep is interrupted, the plan could quickly go south,” he finished with a clap, “now, positions everyone! And good luck!”

With only a few groans, the three practically sprung into action, much to Jae’s surprise. Dowoon piled up the props and prompts riddled with such in his arms, Sungjin holding the door for him and Younghyun who both head out in quick succession. 

“Thank you, Sungjin,” Jae called to the door. He received an expression of many emotions—disdain, disbelief, bemusement—all around a set of very bright eyes. He exhaled abruptly in what was a laugh that demonstrated that mixture, before leaving with the shake of his head.

It was showtime.

You awoke gradually to the sun streaming through the wide gap between the curtains. Groaning, you cursed to yourself about how you’d forgotten to close them the night before.

After admitting that if you wanted to go back to sleep or even just lay in your bed in peace for a bit longer the curtains would have to close, you sat up, only to swear you had shut them the night before.

Rolling out of the covers dozily, you hobbled over to the window, squinting against the light, where upon the curtain tie you found a piece of paper dictating a series of hand-drawn triangles in shades of pink, grey and white. Rubbing your eyes you tried to detach it, only to find it secured with string. 

Feeling confusion flush through your bones as quickly as the sleep left them, you looked across the room to see another sheet of thin card this time, roughly torn at the corner and branded with a giant, rounded, crimson splodge adorned with a malformed triangle of green. 

Both thoughtless and speechless in entirety, your eyes frantically searched the room for further signs of intrusion. To your disturbance you found your room littered with rudimentary placards, decorated with strange arrows directing to one another, or strange looped calligraphy. One was stuck crudely to a Star Wars shopping bag, and as much as you enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker, you definitely did not have a bag for it. Another was blatantly an anagram. Making the mistake of looking up you were confronted with a gigantic poster of a film with the title and cast heading covered by MS Paint swirls. The image depicted seemed familiar, but it didn’t make their staring faces any less intimidating as they glared at you from your ceiling.  It was as if you’d walked into a nightmare that was haunted by puzzless.

“What the actual, ever loving f—” Your voice cut off as soon as your gaze finally rested back upon your bed. Only to find someone else in it. 

Thoroughly creeped out, your brain ricocheting through thoughts and questions like they were caught in a hurricane—who is that, how long have they been there, they were sleeping right next to me, they snuck into my room, is it a sasaeng, did they do anything—you were ready to charge towards the door and yell your lungs out for help.

Until the figure shifted in their sleep, their arms thrown up cutely by their head which peaked out from behind the duvet. It was Wonpil.

Breath catching in your throat, your hand clasped itself to your mouth in an effort to not shriek in surprise more than anything. 

You’d shared your bed with Wonpil. He’d been right beside you, his beautiful face just inches from yours, sleeping peacefully with his hands sweetly gripping the covers and his adorable little snores—

Your heart lurched at the image your mind conjured, for it to then crash over the fact that he had the audacity to sneak into your room.  The conundrum before you left you in turmoil—you couldn’t believe that you’d fallen so hard for a man who would break into your room in the middle of the night and disregard your privacy so blazonly. 

It didn’t make any sense. You’d known Wonpil for a while, and he showed so much respect the entirety of that time. Yes, he was clingy, but you could think of multiple occasions where you had told him to back off and give you space, because you were stressed or angry with someone else or even just too hot to let him lay on your shoulder, and every time he did. You couldn’t think of a single time when he came into your room without knocking either. 

But was that enough to discount the ‘first time for everything’ rule?

Given the circumstances, perhaps it was.

Regarding the mess of your room again, it was plausible that Wonpil could have put up some of the weird pieces of card, but he couldn’t have done it all—not without help at least. Taking in the height of your ceiling, he was too short to reach it. Had someone stood on your bed you would have woken up, there was no doubt about it, and you didn’t have a desk in your room, so there was no chairs to stand on. The nearest ones were in the others’ rooms, but it seemed too far of a stretch—especially since you knew that there was one person that could reach.

Jae.

You glared in disdain at the corner of your room as if you were on The Office, until you remembered that you weren’t alone in the room. 

Taking a deep breath you silently made your way across your rug to the side of your bed. Kneeling in the soft cotton you took in the sight of Wonpil closer this time, resisting the urge to stroke his soft cheek that he’d puffed out as he pouted in his sleep. Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before he woke. 

“This wasn’t you, was it,” you murmured to him, taking gentle delight in how he wriggled towards you in his sleep at the distant sound of your voice. He looked so sweet, and the concept of being able to wake up to him beside you every morning made heat rush to your cheeks like a tsunami. 

He was so good at making you smile, he could do it without even trying. The thought reminded you of when he had gone out of his way to somewhat try to, making you his chosen target for the only ‘prank’ he’d ever performed. He’d decided that he would for his prank debut place  tiny plastic dinosaurs around the place for you to run into. You’d been bemused, but only for a day, quickly finding him out after catching him placing one in the fridge. 

It was fortunate that you’d been reminded of the memory—even if you were primarily focused on how angelically he’d giggled a threadbare excuse that neither of you believed for a second but only made you fall in love further—as it that had been a while ago, and filling your room with strange and distastefully carried out puzzles was not what you figured his prank comeback would be. He would at the very least make them look nice. 

“I’m sorry for doubting you,” you whispered, tucking the blanket further to his chin to keep him warm before getting to your feet again. You had to admit, you got a bit of a rush out of playing detective, and with a theory hot on your mind, you knew it wouldn’t be long before you found evidence that proved it.

First you checked the door it discover it locked as you had expected. Then you moved to the puzzles.  Staring intently at the placards, you found that they all pointed to someone who was either awful at editing and drawing alike, or had simply done it in haste and didn’t care for the visual outcome. However this was not as concrete as you’d imagined. You definitely couldn’t see it being anyone other than Jae but after checking several puzzles and not seeing a single bad joke or reference in sight, you were beginning to doubt your first impressions.

Hearing the bed creak and a groggy whine muffled by a yawn, you flicked your head away from your wardrobe. There you found Wonpil sat up in a nest of your duvets at his waist, with dishevelled hazel tresses endowing him with faux cat ears or sorts. He was barely awake and hardly functioning, blinking lethargically while he slowly returned to the world of the living.

“Morning,” you greeted with a stutter, clearing your throat sheepishly straight after.

His lips spread cutely into a grin. “Morning...!” he sang. 

It took several minutes of you trying to maintain your gaze on the messy art piece that was sleepy Wonpil, before giving up and disappointedly returning to the barely-legible riddle in your hands, for the man to finally speak with up with a frown.

“Wait, why are you in my room?” he enquired, rubbing his nose. “Did you sneak in...?”

“Actually you’re in mine,” you corrected, squinting at the calligraphy so as to let him come to terms with the situation.

His eyes opened in a flash, glancing around the room in astonishment. “Oh my god why am—I’m in yours?!” He gushed with apologies. “I’m sorry, Y/N, I didn’t sneak in I promise, I don’t remember coming in here! I don’t understand... did I sleepwalk...?”

“If you did it would be a first,” you stated, chucking the paper to the bin near your closet and staggering to your feet, “it’s ok, Pil, I’m not mad. Besides, I think you were carried.”

“Carried?”

“You always were a heavy sleeper. But that does mean that Younghyun or Dowoon are in on this, which means I don’t understand what this whole thing is,” you explained, glancing up at the ceiling and sighing exasperatedly, “do you recognise that movie?”

Following your line of sight, he jumped at the sudden pair of eyes that he found staring at him. He shook his head. “N-no. Y/N... what’s going on?”

“Apparently the guys decided that for their latest prank they were going to make an escape room of sorts, and then stuck you in here with me for double the fun.”

“But why?”

You shrugged. “I guess they’ll open the door if we figure out all the puzzles of something. Problem is these puzzles are like, stupidly hard.” You pointed over to his right. “Like, why is there a mutant tomato on my wall?”

“Ew,” Wonpil said with a grimace as he beheld the visage of the red splodge. 

“I know right. Whichever one of the did it should never consider art school. Like, ever.”

Silence fell over the two of you as your eyebrows knit together, once again thinking over the possible answers to any of the dozens of puzzles. Wonpil meanwhile slipped out of your blankets and headed towards the door.

You had half a mind to call out to him and say it was locked, but you figured he’d already worked that out, so instead you watched him out of curiosity. 

He came to the door with a stop, rattled on the door handle once, then twice, before pressing his face close to the wood. “Sungjin!” he wailed, before pressing his ear to it to listen.

For several moments there was complete utter quiet over the room and the dorm outside. The only sound that could be heard was the birds outside, and even they broke into quiet when they heard an unusual absence of chatter. 

Then out of the blue Wonpil stiffened in his place, before leaning in even further, his features alert. 

After a few seconds you enquired mimicking the quiet, “What is it?”

“I think I just heard someone tell Sungjin that he ‘needed to remain strong’,” Wonpil looked at you quizzically, “what does that mean?”

“Sungjin’s in on it too?” You were hugely surprised by that, so much so that you couldn’t hide it in your voice, the volume tipping out of the realms of a murmur. You’d thought it was a certainty that Sungjin was not aware of what was going on, because he was too mature to play along. But you’d clearly gotten him wrong this time around.  “Th-that must mean this is serious,” you continued, slipping into a slow pacing motion across to the window and back, “that it’s super funny, or that he goes to seriously gain something from this.”

“But how is this funny, I’m not laughing...!” Wonpil said with a pout audible on his lips. He wondered if there was a funnier side that he was missing out on due to his concern for you overpowering it. He didn’t like how you stepped back and forth, even if it was only slow and steady and hardly impulsive. He didn’t want you to be stressed, he wanted you to be happy.  It dawned on him that it was becoming increasingly harder for him to hold himself back from meeting you part-way and bring you to a stop, his hands brushing your shoulders and squeezing them gently in reassurance as he met your eyes— He shook his head, sending him hurtling out of his imagination just in time to hear you agree.

“Exactly, unless he wrote some of the riddles and his sense of humour was not what I thought it was—what we thought it was.”

“But Sungjin would never use stuff this bad!” he cried, hand motioning to the poorly executed diagrams while his eyes trailed away from you and onto the tomato on the wall. “He would be much more careful than... that—I don’t think he ever could make something that ugly!”

“Exactly!” you echoed his tone of urgency. “Which means he stands to gain! But what the hell does he get out of locking two people in a room with a bunch of evil puzzles?”

Watching your form become gradually tenser by the second, Wonpil’s resolve against his desires loosened before unravelling entirely.

He strode unusually powerfully across the floor, his body blocking you and your pacing in your tracks. His proximity startled you, but as his hands came to gently held your shoulders you realised how tense your body had accidentally become.  Taking a deep breath as best you could with the biggest crush you’d ever had standing right in front of you, you slowly began to calm down. It was just a stupid prank, there was really no reason to get worked up to that extent, or anywhere near it. 

Your thoughts drifted from the circumstances you were currently trapped in however, supplanted by the feel of Wonpil’s touch, and the way his eyes met yours. His eyes were so pretty you felt yourself sink head over heels in them whenever you accidentally made contact. And the emotion that filled them to the brim at that moment and let them glimmer even more than normal in the radiant sunlight caught you even further off guard. You’d seen it a lot, even in large doses, and how it made him look even softer, even more adorable, made you almost spill words from between your lips. However like this, you could barely handle it. 

“Sorry,” you said, willing your voice to remain stable unlike your heartbeat.

“No, don’t be sorry! We’ll get...” It felt like he didn’t want to end his sentence but forced himself to. “So, they’re all in on this?”

His hands fell away from you, just as you looked away from him, unable to catch your breath otherwise. As it turned out it was a lucky move at the right moment. “Yeah, it seems so. N-now why? That’s the question. I don’t know, but what I do know is—”

Having pulled away, you’d begun to walk back to the door, thinking up the words to perhaps call out and talk them into freeing the two of you. Though as you did, your peripheral caught the odd transformation your closet door had done.

After performing a ridiculously overplayed doubletake that would have appeared to any onlookers out of context as fake, you noticed that there was a nearly full-sized image of a deep chestnut archway with the poor illusion (due to the angle) of a small opening inside. Drawing nearer you were able to make out a speckled grate suspended in the right wall of the wooden box.

What the image printed over three sheets of paper was sprung to your head immediately, much alike the jigsaw pieces jumbled in your head slotted together. 

It was a confession chamber. 

You had to confess, but not to a priest.  To Wonpil.

“God works in mysterious ways...” you remembered from the previous day, uttering the words as you replayed them in your mind. “Jae, you shit.”

Wonpil came to your side, peering round to take in your features, searching for an explanation in the sheer beauty he always found there. “What’s wrong?”

“I know how to open the door!” you announced proudly, the sense of victory washing away as you came face to face with what you had to do however. 

Wonpil’s characteristic sunny smile rose to his cheeks, all while you sat there barely able to stomach your anxiety. “Yay! What do we have to do?”

You didn’t know how to go about it. You didn’t know whether to tell him, to ramble, to keep it simple, or to just kiss him like you wanted to for however long it had been. “Confess,” was all that tumbled from your mouth, and you immediately regretted speaking at all.

The subject of your affections stood as silently as you did before him. You could see the rush of thoughts in his head, his cheeks flushing as he finally spoke up, “Confess our... sins?”

“Not sins, no...”

It was at that moment you realised your feelings were mutual. He wouldn’t look you in the eye like he always did, he was skipping over the obvious conclusion,and he wasn’t drastically denying a single thing. He didn’t run, nor hide, in fact he leant towards you. It was only a fraction of an angle, but with a small bite of his lip the air fled your lungs.

“Do you...” you breathed, taking a tiniest step towards him—you’d been so close already, but now he was practically against you, just not quite—as your fingers twitched at your sides, “do you want me to do it?”

His nod was strong compared to his voice which was so delicate, as if he couldn’t believe what was unfurling before him. “Please!” 

With his encouragement you let those ready fingers ease up to the edge of his jaw, gracing the fine stubble there as you sank you palms against his cheeks and held your dreams in your hands. “Wonpil, I’ve liked you for so long... I fell for you, more than anyone I’ve ever met before. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Don’t say sorry, I didn’t tell you either,” he reminded with a chuckle, his dark eyes bright and shining and wide at you coming ever closer, “and not being near you makes my heart ache so please, just kiss me and make it stop forever.”

You didn’t have to be asked twice.

His hands barely had enough time to snake around your neck as you bridged the gap and let your lips meet at last. And it was like the whole world sighed in relief. 

His lips were so warm, the softness etched with all his thoughts and his moments of anxiety and sadness. You wanted to kiss them all away, so that the only ones remained were the ones out of happiness, out of his smiles and playfulness. 

It had been so long since you’d began dreaming of this moment, and now it was at last happening you never wanted it to end. But it had to end, and though you felt more than ready to deepen it, there was a click from the door behind you. 

Springing away from each other in surprise, you immediately both looked over to the origin of the sound, your hands meeting in place of your lips.

“It worked?” Wonpil asked the air more so than you, his free fingers extending to the handle tentatively. 

You drew to him, letting go of his hand to place your own on his shoulders a you peered over them. “I think it did!”

Taking a quick glance at you, he twisted the brass and pulled gently, his jaw dropping as a gap formed.

You were free. Though a small part of you was disappointed, probably completely interested in staying in close proximity to your crush without disturbances for as long as possible.

Except he was no longer your crush! Your heart lurched as the awareness dawned on you. Completely disregarding the situation, you mumbled so only he could hear, “Does this mean you’re my boyfriend?”

Wonpil turned his attention back to you, giggling as he stroked your hair. “Of course dummy. Did I not convince you?” He squished your cheek. “We can do it again if it’ll help!”

You had to laugh, wanting to roll with his suggestion entirely, though seeing a shadow approach through the gap in the doorway you had to turn the offer down for now. “Real soon I promise!” After noting his pout that very nearly overwrote your decision in one fell swoop, you continued, “Not when the person who organised this is right outside.”

Your boyfriend threw his head over his shoulder to see a head duck out of sight. You watched as his eyes swept the room before falling intently on the bed—more specifically, the pillows. “Do you want revenge?”

Catching onto his idea and grinning at how childish and petty it would be—in context that the plan had actually worked—you didn’t hesitate, wanting to get a piece of that ‘divine intervention’ that had thrown your morning into disarray when he could have at least warned you.  Besides, it wasn’t like you could turn down a man so precious twice. It would be akin to heresy.

Grabbing both pillows you handed one to Wonpil and came to a halt by the ajar door. “Remember, play dirty when it comes to Jae. He deserves it.”

Sporting his characteristic sunny smile, your boyfriend let out what you had to discern was a cackle as he slipped through the door and led the charge. “You don’t have to tell me.”

A thwack resounded through the dorms from just outside your door and you had to stifle a laugh at the scream that followed.

Perhaps Wonpil didn’t need your help as you had admittedly first expected. 

But where was the fun in that.  

“I’m telling you we could’ve put the movie on the side of her wardrobe!” 

“And I’m telling you it wouldn’t have fit!”

“...You’re never lifting me again.”

You gathered your breath after your surprise revenge assault, sending Dowoon and Sungjin an incredulous look as you passed. Clearly not all your deductions had been correct. Oh well, things had still played out correctly, and catching sight of Younghyun bringing your boyfriend into a side hug as he gushed about how you managed to save them both—clearly playing up the drama but hey, who were you to stop him, you had no qualms with being a knight in shining armour—made a proud blush rise to your cheeks.

Coming further into the living room, you intercepted Jae who had returned from your room after clearing everything up all by himself as you’d ordered.

“I still have no idea why you made me do all that!” he protested as soon as he caught your eye. “This had nothing to do with me! It was, hundred percent, Dowoon. Just Dowoon. He got sick and tired of your pining and...”

You folded your arms, expression proving just how much you didn’t believe his bullshit. 

“You don’t believe me!” he exclaimed, hands flapping. “What have I done to deserve this! Am I not a good friend? Loyal? Like a brother—”

You sighed, shaking your head as you walked over to him, before slipping your arms quickly around his chest. He was startled by the sudden display of affection, but hugged you back nevertheless. “Of course I don’t,” you chuckled, “but we wouldn’t be friends if I did.”

He scoffed at your words, but tightened his arms around you with a smile. He couldn’t have felt prouder in that moment, especially with Younghyun being dragged by Wonpil out of the room [to head out and fetch groceries?] who was delightedly babbling about how soft his best friend felt to cuddle with for real this time. Sungjin meanwhile rolled his eyes at the exchange, padding away and back to the kitchen. 

“Ok this means I can ask what made you work it out.”

You sputtered, though immediately gave in. “The confession chamber on the closet.”

“Ahh that was a good one,” he sighed happily, only to change tact soon after as the realisation sunk in, “wait that wasn’t even mine!” You laughed against him, you head tipping back as he searched the room for the true culprit. “Dowoon was that yours?”

You didn’t hear an answer, though hearing the curse that fell from Jae’s mouth offered enough indication to know that the response was in some shape or form affirmative. 

Laughter bubbling away into the air, you slowly pulled yourself away from the friend that had practically become an older brother to you. He let you go smoothly, but before you parted from him fully, you stood on your toes and whispered, “Thank you,” a smile on your face that was almost as bright as the ones Wonpil always received.

He sent you a grin, followed by a wink, as you followed after your new boyfriend. Leaning so he could see round the corner, he laughed quietly at how you subtly shoved the other man out of the way so you could take Wonpil’s side. 

His heart swelled as your hands naturally found each other’s, linking as if you’d been together for years. It came with a side of a dull ache, as that was what he wanted for himself too.

He wasn’t dismayed for long however. You now owed him after all, and you were well aware of it.

He couldn’t wait to see what you’d come up with. 

~~~

AN: no one can stop me from referencing my own work lmao

also a blackadder reference for anyone who knows!

also in germany there is actually an H note apparently so... fun fact.

Masterlist

[xsixxx]

Bad Influence, Chapter Three

Authors note: I have had the best time getting dark & weird & really over the top with Nikki towards the end of this chapter, I really hope you all enjoy it!

ps if you think you know what happens after this, you definitely don’t 😏

Warnings: Language, drug use, Nikki being a dick as per, some serious sexual tension

Tags: @triplehaitches @freddiessmallnipples @fire-and-blood-got @scarecrowmax @lovesick-heart0 @littlesunnymoon @80sheart-strings @cranberribread @inthebackofmycarlaytheirbodies @deaconsroger

Summer ‘82

“Well, well, if it isn’t Elizabeth fucking Reynolds, the one that got away.” Laughed the beautiful blonde, as he waltzed up to the bar & leaned over to smack my ass, smiling from ear to ear.

“Oh my god, is that Vince fucking Neil, the worst kiss I ever had?” I smirked, “How the hell have you been rockstar?” I asked, genuinely happy to see him, grabbing him his usual drink.

“I’ve been touring Canada, singing, partying & fucking every single night, how the fuck do you think I’ve been?” Vince laughed, “Although, it’s nice to come home to your fine self.” He added, winking & taking the beer I handed to him. “We weren’t too sure if you’d still be working here.”

“Yep, still got rent to pay, Vinny! I think I’ll be working behind this bar for the rest of my days at this rate. I miss the old days of living with Daddy, when everything was paid for & taken care of,” I sighed jokingly.

“Well I’ll tell you what, you come live with me & I’ll be your new Daddy & I’ll take care of you.” He drawled, stroking the side of my face. I scoffed, moving away from his touch.

“Excuse me, you blonde haired bitch, I know you’re not trying to convince my roommate to move out to go live in that disgusting ‘Mötley House’ you degenerates live in, right?” Came the sharp, witty voice of my best friend, Sophia.

“You can join too babe, you know Tommy would love to have you there.” Vince said laughing, eyeing her up & down.

“Where is my drummer boy anyway?” Quizzed Sophia, looking towards the door of the famous Whisky A-Go-Go, waiting for him to burst in with his usual energy.

“Oh they’re on there way, Nikki was arguing with the bouncer outside, something to do with us not being on the list. I slipped in when they weren’t looking because I couldn’t wait to see your beautiful face.” He said, flashing that killer smile at me.

“Lets hope they don’t fucking let him in.” I said, ignoring Vinces cheesy compliment. I was used to them by now. A few months after the Nikki-Maddie incident, I moved out to finish my final year of school as a fully fledged, independent adult. I met Sophia through an ad she put out, looking for a roommate & we hit it off immediately. We lived just off the Sunset Strip & Soph got me a job working with her at the Whisky. It still wasn’t my scene but money is money &, turns out, being an independent adult ain’t cheap. Of course, Mötley Crüe were regulars, playing shows & partying there all the time &, as much as the sensible part of me hated to admit it, I’d grown to kinda like them. I’d become a chase for Vince, who was convinced he could charm me into bed like he does every other girl, although he definitely wasn’t getting anywhere. Meanwhile, Sophia & Tommy had a no-strings-attached thing going on, although Sophia had that going on with a lot of band members that played at the Whisky. She definitely had a type.

Hanging out with Mötley Crüe was fun, but I still didn’t party like they did. And I definitely still hated Nikki fucking Sixx.

“Sophia, Beth! How’re my favourite barmaids?” Tommy yelled, bounding up to us like a gangly, excited puppy who’d just seen that their owner’s home. “I’m so glad you’re both here, Nikki was convinced you wouldn’t still be working here by the time we came back off tour!”

Speaking of the Devil, he was purposely stood at the other end of the bar, being served by someone else as to not have to interact with me. Our hatred was very much mutual, only speaking to each other when we had to &, more often than not, it ended up in an arguement. He looked up when Tommy mentioned his name, shooting him a look before making eye contact with me. He tipped his bottle of Jack at me, before flashing that arrogant smirk he knew I despised.

“T-Bone, it’s good to see you man! You too Mick,” I smiled warmly at the eldest Mötley member, who nodded at me as he swigged from that hip flask he always had on him. “How was the tour guys?”

“Fucking INSANE” yelled Tommy, “we kicked Canada’s ass!”

“So when do you girls finish?” Vince asked, eyeing us both up & biting his lip slightly. Me & Sophia looked at each other & laughed.

“In about 10 minutes.” Sophia answered. “So I know you’ve been on tour & all of those drugs have probably scrambled your brain, but you know Beth’s still won’t sleep with you, right Vince? She’s practically a nun at this point!”

“I am not!” I yelled, laughing, swinging the dirty dishcloth I had in Sophias direction as she tried to dodge it.

“Well how about a little holy water to loosen you up doll face,” winked Vince as her lent over the bar & swiped a bottle of vodka & some shot glasses, pouring out 4 & gesturing for me, Soph & Tommy to take one each. I shook my head as the other 3 knocked them back. “Guys, you know I don’t drink like you do!”

Nikki was walking past & stopped when he heard me say that. “Same old stuck up Lizzy, still too fucking good to drink with us.” He looked at me, that smirk playing on the corner of his lips. I knew he was trying to provoke me, but it worked. I picked up the shot of vodka &, without breaking eye contact with him, downed it in one.

“Yes Beth, that’s my girl!” Yelled Vince as Tommy stole the bottle from his hands & poured out 4 more.

“Now let’s see you do that twice in a row, Reynolds!” Yelled Tommy. I picked up the shot glass, tipped it to Nikki who was staring at me from under his lashes, the irritation flashing in his green eyes & knocked it back. “What’s wrong Sixx, you too good to drink with us now?” I asked, my voice fake & patronising as I offered him a shot.

“Fucking groupie.” He scorned as he stormed off to a booth. I laughed out loud at his tantrum & turned my attention back to the 3 boys & Sophia.

“So Beth, now that your shifts finished & you’re a couple of shots in, let’s see how fun you’re feeling,” teased Tommy, “I dare you to do a body shot off of Vince.”

I rolled my eyes, ready to decline, before I caught sight of Nikki, still glaring at me from his booth.

“Ok Tommy, you’ve got a deal. But only if you do one off of Sophia,” I bargained.

“Babe, I’d have done that for fucking free!” He laughed, jumping over the bar to Sophia. “Doll, lie your ass down on that bar,” shouted Tommy, as Sophia, up for anything as per usual, obliged & got on the bar. Tommy balanced a shot glass full of tequila on Sophia’s chest, poured out a line of salt across her breast & placed a slice of lime in between her teeth. Then he winked at her before slowly licking the salt off her body, expertly downing the shot & sucking the lime from her mouth. Tommy stood back up, looking pleased with himself, a huge beaming smile on his face. “Your turn Beth!”

“Ok Vinny, let’s get this over with,” I laughed. He jumped up on the bar, pouring the shot of tequila himself, lying down & placing it just above the waist band. I glared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding, come on man!” I whined.

“Nope, that’s the rules Beth, sorry!” said Tommy, pouring out the salt parallel to the line of hair leading down from Vinces navel to beneath those too-tight leather trousers that left nothing to the imagination. “& for the final touch..” Tommy howled with laughter as he placed the slice of lime on the Vinces clearly outlined member. Sophia giggled hysterically as Vince tried to stifle his laughter as to not spill to shot glass resting on his stomach.

“Drink up Beth!” Giggled Tommy.

“Guys, come on!” I complained, half grumbling, half laughing. A couple of shots of vodka to someone that doesn’t drink can have quite the effect & I could already feel my usually prominent sensibilities slipping as I gave into the idea of having fun. I looked at the grinning faces of Vince, Tommy, Soph & even Mick. Fuck it, I thought. Just before I bent my head down to Vinces crotch, I made eye contact with Nikki, who’s stare was fixed on me. I winked at him & smirked before licking the salt from off of Vinces toned body, grabbing the shot glass & downing the tequila, & placing my lips around the lime, applying the tiniest bit of purposeful pressure as I sucked on it, making eye contact with Vince as I did.

I let go of the lime, stood up & laughed, letting myself actually enjoy the situation before I realised my tongue felt sort of numb. I moved it around my teeth to see if I could regain any sensation. I frowned &, as I did so, Tommy & Vince burst into a fit of giggles.

“What’s so funny, assholes?” I asked, slurring my words slightly due to the lack of feeling in my mouth

“How’re you feeling Beth?” Asked Vince, sitting up & snorting with laughter.

“I feel pretty good to be honest, I think I’m starting to feel those shots, except my mouth feels kinda weird..”

“I don’t think it’s the shots you’re feeling babe”, giggled Tommy, covering his mouth to try & muffle himself.

“What are you on about?” I demanded. Why couldn’t I feel my tongue?! The feeling was spreading the the back of my throat & I started to panick that I was perhaps allergic to something I’d just ingested. And then it hit me.

“You fucking idiots! Have I just licked coke off of Vinces fucking stomach?!” I yelled.

Vince & Tommy collapsed onto each other in fits of giggles as I looked horrified between Sophia, who looked mildly concerned, but mostly amused, & Mick, who was shaking his head at the boys before looking up at my worried face.

“You’re gonna be fine Beth, you’ve only had one line & you haven’t snorted it. You’ll feel it a bit but nothing intense.” He promised, patting my hand & giving me a reassuring look.

“Thank you,” I mumbled, as my head started to feel a little strange. Not bad, but different. I was focused & alert, like I’d drank a good, strong coffee, but at the same time, I suddenly felt at ease & like a blanket of calm had been draped over me. I wanted to be mad & scream at Tommy & Vince for being so damn irresponsible, but the blanket wouldn’t let me. I didn’t want to do cocaine, but I wasn’t hating it either.

“You pair of mother fuckers!” I yelled, punching them both in the arm.

“But don’t you feel good though?” Winked Vince, seeing that I’d visibly relaxed into the mild high.

“Well, it’s not as bad as I thought..” I admitted, “But I mean it, don’t ever fucking do that to me again.” I said seriously, giving them both a stern look. They each appeared a little sheepish.

“I’m sorry Beth, we didn’t think it was a big deal, honestly!” Tommy offered, sounding genuinely sincere.

“Sorry doll, just thought you could do with having some fun & letting loose..” Vince mumbled. I shook my head at both of them, to wrapped up in this strange new feeling to commit to my anger.

I was scanning around the room when I happened to look over at Nikki, who was obviously flirting with a pretty brunette in a black pvc dress. He was stroking along her collarbone with his index finger, whilst his lips brushed against her ear as he whispered to her. I suddenly had this burst of confidence surge through me & I marched over to them.

“Sweetie, from one girl to another, he’s going to fuck you & break your heart. Yeah the sweet nothings he’s whispering in your ear sound tempting now, but once he’s had his fill.. or you’ve had his fill, I guess..” I babbled, the coke doing me no favours. “He’s going to throw you out & move on to the next. Don’t be one of those girls. You can do better than him anyway, you’re way hotter than he is.” I shrugged, flashing her a smile. She looked taken aback & glanced up at Nikki for reassurance but his anger was evident & she quickly shuffled away from him.

I sat down in the booth, opposite him, folded my hands across my chest & sat back, holding his glare. “She seemed nice,” I smiled.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” He fumed.

“What? I’m just trying to save yet another girl from your twisted little games so they don’t get played like my sister. I like to think of myself as the angel that stops people from getting tempted by the devil.” I mused.

“You think I’m the devil?” Nikki asked, amusement breaking down the anger in those green eyes as that infamous smirk tugged on his lips.

“Basically, yes.” I said, my confidence wavering slightly under the intensity of his stare.

He let the smirk take over his face as he relaxed back into the seat & causally rested his arm along the backboard of the booth. “So tell me, Lizzy, why am I the devil?”

“For the hundredth time, my name is Beth. It’s not Lizzy. And you really don’t know why?!” He shrugged, looking intrigued & uniterested all at the same time. “Because you manipulate people, Sixx! You tempt girls in with that smirk & arrogance & they fall for it, meanwhile having no idea they’re dancing with the devil & you’re only going to leave them heartbroken. You have no regard or respect for anyone, you only love yourself.” I stated, feeling the weight of that stare, but not once breaking eye contact with him. The coke was making me brave & I couldn’t stop. “You have a dark heart, Nikki Sixx.”

His smirk was from ear to ear. “You’re fucking hot as hell when you talk to me like that.”

I faltered, his statement catching me off guard. I inwardly chastised myself for the spark of desire that his words momentarily ignited somewhere deep inside me. That was not me.

“You know, you’re one of the only girls that’s never tried hard to win my interest.”

“I’ve never tried to win your interest, Nikki. It’s called having dignity.” I scoffed, annoyed by the cocky look on his face.

“I know. It’s irritatingly sexy.”

“Well, that’s too bad. I didn’t trust or like you before you screwed over my sister & I like & trust you even less now. I know better than to fall for your tricks & lines. Remember, according to you, I’m the stuck up posh girl with the education & the clean lifestyle & you’re the dark & edgy rockstar with the sordid life & the makings of a drug habit. I’m the angel & your the devil.” I taunted, flashing a smirk of my own.

Nikki leaned across the table to me, his face so close I could feel his hot breath on my face, smell the whisky on his lips. His eyes pierced mine, looking at me with a mixture of disliking & desire. He smiled “But there’s a little bit of devil in your angel eyes, I can see it.” He whispered. A shiver ran down my spine. He noticed & he smirked wider, leaning in closer, so our lips brushed lightly. “And you inspire the Devil in me, Lizzy.”

My heart raced, my knees went weak & my skin crawled. I couldn’t tell in that moment if I craved him or was repulsed by him. Every inch of me screamed to push him away, to yell at him, to stop whatever was happening. But for that brief moment as his seductive words lingered in the space between our lips, that spark of desire I had felt had turned into a raging fire, engulfing my better judgement. All I wanted was to feel his lips on mine, to taste his arrogance & fall pray to his devilsh temptation.

“Ahem.”

Oh thank god.

The judgemental, fake cough from my best friend snapped me back into reality & relief washed over me as I immediately moved away from Nikki, embarrassed & frustrated with myself. Nikki casually leaned back, draping his arm around the back of the booth once again, looking conceitedly at Sophia, as she stood with her hands on her hips, looking at me with intense disapproval.

“Come on Beth, we’ve gotta go collect our wages.” She said cuttingly, throwing a snide look at Nikki before stalking off, back towards the bar.

I stood up, regaining composure, refusing to look back at Nikki. I could feel the smirk without even seeing it. I went to walk away without a word when he grabbed my hand & pulled me back, so I stumbled & fell on to his lap. He entangled his fingers into my hair & pulled me in so his lips were against my ear.

“There’s something dangerously attractive about dancing with the devil. It’s truly going to be heaven dragging you down to hell with me, Princess.”