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jungkoode · 6 days ago

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OFF-LABELS | O7

→ PAIRING : Med Student!Hoseok x F!Reader (Brother’s Best Friend AU)

→ RATING: Explicit, 18+.

→ DATE POSTED: February 26th, 2025.

→ SUMMARY: You’ve spent four years convincing yourself that your brother’s best friend is just being nice when he remembers your coffee order, quizzes you on neuroanatomy, or lets his touch linger a second too long. Because there’s no way that the golden boy of Seoul National’s medical program might actually be flirting with you. Especially when he keeps saying things that could be perfectly innocent… if only he didn’t say them in that voice.

→ TAGS: second person perspective, female reader, medical school au, brother’s best friend trope, age gap (4 years), pining, touch starved, overthinking reader, confident hoseok, gentle dom hoseok, medical terminology as flirting (lmao), study sessions, domestic moments, innocent (but not really), plausible deniability king hoseok, anxiety, internal monologue, guilty crushes, subtle teasing, emotional edging, gentle manipulation, praise kink undertones, intellectual attraction, competency kink, hand fixation, voice kink, medical intern hoseok, first year med student reader, home setting, casual intimacy, unresolved sexual tension (for now), secret attraction, nervous rambling, self-doubt, intrusive thoughts, anatomy lessons with ulterior motives, competent hoseok, flustered reader, close proximity, accidental touches that aren’t accidents, virgin!reader.

→ CONTENT in this chapter: House calls that go wrong, sweater weather complications, unexpected revelations that change everything, surgical precision used for mending more than just socks, and the kind of silence that speaks volumes. | emotional tension, domestic setting, power dynamics, moral crisis, medical ethics, complex relationships, emotional warfare, guilt and desire, medical authority questioned, professional boundaries, casual clothes, internal conflict, communication breakdown, ethical dilemmas, misunderstandings.

→ MASTERLIST | TAGLIST REQ | WORDCOUNT: 3,9k

→ MINI SERIES: PREVIOUS | NEXT

→ A/N: Okay, so FINALLY posting the drama chapter!! Before you dive in, I need to make something very, very, very (did I say very?) clear about what's happening here. This chapter is absolutely NOT about virginity or some gross purity kink. Like, I would literally projectile vomit if anyone suggested I was writing that kind of male-gaze "untouched flower" bullshit. We are not in Stephen King territory here, describing "pale creamy mommy tits" or whatever horrifying descriptors men think are sexy. 🤢 The actual issue is about psychological dynamics and consent. Throughout these chapters, Hoseok has been enjoying this cat-and-mouse game where Y/N is clearly attracted to him but constantly second-guessing herself. He's been deliberately keeping her in this state of "is he into me or am I imagining it?" because he gets off on her uncertainty. He likes the plausible deniability! He likes watching her squirm! The PROBLEM hits when he realizes she's a virgin, which makes his brain connect some horrifying dots: if she's never been with anyone before, she doesn't understand the psychological game they're playing. She's not pretending to be confused as part of the dynamic—she genuinely doesn't know what's happening. His visceral reaction isn't "oh no, she's pure and innocent!" It's "oh fuck, I've been psychologically conditioning someone who didn't even know they were being manipulated." He thought they were engaged in mutual psychological edging, but now he realizes he's just been breaking her down without her even knowing there was a game being played. And let me clarify something important—when I say "conditioning" or when Hoseok feels like he's been "grooming" her, this is NOT actual grooming in the predatory sense. These are two consenting adults (Y/N is 23ish? Hoseok is 27/28ish?) who have known each other for years (she's had a crush on him for FOUR years, and he's been playing this game for about two). She's in her first year of med school, he's a first-year resident. I've calculated these ages very specifically to keep everything firmly in legal, consensual adult territory. The issue isn’t the age gap—it’s him realizing she wasn't psychologically equipped to understand the mind game they were playing. He thought she was a willing participant in a psychological dynamic, but now he's realizing she was just genuinely confused and uncertain because she lacks the experience to recognize what was happening. THAT'S why he's disgusted with himself. Not because he doesn't want to be her first (he absolutely does), but because he thinks he's been essentially manipulating someone who wasn't a willing participant in the power dynamic. Anyway, rant over! Enjoy the angst! 😈

PLAYLIST

You’re standing on Hoseok’s doorstep.

Hoseok’s doorstep.

Like, his actual apartment. The place where he lives and sleeps and—

(No. Don’t think about that.)

Your fingers twist anxiously in the hem of your sweater as you stare up at the building. It’s ridiculous. Floor-to-ceiling windows, a private balcony, a lobby that smells like wealth and white oak. This isn’t some cramped resident’s crash pad—it’s the kind of place reserved for surgeons who drive luxury cars, not first-years who live off caffeine and whatever snacks they can steal from the nurses’ station.

It doesn’t make sense.

But then again, nothing about Hoseok ever does.

Your phone screen still glows with the text he sent this morning, casual as anything, like this is normal. Like this is something you do—just show up at his penthouse on a Thursday afternoon. You’d spent twenty minutes drafting excuses, each one more pathetic than the last, until your brother had mentioned it over breakfast:

“Oh yeah, Hoseok said you’re helping him organize his research papers today?”

Your toast had frozen halfway to your mouth. “He… what?”

“For his residency portfolio,” Caleb had said, not even looking up from his phone. “Said he needs a fresh pair of eyes on it.”

The lie was perfect. Believable. Academic.

(Of course it was. Everything about Hoseok is perfect.)

“Right,” you’d managed weakly. “That’s… that’s why.”

“Want me to drop you off? I’m heading that way anyway.”

And that’s how you ended up here—heart thundering against your ribs as you raise your hand to knock. Before your knuckles can touch the door, it swings open.

Your breath catches.

Because this—this isn't hospital Hoseok or teaching Hoseok or even party Hoseok. This is... home Hoseok.

He's wearing soft gray sweatpants that hang low on his hips and a white t-shirt that's clearly been washed too many times, the fabric thin enough that you can almost see the definition underneath. His feet are bare against the hardwood floor, and his hair is slightly messy like he's been running his fingers through it.

It's so domestic it makes your knees weak.

"Come on in." His voice is warm honey, dripping slow and sweet down your spine as he steps aside. The movement makes his shirt ride up slightly, exposing a strip of skin above his waistband that you definitely don't stare at.

(You stare at it.)

Your legs feel like jelly as you step past him into the apartment. His scent is everywhere here—that clean, citrusy smell that haunts your dreams, but stronger now, mixed with something warmer. More intimate.

The door clicks shut behind you with a soft finality that makes your pulse skip.

You're in Hoseok's house.

Alone.

With him.

On a Thursday.

Oh god.

"Shoes off," he instructs gently, and you comply automatically, toeing off your sneakers next to his neatly arranged row of footwear. The sight of your beat-up Converse next to his expensive dress shoes makes something flutter in your stomach.

"This way." His hand settles at the small of your back, guiding you down a hallway lined with framed medical certificates. The touch is light—barely there—but it burns through your sweater like a brand.

You follow him in silence, heart thundering against your ribs as he leads you deeper into his home. Everything is exactly how you imagined it would be: minimalist but warm, all clean lines and rich woods and subtle touches of luxury. A doctor's house. A successful man's house.

(A house where your brother's best friend is about to—)

"Nervous?" His voice cuts through your spiraling thoughts, tinged with something that might be amusement.

"No," you lie immediately, the word coming out too fast, too high.

His laugh is soft and knowing as he stops in front of a closed door. "Liar."

Before you can defend yourself, he's opening the door, and—

Oh god.

It's his study.

Of course it's his study.

The room is everything you'd expect: floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a massive mahogany desk, leather chairs that probably cost more than your tuition. Late afternoon sunlight streams through tall windows, casting golden shadows across polished surfaces.

But all you can focus on is the way he's looking at you—head tilted slightly, expression gentle but hungry.

Hungry.

"After you," he murmurs, and the words drip like honey down your spine.

You sink into one of the leather chairs, the expensive material creaking softly beneath you. Hoseok settles into the chair beside yours, close enough that his knee almost brushes yours. Almost. The near-contact raises goosebumps across your skin.

"Notes," he says simply, voice steady and professional like this is just another study session. Like you're not alone in his house, surrounded by his scent, drowning in memories of his fingers and his voice and his—

"Right." You reach for your backpack with trembling hands, but the strap slips through your fingers like water. Before it can hit the floor, Hoseok catches it smoothly, his reflexes quick and precise.

(Of course they're precise. He's a surgeon. Those hands are trained for precision.)

"Chip." His voice is gentle—too gentle—as he steadies the bag in your lap. "You're trembling."

Your face burns as his fingers brush against yours, lingering just a second too long. "What's up?"

Everything. Everything is up. You're in his house. Alone. And all you can think about is the way his thumb had pressed against your tongue in the anatomy lab, how his fingers had curled inside you while your brother's party continued downstairs, how badly you want him to—

"Nothing," you manage, voice tight and unconvincing.

He hums—that low, knowing sound he always makes and somehow feels menacing—and suddenly his hand is gripping the edge of your chair. Before you can process what's happening, he's pulling you closer with one fluid movement, the chair sliding across hardwood like you weigh nothing at all.

Your breath catches sharply at the display of casual strength.

Because fuck—how can someone be this effortlessly powerful? This casually devastating?

Does he even realize what he's doing to you, or is this just how he is?

Just Hoseok being Hoseok, completely unaware of how every little thing he does makes you want to crawl into his lap and—

"Nothing?" he repeats softly, and now his knee is definitely touching yours, the heat of him burning through your jeans. "You sure about that?"

No. You're not sure about anything anymore, except maybe the way your heart is trying to escape your chest and the fact that you're probably going to die right here in this expensive leather chair, killed by proximity and the ghost of his fingers on your skin.

His gaze lingers on your trembling hands, head tilting the way it does during patient evaluations—assessing, calculating.

“Your motor coordination's deteriorated since Saturday," he muses, leaning back in his chair with deceptive nonchalance. "We should address that first."

You open your mouth to protest, but he's already spreading his legs, the movement slow and deliberate. His sweatpants strain slightly over his thighs as he nods toward the newly created space between them.

"Come here."

The command is velvet-soft, phrased like a suggestion but weighted like an order. Your heart stutters as his fingers drum once—twice—against his left thigh. A silent countdown.

"W-why?" The question comes out breathless, already defeated.

His smile could sanitize an OR. "Ergonomic alignment. You can't properly present your research if your hands won't stop shaking." He gestures to his lap like he's explaining a textbook diagram. "Center of gravity adjustment. Basic kinesiology, Chip."

Your feet move before your brain catches up, drawn by the gravitational pull of his casual authority.

The first brush of your knees against his inner thighs sends electric currents up your spine. He doesn't help you, doesn't touch you—just watches with that infuriatingly patient smile as you awkwardly try to straddle the chair.

"Proper support requires full contact," he chides gently when you hover uncertainly above him.

His hands finally land on your hips, guiding you down until every inch of you molds against him. The heat of his chest seeps through your sweater, his heartbeat thudding steady against your racing one.

"There. Better?"

You nod mutely, hands braced against his shoulders. His t-shirt rides up slightly under your fingers, exposing the warm skin of his collarbone.

"Good." His thumbs dig into the divots of your hips—clinical pressure points that somehow feel indecent. "Now, synaptic transmission." His breath fans across your lips as he reaches past you, grabbing your notebook. "Start with glutamate receptors."

The pages blur as he flips to your highlighted section. His forearm brushes your breast—accidentally?—as he holds the notes up between you.

“Focus, Chip. Unless..." His head tilts, smile sharpening. "...you need tactile reinforcement?"

His knee shifts upward beneath you, applying deliberate pressure where you're already embarrassingly warm. A gasp escapes before you can stop it, fingers digging into his shoulders.

"Ah." His tongue clicks in mock disapproval. "Seems we've identified the distraction." The hand not holding your notes slides up your spine, pressing you closer until his lips graze your ear. "Shall we... desensitize the stimulus?"

His lips find the frantic pulse beneath your ear first—a calculated strike at your carotid artery that makes you sigh.

“Elevated heart rate," he murmurs against damp skin, teeth grazing the spot he'd marked days ago. "Persistent symptom since..." A suckling kiss that pulls a whimper from your throat. "...Thursday's assessment."

Your fingers twist in his worn tee as he works downward, each open-mouthed kiss along your jugular notch methodical. Clinical. Cruel.

"H-Hoseok—"

"Shh." His hand slides up your spine, deft fingers finding your sweater's zipper. "Need to auscultate properly." The zipper parts with a predatory hiss, cool air rushing over your heated skin. "No extraneous layers."

The sweater pools at your elbows before he tugs it off completely. Your arms instinctively cross over your chest—a futile shield against his darkening gaze.

"None of that." He catches your wrists, pinning them gently against his shoulders.

His breath stutters when he sees the bra.

Candyfloss pink. Lace scalloped with tiny bows. Straps straining over the swell of breasts he'd mapped through fabric days prior.

His Adam's apple bobs.

“Well." The word comes out rough, sanded down at the edges. "This is..." His thumb brushes a satin bow between your breasts. "...exceptionally thorough preparation."

You squirm under the praise—the implication—but his grip tightens on your hips. "I didn't—"

"Shh." His palm cups your breast through the lace, calluses catching on delicate threads. "Look at these." His thumb circles your nipple, watching it peak. "Like cherries dusted in sugar.”

"Hoseok—"

"Merely observational." His other hand slips beneath the bra's band, blunt nails scraping your ribcage. "Soft here." A squeeze that makes you arch. "Responsive here." His mouth seals over the lace, tongue swirling the dampening fabric. "Sweet here."

Your head falls back with a choked moo, nails biting into his shoulders. He hums approval against your breast, the vibration ricocheting straight to your clit.

"Still trembling," he notes, fingers walking up your spine to unhook the bra. The clasp gives with a snick that sounds obscenely loud. "We should stabilize your core."

His hands slide around to your front, palms flattening over your bare stomach.

“Deep breath in." You obey shakily. "Hold." His thumbs brush the undersides of your breasts. "Now exhale."

You deflate against him, breasts pressing into his chest. His groan rumbles through you. "There. Better."

His lips find yours in the space between breaths—not a kiss but a shared exhalation.

“Tell me you planned this," he demands against your mouth.

"Planned wh—"

His hips roll up, the thick line of his cock unmistakable through sweatpants and your thin jeans.

“The bows. The pink." A bite to your lower lip. "This devastating little bralette."

"N-no, I just—"

"Liar." He sucks the word from your lips, hands cradling your face. "You knew." Another grind that steals your breath. "Knew I'd want to ruin you in it."

His teeth close on a strap, dragging it down your shoulder. "Knew I'd need to see..." The other strap follows. "...how pretty you look coming undone in pastels."

The bra falls away. His pupils swallow entire galaxies.

"Fuck." The curse is reverence and ruin as he palms your bare breasts. "Should've known you'd weaponize cuteness."

Your retort dies when he lifts you slightly, mouth latching onto a nipple. The suction is brutal—claiming, corrective—as his free hand slides between you.

"Let's see..." His fingers find the button of your jeans. "...if your panties match."

His fingers still for a second as a wicked smile curves against your breast.

“Coordinated sets suggest..." The button pops free. "...premeditation."

You can't deny it—not when his hand slips into your jeans to find matching pink lace waiting.

His laugh ghosts across your damp nipple. “Knew it."

"I didn't—" Your protest breaks on a gasp as his thumb traces the scalloped edge. "It's just—"

"Just happened to wear a complete set?" His teeth graze your collarbone. "Just happened to pick the exact shade that makes me want to..." He tugs your jeans lower, exposing more pink lace. "...devour you?"

Your face burns as his fingers map the delicate fabric.

"Look at these." He hooks a finger under a tiny bow at your hip. "Like sugar spun into thread." His other hand cups your breast again, thumb flicking your peaked nipple.

"Stop—" you whimper, but his palm slides lower, cupping you through damp lace.

"Why?" His smile is gentle poison. "When you clearly dressed for this?" His middle finger traces your slit through the fabric. "When you're already soaking through all this pretty pink?"

Your hips buck against his hand involuntarily. He tsks softly.

"Such a sweet little thing." His fingers press harder, making you mewl. "All wrapped up like candy." His teeth find your pulse. "Makes me want to unwrapyou. Slowly."

The word drips like honey as his hand slips beneath the lace. "See how many licks..." His fingers part your folds. "...it takes..."

Your forehead drops to his shoulder as two fingers slide home.

"...to get to the center."

You let out a shaky exhale at that.

"Still so wet for me," he murmurs against your lips, two fingers pressing inside with careful precision. "Such a good—"

The rhythm of his movements changes subtly—no longer teasing but exploring. Something shifts in his touch, becoming more methodical. More... investigative.

You feel his breath stutter against your neck, the slight tension suddenly coiling through his body where it's pressed against yours.

His fingers curl slightly, pressing deeper, and you tense involuntarily at the unfamiliar pressure. It's different than when he touched you before—that night in your room when he stood behind your chair, his breath hot against your ear as his fingers worked between your thighs. This angle is deeper, more invasive, and your body responds with a reflexive resistance.

"Easy," he whispers, but the playfulness has evaporated from his voice. His free hand moves to your hip, steadying you as his fingers press more deliberately. "Relax for me."

You try, but your muscles tighten instinctively. The slight resistance—the way your inner walls grip his fingers—makes him go absolutely still.

His fingers withdraw so carefully it makes your chest ache. No teasing now. No slow, deliberate drag of his knuckles over your clothed heat just to watch you shudder. Just… absence.

And when you open your eyes, his face is wrong.

Too still. Too pale. His pupils blown so wide they nearly swallow the brown. His lips part, then shut again, like he’s bitten through his tongue.

The clinical terms evaporate.

"Chip."

His voice is hoarse.

The nickname that always made your stomach flip—always made you feel small, breakable, something for him to toy with—now sounds like a curse.

Like a word he can’t take back.

His thumb brushes your inner thigh, and—fuck, it’s trembling.

"You’ve never…" The sentence trails off, unfinished.

Your face burns as understanding clicks into place. Of course he can tell. Of course he knows. How many bodies has he been inside? How many women has he unraveled with those precise, knowing hands? Of course he can feel the difference.

"Not with—" your voice comes out too high, too thin, "I mean, I've done other things, but—"

"But never..." His gaze flicks down to where his hand still hovers near your thighs, then back to your face.

"I've used my own fingers," you blurt out, mortified but desperate to explain. "And that time in my room, when you—when we—"

"Different angle," he says quietly, almost to himself. "I was behind you. Not as deep."

You nod, humiliation crawling up your spine like ivy. Your thoughts scatter and race. Does it matter? Why should it matter? It's not like you're some precious untouched flower. It's not like you've been saving yourself. It's just—it's just—

(It's just that nobody has ever made you feel like you wanted to let them inside. Until him.)

"I didn't think it mattered," you whisper, the words tangling in your throat. "It's not like I'm—"

"Not like you're what?" His voice has gone dangerously soft.

"Not like I'm waiting for something special or—or saving myself or whatever stupid thing." Your words tumble out faster. "I just... nobody ever made me want to. Until now."

Silence stretches between you, taut as a surgical suture.

"Until me," he repeats, the words hollow. "Your brother's best friend. The one who's been deliberately blurring lines since the moment we met."

His face changes—like something has clicked into place. Like a puzzle snapping into its final, sickening shape.

But his expression. God. You've never seen him look like this. Like he’s about to be sick. Like you're the one who's done something wrong.

"Don't." Your voice is barely a whisper. Your hands fly up to cover your face. "Don’t make it a thing."

"It is a thing."

His voice cracks.

And when you peek through your fingers, he’s staring at your thighs, at the damp lace beneath the unbuttoned denim. And his hands—fuck, his hands—are trembling as they move to adjust your jeans, tugging the fabric back into place like he can undo what’s already been done.

"Christ," he breathes, hands fisting against the desk’s edge. "I’m your brother’s—"

"Don’t." You sit up too fast, nearly headbutting him. "Don’t use Caleb as an excuse when you’re the one who—"

"I know." The raw admission stops you cold. His knuckles blanch where he grips the wood. "I know exactly what I’ve done. What I’m doing."

A short, bitter laugh punches out of him.

"Manipulating your crush." His teeth click as his jaw clenches. "Abusing my position. Fucking my best friend’s sister in my—"

"You’re not fucking me!" The words burst out louder than intended. "You’re—you're teaching me. Showing me. And I want it. I asked for it."

His gaze snaps to yours, dark and devastated.

"You don’t know what you’re asking."

"Does it matter?"

"It fucking matters!" His voice is jagged now, slicing through the space between you. "Because if I’d known—if I’d realized—" His throat works. "Christ. I let you choke on my cock. Made you take the whole thing. And you—" His eyes flick down, to your open legs, to the flush of your skin beneath the denim. "You didn’t think to mention—"

“Say it.” Your voice is razor-sharp. “Go ahead. Diagnose me, Dr. Jung. What’s my prognosis?”

His flinch is barely perceptible.

"You’re actually—" His breath catches. His eyes squeeze shut. "Inexperienced."

The clinical term dangles between you, sterile and ugly.

"So?" You lift your chin, daring him to look at you. "I wanted this. With you."

His inhale is sharp. Like something being ripped out of him. His head tilts, his gaze drags over you—shaky, uncertain, searching. And then—

His face changes.

Like something has clicked into place. Like a puzzle snapping into its final, sickening shape.

"You don't understand what we've been doing." The words come out like they're being dragged from him. "All this time—the teasing, the ambiguity, the doubt—"

"I understand perfectly well," you snap, but he's already shaking his head.

"No. You don't." His voice breaks on the last word. "This whole thing—the way I've been treating you—it's a specific kind of dynamic. A power exchange. A mind game."

He pushes off the desk, runs his hands roughly through his hair.

"I thought you were playing along," he continues, voice rising with each word. "I thought you understood the game—that you were pretending not to know what was happening. That you were letting me seduce you, letting me make you doubt yourself because you liked it."

Your stomach drops as the implications settle.

"But you weren't playing," he says, voice hollow now. "You weren't pretending to be confused. You actually didn't know what was happening."

He staggers back like he’s been struck. One step. Then two. And then—

Oh, God.

He actually retches.

Bends over, a harsh, sick sound ripping from his throat, hands braced on his knees like he might actually vomit right there on the fucking floor.

Your stomach twists violently.

"Hoseok—"

"Don’t."

He doesn’t even lift his head. His shoulders are heaving, and the fingers pressed to his lips are shaking, and fuck, fuck, fuck, what have you done?

Why does it feel like you’re the one who did something wrong?

"You got off on it." Your voice is quieter now. Less rage, more—god, you don’t even know. "You liked making me doubt myself. Pretending this was all in my head. But now that you know I’m actually—"

"That’s the fucking problem!"

His voice breaks.

Loud. Raw. A guttural, vicious thing ripped straight from his chest.

His hands are in his hair, gripping hard. His chest rises, falls—too fast, too sharp, like he can’t catch his breath.

"You were doubting yourself," he grits out. "Actually doubting yourself. You weren’t playing—you weren’t teasing, you weren’t pretending to hesitate—you didn’t know!"

You don’t speak. You can’t.

"You weren’t letting yourself be seduced." His voice drops lower, ragged. "I was conditioning you."

The room tilts.

"You didn’t need coaxing. You weren’t fighting it. You just didn’t know what was happening to you." His eyes are blown wide, almost frantic. "And I liked it."

The breath punches out of your lungs.

"I liked watching you get flustered. I liked seeing you hesitate." His voice is hoarse, unsteady. "I liked watching you struggle to figure out if it was real or in your head."

Something in your stomach plummets.

"But it was never a fucking game for you," he rasps. "You weren’t playing along. You weren’t playing at all."

Silence.

Thick. Suffocating.

His hands drag down his face. His shoulders are still heaving, like his body is rejecting the words even as he says them.

"I wanted—fuck." His fingers tangle in his hair, tugging hard at the roots. "I wanted to ruin you. In pastels, on your knees, pink lace soaked through because I made you like this. I wanted you pliant, desperate—mine—but I never wanted—I thought you knew this type of play—"

His next inhale is sharp.

"But you didn't know the rules at all. Because you've never even played the game before."

His face is ashen now, like all the blood has drained from it.

“Put your clothes on.”

The finality in his voice turns your bones to ice.

And you realize—too late—that the real game is over.

You dress mechanically, fingers trembling on each button. He watches like a surgeon monitoring vitals—detached, analytical.

The car ride is silent.

Your phone buzzes at 2 AM:

𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐨𝐤: 𝙻𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚔’𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍. 𝚄𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚕𝚞𝚎.

𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝: A photo of your sock, neatly mended.

𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐨𝐤: 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚢.

You stare at the message until the screen dims.

He’s lying.

He has to be lying.

→ 𝐓𝐀𝐆��𝐈𝐒𝐓: @cannotalwaysbenight @livingformintyoongi @itstoastsworld @somehowukook @just-reading-dany @sanarin @billy-jeans23 @stuti2904 @chloepiccoliniii @kimnamjoonmiddletoe @annyeongbitch7

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aaazade · 1 month ago

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HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM ── EPISODE TWO 𖤐

⤷ 𝄞⨾ 𝟎𝟎𝟐. 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎: 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐙𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐒

AUTHOR'S NOTE : i do not own any of these characters except my own. minors, please do not interact as this is mature content with dark and sexual themes. all of my characters are black women so please respect that as you read! all lowercase is intended in this writing. ( i love choso's eyebags, please don't kill me when y'all read this). i'm so grateful for all the love on my last post! PAIRING: rockstar!sukuna x tourmanager!blackreader RATING: 18+, again mdni WARNINGS: yandere-ish moments, rock band, reader is black, usage of being held hostage, dírty talk, vampire!sukuna, dubcon, biting, drinking blood, slowburn, eventual smut, sort of angsty, stalker!sukuna, set in mostly southern cities, attempted mind control, secret society, royalty, masked men, usage of foul language, fire usage, sleep watching, sukuna's pov

𝐬𝐲𝐩𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬: when tour manager!reader gets sucked into the rock world after big time group ‘dark curse’ seeks her out to plan and arrange their tour in the us. heinous secrets unfold about the group as she gets closer to the pink haired lead singer in the ‘bone demon’ mask. does she run for the hills or does she play cat and mouse? find out in "houston, we have a problem!"

check out the rest of the series here!

“cheers!”

sloshes of maltreated liquor stung the back of his throat with vigor. it was appalling how humans deserted their thinking and ration for a few moments of daze and desire. small murmurs of chatter follow the background’s ambience, the team’s dinner party going slower than he imagined. truth to be told, he would be on the tour bus devouring a long awaited meal if you were knee to knee, pressing up against his arm to make room for the others at the table.

ryomen’s eyes cut to your hazy, relaxed figure. slouching against the padded oak wood chair, you were currently in a heated debate with your sister about… well actually he didn’t quite pick up what it was about.

no, ryomen was occupied being fixated on the curves and dips of your plush duo-colored lips, the way your eyes glowed with a soft brilliance at the suggestions of greasy foods and delights, how your the ringlets of your curls fell pass the juncture of your clavicle and shoulder down to brush against your waist.

how dare you enchant him? make him feel as if he has an obligation to be in your orbit, an obligation to admire you as if you aren’t human like the rest of them.

pathetic.

if this damn bind didn’t constrain him, the easiest option would be to drain you and leave your body by some unknown murky riverside in the depths of a foreboding cathedral of towering greenery.

he sneers instead, choosing the route most comparable to an insolent pubescent teen.

one long, slender finger proddes the seam at your waist of your wine red dress, your rambling coming to a halt. your eyes flaring at the growing lift at the corners of his mouth.

“fuck do you want, sukuna?” your eyebrows furrowed together, a cute little pout settling on your plush lips.

just as threatening as a baby tiger trying to show off their claws.

shit, he felt his blood rushing south like some measly fucking loser who hasn’t seen the touch of a woman in his life. all because you batted your lashes and spoke to him.

again, pathetic.

you had ignored him all night, opting to throw shots back and participating in team building strategies and other useless parlors. he was no fool, your scent usually stood akin to the smell of a fresh waterfall drifting into a pool of something floral. maybe water lilies? even roses. but now, it’s laced with the burning embers of something sweet. honey.

arousal. he was sure of it.

even now, flushed together as everyone else had risen up to find the dance floor, your eyes showed your true hues of emotions. red, yellow, pinks-

“would you fight me if i said you..?” your nose scrunched up in disgust, pushing the planes of his chest to seek out your sister.

guess it was time to go, huh?

“ugh, shut the fuck up! i’m leaving-” he couldn’t take you seriously with you stumbling and hiccuping your way down the steps, entering into the sea of people below.

and as much as he would love to sit and grovel, his heart felt like it was breaking at its enclosure at the sight of your growing distance with him.

he groaned, taking after you with long strides. his heavy footsteps followed behind the nimble wobble of yours, grasping at your wrist.

“look just-”

“no!” you whipped around shoving a manicured nail in the brunt of his chest. “i know there’s something-.... something that lurks in the shadows with you. i’m no fool, so stay away from m- mmph!”

smart girl. he’ll give you your credit. at least you have some survival instincts and wit about you. not only that, but you had the gall to stand your ground against him, huh?

a dark sneer rippled from his tongue, the kind of laugh that made the air thick and heavy. a heavy hand came up to cup your jaw.

your drunken fury simmered right back down to the tender laps of waves.

those treacherous pulses of heat ate at his control. eating at his will to not to take you into the back of some shitty storage room and show you the purge of darkness you think he hides.

not yet, you need more time.

ryomen tipped his head back to find some semblance of control, wielding the hunger and lust to draw back.

fucking woman, you driving him insane like this must be some sort of sorcery.

“go sit your ass down, now. your sister is fucking fine with those two freaks. ” he commanded, meeting the gaze in your eyes. your stance never wavered, the fire in your eyes refusing to be snuffed out.

yet, you ended up with your ass in a chair.

better than that, before he hung up the phone call to his personal driver, your eyes fluttered shut. the music thrumming in the background lulled you to fall asleep all less than five minutes. your head couldn’t hold it’s weight in your unconscious state, tilting until he had to clasp his hand to your forehead to catch it before it thudded against the table. opting to just sling you in his arms princess style, his boots began the journey, hitting the gravel outside of the building.

the city hummed its gentle tune in the background of the car, each passing street light catching the planes and dips that make the features on your face stand out. your lashes fluttered on the tops of your cheek with every inhale you take, chest rising in miniscule measurements. he felt a desperate urge to swallow you in his grip and hold you tight against his icy skin.

when the car rolled to a stop, ryomen cradled you in his arms once again, stepping into the shadows as a cloud of crimson swirled around the both of them, only dispersing seconds after in the middle of your hotel room like the parting of a fog.

his slender palm caressed your temple, the ice-kissed temperature of his lips pressing a sweet kiss there as he lowered you into the soft cushion of your sheets, his parting goodbye.

with another unnecessary breath, he rose up, striding over to pull the balcony door open.

“goodnight, my little tiger. you put up a good fight today.”

he slipped in the chilled gust of darkness, scarlet eyes lazily observing his surroundings as he appeared again across the street under a pole light. he could see you from his view below, from the tiny flickers of emotion in your expression as you dream dotingly to the soft twitch in your balled up fist uncurling as though you were reaching out from someone. for him.

“here, take it old fart.”

the younger ones these days are so disrespectful.

ryomen tilted his head over his shoulder to meet choso’s bored, chestnut irises ringed with that familiar, awful looking purple bags. pastel pink strands wisped away as he ran his hands through the base of his scalp.

“brat…” he grumbled, snatching the damn stick away in sheer pettiness.

there was an understanding of silence for a second, before choso huffed out a cloud of smoke.

“are you ever going to tell her? she’ll find out sooner than later, y’know.” he stated, rolling his eyes at ryomen’s antics as the second cloud of smoke filled the ice chilled air around them.

“i know that-” he growled. “i’d promptly advise you to shut the fuck up. i didn’t bother you when you were a pathetic loser for your wife.”

but despite the intensity of emotion behind his voice, choso simply shrugged his leather clad shoulders, taking his long strides away from from the 6’3 man. as he departed ryomen was so sure he hear that fucker grumble under his breath.

“at least i don’t have to stalk my wife like some old ass creep. wait until hayden finds you ‘edward-ing’ her sister.”

to fucking hell with that brat, the duo freaks, and their bonded. even if she is your sister, nobody will stop him from making you his.

conjuring forth a spark that gradually speared into a large crimson hue of a flame in his hand, he seeks you out till the sun bleeds a path of light through your balcony and wakes you to the day’s journey.

and when the sun sets and your mind drifts off into a careless realm of dreams… there he is again.

watching. waiting. protecting. yearning.

the usual humid heat of atlanta had simmered down into a drizzle calm. the streets were quite muted and lackluster from its usual loud blares of horns and activity. shades of greys and browns muddles its unique colors into a foggy storm. inside, the light flooded the room into a dim shade adjusting to the small quantity of natural rays from outside.

ryomen preferred this weather, something dreary. the type of weather that you could slip and disappear into the shadows and no one would bat an eye. the tapping rhythm of the rain dripped down the windows, capturing the spark of each flash with it.

“okay, everyone big smiles! one, two, three.”

his expression didn’t change much, of course. with each click next to a fan, ryomen stood tall, only a hint of impish tilt to the corner of his lips.

you stood maybe a good twenty feet away, your sister conducting the line to know that each individual gets enough time. your makeup was all done up, rocking a new hairstyle as you took long, away shots for promo.

he didn’t understand the schematics of it, but today it was a honey blonde, fading into a lighter shade of platinum around your waist.

a tinge of possessiveness curled around his ribcage.

‘pink would look better on you.’ he settled, a needy image rampaging through the cornered angles of his mind about how fucking gorgeous you would look splayed out on his onyx sheets with matching pale pink-

“okay, sukuna. one last picture.”

he slouched, forgetting to keep up with what’s natural to humans and what’s seen as… eerie, abnormal.

appearances, he supposes.

if not for shitty rules and customs he once was a part of, drakari traditions would have no substance on his life.

the last fan staggered on the podium taking the center of the group. he smelt… something pungent radiating from the male, face covered with a black mask.

but his eyes.. they were beady. like the life was sucked out from him, leaving only the remains of an outer shell.

“i remember something..” the man’s voice croaked alive, fingers shaky as they traveled to the edge of his facial mask.

“i remember.. that day that our village burned… so much smoke that the surrounding villages couldn’t see what really happened. what you really did-”

“alright guys! three-”

“is that right?” ryomen’s brows jumped at the man's tone, snarling, his chaos magic swirling, clawing like an animal to be released as the man taunted with those same beady eyes fusing into gold.

“two-”

“emperor ryomen sukuna”

“one!”

a loud cackle left the greasy man the same time a ‘pop’ echoed, heat spilling into the room at degrees to turn bones into ashes. screams ignited at the sight of flames blistering through the plaster covered walls in the building, crowds of people merging together to find any possible exit.

yet with each face he searched, none bared close to the resemblance of yours.

“fuck!” he roared over the crackles of flames and fear induced screams.

all five heightened senses working together as something ill made its way to his still heart at the thought of you stuck under rubble, lungs collapsing as you fight for your last breath.

no, not today. not ever.

and there it was, the scent of the rushing waterfall and bright lilies. he found you grasping desperately at multiple shoulders, presumably searching for the soft touch of your sister.

he swears some more profanities under his breath, clasping your shaky body under his. by the time your eyes opened after you blinked, you stood barreled under him in the middle of the park trail seven blocks down the street.

ryomen studied the contours on your face morphing from shock, to confusion, then finally landing in.. horror.

“n-no. no! how do we get here like that? ryomen…. where is my sister? oh my fucking god, is she still in there?” that unyielding boldness you carried had you clawing at him as if you could escape his grasp. though, you still shook like a leaf.

“my sister- ah! let the fuck go of me! she could be still in there! and you! with your freaky shit, what the fuck are you-”

his hands find their way to your cheeks again, clasping on as he bends forward. the both of you are only centimeters apart, your eyes searching for something found and strong behind the depths of those scarlet irises.

“breathe.”

his only command, and yet you sucked in the crisp morning air, blowing out the smears of smoke you escaped from.

“your sister is fine.. so just breathe, mama. just.. breathe. i’ll tell you everything later..”

those duo freaks would eat the world alive if anything happens to hayden.

ugh, especially blonde freak.

a strong chortle rings through his mind, affirming the hayden is indeed just with freak one and two.

now that not a hair was stinged on your head, maybe it’s time he goes to visit that zenin bastard.

it may end with the last remaining zenin’s heart clutched in his hand, as he sits on his throne in his court full of blood and bones.

all work belongs to to @aaazade please do not copy, translate without permission, or post my work! let me know if anyone would like to be apart of my taglist as i post each episode. hope you enjoyed episode two and be sure to comment for more!

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cece693 · 6 months ago

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You're Not Crazy Pt.1 (The Mad Hatter x M! Reader)

I got an ask some time ago about writing for other Depp characters such as the Mad Hatter. I haven't seen the movies recently, so some things might not be canon, however, I do want to explore this fandom since it is relatively empty of fanfics :) I left it purposefully open-ended in case you guys want a 2nd part.

Summary: You believed your sister when she returned home and spoke of a land where magical and peculiar people roamed. You asked her to take you there, and there, you encounter the Mad Hatter.

tags: of age reader, your Alice's brother, older by a few years, you hadn't seen wonderland before, not following story or book timeline

You believed your sister from the moment she returned home, eyes wide and voice trembling with excitement. She spoke of a world hidden beyond the ordinary, a place where logic twisted into nonsense and peculiar beings roamed freely—a land called Wonderland. You listened, enraptured, as she described a realm of talking animals, living chess pieces, and the most unusual of tea parties. While others dismissed her tales as ramblings of a crazed girl with an overactive imagination, you knew better. You had always known better.

“I want to see it,” you told her one evening. “I want to go there, too.”

Your sister hesitated, her face clouding with concern. “It’s not a place for everyone,” she said softly. “It can be…overwhelming.” But you insisted. If she could brave Wonderland, then so could you. And so, with reluctance, she agreed.

The next day, you followed her through the forest behind your home, down winding paths that seemed to shift and change when you weren’t looking. Eventually, she stopped by a large oak tree, its roots sprawling like the fingers of some great, sleeping beast.

“This is where I fell through.” And before you could ask what she meant, she took your hand and jumped, pulling you into the hollow darkness beneath the tree.

The fall was long and winding, like tumbling through a kaleidoscope of colors and strange sounds. When you finally landed—rather unceremoniously—on a bed of soft grass, you found yourself surrounded by an impossible landscape. The sky was a deep lavender, the grass a brilliant shade of blue. Flowers whispered secrets as you passed, and a brook giggled like a child at play.

"Welcome to Wonderland." Your sister announced with a smile, her eyes alight with familiarity.

It was more magical and bizarre than you could have imagined. You wandered through towering mushroom fields and past chattering woodland creatures, your eyes darting in awe. But one tale from your sister’s stories captivated you most—the Mad Hatter and his eternal tea party.

You begged her to take you there, and she obliged, leading you down a winding path that seemed to twist back on itself like a living thing. She left you at the entrance to a clearing, insisting that the rest of this adventure would be yours alone.

“Just be careful with him.” she warned softly before disappearing back down the path. Confused by her words, you approached the clearing cautiously, the sound of clinking china and cheerful, nonsensical chatter growing louder with each step. And then you saw him—the Mad Hatter, sitting at the head of a long, crooked table filled with teapots, mismatched cups, and an array of pastries that defied description.

His hair was a wild mop of orange curls and his large green eyes glimmered with a feverish brightness. Beside him sat a hare who seemed to be caught in a perpetual state of alarm, and a sleepy mouse that napped in a teapot.

“More tea?” the Hatter exclaimed, lifting a cup in your direction before noticing you. “Ah, a new guest! How splendid, how rare!”

You hesitated, taking in his erratic movements and the almost manic excitement in his voice. He seemed to be all contradictions—both welcoming and wary, kind and somehow unsettling.

“I…I’ve heard a lot about you.” You said carefully, stepping closer.

“Have you, now?” The Hatter's eyes widened, and he leaned forward as if this was the most intriguing news he'd heard all day. “And what did you hear? That I’m mad as a hatter?”

You chuckled. “Well, yes. But also that you throw the best tea parties in Wonderland.”

This seemed to please him immensely. “Then you’ve heard correctly!” he declared, standing up with a flourish. “Do sit, do sit! There’s always room for one more at my table. Unless, of course, it’s Tuesday, and we’re already three cups deep in the riddle rounds. But it’s not Tuesday, is it?”

You shook your head, finding yourself smiling despite the oddity of it all. “No, it’s not Tuesday.”

“Wonderful! Sit, sit!” He patted a chair beside him, his smile so wide it was almost infectious. As you took your seat, he poured you a cup of tea without asking if you wanted one, dropping in a few sugar cubes for good measure. “Tell me, what brings you to my humble tea party? And don't say 'a rabbit,' because that would be terribly unoriginal.”

You explained how your sister had told you stories of this place and how you wanted to see it for yourself. The Hatter listened with an almost childlike fascination, nodding and “hmming” at all the appropriate moments.

“There’s something different about you.” he said thoughtfully after a while. “Most people who come here are either lost or looking for something they don’t understand. But you—oh, you’re not like the others, are you?”

You shrugged, unsure how to respond. “I just…wanted to see if it was real.”

The Hatter’s grin softened into something almost genuine. “And now that you’re here? What do you think?”

“I think it’s more than real,” you said. “It’s…alive.”

His eyes seemed to glow with approval. “I like you.” he declared suddenly. “You’re not afraid of madness. You might even be a bit mad yourself.”

You laughed, feeling a strange warmth spreading through your chest. For all his eccentricities, the Hatter made you feel like you belong in this topsy-turvy world. And you realized, with a start, that you liked it. You liked him.

As the days passed, you found yourself returning to the Hatter's tea party again and again. You never knew what to expect—sometimes, you’d spend hours debating the merits of invisible jam; other times, you’d sit in comfortable silence, simply enjoying the strangeness of each other’s company.

The Hatter, for his part, seemed equally drawn to you. He would light up whenever you appeared, his eyes twinkling with mischief and delight. There were moments when his wildness would soften, and you’d catch a glimpse of something deeper beneath the madness—something vulnerable and achingly sincere.

But as the weeks turned into months, a quiet conflict began to stir within you. Wonderland was a place where time didn’t matter, where rules were made to be broken, and madness was a way of life. And yet, the longer you stayed, the more you began to feel a strange pull—a yearning for the world you had left behind. Memories of home, of mornings filled with familiar scents and sunsets painting the sky in shades of gold, tugged at the edges of your mind. Then there was your sister who you dearly missed. You tried to ignore the pull, losing yourself in the Hatter's antics but the feeling persisted.

The Hatter noticed, of course. He was always watching you with those keen, almost too-bright eyes. One evening, as you sat together beneath the stars, he turned to you, his expression unusually serious.

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he asked quietly.

“Thinking about what?”

“Leaving.” he said, his voice edged with something fragile and raw. “Going back to your world. Abandoning me.”

His words cut deeper than you expected. “It’s not like that, Hatter. I just…I miss some things from home.”

“But you can’t have both.” he replied sharply. His hands trembled as he poured himself another cup of tea, spilling more than half of it onto the table. “You can’t live in two worlds at once. Sooner or later, you have to choose.”

You felt a pang of guilt twisting in your chest. “I don’t want to leave you. Not really.”

“Not really?” he repeated, his voice rising, eyes narrowing as he stared at you. “But ‘really’ enough to think about it. To dream of it.”

The words stung, and you felt a flare of frustration. “It’s not that simple, Hatter! You don’t understand—”

“I don’t understand?” His voice rose, and he stood abruptly, knocking over his chair. “Oh, I understand perfectly! You think you can dip in and out of Wonderland as you please, but this place changes you. It consumes you. And you think you can just walk away?”

“I don’t know what I want!” you shouted back, standing to face him. “I care about you, I do. But I can’t just—”

“Then go!” he interrupted, his face twisted in anger and heartbreak. “Leave if you must. But don’t come back. I can’t bear the thought of you dangling the possibility of forever only to snatch it away.”

“I’m sorry.” you whispered, unsure of what else to say. The Hatter’s face crumpled, and for the first time, you saw him for what he truly was—a broken soul clinging to the one bit of sanity that remained: you.

“Don’t be.” he murmured, turning away. “I’m just a madman, after all. And what would a madman know of love?”

As you stood there, watching him retreat into himself, you felt the weight of the decision pressing down on you like never before. Wonderland was a place of wonder, but it was also a place of madness. Could you stay here forever, leaving the world you knew behind in favor of Hatter's affections?

The answer wasn’t simple. It wasn’t clear. But as you watched the Hatter, his shoulders slumped and his hands trembling, you knew one thing: if you left, a part of you would always remain in Wonderland—lost among the teapots and riddles, forever searching for a madman’s love.

#x male reader #male reader #the mad hatter #alice kingsleigh #mad hatter #tweedle dum #white queen #red queen #alice in wonderland #white rabbit #cheshire cat #alice #the mad hatter x reader #the mad hatter x male reader #hatter x reader #hatter x male reader

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wynnyfryd · 1 year ago

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Trailer park Steve AU part 11

part 1 | part 10 | ao3

cw: period-typical homophobic language, explicit sexual content (if you are under 18 then kindly GO ON NYOW GIT come back when you grow your first gray pube)

It feels crazy, after all that, to just get up and face the day. Feels like last Fall all over again: he’s concussed in the back of class getting bagel crumbs on a worksheet with his face still pulverized. There’s a gross pang in his chest as he goes about his morning routine, his heart all squishy and bruised like some dickhead smashed a plate over it, but whatever, he guesses. Public education and minimum wage wait for no one.

Robin grills him the whole car ride: “Oh, my god, is he okay?? Is he alive? Is your mom okay? What the hell, Steve?” and he lets her ramble with wide, worried eyes; doesn’t even get to the part about Eddie. When they pull up to the school she gets out of the car and comes around to his side, knocks on his window and leans in when he rolls it down to give him a ridiculously long hug.

"Robinnn," he grumbles; his face is mashed against her boobs. "People are gonna think we're dating."

She bends to hug him tighter still, her bony ass hanging out his window where the whole school can see. "I'd date you in a second."

"You've literally said that you wouldn't."

"Platonically, I would!!"

She gives him one last squeeze, and he watches her waddle off, trumpet case awkwardly smacking her calves.

And then he just... goes to work. He goes to stand around a nearly empty store and pretend like he even has any work to do, restocks the already full displays of candy and buffs the countertops until they shine. Three hours in and he's run out of ways to look busy and Keith is “doing admin stuff” in the back, so he gives his mom a call. Makes sure she's okay; did she eat anything yet; any updates on Ernie?

She’s fine, she's not hungry, he's alive but that's all they know for now, her tone distantly polite like Steve's nothing more than a friendly cold caller.

He shoves his fingers in his eyes ’til he sees stars when they hang up.

He calls the Henderson house next, leaves a message to apologize for skipping out early, promises that he'll be there next Wednesday and he can bring dessert this time. There’s a lunch rush after that, but the day still drags like a bad hangover, a dull throbbing in his bones, and when he finally gets home he collapses onto his bed and passes out on top of the covers with his dumb work vest still on.

—

Eddie's acting weird.

Steve sees him again on Friday, spots him and his uncle having a smoke out on the porch and wanders over to say hello. Wayne seems happy enough to chat; gives him all the news on Ernie — "Bastard's unkillable," he says, almost impressed. He’s stable now, should be home any day.

Eddie, on the other hand, spends the entire interaction behaving like a skittish cat, eyes darting to and from Steve, leg jiggling as he quietly puffs his cig.

Steve half expects him to slink off and come back to drop a dead mouse at his feet.

He feels his brows knit together, agitation creeping in. It's not like he thought they'd be best friends after a single night of ceasefire or anything — as if they'd start braiding each other's hair and trading their deepest, darkest secrets or whatever queer shit — but like…

He thought they might be cool now. At least a little bit.

And Eddie's not being rude to him, exactly, but that's somehow even worse. The polite disinterest. The subtle shift to the left. Back and away.

“Okay, well, uh...” Steve glances at Eddie, who's looking anywhere but him. Fucking fascinated by a loose thread on his ripped jeans, apparently, plucking at it with anxious fingers. “See ya around, I guess?”

Wayne says not be a stranger, and Eddie gives him a quick nod. “See ya.”

Steve grinds his teeth about it for the rest of the afternoon, then decides, like, screw this. It's a Friday night; he's not sitting around sulking all evening because Eddie Munson hurt his feelings.

He calls up a girl — some pretty blonde chick he remembers from the cheer squad — and sets up a date for later that night. Takes her to the drive-in, buys her a vanilla shake. The date's fine; it's good; it's fine. She's pretty enough, and she offers to suck him off when the main feature starts.

It’s not a good blowjob. Arguably one of the worst ones Steve’s had, and he’s had quite a few. She keeps gagging herself with these gross squelching sounds, barely getting even half of his dick in her tiny mouth and not bothering to use her hands to make up the difference. Just leaves them resting on Steve’s thighs while she makes fake whimpering moans like she’s sooo turned on by this; fucking as if; and somewhere in the middle of her repetitive, sloppy bobbing his mind starts to wander off. To the trailer, to the lot fees, the fucking pharmacy bills. Their ever-dwindling savings and what percentage of them he just wasted on this lackluster movie night; surely they’re gonna run out any day now; tick tock, tick tock.

"Um," the girl squeaks as she pulls off with a gross slurp. Steve looks down at his lap, sees he's gone soft. "Am I, like, doing something wrong, or...?"

Her voice is high and quiet, innocent and sweet, and Steve feels like an asshole. He squeezes himself at the base, gives a few quick strokes to get himself up again. "No, you're perfect, honey," he lies. "Stick out your tongue for me?"

She bats her eyes demurely and rolls over onto her side, gives him some kind of sexy pout before opening her mouth so he can jerk off over her. Steve works his wrist; tries not to be rude and look away, but her colors are all wrong. Strawberry hair. Blue irises. He squeezes his eyes shut, moves his hand faster and thinks of dark brown. Dark hair, dark lashes, dark eyes like the deep woods. Endless. Sort of mesmerizing. Nancy? "Oh, fuck," he gasps as he comes.

The girl squeals and jerks away from him, hands flying to her face. "Oh, my god! Oh, my god! You got it in my nose!"

"Sorry,” Steve grunts, shuddering through an aftershock. There’s cum on his hand, on his pants; all over this poor girl’s face. He thinks he got some in her eyelashes. "Shit, sorry, let me, uh—"

He leans over and rifles through the glove box, trying to find a napkin for her. No dice. Best he can do is an old McDonald's wrapper with a grease stain on the side. "Here, does— does this work?"

“Ew!”

“Sorry, I mean it’s that or my shirt, but then I’d have to drive you home shirtless, so-”

“Ugh,” she gives him a bitchy look. Tries to, anyway. One eye is glued shut. “Just give me that, please.”

His limp, spitty cock is still hanging from his pants when he passes her the wrapper. Flaccid and sad, like a white flag of surrender, and a bubble of hysterical laughter slips out. A choked burst of it, a pufferfished pfffft as it explodes past his lips. He’s not sure if it's the orgasm or the ridiculousness of the situation or if he's just plain lost his mind, but the girl glares at him, which...

There's still a glob of jizz on her cheek, so it doesn’t help matters much.

"I think you should take me home."

"Y-yep. Sorry. Yeah."

“Like now.”

Steve tucks himself into his jeans.

—

part 12

tagging whoever commented yesterday if your settings will let me @slutforcoffein @annabanannabeth @rani-mayida @awolfstudio @noodle-shenaniganery @yourmom-isgay @zombiecreatures @anne-bennett-cosplayer @thestarslittleking @evillittleguy @acedorerryn @messrs-weasley @bronwenmarie @lololol-1234 @estrellami-1 @jaytriesstuff @space-invading-pigeon @violetsteve @ahsokatanoss @slowandsteddie @zoeweee @silver-snaffles @eddie-munsons-missing-nipple @thealwithnoname @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @hellion-child @stevesbipanic @trensu @steves-strapcollection @hotluncheddie

#trailer park steve au #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #wayne munson #claudia henderson #st fic #my writing #my fic

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mouse-holes · 4 months ago

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I will also accept spicy reqs on here if anyone is interested o7

Send me drawing requests to help me procrastinate on things I need to do <33

#mouse's secret ramblings

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wolsalwastaken · 7 months ago

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So, as you do, I was on the new version of thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com and I’ve figured out every. Single. Secret. Code. I. Could.

Now with the help of the community, I am expanding this list! Please post passwords in the comments sections or reblog if I have not yet mentioned them! You will, of course, receive credit for your discoveries! Nerds unite! At the very bottom, you will find a full list of citations I used for the passwords. Any password that is un-cited is one I found myself :)

Spoilers for this version of the website, but I’m mainly posting this as I know it’ll be gone soon. Keep reading at your own discretion, as these are spoilers if you wanted to solve it yourself.

This post will continually be updated as I find new codes and ciphers to solve and new passwords, stay tuned as this is a masterpost of this iteration of the website!

So, here’s all the places to click on screen for Easter eggs:

And here’s a list of all the different passcodes I’ve found to work on the computer. If multiple words are listed it’s because they activate the same thing. Brackets are not part of the pswd. (c) means that the person I learnt it from is listed below. If there is no (c), then I found it.

Cipher

Triangle (click 3 times)

Bill/Bill Cipher

Stanford/Ford/Sixer

Fiddleford/McGucket

Filbrick

Mason

Dipper (click 5 times)

Mabel (click 12 times)

Wendy

Robbie

Gideon (2 possible results)

The Book Of Bill

Alex Hirsch/Hirsch

Monster

Mystery Shack

TJ Eckleburg

Hey nerd

Divorce/breakup

Theraprism

Soos

Disney/mickey mouse/disneyland (c)

Hectoring

Axolotl

Stanley/Stan (click 8 times)

Gravity Falls

Pines

Geometry/algebra/math/greek/greece/trigonometry/shape (c)

Conspiracy

God/help me/frlliam (c)

Triangle

Ducktective

Waddles

Morality

Portal

Love/boyfriend

(Literally any word of profanity, i.e sex or fuck)/Ted Cruz (c)

Death

Dorito/chip/nacho (c)

Skeleton

Life

Weird

Reality

The universe

Baby/baby bill/lalalalala/mommy/daddy (c)

Rat

Urban legends/horror/creepypasta (c)

Blind eye

Crypto/NFT/gyatt/skibidi/fortnite/Elon/rizz (c)

Journal 3

Journal 2

Journal 1

Theory/that’s just a/matpat (c)

Question

Answer

Piñata

FBI/NSA

Blendin Blandin

Abuelita

Weirdmageddon

Toby Determined

History

Sorry

Cursed

They’ll see/they’ll all see/I see

Cryptogram codex

Curse wittebane

Fordtramarine

Disco girl

Ad astra per aspera

Forget the past

Torture mentally

Hotxolotl

Scrimbles

Lies

Paper is book skin

Euclid

Dionarap (c)

Booberry (c)

Unreality (c)

Vallis cineris (c)

Caryn

Euclydia (c)

Scalene (c)

Even his lies are lies (c)

Stodehttcennoc (c)

Emmalinebutternubbins (c)

Dispense my treat

Just fit in (c)

Nothing

Something

Ciphertology (click 2 times)

Well well well being (c) (click 4 times)

One eyed king (c)

Titans blood (c)

Blanchin (c)

Suck it merlin (c)

Tantrum (c)

You can’t kill an idea (c)

Kook (c)

Naitsuaf (c)

Oroborous (c)

Giffany (click 6 times)

Who are you (c)

R34lity

Fixinit1

Love ya bro (c)

Tad strange (c)

Liar lyre (c)

Xgqrthx (c)

Peak (c)

Platinum peak (c)

Glass shard beach (c)

Cray cray (c)

Deer teeth (c)

Season 1 (c)

Season 2 (c)

Season 3 (c)

Gun (c)

Irregular (c)

Seven eyes (c)

Xyler/Craz (c)

Yes (c)

Justblendin (c)

Black sheep (c)

Baaaa (c)

Union made (c)

29121239168518 (c)

Grebley hemberdreck (c)

3466554 (c)

Tinsel snake (c)

333 sun dapple lane cozy creek IL 60714-94611 (c)

Mountain don't (c)

Riddle (c)

Burnside (c)

No (c)

Llib (c)

When will I die (c) (click once a day)

Clone/paper jam/Tyrone (c)

Multilevel Mark (c)

Goodnight Sally (c)

Tourist trap (c)

The duchess approves (c)

Scientology (c)

Meow (c)

Shave your grandma (c)

Burned inside (c)

Sevral times (c)

Easter egg (c)

Oh yes they both (c)

Kings of new jersey (c)

Destruction is a form of creation (c)

Fuck you Alex/fuck Alex (c)

Rubberhose (c)

Am I blanchin (c)

Card (c)

Bye gold (c)

Globnar (c)

Kubrick (c)

Not a phase (c)

Virus (c)

Spookemups (c)

You're insane (c)

Owl trowl (c)

L is real 2401 (c)

Occurremus iterum (c)

Family matters (c)

Harold’s ramblings (c)

Is hell real (c)

Is there an afterlife (c)

Dippy Fresh (c)

Justblendin (c)

Here’s a link to the entire 15 minute video of me going over all the Easter eggs and codes, so if you don’t wanna bother doing it (fair) then here ya go! Had to post via Instagram because no other social media lets me post long videos, oh well. (As I find more codes, I may make a part 2 video of me solving those on video)

Link here (part 1)

Credits/sources:

@sage-nebula (Dionarap, vallis cineris)

@dottyistired (Booberry, unreality)

@vlada-elya (Ted Cruz)

@cloudofcaffeine (Euclydia, Scalene)

@putadapower (Even his lies are lies, oroborous)

@dippers101 (Stodehttcennoc, emmalinebutternubbins)

@ren-is-real (Just fit in)

@hopefully-maybe-abby (I see)

@towacletruck (Well well well being, one eyed king, titans blood, blanchin, suck it merlin, tantrum, you can’t kill an idea, kook)

@cskv11 (Naitsuaf)

@eazy-peazy54 (Breakup, gyatt, who are you, r34lity, fixinit1, love ya bro, tad strange, liar lyre, xgqrthx, giffany, peak, platinum pas, glass shard beach, cray cray, help me, deer teeth, lalalalala, season 1, season 2, season 3, Mickey Mouse, gun, irregular, horror, creepy pasta, seven eyes, yes, trigonometry, xyler, craz, justblendin, black sheep, baaaa, skibidi, Fortnite, union made, 29121239168518, grebley hemberdreck, 3466554, tinsel snake, 333 sun dapple lane cozy creek IL 60714-94611, mountain don't, burnside, riddle, no, llib, when will I die, Elon, clone, multilevel mark, goodnight sally, paper jam, tyrone, tourist trap, the duchess approves, shape, meow, scientology, shave your grandma, nacho, rizz, daddy, mommy, burned inside, sevral times, easter egg, oh yes they both, kings of new jersey, destruction is a form of creation, rubber hose, card, am I blanchin, fuck you Alex, fuck Alex, fuck you, bye gold, nsa, globnar, Disneyland, Kubrick, not a phase, virus, spookemups, that's just a, you're insane, owl trowel, L is real 2401, occurremus iterum, frilliam, family matters, Matpat, Harold’s ramblings)

@delusionalpaper (Is hell real, is there an afterlife)

@thisisnotawebsitedotcom-com (Dippy fresh)

@/soldofficialyt on YouTube, Justblendin

HUGE shoutout to @eazy-peazy54 for providing so many codes! Seriously, thank you so much for your amazing post compiling them!

#bill cipher gf #bill cipher gravity falls #bill gravity falls #gravity falls bill #book of bill #bill cipher #the book of bill #the book of bill spoilers #thisisnotawebsitedotcom #gravity falls #gravity falls codes #masterpost #thisisnotawebsitedotcom passwords

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hammed-burger08 · 5 months ago

Text

| Selcouth | Chapter two: Gabriel |

Platonic! Yandere! Alien x reader

Warnings: Yandere behavior, violence, death

Summary: While recovering a space capsule your astronaut team discovers an intelligent life form that seems to be a little too attached to you.

Word count: 2,032

A/n: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thank you for reading <3

“Data log: entry number 3,

I will now begin to conduct different tests on this creature. First, I will attempt to feed it plants." You take hold of the tongs to your right and tear a piece of kale off. Slowly you begin to lift the glass covering of the creature's enclosure. Placing the kale into its space, you begin to observe any movements that the creature makes.

"The creature seemed to be indifferent toward the plant, I will now begin testing live feeding." You glance over to the mouse that you have.

"Sorry mouse, your death won't be in vain." You gently lift the mouse from its tank and place it with the creature, quickly shutting the lid. With a curious glint in your eyes, you begin to observe its eating habits.

The first thing you notice is how the creature seems to open up—as if it's blooming. Slowly the appendages sprouting from the center wrap around the mouse, each movement slow and meticulous. Once the appendage is completely wrapped around the middle of the mouse, the creature fully blossoms. White glowing ethereal light floods your vision and as if you were in a trance, you cannot look away. The mouse squeals as its body is being melted. With no blood being congealed, everything flows from the mouse into the center of the creature's flower. A buzzing feeling takes over your mind, and you are completely unable to think. All you can do now is just observe.

The mouse is no longer struggling; it's become paralyzed. You feel like the mouse, trapped in your own head, unable to move or make a sound. Strangely, you don't feel any panic; your will to fight is completely taken over. It was only when the creature finished that you came back to your senses. Thank god for the camera recording.

Turning toward your monitor, you watch the video of the feeding. After taking down notes, you proceed to finish your data log, shaking a little as you do.

"The closed lily shape on the creature opens to what seems to be a flower shape. Each of the 'petals' on the creature has razor-sharp, shark-like teeth. On the end of each 'petal' there are hooked teeth that attach to its prey. The center of the flower has a circle of teeth with a glowing center. In fact, it seems as though there is a smaller flower inside of the middle containing a glowing—almost blinding—light. I have deduced that this light may have hypnotic abilities. When feeding, the creature seems to completely wrap around its prey, secreting paralytic venom and venom that completely melts the prey. The creature then sucks the blood and meat from the prey like a vacuum." Ending your data log, you turn towards the creature, It’s completely closed now.

"…" You have no idea how to feel about this. It's amazing what the capabilities of the creature are; however, the hypnosis poses a serious threat. Deciding to stop thinking about it, you walk out of the capsule, triple-checking the locks.

Walking into the common area, you spot David. Quickly running up to him you began to excitingly tell him your discoveries.

"Oh my God, David, that creature is insane. I mean, the way it feeds on animals, holy shit. It literally melts flesh, do you know how crazy that is?? I also am beginning to believe it can hypnotize—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. What do you mean by melt flesh?" David, extremely concerned, cuts your insane rambling short with a very valid question.

"Is that thing even safe to have on board?" He seems to be full of valid questions actually.

"It's literally sealed; we'll be fine. Anyway, to answer your question, it literally made it so that the mouse couldn't congeal its own blood. It effectively just turned the mouse into soup." David gives you the craziest look in existence. If he were to strain his eye any more to the side, you think it would go to the back of his head.

"Um…" David says, scrunching his eyebrows even further.

"Cool, right?" you reply with a goofy smile planted on your face.

"If by cool you mean terrifying, then yes, very cool," David says, giving a nervous laugh.

"What are you two talking about?" Whipping your head over, you see Isla walking into the common room, giving you a scrutinizing look.

"Our Researcher made some new discoveries on the resident alien." Poor, sweet David is the one who has to speak up to the witch.

"Gross, please refrain from talking about that thing in my vicinity," Isla says, then walks out of the shared common room, bumping into your shoulder while doing so.

"Who pissed in her cereal?" you mutter before turning back to face David.

"So, are ya gonna name it?" David asks, giving you a curious look. You've thought about naming it before because saying the word 'creature' over and over again has been getting old. So, you already have a pretty good namein mind.

"Yeah, I was thinking about the name Gabriel." The main reason for this was how the creature looked; its white glowing light and flowing beauty gave it the attributes of an angel. So, it was only right that you named it after one.

"Odd name for an alien space thing, but okay," David says, getting up from his seat.

"Anyway, I'm going to go hit the hay. See ya later, girly." David turns and walks to his part of the living quarters.

"Goodnight, David," you yell out.

You make your way into your living quarters placing your recording device on your bedside table. Slowly you began to drift off into sleep.

You awake in a panic, loud alarms pierce your eardrums. Quickly you cover your ears.

"What's going on…" you say, not even being able to hear yourself over the alarms. Hell, you can't even hear your own thoughts over the alarms. In a hurry, you rush over to the capsule; you have a suspicion that's where the alarms originated from.

"What happened?" You yell over the alarms. To your right, you see Isla disabling them with David right next to her. The tank that held Gabriel looks wrong, almost.

"I have no idea. I walked in here to see Isla tampering with things," David replies after helping Isla shut off the alarm system.

"Isla, what did you do?" you ask, not trying to sound accusatory.

"I… I don't know. All I remember is that I was walking around the station until I saw that thing. There was blinding white light and now I'm here." You feel bad for her; the hypnosis that Gabriel can induce is no joke. You give her an empathetic look.

"When I walked in here, she looked pretty out of it, almost like a zombie," David says, backing up her words.

"I knew this could happen, but I never thought it could be this strong…"

"What?" David says, eyeing you.

"Remember last night when we were talking about how Gabriel feeds?"

"You named it??" Isla loudly exclaims, looking disgusted.

"Yeah," David replies to you, ignoring Isla's words.

"Gabriel is able to hypnotize its prey," you try to explain.

"You mean it was trying to eat Isla?" David asks, looking horrified. Gabriel trying to hypnotize Isla for food is probably not the best conclusion, but it could be one.

"Maybe," you reply.

"Maybe?? Fucking maybe?? My life could be in jeopardy and all you can muster up is a maybe?" Isla says, screaming at you, getting closer to your face.

"Isla, none of us know anything about Gabriel—" you try to explain.

"Stop fucking calling that thing Gabriel!" Isla spits out, shoving you as she does so. Regaining your composure, you try to explain to Isla that eating her was most likely not the reason.

"None of us know anything about it. So, there could be a chance that it wasn't trying to eat you but rather trying to escape. Look, you are much larger than Gabriel, so most likely it won't see you as prey." At this point, your breathing is heavy and your fists are balled.

"So let's just calm down and get you checked up," you say with a strained smile, trying your best to keep a calm demeanor.

"I don't need to be checked up on by someone like you." Isla walks out of the room, once again bumping into your shoulder—it seems to be a new favorite thing for her to do.

Okay.

Ouch.

For once in a very long time, Isla's comment dug deep. You took immense pride in your schooling and your ability to help, so for her to just blatantly tell you she doesn't want your help actually made you feel some type of way.

You shake your head, now that she’s gone you can check up on Gabriel.

"You probably want to leave and lock the door while I'm doing this," you tell David. He nods, walks out of the room, making sure to shut and lock the door.

Walking over to Gabriel's enclosure, you see that the lid is slightly off. When Isla was under the trance, she must have opened the lid before snapping out of it when the alarms turned on. You take a mouse out of its tank to test whether or not Gabriel is hurt.

The mouse goes up to Gabriel, nudging it a little before wandering around the enclosure. Something must be wrong. You take a long probe tool and poke at one of Gabriel's appendages; nothing happens. You deduce that the high concentration of oxygen in the air must have shocked Gabriel's senses. Before, when you were feeding him in a controlled environment, you made sure that the air and pressure were as close as possible to how it would be on Grannus. That was not the case when Isla opened the glass.

With your head lying low, you continue to observe Gabriel. Suddenly, Gabriel begins to move. One of the appendages on it curls ever so slightly, as if Gabriel is beckoning you to come closer. And closer you go.

With your face pressed up against the glass, you watch the flower structure on Gabriel open once again. Quickly, you look away. Seemingly annoyed by this, Gabriel hits one of its appendages against the glass. Jumping a little, you turn your head away and leave the capsule.

Triple-checking the locks, you move towards your monitor. You watch as a feed of Gabriel is displayed. Honestly, you feel really bad for Gabriel; the poor thing didn't ask to be tested on or to be in a glass box. Deciding to turn off the feed, you head back to your room.

This was your first mistake.

David got a little too curious and decided to check out Gabriel on his own. Seeing that you were asleep, he crept into the capsule. Immediately, he turned his head to Gabriel. The flower on it was closed, so David didn't feel threatened. However, that quickly changed. The flower opened with such rapidness that David couldn't do anything to fight off the hypnosis. It was over.

Earlier that night, when David and Isla were turning off the alarm system, it caused it to stop working. So, there was nothing to pull David back out.

With a reaching hand, David slowly pulled the glass casing off. Shakily, David's hand scooped up Gabriel, bringing Gabriel right up to his face. Gabriel's appendages wrapped around David's wrist and hand. Gradually, an appendage reached for David's neck. Wrapping around David's neck, Gabriel crawled up until it was attached to the back of David's head. Gabriel then sunk every single one of its teeth into David.

David could feel his consciousness fading away. He was no longer himself; every thought, dream, or aspiration he ever had melted away. All David was now was a host, a puppet for Gabriel.

The only feature of Gabriel you didn't catch was how he had the ability to take control over a host. When Gabriel sunk his teeth into David, he released enough venom to completely melt David's brain, effectively taking David over.

#yandere platonic #platonic yandere #yandere x reader #yandere #yandere monster #aliens #yandere alien #yandere x you #yandere x darling #yandere x y/n #yandere oc

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grapejuicestyless · 2 years ago

Text

Don’t Be A Stranger.

Conrad Fisher x fem!reader

Summery: To Conrad, you are all things good in his life. But, it doesn’t feel that way when he keeps you a secret.SHES A LONG ONE!!(perspectives will switch between Conrad, Belly and the reader.)

Conrad had many secrets. Ones he carried not because he didn’t have anyone to share them with, or to trust them with, but because he chose to keep them the way they were always meant to be, a secret. A silent fact that only he would know of. And to Conrad, that was y/n.

Conrad still remembers the day he met her. It had been the morning after a particularly rough storm. Branches and trash scattered along the shoreline, sand messed into piles. But in the mess, sat a girl. Quiet as a mouse, breath steady and face calm. Like the place around her was perfectly normal. She remained unbothered at the center of the chaos.

Her hair had been up, tucked behind her ears. Her top was thin and white, a silky button up that was hanging low on one of her shoulders. From what he could see, her bra strap was light blue, the same shade as her jean shorts. Conrad believed that he had never seen someone so beautiful, not even close to what he was seeing with her. Even in his tween years, he felt sure that he never would see someone that beautiful. But one thing stood out to him.

Looking down, taking her in fully, Conrad noticed that her feet, which were half buried into the warm sand, were still covered in her now stained white socks. Now, he was never one to judge. At least, not verbally. Conrad had his own fair share of oddities, he knew that as well as anyone else. But he couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t just take them off.

Perhaps it was the fact that he wanted to have a reason to talk to her, searched for a reason to talk to her, or maybe it was pure interest. But something inside of him urged Conrad to approach the girl with her socks in the sand.

“Why don’t you just take your socks off?” His words weren’t mean, or teasing in the slightest. Every word that came out was from pure curiosity and interest. The girl simply shrugged at his question, eyes glued to the water.

“Didn’t feel like it.” Short, but straight to the point. Her lips pulling into a tight, downward slanted smile. Her answer caused Conrad to pull his eyebrows together. Nose scrunched and mouth parted.

“But it takes like three seconds to get them off? And they’re white and the sand might stain them…“ He found himself rambling. Something he never did. No, usually Conrad had very little to say. Only really showing his personality around the residents of the Cousins summer home. But really mainly just the moms, Steven and occasionally Jeremiah.

“Why do you want to see my feet so bad?” In his rambling, Conrad hadn’t realized the girl had turned her gaze to meet his face. One eyebrow slightly lifted up and her nose scrunched barely. Her eyes squinted to look at him through the bright sunlight behind him.

He blushed, feeling embarrassed, and the beach fell quiet again. The only sound the seagulls and the waves crashing into the shore.

The girl sighed, a playful smile spreading across her face. Her hand patted the sand beside her in a welcoming gesture. Her head nodding in approval.

Conrad was careful, sitting down cautiously beside the mystery girl. His body was tense and his eyes trying every hard to not sm get stuck looking at her. He didn’t want to come off too strong, or as a creep, at best. But she was so magnetic. It was like she demanded his attention.

“I didn’t mean to be mean.” Her voice was soft, but carried an undertone of certainty. One that asserted that she was sure in herself but was gentle about it.

Conrad looked at her then, sensing that it was fine to really look at her. When he did, he found her eyes already looking at him. Curious but also shifting. She came across shy, much more shy than she talked. Like their eye contact was physically hurting her.

“You weren’t mean.” He had reassured her.

“You were just curious. I mean, it is odd. Who wears socks in the sand?” She wiggled her feet playfully, making fun of herself. But it wasn’t degrading. She carried too much pride in herself to do that. She did it in a way that showed she meant her apology, and lifted the mood in it. A shared laugh sounding between them.

“I’m Conrad.” He held out his hand, chest still shaking with laughter. The girl took it, eyes directed to where they were now connected, avoidant of his eyes again.

“Y/n.” Her eyes found his, and the smile on her face showed maybe she wasn’t as afraid and shy as Conrad had assumed.

Their conversation that followed after the exchange further proved that. Y/n was complicated, but not in a bad way. She was shy, but prideful. She wasn’t cocky either, but also didn’t allow people to take credit for what she had done. She was genuine and honest. She wasn’t sorry for being her. Unapologetically herself in all ways, but knew how to apologize and mean it when it counted. She was reliable but leaned more towards an introverted life. She hated large groups of people, but loved them when she knew everyone well enough. She didn’t have many friends, but she loved the ones she had like a family. Y/n hated the feeling of her hair on the back of her neck in the summer because she claimed it stuck too much to her skin and made her feel gross. But she loved it in the winter because she thought it made her look better. Conrad couldn’t have disagreed more. Even only seeing her hair up, he decided for her that there was no way she could’ve worn her hair that would’ve made her less attractive. She was perfect to him.

It had been years since that morning. Years and still, the pair found time for each other every night. Meeting in the same spot as where they met when the clock neared midnight. Y/n slipping from her bedroom window and Conrad the back door into the darkness of the night. Their meetings innocent, but secret. The two of them enjoying the bond that was only for them to know.

They spent hours out there, laughing and whispering dirty jokes and juicy secrets like young children gossiping on the playground after lunch. Their butt prints left behind in the sand the only evidence that they had been there. And the day would go on, everyone in their lives unknowing of who the other was, and what they were doing every night.

“And don’t get me started on Jo and Laurie. They were always meant to be platonic and I do not understand the argument that they could’ve been more! If-“ I cut off her ramblings with a laugh. Hearing the shy girl so passionate about something so random was so refreshing. Y/n often did this. She would find something she really liked. Whether it be a book, a movie or even only something that had been said weeks ago, she would find a way to make it known how she felt about it. A habit that grew more passionate the longer we knew each other. It was something she could find herself to get lost in. Just expressing to me how much she loved certain things. It made me feel special, important. Loved.

“And-uh…” My laughter seemed to throw Y/n’s rant off track, her mind losing its train of thought. She blushed, realizing how long she had been talking about one of her favorite books at the moment, my laughter triggering her own. Each word becoming messier and messier until it was only a laughing fit between the two of us.

“Continue.” My lips curled into a smile, eyes bright. She was sat in front of me, legs crossed over each other and pulled into her chest. Her arms were tight around her calves and her head that was once stretched upward in a daydreaming kind of way was now rested on her knees. Her eyes squinted and her teeth showed, pure happiness written all over her.

A beat passed. My foot was starting to ache from being tucked beneath my body, my other leg stretched out in front of me. Bent so I could rest my arm on my knee. The slight discomfort and shifty positions all signs that that night was ending soon.

I felt her fingers pass over mine. Touches feathery and light. Eyes never once leaving mine. I let her press her palm flat against mine, her thumb wrapped around the back of my hand, my thumb gently rubbing the back of hers.

“What?” I asked, seeing how amused she looked, how happy she was.

“Nothing. Can’t a girl be happy?” Playful as ever. I sighed contently.

“No, of course. You just seemed…I’m not sure.” I took in her face once more. I wished I had a camera in that moment. I would frame this moment in my room, make it my lock screen. Anything to cement it further into my life. So it wouldn’t just be something left in my mind. More than just a ring memory. Something I could hold.

Her hand pulled out of mine. I tried to clamp down on her hand, stop her from slipping away. I loved the way her fingers slotted between mine. How warm her palm was against mine. How my hand swallowed her whole. Still, she managed to escape, flopping dramatically onto her back and throwing her arm over her eyes to really exaggerate it.

“It’s just so beautiful out!” Her arms shot up, fingers stretched to the sky. Eyes bright with wonder and the reflections of the stars.

Like you.

I didn’t say it, but I should’ve. The stars were so beautiful tonight, that was true. But the girl I proudly called my best friend made them look dull next to her. Instead of speaking, I only laid next to her, hands intertwined and laid on my chest. I relaxed into the earth.

“This might just be the brightest they’ve been all summer.” She expressed. I turned my head to face her. Y/n turned to face me hearing the sand shift and our noses almost touched. I watched intently as her nose scrunched, lips drawn together in a tight smirk.

“Not as bright as you.” I meant what I said, but the way I said it made it come out as a joke. Something unserious, something light. And I watched as she took it that way. Though, a blush still did find its way to her cheeks, her hand pushing at my shoulder and a small groan of fake disgust emitting from her throat.

“Stop.” We laughed for the millionth time, looking back to take in the sky. The silence that overtook us was comfortable, still and calming.

“I wish summer would never end.” Y/n confessed. I nodded, feeling the same exact way. Not only because the warmth and the ocean was a nice sight, but because I had her next to me throughout it all.

…

A kick to my shoulder is what woke me up. Sand stuck in all the wrong places and my body aching with sleep. Everything felt drier that usual. Lips chapped and eyes aching in tiredness. The sun was high by now, the birds singing and the seagulls screaming over the soft melodies of the other ones.

It took me a second to register what was happening, where I was. It wasn’t until the second kick that I finally peeled my eyelids back and blinked until the blurriness faded behind the sleep stuck in the corners of my eyes.

“Dude, get up.” I groaned, swatting at whoever decided to wake me up so early. It was cold, I decided. Hands reaching by my sides to yank at the softness of any blanket around, only to be met with mounds of sand falling under my hold.

“What the fuck..” I whispered, still loopy. My eyes processed I was outside minutes ago, the sky and the water just feet away a clear sign that I was not within the confinements of my own room. However, it wasn’t until the discomfort of sand sticking underneath my nails and the feeling of it in mass amounts on my palms that my mind caught up to my vision.

My heart raced, and my head turned. There, just mere inches was the girl I spent each night with. Her back facing my face, hair falling messily from her braid and shorts riding up her thighs. Her skin was warmer, in the sun. I never really saw it closely. All interactions outside of our designated time frame from afar or short. Now I could see it. How the sun had made her glow even more so than before. How tiny freckles covered more than just her cheeks, and how beautiful she was in a brighter light.

“CONRAD!” This voice was much deeper in pitch than the original, and the kick was harder than the first few. One that had jolted me up, hand cradling my ribs to aid to the now fading pain.

I scratched at the back of my head once more, shaking out the sand and rubbing the sleep away with the firmness of my knuckles.

In the sand next to me, the sun cast three shadows. Two males and a girl. Silhouettes I could recognize from miles away. Even without any details other than the blackness. With a hand held out above me to guide the sun out of my eyes and a few more blinks, I felt sure it wasn’t my imagination. No, because above me stood the three people I wished I hadn’t seen. Jeremiah, Steven and Belly. All wearing different expressions on their faces.

To start, Jeremiah wore a almost disgusted look on his face. One that suggested he believed I was outside next to a girl for dirtier reasons. Stevens similar in that sense, yet his face was more of a proud smirk. One that led me to believe he was celebrating the idea. Belly’s expression, however, showed one of mixed emotions. She looked the most confused, a little more lost even. But in her eyes there were undertones of sadness, hurt. Betrayal. Even though it was clear we would never be more than friends, her maturity lacking and her attitude developing the prettier she got, she always believes something could happen. Probably because I never gave her a straight reason to my dismissive attitude and constant, “no’s.” But how do you explain to someone how your heart only knows how to love someone else. Someone she hadn’t even known existed until now. Someone you’d been hiding for years? You don’t. You just hope one day she’ll understand.

She was the first to break the silence. One so awkward and heavy it could be cut through with a knife. Clearing her throat she motioned to the girl beside me. I felt too scared in the moment, to look at her. Too shy to introduce her. It wasn’t that I didn’t want them to know her. I wished everyone knew her like I did, I think everyone would love her just as I do. But jealousy is a disease, and even the thought of having to share her made me seethe with it.

“Y/n.” The sound of shuffling made my head snap back, eyes wide. She was awake. How long was she awake for? Did she see the looks on their faces like I had? Did she care?

I watched her run out the sleep from her eyes just how I had done to mine. Her fingers swiping delicately underneath her waterline to wipe away any mascara that had smudged. Even sleepy and sore, she looked like an angel.

“Y/n…” Jeremiah bit his lip in thought, trying to recall if he’d ever heard the name before. He came up short, it sounded unfamiliar. Shaking his head, Jeremiah looked to the others to see if they had any clue.

“Oh…” Steven let out a drawn out, overdramatic sigh. “You’re the girl from the gift shop. Down by the board walk!” I lifted a brow at Y/n, she seemed just as confused.

“You were so quiet, the cashier had to ask you to speak up like five times!” He hadn’t meant it in a mean or sarcastic way, Steven never did. He just came across that way, and it was no exception this time. I could see it, how the redness overtook her face, eyes flicking down to her hands were her fingers laced together and tangled. She nodded, not too sure about herself. I could read it.

“Yep.” She popped her “P” awkwardly, still avoiding Stevens eyes.

“Okay, so what are you doing down on the beach at seven in the morning with her?” Belly spoke up, eyes flicking between us. I felt her gaze burning my skin. She tried to look like she didn’t care, but the way she was examining the two of us for any marks or hints that we had done what they had expected happened showed otherwise.

“We…uh…” I stumbled over what I wanted to say. I didn’t want them to go on believing something had happened when it hadn’t. Especially if it could make Y/n uncomfortable. But even more than that, I wanted to keep these secret rendezvous just what they were. A time where we could just be us and let the world continue to be oblivious to us like it had always been.

“It was my idea. I love the stars so, Conrad started looking at them with me. We just fell asleep last night, that’s all.” She sounded almost nervous, but that was only to me. Anyone who didn’t know her would think she sounded calm. But I noticed the shake in her voice. How her lip trembled for a second after she’s finished getting everything out. She said it quicker and quieter than she usually did with me, all things only I would pick up on.

The confusion turned to utter shock, even Belly losing the jealous look and fighting a gasp from escaping. Though Y/n hadn’t explicitly stated that this was something that had been going on for awhile, everything about the situation alluded to it. Their mouths remained stuck open, stuttering.

Maybe it was because even though we had both been adamant about what the boundaries of our friendship was, and clear in the fact that we were nothing more than that, they still suspected there was something more.

“I’m…I better get home before my mom freaks out again.” Y/n was quick to wipe the sand from her jeans. Anything that was in her hair long gone from her shaking it out throughout the conversation. Her legs looked stiff, probably from sleeping on the beach for so long, and her eyes weren’t fully open still.

“Yeah, I’ll drive you.” I was quick to my feet, not bothering with the sand like she had. A snicker reached my ears, soft enough I was sure Y/n hadn’t heard it, but loud enough for me to turn to glare at the three who were sure to be gossiping about this when we left.

Even when the distance between us grew so big that they became nothing more than tiny specks of darkness on the light shore, my heart still pounded. Beating louder than the sound my car door made as I slammed it shut. Not in a hurry to get her home, but to get away from them.

The car ride was silent, on my end, yet Y/n, who seemed to have a sixth sense just for me knew to keep talking, to both lighten the situation and my mood. She rambled on and on about her school courses she’d picked. About how lucky I was to be going to brown. Joking that she’d only be just a few hours away now, instead of across the country. Even though deep down we both knew Y/n was much too serious about her grades to ever come and visit unless she was far enough ahead in her classes. Her anxieties too high. She likes to overthink everything. Any interaction, anything someone had said. If it was rude, if it was unserious. She wasn’t overly insecure in that fear, but it was noticeable how she took the time to really think everything she said through. That was, until she found something she loved. Then it was like her brain detached from her body and she could just speak for hours without stopping.

I didn’t talk until the gravel from her driveway crushed underneath my car tires and the car was in park. She sat silently, waiting for a goodbye patiently. A playful grin stretched on her cheeks. My knuckles were white from how hard they were curled on the steering wheel. My cheeks just starting to return to a normal shade.

“You going to say goodbye or do I need to hug myself?” She punched my shoulder. I held it, pretending it hurt. It never did. I sighed.

“I’m really sorry, Y/n/n. I am.” I looked to her straight on for the first time since we’d gotten in the car. Before then, my eyes had only caught hers in the mirrors or in my quick glances to check the other side of the road. She looked just as youthful and happy as last night. Not at all like she was bothered.

“Con, really. It’s fine. Shit happens. Yeah…it was really, really fucking weird the way they were acting, but who cares? At the end of the day it’s always going to be you and me. We’ll never have to see them again.” Her hand reached up to touch my cheek. It was warm, like her. And soft. A gentle touch I’d only ever felt twice before, as it was too intimate for just friends to be doing. Or at least the in the way she did it.

I nodded into her touch, closing my eyes to breathe and calm, something I felt the most when I was near her. Calm, collected. Like I could think better, oxygen reaching my brain more.

“Ok, then I’m fine if you are.” I smiled again her palm, fighting the urge to simply turn my head a press my lips to her skin. It would be so easy, so simple. But friends don’t do that. So I pulled away, opening my eyes and licking my lips.

“Great.” She swung the door open, the click and the zipping of her seatbelt coming off quick and loud in the mostly quiet atmosphere we created in the car. “See you tonight.” I didn’t get a chance to respond, but maybe that’s how she meant it. So I wouldn’t have a chance to respond. Y/n walked off in a hurry, slipping the key out from under the welcome mat by her door and waving sweetly before disappearing into her house. I was already counting down the hours until I could see her again.

That night I was extra quiet leaving. Slipping through the back door particularly slow, I didn’t latch it shut completely, fearing the sound of in clicking shut that could wake anyone. A fear I never had before, but knowing of my brother and the Conklin’s tendency to stick their noses where they weren’t meant to be. I made sure to walk toe to heal, a trick Y/n had once mentioned. She claimed it gave you more control and would soften my steps. She was right.

I all but sprinted down the oak stairs, old and leaned against the sandy grass, a small hill that separated the summer home from the beach itself. I figured the creaks would fall deaf on their sleeping ears, the wind and branches of trees nearby swallowing it whole. I didn’t stop moving, not even once the sand kicked up around my shoes. I hadn’t bothered to take them off, in such a rush. My chest was on fire and my lips were drying, but still I pushed. I pushed and I didn’t stop until the house was far off to the left, still visible but far gone enough that even the loudest laughter would be only a whisper.

There she was, sitting patiently, stilled in her spot in the sand. Her hair was up, again, but she still when to tuck it behind her ears. Maybe out of instinct. Her eyes were focused in at the sea, where they always laid before I arrived. Totally consumed by the world around her, it wasn’t until my feet kicked sand into her lap in an attempt to be playful that she acknowledged my presence.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Her smile was mischievous, but I was so easily fooled behind that fake innocence she radiated, her hand that was held out an easy trap. When I fell into it, fingers wrapping around hers, Y/n wasted no time in pulling me down harshly. Sand in my mouth and down my shirt. I coughed while she laughed.

“You minx!” Rolling onto my back, I yanked by the back of her shirt until Y/n’s head was beside mine. The stars above us and the ocean beside us. It was dry over here, the tide not touching this far out, so the ground was soft beneath us. Comfortable.

“You fall for it every time, Con. And you know what?” She rolled over, nose nudging into my cheek. I watched from the corner of my eye, Y/n’s body shifting away so we weren’t unbearably close. Only then did I turn, realizing that even with her silly efforts, it would only take me leaning in just an inch for our bodies to touch.

She poked my cheek, seeing how I was drifting out into thought. I squinted, looking at her, waiting. I hummed, letting her know I wanted to know. I always wanted to hear what she had to say.

“It gets better every time.” Her innocence completed faded then, the pure teasing side of her coming out, it was humerus seeing her so outgoing this way. It was something that kept me so attached to her. That pulled me to her. Enough that my body was up off the sand without her even getting another word in, hands planted on her sides and the most unserious look of anger on my face. We rolled around, sand covering every part of us. Our laughter echoing. The insistent tap on my shoulders signaled she’s had enough, Y/n swearing she was sorry, my grip left hers and the force that built between us in our battle threw us outward. Landing with a soft groan and the sand underneath our backs again. Laughter consumed us once again.

“That was really good.” She was sarcastic.

“Yeah? Well I bet you-“ Y/n’s lighthearted teasing called for a round two and the look in her eyes only further proved it was what she wanted. What the goal was. My elbows bent up, ready to get up in a moments notice.

She was always so willing to match whatever I felt, just as I did. Our energy syncing up perfectly. It made moments like these special, memorable. The more I waited, prolonging when I would strike, the more uncomfortable Y/n grew. Only this time, it was serious. Usually, her backing away was something that would happen. My looks could kill, and there was no way she could outrun me, out wrestle me. She had a tendency to want to take back what she started after realizing this. So her running off wasn’t unheard of. I would do it too. The breeze of the late summer night and the knowledge that it was truly just us in that point in time was something so thrilling. We could do anything. But this was different. She wasn’t backing away. No, but her eyes lost that sense of play. Of joy that they held. The sparkle dimmed and her head faced her feet in the sand. She sat up quickly then, unwilling to face me. Her throat cleared. Something was wrong.

Wanting to find what causes the shift, I looked around. Searching the area, trying to fix what had happened. My heart sank.

Walking rather enthusiastically towards us were the three people in the world I did not want to see again today. Belly skipping ahead of Steven and Jeremiah, all wearing big smiles and waving even more emphasized. I wanted to turn to Y/n, tell her it would be fine. They were just curious and would be gone soon. I would get them to leave, but that wasn’t a given. And I couldn’t make them do anything. So I curled up into myself, head facing down at my fingers that drew in the sand and I mirrored what Y/n felt. Uncomfortable.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I said it in my head, multiple times. Like the more I said it, the more it would be true. Maybe it would be better with more people. More the merrier, whatever they say. I knew it wouldn’t be, deep down. Y/n wasn’t one for big crowds. And I wasn’t the best with expressing how I felt.

“I told you I saw him leave!” Steven hit Jeremiah’s shoulder, pointing at us like we weren’t right there. Like we couldn’t hear them simply because we hadn’t chosen to acknowledge them yet.

Licking at my gums, a soft sigh tumbled out of my lips. Looking to Y/n, her I found her eyes had already been trained on me. And if eyes could talk, I swear in that moment hers would’ve been a jumbled mess. “What the fuck.” Is what would’ve been the underlining message, though. And I couldn’t blame her. Because I was thinking the same. What the fuck.

I tried to reason with her through my eyes. Signal that it might not be as unbearable as we thought. Maybe I could persuade her into being alright and she wouldn’t mind. She would be perfectly fine. I wouldn’t, how could I believe I could help her when she trusted it would only be us forever. A promise I made so long ago. I knew her like I knew my reflection. I knew she would hate this like I did. I knew she would go home and question tonight. I might get a few stray texts, but ultimately, she wouldn’t like it. She wouldn’t be able to be as open, and she’d close herself off.

“Hey guys. Y/n, right?” Belly leaned forward, holding her hand out for Y/n to shake. She stared blankly, hesitating. Her eyes flicked to mine. “What’s happening?” They said. “I don’t know.” Mine replied.

Y/n took Belly’s hand in hers, their touch awkward and short. Even in the dark, I didn’t miss the slight shake in Y/n’s hand, or how Belly wiped away her touch as soon as their skin lost contact. I had to look away. It felt weird.

“So, this is what you do every night?” Jeremiah spoke up, completely oblivious to the situation. I swallowed. I couldn’t look up from my feet.

“Yep.” I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to be rude, but I didn’t want them there.

“And you just sit here?” I nodded again, I couldn’t meet Y/n’s eyes, but I felt them on me. Burning into my skin like she desperately was trying to pull for my attention. I couldn’t look. I couldn’t force myself too. I was too focused on myself. I barely heard how their voices grew louder. A conversation being born. How they had started talking to Y/n. Forcing her to open up in a way.

She looked to me again, I met her eyes, but avoided them quickly after. I couldn’t bare the look she was giving me. “Conrad, please.” They begged. But these were my friends, this was my family. I couldn’t just get rid of them when they were so obviously excited to be around someone new. No matter how much I disliked it. Hated it, even.

She answered their questions at first, shared very minor details about her life in each story. But these were all stories I’d heard thousands of times. So I knew what details were being left out. And how I wanted to blurt out what was missing, out together the full story. Laugh and reminisce on how good those times were, but I bit my tongue. Silent.

Soon, though, her voice became less and less. The others growing more and more. Their interest diminishing while they became immersed in their own lives. Their own memories that they could smile at. Talking over her voice, not giving her a breath to speak. I met her eyes then, and like a silent conversation, it was clear the night was already over.

“Hey…uh, guys.” I cleared my throat, speaking for the first time all night since they’d shown up. It went silent around me. “I think Y/n and I are gonna head off. It’s getting late so, I should probably drive her home.”

“Already? Dude it’s like eleven thirty?” I shot daggers at Steven, he backed off. “Have a good night, I guess.” He couldn’t look at me now.

Their goodbyes were lazy, and rushed. Like even though they had crashed our time together, we were the ones interrupting them. Their time. In a hurry to get back into their conversation. So, after helping Y/n up, it wasn’t hard to slip away without much trouble.

Again, like the past morning, the car ride wasn’t the loudest. Only, this time not even the soft chatter came from Y/n. No ramblings or nearly unbelievable stories that in no way I would believe normally, but it was Y/n so how could I not? She was the most truthful person I knew. Plus, even when she did lie it was very obvious. That’s what made the stories even better. Because they were true.

No, this time it was a complete silence. Other than the faint flicking echo from her nails scratching at her skin, and the tap of her heal on the floor in front of the passenger seat. Her face was flat. No emotion showing. No hints at how she was feeling. It killed me, not being able to read her. I didn’t know what was happening, but I wanted to make it right. I wanted her to be happy.

I watched the confusion cross her face as her street passed, growing further and further away until it was so distant that it was unnoticeable.

“Conrad, what..?” He pointed out the window, looking over her shoulder to signal what she was referring to. I shrugged.

“The night is still young. I still have so much to talk to you about so I figured we could go for ice cream?” My eyes left the road briefly, flicking over to her face. Her eyebrows were still drawn together, lip bitten between her front teeth.

“I don’t have any money.” She almost whispered.

“Don’t worry about it.” I wished in that moment that I could’ve taken her hand in mine. Rubbed over the soft skin and assured her it would all be fine, that’s not where our relationship stood. As close as we were, there are always boundaries. A line that defines what is platonic and maybe not. My loving hand in hers would edge that line, and considering what tone she was setting in the car, it felt inappropriate.

…

Chocolate soft serve with rainbow sprinkles and a few strawberries.

It was her order. One I had memorized so well, so down to the exact detail that she wouldn’t even have to speak. Just a look at the menu and I knew what she wanted. The same as always. If it was anyone else I wouldn’t have known, wouldn’t have cared. But it was her. My Y/n. Of course I knew. Why wouldn’t I?

We’d only gotten ice cream a handful of times. The beach was our place. One of peace where it was truly just us. Everybody long gone, sleeping and unaware of our presence by the time we got out there. Here, the few who also enjoyed the peace of the night wandered into the cool building. Looking for a sweet treat to finish the night. It didn’t feel the exact same.

Like the beach, we had a bench here. Our spot. It was tucked away, closer to a patch of overgrown grass and rotting. Separate from the rest of the bunch. But it was more quiet over there. More secluded, the way we liked.

It was less quiet now that it was just us. Conversation flowing easily. But it wasn’t the same. Y/n didn’t go on a long rant about her favorite book. How A Little Life had destroyed her or how her favorite sitcom was slowly making its way back into her daily routine. And she didn’t eat as quick as normal. Her spoon stirring at the cold food until it was soupy, warmed. Untouched. She was off. I knew it. Even if Y/n tried to act like she was just the same, like her mind wasn’t somewhere else, I knew. I knew her more than anyone gave me credit for. Something was wrong, and I had a good guess as to what.

“Y/n.” It fell deaf on her ears. She kept playing at her food.

“Y/n, hey.” I put my hand over hers. Keeping my fingers bent to keep a small distance between our fingers. I hoped my warmth simply radiating into her skin would be enough to gain her attention.

Her head snapped up. Clearing her throat, she blinked a few times. Clearly out of it, it took her a second to hum in response. Trying to remember what I was saying. I gave her time.

“What’s wrong?” She shook it off, moving her hand off the table and into her lap. It stung, it shouldn’t have, but it did. After all, we were only friends. Nothing more. So the rejection of my touch shouldn’t have meant anything.

She was silent, shaking it off and swallowing down any emotions rising, forming a lump in her throat. She pushed it back. “No, nothing. I’m fine.” I raised a brow.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.” She defended. My look only grew more knowing.

“Y/n…” I pleaded, eyes searching hers. She wouldn’t open up. Something I was familiar with. Never the greatest with sharing how I felt, not in the slightest.

“If this is about tonight, I never meant for them to join us. I hope you know that. I didn’t ask them to. They just did.” I started to explain. She shook her head, eyes glued to her lap.

“No, no. I know. It’s, really it’s fine. They were nice, so it’s…” She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. The space between us fell quiet for the millionth time.

“Hey.” I broke the silence, wanting to fix this. Fix us. She looked at me, eyes drained. She looked tired. I didn’t blame her. I felt it too.

“I’m going to talk to them, fix this, okay?” I assured her again, hoping she knew I would follow through. That I would make it all better. She nodded, eyes sparkling under the stars.

The night wasn’t what it was meant to be, but it wasn’t ruined. How could it be? I got to see Y/n. That’s all the counted at the end of the day.

The sand was cold in my shoes, sticking to the fabric of my socks. It was colder now, darker. The world even quieter than how Y/n and I had left it. The only noise the laughter of life long friends. A sound that should’ve thrilled me. My face should’ve been drawn into a smile, my heart beating. But it felt heavy. And my heart wasn’t fluttering. It sank, feeling sore, hurt even. I felt betrayed and I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like we were dating, we were only friends. Friends who hung out together a lot in a public area. How could they invade something that wasn’t ever truly hidden?

I didn’t know what to say, and it was strange. I went over it the entire drive home. How I would be straight forward, tell them flat out that they were not welcome here with us. That Y/n wasn’t the most comfortable around them like I was. How I hadn’t even been able to calm down until it was just us again. But looking at them now, faces glowing with the smiles they exchanged, hands swinging wildly around to bring the conversation to life, I felt like a party killer and my pace slowed.

“Conrad!” Belly all but screamed, excitedly waving me over. She patted the sand beside her, but I didn’t sit. I couldn’t. My fists clenched on the sides of my body, my mind racing. I drew my lips back into a tight line.

They all looked at me, expectedly, waiting for me to either sit or leave. I stayed cemented to the ground where my feet resided. I couldn’t move, not even if I tried. I was stuck there by some force. Something pulling me down. I licked my lips, swallowing hard. Eyes flickering around their small circle, I found the courage to speak.

“Listen, guys, about tonight…” I wanted to say more, I did. I had so much to share, to tell them. I had boundaries to put in place, but I couldn’t. Not with their excitement.

“That’s what we were just going to talk to you about!” Steven talked over me subconsciously, too excited to hear my tone of voice. To see how my shoulders were slumped and my eyes drooping.

“I have no idea how you kept Y/n a secret for so long, she’s awesome.” Steven continued, sparking my interest. No matter the situation. How down I was, how frustrated, just the mere mention of her name made my heart race and lips fight a smile.

“Yeah, no. I agree. I mean, she’s a little quiet but she has good stories. I mean that one about how she started coming down here…” Jeremiah continued to rave about her, going on and on about a story I knew in and out. About a girl I had memorized completely. And I forgot why I was angry. Why I had even bothered to talk to them in that moment. It seemed almost silly, how worked up I had been. All while they believed she was an angel, just as I did when I met her. So, selfishly I had gotten lost in all the good things about Y/n to remember that she was upset earlier. That this couldn’t happen again. And I let slip away into the past. Finishing the night with soft goodbyes from everyone and a sincere text to Y/n, wishing her one as well. I didn’t wait for a response like I usually did, I assumed she might be asleep by now. I just hopes she knew I hadn’t forgotten about her.

Waking up that morning, it felt like no time had passed. Like somehow, even though the sun was well into its journey through the sky, it was still midnight in my mind. A never ending loop. Day, night, day, night.

It was the nights spent with Conrad that held me over. That differentiated between the night and the day. A feeling that could only be described as pure sunshine, ironically, being what flooded my systems during the evening and the intense excitement for the night during the day helping to move the cycle on. Kept the world revolving around during the summer. But last night, hadn’t been that.

No, what started as pure bliss was cut short by the heavy awkwardness between Conrad and I, the laughter of his other friends bellowing over anything I shared. It was sweet, how he’d tried to fix it. Offered some ice cream and fought for some alone time. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t just us under the stars at the beach. And it wasn’t light hearted.

Conrad promised he’d talk to them, and Conrad wasn’t a liar. He wasn’t the most open, and he wasn’t the most forward with himself. Always avoiding the situations he was placed in. But he was true, and he was honest. If he promised he’d talk to them, I didn’t worry about if he would or not.

Truthfully, it wasn’t them that bothered me. Not too much, anyway. It was overwhelming, sure. All the noise and the pace of the conversation. Talking about everything they’d experienced, I’d felt rather invisible among them, so I didn’t mind. It was Conrad.

I didn’t care how invisible I was to them. I didn’t care too much about Belly or Steven, and I’m sure Jeremiah should’ve been important given their relations but he wasn’t. I couldn’t care less what he thought of me. I only thought of Conrad. And he couldn’t even look at me. I practically burned a hole into his head with my gaze. Begging, pleading for him to even acknowledge me.

But he wouldn’t pull his eyes from the ground. He couldn’t. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded, played it off like he was just nervous. But these were his people, his family. If there was anyone to be comfortable around, it was them. So it had to have been me. Something was wrong with me.

I mulled over the thought in my head all day, trying to figure out what I had done, what about me I could change. What could I do better?

It consumed me completely. I barley noticed how the sun was setting, I didn’t even realize I had made my way down to the beach. The sand beneath my toes and the moon high in the middle of the stars. It wasn’t until the waves crashed particularly hard against the shore and the last of the seagulls around called out that I found myself sat in the forever indented spot on the beach, a cemented memory of what happened each night.

I hoped things would be different. That just being around him could ease my nerves. It always did, he had that affect. No matter how tired, or worn down I felt, Conrad only had to flash me a smile and wave. And my heart would start beating and cheeks would flush a deep red. A feeling that was reserved for him.

And it started that way, fulfilling that hopefulness I held earlier that night. It was only Conrad, body swallowed by his red zip up and worn out shorts. It was something that made him so easily identifiable. Paired with that smile and his shy wave, I almost melted. Ready to forget the night before.

Only then, did I see the rest of them. Sneaking behind him from afar. Quieter than the previous night, which led me to believe that maybe he had said something, but the message wasn’t clear. It wasn’t just us and I knew tonight wouldn’t be what I wanted it to be.

Again, like a repeat, his eyes found the floor. He couldn’t even look at me. He couldn’t even be near me. He was so distant. Not only mentally, but physically. Leaning away, looking everywhere but at me. He showed no emotion. He showed no emotion, nothing at all. My heart broke, then. How the boy I loved more than life, felt the safest around hadn’t even had the slightest care about it. How ashamed he was, of me. It hurt to even be around him then. Only a reminder of how I wasn’t enough, not for him. Only meant to be a secret, a guilty pleasure. I wanted to vomit. I wanted to leave.

“Hey, uh…I think I’m going to go. It’s, it’s late. So, I don’t want my mom to worry.” I found a good break in the conversation, standing slowly and wiping the earth off of my legs. Flashing the fakest smile, I went to part ways.

The sand rustled behind me, quickly as if whoever moved it was in a rush.

“Hey, I’ll take you home. It’s dark so…” Conrad spoke, I didn’t even feel his eyes look at me. Not even then, not even while he spoke to me. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be around him anymore, it hurt too much.

“No, no. Stay. Really, I just, I need some air, so. I’ll text you.” I lied. I wouldn’t text him. He must’ve known. Because his steps faltered. Only then I turned to him, nodding goodbye to everyone, I left.

I didn’t text that night, laying alone in the quiet of my room. I stayed up all night watching the most beautiful movies and listening to my favorite music. Skipping the songs that reminded me of us. It wasn’t how I wanted the night to end, not at all. But I’d rather be alone than spend my night in a place where I was not wanted.

Just then, while I was turning in for the night did my phone buzz. A single text illuminating my lock screen. A photo of the stars and Conrad’s silhouette admiring them. It was from the boy on my screen. The one whose eyes were filled with love looking at the thing I loved like I loved him.

“I hope you got home alright. I really thought they weren’t coming. I swear. See you tomorrow? Maybe we can find another spot on the beach further down. Let me know if you’d like that. Goodnight, y/n/n.” He’d sent it with a heart and a smiley face. I typed for a second, hovering the buttons.

“Why are you ashamed of me? Did I do something wrong?” I erased the message.

“Goodnight, Con.” I edited this one, not wanting to talk to him, but never wanting to worry the boy.

“Goodnight, Conrad.” Sending it, I let the light dim into darkness, the moonlight shining through my curtains and easing me into a light slumber.

She’d left so quick. So coldly. Like it physically pained her to be here, at this beach with me any longer. All night I had felt guilt, guilt for my actions, or lack therefore of. I hadn’t kept my word, and I couldn’t even look at her knowing that. I probably had disappointed her.

I wasn’t as smart as Steven, as charming as Jeremiah, or as open as Belly, but I could comprehend what was happening. She was drifting, and I watched as she left me stranded.

I wanted to reach out for her. Chase her down on the beach a beg her to stay, for me. To just talk. Maybe we could go for a walk. I could buy us ice cream. Keep buying it until our stomachs were full and my bank account drained. But the way she shook off my efforts to help her made it known I was not wanted. Not needed. So like I did with all the greatest things in my life, I let her go. And I watch with tears in my eyes and my chest pounding as she left me behind, a promise to text me when she got home.

But I hadn’t kept my word, so why should she have kept hers?

Not hearing from her was the final punch that did me in for the night. The one that hit in the face that keeps you down. Struggling to breathe. It became more obvious she wanted not to talk to me. I tried to be nice, show how much I still cared. I’d always cared. How could I not? I tried to be sweet, as sweet as I could. Telling her I loved her in the only way I knew how. By showing her how much I thought about her, cared about her. She responded soon after. And she used my full name. It was cold, and it hurt, but I deserved it.

I always used to tell myself that if I hadn’t done something, haven’t said something I wish I had, I always had the next night. That was a given. I had twenty four hours to remember it and perfect what I wanted to say, and I could always just blurt it out into conversation. Our time together was easy like that. No conversation staying on the same topic for more than a few minutes. Now I was unsure. Maybe I didn’t have the next day, maybe she wouldn’t be in the mood to joke around. Only being there to say she had shown up. Mentally somewhere else.

That night had a lead up to it. Anticipation building to when I could see her again. I vowed that after last night, I would tell her exactly what was happening. Fix it, make it better. I just wanted to make it better.

When I got there, the beach was empty. Not that it was unusual. I was early. To eager to wait any longer. Even as the moon grew higher and the night later, still there was no sign of Y/n. Her seat left unattended and unused. Midnight struck, and she remained unseen. Familiar sounds of shoving and laughing filled my ears though.

Hopeful, I turned to them. The group that had ruined it as if Y/n would magically love them and be caught up with them. It would hurt to know she was late because she preferred to spend her time with my better friends, but it didn’t matter. I would wait hours for her to show just to see her even for a second. But of course, Y/n was just as present as a ghost. Still missing.

I texted, a few times. The blue of my texts staring back at me in a long line. Each unanswered, some read, the more recent ones not. My heart sunk a little. My face heated up. I waited, the longer time passed the more the voices of my family muffled behind the loud ringing that filled my ears.

“Don’t wait for me. I don’t feel like coming out tonight. Don’t come find me, goodnight.” She couldn’t even say my name. She couldn’t even let me know in advanced. She probably debated even sending it. How could I have let this happen? Been so careless, gotten lost along the way?

I looked at the others then. Silencing my phone. I should’ve felt nothing but pride, looking at the people I love most. But I only felt bubbling anger. Disgust. In their own selfishness, they had taken her from me. I couldn’t think straight. Hearing them laugh so carelessly in the sacred space that Y/n and I had created. Parasites in what was once a paradise. I lost it with the way they all looked to me, asking for my opinion on a topic I didn’t care to listen to. Too lost in thought.

“Connie?” Belly leaned closer, eyes fluttering. I saw the knowing smirk on Stevens face, always the biggest supporter of Belly’s obsessions. Her number one cheerleader. I could always find it on me to find it sweet, a cute sibling bond but now I only found it annoying.

“What?” It came out harsh. I meant it that way too.

“Woah okay, jeez I didn’t…” Belly backed off, and the looks that were shot at me were almost humorous. How I was the bad guy somehow. Like they hadn’t ruined everything.

“I’m leaving.” Going to stand up, the others stood with me. Sensing the mood shift. I was closing off, they knew that, they didn’t want that. Not when I’d been getting so much better.

“No, come on stay. Connie-“ Belly started again.

“No! Don’t talk! I’m leaving. There’s no reason for me to be here. Honestly. Does anyone see Y/n? Cause I don’t.” I waited for someone to speak up, to piece together the puzzle. When they all remained focused on what I had to say I let it overflow.

“Coming out here was the best part of my day. My summer. It was the one time I got to see her, she Y/n. And you-you just took that! She won’t even talk to me anymore because of you guys! And, and you didn’t even ask me. You just did it.”

“Shit, I had no idea. We thought Y/n liked us around. I mean-“ Whatever Jeremiah had as an excuse didn’t matter. I couldn’t stop.

“Did you even ask? You guys don’t even know her!”

“We do!” Belly argued.

“No you don’t! Not like I do. I mean, how could you? Did you know she hates big crowds? How it makes her anxious being around so many people? Or how about how she can’t stand being talked over. Her number one pet peeve? No. Or-or what about how much she loves sad books? The ones that make her cry so bad she gets a headache. How she’s so obsessed with romantic movies that she can quote them backwards. Did you notice how she picks at her nail beds when she gets nervous? And her legs bounce? She tucks her hair behind her ears and can’t look anyone in the eyes when she lies? How the beach is her favorite place but she can’t stand the smell of seaweed!” I hadn’t meant to go on a rant. Listings all the basic things about her to the tiniest details only her and I would know. I felt my face get hotter the longer I yelled, growing closer to the others, my head hurt and my throat ached but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t matter until I had my Y/n back and everything went back to how it was before. Just us.

Their eyes were wide, some glassier than others and mouths agape. My chest heaved, everything felt weighted down. My lungs felt like they’d were closing everything was burning. I had to leave, I had to go.

Quick as my feet would carry me, I fled. Far away from where the others stood. Their voices yelled, but they felt more distant. The ringing returned in my ears, louder, more deafening. I couldn’t stop. Not until my bedroom door was locked and the sheets pulled over my head. I wanted to punch something, but found it in myself to refrain. I bottled it up, opening my phone shakily. She hadn’t sent anything else. I texted her again.

“Okay, goodnight Y/n/n. See you tomorrow? I love you.” I caught it before I sent it. Taking it back.

“Okay, goodnight Y/n/n. See you tomorrow?”

There was no response. I hoped she was just asleep, I couldn’t bare the idea that she was ignoring me.

Growing up, I’d known the Fisher brothers more than I knew myself. I knew who they were, what they did. I knew to go to Jeremiah when I needed help, but to seek Conrad’s advice when I really needed to think it through. He was less spontaneous. Really sat with things. Maybe that’s why I liked him so much. Because he was so mature. So level headed and calm.

Never had I seen him like that. Never had I expected to see him like that.

Seeing Conrad laying so closely to another girl, one who seemed to glow under the early morning sunlight and somehow was completely unaffected by the intimacy of it. It made me jealous, how close they seemed. How she looked like it didn’t matter. How it didn’t matter when it’s all I’d ever dreamed of.

I drowned in jealousy, imagining it was myself next to him, not Y/n. Not the ungrateful girl who was totally unaware to how my heart was breaking just looking at them. I truly believed I could handle it. Seeing his hookup, fine. He was a college kid. Who says they can’t do that? Why was I being immature?

But she wasn’t a hookup. She was a friend. Something that should’ve relieved me, but it didn’t. Because I saw the way his eyes avoided ours, searching hers to make sure she was okay. I saw how gentle he was when they walked. How when he’d offered to drive her home his hand ghosted over the small of her back. Not even waving goodbye, looking back. So encapsulated by her. It made it even worse.

He was in love with someone else. Someone who didn’t appreciate him as I did. I hated it. I hated knowing she got the special moments in his life. The quiet nights alone, talking and getting closer. I got envious. I craved it, wanting that so badly. I saw things through rose colored glasses.

Conrad liked us. I saw the way his lips quirked up when we swam, my legs swung around Jeremiah’s neck and Steven sat on top of his. I knew he adored the chicken fights and how he secretly loved the old black and white movies. He would never share it, but the way he focused in, mouth stuck open mid chew showed otherwise.

I became selfish in that, convincing myself and the others that it was great idea to crash their plans. See what was happening. I wanted to have those intimate moments that she had. I wanted Conrad for myself.

“Are you sure?” Steven had questioned, watching Jeremiah mix together a bunch of various fruits into one big mush.

Jeremiah looked just as skeptical. Unsure if it was the best idea, if it was overstepping. I may not have been ‘mature’ enough for Conrad, but I was always the most persuasive of the bunch. Even if I lost the fight, I could find a way to win the war. If I couldn’t have Conrad then, I would now.

So we decided on it. We’d stay awake, pilled together in Stevens room. It was directly beside Conrad’s. No matter how quiet he was, the hallway had one connecting floorboard the reaches under the door frame. When he stepped just right, it would creek and we would know he was leaving then. He was being careful, it was obvious. Moving slower, his hands bracing the walls so hard they groaned. He left the back door unlatched. His footsteps even and in a tiptoeing fashion. That was until the oak steps. The way he took off was almost comical. I’d never seen him in such a hurry. It made my heart sink all over again. Setting in the fact that Conrad had never done that for me. Never been so excited he just couldn’t wait, taking off just to be close.

Any second thoughts that I had went out the window, shoved down deep inside until they were to buried away they almost didn’t exist.

I wanted to hate her when we crossed paths again. I wanted to make snide remarks and unleash all the back handed compliments I could think of. But I couldn’t. She was so kind, so down to earth. She was quiet, reserved. But she didn’t shy away from anyone’s questions. Answering them truthfully and making them interesting. She was like the female Conrad, only less moody.

I wanted to be around her more. She was like the friend I’d always wanted in Conrad. So easy to talk to. If I closed my eyes it was almost like talking to Conrad in some twisted way. The more we talked, the less I realized she had stopped. It shifted from learning about her to reminiscing on old memories that excluded her. I hadn’t realized she was being shut out. Nor did I see her uncomfortable shifting or nervous tendencies. I wouldn’t have come back the next night if I had, but I didn’t. So when Conrad helped her make an escape, I assumed it was because of only his feelings. Not even considering hers.

The next night came and it was just the same, but Y/n was quieter and so was Conrad. It didn’t feel as light. Y/n leaving was only solidifying that fact. It felt more of a hangout between the three of us, Conrad and Y/n just there. It felt wrong. And it was wrong. It wasn’t my place to be. It wasn’t our place to be. It was Conrad and Y/n’s. It was then I decided I couldn’t bury my regrets anymore. I had to apologize. So I planned.

I planned if for the next night. The moment I saw her I would apologize. I wouldn’t give her a second to breathe. I would back off, as long as everything would be fixed. I wasn’t the most mature, but I didn’t want anyone to be hurt. Not even in my worst heartaches. I just wanted everything to fit together perfectly.

All my life I’d seen myself with Conrad. But he was never mine. So it became more and more apparent that maybe the perfect puzzle coming together wasn’t one that pictured me and Conrad together. It was one of Y/n and him, it was clear now. Now when she was upset, he was too. Only happy when she was.

She didn’t show up that night. At first I believed just what Conrad did. She was late. But with the moon rising and the air getting colder, it became more clear she had bailed. I saw his eyes dull, his posture falter. He looked defeated. I wanted to make it better. I wanted to fix it, but I couldn’t. I already did the damage. It was broken because of me, I caused it.

That night I lie awake, the ceiling get lower and lower. I debated knocking on Conrad’s door. Explaining myself, but I knew it would be no use. So instead I spent the time lying awake, praying that tomorrow would be better. That it was just a fluke and Y/n was only feeling unwell. That I hadn’t ripped apart row beautiful people in my own selfishness.

…

The next morning came and went. The light reflecting off the water and laughter just as loud as the day before. Cousins was alive again. The night almost slipping completely away. But as everyday does, the sun slipped behind the horizon and the day turned into afternoon, and that into night. And with the stars so high in the sky, scattered like splattered paint on a blank canvas, Conrad’s silhouette sat still in the same spot as always.

You couldn’t see it from the beach house, but if you leaned over the railing of the old oak stairs just enough, there he would be. In my head I saw her walking towards him, a smile would be on his face and he would stand up quickly to greet her. But Y/n never showed. And Conrad sat out there until the sun began to rise. His bed untouched, eyes tired. He did the same the next day, and the day after. Still, Y/n never showed. And she never reached out either. It was obvious, the way Conrad’s phone never chimed. Notifications only on for her now, waiting for her. Something only I noticed. But she was gone, quicker than she had came and the guilt that settled was suffocating I had ruined everything.

I couldn’t stand it after the third night. Watching him wait hopelessly for someone who wouldn’t show. It would’ve been pathetic if it wasn’t so romantic. Even his text messages left stranded.

“Is everything okay between us? I’m sorry.”

“Y/n/n are you coming? Should we just call it a night?”

“Goodnight, Y/n/n. See you soon?”

It was something I’d never seen in him before. Watching his fingers dance over the keyboard only to erase and retype millions of times. Overthinking the same way I did to him. I couldn’t bare it. Maybe if be out of guilt, or the selfish need to make Conrad happy, not hate me. But with a bit of digging and the use of Conrad’s phone, I had her number typed up. I swallowed, what would I say? It’s me, the girl who ruined the one hood thing Conrad had going in his life, sorry by the way. No, there was no good way to put it. But it had to be done, so I clicked it and let the phone ring.

“Hello?” Her voice cracked through the phone. It was quiet other than her voice. Only the faint noise of some nineties sitcom playing in the background filling it with something other than awkward ringing.

“Is this Y/n?” It was a stupid question. I knew it was. I knew her voice.

“Yea, who is this?” She was unsure, but something told me deep down she knew it was me.

“This is uhm…this is Belly.”

“Oh.” Her end went quiet. Only the television telling me that she hadn’t hung up yet.

“I know I’m probably the last person you want to talk to right now, but please hear me out.” I sighed. She nodded, I could hear the shifting of her head crack through the speakers.

“I want to say sorry. I know, I know it’s too late now, but it’s been eating at me and I had to tell you before the summer ended. I’ve loved Conrad since I’ve known what the word meant. He was always the older, kinder brother in my eyes. The only person who included me when everyone was so willing to give up. I idolized him for so long. Seeing him with someone else, someone he idolized like I did to him, it made me sick with jealousy. I couldn’t stand it, and I know that’s wrong. So it’s my fault that everyone crashed the nights at the beach. I was the one who plotted against you guys and I’ve never regretted anything more. The moment you didn’t show up, Conrad really laid it onto all of us. We were so caught up in ourselves, we-I didn’t see how it was affecting the two people the night really meant the most to.” I heard a heavy sigh in the middle of my ranting.

“Belly, this is sweet and all but-“ She started, sounding more defeated that Conrad had looked somehow.

“No, please. Please listen to me, please.” I wanted to cry. I almost did. I didn’t though, I found the strength to hold it together in my most desperate moment, it wasn’t about me. “That boy knows you better than anything he’s ever known in his life. He knows your likes and dislikes. What you love and what gets you going. He has your mannerisms memorized and your favorite movies. He defends you like his life depends on it and I know it’s my fault you guys aren’t talking, but please, he loves you more than he can show and he’s been sitting out there every night for the past few days waiting for you to show. Please go see him. If not for me than for him? Even if it’s only just one more time, give him the closure. Please.” There was no response, I could feel her hesitating.

“Okay, Belly.” She sounded like she wanted to say more. Like she was thinking something else. She didn’t though. She kept it in her head and responded in the simplest way she knew.

“Goodnight, Y/n.”

“Goodnight, Belly. And hey, don’t worry about me, okay? Take care of yourself.” I wanted to answer, but the line went dead before I could. Now all I could do was hope that maybe I made a difference. Maybe tomorrow Conrad wouldn’t be the only person sitting on that beach.

The call came unexpectedly, the number unknown. The naïve part of me wanted it to be Conrad. Reaching out through another persons cellphone because he knew I wouldn’t answer him. I wasn’t ready. The logical part of me knew better. And that part was right, because the voice that greeted me nervously on the other end wasn’t deep or slow. It was shaky and airy. Quick and higher pitched. It was Belly’s voice.

I knew it was Belly, the moment she even asked. But I lied to her and myself, acting like I had no idea. I didn’t want to hear her voice. It was like a reminder of what had happened. A reminder of who had started it. But I wasn’t mad at Belly, it wasn’t her fault. How could she have known things would get ruined, she was only excited? Or, jealous she confessed.

She had purposefully intruded on us, she had seen how it was ripping us apart and she continued to. She blamed herself and became the bigger person.

How could I tell her that it wasn’t just her? Yes, sure what she had done had started this all, but it was so much more than that. Conrad had been the final break. He was the one avoiding my eyes, treating me like a parasite whenever we weren’t alone. I was his secret, and it was clear he wanted it to stay that way.

I was never meant to be more. Why would I be when he couldn’t even stand to be seen with me? I was his secret, playing the role of a stranger when he’d see me on the street. Each glance random and short. I didn’t want to play that role anymore. I tried to get past the uncomfortableness of the expanding group, I thought that this could be the change, we wouldn’t be strangers anymore.

But Conrad obviously didn’t want that. No, he didn’t jump at the chance. He shyed away. It caught me off guard, hearing everything Belly had to say. I can’t lie.

Conrad was never the best at sharing his feelings. He would much rather sit in silence in his own self pity than to have to share something so vulnerable. I knew where he came from with that worry. Sometimes it just felt like he’d rather push me away than be honest.

It was refreshing hearing how Belly confirmed he had talked to them. How he truly did know me, he didn’t act like he didn’t. He knew everything about me, without a doubt. Knowing that he didn’t ignore that and felt confident enough to let that be known almost instantly killed all my insecurities I’d gathered about us. So I thought hard on what Belly said.

Conrad was sitting there, waiting for me every night because he cared. Because he wanted to see me, and he didn’t hide that.

Staring at the listless amounts of texts I had been on the receiving end of, all just as concerned and curious. Never one a hint of anger with my behavior, my sudden ghosting. I felt guilty.

He signed every single one off with a simple, “Goodnight, y/n/n. See you tomorrow?” It almost made me forget why I was mad. I couldn’t let these keep collecting, taking up space. Even if I felt nothing but sadness around him now, and everything was gone. Belly could’ve been right.

The longer the night grows on, the more I believe I will fall to the familiar fate of the loneliness the once lively beach brings without her here.

I knew I fucked up. I lied, and ignored. I acted like everything was fine. Like I didn’t care and in that, I hurt the one girl I loved most. The one person I would protect with my life. I hurt Y/n.

It was understandable why she wouldn’t show anymore. It wasn’t what we did. It wasn’t just us. She was being thrown into the exact opposite. Our long talks turned into theres. Her voice no longer ranting about what we liked, but being talked over by the others wants. She was cast away to the background when it should’ve been all about her.

I just hadn’t expected to be completely shut out. Not showing was one thing, but to be completely ghosted was another. It was like we didn’t exist. Like we didn’t know everything about each other. I didn’t need a goodnight text from her, but I would’ve liked one.

“Can I sit?” Looking out at the water, I hadn’t heard someone approaching me. My eyes blurring with the water collecting on my waterline. My throat burned. Biting my lip, I went to nod. Then, from the corner of my eye I saw it.

I knew that face like I knew my own. Her eyes were easily recognizable and her lips were still pulled into that same smile. Only now it was sadder, still just as genuine, but not as big as the last time I’d seen it.

“Y/n, hey.” It came out like a sigh, relief flooding through my body. She came, she was back. It wasn’t over.

She continued to look at me expectantly and only then did I realize she was still waiting. I patted at the sand enthusiastically, almost too eager considering what had happened leading up to now. I watched how carefully she sat herself down beside me. So close but still so distant. Her body angled away, head facing the sky. I could see how hard she was swallowing. I felt the same lump forming that made it just as hard to swallow myself.

“Can we talk?” She broke the silence first, fingers dancing awkwardly around in the sand. She drew stars around the rocks and pebbles scattered in the sand. Keeping her mind more focused on that than the rising desire to break down.

Her lip quivered, I saw it even in the dark. I saw how she blinked rapidly and her chest heaved unevenly. She was upset, she didn’t come here to simply make amends.

“Yeah, hey.” I tried to get her attention, but she could only shake her head. She couldn’t look at me. So instead I took her free hand in mine, playing with her fingers partially to comfort her and also to distract the bubbling sadness in my throat.

“Conrad, what are we?” She finally looked at me, her eyes big, looking into mine. She searched around to see if she could think up what my answer would be.

“We’re…we’re us.” I thought about it hard. The answer seemed to vague but to me it screamed everything. “I mean, isn’t that enough?” I tightened my grip on her hand. I could see my answer wasn’t enough for her.

“Conrad…” She trailed off, like she couldn’t get out what she wanted to. So I finished it off for her.

“No, you’re right. It’s all my fault, Y/n. I mean, these nights, this time we get to be together, I look forward to it every day. It’s all I can think about. You are all I can think about. And-and I guess I just got lost in that. I was just so focused on getting to spend time with you, I didn’t really care about anything else. How expanding who was involved would affect you. And I’m sorry, it was unfair. And I promised I’d fix it, but I didn’t. I fucking didn’t and you were treated horribly because of that. I just-“ I was cut off with a scoff, the sand falling onto my lap as she stood. I followed her quickly, wanting to stay close.

“Are you serious? Conrad I don’t care about anyone else, what they think. They can talk over me all they want. This is about us. About you!” She stepped back, looking around to gather herself. A harsh breath passed through her nose, lips turned down into a frown. “All my life I have spent chasing after you! Your attention. To me, you…you were everything! I used to count down the hours to the next time I could see you again. Conrad, I have spent these past years so embarrassingly in love with you. And you know what’s the worst part? I really thought I had a chance.” I froze at her confession. Her anger and sadness surfacing everything.

“Y/n, woah, woah.” My hands found her shoulders, stopping her with a soft sputter leaving her mouth. “I do, I do.” I promised, voice growing hoarse with the lump growing bigger.

She shook her head, closing her eyes, “Then why, why didn’t you do anything? Why did you make me feel so stupid?” She inched closer, still just as upset.

“I didn’t know, how could I have known? Y/n, I never meant to hurt you. I wouldn’t have done that, you mean everything to me. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” I was as honest as I could be, the desperation in my voice going from a loud, frustrated tone to a softer, slower tone. I wanted her to know I meant it, but I didn’t want to start a bigger mess.

“I don’t get it, Conrad.” I looked into her eyes, she was crying by now. “You ignored me for days and now all of a sudden you like me? Conrad, you acted like I didn’t exist for days. Like whenever Belly or-or Jeremiah was around I was some stranger. Admit it, you were ashamed of me. I was always just some stupid secret to you.”

“I wasn’t ashamed of you, god, how could I ever be ashamed of you?” She stepped back, my voice loud again to match her volume.

“Then why did you do it? Why did you run?” She was desperate for answers.

“Because I love you! I’m so madly in love with you, it makes me sick. I go to bed some nights and I think that you might be the only girl I could ever love. The only one I could ever be with. And it’s so embarrassing. To be so fucking obsessed with someone that it’s all you can think about! I couldn’t even look at you those nights because I didn’t want anyone to know. I wanted you to know first. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t. And them being there only made me more scared. I mean, I’m not nearly as smart as Steven, and I’m not charming like Jeremiah is. I’m not as nice as Belly, I don’t compare. How could I have told you when I’m not enough. I was ashamed of myself.” I could feel my own tears streaming down my face now.

“Conrad, I love you. But I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep being a secret. I’m tired of sneaking around.” Even in her own frustration I felt her hands cup my face, thumbs brushing away my tears. My own hand wrapped around her wrists, not holding but resting there. I let my forehead rest against hers, looking around, trancing a triangle with my eyes around her face.

“Okay, no more secrets.” I agreed, eyes focusing in on hers. Her skin rubbed mine, nodding. There was no going back now. Both having confessed to something that was taking over our lives. Problems dissolving behind it.

Silently, I asked permission. I wanted her to be okay with it, not just kissing to forget about our issues. With the go ahead, I leaned in.

Her lips were soft, warm. Melting together with mine like they meshed perfectly. Made for each other. It was all so slow and sensual, nothing rushed. My hands found the back of her neck, just reaching the edge of the back of her head. Her hands in my hair. It wasn’t messy, or blinded by lust. It was a long time coming, and lasted just as long as both of us wanted.

Secretly I wished I could have her lips on mine forever, wanting to be near her constantly, but her hand in mine was a good substitute, a smile plastered on her face. Bigger than it had been all week, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

“Come here.” With the swiftness of my hands around her and the force of my body hitting hers, we tumbled around in the sand, laughter and smiles radiating off of each other. The moon grew lower and the sun rose higher, the night turning into the day. Our tumbling turned into a peaceful slumber, arms and legs tangled together to pull us as close together as possible. My lips rested on her forehead, the summer sun was warm and welcoming. It felt like a dream, but it was real life.

“I meant what I said.” She leaned it again, stopping to hear me out, smile stuck on her face. “No more secrets.” The sand stuck to our legs, falling out the backs of our shirts. Her lips chased mine, molding together wetly. She ran in front of me, laughing as I chased her.

“Hurry up, Connie!” She teased, my arms wrapping around her waist. We spun like a romcom couple at the end of the movies, still moving towards the old oak stairs. My lips pressed to her cheek, my own cheeks hurting from how happy I was.

Our feet moved quick, soft laughter and snickering stifled underneath our breath. My hand held hers and our heavy footsteps grew feathery light the closer we inched to the back door.

Through the glass I could see her now, just beyond our reflection stood my mom. A soft smile on her face and her hands working on creating another flower bouquet. She was focused, eyebrows drawn together and tongue pointed out that it was only the creaking of the sliding back door opening that could pull her from her concentration.

“Connie.” The familiar nickname that Y/n called me was one her and my mother shared. Her eyes flickered to Y/n, smile widening. I saw her wipe her hands on the old clothes hung around the oven handles.

“Mom, this is Y/n. She’s, my best friend and my girlfriend.” There was so much more to say, to fill in. I wanted her to know about the nights we spent together, what she liked. When we met, how we met. But that could wait. I still had so many people to share Y/n with.

After all, there were no more secrets.

#conrad fisher #conrad x reader #conrad fisher angst #tsitp x reader #tsitp season 2 #tsitp conrad #tsitp x y/n #conrad x you

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rascalentertainments · 1 month ago

Text

Wish Granted 🌟👩🏾🎶 (Wish Reimagined)

Chapter 13: Poor Unfortunate Souls 👸🍪🐂

Chapter 12

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Rosas is bustling more than ever as the citizens prepared for the ceremony. On one hand, everyone being distracted allowed Asha to hide in plain sight. On the other, it was risky that someone could recognize her out of the crowd. Asha realized having the teens around as a group wasn't such a bad thing after all, as they kept eyes off her and Star.

Both Dario and Hal were rambling on about all the wonderful things Rosas had to offer, while Gabo and Simon sort of acted as her personal bodyguards. Though Gabo didn't look all that intimidating holding a young goat. 😅

"And this is where the band comes through during the welcoming song!" Dario explained as he pointed in front of the statues of the royals.

"This is where some of our best artists create portraits of our rulers!" Hal gestured to a small corner where a group of painters were already at work on making several artworks in honor of tonight.

"Oh and can't forget Bazeema's family flower shop over there!" Dario excitedly pointed to a small shop filled to the brim with vast colors of roses. "They have the best flowers, as long as its only roses. King's orders."

"The amount of narcissism in this place is disturbing..." Asha commented, walking past the statues.

"Come on, its not all bad! At least if you ignore the royals stealing our wishes part." Hal said, trying to find the upside to this.

"Allegedly." Dahlia corrected her. She clearly was still standing her ground on the royals. "I'm still going to need proof about all this."

Mouse!Star poked his head out. "Well, the king kind of stabbed me. Is that enough?"

"Look, what I'm saying is that unless I see them doing something so horrible that's its impossible to deny it, I'm not buying it." Dahlia continued as she kept a close eye on both Asha and Star.

"They threw Flazino in a dungeon for pete's sake! Doesn't it bother you that he's missing suddenly?" Asha argued. "There's seriously proof all around you with the people themselves. Do they look happy to you?"

Dahlia looked at the few painters still working, and noticed that a few of them were looking a bit drowsy. One of them had nearly fallen asleep as she was painting and had to wake herself backup. She oddly reminded her a lot of Simon...

But then, lots people get tired during the day from working or other logical reasons, it couldn't possibly be a conspiracy!

"Okay, they do look a little tired, but that's not a reason to think there's something evil going on!" Dahlia stood her ground. "Besides, I'm sure Flazino is fine. Maybe he just went on a secret errand for the royals."

Asha groaned. "This is getting us nowhere. Just forget it." She walked away from the baker and continued onwards.

"And here I thought you cared about your boyfriend." Gabo said in pretend disappointment as he shook his head at Dahlia.

"Of course I care about-" she slightly faltered when she realized what the annoying pipsqueak had said. "He's not my boyfriend! Who even said I even like him that way?" she couldn't even look them in the eye.

"Well, you do talk about him a lot." Hal pointed out as she pulled a set of chalk out from a box and showed it to Asha. "Whenever I'm just passing by, you're usually all 'Flazino' this and 'Flazino' that. Ha, you talk about him even more than the king!"

"All right, it was wasn't that much... " Dahlia grumbled, as she didn't really like being called out.

"And you also swoon over him a lot when he's not looking!" Dario added as he carefully walked on the rim of the water fountain.

"Yes, there's definitely lots of swooning." Bazeema confirmed.

Simon had accidentally fallen asleep after he took a break to sit down, but even he was conscious enough to respond with a yawn, "Yeah, it's true."

That was enough embarrassing Dahlia for today. "Look, none of that is important-or true-right now. What can I do to convince any of you that this is all crazy?"

As the rest of the group was talking Valentino was walking behind Gabo when his ear perked up. He heard a growling sound and assumed it was his own stomach. The goat looked around the sea of people.

Everything looked normal, expect for the African lynx stretched out on a nearby windowsill. He was covered by the large shadow of the awning above him, with only his green eyes and sinister grin shining through.

This made Valentino panic and start bleating like crazy, "MAAAH! MAAAH! MaaaAAAaaaAAAA!" he jumped up and down trying to get their attention.

Asha was too far away to hear, but Bazeema took notice immediately. "What's wrong, little guy?"

Valentino stomped his hooves and pointed over to the windowsill, only now it had a small vase of roses on it. His jaw dropped at how quickly the feline had moved.

"Did you want to see the flowers that badly, or is something else?" Bazeema pondered. Something told her it wasn't just random.

"Or maybe he's just hungry for some roses!" Dario suddenly popped in. "I don't recommend eating the thorns though..."

Valentino gave him the same "are you an idiot?" look he gave Star back in chapter 3.

Dahlia glanced over her shoulder and for a brief moment she thought she saw a slinky cat's tail turn a corner towards her bakery. While Rosas had no shortage of animals or pets roaming around, there was only one pet that was allowed to do as a he pleased.

"I...I just remembered something, I left my spinach puffs in the oven, I better go get them," she said quickly and slowly backed away from the group.

"Oh, I can help with that!" Safi volunteered as wiped his nose with his sleeve.

Dahlia flinched. "Nononono, that's okay!" she exclaimed. "I'm not totally helpless..." she slightly gestured to her crutch. "You guys keep going and I'll just catch up. Besides, the last time you handled the food you sneezed on the Magnifico cookies I baked."

With that, she turned and walked away.

"That was one time, Dahlia! One! Time!" Safi said defensively, then let out a loud sneeze.

Gabo patted Safi on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad. She still mad that I stepped on her cookies a while back. In my defense, it was an act of rebellion." He smiled as if it was a good memory.

Hal waved them all off. "Don't worry about Dahlia. She'll come around, I think she just needs some time to think."

"I wish she had the same optimism like you or Star. We could really use that right now." Asha responded.

Both Hal and Star said in unison. "Thank you!"

"Now come on, while we wait for her, let's continue the real tour!" Hal cheerfully replied as she dragged Asha to another both to look at other art supplies.

She noticed that Asha had an interest in all the artistic items and wanted to show her all the variations of paints, pencils and chalk on the table.

Soon the screen fades to a montage of the teens having fun in the city showing Asha the things they found to enjoy in Rosas.

Dario showed how fun the puppet show could be when its not part if the "Welcome to Rosas" song.

Hal showed her musical skills with a nearby guitar. Thankfully she could actually play. 😅

Simon briefly told the others how his father inspired him to become a knight himself and admired the various kinds of shields the blacksmith made for the soldiers.

Gabo playfully stabbed one of the empty suits of armor to show how well he could handle his father in battle. Everyone took a step back at the sight, but Hal appreciated his enthusiasm.

Both Safi and Bazeema showed their love of animals (Safi leaned more towards chickens, but he was trying) by visiting the petting zoo. Valentino really loved that one as he ended up playing with some of the sheep in the pens.

Asha laughed as her little furry friend was having fun, and she realized that she was doing something that she thought would never happen: She was having fun in Rosas.

Lastly, Hal convinces Asha to show her art skills by buying the chalk from earlier. Asha soon created a mural of Magnifico that looked exactly like him, only more friendly instead of evil. The people nearby looked at it in awe.

Star could see the pure joy on Asha's face as she laughed. Seeing her having fun always made him smile, but it was a different smile than usual. He was slowly feeling something different lately when it came to Asha.

He always had a love for Earth and the people on it, and it brought him joy to see them happy.

But lately he was feeling a different kind of love. Something stronger that he felt for Asha more than he did for Earth. Something that made him want to stay forever.

After the montage ends, the sun is seen slightly going down, showing they had been out all morning. The group seemed more comfortable with each other than they did in previous chapters. They all were incredibly different from each other, but they ended up having fun as if they'd always been friends.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you guys aren't half bad!" Gabo admitted he bit into an apple he "borrowed" from a fruit stand.

"And I can't believe my allergies haven't acted up all this time!" Safi realized and was relieved to finally be out in public without concerning himself with his sneezing problem.

"Yeah, even Bazeema's more outgoing than I thought!" Hal laughed. She looked for Bazeema but didn't see her in the group suddenly. "Wait, where'd she go?"

The others looked around but didn't see her anywhere.

"How does she do that?" said Dario, who was both impressed and scared. "Bazeema! If you're nearby, say 🎶Heigh Ho🎶!" He shouted in case she couldn't hear him. He got a few strange looks.

Simon staggered up and shake off his drowsiness. "I'll find her, just give me a minute. She couldn't have gotten far."

"I hope she's okay..." Safi whimpered as he wrung his hat in his hands with worry. "AAAAACHOOO!" He sneezed into his hat. "Oh no, not again..."

Asha couldn't help but laugh (which she's been doing a lot of lately) the teens were certainly a lot to handle, but they had their own way of having fun.

Mouse!Star poked out from under the hood with cheeky smile. "Looks like your finally making friends! I knew you had it in you. You just needed to bring out your fun side!"

Asha raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not exactly unpredictable as you are." She noted as she folded her arms.

Star chuckled. "I can tell you wanna have fun yourself, but you keep holding back. Who's the one that came with up the idea of bringing those knights to life when we were escaping? Or got excited over those Earth magic things that I had no idea about? And you finally made some friends to talk about all that stuff with! That wasn't me, Asha. That was you."

Asha thought about it. She never really made friends in the Hamlet because she had trouble trusting anyone long term outside her family or Flazino. The seven teens could be loud and slightly annoying, but it was clear their hearts were in the right place, even if they didn't fully believe her.

Could she actually be making friends? Even with the stubbornness of Dahlia or Gabo's desire for anarchy or Dario being.... Dario? It seemed strange, but she was having fun with a group again.

"I'm sure you had lots of friends back home too, right?" Asha laughed. She imagined Star being the center of attention and chatting all the time with the other star nomads. "Had to be lots of fun getting into trouble with them."

She quickly noticed that Mouse!Star's tiny expression changed. He wasn't laughing at all. In fact he looked rather uncomfortable at the mention of his life before coming to Earth.

"I...rather not talk about that." His voice sounded slightly depressed and he looked away from the girl.

Asha had seen the star act like this before. When she mentioned about Star having freedom in the sky, he mentioned that he was actually alone and preferred Rosas over it. It seemed impossible for him to be such since there are countless stars in the sky, yet he never seemed to like talking about his own home.

"Star, you know...you can talk to me about anything, right? We're friends too, aren't we?" Asha gently brushed her finger underneath his furry chin to comfort him. She couldn't exactly hold his hand (or paw) in that form.

The star looked up at her, and said, "Well....you ain't never had a friend like me." he gave her a small smile.

But she could tell he was having a hard time deciding if he wanted to tell her what's upsetting him. As if she could feel something uneasy in him.

However, that would have to wait for a later chapter...

"There she is! We've got the traitor!" A voice boomed from far away. Asha turned and saw a group of guards came charging for them.

How did they know? How did they know?!

Simon stepped in front of the guards. "Guys, wait, wait. I can explain-"

"Quiet, Simon! You're not going anywhere either." One if the guards gruffed at him and pointed his spear at the boy. Simon was surprised he was even being treated like this, but he didn't argue. He simply stepped back with the other teens shielding Asha.

Valentino scrambled back and hid behind Asha, now scared to move from her side.

Asha could slowly feel the fear in her building up again. She couldn't figure out why or how Magnifico knew they were back. Had they lost so much track of time that he was able to find them while distracted?

Star wanted to help Asha, but with too many people around, he could put everyone in more danger by exposing himself to the citizens. He saw Amaya emerge from the guards and his fear started to turn to anger.

"At last, you've finally decided to return to us." she spoke in a firm tone and gestured to the teens surrounding her. "And I see you're not alone this time. You've managed to trick even more people under your spell. Trying to grow yourself an army to attack us?"

"Your highness, I think we can just talk about-" Hal started only for the queen to swiftly raise her hand to silence her.

"No need for excuses." She said coldly. "It would seem that we've had several traitors under our noses the entire time. This simply cannot continue."

The rest of teens looked surprised. The queen wasn't even going to listen? It was looking like Asha waa right after all...

Gabo pulled out his dagger, making a couple the guards aim their spears at him now. "We ain't scared of you! Well, maybe Safi is, but aside from him, we ain't scared of you! I knew you guys were evil this whole time!"

Amaya laughed at his pathetic excuse for bravery. "Oh please, spare your theatrics. We all know who the real villain is here. But luckily for me, someone was brave enough to come forward and bring you to justice."

Asha noticed that two of the teens were still missing. "Oh no..." she whispered in horror.

Safi seemed like he caught on. "You don't mean that...there's no way that Bazeema would do this!" for the first time he finally spoke up without sneezing.

"I'm actually right here." Bazeema whispered as she popped up from behind Safi as if by magic. She actually managed to spook the guards.

"Would you stop doing that?" Gabo grunted, grabbing his chest. "You're gonna give some of us a heart attack! Shy girls... Oy..."

From behind Amaya, someone else stepped forward. Someone with a familiar crutch: Dahlia.

"I'm sorry, Asha. I just want to protect the people I love too." the baker said, with a hint regret in her voice. She hoped that Asha would understand and it wouldn't result the kingdom's destruction. "We can help you too."

Asha didn't answer back, but her eyes were filled anger towards her former friend. This was why she didn't trust others.

"I thought it was always the quiet ones you had to look out for." Dario glanced at Bazeema hiding behind Safi. "No offense, Zee." he sheepishly replied.

"None taken." the shy girl whispered.

Amaya stepped forward. "So what will it be, my dears? Hand over the traitor, or join her as accomplices?" Her tone shifted to make clear the of the consequences.

Upon on the queen's shoulder, the lynx could see Mouse!Star poking out from the inside of Asha's hood. He was ready to pounce as soon as his master gave the signal.

The air grew tense as everyone waited for an answer.

Asha looked around, all eyes on her now. The people looked scared. They had no idea what was coming, nor the influence they were under. To them, she was the threat.

She heard a noise from Gabo. "Psst. When I make the signal, you run with the rest of the guys."

Neither Asha or Star knew what he was planning to do, but went along.

"All right, you asked for it!" Gabo stomped over to one of the guards and put up his fists, looking ready for a fight. "COME ON, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!" His voice was so high and raspy that he sounded like an angry duck.

At first Asha wanted to hold Gabo back, but then quickly realized that this was the distraction. She let a small smile show before she quickly ran off, with Valentino right behind her.

"I like your confidence and all, buddy," Hal commented. "But, uh, I'm pretty sure that even you can't beat all these guys." She looked on at the guards, beginning to inch closer.

"Your highness, please show...." Safi started, but then felt a twitch in his nose. "show....AAAAACHOOO!!" he sneezed so hard that he nearly fell over.

"For goodness sake, cover your mouth." Amaya scoffed. "We don't need a plague to break out."

Sabor noticed Asha suddenly was gone. He looked over the teens and saw her getting further away.

"RRRAWRRR!!" Sabor roared as his fur bristled.

Amaya was concerned something was bothering her sweet pet when she realized he was warning her. The queen quickly noticed Asha had vanished.

"The girl is getting away!" She clenched her fist. Obviously these other bothersome teens were covering for her and the star. How many more traitors were running around this place?!

Sari scrambled to his feet and ran after Asha in fear and Bazeema quietly followed. Simon jerked himself awake and grabbed Gabo, carrying him under his large arm. "Thanks, for a second there, I thought I was going to the dungeon!" the grumpy teen said, relived.

"You four, go after Asha. The rest of you take these remaining traitors away. They'll answer to the king for their crimes." Amaya ordered without hesitation.

The guards split into two groups and did as instructed. The remaining ones closed in on the remaining teens.

"They're not going to get hurt, right?" Dahlia asked, earnestly. "You promised you wouldn't treat them like criminals."

Amaya smiled at the poor trusting girl. "Of course, dear. I just need to use a little force to remind them who's in charge here. Everything will be taken care of before the ceremony."

The queen would prefer that the star is captured in secret, but things were getting rather complicated and more people were getting involved. Perhaps more drastic measures must be made...

While the queen was talking with Dahlia, Hal and Dario attempted to slip away, but the dopey teen had an idea to stop the other guards from getting Asha.

Dario jumped in front of the guards path. "Hey there, gentlemen! You want to see a trick? I've been working on it all week!" He took five colored balls out his pocket and started to juggle them like a circus performer.

The guards ran passed him as if he wasn't even there, kicking up a cloud of dust. "Come on, I barely got started!" Dario shouted to them, disappointed.

"You can sulk later, we gotta go!" Hal told him as she raced behind the guards. Dario soon followed after.

As the guards started to get closer to the rest of the group, an idea sparked into Asha's head. "Star, I know its risky, but can you-"

As if reading her mind, Mouse!Star grinned. "Go for it!"

Asha turned to face the guards, let Star crawl into her hand and swiftly tossed him forward. Before he landed on the ground, a blinding flash appeared and in place of the yellow mouse, the star had become a large grinning bull. And he was CHARGING TOWARDS THEM.

(Fun fact, Disney made a Ferdinand short in 1938, they own two versions of the character now! 😆)

The guards screamed and scrambled over each other trying to get away from him, only for a couple of them to get bucked clear back where they came from. Dario and Hal jumped out of their way just in time, and could see the poor guards soaring over their heads.

When the rest of the guards were far away enough, Bull!Star skid to a halt. "Ha! That's right, you mess with the bull, you get the-gasp-" His attention turned towards a pot of flowers sitting on a nearby windowsill. "Are those daisies?" He trotted over and took a big sniff of them.

He hadn't been able to take much more of the beauty of Earth for a little while and got distracted.

"STAR, STAY FOCUSED, WE GOTTA GO!" Asha's voice echoed to him as the others started to get farther away.

Star was shocked back to reality. "Right, right. Sorry!" He ran back towards Asha and the others, with Hal and Dario finally catching up.

That bought them some time, but Simon looked over his shoulder and saw a new batch of guards-now even bigger looking-coming for them. One of them was his own father.

"We can't keep running forever!" Simon told them, now he was beginning to get tired himself. He normally didn't run this long outside of knight training. "We have to find a place to hide and fast. This whole place like a maze!"

"You all are not going to fit inside my hideout. Especially not Simon." Gabo warned them. Asha and Star seemed to be his exceptions to staying there.

"I'm pretty sure they've raided your place now thanks to Dahlia." said Asha, still bitterly reminded of her betrayal.

Gabo's eyes widened in horror. "THEY'RE GONNA TELL MY MOM ABOUT IT, AREN'T THEY?! She's gonna kill me!" One of the rare times he remembered he's only fifteen years old.

Dario attempted to reassure him. "Nah, I think the king will kill you first before she can even be mad!"

"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT!" Gabo shouted back, hitting him in the arm.

Bazeema looked nervous, but she had an idea. "Um, I have a place we could-"

"Wanna try just skipping town?" Hal suggested as they came across a two way path. "If star can move fast enough like he did before-"

"He nearly destroyed half the city yesterday." Asha cut her off as she signaled them towards the left route.

"I said I was sorry!" Star defended himself. He was a bit slower since he in a rather large form and the path was getting narrow.

"Don't be, that was glorious!" Gabo laughed, reminiscing about that day of terror.

Eventually, they turned a corner down the alley and were met with a stone wall.

"Oh great! The biggest cliché that could ever happen, A dead end!" Gabo exclaimed as he kicked a rock that hit the wall.

"I'm too young to go to jail, man!" Dario panicked, pulling on the ends of his hat in fear.

"I knew this was going to end bad- AAACHOO! AAACHOO! AACHOO!" Safi sneezed uncontrollably.

The impact budged the wall slightly. Gabo didn't notice, but Valentino did and walked over to it. While the others were arguing, Bazeema noticed him getting curious and followed him.

Valentino followed the scent on the ground all the way to the wall. There were several planks of mahogany wood in front of it. The scent was coming from behind the wood, so the goat tried to move the wood himself, but it was too heavy.

(Yes, I had to change the literal ass scene, who even approved of that-)

Bazeema realized he found her secret entrance. Now they could escape easily! "Good boy, Valentino! You just saved us!" She praised him as he patted his head.

"Maaaa!" He replied, his tail wagging happily.

The shy girl turned to her arguing friends to tell them the good news, "Asha, your friend found my-"

"I'm telling you, I can just take my dagger and-" Gabo began to pull out his weapon.

"Gabo, for the last time. You're not stabbing anyone!" Asha's scolded him.

Bazeema tried again. "Um....its okay, really. Valentino found-"

"I could throw my balls at them! They didn't even stick around to watch my juggling trick." Dario chimed in.

"Oooh, you're doing your magic trick again?" Bull!Star perked up.

"Now's not the time, fellas..." Hal attempted to get them to focus again.

Clearly they weren't getting anywhere and for the first time in her life, Bazeema was getting frustrated. Everyone could be caught at any moment, and they were all busy arguing (or sneezing in Safi's case). So she did something she thought she would never do...

"PLEASE BE QUIET AND LISTEN!" she shouted. Yes, actually shouting!

That finally caught everyone's attention and silenced them.

Bazeema immediately coveted her mouth and returned to her softer voice. "Valentino found another way out. Its behind this." she gestured to the blockage. "But I can't move it."

Asha could hear the sound of horses approaching, followed by a man shouting orders. "We need to hurry. Simon, can you break that down?"

Simon wondered why the literal bull couldn't do it, but there was no time.

Bazeema took Valentino away as Simon stomped over to the wood. He cracked his knuckles and raised his fists over his head. "Better stand back, I'm gonna wreck it!" He warned them.

With a loud grunt, he smashed the area with ease. Simon gestured for everyone to get inside, quick.

Star transformed back to his human form and used his glow to light the way in.

As the teens made their way inside one by one, Bazeema gingerly apologized to Asha. "I'm sorry I yelled."

Asha smiled. "Don't be. You found your voice after all."

Bazeema returned the smile and was the last to enter the hole.

Gabo's voice echoed from inside. "By the way, how are we going to cover our tracks?"

"Oh, I got it!" Star replied.

A small wave of golden dust swirled around the fallen debris and everything put itself back into place, right before the guards passed by.

Back in the heart of the city, some of the people were murmuring amongst each other. They were in shock of not just one, but several traitors were right under their noses. The Queen calmed everyone down with a soothing spell. Soon, they were back under control and carried on about their business as if nothing happened.

Dahlia did feel a bit bad about scaring everyone, but at least it was only temporary. Everyone would be at ease again. Sure, she ousted the traitor, but made it clear to the queen that she didn't want Asha's hurt. If she could see Magnifico really was a generous man, Dahlia knew she could help both sides.

Amaya gave Dahlia an assuring smile. "Don't worry, my dear. You've done a great service to Rosas and the people." She said in an almost motherly tone. "Thanks to you, the traitors will be brought to justice. Magnifico will be delighted to meet the hero of Ross and give you what you deserve." The last sentence sounded rather odd to phrase, but maybe Dahlia was slightly put off by the way Sabor grinned at her.

Dahlia had mixed feelings about this, even though she shouldn't. The baker was absolutely certain that bringing Asha to the royals would not only keep Rosas safe but also clear up a misunderstanding and Magnifico could help her family. If she really was helping her friend, why did it feel...bad?

Perhaps the king would ease her mind...

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FINAL THOUGHTS

IT'S FINALLY DONE, HOORAY!! 🙌 I know it took me forever to make this, I'm glad it was finished! One part was because I was really busy with work and this chapter wouldn't leave me the hell alone to finish, and the other is that its been pretty difficult to write all the teens lines. As someone who grew to like the idea of a Seven Drawves styled group, I thought they were pretty bland in the movie. And from the art book and deleted scenes showed, they were meant to be much more but got cut down. So I really wanted to show them all having distinctive personalities, could banter with one another, and actually grow in their friendship with Asha and each other. Which brings me to my next thing...

YES, THE TRAITOR IS FINALLY REVEALED IN HERE, AND I CAN TALK ABOUT IT, I'M FREEEEE!!!!!

So yeah, instead of Simon, its Dahlia! I've been keeping this plot twist a secret for almost a year because I really wanted to do something different with the traitor idea. I chose this because during one of the deleted scenes, Dahlia was sent to work in the dungeon, while everyone else sneaked in. Simon was with the group, so that means in the original film, he wasn't a traitor. He was helping Asha. Dahlia mentioned she saw Magnifico's true nature and that she was being punished "for what they did". Which got me thinking, what if Dahlia was the traitor in the original movie? She's the one that believes in Magnifico the most and refuses to see the truth, so what if she ratted them out, thinking she was doing the right thing? What if Asha was betrayed by her best friend? From there, I rolled with it.

As for the story itself, strap yourselves in, because the next few chapters are gonna be WILD! And I'll finally get to the juicy stuff I've been wanting to write for months!

And yes, the poster is nearly done, ITS JUST TAKING FOREVER-

Thanks for reading!

@oh-shtars @tumblingdownthefoxden @chillwildwave @your-ne1ghbor

@annymation @lazytitans-world @thesafireartist @natsuki208

@snackara @kenihewa @mythartist21 @uva124

@spectator-zee @cocoapowderpictures @emptyblog7

@pinkninja0708 @gracebeth3604 @ishadow246 @jojo-ker06

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