#my life has been hectic we got new furniture and i was helping out a lot recently

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

I LIVED

[jeyramarie]

Mr. & Mrs. Holland- (Mob! Tom Holland x Mob! Reader) part 4

summary: sometimes the price to pay is the worst consequence 

warning: kidnapping, torturing, blood, cursing 

w/c: 2,907

a/n: i had this idea so long ago and seeing it written it’s absolutely amazing. i hope you guys like it! happy reading everyone 🦋

prologue~ part 1~ part 2~ part 3~

After Tom hung up, he quickly got dressed. 

“Babe, what happened?” she asked leaning over the bed to grab her underwear. 

“James.. he is dead.” he said, poking his head out of the closet, seeing her face of shock. 

“Um.. how? w-why?” she stuttered, running her hand through her hair. 

“Darling, i don’t know but i have to go over there.” Y/n was still in shock, how can someone she just saw earlier in the day was found dead. Her thoughts were cut short when Tom came out of the closet and gave her a kiss. 

“I’m gonna figure this out, okay? I’ll call you. I love you.” Tom said and left for the hotel leaving Y/n alone in bed, worried to death. She spent the whole day at home, waiting for Tom to call. Y/n wasn’t gonna stay inside the rest of the day bored to hell. So of course, she kept herself busy. She painted and played the piano in a small library Tom had made for her. She was writing a song for her husband which was quite hard. The melody didn’t sound as soothing as she wanted to. At the end of the night, she was drinking tea on her bed while watching tv when her phone finally rang. It was Tom. 

“Babe?” 

“Hey, darling.” 

“How are you? Are you okay? Is everything okay?” 

“Honey, calm down. I’m fine. I just got caught up, I’m sorry I didn’t call.” he chuckled making Y/n let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

“No, it’s fine. I’m just glad you’re okay. I was literally going crazy.” 

“I’m sorry love, it’s just pretty hectic over here.” 

“It’s alright. Are you on your way home?” she asked, feeling hopeful and bit her lip. 

“Actually, love. I wanted to talk about that.” Y/n stayed quiet waiting for him to continue, immediately feeling upset. 

“I have to leave for a few… have to go to Washington.” 

“Why?” she whispered sadly making him frown too. 

“Some business issues, darling. Just gonna go check it out, see what’s going on.” 

“Can’t Harrison go and handle it?” she asked as she ran her finger around the teacup. 

“Not this time. They need my signature to prove Haz is not lying. You know us mobsters have serious trust issues.” 

“How long are you gonna be away?” 

“Like three days.” 

“Do you have clothes?” that made Tom smile, loving how she worries all the time. 

“Yes, I do.”

“And your toothbrush?” she smiled as his laugh filled her ears. 

“Yes, my love. I have everything.” 

“Okay, then.” she said softly as she fidgeted with the blanket. 

“I have to go, baby. I’ll call you in the morning.” 

“Okay, goodnight. I love you.” 

“I love you too, princess. ‘Night.” they hung up and Tom went back to work while Y/n’s eyes teared up. It was gonna be a peaceful nice so she felt the sudden need to do something she’s never done and was slightly scared to do. She just needed to be alone right now. Y/n got out of bed and put on her silk robe, going downstairs to talk to William. He was sitting on the kitchen stool drinking coffee with Susan, the maid. 

“William.” she said softly not wanting to startle anyone. He heard his boss and quickly stood up from the stool, turning to her. 

“Gather everyone around, please.” she turned around and left to the main entrance leaving William and Susan all confused. Wondering what she was going to say. A few minutes went by and all her employees from the house gathered in front of her. 

“Hello, everyone. I don’t know if you know but Tom is gonna be away on a business trip for the next three days. You all can go home today, to your family. Take the rest of the day off. I’ll see everyone tomorrow.” she smiled as her employees smiled too. They all said thank you and spread out to grab their belongings. She turned to William who was still standing there, not moving an inch. 

“William, you can go home.” 

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t leave. I don’t want to.” 

“Thank you. You can sleep in the guest room.” she said as she walked upstairs to her room to try and get some sleep. 

The clock read 3:30 am when Y/n woke up abruptly from a slamming door. ‘It must be William.’ she thought as she suddenly felt really thirsty. She walked out of her room and made her way to the kitchen. The whole house was dark, only lights that were reflected inside were the ones from the pool. She opened the fridge to get some water and when she closed she saw a figure next to her making her gasp. The jug of water crashed on the ground, covering the floor in broken glass. As she stepped backwards, trying to get anyway from the intruder, her back met a strong broad chest. The man quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding her in place as she kicked around trying to get out of his grasp. Y/n was about to scream for help when the person in front of her quickly covered her mouth. 

“Where’s the chip?” the person asked as she struggled against the strong grip around her. Y/n shook her head making the person roll her eyes. 

“Check the whole house! Now!” he screamed and a bunch of people walked in, beginning to trash the whole place. Flipping tables and furniture, breaking bases, mirrors, picture frames, everything. The man behind Y/n kept a strong grip around her with one arm and covered her mouth with his other hand, making her see how they destroyed everything. She kept screaming into the man’s hand and moved her body abruptly to get out his grasp. 

Suddenly, people started walking down the stairs holding William at gunpoint while his hands were up in surrender. He was about to say something when one of the men hit him in the back of the head with the barrel of the gun, leaving him passed out on the floor which caused Y/n to scream into the hand. 

“You’re gonna wish you’d never taken that information.” and with that he punched her so hard that she fell unconscious onto the man’s arms that were still wrapped around her. 

‘Ugh, what a massive headache.’ Y/n thought immediately when she started waking up, thinking that everything from the night before was a dream. She was hoping she would wake up in her bed, nexto to her husband but it wasn’t like that. Once she opened her eyes, she felt immense fear from her surroundings. She was tied up to a chair with duct tape over her mouth and she was in some kind of basement. After what felt like hours of her trying to break free from the ties, the door behind her opened letting a man walk in. 

“Well, hello there. You finally woke up.” a familiar voice said she struggled against her restraints feeling immediate fear. 

“It’s a pleasure to have you here.. Mrs. Holland.” the man said finally standing in front of her causing her to lift her head slowly. Her eyes went wide when she saw who it was. Which made her pull against the restraints even harder, needing to get away. It was Adam. The same Adam that was spying on her and her husband, the same Adam that probably killed James. He laughed at her fear as he ripped the duct tape off her mouth making her groan in pain. 

“Now, let’s talk. Shall we?” he said as he placed a chair in front of her and sat down. 

(Washington…)

All the way in Washington, Tom was having dinner with a couple mob friends when Harrison’s phone ran. He saw it was William calling which made him answer immediately, knowing something bad must be happening.

“William, everything alright?” 

“Haz, he took her. He took Y/n.” he grunted getting up from the floor feeling immense pain on his head. Harrison’s eyes went wide quickly turning around so his boss wouldn't hear.

“Who took her, William? What the fuck happened?” he whispered aggressively running his hand through his hair. 

“Adam… he came here, trashed the whole place. He came looking for the stupid chip.” 

“Where the fuck was everyone? That house is supposed to be surrounded 24/7.”

“Mate, I know that. Y/n sent them all home for the night.”

“Why the fuck- okay, thank you William. I’ll call you later, after I tell Tom.” he whispered not wanting his boss to hear. 

“Alright. I’m sorry, mate.” Harrison hung up and turned to see the men laughing, Tom all smiley with no worries. It pained him to be the one to ruin that but he had to say something. Y/n’s life was on the line. With all his courage, he walked towards Tom and leaned getting close to his ear.

“William called. It’s about Y/n.” he whispered then stepped back making Tom turn to him and give him a questionable look. He excused himself from the table and walked over to Haz, pulling him towards the hall of the restaurant.

“What about Y/n?” Tom asked angrily with a clenched jaw.

“Adam showed up at the house.” Harrison saw how he wanted to interrupt so he held his hand up to shut Tom up.

“He went looking for the chip, trashed the whole place and took Y/n. I asked William where everyone was and he told me that she had sent them all home for the night.” Tom stayed silent for a while, feeling anger course through his body like wildfire. All he replayed in his head was ‘took Y/n’. 

“Let’s go back to New York. Now.” he said angrily and stomped outside of the restaurant, getting into the car with Harrison behind him. Tom couldn’t take Y/n out of his mind. Thinking how scared she might’ve been, how he wasn’t there for her, everything was eating him alive. He bounced his leg up and down the whole way, feeling nervous and worried and angry all at the same time. All he wanted was to be with his wife, to keep her safe and he wont till he gets her back. 

(New York…)

She huffed as another punch hit her cheekbone causing it to open. Adam has been torturing her for what felt like hours. He hit her in the face, her torso, even on the side of her head. All his rage went out on every punch he gave. 

“No one is gonna fucking steal from me again. Specially stupid ass women like you.” he said with gritted teeth, punching her in the corner of her mouth making her cough and spit out blood. 

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you to not hit girls?” Y/n mumbled with her head hanging low, feeling dizzy from all the fist to face contact. He laughed dryly and yanked her head back by her hair making her wince in pain. 

“She did.. but she also told me to defend myself and you’re a slimy little bitch.” he said with gritted teeth as his grip on her hair got tighter making her shout in pain. Adam let go of his grip pushing her head forward. He was about to punch her again when he’s phone started ringing. One of his men gave him the phone which made him smile devilishly once he saw the caller id. He took the gun from the back of his pants and pointed it at Y/n as he answered the fun.

“Hey, Tommy.” her eyes went wide when she heard her husband’s name and started pulling on the restraints. 

“Tom!” she shouted causing Adam’s employee to stand up and cover her mouth. Of course, she continued shouting Tom’s name over and over again. Until she had enough of being silenced and bit the guys hand making him scream and take it away. 

“Tom! Please let me talk to him, Adam. Please, I need to talk to him.” Y/n begged on the verge of crying. He laughed and placed his phone on her ear. 

“Y/n?”

“Tom, baby-“ 

“Are you hurt? Do you know where you are?” 

“Baby..” she whispered as she started to cry.

“Tom, I’m scared.” she muttered feeling ashamed and disappointed in herself. 

“I’m gonna find you, okay? Try to give me a coded message, baby. Just try, please.” She started looking around, trying to look for something familiar that Tom would notice but all she saw was Adam and his men staring at her. 

“I-I can’t. There’s nothing- I can’t.” Tom was about to answer when Adam came and ripped off the phone from her ear. 

“I’m sure you guys had a nice conversation.” 

“If you dare fucking touch her, I’ll find you and cut you in tiny little pieces.” Tom said with gritted teeth. 

“Oh well, Tommy you might have to sharpen your knife then.” He quickly hung up the phone before Tom could start talking. 

(Tom’s private jet..) 

The mob boss threw his phone on the floor as he stood up and walked back and forth in anxiousness. He ran his hand through his hair, only thinking about his wife. 

“He fucking touched her, Harrison. He… fuck!” Tom screamed with gritted teeth only wanting to kill Adam over and over again. 

The plane finally landed and they drove quickly to the house. William was waiting outside with a bruise eye and a sling holding his right arm. The car came to a stop and both men stepped out quickly walking towards the man who was scared. 

“Mr. Holland, I’m so sorry. She sent everyone home but I decided to stay to look after her and then they came in and just-“ 

“William, breath.” Tom said, interrupting his rambling. 

“I’m so sorry. I- I couldn’t do anything.” 

“It’s not your fault, William. Do you have any idea on where she might be?” he asked, walking into the house with the men behind him, going into the kitchen. 

“Of course, I thought about the hotel. His house too or maybe James’ house. She can be anywhere by now.” Tom stayed silent rubbing his chin in deep thought. 

“We should go to the hotel an-”

“Wait, didn’t you put a tracker on James’ car?” Harrison interrupted leaning against the counter. 

“Did you ever check it, boss?” William asked, turning to him waiting for an answer. 

“Not really.. James was found dead that day. Never got the chance.” he said softly as he stood up to get his laptop. He turned it on and began typing away, looking for the current location of the vehicle. It was at Le Royale, where James was last seen before he got murdered. 

“I wonder why he went back there..” William said walking away to get some water. Tom quickly thought about the chip Y/n had. 

“Will, does the chip have access to the security cameras?” 

“Yeah, I think so.”

“We have to find it, right now.” and with that, they all spread out around the house. They went into every room and checked every closet and drawer. Tom finally made it to his bedroom that stayed as Y/n left it. Bed undone, her clothes on the floor, the smell of sex still in the room and her purse wide open on the dresser, next to her laptop. He ran and grabbed it, then ran downstairs to call the guys. 

“I got it!” he shouted as he got closer to the computer, immediately plugging it into the device. Tom sat there again, typing and typing, trying to pull up the footage of James in Adam’s office. He was thinking about this for some time. Finding proof that Adam killed James, sending it to the police anonymously and following them when they went to look for him at his home. That way he could find Y/n. His thoughts quickly changed, ‘That would take too long.’ he thought quickly stepping away from the computer. William and Harrison looked at each other in confusion wondering why he would just stop. 

“I have to call him.” Tom mumbled standing up from his chair and pulling out his phone, quickly dialing Adam’s number. 

“Hello?”

“What do you want?” he asked angrily as the man laughed. 

“What do I- oh Tommy. It’s not that easy.” he said as he watched Y/n get her head dunked in water repeatedly, not giving her time to breath. 

“I’ll give you anything. Just tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you just… just please give me Y/n.” Adam stayed quiet for a bit as she gasped for air once her head was out of the water. 

“Give me my chip back and we’ll schedule a place.” Adam said, holding his hand up, signalling his stop the turtering. He then hung up and walked towards Y/n who was still gasping for air. Tom put his phone back into his pocket and made his way to the boys who were still on the computer. 

“Adam wants the chip.” he said, breaking the guys’ trance.

“I’m gonna give it to him-”

“But Tom-” Harrison started interrupting him out of shock. 

“I’ll give it to him empty.”

mr&mrs.h: @ilovefandoms102 @themaddies-obx @guillerminacaba @teenwishes08 @runawayolives @theartisticqueen @quacksonlover81 @wonderfulfluffer @spidernerdsblog @nerdy-collector-festival

[taetaespeaches]

“Thank you for not giving up three years ago.”

hoseok x reader (or oc) genre: fluff word count: 2.7K

a/n: I’m not even gonna lie, lovelies, this is a bit of a mess lol. But it’s hectic and so is moving into a new place, so I guess it’s fitting? This takes place pretty much where “Wherever we go, we’ll be home” left off. Hobi and Petal/reader are moved in to their new place but they are far from unpacked and yeah. It’s random but I hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading! :)) 

(brief moments of kookie and poopsie in here as well.) 

p.s. holy shit this is the last fic of the two-week uploads for each member?! What the fuck?? Thanks to everyone who rode this out with and waited for every fic and supported me throughout and ugh I just love you all so much. Thank you, lovelies <3 

TAKING a moment to scan the piles of boxes scattered across the mostly unfurnished apartment, you lifted one of the box flaps before pulling a face of disgust, flipping it back shut. If only the cardboard cubes could unpack themselves.

“You look overwhelmed,” your boyfriend suddenly spoke just moments before his arms loosely wrapped around your shoulders. A kiss was pressed to your cheek bone as you turned to look at him, the man quickly pushing his lips to yours as you turned in his arms, wrapping yours around his waist.

“I think I have too many things,” you thought out loud, Hoseok smiling softly as he shook his head.

“Nah, you just have a lot of things,” he teased, you giggling as you pressed your lips to his once more.

“Remind me, why did we decide to do this to ourselves?” You jokingly complained about the task of unpacking and moving in.

“Mmm,” he hummed in thought. “I think it has something to do with you being obsessed with me and wanting me around all the time,” he smirked.

“Ohhh,” you responded, dragging the word out as you nodded. “Right,” you noted in an unconvinced tone. “Something like that,” you agreed, Hoseok giggling as he pecked your lips a few times quickly.

“We just about have it all unloaded, Jungkook should be able to haul the rest of it up,” he informed you, your eyes widening in surprise, though your response was contained to a simple nod. “I’m gonna go down and check on everything,” he told you, placing a sweet kiss to your nose before stepping away, you allowing him to slip out of your embrace as you watched him leave.

Moving may be an overwhelming task but goddamn that man made it all worth it. Looking around the apartment, with your mind stuck on Hoseok, you decided indefinitely that you would move a million times for him.

Having decided together to replace most of your old furniture with new stuff you picked out together, the space was rather empty, the carboard boxes being the only things filling the room. To make the living area feel more like home, more like you and Hoseok, you were hit with the sudden desire to set out a photo. One particular photo. The first photo you two had ever taken together, which was on your first date at a carnival. Searching the boxes, you tried to find the one that was labeled with ‘picture frames’.

Wandering around the entire living area, you couldn’t seem to find the box anywhere. “Well fuck,” you sighed to yourself, a sudden giggle sounding to the side of the room, your eyes darting to find Jungkook smiling in amusement.

“All good?” He asked, you nodding with a faint smile.

“Have you seen a box with the words ‘picture frames’ on it?” You asked, the man squinting as he thought to himself.

“Uh, no,” he concluded apologetically, still carrying the box in his arms that looked increasingly heavy. “I’m assuming it has picture frames in it,” he smirked, you widening your eyes to feign impression.

“How did you kn-”

“Kookie, are you carrying dishes right now?” Jin’s girlfriend asked him as she stepped into the room from another area of the apartment. Jungkook looked at her with a guilty smile making you giggle lightly. Apparently, he and his accomplice Taehyung had broken almost all of her dishes when helping her to move into her new apartment a few years ago and she was making it her mission to keep the same thing from happening to your own kitchenware.

“Have you been in here this whole time?” You asked her in confusion, the girl looking at you with a serious expression.

“Yeah? You and Hobi are cute,” she noted nonchalantly, you staring at her in disbelief. “I banned you from carrying those,” she reminded Jungkook, the man shooting her a mischievous grin as he walked to the kitchen to place the box on the counter gently.

“I’m redeeming myself,” he informed her before gesturing to the untainted box with a wave of his arm. “Consider me redeemed,” he joked, you lightly chuckling as you looked back to the room, searching for that one specific box among the disarray.

“Is there more to bring up?” The girl asked, you looking back to them to see Jungkook shake his head.

“No, that should be it,” he noted. “Pretty much everyone is gone already. And when I left them your freak and my weirdo were stealing the moving truck keys from Yoongi and threatening to drop it back off at the garage themselves,” he giggled, Jin’s girlfriend smiling as she shook her head.

“Why are they like this?” She asked as you laughed lightly at the thought of them tossing the keys over Yoongi’s head, including him in unwanted game of monkey in the middle.

“Is Hobi down there?” You asked Jungkook, the man shaking his head.

“He went to get you guys dinner,” he informed you, you pulling your eyebrows together in perplexity.

“He did?” You questioned. “We should be buying you all dinner,” you told them guiltily, feeling bad that they had used up most of their day helping you and Hoseok to move. However, both of your friends instantly shook their heads as they started negating your comment in a back and forth that would have seemed rehearsed if you didn’t know better.

“Absolutely not,” the girl told you.

“That’s ridiculous,” Jungkook spoke.

“You already bought lunch,” she said.

“Don’t be silly,” Jungkook finished.

Smiling in amusement at the two, you rolled your eyes. “Ok, well Hobi and I are having you over for dinner soon,” you reminded them as they began making their way to your new front door. “As soon as this place is put together,” you gestured to the mess of yours and Hoseok’s belongings.

“Looking forward to it,” the girl said sweetly as they prepared to exit the apartment. “You’re sure you don’t need help with anything else?” She asked, you shaking your head as you shooed them out.

“You’ve done enough, just go and enjoy your evening.” Looking to Jungkook, you found him smirking, making you eye him skeptically.

“Your dishes should be in good shape, I only dropped them once,” he joked, you instantly laughing at him as Jin’s girlfriend groaned.

“Jungkook,” she warned as he began jogging down the hallway away from her, an adorable but bratty giggle leaving his lips. “Oh, that picture frame box is in your guys’ bedroom,” she informed you, and maybe you should have been surprised by her random intuition and knowledge, but you’d known the girl long enough to know not to question her. Without another word she began running after Jungkook, leaving you as you called out one last thank you.

Shutting the door, you smiled to yourself, a sincere sense of gratitude and happiness settling in as you took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. This was your home. You lived with Hoseok. This was your life.

Hauling a bag stuffed full of blankets, you made your way to the living room as the front door opened, Hoseok stepping inside, his hands full with a pizza box and a… fish bowl?

Cocking your head at him, you set the bag and blanket you pulled out on the floor before slowly walking toward him.

“Petal,” he greeted cheerfully, “I’m home! With food,” he added, nodding his chin down toward the pizza box. “Whoah, home,” he realized the words he spoke as he looked around the room, his eyes landing on you, his gaze full of love and contentment.

“Uh, are we having fish with our pizza?” You asked jokingly, though the man appeared lost in thought as he stared at you fondly.

“I can’t believe we live here together,” he spoke softly, your lips curving up at how cute he was.

“Hoseok,” you called out to pull him from his thoughts, his eyes widening to show his responsiveness. “The fish.”

Your boyfriend followed your gaze downward to the fish bowl with a little gold fish swimming around it. Chuckling at himself, a bashful glow meeting his cheeks, he nodded at it for you to take off the pizza box.

“Well,” he started, you stifling a smile as you held the bowl in your hands in front of your face, looking at the little fish swimming around energetically. “It’s your housewarming gift,” he told you, an endeared laugh leaving your lips.  

“You got me another fish?” You asked, cooing at how fucking cute he was. The combination of his disbelief over the new state of your relationship and living arrangement, along with getting you a new pet goldfish had you wanting to reach out and pepper kisses all across his face.

“I just thought, you know, you loved Luna,” he explained shyly. “I don’t know, a new home, new family member,” he shrugged, you pouting at him as you peered at him from around the fish bowl.

“I did love Luna,” you told him, the man smiling more fondly than ever at you. He won you a fish in a carnival game during that damn first date and it ended up being your flat mate for a year before its eventual passing. You smiled shyly as you thought back to day Hobi came over to visit you only to find you crying at the discovery that your little fish Luna had died while you were at class.

“Why are you so thoughtful?” You asked him, walking to the kitchen counter to set the fish tank down, bending down to continue looking inside the tank. Setting the pizza box on the counterspace next to the fish bowl, Hoseok crouched down with you, both of you peering at the new ‘family member’. So fucking cute.

“What are you thinking for a name?” He asked, you turning toward him as you smiled.

“Maybe,” you thought for a moment, “Yue? Like in Avatar,” you suggested, referring to the princess who sacrificed her life, becoming the spirit of the moon. Looking back to the fish, your boyfriend continued staring at you lovingly.

Leaning toward you, he left a kiss to your cheek, you leaning into the simple gesture of affection. “Is that paying homage to Luna?” He asked, you smiling without looking at him as you stood up, Hoseok looking up at you for a moment. “God, you’re fucking cute,” he told you.

Standing up straight, he grabbed your face between his hands gently, bringing his lips to yours as he kissed you sweetly, the touch lingering as he pulled away. Clasping your hands over his wrists, you ensured he didn’t move his hands away from your face as you looked at him fondly.

“Thank you for this,” you pouted. “I love it,” you referred to the fish. “And you,” you informed him, Hoseok leaning forward once more to kiss your lips slowly and sweetly. “You know, I got you a housewarming present too,” you told him, piquing the man’s interest as his eyes widened. “It’s a bit different than this though,” you gestured to the fish, Hoseok smiling in amusement. Pulling his hands from your face, you left a sweet kiss to the inside of one of his wrists before leaving him to go to the bedroom to retrieve your gift. “We can eat on the rollout mattress,” you called out as you disappeared momentarily into the the bedroom, Hoseok’s eyes landing on the living room floor where you had set out a sleeping pad.

By the time you reentered the living room, Hoseok was seated on the mattress with the box of pizza, his gaze directed to the side of the temporary bed where you had placed the framed photo of you both on your first date. His eyes slowly left the picture to look at you standing a few feet away with a bottle of champagne in one and and a gift bag in the other.

“I figured we should celebrate,” you smiled, Hoseok chuckling as he nodded. “I don’t know where our champagne flutes are, but we can just drink it from the bottle,” you decided as you admired your boyfriend’s stunning smile.

Gesturing to the picture frame sitting on the hardwood floor, he beamed at you. “Do you know how much I love you?” He asked you, you smiling with a nod.

“Yes, Sunshine,” you confirmed, “I do know.” Holding his hands out to gesture for you to join him on the mattress, you handed him the bag. He raised it to his eye level, curious of its contents.  

“Good,” he said simply, lowering the gift to the mattress. “Also, this set up is cute, it feels like a sleepover,” he added, you giggling fondly at the comment. “Except we live here,” he realized once again, both of you smiling excitedly over the fact that you actually lived together.

“Your family is dropping Mickey off tomorrow, right?” You asked suddenly, the man nodding as you took the hand he offered you, allowing him to help you onto your knees, you kneeling next to him. “Good, I miss him,” you said, Hoseok smiling widely.

“I know, me too,” he agreed. “Do you want me to open this?” He asked you, gesturing to the bag, you humming in confirmation. The man wasted no time in pulling the tissue paper out of the way, reaching inside to feel the soft, sheer material. Cocking his head, he lifted his hand out of the bag, the brand-new lingerie set slowly appearing as he held it between his fingertips.

“Oh,” he breathed out, his eyes glued to the pretty white material, embroidered with flowers, the set a lot cuter and daintier than your typical choice. “My god.”

“I thought we could break the place in,” you told him softly before biting your bottom lip.

“This is different,” he noted dumbly, pointing out the stray in your typical choice of sexy undergarments.

“I know,” you smiled. “I thought you’d like it,” you noted, leaning in to place a chaste kiss to his lips.

“Fuck,” he breathed out, causing you to giggle as you kissed his cheek.

“Do you want to eat first?” You teasingly asked, the man giving you an incredulous look as he shoved the pizza box off the mattress until it landed on the wooden floorboards, you laughing as he then rolled atop you, kissing you deeply. Your fingers found themselves tangled up in Hobi’s hair as you kissed him back passionately.

The lingerie didn’t even touch your skin that night, both of you too eager and excited and so fucking in love to bother with getting all dressed up. But each round was perfect as you made love throughout the apartment, taking pizza and champagne breaks between climaxes. And the beautiful thing was that you had endless opportunities to wear that lingerie for Hoseok. Because you actually lived together.

You had a lifetime of possibilities together. Without a single doubt in your mind, you knew moving in together at that exact point in time was the right move to make in your relationship. Three years earlier, you would never have believed a single soul who told you that you would be living with Hoseok. But there you were, celebrating your new home with him, the love of your life, feeling beyond thankful for him and his persistence three years prior.

Exhausted on the rollout mattress, bottle of champagne pressed to your lips as you eyed Hoseok’s nude form, glistening with the sweat of several rounds with you, you chuckled to yourself. The man’s eyes found your own, his hand moving to take the bottle from you.

“What are you laughing at?” He asked fondly before bringing the bottle to his own mouth.

Shaking your head, you moved to straddle the man, his free hand easily wrapping around your lower back. “Just thinking,” you told him just before placing a kiss to his forehead. “Thank you for not giving up three years ago,” you told him, Hobi’s lips slowly curving up into a fond grin.

“Well,” he chuckled bashfully. “The displeasure’s been mine,” he teased, you scrunching your nose as you took the bottle from him again. “You’re still mean, but fuck, I love you,” he playfully told you.

Taking a drink from the bottle, you nodded. “And you’re still obnoxious, but I love you too,” you replied. “So much, Sunshine.”

A lifetime of possibilities with Hoseok was something you’d never take for granted, and you would forever be thanking him for winning you over; for allowing you to fall in love with him.

[streetlight11]

Ghost Of You

Summary: The fraternal twins were transfer students who happened to join his class. He and his best friend ends up getting close to the twins and they fell for them romantically. One day, the twins came to school with cuts and bruises, making the best friends worry. What happens when the two friends came to pay the twins a visit at their apartment after they were absent for two days, only to receive the most shocking news they've ever heard?

Theme: college au, strangers to lovers

Genre: slight fluff, mild horror [not really], sad

Warning: mentions of death at the end

WC: 2.3k

Pairing: Ju Haknyeon x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hello guys! Here's a little sad little fic for you. I realised I wrote alot of 'as' in this fic💀 Apologies for that, this has been in my google drive since a while back so my writing might not be so good but I tried :')

College life was definitely a challenge as it was a higher level of qualification and many students tend to struggle at first. But it wasn’t the case for Leena and Haknyeon. They were very smart kids who never failed to help each other in their weaker subjects. They have been close friends since high school but never once have they seen each other in a romantic light.

But there were times where their bickering would be similar to those of a couple’s fight and people would often mistake them for one.

Haknyeon is very protective over Leena as he would sometimes baby her even though she wasn’t his biological sister. So when they managed to enter the same college, he felt accomplished as they chose the same course.

Their first few months of school was hectic as the module’s content is pretty heavy and dry but they persevered through it together. They were 7 months in with school when their lecturer entered the class one day only to announce a new arrival of two transfer students.

“Listen up everyone. Starting from today onwards, we have two new students joining us. I hope you will all welcome them warmly and guide them through the lessons in case they can’t keep up.” With that being said, he turned to the door and called for them to come in. Only for two individuals to walk in. One was a male and the other was a female. But what sticks out about them is their resemblance with each other.

“Good morning all. I’m Juyeon.” The male said.

“And I’m Y/N.” The female said.

“We hope you welcome us with open arms.” Juyeon continued.

The class cheered for them as the lecturer told the two new students to sit at the empty table at the very back of the room. Leena couldn’t tear her eyes off Juyeon as Haknyeon had to practically nudge her side to bring her back to reality.

“Yah, stop staring so much, you can practically burn a hole through his head.” Haknyeon said.

Leena scoffed as she turned back to Juyeon, only to see him ruffling Y/N’s hair. “Do you think they’re a couple?” She asked sadly.

“Couple? I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re twins. They literally look like each other.” Haknyeon said as he leaned forward to get a good look at the two new students. Y/N was smiling as she happened to glance around the room, only to lock eyes with Haknyeon. He flinched as he awkwardly pulled back to avoid her gaze, making her giggle in her seat.

“What’s wrong with you, weirdo?” Juyeon whispered as a smile threatened to form on his lips.

“Nothing you should care about.” She smiled as she stuck her tongue out, making him wrap his arms around her neck, bringing her into a quick headlock. After class ended, some of the students came up to Y/N and Juyeon, only to ask the same question Leena asked a few hours ago.

“Are you guys together?”

“How long have you guys dated?”

“Are you dating each other?”

With that, Juyeon and Y/N couldn’t help but laugh as the rest of them got confused. “It would be incest if we dated each other.” Y/N said.

“She’s my twin sister.” Juyeon said.

A series of gasps were heard as Haknyeon raised his brows tauntingly at Leena, knowing his guess was correct. “See? Told you.” He smirked. Leena huffed as she turned to where the twins were seated, only to see his eyes turn into two crescent moons as the corner of his lips curved upwards into a smile.

A few days passed, Leena and Haknyeon didn't really get the chance to properly talk to the twins. They were just seated at one of the tables during lunch when Juyeon spoke up, “Are these seats taken?” Leena looked up only to see Juyeon glancing between Haknyeon and her.

“Nope. Go ahead.” Haknyeon said as he flashed them a wide smile.

They watched as Juyeon took a seat beside Haknyeon while Y/N took a seat beside Leena. The four of them ended up getting to know each other more as they found out that Y/N and Juyeon moved from Jeju to Seoul. Weeks become months, and they grew quite close to each other.

However, it was pretty obvious that Juyeon had started to like Leena and vice versa. Haknyeon also began to fall for Y/N and so did she. It was a rainy evening and Y/N promised to come over and help Haknyeon with his Chemistry assignment. Hence, the reason why she was standing there in front of his apartment door, soaking wet.

“I thought you were going to drive here?” He asked as he let her in, telling her to stay put as he went to get for her a clean towel.

“I wanted to but I forgot to get gas. So Juyeon had to call the tow truck.” She said. Haknyeon came back with a towel and clean clothes for her to change into. She came back out wearing his oversized shirt and ankle high socks to keep her warm. She looked so cozy as he almost wished he could cuddle and kiss her right then and there.

They were just seated on the floor in front of his couch with their laptops on the coffee table, when she asked him if he needed a break. In which he said yes. He was just resting his head on the table, mumbling the chemical equation at the top of his head when he felt her play with his hair. He looked up to see her seated on his couch as she rested her hand at the back of his neck.

“Don’t stress yourself out.” She encouraged him.

Haknyeon sighed as he got up, only to join her on the couch. He rested his head against the couch cushion as he closed his eyes.

Y/N watched him peacefully before she leaned forward to type something on her laptop. Haknyeon opened his eyes when a strong floral scent tickled his nostrils, making him realise that it was coming from her. Never had he smelled someone this good, he almost wanted to bury his nose in it.

Just then, she turned to lock eyes with him, only for his lazy eyes to stare back at her innocently. “Should we call it a day?” She asked.

He knew he needed to study but he couldn’t help but feel like his brain could absorb so much before it exceeds its capacity. He simply nodded as his lips formed a pout, making her giggle. A few minutes after they turned off their laptops and was just barely cuddling on the couch, watching a romcom show, he turned to her to ask a very personal question.

“This might sound… a little absurd, in which I promise I’m not intentionally being rude… but are you, dating anyone at the moment?”

With that, she smiled as she shook her head, making him feel like a whole weight was being lifted off his shoulders. She giggled as she nudged his elbow to tease him as she spoke up.

“Why are you asking?” She said. He began to panic as he struggled to find the right words.

“If it’s hard for you to say it, maybe you can show me?” She said bravely, only for him to stare at her. She smiled at him as she sat there quietly, waiting to see his next move. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he actually doesn’t feel the same for her but for some reason, she had a feeling that the result might come out positive.

His breath was starting to feel heavy as he didn’t want her to get the wrong information. So without further ado, he leaned in only to kiss her on the lips.

She smiled into the kiss as her hands found itself cupping his face gently before moving her lips together with his. His arms slowly snaked around her waist as he pulled her on top of his lap. While this was happening, Juyeon went out with Leena on the same day as he brought her to go watch a movie and also play at the arcade.

Weeks turned to months as the two couples grew stronger bonds as time passed by. One day, both Y/N and Juyeon came to school with a few cuts and bruises on their faces and arms. Both Haknyeon and Leena got worried as they asked what caused the bruises. Juyeon simply told them that they accidentally fell while cycling, only for Leena to scold them and remind them to be more careful next time.

Both Y/N and Juyeon smiled as they nodded to Leena’s warning. A few months later, it was a friday evening and Haknyeon was on the phone with Leena, just discussing some stuff when he brought up a topic that has been lingering in his head for a while.

“Hey Leena, I know this might sound weird… but have you ever wondered why the twins have never once invited us over to their home ever since 4 months back?” Haknyeon spoke up.

Suddenly, the line fell quiet as Leena thought about what to answer.

“I noticed it. But I just thought that maybe they just don’t feel comfortable with having others around that often.” She said. They tried to drop the topic as they ended up talking about the upcoming movie that was coming out in the cinema.

A few days later, Y/N and Juyeon hadn't been coming to class for the past two days. Both Haknyeon and Leena tried to contact them but none of their text messages and calls went through.

“Should we go and visit? Maybe they’re sick or something?” Haknyeon suggested.

Leena nods as she told him they could stop by after class. Once they were there at the twins’ apartment building, they went up to the level, only to stop right in front of their doorstep. Haknyeon wanted to knock on the door when it creaked open slightly. He turned to Leena, only for him to frown.

He carefully pushed the door open further, that’s when he saw the interior of the house.

Everything was covered with white plastics. Every single furniture was covered, it resembled an empty home that was just waiting for someone to buy and own the place. “Did they move house?” He asked as he tried to turn the lights on but there was no electrical flow in the house.

“Maybe they did… but most of their stuff is still here.” She said.

They walked in deeper, using their phone flashlights as their source of light. Just then, Haknyeon noticed the plastic was slightly lifted, leaving a small part of the table in the tv room uncovered.

He walked over to it, only to see two picture frames.

The one on the left was a family photo. The other was a photo of Y/N and Juyeon standing side by side, with wide happy smiles on their faces. “Why didn’t we notice this before?” Haknyeon asked.

“Because this wasn’t here?” Leena said. With that, they went back out of the house and closed the door, only for an elderly lady living in the apartment next door to leave her home. So Haknyeon decided to ask her. “Excuse me, Ma’am. Sorry to bother you, but is there anybody living in this apartment by the names of Y/N and Juyeon?”

“Oh, yes yes. The twins… Oh they were so nice and lovely. They used to live here. Every evening, they would always help me with carrying my groceries.” With that, Leena and Haknyeon turned to each other with a frown as Leena decided to ask.

“What do you mean, used to live here? Did they recently move house?”

“Oh dear, no they didn’t. They both passed away 4 months ago in a tragic car crash. They were in a hit and run situation. The drunk driver collided with the passenger seat of his car. The poor sister died on the spot while her brother died during the ride to the hospital.” Leena and Haknyeon stood there in horror as they stared at the elderly woman, unable to process this information.

It can’t be true. They met them everyday at school. They touched them, they hugged them, they held hands, and it all felt real. This must have been a prank. “Uhh, t-thank you ma’am. We’ll… We’ll be on our way.” Haknyeon excused himself as he quickly went back to his car along with Leena close beside him.

“No, no, no this can’t be right. We saw them everyday… We just saw them 3 days ago!” Leena frowned, her voice slowly rising in fear as her body trembled. Haknyeon reached over to hold her hands to calm her down.

Leena asked if she could stay over at his place, suddenly feeling afraid as she couldn’t trust herself if she was alone for the time being. Leena was just staring into space on Haknyeon’s couch when he came over to her quietly. The moment he sat down, he held his phone in front of her, only to see a news article that was posted online, 4 months ago.

With the headline being;

“Two college students who were believed to be fraternal twins, died in a fatal car crash in a hit and run accident.”

And in the beginning of the paragraph, it states the names of the victims. That’s when Leena couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hand as she read Y/N and Juyeon’s exact names off the article.

“I can’t believe this…” She whispered as he pulled her into a hug. She cried as he forced his tears back, knowing they have to accept the fact that their friends, but also their lovers, had already left them and that they will never come back as a living human being.

~~~

[ladyblogger-margie]

Permit Pending - Part 6

Pairing: Will Miller (Triple Frontier) x F!Reader

Summary: Shortly after moving into your new home, Will leaves you behind when Santiago “Pope” Garcia shows up asking for his brothers help in South America. 

Word Count: 5344

Warnings: 18+ ONLY (Canon violence/death and language, unprotected sex, general smut, cockwarming) angst

a/n: I don’t know how it got so long, I couldn’t help myself. 

Series Master List

Fourth Frontier

Moving day was chaotic and hectic to say the least. The weather was hot, and while you were thankful it wasn’t raining, the heat didn’t make hauling all your boxes and furniture any easier, but thankfully Benny and Frankie offered to help and you delegated the real heavy lifting to them. 

“I’ve got a fight in a couple days, maybe you should take this,” Benny said as he tried to pass off his end of the couch to you.

“Ha ha,” you mocked, “Are those muscles just for show or what?”

“He does like to show them off,” Frankie joked as he carried the other end of the couch, helping Benny to load it into the moving truck. 

“You guys are hilarious,” Benny says, unbothered by your jokes.

You watched the guys maneuver the last piece of furniture down to the truck before you turned back to your empty apartment. You’d lived there basically your entire adult life, and it had served you well. You sighed as you left your key on the kitchen counter. 

“You okay with this?” Will’s voice came from behind you unexpectedly which made you jump. 

“You scared me,” you said, clutching your heart. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he said approaching you cautiously, “The truck is packed, Frankie’s driving it over to the new place now where he and Benny will start unloading.”

“I’m glad we started at your place this morning instead of here,” you said, looking around the place. 

Will cupped your face tenderly in his hands, “We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. I’ll have those guys turn right around, no problem.”

You gripped his wrists and looked into his blue eyes absolutely resolved in what you were about to say, “I love you William Miller, I want to live with you, build a life with you, and grow old with you. I’m not looking for a way out.”

He kissed you softly on the forehead and you closed your eyes, breathing deeply. 

He held your head in his hands and looked into your eyes, “I want that too, all of it. Let’s go home,” he said before he kissed you for the last time in that kitchen and then you walked out of your old life and into a new one together.

At your new house, you, Will, Benny, and Frankie were eating pizza in your backyard, winding down from the long day of packing and unpacking. You were happy with how the furniture had been arranged, but exactly zero boxes had been unpacked. 

“Thank Maria again for that suggestion of packing a suitcase to get us through the move,” you said to Frankie, “She’s such a smart lady.”

“If she’s so smart, why’s she with Frankie?” Benny chirped. 

“Laugh it up,” Frankie said, finishing a slice, “But that just cost you your ride home.”

“No need, I’ll just stay here,” Benny said, stretching out and getting comfortable. 

“Absolutely not,” Will said laughing.

Benny turned to you, “You’d let me stay, right?” he pulled out the puppy dog eyes and you almost, almost, agreed. 

“Nope, sorry Benny. Though you probably wouldn’t want to stay anyway, we’ll be breaking in the new house tonight,” you said, winking at Will who flushed at your insinuation. 

Benny pretended to throw up and Frankie laughed at him when suddenly your phone rang. You stepped away to answer it inside. 

After the call you came back outside to all three guys in a tussle. 

“Benny, honey, didn’t you just say you had a fight coming up and couldn’t risk injury?” you asked, shaking your head at him. 

Benny just shrugged at you while he had Frankie in a headlock. 

“I’m sorry guys but I have to go to work,” you said, smiling sadly at Will.

“What’s up?” he asked. 

“Someone called in sick at the rec center and I guess it’s my turn to cover the desk,” you sighed.

“I thought you were on vacation time?” Will asked. 

“I was supposed to be, but I just couldn’t say no. They’ll owe me now,” you shrugged. 

Benny let go of Frankie, “So moving day’s over?”

“Looks that way. Thanks for all your help you guys, we really appreciate it,” you said pulling Frankie in for a hug.

“Anytime. By the way, once you're settled Maria says she’s bringing Hector and dinner for you, sometime next week probably,” he said kissing your check with a scratchy kiss. 

“Are you invited too?” you joked.

“If I stay in her good books, maybe,” he laughed. 

Benny hugged you and lifted you off your feet, “See you for fight night?”

“I’ll do my best!” you promised. 

Frankie turned to Benny, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“With you?” Benny said, fixing his hair underneath his hat. 

“No way man, I told you I wasn’t taking you home,” Frankie said, his eyes crinkling with a smile. 

You pushed Benny forward, “I’ll take you Benny, come on.”

You turned back to Will who fixed the hat on your head before he said, “Do you need to change or anything before you go?”

“I probably should, maybe grab a shower first,” you said, checking the time, “I think I have enough time.”

“I’ll come with you,” he said. 

“I’ll drive, it’s fine, you stay here and rest,” you insisted, running your fingers up his bicep. 

“Not what I meant,” his voice had a growl and you felt yourself grow hot. 

“We have to be quick,” you whispered. 

“I’ll take care of you sweetheart,” he said before he kissed you. He brushed your lower lip with his tongue as his beard tickled your skin. You let his tongue in your mouth as you gripped his arm. 

You broke the kiss and pulled his hand to lead him inside and into your new ensuite bathroom. You made quick work of stripping each other naked, only pausing to hang your hat carefully on the hook. You jumped in under the cold water, not bothering to wait for it to heat up.

He followed you in and immediately pushed you up against the shower wall and spread your legs wide. You whimpered as he slipped his hands between your legs and worked over your clit quickly, building a pleasure deep within you. 

You gripped his long, thick cock in your hand and pumped him with one hand and with your other hand you grab the back of his neck and pull his head down to yours. 

“Fuck me, please, before I have to go,” you beg him. 

He nibbles at your collarbone as he removes his hand from your wet pussy and replaces it with his cock. He slips inside you, stretching you out as you hook your leg around his waist and leverage yourself against the back wall. He thrusts into you stretching you out and steadying himself on his feet. 

He finds his balance and his pace as he moves his thumb to your clit. Shower sex with Will was fun, he was as thorough as ever but quick too; it was close as he’d ever get to an actual quickie. You came quick and hard, not bothering to be quiet in your new home. 

He moved his hand from your center and gripped your hips tightly as he came with a low grunt. He was panting when he kissed you very sloppy and pressed his wet, naked flesh against your own. 

You dropped your head to his shoulder, “I really don’t want to, but I’ve got to go.”

He kissed the top of your head and then washed your body much quicker than he would’ve liked. 

When you were clean you stepped out of the shower and realized neither of you had unpacked any towels yet. You looked at each other, shivering in the cold and dripping wet when you burst out laughing. 

He kissed you and led you into your bedroom where he found his gym bag and passed you a towel from inside

“Is this clean?” You asked, not really caring about the answer as you dried off. 

“It actually is,” Will said, flipping open your suitcase, “What are you wearing?”

“Crap,” you said, “I didn’t pack work clothes in there, they’re all packed away.”

Will dove into his own bag and passed you the polo shirt he was wearing the first time you two had met, “I packed this for the speech I’m giving later this week. This and jeans should get you through a shift at the rec centre.”

“Which speech is this one?” you asked.

“It’s going to be the 173rd time I say the same thing,” he said, demonstrating once again his grasp for keeping track of information. 

You held the shirt in your hands, tracing the logo on the chest you noticed then and understood now, and you smiled. You’d been together through so much since then. You two had carved out a stable, happy life together, and you were just so happy with how things were that you felt a lump rise in your throat. 

“Sweetheart?” Will asked, watching you.

“I just love you so much, you know that?” you said, wrapping your arms around him. 

“I love you too. I’ll be home waiting for you after work,” he promised and you smiled. 

“Home,” you sighed, kissing him. 

He helped you dress in your jeans and his shirt and you made him promise not to unpack anything without you, it was something you had to do together.

He walked you out the front door and found Benny sitting on the step.

“You guys are gross,” Benny teased before he hugged his brother and jumped in the passenger side of your car. You kissed Will goodbye before you slipped in the car next to the other Miller brother and you left your home behind, for now. 

It wasn’t long into the drive that Benny said, “I’m really happy for you guys.”

“Thanks, Benny. We’re really happy too.”

“Will’s lucky to have you. He needs someone in his corner, he’s always been in mine, always been there for us,” he paused and you let him find his words, “He never gives up on us, and I want more for him than just giving to others all the time.”

You squeezed his hand briefly as you drove, “You’re a good brother. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”

Benny smiled at you before he turned the radio on and sang along loudly the rest of the trip. When you dropped him off at his place, he gave you a hug, softer than usual and you nodded at him as he waved you off. 

Those Miller brothers loved each other and Benny felt as much like your family as Will did. You loved them, Frankie and Maria too. Will hadn’t just given you a partner, but a whole family. 

Turns out, this rec center situation was a little more complicated than they had led you to believe. It wasn’t a one shift kind of deal, you had to cover the desk for the whole week thanks to Galdys’ broken hip; apparently it didn’t matter you were supposed to be using vacation days for your move. 

Will was understanding, but it frustrated you that you came home the next couple nights with boxes piled up and your things tossed disorganized around your new home. 

You were looking around the living room mess, not quite sure where to start when you said to Will who was standing next to you, “This mess must be killing you.”

“It’s not my usual style, no,” he said and he took you in his arms, “But if this is our biggest problem, I think we’re doing okay.”

So that meant that the house didn’t get unpacked before Santiago “Pope” Garcia came back to town. You didn’t see Will after he saw Pope after his 173rd speech, you didn’t see Will before Benny’s fight which you also missed. So you didn’t see Will between when he heard about Pope’s job, and when he agreed to join his brothers in South America. The next time you saw Will, the love of your life, the man you planned to marry one day, was when he was already packing for a trip down south. 

“What are you doing?” You asked when you saw him packing. 

“I have to go away for the weekend,” he said vaguely, not looking at you. 

“What does that mean?” It’s been so long since he’s been like this with you; you two have come so far in terms of communication since he tried to ghost you all those months ago.

“Pope’s in town, he’s here to ask for our help and we said we’d go,” he said, still not looking at you. 

You’ve heard of Pope but you still haven’t met him, you weren’t sure if you should be worried or not.

“Can you share and details, or are you just going to walk out and leave me here confused?” you stood with your arms crossed in the door frame. 

He paused, his hands clenched in a fist, “I’m sorry. Pope has a job he needs our help with.”

“A job?”

“Consulting. I can’t really go into details except it comes with a good paycheck in exchange for a weekend in South America. Don’t worry sweetheart,” he paused, “I have to go because it’s this that will finally bring Pope home.” 

You crossed the room and held him from behind, burying your face in his back.

“It’s not dangerous?” you asked afraid.

Will hesitated. Consulting as Pope had suggested theoretically wouldn’t be dangerous, but he also had a suspicion there was more to Pope’s story than he had led on. There was no point in scaring you though, Tom was going to lead them safely through this and the extra money coming in would help bring you two closer to the next step. He already had his mother’s ring hidden at Benny’s and the payday could give you the wedding you deserved. 

“I’ll be safe,” he promised, turning in your arms so he could look at you. He kissed you warm and slow, tasting you, reminding himself what was really important. This job would bring Pope home, and give you security. He had to go. 

“Will you call me when you get there? When will you be back?” you said, pulling back and trying to remain focused. 

“I’m leaving in the morning, and I’ll be back on Monday, maybe Tuesday,” he said, and continued packing, “We can’t call while we’re in country, but I can call you when we’re at the airport on the way home.”

You purse your lips unsure as you watched him finish packing and decided not to say anything about your concerns. He was a professional and you trusted him. And you trusted his brothers to keep him safe. 

That night in bed you couldn’t sleep and you just watched him rest. He was your whole world, you couldn’t imagine your life without him. If something happened to him on this trip, this job, this mission, you knew it would break you. 

The next morning after a sleepless night, you kissed him goodbye with a sinking feeling in your stomach and a promise to save the unpacking for when he got back. 

On Friday you went to work wearing Will’s polo shirt again while Will and his team did reconnaissance on Lorea’s house. You spent the whole day biting your nails and snapping at anyone who tried to talk to you. You worried yourself sick checking your phone knowing Will wasn’t due to call for a few more days still. You had a naive thought that he’d change his mind and come home early. 

Will watches Lorea’s prisoners executed and he has a bad feeling in his stomach which only gets worse when Benny is compromised. As he raced to make sure Benny was secure and undetected, the doubt festered in his gut. He’s only down there because Benny was the first to sign up, and because Tom gave the okay. He never actually said yes, but he really should have said no. He just wanted to get back home to you, where he belonged. 

That night when Pope’s true intentions were revealed, he sat back feeling vindicated, his instinct that Pope was holding back proved to be right after all. He pushed back against Pope, asking who actually paid them, hoping to knock the perspective back into Pope so you could all go back home, forget this insane plan. He felt betrayed that Pope lied, but he didn’t hesitate when the others decided to join Pope. If they got this done, Pope could come home.

You’re home alone on Saturday, the boxes staring at you, mocking your loneliness. You dress in Will’s clothes, your hat firmly on your head and decide to call on Maria and Hector, assuming correctly that she is as anxious as you. When you arrive at her place, Hector is crying and so is she. 

“Maria?” you ask walking into the house slowly, “Are you okay?”

“We got in a huge fight before he left,” she said, “What if he doesn’t come home?”

“Frankie’s coming home,” you insisted, pulling her into your arms, “They all are.”

Will grabs the bags and starts filling them with the cash from the walls. The adrenaline is pumping and they all feel invincible. Even Pope seems distracted in his hunt for Lorea; there is just so much money. 

You stayed with Maria and Hector, doing your best to help out. Hector was beautiful, but you were so anxious whenever you held him; what if you were doing it wrong? You’ve never really been around kids, just liked the idea of them in the abstract. Now the only thing you knew was that Maria needed help so you’d try your best. 

Will felt the bullet rip through him and all he could see was your face. Tom held his hand and Benny patched him up, and all he saw was you. He promised to come back to you and while luckily this didn’t seem to be any worse than he’d survived before, but they still had a lot to do and a long way to go before he got home to explain this new scar to you. 

You curled in on yourself on Maria’s couch with your hat clutched to your chest when Will’s helicopter crashed without you having any idea where he was. He pulled himself out of the wreckage and threw Benny his hat as the boys spread out and tried to control the uncontrollable. 

Sunday came and went and you didn’t know Will was shot and heading out on foot through the jungle, hauling money on the back of a mule, hoping to survive long enough to marry you as planned.

In the dark of the night, he turned to his baby brother, “Benny.”

Benny jerked awake, “What?”

“If I don’t make it home -” Will started. 

“I’ll take care of her,” Benny promised.

“Make sure she gets the ring,” Will continued and Benny nodded, sincere in his promise. Will’s wound throb and ached in his side and felt less sure than ever that he’d see your face again. But the thought of letting you down, leaving you behind kept him moving forward. 

Monday arrived and you went to work wearing Will’s polo shirt again, expecting Will home later that day. You left work and he had never called. You forced work to let you take the rest of the week off - they owed you after all - and you wore Will’s clothes to Maria’s and you two held each other with Hector between you, crying over your missing partners, the other half to your hearts. 

Friday came and left Tom dead on the side of a mountain, and you were home alone, convinced Will was never coming back. You couldn’t face your home with all the unpacked boxes. If you started to unpack then you were admitting he wasn’t coming home, but leaving them like that kept you and your relationship in a limbo. 

Will helped Pope, Benny, and Frankie throw the bags of cash over the side of the mountain, the guilt over Tom’s death weighing on them all. He couldn’t help himself, he made note of the exact location of this drop and tucked that information in the back of his mind for later. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of returning for it, but the potential of the recovery was too significant for him to ignore. 

You went back to Maria’s wearing Will’s clothes and your hat as was your new routine for the week. You went home every night, hoping Will would join you there before morning. Tonight was different though, you couldn’t make yourself leave. You couldn’t face that empty house with the boxes starting to collect dust and your cold, empty bed. Instead you stayed with Maria and Hector, finding strength in each other as best you could. 

Will and the boys signed away their money to Tom’s family. Will never meant for the others to feel guilted into following suit, he just couldn’t stomach getting rich while Molly and the girl’s had to deal with the repercussions of his failures. He signed away the money and swore to find an honest way to pay for the wedding he hoped you’d consider having with him. 

Then despite his best judgement, he gave Pope the coordinates of the money they threw over the cliff. Hoping it would either bring closure or hope to him. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but he did it anyway. After he left Pope in the street, he took the burner cell phone he got from the firm and called you, desperate to hear your voice. 

You sat on Maria’s couch as she made some tea in the kitchen. You were both cried out for now, and so you just sat in silence. Suddenly your cell rang, and Maria rushed to your side as you picked up a number you don’t recognize.

“Baby, is that you?” your hand flying to your head, resting on top of the hat you haven’t taken off since Will had left. 

“Hey sweetheart. I’m here,” Will said, sounding strange on the other end of the phone. 

“Are you with Frankie?” You asked as Maria stared at you clutching her baby with tears falling down her cheeks

“He’s here,” Will’s voice is heavy. 

You nod your head at Maria and let tears of relief wash over your own face to match those on her cheeks. She reaches desperately for the phone. 

“I’m with Maria, can you pass off to Frankie, she wants to talk to him” you pass Maria the phone and trade it for the sleeping baby whom you used to be so scared to hold and now you cling to like a life preserver.

Will is alive, he is coming home you thought to yourself over and over again as Maria muttered away in Spanish. Her tone was loving, then angry, then relieved, then angry, then she was crying, and you heard her say, “at least you’re all safe and coming home”. 

You watched as her mouth dropped open in shock as she raised her free hand to her lips. “Oh my god,” she muttered desperately, “Those poor girls”. 

You knew immediately Tom was dead, but you made her pass you the phone anyway, “Will, where is Tom?” 

You stayed with Maria that night knowing Will would be home the next evening around dinner. The next day you put off going back to the empty house until Maria put Hector to sleep and hugged you goodnight. 

You arrived back at your shared house and knew you still had a few hours until it felt like home again. You went inside, showered, changed the sheets, did a load of laundry, ran the dishwasher; all the things  you neglected since Will’s been away. You wanted everything just right for when Will came home. Plus you wanted to keep busy because if you stayed still too long you started to get mad. 

Now that you knew he was safe, you had this pent up anger desperate for release. Will told you there would be a payday to accompany Pope’s crusade and you knew that was a red flag. You were so mad at yourself for not saying anything, not trying to make him stay. And you were mad at Will for putting you through the agony of the last week. You were just so mad you didn’t feel like yourself anymore. 

You check the clock, he should’ve been home by now and you’re out of mundane chores and staring at those boxes wasn't doing anything to appease your bad mood. You put on one of his hoodies that always smells like him and you snuggle into yourself on the recliner chair that you swivel towards the front door. It was such a stereotypical man’s chair. It rocked, it had a foot rest, and a cup holder in the oversized, overstuffed arms. Many a Sunday night football you found Will asleep in that very chair.

You were instantly on your feet when you heard the sound of keys hitting the bowl by the door. When Will walked through the front hall and into your modest living room you launched yourself into his arms before he even said your name. You wrapped your legs around his waist which pulled an agonized groan from his lips that you kissed away hard and passionately as he gripped your hips desperately. 

“I love you” you said over and over and over again as you peppered every inch of his face with kisses. You nuzzled your face into his neck and breathed deeply forcing yourself to believe he was really home and really in your arms. 

You squeezed him tightly with your thighs and he gasped in pain which shocked you. You never once heard him make a sound like that. You dropped to your feet and grabbed his face in your hands, “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve had worse, and I’ll make a full recovery, though there will probably be some scarring thanks to some shotty field care. There’s no need to worry or freak out ” he said. Before you could ask a follow up question, he pushed you up against the wall and he kissed you firmly which shut you up for the next few minutes as he explored your body with his hands and mouth. 

You allowed yourself to be lost in him as he pulled his own sweater off your back and exposed your breasts to his mouth. As he sucked on your nipple he snuck a hand into your pants and teased your delicate folds. Instinctively you spread your legs for him as he groaned against your skin. You’ve missed him so much and it feels so good as he touches you, you know you’re already dripping wet with relief and anticipation. 

You reach out and try to take off his shirt so you can see his chest, but he quickly abandons your body to grab your wrists and stop you. 

“Remember that I’m fine, and it’s actually not a big deal,” he said looking surprisingly sheepish. 

That’s when you remember he’s hurt and are mad all over again at him for trying to distract you like that. 

You cross your arms across your body and gesture for him to continue. He lifts the bottom of his shirt high enough to expose a large white bandage with a red spot in the middle. You blanch when the realization hits that the red spot is not an aesthetic choice and instead indicative of the wound beneath. 

You gingerly trace the edges of the bandage afraid to hurt him as you ask, “Baby, what happened to you down there?”

“I got shot”.

You smack him gently in surprise across his shoulder, “You got shot! You were shot by a bullet and you want me to believe that is not a big deal? Your friend died and you got shot and you think I’m not going to freak out!” 

You stumble backwards into the recliner chair with so much force you launch the leg rest forward, which if the love of your life wasn’t standing in front of you with a bullet wound, the whole thing would have been pretty funny. But since he did have a bullet wound and you hadn’t gotten a decent night's sleep since he left, you just felt sick as you kicked the foot rest back down and sat with your head between your knees trying not to actually throw up. 

He fell to his knees at your feet and kissed the top of your head. You took gulping breaths trying to settle your stomach, the bile in your throat almost unbearable. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I am,” he said, his voice strained. 

“I could’ve lost you,” you said, as tears started to roll down your checks. 

“You didn’t, I’m home,” he said, his voice thick and you realized he was crying too. 

You grabbed his shoulders and balled the fabric of his shirt in your fists as you put your forehead on his. 

“Was it worth it?” you asked. 

“No,” he admitted.

You kissed him and stood up, “come on, let’s get you cleaned up and to bed. I’ll be mad at you tomorrow”.

You led him into the bathroom and ran the shower where you cleaned him up and let him hold you, touch you, cry into you. When the water started to run cold, you turned it off and wrapped him in a towel gently, drying him gingerly and redressing his injury. You inspected it and were relieved to see it wasn’t infected though it absolutely was going to scar. 

Will watched you inspect the in-and-out bullet wound through his abdomen. He realized he was shaking under your touch and he wasn’t sure how long he was going to last on his feet now that he was home. He just wanted to crawl into your shared bed and just be with you, it’s all he thought about while he was away. He was a broken man, and you were the only thing keeping him from shattering completely. 

You led him to bed and pulled him underneath the covers before you slipped his cock inside you. He held you so tight you could barely breathe and you wanted him to hold you tighter. You felt him twitch inside you and you kissed him, barely believing you had him back at all. You looked into his sad blue eyes and felt helpless. You didn’t know what he had gone through, and you realized you’d never truly understand. The disconnect broke your heart. 

He pulled you in close to his chest, feeling your skin against his and he finally felt home. He also felt guilty. He came home and saw the pain in your eyes, the pain he had caused. It was more painful than the gunshot wound to see you suffering like that. He had no idea how he was going to fix that look in your eyes, how you could look at him the way you used to now that he had broken something between you by going MIA for over a week and coming back empty handed. 

You held him as he slept but refused to sleep yourself, afraid that if you did you’d wake up alone. He woke up a few times during the night crying, or screaming, or both and you knew it was going to be a long time before he started to heal from the trauma of his trip. You held him close and lulled him back to sleep each time, all the while wondering where this ordeal has left you two and what the future would hold now because for the first time in a long time, you didn’t know what would happen next. 

Part 7 

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Happiness Begins

Part 24

Chapter Summary: Jared sets his plan into motion. Elsewhere, the reader works on coming to terms with her struggles over these past few months. 

Word Count: 2.6K+

Warnings: Language, discussion of mental health struggles, 

Author’s Note: Only one more part after this!!! AH! I am tremendously blessed and constantly surprised by all the love and support I have received for this crazy little series. I couldn’t have done it without y’all, so enjoy the fruits of your labor. xo Alex

Catch up with the series masterlist and find more works by yours truly over at Alexandra’s Library! 

The sun was malicious as it beat down on the small Austin country club. It was normally packed on beautiful Sundays and this one was no different. Jensen was cruising down a hill in his golf cart, one of his old high school buddies riding shotgun as they played a full eighteen. It felt nice to get out and do something again for a change. It had been so long since he had any free time, seeing as he was between projects right now, and he wanted to soak up all of it before the next one came along. 

He slowed the cart down as they reached their hole, putting it in park on the flat grassland. He hopped out of the cart and searched his bag for a putter. 

“I don’t understand how you keep beating me. I’ve been practicing for months.” His buddy laughed, Jensen joining in along with him. He opened his mouth to comment, only for another voice to pipe up first.  

“Yeah, he always was the one to beat.” Jensen tensed as he recognised the familiar voice coming up to him and his friend. Jared was alone as he approached the men, but he was smiling brightly. Confusion was evident on Jensen’s face as he tried to determine what was happening. 

“Hey, Jared, good to see you again bud.” Jensen’s friend held out his hand for Jared to shake. 

“Likewise.” He nodded before turning his attention back to Jensen. “It’s good to see you too, man.” Jared pulled Jensen in for a hug, stunning his fellow actor before he returned the sentiment. 

“Can I talk to you?” Jared pointed his thumb behind him, indicating to Jensen that he wanted to talk in private. 

“Uh, sure.” Jensen was hesitant. He wasn’t sure what Jared was playing at yet. Especially considering the last time they talked outside of work, they were in a screaming match. But he followed him a little way away from the cart nonetheless. 

“What’s up?” 

“I figured you’d be here today.” Jared started.

“So are you following me?” 

Jared laughed. “No, no nothing like that.” 

“Then what is it?”

“It’s... well it’s about Y/n.” Jared ran a hand through his hair, pushing the long locks out of his face. He had a smile on his face, but Jensen could read the pain that hid behind it. 

“Jared…”

“No, just listen. I want you to know, I’m sorry. I fucked up, okay? I was selfish and stupid and I should have seen it sooner. I guess I couldn’t believe that you weren’t just using her to pass the time because it was easy.” Jared admitted. “And I hate myself for ever thinking that. I know you better than that. I think it was just my protective older brother coming out. You know she hasn’t had the best track record with guys, and I just couldn’t see past that for some reason.” Jared sighed. “You two, well, you guys are actually pretty perfect for each other, no matter how weird I may feel about that. And I’ll be honest, I do still feel weird. But I’m working on it.”

Jensen sighed, rubbing his hand across the full beard that adorned his face. “That’s great Jared, really I’m glad, but I think it’s a little late.” 

“Why do you say that?” 

“Y/n doesn’t want anything to do with me. I hurt her. I took back every promise I made to her. I don’t deserve her forgiveness anyway.” Jensen didn’t go into specifics, Jared would get the picture with what little he had offered. 

“Yeah, she is hurting. She’s hurting something fierce. I’ve honestly never seen her this way and it scares me. I overheard her tell Gen she is thinking of selling her business and moving to New York. Got some big offer from a huge beauty conglomerate. Didn’t even feel like she could tell me about it either.” Jared explained. Jensen��s head snapped up, his brows coming together on his forehead. 

“No, Y/n would never do that.” 

“That’s what I thought too. But she’s been offered some huge deal to sell her shares and be a VP for this new company. And she is seriously thinking of accepting it.” Jensen adjusted the ball cap on top of his head. 

“Why would she do that?” Jensen’s words came out in a sigh.

“Do you really have to ask that question?” Jared put a hand on his hip when Jensen scoffed at him. 

“Come on, you can’t put that on me.”

“I’m not blaming you, I swear. Y/n is hurting though, and I don’t think that anyone else will be able to talk her out of it.” Jared said honestly. 

“So that’s why you’re really here, to beg me to convince your sister to not run away because of me.” Jensen rolled his tongue behind his teeth, biting back the urge to yell. That would never get him anywhere. 

“I meant what I said. I am sorry. But I also know that she won’t listen to me. She may however, listen to you.” Jared jumped to the defensive the second the angry words left Jensen’s mouth. “Look, I’m not saying you two should pick up things where you left them, not that I would care either way, but she loves you in a way that I have never seen before, and that has to count for something.” 

“It did, at one point. Now, I’m not so sure.” Jared frowned at his friend. In one way, he did need his help, but at the same time he understood his hesitancy. They didn’t have the greatest history where his sister was concerned. 

“Just let me get you two in the same room. Then we can let it happen naturally. What do you say?” What could Jensen say to that. As much as he was hesitant about tricking her into something, he didn’t want her to go. Danneel’s words had been haunting him since he had returned from LA. Jensen had been on the fence about whether he should take her advice and go after the woman he loved, and if he let her run off to New York, he may never get his chance. Y/n deserved to have all the facts before she made such a huge decision. She needed to know that he wouldn’t let her go without a fight. 

“Ok, Jare.”

****

Gen’s words were still ringing in her head as she carried her tired body up the stairs to her apartment. Having babysat the three littlest Padalecki’s for the night, she was more exhausted than she had been in a while. She had forgotten how wild they could get sometimes, and she just had to be the fun aunt and cave when they begged for cookies. Three kids hopped up on sugar was, in hindsight, a bad idea. 

In the end, she was thankful for her time with family. Being able to spend real time with them had what Gen said to her affecting her more than she thought it would. She had all but made up her mind about going to New York, but the more she thought about it, the more the idea actually scared her. It was a big step to take, and she still had at least one more person to talk to before she called Mr. Baltussen back. 

The next morning, when she rolled out of bed, the sun was already high in the sky. She had slept far past her normal time, but for the first time in a while, she felt rested. Maybe it had to do with her plans for today. Or maybe she had truly needed to exhaust her body in order to get a truly restful sleep. Either way, she saw it as a bright sign. It was her reason to keep moving forward. 

Seeing as she slept in a little later than normal, she had to make quick work of showering and getting dressed before her appointment. Y/n plucked her favorite pair of converse from the stand near her front door and plopped down on her couch to put them on. As her weight settled in the middle of the couch she felt something bump her hip. She turned, her brow scrunched together on her forehead to find her laptop falling into her hip.  

“Seriously,” she huffed to herself. After all the time she spent looking yesterday, it had been on her couch all along. She could have sworn she checked the cushions, but apparently not as well as she thought. Y/n picked up the device and set it on the coffee table so she would be sure of where it was later, before bouncing out the door. 

Nothing had changed about the small office she once again found herself in. The walls were still the same soft shade of green she used love some time ago. They still held the same paintings and the plants that had once threatened to overtake the room were still alive and strong. Even the couch that she had hated sitting at was still full of accent pillows that tossed a splash of color into the otherwise neutral room. 

Y/n took a deep breath, allowing the essentials oils diffused into the space to ground her. It was like she had never left, and there was nothing she was more thankful for at this moment. When Gen had said she should talk to someone, she didn’t know Y/n had already scheduled this appointment. She had fallen so far from being a reasonably functioning human being. Just seeing Jensen and Danneel together and admitting out loud she wanted to sell her business, had sent her into a tailspin. Y/n had reached her breaking point, and she wasn’t hesitant to admit that she needed help. 

“Please, take a seat.” Dr. Hawkins stood up from her place behind her desk as Y/n entered, picking up her notepad and taking a seat in the armchair across from the couch. Y/n complied to her request, making herself comfortable on the soft furniture. 

“It’s been a while since we talked last. Where do you want to start?” Y/n bit her lip as she contemplated her choices. It truly had been a long time since she had been to see her therapist, and with everything that had happened in her life, she could build her way up or just jump right into things. “How about we start with work?” Dr. Hawkins suggested after a moment of silence. 

“Work is hectic. Things are really hitting off, not to mention I just spent the last few months juggling my business and working on set with my brother.” Y/n fidgeted in her seat, a movement that did not go unnoticed by Dr. Hawkins. 

“Yeah, and how did that go?” 

“Not at all how I expected.” Y/n was gnawing on her lip again. She wasn’t sure why she was hesitant to talk. After all, that was the whole reason she was here in the first place. Hell, she might as well just jump right into it. Y/n took a deep breath. “Long story short, I slept with Jared’s best friend slash co-star slash guy he considered his brother. All behind his back, for months.” 

“And why do you think you did that?” Y/n scoffed. She should have seen that question coming, she just expected more of a reaction. 

“Because I’m an idiot. Because the guy made me feel safe, and beautiful, and loved. I think I was lonely after clashing with my mother at Christmas about my dating life and also being stood up. He fed me every line I wanted to hear and for some reason I believed him.” 

“What makes you think he was lying to you?” 

“He told me he was all in. That he loved me and wanted to be with just me. He said it wasn’t just about the sex. But then Jared found out and things got bad. Jared punched him and wouldn’t talk to either of us. For weeks.” Tears were brimming in her eyes. Recounting everything was harder than she thought it was going to be. Admitting it out loud to another person broke her out of whatever bubble she had put herself into. It all sounded so ridiculous coming out of her mouth. “When things got tough he just bailed.”

“What exactly did he say to you?” Dr. Hawkins pushed.

“He said that we ‘all needed a break’.” Y/n made air quotes with her fingers. “His reasoning was that he wanted to give me my brother back and he knew I could live without without Jared.” 

“Was he wrong?” 

“You know me. Family is everything to me. He just failed to see that I can’t live without him either.” It was hard for her to admit that out loud. After all, she had promised herself that a man would not define her life. Yet here she was, a broken shell of a woman because Jensen left her. It was a constant battle inside her head, a seesaw bouncing back and forth against her skull. Most days it was just exhausting. 

“To me, it sounds like he didn’t lie to you. He may not have gone about things exactly like you wanted, but that doesn’t mean that he was ever insincere with you.” 

“What about me seeing him with his ex fiance all over the media? He told me he was over her, but they are out in L.A. together having dinner.” 

Dr. Hawkin’s lips curled up in a small smile. “Are they still friends?” 

“Not that I know of. I mean, she was at his birthday party a few months ago.” 

“So what is to say it wasn’t just two friends getting together? Who says it had to be romantic? Was there any indication they were intimate?” Oh, she was good. Y/n scrunched her nose up, shaking her head. Of course her broken heart had soaked up what the media had fed her to fuel its own story on things. 

“You know, I understand now when people call therapists ‘common sense filters’.” Dr. Hawkins chuckled along with the messed up woman across from her. 

“So, let’s say that he truly did love you. Perhaps his leaving hurt him just as much as it hurt you. Maybe he needed a friend to talk to? Isn’t that why you are here, to talk to somebody?” 

“Yeah.”

“And did you patch things up with your brother?”

“We are working through things.” 

“It sounds to me that he made the right choice.” 

Y/n bit back the tears. “And me and him? Where does that leave us?”

“Do you forgive him?” Y/n nodded. Of course she forgave him. She would be lying if she said she didn’t. Somewhere deep down, even as pathetic as it sounds, she forgave him the minute her and Jared started talking again. “Then as cliché as it sounds, if it is meant to be, you’ll find your way back to each other.” 

“You’re right, that does sound cliché.” Both women laughed, the moment lifting from Y/n’s shoulders. 

“You know, it is okay to mourn your loss. Because that’s what this was. It was a loss, Y/n. All that matters is that you don’t let that grief run your life. And that’s something I tell all my mourning patients. You are a strong and smart woman. I know you’ll get through this.” Dr. Hawkins pushed away her notepad, her full attention on Y/n. 

“Yeah, I see that now.” Y/n smiled, allowing more of the weight on her shoulders to dissipate. Right now, she was kicking herself for not coming back sooner. But that’s what happens, life gets in the way sometimes. What matters now is that she found her way back. Her way back to Austin, to her family. And she would find her way back to happiness, even if it isn’t in the way she expects. More than that, she would find peace.

Part 25 (Final)

Forevers: @spn-impala​​ @22sarah08​​ @turtlepad​​ @callmekda​​ @chaldei​​ @hobby27​​ @cowboysnwinchesters​​ @tranquility-or-chaos​​ @pikabootoyouchu​​ @dawnie1988​​ @grease222​​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​​ @polina-93​​ @clarinette07​​ @moonlight-babeh​​ @suckerforfanfic​​ @witandnargles​​ @sleepylunarwolf​ @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan​ @geeksareunique​ @akshi8278​ @superfanficnatural​ @malfoysqueen14​ @deanwanddamons​ @waywardbeanie​ @emoryhemsworth​

Et Cetera: @jbbarnesgirl​ @hillface89​ @arses21434​ @thevelvetseries​ @sslater34​ @mrsirishboru​ @smoothdogsgirl​ @spnfamily-j2​ @encounterthepast​ @facadeformyrealblog  @supernatural-bellawinchester​ @screechingartisancashbailiff​​ @rebeccathefangirl​ @squirrelnotsam​ @heartinmyhead1​ @1d-killed-me​ @samsgirl93​ @deans-baby-momma​ @deanmonandnegansbitch​ @woodworthti666​ @supraveng​ @onethirstyunicorn​ @heartsaved​ @know2grow​ @littlewhiterose​ @surprisinglysarah​ @stoneyggirl​ @carryon-doctor-lock​ @thebookisbtr​ @youaremyfiveever​ @kalesrebellion​ @lilulo-12​ @winchester-fantasies​ @vicmc624​ @supernatural3002​ @winchester-writes​ @maralisa124​ @therollingstoners​ @parinarain​ @kaz11283​ @charmed-asylum​ 

[sunfloweradoring]

the one where five become four

masterlist

Hey everyone! I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that has been following my writing recently, it’s absolutely insane to think nearly 300 people have read a couple of them! It means the world to me, so thank you <3 K xxx

word count: 2.7k

The boys had been on tour for a matter of months now; I couldn’t actually remember the last time I physically saw Harry. However, what got me through the lonely nights and long hours we couldn’t speak to each other was the knowledge I had - knowing he was doing what he loved and enjoyed above all else. There was only a few weeks of tour to go before they would all be home and with the people who loved them.

Everyone seemed just that little bit extra excited at this tour break because Zayn was to be getting married in this interlude. Perrie had kindly asked me to be a part of the wedding party, meaning me (along with many others of her close friends) had been beavering away back home, rigorously planning away from the wedding that seemed to be speeding towards us faster than we could process.

It made me so happy to see her so looking forward to the marriage - it was evident how she felt about him; and I couldn’t help but think about what it would be like for my own wedding. This year would be mine and Harry’s fifth together, and it only encouraged the small flame of excitement within me. Of course we’d spoken about marriage and the future we could have together, but he was yet to pop the question. I knew that it was definitely something I could do myself, but there was something in me that really wanted it to be Harry that asked me to be his wife - for the rest of our lives. 

I didn’t mind though, I was beyond happy where we were in our relationship currently. I felt so lucky to be a part of his hectic life and I loved to hear all the tour stories each time we got to sneak in a phone call or text. 

He really was the love of my life.

I couldn’t contain the smile that was threatening to come across my lips as I dialled Harry’s number and patiently listened to the dialling tone.

“Hello, love.” Harry’s gravely tone greeted me. Almost instantly, a frown took over my features as I pulled the phone away from my ear to quickly inspect the time. I’d been careful to leave my call late enough in the day to avoid waking him; yet his voice sounded like I’d done just that.

“Hiya, baby.” I gently responded. “Did I wake you up? I thought it was the afternoon or something there?” I questioned, leaning my body back against the pillows of our bed, my right hand absentmindedly stroking over his side of the bed as I spoke. There was a brief amount of shuffling on the other side of the phone before he spoke again.

“Y-yeah, it’s like three or something.” He replied. Now I was a little concerned. It really wasn’t like Harry at all to be so blunt on our phone calls - especially after so many weeks apart. Perhaps he was just feeling the distance particularly hard today, or recording hadn’t quite gone as smoothly as hoped. 

“You alright, Haz?” I was careful to keep my voice soft and smooth to prevent him from detecting my concern. 

“One sec,” Harry quickly replied before I heard his voice again, this time, though, at a distance from the phone. “Mate, I’m on the phone,” There was a muffled response from whoever ‘mate’ was. “No, I don’t wanna keep talking about it. We’re all in the same boat, here, I think we’ve talked about it enough for one day, don’t you think?” There was a brief moment of silence before: “You still there?”  I hummed in response, now completely confused as to what was taking place on his side of the the phone. 

“Baby...” My voice was met with a loud huff.

“Zayn’s thinking of taking a break.” He suddenly said. “He said he’s feeling too pressured and wants to go home for a week before coming back and continuing the tour.” Whatever I was expecting to be wrong, it certainly wasn’t anything like that.

“What?”

“He said we’ve been doing this almost nonstop for years and that he needs time to go home and breathe.”

“Oh my god.” I muttered, hand pushing the hair from my face. “Have you guys been talking about it all day? Is that what you just said?”

“Yeah; he just announced it at breakfast this morning and then just kinda shut himself in his room. He missed all the recording we were meant to be doing today. I don’t even know if he’s gonna come to the show tonight.”

“What are the others saying about it?” 

“Liam and Niall seem to having some sort of existential crisis about it. But honestly I’ve never seen Louis so angry before in my life.” As he spoke his words seemed to become more and more strained. 

“And you?” I spoke after he finished.

“What about me?”

“How do you feel about it?” His sniffles told me all I really needed to know but he did speak up after a minute.

“God I feel so conflicted.” His tone was a mixture of frustration, sadness and pure disappointment. I didn’t speak, allowing him time to continue. “This is like... the best thing that’s ever happened to me; this opportunity to go around doing things I love in different parts of the world, meeting fans, you know? And yeah, of course I understand the pressure he’s going on about; we’ve been putting out an album basically every year since X-Factor, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like a chore - it’s something I want to do. It’s something we all want to do!” Pause. “Well, I thought we all wanted to do it.” He added quietly. I really felt at a loss for words. I’d never heard Harry sound so manic before and I worried what would come of this new situation. 

“Are you coming home?” I asked.

“N-no. Well, at least, I don’t think we are. I think it’s just him.” Another silence came over the phone. I really didn’t know what to say to him that would make it any better. “Baby...” Harry trailed off.

“Yeah?”

“Can you come? I just... I just really need you here right now.” I could hear him feverishly fighting back tears.

“Do you want me to come?”

“Yeah...” It almost sounded like a child, desperately calling for the comfort of his mother.

“Of course I can, my love. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

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

I managed to get a late night flight out that same day, getting me in the next day, early morning for his timezone. The hours on the plane seemed to pass at a snail’s pace; I couldn’t contact Harry; I couldn’t see if there was any news about anything for that period of time - only fuelling my anxiety at the situation. 

Finally, though, the plane landed and I was able to get into the airport, through immigration and retrieve my bag without too much delay. My knee nervously bounced against the floor of the car the entire ride towards the hotel. Harry had already notified the reception that I was to be arriving, so they gave me a key to the room without trouble. I almost ran to the lift, pressing the button about four times; as if it somehow sped up the process. 

I scanned the numbers on the walls next to the doors as I made my way down the corridor; I was pretty sure that this entire floor was dedicated to the boys and their extensive team, but I wasn’t about to waste time knocking on a million different doors. As I came closer to the end of the corridor I could hear shouting from inside room 803. I quickly glanced down at my phone, open on the text Harry had sent me with the information for the hotel.

‘Mine is 803, they should give you a key but I’ll leave it open for you xxx’

I huffed out a breath, pulling my small suitcase to a stop as I reached out for the door-handle. Before I could pull it, however, the door swung open and a red faced Niall was stood in front of me. 

Since 2011 Niall had become one of my best friends. A part from Harry (obviously) he was the one I was closest to in the band. We shared many things and I’d often been the one he called for advice on girls, or even held him (in a purely platonic way, of course) as he cried about his most recent heartbreak. He’d also been my shoulder to cry on in the times Harry and I experienced a particularly tough fight and was always willing to help both of us out in any way he could. His surprise to be met with me was evident in the way he spoke my name.

“Hey.” He cleared his throat, rubbing his palm roughly against his face. “I guess you’ve heard, then?” He asked, stepping to the side to allow me to enter the room, seeming to have forgotten about his departure of the space.

“Yeah.” I nodded in sympathy, reaching out to rub a soothing hand up and down his arm. 

“I just can’t fucking believe he could do this.” Harry came into my view as Niall spoke, his eyes red rimmed. 

“He’s just stressed, I’m sure he’ll come round. Just let him go home for a few days and cool off.” I suggested, walking towards Harry to pull him into a hug. 

“Let him go home?” Niall repeated.

“She doesn’t know, Niall. She’s just got here.” Harry speaks, voice croaky. 

“Don’t know what?” I asked, keeping my arms around Harry’s middle as I pulled away enough to look up at him. 

“He’s gone.”

“Gone?” I spoke Niall’s words again, looking between the two men in the room in utter confusion. “What do you mean he’s gone?” Harry pulled away, taking my hand to lead me towards the sofa in the room as Niall pushed the door closed and followed us. Harry and I sat, legs touching, on the sofa as Niall sunk down into the chair opposite. 

“Well you know that I said he just made the announcement at breakfast yesterday?” Harry asked, leaning back in the cushions, arm slung over the back of the furniture behind me. I nodded, urging him to continue. “He just stayed in his room pretty much all of yesterday; he spoke to Lou before the rest of us left for the show, he didn’t come, even though he said he would.”

“He was gone by the time we got back.” Niall finished. 

“Oh my god.” I breathed, my head falling into my hands. “Well what the hell does that mean?” 

“We don’t know.” Harry replied. Both men looked in a right state; I wouldn’t be surprised if they told me neither of them had a wink of sleep last night. Both of their hair, usually pretty immaculate, was now roughly sticking out every which way as if they’d been pulling and pushing at it in frustration. 

“Has any of his family said anything?” I asked. “Perrie?”

They shook their heads in reply, looking down sorrowfully. Suddenly the door was pushed open and one of their body guards walked in. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” He started, shooting me an acknowledging nod. “There’s been some... developments.”

“What developments?” Niall asked.

“I think you should just come into Liam’s room, there’s a meeting.” He said, refusing to say anything and standing to the side of the door, watching the three of us. 

“I’ll stay here.” I offered, watching Harry and Niall get up.

“No, come.” Harry said, holding his hand out. I took it, following him as he pulled me towards him, his hand at the small of my back as we were led by Niall out of the room. Collectively we muttered a ‘thanks’ to the man holding the door open as we went to the room three doors down.

“One sec,” I said, feeling my phone vibrate in my back pocket. “I’ll meet you in there.” I slipped it out, giving them an encouraging smile and nod before answering it - not looking at who the caller was. “Hello?” I was answered by someone crying out my name. “Perrie?” Harry stopped, reaching out and grabbing Niall’s arm to stop him continuing into the room as they both spun around to watch me.

“It’s Z-Zayn.” She continued to cry.

“What’s happened? Has he made it home?” I asked, exchanging a worried look with Harry. As I spoke, Louis, Liam and their tour manager emerged from the room, all standing and watching me.

“What’s going on?” Liam whispered. Niall quickly explained.

“He just texted me. He said he’s back in London, but he said that was it. He wasn’t going back. The band is over for him. And so are we!” She hiccuped between each sentence, her explanation laced with sobs. My heart seemed to come to a juddering holt at her words.

“The band’s over? What do you mean? You’re over?”

“He’s called off the wedding!” 

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

I sat in Liam’s room next to Harry as their tour manager explained the situation. “So he’s quit?” Louis asked after what felt like an eternity of silence between the seven of us. It was evident in his ton and body language it was taking every fibre in his body not to rage.

“What the fuck?” Niall cried, face falling into his palms. His shoulders were shaking, showing us that his tears were falling. Liam moved to sit on the arm of his chair, pulling him into a hug, but it was clear he himself was fighting tears. 

“And he’s broken up with Perrie?” Liam confirmed, looking between me and their manager. We both nodded. 

I was absolutely stunned. I didn’t know what was going on. The last twenty four hours and been a rollercoaster, a whirlwind, going from one thing to the next in what felt like a flash.  

“Christ... I can’t believe this.” Louis said. It hadn’t gone unnoticed to me that Harry remained silent. I turned my head to look at him; he seemed to be in a sense of shock. I gently squeezed the hand that was in mine. 

“Haz...” I prodded quietly, my other hand rubbing up and down his thigh gently.

“Can we go?” He croaked, averting eye contact. 

“Um... I think we’ll be right back.” I spoke up, standing and waiting for Harry to follow. The other seemed to have an unspoken understanding; all feeling this sense of numbness and loss. We made our way back to Harry’s room in silence. I pushed the door shut behind us, watching cautiously as Harry went straight to the bed and almost fell onto it, his gaze staring up at the ceiling. I slowly approached him, laying beside him without a word. Both of his hands were sort of cupped around his mouth, eyes welling with tears. 

“Come here, baby.” I whispered, pulling his body into mine as he let out a choked sob. His head rested on my chest as I wrapped him in my arms. Soon more sobs escaped his mouth, morphing into an almost continuous cry as his body shook. “Shhh, my love, it’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. Just let it out.” I spoke gently into his hair as I kissed the back of his head. With each passing moment my heart was breaking more and more. Never had I seen him like this and it saddened me to no end. 

About half an hour had gone passed where he had uttered no words or sounds. “Thank you,” His voice was hoarse and muffled into my jumper.

“What for, my darling?”

“For coming, for being here. For just... being you.” He whimpered. I sniffled, a couple of my own tears falling from my eyes.

“Of course.” I replied, squeezing him gently. “Of course.” 

Neither of us knew what was going to follow this day; would the band continue? Would this be the end of the road for all of them? All I did know was that as long as Harry and I were together, we could weather any storm thrown our way, because we loved each other, supported each other, unconditionally. 

[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 13

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Something about Friday nights at the bar always seemed to put Zoey in an energetic mood. As hectic as it got, there was always something new and exciting happening on the weekends. Groups of newly legal drinkers, bachelorette parties, rowdy swingers, there was always something. And the group of people she worked with on weekends only improved the fun. Andy was at his prime tonight, mixing and mingling with everyone that approached the bar while Brett flirted with all of the girls, Zoey was making everyone laugh, and a few other servers bounced around, as well. 

They had busy weekends down to a science by now, knowing where everyone was, what everyone would be doing, and reading the signs on when they might be able to take a quick break. This was, by far, the most organized bar she’d ever worked at. Zoey stepped out of the storage closet, carrying a box full of napkins when she bumped right into Brett.

“Whoa, if you wanted me to get on the floor for ya, all you needed to do was ask,” Brett grabbed his arm where the box had hit him as he stumbled backward, smirking. 

She could bet that he was so used to flirting for tips that it just came as second nature to him. Still, the idea of getting plowed by him in the closet right now seemed almost too good to pass up. Especially considering how Australian he sounded tonight. It’s been a minute. She smirked back, looking at him through her eyelashes, “Well, the closet’s free now if you want to meet me in there in five minutes?”

His eyes widened slightly before standing up straighter and stammering, “Oh, uh. Probably not a good idea right now, actually. It’s super busy out there. We can’t leave the others alone.”

“Oh, yeah. I was kidding,” Zoey laughed, blowing it off and countering, “I’m still out of a bedroom right now, otherwise I would invite you to spend the night.”

A week and a half ago after Zoey had gotten home from her date there was a pretty bad storm in LA. While she was on the phone with Harry, lightning had struck the top of their building and hit an electrical box that shut the power off on the top dozen floors of her building, including her unit. The electrical current that ran through her apartment had also caused their water heater to build too much pressure which made it burst, spilling water out of the utility closet and leaking into the hallways and the room closest to it, which happened to be Zoey’s room.

Luckily they were able to get the electricity back up rather quickly, but the damage had already been done. Water damaged the carpets, the underlayment, and the bottom of the walls. It even caused water damage to the ceiling in the unit below them. Thankfully the furniture was salvageable, and the building maintenance and property manager were very helpful in trying to get everything fixed and sorted for them, but it did take some time. They had to move all of Zoey’s furniture out of the room and into the living room to rip up all of the carpets, put holes at the bottom of the walls to get air circulation inside of the walls, and install dehumidifiers and drying fans around the back half of their apartment. It looked like a bomb had gone off in there, and because of this, they hadn’t had visitors over since.

He nodded, hesitantly admitting, “It’s okay. I have plans tonight, anyway.”

“Oh, nice. Another date?”

He paused, “Yeah, kind of.”

“Ooo,” she sang, teasingly, “Good luck. Hope they’re not as crazy as the last. How were her parents, by the way?”

He laughed, pushing her lightly, and walking away saying, “From now on I’ll have to mention it upfront. No parents on the first date.”

She continued on her way and began filling up the containers underneath the counter with napkins when Andy came over, smiling and lightly kicking her shoes as she crouched. Zoey looked up and grinned at her friend, pushing the box to the side and standing up, picking a piece of lint off of his shirt.

“I think Brett’s dating someone,” she told him.

Andy faked a frown and teased, “Awe. Are you sad ‘cuz your fuck buddy can’t fuck you anymore?”

She rolled her eyes, hip-checking him, “A little. He’s just being so sketchy about it. I don’t get why he can’t just be honest and tell me we can’t fuck anymore because he either doesn’t want to or because he’s seeing someone. Boys are annoying.”

Andy nodded, pursing his lip, “Girl, I get it. I don’t want to like boys, either. Shit sucks.”

When 1 AM rolled around, Zoey was exhausted. She made out pretty good tips, but she felt like she could have fallen asleep on the drive home. To her surprise, the living room lights were still on. Usually, Nancy and Aurora were in bed by now. They could have accidentally left it on. But just as the thought crossed her mind, a soft door closing and heels clicking caught her attention and she turned to see Rory stumbling in, gasping a little at the sight of Zoey.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Zoey giggled, setting her bag down on the island.

Rory shook her head, her cute little mixed French and British accent squeaking, “It’s okay. I lost track of time. I should have known you’d be home soon.”

“Are you heading out?” Zoey noticed her roommate still fully dressed. Her eyes widened in realization, “Ohhhhh, are you going to Harry’s? I know he said he was thinking of coming home early, but I haven’t talked to him today, so I didn’t realize he did.”

Rory hesitated for a moment before stuttering, “Yeah, but it’s a quick visit. I’ll be back in the morning.”

Zoey nodded, yawning and dragging her feet over to the couch, “Have fun, you crazy kids!” she joked, plopping onto the sectional and muttering under her breath, “Can’t wait to have my bed back.”

“You can sleep in my bed tonight if you want. Since I won’t be here,” Aurora offered.

“Really? Thank you! Might actually be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight,” she grinned standing up.

Aurora paused for a moment before smiling back, putting her head down with a nod goodbye, and walking out the door. With another yawn, Zoey grabbed an oversized tee and a pair of sweatpants from the pile of her clothes in the corner of the living room, quickly changing, and headed towards Rory’s tidy white bedroom. 

Her roommate’s mattress had to be the most comfortable mattress she’d ever been on, by far. As soon as she hit the pillow, there was no stopping it. Not even her most nagging thoughts could keep her awake.

Zoey dreamed of life before all of this. Back to her boring Pennsylvania town with all of her boring adventureless memories. But not all of her memories were boring. She had a good life. It might not have been a fantasy life, but it was stable. She dreamt back to days with Jess, swimming in the pool, and nights with her ex-boyfriend, settling down after a long night’s shift at the bar. She’d be so exhausted that she’d practically crawl through the pitch dark apartment to find Michael already asleep in bed. She dreamt about how she’d climb into the bed beside him and he’d instinctively reach out and pull her closer to him, nuzzling his face into her shoulder to fall back asleep. She remembered that feeling of warmth and security encasing her as she drifted off to sleep.

Except that warmth and security wasn’t just a dream. As Zoey’s consciousness grew, she became more aware of the fact that there was someone in the bed with her, their arms wrapped around her stomach. Automatically her first thought was that Brett’s date must not have gone as well as he’d hoped. But she started to realize more and more that not only was she not in her bed, but the faint red glow on the inside of her eyelids told her that it was morning now, and the way this person’s arm rested across her side so comfortably, and the sweet, yet spicy scent of the person’s breath on the back of her neck was something she never encountered with Brett, who normally smelled of beer and stale peanuts. Zoey suddenly came-to, gasping and pushing herself away from the figure behind her, which caused them to sit up in a panic and gasp as well. 

“Harry? What the fuck are you doing here?” her vision barely came into focus.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? I thought you were Rory!” Harry’s eyes widened.

“Why the fuck would I be Rory?! Rory’s with you!” she shot back, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Comprehension of what she just said smacked her in the face and she slowly took her hands from her face to get a good look at Harry’s face. She saw his expression range the emotions in a matter of seconds from confusion to realization, hurt, annoyance, and anger. Zoey sat up, eyes wider, holding her hands out and motioning for him to calm down. 

“Hang on a minute,” Zoey pleaded as he stood up, “I didn’t mean to say that, I was half asleep when I came home and you scared the shit out of me. I think I just misunderstood her last night.”

“I fucking knew it,” Harry ignored her, pacing the room, “I knew she was cheating.”

“Alright, now that’s a bit dramatic,” Zoey rolled her eyes, getting out of the bed, “You’re not dating yet, so let’s just relax. You don’t know where she is.”

“Where else would she be?” he shot back.

“Hello? She has other friends besides me and Nancy. Let’s not jump to conclusions. She said she would be back in the morning, let’s just make a cup of coffee. I’m sure she can straighten this out when she gets here and she’ll be so excited to see you.”

Under different circumstances, Zoey would have been excited to see Harry. But her head was pounding from the abrupt wake-up call that she honestly couldn’t figure out her sentiments just yet. She had to physically drag Harry out of the room and keep a hand on him at all times in an attempt to keep him grounded and from running off, whether it was her squeezing his arm, holding his hand, or grabbing his shoulders. He was so full of tension that it just barely worked.

They sipped their coffee at the kitchen island and Zoey did her best to distract him by asking about his final show and trying to talk about what he was going to do when he got back home to England, but it was no use. Harry’s eyes bore holes into the countertop gripped onto his mug so tightly that she was certain it would shatter any minute now when they heard the front door open. Harry instantly got to his feet, darting into view with Zoey at his heels, pulling him back by his wrists when Aurora walked in, her grin fading at the sight of them.

“Harry,” Rory breathed, taking a step back.

“Where were you?” He demanded, yanking his arm from Zoey.

Both girls recoiled, surprised by his tone and actions. Neither of them had ever seen Harry so angry before. It was completely out of character that it sent them both into a temporary loss for words. 

Zoey was the first to bounce back, giving Rory the biggest apologetic eyes she could muster, “I’m so sorry, Rory. I think there was just a misunderstanding. I thought you said you were going to Harry’s last night and I spoke before thinking. He’s just had a long flight, that’s all. I told him you were probably just with a friend and I misheard you.”

“I-” Rory stuttered, looking between the two, unsure of what to say.

“You were with Brett, weren’t you?” Harry accused, eyes glaring.

Zoey shot her head at Harry and gritted her teeth, “Would you stop it with the Brett thing? She wasn’t with Brett! You know him and I have a thing going on. Stop accusing her!”

But when she turned her attention back to Aurora, the color had drained from her face and her eyes glassed over. Zoey furrowed her brows as Rory’s gaze turned to her, pleading as she shot her hands over her mouth and let out a sob, tears finally spilling from her eyes, “Zoey, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to lie to you. It just happened. I swear this is the only time. I didn’t mean for this to happen. We were only planning on hanging out but one thing led to another. I’m so sorry!” she begged.

Zoey’s heart dropped at the sight of her friend and roommates anguish and guilt, trying to take everything in. All she could muster to say was, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Harry spat, “I fucking told you this would happen!” He turned his attention back to Rory who was still crying, “I came back here for you! I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend today! Instead, I come here to surprise you, find my best friend in your bed, and find out that you were sleeping with her boyfriend? What kind of person does that?”

His voice boomed so deeply that Zoey felt the vibrate in her chest with every syllable he spoke. It was so loud that it managed to wake Nancy, the heaviest of sleepers, who pitter-pattered down the hallway to see what all of the commotion was about. Zoey managed to squeak out a quick, “He’s not my boyfriend!” but no one heard over the screaming match that pursued. 

“Don’t you fucking dare try to insinuate I’m a whore! I’m not your fucking girlfriend! You had nearly half a year to ask me out and you didn’t! I told you I wasn’t going to sit around and wait forever!” Rory scowled at Harry. His jaw tightened with each word she hurled, “What was I supposed to think? You talk to my roommate you’ve only known for three months more than you talk to me! You fly back here just to spend time with her, you barely spoke to me that weekend except when you wanted to fuck! And that was only after you spent all day in her bedroom! You tell me what the fuck I was supposed to think!? How would you feel if I did that?!” Nancy softly took hold of Aurora’s arm to try and soothe the tension.

“Rory, I didn’t mean-” Zoey started, suddenly feeling guilty, but was cut off by Harry. 

“I was just trying to be a good friend! I told you that you had nothing to worry about! You knew Zoey was going through something and wasn’t in a good place! You saw her! Zoey’s been nothing but a good friend to you, so what are you even trying to say? First, you sleep with her boyfriend and now you’re accusing her of cheating with ME? You’re deflecting!”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Zoey spoke louder this time, but again it fell upon deaf ears as Rory spoke.

“I’m not accusing Zoey of anything!” she turned her attention towards her roommate, her eyes softening, “Zoey, I’m so sorry, I know nothing happened between you and Harry. And I would never do anything to try and hurt you. I promise I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“But it did happen, and I fucking said it would, didn’t I?” Harry, turned towards Zoey.

“Oh, you said it would happen?” Rory’s sarcasm dripped through her teeth like silk, “Congratulations! Once again, your instincts were correct! What do you want? A fucking medal? If you knew it would happen, why did you even come here?”

“Because I wanted to be with you!”

“If you wanted to be with me so fucking badly, why did it take you five months to figure it out?! You never really wanted me! I was just a convenience for you! That’s why you waited until the tour was over! You have nothing else to occupy your time with!”

“And that’s why you ran to fuck Zoey’s boyfriend, is it? Because he’s emotionally available for you?” Harry’s sarcasm intensifies.

“He’s not my fucking boyfriend!” Zoey screamed, standing in between them, causing the two to retreat, taking a step back. Zoey glowered back and forth between Harry and Aurora, frustrated at the disgusting display of animosity towards each other. She had half a mind to start screaming at them, but when she saw Nancy’s reassuring gaze, she took a breath and calmly reasoned, “Listen. Obviously, we all need to talk things out, but right now the tension is way too high and it’s way too early in the morning to think clearly. Let’s all just take some time to calm down.”

“How about I just go?” Harry retorted, pulling away from Zoey and storming towards the door.

Zoey watched him as he stomped to the door, shooting a glance at Nancy who mouthed, “Go.”

She quickly grabbed her phone and threw on the first pair of shoes she found before jogging towards the door. Rory grabbed her hand quickly, eyes still red and raw from crying. Her voice was so soft that it was barely a whisper, “Zoey. I’m so sorry.”

Zoey looked into the eyes of her roommate and it nearly broke her heart. She placed a hand over Rory’s and managed a sympathetic smile, “It’s okay,” she said, seeing the relief wash over Rory. “I’ll talk to him.”

Rory nodded and Zoey ran off, catching the elevator doors just before they closed and slipping in with a still fuming Harry. When the doors closed and the elevator began its descent, his arms jerked upwards, grabbing onto the back of his neck, doubling over as he shouted, “FUCK!” 

This should be fun.

KEEP READING

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Taglist for Somebody To You:

@thurhomish​ , @stilljosiegrossie​ , @odetostep​

[misssophiachase]

Blame Taylor Swift for distracting me from my other stories (which are still being updated I promise). Eleven parts - eleven songs. Hope you like it. 

Invisible String

Famous singer Caroline Forbes returns to her hometown for a funeral and to face demons from her past, not expecting someone familiar to return and throw the confected world she's created upside down. Based off songs and lyrics from Taylor Swift's Folklore. On FF and AO3

Chapter one: the 1

Mystic Falls, VA

The large, antique mirror was always one of her favourite pieces of furniture in the house. Her mother had been an avid collector of rare, antique pieces and this was one of her most treasured finds.

Liz told her as a child that mirrors possess magical powers.

They don't lie.

Looking at herself today, Caroline knew that much was true. She barely recognised the woman staring back at her.

Her knee length, black, Chanel dress was modest but stylish and her blonde tresses were pulled back into a low chignon at the nape of her neck with a pair of simple, pearl earrings her only accessories. 

She looked every bit the grieving ex-girlfriend, her publicist had made sure of it. The problem was, only half of that statement was true. Ex-girlfriend, yes, but grieving she wasn't quite sure.

Caroline walked to the nearby bay window, looking down at the beach below.

Her large mansion sitting atop the cliffs overlooking the sea had been an impulse purchase five years earlier. She'd bought it for her mother initially. But Liz always maintained that she preferred the small house on Mulberry Drive where she'd raised Caroline and it had remained vacant ever since.

She couldn't bring herself to sell it, if anything it was a veiled reminder to the residents of Mystic Falls who she'd become and just how much some had underestimated her worth. Petty, yes, but Caroline felt it was justified all the same.

She faltered, seeing the long stretch of sand below. It always reminded her of him. The lazy summer days that passed while they played in the surf and built a myriad of sandcastles, some even taller than Caroline. He was like that, always had to be the most competitive. The best.

But also so loving and kind, his unconditional support like a warm hug that she'd craved for too long before he arrived in town. He was everything she needed and that feeling had never abated, even after all this time.

She looked away and shook her head, determined to push those particular memories deeper inside. This trip was about her ex-boyfriend, not the boy with the dimples who rescued her and what they could have had, what they could have been. Caroline repeatedly told herself that their story was destined to be captured like a snapshot in time, nothing more.

After all, some of the greatest movies of all time were never made.

He'd gone on to become one of the hottest and most sought after actors in Hollywood, his recent nomination for an Academy Award his latest accomplishment. 

Sure, she liked to pretend she didn't keep tabs on his life but that would be lying. Every time she saw him photographed in magazines and at movie premieres, his arm around the latest girlfriend, Caroline couldn't help but wish it was her.

But they'd had their chance and there was too much history between them to ever salvage what could have been.

"Caroline, you ready?" she turned to face her publicist and best friend from the doorway. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" She nodded, her invisible mask now firmly in place, determined to hopefully get through this day unscathed and as quickly as possible.

Then she could get the hell out of Mystic Falls and never come back again.

1 week earlier...Empire Field Mile High, Denver CO

"Thanks everyone, you've been amazing, good night!" Caroline yelled into the microphone, waving at the heaving crowd for the last time.

Whether it was a small dive bar at the beginning of her career or the giant stadiums she'd graduated to, Caroline didn't think she'd ever tire of the feelings it evoked. Caroline didn't think she'd be here, let alone doing something that she loved. She'd been singing since she was a little girl sitting on her mother's lap but never thought she'd be singing her own songs for the masses.

She was discovered in one of those very dive bars at the age of nineteen. It was her first regular gig and although the clientele were either non-existent or questionable, Caroline was just grateful to have a steady job for three months.

When the handsome and immaculately dressed brunette (although she wouldn't admit that to him now) had entered the bar, looking completely out of place, she was mid-song. She could remember the cover song like it was yesterday, Breathe by Sia.

Just after her set, he'd produced one of those impressive-looking business cards before approaching her on stage. Enzo St John was his name. His demeanour was poised, his manner and unexpected British accent extremely polished.

"I'm going to make you a star."

If she wasn't so starving, desperate and facing eviction from her Santa Monica studio, Caroline probably would have scoffed at his cliched terminology. But she wasn't that much of an idiot.

And he did make her a star. As evidenced by her steady climb up the music charts, sold out concerts and complete make-over from small town girl to multiple grammy award winner and current 'it' girl if nights like this playing in Denver were anything to go by.

"You knocked it out of the park!" Enzo yelled, trying to be heard over the loud cheers from the manic crowd in Denver as she walked off stage.

"You do realise this is a football stadium, right?" She asked, taking the towel one of the stage hands had kindly provided.

"I don't understand." The way his forehead creased in utter confusion was enough to prove that very point.

"Of course he doesn't," her agent interrupted their conversation. "Enzo doesn't realise he's used a baseball metaphor because all he cares about is his beloved soccer."

"I'll pretend you didn't just commit blasphemy by calling football that dreaded word, Bennett," he huffed. "Bloody Americans."

"We love you too, Lorenzo," Caroline teased, throwing the towel she'd just used at him teasingly. "Now, what's next?"

Bonnie and Enzo looked at her mouths agape. Only Caroline Forbes, America's sweetheart, would be this hardworking. Her schedule was hectic enough but Caroline always took it in her stride and strived to do more and be better. Her mother had taught her that from a young age and she hadn't forgotten since.

"Ah, I don't know, maybe go back to the hotel and sleep, darling," Enzo responded, finally finding his voice. "This tour is only going to get crazier and you need to rest."

"Even Kat would recommend that and we all know how much she loves a good after party," Bonnie joked.

She was an agent at premiere talent company CAA and had recently come on the road for a few weeks. Caroline had met her and publicist Katherine Pierce not long after Enzo. The three were a packaged deal even if they did fight like siblings. Being an only child, Caroline actually relished in their incessant bickering.

Caroline weaved her way backstage and into her makeshift dressing room. Her finale outfit was meant to not only sparkle but also to stand out. Which was great but comfort definitely wasn't an overall factor in its design.

After an obligatory swig of Evian, she began to change. A knock at the door wasn't wholly unexpected, hence the screen she was standing behind. Usually, it was one of her personal staff needing to discuss various matters. Caroline was someone who didn't like to be alone, especially with her thoughts, so would never discourage company.

"Care," she heard her publicist call out. "You decent?"

"Come in, Kat," she said, albeit muffled by the top she was removing.

"Amazing show, as usual," she smiled, closing the door behind her. "How are you feeling?"

"Invigorated," she grinned. "Performing live is the best high anyone could ask for."

"Well, I'm glad," she began slowly,"because I have some news that I thought you should know." Caroline didn't like the sound of that, it was just like when she'd been informed her mother had passed away in the line of duty three years ago. She suddenly felt sick, holding onto the screen for some much- needed balance.

"News?"

"From your hometown," she added. "I wasn't sure if you already know but given your response I assume not."

"Just tell me," she snapped. Caroline knew it was uncalled for given she was just the messenger but there was something about the mention of Mystic Falls that had the tendency to throw her into a spin.

"I'm sorry," Kat soothed. "Your, uh, I mean, uh, Damon Salvatore has passed away."

Caroline felt the precarious sense of balance she had slowly slipping away, all the way onto the floor. It was only when Kat scooped her up and led her towards the couch that she finally processed her words.

Damon.

Dead.

"How?" She managed to bite out as Katherine force fed her some water.

"Motorcycle accident," she offered, brushing the hair from her forehead. "He collided with a vehicle on the interstate. It was instant."

Caroline closed her eyes. She'd always wondered what it would feel like to hear those words but it didn't register like she'd imagined. She'd wished so many bad things on him too many times. She thought there'd be a sense of relief or freedom.

But all she felt was nothing. Not sad, not angry, not shock or disbelief. Just nothing.

Besides Kat telling her she was "so sorry" and continuing to rub her back, the silence in the room was deafening.

"How do you, of all people, know that?" She croaked, sitting up and looking at her friend imploringly. They'd never met. Damon was nothing but a revised memory she'd concocted for her public image.

The typical small town girl with the high school sweetheart angle and her management team had eaten it up. If only it was true.

"Those rabid vultures at TMZ somehow got a hold of it, want to know if Caroline Forbes is attending his funeral in Mystic Falls."

"Well, given you just told me…"

"I know, like I said vultures," she hissed. "I'm not even going to justify their heartless request with a response. Can I get you anything, sweetie? Tissues, water, a really big bowl of chilli fries with extra ketchup?"

Caroline snuggled back into Katherine's embrace knowing exactly what she wanted. She wanted to forget, even if it was just for one night. "I need a really big bottle of tequila."

Caroline winced from the memory, thinking that tequila truly was evil and that she wouldn't be touching it again anytime soon.

Fast forward a couple of days and Caroline was here preparing for Damon's funeral. They'd only arrived late the night before so as to avoid the welcome circus. Her team had accompanied her to Mystic Falls in a show of support and she appreciated it, even if they didn't know the full story.

Given every media outlet knew about his death via TMZ, Caroline figured if she didn't go along with it then they'd know her backstory wasn't exactly what she'd sold them and that couldn't happen.

She'd worked too hard to get where she was and her past wasn't going to return and ruin that.

[stellar-imagines]

HEADCANONS REQUEST: ❝countryside girl.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Todoroki Shouto ]

「Headcanons of Midoriya and Todoroki having a S/O who lives in the country-side and is multi-talented, cooks delicious meals using ingredients from their large garden, embroiders their own clothes, builds their own furniture.」

MIDORIYA IZUKU

♤ Your first encounter with Midoriya was purely coincidental. You grew up with your grandparents in rural part of Tokyo, a village that's hours away from the centre of the city. It was when you were still so much younger. While kids were attending middle school and dreaming of being heroes, you were working to survive. The first time he met you, you were working at a family restaurant that he frequented. There, he learned your name and little about your life.

♤ As time passes, and when he started his life in UA, you were still working multiple jobs. Midoriya visits you at your workplace often, bringing various food ranging from raw ingredients to cooked food that his mother prepared. Despite working in the city, he learned that you actually lived in the countryside with your grandparents and make YouTube videos. He's really intrigued and checks you content often. Your videos inspired a lot and help people learn more about Japanese traditions and culture.

♤ Midoriya admires you for being so independent and multi-talented, he has a whole notebook on everything you do, from listening to your stories including your videos. During your break, the two of you would exchange information about your private lives but it always ends up with you rambling about your crops and what you're going to use them for. Because of this, he's very curious about this garden/farm that you're always talking about.

♤ During the weekends, he makes time for you. Usually you'd bring him over to your house. Your grandparents were lovely, kind and fond of him. They'd make comments on how you managed to snag a polite, cute and handsome looking city boy as your boyfriend. He'd be so flustered to hear that from the people who raised you. They'd be ecstatic to see you finally bringing someone home since they're worried that you don't have friends at all.

♤ This boy is amazed by every single little thing you do. From handling various harvesting equipment and carrying your harvested crops in handmade baskets. Midoriya can't believe that you do this every single day, handpicking every ingredients for your meals. You're truly an inspiration to a lot of people who watch your videos and he can't help but feel proud of it. And you bet your ass that he's gonna help you with your videos! This boy can't help but brag about you to his close friends, going on and on about how amazing and multi-talented you were.

♤ You'd harvest your own sweet glutinous rice, cooked in a steaming box before being transferred into a steaming. Midoriya is more than happy to help you knead and pound the mochi. He'd be the one pounding away while you occasionally knead it with water. Having such a strong boyfriend like him makes your work easier! But you don't want to overwork him because the weekends were supposed to be days where Midoriya can take a break from UA and his studies.

♤ When he's at your house, he feels at peace. It's away from the city where there were a thousand things going on at the same time. The countryside is very peaceful and there's so many things growing in your garden! The berries you grow would be used for making jams or for meals. You'd make him carry a lot of your homemade food back to his home so he could share with his mother. Sometimes you'd pack some of your fresh vegetables, eggs and fruits for him to use at home.

TODOROKI SHOUTO

☆ This guy doesn't know a single thing. He's very clueless about how stuff works in the countryside but he's very curious about how you live your life. Todoroki is very surprised that you're working at such an age, using whatever money to survive on your own in such a huge city. In a way, he was lucky, being born int a family that barely have problems when it comes with finance. How he met you was purely coincidental. You'd be working multiple jobs at places around his neighbourhood. And at some point, you started talking to him. Slowly, you would give him a small wave whenever you run into him, exchanging greetings and whatnot.

☆ He met you again when you were working as a part time journalist. Todoroki had been a part of a big mission, though his role was minor, he was still questioned by the police and being interviewed. When he saw you again, it felt like he was meeting an old friend but you both never talked that much to be called as friends. So from that point on, you both exchanged contact and kept in touch.

☆ Over the time, he started to have feelings and you both started to date. You'd take him to meet your grandparents, who seemed to be quite surprised that you came home with a handsome boy who looked like they came from a model magazine. Todoroki was the first person you brought to your home at the countryside and he was really amazed at the place you live in. It felt traditional but not modern traditional, it's genuinely traditional.

☆ He's amazed with every single little thing you do. Todoroki has never cooked in his entire life, save for instant noodles and making tea. He helps you at your garden, watering plants and harvesting them. He thinks that everything you're doing is magic. You grow your own vegetables and fruits to eat, raise chickens and cows. There were puppies running about too.

☆ Todoroki learns how to make soba from scratch. You know this boy loves soba and you pulled him over to make some for dinner. He's an interesting student to teach, making buckwheat soba is really difficult because it doesn't contain gluten. It's a nice change of pace from the hectic life at UA. Todoroki feels like he's more in touch with nature and life itself. He gets to walk around your large garden, see how you grow your crops and walk with your puppies.

☆ After coming back from your place, he'd have his hands full with your homemade items, things ranging from homemade jams, soba noodles to handkerchiefs that you made on your own. Let's say that Fuyumi is delighted with all these gifts that you always provide them. She often returns the gift by buying you new pans and equipment.

☆ He learns about your YouTube channel through the girls who watch your videos. And this leads to a lot of questioning because Todoroki accidentally blurted out the fact that you were his girlfriend. Ever since then, he watches your videos, amazed by the quality. He'd understand how it gives people the feeling of living in the countryside.

Total: 1128 words Published: 21.2.2020

Thank you for requesting! *｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و*｡ This piqued my interest a lot! Just from your ask, it got me searching for Li Ziqi in YouTube and honestly, I want to thank you for introducing her to me! She’s amazing!?! And she’s like my idol now!?! That aside, we hope you’re satisfied with what we typed out. ― author Hibiki/Lou

Thank you for requesting! Uoooo, a Li Ziqi fan! I admire her videos because of their quality, it’s so euphoric! She is very talented and makes everything look so effortless. Anyway, sorry to make you wait for so long! We got a bit carried away with this request. ― author Natsuki

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

[stillsearchingforsomething]

This is our place, we make the rules

May 2016

Karlie loves Sundays. It’s always been one of her favourite days of the week, even when she was a little kid and she knew that school was waiting for her again in the morning. She would always try to savour the last few hours of freedom which when she was younger meant baking with her Mom in the afternoon and then trying to convince her parents to let her and her sisters stay up as late as possible. As an adult it means quiet, lazy days curled up with Taylor, maybe not even venturing outside the confines of the apartment before the demands of another hectic week start again in earnest. 

This particular Sunday, she feels like she’s hit the jackpot. She and Taylor are curled up together on the couch, the remnants of the breakfast that they had cooked together that morning left on the coffee table and the Cardinals game playing on the large t.v. screen. 

“What do you think about a gas stove top?” Taylor asks looking up at Karlie from her position tucked into the model’s side.

“Hmm?” Karlie hums distractedly, tearing her gaze away from the game. She glances down at Taylor and she can’t help but notice that from this angle she can almost see down the front of the loose button down shirt that Taylor had thrown on this morning. That coupled with the knowledge that all Taylor has on besides is her underwear does little to help her concentrate on Taylor’s question. Karlie darts her eyes up to meet Taylor’s and the smirk she receives in response lets her know that she’s been caught staring. 

Karlie clears her throat and looks away, feeling her face flush under Taylor’s gaze.

“For the kitchen?” Taylor presses deciding to take pity on her girl. 

“You already have a stove in the kitchen?” Karlie says confused.

“For the new kitchen,” Taylor explains, showing Karlie some pictures on her iPad.

“Why do we need a need a new kitchen? I like your kitchen,” Karlie asks, shifting to get a better look aver Taylor’s shoulder.

“That’s the point, I don’t want it to be my kitchen, I want it to be our kitchen,” Taylor explains, pressing a kiss to the underside of Karlie’s jaw.

“I see,” Karlie says smiling at her girlfriend, filling with warmth at the thought of having a place that is fully theirs. Karlie can’t fight the urge to lean down and steal a short soft kiss so she doesn’t.

“I’ve never lived with anyone before,” Karlie whispers shyly as they break apart.

Taylor tilts her head in thought as she runs her fingers through Karlie’s hair. “Me neither,” Taylor muses before swaying forward and capturing Karlie’s lips in another slow kiss. 

Taylor’s smiling when she pulls away and has to blink to clear her head as she melts further into Karlie’s side. “So, gas stove top?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about having you near a naked flame,” Karlie teases, letting out a surprised yelp when Taylor delivers a swift poke to her side.

“That was one time Karlie,” Taylor fires back indignantly. “One little video and suddenly I’m a pyromaniac,” she adds under her breath.

“Whatever you want baby,” Karlie assures leaning over Taylor, plucking her iPad out of her hands. Karlie presses Taylor back into the couch cushions and settles between her thighs to kiss her again, baseball forgotten. 

Six months later, after countless Pinterest boards, a lot of antique shopping, and endless bickering over paint swatches, they were finally ready to move back into their renovated apartment. The place was freshly painted and they had hired movers to bring by all their stuff and get the larger furniture set up but they had wanted to unpack the rest of their boxes together to decide where everything should go. They had ordered pizza and were unpacking boxes, listening to music playing from the bluetooth speaker.

Karlie is working on a box of books, stacking them on the shelves by the grand piano when she hears Taylor call out. “What are these?”

Karlie looks up but is momentarily distracted by the sight of Taylor bending over with her head buried in a box. Karlie shakes her head to dispel the flush of heat that burns her cheeks and the tug of arousal that settles low in her belly. 

Taylor turns to look at Karlie and finds her staring at her with a familiar look on her face, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Taylor can’t help but smile as Karlie makes her way over to her stumbling over the corner of a box. Taylor feels Karlie press against her back, dropping a kiss to her neck and peering over her shoulder to look into the box.

“My baseballs,” Karlie says excitedly and it’s Taylor’s turn to gulp as she feels Karlie’s breath on her ear.  

“You have so many,” Taylor murmurs, still distracted by Karlie who has crouched down to rummage through the baseballs that are all encased in glass cases. Taylor’s no expert when it comes to sports but she figures that these must be pretty special. 

“Yeah, I kind of collect them,” Karlie says sheepishly, looking up at Taylor. Taylor rolls her eyes and fights a smile at her dork of girlfriend. 

“How did I not know this about you?” Taylor asks holding out her hand to Karlie and pulling her back in to drape her arms around Karlie’s shoulders. 

“Well, now that we’re gonna be living together I’m sure you’ll find out all my secrets,” Karlie smiles as she settles her hands low on Taylor’s hips pulling her close. 

Taylor smiles an exasperated smile up at Karlie and Karlie can feel her breath catch in her throat at the sight. Karlie feels more than hears the muffled "uh huh" that Taylor mumbles against her lips.  

Taylor pulls back and turns in Karlie’s arms to pick up one of the baseballs in its display case. 

“That’s my favourite, it’s from the very first Cardinals game my Dad took us to,” Karlie explains resting her chin on Taylor’s shoulder. “I was six and I wanted to catch a ball so bad.”

“And you did?” Taylor asks twisting to look at Karlie.

“No, not exactly, I was so disappointed. But you can buy balls that were used during the game afterwards and my Dad got one for me.”

“Where are we gonna put them?” Taylor asks.

“I was thinking the living room?” Karlie replies, scanning the room for potential spots.

“Yeah we could,” Taylor muses. 

“What?” Karlie asks, knowing there’s more that Taylor wants to say.

“It’s just, I’m not sure if they will go with the theme,” Taylor responds shrugging her shoulders.

Karlie nudges her nose against the skin of her neck, breathing her in. “What’s the theme?”

“Sophisticated, lesbian chic,” Taylor deadpans, and she feels Karlie’s snort of laughter against her neck. 

“Well, it could definitely help with the lesbian part,” Karlie mutters under her breath.

“Ha ha,” Taylor laughs dryly. 

“Also, who put you in charge of decorating this place, you have a birdcage in your living room in Nashville,” Karlie says, ducking out of the way when Taylor rounds on her in outrage.

“Hey, I was young, that was my first apartment,” Taylor defends. “Besides, I don’t remember you complaining when we had sex on the swing.”

“Okay, you got me there,” Karlie admits, smiling at the memory. “Now your favourite decorating technique is to just put an award on any available surface,” Karlie fires back teasingly, dodging the pokes that Taylor is trying to land on her ribs. 

“You take that back!” Taylor gasps trying to shove Karlie away but Karlie just tightens her hold on her.

“Oh please, if this place was on fire and you could save me or your Grammy’s, which one would you choose?” Karlie asks staring down at Taylor, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

“I can’t believe you would ask me that,” Taylor says indignantly, crossing her arms. “That’s not fair, my Grammy’s couldn’t walk out themselves.”

“I can’t believe you,” Karlie fires back but the gentle squeeze of Karlie’s arms around her waist is enough to assure Taylor that there’s no bite to Karlie words. Karlie finds Taylor too adorable when she gets worked up to be mad at.

“You know that scene in When Harry Met Sally where Carrie Fisher is arguing with Harry’s friend over the wagon wheel coffee table when they move in together?” Taylor asks with a mischievous smile.

“Yeah,” Karlie responds not liking what Taylor is implying. 

“I dunno, just something about this made me think of it,” Taylor says shrugging her shoulders innocently.

“Are you comparing my baseballs, one of my most treasured possessions to his stupid wagon wheel coffee table?” Karlie accuses skirting her fingers up Taylor’s sides in an attempt to tickle her into submission. 

“Karlie, don’t you dare,” Taylor threatens, trying to squirm out of her hold. Karlie refuses to budge, thoroughly enjoying listening to Taylor’s laughter turning to breathless gasps. 

“Do you surrender?” Karlie asks as she continues her assault. Taylor can’t speak so she just shakes her head as she continues to flail at Karlie. Karlie takes pity on her girlfriend when she starts to worry that she can’t breathe. 

“I hate you,” Taylor gasps, sagging against Karlie’s chest as she tries to catch her breath.

Karlie doesn’t respond, just hums and sways to the music with Taylor in time with the music.

“I love this song,” Karlie whispers as the opening notes of Africa by Toto fill the room, echoing slightly due to the lack of furniture.

"Dance with me?" Taylor asks, her voice a little too breathless to be blamed on the fact that she has just been tickled to within an inch of her life.

"Always,” Karlie smiles intertwining her fingers with Taylor’s. "What dance are we doing?"

"How about the one where you just hold me and we sway to the music?" Taylor asks smiling up at Karlie, draping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her close.

"My favourite," Karlie mumbles, pressing her lips to Taylor's temple and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

Karlie relishes the feel of Taylor pressed against her, and she holds her close. Taylor sings the lyrics softly under her breath and feels Karlie press kisses to her neck, the underside of her jaw and the patch of skin behind her ear.

The song fades out and Taylor nudges her forehead against Karlie’s and leans in to kiss her soft and slow.

“I love you,” Taylor whispers when they break apart. “And your baseballs.”

[sympathyfortheblinderdevil]

All is Fair: Ch 11

Hi, Y’all!  Thank you for being so patient and not giving up on this fic even though I have been egregiously late with updates. At best, my life is erratically populated with periods of leisure time and periods of hectic, soul-crushing work. I, like many of you, am in the midst of a forced period of leisure time, so you will probably see more frequent updates. I appreciate those of you who are willing to stick around to see what happens next, and I hope you are in good health. Tell me what you think! x

Discovery and Dissolution

Polly Gray sat in her Bentley, wrapped in fur. Through her dark glasses, she watched the scene on the street where Lia worked. The bitter north wind cut straight down the sidewalk in front of the library and sent patrons scurrying for shelter within. A cluster of people shuffled through the arched brass doors, and Lia stepped out. She was a vision in a blue cashmere long coat, a mink collar clutched around her neck. The wind caused her coat to flap and play peek-a-boo with leather boots that stretched up to her knees. Both items were gifts from Tommy, Polly surmised. She noticed that Lia still wore an older pair of wool gloves. Guess he couldn’t think of everything.

 Despite the cold, Lia wore a little smile as she walked along. She’d been hard at work referencing and cross-referencing research with a professor of Art History at the University of Birmingham, and he was pleased with the help she’d given him. He had mentioned working with her again in the near future. Lia had come a long way from shelving books. She was beginning to realize the kind of life she had only dreamed was possible when she first came to Birmingham.  As she neared the corner, though, she was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed familiar-looking woman in a posh car was watching her.

 Polly lowered her window and called out, “Lia, Lia Montrose!”

 Lia slowed down and warily approached the car. Polly extended a sumptuously gloved hand, looked over her sunglasses at Lia, and introduced herself, “Polly Gray…Tommy’s Aunt Polly.”

 Lia visibly relaxed and took her hand at those words, “Mrs. Gray…I’m pleased to meet you.”

 “Get in, it’s time we got acquainted.”

 In a matter of minutes, Lia found herself sitting in the kitchen at No. 6 Watery Lane while Polly found two cups and put the kettle on. She then reached into the cupboard where she found a tin of tea. Upon opening it and sniffing the contents, she decided that it would do. Decked head to toe in Parisian tailor-made garments, she looked odd moving around the kitchen with such familiarity.

 While they waited for the kettle to boil, she offered Lia a cigarette and lit one of her own. They’d spoken hardly a word since they entered the house. Lia was loathe to break the silence with small talk, so she waited for Polly to say what was on her mind. They sat, smoking and soaking in the dusty quiet of the dimly lit room.

 Only when Polly poured the tea did she finally speak. “I brought you here so that you could see where Tommy lived...where we all lived before the money came.”

 Lia looked all around the room and smiled, “So this is where Tommy began.”

 Polly waved her hand with a flourish and laughed, “Who knows where Tommy began. If I hadn’t witnessed his birth I’d swear that he was flung out of heaven and barred from hell.”

 Lia smiled knowingly, “Well, Lucifer was a fallen angel.”

 “Exactly.” Polly raised an eyebrow and leaned back in the rickety chair. “I want you to understand why Tommy is,” she searched for the right words and finding none she continued, “the way he is.”

 Memories flooded Polly’s mind as she looked all around herself, gesturing here and there with the hand that held her cigarette. “Look around you, Lia. This is where we moved when things got better. You don’t want to know where we lived before when things were worse.”

 Lia swallowed hard and held her cup with both hands as if to draw every bit of heat out of it. She was suddenly cold. She had not grown up with much, but she was certainly comfortable. Her home had a lightness about it. The room where she sat with Polly was cozy, homey even, but the air was laced with soot and traces of despair.

 “Does that explain why he is so driven?” Lia wondered aloud.

 “Partly,” Polly mused. Then she looked at Lia with soft brown eyes, almost like she sympathized with her. She felt sorry for anyone who loved Tommy, even herself. “He has always been different. Clever and driven since the night he was born.” Then she looked away, “But he did have a big heart.”

 Did.

 It wasn’t Polly’s intention to make Lia uncomfortable or uncertain of her place in Tommy’s life, but Lia couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. Lia’s chair creaked as she shifted her weight and sat her teacup on the table, and Polly saw in her eyes a vulnerability that hadn’t been there before.

 “We all had to make sacrifices to get where we are today, but Tommy has sacrificed the most. Business comes first. Always. Ada says that Tommy likes you, he may even grow to care for you, but there are certain things you will have to accept if you want to be with him...”

 “So he has said,” Lia broke in. She immediately regretted cutting Tommy’s aunt off, though Polly showed no sign of being offended. She just sipped her tea and smiled.

 “Has he said what he plans on doing with you when he returns to London, Dear?”

 Lia winced a bit at the question. “No.”

 There was silence between them again. A clock ticked out the seconds from the next room and the sounds of people shouting to each other in the street filtered through the walls. Having finished her tea, Polly lit another cigarette and let the quiet grow around them. She believed that you could learn a lot about a person by how they chose to deal with spaces in conversation, so she waited and watched.

 Lia ruminated on Polly’s last question as long as she could, then stood and looked toward the parlor, silently asking permission to go in.  Polly rose and accompanied her. Dusty furniture and photographs sat frozen in time as if they were waiting for Polly to run the sweeper or Ada to polish the tabletops. The fireplace sat waiting to be lit. But she couldn’t see Tommy until she looked up the shadowy stairwell. It was narrow, and she could barely see the top stair in the darkness, but something in the woodsy smell that drifted down reminded her of him. Polly caught the wistful expression on Lia’s face and placed her hand on Lia’s back.

 “His room was up there,” Polly nodded.

 Polly peered into the darkness and flipped a switch, then nodded in the direction of the stairs, inviting Lia to climb them.

   ***

 The sleek grey Bentley rolled along Cannon Lane and splashed slush in its wake. Lia sat in back with a heavy woolen blanket wrapped around her legs. She made small talk with Rodney, the Blinder up front. Already, she knew that he had a fiancé and that they were to be married in June. His mum and dad were from Coventry, and they were both deceased. Also, Tommy had taken him under his wing as a boy of thirteen. Tommy kept him from starving and from, as Rodney put it, “…falling in with the worst sort of criminal element.” It seemed like everywhere she turned there was another person with a story about what Tommy had done to help them.

 Rodney delivered her to her door, and eager to get out of the cold, Lia darted inside.

  “Jenny, are you here?”

 A few snowflakes floated to the floor while she hung up her coat and unbuttoned her mink lined gloves. She noticed that the kettle was on, and so she called out again.

 “Jenny!”

 Her cousin bounded down the stairs, pulling her arms through the sleeves of a cardigan as she came.

 “Jesus, Lia!” she laughed. “Is the bloody house on fire?”

 “I have news,” Lia beamed.

 Jenny nodded her head and set about fixing tea, “Go on then. Tell me your news.”

 “WE have the use of a car.”

 Jenny froze and her heart sank. “Come again…”

 “A car, Jenny! Tommy doesn’t like the idea of my riding the bus and walking to work, so he is sending a car ‘round for us every morning and afternoon. One of his men will drive us to and from work,” she enthused.

 Jenny stood blinking at her for a moment then responded in a monotone voice. “A Blinder, Lia. ‘One of his men’ means a Blinder. I’d rather walk in the rain and snow.”

 She turned her back to Lia and got out the plates, careful not to take her simmering mood out on the crockery. She tried her best to keep her distrust of Tommy out of her relationship with her cousin, but it was hard to keep things light when every other word out of Lia’s mouth was “Tommy”.

 Jenny had taken quite a bit of flack at work because of Lia’s connection with Tommy Shelby. She’d had her fill with entering rooms full of chatter only to have them go silent, and she had dodged several sideways comments about her recent promotion. She hated to kill the mood, but someone had to be the voice of reason. Rolling up to work chauffeured by a flat cap wearing thug was more than she could tolerate.

 Lia balled her fists and tried to modulate her voice as she asked, “Why do you hate him so much? Hmm? He is good to me and he wants to help you too.”

 “Help? Is that what he calls it?” Jenny turned back around and eyed Lia’s obviously new and obviously bought by Tommy clothes. “If you want to play house with him and let him dress you up as his little doll that’s your business, but I won’t be ferried around town in a car that was paid for with blood money.”

 “That’s not fair, and you know it. Our family weren’t always saints. Granddad was the first one in the queue to spunk away his wages on the horses and the last one out of the pub at night.”

 “Right, and it was people like the Shelbys who were more than happy to take his wages off of him while Nan and our dads went shoeless.”

 She had a point. Lia hated the fact that she had a point. Damn Jenny for always knowing how to snatch the stars from her eyes. Lia sat down and put her head in her hands to hide her tears. It was so easy to let Tommy do little things for her, to buy a scarf here and some gloves there, to make life easier for her in a thousand little ways. He never made her feel like it was payment for services rendered. How could Jenny take all of Tommy’s kindness and turn it into something dirty, something tainted and wrong? The gifts and the thoughtful things he did for her were not part of a transaction, they were just part of the way he liked to take care of her. She wished that for once Jenny could see the goodness in Tommy.

 Since Aunt Polly had shown her the house and the betting shop where Tommy had launched his empire, she had a deeper understanding of him. Since she’d stood in his tiny bedroom where he had wrestled with the echoes of the tunnels and sweated through nightmares of poverty and war, she saw him through different eyes. She had grown to tolerate his last-minute cancellations and welcome him without pouting when he’d kept her waiting half the night.

 Polly had opened her eyes to the man behind the façade in a way that he could never do himself. With that understanding, she opened herself up to the possibility of a life with Tommy. No, nothing about what happened between them was mercenary. Tommy just took care of people in his life. She was used to Jenny acting like an older sister and alerting her to pitfalls she had overlooked, but this was too much. The tears of frustration and despair that she had hidden behind her hands were becoming tears of rage. Over and over Jenny had proven that she wouldn’t ever approve of her relationship with Tommy, and Lia was finished with seeking her cousin’s approval.

 She wiped her eyes and spoke through gritted teeth, “You know, Tommy has offered to let me stay in one of his properties near the library. Maybe it’s time to take him up on that offer. I’d hate for my reputation as the Shelby whore to rub off on you.”

 Jenny put down the knife she’d been using to slice the bread. “Calm down. I didn’t say that…”

 “But that is what you meant.” Her words came out clipped and cold. “I don’t want my reputation for sleeping with the Gangster of Parliament to ruin your chances with some nice mid-level clerk, so I’ll just move out.”

 “No…don’t! I’m just worried about you. You are like my little sister and I’m afraid you’re riding for a fall. What happens when this is over?”

 Lia abruptly stood and lashed out at Jenny, “Over?” Lia growled.

 The word struck a chord of fear in Lia that made her dizzy. In an instant, all of her nights with Tommy, the taste of his sweat, the feel of his mouth, the smell of his sheets, flashed through her mind. She turned that fear into rage and took a step toward Jenny as she shouted, “I love him! That’s enough for me! Why can’t it enough for you?”

 It was true. She loved him so much that it hurt. Her face was red and blotchy and her chest heaved with every breath. She was tired of fighting Jenny at every turn, and at that moment all she wanted was Tommy’s arms around her.  She needed him so badly that she felt like she would fly into a million pieces without him holding her together.

 Jenny took a step backward and bumped into the kitchen counter. Lia looked truly deranged. A realization came over Jenny like a wave. Lia was a different person now— a person who turned a blind eye to the ugly side of her man and made excuses for his shortcomings. It had been happening gradually over the last few months; the absent-minded dreamer that she had grown up with had disappeared. Back then, no matter how far out Lia got Jenny was always the voice of reason who could reel her back in, but Lia wasn’t listening to her anymore. This was different.

 There seemed to be no turning back. Jenny knew that she had already said too much, but couldn’t resist a parting shot as she headed for the stairs. “Love? How can you love him when the only things you have in common are each other?”

 Even as Jenny said it, she wondered if it was true.

  ***

   Tommy and Arthur were sitting opposite each other at Tommy’s desk in their shirtsleeves talking about horses. Arthur had put too many logs on the fire and the room was like an oven. It was past the close of business and they should have been heading home, but they had lately taken to staying for drinks a couple of nights a week. Arthur would tell stories about Billy and the chickens, and Tommy had even opened up a bit about Lia. Arthur was cursing the heat and rolling up his sleeves when they heard someone pounding at the door.

 “You expecting company?” Arthur asked in his rough, whiskey soaked Brum.

 Tommy ran the tip of his tongue along his teeth and shook his head, “No.”

 They stood and Arthur made his way toward the door, his hand on his pistol.

 “Who’s there?” he boomed.

 A muffled voice called, “Lia Montrose. I need to see Tom…Mr. Shelby.”

 Arthur turned in his brother’s direction and feigned seriousness. ”Shall we let her in, Tommy?”

 Tommy rolled his eyes and huffed, “Open the fookin’ door; it’s freezing out there.”

 Lia entered the building shaking snow from her disheveled hair and stamping the slush from her boots. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and her eyes were a bit watery from the wind. She imagined that she looked a fright, but Arthur thought she looked like an angel.

 Arthur stood there looking her up and down while she tried not to gawp at the pistol hanging loosely under his arm until Tommy cleared his throat and began to make introductions.

 “Lia, this is my brother Arthur. Arthur, Lia Montrose.”

 Arthur straightened up and offered to take her coat. As he hung it on the rack, he smiled a bit too broadly and said, “Tommy has told me a lot of nice things about you.”

 Tommy knew that something was wrong because he and Lia hadn’t planned on seeing each other until the weekend. After a few pleasantries, Tommy stared at Arthur until he made his excuses and left.

 Chills shook her body; she was shaking like a leaf, so Tommy took her by the hand and led her into his office where a fire roared and two glasses of whiskey were already waiting. He sat her down on his desk and took a seat in front of her, all the while rubbing the warmth back into her arms and hands. She looked down into his crystalline eyes and tried to find the words to say what she’d come for. At that moment, she was ever so grateful that Tommy knew how to take his time with her. He would wait until she was ready to talk.

 She finished her first glass of whiskey and leaned into him. She breathed deeply and sighed, feeling better already simply for having him there to hold her.

 “I don’t know what to do,” she mumbled into his collar.

 “About…” he prompted her while stroking her head.

 She sat back up and his hands went to her thighs rubbing slow, soothing circles over her skirt. She watched his hands and thought about what Jenny had said. She didn’t know very much about him, other than what they did together. Hell, she only just met his brother. His business dealings were a mystery and she had learned more about him from the papers than from his own words. So what if she became breathless around him? So what if her tummy fluttered every time he entered the room? Surely there was more to love than the helpless infatuation she felt for him.

 Tommy lay his head in her lap and wrapped his arms around her hips thinking that maybe she would be able to tell him what was wrong if his eyes weren’t watching her. She ran her fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.

 “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

 “Is that right?” Tommy whispered.

 Lulled by the sensation of her fingernails on his scalp, he could feel the knots in his shoulders loosen. He was trying his best to be attentive to her needs, but his mind drifted to what he’d like to do with her on his desk.

 “Jenny and I had an awful row… the worst one we’ve ever had,” she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and went on, “I can’t live with her anymore.”

 That got his full attention.

[sugarandspace]

Could you please write something extremely domestic post tv canon, maybe about how Malec chose and settled in in their place in Alicante, or a typical "day in the life" type thing, or Alec going home from work and stopping to pick up flowers for his husband on the way, that kind of thing? *____*

Thank you so much for the prompt! I’m always ready to give Malec the happiness they deserve! I hope you like this!!

Home (AO3)

“So that’s about it, is there anything else you’d like to know about the apartment?” The realtor asks as they’ve walked through the whole apartment and have returned to the spacious living room that’s partly furnished.

“Can you give us a moment?” Magnus asks and the realtor nods, the smile never leaving her face. Magnus takes Alec’s hand and leads Alec to the kitchen - recently remodeled with big windows overlooking Alicante - so they can talk in private.

“What do you think?” Magnus asks. His face gives nothing away as he looks at Alec, and Alec doesn’t know how his husband feels about this particular apartment. It’s the fifth one they’ve been to see after Alec’s promotion and after Magnus got the position of the High Warlock of Alicante, and without a doubt the best one so far.

“The location is perfect and it has everything we talked about,” Alec replies carefully. His words are true, the apartment has enough space and a big walk-in closet that they talked about getting and it’s in the heart of the city.

“But?” Magnus asks, sensing that there’s something Alec isn’t saying.

There’s a reason Alec didn’t say anything because he feels that his worry doesn’t make sense. But Magnus knows something is up and Alec doesn’t want to lie.

“But it doesn’t feel like home.”

During his young life, Alec has had two homes. The institute where he was born and raised and the loft in New York, that had started to feel like home because that’s where Magnus was.

“I see,” Magnus says and to Alec’s relief, he doesn’t seem disappointed or amused. Magnus is really listening to his worries.

“Do you trust me?” Magnus asks, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Always,” Alec replies without a beat. His reply makes Magnus smile softly.

“Then trust me on this,” Magnus says before leaning in to peck Alec’s lips. He takes Alec’s hand and leads him back to the living room where the realtor is waiting for their decision.

“We’ll take it,” Magnus says and squeezes Alec's hand.

The reply takes Alec slightly by surprise but he knows he’s being silly, and he doesn’t want to stand in the way if this is the apartment of Magnus’ dreams. He’s sure he can make this place feel like home, as long as Magnus is here with him.

“Amazing,” the realtor says. “Come over to my office tomorrow and we can do the paperwork.”

-.-.-

Alec is working on the day they are supposed to move into their new apartment. It doesn’t really matter since there’s not much he can do to help. He doesn’t need to pack boxes or carry furniture when his husband has magic that will move all their possessions to the new apartment quicker than Alec is able to pack even one box.

But he still feels left out, like he should be there with Magnus, finding places for the furniture and making the apartment look like them.

The job of the Inquisitor might not be as hectic as his old job at the New York institute, but it’s still a lot of work, and there were meetings he couldn’t postpone. As soon as he’s done with them he locks his office and starts heading to the new apartment.

He hesitates to call it home yet.

Instead of calling to Magnus so he could create a portal for him, Alec decides to walk. He knows that moving all that stuff from New York to Alicante is no small feat, even to the High Warlock of Alicante, and he wants to treat his husband. He gets groceries on his way home, and among them is a bouquet of dark red carnations to decorate their new place.

He feels the wards brush him as he walks to the door, and as he tries the handle he finds the door unlocked.

What he sees behind that door leaves him speechless.

He closes the door and sets the groceries down but his eyes don’t move away from what he sees. The foyer opens to a familiar living room and Magnus is standing in the middle of it, looking proud of what he’s done.

“Does it feel like home?” Magnus asks, and it breaks Alec from his shock.

“Magnus,” he starts, walking towards his husband. “How?”

Magnus greets him with a kiss before he puts his arm around Alec’s shoulders, turning so they’re standing side by side, looking at an apartment that’s a perfect replica of the one they left behind to New York. The only difference is the scenery that can be seen from the windows, the glass towers and the city they protect very different from the tall buildings of New York.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had to relocate my home,” he says easily. “It’s only slightly more work than moving all the things would have been. I take it you like my surprise?”

“I do,” Alec says, and he feels an emotion rising to the surface. So much has changed in the past year, and while most of the changes have been good, it’s nice to see that not everything needs to change. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Magnus says and pulls Alec closer, brushing a kiss against his cheek. “This is our home, we don’t need to say goodbye to it even though we have to change the location.”

Alec turns so he can hug Magnus properly, and he hopes the action is able to convey the thoughts he doesn’t know how to turn to words. Neither of them pulls away soon, and it’s eventually Alec who breaks the silence.

“You must be exhausted,” Alec says as he pulls away, holding on to Magnus’ arms. He knows Magnus is powerful but he also knows that moving a whole apartment must leave a sizable dent in his energy. “Let me cook you dinner.”

Magnus squints his eye at the offer, “What are you going to make?”

Alec rolls his eyes even though his husband's suspicions aren’t uncalled for. He lets go of Magnus to get the bag of groceries.

“Chicken and rice,” Alec replies. “Don’t worry, it’ll be edible.”

“I never doubted you,” Magnus says, faking innocence.

“Sure you didn’t,” Alec says. He takes the flowers that are poking out of the bag and hands them to Magnus. “Can you put these into water?”

“Carnations,” Magnus inspects the flowers. “You do know what they say about carnations, especially those that are deep red.”

“Maybe I do,” Alec says and leans in to kiss Magnus. Ever since he found out that Magnus knows fairly lot about the language of flowers, he has done his research. He leaves the kiss short and continues his way to the kitchen so he can get started with the food.

They might be miles and miles away from New York, but when Alec prepares their food he does it in a familiar kitchen, with familiar pots and pans. The press of the counter against his hips is familiar when Magnus comes and hugs him from behind, and when they sit down to eat it’s in a familiar room and around a familiar dinner table. Alec sits in a seat that’s become his, while Magnus sits to his left.

It feels like home.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: if anyone was wondering, dark red carnations mean deep love and affection!

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Happy Floral Mail and thrifty gyroids

This past week has been super busy with preparation and launching - the good kind of hectic. Daisy Jane finally did it! After months of designing products and watching various videos on how to run a shop, Happy Floral Mail has launched!

Less than a day into the launch and the response has been awesome - almost fifty orders as of right now! She's a bit overwhelmed, as expected, but it's nothing she can't handle. I'm so happy for her!

To celebrate the launch of Daisy Jane's shop, Reece, Cyrus, Isabelle, and I planned a gyroid event to coincide with that. It's a thrifty, vintage themed one, inspired by Daisy Jane - a well kept surprise that was worth the wait! Daisy Jane's been working hard designing gyroid themed furniture for the past several months so we wanted to do something to show our appreciation.

It's still hard to believe that Daisy Jane's dream is coming true. For years she dreamed of opening a shop where she can sell her art, something she was discouraged from doing because it wasn't practical.

She had a rough time after finishing school, from bad art blocks to struggling with feelings of inadequacy because she's not where she's supposed to be - eventually it wore her down so much that she decided to leave home. Then she spent most of last year lost and wandering, later settling in a place that wasn't doing her much good other than isolating her. Things didn't really turn around for her until she joined us at the camp, and from there, her creativity and inspiration came back in a flood.

Since then, Daisy Jane has been working hard to improve her art, stepping out of her comfort zone by doing art challenges, designing gyroid themed furniture, learning how to use various digital art programs, and much more. Her art has evolved so much, it's amazing to see how much she has grown this past year!

And not only that, but I think Daisy Jane's become more confident. She's a lot more certain about what she wants and is willing to go out and try new things. Now that she's away from her family, I feel like Daisy Jane has flourished. Her family's nice but they're the kind of people who kinda make you feel bad for not meeting their high expectations. Her mom has always been the most supportive in terms of Daisy Jane's art but she doesn't take her aspirations seriously. As for Mae, she seems to have double standards for who she considers to be successful - in other words, she holds Daisy Jane to a much different standard compared to her friends.

As much as her family pushes her to be successful, they also stifled her as well. Daisy Jane's mom is the kind of person I'd describe as old fashioned and traditional, but willing to be educated and change her ways. My mom's similar like that, though I think she's a bit more open minded than Daisy Jane's, or at least I have a closer, more open relationship with her. Daisy Jane's mom congratulated her on the launch, which was sweet. I don't know if Mae knows yet, but when she does, I'm sure we'll hear about it.

In between processing orders, we went gyroid hunting, which helped Daisy Jane take the edge off the launch. Of course, it's not a gyroid event without guests so Almie, Dottie, and Gladdy arrived yesterday to throw a surprise pre-launch party for Daisy Jane. It's been forever since I've hung out with Gladdy and Dottie so it's nice to see them again.

Emmaline and Minnie also dropped by via video chat at the party and then made a huge order of stickers as soon as the shop launched. Most of the orders so far have been made by friends and it makes me so happy to see how supportive we all are of each other. A part of me kinda hoped that I'd be the first to make an order but Emmaline beat me.

I didn't realize this until now, but this is the first time Dottie's seen the camp. A long while back we talked about a possible Lilacs and the Cadillacs reunion for Concert in the Stars, which ended up never happening for various reasons. Maybe there's still hope but to avoid disappointment, I'd rather not bet on it. Gladdy visited once about two years ago while Cali and Lilac have yet to drop by.

Gladdy's been doing a lot better since he last visited, which was when he was going through a rough time. He's still hurt about what happened to Janie but he's slowly bouncing back. After leaving Dove City he stayed with his parents until he could get back on his feet. Now he's living in Aurora Bay and touring with The Thunders, an indie band that's gotten a lot of traction lately after one of their songs broke through the Top 40.

Dottie's doing well too, having been touring with her band Sunflowers for over two years as their lead singer. They have an album coming out later this year and they've been making their way up on the charts. Life's been busy for her but right now the band's taking some much needed time off so she figured now would be a good time to visit the camp. I knew she'd like it, especially the beach.

And of course, Almie's here because he wants to support his best friend. He was the one who encouraged Daisy Jane to leave home as well as taught her how to stand up for herself against people who mean well but end up doing more harm than good. Now that Pippa's been hanging out with Luna and Mariposa and her latest blood work has been looking good, he and Daisy Jane have been keeping in touch more often. Daisy Jane also promised to make him her assistant when her shop grows so we'll definitely be seeing more of him at the camp!

Unlike the last gyroid event, this one was a lot less stressful. Aside from preparing for Happy Floral Mail's launch, everything else just fell into place. The event itself was pretty low key - we didn't make a big show of it so it's been kinda quiet, which was partly intentional. After all, we didn't want it to take away from the shop launch and it's also not as extensively planned as other gyroid events so that's why it hasn't been really hyped up. Since it was a big thing for Daisy Jane, we wanted to keep it within the camp, something just for us to celebrate.

A gyroid hunt's a good way to introduce friends to the camp. Aside from it being a good way to catch up, it's also a good way to show them around. Dottie enjoyed collecting seashells while Gladdy took an interest in bugs and fish. What I love about the camp is that there's something for everyone - flowers, fruit, scenery, wildlife - it's always so interesting to see who gravitates towards what.

At the creek there were a bunch of turtles hanging out and they were super cute! They're seasonal creatures so I don't see them often, and when I do, I can't help but drop everything to watch them. I think it was a family of turtles judging from the size - one big one and a bunch of smaller ones. Since we had a picnic set up, we gave them some fruit to munch on.

Another highlight of the day was sailing with Gulliver and taking a quick trip to an island to get some gourmet treats. The weather was perfect for sailing so Gulliver was looking for an excuse to take out the boat. So we were gone for a couple hours and in that time Daisy Jane received a bunch of orders. As soon we got back, we headed to the cabin and helped Daisy Jane print sticker sheets and package orders.

Then it's back to the main campsite where Almie and I proposed a toast to Daisy Jane and Isabelle and Tom Nook surprised her with a cake. We also crafted a bunch of gyroid stuff and made good progress on that. Everyone really dug the thrift shop aesthetic and that inspired Daisy Jane to work on another gyroid theme for a future event. Almie's planning to craft more gyroid stuff for his sister while Dottie's looking forward to a room makeover.

Overall, today was a great day and tomorrow we'll be packing more orders and collecting gyroids. I still can't believe Happy Floral Mail is now a reality and it went off with a bang!

[animeniacss]

6 Years - Hoseok x Reader - Chapter 13 - Six Years Ago to Now

Synopsis: 6 years. That’s all it can take to take another look at someone and see that they have completely changed. You were once an eager 20-year-old, with your dreams all in view, and Jung Hoseok at your side to view them with you. However, after a break up the end of your junior year of college, everything seemed different. Now, you’re a recently divorced single mother of two, and your life is nowhere near what you thought it would be. However, after reuniting with Jung Hoseok, you may just be able to capture a little bit of that exciting youth you once knew so long ago.

Feat. BTS Members, Nayeon (TWICE), and Yuna (itzy) 

Genre: Romance, SingleMother!AU, Past Relationship, Drama, Some Depictions of Violence/Domestic Abuse

Length: approx. 5.9k words 

Chapter 13 - Six Years Ago to Now 

You could never forget the day you met Jung Hoseok. It was a day that was etched into your memory from the first moment you laid eyes on him.

Your first semester of college was a hectic one. It was the first time you had been away from your home, though the distance was one train ride away, it felt like an ocean’s distance the first night you moved in. Lucky for you, your roommate was Nayeon, another freshman who was just as nervous, yet excited, to start this new chapter of life. This allowed the two of you to become fast friends and cohorts that relied on each other as much as possible. It was exciting, having a schedule that allowed for more freedom than high school did, and allowing you to focus on your dream job and everything that encompassed it. This was the life, and you were ready to live it.

           Two weeks into the semester, however, you were not feeling as excited as you were on day one. You began classes just barely scrambling in before the professor, plopping down beside the first person you saw who had an open seat beside them. Classes were interesting, sure, but it was hard to focus when you were trying not to die from running back and forth through campus. This was yet another day of craziness for you, this sunny day in South Korea. You were rushing out of class, having been the last one to finish your test that you pulled an all-nighter for. Now, you finally had some time to relax before your afternoon classes started. So, you decided to tour the side of the campus you had yet to explore. Most of your classes were pretty clustered on one half of the campus.

           “Maybe it’s in the back…” you mumbled, turning the corner. As you did, you heard the sound of music coming from the end of the hallway. Curiosity took the better of you, and you began to make your way towards the sound. Maybe it was a band that was playing in the cafeteria, or music was just being played in the open area, and it was echoing down the halls in hopes of attracting more people. “Why would a community location like a cafeteria be located so far in the back of a building?” you asked yourself curiously. As you reached the end of a corridor, you weren’t met with that large cafeteria crowded with people. Instead, you stood in front of a door that was propped open. From just a glance, you didn’t see chairs or tables, or any kind of furniture at all. The music was extremely loud though, and this was the source. Finally, you decided to stop lingering outside the room and step inside.

           Once you did, a magnificent sight took your full attention. There was one sole boy in the room, most likely around your age, 18. He was in full trance through the music. With every beat, his body moved in sync, and his body was the speakers. He was doing things you never thought you would see done, from intense backbends to incredible kicks and spins. You couldn’t find the strength to speak, but you watched with all the intensity you could muster in your body.

           This guy is incredible! Who is he?! An idol trainee, maybe? A professional choreographer? You thought to yourself as you tried to think why on earth he was dancing in the back of a building where nobody else was around to witness this talent! As you realized that you were standing too long, you heard the music finally slow, before coming to a stop. The boy stopped along with the final beat, and you saw his chest begin to rise and fall with every breath that he took. He sank to his knees as he attempted to catch his breath, running a hand through his hair.

           He was just getting his breath when he heard a loud, singular string of claps coming from the door. He glanced up to see you standing there, a grin on your face as your eyes sparkled in amazement.

           “Wow!” You gasped. “That was incredible!” The boy stood to his feet, letting out one deep sigh as he turned and made his way towards you.

           “Well thank you.” He said happily, a grin forming on his face. “How did you know I was practicing here?”

           “Oh, I didn’t.” you said, realizing just then that this was not the destination you were looking for. “I got lost. I’m trying to find the student cafeteria.”

           “You mean…the cafeteria in the big building next door that has people walking in and out with food in their hands?”  He asked, laughing as he saw your eyes widen in shock. “It’s okay. I made that same mistake too, day one.” He smirked a bit.

           “Well, I hate to break it to you but I’ve spent the first few weeks getting a head start on homework. I haven’t really left my apartment if it wasn’t for class, until now.”

           “What caused the sudden change?”

           “My roommate yelled at me for not having a social life.” You pouted. “And now I’ll be yelled at for being late.” The boy smiled as he walked to a table, grabbing a water bottle and opening it. As you watched him, he turned to you. Another smile formed on his lips.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?”

           “Oh uh….” You felt your cheeks go hot as you looked down at your feet. “No, not really. I just thought you’re a really amazing dancer.”

           “Thank you.” He smiled.

           “I mean that was absolutely insane! Are you an idol trainee, where did you get those skills?”        

           “Idol? Paaah, I don’t think so.” he laughed a bit. “I’ve always liked to dance. I took classes at the Gwangju Dance Academy as a kid and I’ve been in a few dance groups. But I don’t think I would ever be an idol.”

           “A dance group?” You asked curiously. “Oooh, I would love to see that performance, it must be so cool~.” You smiled, the thought of it alone exciting you. When you realized you must have looked like such a weird fangirl, you looked over your shoulder. “A-anyways, I should get going. Nayeon is probably wondering where I am.” You nodded. “It was very nice to meet you.”

           “You too.” He said happily.

           “I really like your dancing.” You added. The boy nodded. Just as you were getting ready to go, you spun back around and looked at him. “OH! I never got your name.” you pointed out. You quickly hurried over to him and stuck out your hand in his direction, before providing your name. Hoseok glanced down at your extended arm and smiled, quickly taking the hand and shaking it.

           “Jung Hoseok.” He said happily. You nodded, bowing your head nicely.

           “I’ll see you around then.” You said happily.

“Good luck finding the cafeteria.” He teased, laughing as you pouted.

“You know, had I actually looked at the school map to find the cafeteria instead of trusting my…..wonderful navigator instincts-.” Hoseok laughed a bit. “I never would have seen you dancing.”

“That’s true.”

“So, I consider this a win in my eyes.” You spun on your heels. “I’ll be sure to make the same mistake in the future. Bye~.” Hoseok nodded, waving you off as he saw you hurry towards the door again. You turned back towards him, giving him one more kind wave before quickening your pace down the hallway and back to the entrance of the building. Hoseok blinked, walking to the front door himself as he peered down the hall that you just disappeared down. A chuckle escaped his lips as he closed the door to the dance room, walking over to his bag and kneeling beside it to grab a fresh change of clothes.

           After that first meeting, you had caught Hoseok in a few different places around campus. You ran into him a few times in the cafeteria, heading to class, and of course, you found yourself inside the practice room a few times, hoping you could catch him dancing again. Luckily for you, he was there a lot, practicing. Nayeon had become aware of this newfound friendship, and she was all for it. Hoseok was in a few of her classes, and based on what she had seen, he seemed like a wonderful guy. You really found yourself getting more and more interested in him, not just for his dancing, but for him as a person. And it seemed he felt the same way because it was about two weeks into seeing him throughout campus and spending a few minutes chatting, that he invited you and Nayeon to a karaoke bar with his friends. You were eager to agree, perhaps too eager.

That next Saturday was spent at a karaoke bar after classes had let out. There was some shyness, sure, but it wasn’t long before the group of five teenagers and young adults were belting out ridiculous songs in the tiny room, scarfing down snacks and beverages as laughter swarmed throughout the room. You were having the time of your life, watching as Hoseok’s friends belting out whatever came up on the screen and cracking up at their cracking voices. It only made whatever you were feeling for Hoseok grow stronger as time passed that night, so much so that you didn’t realize it was already late. With the promise of seeing each other soon, Hoseok pulled you aside before the two groups of friends parted for the evening.

“Okay, so…” Hoseok chuckled. “I just wanted to ask you a question before we go.” He said. You blinked, fixing your bag as you looked at him. “Uhm…do you want to go….to dinner with me sometime soon?” he asked curiously. You blinked, a smile forming on your lips. “Wherever you like, would be fine.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun~.” You said happily. “I’m always up for a free meal of my choosing.” Hoseok laughed a bit, nodding. “We can work out the details tomorrow. I need to look at my schedule.”

“Alright.” He turned to see Namjoon, standing a few feet away and chatting to each other, trying to give them some space. You also looked at Nayeon, who was fixing her hair in a small compact mirror she had brought with her. “I’ll let you get going then.” Hoseok said as he turned back to you.

“…Okay…” you said happily, waving him off. He nodded before both of you made your way to your own friends and headed down the street to your house.

“So…what happened?” Nayeon asked curiously. You smiled a bit, biting your lip as you already began to think where you could clear your schedule.

“I have a dinner date to plan…” You said happily, grinning as Nayeon grabbed your hand, the both of you squealing in girlish delight as you made your way straight home to plan. You felt like you were on cloud nine.

The idea of a dinner date had you excited ever since Hoseok had mentioned it. You skimmed your calendar, shifting around dates for homework and studying time. You wanted to go on this date as soon as you possibly could. Based on your calendar, this upcoming Friday seemed to work best. Your classes ended early that afternoon, and you would keep yourself free as a bird that evening. Hopefully, Hoseok would have the same availability.

Hoooooseeeoooook! :o I have this upcoming Friday available for dinner. Does that work for you? (Sent 6:30 p.m.)

As you waited for a response, you sat at the table with Nayeon, both of you trying to get some studying done. However, you almost shoved your books off the table when you felt your phone vibrate beside you. Pulling up the message, you saw it was from Hoseok.

Yes, yes! Aha! I can do that! How exciting! How about hmmmm…. the barbecue place a few minutes away at 7? They have really good grilled pork! Yummyy~! (Sent 6:45 p.m.)

“Have you ever been to the barbecue place downtown?” You asked Nayeon. She glanced up at you.

“Yeah, they’re delicious!” She said. Nayeon watched your eyes sparkle as you looked back down at your phone to respond.

Okay~! I’m really looking forward to it! (^-^*)ノ (Sent 6:55 p.m.)

Hoseok sent back another cute emoticon in response, and you were so excited. The date was officially set, but as of now, Friday seemed a lifetime away.

---

Your first date with Hoseok was wonderful. The two of you ate your weight in barbecue, laughing as you share information about each other. Both of you took turns asking each other questions and answering them in an attempt to really get to know each other now that it was just the two of you. The questions were ranging from simple and silly to relatively informative. You shared your favorite colors, your siblings, your families, your dreams your hopes, your goals. Nothing seemed to be off-limits for you both, and that was something that made you comfortable around Hoseok. You felt a heavy sense of trust, that you could tell him something and he would give you an honest response to it, no judgment or underlying undertones. Just pure trust.

As that night drew to a close, Hoseok walked you back to your apartment. Once again, the walk home was filled with laughter and conversation. It wasn’t long before you felt Hoseok reached out and took your hand on the walk home, and when you glanced down at your interlocked hands, you could only respond by squeezing his hand in enjoyment.

“I had fun tonight.” You said when you finally made it outside of your apartment. Hoseok smiled happily.

“So did I.” He beamed. “I hope we can do it again.”

“I hope so too.” Silence fell over the both of you, and you looked down at your hands, which were still intertwined with one another. You glanced up at him, biting your lip shyly. You saw him look at you as well. God, he’s so cute! You thought to yourself, trying not to make the embarrassment that was coursing through your veins to obvious. Just before you got the motivation to pull your hand back from Hoseok, he quickly leaned in and offered you a peck on your lips. It was quick, and he had pulled back before you could even react. When he pulled back, you looked at him. He was a bit red in the face as he tilted his head a little bit. “…That was cute.” You said softly.

“Cute?” Hoseok’s little heart-shaped smile formed once again and you giggled. “You think so?”

“Yeah~.” You said happily. “So much so that I don’t really know what else to say….” Both of you began to laugh again. “Well, except for I’ll be clearing my schedule so…”

“As will I.” he hummed. You nodded. “Well, goodnight~.” He said happily.

“Goodnight….” You said, waving at him as you stepped into the apartment. You offered him one final wave before you closed the door and locked it, letting out a deep breath. You listened for his footsteps to quiet and disappear, signaling that he was out of earshot. Almost immediately, you raced into Nayeon’s room, startling her as you jumped right onto her bed. “Aaaaa, Nayeon! I need to tell you all about my night!”

----

           After that dinner date. Hoseok officially asked you to be his girlfriend the next day when you met up on campus. It was almost two years you had found yourselves dating, and those were the best two years of your life. You both were so happy with each other. You were supporting all of Hoseok’s dancing competitions, he was supporting all of your school work and projects. The two of you got to meet each other’s families during school holidays and even took a few vacations together. It was an absolutely exciting time for the both of you, it didn’t even feel like two years had flown by. During this time, Hoseok was looking into a different school, one was more heavily focused on dance, the Korean National University of Arts. After high school, he felt he wasn’t ready for such a big commitment yet, hence why he chose a smaller university where he could hone his skills. However, after another two years of practice, he felt that he was ready to submit his application for transfer. He had to go on interviews, send in tapes of his skills, send his grades from his start in college until then, and he had become really nervous at the thought of not getting in. You were doing your best to support him through it. It was his dream, and that was something you wanted to make sure came true for him.

           “You’re going to make it in.” You said to him simply, watching him pace back and forth. He was expecting his acceptance or denial letter any day now, and with each passing day, he got more and more anxious.

           “It’s been three days since I was supposed to get that letter. What if I didn’t get in? Do they not send rejection letters? Oh, God…” You saw him run a hand through his hair as he continued to pace around his dorm.

           “Hobi, of course, they send denial letters.” You said simply. “But you’ll be getting an acceptance letter!”

           “I had to redo that video of my dance like 15 times, what if I didn’t do enough?” Sighing, you stood up and walked over to Hoseok, stopping him from pacing by putting your hands on his shoulders. “Hey!” He pouted. “Let me pace in peace!”

           “No! Because you being anxious is not like you. You’re going to make it in because you’ve worked so hard and you are incredibly talented! This school would kill to have the Jung Hoseok in their dancing curriculum.” Hoseok groaned, his head dropping down onto your shoulder. You ran a hand through his hair, smiling down at him. “You’re going to be just fine. Why don’t I go out and check the mail?”

           “Mmmmmm, okay….” He hummed, lifting his hand up. You hurried to the door, but Hoseok quickly followed you, his arms wrapping around you as he buried his head into your neck. You craned your head to look behind him. “You really think I’m going to make it in?” He asked.

           “Hobi, I know you’re going to make it in. I’ll be right back.” Hoseok nodded, watching you grab the key to his apartment and hurry outside, closing the door behind you. He took this time alone to pace again, trying to keep himself calm by repeating what you had just said to him.

           He was continuing his attempts to calm himself down when you hurried upstairs, flinging the door open. You tossed a pile of mail onto the end table beside the couch but held up one specific letter in your hand. It had Hoseok’s name on it, and as Hoseok approached, he saw the Korean National University of Arts written on the letter as well.

           “Oh God…” he gulped as he watched you tear the letter open. “Wait!” He said quickly, and you glanced up at him. “Should I read it?”

           “…Will you throw up if you do?” You asked curiously.

           “I might throw up either way…” You chuckled a bit.

           “I’ll read it….” Hoseok chewed on his lip, feeling his heart race as he watched you open the folded up letter. Your eyes scanned the words silently, but your mouth didn’t move. After what felt like forever, you glanced up at him. “Well…?” He asked.

           “Mr. Hoseok, We at the Korean National University of the Arts have reviewed all the submitted tapes and paperwork you have sent to us. Upon further research and discussion, we are pleased to welcome you into the curriculum for the upcoming semester at our university!!!!!!” Hoseok’s eyes went wide as you turned the paper to show him. He looked at it for a moment, reading it himself before it finally sank in.

           “Oh…OH! OH!” He shouted, almost collapsing onto the floor as he tried to determine if he was dreaming or not. “Woah….” You went over to help him up, but before you could offer him a hand, he sprang up into a leap. “I got in!” He shouted, glee in his voice as he quickly embraced you in an almost lung-crushing hug. You squealed in delight, hugging him tightly as he spun you around, cheering in absolute delight. “I can’t believe it! Woo-hoo! I got in! I got in!”

           “I told you that you would!” You said, looking at him for a moment. It wasn’t long before you quickly offered him a congratulatory kiss.” I’m so proud of you!”

           “I need to call people! Oh God, who do I call first?!” He asked, scrambling for his phone. He lifted it up and blinked. “Who the heck do I even know?” You laughed as you wrapped your arm around his torso, watching as he skimmed his contacts and started calling whoever he saw first. Each call was filled with more exciting screams than the last, especially when he called his parents and sister. You were so happy to see him this excited.

           “We need to celebrate!” You said quickly as he hung up with the last person on his contacts list, Yoongi. “I’ll get all our friends together for a big dinner, we just have to!” Hoseok smiled, once again pulling you into a tight and loving hug. “Oh, Hobi I’m so proud of you….”

           “Thank you so much…” he said. After the excitement finally died down, Hoseok blinked, looking around the apartment living room. “I guess…after this semester, I’ll be moving…” You felt your smile falter just slightly, nodding in agreement. “I guess I need to start house hunting.”

           “…I guess so…” you said softly. Hoseok looked over at you, planting a kiss onto your forehead.

           “I love you…” he said softly. You nodded, your arms wrapping around him tightly.

           “I love you too, Hobi.” You said softly. As silence finally filled the apartment, the high-levels of blind excitement finally began to be replaced with a harsh reality.  

           This was the last semester that you two would be able to see each other every day.

----

           Despite the idea of Hoseok moving, and the reality that your relationship may have to turn into a long-distance one, the two of you didn’t make it to big of a fuss. This was a time for celebration, not worry! Hoseok’s friend Yoongi had come down to the campus when he heard the news, and you all got to celebrate with a big dinner and some drinks. Hoseok’s dance crew was thrilled about his new opportunity and wished him the best of luck. His dance teachers who had written him countless letters of recommendation were glad that they were able to help him reach his dream. It seemed that everything was starting to fall into place for Hoseok.

           It began to bother you, the idea that you wouldn’t be able to see Hoseok every day. No more late nights staying up to do homework together, rushing into ice cream parlors five minutes before closing to get a last-minute sweet treat. Fewer nights tangled in each other’s arms, talking to one another as the hours ticked by, tiredness trying to send you both to sleep on a school night, but you both fought the urge together, just because you wanted to spend a few more minutes looking at one another. The idea of having to communicate only through video chat and text messages instead of face-to-face and skin-to-skin contact just…. well, it made you uneasy. It wasn’t a lack of trust, you knew Hoseok would never do anything to hurt you. You couldn’t put your finger on it.

           As you were sitting at a table inside the cafeteria, studying in an attempt to kill some time before your upcoming classes. You were in your own world when you just barely caught sight of someone sliding into the seat across from you. Looking up, you saw Cho Weong-Bin, a business major who was well-known for his high grades, good looks, and charming personality. You had met him a semester before when you were both paired up for a class project in the first class the two of you shared together. He was good at getting the interviews done, while you were in charge of the editing and idea creating. Needless to say, you both passed. After that, you two kept a friendly relationship, chatting in the halls when you passed each other, and he would always be sure to help out whenever you asked him for it. He was a good guy, despite being a bit of a flirt.

           “You look down. Everything okay?” he asked as he took a seat beside you. You nodded, leaning back in your seat. “I heard your boyfriend got into that dance school. Everyone has been talking about it. Apparently, it’s a big deal.”

           “He’s been telling everyone who he comes across, that’s why.” You said, chuckling slightly. “But it’s not about that.”

           “That’s a lie.” He said, and you glanced over. “The day after word got around of his acceptance, your mood began to decrease. I passed my statistics classes because I know when I see patterns, and there’s obviously one here.” A chuckle escaped your lips as Weong-Bin handed you his open chip bag. “Take some.” He said. “It’ll help calm you down.”

           “Thanks…” you reached out and took a few chips, putting them in your mouth. It took a moment, but you finally looked at him. “Is it really obvious that’s what bothering me?”

           “Unbelievably.” He smiled. “And I don’t blame you. Long-distance relationships are hard…I’ve been in a few.”

           “How did they turn out?”

           “Me being single should answer your question.” He joked. “But seriously, they’re tough, and I’m sure you don’t want him to leave.”

           “Well, yeah, I don’t want him to leave. But this university was something he was pursuing long before he met me. I can’t be selfish.”

           “That’s what is just so good about you.” Weong-Bin said, offering you a sympathetic expression. “You’re one of the least selfish people that I know…”

           “Thank you…”

           “That’s why I worry about when Hoseok is away….” You watched Weong-Bin take a few more chips, before crumpling the bag and tossing it away. You raised an eyebrow.

           “Why?”

           “He’s a man.” Weong-Bin said simply. “I know he kind of seems like a good person, but he has needs. Just like you do. The distance will be putting a strain on your relationship. No matter how many times you tell each other that you’ll work it out, it’s only words until you actually experience it. Different schedules mean less time to talk, he’ll make different friends and meet new people. I’m not saying he’s going to this school to be unfaithful, but both of you are going down different paths.”

           “But I want to make it work.” You said softly. Weong-Bin took your hand gently.

           “I know. I’m sure he does too. But can you name anyone you’ve ever known who worked out a long-distance relationship?” You pursed your lip for a moment, and he pulled his hand back. “I thought so. Besides, isn’t this your first relationship?” You nodded a bit. “You both are still young.”

           “You’re my age, Weong-Bin…” you said. “Stop trying to sound like an old man.” The boy smiled a bit.

           “Well, my point still stands. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I just want to warn you that long-distance relationships lead to a lot of heartbreak. The last thing I want is to see you hurt.” After he finished speaking, you went silent, your lips knit together in a tight frown. “…Sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten into your business. I must have upset you.”

           “N-no…” you said softly. “I see your point. And I appreciate your honesty about it, too.” You smiled kindly at him. “I’m always thankful that you’ve always been so straightforward with me.”

           “Of course.” He said simply. As the two of you continued to talk, you heard a high-pitched voice calling your name. Your head turned to see Hoseok, heading in your direction with a smile on his face. You closed your books, standing up as he quickly hugged you tightly.

           “I thought you would be here! I thought I would walk you to class.” A smile graced your lips as you collected your books from the table.

           “Thanks, but….” You glanced over your shoulder at Weong-Bin, who had glanced up from his phone. “I’m not feeling too well….” Hoseok frowned a bit, putting a hand on your forehead. “I might just go back to my apartment.”

           “Oh, okay…” he said softly. Weong-Bin finally got up from the table, walking to Hoseok and patting his shoulder.

           “I heard you got accepted into the Korean Arts school.” He said. “Congratulations.”

           “Thank you…” Hoseok said, offering a polite smile. Weong-Bin looked at you.

           “I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Feel better.” You nodded, before watching him walk out of the cafeteria. Hoseok turned back to you.

           “Are you okay?” he asked curiously. “Let me take you back to your apartment.”

           “Oh, no… It’s okay.” You said. “Just go to class. I don’t want you to be late.” When you saw Hoseok was not convinced, you kissed his cheek. “I’ll text you when I get home, okay?”

           “Okay…” he said. You waved him goodbye, before grabbing your bag and hurrying out of the cafeteria. Hoseok watched you, scratching his head curiously as he tried to wonder what had you feeling so ill.

The end of the semester was fast approaching, which meant that Hoseok was leaving any day now. What Weong-Bin had told you was true, and it stuck into your mind ever since that day. Long-distance relationships were something you didn’t know if you could handle, and though you wanted to try, maybe he was right. You both were doing different things in different places, and Hoseok was going to stay with Yoongi to be closer to the school. They should enjoy being young adults, going out and having a good time without having to worry about the girlfriend that was over an hour away waiting for a text goodnight. Would that be fair to Hoseok? Would he want to deal with that burden in the back of his mind as he focused on his dreams? Would you eventually turn into the jealous girlfriend? These questions sat in your mind, each an individual dumbbell of doubt placed in between your ears and giving you a massive headache. As the semester drew to a close, finals wrapped up, you spent nights asking different people for advice. It was mixed. Some people said to work it out and try the long-distance, while others said that Weong-Bin may be right, and a long-distance relationship may damage any hope you both have for a healthy relationship afterward. On the last day of the semester, you felt that you knew what would be best for you both.

---

           “….You….want to break-up?” Hoseok asked, looking at you. You had been sitting on his couch, and after endless begging from Hoseok to talk about what had you so quiet, he finally got his answer. Maybe if he repeated it out loud, he would be corrected and learn he had misheard you. But that wasn’t the case. “W-why? What did I do?”

           “Nothing.” You said quickly, standing up off the couch. “You didn’t do anything….I just….I don’t think I can do a long-distance relationship….” Hoseok’s shoulders slumped.

           “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he asked as he walked over to you.

           “What was I supposed to say? ‘Congrats on getting into the college of your dreams, to bad you’re dating me now, haha…?’ I couldn’t do that to you.” Hoseok ran a hand through his hair, and you could see he was trying with every ounce of his being not to cry right there in front of you. “Hobi it’s not that I want to break-up with you…” you said, feeling your lip quiver. “That’s the last thing I want. But…well…I’m scared that the distance will make us distant in our relationship too, not just in how far apart we are. If that happens I just… I don’t want to end anything on bad terms, you know?” Hoseok let out a shaky breath. “I’m sorry….I won’t blame you if you hate me.”

           “Hate you? Nah….I could never.” He walked over to you, quickly pulling you into a tight hug. “I can understand where you’re coming from. Even though it sucks.”

           “I’m sorry…”

           “Don’t apologize.” He smiled, nuzzling his head into your neck. You felt his grip on you tighten, and you responded by doing the same. “I just appreciate that you’re being honest with me, instead of forcing yourself to do something you’re not comfortable with…”

           “Just please don’t think it’s anything against you, okay?” You begged him again.

           “I know…” You both stood like that for a few minutes, holding each other silently. You both were hoping that this moment in time would freeze, if only just for a moment, because the minute you walked out that door, neither one of you were sure how long you would be able to keep the tears in. After what felt like an eternity, you pulled back a bit and looked up at him. He could see how wet and strained your eyes were, so he quickly wiped them away, smiling a bit. “You shouldn’t be crying.” He said softly. “You’re not the one being dumped.” You chuckled.

           “You make it sound like I should be enjoying this…” you said softly. Hoseok chuckled, kissing your forehead. “….I should probably let you pack…” You said softly.

           “Yeah…” he said, pulling away from your embrace. You both looked at each other for a moment and offered each other a kind smile before he led you to the door. You turned to him as you stood in the doorway, fixing your bag.

           “You’re going to do amazing things at the Korean National University of Arts, Hobi…” you said softly. “Absolutely amazing things.” Hoseok nodded.

           “Thank you. You’re going to do amazing things too, it’s not just me….” You nodded. After another moment of silence, you finally felt unable to hold back any more tears. Offering him a quick nod of your head turned and began speed walking to the elevator. Hoseok watched you for a moment, before closing the door and locking it. He pressed his back against it and sank down onto the floor, burying his head in his hands.

           Somehow, you managed to keep your tears in all the way from his dorm to your apartment, which wasn’t a far distance, but it felt like you were walking halfway across the earth with tears clouding your path. As you unlocked the door to your apartment with a shaky hand, you stepped in to see Nayeon meet you from the kitchen. She had an apron on, her hair tied up, and signs of cupcake frosting on her cheeks.

           “Hey.” She smiled, but quickly noticed your appearance and frowned. “Woah…hey, what happened.” She walked over to you as you set your bag down, and saw tears finally begin to pool from your eyes. “Did you-?”

           “Yeah.” You choked out, before bursting into tears. Nayeon quickly hugged you and rubbed your back as you spilled all your emotions out into her chest.

           Jung Hoseok left for the station two days later.

           Three weeks after you broke up with Hoseok, Weong-Bin asked you out to dinner.

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[dianapana]

SasuHina Month Day 8- Mermaid

Hey guys, sorry i was inactive for a while, to be honest i struggles with this cuz i had a pretty meh idea in my head and i just didn’t feel like writing it but like 1 hour ago this idea came to me and i wrote it and boom i feel pretty good about this. 

Also August has been so full for me, the first 5 days i was at that music festival as i said i spend like 20 hours a day there and 4 sleeping, if that, so after that i slept a full day. i didn’t even come home cuz i went to my friend and Uni colleague’s house for 4 days, i did most of my planning for what and how to write on the train to her house cuz it was a 4h ride. and after those 5 days at her house we came back to my house which was a 9h train ride woho...and she just left today. Before going to the music festival i changed the furniture in my room and now i feel so wierd being here alone. it just feels like she should be here as well and i miss her so much already. Oh yea and in 3 days i’m going to the beach for 2 weeks. Like i said August is hectic, but u still wanna write everything because i have a plan for most days. so i’ll post all 31 of them even if they are a bit late..

ANYWAY, that was a an update on my life i guess xD I hope you enjoy, Love Dia ~

Fantasy - Part 1

Sasuke

Everyone does thing they don’t particularly like, you wake up early and  go everyday to school with people that you can’t wait to become part of your past, you sit thought awkward talks and weird situations cuz you can’t see an escape route. This last one is the case I am in, a weird situation, I am with my parents, my brother, his wife and their small daughter at Disney world because it is Kara's 7th birthday and she wished for the past 3 years to come here. Mom and dad got tired after the first 2 hours of wandering around; Itachi started feeling unwell and pucked twice after riding about 12 times the rollercoaster so he and Anko went to the pharmacy to get something to ease his stomach and they’re taking a small break so here I am stuck with my u year old niece who is dressed like a princess walking around the amusement park. Kara qas so excited for the first hour and she kept running around but got tired quite fast but Itachi carried her around in his arms princess style for almost 3 hours so she is once more full pf energy. Who thought that leaving a 22 year old male with a 7 year old girl I don’t know.

I am holding her hand as we walk around and all of a sudden she stops and screams so loud my ears start ringing; I can’t even find my footing and see what is happening because Kara starts pulling me to the far right and I do my best to steer her from hitting and tripping people over.  

We walk through a tunnel that  painted deep blue and as we get to the end the temperature drops and I haven’t realized how hot it was outside until this moment when it finally feels cool. The song ‘Under the sea' from the Little Mermaid is playing on repeat. I only know the song because Little Mermaid is Kara's favorite Disney movie and whenever I babysit her or just go by Itachi's the movie is permanently on.  

“Sasuke look!” she says and pulls on my pants leg; she is behind me now and hides, looking shyly at a group of kids  that stare at an aquarium tank. I don’t notice anything unusual until one small girl screams on top of her lungs ‘mermaid’ and a lot of kids move  around and looks at her and I see it, or more like, I see her. In the tank is a real life mermaid, with blue hair and beautiful liliac eyes, she swims around and waved to the kids, smiles and them and when a mother holds her daughter a little higher over the aquarium she comes out for air and holds the girl’s hand.  

“Can we do that? I want to hold hands with the mermaid…” Kara is bit a shy kid but now she looks overwhelmed, anxious and a bit scared yet very excited. She looks into my eyes waiting for my reply so I only nod. We walk to the tank and as we get closer a large group of kids pair off 2 by 2 and follow a lady who I assume is their teacher and another teacher is behind them so we are pretty much the only ones at the tank. Kara is still behind my leg, the mermaid is under the eater and swims around putting on a really cool show. Just the fact that she can hold her breath for that long is impressive. She looks towards us and smiles and waved at Kara.  

I look at my little niece as well and I pick her up like the mother did and the mermaid comes up for air, crosses her arms over the glass wall and puts her head there and smiles big at Kara.  

“Are you a real mermaid?” Kara asks and shyly touches her cheek. The mermaids smile boardes and she looks absolutely stunning, I feel lightning bolts shoot up my spine, she is so much more beautiful up close.  

Hinata

I enjoy it more when there are smaller groups of people at my tank, I like talking to the kids and playing my character, so being alone with this little girl and her...father, older brother(?) is pretty cool, she’s so cute dressed as a princess and her eyes are big and full of innocence. She's also old enough to have a conversation with. I'd give her 7 or 8 years and I'm quite good at guessing children’s ages. She asked me if I'm a real mermaid, that is one of the most frequent questions. The tail I wear is very well made and it truly looks authentic and I take pride in my swimming skills and in the amount of time I can stay underwater without having to come out and breath, also behind the rock where u can’t see, on the other side of the tank you can go and breath air and the kids can see only tour tail so I tend to do that unless there is someone who wants to talk or hold my hand.  

“Yes princess, I am a real mermaid” her smile is shy and so cute. She nods like what I said makes sense. I look from her to the man holding her and I have to stop a sigh, he’s so good-looking and he is staring right at me. I give him the same smile because I can’t break character, but his grin makes my skin tingle and I really want to touch him.  

“Is this your home? Are you a prisoner here? Do you want us to save you?” She looks up worried at the man and he chuckles lightly at her questions. I'm a bit startled, I have been asked before if I live here but no one offered to help me escape.  

“Can I tell you a secret?” I tell her and pull myself even more out of the water. She looks at me very serious and nods so I lean in and whisper in her ear. “You can’t tell anyone, but this isn’t my house, nor am I prisoner. I work here. When I get out of the water and I'm dry I have legs just like you do but when I'm in the water I am a mermaid, so I am here to help little girls like me and to talk with beautiful and kind princesses like yourself” after I finish my little speech I still don’t back up because I can feel the heat coming from the man and I also can smell him, he smells refreshing, like ice and mint but with something else that I can’t put my finger on but I'm willing to bet it’s just him, he smells delicious and very manly.

“I’ll tell you a secret too” The little girl says “My name is Kara and I'm not a princess” she looks at me carefully, waiting for my reaction. I only nod and smile.

“Well Kara, I am Hinata and I have to disagree, you are a princess. Being a princess has little to do with royal blood or fancy clothing, it is all about how you act, if you are kind and friendly, loyal and loving and good. I can see into your soul and you are a princess deep inside, never doubt that” Her eyes widen, and she smiles at me.  

“Sasuke did you hear? I'm a princess” He smiles at her. I take in what she said, his name is Sasuke. She didn’t call him dad and he is too young to have such a big kid so I doubt he is her dad. “Can you see in his soul? Is he a prince too?”

I make a show of looking at him from head to toe like I'm considering her question when in reality I just want to check him out. After I've taken everything in I look back up at his face, narrow my eyes and look at his chest. I pull myself out even more and I lay my hand flat on his chest and close my eyes. I only now realize that I probably wet his shirt, but I can’t stop the show now. After a couple of seconds my hand can’t take it, just from touching him I feel a bit dizzy so I open my eyes and nod very serous to myself before looking back at Kara, I don’t look up at Sasuke because I am scared of what I'll see there.  

“Yes he is a good soul, he is also a prince” Kara’s eyes light up and she looks at Sasuke with a lot of love and admiration, I finally look at his face because I expect him to stare and smile at Kara but instead his stare is on me so intensly, a lot of feelings hit me all of a sudden and I feel overwhelmed.  

Sasuke

When she put her hand on my chest to “feel if my soul id good” I thought my heart will jump out of my chest. I can’t help but stare at her. I want to ask her when she finished work because something tells me we’ll still be here when she’s done, and I want to meet her. Or I want to ask her for her number, but I can’t do that in front of Kara, it would ruin the image Hinata painted for her character. Hinata...even her name is beautiful. Kara looks at me and asks me to put her down and says that she wants to take a picture in front of the tank as Hinata floats behind her. I take a few pictures of the two of them posing. I look around and see a smaller tank with lots of fish inside that is just a bit to the left, but far enough that Kara won’t hear what I talk about with Hinata. I also take a quick look around and see that it’s not very crowded so I don’t think new kids will come to Hinata.  

“Why don’t you go look at the fishes for a moment, I want to talk to the mermaid about how I should act now that I found out I'm a prince” I tell Kara lamely, thankfully she believes me and goes to look at the fishes. I return to the tank and softly knock in the glass to get her attention; she is once again swimming around. When she looks at me and sees now kids around, she rises a brow and I just shrug. She comes out to talk to me anyway.  

“You’re not supposed to it the glass. It says that there. She points to a piece of paper that is on the wall next to her. “Not respecting the rules is not very prince-like of you”  

“Sorry I just needed your attention.” She smiles, for real this time not the fake-princess one she shows every kid; and for a moment I forget how to breath. “Thank you for talking so much to Kara, she loves mermaids whenever I babysit her for my brother Little Mermaid is all she wants to watch” I intentionally made it very clear that Kara is my niece so she wouldn’t think I was her father or anything.  

“It wasn’t big deal. She's very cute” I nod,  and silence falls over us.

“When do you get out of work? And can you give me your number?” I cringe internally. I'm better than this, I have mad game with girls but this one makes me feel a bit weird, like I'm off balance in some way.  

She chuckles “I get out in an hour and half. And as for my number...how about we meet when I get out and I can give it to you then? Would that work?” she asks and I try really hard not to jump and pump my fist in the air in a “i-did-it" pose.

“Yea that works, cool.” I try to pretend like she doesn’t affect me at all but that’s a failure. “I’ll meet you here in about 2 hours?” I take into consideration that she probably has to shower and change.  

“Yes, 2 hours is perfect. Bye bye Prince Sasuke” she says and goes back to swimming. I go back to Kara.

“What did she say about being a prince?’ she asks looking up at me and taking my hand to hold.  

“She said I have potential but I need some help, so she offered to give me classes on hoe to be a good prince”