#newark eats

[eyesoforpheus]

as someone whose home airport was newark for 11 years, seeing everyone universally shit on newark is so vindicating. charlie slimecicle made a joke about newark being awful recently and i out loud cheered

[unopenablebox]

layover in new jersey. very cold in this airport

[zegrasdrysdale]

I LOVE HOW YOU WRITE!! if you have time vould you maybe do a jack hughes smut where reader wears the rival teams jersey to piss him off and its like rough??

its been rotting in my brain for forever 😭

[ bitter rivals ] j. hughes

paring : Jack Hughes x fem!reader

summary : just to make her boyfriend mad after a fight, (Y/N) wears a Flyers jersey to the Devils’ game against Philly in Newark … and she feels the consequences afterwards

warning(s) : smut ! rough sex, unprotected p in v sex, slight choking, hair pulling, possessiveness, pet names during sex. light angst

author’s note : hear me out … i was having a moment so i decided to tackle this request. not to mention i have been wanting to write something like this for a hot second so here we are. that’s how we got here so i hope y’all enjoy. i always have time to write some jack hughes smut too

༺═──────────────═༻

It's been nearly a week since their fight and (Y/N) hasn't heard from her boyfriend. Normally she wouldn't do something drastic since it's only been a week, but she feels like doing something drastic.

Instead of walking into the Prudential Center wearing a red 86 on her back, she wears an orange 11. She gets looks from a few Devils fans who know of her relationship with Jack, but she truly doesn't care. She knows will always be loyal to the boys in red and black despite trying to be petty.

After grabbing something to eat and drink, she heads down to her front row seats that she purposely bought just to make this point. She'll be right on the glass for Devils warmups in a few minutes.

Until then, she enjoys her chicken tenders and High Noon while fans begin to gather at the glass to get a close up look at their favorite players.

The Flyers come out first for warmups in their white away jerseys, then the Devils come out in their black alternate jerseys.

(Y/N) sticks out like a sore orange thumb in a sea of red, white, and black around her. She gets a couple of looks from the fans around her when she stands up. but it doesn't matter. She’s just trying to prove a point.

No one would blame her if they knew.

On the ice, she watches Luke skate up to his older brother. His eyes flicker in her direction. Luke leans into Jack’s ear and says something to him, who looks right at her. He has a look on his face that she has never seen before. He looks so angry.

When he starts to skate over to where she’s standing, Jesper intercepts him as soon as he sees where he’s going. He says something to Jack but Jack’s eyes never leave his girlfriend. She waves at him with a sly smirk on her face.

Mission accomplished. He saw her.

Jack slaps pucks at the net in obvious frustration or anger. She doesn’t know which it is at this point. She wouldn’t be surprised at all if he takes a few penalties during the game.

If he’s angry now, it’s just gonna fester for the next few hours. She’s probably screwed but it’ll be worth it in the end.

The Flyers jersey doesn’t deter her from cheering every time the Devils score a goal.

When Erik Haula nets his third goal of the night, she makes sure she throws the beanie she’s wearing onto the ice. Technically it wasn’t even her beanie. Jack left it at her apartment and never asked for it back so she stole it for the game tonight.

Throughout the game, she does notice that Jack glances at her a handful of times with a look of fury darkening his usually bright blue eyes. He sends glares at her when she cheers for the one goal he scored in the third period that secured the Devils the win.

An angry Jack has never scared her, but his anger has never been directed at her like it is right now. She’s either in for the worst night of her life after the horn blares when the game ends, or she won’t be able to walk tomorrow.

Like she usually does after a game, she meets up with the other wives and girlfriends in a lounge by the locker room. Kristen Haula is the first one to approach her.

“What’s with the Flyers jersey?” she questions.

“Needed to prove a point to Jack,” (Y/N) replies. “That’s all. I’m not jumping ship or anything. We just had a fight and he hasn’t spoken to me in like a week. I proved my point so next game I’ll be back in a Devils jersey.”

Before Kristen can reply, Jack marches through the doors and immediately scans the room. His hair is still dripping from his postgame shower and he looks very disheveled, like he rushed to get ready.

His eyes land on her and she presses her lips into a line. Jack takes large strides over to her so it doesn’t take him very long to cross the room.

“What the fuck is this?” he asks. “A Flyers jersey? A Travis Konecny jersey? Seriously?"

Kristen smiles and silently walks away while (Y/N)’s eyes remain on Jack. “What? You don’t like my new jersey?” she asks with innocence in her voice.

He bites his bottom lip as he thinks about his response. She gives him the smallest of smiles while the gears in his head turn. "I want you to take it off," Jack tells her.

"Oh, Jacky," she sighs. "You wouldn't want me to do that if you knew what I wasn't wearing underneath this jersey."

She watches his eyes darken. "Let's go," he says to her. "We're going to my apartment right now."

Her jaw drops and Jack grabs her wrist. "Who said I wanna go anywhere with you?" she asks as she tries to wrench her wrist out of his grasp. "You haven't talked to me in nearly a week, Jack."

Jack turns and faces her. "Wonder why," is all he says. She raises her eyebrows at him. "Let's go, (Y/N). We can talk at my apartment."

This time, she lets herself get pulled out of the Prudential Center and into Jack's car. Luckily she caught an Uber to the arena. A very small part of her figured she would be leaving with her boyfriend after the game.

Neither of them speak as Jack drives from the arena to his Hoboken apartment. Her eyes are on the passing buildings and cars. She feels Jack's hand on her thigh at one point but she doesn't react to it.

Yes, she was teasing him with the "if you knew what I wasn't wearing" comment. Yes, she hopes they'll fall into bed. Falling into bed isn't happening until they talk. She wants to know why Jack hasn't talked to her in five days before his dick comes anywhere near her.

It's a silent car ride and a silent ride up the elevator to Jack's place. She can still feel how annoyed Jack is by the fact that she wore the opposing team's jersey and still cheered for the Devils. She's annoyed too. She's annoyed because she had to wear the opposing team's jersey just to get his attention.

Jack opens the door to his apartment and walks inside. She follows him as he throws his suit jacket onto a coat hanger by the door. She shuts the door behind her and watches Jack unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt.

"Why?" she asks before he turns around. "Why did it take me wearing a Flyers jersey before I got your attention?"

He runs his fingers through his hair before he turns to face her. "I was thinking," he admits to her. "I was worried that I'd say something that I'd regret. I didn't want to hurt you, so I waited and actually took some time to think."

"Think about what?"

"Think about us," he softly tells her. "I wasn't sure if I was ready to find out if you actually meant what you said during our fight."

Her words come rushing back to her.

I don't know if I'm ready for this kind of life is what she had said to him.

"What did you think I meant by those words?" she asks.

"That you weren't ready for a life with me," he replies.

Jack is a beautiful man, but sometimes the smarts aren't there. Too many pucks to the head from Luke and Quinn.

"Jack, I meant that I didn't think I was ready to be an NHL wife," she tells him. "Of course I'm ready for a life with you, but it's everything that comes along with you. The spotlight, the eyes. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that."

The look that forms on Jack's face could make (Y/N) laugh. His eyebrows are raised and his mouth forms a little 'o'. She presses her lips into a line to suppress a smile. "I am such a dumbass," he says after he processes what she said. "Jesus Christ."

She wraps her arms around his neck and finally lets out a laugh. "You're my dumbass though."

When she leans in to kiss him, Jack pushes her away.

"Nuh uh," he says when she looks up at him. "I am absolutely not kissing you while you have that ugly ass jersey on. Not happening, (Y/N)."

Her eyes fall to the Flyers logo on her chest like she just remembered that she has the jersey on.

She reaches down between them and grabs the bottom of the jersey. Slowly, she pulls the fabric over her head to slowly reveal to Jack that she's not wearing anything underneath the jersey.

When the jersey is over her head, her eyes land on Jack. His eyes are wide while he looks her up and down. “Fuck, (Y/N),” he groans. “You really know how to piss a guy off. Not only are you wearing a Flyers jersey, but you didn’t even wear anything underneath.”

“Had to get your attention somewhere, Jacky,” she tells him as she gets up onto her tiptoes to attach her lips to his neck. “Glad it worked.”

Jack leans down and picks her up by the back of her legs. She wraps herself around him and keeps kissing and nosing at the skin on his neck as he walks somewhere in the apartment.

When he drops her on the couch, (Y/N) looks up at Jack and asks, “What about Luke?”

“What about him?” Jack settles comfortably between her knees.

“Won’t he be home soon?”

“Told him to find somewhere else to stay unless he wanted to see something that would scar him for life,” Jack tells her. “He told me that he’ll be at Dawson’s for the night. Now let me show you what happens when you decide to wear a jersey other than mine to a game.”

Yeah. She’s totally fucked. Literally and figuratively.

Jack ravishes her lips as soon as the last word leaves his mouth. A soft moan comes from her throat before she can stop it. One of his hands cups one of her bare breasts and the other cups her jaw. She tries to roll her hips against his to get some friction on her core, but he quickly puts a stop to that.

“I don’t think so,” Jack mumbles against her lips as he pins her hips to the cushion beneath her. “Only good girls get to come quickly tonight. You weren’t a good girl with the stunt you pulled.”

“Guess you didn’t like my new jersey,” she gasps as her boyfriend attaches his lips to the sensitive skin on her neck. “Or was it the fact that there was a different name on my back?”

The nip she gets is the answer she was looking for. Jack was jealous that another player’s name was on her back instead of his. She revels in the realization since it has been five days and it took wearing the jersey for him to talk to her.

He slowly begins to kiss down her neck and chest. He makes sure to give both breasts some attention before moving further down her belly.

Her fingers find a home in his now dry hair. She adores how soft his hair feels when it has just dried after a shower.

Jack’s fingers hook in the waistband of the leggings she has on. He slowly pulls the thin fabric off her body and kisses her hipbone when it’s exposed. She sighs as her boyfriend strips her of her pants. She kicks her sneakers off so Jack can pull them completely off of her.

She lets her legs fall open while Jack throws the leggings somewhere on the floor. Her soaked underwear is on full display for him. She watches his tongue dart out at his view.

“Touch me before I touch myself, Jack,” she orders him.

He goes back to hovering over her. A hand lightly wraps around her throat and she looks up at him in surprise. “You will do no such thing if you want to come tonight,” he retorts.

(Y/N) bites her lip at his words. She can’t remember the last time he spoke to her like this, but she is loving every second of it.

His other hand snakes between them and into the thin fabric of her underwear. A gasp comes from her lips as his fingers easily run through her slick folds. She wraps her hands around his arm to keep herself present.

“Jack,” she whines.

He cups her pussy and she has to stifle a moan. “Who does this belong to?” he asks.

“You, baby,” (Y/N) quickly tells him. “It’s all yours. I’m all yours.”

Jack leans down and presses soft kisses to her cheek and jaw. “Good girl.” His words shoot straight down to her already pulsing core.

Without warning, Jack stands up and pulls her up. He gets her on her knees and leans her against the back of the couch with her chest pressed against the cushions. In the reflection of the glass cabinet that’s behind the couch, she can see Jack undressing behind her.

He twirls her hair into a makeshift pony and gets on his knees behind her. Jack’s lips are on her neck right under her ear. “Tell me who fucks you until you can’t speak,” he whispers.

His low voice causes the knot that has formed in her belly to tighten.

“You do, Jack,” she replies. Jack pulls on the makeshift pony until she’s looking straight up at the ceiling. A soft moan passes her lips. “You fuck me so good. Only you.”

“Yeah, I do,” Jack mumbles as he presses her into the cushions beneath her. He doesn’t release the pony.

With one hand, he manages to get her underwear off of her and onto the floor with both of their clothes. She feels his hard dick between her legs and had to resist the urge to grind against it.

Her legs are practically shaking as she waits for release.

He leans over her and kisses the back of her neck for a second before he slams into her. She cries out in surprise because that was the last thing she expected to happen.

“Fuck, Jack,” she breathes out as he lets her adjust to him. “Give a girl a little warning before you destroy her.”

She feels him smile and mumble, “We’ll see.”

This boy is going to be the death of her.

A minute passes before Jack begins to rock his hips into her. She bites her lip to try and keep herself from making an embarrassing noise.

Eventually, she gives up because she’s worried she’ll make her lip bleed with how hard she’s biting down on it.

(Y/N) begins to meet Jack’s hips with every thrusts. She lets out soft moans and whines every time they meet. He lifts one of her legs up onto the back of the couch so he can get a new angle on her.

She has to lean against Jack’s chest as he continues to fuck into her at the new angle. “This pussy was made for me,” Jack pants into her ear. He wraps his arms around her to keep her steady. “Feels so good around me.”

She wants to say something, but she’s so overwhelmed with pleasure that she can’t form any. All she does is let out a soft whine in reply.

“See? No one else can fuck you speechless like I can.”

The knot in the bottom of her belly tightens. She has to force herself to form words. “Jacky,” she whines. “Wanna come. Been a good girl for you. Please.”

Jack kisses the swell of her ear and grasps her breasts. “You only wear my name, baby,” he pants in her ear. “My number on your back. No one else’s.”

“No one else’s,” she agrees. “Can I come? Please?”

He hums and she clenches around him as soon as she has his permission. She loses her vision for a moment as she comes on Jack’s cock. His name echoes throughout the apartment as she hits her high.

She had no idea that Jack could be like this. Maybe she’ll have to mess with him if she’s going to see this side of her boyfriend. She’s pretty sure that she’s never had an orgasm this intense in her entire life.

Without realizing because of how hard her orgasm hit her, Jack comes inside of her and slouches against her when he comes down from his own high.

When she comes to, she’s lying on her back on the couch and Jack is wiping her with a wet cloth. His boxers are on the lower half of his lower body and she pouts.

“Was that okay?” Jack asks before she can say anything. “I might’ve gotten a little carried away.”

She shakes her head and says, “It was perfect. It was more than okay. You were jealous.”

Jack laughs and shakes his head. “Maybe a little,” he admits. “I don’t like it when you wear other players’ jerseys.”

“Maybe talk to me next time and I won’t have to,” she teases. Jack rolls his eyes. “Anyway, can we go to bed? I wanna get your dick in my mouth and apologize in my own way.”

She’s surprised with how quickly Jack picks her up and whisks her off to his bedroom after that.

༺═──────────────═༻

MASTERLIST

have a request ? check out the guidelines !

wanna be added to the taglist ? fill out this form !

taglist : @dasiysthings @ithinkimokeei @equallyshaw @dancerbailey3 @goldihocksrocks @love4lando @sweetinsatiable

[naughtyneganjdm]

Christmas in Jackson - Chapter 1

Summary: When life becomes too overwhelming for Y/N, she takes a spontaneous trip during Christmas time to try to escape her hectic life leading her to the town of Jackson, Wyoming. There she stays at an inn ran by two brothers with her first interaction being with the grumpy older brother, Joel Miller. What starts off as a contemptuous relationship takes a surprising turn when the two grow closer.

Characters: Joel Miller, the reader (OC), Tommy Miller, etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61159651/chapters/156279676

Warnings: Alternate Universe, Swearing, Depressing Thoughts, Joel is very grumpy, third person reader, female reader, etc. (I will add more warnings as the chapters go on)

Notes: This is my first Joel Miller solo story that I'm writing and it's very Christmas themed. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read it! As always Y/N means your name or whatever name you choose to use for the story.

There were moments in life where being spontaneous led to some of the most amazing memories in people’s lives, but right now? Y/N wasn’t sure that it was going to be one of them. Staring out into the darkness from the backseat of the taxi she was in, Y/N clung to her bag and sighed loudly. Eight hours ago she was standing in the middle of the Newark airport looking for a way out. The stress had gotten to be too much. Work was eating away at her. It was the holidays so she was already feeling lonely. And a crass decision led her out to the middle of what felt like nowhere.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, but if you would have landed during the day it would have taken your breath away,” the driver’s voice pulled her stare from the window. Maybe that was the case, but right now? With it being this late, it just was nothing but darkness. Stealing a quick look back at her, the old man offered her a big smile. Thick framed glasses covered the older man’s face taking up most of the residence that was there. Large wrinkles were under his eyes and there was a cowboy hat that sat atop of his head. “Jackson, Wyoming is one of the most beautiful places in the states. I think when the sun comes up, you’re going to be held aback.”

Truthfully? She didn’t know if that was going to be true considering she was a city girl at heart.

“What brings you to Jackson?” the older man hooked his arm around the passenger’s seat, taking another look back at her. It had her finger’s curling tightly around her bag feeling incredibly uncomfortable that he kept taking his eyes off the road. Especially since it was snowing and there was already plenty of snow covering the ground. Sure, there weren’t a lot of cars on the road they were traveling, but it made her ill at ease. “Do you have family here that you are just visiting for the holidays?”

“No, no family,” she was quick to answer forcing herself to look down and away from the man wishing like hell she would just get to this inn quickly.

“So, are you here for the resort then?” the man questioned her once more, having a loud exhale fall from her lips. “Jackson is known for having some of the best mountains for skiing.”

“No, I’m not really a skier,” she confessed, attempting to calm herself in the back of the taxi, but she wasn’t exactly sure that was a possibility. “I’m actually not the biggest fan of heights to be honest with you.”

“Didn’t you just fly in on a plane?” the man seemed shocked to hear that from her, his face scrunching up in disbelief at her answer. “I did just pick you up from the airport.”

“I did, but that wasn’t really all that comfortable,” she admitted knowing that she had never been a big fan of airplanes. Flying was not something that she could ever get used to. Considering she felt like humans were meant to keep their feet on the ground, she never enjoyed getting onto an airplane. She had never been a fan of heights. They had scared her since she was a child and it was something that she had never really outgrew. And because of that she had to find ways to distract herself on the plane. Either by listening to music or watching movies. If she really thought too deeply about the idea of flying, she was certain that she would have given herself a panic attack.

“Is that the only bag that you have?” the man continued to interrogate her when they got to a stoplight. Dropping her head back against the seat, she closed her eyes and let out an exaggerated breath. Right now? She was just wishing for some silence. Not all of these questions. Instead of answering, she just gave him a nod. And by the sound he gave her in return? She could tell that he was shocked. “Well I hope you have something warmer than that in there because Jackson really does get cold around this time of the year. We’re getting news reports that there is supposed to be a really big storm sweepin’ in. How long are you planning on staying here?”

“I really don’t know,” she was honest with the man, shrugging her shoulders as she spoke. Twenty-four hours ago, she didn’t even think she would be leaving New York City, yet here she was. “Do you want me to be brutally honest with you?”

“I mean, if you want?” the man stammered, turning down the old country music that he had playing in the background to give her his full attention. “I reckon we ain’t far from the center of town if you want to talk some.”

“Since you seem like a big talker, I’ll let you in on my life,” she put emphasis on her words, finding herself kind of irritated with the man that she got stuck with that was driving her from the airport to her inn. Part of her felt like if she didn’t start talking, he would have just kept asking her questions and that would have made her feel even more uncomfortable. Likely, she was never going to see this man again, so what did it matter if she unloaded on him about what led her to this moment? “About twenty hours ago, I was standing in the middle of a hospital in New York City. I’m a trauma surgeon there. A patient that I was certain I could save died on the table in front of me. And to be honest with you? It kind of shattered me. I’m good at what I do. And I couldn’t save this patient’s life. I realized that I am fucking miserable. My boyfriend who also works at the hospital recently broke up with me because he felt like I was too dedicated to my job. I’m an only child and both my parents are dead. Nor do I have any extended family left. I’ve been so busy with work that I really don’t have many friends. So I decided that I wanted to get away from my life for a while and here I am.”

That was the honest to God truth. After that patient died? She finally took the vacation time that she had never done previously. Took a shower, got dressed, packed a bag and went to the airport. Instead of picking where she wanted to go, she went to the ticket agent at the airport and requested one thing of her. Put her on an airplane that was leaving soon and was completely unlike New York City. The ticket agent didn’t even tell Y/N what she picked for her. Just handed her a ticket and promised her that it was nothing like New York City. She only learned that she would be going to Jackson, Wyoming when she ended up at the gate.

“I had someone who worked at the airport pick for me where I was going. I thought being spontaneous would be the best thing for me because most of my own decisions have led me to nothing but sadness. So I gave them my money. I took the ticket. And I got on what felt like the smallest airplane possible to get here. While on the plane, I had to distract myself because of the crazy amounts of turbulence that took place. During the flight I was certain we were going to die several times,” she rambled on, feeling her blood boiling at the idea of everything. This was completely unlike her. When she traveled, she wanted all of the details. What she was doing, where she was going, what to expect. So this was stressful enough as it was. “And I ended up in Jackson, Wyoming. After I landed here, I had no idea where to go. Obviously, it’s late outside. So I asked one of the employees there if they had a suggestion as to where I should stay. They gave me the name of the Copper Peak Inn after I told them that I wasn’t here for the skiing. I don’t know how long I’m staying. And I’m not even sure I should be here in the first place.”

“Well…” the man took a long pause and considering she just unloaded a whole lot of trauma onto him? She didn’t blame him. He was asking a lot of questions that she decided to be brutally honest with. An extended exhale escaped his lips, his thick, fuzzy eyebrows bouncing up over his glasses in contemplation. “That’s a lot to deal with I reckon. But I think you’ll find Jackson to be the perfect place for you to be. What it sounds like you need is to relax. Avoid the stresses that you’re used to. And this is the perfect town to just be one with mother nature and enjoy your surroundings. The sights alone will take your breath away. And the wildlife? If you get to one of our parks or just go out for a drive? It’s beautiful.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it because right now, all I see is stars and darkness,” she held her hand up toward the window to observe that not far off in the distance was the lights of the small town of Jackson. What was strange about this whole thing was how fast the car ride from the airport to Jackson actually was.

“Are you a fan of western films?” the old man seemed excited to ask her that question. Instead of staying on the topic of her stressful life, he was eager to hop onto something new after she overshared with him. “We had a few of them movies filmed out here y’know.”

“No, not really,” she responded knowing that she was never really drawn to the old west or the countryside at all.

“Oh, well then I guess that won’t appeal to you either. I tell you what? You give anyone some time to be here for a while and I guarantee that they will fall in love with Jackson,” the man assured her as they reached town. Looking around, she realized that this place looked exactly like a modern version of an old west town that you’d see in the movies. A blast from the past so to speak. Each building seemed to be decorated with generic, white string lights so that everything matched. It was simple, but she guessed charming in it’s own way. “And I think the Copper Peak Inn is gonna work perfectly for you. The place is owned by the Miller boys. I got to know the younger one when he first came to town. Real sweet boy. They bought the inn after his older brother moved to town to be close. They’re good boys. Mostly. The older one can get a bit grumpy, but he means well. It’s a small place. Real homey. A nice place for you to put your feet up and really relax. In fact? The inn was voted the best historic small hotel in the country a few years back. A lot of history is living inside of those walls.”

“A few years back?” she stammered, a tiny chuckle falling from her lips. “I wonder what made them lose it in the last few years?”

“What was that?” the man clearly didn’t pick up on what she said which she was thankful for. She had whispered it and she was being a smartass when he was just trying to be kind. It was just she couldn’t picture anything around here being voted the best anything really. It was small and kind of cheesy. Shaking her head, she acted as if she was coughing to avoid having to repeat herself. “The nice thing about the inn is that it won’t be too busy during this time of the year. If you were going to one of the resorts, I imagine they’d be busier. You’re in the center of downtown, so there is plenty to look at. And if you want, you’re not too far away from some of the best attractions.”

“Oh? Are there a lot of attractions in town?” she spoke up, finding it hard to believe that a town like this could really draw much. The streets were empty and she wasn’t surprised. It was well past midnight and in a town like this? She imagined they were in bed earlier. Most buildings looked dark and shut down. Only one building had caught her eye and she assumed it was the one place they used to draw in tourists. It was undoubtedly a bar that had a gigantic glowing sign of a cowboy and a horse that was on top of the building. But even that looked like no one was there at this time of night. “I guess for city folk you might not think so, but I think you’ll enjoy yourself,” the man insisted pulling up to what she had assumed to be the inn. A few cars were parked out in front of it making her realize that he was right. Nothing seemed to busy out here. “Here we are ma’am. I’d offer to help you take your bags inside, but seeing as you only have that one bag…”

“I can handle it sir,” she assured him, sitting forward in her seat as she moved for the handle of the door. It would look pretty ridiculous if she made this old man carry in her single bag for her anyways. “For all we know, you might be taking me back to the airport in the morning.”

And right now? She thought that was a strong possibility. This town was nothing like she was used to. Looking at the places and the buildings, she was certain that she wouldn’t fit in easily. The only thing she was excited about was to finally get to a place where she could relax for the night alone.

“We’ll see miss,” the old man seemed to laugh at her comment, waving his hand about in the air. At least he found amusement in that. “I think Jackson is gonna surprise you.”

“It already has,” she blurt out, getting out of the taxi. A strong, cool gust of wind surrounded her once she got out. The old man wasn’t kidding. It was very cold. Much colder than New York City was when she left. Moving around the taxi, she stared up at the building before her. Taking in the sights of the old inn had her grumbling under her breath. Shaking her head, she started to consider that this whole thing was a horrible mistake and decision that she made. “But not in the best of ways.”

The sound of the taxi leaving was heard behind her. Clutching tightly to her bag, she knew that there was no escape for her now. This was where she would be staying tonight. A row of flags hung over the entrance of the hotel. Along with those were the similar decorations that most everyone had in town. White string lights that emphasized the architecture of the building. Unlike the other buildings, it genuinely did look like the owners tried to add a little more to make things look nicer. That was worth complimenting at least.

When she left the hospital yesterday, she decided that she was going to let other people make decisions for her. Hoping that somehow it would lead her to something better in life. After arriving in Jackson? She realized how stupid that was and how she should never do that again.

Lowering her head, she took a look at the pillar that was right before her. There was a horseshoe that was welded onto it. Outstretching her hand, she curled her fingers around the horseshoe and tugged slightly at it. This definitely wasn’t like the hotels that she was used to.

Heading for the large wooden doors of the entrance to the inn, she stopped to gather herself. It was freezing outside, but she didn’t know how she would handle being here. This place was everything that she wasn’t. Finally gathering the courage, she pushed open the doors to see a small set of stairs before her that led to the lobby. The railings of the stairs were shaped into a bull’s head and it made her grumble something under her breath. A certain scent surrounded her once she was inside. It was a mix of what she assumed to be wood, leather and some kind of Christmas scented candles that the inn had been burning earlier in the day. Gazing around the small entry way, she saw to the left that there were a set of stairs that led down to a fitness room. Well that surprised her. With how this place was? She didn’t expect it to have much of anything other than rooms. 

Moving into the lobby of the inn, she was met almost immediately by a large set of stairs that led up to the second level. Every step had a poinsettia plant on each side all the way up. Garland was wrapped around the handrails and the balusters had Christmas lights wrapped around them. Off to the right side she could see the top of a Christmas tree that they had decorated. Old fashioned would be an understatement. This place was definitely modeled to be inspired by the old west. Rustic, large sized, red colored carpets covered the already carpeted floor. The light was warm, to match the aura of the Inn. She imagined right now with the over-the-top Christmas decorations that this place looked better than it usually did during the rest of the year. And that wasn’t saying much. Instead of being a place for people to stay, the first floor looked like an old west museum.  

From where she was standing, she could see that there was a small area off to the left where people could sit. Western styled statues sat beside each side of the staircase. Large paintings covered the walls that were also western themed. There was a small sign to the right that was pointing toward the ATM. That was the most modern thing she had seen thus far. The place was quiet. No one was there. No one that she heard at least.

Right beside the entrance was registration. The only problem was? It was empty. There was a bell that was seated upon the counter, but the last thing she wanted to do was wake up everyone in the place. This was a small inn. Certainly if anyone was in it, her ringing that small silver bell would be waking people up and upsetting them. Someone had to be here. Somewhere.

Stepping further into the inn, she looked up the stairs to see that they split midway. Up at the second level, she could see from down below that there was a large deer’s head that was hanging over the fireplace they had up there. The sight of it drew her to groan out in disgust. She hated that kind of décor. Moving around the stairs, her eyes fell upon a row of old-fashioned slot machines that made her smirk. In that moment she wondered if they worked or if they were just part of the decor of the inn.

Just beyond the stairs was the large Christmas tree that had caught her eye once she had entered. It was two stories tall with the star reaching the second floor. It was an open lobby and this tree took up a lot of space. Beside the tree she felt small. The lights on it were white with red ornaments covering it along with a gold ribbon that wrapped around the tree. This tree was undoubtedly meant to be their center piece. She assumed that the overabundance of decorations was something that drew people to this inn.

Continuing around the tree and behind the staircase, her eyes fell upon a large fireplace and hanging above it was a large moose head. This was already turning out to be a place that she felt like she didn’t belong. On top of the moose’s head was a Christmas hat that she assumed the owners found charming, but she just found it…strange? A few Christmas stockings were hanging over the fireplace and that along with the fire were the only things that had appealed to her since she walked in. It felt warm from where she was standing. And considering what she was wearing wasn’t really the warmest of things, she found herself stepping closer to the fire.

By now? She had expected someone to greet her, but the lower level was still empty. Moving around the older styled chairs that were set up, she gasped when she realized that there was a man stretched out in one of the chairs before the fire sleeping. His head was dropped back against the chair, his arms draped over the side of it. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a green plaid button-down shirt that had a white t-shirt underneath. It looked like a few of the buttons on his shirt weren’t properly buttoned. His salt and pepper colored hair was messy. By the looks of him? He’d probably been sleeping there for a while.

Doing her best to avoid waking him, she tried to move around him to get near the fire. Right now she was sore. It had been over twenty-four hours since she had slept. She was on the plane for over seven hours. It had been a long day for her. All she wanted to do was unwind, relax and get some sleep.

Taking another moment to observe her surroundings, she realized that beside the fireplace was a ballroom. She didn’t know what it looked like inside, but she couldn’t imagine this place getting a lot of conventions or parties. Further to the right there was a hallway that had a sign over it pointing toward the restaurant, bar and bathrooms. Something told her that the restaurant was closed. Which was a shame because she was rather hungry. All she ate was a granola bar on the plane ride over here. The door was open to a small gift shop at the inn, but like the rest of the place, it was empty. With no one there it could have been easy for someone to steal, but she assumed they had cameras up somewhere. No one would just leave their store empty like that. At least not in New York City.

Truthfully? The only sign of life was the sleeping man that was behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she clung to her bag and cleared her throat. Maybe he would be able to help her. That first attempt didn’t work, so she stepped in closer. Trying again, that didn’t work either. Tapping her foot against his had him shifting in his sleep. His head dropped down, a groan falling from his throat. Lazily, he reached up with his right hand to drag his palm down over the side of his face over his tanned flesh. Stroking his fingers through his short beard, he stretched out his body and lifted his head. Unhurriedly, his chocolate-colored eyes fluttered to an open and when he saw her standing before him he gave her a grunt.

“Hello,” she lifted her hand and offered up a weak smile, that just got a wrinkle of his nose in return. “I was wondering if you knew where someone was that worked here so I could get a room. Registration is empty.”

Muttering something under his breath, the man just seemed to get more comfortable in the chair he was in. Scoffing, he buried his head against the side of the chair and closed his eyes again in attempts to get comfortable. Well, that was useless.

Moving away from the fire, she was realizing that there were hallways that led everywhere. Even if this was a small place, she was bound to get lost if she didn’t stick to where she was. Right now? She just wanted a room. She wanted sleep. Getting lost in the inn was something she could do tomorrow. Not during the middle of the night.

Hanging over the bathrooms were two signs. One that said cowboys and the other cowgirls. Part of her hoped that one of the employees had run off to the bathroom right before she had shown up, but something told her that wasn’t the case. Realizing she really had no other choice, she headed back for registration near the front. Already, she was missing the feeling of the warmth of the fire.

Stepping up to the counter, she looked over it to see if someone was in the office. When she was met by an empty room, she huffed loudly. Outstretching her hand, she did what she didn’t want to do in the first place and rang the bell. With how quiet the place was, it had the sound flooding the entire first floor. Cringing at the sound, she looked around hoping to see the person that was meant to help her coming from one of the many hallways that were near the lobby. Instead she was met with nothing. Hitting the bell again, she heard movement and looked over her shoulder to see that the man that was sleeping was stumbling over toward her.

“The hell are you doin’?” his deep, southern drawl surrounded her as he made his way beside her. Muttering something under his breath, his eyes grew wide as he tried to force himself awake. Snatching the bell, he took it from her like she was doing something wrong. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Kind of, yeah,” she stammered, throwing her bag over her shoulder while she stared up at the man before her. If he didn’t come off like such a grumpy ass prick, she would have been appealed to his ruggedly handsome good looks, but right now she found herself more so annoyed with him. “That’s why I’m trying to get a room. I’d like to get some sleep.”

“And are you trying to wake everyone up in the inn by doing that?” he jeered, tossing the bell into the office that was behind the desk. Dropping his hands down to his hips, he shifted on his feet before her with the lines in his forehead becoming more prominent. There was no questioning that he was frustrated with her. “Or what?”

“Well, if someone was here I wouldn’t have to be ringing the bell. Now would I?” she snapped at the man before her, noticing the wrinkle at the bridge of his nose growing deeper. “I’m starting to regret asking someone for a suggestion at the airport. They said that this inn was the nicest one I would find in Jackson. I’m starting to second guess that.”

“I’m sure you would,” the man scoffed, a smirk tugging at his features hinting that his irritation with her was getting larger. “I imagine this kind of place is beneath you, isn’t it?”

“You get that from what exactly?” she wondered, folding her arms out in front of her chest evoking a muted laugh from him in return.

“I saw you walking around the lobby. Scrutinizing everything that you were looking at,” he explained, rocking back and forth on his feet after he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. So he was watching her and pretending to be asleep? That wasn’t at all strange. “Let me tell you something lady. If you have a problem with this place? You’re gonna have a problem with the rest of the places in town.”

“Would I at least find someone at the front desk at the other locations around town to help me get a room?” she snapped at the stranger feeling her heart hammering inside of her chest with the way that he was treating her.

“I don’t know, why don’t you go and try to find out?” he snarled, tipping his head to the side with his dark eyes narrowing at her. “Now you go and enjoy that walk around town in the cold wearing only that. Let me know what you find out. That is if you don’t freeze by the time you get there.” 

“What the hell is your problem?” she hissed at him, her whole body tensing up.

The sound of feet shuffling behind them was heard and she realized that someone was quickly stumbling down the stairs. 

“I am so sorry,” another voice drew her to look back realizing that it was another man that was moving incredibly fast to join them. Once he reached the bottom, a grunt fell from him when he accidentally tripped making him miss the final two steps. Landing weird, the other man tried to gather himself before continuing to work a button down shirt up his arms over his gray t-shirt that was beneath. “You are gonna have to forgive my brother here. We weren’t expecting anyone. There were no reservations made for tonight. My name is Tommy Miller. I’m co-owner of this establishment.”

“Ah,” she breathed out, her eyes gazing down to Tommy’s hand when he extended it out to her. Accepting the gesture, she looked between the two brothers. Thinking back to the taxi ride over here made her remember something. “I’m going to take it you’re the younger brother?”

“Yes ma’am,” Tommy seemed impressed, a large smile tugging at his lips. Between the two? They were vastly different. Tommy gave off a very friendly demeanor whereas his brother looked like he had a permanent scowl over his face. “How’d you know that?”

“The taxi driver told me about the two of you on my way over here,” she spoke honestly, looking back to the original man she had been speaking to. “Told me that the younger brother was very nice. And the older one? Well, he was grumpy.”

“Grumpy?” the original man repeated with a roll of his eyes. Under his breath she was fairly certain she heard him mutter, “What a dick.”

“So which one of you were supposed to be here at registration?” she didn’t mean to be blunt, but she just wanted a room and this was already turning out to be more of an affair than she wanted it to be. By the way Tommy’s eyes looked, she could tell that her bickering with Joel had likely woken him up from sleeping.

“That was supposed to be my brother Joel,” Tommy released her to point his hand out toward the man she had been bickering with right before Tommy showed up. Why did that information not surprise her? “I had been here for twenty-four hours. I asked Joel to watch over the counter for me so I could get some sleep. I reckon because we didn’t have any reservations, Joel didn’t expect anyone to show up. I’m sorry for that.”

“So you two are the owners?” she confirmed with Tommy who nodded his head quickly in response.

“Gee, that was hard to put together. Like he didn’t already tell you that we were,” Joel snorted, bobbing his head about in a dramatic manner. Throwing his hand back, Tommy hit Joel over the center of the chest with the back of his hand. “If him telling you that we were didn’t help you realize that…” Joel held up his finger instructing her to wait. Moving over toward the entrance, Joel held his hand up to bring her attention to a photo that was on the wall that featured them. “It says right here that Joel and Tommy Miller are the proud owners of The Copper Peak Inn. Along with Tommy’s wife Maria.”

“Joel!” Tommy snapped at his brother attempting to get Y/N to look to him instead of at Joel who continued to make an ass of himself. “I’m very sorry. If you’re still interested in a room, I can give you a discount for my brother’s attitude. He gets grumpy when he’s tired.”

“I’m going to guess that you’re the one people like more,” she commented causing Joel to let out an annoyed, raspy laugh from behind her.

“Ha, that’s so funny,” Joel almost mocked her, letting out a surprised sound when she lifted her hand up to flick him off. Almost immediately Tommy laughed as he moved through the door to the room that led to registration, stopping at the counter. Glaring at his brother, Joel didn’t seem to approve that his brother got a kick out of her giving him attitude right back.

“What can I do for you ma’am?” Tommy tapped his hands on top of the counter and gave her another one of his big smiles. Reaching up, he brushed his long, dark hair back when she approached him.

“Is the inn pretty busy?” she looked around, looking back up toward the second level. She assumed that was where the rooms were since everything else seemed to lead to some kind of attraction that had to do with the inn.

“You do realize how close to Christmas it is, right?” Joel wondered, moving in behind her making her jump. Leaning against the wall beside her, Joel folded his arms in front of his chest getting a glare from Tommy from where he was standing. “People tend to be home with their families when it’s Christmas time.”

“Some people might be coming in to visit?” she quipped back, turning to face Joel finding herself wanting to fight with this guy since she was already so tense as it was. “I assume that you would have people that do that.”

“I mean sure, a few here and there, but this is Jackson, Wyoming. You really think the people that live here leave here?” Joel huffed, his head resting against the wall while he eyed her over. “People like to come and visit during the earlier month of December. Not the week of Christmas.”

“The taxi driver said on the way here that you two aren’t from here. That you moved here and bought the place,” she repeated what she had heard on the drive over. “So why did you two come here?”

“Because I was lost,” Tommy surprised her when he spoke up, drawing her attention back to him. “I was looking for something else in life and I found it here with my wife. My big brother here followed me. And the owners who had this before enjoyed our story so they let us buy the inn from them. They were charmed that we were brothers. Throughout time it was always two brothers that owned this place. We’re from Texas? Where are you from?”

“I live in New York City,” she answered, surprised how different Joel and Tommy were. “I just flew here from New Jersey. And I’ve been up for over twenty-four hours. I’d really just like to get a room please.”

“We can do that for you,” Tommy assured her with a wink, moving over to the computer to start typing something in. “So what kind of room were you looking to have? Just a regular room or would you prefer something that was themed?”

“What’s the best room you have?” she inquired hearing Joel grumble something under his breath from where he was leaning against the wall beside her.

“The best room is a two roomed suite that is made for more than one person because there are two beds,” Joel informed her with a grunt getting her eyes to fall back upon him. “So I don’t think you’re going to need the best room.”

“Okay, what’s the best room for one single person?” she revised her question trying to block out Joel who was staring out at her with an amused expression. Out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but notice that he was looking her over like he was trying to determine the kind of person that she was.

“Well, that would probably be the cowboy suite,” Tommy offered up with another flashy smile, his brown eyes hopeful that she would want to stay after his brother had given her endless amounts of shit. “It’s got a spacious sitting area, a wet bar, a really nice bed. You get your own fridge, microwave, coffee maker, the whole deal really. It is western themed, but it’s the best suite we have. And for your troubles, I’ll give you twenty-five percent off the cost.”

“Sure, I’ll take that,” she agreed to the room listening to Tommy typing things in on the computer.

“Okay, so we’ll need a credit card and some ID,” Tommy explained to her having her digging through the bag that she was carrying in order to get what he was asking from her. “How many days were you planning on staying?”

“I’m not really sure,” she responded, getting a confused expression from Tommy. Feeling awkward and out of place, she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. “Is there a way I can just go day by day? I just needed a break from my life and I ended up here. I don’t know how long I’m going to stay.”

“Well I just learned all I need to about you,” Joel spoke up, straightening up his back so that way he was standing beside her. “You’re rich because price means nothing to you. You don’t even know the price of the suite, yet you agreed. And unlike normal people, you can decide how long you do and do not want to stay somewhere.”

“And you’re very much welcome here,” Tommy declared, cutting his brother off before he could offend her any more from not wanting to be at their inn. “We’ll work with you. Just try to give us a day’s notice before you decide to leave. This suite is actually perfect for someone who is sticking around for an extended stay.”

“Do you have family here?” Joel felt like he was interrogating her even further while Tommy continued to put her information into the computer.

“No,” she was short with her answer.

“Do you like skiing?” Tommy spoke up with a positive energy that was attempting to match Joel’s negative. “We have some of the best mountains out here for people. And it’s a quick drive to the resort if you want to get some of that in before Christmas.”

“I…I really don’t like skiing. I have a fear of heights,” she explained to Tommy, clinging tightly to her bag when Joel’s laugh followed.

“Who comes all the way out to Jackson if they don’t have family here and they aren’t interested in skiing? That’s kind of the only reason to come out here. Especially during this time of the year. You’re from New York City, I’m sure there were other places you could have gone,” Joel continued to ramble on, getting a glare from her in response.

“Here are your cards Ms. Y/N. Uhm, we have a restaurant and bar that open in the morning. Same with our gift shop. You can do some gambling at night if you’re interested. We have a lot of historical things out and about that you can look at around the inn,” Tommy handed her over the key and then reached for a brochure to give her. “There are some really beautiful things to do and see out here. And of course if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask. Joel, why don’t you help her grab her bags. Do you have them waiting outside in the car?”

“No, this is my only bag,” she nodded toward the one that she was holding onto.

“You came here with only that?” Joel snickered, his face scrunching up in confusion. “You are aware that this is a winter town, right? And you’re planning on being here for a few days. Maybe?”

“We do offer up a laundry service,” Tommy stressed, visibly uncomfortable with the way that Joel was grilling this woman. “Joel, help her take her bag upstairs. Please.”

“It’s one single bag. She can handle it,” Joel sneered, waving his hand up in the air dismissively.

“Yeah, there is a chair calling out to him by the fireplace so he can go back to sleep,” she mocked Joel who glared back at her, shaking his head in amusement at her attitude toward him. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from that.”

“Just show her to the room, please,” Tommy begged of Joel, lowering down enough to rest his elbows against the top of the counter. Burying his head into his hands, Tommy was fit to be tied with his brother. By his reaction, she knew that Tommy was very much embarrassed.

“Sure, I’ll show you to your room. Would you prefer the stairs or the elevator,” Joel held one hand toward the direction behind him where the elevator was and the other toward the large set of stairs that were right at the front of the lobby.

“We can take the stairs,” she chose the thing that she thought would piss Joel off more considering he seemed lazy in the moment. Reaching for her bag, she seemed nervous to give it to him at first. A grunt fell from his throat and it was then she realized this was adding to his anger. Allowing him to take her bag, she stood waiting for him. Grumbling something under his breath Joel waited for her to start heading to the stairs and he followed her up. Side by side they moved, not saying a word. Just the sight of everything on the second floor had her second guessing every choice she was making. “What did I get myself into?”

“Huh?” Joel obviously didn’t hear her because she had whispered that question to herself. Shaking her head, she knew that she didn’t want to involve him in her thoughts. When they got upstairs, she saw the sitting area they had up there with another fireplace. On each side of the fireplace was a Christmas tree decorated very similar to the large one downstairs. “Are we gawking or…?”

“I’m sorry, I’m kind of taken aback by all the Christmas decorations,” she admitted, stepping before the fireplace that was lit. “No offense, but you don’t seem like the type to go for something like that.”

“It’s my brother and his wife,” Joel alerted her, moving in beside her as she gazed upon the stockings that were over this fireplace. “It’s always kinda been a tradition for this place to decorate for Christmas. This place is a staple for the town.”

“I see,” she didn’t know how to respond to that. This was just a small, two leveled inn. It was decorated, but she didn’t know if she would consider it nice. The old western theme was battling the Christmas theme and it was hard to take in.

“So tell me something,” Joel began, biting down on his bottom lip and slightly turning his head to gaze upon her. “What are you doing here? What drew you to Jackson?”

“Do you really care?” she asked, her eyebrows arching in a moment of surprise. Throughout her entire experience with Joel, he didn’t seem like the type to want to learn anything about her. By the expression over Joel’s face, he was deeply contemplating her question.

“No, not really,” Joel was blunt eliciting an offended breath from her. “I’m just curious about you. You’re a city girl. You have money. You could probably go anywhere in the world. And this is the place you pick? It’s hard to really determine what you’re doing here.”

“I didn’t choose it,” she explained, turning to face Joel who continued to look down at the fire. The lack of eye contact made her uncomfortable, but maybe it was the loneliness that was setting in that made her want to talk to someone. “I’m a trauma surgeon at a hospital in New York City.”

“Ah, lemme guess,” Joel smirked, slurring his words together as his eyebrow arched in amusement. “You became a doctor because you watched those medical dramas on the television when you were younger. And that life just appealed to you.”

“Yeah, because every doctor watches Grey’s Anatomy and decides that’s the life for them,” she snapped back at Joel who simply snickered under his breath. Rocking back and forth on his feet, Joel sighed loudly realizing he had gotten under her skin with his comment. “You don’t even care what happened so why am I bothering?”

“Because I wanna know how you ended up here. Specifically,” Joel stressed to her the information that he wanted from her. Pointing his finger down, he tapped his foot on the ground. That made her realize that he meant at The Copper Peak Inn in Jackson. “You don’t seem like the country girl. You’re afraid of heights. You don’t like the western era. I can tell that by the way you look at everything. You’re not a gambler. You snubbed your nose at that suggestion from my brother. So how did you end up here? Especially when you visibly hate everything that would draw someone here in the first place.”

“I packed a bag, I showed up at the airport and I asked the woman working there to pick a place for me that was completely unlike New York City,” she claimed, her eyebrows furrowing as she finally noticed Joel’s dimples with him smirking. “I didn’t even know where I was going until I showed up at the gate. And I ended up in this inn because the person at the airport suggested it to me. Said the owners were incredible and it was the best place to stay in town.”

“Hmm…” Joel hummed to himself, reaching up with his free hand to drag it down over the side of his face. “I don’t mean to dig it in, but you do realize how stupid that decision was. Right? When you go somewhere, you should know what you’re getting yourself into. What the weather is like, what the people are like…”

“I really don’t want to be lectured by you,” she interrupted him, her blood boiling with Joel rambling on about all the mistakes that he felt she made in coming here. “You have no idea what I’ve gone through or what even led me here.”

“And I don’t care to,” Joel blurt out, turning to her and waving his hand about in the air. By the color flooding into her cheeks, Joel could tell that she was furious with him and upset. “I’d love to tell you I care, but I don’t. Thank you for choosing this inn, my brother and his wife certainly appreciate it. I reckon you won’t be here long, but I hope you find yourself comfortable.”

Stepping forward, she snatched her bag from Joel suddenly feeling incredibly small standing before the man in front of her, “Where is my room?”

“Turn around,” Joel pointed toward the back hallway that led off toward the right. Snapping his fingers, Joel started to move toward the door. It was hard to miss because it was the first room she saw. When she approached it, she could see that there was a carving of a cowboy on a horse on the door. It was gaudy and ugly, but you couldn’t miss the room. They had a wreath hanging on the door that was partially blocking the design of the door. Reaching for her key, Joel was quick to grab it from her fingers to open the door for her. Once it pushed open, he extended his hand out and motioned her to walk through. “As you can see, this is your sitting area.”

Right now, she really didn’t need him to give her a tour of the inn room. More than anything she just wanted to be left alone. Standing at the center of the room she tried to force herself from looking at Joel. At the corner of the room was a Christmas tree that was lit up. Two red, leather couches were pressed against the walls beside the tree. A gigantic old west painting filled up one of the walls causing her to tense up at the sight of it. It was so ugly.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Joel was stepping into the room and it brought her attention to the desk area. Everything was wooden. The desk chair was a very rustic looking design where it looked like it was made from the branches of trees.

“Here is your wet bar,” Joel showed her some things, opening up a certain cabinet to show the mini refrigerator that was there. “There is a fridge, a microwave and whatever else you need. If you’re hungry or thirsty, there are vending machines right down the hallway. An ice machine is in there too. If you move into your room…”

Joel motioned her to go into the bedroom making her chuckle when she stepped inside of it. They weren’t lying when they told her it was old western themed. Even though it was spacious and it had a large king-sized bed, everything was incredibly old fashioned. From the seating to the bedframe and all of the art on the walls. Walking over to the bed, she set her bag down on top of it and reached for the teddy bear that was at the center of the bed. It was a large brown bear and it had a Santa hat on top of its head.

Holding it up, she looked back at Joel seeing that he was standing in the doorway leaning against the doorframe. Joel’s eyebrows bounced up and he shrugged dramatically looking at the stuffed animal, “The guests tend to like the gesture. Usually you can buy him, but if you like him I can throw him in for free.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she held the bear in her hands and out of the corner of her eye could see Joel pushing his hands into his pockets, “Considering I’m sure you’re gonna be quite lonely over the next few days.”

“I was waiting for the insult,” she frowned, shaking her head knowing that him offering the bear out of the kindness of his heart just didn’t seem to be this man’s way of doing things. Setting the bear aside, she got up from the bed and stepped in front of Joel. “Before you embarrass your brother any further, why don’t you go sleep off the whiskey that is overpowering your breath right now.”

Slowly, the arrogant smirk over Joel’s features left and a sense of anger flooded over him, “I smelled it on you from the moment I approached you at the fire. I just didn’t say anything because I assumed you were having a bad day just like I was. But I’m sick of it. Thank you for showing me to my room, but I’d like you to leave. Please.”

“As you wish,” Joel did somewhat of a bow, backstepping toward the sitting room. When he heard her calling out to him, he stopped and looked back. Approaching him slowly, she was holding some money in her hand and it made him smirk. “What’s that?”

“You’re supposed to tip someone when they help you,” she reminded him holding it out with Joel’s dark eyes lowering down to look at the bills in her hand. “It’s customary.”

“I’m co-owner of the inn, I don’t need your money,” Joel alerted her, tipping his head from side to side. Giving a weak smile followed by a wink, Joel back stepped toward the door and shrugged. “Keep it. Sweet dreams there Y/N.”

And with that, Joel left her room and closed the door behind him. Standing there for a moment longer, she shoved the money back into her pocket. Taking a look around the suite that she got, she wondered if this really was a mistake. The only good thing about this place was that it was incredibly quiet.

Walking to the window, she pushed aside the curtain to look outside. Down below she could see that she was looking at the front of the building. This was like something out of a movie set. All of the buildings were still liked the old west. It was like she had jumped back in time visiting this town.

Dropping the curtains back down, she headed back toward the bed and dropped down. Laying sprawled out across the center of it allowed her legs to hang over the side. Even the fan was incredibly old fashioned. Thankfully it was clean, but there were so many turn offs and red flags from the start. Joel being one of them. Tommy seemed like a sweet guy, but she just hoped that she wouldn’t have to deal with Joel much throughout her time here. The reason she left home was because she was miserable. If being here was going to make her feel worse, that didn’t make much sense now, did it? 

[diorsluv]

die for you , part 1

“ swear i couldn’t sleep a wink last night ”

series m. list next chapter

( socialmedia!au )

yourusername

liked by jasonrob19, mush__27, trevorzegras, and 314,882 others

yourusername got new pink leg warmers 😈🎀

view all comments

username12 trevor has been liking and commenting for MONTHS there’s no way they’re not hooking up

→ username25 calm down she’s friends with turcs and cole 😭😭

logan.stankoven WE GET IT you got new skates or whatever

→ yourusername i will personally send you back to the ahl

→ logan.stankoven okay i was on fire on the texas stars 🥱

→ yourusername what if i light you on fire 🤗

→ logan.stankoven oh!

→ jpav8 let’s be nice guys

_alexturcotte is that the lululemon water bottle

→ yourusername HOW COULD YOU TELL FROM THE LID??

→ _alexturcotte my spidey senses tingled

→ yourusername turcotte tingle is insane

→ _alexturcotte HEY MAN don’t slander the family name ❌❌

username36 my figure skater idol 🙇‍♀️

username4 trevor zegras eh??

colecaufield and new skates and new skate guards and a new bag

→ yourusername you sent me money what was i supposed to do with it????

→ colecaufield use it to pay off your student loans 😒😒

→ yourusername but you already paid them off for me 😶

wyattjohnston_ that’s so preppy and coquette

→ yourusername stop. just stop 😭

→ wyattjohnston_ I’M TRYING TO BE SUPPORTIVE

→ yourusername THEN STOP

→ wyattjohnston_ you don’t want me to be supportive of you? 😔

→ yourusername no

jasonrob19 i bought those skates for you

→ mush__27 we know you spoil her 🙄

→ t.harley48 fr you ain’t gotta flex

→ yourusername indeed you did 😈😈

username41 i’m patiently waiting for the day trevor accidentally posts that they’re dating

→ username88 is he not with dixie??

→ username12 LMAO as if

jackhughes niceee solid skates

→ yourusername jack hughes 😱

→ jackhughes yes that’s me

→ yourusername i feel like a successful fangirl

→ jake30oettinger i thought you liked the stars 😒 yourusername

→ yourusername I LOVE THE STARS I PROMISE OTTER

trevorzegras 👍

liked by yourusername

→ _alexturcotte you’re such a pussy

→ trevorzegras you are what you eat

→ _alexturcotte stfu

→ colecaufield stop being so critical turcs

username53 it’s so preppy in here!

ilia_quadg0d_malinin oh please we all know i can do better

→ yourusername your ego is unbearably big

→ ilia_quadg0d_malinin say that to me when you land a quad

→ yourusername I LITERALLY DID IT BEFORE YOU THO????

→ ilia_quadg0d_malinin that’s a lie and we both know it

→ yourusername STOP GASLIGHTING ME THIS IS NOT BEST FRIEND BEHAVIOR

lhughes_06 Ma’am, would you like to visit the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey to watch us practice prior to our game against the Anaheim Ducks?

→ jackhughes you’re supposed to dm her, not publicly comment…

→ lhughes_06 YOU TOLD ME TO COMMENT ON A POST

→ lhughes_06 this is ur fault

→ yourusername YES I WOULD

→ lhughes_06 see it worked anyways jackhughes

t.harley48 you messed up the ice before practice 🤬🤬

→ yourusername stop whining start grinding 🥶

→ wyattjohnston_ stop whining start grinding 🥶

→ logan.stankoven stop whining start grinding 🥶

→ mush__27 stop whining start grinding 🥶

→ t.harley48 once i get on that zamboni it’s over for you all

yourusername

liked by miroheiskanen, trevorzegras, _alexturcotte, and 300,024 others

yourusername someone tell him i’m outside waiting rn 🙏

view all comments

username29 PLEASE TELL ME “HIM” IS TREVOR

ilia_quadg0d_malinin oh! when did you start posting about your crippling love life 😍

→ yourusername you’re like the only person i told and you proceed to make fun of me 😃😃

→ wyattjohnston_ no you told me

→ logan.stankoven and me

→ jpav8 and wyatt told me

→ hhinee you told me as well

→ miroheiskanen i also know

→ matt9duchene so do i

→ tseguin92 oh you told me too

→ t.harley48 don’t forget about me

→ jake30oettinger you literally told me too

→ mush__27 good lord how many people did you tell (i know about it too)

→ ilia_quadg0d_malinin you told an ENTIRE nhl team. yourusername

→ yourusername ……..i told you first…..?

→ jasonrob19 what are we talking about

nickrobertson01 that’s not one of your jackets…

→ yourusername how would you know if you haven’t been in my closet 🤨

→ nickrobertson01 you just gave me a closet tour on ft yesterday…..?

→ jasonrob19 then whose jacket is it?????

→ yourusername no one i swear it’s mine 😰😰

jamiebenn14 is that not a literal nightgown?

→ yourusername stop judging my stylistic choices 💔

→ tseguin82 THAT’S WHAT I WAS THINKING

→ yourusername you old men are NOT hip with the kids

→ jpav8 you’re breaking our hearts here 😔😔

username33 is that or is that not the outside of an ice rink???

username20 i swear to god she’s seeing trevor

username94 someone tell me i’m insane because i swear i’ve seen the ducks practice there before

→ username17 no no you’re not insane i think you’re right 😰

→ username11 lmfao maybe she just practices there too???

hhinee so to be clear, “him” is HIM right?

→ yourusername yes yes you’re right roop

→ jasonrob19 why do i not know what you’re talking about

username6 IF I’M RIGHT, i think i’ve seen that backpack in the background of one of trevor’s stories before…

logan.stankoven so what i’m hearing is if you hang out with him, you leave us alone?

→ yourusername what happened to the kid that BEGGED for my autograph when i showed up to one of the texas stars games

→ logan.stankoven YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER BRING THAT UP

→ yourusername 🙄

→ wyattjohnston_ HE BEGGED?????

_quinnhughes cool fit i like it 👍

→ yourusername aw thank you ☺️

→ username37 OH MY GOD IS IT QUINN

→ username72 WHAT THE FUCK WAIT A SECOND

colecaufield i see you’ve been gaining more attention..

→ yourusername are you saying i’m not successful enough to regularly get attention??

→ colecaufield oh my god YOU ALWAYS DO THIS

_alexturcotte i have never seen someone leave mid-convo as quickly as i just did

→ yourusername you were with him?

→ _alexturcotte no he just stopped typing all of a sudden

→ yourusername so you were.. texting him????

→ _alexturcotte yeah??

→ yourusername THEN HOW TF DID YOU SEE HIM LEAVE??

→ _alexturcotte I DONT FUCKING KNOW I WAS JUST YAPPING

→ yourusername you know for someone so smart, sometimes you make no sense 😭

mush__27 you being 1,500 miles away should be a crime

→ yourusername oh stop complaining i was literally back home like 8 hours ago

username17 has trevor not commented yet??

→ username99 it’s not as if he comments frequently

jake30oettinger you’re so not slick

→ yourusername that’s great i’m so glad you noticed even though you literally didn’t know until i told you!

→ jasonrob19 PLEASE GOD JUST TELL ME 😔

next chapter notes ) your bitch is back with a trevor au and this time it’s gonna be irl + smau because i was fucking STRUGGLING with feather.. and also i’m thinking of the nickname being lacey because i think it’s just so cute and also i got a whole backstory and all… 😈 but regarding ilia malinin and all of my favorite dallas stars.. yall might have to know some stars and figure skating lore for this one but i don’t really think it’s gonna affect the plot of the story or the story itself (you just might not know who anyone is 😭😭) as always if you wanna be tagged, just comment or dm me!!

[nakedmusicscore]

Jon Bon Jovi washes dishes in his chain of restaurants (Soul Kitchen in Newark, New Jersey. He created these restaurants for the homeless, where they can eat for free forever!

He relates to people and doesn't do it to blow his own horn like some asshole politician pretending to work at McDonalds.

[ahonice]

just friends

nico hischier x fem reader

word count: 10.9k (the longest fic i’ve ever written i’m so sorry)

warnings: unplanned pregnancy and mentions of unprotected sex, cursing, the word climax, a little angsty, if i forgot anything lmk.

note: i started this on september 1st, this actually took forever. ANYWAYS hope y’all enjoy lmk if you love it, if you hate it, any feedback in general is appreciated!! love y’all babes <3

+++

it was an accident.

you and nico had been in a casual friends with benefits relationship for about a year and a half, having known each other for three years in total, when it happened.

you and nico were being stupid one night. after a few too many drinks, and no condoms to be found anywhere in your apartment, you and nico fucked without protection. 

you were on birth control and nico had pulled out, well he did halfway through his climax.

you didn’t think anything when you didn’t get your period the following month or the two months after that, you hadn’t had a period in four years thanks to your birth control. 

for weeks you thought you were just bloated, maybe you had been eating too much lately. you were much hungrier these past couple of weeks, it made sense.

it wasn’t until you threw up eleven times in one week before ten in the morning that you grew suspicious and worried at the possibility of you being pregnant. 

you stopped by the drug store on your way home from work and panic bought nine different pregnancy tests. 

you drank seven things of water during the day and took no bathroom breaks in preparation for this moment, and you had never been so scared to get test results back.

positive. every single one of them.

you felt faint, like the walls of your tiny studio apartment were caving in on you. 

you couldn’t have a baby, you couldn’t be a mother, it just couldn’t happen.

+++

the first thing you had to do was tell nico.

you and nico weren’t exclusive, and while he probably has his fair share of hookups, you did not. he was the only possible candidate for the father. 

nico was currently three days into an eight day road trip, and as much as you wanted to just get it over with, you knew this is not the type of bombshell to be dropped via snapchat or imessage, considering you two only used imessage to play game pigeon and the nature of your saved snaps was not welcome to an “i’m pregnant and you’re the father” chat.

you decided to just text him that you needed to talk when he got back.

to: nico (hookup)

hey lmk when you’re back in newark, we need to talk.

from: nico (hookup)

oh? 

from: nico (hookup)

everything okay?

to: nico (hookup)

not quite sure yet.

+++

five days later you found yourself at nico’s door, nine positive pregnancy tests in a ziploc bag in your purse. you were shaking, you don’t think you had ever been this nervous in your entire life.

nico opened up the door with a wide smile. you didn’t know what face you were making, but it was enough to make nico’s face fall and worry come through his tone of voice.

“y/n? what’s wrong?”

you didn’t even register his words, you just moved past him into his apartment and sat down on his couch.

“y/n?”

“i’m pregnant.”

the words fell out of your mouth before you could stop them.

nico sat there frozen on the loveseat as you pulled the pregnancy tests out of your purse.

around three minutes later you pulled your phone out and opened up some home makeover game, nico was still frozen.

“-oh and you’re the father but you probably already know that.”

+++

it was around four minutes later when nico finally opened up his mouth to speak.

“what are you going to do?”

his question made me a little angry, yes he wasn’t entirely at fault, but he could’ve at least taken

a little responsibility and said “we” instead of “you”.

“i don’t know yet, i have an appointment with an obgyn on saturday. i’ll learn about my options there.”

“what time?” nico asked, opening up his phone calendar.

“10:30.” you knew that nico had practice at that time because it was a game day. “you have practice, i’ll just let you know what i decide to do.”

“this is my child too, i want to be a part of the decision making.”

“well you’re not going to be the one taking care of them, i am.”

“what makes you think that? i mean obviously i will be on the road at times during the season, but when we’re on homestands and since we’ll be married we’ll have the off season together-”

“woah take a girl out to dinner before you propose nico.” you interrupted. “we aren’t getting married…” “we’ve done a whole lot more than just dinner, and yes we are? how are we supposed to raise this baby together if we aren’t together.”

“have you ever heard of co-parenting? -also who says i’m keeping it, i haven’t made my decision yet.” you get up from your spot on his couch. “look i have to go, i’ll tell you about my appointment tomorrow.”

nico let out a heavy sigh. “don’t make any decisions without me.”

+++

“y/n?” 

you looked up at the nurse who was holding the door open with their body and walked up to greet her, your knees slightly wobbling from the nerves running through you.

“please follow me into room two, i’m just gonna get your vitals.”

you stayed silent as she took your blood pressure and checked your reflexes, you had to take a moment to calm yourself down after you saw your weight, you had freaked out before you remembered that there was currently another being inside of you.

“alright your vitals look good.” the nurse spoke before exiting the room. “follow me into this room, you can go ahead and take a seat on the bed in the center of the room. the doctor should be in shortly.”

you nodded and thanked her before she exited and you took a look around the room, taking a few mirror selfies to send to the family group chat. you had told all of your immediate relatives over facetime on your way back from nico’s yesterday, the news was received better than you had planned so you couldn’t say anything about your mom’s comments on being a grandmother, she made it very clear she was on team “keep the baby and be a badass single mom in the city”.

you sat on the bed/chair thing, ripping the paper instantly as you tried to get comfortable.

you took your eyes off your phone as you heard a series of knocks.

“miss y/n?”

“yes, that’s me.”

“hi, i’m dr.swarn i’ll be assisting you today. is this your first ultrasound?” the middle aged woman asked.

“yes it is.”

“and do you know how far along you are?”

“i’m assuming three to four months…i just found out yesterday…”

“well we will find out today.” the doctor began getting the sonograph ready as you attempted to mentally prepare yourself. “-and i have to ask…the father, is he in the picture?”

“he is, but it’s complicated…we aren’t together.”

the doctor simply nodded before asking you to lift up your shirt and warning you that the gel might be cold.

after a few moments, a grainy black and white image showed up on the screen, dr. swarn pointing things out. “-and this is your baby! it is a couple weeks too early to figure out the gender, so i would estimate that you are about four months pregnant.” 

you didn’t really focus on anything she said though, all your attention was on that tiny blob.

“do you want to hear the heartbeat?”

as dr.swarn began to turn up the volume the door swung open.

a very out of breath and sweaty nico stood in the door frame, bent over catching his breath.

“sorry i’m late!” nico walked up towards where you were lying on the table and smiled up at the doctor. “i’m the father.”

dr.swarn smiled at him before speaking. “well you made it just in time, we were just about to listen to the heartbeat.”

she had the screen turned towards her so nico had yet to see the baby. “this is your baby-” dr.swarn turned the screen back towards you and nico. “and this is their heartbeat.”

it was like everything around you had disappeared and all you knew was the image of your baby and the sound of their heartbeat. nico grabbed your hand and effectively pulled you out of the trance you were in.

“would you like me to discuss your options with you?” dr.swarn asked, turning the heartbeat down.

“no, i’m keeping it.”

+++

you got a recording of the heartbeat and got a couple prints of the ultrasound before exiting the doctors office, nico getting the same things as you.

“so you’re actually gonna keep it?” nico asked once he had walked you to your car.

“yes i am, and i don’t expect you to be involved at all if you don’t want to…i can do this on my own.”

“well you won’t have to.” nico started. “move into my apartment.”

you sighed, but nico spoke again before you could. “look we don’t have to get married right away, just move in…we will see how things go from there.”

“nico- i’m not moving in with you, i am perfectly fine living in my apartment and so is the baby.” you didn’t mean for your tone to come off so harsh, well you did a little bit, but you didn’t want nico thinking that you would be getting together just because of your child together. “look nico, i know that you believe that to raise a child the mother and father need to be together but i don’t and i don’t want to be with someone just because people think we have to. i will not be having a shotgun wedding.”

“what is a shotgun wedding?”

“-it does matter. we are not getting together nico.” you got into the driver's seat of your car. “i don’t really know how this co-parenting shit works, and i’m assuming you don’t either so let’s just make sure to be patient with one another, okay?”

nico nodded before you said your goodbyes and drove off in the direction of your apartment.

+++

around two weeks later as you sat in your little cubicle your phone started ringing.

nico (hookup)

you sighed and saved the progress on your current project before picking up the phone.

“hello?”

“hey, are you home right now?”

“no, it’s two in the afternoon on a thursday. i’m at work.”

“oh i didn’t think you would work while pregnant…” “i need to fund this child’s life somehow.”

there was an awkward silence for a few moments before you spoke up again.

“did you need something nico?”

“well i called to ask if you would like to come over for dinner tonight.”

“what are you making? because i don’t mean to sound rude, but this child doesn’t like anything i cook and you’re much worse than me.”

“hey i’m not that bad!” you both chuckle before nico speaks again. “is there anything you’re craving right now?”

“jiggly cheesecake and that gouda mac n cheese with sausage i got when we went to new york two years ago.”

“okay i can’t make any of that.”

“just make whatever you want, i’ll force it down if the baby doesn’t like it. what time should i come over?”

“5:30?”

“okay, i’ll just come straight from work.”

you said your goodbyes before you go back to your work.

+++ 

once the clock struck 4:45 you called it a day and headed out to your car before driving to nico’s apartment.

you knocked on the door, a tad bit confused because you heard multiple voices on the other side of the door, if it wasn’t for the welcome mat on the outside that you had forced nico to get you would’ve thought you were at the wrong door.

“hey.” nico opened the door, the voices only getting louder.

“hey…are other people joining us…?” you asked, looking around his apartment confused.

“yeah i probably should've mentioned-”

nico had begun to speak, but a voice that you knew as nico’s mother. “is y/n here!?” soon you saw her smiling faces coming towards you with open arms. “oh come here, it’s been too long sweetie!”

god bless your work bag that seemed to span to five feet because it was hiding your baby bump that was very noticeable in your blouse.

“hello mrs.hischier, how are you?” you asked politely, but you were really wanting to strangle nico right now.

“i’m great! luca and nina are here too!”

“oh that’s great! i’ll go see them in a second, i just need to talk to nico really quickly.”

you smiled as she walked away before turning to nico and gave him a swift slap on the backside of his head. “are you crazy!? did you just ambush a pregnancy announcement on me!?”

“look, i know this probably wasn’t the best way to approach this, but my family needs to know.”

“i am fully aware of that, but this is something that you plan out, not something you spring on a pregnant woman!”

“i’m sorry! just- let’s go into the living room, nina really misses you.”

you had met nico’s family multiple times before and were especially close with his sister nina, she was the only one who knew of you and nico’s odd relationship and was the number one supporter of you two getting together.

you walked out, your work bag still covering yourself as you greeted luca and nina, the later giving you a look that only made you nervous.

you made small talk with the family before nico announced that dinner was ready. thankfully nico had brought your plate to you, both you and the fetus were happy with the look and smell of the fettuccine alfredo, with sausage, that nico had made. “thank you.”

as much as you didn’t want to, you had to set your work bag that had been used as a bump shield on the floor to eat, you just hoped everyone was too distracted by the food in front of them to notice.

“so what was the news that you had to share? i assume it has to do with y/n?” mrs.hischier spoke excitedly, it was obvious she was hoping that you and nico had started dating.

“y/n is pregnant and i’m the father and we are keeping it, but we are not together.” nico spoke quickly, his head down as if he was a child being scolded.

“oh…” 

it wasn’t the worst reaction that could’ve happened, but it definitely wasn’t the best one, but how good of a reaction could one get after they tell their mother they got their fuck buddy pregnant.

“we’re figuring this all out as we go, but i am very sorry mrs.hischier i understand this isn’t how one would usually want their son to become a father.” you apologized, your head was also down.

“i’m not angry, just shocked and a little bit disappointed in you nico…but everything happens for a reason so i fully support you two.” you and nico let out identical sighs as his mother revealed that she was not going to disown either of us.

+++

the rest of dinner went great, you even made plans for both yours and nico’s family to get together for a small gender reveal brunch before the hischier’s headed back to switzerland.

nina had called dibs on walking you out so you prepared yourself for the question you knew she was going to ask.

“are you absolutely, one hundred percent, serious when you say that you and nico are not together in any way, whatsoever, romantically?” nina asks, using too many synonyms for the word definitely.

“yes i am absolutely, one hundred percent, serious when i say that me and nico are not together in any way, whatsoever, romantically.” you reply, mocking her words.

she doesn’t seem too pleased by your answer and whines. “why? i want a sister and you are the only person i like, in general.”

“that is very sweet nina, but me and nico don’t like each other in that way. we’ve been…boinking for almost two years now. if either of us had feelings, i guarantee they would have been confessed by now and we probably would not be expecting a child out of wedlock in five months.”

nina let out an exaggerated sigh as you neared your car. 

“me and nico are just friends, okay?” you spoke, getting into the driver’s seat. 

“yeah friends who happen to boink on a weekly basis and are now expecting a child together.”

“i’ll see you at brunch on sunday nina.” 

+++

“i’m team boy and girl!”

“mom i already told you we aren’t having twins.” 

the sunday morning activities were supposed to be fun, and they were, but they were causing you a shit load of stress. 

it seemed like everything nico was doing was aggravating you, and when nico and your little brother were in the same room it was a recipe for disaster. plus your mother wasn’t any help, she teamed up with nico’s mother and kept pressuring you to at least move in with nico, who you believe put them up to it.

“okay let’s just get this over with!” you yelled out, just wanting to figure out the gender so you could go home and have some much needed alone time.

nico came up next to you holding the envelope that contained the gender. “you ready mommy?”

“ew, don’t call me that.”

everyone had their phones out and began counting down as nico opened up the envelope.

“it’s a…GIRL!”

everyone’s cheers only furthered your headache, but you gave nico a smile and side hug before going over to your mother who ecstatically hugged you.

“a baby girl! i’m so happy for you y/n, my first grandbaby!”

you quickly said your goodbyes, not bothering to eat any of the food that was made or open any of the gifts that were brought.

were you being a rude, ungrateful, bitch for no reason? yes. but you were too exhausted to care or feel bad about nico’s constant dejected looks on his face throughout the morning.

+++

the second you got home you passed out on the floor of your apartment , god bless the pregnancy pillow your mother had delivered to you because you had a weird thing for sleeping on hardwood floors. 

you woke up at three in the afternoon to a series of knocks at your door. you took a while to get up and once you did you regretted it because you saw nico looking very angry through the peephole. 

you grabbed a sharpie and a sheet of paper towel and wrote the words “GO AWAY” in a very bold font before slipping it under the door.

the knocking silenced for a moment before it got louder, along with a call of your name.

“y/n. open the fucking door.” nico was seething.

you opened up the door. “what? i was sleeping.” you pointed to the pillow and blanket on the floor of your kitchen.

“on the floor?”

“yes- what do you need nico?”

“you left the party so quickly that you didn’t even get to open up your gifts, or acknowledge them.” nico gestured to the large bag of wrapped gifts that sat at his feet. “you actually left the party so early that the food wasn’t even served before you had said your goodbyes, which by the way thanks for not saying goodbye to me and thanks so much for the fake smile and side hug you gave me after we found out the gender of our child. that’s gonna be a real joy to look back on.”

you felt your headache coming back, you were starting to believe the sole cause was nico.

“seriously what was your problem this morning?” nico asked after a few moments of silence.

“my problem was that i didn’t even want this baby in the first place and i know for a fact i’m not going to be a good mother, and you! nico you are my problem, everything you did this morning seemed to piss me off and it’s probably just the pregnancy hormones making me easily irritable, but you were getting on my fucking nerves by breathing this morning.” 

nico kicked the bag of gifts into your apartment in a fit. “well i’ll stop bothering you then.”

you knew you should’ve been a rational adult and went after him, but you weren’t, so you slammed the door and brought all the gifts to the living room so you could open them.

you smiled as you realized that all of the gifts were for you. your favorite candies and snacks, maternity clothes, and some prenatal care items that you probably should’ve started taking the second you found out you were pregnant, with the exception of one gift. it was from nico, you could tell by the poor wrapping job, you had been the one to wrap all of his christmas gifts ever since you met him except your own of course, those he always wrapped himself and they were a nightmare.

once you got his present unwrapped you found a boat load of mini devils gear. bibs, socks, a onesie, even a pair of noise canceling headphones. at the bottom of the box you found a very tiny devil’s jersey with the number thirteen on the back and a big patched “C” on the front. you teared up once you saw the big patched “DADDY” above the thirteen on the back and a matching bow headband with a small note. i’m writing this before the reveal and i know we don’t know the sex yet, but i’m hoping for a girl and i know you are too. i hope the headband is a little good luck charm that baby girl judith is on the way. - nico.

you teared up at the note, especially at nico remembering the name you’ve always wanted to name your first daughter.

you quickly called nico, tears streaming down your face and nose all stuffy.

“hello?”

“come back up…please.”

“on my way.”

+++

you stood by the door waiting for nico to knock and once he did you immediately opened the door and nearly tackled him from the hug you gave him.

“i’m sorry.” you mumbled, still crying.

“i know, it’s okay.”

you walked into your apartment and sat on your couch next to nico. “you remembered my baby names.”

“how could i forget them?” nico stated.

“what would you have done if it was baby boy gannon instead of judith?” you asked, turning your head that was leaned on his shoulder up to look at him.

“turn the headband into a bowtie…?”

you laughed at him before your stomach growled loudly.

“what are you in the mood for?” nico asked immediately.

“canes, but that’s in the city and i don’t wanna make you go to new york.” 

nico stood up after hearing your restaurant of choice. “c’mon, i’ll drive.”

+++

“how is it?”

“this is sex in a chicken tender nico, thank you for taking me here.”

nico laughed at your response before the both of you continued to eat a comfortable silence.

“hey tell your family that i’m sorry for how i was acting this morning, i am super grateful for them helping plan the reveal and to delay their flight to attend.”

“don’t worry, they understand that pregnancy emotions can be a lot, but i will still let them know.” nico said, making a mental note to text the family group chat.

“their gifts were very thoughtful too, how did nina know i like black licorice?”

“oh i let them know all your favorite things, that wasn’t alcohol.” nico shrugged as if it was no big deal.

you took a moment to process his answer, it wasn’t that weird for nico to know all of your favorite snacks and desserts, that’s what friends do…right?

+++

to: nico (hookup)

i have my sixth month checkup tomorrow at 10am, would you like to join?

from: nico (hookup)

yeah, do you wanna meet there or drive together?

to: nico (hookup)

could we drive together? 

from: nico (hookup)

of course, i’ll pick you up at 9:30, we’ll stop by mcdonalds for breakfast. i know you love their sausage muffins.

you hadn’t seen nico since the day of the gender reveal party and when you went into the city together to get canes. of course you stayed in contact, but it was hard with both of your work schedules that often collided. 

the next day nico was knocking on your door right at nine thirty in the morning, and you were still passed out. the pregnancy pillow and weighted blanket combo was not being your friend right now, though it was at 5am when the gremlin in your womb wouldn’t stop kicking. which she did for the first time earlier that day.

after about five minutes of nico knocking on your door with no response he began to fully panic, had you fallen down and couldn’t get up? were you dead in your bed? did you forget he was picking you up? so many things could’ve happened to you.

after a few moments of contemplating, nico decided that his only option was to break the door down. he began backing up a few steps and then running full force into your door, it took about seven tries for the door to fall to the ground.

the sound of the first impact of nico’s body was enough to wake you up. at the second impact you became aware of your surroundings, and at the third you thought someone was trying to break into your apartment.

you grabbed the closet weapon you could find, a meat pounder that you left on your kitchen counter last night, and got in position, ready to attack the person on the other side of the door.

once the door fell to the ground and the body fell on top of it, you got ready to swing.

“y/n!? are you alive!?”

“AHHH- nico!?” you froze your movements, the pounder hanging right above your head. “what are you doing here!?”

nico was still on the ground, also frozen as he tried to catch his breath. “ultrasound.”

you dropped your hands to your side as an ohhh played in your head. “i’m sorry i completely forgot. just give me a few moments and then we can leave.”

you turned around to enter your room before you froze and turned back around.

“i don’t have a front door…”

“i’ll text jack to come over and watch over the place and reattach it while we’re gone, the kid needs something to do this morning anyways.” nico said while pulling out his phone.

“does he know?”

“no, but he will…i’ve been meaning to ask you about telling the team anyways.”

“we can talk about it later , i need to get ready.”

you quickly got dressed, sporting a tight tank top, tight leggings, and a tight zip up. all tight because this baby had you gaining five pounds a minute. you huffed and puffed trying to get the tank top on. eventually you got it over your bump, but it was rising up and you were spilling out of it in too many places. deciding to just embrace the bummy look you threw on uggs, didn’t bother to put your contacts in, and left your hair in the rat's nest bun you’ve been wearing for the past five days since you were told to take a break from work by your boss, of course you had to faint in front of her.

“nico i need to get maternity clothes, i’m pretty sure these tanktop strings will snap if i raise my arm and don’t get me started on these leggings.”

“you’re huge…” 

“thanks nico, you’re really helping out right now.” you joked, but deep down you were upset. you don’t tell a pregnant woman she is huge, especially if it’s your baby. “let’s go, we can’t be late.”

“jack is almost here, babe.” the nickname slipped out before nico could even process what he was saying.

“uhm…”

“yo nico what’s up…where is y/n’s door.” jack said while walking into your apartment.

“you’re standing on it.” you spoke. jack’s eye’s wandered to you and then to your belly, and then they got really wide. “hi jacklyn.”

“oh shit.”

“we can talk about this later, but me and nico really have to go because we’re already running late.”

you and nico quickly walked out, the later telling jack that you had a toolbox under your sink and to “go crazy.” 

“no mcdonalds then huh?” nico asked as you got into his car.

“no, but i’ll be fine.”

+++

you weren’t fine.

you quickly got hangry and so did judith, nico seemed to be your punching for just about everything and even though he said he was fine, you could tell you hit home when you told him he needed to wax his eyebrows.

dr.swarn was completely fine with you guys being ten minutes late because she didn’t have anyone scheduled after you. the appointment went great except judith didn’t want to kick when nico felt your stomach, and of course nico’s hands were all dry and calloused which you hated feeling on your skin, and then after the ultrasound was over you guys rushed to mcdonalds because nico was determined to get you a damn sausage muffin, but of course you were two minutes past the cutoff for lunch and the teenager taking your order wouldn’t budge and you had to pretend like the cheeseburger didn’t come back up the second you got into the restroom. all you wanted to do is go home and be alone…and eat jalapeno poppers…and mozzarella sticks…

nico stopped at target to get what you wanted, and mac n cheese bites because he knew you’d love them.

you were pleasantly surprised when you arrived home to your door back on. luckily it had just separated itself from the hinges when nico tackled it to the ground, so it was an easy fix for jack.

once you stepped inside, nico quickly got to work, placing large portions of everything he bought in your airfryer. nico said it was crazy to buy a twenty size quart size air fryer and that you would never use it, but here he was being proven wrong.

you quickly changed out of the leggings and jacket, leaving the tank top on because you knew it would be just as much of a workout to get it off as it was to get it on and you threw on nico’s heart boxers he swears he wore as a joke, but you knew he picked them out at the store being one hundred percent serious.

“you two kids come sit down.” jack spoke loudly, as if he was your father.

“jack we are both older than you.” nico spoke sitting down in the spot next to you on your couch.

“doesn’t matter. you’re pregnant?”

you both nodded as jack pointed to you.

“-and you’re the father?”

you both nodded as jack pointed to nico.

“and you’re keeping it together as…”

“friends, just friends.”

“friends don’t have babies together.” jack gave you a skeptical look.

“they do now.” you stood up. “goodbye jack.”

+++

“i think it’s best if you two move in together, for both your safety y/n, and the babies.”

dr.swarn spoke before leaving you and nico in the room alone,

you were now seven months pregnant and you were constantly fainting, your boss had stopped allowing you to come into work and told you that you “needed rest” so you met her halfway and you now work from home.

nico was over one night after a game when he walked in on you passed out on the kitchen floor, but this time it wasn’t on purpose. he immediately began staying the night on your couch to make sure you were alright and as soon as you could he got you into dr.swarn’s office.

“i’m taking you home and we’re packing you up. i’ll text jack to come over with luke.” nico said as you exited the obgyn. 

“you know i can help right? judith is fine-”

“-but you’re not fine! you told dr.swarn that you’ve been fainting since even before you got pregnant, and i didn’t know. why didn’t you tell me about all this?” nico interrupted you, obviously upset.

“because it’s not important!” you snapped back. “it doesn’t affect judith in anyway, so i don’t understand you’re so worried.”

“it’s important because it affects you. i am worried about you, and i’m allowed to be. now there is no more arguments, you will be moving in with me and ending your lease at your current place.”

“nico-”

“no, that is final.”

+++

for the rest of the day you sat and watched tv while the two hughes and nico packed up your apartment until they had to pack your tv, which you insisted they did last.

“the truck is all loaded up, we’re gonna drive it over to nico’s and he is going to drive you in your car.” jack spoke as you approached where the truck was parked on the side of the street.

you nodded as nico helped you into the car. you hated admitting it, but you were much larger than you were expecting to be at this time in your pregnancy. 

+++

once you had made it to nico’s apartment you did the same thing you were doing before while the boys unpacked your stuff into the second bedroom, absolutely nothing.

you got up and waddled over to where the guys were all watching luke struggle to get the fitted sheet on your bed.

“can i please do something? anything?” you begged.

“yeah, go out and use my laptop to create a list of things you want as gifts at the baby shower, a registry because i know you want specific things for judith.” nico answered your begging.

“baby shower? i’m having a baby shower?” you had not been informed of this.

“yeah, all the guys on the team and their partners are gonna come, so are your friends and family, mine is coming too.” nico spoke like it was no big deal. 

nico had told the guys about three weeks ago because they saw the ultrasound in his locker. which in response had you getting multiple text messages from some of the girls all sounding very similar to “i thought y’all were just friends?” 

“when is this?” you asked, knowing you would need to get an outfit ready.

“next saturday, we have no game.” nico replied simply

“that’s in a week!” you shrieked, when you went maternity clothes shopping that did not involve any dresses.

“yeah, so you better get working on that list.”

+++

it only took you ten minutes to make the list because all you had to do was transfer it from a google doc, where it was already made but just titled as your shopping list, to a spreadsheet where people could claim a gift to give you, nico, and the baby.

it was a list with the basics. a stroller, breast pump, car seat (preferably one that went with the stroller), bed sheets, clothes, the essentials to keep a newborn alive, but you also had other things like decor for the nursery toys, and this bedside bassinet that your mother had been raving about since she saw it on facebook. you thanked god that your new room had a walk-in closet because that was going to be judith’s room. you weren’t even sure it was a closet because it was completely empty, no shelves or rods to hang anything on, it was more of a very small room, but it worked out better for you so you couldn’t complain.

you quickly went back to where the boys were, silently screaming as they made your bed completely wrong.

“please, oh please for the love of god, let me make my bed.” you begged nico, genuinely astonished that they had managed to put your pillows in the wrong order and put your comforter on inside out.

“i thought i told you to make your list?” nico said.

“i already finished. it was easy.” you said as you began stripping your bed of everything on it. “i just put down everything i already had on my shopping list…and then some because i know my friends are gonna wanna get me multiple things.”

you made sure to stare jack down as you put your comforter on the correct way before you placed your pillows in the correct order as well as the blankets at the end of your bed.

nico was quick to rush you back into the living room, turning on a movie for you to watch. you quickly got bored, which meant you quickly got hungry.

“nico!” you yelled out, needed your baby daddy to come to your rescue.

“yes honey?” nico approached where you were lying down, the two brothers laughing at their captain.

“i’m hungry.” you gave him a hopeful smile. “for taco bell…” “you’re order still the same as it was last time?” nico didn’t even hesitate to grab his shoes and keys. 

“yes, but if they have nacho fries please get those too.” you answered, nico had basically all of your fast food orders memorized by now.

“nico can i get some food too?” jack asked in a girly voice.

“please honey!” luke added.

“fuck off you two, go finish putting her clothes away.

+++

soon enough you had dragged nico out to go shopping for a dress for your baby shower. luke and jack had left shortly after nico arrived back home with your food and once you finished eating you got nico to drive you to the mall.

“ooh what about this one?” you pulled out a simple floral dress.

“it’s nice, but it’s only march. don’t you think it’ll be too cold for a tank top?” nico spoke, reminding you that it was still freezing cold in new jersey.

a few minutes later you approached where nico was sat in a chair with a dress you thought would be more appropriate. 

“what about this? i love the pink.” it was basically a dupe of the skims long sleeve dress, but you didn’t really care. “we’ll have to find a polo that matches the color while we’re out.”

nico approved of the dress so you were quick to go to the checkout and buy the dress, excited about the event that was going to happen, after you pulled nico into the closest department store and found a polo that was close enough to the shade of pink of your dress. 

“how are you gonna tell the media about…this whole thing?” you asked on the way home.

“what whole thing?” nico questioned, not exactly understanding what you meant.

“the fact that you knocked up some chick, who you are now living with to raise the baby, but you aren’t together with said chick.” you deadpanned, thinking of all the reactions you knew you were going to get from the hockey world. you could already see the “baby trapper” and “gold digger” comments and dms you would get.

“i didn’t knock up some chick, i knocked up my…friend?” 

“yeah go with that, it sounded real believable nico.” you said sarcastically.

“look i don’t really know how to tell the world that i got my hook up/best friend pregnant because, as jack as told me multiple times, my pull out game is weak.” you laughed and agreed with jack that nico did in fact have a weak pull out game, the evidence was currently kicking you. 

after a few moments of silence nico spoke up again. “alright what if we don’t mention our relationship at all. we just make an instagram post together of images of the ultrasounds and pics from the baby shower and tell everyone that we are expecting. we definitely won’t post the gender reveal video because you look like you were planning my death in it, but we just make the post and don’t comment on our relationship.”

you had to admit that it was a good idea, but you already knew that this would make everyone assume that you were dating. most people did already, which you understood. you wore playoff jackets with nico’s name and number, you attend team events and parties together, hell you went to the nhl awards with him and his family, and you are super close with his family, so you were never upset that people assumed your relationship status with nico because you did everything that the other girlfriends and wives did.

“i like that idea.”

+++

“alright this gift is from me and jack.” luke spoke as he handed you a gift.

you were a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people looking at you and just simply being in your home, but you knew that these people were here for you and at the end of the day you were getting a shit ton of gifts. 

so far every single thing you had put on your list was gifted to you and now it was just things people thought you or the baby would like.

“oh you guys…i love it!” it was a wood wall decal of judith’s name and it matched the pink polkadot of her sheets.

“there is more under it.” jack spoke up. 

you lifted up the large sign and saw a baby onesie in maize and blue that said “future wolverine.”

you and your friends started laughing at it. 

“you guys do know that i went to ohio state right?”

you were met with a disgusted stare by the brothers, more specifically the youngest, only causing you to laugh harder, not noticing nico’s pissed off expression, the one he had on his face all day.

+++

you continued to open up gifts and thank everyone, nico was one writing duty so he wrote down each gift and who it was from so you could send them thank you cards later in the week.

once presents were done it was photo time. you took lots with your family and nico’s family, as well as some with your friends, and of course you had to keep the tradition going with the girls from the team and took a picture of everyone pointing at your belly.

you only took a couple with nico, as he had been oddly distant all day.

after everyone left you and nico began moving everything into judith’s nursery and setting things up.

“thank you for setting that up, i had a lot of fun.” you spoke up, interrupting the awkward silence that was looming around you two.

nico nodded as he finished building the crib, you were given the simple task of putting all the wipes and diapers in the changing table’s cabinet.

“so once we’re done do you want to make the instagram post? or were you wanting to wait until after judith was born to post?” it was awkward, nico was just sitting there once the crib was all set up. “...nico?”

you were met with silence, nico was staring at you, yet not speaking.

“okay what the hell is up with you today? you’ve been weird all day, the only time you were even interacting with me was during pictures.” you had snapped, getting aggravated by the swiss’ behavior today.

“it’s nothing i just…” nico started speaking, but trailed off quickly.

“are you having second thoughts about all of this?” you whispered, scared to say it too loudly, scared that it is the truth. “second thoughts about judith?”

nico’s head instantly shook. “no, of course not.”

“then what’s wrong?”

“it’s nothing, i’m just not feeling the greatest and i didn’t want to risk you getting sick so i tried to keep my distance from you…” nico lied.

earlier, when the party was first starting, nico had overheard your conversation with your friends about how you couldn’t wait to give birth so you can start going out on dates and having meaningless hookups, saying that you missed being a twenty two year old who could do twenty two year old things. 

nico understood you had urges, hell he had his urges too. over the course of your pregnancy you and nico had the occasional…hang out, but ever since you moved it was happening once, sometimes twice, a day. he thought it meant something, he thought you guys were finally going somewhere, but it seemed like you just wanted to go back to how things were before, which would probably be impossible, you have a fucking kid togther.

nico had realized a year ago that he had feelings for you. the only reason he didn’t go full legal team on your ass when you told him you were pregnant was because of how desperately he had fallen for you.  

“oh, well you could’ve just told me that earlier, i was worried that i had done something.” you said before an awkward silence settled in the room. “well could you put all the sheets and clothes we got today in the washer? i’m gonna start on thank you notes in the living room.”

you shook off the tension as you exited the small room, nico gathering everything that needed to be washed in a small basket before going into the laundry room.

+++

“i don’t like that, why don’t we just wait to post until she is born to post everything, have the caption just be judith? i think that's better than a three hundred word rant that could be summarized by i knocked up my friend.” 

three weeks until you were due to pop and you and nico still hadn’t gone public with the pregnancy. of course the wag blogs found a way to get a hold of a picture of you and nico from earlier on in the pregnancy where people could only speculate whether or not you were with child or just had a large lunch and somehow it got out that you had moved in with nico, only furthering the rumors that had been going on for years that you and nico are more than just friends. 

“okay. let’s wait until she comes to post, but i don’t like that caption, let’s keep thinking.” nico replied, the devil’s PR team email staring back at him. “they want us to publicize it before someone else does it for us.”

“well it’s a good thing i’m chained to this bed until i go into labor.” you joked, you were so big you could barely sit up let alone walk anywhere. “no one is going to find out, don’t worry. it will all be okay.”

+++

two weeks later you had been having contractions all day, but dr.swarn said to not go to the hospital until your water had broke because these contractions could’ve been directly connected to stress. considering that your pregnancy was exposed three days ago, you would say that you were pretty stressed out.

one of the girls, not even thinking, had posted a photo dump on instagram to celebrate the devil’s season ending and included one from your baby shower. nico, you, and unborn judith right in the center of it all. it was quickly taken down, but the damage had already been done and now all of nico’s and your social medias were being flooded by comments. 

nico was currently at locker cleanout, and the meeting he had to have with the PR team to apologize for not listening to them and to set up a game plan to rescue him from whatever deepshit this was going to get him in was scheduled for right after.

you were laid down on the kitchen floor, your mother was somewhere in the living room timing your contractions. you were having a big contraction, holding onto the nearby chair leg for support, when you felt a gush of liquid puddle under you. 

“MOM!?” you yelled out, your water had just broke.

“sweetie!? what’s going on- OH LORD!” your mother scrambled to get you on your feet as you cried out in pain. “let me get the bag!” you had never seen your mom run so fast, you would’ve laughed at her nearly tripping if it wasn’t for the child threatening the slip out at any moment.

you were assisted into the backseat of your mother’s car as she drove to the hospital.

“if you could step on it, that would be great i’m kinda-” your sarcastic comment was cut off by another contraction. “nico…oh my god nico! i need to call him!”

you fished around the packed bag until you got a grip on your phone, dialing up nico as quickly as possible.

“i’m sorry but the number you reached is not available. please leave a message at the sound of the beep.”

you groaned loudly, speaking into the phone. 

“your child is currently in the process of being born, i’m at the hospital closest to the arena. please hurry.”

+++

you laid in the weirdly comfortable hospital bed, not yet fully dilated. it worked out in your favor because nico had yet to show up. you left a couple text messages and then a few more voicemails.

“i don’t know what the fuck your doing right now, but if judith is born before you get here your last name will not be on the birth certificate.” you said into the microphone, leaving the third voicemail of the day.

nico’s entire family was flying in next week and nico had made sure that he had all of next week off from any media or anything related to hockey so he could be there for the birth, but now judith was coming early and no one but your mother was here.

dr.swarn entered your hospital room again, she had arrived shortly after you because you had paged her the second you got into the car. “how are we doing momma?”

“not good, baby daddy is nowhere to be seen and i’m still not dilated enough to get this monster out of me.” you answered, setting your phone down beside you.

after a few moments dr.swarn smiled. “well i’m sorry about nico’s absence, but judith is ready to come out. you’re ready to push.”

+++

you don’t remember much, the epidural had kicked in. 

you remember holding onto your mom’s hand so hard that she yelped in pain at one point.

you remember cursing nico for not only doing this to you, but not being there for you.

you remember crying, a lot, and you remember judith crying a lot too.

you remember holding judith for the first time. both of your tears stopped for just a moment as you had skin on skin contact.

you whimpered as they took her away for cleaning, but soon she was wrapped up and you were able to hold her again. 

you remember the sound of footsteps and a thick swiss accent begging to be let into the room, continuously yelling that he was the father. your mother was quick to go into the hall and defend nico from the nurses saying he couldn’t go into the room, and as soon as nico saw you holding judith he began crying. 

“y/n i am so so sorry, i was-”

“where the hell were you!? i just had to give birth to our daughter without the father there!” you scolded the man.

“i put my phone at the bottom of my bag during locker cleanout and didn’t even think to take it out before my meeting with management. i got here as fast as i could.” nico had to catch his breath while he spoke.

“i was all alone…” you teared up, all of your emotions catching up to you again.

“i know. i know baby and i’m so sorry.” nico said, coming to your side. “can i hold her?”

you were too distracted by nico calling you baby, well more specifically by the feeling in your stomach, to answer with words. you just nodded and handed judith over. “be careful, and make sure to support her head.”

you smiled at the sight of nico holding judith, tears in his eyes, quickly taking a picture.

“were you serious about my name not being on the birth certificate?”

+++

once everything had settled down and you and nico were finally given some alone time in the hospital room you began making calls.

your mom had already messaged your families group chat, informing them of judith’s birth and sending pictures, so now you just had to call nico’s family. first was his mother, you had wanted to call her before you went into labor but it was around midnight for her and you didn’t want to wake her up.

she was so happy to hear from you, and you had never heard such an excited scream in your life when you turned the camera onto where judith was currently sleeping in your arms, nico having moved to lay behind you in the bed, his chest being your pillow.

“oh you have to call nina next, she has been so excited to become an aunt!”

that’s exactly what you two did.

facetime nina was fun, she gave you some much needed comic relief and she didn’t make any comments on yours and nico’s relationship…while he was in the room.

the second nico stepped out of the room nina was quick to ask when the wedding was.

“never gonna happen. i don’t like nico like that, and he doesn’t like me like that.” you said while putting judith back in that plastic jail they call a crib. “we’re here to talk about my gorgeous daughter who looks a little too much like nico for my liking.”

“ouch.” 

your head whipped around to see nico standing at the door. “your back early.” you were hoping he didn’t hear what you had said earlier. lately nico had been acting insanely weird everytime someone brought up your relationship with one another.

“the nurse was just outside, she’s gonna go finish the final paperwork and we’ll probably be out of here in the next hour.” nico said before turning back around. “i’m gonna go help out with the discharge papers.”

once he left you let out a groan. “nina why is your brother acting so weird?”

“what’s up with him?” she asked, curiously.

“ever since the baby shower he has just been…off. i don’t even know how to explain it.” you  started off, beginning to pace around the room. “he is so distant, and really out of it. i would think it might just be with the upsetting ending of the season, but this has been going on since before the playoffs. he keeps saying that he is sick and doesn’t want to expose me to germs, but i live with him and i haven’t even heard him sneeze from allergies.”

“do you think, and i hate to ask this, that he is having regrets about…everything?” 

you felt tears fill your eyes at her question. “yeah, i do. i asked him, and he denied it, but i can’t think of any other reason why he would distance himself from me and from judith.”

the lack of response from your friend on the phone was enough to make you start crying.

“i have my essentials packed up and my mom has a lawyer on speed dial just in case something happens…” you felt horrible having to admit this, especially to his sister. “i don’t want the lawyers, it’s my moms doing.” you felt guilty for what having a lawyer would be implying. 

“-i’m not judging you. just make sure nico doesn’t find out, i have a feeling he won’t be a fan of you even having a bag packed.” nina cut you off. “look i have to go, just keep me updated.”

you assured her you would before saying your goodbyes.

+++

“hey you just have to sign the discharge papers and the birth certificate, then we can leave.” nico said, entering the hospital room you had been in for the past couple of hours.

it had been around twenty minutes since you said goodbye to nina, deciding to finish phone calls tomorrow and instead spend your time crying while holding your crying newborn, best way to bond right?

“okay.” you sniffled. “could you put judith in her carseat? i’m gonna change.”

bond right?

“okay.” you sniffled. “could you put judith in her carseat? i’m gonna change.”

nico nodded and picked judith up from the hospital’s crib, holding her close to his chest and staring at her in awe. he couldn’t believe that this precious little girl was his.

“i’m always going to love and protect you, no matter what. your mother too. someday we’ll be a happy family, the three of us, hopeful gannon will join us sometime soon…” nico trailed off. “daddy loves you and he loves mommy too, you’re the two most important women in my life now, don’t you ever forget that…your mommy does a lot.” 

nico couldn’t finish his peptalk, or whatever one would call the conversation with his daughter, because you had stepped out of the bathroom changed and ready to go. “are you okay?” it was obvious that you were crying, you don’t know why you were even trying to hid it. 

“i’m fine, just emotional…just gave birth ya know.” you tried to laugh it off.

nico didn’t believe it. “we’ll talk when we get home.” 

+++

“why have you been acting so weird-”

“i overheard what you said-”

you and nico spoke at the same time, nico gesturing for you to go first.

“you overheard!?” you were convinced you were breaking a sweat from how panicked you had become in an instant. “look nico, the lawyer was my mother’s idea a-and i haven’t even actually talked to them yet, my mother just has them on retainer.”

“wait, what!?” nico stared at you with a look that scared you. “i was talking about what you said at your baby shower. you have a lawyer!? do you have all your things packed too so you’re ready to leave me and take judith with you!?” your silence only made nico angrier. “oh my god you do have your shit packed.”

“j-just the essentials…” you stuttered out.

“yeah because that makes a difference.” nico had distanced himself from you. “i cannot believe this.”

“i only did that stuff because for the past month it's seemed like the last thing you wanted was to be in mine and judith’s life!” your loud voices woke judith up, her loud wails only making the room more tense. you picked her up and tried to soothe her as you spoke to nico. “i’m only gonna ask you one more time nico, do you regret being with me and deciding to be in judith’s life?” 

“no. i do not regret it y/n.” nico spoke sternly.

“then why the hell are you treating us this way?” 

“because i am in love with you.”

your eyes widened in shock and you nearly lost your grip on judith from the whiplash that seemed to go through your body.

“you…what!?” 

it was essentially a stare down between the two of you, it was so uncomfortable in the room that even judith shut her mouth. 

“i have for a year now, probably longer, a-and i thought that judith would finally be my way into your heart. i thought that me being there for you, and for our daughter, would make you love me too.” nico’s tone of voice was one of a kicked puppy. 

“what are you doing?” you asked, not pleased with what he was throwing onto you. “why are you telling me this?” 

“i just needed you to know.” nico whispered his response, not expecting that reaction.

“so you’ve been in love with me for a year now?” nico nodded at your question. “so how does that add up to you treating me like some gold digging whore who got pregnant on purpose for the past month?” 

“i’m not-” nico let out a heavy sigh. “at your baby shower you said you couldn’t wait for everything to get back to how it was before the pregnancy.”

“yeah, so?”

“so!? you’ve basically been counting down the days until you’re able to fuck someone else, while i’ve been doing everything in my power to prove myself to you that i am worthy of being more than just the guy you fuck when no one else is available.” nico grew angry, if this was a cartoon steam would be coming out of his ears.

“i didn’t ask for you to do that nico! i was happy with how things were before judith, is it so wrong to want that back?” you were equally as angry. who was he to make you feel guilty about not being in love with him?

“yes it is! you are a mother now y/n, you are not allowed to be irresponsible anymore. you have to take care of two lives now-”

“are you not going to be helping me!?” you interrupted nico.

“when i can, yes i will, but i have a job that keeps me away a lot.” 

you rolled your eyes at his words. “you are not allowed to dictate my love life just because you knocked me up.”

you didn’t know if you should be thankful or agitated that judith decided to start crying at that moment, but either way you started your slight bouncing movements back up to try and settle my daughter, as odd as it was to use that term in a real scenario, and tried to find those parental instincts everyone was always talking about.

“she’s probably hungry.”

“i didn’t ask you…but thank you i will try that.”

+++

the first night with judith was rough. as much as nico wanted to, he couldn’t leave you alone and retreat off to the hughes’, both because if his mother found out, and she would, he might as well get his obituary ready in advance and he just could not handle the torture the brothers would put him through.

it was like your daughter had a sixth sense for when you were just about to fall asleep, choosing those exact moments to cry out for something. you never knew what she wanted, always going through the same order of “milk, diaper change, pacifier, cuddles, burping, scenery change, and clothing change” until one of them worked. 

nico slept on the couch, it was close enough to your room where if judith began to cry he would hear it and wake up. he was going to stay in your room with you and judith, but after the blowup of him confessing his feelings and you borderline rejecting him things it got a bit awkward. still now, almost twenty four hours later you and nico hadn’t had a proper conversation let alone spoken about what had happened. 

you were on the phone with nina for a while, then your mother, then nina and your mother, both of them giving you their advice but following it up with “just listen to your heart.”, so it was all canceled out in your mind. 

you turned to your newborn, who was staring at you from her little bed next to yours. “judith what am i supposed to do? your daddy, the one with the funny voice, is so amazing and sweet. he treats me like a princess, so why am i struggling so much to figure out what i want with him?” 

judith stared at you with those large brown eyes, a small look of adoration on her face. 

“i love you.” you whispered to her. “-and i love your father too.” 

you sat up in bed, eyes widening at your revelation. you love nico. 

“oh judith, thank you for listening to your mommy!”

you hopped out of bed, rushing into the living room. “nico! nico! nico! nic-”

“what!? what's wrong!? is judith alright!?” nico basically jumped off of the couch, worried that something had happened.

“she’s fine, everything is fine…well not everything it’s just.” you took a moment to look at nico, the lighting was horrible yet he still looked amazing. “i love you too nico.”

there was a silence that followed, it wasn’t awkward or filled with tension, just a calm silence. 

you blinked and then suddenly nico’s lips were on yours. 

the sound of judith’s cries separated your lips and caused you both to race to your bedroom.

spoiler alert: nothing was wrong with judith, she was just crying to cry. 

nico’s arms were wrapped around you and were holding you into his chest as you both laughed. 

“so what now? are we dating? getting married?” you asked, leaning your head against nico’s shoulder. 

“as much as i would love to get married right now, we’ll start with dating…so will you be my girlfriend?” nico asked, mumbling against your head and giving light kisses every now and then.

“yes, i will be your girlfriend.”

“yes!” 

you laughed at his response, judith held in both of your arms. “let’s go to bed, she’s finally asleep.”

+++

nicohischeir and y/nonfilm

nicohischier me, my girlfriend, and our beautiful babygirl. welcome to the world judith.

view all 17 comments

jackhughes god father mode activated😎

y/nonfilm …who said you were the god father?

ninahischier best day ever!! i got a niece and a sister 🩷🩷

njdevils baby hischier alert‼️

comments on this post have been limited

+++

note: i 100% HATE this ending (the whole thing actually) it’s so rushed and just bleh, but i have literally been working on this for 71 days. SEVENTY ONE DAYS. college has been kicking my ass lately so i haven’t been very focused on writing anything. but i hope y’all still like this PLEASE DON’T LET IT FLOP i’ll cry. okay love y’all babes BYEEEE!!!

[ki-yomii]

tongue technology | myg, jjk

➥ pairing | min yoongi x f!reader x jeon jungkook

➥ word count | 2.2k

➥ warning(s) | 🔞 smut; dirty talk, praise kink, implied established relationship, threesome, oral (f & m receiving), dry humping, soft dom!yoongi

➥ summary | yoongi teaches jungkook how to eat out his girl.

➥ notes | i wrote this when i was drunk (and horny). min yoongi has been wrecking me ever since i went to his newark show, sorry not sorry

💚 masterlist | inbox | AO3 💚

Throughout Jungkook’s life there’ve been several times when he’s doubted if his hyungs really did know best.

Though he’s got to admit, now that he finds himself naked and belly down on a mattress with his head shoved between your splayed thighs after months of hopeless pining, there might be a kernel of wisdom to that whole ‘respect your elders’ thing after all.

Never in a million years did he think the opportunity to indulge in the fantasies he’s had of Yoongi-hyung’s cute girlfriend-not-girlfriend would drop into his lap - quite literally.

Apparently he’s not the only one who noticed the way you look at him when you think no one else’s paying attention.

He thought it was a joke at first.

Left flushed and ashamed as his hyung leaned back in his chair with a mean little smirk, his arm low around your waist while his fingers teased at the hemline of your skirt, his low voice rough with amusement when he asked how long Jungkook’s wanted to touch, taste, take what was his.

It was all a blur after that, but with every muffled little whimper he drags from your throat with his tongue - the pretty noises leaving him flustered and sweating as he ruts his cock into the mattress - he cares less and less about the how, and more about the when.

“Shit, that’s it. Just like that, princess.”

Kneeling by the headboard, Yoongi tosses his head back with a groan. The sharp cut of his jaw flexes as he grits his teeth, your tongue curling around the hard length of his cock while your lips mouth at the swollen head.

Strong fingers pinch and pluck at your nipples until they’re puffy and sore, twisting harsh every time you feed another inch of cock into your throat just to feel the ripple of tight muscles as you gasp and gag.

Cooing, Yoongi glances down the line of your body to spear Jungkook with a heated look, his eyes dark and greedy.

“She’s such a good girl.”

A callous-rough thumb strokes over your distended cheek, tracing along the outline of his cockhead pressing through your skin.

“Isn’t she, Kook?”

“Mm…”

Panting, Jungkook’s slow to pull away from the heat between your thighs, his tongue flicking out to lick up the sticky mess you’ve made of his lips and chin.

Dragging his thumbs down the length of your slit, Jungkook smears the mess of slick and spit into your skin.

Then spreads you open to watch how your abused clit throb once, twice in neglect. His gut clenching hotly when your hips buck in protest as you whine around the mouthful of Yoongi’s cock.

Your pussy’s so sloppy and desperate to cum - and it’s all because of him.

Fuck.

Huffing, he slides his broad palms over the backs of your thighs, touch firm and unyielding as he pins your knees back.

The new angle tilts your hips up, opens up the cradle of your pelvis so every inch of you is exposed to his wandering, greedy gaze.

“She’s so fucking pretty, hyung.”

When he speaks, Jungkook’s voice is shot - hoarse, and weighted down by arousal as he strokes along your folds softly, reverently. He’s so keyed up he doesn’t know what to do, or where to settle his grip.

God, he wants to touch, kiss, suck every inch of your body. Wants to feel you come light up under him, your taste heavy on his tongue and the heat of your skin warm on his lips as he gets you rutting and desperate. Wants to make it so, so good for you.

And who better to guide him than-

“Hyung, please.”

So desperate he’s left feeling faint, so hard it hurts where his cock digs into the mattress, leaks all over the sheets. Almost feels like he’s about to cry from how much he aches, burns, wants.

There’s so much he wants to show you - too much - all at once.

He’s wanted and waited for so long.

Doesn’t even know where to start, desire crackling through him like wild fire, burning so hot and bright through his limbs he trembles.

Like a cooling stream, Yoongi leans over your head to rub a hand over the cap of Jungkook’s shoulder, his fingers light on the nape of his neck. Something unclenches in his chest, his lungs tight as he inhales long and deep.

“That’s it, Kook. Hyung’s right here, just breathe. We’re not going anywhere, don’t be afraid to take your time. Start easy, work up to more. Just do what feels natural, okay?”

The nod Jungkook gives is stilted, but the low, whiskey rough command helps calm some of the frantic energy buzzing in his chest.

Start easy - he can do that, no problem.

You squirm, hips tilting up in invitation as the soft sounds of you kissing and sucking echo through the room.

You mumble something unintelligible but the warm rush of arousal that slicks the insides of your thighs anew does all the talking for you.

Jungkook groans, the sound caught in his throat, “Shit.”

Steeling his nerves, he ducks down to skim delicate kisses and tender bites up your inseam, his rapid breaths ghosting over your pussy as he works his way higher and higher.

Every press of his lips feels like an offering, reverent and worshipping.

When he finally, finally kisses you directly on your oversensitive clit, you nearly bite off Yoongi’s dick and shoot of the bed - nerves alight with bottled lightening as pleasure rushes from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.

Hand slapping at Yoongi’s thigh for purchase, you arch your back and moan, long and loud. Jungkook pauses, and Yoongi doesn’t miss a beat.

“Shh, princess.” Long fingers stroke the side of your face, sweep away stray hairs from your sweat-slick brow. “Let Kook take care of you. It’s alright, keep going.”

Not needing to be told twice, the maknae continues without preamble, his tongue snaking out to eagerly lap at the length of your pussy, chasing after the taste of your slick.

His lips curl around your swollen clit on the upstroke, sucking the tender flesh into the wet heat of his mouth.

Quiet, pleasure drunk slurs of your name mumbled into your skin as Jungkook does his best to show you how good he can be.

“Mm, good job playing with her clit like that, Kook. Just keep taking it nice and slow,” Yoongi says. “She’ll be dripping in no time, but don’t be afraid to get a little messy. She loves it sloppy. Don’t you?”

You pop off of Yoongi’s cock with a wet gasp, his shaft twitching heavy on your tongue, lipstick smeared and mouth swollen, “A-ah, fuck yes. Just like that J-Jungkook!”

Hands flying down between your thighs, you sink your fingers into the soft silk of his hair and tug, needing something to anchor you down lest you shatter into a million pieces.

Yoongi’s cock drags down the length of your cheek, trails of spit and precum making your skin wet and tacky.

“Oh, god - I can’t - fuck, fuck - please don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

Your head is spinning, mind blissfully blank as all your focus narrows down to the enthusiastic tongue thrusting as deep as it can do. Words a slurred mess as your chest heaves with ragged pants.

“Doing s’good for me, baby. Just like I knew you would.”

“Careful, Kook,” Yoongi says, “I’m starting to feel a little left out. Might just have to get my own taste of her pretty pussy, huh.”

Fingers dancing along the swell of your breast, Yoongi waits until your eyes roll back to pinch at a peaked nipple, dragging his nail over the sensitive flesh.

He watches as you writhe, gaze heavy with intent and charged with expectation.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Electricity sparks down your spine, and you moan shamelessly in agreement because wow - you’d kill to feel that talented, rapid fire tongue in your pussy alongside Jungkook’s eager lips kissing your clit, their tongues tangled together and playing in your slick as they made you cum over and over again until the sheets were drenched and you shook with pleasure.

“Please,” you beg, “Want it - want it so much. Wanna cum. Please let me cum.”

Jungkook hums, the sound vibrating through you and almost making you sob. So, so close. Every messy flick of your clit, every hollow-cheeked suck of your folds builds the bubble of pleasure until you’re a jittery mess.

His raw enthusiasm makes up for any lack in skill, and you try to stay still - Yoongi trained you well, after all - but it can’t be helped.

Every woman’s got her limits, and once you start grinding back against Jungkook’s sweet face, glancing down to see the flushed tops of his cheeks and fever-bright eyes, you can’t stop.

Yoongi’s cock gives another throb against the heated skin of your cheek, and when you look up, your breath catches in your throat.

When he first propositioned you, you weren’t sure how to feel - how he’d feel seeing you with another man (even if it was one you both have a soft spot for) - but now you see you worried for nothing.

Because he’s just as enamored with the sight of the maknae between your thighs as you are, his gaze burning with hunger, his eyes half-lidded and so fucking dark they look black.

Your stomach swoops and your pussy clenches, the sudden desperation to have his cock heavy on your tongue again so strong your mouth waters.

“Yoongi,” you breathe, nuzzling the side of his shaft as you press open-mouthed kisses to the head, “Fuck my mouth.”

Fingers brush the curve of your cheek, “Whatever you want, princess.”

The first few thrusts are ginger, rhythm slow as you softly gag on his cockhead but it’s not long before he builds up speed, his hips snapping forward fluidly, the softness of his pelvis digging into the tip of your nose with how deep he grinds in.

It’s alright, he knows you can take it. He’s the one who taught you how to, after all.

“Shit, you look so good right now. Feels so good. Such a good fucking girl for me, aren’t you?”

Jungkook’s hands inch up to cradle the jut of your hips, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles into the soft flesh of your belly.

His tongue works at your gummy walls, spearing deep on the down-stroke and twisting over your aching clit on the upstroke.

Your pussy throbs, and your throat burns, tears clinging to your lashes.

Your nails drag down the pale skin of Yoongi’s thighs, his hips hitching forward in retaliation. He cusses low and rough when you gag, your spit dripping down his shaft to soak his balls.

“You take it so well for me. How’d I get so lucky, huh? Shit.”

Knuckles bump your chin when Yoongi fists a hand around the base of his cock, his brow pinched and his jaw clenched.

“’m close. Gonna cum all over that pretty face.”

He’s not the only one.

You’re so fucking close to the edge you can taste it, and when you glance down at Jungkook, you feel like you got sucker punched. All the air rushes from your lungs, your head swimming.

Dark strands of hair stick to his forehead with sweat, his eyes closed as he sucks and laps at your messy pussy, rutting against the mattress in desperation.

When his eyes snap open to capture yours, the absolute hunger you see in them is your undoing.

Thighs clenching around his ears, you cum with a full body jerk, hands scrambling to push his head away as your clit throbs in time with your thundering heartbeat.

A wave of heat rushes through you, your toes curling hard. The world whites out as your fingers go numb and start to tingle. It’s a mini eternity before you’re sagging against the mattress, bones liquified.

Above you, Yoongi’s chest shudders with every breath, his mouth slack and muscles clenching. His cum drips down your cheeks in thick stripes, catching at the curve of your panting mouth.

When your tongue darts out to lick up what you can, he groans - a low, broken sound.

“Fuck, you’re gonna kill me one day.”

Jungkook’s no better, face smashed into the meat of your thigh. Hot air puffs against your skin, his broad frame shuddering.

Turned on his side as he is, you can see the mess he’s made on the sheets, cum still pulsing weakly from the head of his softening cock.

He moans softly when you reach down to brush your fingers over the back of his sweaty neck, drawling little swirls on his skin in quiet thanks.

“Well, that was fun,” Yoongi says with a groan, flopping down next to you. “But if I don’t get to sleep within the next 10 minutes, I’m killing both of you.”

Tossing an arm around your waist, he tugs you into his chest, the action jostling Jungkook who’s started to crawl up the bed to settle onto your other side with a half dead groan.

Another arm, thicker and just as secure in its grip, joins the other and you find yourself pressed between two bodies.

You’d normally mind the sweat and bodily fluids, but exhaustion tugs at your eyes and you silently promise yourself you’ll just take a really long shower in the morning.

If your bedpartners let you get that far before messing you up again.

Jungkook mumbles both your names and what sounds like a slurred thank you, his voice muffled and faraway as his face snuggles into the hollow of your throat before he’s dropping off with a snore.

“G’night.”

[lovecla]

TAKE YOUR PAIN AWAY | quinn hughes.

chapter ten:

<last chapter> <next chapter>

➴ chapter warnings: mentions of gaining weight, body shaming, mentions of drug use, toxic mom, body issues.

➴ word count: 2.9k

💌 from me to you: i CANNOT stress this enough: please read the story’s warnings before reading this chapter — or any of them, really. this is heavy, i did not hold back. if any of the topics in the warnings make you feel uncomfortable do NOT read! i wrote this chapter with my heart in my hands but unfortunately this is what maddie needs to grow. thank u for reading and be careful ♡

౨ৎ

2024, MAY.

SIGHTING, YOU stared at the clock on your wall, reading the time: three thirty-three in the morning.

Bella snored happily beside you, sleeping like the dead, while you have been awake for more than fifteen hours straight.

It wasn’t like you aren’t tired, no, you are. You had spent a long day on set, taking pictures in crazy locations like in the middle of one of Vancouver’s busiest avenues, and recording enough social media content for the rest of your career— only ideally, because in reality you knew that you’d have to record more the next week.

You kept recalling the things Luke told you two days ago, at Jack’s birthday dinner, and you hated every second of it. For the rest of the weekend you tried to keep the mood light and happy, but you knew Quinn wasn’t dumb and he knew something was up. He asked you a million times if there was anything he could do or if he should go after Luke and tell him to apologize for yelling at you the way he did, but you just smiled and shook your head no.

Quinn couldn’t go after Luke because you knew that if he did, Luke would tell him what really happened, and even if Quinn does like you, there was no way he wouldn’t agree with his little brother’s words.

Because you didn’t need to be a genius to realize that Luke’s right, and you do have issues with accepting love in your life. At the time Luke said it to your face, you were so angry you didn’t realize that it was the sad, unwanted truth.

All these years, you’ve been trying to feel normal, accept what people gave you and move on with it. But it had never crossed your mind that people could tell it was hard for you to accept feelings, good feelings.

You were used to people getting mad at you, you were used to mean comments on Instagram, used to harsh words coming from your parents and used to your brother’s lack of interest in you, because it was easy to understand. You weren’t someone easy to deal with, therefore this was their only way of reaching you.

But good, loving words? How could you explain someone giving you love and asking for nothing back? How could you explain the way Quinn and his parents and brothers treated you, a complete stranger that happened to be their neighbor, but they opened their doors for you nonetheless?

How could you explain the way Quinn took care of you (and Bella), making sure you had a healthy routine, eating healthy meals and sleeping enough? How could you explain the way he helped you shower after a make out session, scrubbing your body with gentle hands, drying your hair and giving you his clothes because he knew you liked them?

You couldn’t explain any of his actions and it scared you to death. How could someone be so kind to a person like you?

Hours later, you stood in your kitchen, looking at another text coming from Quinn.

After he drove you home after you both arrived from Newark, two days ago, you hadn’t seen him. You were thankful for his away games and for your busy schedule, because then he wouldn’t see you like this.

You had thought about giving it a try, and telling Quinn that you wanted to be his, you wanted to be able to call him yours. But after Luke’s words, you realized that you weren't ready for it. And you didn’t want to hurt any of them, like you have been doing unconsciously all this time.

The doorbell rang, making you snap out of it and flinch. You looked around your kitchen, listening to Bella’s loud barks and sighing. You walked to the door, ready to tell whoever it was to go to hell and close the door on their face. But—

“Mom?” the disbelief in your voice could almost be comical, if it wasn’t sad.

Your mom stood in front of your door in all her glory, high heels and slick bun making her look so elegant. She had a frown on her face, as she always did whenever she looked at you. But this time, she wasn’t frowning at you; it was at Bella.

Oh, right, you think, calling Bella’s name, Mom doesn’t like dogs.

Bella promptly listened to you, probably sensing that your mom wasn’t a fan of animals. It was their first time meeting each other and it was already bad.

“Madison,” your mom greets you, getting inside your apartment, holding a giant Givenchy shopping bag. She places it on your coffee table, analyzing your apartment with judgy eyes. “I’m here to see you, since you never invited me over, not even once, since you moved back home.”

Her tone was anything but hurt. She wasn’t aching because you had never invited her over, no. She probably just wanted to make you feel bad, and, well. She succeeded.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize, patting Bella’s fluffy head, looking for some kind of support. “It must have slipped my mind.”

She scoffs, sitting on your couch with the mannerisms of a royal. “You were probably too busy with that boyfriend of yours, no?”

“Boyfriend?” you ask, confusion taking over your face. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, please, Madison, we’ve been here before,” she rolls her eyes. “I knew that getting you back in touch with that little family was a bad thing, but your father wanted to invite them that night for dinner, so what could I possibly have done to prevent it?”

“Don’t— don’t talk like that about them,” you plead, trying to sound brave. “And I’m not… I’m not dating Quinn.”

“Madison, people talk. Your name has been mentioned in websites, magazines, social media more times this month than in your entire career. Lord, even more than when you were the cover of Vogue.”

You bite your lip, not sure of what you could say. It wasn’t like you and Quinn hadn’t seen some of the comments talking about you two being a couple, but you could only think of the way he laughed at some of them.

“Okay, okay, listen to this one,” you eagerly say, adjusting your body on top of his lap, his hands holding your waist in place. “‘Quinn, can you fight?’”

Quinn frowns, making you laugh. “They really think they’d win in a fight with me?”

“Well, a girl said this, so I guess you’re in hot waters,” you smile, scrolling down the comment section, looking for more funny comments. “Oh, this one’s pure gold: ‘I had never found Quinn attractive until Madison started fucking him’.”

“Am I supposed to feel flattered?” he smiles, and you shrug.

“I think I’m supposed to feel threatened by this,” you chuckle. “The amount of women calling you hot on my Instagram comment section is alarming.”

“It’s not worse than the men in my comments talking about you,” he kisses your cheek, sounding annoyed. “It’s crazy how we haven’t even posted anything together yet people are quick to assume we’re dating.”

You smile, giving him a peck on the tip of his nose. “Welcome to my world, baby.”

“Madison!”

Your mom’s loud voice brings you back to the present, something you immediately disliked. The memories you kept of your time with Quinn were your happiest ones.

“I’m sorry,” you move around the room, sitting on one of your chairs. “What were you saying?”

“I was saying that I brought you something I want you to wear at the Fashion’s gala next month,” she nods at the bag sitting on your table, making you cringe. “I’m giving a speech, and you have to be there.”

“Will Peter be there as well? Dad?” You ask, opening the bag in front of you.

“Of course they’ll be there, they’re not like you.”

You choose to ignore what she said, not wanting to get mad at her for nothing. If she wanted to compare you to them, like she’d done your entire life, then so be it.

You opened the bag, finding a beautiful black dress inside. It looked expensive, and knowing your mother, you already knew it was. But you had to confess, it was gorgeous.

“It’s beautiful, mom,” you whisper, carefully touching the fabric. “Thank you.”

“I want you to try it on.” She says, crossing her legs.

You chuckle. “Now? It’s only for next month, mom.”

“Now, Madison.” She leaves no room for complaints, and Bella growls softly beside you.

You nod once, looking at Bella and debating whether you should let her alone with your mom or not. In the end, your dog mom instincts spoke louder and you called her to come to the bedroom with you, leaving your mom alone in the living room.

Putting the dress on had been a nightmare, even for you, who were used to wearing all types of clothes. It squeezed your boobs in a hurtful way, and it made it almost impossible for you to breathe.

“What’s taking you so long, Madison?” Your mom yells from the living room, making you sigh, trying to zip the back of the dress by yourself. “Come here!”

You rolled your eyes, tired, and walked out of your bedroom, Bella behind you like a loyal guard. Your mom immediately put her eyes on you, gasping theatrically when she saw how the dress hadn’t zipped all the way in.

“Madison. Why…” she stops herself for a second before speaking again. “Why didn’t you zip it all the way up?”

You shrug, not giving much thought to it. “It doesn’t zip up. You probably got the wrong size or something.”

“Wrong size? Madison, that is your size. You…” she gets up, slowly making her way to you. You instinctively step back, not sure of what to expect of her. “You gained weight.” She says, like you had just confessed to her about murdering several people.

You look down at your own body, her words slowly making their way to your head.

Before you started seeing Quinn, you were obsessed with your weight, and it wasn’t exactly news to anyone. But you always blamed it on your job, because you had to look good twenty-four seven, so worrying about your appearance and eating just the right amount wasn’t anything crazy.

But then, Quinn re entered your life, and suddenly calories weren’t your biggest concern. That voice that lived in your head, annotating everything you ate, was gone for most part of the day.

And you probably got sloppy. Eating pizza for dinner, fast food whenever you or Quinn were too lazy to cook, chocolate bars everyday. And you never thought about it twice, because Quinn made you think about good things, things that weren’t related to your body.

He worshiped your body, even. Every time he got intimate with you, he’d always talk about how pretty, how gorgeous and sweet and beautiful you were. He kissed every inch of your body like he had a job to complete, and it made you feel loved. Cared. Good.

But now, as your mom stared at you and your dress with pure disgust in her face, it was like being woken up from a good dream. It was like going back to the days where she controlled everything you ate and everything you drank, weighing you everyday so she could make sure you weren’t being sloppy behind her back.

“I… I guess I did,” you mumble, wanting to get out of your own house as soon as possible. You wanted to be in Quinn’s warm, safe arms, away from all of these horrible thoughts.

“You guess you did?” Your mom scoffs. “Madison, look at yourself! You are fat!”

“I’m not fat, I’m just healthy,” You try to argue back, fighting the urge to shout. “I’ve been eating three meals a day and snacks, so that was probably it—”

“Three meals a day— are you insane?!” She raises her voice, her eyes staring down at you. “Have you weighed yourself lately?”

“No,” you whisper, feeling embarrassed by something that didn’t even make sense to you anymore.

“That’s why you look the way you look,” she starts walking around the room, hands in her head, looking more distressed than usual. “I can’t believe it. I spent your entire life trying to make sure you’d look good, you’d be perfect, you’d be just like me and look at you! Look at what you did with my work!”

“I’m not some kind of experiment, mom, I’m your daughter!” You shout back, already feeling the tears streaming down your face. “I’m your daughter. And yet you look at me and only see some distorted version of yourself, and I cannot—”

“Don’t you dare compare yourself to me, Madison,” she hisses again, pointing at you. “You’ll never be like me. I take care of myself and of what I love—”

“You don’t love anything, mom!” You yell, letting your tears fall down your face, tired of being in this family. Tired of being you. “I wish I could say you love yourself but you don’t, mom, and you made me just like you. You made me hate myself and hate everything I do, and you’re not even sorry for it!”

“Sorry for it? Madison, I made who you are today. You’re only famous because of me. Stop being ungrateful and start acting like the woman I raised you to be.”

You didn’t raise me, you wanted to tell her, you and dad were never home. You left me alone with thousands of sitters and Peter, who didn’t give a fuck about me.

“I never asked for any of this,” you run your fingers through your hair, fisting it between your fingers, harshly. “I never asked for you to plan my life for me, I never asked to be a model, or famous. All I wanted was you and dad and Peter to love me.”

She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest, the fabric of her expensive dress stretching. “Oh, stop it, Madison, you’re not the little girl you think you are. You’ll not gaslight me and make me think I’m a bad mom.”

You wipe your eyes with your hands. “What’s that even supposed to mean?”

“I’ll do what you want,” she straightens her head again, staring at you like you meant close to nothing to her. “If you want to be free of us so badly, then I’ll do what you want.”

“I never said—”

“You don’t need to talk to me or to your dad again, God, you don’t even have to talk to Peter if you don’t want to,” she grabs her purse from the couch, opening and looking for something. Once she found it, she placed it on the table, giving it a little push until it got closer to you. You eyed the package, not believing what you were seeing. “This is for you. Your dad talked to some people and... I don’t care if you want to be hideous and overweight, that’s on you for bringing shame to our name. But next month’s dinner is my last gala at Fashion before I retire. So I…” she closed her mouth, staring at you for a few seconds. “You need to be there. And this is me giving you a last chance of proving that you can accept my love for you.”

You lifted your head fast, staring at her with wet eyes and red nose.

“Accept… your love?” The word felt weird on your mouth, especially when you were using it in a conversation with your mom.

“Yes, Madison,” she sighs, like this whole encounter is making her exhausted. “My love for you. You think I do all of this just because I have nothing better to do?” She laughs, but you can tell it’s fake. “No, Madison. I do this because I love you, and I don’t want to see you alone and unwanted.”

This was the first time in years that you hear your mom telling you she loves you. Actually, you don’t even remember the last time she had said it, or even if she had said it before.

You didn’t know what to think. All this time, you wondered why you still did what your mom asked you to, even if you’re grown and responsible for yourself. But it all made sense now.

All this time, the only thing you’d wanted was for her to tell you that she loved you.

“No, you— you can’t just say shit like that, Luke. I know what love is.”

“I’m not saying you don’t, M, I’m just saying you don’t know how to accept it!”

“Will you…” you start, grabbing the bottle she left for you on the counter, reading the label, Phentermine. “Will it make you happy if I take these?”

She smiles, reaching out for your trembling hands for the first time in a while, her cold hands making you flinch. “Of course, Madison. And it’s only for a month. When I was your age, your grandma gave me something similar, and look at me! I’m just fine.”

You look at her hands on top of yours, holding the bottle too. Then, you look at her eyes, finally seeing what you had always wanted, something other than disgust and disappointment.

You nod, once and then twice, before taking the bottle with you, and trying to smile.

“Okay,” you whisper. “It’s only for a month, right?”

“It sure is,” she nods. “You’ll make me so proud.”

You smile through your tears, fighting back the need— want— of hugging her, knowing it was off limits.

It’s only for a month, you repeat in your head, countless times.

It’s only for a month.

taglist: @hischierswhore @ru-kru @alwaysclassyeagle @he6rtshaker @nope-i-am-done @nngkay 🤎

[estrellami-1]

Lavender Letters

Part 10

Eventually everyone leaves. Eventually Eddie stays behind, first with the pretense of helping Steve clean up, though that pretense is shattered the second Robin looks at Steve.

Chrissy’s taking her home, though, so it’s not like she has any rocks to throw.

They do clean up. The stereo is turned off, all bottles and glasses are taken to the kitchen, and all chip bowls—empty of everything but chip dust—are dumped into the trash. Eddie catches Steve at the sink, crowds him in, draws him upstairs.

Takes him apart slowly, reveling in his whines and writhes, breathless with want, with the thought that he gets this.

It’s after that Steve speaks up. “What is this?” He whispers. “What are we?”

Eddie tugs Steve in more securely, runs a hand through his hair. Smiles when Steve sighs, boneless on Eddie’s chest. “What do you want to be?”

Steve shakes his head. His hair tickles Eddie’s neck. His fingers tighten nearly imperceptibly around Eddie’s side, slotting in between his ribs. “I don’t want you to agree to something you don’t want.”

“Then let me tell you what I want, and you can take what you want.” He rolls them over, cages Steve in underneath him. Leans in to nip at his lips. “Steve Harrington, I’ve had a crush on you from the moment I saw you. I started falling in love then started standing on tables because it was the only way I knew to protect myself. I fall fast and I love hard and it tends to drive people away but I don’t know any other way to love. I never did anything, never said anything, because I’m Al Munson’s son and bad luck is attracted to that name. I thought there was no way I could ever have you. Then you started writing your letters, and I realized who you were, and I realized something else.”

“What?” Steve whispers.

“I’m also Elizabeth Newark’s son. I’m Wayne Munson’s nephew. And those are great things to be, great names to be associated with. And I realized maybe I can have this. I can have my cake and eat it, too.” He teasingly pinches Steve’s hip, then pets a soothing hand over the spot when Steve squirms. “That’s me. That’s how I feel. What do you want to take from that?”

Steve’s silent for a minute. “I fall hard and fast, too,” he admits in a whispers. “And… and girls liked it, at first, because they had my attention all the time. But it got too… suffocating. For them. The longest relationship I ever had was with Nancy and she broke my heart. It’s still healing. I can’t promise I’ll always react the right way. I can’t promise I won’t be annoyingly clingy, because I don’t know how else to be. I noticed you the moment you first stood on a table and couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get you off my mind. It took Robin and an NDA to shake it loose and make me realize why. I have scars and nightmares from things I can’t tell you about. But I want all of you, if you’re willing to give it to me.”

Eddie rests their foreheads together. “I’m going to tell Wayne,” he murmurs. “And I’m sure you’re going to tell Robin. But when I do, I’d like to call you my boyfriend.”

Steve grins, eyes nothing more than slits. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” Eddie whispers, and kisses him.

It’s a terrible kiss, they’re both smiling too wide to do anything, but it’s fantastic at the same time because Eddie rolls back over onto his side and Steve follows, staring at Eddie. “What?” He asks, “do I have something on my face?”

Steve shakes his head. “Just your face,” he whispers.

Really, what’s Eddie supposed to do, not kiss him? He does, thoroughly, pulling back with a chuckle when Steve yawns. “Sorry,” Steve says around it, cheeks lighting up in a blush.

Eddie shakes his head, taps Steve’s nose with his finger. “Go to sleep,” he whispers. “Let me keep the nightmares away.”

Steve tucks in close, puts his nose in Eddie’s neck. “M’kay,” he murmurs, and does.

Before long there’s soft breaths puffing against his clavicle. Eddie pulls the blanket up more securely around their shoulders, tucks Steve in best he can. Lays awake for as long as he can, memorizing the face he’s seen a million different times, a million different ways, but never so relaxed as he is right now.

Steve sighs in his sleep, throws an arm over Eddie’s chest. His fingers slot between Eddie’s ribs again, and Eddie has one thought as he drifts off.

Maybe our bones were made for each other.

[seat-safety-switch]

"Are you going to finish that?" I ask the person next to me, and then immediately start tucking into their LSG Sky Chefs Catering® ready-to-serve meal. Today, it's beef bourguignon, because while the entire history of capitalist achievement has conspired to prevent me from sitting in first class, it didn't keep the guy who used to occupy this seat from getting up and using the bathroom. And so, here I am.

We make small talk, which is the usual reaction that regular people have when they're trapped with me. Not just in airplanes, of course. Any enclosed space. Elevators. Cable-cars. Ski hill gondolas. And someday, Mord willing, escape pods from an ill-equipped, lowest-bidder orbital space station. They tell me that they are a corporate liability lawyer, all about those class actions. I would respond, but I am too busy plowing through some lukewarm potato-like mash.

It's strange how in our society, it's your job that defines you. Oh, I'm a teacher. I'm an astronaut. I'm a lumberjack. Without this pretext, nobody else has any way to relate to you. It's understandable to a certain extent. Your innermost soul is often unknowable even to yourself, much less to some rando in the 35 minutes left before this baby lands at Newark. What would I even tell this guy, that I'm a degenerate who builds poorly considered nightmare machines and turns them loose on a populace too afraid to stop me?

Luckily for me, I don't have to answer. I see that the dude who is supposed to be sitting in this seat is returning from his trip to the gender-neutral Boeing-manufactured toilet. For a moment, I wonder if the first-class shitter is nicer than the one we have back in coach, but I slip out quickly before he can become irate.

As I pass my temporary seat-donor in the aisle, I whisper into his ear: the law-talking dude sitting next to you fucking knows what you did last quarter. Tell him nothing. I hear a short gasp, but I am already halfway through business class before he can turn in the tight space and ask me more questions.

No liability lawyer is going to get a free case out of me, not if he eats the peach cobbler first and leaves me with the wrinkled freeze-dried arugula. That's just rude.

[thisdayindnphistory]

This Day in Dan & Phil History - July 14

2012 - STOP LMFAOOOO

2013 - omg

2013 - radio show yay

2014 - eating play-doh with Jim Chapman

2015 - doge liveshow

2016 - I KILLED MY HOUSEPLANT

2017 - Anthony, Dan, or a RAT?

2018 - brat girl summer

2018 - interactive introverts in newark, nj

[ereardon]

Snowed In || Friday [Jake Seresin x OC]

A Jake Seresin AU miniseries

Summary: When a massive storm shutters every airport in New York, you receive an unexpected call. Jake Seresin, the ex-boyfriend of your college roommate, is stranded at JFK with nowhere to go. Somehow you find yourself hosting Jake for a long weekend in your studio apartment. What happens when you realize that maybe your long-standing hatred for him was covering up something else? 

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x OC [Ella Finnley]

Trope: Forced proximity; enemies to lovers

Warnings: Cursing, references to cheating, eventual smut

Wordcount: 3.2K 

Masterlist here

“And this just in. More than a foot of snow is expected in areas across the Tri-State, with Scarsdale already at seven inches and counting. LaGuardia has shut down their runway, with Newark and John F Kennedy airport soon to follow.” 

You groaned, flicking off the TV and opening the cabinets. They were predicting the worst storm in two decades and somehow all you had in the cupboard was a lifetime supply of ramen noodles and red wine. 

Outside, the snow was falling in soft clumps. You looked out the window which overlooked Fifth Avenue. Very few cars or taxis were on the road, and the people who were outside looked miserable. 

And then the phone rang. You dove for it, expected it to be your mom with yet another tidbit of news that she thought was groundbreaking, as if you didn’t already know that Diet Coke was bad for you, but the male voice on the other end startled you. 

“Ella?” 

You squinted, pulling the phone back and registering the caller ID. Jake Seresin. You groaned. “What could you possibly want, Jake?” 

“Nice to hear from you, too,” he replied and you rolled your eyes. It had been a decade since you last heard from Jake Seresin. He was just as obnoxious as you remembered. 

“Listen, Seresin, if you called just to give me shit, I didn’t need a reminder that you’re a dick. Memory serves well enough. Goodbye.” 

“El, wait!” 

You frowned. “What?” 

His voice softened. “I’m sorry to do this,” he said and you felt your stomach tightening. “But you’re the only person I know in the city.” Jake paused. “I’m stuck at JFK.” 

“Don’t eat the egg sandwich,” you said, recalling a moldy sandwich you had gotten once at the airport on the way to Berlin. “Have a good flight, Jake.” 

“Ella, I’m stranded,” he said and you groaned. “Can I stay with you? Just until the airports open back up.” 

You looked outside. In the two minutes since Jake had called, snow had started to fall faster, coating the streets and sidewalks and innocent pedestrians. 

“I’m sorry,” he said and for perhaps the first time that you had known him in almost fifteen years, Jake Seresin sounded genuine. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t my only option.” 

Jake Seresin. The last time you had seen him, he was standing in the doorway of your college apartment with a bouquet of flowers that Suzannah had grabbed and trampled on in fury. 

“Ella? Are you still there?” 

“Fine,” you said, surprising even yourself. “Fifth and 12th Street. Apartment 4B.” 

“I owe you, El.” 

“Two days, Seresin,” you replied. “Anything more and you get a hotel.” 

“I’ll see you soon.”

***

You had hated Jake Seresin for as long as you could remember. Or at least, since the first time you saw his smug face in a poli sci lecture. He was sitting in the back, drinking a cup of coffee and doodling on a notebook. At the end of class, he had come right up to you and asked if he could copy your notes. When you said no, asking why he hadn’t taken his own notes, he had called you sweetheart and shot his best grin. 

You turned on your heel and walked away. 

Two years later, your roommate Suzannah has been stupid enough to fall for his charm, and you were treated to the unfortunate experience of having to listen to the two of them having sex behind the thin walls of your apartment. More than once you had stumbled into a shirtless Jake in the bathroom, smelling like sex and acidic cologne. Once he had walked in on you naked and instead of hurrying out like a normal person, he had leered. 

You had doubled down on your hatred for him from that moment on. 

When the doorbell buzzed you sighed, peering at the small ring camera before pressing the buzzer. “Come up.” 

The minute between buzzing him in and Jake knocking on the door felt like a century. It always did. There was something so awkward about shuffling around, waiting for the door but not wanting to be too eager to open it when the knock finally came. 

Taking a deep breath, you swung the door open. 

Jake Seresin in the flesh. The same goofy, brilliant grin from a decade before. Sandy blond hair dotted with melting snowflakes, cheeks ruddy and pink from the cold. He wore a light jacket, far too light for the extreme weather, and held a duffle bag in one hand, cowboy boots soggy and wet, dripping on your doormat. 

“Jake.” 

He smiled, leaning in for a hug and you pulled back at the last second so he stumbled over the threshold. Jake righted himself. “Ella. Still hate me, I see.” 

You turned, shaking your head. The sound of the door closing was followed by the plop of Jake’s bag on the ground. “Shoes off,” you called out, and there was a clattering as he kicked off his boots. 

Jake appeared a moment later, his jacket removed, revealing a tight henley shirt and a pair of jeans. He took a look around the studio. It was surprisingly large, for New York standards. Not Sex and the City unrealistic, but nice, with an alcove to the right that held your queen sized bed, a large couch against one wall and a dining area in the center. 

The galley kitchen off the main hallway was large and the bathroom was relatively spacious for a studio. It had just been you for so long that you didn’t think twice about the size. But something about Jake in your space made you realize maybe it wasn’t as spacious as it looked to your smaller frame. He hulked in the hallway. 

“Nice place,” he said. “Been here long?” 

“Four years.” 

He tipped his head. “Always knew you were going to end up in New York, didn’t you?” 

You sighed, plopping down on one end of the couch, crossing one leg over the other. “What are you doing here, Seresin?” 

“I told you, I was stranded at the airport,” Jake replied, stepping forward and taking a seat on the chair opposite of the couch. You grimaced. His outdoor pants were touching your indoor furniture. That was the downside of having guests. If Jake could even be considered a guest. Don’t guests have to be invited? Or wanted. 

“On your way to where? Somewhere without extradition laws?” 

Jake rolled his eyes. “Ten years, Finn. Ten years and you haven’t changed.” 

“Have you?”

The words clung to the air. The elephant in the room. It didn’t matter that it had been nearly a decade since the last time you had seen Jake Seresin. 

His betrayal still stung, even if it had never been directed at you. 

“Ella,” he whispered. Outside, the sky was darkening. Without the constant bumper-to-bumper traffic that was a given on Fifth Ave, the street was uncomfortably dark. There was a dampness that chilled your bones, even from the comfort of being inside. “Please. Can we just put aside the past for the next few days?” He looked older. Small lines at the corners of his eyes. Jake Seresin had a loud, boisterous laugh, you remembered that about him. The way he could liven up a party. The way he could make you feel like you were the only person in the room. 

This time you were. 

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Finn?” he said, bringing back your nickname from college. “Truce?” 

You leaned back against the soft white couch cushion. “Fine.” 

Jake grinned. It was magnetic and you hated him for it. “Well, let’s celebrate then. Got anything to drink?” 

“Been here one minute and you need a drink already?” you asked, standing up. Jake’s eyes roamed over your leggings and sweater as you made your way into the kitchen, emerging a moment later with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Someone never got over their frat days I see.” 

Jake reached out, taking the bottle from your hands and turning it on its side. “You must be doing OK,” he said. “This is a one hundred dollar bottle of wine.” You handed him the wine opener and he undid the top easily, sliding out the cork and laying it on a stack of magazines on the marble coffee table. 

“Anything is better than that Franzia shit you used to love.” 

Jake ignored your comment, instead turning the bottle and reading the label. “I did a wine tour in Lebanon a few years ago. This was one of my favorite vineyards.”

You frowned, holding out a glass and he tipped the neck of the bottle against the thin rim, dribbling it into your glass. “So did I. That’s where I got that bottle.” You pointed to the 2015 Chateau Musar in his hand. 

“What were you doing in Lebanon?” 

“Writing a story,” you replied. “What about you?” 

“Went with a friend,” Jake said. “We met in Portugul and decided fuck it, let’s go to Lebanon.” 

“Still wildly dependable I see.” 

“I have a job, Ella. I’m an adult.” 

You laughed, tugging your knees to your chest. “Oh yeah?” 

Jake nodded, setting the bottle of wine down. You let your eyes roam over his fancy jeans, cashmere socks, shiny watch that you hadn’t noticed before. Maybe he wasn’t lying. Maybe he was doing OK for himself. 

“Fine,” you said, taking a sip of your wine. “You have a job. Slow clap. Who doesn’t?” 

Jake shook his head. “Still bitter,” he replied, tilting his glass to his lips. “Whatever happened to you and Connor Gray?” 

“Oh God,” you muttered. “Fuck no. Do you know what he’s doing now? He’s a fucking DJ in Bushwick.” You mimed gagging. “I’d rather eat my left foot than date some Chelsea-boot-wearing guy who drinks craft beer and tries to serenade me on a hot rooftop in Brooklyn on his shitty guitar.” 

Jake tipped his head back with a laugh. It filled the room. You had almost forgotten how boisterous his laugh could be. 

“What about you?” you asked. “Any poor unsuspecting women?” There was no ring on his finger, no tan line or dent to show that perhaps he was divorced instead. 

“Nope.” Jake put his glass down. “Single.”

“Really? Jake Seresin, single.” 

“It’s hard out there, Finn,” he said, his voice hitting a register you couldn’t quite place. Something between sadness and begging for understanding. 

“You were never without a date to a formal in college. Couldn’t even go out without girls throwing themselves at you.” You shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t think the player in you would just shrivel up and die the minute we hit thirty.” 

“I’m still twenty nine,” Jake corrected. “And I don’t know what to tell you, El. It was fun for a while. But then I started to feel kind of gross. Like Leo DiCaprio. A new girl all the time. I couldn’t go to a single wedding without people asking about the girl who I had brought to the last one. But she was long gone.” He paused. “Couldn’t tell you the last time I saw the same girl for more than a month or three dates.”  

You frowned. Jake Seresin, a reformed manwhore? Not possible. 

He shrugged. “There, is that my dues for the night? Told you my dating life so now you owe me shelter from the storm?” 

“For now,” you said, standing up. “Interrogation can resume later. I’m hungry.” 

“Then let’s eat.” Jake looked outside. “It’s pretty shit out.” 

“Agreed.”

“What do you have for food?” 

You winced. “Honestly? I mostly eat out, so not much.” 

Jake stood up, brushing past you so closely you could feel his broad chest press against you for a second on his way toward the kitchen. “I’ll figure something out. You relax.” 

“Relax? With you in my apartment? Fat chance, Seresin.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Going to be a long weekend, isn’t it, Finn?” 

***

Jake somehow managed to make a perfectly edible dinner out of the almost-expired food in your fridge and what was left in the pantry. The two of you sat at the small two-person table you had pressed against one set of windows overlooking Fifth Ave. 

Anyone looking in might think it was a date. Even though Jake had dated Suzannah for almost a year, you two had barely spent any alone time together. That’s how you always tried to keep it with your friends’ significant others. A simple conversation here and there, usually while your friend was showering or getting ready or coming back from the store. 

Never like this. 

After dinner, Jake insisted on cleaning. As if it would make up for the countless times he had left shit in your apartment sink in college. You stood at the window, watching the snow pummel from the sky, coating the street in a thick blanket that it couldn’t shake. There was no one outside walking around. It felt apocalyptic and you cringed knowing that you still had at least a day alone with Jake and nothing to do but be in each other’s presence. 

“It’s dark in here,” Jake said, startling you. You turned as he reached for the overhead light. 

“Stop,” you said and he froze. “Lamps, dumbass. Why do men always want to use ceiling lights? Do you like being bathed in fluorescent light?” You strode over to the dresser along one wall, flicking on a candle warmer lamp and another small lamp on the far side of the room. Warm light spilled out into the room. 

“Does it matter?” Jake asked. 

“Yes.” 

Jake shook his head. “Alright, Finn. I’m all yours. What do you want to do?” 

“You mean other than throw you out in the snow on your ass?” 

Jake stepped closer. “Am I really that bad?” he whispered. 

You looked up. Clear green eyes, perfect almond tanned skin. Hair swept back in a carefree manner. You could tell why Suzannah has lost her fucking mind over him all those years ago. He really was too pretty to be true. “Maybe.” 

Jake looked around. “Well I would say I can get out of your hair for a few hours, but there’s not really many options.” He was right. Minus the alcove where your bed sat, the apartment was a pretty open floor plan. 

“Let’s just watch TV and watch the minutes tick by on the longest day known to mankind.” 

Reluctantly, you settled down onto the couch and flipped on the TV. After scrolling for a solid five minutes, Jake groaned. 

“What, Seresin?” you demanded. 

“Take longer,” he complained. 

“Fine, you do it.” You shoved the remote into his chest, trying to ignore how nice his chest felt beneath his shirt. 

Jake took the clicker and flicked through the apps before settling on a movie. 

“No,” you argued. 

He turned to you with a grin. “It’s a guilty pleasure. Humor me, Finn.” 

You grimaced as Twilight started. Jake laughed his way through the serious parts of the movie, cackling out loud at the spider monkey bit and you found yourself laughing along next to him. God, Carlisle really was hot. So was Charlie. That’s how you knew you were almost thirty. 

By the end of the movie, the two of you had shifted comfortably on the couch. You were no longer three feet apart. Instead, your feet were crossed over each other, almost precariously touching Jake’s where they sat propped up on the coffee table. 

It was the first time in years that you could remember sitting through an entire movie without some guy trying to feel you up or make a movie. 

The credits started to roll and you reached for the remote just as Jake did. You pulled your hand back like it was on fire and he handed it to you. “Sorry,” Jake said softly. His voice had grown huskier in the hour and a half since the movie started. “Your TV. Your remote.” 

“It’s fine,” you said and it was gentle. He smiled. There was something devilish about Jake Seresin’s smile. It was too perfect. You cleared your throat. “I, um, should get to bed

“Me too.” 

You stood up, clicking off the TV. The room felt darker without it, just the soft lamps illuminating small circles of light. “I’m going to shower. I’ll get you some blankets and pillows. The couch should be big enough for you.” 

“Thanks, El.” There was something so genuine about the way he said it that threw you off. Who was this stranger and what had he done with the dickwad from Stanford? “For letting me stay.” 

“See how much you like me after a night of sleeping on that,” you replied, digging in the closet near the hallway for pillows and a comforter, dumping them in Jake’s arms. “Do you, um, need to use the bathroom first?” 

“I’ll go after you.” 

In the shower, you were acutely aware that no more than twenty feet away, Jake Seresin was fiddling around in your apartment. You had spent hundreds and hundreds of hours with him at Stanford, but this was different and you both knew it. When you entered the living room, steam pummeling out of the bathroom door, Jake looked up from where he stood shirtless in the living room. “Oh, God!” you exclaimed, holding one hand up to your face. “What the fuck?” 

“Fuck, fuck, sorry!” Jake grabbed for his t-shirt on the couch, tugging it on. “OK, you’re safe. All clear.” 

“This isn’t Barcelona, Seresin,” you complained, stepping toward the dresser and sliding open a drawer, pulling out a pair of silk pajamas. “Or a rave in someone’s basement.” 

He sat down on the edge of the couch cushion. “Been that long since you’ve seen a shirtless guy, huh, El?” 

You hated that he was right. “Fuck off.” 

Jake chuckled. “Sorry, couldn’t help it.” 

“Maybe that’s why no girl wants to date you for more than a week,” you snapped. “Because you’re a dick.” 

Silence hung in the air, thick like the snow clumping on the streets outside the window. You held your breath, letting your lungs sit there and burn. Jake’s eyes haunted yours. 

You felt bad. Never had you ever expected to feel bad for Jake Seresin. Golden boy. Womanizer. Player extraordinaire. But this was obviously a sore spot and you knew it. 

He looked sad, sitting in your apartment living room in the near-dark, face drawn and quiet. An unease squeezed at your stomach. 

“Jake, I–”

Jake stood, cutting you off. “It’s fine. I’m going to use the bathroom if that’s OK.” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

You watched his frame disappear down the hallway, rounding the corner into the subway tiled bathroom. As you sat down in your silk robe at the edge of your bed, the silence in the apartment, usually so comforting as an alternative to the bustle of the city outside, felt stifling. When Jake returned in the dark, flicking off the final light and settling onto the couch, you held your breath, waiting for him to say something. 

But nothing ever came. The two of you laid there, ten feet apart, separated by a wall of silence. 

You had spent ten years who knows how many miles away from Jake Seresin and never given him another thought. Why was it that ten feet now felt like a lap around the equator? 

The chill in the room wasn’t in your head and it wasn’t from the blizzard outside. You and Jake had created frost all on your own. 

Tag list [using my list from The Off-Season since it's my most up-to-date Jake list but if you're not interested in these types of fics just let me know!):

@double-j @topguncultleader @momc95 @hangmandruigandmav

@teacupsandtopgun @xomrsalliej4787xo @xoxabs88xox @blue-aconite @seresinhangmanjake @eminyourjeans @shawnsblue @babyminghao @sadpetalsstuff @angelbabyange @taytaylala12 @wkndwlff @mygyn @oneelleandaneye @averyhotchner @rosiahills22 @djs8891 @rxmtoon @valkyrja-siren-blog @horseshoegirl @abaker74 @clancycucumber230 @theharddeck @redbarn1995 @shanimallina87

@memeorydotcom @joaquinwhorres @bobfloydsbabe @gretagerwigsmuse @djs8891

@blackcatdhisgf @fangirlvoice @buckysteveloki-me  @eli2447 @bellaireland1981 

[cultleaderyoongi]

With You, All The Way | myg

☆ pairing: Yoongi x f. reader

☆ genre: ex2l, pwp • angst, smut, fluff

☆ word count: 10k (I have no excuse except for I'm frustrated)

☆ warnings: toxic stuff happens, a lot of miscommunication; a lot of making up and making out; some cursing; mentions of alcohol; explicit smut – kinda soft dom!Yoongi, breast/nipple play (he's kinda a boob guy), fingering, eating out, handjob, blowjob, penetrative sex, unprotected sex (reader is on birth control tho which is mentioned), multiple orgasms, simultaneous orgasms, creampie, some praise, some aftercare

☆ synopsis: Break-ups are rough, more so if you and your ex share the same friend circle. How could a simple and supposedly tame night full of fun games change the trajectory of your relationship that is no more?

☆ playlist: Tinashe – Perfect Crime | Alina Baraz – Between Us | Kali Uchis – Moonlight

☆ a/n: Guess who's back after *checking imaginary watch on my wrist* almost a year 💀 Did I whip this out within approximately two weeks? Maybe. This is the fastest I've ever written, so therefore it's sloppily edited – especially towards the end (I'm not a fast writer, ok? I'll come back to edit it soon). Listen, I was super heartbroken about the concert (still am), so my mind conjured up this beast of a delusional, self-indulgent story. Pls think of me when you go see my man live, especially if it's the Newark show tonight 😭

I started off this story with Marie Claire Yoongi in mind, but with the release of D-Day it turned more and more into Haegeum Yoongi, sooo...feel free to imagine whichever version you want. Happy D-Day era to y'all! Lmk what's your favorite track, your favorite look, your favorite whatever. Let's talk and suffer together lol

Enough of my rambling though. I hope you enjoy reading! As always, if you do – thank you and pls lmk what you think ♡

☆ taglist: @main-bangtansmauyeondan @jwlmnbt (I'm really horrible at keeping track of my taglist which is also due to my inconsistent posting, but if you see this and you remember wanting to be on my practically non-existent permanent taglist pls lmk)

© cultleaderyoongi on tumblr | do not repost or translate on any platform

You shouldn't be here.

You really shouldn't.

Whose idea was it to bring everyone together for a night of fun activities and drinks? Whose stupid idea was it to invite you when your least favorite person in the world is going to be present as well? And furthermore, whose stupid idea was it to seat the two of you within clear vision of each other?

"Don't hate the player, hate the game." Your friend Jimin, the host and therefore perpetrator of all this, speaks with a smirk as if to answer your internal monologue, watching your other friend Jungkook pick up eight colorful cards after being hit with two subsequent draw fours.

Laughter goes around the circle as the youngest tries to rearrange the abundance of cards in his hands.

Truth be told, you could've declined. It's not Jimin's fault things went south with you and the man whose glare avoids you as if his life depends on it. Yet you spot glimpses of his feline eyes set on you when he least expects it, catching him off-guard – and suddenly the fluffy, white rug beneath his feet is a lot more interesting to look at.

"Oh Jungkook, you're almost as rich as Taehyung!" Seokjin jokes, drawing your attention back to the group.

Hoseok joins in, accompanied by an animated cackle. "You're giving Taehyung a run for his money."

You muster said boy beside you, his brows furrowed and tongue poking out in focus. He can barely spread out his set of cards without dropping any. Poor Taehyung.

As the game continues and more and more people yell out Uno in relief until a loser is revealed (it's a close and tedious match between Jungkook and Taehyung, but at the end Jungkook pulls through) you pay close attention to the way Yoongi toys with the rings on his fingers. He always does this when he's anxious. His action is incessant, almost obnoxious in your eyes. You don't like being here any less than he does, but at least you try your damn hardest to pull yourself together in front of your friends. They're your friends as well as his. You haven't had the chance to see them as much lately while he gets to see them all the time – they live together, for fuck's sake!

"_____." Jimin's voice pulls you back to reality. "Lend me a hand?"

"Uh yeah, sure." You spring up from your seat, realizing Jimin asks for your help clearing the table.

While he collects the cards strewn across the coffee table, you make move of collecting empty bottles and cans. In your position, you're slightly hunched over the surface which involuntarily causes one thing to happen.

Your suspicion is confirmed when you look up at your ex-boyfriend shamelessly staring at your cleavage. There's a split second where you make direct eye contact once he grasps the situation – and now things are ten times more awkward.

Taking a deep inhale, you place everything on the kitchen island nearby before returning to your seat. You muster Yoongi's stone-cold, almost dead-like expression. To anyone that didn't witness what happened seconds ago, it probably looks like the regular go-to mood for Min Yoongi. But you can catch the tiny movement of teeth nibbling on the inside of his bottom lip. Oh, he's frustrated. You can't quite determine yet if you're proud of this achievement.

Meanwhile, Jimin sets up the next game.

"This doesn't look like a safe game to be around Namjoon-hyung," Jungkook murmurs, inspecting the tower of wooden blocks stacked on top of each other.

"Hey!" Namjoon retorts to the boy, his lips pulled into a slight pout. "I can play Jenga alright. Just you watch."

There are noises of disagreement going around the group, some of the guys sharing anecdotes on things Namjoon has accidentally broken recently.

"There's a little twist, by the way," Jimin informs everyone amidst the commotion. "Each block has an instruction on the bottom. Kinda like truth or dare – but you don't get to choose."

"Oh!" Seokjin claps his hands once in excitement. "Now we're talking."

Of course, leave it to Park Jimin to make an already awkward evening even more awkward by potentially causing ruckus with whatever tasks he gives out to people. Great.

After a match of rock, paper, scissor to determine who starts (which is Namjoon who already almost has the tower topple over by crouching down to the table), the first few turns go by in a breeze. Nothing too out of the ordinary has been requested yet. Taehyung choosing Jimin if he had to pick someone he would date out of the bunch or Jungkook giving Hoseok a lap dance like there's no tomorrow seem like natural occurrences for a Saturday night in this house.

"My turn," you murmur as you bend over until you reach the stack. Carefully, you pick a piece from the lower half, smiling to yourself as it slips out with ease. That smile fades though as soon as it appears when you flip over the block to read out the demand: kiss a person of your choice (on the lips! No less than 10 seconds).

There are multiple Oohs going around the group. Some are of surprised and enthusiastic nature – some stem from a place of concern.

You're rooted in place, your mouth running dry at the idea of... What exactly? There's nothing to be nervous about. Most of the guys (emphasis on most) wouldn't even make such a big deal out of this for your sake. Also, you're not blind. You've got handsome friends for sure. Each and every single one of them. It's the thought of him and the consequences. Whatever that may entail.

"I don't think this is right." Namjoon comes to your rescue, most likely sensing your discomfort.

"Why not?" Taehyung asks in earnest, visibly confused about the elder's remark. "She's a free woman. She's free to do whatever."

"Hyung," Jungkook chimes in, "I know for a fact she's not gonna kiss you. You can stop sucking up to her."

The youngest's savage comment has everyone in a laughing fit – everyone except for Yoongi of course.

Uncertainty takes over your mind, covering it in a thick blanket. It's been three months since the two of you broke up. Are you still hung up on him? Yes. A hundred percent yes. Does the same apply to him? You can't say for sure. He's been eerily quiet the entire evening, almost too quiet for your liking. He could either be hiding his innermost thoughts or he actually doesn't give a single fuck about you anymore.

Once the laughter dies down, the sound of his all too familiar voice has you lifting your eyes from the little troublemaker in your hand.

"He's right," Yoongi points out plainly, referring to Taehyung. "She can do whatever she pleases. I don't care."

As he finishes up with a sip of his whiskey, the room falls silent. Nobody dares so much as even breathe. Everyone exchanges looks between each other ranging from unease to utter shock.

So he really doesn't care.

"Okay." You catch his attention with these two syllables, his eyes never straying from you as you place the wooden piece on top of the tower. Making your way over to his side of the couch, you maintain eye contact throughout. There's a slight twitch noticeable in his eyes, confusion taking over his features. Once in front of him, you bend over before leaning in – only you redirect at the last second, wrapping your arms around Seokjin's neck who's sitting next to him. You give it no second thought, planting your lips onto his in an instant.

Although in tunnel vision, you can still hear the gasps around the room. You didn't think this through, but you have to commit now which is why you slightly intensify the kiss by parting your lips. Your hunched-over position becomes uncomfortable though, causing you to drop down to one knee beside Seokjin's thigh on the cushion.

He welcomes the closer vicinity, holding you by your waist with gentle hands.

Has it been ten seconds yet? You have no idea. You assume Jimin would count down, but he's probably too stupefied like the rest of them. Throwing in the tiniest of tongue action for good measure, you part again rather sooner than later. A clear sheen of lip gloss and saliva covers your friend's plush lips. His ears are flushed almost a hot pink.

Your job here is done.

Clearing your throat, you turn around to no one in particular. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. You can keep playing without me."

And with that, you brush past Yoongi's frozen form, ignoring the whispers going around the room.

You've been warned about the sink in the downstairs bathroom not working (once again, courtesy of Namjoon), so you swiftly climb up the flight of stairs to the upstairs bathroom.

Closing the door behind you, you let out a loud exhale before you make your way over to the sink. You don't have to use the bathroom. You just need a minute to breathe. Or two. Or five.

You look up at your reflection in the mirror, the telltale sign of the kiss written all over your lips. Had you known this is how things are going to pan out, you would've opted for smudge-proof lipstick. Turning on the faucet, you dab some water onto the pad of your finger to wipe at the corners of your mouth.

What have you done?

A knock on the door startles you.

"What?" you ask, wondering who it is.

"Let me in."

The deep, raspy tone coming from the other side of the door draws an annoyed sigh out of you. "I'm peeing," you answer flatly.

"No, you're not."

Another heavier sigh passes your lips this time. He's the last person you want to see right now, but something tells you to give in still. "What do you want?" you bite as you swing open the door with so much power you almost detach it from its hinges.

Yoongi steps over the threshold, closing it behind him with equal force. The impact causes the door handle to rattle. He watches you wander back over to the sink, irritation marking every inch of his face. "What the fuck was that for?" he spits with so much venom it's far from characteristic of him.

"What do you mean 'what the fuck was that for'?" You turn to face the mirror, inspecting yourself again. "I did what was expected of me."

Coming up behind you, your ex-boyfriend shoots daggers at you through the reflection. "Are you fucking kidding me? That was way more than what was expected of you!"

"What's your fucking problem? You made it clear in front of everyone, including me, you don't care. Besides"–with your blood pumping hot through your veins, you spin around looking him dead in the eye–"you wanted this. You ended this." You point back and forth between the two of you. "So you don't get to complain now."

He stares you down with what you can now decipher as hurt and rage. "Don't talk about our relationship like it was just a thing. For fuck's sake, _____! We were together for almost two years." His growing distress shows as he rushes a hand through his pitch-black hair. "You took equal part in the downfall. You took equal part in the decision."

A small scoff comes to the surface. "Are you actually listening to yourself? You sat me down and told me this wasn't gonna work out – not me. You came up with all the excuses you're too busy and your career doesn't allow a stable life when you know very well I've tried everything in my willpower to make things work."

His features contort more into agony. "That's because you were never satisfied with my solutions. Who says you were the only one trying to make things work? Nothing was ever good enough for you. I know I have a busy lifestyle, but things always have to go according to your plan. You immediately shut down whenever I suggest something that's not part of your vision."

You roll your eyes at him, partially in anger but also in a poor attempt at keeping your tears at bay. He's not entirely wrong, you're aware of that. It wasn't easy with him, but you could be equally as stubborn. At the time, the glass was simply too broken to put back together – no matter how hard any of you tried. Maybe you needed the time apart to see clearer.

"These past three months were hell for me," you confess suddenly, dropping your head in shame.

There's a beat of silence following your words. "For me as well," Yoongi finally answers, his voice coming out barely above a whisper.

"How come we're so bad at this?" It's more of a rhetorical question, but you genuinely wonder how you managed to stay together this long.

Another pause settles in before Yoongi speaks up again. "I don't think we're bad at relationships. There are things we need to work on, sure. But these things don't come overnight." After wetting his lips tentatively, he continues, "We're already making big progress by talking about this – even if we wanted to strangle each other seconds ago. If anything, we needed this in order to finally be honest and not hide behind a façade anymore."

Your mind takes you back to that fateful day when you talked each other through the break-up. Things were convoluted as you convinced each other you didn't see any future in being together just to avoid addressing the truth and finding a common denominator. It seemed easier this way, running away from your problems and saving face in the process.

Now look where it led you – the worst outcome possible.

Catching a stray tear rolling down your cheek, you muster up the courage to look at him again. "What do we do now?"

He lets out a low hum at the sight of you, his hand coming up to carefully wipe another tear close to spilling from the corner of your eye. "I don't know. All I know is I don't like this. The distance, the avoidance – the animosity."

"Yeah." You let his words hang heavy in the room. Hard agree on this one. "Neither do I."

"And I certainly don't like seeing you make out with someone else right in front of my face – let alone Jin-hyung at that."

His comment has you chuckling lightly. "To be fair, I didn't enjoy it as much as you'd think."

"You're joking." He breaks out into his signature gummy smirk. "Worldwide Handsome didn't do it for you?"

You shake your head, a small smile forming on your face. "He's not you."

At that, his grin grows even wider, his eyes turning into downturned crescents.

"I'm sorry, by the way." You play with one of the bracelets around your wrist, tugging at the golden chain.

Yoongi reaches for your arm, most likely out of reflex as he notices your hesitation. "It's okay. I'm sorry, too." Dropping his hand, he elaborates, "I overreacted earlier. You're not... We're not­..."

He struggles to finish his thought, but you know exactly what he's trying to say. "Do you want to be?" you drawl, immediately wincing at how desperate you sound. Maybe it's still too early for this.

Your concern dissipates as his eyes light up in an instant. "Of course," he murmurs. "I've always wanted to."

The corners of your lips tug upwards again at that. "I do, too," you follow up though you're sure he already figured.

What a serious turn of events. Who would've thought things were going to work out this way? You could hug the world right now. Hell, you could hug the entire universe.

"Should we..." he starts, a mischievous glint glossing over his irises, "shake hands on this?"

Bursting into laughter, you shake your head at his ridiculous idea. "That's so formal. We're not business partners."

"Fine then."

Your laughter ceases instantly as he takes a few steps forward, slowly backing you into the marble countertop behind you.

"Should we hug it out instead?"

You watch the way his tongue swipes across his bottom lip as you're caged in between his arms, the closeness sending your mind reeling.

"Or do you have something else in mind?"

Swallowing down hard, your focus switches between his lips and the seductive gaze he holds you with. "A hug would be a start,” you croak out.

He sends you a crooked smile before releasing his grip around the corner of the sink, enveloping you with both arms for a tight bear hug, his cheek coming to a rest on your temple.

You welcome his touch, bending your arms that are stuck underneath his to clasp around his shoulders. An abundance of warmth and comfort washes over you, so you bury your face into the crook of his neck to take it all in. Words can't describe how much you missed this – how much you missed him.

The two of you stay like this for a while until Yoongi breaks the silence. "Just to be clear–"

You lift your head to get a proper look at him.

"–I do care. I always have, and I always will."

All trains of thought leave you as you stare at each other, the sincerity in his eyes granting them with a spark you haven't seen yet before. You swear there's a magnetic force involved, that's how strong the urge is when you slowly close the distance pressing your lips onto his.

Bliss overtakes you instantly, the familiar feeling of his lips bringing back all the memories of the past two years. Things were never easy between you, but you want to make it work this time no matter the cost.

Once you pull apart, all you can do is look at each other, completely at a loss for words. You catch the way Yoongi's focus switches back and forth between your eyes though, trailing down to your lips before coming back up where it ultimately stays.

He loosens one of his arms around you, bringing it up to rest his hand on the side of your neck. With his thumb, he rubs soothing circles into your cheek.

You close your eyes at his touch, unfurling an arm from behind his back to curl around his neck instead. The other follows the curve of his spine before enclosing around his waist.

"God..." Yoongi murmurs, his forehead coming to rest against yours. "I missed you so much."

Blinking your eyelids open, you catch the moment his open just a second later. "I missed you, too."

This time it's he who draws you in for a kiss, his hand gently tilting your head to the side to grant him access.

There's always been something super addictive about Yoongi's kisses. From the tingling sensation that infests your entire body starting at the top of your scalp all the way down to the soles of your feet, to the funny feeling in your core that has you weak in the knees and lose all sense of self – you could never get enough.

You're done for when he parts his mouth slightly, the tip of his tongue slipping through the seam of yours. You let out an involuntary moan, seeking solace as you tighten your grip around the cotton fabric of his shirt.

He steps closer causing you to part your legs to make space for him. With your torso bent backward into a small arch, he starts planting kisses along your jawline down your neck.

At this point, you're like wax in his hands. Of course he's more than familiar with your weak spots.

His hold around your waist wanders down to your thigh as he hooks your leg around his hip, gently hoisting you up on the countertop. In a painstakingly slow fashion, his lips flutter across your collarbone before they land above the cups of your bustier top.

You can feel his hand travel further up your thigh, shyly slipping beneath the denim fabric of your skirt. Before he can go any further, you gently grab him by the wrist.

Flustered, the male lifts his face from your cleavage. "Sorry, did I–"

"No," you interrupt him quickly. You don't want him to get the wrong idea. "Not here."

"What–"

Before he can ask any further questions, you climb off the counter, dragging him out of the bathroom down the dark hallway.

The door closes behind you with a silent click before you switch on the light.

You haven't seen this room since the break-up. It looks about the same, maybe a bit messier than you remember. The bed looks like it's been made in a hurry, there are a few more clothes strewn around than you're used to from your ex-boyfriend. You're unsure of the emotions that overcome you. They're something along the lines of guilt, shame – sadness.

In your daydream, you don't notice Yoongi coming to stand in front of you. "I'm sorry it's kinda messy," he apologizes, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't expect company tonight."

You solemnly shake your head. "It's fine. That's not it."

It's silent for a beat until he speaks up again. "We don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

Again, you shake your head. "I do though."

The man musters you sternly as if to read your mind. Then he cracks a small smile. "Okay. Me too."

One wouldn't be able to tell the two of you were engaged in a semi-heated make-out session just a minute ago with the way you're gradually closing the distance between you. But once your arms are slung around his neck again, the passion from before resurfaces in an instant.

His hold around your waist grows more desperate with each passing second, pulling you further into the room along with him until you reach the foot end of his bed. In between hungry kisses, he plops down onto the mattress with a soft thud.

You're still in a mostly upright position, a little bit hunched over with one knee propped up beside his thigh as you continue kissing him. It's comically similar to the scene from the living room – although this time it's with the right man. The realization has you chuckling against his lips.

"What's so funny?" he asks, breaking out into a smirk of his own.

You playfully nibble on his lower lip. "Nothing," you lie. "Just thought about how strange life is sometimes."

A tiny squeal escapes you as Yoongi suddenly drags you down with him, your arms coming out just right on time to cushion the fall. "Life is strange," he agrees. "But I like where it's leading us right now."

The mischief in his tone doesn't go unnoticed by you, so to wipe that smile off his face you lean down stealing another kiss from him. It starts off relatively tame before you try to rile him up ever so slowly, lowering your body until you're straddling his waist. Your tongues are fighting for dominance, but ultimately you have the upper hand in this as you pull away, watching him from above in all his glory. Or so you thought because the second you lay eyes on his fucked-out expression, his parted lips so plump and shiny and his pitch-black hair splayed out on the white comforter you swear you lose all sense of reality. Ethereal is the word that comes to your mind. He's nothing short of ethereal.

"Ah!"

Yoongi takes advantage of the situation while you're lost in your thoughts, flipping you over on your back. "Enjoying the view?" he jokes, his gummy smirk on full display.

You snort. "Maybe."

His lips are on you again immediately, retracing their path from earlier as he places kiss after kiss over the curvature of your chest. "So am I."

You're reduced to whimpers when he sucks love bites into your skin.

Once he pulls away to admire his work, he informs you with a straight face, "You know, I had a really hard time not staring when we were downstairs."

You bite your lip, patiently waiting for the revelation.

"But then you helped clearing the table, and they were practically in my face, so–"

"You missed my tits," you interject with an amused smile.

He chortles. "You make it sound so crude." Tracing the intricate flower embroidery covering your breasts with his finger, he elaborates, "Obviously, I love looking at all of you. Not just your tits."

The way he repeats the word has you burst into laughter.

"Stop laughing at me." His cheeks rise into full globes before his face falls again. "I'm serious, I missed seeing your face. You look really beautiful tonight."

Whatever bullshit you were about to say – it's gone. The way his words leave his lips with such sincerity and his eyes are set on you as if to imprint every single inch of your face in his brain renders you speechless. All you can do is show him that you missed him just as much – if not even more. Pulling him down to you by the nape of his neck, you press your lips together again, eagerly running your hand through the strands on the back of his head. It's gotten a little bit longer ever since you broke up, and admittedly you find it kind of sexy.

"In all seriousness though"–Yoongi mumbles in between kisses–"as beautiful as you look in this, I want if off now." Toying with the strap of your top, he gently glides it over your shoulder until it loses tension.

You comply with no questions asked, propping yourself up on your elbows. Yoongi catches on right away, reaching behind you to pull down the zipper. It always amused you how contradicting he could be, his patient character cracking when it came to intimacy, his soft-spoken nature turning more daring and demanding.

A low hum resonates from him at the sight of your bare breasts, and it doesn't take long until his attention is on them again, his hand cupping one of them while he bends down to take care of the other.

The sudden contact has you moaning out louder than you'd like. As he changes up the motions on your hardened nipple, it's hard to keep it down now. Throwing your head back, you relish the onslaught of suckles and licks, kisses and bites.

He switches sides, granting your other boob the same treatment while still squeezing the prior.

You're a mess, to say the least, the dampness sodding your panties a sure indicator of that.

As if he's living in your head, Yoongi's hand wanders down the expanse of your torso before stopping right under the hemline of your miniskirt. Tugging at the seam, he grumbles, "Take this off, too, baby."

The audacity to throw in the pet name as well – you've never been quicker at undressing up until this point. Your hands are shaky as you're fiddling with the button though, so Yoongi comes to the rescue, unbuttoning it at the speed of light yet the veins raking across his hands have your undivided attention, prolonging the moment to infinity.

He slides down from the bed to the floor, taking the obstructing clothing with him at the same time.

There's something about you being stripped down to your underwear whereas he's still dressed that sends uncontrollable tingles to your core.

While leaving fluttery pecks across your lower abdomen, the male slips a single digit under the fabric covering your crotch. "We haven't even started yet"–he places another peck closer to your pelvic mound–"but you're already so wet, baby."

A snarky response is on the tip of your tongue, something along the lines of it being a given when he's been playing with your boobs like a man possessed, but you swallow it down when he drags his finger over your folds, dipping the tip into your slit.

Your reaction is immediate, the whimper passing your lips drawing a smile onto his. "God, I can't wait to make you cum," he grunts, and with that his fingers hook around the waistband of your panties, removing the last remaining piece of clothing covering you.

Any sort of thought dissipates from your mind as he throws your thighs over his shoulders and his mouth connects with your center, licking up your arousal like it's a sport.

You're no stranger to the things he's capable of with his tongue, but this is no match to the times before. His moves are calculated yet determined, taking you to the brink of an orgasm in record time. There's no use holding back anymore, your hand covering your mouth doing little to nothing hiding your whines.

In between all the licking and sucking, Yoongi retracts for a split second, a wicked grin gracing his features. "Getting close?"

"Mh-hm," you hum out breathlessly. "Please don't stop."

He doesn't need another plea from you, his movements more eager than before as he continues eating you out.

Weaving your hand through his thick locks, you watch him from above. His eyebrows are furrowed as he focuses on your pleasure, his hands around your thighs digging deep into your flesh. This sight alone could have you cumming on the spot, but it's the switch-up from small kitten licks to suckles on your clit with the perfect amount of pressure that drives you over the edge. "I-I'm cumming, fuck!"

He guides you through your release, letting you grind on his face as he runs his hands over your thighs locked around his head in a tight grip. Once you're done riding it out, he presses one last kiss to your quivering core, smirking at the way you squirm over the sensitivity.

"Fuck," you curse again in disbelief. The room around you appears surreal. You watch the ceiling above you to regain consciousness. He essentially mouth-fucked you into oblivion.

A light kiss to your temple brings you back from wherever your mind was catapulted to. Outer space or another dimension. No one really knows for sure.

"Still with me?" Yoongi checks on you, his thumb rubbing tiny circles into the highpoint of your cheek.

You swallow down hard, willing your eyes to focus on his looking back at you. The deep brown of his irises resembles that of the Iced Americanos that he loves so much although warmer and more welcoming than the caffeinated drink. "Y-yeah," you manage out.

"Good." He bends down to peck your lips. "Thought I'd lost you for a second."

You might as well be lost for the rest of eternity. Your hands seek for harbor, digging into the sleeves of his jacket. "Take this off," you mumble, impatiently tugging at the garment.

"Alright." Yoongi chuckles at your cute antics, taking it off instantly.

You're not satisfied yet though, curling your hands around the hem of his shirt, dragging it upward until a sliver of his abdomen shows. "This, too."

He shushes you, grabbing ahold of your wrists. "Baby, you're getting too excited."

With your lips in a pout you protest, "I'm not. I just wanna take care of you, too."

His laughter resonates in your ears. "You're gonna get to take care of me soon enough." You're still pouting, so he comes up with a peace offering. "Here, how about this?" Guiding his hand back down to your heat, he proposes, "Give me another one, and I'll let you do whatever you want with me for a while."

You're spent already, your first orgasm having drained your entire energy. But you're willing to go again if that means getting what you want. Nodding your head, you lean back onto the bed.

"Good girl."

Holy shit.

It takes all your might not to melt into a puddle right then and there, but his working hand doesn't give you enough time to even process his words, his ringed fingers already drawing circles on your swollen bud. You gasp out silently, leaving an imprint on the mattress with how hard you're throwing your head back.

His digits expertly tickle your clit as if you're a key on his piano or a string on his guitar, experimentally dipping them into your heat for precise pumps. You thank the gods but also simultaneously curse the devil for making this man skilled with both his tongue and his hands.

It's not long until you feel the all too familiar knot in your core tighten again, squeezing your walls around his fingers as you feel the cold metal adorning them.

"That's it, baby," he growls. The pad of his thumb works your nub while his ring and index finger drag in and out of you with fast strokes. "Almost there."

You barely manage out anything intelligible other than Yeah and Don't stop. Sweat forms on your skin from your neck down to your chest, the golden pendant of your necklace clinging to it. So close, so damn close.

His hawk eyes are on you the entire time, intense and sinister. Not a single twitch of your muscles passes them by. If it wasn't for that crooked smile of his you would think he's studying you, analyzing your every move.

It's easy to feel intimidated under his watch, so to lessen your nerves – and finally bring yourself over the edge – you grab him by the collar, pulling him close to you. "Kiss me,” you murmur as if his lips aren't already pressed to yours.

With one last wicked grin, Yoongi gives in to your request, kissing you as if his life depends on it. He knows exactly how to get you going, lets you taste yourself on his tongue while he produces more of your sinful essence.

All you can do is whimper against his mouth until you break apart, another orgasm ripping out of you sooner than you thought that has your thighs clamping shut and your back arching off the mattress. A string of profanities leaves your lips as Yoongi continues massaging your clit through your high. Your sweaty hand clutching at the comforter snatches his wrist, stopping his crazed motions. "F-fuck okay, stop," you manage out, your throat as dry as a desert.

The man has the audacity to send a soft slap to your folds before pressing a quick peck onto your temple. "You did so well." He peers down at you with a gummy smile as he sits up straight, popping his soaked fingers into his mouth. "That was fun."

You're essentially an empty vessel, watching him with your mouth agape while nothing but a numbing, tingling sensation travels along your limbs. This must be the afterlife. Hell or heaven or maybe both.

"Alright." His voice takes you back to the bedroom. "As promised"–he shuffles to the edge of the bed, spreading his legs–"you have all the creative control now."

A tired chuckle escapes you before you scramble yourself up on your elbows, immediately sliding down to the floor in front of where Yoongi sits. You're quick to work on his belt, looping the leather through the holes although the feeling in your fingers hasn't returned yet.

The sound of Yoongi's laughter fills your ears, and you know you must look like a fool with the way you're trying to get him out of his pants before you even took off his shirt. Oh shit, yeah. You totally forgot about his shirt, but you have all the time in the world. For now, your focus is on something entirely else.

He observes you as you pull down his jeans and boxers in one go, lifting his butt from the bed to facilitate the process for you. He sports this cocky sideway smirk that drives you insane, but you manage to wipe it off his face the second your hand wraps around his length. A hiss passes through his teeth once you start stroking him in an up-and-down motion. Throwing his head back, he lets you take full control.  

You add in a twisting motion whenever you reach the tip which clearly affects the man, his breathing becoming shallow and his whines turning into guttural moans. "I've barely done anything," you tease him just as he did earlier. "But you're already so hard."

That smirk returns instantly though weaker this time. "So what? I get hard watching you get off."

"Mh-hm," you hum unimpressed. "So what you're saying is I can do this"–you bend forward to slowly lick a stripe from the base up to the tip, giving the head a light suck–"and it does nothing for your raging hard-on?"

Whatever response is on the tip of his tongue, it disappears as soon as you put your mouth on him again, swallowing half of his length. "Ah, fuck!" His hand shoots up to hold you by the back of your head. The further you take him down your throat, the tighter his grip around your hair becomes. "Baby..."

You wish you could imprint this memory on instant film. The rosiness creeping up on his cheeks and neck compliment his smooth, milky skin so well. A thin sheen of sweat starts forming on his forehead, the strands of his dark bangs clinging to it framing his face like a picture. He's beyond beautiful, especially when he falls apart under the touch of your hand and the wet, warm comfort of your mouth.

Your head bops up and down at an excruciating pace now, his hard-on covered in slick from your saliva. You ignore the stinging ache in your jaw, planning on sucking him dry. He's always been such a sucker for your blowjobs, so you want to put on the best show possible for him.

"Baby," he repeats, his voice quivering. "Please."

Slowing down your movements, you resort to running your tongue across the protruding vein on the side of his length. "Yes?"

His hands wander down to your arms. "Come here."

"Hm?" You give him one final hard suck before pulling off him with a loud pop. Still kneeling in front of the man, you feign ignorance.

Impatiently, he pulls you up to your feet. "Stop playing."

You practically fall into his arms, straddling him in the process. His hands immediately find their way to your ass, grabbing a handful causing you to gasp. "What now?" you ask innocently, covering him with your slick as you grind down on him.

Drawing you in for a heated kiss, he drags your pelvis down onto his even harder. "Hands and knees, baby," the man orders with a sharp slap to your ass.

You don't waste another second, complying as you crawl off his lap. Getting into position with your butt high up in the air, you can hear his feet shuffle across the hardwood floor. He reappears in your vision shortly after, rummaging through the drawers of the bedside table.

"Shit," he curses harshly. "I thought I had some in here."

No further explanation is needed to understand what he's referring to. Sitting up on your heels, you watch Yoongi run a hand through his hair in distress.

"Can you check the other side?" he suggests, his eyes set on you.

"Sure." Leaning over the edge of the bed, you sift through the drawers though without luck.

Yoongi usually keeps the condoms on his side, the right side. When you were together, you would occupy the left side which is closer to the window. You always preferred the one closest to the window. It didn't matter much to Yoongi which side he slept on, but he made sure yours was always cleared so you could store whatever stuff you wanted. From any type of jewelry you took off before going to sleep, to snacks or books you brought with you that day – you always had your space within his home. And going through what were once your drawers, you realize nothing much has changed. They look rather uninhabited, no traces of you or him – or even someone else which is a concern that crosses your mind now.

He scratches the back of his head. "Fuck..." His voice comes out in defeat. "Maybe I can ask one of the other guys–"

"Don't!" You grab him by the wrist before he can wander off.

Confused, he looks down at your hand then back at you. "Why? You don't want to anymore?"

Shaking your head, you murmur sheepishly, "That's not it." There's a beat of silence as he waits for more. You swallow down the lump in your throat before you elaborate further, "Have you been with anyone else after..."

He holds your gaze, his eyes turning somber at your insinuation. "No."

His answer his short, but it's all you need to know. Min Yoongi might be the master of poker faces, but when it comes to you you can read the man like a book.

"Have you?" he follows up.

You shake your head. "Me neither."

Your reply seems to loosen some of the tension Yoongi was harboring, his body language becoming much more relaxed. Intertwining your hand with his, he inquires with a spark in his eyes, "Are you still on the pill?"

Giving him an affirmative answer, you interlock your fingers with his free hand as well. Your gesture changes the mood for good, his signature gummy smile making its return. You pull him closer until you're chest to chest. Sending him a light peck to the corner of his mouth, you curl your fingers around the edges of his shirt, peeling it off his torso.

He chuckles, raising his arms into the air in compliance. His hair ends up slightly disheveled once the clothing drags over his head. As you're smoothing it out for him, he asks, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"  

You give it another second of thought. It wouldn't be the first time you've done it without extra protection. You started birth control once things became serious between the two of you. Over the course of your relationship, you would stick to double protection mostly to stay on the safe side. Now that you're back here with him and your first time ever since is going to be raw, it puts so much more significance to the situation – but that's what you want. You want to be with him all the way.

"I'm okay with this," you assure him with another peck to his lips. "Are you?"

Nodding his head, he allows you to drag down his pants and underwear that still hang around his thighs, letting them pool around his ankles. You're about to crawl back onto the bed when he stops you midway.

"What?" You look at him from across your shoulder. "What's wrong?"

His arm wraps around your middle, turning you on your back. "I wanna look at you."

With bated breath you watch his eyes linger on your face, taking in every inch of it as if he's trying to paint a picture of you in his mind. God. If he's not going to do anything, you're going to have to eventually –

Cupping your chin, he then kisses you deeply while entering you slowly.

Your reaction is immediate, gasping against his mouth as he sheaths himself inside of you. Thank God. Finally.

The feeling is all too familiar though it still needs some time getting used to. He prepped you well at least, so it doesn't take too long until pleasure ultimately replaces the stinging sensation.

"Fuck," he curses as he moves at a moderate pace. "I missed you."

You hold onto his arms resting beside your head. "I missed you, too."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

It's like this flips a switch inside of him, his movements becoming more eager and carnal. He fills you up to the hilt, thrusting in and out of you with vigor. The silver pendant of his necklace swings back and forth wildly, grazing across your chest.

Your nails leave crescent shaped marks around his biceps. You're reduced to moans and curses. How long have you been hoping for this? Within those three months without him, you never considered a chance of getting back together – but you also haven't stopped thinking about the possibility of it. It seemed so farfetched due to all the circumstances. You had ruled it out immediately. But your fantasy always ran wild with the idea of it. And now your fantasy has become reality.

A particularly hard thrust has you practically screaming. You're quick to cover your mouth, your hand clasping it shut.

"Don't do that." Yoongi grabs ahold of it, holding it down above your head. "I wanna hear you." As if to test you, his hips rut into you faster and harder.

This ultimately does the trick, and you certainly don't disappoint as you let out lustful sounds loud and clear. Your focus should be on the here and now – in the arms of the man that you love so much. Nothing else and no one else should matter. "O-oh God, Yoongi!"

He sends you a satisfied grin as he sits up on his heels, his hips still snapping into yours. "Turn around."

With a mocking voice you tease him, "I thought you wanted to look at me."

"Yeah," he states nonchalantly, separating his sweaty bangs. "Now I wanna see the other side."

You let out an amused chuckle but abide alas, turning around on your side first before falling forward on your hands, your ass on full display for him.

"Perfect," he praises, caressing your cheeks with both hands. "You're doing great, baby."

Seconds pass before you feel his tip slide past your folds again. The stretch is different in this position, deeper and more thorough. You don't even notice yourself backing into him, your behind pressed flush to his pelvis.

"A little eager, aren't we?" One of his hands comes down to spank you, but before you even get a chance to complain he continues his onslaught, rolling his hips into your backside with deliciously slow yet harsh thrusts.

"Oh my God!" You lower yourself until your chest comes into contact with the mattress. "Yoongi…"

The telltale sound of skin slapping against skin echoes off the walls though they're not enough to drown out your sounds. As he gradually picks up his pace, your moans turn unstoppable. It's like an out-of-body experience – and judging by the noises coming from the man behind you he seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself as well.  

"Fuck, baby…" Yoongi's grip on your hips tightens. "You take me so well."

You desperately nod your head at no one in particular before burying it in between your folded forearms as you withstand his force. There's a burn you're trying to ignore that spreads along your thighs, but the longer you hold out the easier you lose posture until you collapse like a house of cards.

"Here." His hands guide you further up on the mattress until you're on your half of the bed. "Lay down."

You flop down onto your back like a brick, drawing a chuckle out of Yoongi.

As he positions himself beside you, he puts your legs together rolling you onto your side.  

"Oh..." You watch him with wondrous eyes as he settles down onto the space behind you. "This is new."

"Yeah." He grins while looping an arm around you, burying himself in your heat again. "Thought you needed a break."

At that, you chuckle lightly. "How thoughtful of you."

"Right?" With one sharp thrust, he hits you right in your g-spot. "Aren't I thoughtful?"

You moan out as he continuously pistons in and out of you, unable to answer in coherent sentences. "Mh-hm, so th-thoughtful."

His hand resting on your belly trails down to your thighs, spreading them ever so slightly so he can toy with your clit. The other squeezes through a crevice he creates between you and the bed to play with your tits.

When you think this is the highest of pleasure you can experience, he proves you wrong again. As his hips and hands move together in a perfect rhythm, he has the audacity to nip at your neck at the same time. His hard cock driving in and out of your pussy while he draws circles on your clit, pinches your nipple, and laves his tongue over your neck – this overstimulation sends you straight to the verge of another orgasm.

"Yoongi…" You twist your head around, resting it against his. "I'm gonna cum again."

"Okay." His features are contorted, one of the telltale signs of his own high incoming. "I'm about to cum, too."

Grabbing onto the hair on the back of his head, you press your lips together. The position proves itself as slightly awkward but is no obstacle to the heated kiss you're able to share.

Parting for a split second, Yoongi mumbles against your lips, "Should I pull out?"

You give it a moment of serious thought, shaking your head. As much as you loved when he used to finish somewhere on your body, you loved it the most when he finished inside. It always felt the most intimate, connecting the two of you on another level. "Cum inside me," you clarify, your walls already starting to flutter at the thought of it alone.

It's apparent the male is affected by your command, trying his hardest to send the two of you over the finish line. His eyes are shut, and his forehead crinkled into deep creases. "Baby," he huffs out with shallow breaths, "cum for me, please."

His plea along with his relentless ministrations seem to be the final straw for you, that long awaited orgasm exploding within you like a firework. Your eyes roll into the back of your head as you manage out a hoarse moan, involuntarily clamping your thighs shut while your legs twitch.

"O-oh fuck!" Yoongi also finds his release right away, emptying himself inside of you. "Shit!"

You barely register the profanities leaving his lips, but once he's reduced to mere whimpers you come back to reality. You always thought they were the sweetest sound in the world, such a contradiction to the strong and secure exterior of Min Yoongi.

The two of you lie there entangled with one another, catching your breaths. It could be a matter of a few minutes or maybe even an hour that you bask in the afterglow until Yoongi breaks the silence. "Come on," he murmurs, caressing your cheek. "We gotta clean up. Take off your make-up and all that."

You agree although with an annoyed grunt, slowly heaving your strained limbs from the bed one by one. There's a slight chill in the room now that your body has acclimated without the added body temperature from Yoongi and the physical exertion.

The touch of a fabric being draped across your shoulders causes you to jump a little. Inspecting the piece, you realize it's Yoongi's shirt from earlier. Thanking him, you slide it on as you stand up to your full height. Your legs are like jelly and there's the telltale ringing in your ears.

"Can you walk?" Yoongi inquires, coming to stand beside you. He’s back in his boxers, inspecting you with care.

Sending a timid nod of your head, you take a step but stumble over your own feet.

His arms reach out for you just in time to prevent the fall. "I went too hard on you. I'm sorry, darling."

"'s alright," you slur into the crook of his neck. "I liked it. A lot."

A smug grin finds its way onto his features. "Now come on," he chuckles. "Let's get you cleaned up."

You're more than thankful in this situation that Yoongi's room is one of the two in this household with an en-suite bathroom (the other belonging to Seokjin – being the eldest comes with benefits for sure) since your legs almost give out at any step despite leaning onto him while you walk.

After you take care of your situation down there, Yoongi runs a warm washcloth along the inside of your thighs for good measure. You thank him with your mouth agape, watching him in astonishment while you're propped up on the sink countertop for balance. It's beyond you how you could agree to the break-up so easily when he's always been so attentive to your needs, has always taken care of you without you even asking.

"There." He rises back to eye-level with you. "All good now."

You turn around to face the mirror, looking around for the things you need to in order to wash up. "Do you have a spare toothbrush?" you ask.

The man takes a second to process your request before his hand curls around the handle of one of the upper drawers. "I actually..." He hesitates. "I've got a few things you could use."

When he opens the drawer, your breath hitches in your throat. "I forgot I left these here," you murmur, inspecting the items revealed to you.

"Yeah..." Yoongi scratches the back of his head. "When you said you didn't need them, I tried throwing them away, but... I just couldn't."

You fairly remember the scene, storming out of the house after that talk, and when Yoongi told you he still had stuff of yours when you came over to drop off his you answered in anger 'Keep it or throw it out'.

With a trembling hand, you reach for the pink headband next to the rest of your skincare products. You don't want it to happen, but tears spring up in your eyes. Trying to keep them at bay, you throw your head into your neck, but to no avail. The first tears roll down your cheeks, so you turn away from Yoongi in shame, letting them fall freely.

"Hey," Yoongi coos, his hands coming up to rub soothing circles into your arms. "It's okay, honey. It's in the past now."

You feel so endlessly guilty of how things have turned out. All you want is for it to work out with him.

He continues consoling you, "We're gonna do better this time. But we have to be honest with each other." One of his hands slide down to intertwine with yours. "So no more of that hiding shit."

You let him spin you around in your spot. Looking up at him through blurry vision, you wrap your arms around his neck. "I want this to work out, Yoongi," you croak out choked up on tears. "I really want this to work out."

"It's gonna work out," he assures you, his arms around you as tight and secure as ever. "We're gonna make it work."

As you pull apart, he swipes his thumb over the last of the remaining tears on your cheek before placing a chaste kiss on it. The gesture draws a smile back onto your face, soothing your haywire state.

It's so domestic how you stand next to each other now brushing your teeth and doing your skincare routines, pulling silly faces at one another through the mirror – and before you know it you're racing him back to the bed, drifting off into peaceful slumber with his chest pressed to your back.

Sunlight peeks through the blinds as you blink your eyes open. You're sore all over, the memory of last night hitting you like a bat over the head though it draws a smile on your lips – especially since his arm is still draped over your middle.

Carefully rolling over onto your side, you're met with a half-asleep Yoongi, his eyelids still heavy as he peers at you.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" you whisper, your smile widening at his cute face.

He shakes his head, burying his face into the pillow. "Mh-mh." His voice comes out muffled, thick with sleepiness. "I woke up a minute ago or so."

You place your hand on his cheek at which he turns his head again. Rubbing your thumb across his soft skin, you shuffle closer to peck him on the lips.

He seems slightly more awake after that, chasing after your lips for another.

You still can't believe this is how you ended up. All the trials and tribulations brought you back together in the end. A huge thank you is due to be said to Jimin.

Yoongi props himself up, looking around the room in search of something. Once his eyes land on the bedside table next to you, he speaks up, "Pass me my phone, please?"

You hum out in affirmation, bending over to the side to retrieve the device.

He settles back down on the bed when you hand it to him, welcoming you with open arms as you cuddle up to him. Tapping on the screen, he unlocks the phone to a plethora of messages. He opens the most recent chat with Jimin.

You're not one to sneak a peek, but it's hard not to when it's right in front of your face. When you read the last message, heat creeps up into your cheeks.

from Jimin [12:04 AM]

i'm glad you guys managed to "talk things out" 😉

"Oh God." You hide your face in the crook of his neck. "They know."

"Of course they know," Yoongi replies with a chuckle. "We were gone for the rest of the night." He types out a quick reply before tossing the phone onto the space beside him. "On top of that, we weren't exactly quiet," he jokes, wrapping his arms around you pulling you flush to his chest.

You linger in embarrassment for a little longer until you can't help but laugh along with him.

A soft knock on the door ends your chatter early to which Yoongi answers with a chipper 'Come in'.

The door cracks open ever so slightly, the chestnut-brown of Seokjin's mop of hair coming into sight. "Everybody decent?" he questions before correcting himself. "Well, you wouldn't have told me to come in if not." Swinging the door open wider until he's more than a floating head without a body, he adds, "Uh... Breakfast's ready."

"Alright, thanks," the younger male responds. "We'll be down in a bit."

"So you guys are good again?" The corners of Seokjin's mouth tug upward as if he doesn't know the answer already.

Yoongi sends him an assuring smile. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good, good. That's a relief." It looks like he's on his way out before he adds with a teasing grin, "Otherwise I would've had no other choice but to ask for your hand in marriage, _____, because that kiss last night was something else. Like wow–"

A loud thud sounds as Yoongi throws his pillow at the older male with full force. Seokjin's fast reflexes save him though as it knocks against the closing door instead.

You shake your head at the eldest’s shenanigans.

"Say…" Yoongi starts again, acting as if what just happened a second ago didn’t. "I’m gonna have to go on some trips starting next month."

Your ears perk up at that.

"I know I can’t take you with me on all of them, and I’m not gonna force you, but…" He studies you with careful eyes. "Do you think we can make something work? Like you keep me company for at least one of them?"

Tracing shapes across the smoothness of his chest, you answer, "It’s a little short notice, but I’ll talk to my manager first thing Monday morning."

He cracks a crooked smile. "If not, we’ll figure something out."

"We’ll figure something out," you repeat as an assurance to him but also yourself. "What’s important is we both gotta be comfortable with what we’re doing and be patient with the process. Chances are things aren’t gonna run smoothly right away."

His smile grows wider at your addition. "Yeah, exactly.” Pulling you closer to his chest, Yoongi says the next sentence with an underlying tone of regret. "I hope you know it’s not your fault."

Your fingers curl tighter around his figure.

"I was just as guilty myself, I made just as many mistakes." Tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, he trails, "So please, don’t put all the blame on yourself."

Last night you would’ve cried in an instant, but you’re in a much better state this morning. Now you know you both have things to improve in order to move the relationship forward.

Lifting your head off his chest, you nod at him with a small smile. "Thank you for letting me know. And the same goes for you as well."

He reciprocates your smile before pulling you down towards him, pressing your lips together. "I love you," he repeats the words from last night.

Your heart flutters in your chest. "I love you, too." You resume the kiss, your hands roaming around his naked torso. "Do you think breakfast can wait? I feel like"–slinging one leg over to the other side, you straddle him–"I was kinda lazy last night."

At that, he gives you an all-knowing grin and the rest is history.

[olomaya]

I've been playing a half empty town (the lovely Newark Banks) for the past year and I'm finally building out all the community lots and unfortunately, I can't stop creating mods specific to whatever my need is at the moment!

While building out the library, I was like, hmm, you know what would be good? If I could find books without having to check each bookshelf to see what it has. So I created a mod to do just that. And of course, @aroundthesims had just the perfect object for it. So now, my Sims can simply go to the kiosk and pull up a list of all the books in the library and also search for books, either by Title, Author or by Category. If the library has it, the camera will then "lerp" (jump) to the bookshelf where the book is. They can even donate books to the library and request books to be ordered if the library doesn't have it.

So good. I finish the library (almost) and then head to the gym to fix that up and I had no space to place a wall TV for them to work out. So I'm like, wouldn't it be nice if Sims could just do basic floor exercises without the TV ? So I created this exercise mat and added the S4 pushup and sit up interactions (and burpees! horrible, horrible burpees).

They can (and should) also stretch which helps with soreness and fatigue.

Then I think hmm, wouldn't it be nice if Sims could buy a protein bar at the gym? And also sports drinks? And water? And the sports drink and water helped with post-workout fatigue? And Sims don't swallow half the bottle because we don't have bottle drinking animations and only cup/glass animations?

So now I'm making new vending machine foods with customized eat animations.

So, at this rate, my town will be finished in 2027.