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pixieungerstories · 3 years ago

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Quarantine - 2

There was no sign the house had any other occupants for days. I hadn’t been able to drag the mattress out of the room where he had put it. It was heavy and I couldn’t compress it enough to get it through the door.

I went back to working from home. The conference calls helped me feel sane. After a while it was easy to pretend the whole thing was some fever dream. I was pretending, though. I still hadn’t tried to open the closet. Grocery delivery was set on a rotation so that once a week they arrived at the gate. My neighbours had theirs brought right up to the house. Mine were always left at the gate of the picket fence that surrounded the front yard.

I used the hedge trimmers to shape the lilac bushes that the neighbours on each side had planted to obscure their view of my house. I weeded and mowed the lawn wishing for grass seed before just giving up and calling it a meadow. Some of the flowers were even pretty. I chuckled with my friends about how much drywall I was going to need when this was over. We laughed about how it was lucky I was alone instead of having a roommate watching me through the holes in the walls.

Well, they laughed. I sort of more chuckled nervously.

I kept an eye on my laptop battery and there weren’t any unexplained power outages. Everything seemed normal.

Until I was cleaning out the basement and found the wine room. I don’t know wine, but there was a lot of it and the newest bottle that I could find was pre world war two.

I wasn’t expecting it to still be good. It was. It felt ridiculous drinking a hundred year old bottle of red wine with a frozen dinner. I did it anyway.

“Are you still here?” I demanded as I was getting ready for bed.

There was no answer.

I found the box that had my vibrator in it and fell asleep in a sweaty puddle.

I woke up a little hung over and found my vibe squeaky clean on the bathroom sink when I went to brush my teeth. My stomach dropped.

“Were you watching me?” I hissed. I don’t know what sort of reply I was expecting, but I didn’t get one.

Once again, I tried to move the mattress to another room. Once again, I failed. I spent the night wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the floor in the other bedroom, with my laptop plugged in and netflix running to keep me company.

I screamed and stood up when he said from the doorway, “I get lonely too.”

“Jesus Christ!”

He chuckled, “Not even close.” There was a moment of silence as I strained my eyes to see something, anything, in the dark. “I can’t leave either,” he whispered. I stood there shaking in the light from my laptop screen. “Sleep in the bed. I will not bother you.”

I didn’t move. He had just sounded sad when he said it.

“Why can’t I ever see you?” I asked.

“I live in the shadows, you can only see me in darkness.”

I blinked at that. “But you are always here.”

“Yes.”

“And I can’t see in the dark,” I pointed out.

“I know.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I changed the subject. “What do you want from me?”

“When you first arrived, you slept in the garden. If you had started by sleeping in the house, I would have run you off. But you were fixing things, so I let you stay. I got used to you being around. Then you got sick and it would have been so easy to just let you die. I would have gone back to being on my own. I no longer want to be on my own but I hadn’t considered the weight of you being unable to leave. I do not like the idea of you being scared of me and trapped here.”

“But I am,” I mumbled.

“Yes. So take care of yourself. Sleep in the bed. Care for the house. I will stay out of your way.”

I licked my lips. I didn’t want to ask but I had to know. “What were you doing with my vibrator?”

There was no answer. I waited for what felt like an eternity before I continued. “Look, it isn’t a good idea to share sex toys, so depending on where it’s been, I might need to throw it out. I can’t exactly get a new one just now. Please just tell me.”

It was the barest whisper, “I wanted to taste you.”

I froze feeling like a deer in the headlights, completely unsure how to respond to that.

“I have not touched you since you asked me not to,” he argued.

Except for when I almost fell, I thought. You caught me then. And my laptop. I wouldn’t have been able to get a new one of those either. I wondered if soap and water would do it or if I was going to end up with some shadow monster disease. How do you even ask that?

“Ok,” I mumbled. I stood there in the dark and silence. The house was silent. I realized I hadn’t heard rattles or banging or hissing since I learned he was here. “Nyctophobia,” I blurted out.

“I don’t understand,” he replied.

I shifted awkwardly. “Can I call you Nick?”

The silence continued. Then, “Why?”

“Nameless things are more scary. It isn’t as bad having a roommate named Nick.”

He never did answer. Eventually, I sat back down on the floor and wrapped the blanket more tightly around myself. I wasn’t brave enough to walk through a pitch dark house, past a staircase, to get to the room where there was a monster in the closet.

----

There was coffee waiting for me when I got up, and the smell of cinnamon buns baking in the oven. The oven timer said there was 10 minutes left. I peeked inside to find the tiniest pan of monkey bread baking. I recognized the recipe and pulled out the cookbook it came from. Sure enough, in Nick’s careful handwriting was notations about scaling the recipe down to one sixth of how it had been published.

He had used pencil.

“Is this a peace offering?” I asked.

I didn’t get a response, but he did the dishes while I had my bath that morning.

When my groceries were delivered, popcorn had been added to my order.

I didn’t see him. Well, I mean, I never see him, but the only signs of him were things being done and left obviously done while I was bathing or getting dressed. Aside from how nice it was to not do the dishes I appreciated the signs that he was not watching me.

It came as a surprise when I went to put the popcorn in the microwave and the power went out.

“Nick? What are you doing?”

“This isn’t me,” he hissed.

I was lifted and carried squirming through the dark before being pushed into a space and having the door locked behind me. I panicked as I thought I might be in his closet before I realized I was in the wine cellar. Flashes of Edgar Allen Poe stories ran through my mind.

I have no idea how long I was in there, in the dark with my heart pounding as I tried to get the door to open. Eventually, it did.

“All better now,” he assured me, breathing down the back of my neck.

There were a lot of cop cars outside on the street.

“What happened?” I asked. There wasn’t any answer.

A uniformed officer rang my bell, then politely stepped back from my door the requisite six feet.

“Did you hear or see anything unusual last night, Ma’am?” he asked after identifying himself.

Yeah, all the time, I thought. There was still no way to say that and sound sane. I went with a modified version of the truth. “The power went out around 10pm and I ended up stuck in the basement since I couldn’t see the stairs.”

He frowned at me. “Have you noticed anything missing? Any signs of a break in?”

“No? Should I have?”

He appeared to consider this, then stepped further back to look at the state of my house. “There were break-ins all down this street last night. This place might not have been a target.”

“Is everyone OK?” I asked.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” replied walking towards me again. “I can not disclose anything further, ma’am.”

I swallowed, “That sounds like a no.”

“Do you mind if I come in and have a look around?”

I considered this, “Do you generally advise that women living alone let strange men into their houses? If you are coming to search, I want my lawyer here as a witness.”

He was already peering in around me. The house isn’t that big and the walls were all gone. He could see the whole main floor whether he came in or not.

“Doing some renovations I see.”

No shit Sherlock. “My building permit is posted in my window. I haven’t been able to get trades people out in months but-”

“I'm sure everything is in order with that. Good day.” Then he left. Standing on the porch I could hear him telling the other officers what a shit hole my house was. He thought it should be condemned.

I mean, he was right, still you never like to hear that. And it didn’t need to be condemned. I had the structural engineer’s report to prove it.

I went to work while keeping an eye on the news sites.

It wasn’t break ins. It was looters. The house next to me and the four next to it, all the way to the corner, had been hit. The owners had been found tied up at best and dead at worst with a variety of options in between.

It has escalated all the way down the street.

Then stopped before my house.

“Nick? What did you do?”

He wasn’t talking to me yet.

----

I sat on my bed and waited for the sun to go down. My laptop was in the kitchen. My phone was next to me but set to do not disturb. I waited, straining my ears for any noise.

“Are you there?”

Nothing was said but I was sure I could feel him watching me.

“Please tell me what happened.”

“No one comes into my house,” he snarled.

I swallowed and fought down my fear. “I did.”

“You are different. You are helping.”

I considered that. He had walls before I got here, now he didn’t.

“Am I safe from you?”

“Yes.” It would have been more comforting if he hadn’t growled it.

That was the point where I started to cry. I had made it through everything life had thrown at me without turning into a weepy woman, but that did it. I’m going to blame it on a night of panicking in the wine cellar combined with news reports detailing what had happened to my neighbours.

“Please don’t,” he whispered.

I sniffled. “Fuck. Why don’t I have kleenex?”

A roll of toilet paper was pressed into my hands. I ripped off a length and blew my nose in a way that women in the movies never do, then I jumped as he stroked my cheek with a cool finger, catching my tears. His hand was gone an instant later.

“What if they come back tonight?”

“They won’t,” he said firmly. I don’t think he was talking about the ongoing police presence on the street.

“What did you do?” I sniffled.

“I defended my home. That includes you now.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t sure that I couldn’t catch glimpses of him as the lights on the street kept flashing. Red, blue, huge black shadow.

“I don’t want to be alone right now,” I whispered.

The bed dipped but when I reached my arm out in that direction all I could find was a long fingered hand to hold mine. “You won’t be.”

I felt him tug at the blankets underneath me and I slid over so he could turn them back. Even in the dark I could find my sleep shirt under my pillow. I stood up next to the bed, stripped and pulled it over my head. Under the covers looking at the ceiling. Red, blue, shadow, red, blue shadow.

“Are you .. human shaped?”

“I can be.”

I snorted, “What kind of answer is that?”

“An honest one.”

I rolled on to my side so that my back was to him, or at least to where I thought he was.

“I can go.”

“Can you stay?”

The weight on the bed changed. “Don’t try to look at me, you will only give yourself nightmares.”

“You said you’ve read Blue Beard?”

“Yes.”

“Have you read Cupid and Psyche?”

He just snickered.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Does any of that apply here?”

“Are you going to try to burn me with an oil lamp?” he teased.

“Are you going to get me pregnant then cast me out into the wilds?” I countered.

He hissed at that, “Never.”

“Never get me pregnant or -”

“I’m not human. We can’t procreate. I can’t make you sick. You can’t make me sick. We can drive each other insane and you will be able to escape someday. I can not leave.”

“Why not?”

“You need to rest. Don’t ask questions with scary answers.”

“How am I supposed to know they are scary?”

“Because you are asking a monster. Now, go to sleep.”

That was the most ridiculous thing but I wasn’t up to arguing about it. Not while there was still an active crime scene next door.

I fell asleep to the feeling of him stroking my back.

----

The only furniture in the bed room was the bed and a few boxes of random stuff I had moved in. I woke to find one of them had been used as a table and was holding breakfast for me. Or at least a travel mug of coffee and a plate of toast. I sat in bed, drank my coffee, ate my toast and read the thirty seven emails from everyone I knew asking what the fuck happened next door.

I ended up posting a blanket statement on facebook that I was fine. I was still in my house. I had no idea what had happened other than what I had seen on the news. Then I posted a picture of the three squad cars I could still see out my bedroom window.

My boss emailed me to ask when he could expect the report I had been assigned, so that took up the rest of my day. It was getting dark when I realized I hadn’t eaten all day. Another freezer meal, some salad and I was raiding the wine cellar again, god damn it!

As I was pouring wine into a coffee mug, he asked me, “Are you drinking alone?”

I got up, took another mug out of the cupboard, poured a second drink and turned off the kitchen light. “Nope. I’m not alone. You’re here.”

He didn’t answer, as I ate my dinner by the light of the street lights outside. The porch light was outside the kitchen window, so I turned it on to wash the dishes then turned it off to go upstairs. It would have been better if I hadn’t stubbed my toe on the bottom step. I swore. Nick picked me up and carried me up the stairs.

“I didn’t have that much to drink!” I protested.

“No, but you can’t see in the dark.” He tucked me safely into bed.

“Did you change the sheets?” I asked. He didn’t answer. “You did, didn’t you?”

My laptop opened and his body blocked the screen for a few moments. Then Brooklyn 99 came on and it was set next to me.

“Why are you doing this?”

“We need a distraction. Call Penny.”

“We need a distraction? We?”

“Yes.”

I hesitated. “Do you need me to move out and camp in the backyard for a few days?”

His reply was a nonverbal roar that rattled the windows and set off a car alarm outside.

There was a commotion then the cops were knocking on my door. I sighed and turned on the lights. I decided to be proactive this time. I flung open the door and demanded “What the hell are you doing out here?”

The cops on my porch blinked.

“I’m trying to sleep! Can you keep the noise down? Please? I know whatever you are doing is important but can you just do it a little quieter?”

“That wasn’t us!” the youngest protested.

“Then can you find out who it was and make them stop?”

To my delight, they left.

I closed the door, smiled to myself and bounced off a wall of darkness that caught me before I rebounded against the door.

“I do not want you sleeping outside!” he growled in my ear.

There were one set of arms around my shoulders and another holding my hips and back. I tried to think of a ‘what big arms you have Mr Wolf’ quip but it died on my lips and the touch was gone in an instant.

“Nick? Can you help me not trip on things on my way to the stairs?”

Hands on my hips, pushing me gently forward and steering me around boxes. Another hand guiding mine to the banister. Then nothing. I carefully inched my way upstairs. I did that awkward thing at the top where you think there is still one more step but there isn’t so your leg falls through nothing and you stumble. To my right was the bedroom, still lit by the flickering screen of my computer.

I climbed into bed and closed it.

Then I opened it, stared at the browser for a moment, then closed it again.

“What’s wrong?”

I considered this. I really had no secrets from him anymore. “I’m anxious and keyed up. I need … some ‘alone time’ but it’s weird if you are watching.”

“Would it be better if I was helping?” he teased.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know what you are working with. But I feel lonely.”

Gentle fingers took my hand and raised it. The lips that kissed and the tongue that laved were not human. I turned my hand to stroke his face but he leaned away.

That stung. I let my hand fall to the bed. “It isn’t fair that you get to touch me but I can’t touch you.”

He didn’t say anything to that. A car drove past and the headlights lit the room for an instant. Long enough for me to see four glittering eyes watching me, two forward facing and two further to the sides. Not human, I reminded myself. In the darkness, a hand cupped my face, thick lips caught mine and as I kissed him a tentacle like tongue licked at my lips before darting briefly down my throat.

“I can do better than that toy,” he promised, “but you can not see me.”

I nodded. Four hands stroking me over my clothes. A mouth kissing and licking at my neck. I was expecting him to peel me out of my clothes, instead his touch was so feathery gentle. Hands cupped my face as he nuzzled my hair. I strained my eyes trying to see him, but I could catch only the faintest outline. Any time I reached out for him he pulled away. Finally, he got frustrated with that and pinned my hands over my head.

I panicked and pulled my hands away and just like that he was gone.

“Nick?”

I don’t know why I was expecting an answer. I groaned and pressed both palms to my face covering my eyes. I jumped when he caressed my calf, but I didn’t move my hands.

“What are you doing, little girl?”

“Damned if I know,” I admitted. “It’s been … I don’t even know anymore… how long have I been stuck in this house? Weeks? Months? None of this seems real anymore. Sometimes I don’t know if I’m real anymore either. I just need … something.”

“Someone,” he whispered.

“Yeah. Someone to make me feel like I’m real. Just to make me feel.”

“Humans need other humans to be human,” he muttered. “You should have just called your friend.”

My eyes prickled again and tears splashed against my hands. “How long have you been here?”

“There was an accident shortly after the house was built. I came because of that.”

That raised a lot of questions, but my immediate one was, “How long have you been here alone?”

“On and off since then. Most people don’t last much more than a month or two. Normally, construction crews are the advance party before they move in. It’s easy enough to get rid of the new owners. You were just too stupid to leave.”

I snorted, “Were you really trying to make me go? Because living here was creepy but not anywhere close to the scariest place I’ve ever lived.”

“My heart wasn’t in it. I need you to finish fixing the place first. Sooner or later someone would have built one of those ridiculous houses on the lot.” He started to massage my calf as he spoke.

“The house is more than a hundred years old. That’s a long time to be alone,” I pointed out.

“Enough time to get good at it,” he countered.

I moved my hands then and sat up to look at him. I thought I could see a pool of shifting darkness. “What are you? Are you a ghost? Did someone die here and -”

“Many people have died here. I am not one of them.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Am I?”

“What?”

“Am I some dead woman who is all alone here making excuses for why I can’t leave?”

He laughed at me then, not a jolly laugh, an odd howling laugh. “How did you come up with that ridiculous idea?”

It stung a little, “It’s a popular plot point in a number of movies. And I can’t help but notice you didn’t answer the question.”

He stopped laughing when he realized I was serious and said flatly, “You aren’t dead.”

#quarantine #oh my god they were quarantined #monster boyfriend #shadow monster

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cucumbers-and-olives · 4 years ago

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Enemies To Lovers- Part Two (Charlie Gillespie x reader)

i forgot to post this last night, oops! here it is now...

<<<part one—part three>>>

Summary: Its New Years, and you fare asked to stay in town for the annual New Years party. But what happens before and during the party? Well that’s a story!

Category: it’s a league of its own

Fandom: JATP

Paring: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Word Count: 1,960 (woah)

⚠️PLEASE READ⚠️ Warnings/Includes: if mentions of drinking, drugs, (getting) roofied/drugged, strong language and typos

Please make sure you are comfortable before reading this chapter.

A/N: so it’s a few days late, i hope you guys enjoy this NYE fic a few days after

Mandatory Thanking of the Betas: THANK YOU LOVES!!! you two literally hold me up and help me make my ideas into their finished product, so thank you!

AO3 link here (will be up by 1/7 10pm est, i’m have wifi issues at the moment)

Please don’t repost my work without my permission, in part or whole. My work can also be found on AO3 under the same username. Thank you!

“Y/N!” A woman said entering your room. It had been a week since you had arrived in the Gillespie home. In that short amount of time you had met all of Charlie’s younger cousins (there were only three, but they were a handful), celebrated Christmas the Gillespie way, and gotten into a total of five fights with Charlie over a range of things, but each one had a bigger fall out than the last. You supposed that was why at every meal your spot was next to his, an obvious way that Ms.Gillespie tried to “bring the two of you closer together.”

“Hun, you okay?” Ms.Gillespie said, her hand resting on yours. “You’ve been staring at that shirt for a while.”

“I’m alright, thank you,” You said, placing your shirt into the suitcase that lay on the floor. You were packing to leave, but you could tell that the older woman’s appearance in your room meant that you wouldn’t be leaving on your flight. You held your breath as she spoke.

“I’d like to invite you to stay through New Years. You’ve been such a help with the younger kids, and it’s been delightful to have you here.” She must have been telepathic at that point because she rushed out her next point. “And Charlie has agreed to play nice.”

“Ms.Gillespie, you are so kind, but I don’t think I have enough money-” You said, not wanting to overstay your welcome any longer.

“Nonsense, nonsense!” She cut you off. “I knew you would say this, it’s the kind of person you are, and so Charlie has found you a flight and we are paying for it.” You could tell that there was something that she was leaving out, but you could get hit with that later. Ignoring your work and your family was something that you were good at. And besides, hanging out at the Gillespie house was fun.

“Alright!” You agreed. She sweeped you up in a hug.

“Wonderful! Have you had lunch yet?” You shook your head. “Well that is perfect, I’ve got some sandwiches, so I expect to see you down in a few, okay?”

You nodded, and with that, she left, a smile on her face. You were excited to stay longer, but would Charlie’s promise hold? Would he really be nice for the remainder of your stay?

“Let’s hope so,” You said, closing your door and making your way to the kitchen. You should have been paying attention, but you weren’t. Bumping into someone, you both landed on the floor, your phones and other things flying.

“I am so sorry,” You said, picking up the various items. As you reached for one of the notebooks, your hands met and you finally saw who you had bumped into.

“Is this a game to you?” Charlie asked. His eyes were tear-stained, and you slowly noticed that some of the pages had tears on them too.

“I-” You picked his phone up along with yourself off the floor. “Are you okay?” You asked softly, tucking his phone into his back pocket, where you knew it had been before.

“Does it look like it? God, will you just fuck off! When are you leaving anyway?” He grumbled, his previously sad tone taking on a very harsh one. His hand that used to lay by his side was now in a very tight fist.

“I’m leaving after New Years. Your mom asked me to stay, and she’s paying for the flight back,” You said, answering honestly. You didn’t know what happened when he got angry- really, truly angry. And you didn’t want to see it.

“That’s why she had me- Oh my god, no. Just no.” He barked, stalking off.

“Yeah, you know what, fuck you too,” You whispered hotly, calming yourself down as you walked into the kitchen.

“Cause I don’t care when I’m with my baby yeah,” You sang along with the T.V. You enjoyed dancing to the Wii, and you hadn't minded when Anna had asked you to join. But the same song had played over five times now.

As the song ended, you placed your control down. “Gimme ten minutes, okay? I just gotta get some water,” She nodded, and you stepped out of the room and entered the kitchen.

“Is it this cabinet?” You said, opening the cabinet that you guessed the glasses were in. They weren’t in that one. Or the next, or the next or the next.

“Excuse me,” Charlie said, stepping around you to open a cabinet you could have sworn you had opened. He grabbed a glass and closed the cabinet, and poured himself a glass of water.

You opened the cabinet to grab a glass, but they seemed just out of your reach. You got on your tiptoes, and your fingers just brushed the edge of the glass.

He let out a little chuckle and grabbed the glass, and filled it up. “Thank you,” You said, reaching for it.

“Oh, you thought this was for you?” He feigned shock. “This is for Anna, she asked me to grab her a glass.”

“Are you kidding me?” You shouted after his retreating form. Sighing, you decided you could do without water as you walked back into the game room.

He sat smugly on the couch, sipping at his glass of water.

“Come on, let’s play!” Anna said, tugging at your hand.

“What song?” You asked, looking to the screen as she pressed play.

“I love it when you call me senorita, I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya,” Anna sang to the track.

You felt the beat and began to follow the moves on the screen. You knew Charlie was staring at you, and so you made everything bigger. More power, more accuracy, more everything.

When the song ended, he walked out of the room, but he backtracked to whisper something in your ear.

“Strictly professional, Ms.Y/L/N. You aren’t that good of a dancer.”

“What do you think of this, Anna?” You said, showing the young girl the sparkling black dress you had on.

“You need more color! And that’s too shiny, and you wore it to Christmas dinner, and-“ She could have kept going, but she caught sight of something in your closet and pulled it out. “This! This is perfect!” Red, off-the shoulder, a leg slit, it was something you would never wear in a million years.

“I’ll… try it on?” You said, and Anna smiled as you stepped into the bathroom.

You pulled it off the black dress and put on the red one, but as you zipped up the back of the dress there was something in the way. A little card.

“Huh,” You were confused as you pulled it out, but as you read it, everything made sense.

You placed the card down to look at yourself in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly, falling down every curve perfectly. It wasn’t you that you saw in the mirror. It was who you pictured in your mind when you thought of yourself.

“Can I see it now?” Anna asked, knocking on the door.

“Yeah,” You said, opening the door.

“Woah,” She gasped softly, looking you up and down. “I think Charlie’s gonna love it.”

Before you could say anything in response, Anna ran out of the room.

“Really?”’ You said as you accepted the call on your phone. “I look amazing, but why?”

“Remind me what you’re talking about?” Savannah asked.

“Your acting is on point, Savannah Lee May.”

“Ooh, full name, I’m so scared!” She laughed. “You look good in red, and I knew you would need a dress for New Years!”

“Ya know, if you want to switch to facetime, all you need to do is ask. And the answer is yes.” You rolled your eyes as she squealed, quickly switching to facetime.

“You look stunning!” She gasped. “I wish I could pull off a dress that good!” She whined a bit.

“Who are you talking to?” Owen hollered in the background.

“Y/N! She looks amazing in the dress, come see!”

“Hey Y/N,” Owen said, stepping into frame. He made a face at Savannah. “If she wears that, you have to deal with Charlie when he calls to ruin my New Years.”

“What does he mean?” You asked. Savannah muted herself and had a heated argument with Owen before answering you.

“When we were drunk one time, Charlie talked about his ex. Specifically, the dress she always wore. A red off the shoulder with,” You cut her off.

“With one leg slit. Well that is specific, and I am not the woman that he wants to see in it.”

“It goes further,” She said. “The only people that heard that conversation were Jer, Caroline, Owen and I. So he’ll know that I did this, and he will call Owen to let out his frustration. He’s a nice guy, in that he’ll only yell at men. Truly yell.”

“Wow. So you are sending me into a death trap?”

“Not exactly-“ Owen’s phone rang, cutting her off.

“It’s him! Get over here and answer the phone for me please, Sav!” Owen shouted.

“Who?”

“Anna must’ve told him. She found the dress in my stuff.” You told her and she sighed, hanging up.

Music played loudly, filling every corner of the house. And where the music was, there were people. Maybe 75 or so, but it was only 11:30, and you had a feeling that number would increase. You didn’t know what, or more specifically who you were looking for as you scanned the room you were in.

“Hey doll, have a drink!” A random man said, and as he walked by he passed a drink to you. A clear but faintly yellow liquid was in the cup. You didn’t want to know what it was.

“Bottoms up-“ You said, about to tip the cup back and down it before someone pulled it out of your hands.

“I may despise you, but I am not about to let you get roofied,” Charlie said, handing you a beer. “Don’t you know that you have to be holding something at one of these kinds of parties?”

“I didn’t realize it was gonna be one of these kinds of parties,” You muttered, taking a swig of the beer.

“It’s always been like this,” He said, watching all of the couples.

“How close are we to midnight?” You asked.

“Maybe 30 miniutes? I’m gonna go see how my family is.” He said, leaving you in your tiny corner.

“10,” The room continued to chant.

You searched the room for Charlie, or at least a familiar face. Couples surrounded you, preparing to kiss at midnight. And you, like a 5 year old, prepared to cover your eyes.

“9,” There was no sign of him, but there were a few men around the room with a similar haircut. You slowly ruled them out.

“8,” His hair was too short.

“7,” His was too dark.

“6,” He was too short.

“5, 4,” You started to give up, just as you saw a couple emerge from one of the back rooms. That couldn’t be him, could it?

“3!” But that was his voice.

“2!” And that was his jacket. Your face dropped as you prepared yourself. You knew what the incoming trainwreck was but you couldn’t look away.

“Happy New Year!” The couples shouted before pulling their lover close.

You watched as his lips met hers. You looked for a bit too long before tearing your eyes away and stalking to your room. But you couldn’t help but look back, and when you did, your eyes met his for a moment.

And the mood shifted.

Send me an ask if you’d like to join my tag list(s)! Strike through means i wasn’t able to tag you.

Enemies to Lovers Tag List: @yagorlemmalyn @ifilwtmfc @kaitieskidmore1 @p0uge420

JATP: @n0wornever @unsaidmegan @calamitykaty @screwunsaidemily @crybabyddl @badwolf00593

All: @funsizearsonist

#julie and the phantoms fanfic #julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp fanfic #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie #cucumber writes #enemies to lovers pt ♾

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mybiasisexo · 4 years ago

Text

What Happens in the Dark

Genre: Angst | Vampire!au

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Length: 4.6k

Warning: unfinished | 1st person (final product won't be I swear)

Summary: You were just trying to survive, but that get’s difficult after running into the wrong guys on your way home from work. Luckily, your knight in shinning armor came to rescue you, but as the saying goes ‘never trust a man in leather pants and a particularly pointy-toothed smirk’. Wait, that’s not the lyrics to Poison??? Hmm....

Author’s Note: Do any of yall remember back in October of ‘19 (yike) when I said I was going to write a vampire!bbh fic and never did?? Cause I do. But, wait, what is this??? A chaptered vampire!bbh fic??? Yes, you heard me right. I decided to turn it into a series (?) and hopefully will get my head out of my ass long enough to give it the attention it needs so I can post it during the dark holiday. For now, here’s what I have written so far, enjoy!!! (And yes, that’s the title, bb we going ✈️ kokokrazy, mmkay???)

MASTERLIST

(couldn't find the credit for the gif, if anyone knows please lmk, thanks!!)

I take a deep breath and hold it for a brief moment, deluding myself into believing that the lack of oxygen to my brain will bring me courage as I stare through the glass of the front door of my job at the book store. In the distance, the sun glows red as it dips into the horizon, dragging the light with it. It will be dark soon.

I let out the breath slowly through my mouth.

I don’t mind closing, I live close enough to my job that I can walk the few blocks to my apartment. The only time it is a problem is on the weekends. I work downtown, right next to a few night clubs, and walking past those on a Saturday—which is today—makes me anxious. It’s bad enough I am a foreigner, so I grab people’s attention easily, but add alcohol to the mix… the lack of inhibitions frightens me.

But it is time to go.

I reluctantly open the door and enter the chaos that is the city. Cars zoom past and people head to their respective destinations without a care in the world. I lock the building behind me and clutch my messenger bag closer to my stomach, playing with the frays of the strap distractedly as I make the journey to the safety of my home.

It is about a fifteen-minute walk, and any other day I wouldn’t blink twice about the trip, but as the sun continues to disappear, the city begins to spark with it’s night life.

Soon, the nightclub I have to pass appears. I hold my breath as I speed past, keeping my face forward to keep attention off of myself, but that isn’t the worst part of my journey.

I turn into the alley next to the club, my pace nearly a sprint as I try to get through the shortcut as quickly as possible, but my feet stutter to a shuffle when I notice a dark figure ahead of me.

It is around 10pm, and as much as I worry about it, I don’t expect the club to be that busy—being how early it is. I’ve made this late night trek a handful of times, I was always left anxious, but unscathed.

Something isn’t right this time.

I slow my walking, but continue nonetheless, I have to get home.

As I close in, apprehension thick in my throat, the shadow separates to reveal two bodies, long lean torsos and head’s pressed close together, deep voices quietly speaking.

My footsteps echoe in the quiet night air and they finally notice me. Stopping abruptly, and in eerie synchronization, they turn their heads from the huddle they are in to face me. They’re tall, much taller than I originally thought, although it is difficult to see with the dim lighting. They stand on the opposite side of a light post. They are dressed well, which I expect if they are party goers. But, it is obvious that the dark jeans, silky button downs, and gold rings and chains wrapped around their necks cost a pretty penny. Their dark hair is styled to perfection, the separate styles fitting their face shapes.

Why are two men that are definitely out to be seen huddled in a dark alley?

“Uh….” I grow nervous as the silence stretches. Their piercing eyes leave me frozen in place and I am overwhelmed with the feeling something is askew or that coming down this particular alley was a mistake. I quickly rack my brain for something to say so that I can be on my way, but am left blank.

I gulp despite my dry throat and open my mouth to say…anything, really, but then the two share a look before hovering over me, pressing me against the cool red brick of the outside of the club.

“What did you hear?” One of them, who has wide eyes and short black hair that is gelled back to reveal the manly features of his face, snarls.

“No—nothing!” I am quick to assure.

The other, who’s hair is longer and framing his face, tilts his head. “Her heart is racing. Are you nervous, Kitten?”

I am. There is something about their energy that fills me with dread, makes me want to scurry away without a further glance back and go home immediately.

“Come on,” the former, who’s voice I feel in the pit of my gut with how deep it is, coaxes alluringly. My eyelids flutter and my balance is off, feeling lightheaded all of a sudden. “Tell us what you heard and I promise, we won’t hurt you.”

“I already told you,” I push, finding words difficult to punctuate. It is as though I am fighting a deep sleep, eyes practically closed as I put all of my weight against the wall to hold myself up at this point. “I didn’t…hear…anything.”

One of them snarls—my eyes are sealed shut, so I am not sure which it was—and a shockingly cold hand grips my chin. I gasp, eyes springing open from the shock of pain as his dull nails dug into my skin.

“We didn’t want to do this,” the first talker, who is the one currently holding me, growls, not seeming particularly remorseful in the slightest. His huge eyes are blown out and I am captured by the frightening depths of his pupils. They are bottomless and it feels like I am on the edge about to slip into a never-ending fall.

“Chanyeol, stop.” A new third party urges monotonously. I didn’t hear him enter, but I am kind of distracted at the moment, trying not to think about the fact I might be murdered in an alley.

The Chanyeol fellow smirks crookedly, eyes never leaving mine as he speaks. It’s unnerving. The man doesn’t even blink as he holds my gaze. “She overheard everything.”

“No, she didn’t. You’re just hungry.”

The guy beside Chanyeol sighs as if bored, folding his arms across his chest and flicking some of the bang away from his eyes. “And so what if we are?”

The third man barks a laugh. “Well, you’re wanted inside, Sehun. Both of you. You can conspire in there.”

“We’re almost done here,” Chanyeol replies, distractedly. His grip on me has loosened some, but not enough for me to try and break out and make a run for it. Instead of his nails digging into me, he is now caressing the corner of my lip with his thumb. “We’ll meet you inside.”

I have a sinking feeling I’m not going to see the inside of that club anytime soon.

The newcomer joins our little party, finally coming into my eye line. He is about a head and a half shorter than the twin towers before me, but holds just as much, if not more, authority in his broad shoulders. He’s dressed similarly to the other two, but his eyes are an approachable chocolate brown, instead of the inhuman glittery black I’ve been trapped by.

“I bet you have places to be.” He addresses me, voice soothing and calm.

I nod frantically, wanting to be out of this situation.

“Let’s go.”

He reaches out to me, probably for me to hold on to, but Sehun swipes his hand away before he can fully stretch it out to me. “She’s ours.”

The shorter guy’s jaw jumps irritably. He definitely isn’t happy about being touched. “She is not.”

With that, he lurches forward, getting into a fight with Sehun. It happens so quickly, I nearly get whiplash from the drastic change of the man. Their moves are fast, I can’t keep up with what is going on, it is as if they are a blur.

Chanyeol uses the distraction to tilt my head back, making me stare at the indigo sky, twinkling lights beckoning me to join them.

“I’ll be quick,” he assures, voice raspy with want and low from focus. He closes in, lips a whisper against my sweaty neck and I wonder if he is going to kiss me. Wonder what torture I am going to endure.

I never find out.

He curses as he is yanked away and I shift my head back down to see what is happening, but can’t comprehend anything. Shadows moving against darkness and animalistic growls and snarls, things that didn’t belong in this setting.

A flash of white is in front of me and I scream. It can’t be helped. My heart races, adrenaline kicking in as the whole situation finally dawns on me.

“You’re okay.” Someone bends down to crouch in front of me—I guess I slid down to the ground at some point—and brings their face closer, into the spotlight of the full moon high above us, revealing his dainty features.

It is the third man that had stepped in.

“You’re safe now,” he assures.

“Those… those men.” My voice is shaking and I have to pause to swallow and steady myself. In fact, my whole body is shivering and it isn’t from the cold.

“They’re gone.” His voice is grounding, his words relieving. I let out a breath and press my lips together, feeling a tad nauseous. I check the narrow alley to confirm that they have indeed vanished into the night.

“You saved me.” I realize, taking him in with wide eyes.

The right side of his mouth lifts and he tilts his head to the side. “Would you like to go home?”

“Please,” I nearly beg, wanting that most of all. I feel exposed for some reason, feel as though I am still in danger as long as I am outside. What if those strange men decide to come back? I shiver at the thought.

“Cold?” He questions. His almond shaped eyes take in my curled body, his eyebrows furrowing in a pout. “Do you have a coat?”

“I didn’t need one,” I say with a small shrug. “I was supposed to be home by now.”

His expression is fixed on disapproval. “I left mine inside. I’ll run in and get it real quick and then walk you home.”

He goes to stand and I panic, my arms shoot out to latch onto his arm, trapping him in an awkward squat. “Don’t leave me out here!”

“Alright.” He pats one of my hands that dig into the thin material of his shirt, most likely leaving crescent marks into his flesh, although he doesn’t seem to be in any discomfort or pain. “We can go in together. Does that work for you?”

“Are they in there?” I ask in a whisper.

He shakes his head. “Even if they are, they won’t do anything as long as I’m with you. I’m sure of it.”

I take in his angelic face. He really is beautiful in a sweet boyish kind of way and I wonder briefly how old he is. It is almost comical, because he’s definitely going for the whole ‘bad boy’ look, what with his leather black pants, rose red button down, and smokey eye. Despite that, I truly feel safe with him there, feel that he will be my white knight and get me home unharmed.

“Okay. I’ll go with you then, Sir.”

“’Sir’?” Now he smiles, full pink lips stretch into a shape of a box revealing the loveliest set of teeth I have ever seen. A soft breeze hits at that moment, tousling the already messy, slightly curled, dark brown hair around his head and, despite myself, my breath catches. He chuckles lowly, the sound causing saliva to flood my mouth. “My name is Baekhyun. What’s yours?”

I waste no time telling him, needing him to know who I am.

He repeats it, making sure he gets it right and I want to curse my hormones for being so affected when my life was on the line only a few minutes ago.

“Well,” he takes one of my hands that still holds onto him into one of his, causing me to shiver from the crisp velvety texture of his skin on mine. “Let’s get you home.”

We slip into the club without any trouble, the security doesn’t even card me. It is as if, just being in Baekhyun’s presence allows me an in. I gaze at him in awe as we maneuver through the slightly crowded entrance towards coat check, but he doesn’t notice—either that, or he is pretending not to. He leans against the square glassless window, broad back exposed to the rest of the club, waiting calmly for his jacket. I lean against the wall, taking in everything I can through the haze and saturated lights, making sure I am clear from the other men I had the displeasure of meeting.

“Ready?” Baekhyun asks, drawing me out of my search and I find my body untensing with his close presence. I bring my attention up to him, his head is cocked slightly, an eyebrow raised in a question. I nod in affirmation and take the lead, with my back to him, I feel the pressure of a sturdy jean coat around my shoulders. Glancing down, I take in the rough black material and smile to myself as I slip my arms through the sleeves, peeking behind me once quickly to see him studying me like a hawk, eyes sharp and a pleased grin on his lips, so small I can barely make it out, and I wonder if he’s even aware of the action. When I face in front of myself again to watch where I am going (and to hide my reddening cheeks from him) I feel a private grin so happen to pull at my features and I wrap the massive jacket closer to myself, inhaling what must be Baekhyun’s scent.

It’s an indescribable smell. It’s luxurious and soft, yet also grungy, like the scent of a new car mixed with a bouquet of Jasmine and gasoline.

It’s intoxicating.

We finally make it out of the stuffy building and I don’t hesitate to turn left, leading us down the familiar path to my place. Once there is room, Baekhyun lazily falls in line beside me, matching my pace so closely, his arm brushes against mine every other step. We get to the alley immediately, since it’s beside the building we were just in, and my footing falters, causing me to trip.

Arms are around me in an instant, not allowing me to move forward, let alone to the ground and the momentum drags me to a hard chest. I huff, the air is knocked out of my lungs and everything stops for a few seconds.

Finally, I remember how to breathe and lift my head to see Baekhyun’s mere inches above mine, eyes wide from surprise and slight fear.

“Are you alright?” He breathes, startled.

The urge to laugh at his expression is strong, but I swallow it once I remember where I am. Clearing my throat soberly, I realize I am practically splayed over him. I tap the shoulder my hand is resting on awkwardly and he finally realizes the situation as well. I feel one of the arms he has around my waist tighten briefly, pulling me even closer, but just as quickly, he is pulling back apologetically.

“I’m fine,” I finally am able to muster. I laugh drily, rubbing my face. “Still not over the memories….”

Baekhyun bit his lip worryingly. “They really frightened you, huh?”

I let out another breathless laugh. “I’ve honestly never been more terrified in my life.”

My voice shakes and all I can think of is the Chanyeol fellow’s depthless eyes. “Something about them was just so…inhuman….”

“Those guys,” Baekhyun’s voice cuts through my horror flashbacks, closer than I remember, startling me. He tries to steady me with slender fingers on my bent elbow, but keeps it there even after I’m still. “They were just hungry.”

“Hungry?” I question. He is now using the hand on my arm to lead me through the dark trail.

“Yeah, they…. They get a bit cranky when they haven’t fed in a while.”

I scoff. “’Fed’? What is this? A Snicker’s ad?”

He chuckles at that, but you press on. “You sound like you’re on pretty friendly terms with those guys.”

He winces at that. We’ve cleared the alley at this point, so he drops his hand, losing contact with me, much to my disappointment. I’m back to leading, so I continue down the familiar streetlamp lit sidewalks.

“I mean….” He scratches the back of his head. “We’re… familiar. I wouldn’t go as far as calling them friends, by any means.”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, genuinely curious as to his connection with those psychopaths.

He purses his lips as he stares ahead unseeingly, thinking about the right way to explain himself. “What I mean is… we share the same circle. Some of the guys… they’re rowdier than the rest. They have a few loose screws, I’ll be the first to tell you, but they’re a part of the group.”

I lift an eyebrow at that. “So…. You all just let them run around and act crazy without any repercussions?”

“That’s…not what I said,” he’s quick to defend, lifting a finger in a scolding way. “I kicked their asses for you did I not?”

“You did that for me?” I ask, not able to resist the urge to bat my eyelashes up at him. I’m not going to lie to myself, I like the idea of him fighting for me.

“I did. Because I knew they were up to no good. You’re welcome, by the way.”

I roll my eyes, but bump my shoulder with his in thanks.

“But, even though I think I already know the answer, I have to ask.” He’s grown nervous. “Did…did you hear anything they were talking about?”

I shake my head and shrug. “Not a word. I could hear voices, but they were talking too quietly for me to understand any of it.”

He lets out a breath he must’ve been holding in relief.

“What? Was it that bad?”

He smiles, his beautiful teeth on display. “No! No, no.”

“Are you sure?” I press, teasingly.

He throws me a look that causes me to laugh.

“Enough about them,” he dismisses and I laugh harder. He goes ahead of me, spinning around so that he’s walking backwards, giving me his undivided attention. “I want to know more about you.”

“Like what?” I ask, instantly flustered. Under the moon, the smooth bit of skin of his neck and chest shine pale, the contrast with his dark eyes and long lashes something to behold. Does he know how incredibly attractive he is? Well, if his fashion and confidence is any indicator, he surely did, and used it to his benefit.

“Like why you were in the alley in the first place? I’ve never seen you at the club before, and trust me, I would remember.”

The comment flusters me more and it takes me a moment to remember how to speak. “I… I work nearby. The alley is my shortcut home.”

“I’m pretty familiar with the area.” He hums. “Where do you work?”

“At the used book store down the road.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I wonder if I should be telling this man such personal information. Yeah, he may be hot, but he’s still a stranger, whether he saved me or not, I didn’t know him enough to trust him with the information. Yet, what was done was done.

“Ooooh, so you’re a nerd?” He teases and I roll my eyes.

“I guess you could say that, Baekhyun.”

“I think it’s cute! I was never much of a reader….”

“Well, if you need any recommendations, I’m your girl.”

He grins and I think he may have liked that statement a little too much.

“I’ll have to visit you soon then, to get those recommendations.” His voice has lowered, deepened, coming from within his chest and my mouth utterly dries.

“M—maybe you should,” I stutter and then stop abruptly as I finally take in our surroundings. “Shit.”

“What?” He’s shocked again and I guess it’s because I swore. Maybe he finds it unbecoming of me.

“I…. We passed my place.”

His lips form into a thin line as he presses them tightly together—holding in a laugh, no doubt. I ignore him as I swiftly double back the half block to my apartment. “This is me.”

He takes in the brightly dimmed complex. “Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you in?”

I nod. “I appreciate all you’ve done for me tonight, but I think I can take it from here.”

“Ah….” He slides his hands in his pockets and finally meets my gaze, disappointment visible on his face. “Well then, I guess my work here is done.”

“I guess so.”

“It was nice meeting you,” he says my name and shallowly dips his head, although we both seem rather hesitant to move.

“Nice meeting you, too, Baekhyun. Thank you again, for saving me.”

“Anytime.” He grins boyishly and I can’t help but stare at his mouth, at his perfect teeth.

An awkward silence follows and needing to break it, but also not necessarily wanting to, I began making my way towards the door to my building. “Good night.”

“Goodnight.” His farewell is a mere breath, he watches me, eerily still as I slowly retreat, walking backwards as he had earlier. My back roughly hits the face of the door and he chuckles at my silly antics, shaking his head.

I embarrassingly try to save my ass, but I’m just speaking gibberish, barely making sense as I succumb to my mortification and slid through the mint green door, into the familiar lightly dimmed foyer, leaving Baekhyun on the sidewalk.

I get into my apartment, my roommate/best friend already retired to bed. I stand in front of her closed bedroom door, wondering if I should wake her because I just need to tell someone about what happened to me, but thought better of it, showered and got ready for bed.

Once in the protection of my blankets, the nights events replay in my mind. I find myself tossing and turning as those men keep swirling around my head, threatening me over and over again as I wonder what they thought I overhead was and what Chanyeol had planned to do to me if Baekhyun hadn’t intervened.

Baekhyun….

Despite myself, I find solace in his presence. I have never felt so instantly attracted to someone before and I regret not getting his number or asking him to come in, but I’m just not that kind of girl. Even though he is nothing but nice, there is a chance he could’ve taken my invitation the wrong way.

Or, maybe we would’ve just learned more about each other and started a blossoming friendship.

Well, no use dwelling on the past. I sink deeper into my blankets and finally fall asleep with the reassuring thought that if it is meant to be, then it will be. Plus, I know at least one place I can find him if I really want to.

I sleep rather well that night.

~*~

The next week flies by uneventfully. I’m busy enough that the thought of Baekhyun doesn’t come to mind until I find myself face to face with him inside my store.

He’s gazing down at me, eyes wide and alight with humor. Actually, the humor coats his face, lifting the corners of his red lips and wrinkling his nose.

Under the cool yellow of the lights ahead, he appears warmer, but still paler than one should be in the summer. Again he’s draped in tight black skinny jeans that wrap around his delicious thighs, rips at the knees and sporadically on said thighs. Tucked into the belt is an expensive looking silky button up shirt with random patterns of blacks, maroons, and golds. The top two buttons unfastened to give a glimpse of his firm chest—just enough to leave you wanting more. Between the V of the opening sat a ruby, hung from a bronze chain. It appears to be the only piece of jewelry he has on. His hair is parted on the side, thrown messily aside, exposing his round eyebrows and blemish-less forehead.

He looks wildly handsome.

Handsome enough to garner the attention of the few bit of customers wandering the store.

I blink up at him. He seems so out of place here, amongst the old tender pages of discarded books. He belongs within the walls of clubs, with beautiful women draped all over him, wine in hand, the world at his feet.

Godly.

That is the vibe he gives off. As if he were of a different species.

“Are you that shocked to see me?” He finally utters, head tilting to the side. “You haven’t said a word and have been staring for the past minute.”

“It hasn’t been a minute,” I finally mumble, taking my eyes off his glorious face and down to the counter that only holds my hands.

He chuckles lowly. “Well, it diffenitly was longer than deemed friendly.”

“What are you doing here?” I say. “You don’t have any books.”

“It’s Friday.”

He shrugs at my confused expression. “I know you walk home and decided that I could protect you from all the scary men out there during the busy night. I wasn’t sure if you closed tonight, but decided to check since I was in the neighborhood.”

I have to swallow all the fluttery gushing things that form in my mind at his words. He’s worried about my safety? Concerned enough to check on me and make sure I am protected? His words definitely have my heart fluttering.

“That’s… very nice of you,” I’m able to get out eventually, bringing out a large pleased smile from him. “I actually do close today, so thank you.”

“When are you off?” He asks.

I check the time. “Ten. We still have about two hours left.”

“I don’t mind,” he says, answering my unasked question. “I faintly recall you informing me of some recommendations. It looks like I have the time to get those.”

I take his outfit in. “But you’re dressed for an event. I don’t want to take that from you.”

“These?” He motions at his body before scoffing. “I always dress like this. No special occasion, other than walking you home, of course.”

“Of course,” I repeat, again trying not to get too giddy over the idea he wants to impress me. “Well, my favorite book that’s in right now is a classic, Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice.”

“Ah….” He get’s a far away look for a moment. “I’m quite familiar with that story.”

“Oh, you are?” I am both disappointed and intrigued. “Didn’t take you much for a reader.”

That brings him back to Earth and he glares at me. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t, in fact, read the book, although I still do take offense with your idea of my intelligence. Are your books sorted alphabetically by name or author?”

“Author.” I inform. “But also by genre. Have fun.”

He throws a thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll just be over here if you need anything.” With that he turns on the heels of his fancy dress shoes, clacking down the hardwood flooring as if it was a runway in Milan and I watch his shoulder blades through the loose silky shirt, swallowing the saliva that has built in my mouth.

I catch the eye of a few girls hidden around aisles, catch both glares and curiosity and sink a bit lower into the counter.

The next two hours are both the slowest yet the quickest two hours of my life. I can feel baekhyun’s gaze on me heavily the majority of the shift. Especially when I am out on the floor helping a customer or restocking. It’s fun. Baekhyun sits at one of the side tables that has a decent view of the counter and some aisles and whenever I lift my head and accidentally get drawn to his dark and playful eyes, peeking over whatever book he has open, I feel myself get shy and have to quickly glance away, face red and hot.

Finally when I am officially ready to go, I head over to where he is lounging, one of his ankles rests lazily against his thigh as he scans the pages.

I readjust the strap of my purse as I wait for him to acknowledge me, cause I know he knows I’m hovering, but he ignores me, too entranced in the story.

Finally I clear my throat. “I’m done—“

The bastard shushes me.

My mouth drops as his eyebrows knit. “This is a good part.”

“That’s a picture book!” I scoff.

That draws him out of his act and he grins up at me before making a show of slowly closing the book and sighing heavy as he stands up and leans in close. “Shall we?”

I blink a few times, catching my bearings. He/s going to step ahead of me but pauses pointing at my chest. “Is that my jacket?”

If I wasn’t red before....

Yes I have been wearing Baekhyuns jacket everyday since that fateful night. It still smells strongly of him and is the only proof I have that that night actually happened.

#Baekhyun scenarios #Baekhyun #exo scenarios #Baekhyun scenario #exo scenario #Baekhyun oneshots #Baekhyun oneshot #exo oneshot #exo oneshots #Baekhyun drabbles #Baekhyun drabble #exo drabbles #exo drabble

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scullydubois · 4 years ago

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Only the Light: Ch. 21

Hello, here is my ‘I didn’t plan for updates to take two weeks, but it always works out to two weeks’ post, right on time. Almost finished with this journey, thank you for sticking around <3

As Mulder helps care for his ill partner and her child, he enlists the Lone Gunmen to investigate the circumstances surrounding Scully's diagnosis. He and Melissa pay a visit to the three men, then Mulder gets an unwanted surprise back at apartment 42.

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

As Scully’s world has shrunk, the amount of love in it has grown. This is small consolation for the hell she’s enduring, but it is the only antidote. She realizes this now that she’s staring down the abyss: all the knowledge in the world won’t save you, and wealth is nothing but a false comfort. What will live on are the parts of herself she’s left with others. Her goal for her remaining time, however long that may be, is to hold tight to those she loves...not to slip away until her heart stops beating.

This is hard when she already feels like less of herself. She’s doing chemo twice a week at Georgetown, and it’s brutal. She knew it would be...her only other choice is to get that gravestone of hers re-engraved.

Meanwhile, Mulder pushed all other work aside to get in contact with the Mufon women. It only took him one day to do so, but Scully doesn’t know that, and for now, she doesn’t need to know. He’s keeping what he’s learned so far to himself...Betsy Hagopian is dead and has been since shortly after Scully saw her. Penny Northern is sick and not responding to treatment. A handful of other women, abductees like Scully, have developed rare cancers too.

It’s not something he knows how to talk about, such despondency. His world has always hinged on hope. That’s what his work on the X-Files is to him, one big leap of faith toward his sister. Or was, before Scully came along. It’s not that she diverted him from Samantha...no, she turned a very personal quest into something larger than him. Or her, or any one person they worked with. She pared it down to its core value, its overarching mission: the truth. Because the truth may hurt at first, but given time, it heals. And it is the only path to healing. This is what he’s learned from her. And now, he’s got to do everything he can to pass the revitalized world she’s shown him onto her.

The arrangement falls into place without any friction: Missy handles the chemo run on Monday mornings, and Mulder leaves work early on Thursdays. Emily spends Mondays with her grandma, and Thursdays too when Missy works the night shift.

Thursdays become something of a spiritual day for Mulder. The hours of approximately 3-10pm are spent doting on his partner--in her apartment, and then his car, then the hospital and his car again, and finally, back to her apartment. Mama Scully brings Emily back around eight, and if Missy’s not home, Mulder gets the honor of the bedtime ritual. The domesticity of it all tethers him to reality, maybe for the first time in his life. He’d give anything to change the circumstances, but it’s humbling to feel--for once--that he belongs on Earth.

It is on one of these Thursday evenings that Mulder could swear he feels his whole life trailing behind him, leading him to the present. The end of the year is creeping up in its usual fashion, which means the outside world is a blanket of darkness before the stoves of countless suburban homes have even been started. Having settled her comfortably into bed with a pile of pillows, Mulder carries his partner a glass of water and pulls the wastebasket to her side; this is their routine now.

“You doing okay?” he asks, lingering as she takes a sip of water. It will soon be time to make himself scarce so she can sleep.

She nods, gurgles a garbled affirmation. Mulder turns to go, and her heart leaps to her throat. “Will you stay?” she spews, embarrassed by her need.

“Of course.” She’s unaware, apparently, that when he leaves it’s for her, not him. He approaches her bedside, lowers himself carefully beside her knees. “Any particular reason?” he murmurs, examining the sunken spaces beneath her eyes.

“I just...wanted to talk to you,” she says, and Mulder thinks there might be a bit more color in her cheeks than there was yesterday.

“Okay.” He leans in and sweeps a strand of hair off her forehead so lightly that Scully doesn’t even feel it. She’s apprehensive about being touched these days, and he has taken this knowledge to heart. She is grateful, and to show the extent of this feeling, she strokes his hand, allows him to take hers in his. He runs his thumb over each finger as they continue.

He wants to ask what she’s thinking about, what it is that has so graciously extended his stay in this room. But he knows that she’ll get to it, that she has nothing to keep from him now.

There’s a sincere serenity on her face that he’s never seen. And after a minute or two, she begins. “I didn’t think it could happen--and it certainly doesn’t make much sense-- but right now, I am happier than I have ever been.”

A string on Mulder’s heart, tightened to its prime, bursts without warning.

She caresses the back of his head. “It’s so trivial, Mulder. So much of what we call life isn’t living at all. Or at least not the important kind.”

He lifts his gaze, eye contact conveying more than he could with words.

“But I’ve thought about the parts of my life that are living, and all of them, in some way, come back to you.”

Mulder shakes his head, feeling too flattered. “That’s not true…”

“You can believe whatever you need to,” she whispers, “but it is the truth, and I am eternally grateful that you happened to me.”

He tries to cough away some tears, which works about a quarter as well as he hoped it would. “Hold on, little lady.” He pats her hand in response to her smile. “I think you happened to me.”

Scully’s chest flutters in laughter. “Did I?” These subtle things have always been so important to them.

“You walked into my office, remember.”

“Well, I guess it would depend on who changed the most due to the other’s influence then,” she reasons.

Mulder just gives her a look.

She smirks. “Okay, so maybe I happened to you, but you…” she chews her lip, and this could be any other day of any other year if she weren’t bedridden. She picks out her words-- “You completed me.”

Mulder spills forward, finding his footing and spinning into the middle of the room. “Holy fuck Scully, are you trying to kill me?”

“We’ve been searching for the truth. That’s the truth, Mulder. I wanted you to know.”

He sets his jaw. He won’t burst into tears in front of her, not when she has all the reason to cry and yet has been so strong.

“You should get some sleep,” he tells her, hoping to expedite his exit from the room.

“I will. And it’s okay to be sad, but not for me. My life is as whole as ever.”

He nods, though he doesn’t agree (what’s new?). He knew Samantha for eight years and has been sad for twenty. He’s known Scully for half that--so he gets at least a decade of mourning.

“Sweet dreams,” he says, resting his hands on the door frame. “I’ll bring Emily in when she gets here.”

“Okay.” She closes her eyes, smiles. “Love you.”

“Love you too, DKS.” He blows a kiss and slips out, heat flooding to his face. This is the first time she’s said that unprompted, and is that what the threat of imminent death does to you? Pries you open?

He wonders. Whose love is saving who?

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

The primetime line-up is flickering over the television when Mama Scully arrives with Emily, passing her granddaughter to Mulder like the family heirloom she is. They exchange a few words in short breaths, reserving the air supply for their dear Dana. Mama Scully agrees to come see her daughter this weekend rather than interrupt her much-needed rest now, and Mulder is suddenly single parent-slash-babysitter; the specifics elude him.

Perfumed with baby powder from her grandmother’s overly enthusiastic hand, Mulder concludes that Em needs neither bathing nor changing. She doesn’t seem very keen on sleep either, seeing as how her little voice keeps calling out Moldy! and her little fists clobber his shoulders. Still, he will keep his promise. He carries her into the room she shares with her mother, stepping lightly lest the floorboards creak.

As he circles the bed to lay the child beside her sleeping mother, he winces at the mess in the trash can. Good thing he moved it into place though Scully had seemed okay. He hadn’t heard any retching, and it saddens him that he wasn’t there to hold her hair back. He settles Em into place, makes a mental note to rinse the can on his way out.

Her characteristically light sleep lightened further by her illness, Scully stirs from the shift of Emily’s weight against the mattress. She rolls toward the free side and flutters her eyelids open. Her smile is reflexive.

“Hello baby girl,” she purrs. She lays a hand against her daughter’s polka-dotted onesie. “Did you have a good day with Grandma?”

Emily answers with some fluttery babbling and gropes for her mother’s nose.

“I don’t think she’s very tired,” Mulder remarks, hands in his pockets. He smirks. “We should really find out what your mother feeds her.”

Scully pulls her lips into a grin, exhibiting a great deal more effort than she did just moments before. She blinks, rubs her eyes, and seems to go out of the world for a second. Then she sets her gaze on Mulder and speaks dreamily--”Will you tell us a bedtime story?”

“Oh!” Mulder scratches his chin, having expected his dismissal. “Do you think that would help…?”

Scully presses her head into the pillow. “I’m not gonna be able to fall back asleep until she does.”

That is a yes, served with some condescension.

“Okay, well, let me think.” He perches on the side of the bed. “Regrettably, I did not get my degree in bedtime stories.”

“Just say what you know,” Scully mumbles. “We’re the only ones listening, and the goal is to put us to sleep.”

“I hope that’s not a comment on my conversational skills,” he teases, smoothing the sheets.

Again, there’s a look of otherworldliness from his partner. She is somewhere else.

“Go on, tell us a story,” she hums, her surprising lack of impatience attributable to an equal lack of wakefulness.

“Let’s see…” He stretches out, perching on his elbow by Scully’s feet like she did in the first motel they ever stayed in. Emily sits herself up and grasps for him. He laughs, lets her latch onto his fingers.

“There once was a little girl who loved horses and bugging her brother,” he begins. “Now, I’m sure she sounds like just about any little girl out there, but I promise, she was as unique as they come.”

Scully closes her eyes and tilts her head back to listen.

“She always said she wanted to be a butterfly when she grew up so she could spread her wings and fly. And her parents would scoff and tell her that would never be possible, but she believed. She believed it would happen.”

Emily babbles along, adding her own colorful commentary.

“I know, I know right?” Mulder muses to the little girl. “The parents were such jerks.”

He tickles Em’s stomach, then remembers that he’s supposed to be helping her go to sleep. He kisses her temple and begins stroking her knee, hoping to achieve a hypnotic rhythm.

“And so one day, this little girl...well, this little girl got to go on an adventure. She left behind her house and her family, and she got to go up to the sky and see the stars, and it was everything she wished for.”

Scully opens her eyes slowly. Mulder’s focus is centered on Emily, who stares up at him with the awe of a museum-goer seeing the Starry Night. It is as if they are the only two in the room, and this gives Scully great comfort, for she can imagine them having a life after she is gone.

“The girl’s family was sad because they didn’t know where she went. The girl’s brother missed her the most, but it was okay because the girl was happy. She got to fly through the sky like a bird or a plane, and she achieved the dream that her parents thought would never come true.”

Em’s breathing begins to slow into sleep. And thank god, cause he’s running out of story to tell.

“Lay down, little girl.” He guides her onto her back so she can drift off without difficulty, then clears his throat softly.

“Some say that if you see a light in the night sky, that’s this little girl, floating among the stars, living her dream. And her brother, well, he’s pretty fond of that thought. He just wants her to be happy.”

Silence falls over the room like a throbbing sensation of unknown origin. Emily’s eyelids struggle between open and closed, and Mulder knows she will soon be out. Scully’s baby blues, meanwhile, peer at him with such unflinching intensity that he suspects she has fallen asleep like that. It is haunting, but it becomes much less so when she blinks and he realizes that she’s looking at him, that she heard the whole story.

“Is that what you wanted?” he whispers, half expecting her not to answer.

“It was beautiful, Mulder. Samantha lives on.”

He smiles from his eyes...oh, of course it was obvious, his little tribute to his sister. Scully said to work from what he knew, and this myth is something he’s used to keep himself going since his family realized that there would be no happy reunion with Sam. He’s happy to share his fantasy; such escapes are needed now.

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

Melissa’s heart leaps when she opens the apartment door to an empty living room. The TV drones out its slapstick laugh track, contributing to the ominous atmosphere. She’d expect to see Mulder taking up a restless refuge on the couch, or maybe sneaking a late night snack to Em. Her sister should be fast asleep by now, her little world able to slacken its hold on her. Unless she is no longer afforded such luxury…

Missy rushes toward Dana’s bedroom, her purse still on her shoulder. In the doorway she slows as her eyes adjust to the lack of light. And thank goodness because three silhouettes catch her eye; a medium one buried under the covers, a large one strewn diagonally across the bed, and a small bump barely visible on the far side. A snore of unidentifiable origin is the only disturbance. Missy smiles to herself. All the missing persons are accounted for and well. She can continue with the blissfully bland routine of her night.

She washes her face and brews some chamomile before settling on the couch with the week’s issues of Mad Magazine and Vogue. Yes, she contains multitudes. She’s up to the Spy vs. Spy comic when Mulder strolls in, yawning.

“I guess my bedtime story was effective.”

“Mmm.” Missy scoots her mug over so he can prop his feet up. Dana hates feet on furniture, but she’s got a child in the house now, so she’ll have to let go of those judgments. “How is she?”

“Oh shit.” She’s jogged something in his memory. “I meant to grab the trash can on the way out.”

Missy knows what this means. “I’ll get it in a second.”

Mulder nods in silent gratitude, relaxes back into his spot. “She seemed livelier than usual when we got home.”

It hits him that he said home, not back. And well, it is Scully’s home. What about him? He sleeps on the couch and he doesn’t pay rent...that’s how he lived at Oxford, though he gets the feeling that it’s not as evergreen at thirty-three years old.

These days, he only goes to his place on Sunday nights to get (what he considers) a week’s worth of clothing--two work outfits (hey, he never really sees anyone but Scully anyway) and one casual outfit that doubles as pajamas. He bought a bunch of fish feeding tablets so all he has to do is drop a few in on Sunday and the fish are set for the week. As far as he can tell, at least. None of them have floated to the top of the tank yet.

“And Em is all good?” Missy confirms.

Mulder nods. “Your mom takes good care of her.”

“I think I know the answer to this, but do you want some tea?” Missy asks, flashing her mug.

“No, no, save it for yourself.”

“Alright.” She flips a page in her magazine. “Just let me know when you’re ready to kick me out. Since I’m kind of in your bed and all.”

“I should be telling you that,” Mulder counters. “You don’t mind me staying here, do you?”

“Not at all.” Missy lays the magazine on the table. “It’s important that you’re around.”

“Really?...For what?”

“For who,” Missy corrects. “Emily needs you to give her balance, and Dana...she just needs you. You’re the safety net under her tightrope.”

“Oh.” This metaphor grounds Mulder better than gravity ever has.

Missy seems to sense this and takes the opportunity to profit off his vulnerability. “So what’s gone on between you?” she asks, an eyebrow arched.

Mulder squints at her. “Huh?”

“I keep waiting for Dana to kick you out or get irritated about you being around all the time,” Missy says with honest simplicity. “But instead, she lets you take her to chemo and fall asleep in her bed…”

“Well, I think the former is more ideal than the alternative, which is that I watch her child,” Mulder replies. “And I fell asleep on the bed, not in it.”

“Okay.” Missy sips her tea, keeps her eyes on him.

It’s pointless for Mulder to try to keep secrets anymore. He wrings out his hands. “If you must know, when you dropped her off at my apartment after her appointment, we... came to a mutual understanding.”

“Ah.” Missy is not surprised by any of it. Of course it happened. Of course her sister hasn’t mentioned it.

“Why are you just asking about this now?”

“Cause I expected my suspicions to be proven wrong, and that hasn’t happened.”

Mulder nods, taps absentmindedly on his knee. “Actually, I have something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Oh?” She’s intrigued. The enigmatic Fox Mulder, divulging on his own accord.

“Don’t get excited, it’s not good.”

Damn. Missy reels herself in. “About Dana?”

“About what happened to her or...what is happening to her. It’s about the Mufon women.”

Missy curls her legs beneath herself. “You reached them?”

He nods. “Well, Penny Northern’s hospice nurse picked up when I called. She’s got stage four tumors throughout her body that migrated from her nasopharynx.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Apparently most of the other abductees have cancer too. And Betsy Hagopian--the woman who Scully saw in the hospital last spring--is dead.”

Missy’s gaze drops to the floor. “So the invasive procedures that the abductors did are killing these women.”

“One doctor’s treating them all--he’s supposed to be a specialist--but it doesn’t look like he’s having much success.” Mulder pauses, his mouth partially open.

“What?” Missy presses.

“The Lone Gunmen and I have been looking into him, and we think that he might have been involved in the abductions.”

Missy barrels forward. “You think he did this to them on purpose and now he’s letting them die?”

Mulder nods solemnly.

“Well, we have to stop him. We can’t let any more patients go to him, especially Dana…”

“I know. I’m going down to see the Lone Gunmen tomorrow after work if you want to join me.”

Missy contemplates. “I have the lunch shift tomorrow, so I could. What would we tell Dana?”

“I’ll say that Skinner is keeping me late to go over some paperwork. You could say whatever, she’s not going to question you.”

“I hate to leave her alone for so long, but...yeah, we have to do this.” She leans back, takes another look at Mulder. “You might just save a lot of women, you know.”

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

Missy feels unseen eyes bore into her as she and Mulder approach the basement entrance of a helter-skelter building. She doesn’t recognize the part of town they’re in, and she doesn’t ask.

Mulder hits the button on a call box beside the door. Before he can speak, a voice leaps out at them.

“Howdy Mulderoony.” Mulder recognizes it as Frohike’s voice. “Glad to see you made it safely.”

A variety of locks and chains are undone, the door pulled open.

“Join our ménage a trois,” Frohike says, ushering them in.

“We can’t stay long,” Mulder tells them, squinting as he adjusts to the darkness of their realm. “You guys forget to pay the electric bill or something?”

“We’re conserving electricity,” Byers says, a shadow in the corner of the room. “It’s good for the environment.”

“I didn’t realize the environment was on your list of concerns.”

“It should be on everyone’s list of concerns,” Byers throws back matter-of-factly.

Mulder slides his hands into his pockets. “Touché.”

Ringo comes forward from the darkness, his hair as tressed and greasy as ever. “Well lookie here. Dana Scully in the flesh.”

Frohike inserts himself between them. “You can’t be serious, pool boy. That’s not her, I’d know her anywhere. It is, however, an equally lovely woman.” He takes Missy’s hand and kisses it. “My lady.”

Missy participates with amusement until Mulder brushes Frohike aside.

“Okay boys, lay off. This is Scully’s sister Melissa. And I believe she’s taken.”

Frohike bows. “A lucky man.”

“Woman,” Missy corrects.

“Oh. Excusez-moi."

Tucked in the darkness, Byers scoffs at the childish antics. “Come on, let’s cut to the chase. Lives are at stake.”

“I’m glad to see someone has a brain around here,” Mulder quips.

Ringo pats Mulder’s shoulder. “Not all of us got a full-ride to Oxford, but hey, I’d say we’ve done pretty well for ourselves.”

“Calm down, Ringo. You’d still be the smartest member of the Ramones.”

Like an unleashed dog, Ringo lunges forward, and Byers and Frohike pull him back. They are quite used to this.

“You can insult me, but never speak ill of the Ramones!” Ringo growls.

Mulder puts his hands up, smirks at the permission he’s been given. “Happily.”

Missy clears her throat, her amusement wearing thin. She’s like her sister in this way.

Mulder gets the memo. “Right. Can the trash talk, we’re here to catch a criminal.”

“If he is, in fact, a criminal,” Byers remarks.

Missy frowns. “Haven’t you proved that?”

“We’re connecting the dots, but we haven’t completed the picture yet,” Byers replies.

Mulder circles around to Byers’ monitor. “What have you got?”

“This doctor, Scanlon, isn’t just an oncologist,” Ringo begins, as if Mulder asked him. “His name is associated with the Lombard Research Facility.”

Mulder and Missy both give him a look. More, more!

“A high security medical research center in Allentown,” he clarifies.

“We’ve hacked into some of the security cameras,” Frohike tells them. “We’d have to get in to see for ourselves, but the activity is rather suspicious. The same men, in and out, at odd times. Whatever they’re storing in there, it’s significant.”

“Then let’s get in,” Mulder emphasizes. “You be the eyes and ears, I’ll be the legs.”

Ringo nods. “We’re working on it.”

“We need to observe their weekend patterns before we make any moves,” Byers insists. “We don’t set up our missions to fail.”

“Fine, but as soon as you’ve reached your confidence threshold--”

“We’ll call you,” Ringo promises.

“What are you expecting to find?” Missy asks, frenzied. “Will it help Dana?”

Frohike drums his fingers on the desk. “That’s the plan.”

Byers nods. “We can’t be sure exactly what we’ll find, but the connection is clear: Scanlon was involved with the abductions, and he’s exploiting these women for his own benefit.”

Melissa shivers involuntarily. “It’s amazing that you’ve figured this out.”

Ringo twirls a pencil through his hair. “We have a lot of free time on our hands.”

Mulder takes a shot at the mini-basketball hoop they have, misses. “And you’d better use it all to implicate Dr. Scanlon’s ass.”

Frohike does a two-finger salute. “Aye aye captain.”

Mulder thumbs toward the door. “Now we’ve gotta get out of here before the smell sticks to us. Scully will know exactly where we’ve been,” he smirks.

“Can’t argue with that.” Frohike shows them to the door. “Give the lady my regards.”

“Will do.” He turns back, exchanges a serious glance with each man. “Sort this out, boys.”

Just as quickly as they came, he and Melissa step out of the chambers and ascend back into the sun’s dominion. Entrusting those three with the well-being of a woman they love so much is far from ideal, and yet, they’re throwing all their faith into it.

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

Mulder slides his key into the door of apartment 42 shortly after seven on Sunday evening. He hasn’t been in for a week, and yet a vivid scent of...smoke sticks about the place. And a wrinkled mess of a man to go with it.

The old man lifts his chin. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Mulder is no longer naïve enough to be taken aback by Cancer Man’s ambush. He shrugs and slides his coat off. “Well, you are in my apartment.”

“I’ve heard that your partner is very sick,” CSM says, his steps so clunky that Mulder wonders whether the downstairs tenants will complain.

“What grapevine did you get that from?...Or are you the one growing the grapes?”

“It saddened me to hear. Agent Scully is a valuable member of the Bureau.”

Mulder nods. “You here to pass on your condolences? Cause I’m pretty sure you could just send a card.”

“I’m here to propose a solution...The doctors say your partner’s sickness is incurable. This is not true.”

“Smarter than the doctors, are you?”

“In this case I am.”

A bitter laugh rises from Mulder. “So I’m supposed to believe that you were involved in sickening Scully, yet you want to save her?”

“We all have our regrets.”

“And I have no reason to trust you.”

“Upon learning about her child, I feel a deep need to intervene.”

“Mmm.” Mulder begins to pace. “And by learning about her child, do you mean when Scully’s ova were removed and fertilized without her knowledge? Because I have a hard time believing that you didn’t know a thing about Emily until Scully got custody.”

“Certainly I did not foresee Emily ending up in her mother’s custody.”

“What was the purpose then, of Emily? To terrorize a woman by taking away her bodily autonomy?”

CSM shrugs. “That’s not my area.”

Mulder scoffs. “Okay you old freak. Tell me how to save Scully’s life or get the hell out of here.”

The wrinkled man folds his hands. “She had a silicone implant removed from her neck. Put it back in.”

Mulder freezes. “Are you serious? That’s your miracle cure?”

CSM nods. “It is the only way to save her life. Removing the implant is what caused the cancer in the first place.”

Mulder steps forward, getting in the old man’s face like a middle-school bully. He’s ready to throw a punch--honestly, ready to kill the man--if need be. He could do it. Easily. He could.

“What does the implant do, Cancer Man?”

“Believe it or not, it is meant as a sort of inoculation. It offsets the negative effects of any tests performed during the...time away.”

“Uh-huh, and what do you get from it?”

“Who says I get anything from it?”

“How else would you know that she had it removed?”

“I am everywhere, Agent Mulder.”

Mulder loses his thinly-veiled calm, wraps his hand around the man’s saggy neck. “You fucking pervert, I’ll kill you! I’ve killed a man before just like this. Tell me the truth.”

“This is the truth,” CSM wheezes, not intimidated by his rapidly deteriorating air flow. His cold, hard eyes stare into Mulder’s. “You wouldn’t kill a man over nothing, would you?”

Mulder squeezes harder, his fingers gripping the man’s pulse. He watches the light drain from his victim’s eyes. All the old bastard does is smirk at him.

Angered by this more than anything, Mulder releases the man so suddenly that his bony body is thrown into the wall. He keeps his footing, stumbles forward.

“Get out,” Mulder growls. When he doesn’t respond, Mulder pokes his finger at the door. “Get out now!”

CSM dusts himself off and walks out, the pompous smirk never leaving his face. Mulder slams the door shut behind him.

There are certain truths he cannot escape. If Scully has made him believe in Heaven, CSM has made him believe in Hell.

#sincerely hope i did the lone gunmen justice lol #also i feel like this chapter is...a normal episode amount of angsty instead of the slow paper cut of the last chapter #the x-files #only the light fic #missy and scully fic #txf #txf fic #fox mulder #dana scully #melissa scully #mine #eww this looks weird w/the tumblr update!!#read it on ao3 lol

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stae-yong · 4 years ago

Text

a dream in a bottle [j.jh]

genre: fluff, romance, fantasy word count: 11.4k

Year 2059.

Everyone has lost their minds finding solace in a world full of chaos. Dreams in a bottle are now being used like a drug in order to fulfill their wildest fantasies. Have you ever dreamt so good, you never wanted to wake up?

“You’re the dream I go to, every time I close my eyes.”

a/n: this is my first jaehyun fic, and the first fic i’ve written :> please understand if i’ve made any errors. i wanted to write this since i started stanning nct and i hope you guys enjoy!! oh and listen to this, it inspired me to write this story. hopefully it could set the mood as well.

“Happy birthday to me,” y/n said dully as she blew her candle. The smoke from her two and three candles went to her eyes which made her squint. For the past week, all she ever did was cry herself to sleep thinking how miserable she would spend her birthday this week ever since her boyfriend left her for ‘his future’ which she snorted at as she remembered how his arms were wrapped around her waist as he kissed this new girl and who just enrolled in his arts class.

She then started to arrange her gifts which mostly consisted of plain old birthday cards which her so called friends just gave to her at the last minute since her existence was forgotten due to the busy days of work. As she went through her gifts, she noticed another postcard from her parents that are probably touring around Europe. She scrunched her nose in disappointment, “What a good way to start my 23rd year of living on this planet,” she muttered. Y/N stood up pushing around all the teared pieces of gift wrap as she tried to navigate herself around the living room. As she moved, she accidentally kicked a box tas was buried under piles of garbage.

A white box with pink hearts decorated around it. On the side of a box, a sticky note was attached with a letter with handwriting that was too familiar.

Dear y/n

Happy Birthday! I’m sorry we can’t spend it together this year, you know how hard life is. But I do hope you enjoy the following days with my gift. I gave this to you to spice up your birthday. It’s definitely one of a kind, I hope you could forget your dickhead of a boyfriend with this. Call me once you try it ;)

Love,

Mei.

“If this is a box of lingerie or condoms, Mei can rot in hell,” Y/N grumbled. This definitely should be worth it. She peeled the sticky note, as a remembrance of the gift as she carefully opened the box. Inside were three small bottles of iridescent liquid that seemed like it had been mixed by a 10 year old playing with glitters and water. A small card was placed above the bottles with a note saying “The best dreams happen when you are wide awake,” with several instructions to only drink one bottle every night for good results. Y/N contemplated if she should drink from it now considering that its nearly 10pm. She spent her whole day moping around her room munching on junk food while thinking about how lonely and boring her life was. Maybe this potion is worth the try, and maybe, like what Mei said, it could spice up her life.

She took the bottle in her hands shaking it a bit as she watched the small pieces of glitter swirl around as if it was luring her to drink it. At first she tasted like vanilla, smooth and milky then suddenly it turned to taste like strawberry mixed with different other fruits. Soon after, Y/N fell on her bed as she drifted off.

————

Y/N felt as if she was thrown into a whirlpool as her head continued to spin. Bright light hit her face making her squint as she tried to slowly adjust to what she was seeing. Suddenly, people started to bump her as they made their way around the city. Y/N tried to make sense of where she was, it was a city that looked like it existed way back in the 1900s with the way people dressed. Women and men of all ages walked around the street as they clung unto their loved ones. Women were dressed in puffed blouses and below the knee skirts as they topped it with a trench coat to warm them from the cold. Men, on the other hand, were wearing top hand sand white button up with suspenders that were too old-fashioned for her liking as they paired it with trousers. As Y/N continued to make sense of what was happening, she passed by a shop where she saw her reflection, she was wearing the same thing everyone was wearing.

Great, how on Earth am I supposed to figure out what to do in this dream.

As she walked around, she noticed a long queue that led to a movie theater. Everyone seemed excited to watch this new ‘musical’ that only happens once every year and that is during the 23rd of Christmas, ‘The Impossible Dream’ was its title. She noticed that every poster posted on the streets had the same title written in cursive with a time, date, and location set. As she adjusted her coat that was wrapped around her, she noticed a ticket on her right pocket. “The Impossible Dream, 6pm,” she muttered. “I drink a stupid bottle of dream and now I have to watch a boring musical,” she added as she pouted remembering to message Mei that she won’t be drinking anymore of her gift. Her eyes wandered from the people around her to the buildings, she knew no one in this dream and the faces she see are not even close to familiar. The place itself looks like a 90s movie setting with all the broadway and lampposts hanging around.

“Excuse me, this is the end of the line, right?” Y/N turned to look around at a man around her age with caramel brown hair and smiling as his dimples poked out. She stared at him longer as she admired his features, okay, this is definitely a dream because no one else in the real world would look as good as this fine man standing behind her. “U-um, yeah,” she cleared her throat as she gave tight smile embarrassed as she was caught staring.

“Come on, you gonna pretend like you don’t know me now?” He said as he pouted. Y/N looked at him confused, never in her life did she encounter him, maybe this is a preset of the dream but she decided to play dumb instead. “Hmmm, I don’t think I remember,” she said as she tried to think of a name that matches his face.

“It’s Jaehyun,” he said as he poked her cheek with his index finger as he shook his head disappointingly. “Are you my boyfriend?” Y/N blurted out as she felt her cheeks heat up at her sudden question. Jaehyun felt flustered as his ears turned red. “Um, well, I don’t know,” he said nervously chuckling. Y/N nodded as she turned to the front once again, boyfriend or not it doesn’t matter but for sure the handsome guy standing behind her played an important role in her dream. She tried to remember if she knew any Jaehyun in the real world but no one came close. Heck, no one even looks like him. Was she really that desperate on moving on, she literally dreamed of having a boyfriend way better than her ex? Okay, maybe.

The line started moving as people made their way towards the entrance of the theater. “I didn’t know you were interested in watching musicals,” Jaehyun said as he stood beside her as they both made their way in.

“Well, maybe you don’t know a lot about me then,” she shrugged as she gave him a teasing smile. “We’ve known each other for four years and you forget my name?” He teased back as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to move her from the people that were constantly passing by to get to their seats. Y/N felt her heartbeat speed up at the intimacy feeling his chest pressed against her shoulder as she muttered apologies to those passing by.

“Watch where you’re going,” he muttered under his breath as he looked at her. Y/N blushed as she looked up to him. The lighting in the room giving his visuals more justice as it surrounded her head making him look like he has a built in halo.

As she made her way to her seat, Jaehyun followed closely behind as they both sat together. The play started as the lights dim but Y/N couldn’t care less about what was happening in the play as she felt bothered by Jaehyun’s presence. How did he have this effect on her when he doesn’t even exist? It was also their first time meeting. She slowly shifted on her seat to face Jaehyun in a discreet way as she tried to steal a glance at him. Jaehyun noticed her shifting taking it as a sign of uncomfortableness, placing a hand gently on the area above her knee squeezing it lightly and giving her a look of concern.

Y/N froze in her seat as she looked back at Jaehyun who was staring at her worriedly, eyebrows furrowed. She looked away quickly as she cleared her throat, nudging Jaehyun’s hand away by accident as she shifted to face forward. Jaehyun chuckled as he continued to watch the musical smiling to himself. “What’s so funny?” Y/N said as she crossed her arms trying to concentrate on the show but finding it difficult with Jaehyun seated right beside her. “You should take a picture, it would last longer,” he whispered in her ear as she felt his warm breath brush against her cheeks making it heat up. Thankfully, the lights were dim and Jaehyun wouldn’t be able to see how red her cheeks were from the constant display of affection he was showing to her. She wasn’t staring, she was just trying to capture his face on her mind so that when she wakes up from this dream she could finally move on from her ex.

“I still haven’t forgiven you for what you’ve done,” Jaehyun whispers again, Y/N looks at him in confusion to see him leaning slightly to her side with eyes still focused on the show. “What have I done?” She said raising a brow. She has only been inside her dream for 20min, she barely got to do anything except stare at the piece of art seated right beside her.

Jaehyun looked at her in disbelief as he flicked her forehead earning a smack on the shoulder. “You left me in the rain, I told you to call me but you didn’t,” he said as he looked at her again. Y/N frowned, not really knowing what to say. “Sorry, I was busy,” At this point, making up stories would only be the solution to questions as it was only a dream that she may forget when she wakes up. Jaehyun continues to stare at her with an unreadable expression. He nods anyway and she gives him a small smile.

“Are you really watching this?” Y/N asks bored out of her mind as the main lead in the musical continues to cry as she longs for her love one who she only meets inside her dream.

“No, I’m just here because I like sitting beside you,” Jaehyun replies shooting her a smile, his dimples making an appearance as they always seem present when she looks at him. She scrunched her nose in disapproval, definitely too good to be true. Prince Charming likes her in her dream, her love life must definitely be fucked up for her to be dreaming about these things.

“We can get out of here if you’re bored,” Jaehyun shrugs as he took her hand gently. He jutted his chin toward the exit raising a brow, “Okay fine, but I’m not spending any money,” she muttered making Jaehyun laugh as he pulled her from her seat. She didn’t even know how she would able to live in this dream.

As they walked around the streets, Y/N tried to ask more about herself so that she wouldn’t have to lie all the time she entered this dream. Never in her life did she experience a dream so realistic, lately, she had troubles sleeping and if she ever got to dream, it would be long forgotten the moment she woke up. A warm hand wrapped around her cold one pulling her out of her thoughts, her gaze shifted from the street to Jaehyun who was grinning at her.

“Do you remember how we met?” She asked as he swayed their hands playfully while walking. “Of course, it was definitely my favorite day,” he chuckled as he recalled how they first met. It was the first day of university and Jaehyun was late. It definitely wasn’t a good first impression to his professors considering how he got into the university because of a basketball scholarship, he used to be a star player back in high school which led him to many offers from big schools that wanted him as the ‘face’ of their team. Although, Jaehyun chose the one closest to his home as he didn’t want to stray farther away from his family, at the same time, his friends attended the same university as him. He tried to discreetly make his way inside the classroom as his professor continued to scribble on the board. Sitting down on the farthest seat as possible, he tried to catch up on the lesson they were having

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” He heard a small voice say as he shifted his gaze. There she stood in front of him, wearing a yellow dress with her brown hair softly framing her small face accentuating her brown eyes that seem to hold the stars. Jaehyun gulped nervously as he shifted on his seat.

“No, you can sit here whenever you want,” he said a bit too excitedly as he continued to stare at her. The girl gave him a small smile as she sat slid on the seat beside him taking out her notebook and pen.

“I’m Y/N, by the way,” she whispered extending her arm which Jaehyun stared at a bit for too long, “Not that it matte-“ before she could put down her hand Jaehyun grabbed her hand firmly with a smile. “Jaehyun,” he said smiling which made her flustered. “Care to share why you’re late?” He whispered as he tried to start a conversation without getting caught by the professor. He didn’t even understand what was being taught anymore as all his attention was occupied by the girl seated beside him. “The traffic was too bad, why are you late?” She shrugged as she leaned closer to him with a teasing smile. Jaehyun snorted as he slightly bumped his shoulder with hers. They were close already despite the small amount of time they knew each other, “You’re watching me?” He teased as he raised an amused brow at her. Her nose scrunched as she bopped his nose with her pen. “No, I saw you make your way through the door earlier and decided to seat beside you,” she chirped making Jaehyun’s heart flutter. “If I knew better, I would say you stalk me,” he replied trying to brush off the tremble in his voice caused by the amount of flips his heart was making. “Just interested,” she beamed and diverted her attention back to the board. Jaehyun took a glance at her shaking his head at their exchange, silently taking note that he should definitely get her number after this class.

Y/N looked at Jaehyun with an unamused expression as he shrugged, “It’s true though! You tried to hit on me on the first day,” he said earning a punch on the shoulder. “I don’t think that’s how it went though!” She retorted blushing as she didn’t even know if Jaehyun made everything up. It was her first time meeting him, yet in this dream it seems that she’s been in it for years already. She did, however, like how straight forward she was based on Jaehyun’s story, maybe she did like herself better in this dream.

“You asked for my number, so basically, you hit on me,” she stucked her tongue out as she harshly tugged Jaehyun in what she feels like the direction of her house is. Jaehyun pulled her back as they stopped under a lamp post with the light illuminating his face in all the right angles. He leaned close until they were eye-contact level as Y/N tried to keep a blank expression even if her heart was basically going to burst from how close Jaehyun’s face was from hers as she tried to remember all the small details of his face. “You said you were interested first, so I guess I win this argument,” he said smiling at her. Y/N brushed it off as he pushed his face away with her index finger. Jaehyun then wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her closer making her grab his forearms for support at the sudden action. “What are you doing?” She said nervously as he started to sway from side to side as he looked at her making her blush at the sudden attention he was giving her. There was no way he couldn’t see how red she was right now. “Dancing, we used to do this all the time,” he said as he continued to sway to some tune he was humming. “I don’t know how to dance,” she muttered as she looked down trying her hardest not to step on his feet. “It’s fine, I can lead,” he said confidently as he continued to stare down at her making her stare at his chest as she couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Hey Y/N,” he mentions when he noticed how quiet she has gone. “Hmmm?” She replies looking up to him as she stared at the area between his brows, his eyes too much for her to take, afraid that if she looks at him she might as well just kiss him there. “I really like dancing here with you but do you mind?” He says as he looked down. Y/N followed his gaze and saw her shoe lace untied itself probably because she kept stepping on them as they danced.

“Oh, let me-“ as she tried to bend down to tie it, Jaehyun pulled her up lightly by the arm as he kneeled before her making her flustered she looked around for people as he basically looked like he was proposing to her. “I can’t have you fall for anyone else,” he grinned as he tried to stifle a laugh. Y/N huffed as she nudged him strong enough for him to fall backwards catching himself with his arms as he tried to stand up.

She walked quickly as she tried to go to what seemed like her house, with Jaehyun following closely behind her as he jogged trying to keep up with her speed. “You’re welcome,” he winked making her flustered once again as she crossed her arms. “I’m home now, aren’t you going?” She said though she really didn’t want him to go yet. She didn’t even know if that was her house but it seemed like it, somehow it just felt right to be there at that moment. Jaehyun chuckled as he took a step back putting his hands in his pockets.

“I hope you had fun today,” he smiled as he ruffled her hair. Y/N nodded as she entered her ‘house’. “Stay safe, Jaehyun,” she said softly as she took one last look at him. Before she could close the door, she felt Jaehyun stop it.

“Wait, before you go,” he held the door with one hand and the other finding the back of her head as his lips lightly touched her forehead. Y/N felt her heartbeat speed up as she closed her eyes at the feeling of his soft lips on her forehead.

“Meet me in your dreams,” he said as he smiled at her before finally closing the door.

——

Y/N jolted awake as she heaved heavy breaths. She felt as if she ran a marathon with how fast her heart was beating. She was back in her bedroom as she looked around. Nothing seemed to change, except the small box that was on top of her bedside table with now only two bottles of dreams. She sighed as she checked the time, she was out for about twelve hours already, although, in her dream only a small amount of time has passed. As she made her way out her apartment, she received a call from Mei.

“So how was it?” Mei asked enthusiastically as y/n could feel her interest on the other end of the line. Sighing she continued to walk down the streets in boredom, wasting time on finding something that would catch her eye.

“I didn’t know a dream could be realistic,” she muttered back. “And there’s this guy,” she added as she thought of this is really a great time to mention a character from her dream, especially to Mei, she woulld probably think she’s gone crazy. “What guy? Are you seeing someone?” The other responded, desperate to know if her friend has finally moved on. “What? No, I mean yes,” Y/N defended.

“It’s not about my ex, actually, there was someone in my dream.” She said. “I don’t really know if I met him before, but his features are very new to me. And you know what they say, that our minds can’t make up images, and everyone in our dream is someone we have met or saw before,” she added. There was no way she saw Jaehyun, if she did then she would probably remember him judging by how good looking he was. “Really? Well, you probably saw him in streets before,” Mei reasoned as y/n could only nod in response even if Mei couldn’t see her. “Anyway, you should really make that worth it. I heard the manufacturer of the shop closed down,” she mentioned as you made your way into a small coffee shop you saw across the street which seemed quite popular judging by the amount of female customers in there.

“Well, I only have two bottles left. I’ll call you when I finish it. Thanks for the gift by the way,” y/n replied as she ended the call

The cafe she entered was small, yet had a homely feeling to it. There was an amount of middle schoolers who look like they just finished school lining up as they perked their heads towards the counter. Y/N squinted as she saw the cute cashier and barista taking their orders. The cashier with white hair that for some reason seemed to match his big intimidating eyes and sharp nose and jawline. He wasn’t as big as the barista, but his body complimented his features as he smiled towards the group of girls who tried to catch his attention. The barista, on the other hand, was tall and had broad shoulders. His hair was dyed black, but he seemed really friendly despite his strong aura.

When it was her turn to order, she now understood why a lot of women in this city practically visited this shop everyday. From afar, she noticed how good-looking the staff were in the cafe, but now looking at them up close made her throat dry.

“I would like one iced latte,” she said shyly as the cashier smiled at her. She squinted her eyes at his name tag, Taeyong. Cute. “Are you new here?” Taeyong said as he pressed numbers on his screen for her order.

“Umm, I live around here. But it’s my first time in this cafe,” she mentioned as she looked around trying to distract herself from meeting his eyes.

“Cool, may I have your name?” He chirped as he smiled again towards her raising his brow. Y/N furrowed her brows as she stared back at him, “A-are you trying to ask me out?” She stuttered bewildered at the sudden question. Taeyong laughed as the barista behind him accidentally knocked a cup off as he turned around to look at her stifling a laugh as well. “What? Um, you’re cute but I need it for the cup,” he gestured raising a cup in his hand making y/n embarrassed as she heard the girls from behind whisper about how assuming she was.

“Oh, sorry,” she said lowly as she muttered her name quickly and paying as she moved to get her order.

——

Y/N sat on her bed holding the box of two bottles. Taking one, she shook it again as she saw the swirl of iridescent liquid calling her in. The whole time she mentally prepared herself for what was to come. To say she was excited to meet Jaehyun again was an understatement, she wanted to take the bottle again as soon as she stepped home but she remembered that there was only two left.

She took one bottle out deeply breathing in and out as she downed it all feeling the familiar taste touch her lips as she entered her dream once again.

When she woke up again she was in a garden, sitting up right as she felt something on her lap shift. Looking around, she noticed she was still in the same setting as before only, it was day and everything seemed bright as people continued to walk around minding their own business.

“You look beautiful from this angle down here, but I would appreciate it if you would look at me too,” a voice says as she looked down only to see Jaehyun lying down on her lap staring up at her with a small smile on his face. She blushed once again when she saw him, last night she thought he was breathtaking under the lamp post but under the sun he looked so much better with freckles scattered on his cheeks his eyes a lighter shade of brown and his dimples, ever so present, poking out.

“You were saying?” She says as Jaehyun stood up from her lap. “I’m starting to think you don’t pay attention to anything I say,” he complained as he dusted himself. Y/N stared right at him, wondering what they would do next.

“I need you to accompany me. I have this project going on and Johnny’s too busy to go with me,” he said as he took her hand. She wasn’t sure who Johnny was but she assumed he was his friend. Though she didn’t mind what his character would mean in her dream as he hasn’t showed up yet. She noted to herself that later on she would figure out who Johnny was and probably make the most of the second bottle she took. As they neared a building that look somewhat like a huge library, Jaehyun pulled her in a hurry as they made their way through old books.

Y/N groaned as she watched Jaehyun scan through the book once again trying to find the right thing. It was her dream, why is nothing interesting happening. “Jaehyun, what am I to you?” She asked as Jaehyun’s attention quickly went to her. His ears reddened as he rubbed the back of his neck shyly, “You said you weren’t my boyfriend. And you kissed me on my forehead, so who are you?” She asked as she hesitated mentioning that kiss as she felt herself become shy as she remembered how she woke up right after. Jaehyun nervously chuckled, to be honest, he himself did not know what their stand was. All he knew was that he wanted to protect her, and that he wanted to be with her always. It was all he ever knew since he met her, it was as if it was a role given to him by the gods to stand by her side no matter what.

“I’m not sure y/n, what do you want us to be?” He asks unsurely afraid of the rejection he might receive. Silently praying she won’t say ‘friends’. Y/N was taken aback as the question was thrown back at her. She didn’t know what they were supposed to be, nor did she know Jaehyun as much as he claims to know her.

Seeing the hesitation on her face, Jaehyun felt disappointed but decided to brush off the thought. “It’s okay, you don’t have to think about it.” He said as he gave her a pained smile which wasn’t unnoticed by y/n. “I can wait,” he said under his breath as he looked at her. Y/N looked at him in surprise, it was her dream. She could say whatever she wants, “I like you,” she blurted out as she waited for his reaction. Jaehyun’s ears, if possible, became more red as he heard her confession. He tried to stop the smile forming on his lips as he put back the book on the shelf.

“Well, that’s great because,” he said taking a step near her as he held both of her hands in his. “I am absolutely smitten by you,” he added ash he wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her into a hug. Y/N smiled as her cheeks hurt. She hugged him back, now this is definitely one of her best dreams ever. “Does that mean we can go on dates now?” She said as she pulled back. If she could live in a dream, then she would want to live in this dream forever.

Jaehyun grinned, “Lucky for you I booked us a date,” he said as he winked.

“Okay, maybe I don’t like you anymore,” y/n said as she made her way out of the library with Jaehyun laughing a bit too loud behind her.

————

As they made their way out of the library, Y/N found her hand once again wrapped around Jaehyun as he intertwined their fingers together. She smiled at Jaehyun’s affection. It was as if his hand automatically finds hers wherever they go.

As you both walked hand in hand, Jaehyun led you to a planetarium. “Have you ever been?” Jaehyun asks as he navigates his way through the streets. Constantly pulling you aside as you try to avoid people walking the opposite direction.

“I’ve never been to one actually,” you say wondering if you’ve ever been to one with your ex. To think of it, you really didn’t have enough time in the real world to explore the city during your past relationship. You were either curled up in your apartment or burrying your head in books. The dates you had previously were just last minute decisions as if he was just forced to take you out because you were together. But this time, with Jaehyun, it seems as if you actually got what you deserve. It may seem cheesy, but your heart fluttered when Jaehyun mentioned that he actually planned this date. It could be a preset in the dream, but that didn’t matter to y/n, all that mattered was that someone took the time to care for her and remind her how special she is. Even if that someone doesn’t really exist, she chose to ignore the thought. If there was a person who would break your heart again, you would be honored to have your heart broken by Jaehyun. And even with a broken heart, you would choose to love Jaehyun with all those little pieces.

“You should see the stars, they shine as bright as you,” Jaehyun added as they made their way through the planetarium. There wasn’t much people walking through, and everyone was speaking in hushed voices. As they walked through the planetarium, they entered a dark room with only the ceiling illuminated by galaxies and small celestial beings. Jaehyun looked at you with a small smile playing on his lips. He was fascinated by the way your eyes seem to shine even in the dark, like your eyes held the most beautiful stars as you admired the projected ceiling of light. Y/N then looked at Jaehyun who was still staring at her in awe. “You should take a picture, it would last longer,” she beamed as he scoffed lightly.

“So you steal lines now?” he said with an amused brow lightly applauding her sarcastically as you shoved him on his shoulder. “What else do I steal?” she said as they made their way around the room. “Probably my heart,” Jaehyun shrugged as he felt his ears turn red. He quickly looked up inspecting the ceiling as Y/N shot him a look of disapproval.

“If I wish on that star,” Y/N said pointing to a projected shooting star, “will my wish count?” you asked as you stared at Jaehyun whose eyes are still trained towards the ceiling as he looked at the constellations.

Jaehyun laughed as he put his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Maybe,” he said as he looked up. Y/N closed her eyes as she clasped her hands together. She knew it was pathetic, to be making a wish in this dream. But her pleas and prayers didn’t seem enough to calm her desperate heart.

I wish I could live in this dream a little longer.

They both sat down in the middle as they continued to enjoy each other’s presence. No one was around anymore as it seemed like the whole planetarium closed. Y/N already lost track of time, she didn’t know what has already happened to her in the real world, but for sure she was sleeping for the whole day already. Jaehyun, on the other hand, was still deep in thought as he slowly laid down on the floor with an arm tucked behind his head as a pillow, the other resting on his stomach.

“Do you ever feel like somewhere out there, there’s another version of us doing the exact same thing we are doing now?” he mentions as he continues to stare into space. Y/N glances at him and copies his position as she adjusted herself to be laying down beside him. Not really knowing what to say, Jaehyun took it as a sign to continue.

“I feel like I’ve been living in a cycle. It sucks really cause everyone I know either forget me, or they space out. Or it was as if I never really know them to begin with,” he says, frustration clear in his voice. His eyebrows furrowed as he continued to stare into the black space displayed on the ceiling. “You know, the other day, Johnny acted as if he didn’t really know me. I don’t even know if he was playing with me but it was like it was his first time seeing me,” he added as he turned to meet your eyes that were just focused on him. “It’s like how we saw each other back in the theater, you both acted the same way,” he pushed himself up as he supported himself with his arms.

“It’s the same every fucking time. I meet someone knew, we get to know each other, then all of a sudden they forget who I am,”

“I feel like I’m a character in someone’s dream,” Y/N gulped nervously as she slowly sat up. Jaehyun still confused as he blankly stared at his lap. Y/N didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know how to tell him that he was right and he was just a figment of her imagination and that all of this was from a stupid bottle her friend gave her for her birthday. You were scared to say something, afraid that revealing the truth would mean that you would wake up and that meant that you only had one bottle left to be with Jaehyun. Y/N grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze with a smile, hopefully, assuring him that everything will be alright.

“Promise me one thing,” he says as he faced her seriously. You nodded in response as you waited. “Don’t forget me,” he says carefully watching her reaction. Y/N chuckled as she shook her head, “That’s easy to do, Jae,” she laughed as she shaked their intertwined hands playfully. “Promise me you’ll also stay,” he added seriously. Y/N froze when she heard his words. To forget him was hard, she could remember him everyday when she woke up. But to stay was another thing, how could she stay when she only had one bottle left? How could she stay when he was just a character in her dream? How could she stay with someone who only exists in her memory?

She looked back at him, and the moment she did, she quickly regretted her actions. He was looking at her with so much hope in his eyes. Noticing her silence, the hope in his eyes turned into grim acceptance as he felt her hesitation. Y/N squeezed his hand making him look back at her. She had no idea what came in her, but she decided if its for Jaehyun, she would try.

“I promise,” she said firmly, eyes burning with determination. After all, a broken promise is better than none at all.

——

Y/N felt dizzy as she tried to get up from her bed as she leaned towards the bed stand to get her phone. Her mouth fell dry, remembering the promise she made Jaehyun as she dialed Mei’s number. “Help, I need to do something,” she said as soon as the line was answered.

“What is it this time? Did you finish the bottles already?” Mei asked groaning in response as you called too early for her liking. “No, tell me where you bought the bottles,” she said as she tried to balance her phone between her shoulder and ear as she wore pants. “I need to find who made those bottles,” she added disappointed at the lack of response from the latter. “I’ll send them to you, but I don’t think they’re open,” Mei replied, y/n sighed. She didn’t know why she made that promise, or how she would fulfill it. Back in her dream, everything seemed possible but now, all that was left was empty words that she regrets saying. She didn’t even know why she had a need to keep the promise to Jaehyun, he didn’t even exist to her disappointment.

After she received Mei’s message, she quickly headed out to go to the said shop. Her heart pounded nervously as she drove to the address. It was in a secluded part of town, there was no residential area near it and it seemed like a place that no one frequented to judging by the lack of public transportation that went to the area. She had to take a cab, and the look the driver gave her meant that it wasn’t a place to be in in the first place. As she stared at the shop in front of her, she suddenly felt so alone as the cab quickly left blowing a gust of wind. The small bells tingled when she walked in. The store was small and cramped with only a small counter near the end as she tried her best not to step on any of the antique items that were for display. Ringing the small bell on the table, she tried to inspect the place a bit more.

Her eyes squinted as she spotted a familiar poster hanging on the wall between two large dream catchers. ‘The Impossible Dream’ it read as small details were printed around. Her eyes widened in shock. It was the same poster from her dream, could it be that the musical actually existed? Would that mean Jaehyun existed? Before she tried to move further to get a closer look a stern voice spoke from behind the counter.

“What brings you here? We are closed,” her head whipped to the direction of the voice. There stood an old woman who was smaller than her with her white hair tied neatly up in a bun, eyes narrowing towards Y/N.

“That poster, where did you get it?” You said pointing in the direction of it as you tried your best not to falter in front of her gaze that seemed too strong for you to handle.

“That poster was made years ago by my ancestors, does it look familiar to you?” The old lady replied. Y/N nodded in response still debating whether the possibility of Jaehyun existing was real or not. “You took the bottles, didn’t you?” The old lady pressed on as Y/N muttered a small yes. “That was a mistake, you should have never taken it in the first place. I suggest you go home and continue on with your life, dark magic is not to be played with,” she said as she made her way towards the door behind the counter.

“No! Wait, I have some questions,” Y/N protested as she tried to block the old lady from disappearing.

“Forget about it now, what you experienced is not real,” the old lady said as she tried to make her way around you. Y/N continued to block her way which made the old lady sigh. You really didn’t want to give her a hard time considering her age, but you didn’t want to leave without unanswered questions.

“You say the dream I had wasn’t real, but why does that poster exist?” Y/N said as she moved to grab the poster that was hanging on the wall. It was designed exactly like what she saw on her dream. “What is this? What is in those bottles?” She gestured desperately waiting for an answer. The old lady sighed, grabbing a small stool and sitting down. “Those are bottles of dreams, my grandmother and my mother used to make it when I was still a child, telling me that one day it would change the world and that people would go crazy to get a sip of what was in it,”

“These bottles allow people to live in their deepest desires, everything you see in your dream is just a figment of your imagination. The potion lets you have what you want,” she added as she gestured towards the poster. “Luckily for you, what you desire isn’t that bad. But for others, it became too much. I stopped selling the bottles because things could get out of hand,” she said sadly. Y/N felt like the weight of her promise was crashing down on her. There was too much information for her to handle, the fact that Jaehyun did not exist made her sick. “I know you’re sad, everyone does once they find out they can’t have what they desire. But if it makes you feel any better, I can tell you one secret,” the old lady says hesitating as she finds the hope in your eyes glint at her words. “This poster, I am guessing you have seen it before in one of your dreams?” She questions as she holds it up in the light. Y/N nodded, “I want to know if the person I see in my dreams is true, or perhaps, I am holding on to this impossibility that he is true,” she mutters as she remembers Jaehyun. She only had one bottle left, meaning it would be the last time she would see him.

“This poster appeared here two days ago, I don’t know how it got here but I assume it is something from a dream. Just like everything in this shop,” the old lady said gesturing towards the other antique items. Everything was so random, as if it was just dumped with whatever things people could find.

“I am not sure if your dreams are real, and if the people do exist. But judging from how everything keeps appearing in random, they might be somewhere out there,” she added. Y/N breathed deeply, there was no assurance of Jaehyun existing in this world, but the existence of the poster means that he would probably appear in this shop if he were to be created. The poster alone ignited her desire to find him. If he did exist, where was he?

“Thank you, if you see anyone appear here around my age. Tall, white, handsome, basically looks like a prince, please let me know,” Y/N says as she leaves her phone number. The old lady chuckled, “Isn’t that too childish for a woman like you?” She says amused at your desperation to find this boy. “He’s a dream come true, can’t let anyone get to him,” y/n replies as she made her way out.

When Y/N returned home, she felt exhausted. She didn’t want to take her last bottle just yet. It could be her last chance of seeing Jaehyun, if what the old lady said was false. But seeing how the poster showed up, as well as other things that were in the shop, it gave her hope that Jaehyun existed somewhere out there. Another thing that bothered her was the fact that if he was out there, where was he? She didn’t even know where to start finding him. She hoped that he lived in the same country for her, she didn’t have enough money to find him if he were abroad. Nor did she think she was willing to find a man who basically existed based on her imagination. Even if he did live under the same skies, it was still to difficult task to do.

What’s the most you would be willing to do for the person you love?

Y/N took the last bottle of dreams, determined to keep her promise to Jaehyun. Adjusting once again to the bright light, when she woke up, she was seated on a chair in what seems like her room in her dream. She was wearing a white maxi dress that hugged her figure in all the right places, long enough to pool on the floor while she sat down. Her hair flowed down her back with curls toward the ends as her face was dolled with light make up.

Taking a good look of herself, she was satisfied with how she looked. If this was the last thing Jaehyun would see, then she was happy that he would see her at her best. When the doorbell rang, she made her way towards the door with a heavy heart as she reminded herself that this was her last bottle. When she opened the door, she smiled as she took in the sight of Jaehyun infront of her. His hair was gelled back with a fringe curled infront of his forehead. He was wearing a plain black suit and tie with a white dress shirt under. He held up a bouquet of fresh daisies as his cheeks were lightly pink from the cold (he tried to convince himself). “For you,” he shyly said, dimples making an appearance once again, he handed over the daisies as he stared down on his feet shuffling as he felt flustered by your presence.

Y/N pouted, he was the man of her dreams. Literally. She hoped she only drank half of the bottle now, because she definitely wanted to see Jaehyun dressed up like this for the rest of her life.

“What’s the matter?” Jaehyun said worried as he saw your lack of response. Taking your hand lightly, he rubbed small circles in the back of your hand as his other took your chin beneath his thumb and point finger. “Stop frowning, you look beautiful in that dress,” he complimented.

“You’re too good looking, I don’t think I can go with you anymore,” you reply trying to play off the somber mood as you give him a reassuring smile. Jaehyun chuckled, “You should see yourself,”

Both entered the venue, to say that it was extravagant was an understatement. It looked like a greek god threw a party, out of a sudden, Y/N felt out of place with all the people passing by looking like they were raised with a golden spoon. Feeling Jaehyun’s arm snake around her waist pulling her closer towards him, she glance at him sending him a small smile as she tries to gain confidence. “It’s fine, we can leave once you feel uncomfortable,” he says as he guides her towards the entrance. “Who has the money to throw this party? It looks ethereal,” Y/N loudly whispers shooting a fake smile to the guards who welcome both of you. “Moon Taeil, he’s a friend of mine,” Jaehyun replies as he inspects the place. Y/N looks around as she admires the gold chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and tall white pillars around the place with gold vines wrapped around it.

“By the way, you look ethereal,” Jaehyun whispers close to her ear, his lips brushing against her earlobe making her flush. He leads her to their table and leaves to get the drinks which makes y/n snap back to her plan. Honestly, she really did not have a plan. She didn’t know how she should spend her last bottle, but for sure she had to act quickly. She thought of hugging Jaehyun or at least holding his hand tight enough for her to bring him to reality, but everything seems pathetic at this point. Looking around, she decided to go to the restroom to at least settle with a final plan. As she made her way through the hallways, she looks at the pictures hanging on the wall. It all looked like some portrait of a royal family, but one picture has caught her eye. Narrowing her gaze, she inspects a picture of a woman probably around her 20s with eyes set forward as if it was staring at her back.

“Where did I see this before?” Y/N mutters under her breath as she stared longer at the woman. Shit, it was the same woman from the shop, only a younger version. Her eyes widened, as she tried to find more pictures of the woman. Y/N slowly tried to reach for the frame, carefully touching it as she tried to find a trace of anything that could help her to bring Jaehyun to reality. Biting on her lip, she continues down the hall in desperation to find hints. As she neared the end, she felt a gust of wind blow towards her.

Turning around, she finds herself in the middle of the street. It was the same street where she met Jaehyun, the first time she appeared in her dream. She looks around and notices the same poster hanging around. Breathing deeply she turns around once again, “What the fuck is going on?” She asks herself.

“Excuse me, where am I?” She asked as she grabbed an arm of a woman who was walking down the street. The girl ignored her like a ghost as she shook her arm of and continued to walk as if nothing happened. Y/N tried asking different people but they all pretended as if they couldn’t hear her. She continued to walk down the streets, noticing a familiar building. The shop she visited, the one with the old lady. Y/N tried opening the door, continuously pounding on it with her fists. “Hello! I need some help, I’m the girl from awhile ago!,” she pleaded as she continued to pound the door with her fists. “Please help me,” she cried out as she shook the door handle. After numerous attempts of trying to open the door, she decided to go back.

“Jaehyun, where are you,” she said feeling her eyes water as she ran around trying to find him in the crowd. Closing her eyes, she tried to control her dream. “I am in the party, I am with Jaehyun,” she chanted, eyes tightly shut as she clenched her fists. Her cheeks wet with streaks of tears that have escaped her eye.

Opening her eyes again, she finds herself in a bathroom. Heaving deep breaths, she looks around her cautiously, afraid that she would lose herself in her dream. After wiping her tears, she made her way towards the party. She finds Jaehyun in the corner talking to a woman around her age her hair long and straight. She looked smaller next to his bigger frame and her eyes were sparkling, y/n was not sure if it was from the light or was it just really her. The woman laughed lightly at what Jaehyun says as she gives him a charming smile. She matched the princess in fairy tales looking as regal as Jaehyun could be. This made y/n sad, it was her dream all along, but if she couldn’t bring Jaehyun to reality then he might as well just live his happily ever after with this woman.

But she might be able to bring him with her, and she wasn’t going to back down without a fight. Y/N clenched her fists, I was gone for a while and this idiot didn’t even try to find me, feeling the green monster in her heart rise she huffed out loud stomping over to the both of them.

“What happened to drinks?” She said making Jaehyun jolt at her sudden presence. “I was just about to get it,” Jaehyun answers as he glances at Y/N. “This is Naeun, a friend of mine, and this is Y/N,” he says gesturing to the both of you. Naeun gives her a small smile raising a hand, while Y/N continued to stare at her blankly.

“His girlfriend,” you scoff as you glared at Jaehyun. “I didn’t know it could take you fifteen minutes to get a drink,” she mocked as Jaehyun looked at her with an amused smile. “I just got here, what are you talking about?” He replied. Y/N raised her brow, “I went to the bathroom,” she argued back. Naeun looked at the two, excusing herself as she didn’t want to get caught up between them. “I just sat you down though,” Jaehyun pouted at her response not liking that she was upset with him. Y/N was confused, didn’t she just get lost in her dream? Or did time just stop and everything continued to flow for her? She decided to drop the topic, sitting down on the stool next to him.

“Doesn’t matter, who is she?” She questioned jutting her chin towards Naeun’s direction as she took a sip from the Andy Player Jaehyun ordered from her directing her attention towards the front avoiding his teasing eyes. “Just a friend from high school,” he said taking a seat as well as he took a sip of his drink, his smiling growing wider at her reaction. Y/N rolled her eyes as she played with the liquid in her glass, “Sure, you seem happy to be reunited,” she mocked, jealousy coating her words. “Hmmm, are you jealous?” Jaehyun asked as he leaned one arm on the counter looking at her with a teasing smile she would like to wipe off his face because not only did he irritatingly looked too good to be true, the veins in his arms were also distracting. Fuck Jaehyun and his rolled up sleeves, Y/N found it unfair, he looked like God’s favorite.

“No, why would I be jealous?” She said defensively taking another sip of her drink. “I don’t care who you mingle with,” she dragged on with a tone as she stuck her tongue out. Jaehyun laughed, “Really? Cause I don’t remember asking me to be your boyfriend,” he added. Y/N chocked on her spit at his statement as she glared at him, “Forget I said that,” though she secretly liked how he seemed to be fine with that title. “To be honest, I really don’t want to,” he retorted. Y/N flushed as she felt herself shrink on her seat.

“I want to dance with my girlfriend, may I?” Jaehyun stated as he offered her a hand, smiling as he raised his brows making Y/N scoff. She really wanted him to stop, it wasn’t good for her heart that probably did a thousand of flips at every word he says.

She took his hand as they made their way towards the dance floor, Jaehyun’s arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled her closer, his other arm guarding each of her hand to wrap around his neck as they found themselves back to her waist. Y/N felt bittersweet, remembering the first time they saw each other and how they were in the exact same position just in a different setting. Jaehyun hummed with the slow song that was playing, lightly mumbling the lyrics with his baritone voice, as his smile never left his face, “This feels familiar,” he says lightly chuckling as he guided her once again through their dance. Y/N this time, only looked at him, no longer looking at her feet. “I think I could get used to this,” she replies making Jaehyun’s smile grow wider, his ears turning red.

“I may have not told you this earlier, but you look beautiful tonight,” he said face serious as they continued to sway to the music. “I mean, you look beautiful everyday, but you look extra pretty now,” he added. Y/N’s face scrunched up in disapproval, never fond of compliments but ever so receiving when it comes to Jaehyun.

“You look handsome as always, Jae,” she said sincerely, lips quirking up slightly at the new nickname she gave him.

Y/N glanced at Jaehyun once more as he continued to guide her carefully through the dance, her heart heavy as it seems that the thought of him not existing in reality would not leave her alone. Hesitating, she looks one more at the smile he has on his face, she really doesn’t want to hurt him. I don’t think I have it in me to hurt you, ever.

“I lo-“

“Jaehyun, I have to tell you something,” she says cutting him off as he was about to say something. Jaehyun looked at her surprise but smiled understandingly, this can wait, I can wait, l just a little bit more, he thought.

They went to the garden, there were still people walking around but less compared to those inside. Y/N’s heart was beating too loud she could hear it in her dream, she has to risk it. She needed to tell him, she had to tell him. “Just let me speak, and I’ll answer all your questions later,” she says as he looked at her curiously. Jaehyun nodded in response, encouraging her to continue as he grabbed both her hands to help her calm down.

“You don’t exist, you’re a part of my dream,” she said as she looked at Jaehyun whose eyebrows just furrowed, pursing his lips as to stop him from asking questions.

“It was my 23rd birthday two days ago, my friend gave me a gift of bottles that contained dreams. I thought it was bullshit at first, but the moment I drank the first bottle, I met you. And I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re just a part of my imagination. It pains me to say it, but I don’t think I could hide the truth from you anymore. The next time I met you, it was when we were at the park, I remember you asking me how I spaced out and how I seem not to pay attention. It was because I wasn’t mentally present when you were speaking to me. All those times I met you, I fell in love with you because you were all I ever wanted, and it hurts me to think that I can’t even have you in my life,”

Y/N’s tears continued to roll down her face as she sobbed trying to gather her thoughts as Jaehyun looked at her with a mix of confusion and frustration. “This night, I drank my last bottle,” she says voice shaking as she felt Jaehyun’s hands stiffen under her hold.

“Remember when we made our wishes? I wished to live longer in this dream,” she says as he hugged her. Her tears drenching his suit, but that didn’t matter. This maybe her last moments with him, and her heart was hurting too much for her to take.

“Jaehyun, I love you,” she sobbed. She said it, without hesitation as she looked at Jaehyun with teary eyes. Jaehyun bit his lip, he didn’t even know where to start asking. He hugged her tightly as he felt his tears touch his lips, the taste salty as it continued to flow down his face. “I won’t tell you mine, because it won’t come true if I do,” he says as he puts a hand on his shoulder his face bending down to meet her eyes. His other hand brushed the stray strands against her face as she continued to cry.

“I shouldn’t be crying like this, we shouldn’t be doing this,” she said as she wiped her tears away trying to think of happy thoughts.

“Y/N, look at me,” Jaehyun said seriously. His hands with a firm grip on his shoulder. Y/N tried to hold back her tears as she saw the pain on his eyes, long gone the smiles he gave her earlier.

“Promise me, you’ll try,” Y/N nodded as she grabbed his face and pressed a firm kiss on his lips.

“Don’t leave me, please,”

“I won’t, I swear,”

—————

Y/N woke up, her cheeks still wet as she felt tears stream down her face. Everything felt so real, the kiss, the confession, the promises. Jaehyun’s words still echoing in her mind as if she could hear his deep voice whispering beside her.

The moment she got up she tried contacting the old woman, and going back to the shop only to find that it was closed already and was going to be demolished soon. It has been a week since she last saw Jaehyun, a week since she has drank her last dream in a bottle. However, the heartache she went through was still as fresh as it was when she woke up. She tried her best to find him. She visited different libraries, reading on books about what happened to her and if there was a way to reverse it. She even tried going to a planetarium in hopes of finding Jaehyun there, but all found nothing. Some people thought she was crazy, and that she was hallucinating everything, but they didn’t know her story.

She even found the same venue where they had the ball, but to her disappointment, she never found anything that could lead her to Jaehyun or vice versa. It was if he was just a memory she was to forget. But that was the problem, she couldn’t forget him. She promised him she would try, and she didn’t want to let him down. Sometimes, she wondered what he was doing. Was he also trying to escape her mind? Was he with Naeun now that she was gone? Does she get those cheesy pickup lines he tells her? What was he doing now? Did he love her?

There were times when she tried to dream of him, but it wasn’t real. All she got was an image of him, but it didn’t feel like how she dreamt of him when she had the bottle. She tried to widen her imagination, and picture him with her. But it was too tiring for her, after all, she only had three nights of dreams.

As she made her way down the busy streets, she walked quickly as she navigated her way towards the central park as she continued to avoid the people bumping her while they were walking the opposite direction. She stopped in front of the cafe, heaving deep breaths. As she made her way in she walked towards the table in the corner, her lips forming into a smile as she saw the familiar face.

“It’s been a while,” she said hugging Mei. Mei grinned back at her and gestured her to sit down.

“So, how’s life so far?” Mei asked enthusiastically as she sipped on her tea, crossing her legs as she leaned forward. Y/N shrugged as she took a bite of her banana cake, “Nothing much, it’s been boring lately,” she said as she stabbed the banana cake and stuffing another piece into her mouth. “You know you never called me after the second bottle,” Mei huffed.

“Nothing happened, I tried to find the manufacturer because I needed more but the building was demolished,” she replied bitterly. “Ohh yeah, but the dreams were good right?” Mei responded.

“Yeah, too good to be true,” Y/N replied dejectedly. “Do you ever like, want your dreams to come true?” She asked Mei curiously as she bit her fork. “Of course, why the sudden question?” Mei retorted. “I dreamt about this guy, and he’s wonderful. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and I just wished he was true,” she replies sighing remembering Jaehyun once again which made her feel bittersweet. It was like she was the only one who knew him inside out, he literally was the man of her dreams.

“I don’t know what you dreamt about but whatever it is, I guess those bottles really work then,” Mei shrugged. “Besides, attachment is the root of suffering,” she adds taking a bite of the banana cake and wiggling her brows.

As she navigated her way home, Y/N sighs once again. Was it really that hard to forget Jaehyun? He didn’t even exist yet here she is feeling broken hearted as if she was cheated on once again by her ex boyfriend. Moving towards a crowd she felt people bump against her making her scrunch up her nose in irritation, “Damn, can’t people watch where they’re going?” She muttered under her breath as she made hurried strides towards her apartment.

Before she could take a turn, she felt a body bump against her as she fell on her butt looking up squinting. Pair of hands helped her stand up as she dusted herself, flustered that she caused a scene in public.

“Thank you,” she muttered quietly to the stranger who didn’t seem to budge as she tried to make her way.

“You should really watch where you’re going,” a deep voice said. Looking up, her jaw slacked. There he stood in front of her, with a light smile in his face his hair still swept back as he was dressed in a plain white tee with denim jeans and white sneakers. Jaehyun. If he looked ethereal in her dream, then she didn’t even know how to describe how he looked as he stood in front of her as she continued to stare at him in awe.

“I didn’t know you were this clumsy, I think you need to get used to me guiding you everywhere,” he added shaking his head as he took her hand in his as his smile radiated. He chuckled at her noticing her lack of response. He placed a small kiss on her forehead as his arm wrapped around her shoulder as he pulled her towards the direction of her apartment.

“How did you find me? How are you here? Are you real?” Y/N asked hurriedly as she stared at him in shock. Everyone was looking at Jaehyun, who wouldn’t really? The girls around continued to stare at him with heart eyes but they didn’t matter to him as his arm tightly wrapped around your shoulder. They didn’t matter cause they weren’t you. Y/N was too bewildered to even glare at those girls as her mind started thinking of all the possibilities on how he appeared.

“My wish came true,” Jaehyun stated as he faced her grinning at her amazed state. “What did you wish for?” Y/N asked curiously as she looked at Jaehyun who was still smiling at her softly.

“I wished I could spend the rest of my life loving you,”

Y/N stopped walking as Jaehyun grabbed her shoulders and faced her towards him. “Why did you say that? Now it won’t come true,” she scolded him as she pouted. Jaehyun laughed at her response. “I’m not going anywhere though, you got me, you got me good,” he winked making her blush just like in her dream.

“Oh and Y/N,” he added as he bent down meeting her eyes as she looked at him with flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

“I love you too,”

#jaehyun fic #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun au #nct fic #jaehyun imagines #jung jaehyun #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun fanfic

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asphalt-cocktail · 5 years ago

Text

For the Sake of Content- Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Live Music is Boring

Summary: After walking in on your long-term boyfriend, Harrison, cheating on you and then losing your job the following day; your find yourself broke, jobless, and single for the first time in a long while. In order to make ends meet, your best friend since college, Freddie, suggests you start soliciting explicit photos of yourself, not only to help boost your confidence but to help pay the rent for his band mate’s apartment you just moved into.

A/N: Hi lil cuties! Back at it again with a new chapter for FSC. I know I said a new chapter was coming tomorrow, but I wanted to post it tonight because I can. Anyways, it’s starting to pick up from here on out! I’m hoping to build a lot of sexual tension over the next few chapters for what I have planned. Like always I really appreciate all of your lovely comments, likes, and reblogs! Seeing your interest is what helps motivate me to write! Also if you would like to be tagged please send me an ask, the comments get lost and then I feel bad when i cant find everyone :/

Pairing: Roger Taylor x F!Reader

Warnings: Language, mentions of sex work, masturbation, sexual tension, some friendly banter between roger and reader, really corny dirty talk, it makes sense when you read it, not proof read, short chapter but don’t worry it gets better.

Word Count: 1.9k

18+ if you are a minor do NOT interact with this post. This is fictitious content and I own nothing.

Roger sat in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal, dressed only in a tasseled vest and leather straight legged pants while you shuffled out in your old worn college sweatshirt and a pair of sleep shorts, “Are those my Golden Grahams?” You asked, stopping at the entrance of the kitchen.

Roger glanced up at you, his under eyes were always slightly droopy and puffy, a stark contrast to his surprisingly wide blue eyes that glared up at you, “Yeah, what about it.” He answered confidently.

“Stop eating my shit, I barely have enough money to support myself let alone you.” You said grabbing the box from the counter and shoving it into the cupboard that held your food.

Roger shrugged, loudly slurping up his spoonful of milk, “Maybe you should get a job then.” He leaned back in his chair “How do you even afford rent anyways?”

You froze, your back still facing Roger. For the last few weeks you had made a decent sum of money camming and selling photos, not that you would tell Roger of all people. “It’s none of your business.” You reminded him while you walked over and pulled out your leftovers from your dinner with Freddie and popped them into the microwave.

“How did you even meet Fred,” He asked suspicious that his friend, Freddie, would dare to have other friends.

You turned towards Roger and leaned against the counter, “College,” you answered pointedly, “We had a digital design class together and he liked the shirt I was wearing.” You answered, you might still have that shirt buried in your closet somewhere, “Where did you meet him?”

Roger continued eating your cereal, “We used to live together, went to different universities, but he needed a roommate.” You had been to Freddie’s home during college, but never met Roger. It was a nice place, but always a cluttered mess, “Now we run the shop and play together.” That’s right, Roger helped sell clothes at the second-hand store.

“What do you play? The guitar?” You scoffed momentarily, “God, I hope you can play something other than Wonderwall.” You joked.

A small smile graced Roger’s features, if you hadn’t had been looking you wouldn’t have seen it, “No, I’m a drummer.” He gave you a confident smirk, the kind that would have caused a girl’s knees to go weak, “But I do play guitar,” He quickly followed with.

You nodded your head, “Ah, a drummer,” You said pulling your food out from the microwave and stabbed your fork into the left-over chicken breast.

“You’ve never been to any of our shows, have you?” Roger pressed.

You shrugged your shoulders, “Nope,” you answered, popping the ‘p’ at the end of your short statement.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, I don’t really like bar concerts I guess.”

Roger scoffed and made a skeptic face, “Where do you see concerts then? The back room of a coffee shop? Some of the best concerts I’ve been to have been in the back of shoddy bars.” He sounded defensive now.

“I just don’t get the point of concerts, I can listen to music on vinyl or Spotify so why should I go to a concert!” You answered back, just as defensive.

“I’m going to call Fred and tell him that you think our music is too boring to see live.” He said reaching for his phone.

You felt your blood run cold, Christ Fred would have your head on a stick if he heard you said that; which you didn’t. You lurched forward, gripping Roger’s wrist, “No!” You shouted, “Don’t call, Fred.” You struggled against his grip

Roger used his free hand to jab his finger into your side, causing you to squeal with laughter and jerk against him “Let go!” He couldn’t hide his own laughter.

You clutched his hand against your chest with your back to him “Promise you won’t tell Fred?” You said, not aware that your shorts had been pulled taut against you and hugged your skin while the crease between your ass and thigh threatened to pop from underneath them.

Roger swallowed thickly, maintaining eye contact with your upper thighs, “Promise you’ll come to our show tonight?” He asked, his voice sounded husky and sent an involuntary shudder through your body.

“Fine, I promise.” You said frowning and feeling your stomach clench at his tone. You quickly released his hand and turned to face him.

Roger’s pouty lips hung slightly ajar and his face was lightly dusted pink, you assumed it was from the struggle prior. “Promise.” He agreed, “But I’m going to tell Fred you’re going.” You groaned knowing Fred would want to doll you up for the occasion.

Thankfully you still had several hours before their 10pm show, so with plenty of time to kill you found yourself seated in front of your computer starting your live stream for the day.

You were dressed in a blue baby doll lingerie that had black lace trim, it was simple and not too revealing; just what you liked. Your colored lights lit up your room and the backdrop you had hung up disguised it for the sake of safety and the camera was perfectly positioned to only show your chest on down. By now you were regular professional.

The red light of your camera blinked and your computer screen loaded before you finally went live. Your regulars were alerted of your stream and soon people began to trickle in and soon your room was filled with a generous number of people. The tips flowed as you interacted with your regulars,

Tank3939 tipped you 50 tokens!

You smiled a sickeningly sweet smile “Thank you tank, you know these tips get me nice and wet.” You sensually said, rubbing your breasts and pushing them together. Tank was a regular, often generously tipping you, “If we reach 1,000 tokens in the next hour, I’ll let you watch me fuck myself on this fat cock.” You said holding up a decently sized dildo, you tried to ignore how much the fake sensuality in your tone caused you to cringe. The way you had to act in order to score tips was perhaps the most annoying part of the gig.

Bigboy64: shit baby how much I got to tip u to do that to me

Tank3939: beautiful sugar

Mojo_Man tipped you 1,000 tokens!

You stopped, doing a double take on at the little red mark on the screen, “Th… thank you, Mojo. I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.” You gave the camera a wink, “Always nice to see that men know what women want.” You said leaning back and spreading your legs, quickly swiping your fingers through your wet folds and letting out a breathy moan.

The tip bell continued to ring, and your moans threatened to get louder before you stopped, a sultry laugh left your lips “I got to be careful guys, my roommate is in the room next door… wouldn’t want him to hear me,” You gave a naughty giggle, “Or would I?”

Mojo_Man tipped you 500 tokens!

Bigboy64: u ever fuck ur roommate?

Bigboy64: Id fuck u if u were mine

You couldn’t help but grin at the comment, “No, I couldn’t do it, don’t think he likes me very much.” You answered honestly. “Thank you again Mojo, I guess I better get started now that you’ve got me all warmed up. I’ll be right back.” You said, blocking the screen so you could get set up, suctioning the dildo onto the hardwood floor beneath you. You turned around, exposing your ass to the camera and twisted to take the little post-it-note off the camera, “Remember, that little bell makes my tight little pussy wet.” You said once your screen came back into focus.

You sighed, lowering yourself onto the thick cock and sat for a moment allowing it to generously stretch your walls. God, even this fake dick filled you better than Harrison ever could. You leaned forward, sticking your ass out and arching your back and rotated your hips around the dildo, whimpering as you did so.

You readjusted your legs, spreading wider and leaning further forward. Your cheeks spread and put your pussy on display for all 523 people in your live stream. You moaned, pistoning your hips on the plastic cock. Your wet pussy easily glided up and down while your hands reached forward, gripping onto your bed in front of you for balance. Your hips burned while pornographic moans left your lips and your ass bounced with your thrusts. The tip bell rang, one after another, ensuring that you would be able to not only pay rent, but also buy another box of golden grahams for yourself.

Once you finished you gave your signing of speech, “Thank you so much my lovelies!” You said slightly out of breath, “I had so much fun with you all tonight especially my biggest donor for the might Mojo_Man,” you moaned his username out and for good measure kneaded your breasts in your hand before you continued, “Remember to subscribe to my OnlyFans and Snapchat for more content on days I don’t stream! I’ll see you again next Sin Saturday!”

You leaned back against your bed after you sighed off and looked through your stats for the night, 2500 tokens tipped by this Mojo_man, wow he must have really liked your work. You scoffed a bit, poor sap, you thought before you dressed yourself in normal clothes and left to shower and clean yourself off.

A knock on the door alerted you from your shower, your peaceful alone time, “What!” You shouted over the white noise the running water provided.

Without warning, the door opened,“Fred’s going to be over with an outfit for you!” It was Roger.

You rolled your eyes and slicked your hair back and out of your face “Couldn’t you tell me once I got out?” You frowned.

The door quickly shut, “No!” You could hear Roger’s voice growing more distant as he walked further away from the door and sure enough within minutes of your shower ending Freddie was knocking at your bedroom door and soon letting himself in.

“Fred,” You whined, “I look like a slut in this!” You shouted.

“I know!” He countered, “It’s my favorite look on you, you know that!” He straightened out the fabric of your shirt and skirt he had picked out for you.

You looked in the mirror, feeling stupid, “It’s just a bar, Fred. I don’t know why I can’t just go in some jeans!” you protested looking in the mirror.

You could see Roger’s reflection in the mirror, he once again changed his outfit. This time he was wearing an open floral print button down and tight black pants with flared legs, “I think it’s a nice change from that old jumper.” Roger always had to add his own two cents in.

You rolled your eyes, “Why’d you change again? Was your ‘lounge around’ tassel vest not sufficient enough for the show?”

Roger looked at you through narrow eyes, “’Course not, unlike you I care how people see me.”

“All right you two, that’s enough. We have to go over to John’s for the pregame.”

“Wait-” you protested, “You didn’t tell me I was going to meet everyone.”

Freddie scoffed at you, “Of course you have to, you’re a regular Queen groupie now!”

You groaned as Freddie wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you through the apartment, “Why can’t I be a roadie? I can lift stuff.”

“Not dressed like this!” Fred countered, “Enough, come on now we have to get dinner. It’s the most important meal before we go out!”

You tugged the leather miniskirt Freddie had dressed you in down and frowned, reminding yourself that you were only doing this to get a break from your mundane routine.

#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor smut #ben!roger taylor #ben hardy!roger x reader #ben hardy!roger taylor #ben hardy!roger taylor x reader #roger taylor series #roger taylor fanfic #borhap #borhap fanfic #borhap blurb #borhap fandom #queen x reader #queen smut #queen series #FSC fic

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redvoid-40 · 5 years ago

Text

Happy Anniversary

Happy New Year everyone!

Here’s a little something I wrote as a “spin off” / “future chapter” for the Gaara x OC fic I’ve been posting here. It’s a little everyday life fluff for you guys to enjoy! :D

Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Gaara x OC Word count: 4454 Rating: G Warnings: tiny bit of angst Categories: love, fluff, married life, family life, healthy relationships

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

She’s late. She’s never late.

Gaara sat alone at his dinner table, watching the minutes tick by. In front of him there was a whole banquet displayed, one he had prepared himself.

One he had prepared for his wife. To celebrate their wedding’s anniversary. He had gone as far as asking Kankuro to take Shinki out in the city, so both could have the house to themselves for a few hours.

And she was late.

Did something happen?

More than anger or frustration, Gaara felt worry claw at his chest.

Ever since she was a Genin, his wife had been somewhat of an ambassador for Konoha-Suna relations. After the fiasco of their Chuunin Exams - a time period Gaara was not proud of, when he almost killed his wife and friend on more than one occasion - she was one of the few Ninjas from Konoha that dared to approach him, and as such had been chosen to follow in the first talks of peace between the two villages.

Fifteen years later, she still traveled between both nations at least once a month - this month however, it was the second time. Even in times of peace like these it was important to have someone of importance present in certain meetings and agreements that took place in Konoha, and more often than not Gaara asked his wife to represent him in such matters.

As a war-hero in the Fourth Shinobi War, a dual-citizen in Konoha and Suna, wife to the Kazekage, and one of the Hokage’s best friends, she was the perfect fit.

And he knew she enjoyed it too. It gave her a chance to keep in touch with her friends, and even watch their kids grow. More than that, his wife was a Shinobi; traveling and taking missions was part of who she was. Gaara knew she wouldn’t be as happy just sitting around and being the Kazekage’s wife, she needed this as much as he needed her.

But Gaara couldn’t deny that he worried sometimes. It took his wife three days to go from one Village to another; not only there were still outlaws out there but a large part of the route was through the desert. And while he knew his wife was more than capable of taking care of herself, he still worried.

The clock hit 10:00PM. She was supposed to have arrived at 6PM.

Should I send a search party?

“Father, hasn’t mom come back yet?”

Gaara at last turned his eyes away from the clock, finding Shinki and Kankuro walking into the dining room, staring at him with confusion and some degree of worry.

“Is everything alright, Gaara?” Kankuro asked.

Gaara walked to them, laying a hand affectionately over Shinki’s head. “Your mother is a bit late is all. Why don’t you go upstairs and get ready for bed? I’m sure she’ll get here soon.”

Shinki looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded his head and left. When he was out of sight, Gaara turned to Kankuro.

“Kankuro, please gather a reckon-team. I’m worr-”

Before Gaara could finish, the door was slammed open, making both men rush towards the entrance. Standing there, backpacks on the floor and bend over herself with hands on her knees was his wife. She was shining with sweat, and having a hard time trying to catch her breath.

Other than that, she seemed completely fine.

Gaara felt some of his worry turn into indignation.

---

Shin wanted to die. She couldn’t believe she had arrived home so late, on the day of her wedding anniversary nonetheless.

I’m so stupid. How could I be dumb enough to take a nap while waiting for the sun to go down a bit? Of course I’d oversleep! Don’t I know myself? I’m so stupid!

“I-I’m so sorry.” Shin wheezed, raising big brown eyes to Gaara. Her husband stood a few feet in front of her, staring at her with narrowed eyes. “I know I’m late, Gaara. I’m so sorry.”

“Shin! Are you alright?” Kankuro asked, walking towards her. He made to lay a hand on her back but thought better of it. Shin couldn’t blame him for it; she was dripping with sweat. “Did something happen on the way here?”

Shin glanced at Kankuro and felt her face burn in shame. “I-I… I overslept.”

There was a pregnant pause. Shin looked down at her feet in shame as Kankuro’s eyes went back and forth between her and Gaara; the grimace on his face speaking volumes at how uncomfortable the situation had just become.

Gaara didn’t say anything; sea-foam eyes that betrayed absolutely nothing fixed on his wife.

“I-I’ll go upstairs, leave you two alone for a bit.” Kankuro said, already halfway up the stairs.

Shin watched Kankuro go before moving her gaze back at Gaara. She put on a nervous smile on her face as she walked to her husband. “Gaara, I’m-”

“Dinner’s on the table. You can help yourself out.” Gaara spoke coldly, turning his back to her. Shin’s eyes were wide as she watched him walk to the front door and put on his shoes. “I’m heading back to the office.”

“Gaara, it’s past 10PM. Surely it can wait until tomorrow?”

“I took the whole afternoon off, so there’s a lot of paperwork left-over. I’d like to at least get something done today.”

Shin’s eyes were already brimming with tears. “Gaara, please. I’m sorry I’m late but we can still do something. Ah! I brought you a present! I’ve been after it for a few months now, and Ino-chan managed to…”

Shin’s voice trailed off as she looked down at her luggage. There was her backpack, a side bag and a large water bottle.

But there was no present.

What?! I had it with me! Did I put it in my backpack?

Immediately Shin grabbed her backpack and started to rummage through it, stopping for a moment to dry unshed tears on the back of her hands. “I-I had it with me this morning! I’m sure of it! I-”

Gaara sighed at the display, as if it was too painful to watch.

“I’m going Shin. We’ll talk later.”

Shin opened her mouth, but the door had already closed behind Gaara.

-----

After that, Shin hadn’t dared to touch the food Gaara had prepared for them, putting it all away in the fridge as quickly as possible, feeling her guilt eat at her inside out.

It must’ve taken him the whole afternoon to prepare all of this. He didn’t even leave any dishes in the sink.

Drying unshed tears on the back of her hands Shin dragged herself upstairs, ready for a cold shower and hours awake, waiting for Gaara to come back. Before going to her room, Shin dropped by Shinki’s, opening the door just a bit to peek at her son.

Of course, he was wide awake.

“Mom?”

Putting a smile on her face Shin walked in Shinki’s room, bending down to plant a kiss on his forehead.

“Why aren’t you asleep, darling?”

The boy sat up in bed, shrugging. “Uncle Kankuro took me out tonight and we just came back. Also I was hoping to see you get home. Why were you late today?”

“Sorry about that… Remember that Inn I told you about? The one built on an oasis a few hours from here?”

“I know. It’s a traditional stop on the way from Konoha.”

“Well, I stopped there for an early lunch and to wait for a couple of hours until the sun dropped down a bit. And… well…”

“You fell asleep and didn’t wake up.” Shinki concluded, staring at his mother with a raised eyebrow.

Shin blushed, smiling awkwardly at her son. The boy knew her far too well, just like his father.

“Yes… I’m really sorry for being so late.”

Shinki shook his head, reaching out to grab one of her hands in both of his. Shin’s forced smile softened to something true as she dropped to her knees by her son’s bed, careful not to let her sweaty body come into contact with his clean sheets.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad nothing happened. Father looked really worried when we got back.”

The woman nodded and kissed her son’s cheek, chuckling when he pulled away slightly. “I’m sorry mom, but you’re smelling.”

“That will do it. In going straight to my shower now. You go to sleep now, alright?”

“Alright. Goodnight.”

“Sweet dreams, darling.”

---

Shin took her time in the shower, hoping with everything she had that by the time she left the bathroom Gaara would be waiting for her in their bedroom.

But all that met her was an empty bed and the accusing clock.

00:17AM

Shin sighed, pulling a strand of her hair to twirl around her fingers. She always did that when she was particularly anxious about something. Her eyes were already filled to the brim with tears.

Is he still mad at me?

This was uncharted territory for Shin. Sure she and Gaara had had a few disagreements before, but they never lasted more than a few minutes; and they certainly have never gone to bed angry at each other before.

I’m not gonna let this happen.

Swallowing her tears, Shin dropped her towel and quickly put on her civilian clothes before rushing out of the house.

She had to take her report back to the engineer from Kaminarimon Company anyway. might as well drop by her husband’s office on her way back, right?

---

Shin knocked softly on the door to Gaara’s office before peeking inside. Surely enough, Gaara sat at his desk, a small mountain of finished paperwork on each side.

Unfinished on the left, completed on the right.

Shin couldn’t help but smile. It was such a familiar scene; it was comforting in a way. She had lost count how many times she had come to his office late at night, bringing him dinner or just some freshly brewed tea for them to enjoy together before she found a way to drag him back home.

“Gaara?” Shin called softly, allowing herself to walk inside, until she stood in front of his desk. “Aren’t you coming home? It’s past midnight.”

Gaara didn’t raise his eyes from the sheet of paper in front of him. “I still have a lot of work to do.”

Shin put on what she hoped was a warm smile on her face. “You seem to have done a lot already. Surely it can wait until-”

“Until I’m done with overlooking my responsibilities?”

Gaara’s voice was calm and low, but his words were still enough to bite. Shin felt her whole body flinch as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

“Gaara…”

“What even caused you to be so late in the first place?”

“I… I stopped by that Inn - the one in the oasis about three hours from here; I told you about it before - for lunch and to wait until the sun went down a bit. You know how hot it gets at noon. I was just so tired I thought I’d take a quick nap. I overslept. I’m so sorry, Gaara. You know I’d never do something like that on purpose. I was just… really tired.”

Again Gaara didn’t as much as glance her way. He calmly set the paper he was signing on the right pile before taking a new sheet from the left.

Immediately Shin’s hand twirled her hair as she held back tears.

“I-I will leave you alone then.” She settled, walking around her husband desk. Despite the way he tensed at her proximity Shin dared to plant a kiss on the top of his head. “I love you, Gaara.”

She left without response.

---

Gaara sighed, letting his head fall against the back of his chair. The sun was rising in the horizon, and he could see the soft glow of early morning illuminating his office. When he looked at the wall clock it accused 5:16AM.

The pile of paperwork on his left was gone.

I actually finished all my paperwork. But what for? Most of it was not due until next week.

With a depleted sigh, Gaara buried his face in his hands. Exhaustion hit him like a freight train, and he wondered not for the first time that day, what in the world was he doing in his office at such an hour?

I should be home, lying in bed with my wife. Loving her.

Gaara was overreacting, he knew that.

His wife was late, so what? How many times had they spent birthdays and Valentine’s Day having a late dinner in his office instead of out celebrating because he had work to do?

The only reason Shin was so exhausted and away from Suna in the first place was because he had asked her to go back to Konoha less than a week after she had returned. News had come up on the Thunder Rail dealings and there were papers that needed to be looked over and signed so the Kaminarimon Company could at last start bulding the train station in Suna. And he had asked her to do it for him.

Again.

I can’t wait for that train to be up and running. Shin won’t have to spend so many days away from home then; away from Shinki and… me.

Gaara needed to go home, apologize to his wife, and hopefully spend the rest of the morning lazing around in bed with her, until it was time for his 1pm meeting.

I should bring her breakfast in bed. Shin has never resisted the smell of fresh coffee before.

Determined, Gaara raised from his chair.

And stood still with his heart in his throat as his office door was opened from outside.

“Shin?”

The Kazekage immediately deflated when the door was fully opened, revealing the chief engineer from Kaminarimon Company, who tumbled inside with multiple scrolls precariously balanced in his arms.

“Ah! Kazekage-sama! I’m so sorry, sir! I didn’t expect to see you here so early! I received Shin-sama’s report last night about the meeting in Konoha and went straight to work. I was just going to drop these blueprints here in your office… I was wondering if we could go over them whenever you have the time?”

Gaara hesitated for a moment. His afternoon was packed with meetings, as were the next few days; while he was willing to put in late hours to go over this matter he couldn’t demand that others would stay until 10PM.

On the other hand, he was free this morning, and the sooner he went over the blueprints and gave his “go ahead”, the sooner the construction could begin.

And the sooner Shin’s trips to Konoha would only take one day instead of three days each way. And she’ll be able to rest in the train.

Bottling up his exhaustion, Gaara sat back down and motioned to the chair in front of him.

“Would you be willing to talk about it now? Of course, I understand if you’re unable. But I have some free time at the moment so-”

“Oh, thank you Kazekage-sama! I promise I’ll be done with this as quick as possible!”

Gaara smiled politely.

Just a couple more hours, Shin.

---

It was almost 8AM when Gaara got back home. The house was silent and the breakfast dishes were still on the sink.

Kankuro must’ve left late to take Shinki to the Academy.

Gaara smiled as he washed the couple of plates and cups that had been left there; noticing they had had waffles for breakfast.

Kankuro could be a bit messy, but he always helped with Shinki in every way he could. And Gaara couldn’t be more thankful for it; he and Shin were often so busy, it was nice that they could count on his brother in times like these.

Once he was done, Gaara went straight to the bedroom he shared with his wife. He was too tired to get close to a stove at the moment. He’d serve her breakfast in bed next morning; right now he just wanted to curl up against his wife and sleep.

But when he opened the door, the bed was empty. Shin's side of the bed was crumpled, as if she had laid down over the covers instead of under them.

She must have had another of her insomnia episodes.

Gaara walked to her side bed and sat down on the mattress, reaching out to lay a palm over her pillow. When his skin touched the fabric he froze. It was slightly moist, as if…

She cried. I made her cry.

Confused and now slightly desperate, Gaara called out her name and checked their bathroom - also empty -, before going back down. He was sure he had only washed the dishes from two people, and there was no coffee pot in there. Shin never left before having at least one cup of coffee.

Gaara walked through every room in the house, but only when he stepped back into the kitchen he noticed something: a little post-it note glued to the fridge.

Good morning everyone!

I had to leave early to pick up something, but I should be back before lunch.

I’m really sorry I won’t be there when you wake up today, Shinki. But I left some waffle batter ready in the fridge for you and your uncle! :)

BTW, Kankuro, would you mind cooking Shinki the waffles and taking him to school? Gaara is still at the office doing some paperwork, and I’m not sure he’ll be back in time. =.=

Kisses!

~Shin

Gaara narrowed his eyes. She had just arrived from Konoha, what could she possibly need to-

“Gaara, please. I’m sorry I’m late but we can still do something. Ah! I brought you a present! I’ve been after it for a few months now, and Ino-chan managed to…”

Shin’s voice trailed off as she looked down at her luggage. There was her backpack, a side bag and a large water bottle.

But there was no present.

Gaara’s seafoam eyes widened in realization as the piece of paper slid out of his hand. He knew where his wife was, and the knowledge made his heart twist in worry.

She was going back to the Oasis Inn, a place that was about three hours away from Suna. Knowing Shin she would’ve left just before dusk, around 4:30AM, to void the overbearing desert sun. In optimal conditions she’d be back by 11AM, a time when the sun would already be high in the sky and walking through the desert would be nothing short of torture.

But she wouldn’t be in optimal conditions. She would be tired and hungry. She’d be lucky if she was back before 1PM.

Of course, she’d be the person to run back into the desert without sleeping or eating just to recover a present.

Gaara wasn’t unfamiliar to the feeling of guilt. He had dealt with it for a long time in his adolescence and childhood. But it didn’t make it any less unpleasant.

Without taking a moment for himself, Gaara marched out his home again. He knew Shin hated when he used his status as Kazekage to give her any sort of special treatment, but he didn’t care.

He was sending a team to find her and bring her back to him.

---

Shin was breathing hard, hands on her knees to support her weight as she desperately tried to catch her breath. She was sweating bullets through every pore of her body and when she reached for her water bottle she found it almost empty.

Deciding to save it for later, Shin put her bottle away and straightened up pulling on the straps of her backpack. She felt the comforting weight of the present inside it against her back and it was enough to get her to start moving again.

Just a couple more hours.

One foot in front of the other, that’s all there was to it. Even if she wasn’t in prime condition Shin believed she could make it to Suna by noon.

Maybe I could pick up Shinki from school, find Kankuro and we all could surprise Gaara at his office for lunch. No, no… what if he’s still angry with me? That would just make it worse. It would be best if I waited at home for him to return. I could order food from a nice restaurant for dinner and we could all eat together. Gaara, Shinki, Kankuro and I… It’s been a while since we enjoyed a meal together.

Shin felt a smile tug on her lips; easily putting the pieces together in her mind until they made for a perfect picture. And she would focus on that picture with everything she had, instead of on the shadows slowly taking over her vision.

One foot in front of the other. That’s all I need to do.

---

Kankuro didn’t know who he should blame more for his situation: his brother or his sister-in-law.

Amazing how love can make even the smartest people act so stupidly.

His brother would never take something so small as being late personally if it wasn’t such an especial occasion. Not nearly as much because it was their wedding anniversary - Kankuro had watched the couple content themselves with much less in such dates before - but mostly because they hadn’t been able to spend too much together. With the negotiations of the Thunder Rail going on, both Gaara and Shin were spending more time working and less time with family than either of them wanted to.

“Kankuro-san! I see something! I think it’s her!”

Kankuro focused his attention back on the present, and sure enough there was the shadow of someone standing a few ways ahead of them. They weren’t moving as fast as Shin could though.

Actually, they’re not moving at all.

The figure doubled over and fell to their knees. Kankuro and the Shinobi exchanged a worried glance before speeding up. As they approached, they noticed something else.

Is that... iron sand?

---

“Kazekage-sama!”

Gaara wasn’t too proud to admit he leaped to his feet when the Jonin barged into his office. No matter that he and Baki had been in the middle of something; it could wait for a few minutes.

“Did you find her?”

“She’s in the hospital, sir.”

Gaara had never moved so fast in his life.

---

Kankuro had been waiting for him at the entrance when the Kazekage marched inside, footsteps as hurried as it was acceptable inside a hospital.

“How is she?”

“She’s okay, Gaara. She was dehydrated when we found her, but nothing life-threatening.” Kankuro spoke, putting himself in front of his brother. “Calm down, take a moment and hear me out.”

Gaara was visibly agitated. “Kankuro, would you please let me see my wife?”

“I will. But you won’t be seeing only her.”

“What do you mean?”

Kankuro hesitated, massaging the back of his neck nervously.

“You see… It seems Shinki also connected the dots in Shin’s notes and figured out she had gone back to the desert. He skipped school and went to find her.”

“What.”

“He’s fine. They are resting in the same room.”

---

Gaara opened the door of his wife’s room slowly, not knowing what he would find in there. He wouldn’t be surprised if his wife, patient and kind as she was, didn’t want to see him at the moment.

It’s my fault she went back out there unready. Worst of all, Shinki ended up involved. I wonder if she’ll even let me sleep in the same bed as her tonight. She has never thrown me out before, but then again, I never put Shinki in danger before.

Drowning in his thoughts and worries, Gaara walked inside the private room and for a moment the breath was taken right out of his lungs.

The room was simple, with two beds pushed together, a bedside table with a pitcher of water over it and a small lounge area by the window, with a table and two chairs around it. The soft orange rays of sunlight that sneaked through the blinds of the window illuminated the scene, giving the room a warm and calm atmosphere.

And in the centre of it all, his wife was sleeping in the bed, with their son snoring softly in her arms.

Gaara watched them, completely stunned. Not for the first time he wondered how in the world did he get so unbelievably lucky. There was a time in his life he wouldn’t dream of having anything even close to love and now he had a strong, kind, beautiful wife, and a smart, honest, hard-working son.

I love them. I love them so much.

Silently Gaara walked to their bedside, until he could reach out and gently comb his wife’s bangs out of her face.

Shin’s eyelids fluttered and slowly opened. It took her a moment to focus on him, but when she did, her reaction was nothing like Gaara had imagined.

His wife looked at him and smiled.

“Did you get your present?”

Gaara blinked. “Huh?”

Shin’s brown eyes danced to the table by the window, and Gaara followed with his gaze. Standing there, alone and unassuming, was a small pot plant. It was a small cactus, barely as big as a fist, with a peach-fuzzy exterior and a yellow flower crown on top of it.

Gaara’s seafoam eyes widened at seeing it.

“It’s a Parojia cactus.” Shin whispered, carefully laying a hand on Shinki’s ear as not to awake him. “Ino-chan found one in the wild a couple of months ago and managed to grow a couple in her store. She told me there’s an estimate of less than a hundred growing in the wild, and even less being cultivated in private.”

“Shin…”

“They are hard to maintain. She even gave me a list of orientations. It’s a bit tricky, but I’m sure it’ll thrive as long as you’re taking care of it.”

Gaara could only stare at his wife, stunned. However, his wife took his silence the wrong way, and her smile faltered.

“Gaara? Did you… not like it?”

The man blinked once, before a warm smile pulled on his lips and relieved Shin of her worries. He bent down at the waist and touched his forehead to hers.

“I love my present. I love you.”

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sassy-pelican · 5 years ago

Text

To Infinity: Part Two

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Language, fluff, angst, sadness, humor, time jumps, 18+, nsfw, canon typical warnings, a bit of everything. You may not read this story if you are under 18

Tagging: @holyhumorliteraturelight @crushedbyhyperbole

A/N: Not gonna lie, I completely forgot to post this earlier (at like noon). I may have started my trial for Disney+ and got caught up watching movies. So this is a little late (after 10pm) but it’s here.

1943

“The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It’s a factory of some kind.”

“We should be able to drop right on their doorstep.” Howard Stark, who you soon figured out after strapping yourself in, was the pilot, says.

“Just get me,” you glare at Steve, “us, as close as you can.” He tells whoever listens. “You know, you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble back at the lab.”

“And you two won’t?” Peggy counters.

“Where I’m goin’,” you silently add yourself seeing as Steve won’t, “if anybody yells at me, I can just shoot ‘em.”

“They will undoubtedly shoot back.” The gun at your back Peggy loaned you feels heavy on your back, the other, smaller ones, stashed across your person even more so. No doubt you would be doing some shooting of your own.

“Well, let’s hope it’s good for somethin’.” Steve knocks on his shield. Not enough, Steve, not enough.

“Agent Carter, if we’re not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue.” You look between Peggy and Steve, the awkward looks almost enough to make you laugh, but you don’t current Steve when you see where his mind goes.

“So, are you two …? Do you …? Fondue?”

“This is your transporter. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lean is straight to you.”

“Are you sure this things works?” Steve asks.

“It’s been tested more than you, pal.” Howard pauses. “And you too sweet-cheeks.”

“Piss off Howard.” You quip, the man only chuckles. The shots ring in your ear as they hit the plane. Steve jumps up, racing to the open door. You follow him.

“Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in!” Peggy yells, neither of you really listen.

“As soon as I’m free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!” Steve yells. You turn to Peggy and roll your eyes.

“Do that after I’m clear.” She completely ignores you.

“You can’t give me orders!”

“The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!” He yells before looking at her one last time and jumping. You cast a look at her as well.

“Peggy.” She turns to you, tears in her eyes. “We’ll be okay. Steve will be okay.” You don’t say anything more before you jump after him. When you land, near enough to Steve than he glares at you laugh, despite the dire situation.

“I was hopin’ you’d change your mind.” He mutters.

“Not a chance in hell.”

The two of you manage to get into the back of truck, taking the men out inside. You don’t help him much, he doesn’t need it, even when you get to the factory. However, after he takes one of the blue cartridges, you decided to do so as well. Two is better than one, right?

You manage to take a guard or two as Steve takes out the rest guarding the prisoners. “Who are you supposed to be?” A man asks from below Steve. You huff and watch him.

“I’m … Captain America.”

“We’re,” you glare at Steve again, “the people saving your asses.”

“I beg your pardon?” Another man asks.

“You don’t wanna know.”

After figuring out the way down to the gates, which took far longer than both or Steve care to admit, you let everyone out. You ignore the men as they banter, with ill humor or real malice you don’t care, all you notice is no Bucky. “Is there anybody else? I’m looking for a Sergeant James Barnes.” Steve asks.

“There’s an isolation ward in the factory, but no one’s ever come back from it.”

“All right. The tree line is northwest, eighty yards past the gate. Get out fast and give ‘em hell. I’ll meet,” you kick him in the back of his leg, a grunt leaving his lips, “we’ll, meet you guys in the clearing with anyone else we find.”

“Wait! You know what you’re doin’?” Yet another man asks, looking from you to Steve.

“Yeah. I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times.” Steve jokes, but you somehow think he is serious.

“Steve!” You turn to the men still staring at the oddity of you and Steve. “We saved you guys from uncertain death, didn’t we? At least while caged.”

“Fair point lady.”

You and Steve follow the directions to the isolation ward, spotting someone with blueprints, but you hear the voice when he does and hesitate.

“Sergeant. 32557 …”

You both rush to the source of the sound. The sight of Bucky strapped down makes you freeze. Steve continues forward, snapping the straps. “Oh, my god.” Steve whispers. Bucky continues to mumble.

“Is that …”

“It’s me. It’s Steve.”

“Steve?”

“Come on.”

“Steve.”

“I thought you were dead.” Steve says he gets Bucky up.

“I thought you were smaller.” Bucky says, looking at him.

“Come one.” Steve says again.

“What happened to you?” He asks.

“I joined the army.” You scoff but move to help Bucky who shakes his head before looking at you again.

“What the hell?”

“I told you I wasn’t a nurse.”

He looks back to Steve. “Did it hurt?”

“A little.” You want to laugh, but don’t, the worry on Bucky’s face enough to quell the urge.

“Is it permanent?” He asks.

“So far.” Steve says. You glare at him from behind.

“Yes, it’s permanent.”

The three of you run as the building starts to explode behind you. None of you know where to go or what to do, not exactly anyway. You just know that all of you need to get the hell off there as soon as possible.

“Captain America! How exciting! I’m a great fan of your films.” A strange man says. You know of him, but in person he is much worse. He looks Steve up and down, assessing the threat. “So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive.” Steve rears back, fist flying, hitting Schmidt hard.

The other man, the smaller one that you and Steve had seen earlier stares the action. You notice Bucky staring at him, his face sickly now, more so than it was. So, this is the bastard that experimented on people. It hits you like a freight train then, the reality of Bucky’s fear. This man experimented on Bucky, and he is his first successful subject. You turn back to the other man, still exchanging harsh words and punches with Steve.

You stare at the place on his neck that looks off, almost as if it isn’t fully attached to the muscle underneath it anymore. However, you still feel Bucky behind you, his fear pliable, not only for Steve and you, but for himself. His eyes never leave the man behind Schmidt, not once does he look away. You snap out of the daze you were in as when you hear the Doctor’s name.

“No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!” His hand raises, moving to his neck. Without thinking you step in front of Steve.

“Then why did you hide it?” You ask, only loud enough for the words to resonate. “Why are just now willing to take off your old face, the one you are reaching to peel off, if you were his greatest success?” The catwalk starts to move.

“You are the first to notice.” He says, a little uncertain at your presence, one he obviously hadn’t thought to count as a threat. He stares at you a moment, as if trying to calculate if you’re worthy of a response. Apparently not. He smiles at you, continuing to his neck and peeling off his face.

“You don’t have one of those do you?” Bucky asks, quietly. Even though you know the question was directed at Steve you silently tell him no, in your head, as well.

“You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality, you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!”

“Then how come you’re running?” Steve yells as the two men disappear into the elevator, which is somehow still operational. He turns to you and Bucky. “Come on, let’s go. Up.”

The stairs are shaking, and even you and Steve are having trouble keeping your balance, Bucky is far worse off. Every time he falters, you manage to catch him, a few times in rather compromising ways. Although, now you can say, with one hundred percent certainty, that James Barnes has a wonderful ass.

Finally, on solid, or relatively solid ground, you look at the other side, the one you three need be on. The large beam the only way across. You don’t take an invitation, you just carefully, and as quickly as possible, race to the other side. Your feet merely tapping the metal as you block out your surroundings.

Bucky on other hand, isn’t so graceful. His balance is off, arms slightly flailing with each step, but he makes it, barely before the thing collapses beneath him. The two of you stare at Steve as you realize he somehow has to cross that fiery pit with anything but force of will.

“Gotta be a rope of something!” Bucky yells.

“Just go! Get out of here!” Steve shouts back.

“No! Not without you!” You stare at Steve hard as Bucky stares with you.

“I am not going to be the one to explain to Peggy that you died just because your dumbass super-soldier brain decided your body couldn’t make that jump! You did better than that getting in this hell hole! So, did I!”

Backing up, Steve runs. He runs hard until he runs out of something to run on and then he jumps. You and Bucky both jump back, giving him room to land. The explosion obstructs your view, and you can feel the panic rolling off Bucky, even as Steve falls onto the metal.

“Alright Soldier, get up and run.” You growl at Steve.

Over an hour into the long walk back to the SSR base, Bucky still refuses to acknowledge the fact that you accidentally spilled the secret that you have the serum running through veins too. The awkward silence between the two of you is deafening. “Why?”

You turn to him, his hands still poised his gun, ready. “Why what?”

“Why did you do it? Take the serum? Come get me? All of it.”

“I took it because Erskine asked. I took it because I had to spend time with Steve as a fellow recruit and had to endure the bias of him being small while he endured the prejudice of me being a woman. I took it because the person that did, they were the last line of defense between Steve and whatever it brought to him.”

“You did what I asked?” He looks at you, shocked.

“Yes. I said I couldn’t take your place protecting him, and I meant it. But that sure as hell doesn’t mean I couldn’t try. As for getting you, I wanted to.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“I haven’t known you long, and certainly not well, but that didn’t mean I never wanted to.” You look up at him, and swear you see a little wet in his eyes. “You made an impression James, and I’d like for it to be a bit more than just an impression.”

“I think I would too.”

You are walking next to Bucky when everyone in the camp starts to recognize Steve. A few shouts here, a few there and everyone is clamoring to get a peek at the man that saved the men all coming up behind him. You stare at the Colonel as Steve salutes him. “Some of these men need medical attention.”

You ignore the few other voices shouting orders, nurses racing out of tents, but you do notice the one that approaches Bucky. Maybe it’s a spark of jealousy, but you don’t like it. Steve, however, shocks you out of it. “I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action.”

“That won’t be necessary.” He says, as he turns to you however, he sneers. You suppose he’s waiting for you to do the same, but you don’t. “You on the other hand …”

“With all due respect, sir, I was following Captain’s orders.” You say it deadpan, even when you, Steve, and Peggy know it is an outright lie. Philips doesn’t seem to believe it but can’t find a trace of it on your face.

“You expect me to believe that, Y/L/N?”

“Yes, sir, I do.” He doesn’t say anything as he walks away, Peggy taking his place.

Bucky turns to you, mouthing her name in question. You nod. “You’re late.” She says to Steve, her face unwavering.

“Couldn’t call my ride.” Steve says, holding up the transporter.

“Should’ve given it to you.” She says, turning to you. You smile.

“Maybe.”

“Hey! Let’s hear it for Captain America.” Bucky yells, the cheering that follows echoes in your ears that night.

You watch the men, the ones that first greeted you at the HYDRA base chatting and drinking with Steve while sitting with Bucky, tidbits of their conversation filtering through the background noise of the bar. Steve saunters up, smiling.

“See? I told you. They’re all idiots.” Bucky quips.

“How about you? You ready to follow Captain American into the jaws of death?” Steve asks, even if both you and Bucky can see the sad smile behind his eyes as he does.

“Hell no. That little guy form Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight; I’m following him.” Bucky tells him. “But you’re keeping the outfit, right?”

“You know what? It’s kind of growing on me.”

Everyone in the bar notices as Peggy walks in, red dress catching the eye of every lustful man and envious woman. You on the other hand, in your pants from the raid and jacket that you stole from Peggy herself, are only smiling. “Captain.”

“Agent Carter.”

“Ma’am.” Bucky pops up, as if realizing he is now in the presence of a woman worthy of his flirting. Damn you Barnes.

“Howard has some equipment for you to try. Tomorrow morning?”

“Sounds good.”

“I see your top squad is prepping for duty.” She eyes the table of other men, almost piss drunk by now.

“You don’t like music?” Bucky asks, trying to insert himself into the conversation. You know better, the two fools in front of you only have eyes for each other. Neither willing to act on it though.

“I do, actually. I might even, when all this is over, go dancing.” You want to roll your eyes as you see hers never leave Steve’s.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Bucky asks, still oblivious to the two budding love birds.

“The right partner.” She says softly. You almost choke on your drink, the beer warm now. “O-eight-hundred, Captain.” She looks back at Steve one last time before walking back to the exit.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be there.”

“I’m invisible. I’m … I’m turning into you. It’s like a horrible dream.” Bucky mutters, still reeling from the rejection.

“Don’t take it too hard. Maybe she’s got a friend.”

You can’t hold back your laugh this time. Bucky just stares at you, incredulous that you would take his demise so flippantly. “Hey, if the friend thing doesn’t work out you always have me.” You offer, only half kidding.

He looks you up and down. “Oh really?”

“Would that be so bad, James?” He doesn’t say anything, just continues to look at you.

“Care to dance, doll?”

“It’s Agent to you.” You quip, but you take his offered hand anyway. He pulls you onto the small dance floor, hand at your waist.

“I like the pants by the way.” He says, breath fanning your face. You can’t say the smell is pleasant, it smells like stale beer, but then again, so does yours.

“Thank you. I like yours as well.”

“Really? You like the uniform, do ya?”

“Don’t kid James.” You glare at him. “Let’s not pretend I already felt what was under those pants when you fell how many times back at the base.”

“Oh no, can’t forget that.” He looks at you, really looks at you as he spins the two of you around. “You’re different.”

“Well, I’ve spent a bit of time around men a lot like the idiots Steve picked for the team. It starts to rub off. Peggy also doesn’t help.”

He groans. “Do you have to bring her up?”

“Always,” you tease. “But really, was she the first woman to ever reject the self-proclaimed ladies-man James Barnes?”

“Yes, she was. Not counting you of course.” He mumbles, tightening his hold on me slightly.

“That is too good.”

“Hey now, don’t forget, you felt me up. You should know why I never get turned down.”

“Do you want me to hit you with my shoe?”

“Only if you kiss it better.” He says, voice dropping a little.

“Deal.”

It was decided that everyone would go to France first. The largest base was the target, and you knew as well as Steve that you couldn’t just fly in and bomb the place. It had to be on foot, or at least with land vehicles. The tank that Dugan, Monty, and Jones commandeered came in handy.

Ever since the Commandos were formed in that bar, Bucky and you have grown closer. The shameless flirting, on both your parts, hasn’t and likely won’t stop. Niether of you nor Bucky seem to care. Sure, you grew close with the other guys too, Dugan more so than the others simply because he can throw insults just as bad as yours.

“Come on Lady Legs! You’re stragglin’!” Dugan yells from the front by Steve.

“Oh, come off it, Dum Dum!” You shout, a few expletives slipping out after another step into yet another small hole.

“Would you like me to carry you?” Bucky teases.

“Not you too!”

“Alright there, Lady Legs, I will just continue to let ya fall.” You can hear the smile in his voice despite not turning to him. “You could at least let me catch you.”

“Oh no, I know what your kind of catching would entail and today is not the day you will be touching my ass.” You glare at him, still smiling, but putting every ounce of venom you can into your gaze.

“So, you plan on me touching your ass now do you?”

You grumble but refuse to beat the living hell out of him; you promised you’d kiss it better. Yet, as you fall again, he catches you, hands never once traveling where you know he wants them to.

Setting up camp isn’t much better. Your camping skills aren’t exactly up to par, and this is the first time you have faced this type of enemy. But under the tired, watchful, and no doubt judgmental gazes of the men, and Peggy, you refuse to give up.

“Just share mine.” She pipes up after your fruitless attempts to put it up.

“Fine.”

However, five hours later and not one-hour of sleep between them, you can’t do it anymore. The small space far too little for two people and you are much too nervous to sleep. You didn’t feel this anxious before raiding the base, but you also had a reason besides ‘the greater good’ and doing what’s right. Both good reasons, but that instinct you have that usually tells you to keep fighting, is not coming to life.

“Can’t sleep?” Bucky says from his perch on a low branch.

“What the hell are you doing up there Bucky?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” He pauses, sucking in a breath. “Never can before a battle.”

“I’m sorry.” You mean it too.

“So, how’s roomin’ with Peggy?”

“Far too cramped for my taste, but it beats sleeping out here in the cold.”

“Want me to show you how to pitch a tent?” He asks, and you can’t help it, you laugh.

“Only if it doesn’t involve your pants.”

“You little devil!” He jumps from his resting place and after a few steps, despite your enhancement, manages to tackle you to the ground.

“You left that wide open, and you know it!”

“I won’t say it.” He mutters, warm breath fanning your face, this time smelling marginally better.

“Won’t say what?” You ask, almost teasing, but also genuinely curious.

“Just like how you are right now.” He says, looking right into your eyes.

Despite the steeling resolve you usually have you realize just what he means. He’s hovering over you, your arms pinned beside your head, and his knees resting in between your legs. Even with all your bravado, you blush.

“Is that a blush?” He asks, teasing but still not mocking.

“Maybe.”

“It looks good on you.”

“James?” You ask, his entire body lowering ever so slightly.

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to kiss me, or do I have to beat you with my shoe?”

“Well, you did promise to kiss it better.” He laughs, lips less than an inch from yours.

“Just kiss me.”

1944

The trek to Belgium wasn’t long but it was far colder than the one to France. Your late-night talks with Bucky have moved from outside by the fire to the warmth of one of your tents – with his help you figured out how to put it up. It wasn’t much warmer really, but the mentality of it helped a little. Oftentimes, you would find yourself waking up with him since it was much warmer. The man was like a walking furnace, and you yourself weren’t naturally cold, not like before the serum.

No one has said anything about the two of you sleeping curled up next to one another yet. No one has said anything like it in regard to Steve and Peggy doing the same either. You choose to think it’s because they don’t mind, not that they don’t care at all. Although, Dum Dum has never one to keep his mouth shut for long, thankfully, he hasn’t been the one to wake you and Bucky up yet.

This morning though, as you are practically laying atop Bucky, blankets covering most of you, but not enough to hide the fact that you are in your pajamas, do you realize just how all this looks. Legs tangled, hair mussed, arms thrown over each other in a haphazard way, and face far too close to be friendly.

“Rise and shine Buckaroo!” You shoot up as you hear the familiar yell and footsteps coming to the tent. Bucky does too. Wide eyed in panic, the two of you look around for anything to hide you in and find nothing.

“Oh shit.” You mutter, still mostly sitting in his lap.

Before you can even maneuver yourself into a far less sexual position the tent is open and Dugan is peering in, smile on his face and eyes holding far too much mischief. “You too Lady Legs.”

“I guess he knew.” Buck says, still holding your waist lightly.

“I guess so.”

“Come on you two! Steve and I have been up for an hour!” Peggy yells.

The two of you look at each other before laughing. The absurdity of the situation sinking in; only out here would this kind of shit would be acceptable. Anywhere else, and you would be labeled a harlot for life. “We’re coming!” You yell back.

“I’m sure you have.” The comment from Dugan sets your face aflame. It isn’t like you haven’t thought about having sex with Bucky, hell you’re sure he has thought about it too. You just weren’t quite sure how to broach the subject that behind all your bravado and suggestive talk, you were still a virgin.

“Timothy!” Peggy scolds as you and Bucky sheepishly exit the tent, a blanket around your shoulders.

“It’s okay Peg.” You mumble as you plop yourself down on the cold ground. “When do we set out?”

“In about an hour.” Steve informs everyone. You nod.

“Better get dressed then.” You don’t notice the glare Bucky sends Dugan as you walk away. Nor do you hear the hushed scolding he gives him. All you can focus on now is the fact that you are flushed, and not from embarrassment.

Your hot. Far too hot for being relatively exposed to the icy and snow-covered landscape to the next HYDRA base. Bucky hands are scalding as he holds your waist while you try hard not to squirm in his lap. His lips however feel like fire against yours. The mostly innocent kiss from only a few minutes before is long gone, replaced by a sloppy wet and all-consuming kiss that you swear you will feel for weeks.

Every swipe of his tongue against yours sends you further into your haze. He hasn’t kissed you like this in over a week. Not since Dugan’s comment that one morning. The long make-out sessions that were once stolen in the night have stopped. You still slept next to him, although he is far less cuddly and far more reserved. Tonight though, it seems as if his resolve to feign propriety has shattered.

His hands are almost cupping your ass as he starts to leave a trail of open-mouthed kisses down your neck. It is taking all your willpower not to start grinding down into him. But you don’t want to scare him, not when he has seemed so skittish lately. Still you can’t stop the quiet moan that escapes when he sucks that particular spot underneath your ear that always sends makes you lose your mind.

You can’t process what happened before you’re on your back, his arms next to your head and hips lightly pressed to your own. He doesn’t move for a moment, still trying to process the sudden urgency himself you guess. But as he starts to kiss back down your neck, onto your collarbone, leaving light love-bites along the way, you can no longer hold your hips in place. One swirl, one grind, one movement and he stops; he doesn’t move, but doesn’t continue anything either.

“James?” He doesn’t say anything. “Bucky.”

“I’m sorry.” He makes to move off you, but you lock your legs around his hips.

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t – we shouldn’t – this isn’t.” He can’t seem to get the words out, but you know. You know what he means.

“Is this still about what Dugan said?” You ask, he practically growls after hearing his name. It takes you a moment, but you realize why. “Bucky, I don’t care.”

“I care though. I don’t want you to be treated like that. Like you’re a piece of meat.” He argues. You don’t budge.

“Is that why you wouldn’t touch me at all this week.”

“Don’t say it like that.” He whispers.

“Why? Because you don’t like it? Or is it because you do?” He sucks in a breath, trying desperately to move his hips away from yours, and his head falling into the hollow of your neck.

“Doll …”

“Bucky.” He shakes his head. “James, look at me.” Reluctantly he does. “I didn’t leave red faced because I was embarrassed because of what Dugan implied. I left red faced because I realized that I really wanted it to be true.”

“Y/N …” He tries. You shake your head this time.

“No. Bucky I don’t care about that. I don’t care what other people will say. I care about you James.”

“I don’t, truly. I don’t care about the general public either. I care about our friends, and what they will think.”

“This group, out here. They are it for me. They are my people Bucky. Everyone already thinks we are fucking,” his eyes go wide, “I’ve spent far too much time around you lot not to pick up a few things. No one cares. This is normal for them. Peggy and Steve were my biggest worry and they are in about the same boat as us. Although, from what she tells me, they’ve gotten a bit farther.”

“Stevie? Steve has gotten father sexually with his girl that I have with mine?” He pauses, disbelief written clearly on his face. “Wait, what the hell do you two girls talk about?”

You laugh at the horrified look on his face now. “A little bit of everything. Besides, we have to compare. Not that I need her for that.” You mumble the last part, but he catches it. Sitting the two of you up, he looks at you, waiting.

“What does that mean?” He asks, slowly grinding you down onto him. I guess his hesitancy is gone now. You huff.

“I may have seen him naked?” You mutter. “Not after the serum, but before.”

“Explain.” He growls, pressing you closer. And shit, you can feel him under you.

“Neither one of realized that the person showering in the barracks was each other. Peggy told me she was set to shower any time, so I thought it was her. Steve thought it was just another man. No big deal. At least until we both got out, towels loosely tied and screamed. We didn’t have a very good grip. Both of us might have seen everything.”

“So little Stevie got to see you naked before me?”

“If it makes you feel any better, he didn’t look quite as big as what I’m feeling between my legs right now.”

“It doesn’t.” He groans as you push down with your hips.

The following few nights were about the same. Heavy petting, a few stray hands and fingers, wet lips, battling tongues, and the ever-present grinding of hips. Still, he wouldn’t really touch you; not without something in between the two of you. You wanted him to, fuck did you want him to. He wouldn’t though.

Tonight though, you had different plans. Instead of the now almost ratty tent you and he usually used, you got to spend the night in a motel in the middle of nowhere. There was no way in hell you weren’t taking advantage of that. You gave Peggy the side eye, both of you confirming your plan to surprise and scare the boys. You just hoped that Peggy’s plan wouldn’t backfire for her, even here Steve was bound to be recognized.

Thankfully, the receptionist spoke English well enough for you to communicate. “How many rooms.” You don’t let Bucky speak, not before you at least.

“One.” You give the older woman a happy smile, even if she can’t see the mischief behind it. “Seems silly going on a honeymoon now doesn’t it? But we didn’t know if we’d get the chance again.” Bucky, thankfully, is too dumbstruck to say anything on the contrary.

“I understand.” You can tell she wants to say more but doesn’t quite know how to properly convey it in English. She eyes your hand, your left hand, noticing the lack of ring. You had that figured too. The ring your mother gave you before she died is around your neck, pretty enough to be considered a wedding ring too.

“It’s a little big, kept falling off. It was my mother’s; I didn’t want to lose it.” She nods, a sheen of tears over her eyes.

The walk to the room, one of her nicer one’s she said, is quiet. “Y/N,” Bucky starts as you slip the key into the lock, “I wasn’t aware we were married.”

“We aren’t.” You say simply, turning to face him as you back into the room. “But I sure as hell am not going to be sleeping alone after sleeping with you for so long.”

“But Steve and Peggy –”

“She is doing the same thing.”

“Oh god!” He looks at his face a paling a little. “Steve is gonna lose it.”

“Nah, he got pretty fresh with a few of his USO girls, this isn’t going to shock him too bad.” You reply.

“Alright, Steve and I need to talk about some things. Because apparently, there is a lot I don’t know about him.”

“Sorry,” You lean in close, already feeling the plan for tonight fall into place, “James.”

He sucks in a breath; his given name always did something to him. You figured that out from the nights spent in his lap, the sizeable package always growing a bit harder every time you said it. “Doll.” He warns.

“Not tonight.” You look at him, eyes heavy and voice lower than usual. “Tonight, is not for hesitation James. I want this.”

“But Y/N …”

“No. I want this, James. I want you.”

You don’t dare add anything else; not the lingering thoughts of demise. You don’t tell him that the missions are truly starting to scare you, that you think every time it will be the last. It isn’t the bombing of the facilities that does it, no, it’s everything else. It’s the raiding of it beforehand to make sure all the hostiles are dead. It’s the clearing of the surrounding area to make sure there are no unnecessary casualties; something the higher-ups have chastised the Commandos for numerous times. You don’t dare tell Bucky that you fear dying a virgin because it would mean you never got to experience him fully.

He doesn’t reply, the storm in his eyes enough to tell you that something is wrong. “Why are you so against this Bucky? I know you’ve had sex before.”

“I have.” He mumbles, still not looking you in the eye.

“Then why?”

“Because this,” he gestures to you, “is new. Everything between us is new.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve never …” He can’t, won’t, finish.

“You’ve never been with a virgin before, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.” He flops himself on the bed, looks up at the ceiling with a forlorn look. “I’ve always asked, made sure I wasn’t stepping over that line. I would do some, not enough though. More than I’ve done with you so far really. But anyone I’ve ever had sex with, they’ve never been virgins.”

“Why?” You ask, laying beside him. The question seemed innocent enough, it wasn’t though. Not really.

“I never wanted to take that from a woman. I always felt like they expected me to, like it wasn’t really what they wanted. I would do other things, but never that.” You don’t interrupt him, too scared to actually. You want to hear it, all of it. “I would give a girl her first real orgasm, I would teach her other things, how to … um …”

“Use her mouth?” You offer, knowing from various overheard conversations just what it meant and entailed. His face though is crimson.

“Yeah. I would use mine. I would use fingers.” He turns his head to look at you, almost seemingly expecting to see a look of disgust. He doesn’t. “The others, they were mostly widows. Women that wanted only one thing. Hell, they taught me a thing or two about pleasing a woman. The others, they were harder. They would always approach me, at least after the first.”

He stays quiet for a while, almost as if stuck in his head. “Bucky?”

“Sorry.” His hand latches onto yours. “The others were women who weren’t given a choice. Not ever, ‘specially their first time. I didn’t know about the first one until after. She said she wanted to see if it could be good. After that a number of girls, women, approached me. They all wanted the same thing: they wanted to have a good experience with a man. I don’t think I ever had any feeling for them other an admiration and a bit of pity.”

“James.” You squeeze his hand. “I’m sorry I pushed.”

“Don’t be. I needed to say it. I haven’t even told Steve, not when he was still small and now just doesn’t seem right. Hell, the little punk would have gone after the men and tried to beat them to hell. Wouldn’t have worked. That’s not to say I didn’t do a little ruffing up myself.”

“We don’t have –”

“I just, I don’t want you to regret it.” He takes your face in his hands, pressing a kiss to your lips. “I don’t want it to feel forced.”

“It won’t. I’m giving this to you, you aren’t taking it from me.”

He kisses you with fervor now. You swear his face is slightly wet, but neither of you comment on it. It’s as if a weight has been lifted from him. Pulling away for a breath you stare him in the eye. A warm feeling bubbling up in your belly.

“I think I love you.” He mumbles into your hair as he holds you. You smile.

“I think I love you too.” It’s his turn to smile.

#bucky barnes #steve rogers #peggy carter #avengers #howling commandos #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fanfiction #captain america the first avenger #catfa

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queentaylormademedoit · 5 years ago

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How Scott Borchetta’s Statement ‘Exposing’ Taylor Swift Actually Proves Her Point Completely

First, here is Taylor Swift’s open letter:

https://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/185958366550/for-years-i-asked-pleaded-for-a-chance-to-own-my (if the link is being weird you can find it on her tumblr)

And here is the link to Scott Borchetta’s responding statement:

https://t.co/OqGI4GoN3P

(If the link is being weird you can find it on his twitter)

Think he just revealed shocking information that Swift is an evil, crazy, lying woman who just wants to make ~drama~ for no reason? Think again. Let’s break down his statement piece by piece from the beginning.

To refute Borchetta’s misleading opening statements, Taylor Swift’s father was NOT on the shareholders phone calls because NDAs would not have allowed him to communicate any information to his daughter. Instead 13 Management Lawyer Jay Shaudies and Big Machine LLC Shareholder Frank Bell were on the call to represent her side. The hilarious thing is that Borchetta tries to call into question Taylor’s statement that she “woke up to the news (of the sale to Scooter Braun) with the rest of the world” by saying he thinks it is “possible” that they “didn’t say anything to Taylor over the prior 5 days” and “possible” that she “might not have seen” his text, but that he “truly doubts she woke up to the news when everyone else did”. During the time between June 25 to June 27th, the possible deal in SCOTT BORCHETTA’s OWN WORDS, was a “PROPOSED TRANSACTION”. Meaning, the deal was still in discussion, a vote had not occurred yet and Taylor was hoping that the majority of shareholders would not vote in Braun’s favor. On Friday, June 28th Borchetta says 3 of the 5 shareholders voted yes on the proposal.

Scott then says “I personally texted Taylor at 9:06 on Saturday, June 29th to inform her prior to the story breaking on the morning of June 30th so she could hear it directly from me”. That’s right. He said “so she could hear it directly from me” meaning that he knew he would be the first person to contact her with this information, my guess being that for “courtesy” as he puts it (aka image), he wanted it to come from him. Now, he suggests that Taylor must have seen this text message but here’s a couple things: #1: 9:06pm Nashville time IS nighttime and I imagine when you’re Taylor Swift you’re probably doing something or exhausted and sleeping, #2: MORE IMPORTANTLY it is extremely unlikely that Taylor was in Nashville. many believe that she was in London at this time (where she has a residence with her sweet British man), in which case it would have been 3AM for her. Even if she was in New York it would have been 10pm and she’s TAYLOR SWIFT she probably gets a million messages to go through a day, not to mention probably tries to have some semblance of a personal life. So yes, she did in fact “wake up to the news” that this deal was officially made, with the rest of the world. This is such a stupid detail that Taylor has absolutely no reason to lie about but Scott Borchetta tried to call her character into question with it so there ya go, it’s been addressed.

Moving on.

Her 13 Management team attorney is Donald S. Passman (also known as ‘the author of music law’-Roy Trakin, Grammy.com) who went over the initial “offer” (if you can even call it that) which Scott Borchetta made to Taylor. As Passman has explicitly said in public statements, “Scott Borchetta never gave Taylor Swift an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a check in the way he is now apparently doing for others”. This “offer” was NOT for such a purchase.

Taylor Swift had expressed to Scott Borchetta multiple times that she wanted a chance to bid outright for control of her masters, but was always denied. Considering how much her body of work of the last 13 years means to her (6 record-breaking, award winning albums with songs she penned from the heart), Taylor was reluctant to walk away, because she knew Borchetta would likely sell, and she’d never own her masters. So, her team discussed the possibilities of what control she could get over her works if she stayed for 7 years, but Scott Borchetta “offered” back that she stay on for 10 more years and could essentially earn these rights in trade for new materials created with the label. That is basically trapping her into a continuous cycle.

Scott is aware that this was not a good deal, as he defends himself in his statement saying, “We are an independent record company. We do not have tens of thousands of artists and recordings. My offer to Taylor, for the size of our company, was extraordinary. But it was also all I could offer as I am responsible for over 120 executives and their families”. While he tries to tug the heartstrings of readers to make him look so caring, the fact of the matter is this: Taylor Swift was the ONLY massive superstar that Scott Borchetta was ever able to get onto his label (not to mention she was his first client and the label was literally created because he found her and convinced a 15 year old girl and her family that in signing a 12 year contract he would remain loyal and supportive because ‘music has value’). Without Taylor’s works on the label, no big deal executive would likely want to buy it and certainly wouldn’t be worth $300 million. If Scott Borchetta really cared about the fact that he is “responsible for over 120 executives and their families” and believed that “music has value” he could have been open to the possibility of Taylor staying on for 7 more years and having greater ownership of the art she creates.

So, when Scott Borchetta stated that “Taylor Swift had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated with her career” he really means that she had the chance to very slowly gain these things back over the period of 10 YEARS in exchange for new music (which many have compared to a scare tactic, because he knew losing her would make his label next to worthless). That is not an opportunity for a purchase. Borchetta says Taylor chose to leave, and that is true: she made the excruciating decision to leave because she realized that if she stayed with Big Machine she would never be treated with the respect she deserved to own all that she creates. Also, I imagine being the only pop superstar on a small country artists label likely had its downsides. So, she sacrificed the rights to her past in exchange for a freer future. A painful choice, knowing that Scott Borchetta would likely sell one day, but she never imagined that he would be so disrespectful as to sell to Scooter Braun.

Now, let’s get into that part where Scott Borchetta gets EXCEPTIONALLY DESPICABLE :)

He says that he “certainly never experienced” Taylor “‘being in tears or close to it’ anytime Scooter Braun’s name was brought up”. That’s pretty much her word against his, but regardless of wether or not he knew she was about to cry in such moments, he knew that there was conflict. Borchetta writes, “Was I aware of some prior issues between Taylor and Justin Bieber? Yes,”. Those “issues” as absolutely everyone knows, DIRECTLY INVOLVED Scooter Braun, as was evident when Justin Bieber posted that photo to Instagram of himself FaceTiming Kanye, Scooter Braun, and another man I have yet to identify, captioned “Taylor Swift what up”.

That post showed that these men were publicly laughing at what a lot of people thought would be Taylor Swift’s downfall. At that time, Kim Kardashian (Kanye’s wife) had released snippets of an orchestrated phone call between Kanye and Taylor which was recorded without Taylor’s knowledge. In that “scathing phone call” Kim shared with the world, Taylor agreed for Kanye to include the line “I think me and Taylor might still have sex”, in his new song, which she said was provacative but fine. In that phone call Kanye said he would have her listen to the full song later, but this never happened. He then went on to release the song and music video in which he used the line “I made that bitch famous” (supposedly referencing when he grabbed the microphone out of her hand during her VMA speech when she was 19 years old, to say he thought Beyoncé should have won, much to the disdain of Beyoncé), implying that he was the reason for her (actually hard-earned success), and showed her naked likeness in a hyperrealistic wax figure lain next to him in a bed. He also showed other celebrities nude in this same way, which I personally found equally disturbing. The figures were so realistic that articles immediately came out with headlines like “Was Anyone Real In Kanye West’s Famous Video?”. I agree with Taylor Swift’s statement that this was a form of revenge porn. He visually stripped her naked without her consent in front of the entire world because instead of taking accountability for his own actions (HE is the one who ran onstage and grabbed that mic in 2009 and made himself look like a huge jerk), he decided it was in some twisted awful way her fault that he did that. It tarnished his image, and he dreaded having to publicly apologize to her afterwards even though Taylor was very accepting and actually thought they’d started fresh and new, happily sharing this news publicly.

So yes, I agree with Taylor Swift that those actions should be classified as a form of revenge porn. And I think that anyone who dares to say that her suffering isn’t ‘bad enough’ to call it that, I say you don’t get to determine how profoundly damaging someone else’s level of pain from an experience that you did not have is.

There no possible way that Scott Borchetta was not aware of the extremely difficult position Taylor Swift was in at that time, because the ENTIRE WORLD was aware of it. And Scooter Braun’s implications as manager of Kanye West were without a doubt, known to Scott Borchetta.

In his post, Borchetta continues, claiming, “there were also times when Taylor knew that I was close to Scooter and that Scooter was a very good source of information for upcoming album releases, tours, etc, and I’d reach out to him for information on our behalf. Scooter was never anything just positive about Taylor,”. Taylor being fine with Borchetta communicating with Braun to get information about things like upcoming albums/tours hardly means a thing. If Borchetta had a business source he could ask for information without Taylor’s direct involvement, of course she wouldn’t care. And of course Scooter Braun would not be dumb enough to say bad things about Taylor Swift directly to the owner of Taylor Swift’s label. Obviously, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t share such thoughts to others (go check out Todrick Hall’s recent tweets).

Now, here is where Borchetta goes for a REALLY LOW BLOW:

Borchetta writes, “He [Scooter Braun] called me directly about Manchester to see if Taylor would participate (she declined). He called me directly to see if Taylor wanted to participate in the Parkland March (she declined),”. In this disgusting last-ditch attempt to suggest that Taylor didn’t care about the victims of Manchester or Parkland, Borchetta is actually making it clear that TAYLOR SWIFT REFUSED TO ACCEPT AN INVITATION FROM A MANIPULATIVE MAN WHO SHE KNEW HATED HER. Meaning, Scott Borchetta was FULLY AWARE that Swift did not want to work with Braun. Everyone reacts to tragedy differently. Taylor Swift went on to show her love for the victims of those terrible incidents and her opposition to hatred that caused them. Taylor immediately expressed her sympathies on Twitter and honored the Manchester bombing victims on her Reputation stadium tour, on the night when she performed in Manchester. With Scooter Braun being the manager of Ariana Grande, the artist who was performing the night of the Manchester attacks, it makes sense that Taylor wouldn’t have felt entirely comfortable with the situation. She publicly announced her support for the March for Our Lives movement (started by the students of Parkland High School), and made a generous donation to the cause. Furthermore, Swift has gone on to discuss her personal fear of such attacks (many people have stalked her/broken into her home/tried to get onstage etc), her belief that in the importance of preventing such tragedies and the extra preventative efforts she now goes to in order to keep her fans safe in various interviews. Borchetta’s attempt to suggest that Swift has anything but the deepest sympathies for those tragedies is absolutely revolting.

Finally, Borchetta closes his list of lies with the text message he received from Taylor when she told him of her news to leave Big Machine. In this message, she is kind, heartfelt and respectful of the past that they built together. Borchetta tried to take advantage of this kindness by placing it there as if her politeness and choice to go means she had no interest in a better deal with Big Machine at all.

I’ll include this message in its entirety below, so you can read it for yourself:

Scott,

I hope this finds you well. Since communication ran dry on our negotiations, I’ve done what I told you I would do and gone out exploring other options. Owning my masters was very important to me, but I’ve since realized that there are things that mean even more to me in the bigger picture. I had a choice whether to bet on my past or to bet on the future and I think knowing me, you can guess which one I chose. I also saw a rare opportunity to effect positive change for a lot of other artists with the leverage I have right now. I know you believe in the same things I do and I’d like to think you would be proud of what I’ve negotiated for in my deal. I wanted to tell you first that I’ll be signing with Lucian. I honestly truly cherish everything you and I have built together and I plan on saying so in my announcement of the new deal. What we accomplished together will be a lasting legacy and a case study on excellent partnerships, and may it continue. I still view you as a partner and friend and I hope you feel the same. Sending you a hug and my most sincere gratitude.

And SO much love,

Taylor

I think she makes it very clear that although she was disappointed, she weighed her options and decided to “bet on” her future instead of her past. Meaning, when Borchetta refused to offer her the ownership she wanted, she had to respect her own capability enough to make the difficult choice to walk away. She closes with the statement, “I hope you feel the same. Sending you a hug and my most sincere gratitude, and SO much love,” which shows that she hoped he would continue to regard her and her work with the same care and respect she showed him, even when disappointed.

Scott also includes the email he sent Taylor letting her know about the decision to sell to Scooter Braun:

Dear Taylor,

Hope all is well and congratulations on the success of your first two singles from “Lover”!

I can’t wait to hear the entire album…

I wanted to pass along to you the same courtesy that you passed along to me in regard to my future.

Tomorrow morning (Sunday, June 30th) at 10a central, the Wall Street Journal will announce that I am entering into a merger/acquisition with Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings. This move will give us more pop culture super-power than ever before and I’m so excited about the future.

I want you to know that I will continue to be the proud custodian of your previous works and will continue to keep you and your team abreast of all future plans for releases of you work.

Nothing but the best,

Scott

The letter is polite and to the point, because he has no need to say something nasty. His actions speak loud enough. He was greedy. Taylor knew Borchetta would sell to someone, but that fact that Borchetta went through with selling the life’s work of a talented woman he knew since she was fourteen years old to one of her greatest public intimidators is the ultimate betrayal.

For everyone saying, “well, that’s just business”, I have some news for you. There are good, loyal people out there in business. There doesn’t seem to be many of them, but they exist, and Scott Borchetta pretended to be one of them. This is a matter of moral principle. Of loyalty. Of ‘valuing music’. Taylor Swift isn’t ‘playing the victim’ and she didn’t ‘send people to attack a good man’. She wasn’t ‘bitching’. She isn’t ‘feuding’. She’s speaking her mind. She’s speaking the truth. She’s warning other artists to look out for themselves and she’s holding people accountable for their actions.

I am so, so proud of her.

Forever a Swiftie,

Grace

@taylorswift @taylornation

#we stand with taylor #yes i write essays about taylor swift in my free time #swifties #taylor swift #taylor nation #taylurking #swiftie blog #Lover #Big Reputation #taylor swift blog #share with people who dont understand whats going on please #artists deserve better #artists deserve to own their own work #give taylor her music back #give taylor her masters

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svtmatokis · 5 years ago

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Matchmaker P4

Here is Matchmaker P4! Things are getting more intense between Y/N and yoongi but now we’ve thrown JIhoon into the mix...uh oh :oo

Plot: You’re a small name model who is close friends with Joshua and Taehyung and just moved to Korea after signing with an agency. You’ve been a fan of BTS for as long as you could remember and biased Yoongi. Little did you know, despite not being well known, you had caught Yoongi’s eye a long time ago and now you guys get to meet. Even though the two of you become friends, Yoongi’s apparently too shy and you’re just apparently oblivious to his feelings. Will it take a push from Taehyung and the rest of his members for you two to finally get together or will Yoongi be able to do it on his own?

Words: 4164

Warnings: May contain swearing, slightly intimate touches and Im not sure….

Genre: flufff/ slight angst

And the winner for number one song is...BTS!” the MC announced as the fans went wild.

After the thank you speeches, the men walked off the stage back to their dressing room where various staff members had congratulated them. Hara and a few other trainees had also attended the broadcast to show their support and were congratulating them as they walked into the room.

“Good job guys!” Hara said with a big smile as the members thanked her. “I knew you guys would win!”

“Thanks Hara.” Jin said ruffling her hair with a smile as he looked towards the door where another group had walked in. “Y/N?”

You, Minyoung, Joshua and Dino along with a staff from Pledis walked into the room with a bouquet of flowers.

“Congratulations!!” you and Minyoung said as various members came to stand around you.

“What are you guys doing here?” Namjoon asked accepting the flowers.

“Your manager invited us and neither of us have anything to do till later so we figured why not.” you explained, “We were in the audience the whole time to watch the other groups.”

“You should have said something.” Taehyung said, “We made reservations at a restaurant for supper, do you guys want to come?”

Yoongi looked at you as you waved at him and he walked over to you as well.

“Hey, you feel better?” he asked putting his hand to your forehead and you nodded.

“I got cleared last week. We would’ve come sooner but work happened. When your managers invited us, we had to take it.” you answered looking at your watch, “Did you sleep last night?” you asked noting the eye bags he wore and he shrugged.

“Enough.” he said as his members moved to one side of the room leaving the two of you to talk in private. “I feel like going back to the dorm instead of eating tonight.” he said rubbing his eyes, “What are you guys doing?”

“My sister and I have to go back to the agency for a project...if you’re free tomorrow, you and the guys should come over for brunch. A few of the Seventeen members are going to be there since we never got to have a proper housewarming.” you said with a warm smile and Yoongi smiled back.

“I’ll see what everyone’s doing and let you know soon.” he said with a nod, “What’s the project about?”

“It’s top secret.” you said with a finger to your lips, “You should hear about it sometime soon though.”

Yoongi raised his eyebrow at you making you giggle, “It’s not a modeling thing?”

You shook your head “Nope. It’s much more fun for me though.”

“Then I’ll look forward to the reveal.” Yoongi said ruffling your hair before leaning closer to you as you were sitting on the couch while you watched your friends goof around with the other Seventeen members that had appeared. “How long till you guys leave?”

“We have to meet in forty-five minutes so Miyoung and I will leave in fifteen or so. I think some of the others decided to have dinner with you guys too.” you said and felt someone staring at you and turned to see Hara who was glaring daggers.

“Shame you guys can’t come.” he said and followed your gaze once he noticed you were distracted. “You good?”

Your eyes narrowed as you nodded your head, “Yea...I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked as Taehyung came up to the two of you.

“Y/N, you can’t make dinner?” he asked with a whine. “We haven’t hung out in forever!!”

“Didn’t Minyoung tell you we had a project to go back to?” you asked and he nodded his head glumly, “Well there you go. Yoongi will tell you guys something after anyways.”

“What are you telling Yoongi that you can’t share with me?” he asked with a small frown and you shrugged and looked at your watch, “Because I have to go…we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” you got up as did Yoongi who leaned over to give you a slight hug.

“See you tomorrow.” he said as you wrapped your arms around him.

“Please leave the trainee at home if you can.” you whispered in his ear and he nodded.

“Was never on planning on bringing her.” he said as you pulled away and smiled at him before going to join your sister at the door.

Hara walked up to Yoongi and tried to talk to him as he sat back on the couch to go on his phone.

“I heard you have a day off tomorrow...do you want to go to the arcade with a few of us?” she asked and Yoongi gave her the cold shoulder.

“Or we can also get food instead…” she suggested and Yoongi continued his silence.

“Yoongi-” she tried again but was cut off.

“I’m busy.” he said without looking up and smiled as he saw a text message from you about brunch the next day and was happy to get the details sooner or later. He would talk to his members about it later.

He was slightly irritated with Hara after what Taehyung had told him but Namjoon had said not to act until something did happen because it had the potential to effect the company and himself as an artist. So he held back and continued to do what he always did but he made sure to keep more of a distance. He had yet to have the chance to ask you about Hara though he had been meaning to. Unfortunately, due to scheduling, it was hard to have those nightly conversations as you regularly did.

As everyone got to the restaurant, the BTS members and the Seventeen members who had joined them spread out amongst the tables. Hara was disappointed since she didn’t get to sit next to Yoongi since he situated himself between Vernon and Seungcheol but was content sitting in front of him so she could still listen in on their conversations. Though she was one of the few trainees there, the BTS members had always made her feel like one of them which was good and bad on their part.

All the members had noticed quickly of her attachment to the group and was advised by their management to distance themselves from the trainees and only provide mentoring when asked to. That didn’t stop Hara though as she was always looking for them whenever she had the time. Jimin had even gone as far as to compare her to a puppy looking for their owner one time as a joke though Namjoon had quickly reprimanded him though in the back of his mind, he knew there was some truth to it.

As everyone enjoyed their dinner, a few people were looking down at their phones at a certain conversation that was going on.

[9:45pm] Minyoung: Hey is Yoongi the jealous type…?

[9:50pm] Joon: Depends…...why?

[9:51pm] Josh: ……….oh my gosh Minyoung you genius! That’s why you accepted the project! A clip’s going to be posted tonight right?

[9:52pm] Dino: My girlfriend = so smart ♥ AND WHY AREN’T YOU GUYS PRACTICING

[9:53pm] Kookie: Care to fill us in?

[9:53pm] Chimchim: What’s going on? Why would Yoongi be jealous?

[9:54pm] Minyoung: Well...you see. A few months ago, Soonyoung and Jihoon asked if we were interested in working on a project with them...I obviously agreed and so did Y/N and we learned that it was going to be a dance for the Hoshi Woozi Unit… Jihoon and Y/N are partnered up.

[9:59pm]Minyoung: We’re taking a quick break...technically Soonyoung and I are going through a part of the routine...Y/N and Jihoon are on the side reviewing their part. The company’s going to be posting a video and a picture soon~

[9:55pm] Tae: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA omg...Y/N got paired up with Yoongi’s son.

[9:56pm] Joon: What kind of dance is it?

[9:56pm] Dino: It’s intimate...Sexy concept.Hopefully Yoongi doesn’t take it the wrong way. The girls didn’t know until Woozi showed them the song...they’ve actually been practicing for a while now…

[9:51pm] Josh: They started around the time Y/N joined the agency...we weren’t allowed to talk about it till the unit debut was announced which is tonight.

[9:57pm] Kookie: And you’re okay with this?

[9:58pm] Dino: I helped with the dance :) Plus everyone in the group knows we’re together.

[9:59pm] Minyoung: Getting back to practice, talk to you guys later.

[10:00pm] RM: When’s the comeback? We’ll be sure to attend at least one of the shows.

[10:01pm] Josh: I think it’s the week of your guys’ last performance...right before your break so I guess their schedules are going to cross over.

[10:05pm] RM: Wow...not sure if that’s going to be a good or bad thing…

[10:07pm] Josh: To MY knowledge, Jihoon knows that Y/N has an intense crush on Yoongi...I heard him making fun of her during one of their practices one day.

[10:10pm] Tae: Get him in this convo! We need him to help us plot! The dance might be the kick that Yoongi needs.

-Dino has added Woozi into the conversation-

[10:10pm] Dino: They’re practicing right now but at least he’s in the group.

[10:12pm] Jin: I just hope no one gets hurt in the process...

As the group got ready to leave, a notification from Instagram popped up on Taehyungs phone and when he went to check it, his jaw dropped.

“Holy shit! I didn’t know Y/N was THAT flexible!” he yelled causing everyones attention to be turned to him.

“What the heck are you talking about Tae?” Yoongi asked as the group minus a the Seventeen members crowded around him as they were around Seungcheol who was looking at the same post.

“Holy shit.” Jungkook said with wide eyes,

The post showed a photo of you, Jihoon, Minyoung and Soonyoung in your partner positions. While Minyoung had her leg wrapped around Soonyoungs waist, Jihoon had you in a dip where your leg had slid between his and his arm was around your waist. The photo had obviously been taken as the routine was finished because the editing had allowed everyone to see the beads of sweat on your faces.

As Yoongi observed the photo, a knot tied in his stomach and he gulped. It wasn’t because of the position itself that got him, it was the look that you shared with Jihoon that did. It was so intense yet so trusting, as if the two of you held a secret that no one else knew about. He didn’t like it not one bit.

As various people around him commented on the photo, he heard Seungcheol yell out to the group asking if they wanted to go play billiards. Yoongi agreed for once and figured it would be a good way to get his mind off his current thoughts which was how he didn’t like that you and Jihoon were together...despite it only being a collaboration between lablemates.

After a few rounds of the game, he looked down at his phone and saw that it was almost midnight so he excused himself and stepped out to make a phone call.

“Hello?” your voice came from the other side.

“Hey, how was practice?” he asked happy that you answered, “Where are you right now?”

“Hey Yoongs!” you said with happiness in your voice. Little did he know, you were happy he called as well, “Practice was fun...exhausting. The four of us are out having a late supper right now. Where are you guys?”

“Billiards hall with a few of the Seventeen members. Are we still on for brunch tomorrow?”

“Of course! Can you tell Chan that my sisters going to spend the night at my place tonight so he doesn’t need to worry about taking care of her drunk ass? She and Soonyoung are going crazy right now, you won’t believe the shit they did at practice today…” you said and continued the story on while Yoongi listened and laughed at certain parts.

Meanwhile, Taehyung and Joshua were on their phones taking a break from the game looking through various messages.

[11:45pm] Woozi: What the heck is this shit?

[11:50pm] Tae: Welcome to the Matchmakers club, son of Yoongi :)

[11:50pm] Woozi: What the shit?!

[11:51pm] Josh: So where’s Y/N?

[11:51pm] Woozi: She got a phone call and stepped out of the restaurant, leaving me with these two drunkards

[11:52pm] Tae: Yoongi’s gone too...I bet you they’re talking to each other.

[11:53pm] Woozi: I wouldn’t doubt it...I’m looking at her through the window and she has this goofy smile on her face. Why am I in here again?

[11:53pm] Tae: I need you to help make Yoongi jealous so he’ll ask Y/N out…

[11:53pm] Woozi: No way! Yoongi’s a good friend and the last thing I want is to cause bad blood between us.

[11:53pm] Tae: Believe me, you won’t.

[11:54pm] Josh: The agency posted the photo of your dance routine tonight and he knows that the two of you are working together...Plus, it’s not like you have to “flirt” with her. You two have been close wayyyy before she started with the agency. You just have to...show Yoongi in an indirect way how close you two are. Please Jihoon? You’re literally our only hope

[11:55pm] Tae: And if Yoongi gets mad at any point, I’ll fess up and say that it was all my idea. Pleassssssseeeee Jihoon.

[11:57pm] Woozi: … If Y/N or Yoongi find out about this, you guys are DEAD got it?

[11:58pm] Josh: Loud and clear.

[11:58pm] Tae: Now go get Y/N to come back and make Yoongi jealous!

Jihoon looked down at his phone and let out a sigh, what the heck was he getting himself into? He looked outside and saw that you were still on the phone and looked between Soonyoung and Minyoung who had both taken another shot and were giggling uncontrollably. Maybe it was a good time to bring you in, he had a feeling that these two weren’t going to last much longer.

He got up and told Soonyoung not to go anywhere before he stepped outside. “Hey Y/N” he called out.

You paused your conversation and turned to the voice who called your name, “Hold on, I think Jihoon needs something.” you said into the receiver before looking up at your good friend, “What’s up Ji?”

“Let’s get going. I’m not sure how much longer your sister and Soonyoung are going to last.” he said nodding his head towards the two.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a second.” you said with a nod and returned back to your phone, “Sorry, I have to go. Minyoung and Hoshi are at their limits and I think Jihoon needs help with them. I’ll see you tomorrow kay?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow Y/N..” Yoongi said not really ready to go yet, “Have a good night kay? Text me if you need anything for tomorrow.”

“You too Yoongs.” you said distractedly as Jihoon motioned for you to hurry up, “And I’ll let you know. I really got to go so I’ll see you tomorrow.” and with that you hung up the line and walked back into the restaurant to get your sister while Jihoon dealt with Soonyoung..

Yoongi looked down at his phone and let out a small sigh, “At least I’ll see her tomorrow.” he muttered to himself while shooting a quick text to the group saying that he was headed back to the dorms. He suddenly didn’t want to be around people anymore.

The next day, the BTS members showed up at your apartment with a few bags of food that amazingly, Joshua had asked them to bring.

When Namjoon knocked on the door, he expected to see your smiling face but instead was greeted by Seungcheol and Jeonghan.

“Hey guys, just on time.” Seungcheol said opening the door wider so everyone could come in.

The members were greeted with the smell of food and various Seventeen members lounging around your living room, or setting up the food on your dining room table. Mingyu was in the kitchen stirring something in a pot while Josuha was washing dishes. The only two members that they couldn’t see were Soonyoung and Jihoon as well as you and Minyoung.

“Where’s Soon and Woozi?” Jungkook asked and Jeonghan pointed towards the dance studio.

“They’re running through their comeback routine with Y/N and Minyoung.” he explained, “They were going to practice today but since the three of them stayed the night here, they cancelled the night time practice and just woke up early.”

“Soonyoung and Jihoon stayed the night?” Jimin asked as Seungcheol nodded.

“Her apartment was closer to the restaurant than our dorm and Soonyoung had too much fun. You guys can go check it out if you want.” he said, “And Y/N said to just make yourselves at home when you got here.”

The members made their way towards your dance room where they heard something along the lines of hip hop meets salsa music coming from the speakers. When they looked into the room, most of their jaws dropped.

“Holy shit.” Hoseok said as he watched the four of you move in sync.

“Dang, they weren’t kidding when they said it was a sexy concept.” Jimin said as he saw Jihoon dip you before pulling you back up to his chest before spinning you around. “Has anyone seen Y/N dance before?”

All the guys shook their heads as they continued to watch the practice. Yoongis eyes were literally transfixed on you as you moved to the music with Jihoon. He had no idea your hips could move the way they were moving now and he could see Jihoons hand get awfully close to an area which should only be reserved for significant others. He tried not to let it affect him but he felt some jealousy bubbling as you went into your finishing pose which was the dip but this time, you came back up and wrapped your leg around Jihoons waist and his hand sat right above your butt.

“Hold, two, three, four” Minyoung counted, “And break.”

“Great! We almost got it down perfectly.” Soonyoung said before waving at the guys of BTS through the mirror as they walked in, “Hey guys! What’d you think?”

“I think you guys are going to rock your unit debut.” Namjoon said as you all went to greet them, “Especially if you have the Yang sisters dancing with you on stage.”

“Yea, you guys looked really good. Y/N, where’d you learn to move your hips like that?” Hoseok asked and you shrugged.

“I’ve been dancing since I was three or so...so I learned at some point.” you said accepting a water bottle from Jihoon. “Did you guys just get here?”

“Not too long ago. We brought some stuff Josh asked for.” Taehyung said, “Are you guys done practice?”

“Yep, we’ve been up since seven in the morning.” you said with a cheeky grin and looked at Soonyoung and Minyoung who were almost dead, “Jihoon and I decided to teach those two a lesson about drinking so much.”

“Please never make us do that again.” Minyoung said with a groan, “Literally get back to your place at twelve thirty and we stayed up till like two.”

“Then don’t drink the Soju like water again.” Jihoon shot, “Who asked you idiots to drink more when we got back here?”

“You and Y/N were!” Soonyoung shot back as he took a big gulp from the water bottle. “How are you two not tired after falling asleep as four?”

“One, we didn’t drink during supper since we had to take care of your asses and two, I’m naturally a morning person.” you retorted.

“I was too busy wanting to teach you a lesson to care about sleep honestly.” Jihoon said with a shrug just as Seungcheol popped his head in.

“Hey guys, the rest of the foods ready. Let’s go eat.” he said before disappearing again.

Jihoon looked down at you and then gave Yoongi a side glance and saw him watching you from the corner of his eye as he was talking to Namjoon and Soonyoung.

He offered you his hand and pulled you up once you took it, “Let’s go, I’m starved.” he said as he lead you out through the other door, passing by Yoongi and Namjoon along the way.

You gave Yoongi a smile as you passed him, following Jihoon into the living room where all the food was already set up.

“Dang guys, you did this in two hours?” you asked as Joshua handed you a plate.

“Considering the four of you were busy, yes.” he responded as everyone started taking food from the buffet style set up.

You went to sit in your living room, happy that your apartment was open concept so it connected well with the dining room and watched as everyone else settled in and started eating.

Jihoon had sat next to you and the two of you started having a conversation with Hoseok about the dance routine. All the while, Yoongi sat behind you on the couch talking to Seungcheol though half listening to the conversation you were having.

Taehyung and Joshua shared a look and snickered behind their food as they watched Yoongi eventually become your back support and at the same time, you were making fun of Jihoon about hating skin ship and Jihoon leaned over and smacked you in the forehead.

“So are they really that close?” Taehyung asked Joshua as they continued to observe the three of you.

“Oh yea.” Joshua said with a nod, “they kind of clicked when I introduced them and I know they’ve kept in touch over the years. I think he actually knows a bit more about her than I do.”

“Dang…” Taehyung, “No wonder they had so much chemistry while dancing together…You could literally see the electricity going between them.”

“You saw it too eh?” Joshua said, “It’s why the choreographers wanted them to work together. It’s platonic though. Jihoon has been teasing Y/N about her infatuation with Yoongi since day 1”

“So there’s no chance of…” Taehyung started and Joshua shook his head.

“He makes fun of her about her crush on the guy so I highly doubt it. She trusts him though or else they wouldn’t be dancing together the way they are.” he said, “I’m almost one hundred percent sure that they have this younger brother, older sister complex.”

“That’s good then.” Taehyung said as he saw you excuse yourself from your conversation and head towards the kitchen and Yoongi following a few seconds later.

“Hey you.” Yoongi said walking into the kitchen as you put your paper plate into the garbage can.

“Hey you.” you said back turning around as he did the same and the two of you leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Did I...tell you that you look really good dancing?” he asked semi flirting. He had no idea where this confidence was coming from but deep down, he also knew that it had to do with your interactions with a certain producer of Seventeen. He wasn’t completely sure about your relationship with the other but it looked like you guys were close enough to share water bottles so it had to be something.

“Nope.” you said with a small smile, “But that’s nice to know...what’s up?”

“I figured now would be a decent time to talk about our date.” he said, “I was thinking maybe the day after our goodbye stage.”

“Are you sure you want to talk about this with twenty other people in the other room?” you asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I saw you put a garbage bag outside...and if the “Matchmaking Crew” is smart, they’d know to not let anyone come in.” he explained with a shrug, “So back to our date...I was thinking of having a full day planned. Would that work for you?”

“It should…” you said thinking, “The guys aren’t going to be on many music shows this come around since Seventeen’s comeback will be coinciding and I know we have that day free…”

“Great, so then it’s a date.” he said leaning down to kiss your cheek all of a sudden causing you to blush a deep red. He then casually walked out of the kitchen whistling as you stared at his back in shock.

“Min Yoongi!” you almost yelled, thankfully the voices in the other room covered it up.

#bts #kpop #bts imagine #kpop imagine #yoongi #min yoongi #suga #suga imagine #suga fiction #yoongi fiction #kpop fiction #bts fiction

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pixieungerstories · 5 years ago

Text

Quarantine - 2

Well, they laughed. I sort of more chuckled nervously.

I kept an eye on my laptop battery and there weren’t any unexplained power outages. Everything seemed normal.

Until I was cleaning out the basement and found the wine room. I don’t know wine, but there was a lot of it and the newest bottle that I could find was pre world war two.

I wasn’t expecting it to still be good. It was. It felt ridiculous drinking a hundred year old bottle of red wine with a frozen dinner. I did it anyway.

“Are you still here?” I demanded as I was getting ready for bed.

There was no answer.

I found the box that had my vibrator in it and fell asleep in a sweaty puddle.

I woke up a little hung over and found my vibe squeaky clean on the bathroom sink when I went to brush my teeth. My stomach dropped.

“Were you watching me?” I hissed. I don’t know what sort of reply I was expecting, but I didn’t get one.

I screamed and stood up when he said from the doorway, “I get lonely too.”

“Jesus Christ!”

I didn’t move. He had just sounded sad when he said it.

“Why can’t I ever see you?” I asked.

“I live in the shadows, you can only see me in darkness.”

I blinked at that. “But you are always here.”

“Yes.”

“And I can’t see in the dark,” I pointed out.

“I know.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I changed the subject. “What do you want from me?”

“But I am,” I mumbled.

“Yes. So take care of yourself. Sleep in the bed. Care for the house. I will stay out of your way.”

I licked my lips. I didn’t want to ask but I had to know. “What were you doing with my vibrator?”

It was the barest whisper, “I wanted to taste you.”

I froze feeling like a deer in the headlights, completely unsure how to respond to that.

“I have not touched you since you asked me not to,” he argued.

“I don’t understand,” he replied.

I shifted awkwardly. “Can I call you Nick?”

The silence continued. Then, “Why?”

“Nameless things are more scary. It isn’t as bad having a roommate named Nick.”

----

He had used pencil.

“Is this a peace offering?” I asked.

I didn’t get a response, but he did the dishes while I had my bath that morning.

When my groceries were delivered, popcorn had been added to my order.

It came as a surprise when I went to put the popcorn in the microwave and the power went out.

“Nick? What are you doing?”

“This isn’t me,” he hissed.

I have no idea how long I was in there, in the dark with my heart pounding as I tried to get the door to open. Eventually, it did.

“All better now,” he assured me, breathing down the back of my neck.

There were a lot of cop cars outside on the street.

“What happened?” I asked. There wasn’t any answer.

A uniformed officer rang my bell, then politely stepped back from my door the requisite six feet.

“Did you hear or see anything unusual last night, Ma’am?” he asked after identifying himself.

He frowned at me. “Have you noticed anything missing? Any signs of a break in?”

“No? Should I have?”

He appeared to consider this, then stepped further back to look at the state of my house. “There were break ins all down this street last night. This place might not have been a target.”

“Is everyone OK?” I asked.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” replied walking towards me again. “I can not disclose anything further, ma’am.”

I swallowed, “That sounds like a no.”

“Do you mind if I come in and have a look around?”

I considered this, “Do you generally advise that women living alone let strange men into their houses? If you are coming to search, I want my lawyer here as a witness.”

He was already peering in around me. The house isn’t that big and the walls were all gone. He could see the whole main floor whether he came in or not.

“Doing some renovations I see.”

No shit Sherlock. “My building permit is posted in my window. I haven’t been able to get trades people out in months but-”

I mean, he was right, still you never like to hear that. And it didn’t need to be condemned. I had the structural engineer’s report to prove it.

I went to work while keeping an eye on the news sites.

It has escalated all the way down the street.

Then stopped before my house.

“Nick? What did you do?”

He wasn’t talking to me yet.

----

I sat on my bed and waited for the sun to go down. My laptop was in the kitchen. My phone was next to me but set to do not disturb. I waited, straining my ears for any noise.

“Are you there?”

Nothing was said but I was sure I could feel him watching me.

“Please tell me what happened.”

“No one comes into my house,” he snarled.

I swallowed and fought down my fear. “I did.”

“You are different. You are helping.”

I considered that. He had walls before I got here, now he didn’t.

“Am I safe from you?”

“Yes.” It would have been more comforting if he hadn’t growled it.

“Please don’t,” he whispered.

I sniffled. “Fuck. Why don’t I have kleenex?”

“What if they come back tonight?”

“They won’t,” he said firmly. I don’t think he was talking about the ongoing police presence on the street.

“What did you do?” I sniffled.

“I defended my home. That includes you now.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t sure that I couldn’t catch glimpses of him as the lights on the street kept flashing. Red, blue, huge black shadow.

“I don’t want to be alone right now,” I whispered.

The bed dipped but when I reached my arm out in that direction all I could find was a long fingered hand to hold mine. “You won’t be.”

“Are you .. human shaped?”

“I can be.”

I snorted, “What kind of answer is that?”

“An honest one.”

I rolled on to my side so that my back was to him, or at least to where I thought he was.

“I can go.”

“Can you stay?”

The weight on the bed changed. “Don’t try to look at me, you will only give yourself nightmares.”

“You said you’ve read Blue Beard?”

“Yes.”

“Have you read Cupid and Psyche?”

He just snickered.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Does any of that apply here?”

“Are you going to try to burn me with an oil lamp?” he teased.

“Are you going to get me pregnant then cast me out into the wilds?” I countered.

He hissed at that, “Never.”

“Never get me pregnant or -”

“I’m not human. We can’t procreate. I can’t make you sick. You can’t make me sick. We can drive each other insane and you will be able to escape someday. I can not leave.”

“Why not?”

“You need to rest. Don’t ask questions with scary answers.”

“How am I supposed to know they are scary?”

“Because you are asking a monster. Now, go to sleep.”

That was the most ridiculous thing but I wasn’t up to arguing about it. Not while there was still an active crime scene next door.

I fell asleep to the feeling of him stroking my back.

----

As I was pouring wine into a coffee mug, he asked me, “Are you drinking alone?”

I got up, took another mug out of the cupboard, poured a second drink and turned off the kitchen light. “Nope. I’m not alone. You’re here.”

“I didn’t have that much to drink!” I protested.

“No, but you can’t see in the dark.” He tucked me safely into bed.

“Did you change the sheets?” I asked. He didn’t answer. “You did, didn’t you?”

My laptop opened and his body blocked the screen for a few moments. Then Brooklyn 99 came on and it was set next to me.

“Why are you doing this?”

“We need a distraction. Call Penny.”

“We need a distraction? We?”

“Yes.”

I hesitated. “Do you need me to move out and camp in the backyard for a few days?”

His reply was a nonverbal roar that rattled the windows and set off a car alarm outside.

The cops on my porch blinked.

“I’m trying to sleep! Can you keep the noise down? Please? I know whatever you are doing is important but can you just do it a little quieter?”

“That wasn’t us!” the youngest protested.

“Then can you find out who it was and make them stop?”

To my delight, they left.

I closed the door, smiled to myself and bounced off a wall of darkness that caught me before I rebounded against the door.

“I do not want you sleeping outside!” he growled in my ear.

“Nick? Can you help me not trip on things on my way to the stairs?”

I climbed into bed and closed it.

Then I opened it, stared at the browser for a moment, then closed it again.

“What’s wrong?”

I considered this. I really had no secrets from him anymore. “I need … some ‘alone time’ but it’s weird if you are watching.”

“Would it be better if I was helping?” he teased.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know what you are working with. But I feel lonely.”

Gentle fingers took my hand and raised it. The lips that kissed and the tongue that laved were not human. I turned my hand to stroke his face but he leaned away.

That stung. I let my hand fall to the bed. “It isn’t fair that you get to touch me but I can’t touch you.”

He didn’t say anything to that. A car drove past and the headlights lit the room for an instant. Long enough for me to see four glittering eyes watching me, two forward facing and two further to the sides. Not human, I reminded myself. In the darkness, hand cupped my face, thick lips caught mine and as I kissed him a tentacle like tongue licked at my lips before darting briefly down my throat.

“I can do better than that toy,” he promised, “but you can not see me.”

I panicked and pulled my hands away and just like that he was gone.

“Nick?”

I don’t know why I was expecting an answer. I groaned and pressed both palms to my face covering my eyes. I jumped when he caressed my calf, but I didn’t move my hands.

“What are you doing, little girl?”

“Someone,” he whispered.

“Yeah. Someone to make me feel like I’m real. Just to make me feel.”

“Humans need other humans to be human,” he muttered. “You should have just called your friend.”

My eyes prickled again and tears splashed against my hands. “How long have you been here?”

“There was an accident shortly after the house was built. I was created out of that.”

That raised a lot of questions, but my immediate one was, “How long have you been here alone?”

I snorted, “Were you really trying to make me go? Because living here was creepy but not anywhere close to the scariest place I’ve ever lived.”

“The house is more than a hundred years old. That’s a long time to be alone,” I pointed out.

“Enough time to get good at it,” he countered.

I moved my hands then and sat up to look at him. I thought I could see a pool of shifting darkness. “What are you? Are you a ghost? Did someone die here and -”

“Many people have died here. I am not one of them.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Am I?”

“What?”

“Am I some dead woman who is all alone here making excuses for why I can’t leave?”

He laughed at me then, not a jolly laugh, an odd howling laugh. “How did you come up with that ridiculous idea?”

It stung a little, “It’s a popular plot point in a number of movies. And I can’t help but notice you didn’t answer the question.”

He stopped laughing when he realized I was serious and said flatly, “You aren’t dead.”

#oh my god they were quarantined #exophilia #monster quarantine #nyctophobia #shadow monster

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wanderlust-in-my-soul · 5 years ago

Text

Festival of Love AU Part 7

Chapter 7 - Friday evening

A strange picture awaited them at their tents.

Basile lay on a sleeping mat on the floor, around him stood a few people with their mobile phones and filmed the action.

Lucas stood next to Yann and tried to catch a glimpse of Basile.

He asked, "What's going on here?" while stretching his neck a little to get a better view. Yann bent over laughing, "Basile wants to know what it's like to get waxed and that's why we changed the function of the tape and stuck it on both of his legs." He turned to Lucas and continued, "You've come just in time to watch the spectacle."

Daphné squatted at Basile's head and stroked his hair. She was the only one who looked worried. All the others, including Basile himself, were laughing and talking and drinking. Of course alcohol was involved, who would soberly come up with such an idea?

Idriss mimed a dramatic drum roll before Emma and Alexia, both with a nasty grin on their lips, each took a strip of tape and pulled it off with a jerk.

"Holy shit," Basile shouted and shot up with his upper body. The two girls had fallen on their butts laughing so hard, it looked as they unable to breathe. In their hands they held the strips of tape, the adhesive side of which was covered with hair. On Basile's legs there were correspondingly bare areas to be seen. Of course the tape didn't work half as well as real wax and a few tufts of hair stood out on the bald areas.

"We're not finished yet" Manon shouted now, "we had agreed, everybody can pull!" and she bent down and wanted to pull off a strip. Basile held her hand, "Please don't! At least give me some time to cope with the first pain!" He looked at her with a begging look, but now one of the others spoke. Lucas had already forgotten the name again. "Don't be like this Basile. It had been your idea," and without further warning he reached down and tore off the next tape. Basile let himself fall back again, into the arms of his girlfriend. His eyes fell on Lucas, "Lucas! Help me! Please!"

But Lucas didn't know what to do. Manon had already grabbed her stripe. Lucas could only watch the play and laugh.

Sometime later they had all eaten, the beer flowed in rough amounts and the music made some to sing along. The atmosphere was cheerful. The only thing Lucas was missing at this moment was being with Eliott, which he so longed for. But Eliott was engrossed in a conversation with Sofiane and Lucas didn't want to disturb them. The only ray of hope were the looks that Eliott and he kept exchanging.

It was as if there was a tingling sensation in the air. An electric voltage that discharged every time their looks met, almost driving Lucas insane. Instead of talking to Eliott, he listened to the tirades of Basile, who couldn't help reporting about the pain of waxing and how happy he was not to be a woman who had to endure it over and over again.

"You know, Basile, a woman doesn't have to put up with this. I don't wax my legs because I think it looks so good or because it makes me feel better. I do it because society tells me to do it," Daphné intervened. Basile's head flinched and he looked at his girlfriend with big eyes. "That's nonsense, Daphné," Imane said, "society doesn't prescribe it itself. Nowhere does it say that I have to depilate my legs or other parts of my body. It's an illusion women make for themself because we want to please men. Who cares if I have hair under my armpits or not?" Now it was Daphné who looked at Imane with big eyes. "Of course society prescribes it. How do you think you would stare if I walked around with hairy legs?" "You mean, what would Basile say, because honestly, I don't really care if you're smooth or hairy like a bear."

"You're doing this for me?" Basile asked uncertainly. "Of course she does it because of you. Because we have to be trimmed by advertising and glossy magazines from the very beginning that women with hair are not real women. And that is bullshit!" Imane supported her point by crossing her arms in front of her chest and examining Basile with a sharp eye. He turned back to his girlfriend, "Darling, I don't care if your legs are shaved or not. I love you and all your hair!" He bent over and gave Daphné a kiss.

"Oh man, I think that was one of the weirdest conversations I've ever heard," Yann said quietly to Lucas, who had to stop laughing all along. "It's about time we made our way to the festival area. Bloc Party will play soon, and I want to get a good spot." "Well then let's get people together," Lucas nodded in agreement.

----------

The group had not been able to completely agree on one stage and so some were on their way to the second stage, while the majority gathered in front of the first one. It was only 6pm, the headliners wouldn't enter the stage until about 10pm, yet some little girls were already on their way to get a place at the front, dressed in fan shirts from 30 Seconds to Mars and cardboard signs saying they loved Jared Leto. Eliott liked music but had never been a big fan of too much fan culture.

It was not easy to stay together in the still large group, but at least he tried to stay close to Lucas. But that was a bit difficult when Manon grabbed Lucas and dragged him forward to the stage. He could see Lucas turning to him again and then he had disappeared with Manon, Alexia, Emma, Arthur and Yann.

"Don't you want to follow?" he heard a familiar voice next to him. Idriss had joined him and grinned mischievously at him from the side. "What do you mean?" asked Eliott and did unknowingly. "Oh, come on. Do you really think I didn't notice you two staring at each other all the time? Sometimes I feel quite uncomfortable watching you. You were long gone this afternoon. Is there something you might want to tell me?" At first still teasing, his pitch became more serious towards the end and the grin had disappeared from Idriss's face. Instead, there was now open interest to be seen.

"I don't know," Eliott murmured. "What? The music, the noise. You have to speak louder" Idriss shouted to him. Eliott moaned. "I don't know what to tell you. Nothing happened. We just had a lot of fun," screamed Eliott now in Idriss' ear. "But you like him, don't you? You find him interesting and the way you look at him makes me think you want to eat him right away. So?" The grin had found its way back to Idriss' face and Eliott had to smile and twist his eyes. "Yes, I think I like him. He's not like the others, you know? He's like no one else before," Eliott's gaze drifted into the distance and he noticed for himself that as soon as he thought of Lucas, a slight smile fell on his lips. "Then why are you still here with us and not with him?" Idriss had come closer and spoke into Eliott's ear to make sure he understood his words exactly. Eliott looked at him and then again at the crowd in front of him. It would be a longer search, because the area in front of the stage was now well filled. The band was already playing and everywhere was hopping and pushing. Idriss patted him on the shoulder encouragingly and with the last beat he pushed him towards the stage.

----------

Lucas wasn't feeling well. He was jostled from all sides, and since he wasn't necessarily the tallest, he had to rely on the protection of his friends to shield him from the turmoil. Manon had managed to box them through to the front row. Lucas would never try to get into a fight with her. She had discarded her otherwise so fine manner and had boxed her way through the crowd with her elbows. It was amazing how much energy and power slumbered in such a petite being.

He had placed himself next to her, one of the inflatable hands clamped in front of him, so that the metal barrier would not hurt too much when the people in the back were pushing forward. Lisa had told him the trick. The only advantage was that they now had the best view of the stage. The disadvantages were that they couldn't organize anything to drink until the end of the show, couldn't go to the toilet and couldn't move. All this was nothing compared to the fact that Eliott wasn't there. Lucas cursed himself that he had let himself be dragged along. He looked next to him and Manon beamed at him with a glitter in her eyes. The only thing he could do was to smile back. It made him happy to see his friend so happy and frolicsome.

Bloc Party played to the end and the rows thinned out a bit. Lucas could catch his breath and sat down on the floor, leaning against the barrier. He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and surfed around a bit on Instagram. Mika had posted a new story and his mother had sent him a message at WhatsApp. He was about to answer when Yann knocked him on the head and made him look up. In front of him stood Eliott with a red head but a smile on his lips.

"It really wasn't easy to find you. Luckily the rows have thinned out a bit otherwise I might not be here yet. And I think I'll have some bruises tomorrow. Man, are the people ruthless at the pogo," he gurgled and rubbed his upper arm for supporting his point. Lucas had got up and beamed at him, "But in the end you found us." "Always," Eliott replied and it was as if they were diving back into their little world. Everything around them was faded out. The noise in the background became dull and the people around them blurred. Always.

The moment came to an abrupt end when Eliott was bumped into from behind and was just able to hold on to the barrier with one hand before hitting Lucas with full force. After the first shock both had to laugh. The place filled up again and the first people tried to come forward by force and pushed from behind. Lucas stood between Eliott's arms, with which he shielded him from most of the pressure. The stage setup was complete and with a roar of the crowd Macklemore swirled onto the stage. Lucas turned around, which was a bit difficult as there was hardly any room and when he had made it he could feel a warm breath near his ear, "Don't worry," Eliott whispered into his ear, "I'll stay right here and protect you."

----------

Eliott tried his best not to crush Lucas, while from behind the masses wanted to come further forward. But that wasn't even the main act of the evening. Again and again he was pressed against the small body in front of him and as much as he enjoyed the closeness that arose from it, his wish not to hurt Lucas was greater.

He tried to lean against the barrier with his hands, but he did not always succeed. Lucas of course noticed this and Eliott felt it before he saw it and knew what was happening to him, that Lucas grabbed his hand and carefully took it from the railing. Eliott let it happen. Lucas also took his second hand into his and put it around his waist and at the end pulled Eliott a little closer to him. With one hand Lucas supported himself at the barrier while the other hand lay on Eliott's.

Eliott's head buzzed and butterflies raged in his stomach. He put his head on Lucas' and closed his eyes for the moment. How could it be that he felt so safe with someone he barely knew and then even after such a short time as he did with Lucas? The latter had now leaned back a little and his head rested against Eliott's shoulder. This was perfect. It fitted so perfectly, Eliott thought and smiled.

They didn't let themselves be put off by all the turmoil around them. What mattered at that moment was just the two of them.

----------

It was getting dark. Macklemore had finished his performance and they were still standing tightly wrapped. Careful, even tender, their fingers caressed each other's hands. Lucas wished for another place together with Eliott. Away from the crowd, away from the people and the noise. Just a place where they could live out their first tenderness on their own.

As if Eliott had read his thoughts, he now whispered in his ear, "Tell me, do you really want to see 30 Seconds to Mars?" Lucas shook his head. "Then how about we disappear? Just the two of us." Lucas released himself from the embrace and turned around under strain, "That sounds good," he beamed at Eliott.

He gave Yann a sign that his place would become free, grinned at him and then let Eliott guide him through the crowd.

He didn't know where Eliott wanted to go with him, the route looked familiar to him, but it got darker and darker and at some point they had left the campsites behind and a small piece of forest lay in front of them.

"You want to go to the lake? Now?" Asked Lucas, who had stopped in front of the forest. He didn't want to admit it, but he never liked being out in the dark, especially not in the forest, even if he wasn't alone. The fear of darkness had accompanied him for a long time. He didn't know what the trigger for it had been, but since he remembered, he was afraid of the dark.

Eliott had stopped shortly before him, when he noticed that Lucas was no longer with him. "Of course," he grinned at him. "It's still wonderfully warm and there won't be anyone there now. Come on!" "Of course nobody will be there. It is also not allowed to go into the lake at night. It is much too dangerous. What if something happens?" Lucas asked and tried not to let the fear in his voice go through too much.

"Nothing's gonna happen. Are you scared?" Eliott laughed now. "Of course not," Lucas replied and straightened up, his chest raised a little to support his words. "Come on then," and with these words Eliott ran into the forest and disappeared into the darkness.

Lucas hesitantly followed him. Every step carefully checking that he didn't stumble. The darkness surrounded him and he noticed his chest shrinking a little. He hated his illogical fear of darkness. There was nothing in it that wasn't there in light, and yet each time it was eerie how whole parts of the world disappeared, no longer visible to the eye. Like Eliott now. Lucas stopped and listened. He could not even hear him.

"Eliott?" he shouted faintly into the woods. "Where are you?" He looked around searching, his eyes wide open to see as much as possible. In front of him something moved into the shadows and Lucas’ heart stopped. "Where have you been?" Eliott's voice resounded next to him and Lucas collapsed in shock. "Now come on, or are you afraid of the dark?" "What? Nonsense, I'm not afraid." Lucas tried to be more courageous than he was at that moment. He turned to the side from where Eliott's voice had come, but couldn't see him. He could only hear his laughter from the other side now, a little further away this time. He whirled around, his eyes searched the place from where he had heard the laughter, but again he couldn't find Eliott anywhere.

"Come on, Eliott, it's not funny." His voice was quieter and more anxious than he wanted to sound, but a thick lump in his throat tied his vocal chords. "Eliott, please," the voice now just a whisper.

"So, you are afraid of the dark after all." Eliott appeared in front of him. The laughter had left his voice and he looked at him seriously. "And if so?" Lucas asked in a fragile voice. "Then it's like that," Eliott replied with a firm but quiet voice, "Everyone is afraid of something."

"Would you hold my hand until we get to the lake?" And just never let go again? He asked shyly and Eliott stretched out his hand in return, waiting for Lucas to grab it.

----------

Eliott didn't think Lucas would be afraid in the dark. Spiders perhaps, or narrow enclosed spaces, but darkness? And yet it was the cutest thing he had ever experienced. Lucas grabbed his hand and clasped his fingers to it. Eliott had to smile. Maybe only the second cutest.

He led them through the forest to the lake and when they arrived, the water lay calm and peaceful in front of them. They stayed next to each other, still holding hands and nobody said a word. For the moment they enjoyed the unbelievable tranquillity radiated from the lake. It wrapped Eliott up and pulled through his body. The air was pleasantly fresh, not as oppressively warm as on the festival grounds with sweating, unfamiliar bodies beside him.

Eliott loved such places, especially when the almost magical atmosphere was not disturbed by others. And he was here, finally alone with Lucas.

"Let's go for a swim," he said and was already taking off his clothes before Lucas could react. He looked at him questioningly with his big blue eyes before it seemed as if he was shaking off his tension and with a shy smile on his lips getting rid of his clothes too. Both stood briefly undecided, dressed in their underwear, before Eliott took Lucas by the hand and ran into the lake with him.

The water was a bit cooler, but still pleasant. At first they let themselves drift, let the calm take effect and Eliott enjoyed that this was possible with Lucas without having to ask him to pause for the moment. It was as if their souls were in harmony, as if they knew what the other needed.

It started with a coarser arm movement by Eliott, with which he accidentally sprayed Lucas with water, and ended with the two of them pouring water loads on each other's faces with their hands and laughing. Eliott hadn't laughed so much in a long time. In general, he hadn't felt that good and cheerful for a long time.

Lucas held on to Eliott's shoulder and out of breath, but still laughing, they finished their water play. As their eyes met, Eliott could feel how the atmosphere between them had changed. The exuberance was over, the breath was still heavy, but there was a new glint in Luca's eyes. If Eliott painted a picture of this situation, little flashes of lightning would flash everywhere in the air. Despite the darkness that the half moon had not completely driven away over them, Eliott could see Lucas’ gaze wandering from his eyes to his lips, briefly pausing there before his gaze found Eliotts again. Eliott noticed how breathing became harder and all his senses were focused on Lucas.

And before he could think any longer about when he should finally take the next step and how long he would endure this tension, Lucas' hand was in his neck and pulled Eliott towards him and their lips found each other. Eliott closed his eyes and thought he was going to explode. All his nerve endings tickled and Lucas lips felt soft and tender and the kiss was passionate and demanding. All the tension that lay between them unleashed in this one kiss. Eliott's heart raced at double speed, it was impossible to think clearly, all he could feel were Luca's lips on his and the fire that had been kindled in his heart.

Eliott didn't know where to put his hands. They wanted to be everywhere at the same time, wanted to pull Lucas closer, wanted to drive through his hair, wanted to stroke and hold him. He wrapped his arm around Lucas' neck, pulled the smaller one closer to him, the other hand lay on his hip, the grip tightly around the tender skin.

He could feel Luca's hands. One hand lay tenderly on his cheek, while the other one wandered along his back and every touch left a pleasant tingle on Eliott's skin. He felt Lucas pressing on him, trying to displace every unnecessary inch of air between them.

Lucas' lips on his took his breath away, but he no longer needed oxygen, all he needed was to be kissed by those lips and that feeling in his heart that wanted to burst with happiness.

----------

Lucas had to look at Eliott, see what was going on in his eyes. Carefully he released the kiss, his hand continuing to rest on Eliott's cheek as his fingers caressed him tenderly. He needed a moment to open his eyes. As he slowly opened his eyelids, he looked into shining eyes. Eliott's whole face seemed to shine like a complete little sun just for him in the darkness. With his fingers he traced the contours of Eliott's face and Lucas had to smile as Eliott closed his eyes and a quiet, contented buzz emanated from him.

When Eliott opened his eyes again, he took Lucas' face in his hands and the look he gave Lucas made his knees soft. There was so much affection in his eyes and Lucas could hardly believe that this was really happening. A smile spread across his lips before he shook his head and pulled Eliott into another kiss.

But this time less stormy. Tender and gentle their lips met. They moved at their own pace, as if they hadn't kissed anyone else their whole lives, as if they had known each other for many years. Their tongues met, nudging against each other, and Lucas couldn't help but moan quietly into the kiss.

The world around Lucas stopped and it could probably have ended, he wouldn't have noticed. All what counted in that moment was Eliott. He wrapped his arms around Eliott's neck, placed himself on his toes and pressed even closer to the other one’s body. The kiss changed its dynamics. Soft and careful became passionate and longing for more.

A pleasant shiver shot through Luca's body as Eliott sucked his lower lip in and bit lightly into it. The older boy's hands lay on his waist and with one swing he had lifted Lucas high out of the water. The latter put his legs around the waist of the other and clung tightly. His arms were still reaching around Eliott's neck and one hand was driving through his hair and Lucas had never felt anything softer between his fingers. While Eliott was busy bringing them both ashore safely, Lucas' lips wandered along his neck. He noticed Eliott stretching his neck a little to give Lucas more space.

Finally arriving on land, Eliott let Lucas down and again their eyes found each other. And again Lucas could have sunk into those blue-grey eyes of the other. He had completely lost his sense of time, but as soon as Eliott pulled his body closer and their lips found each other again, Lucas didn't care about anything else. What mattered was that here and now and he didn't want to be anywhere else in the world at this moment than right here with exactly the only person that mattered, Eliott.

#skam france #skam france fic #elu #elu fic #fanfiction #myfic #festival of love #AU

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wilsonsnest · 5 years ago

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[w&s] date night

more general store/diner au because everyone needs that extremely specific au in their life. i only posted the last one to ao3 because it was a spicy meatball. you can find both previous parts of wilson’s & stucky’s here.

every time i write one of these it gets increasingly fluffier.

pairing: samsteve, sambucky word count: 2,972 summary: sam and steve go on a date, then bucky and steve cross a boundary.

Steve often considers that anywhere else, hell even the next town over, what they were doing would be considered outlandishly weird. But he and Bucky had basically grown up in each other’s pockets, the only brief interlude being when Bucky had shipped off with the Army. Even one less arm and ptsd between them couldn’t shake their unbreakable bond.

So the fact that the ended up falling for the same guy wasn’t all that surprising. Them both agreeing to share had been a little more unexpected, especially since Steve knew he could be a possessive bastard when he wanted to be. But if there was anyone he was willing to share Sam’s affections with, it was Bucky. And Sam clearly adored Bucky, and he’d give Sam the world on a platter if he could.

It worked out for the most part. They spent a lot of time together at Sam’s place, though Bucky tended to sleep over more. Though their relationships often intertwined, there were some major differences. Bucky and Sam almost never went out on dates. Occasionally, they’d stop by Red/Hawk’s for a quick drink and to catch up with everyone. But they never stayed for long and Bucky always grew more uncomfortable the more crowded the bar got.

Steve and Sam on the other hand, went out as often as possible. The town of Ridley was about a 45 minute drive, and while it wasn’t huge, it had a movie theatre and a few chain restaurants that made for a fairly good date night. Steve absolutely treasured those nights with Sam. Holding his hands in the dark theatre while they giggled and scoffed at the latest stupid action thriller.

Before Sam, Steve had thought mainstream dating culture was tedious. Now that he was with Sam? He sort of hated that Bucky wasn’t able to experience the same thing.

Case in point. He was leaving the closing up tonight to Bucky while he and Sam caught a 10pm movie. He changed in the employee bathroom, running his fingers through his hair to try and look a little more presentable. Ducking into the kitchen, he caught Bucky slipping his phone back into his pocket.

“Hey, Buck, I’m about to head out. You good?” Steve had asked him at least twice already. Worrying about Bucky was second nature at this point.

“M’fine, Steve.” Bucky over at him, his mouth twisted into a complicated not-quite frown. “Your gonna be late if you don’t get outta here.”

“I’m getting there.” Steve huffed, smiling a little. “If you need anything—“

“Call you, yeah, I know.” Bucky rolled his eyes. “Tell Sam I said hi.”

“That all?”

“Fuck off, Steve. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I make no promises.”

x x x x

The movie date ended up being quite successful. They strategically chose a movie that had been out for quite a while, hoping to avoid the Saturday night crowds. Of course, being the weekend meant there were a few other patrons in the theatre. But Sam and Steve had arrived early and managed to commandeer the very back, and none of the other moviegoers seemed interested in sharing space. The scattered crowd meant that they could spend the movie holding hands and leaning over to whisper to one another during the frankly uninteresting feature.

Sam leaned over into Steve’s space, while grabbing a handful of popcorn from their shared bucket. “You still chugging through the Hobbit or did you give up?”

He couldn’t see Steve’s grimace in the darkness of the theatre, but he knew it was there.

“I haven’t ‘given up’.” Steve muttered, nudging Sam with his shoulder. “I’m just reading at my own pace. Taking it all in.”

Sam snorted and ate a few pieces of popcorn. “It’s boring, isn’t it. You hate it.”

“I don’t hate it.” Steve said stubbornly. “It’s just not my usual taste.”

Sam barely stifled a laugh. For some reason they started watching movie franchises. It had started after he, Bucky and Steve had watched all of the original Star Trek together and then decided to add on the films. Sam had suggested they do the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which they had all enjoyed immensely. Bucky’s suggestion came in the form of The Matrix, which kind of outshined Sam’s choice in a big way. Then of course Steve had to go ahead and suggest the Hobbit movies and Sam had put his foot down.

He asked Steve if he had ever even read the book. And if he really thought watching a children’s novel be spread out over three full length films was really the best use of their time. Steve had asserted that no he hadn’t read the book, and thus a deal was struck. If Steve could get through The Hobbit and still wanted to watch the movies Sam would acquiesce.

It had been five months now and updates from Bucky suggested that they still had a long ways to go before Steve was anywhere near finishing. They had moved onto the X-Men movies, much to Steve’s annoyance.

“By time you finish they’ll have remade the Lord of the Rings movies.” Sam said playfully.

With an exaggerated yawn, he stretched his arms up over his head, before looping on arm around Steve’s shoulders. He could feel his boyfriend shaking with laughter, trying to constrain his noise level. Sam smirked triumphantly even as Steve playfully slapped his chest.

“Real smooth, Sam.”

“Hey, I gotta take my chances where I see ‘em.”

They turned their attention back to the movie, which seemed to be in its final act as explosions seems to be setting off and everyone had very serious, determined looks on their faces. They finished the movie in silence, their hands occasionally brushing in the popcorn bucket. As soon as the credits hit, Steve stood, brushing the crumbs off his t-shirt and looked down at Sam.

“What’d you think?” He asked as he offered Sam his hand.

Sam smiled, Steve could be such a gentleman at times. It was endearing as hell. “5 out of 10, no idea what happened but everything seemed to work out at the end so I count that as a win.”

“Your generosity is one of the things I love about you.” Steve said cheekily. He swiped Sam’s coat before the taller man could grab it and helped him into the sleeves before Sam shrugged it the rest of the way on himself.

Steve led them out of the theatre, dutifully depositing their popcorn bucket in the trash as they headed out into the dark lobby. There were still a few movies playing, but the theatre was otherwise closed.

Out in the parking lot, the air was crisp and Sam quickly buttoned his coat. Winter was moving in much faster than Sam had anticipated, and it was one thing he was not looking forward to. He sighed in relief as Steve unlocked the door to the truck and climbed in immediately.

“You wanna stay the night?” Sam asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Hmm.” Steve reached over to turn on the heat and then the radio. “Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to ours?”

Sam raised an eyebrow at that suggestion. Sam spent very little time at Steve and Bucky’s home. It was a beautiful two-floor stone cottage type, fairly close to lakeside. Sam liked the place, but it always felt like there were boundaries all over the home. Places were Steve wouldn’t cross and Bucky wouldn’t cross. Sam’s home truly was neutral territory for all of them.

Still the temptation was there. He would love to see Bucky tonight instead of just calling him before bed.

“He’d never say it,” Steve started as he pulled out of the parking space. “But he misses you when we go out like this.”

“Ah,” Sam sighed, looking forward out the window. “Do you think it bothers him?”

“No. Well,” Steve paused and tried to figure out how he wanted to phrase the next part. “When he goes to your house, I can always just drop by and visit. But he can’t… join us for stuff like this. It sucks.”

Sam wasn’t surprised to hear the depth of emotion in Steve’s voice. He could see his boyfriend’s hands were tense on the steering wheel. It was always so heartwarming to see how much Steve and Bucky truly cared about one another and their relationships with Sam. He remembered in the beginning, thinking that all three of them were going to date. Steve and Bucky had quickly assured him that they had no desire to date each other.

They were best friends. Brothers, really.

Sam thought it was more than that, platonic soulmates at the very least. But he knew both Bucky and Steve would just scoff at the suggestion. Sam was just happy to know that they cared about one another so fiercely. It made worrying less harrowing when you had someone else to do it with.

“It does kind of suck.” Sam admitted. He loved his date nights with Bucky. They would pile pillows and blankets onto the couch. Sometimes even light candles when they were feeling fancy and just watch re-runs of tv shows for hours. It was soothing, and Sam cherished those nights deeply.

But sometimes he wished he could do more for Bucky. His dark-haired boyfriend couldn’t quite hide the disappointment of not being able to take Sam out for movies, or dinner, or any of the other traditional date night activities.

“It’s alright though,” Sam murmured quietly, almost forgetting Steve was next to him. “I just like it when we’re together.”

He felt a hand rest gently on his thigh and looked up to see a soft smile on Steve’s lips. Sam couldn’t help the warmth that flooded his chest as he considered just how lucky he was.

x x x x

The lights were off by time they pulled up the gravel road to the lakeside cottage. Bucky probably wasn’t expecting Steve home and had likely gone to bed.

They hurried out of the car and into the home, trying escape the cold air, especially being so close to water. Steve flipped on one of the lights, while Sam shrugged out of his coat and shoes to hang them by the door.

“I didn’t bring anything to sleep in.” Sam whispered the realization. Since he rarely stayed over, it usually wasn’t a problem.

“You should be able to fit something of Bucky’s.” Steve finished taking off his coat and beckoned Sam to follow him.

They went to the small closet laundry room and Steve pulled out a shirt from the dryer. It was gray and worn, and far too big for Sam. It smelled delightfully of the detergent he had come to associate with both of his boyfriend’s.

Sam smiled gratefully and immediately pulled off his long-sleeved shirt, trying not to smirk at the way Steve’s eyes lingered on his body as he changed. Perhaps he was being a bit naughty, taking off his jeans right there in the hallway, but it was worth it for the look Steve gave him. If it weren’t so late, perhaps.

Sam bundled up his clothes and put them on top of the washing machine. He opened his mouth to speak when Steve quickly pressed him against the appliance. Sam felt his ass digging into the cold steel and he made an abrupt noise of surprise.

“Too damn tall.” Steve groused, as he pushed a knee between Sam’s leg and reached up to pull Sam down.

Amused, Sam obliged and leaned down to kiss his shorter boyfriend, sweet at first. Steve made a noise of regret as soon as they pulled away and tugged Sam down again for a much more intensive exploration. Sam could practically feel himself melting, the irresistible taste and feel of Steve tempting him.

He pulled away, trying to keep a cool head even as he looked down at Steve’s wet, reddened lips. “It’s way too late for this.”

“I can be quick.” Steve said cheekily, though his mood seemed more relaxed.

“You’re a mess, Rogers.” Sam laughed and shook his head. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead before playfully pushing him away. “D’you think Bucky would mind…?”

“I think he’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Steve answer encouragingly, putting a hand on Sam’s back. “Go on.”

Sam flashed him a grateful smile before heading up the stairs to Bucky’s bedroom. The door was only half closed, which made it easy for him to quietly enter. The room was fairly dark, though the glow of the clock on Bucky’s dresser made it easier to see. He carefully sat at the foot of Bucky’s bed, not wanting to startle him.

He reached out until he felt the lump of a foot underneath the comforter and called gently. “James?”

For a moment, he’d thought perhaps he had been too soft when he heard a shuffling and then movement underneath his hand.

“Steve?” Bucky’s voice was rough with sleep and he sounded adorably confused.

“Nah, the handsome one.” Sam replied.

In an instance, light flooded the room as Bucky turned on the lamp nearby. Sam squinted, startled by the sudden brightness and could see Bucky doing the same. His boyfriend’s hair was a mess, sticking up at odd angles and twisting around his head. He still looked half-asleep, blinking at Sam like he wasn’t quite sure of what he was seeing.

“Sammy?” Bucky finally asked, the question lilting upwards at the end.

“Hi Bucky.” Sam ducked his head, suddenly feeling a little shy. He watched at Bucky’s eyes flickered to the shirt Sam was wearing as realization dawned.

“Sammy.” His voice was almost achingly soft.

Sam couldn’t resist anymore and crawled up the bed to Bucky, smiling as his boyfriend immediately wrapped his arm around him. Barely awake, but looking at Sam like he was the most wondrous thing he’d ever laid eyes on. Sam smiled brightly before leaning in and kissing Bucky, heart fluttering at the other man eagerly kissed back.

“I missed you.” Sam said when they pulled away, looking up at Bucky from under his lashes.

“How was your date?” Bucky asked, the slightest protective streak coming out.

Sam reached up and cradled Bucky’s cheek, touched by his concern. “Perfect, well,” Sam shook his head. “The movie wasn’t good but the company was great.”

“Oh good, about Steve. Not the movie.” Bucky’s brows knitted together before he yawned loudly right in Sam’s face. “Oh, God, sorry.”

Sam’s shoulders shook with the effort of stopping himself from laughing. “No, you're exhausted, I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Bucky tugged him closer. “Glad you’re here.”

Sam smiled and tucked his head under Bucky’s chin. He sighed as Bucky laid back down, pulling Sam on top of him. The light was still on, and Sam was the closest, but he just wanted to lay there for a moment. Bucky’s familiar lavender soap and lemon-scented clorox wipe smell easily relaxing him.

“Where’s Steve?” Bucky murmured quietly, seemingly in no hurry to move either.

Sam didn’t have the answer as there was a knock on the door and then Steve poked his head in, probably seeing that the light was still on.

“Just saying good night.” He said sheepishly, probably feeling like he was intruding. “Closing went alright, Buck?”

Bucky let out a mock over-dramatic sigh. “Yes, Steve. I managed to survive the night.”

“I’m very proud of you.” Steve’s voice was so earnest that both Sam and Bucky had to laugh. “Seriously, I appreciate it. We had a good time.”

“Glad you're both back safe.” Bucky’s voice was warm, his eyes looking from Steve then down to Sam nestled against his chest.

“G’night then, Bucky. Love you Sam.” Steve reached to close the door when Bucky stopped him.

“Wait, wait.” Bucky raised his voice just a little. He bit his lip, hesitating only for a moment before he jerked his head up. “C’mon, the bed’s big enough.”

Steve’s eyes widened so much that Sam had to close his eyes to keep form laughing. The blonde just stood in the doorway for a moment, too surprised to even respond. This was not a boundary they had crossed over at their home. Sure, they’d done it at Sam’s because that was the only bed available, but here?

Sam finally looked and saw that Steve was obviously calculating the pros and cons in his head. But he also knew the longer Steve hesitated, the more anxious Bucky was going to get.

“Steve, its a cold night.” Sam spoke up, trying to ease the tension. “I’ll definitely need the extra body warmth.”

Both Bucky and Steve snorted at that. Steve’s body was about as useful as a heater as a thin towel in Alaska. Despite that, the sentiment seemed enough for Steve to take up the offer. Bucky scooted over so that Sam would be in the middle and Steve climbed into bed on Sam’s right. He turned off the lights before snuggling up against Sam’s back, sighing contentedly.

“S’just like when we were kids, huh, Buck?” Steve whispered, his breath ghosting pleasantly against Sam’s back.

“Sam’s a much better cuddler than Mister Honeysuckle.” Bucky asserted.

“Mister Honeysuckle?” Sam asked, confused.

“Big stuffed giraffe we won at a carnival.” Steve explained as a he wrapped an arm around Sam.

Sam hummed in understanding before letting out a yawn of his own. Quiet fell as all three of them began to answer the tempting call of sleep. Sam couldn’t help but be so grateful to be able to have them both like this.

“I won that giraffe, Rogers.”

Was the last thing whispered into the night.

#samsteve #sambucky #sam wilson #steve rogers #bucky barnes #wilson and stucky's #domestic af #theres no stucky sorry #my fanfic tag

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