#not to mention i thought about my mom for like five minutes this morning and now i'm pissed off

[villageoracle]

inconsolable before clocking in

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

Honey Girl. Chapter Five.

Chapter Four. Chapter Six. Series Masterlist. The Playlist.

Chapter Synopsis - Does absence make the heart grow fonder, or does it just make everything ten times more difficult?

Pairing - Dad'sBestFriend!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader - soulmate au

Warnings - smut. cursing. alcohol consumption. angst. mention of illness.

Age Rating - 18+

Word Count - 5.7k

Author's Note - it's here!! as always, I can't thank you enough for your love, support and patience with this fic. us writers lead busy lives, and i've been trying my hardest to find the time to write whenever I can, so it means so much that you guys stick with me - even when things take longer than expected. love you all. you're angels. please feel free to spam my inbox with thoughts and suggestions - it always makes my day when you're all so passionate. mwah.

as always, reblogs, comments and feedback (even anonymous feedback) are immensely appreciated!! your reblogs are the only way to circulate my fics, which keeps me going <3

Masterlist. Inbox.

The sand is warm beneath your feet, cooling breeze cascading across your skin. The waves caress the shore in repetitive motions, lulling you into calm.

Sunlight beaming down, you shield your eyes and look up, sighing in contentment at the shades of blue that paint the sky.

A shriek and a laugh come from somewhere on your right. You look over and see a couple and their toddler running after each other, sprinting down the beach and into the ocean. The little girl can't stop giggling, tripping over her own feet as she chases her parents. Something tugs at your heart, deep and visceral.

It's been three months since you left home.

It's been three months since you saw Bucky.

He calls every few days, trying to give you the space you need while also keeping in touch. You have to resist the urge to call him every ten minutes. It's an improvement, at least. It was five minutes when you first moved.

He texts you good morning and goodnight everyday without fail, just to let you know he's there. You can't sleep until you get his text. It's like a lullaby, reassuring and soothing. Like a chamomile tea, warming and calming you from the inside out.

You think about him the most at night time. Your days are spent running around preparing for the bakery. Testing, retesting, writing up recipes, measuring out quantities. You want it to be perfect.

The baking is taking your mind off Bucky, for the moment at least. You've thrown yourself into your new role, eager and excited. Stella's ecstatic to have you around. You love that you're still just as close as you were, despite the time apart. Friendships like that are rare.

Lacie calls you most nights. She demands to know what you did that day, who you spoke to, what you made. It's like therapy, sitting and decompressing together over videochat. She's a lifeline, whether she knows it or not.

And of course, the most supportive people in your life - your parents. Your Mom is desperate to come and visit, begging that you let her know when you're less busy so you can show her around. She loves the sunshine just as much as you. A woman after your own heart.

On the nights when the doubt creeps in, unwelcome and dark, you remind yourself how lucky you are. Surrounded by people who adore you, support you, love you unconditionally. And then the night doesn't seem so dark. The light pours through the cracks.

You walk home from the beach, warmed and carried by the knowledge of love.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

"This is ridiculous."

Stella's perched on the edge of your countertop, blush pink macaron in her hand.

"Good ridiculous?"

She scoffs, looking at you incredulously.

"Where did your confidence go? You never doubted yourself in school. Yes, good ridiculous. It shouldn't work, but it does."

Shouldn't work, but it does. Seems to be the story of your life at the moment.

"I need these on the menu."

"You don't think they're a little... pretentious? My best seller is a chocolate chip cookie. A honey and rosewater macaron isn't exactly a childhood favourite."

"Babe. That's the beauty of this. You can put whatever the hell you want out in your bakery. So what if they're unconventional? They're delicious. That's all that matters."

"Okay. Fine."

You relent, thinking about her earlier question. Where did your confidence go? When you graduated culinary school, you never doubted your abilities. Your technique, your flavours, your presentation - you had full faith in all of it. Now, you seem to be second guessing yourself.

You know it's because of your Tethering.

Before, you understood how the world worked. Good, bad, in between. Love, lust, the very clear difference between the two. You watched as other people found their forever person, and acknowledged their new journey.

And then you found Bucky. Or, Bucky found you.

Suddenly, the world you'd lived in before no longer made sense. The people, the places, the relationships, all impacted by the way you feel about your soulmate. Everything, everyone, everywhere, reminds you of Bucky. You're experiencing emotions you've never felt before. It's disorientating, confusing, complex. Your understanding of the world has changed completely.

It takes time to adjust.

No one ever talks about the way your Tethering turns your life upside down.

For some, it's completely positive. They enjoy the uprooting, revel in the change.

For others, it's a huge adaptation. One filled with tears, and confusion, and doubts.

Both are valid. Both are understandable.

You remind yourself of this every day.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

"There's someone in the café that wants to speak to you."

The youngest waitress, Isabel, stands in the kitchen doorway, looking at you hopefully. You set down your piping bag and wash your hands, talking to her over your shoulder.

"Who is it?"

"No idea. Some guy. He's kinda hot. Brown hair, tall, beard."

Your heart skips a beat, breath caught in your lungs. Bucky jokes sometimes about coming to see you, but would he just show up announced? Do you want him to?

You can't feel it in your chest, you realise suddenly. You can't feel the ease, the relief, the knowing. Maybe being apart for so long has weakened your connection. The thought makes you strangely emotional.

You inhale carefully and thank her, before making your way out. It's almost closing time, and there's no one around other than the man stood with his back to you.

He turns around, and you realise quickly that your hope was misplaced. You've never seen this person before. He is handsome, admittedly. But he's not your soulmate.

"Hi."

"Hey. Are you the baker here?"

"I am."

He holds out his hand for you to shake, stepping closer.

"I'm Rafael."

You tell him your name, and he smiles, nodding.

"Forgive me if this is weird, but I had to meet you. To thank you properly, in person."

You don't say anything, so he continues.

"Let me, uh, explain. Sorry, should have started with that. My sister is sick. She's going through treatment currently, and it's been super hard on her. She's had no appetite whatsoever, and she's losing weight rapidly."

He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a load of stuff from this place because my Mom was coming to visit. My sister tried your earl grey and lavender cookie, and ate the entire thing. It was the first time I've seen her eat for weeks. So, I came back and bought basically all of them every day."

You laugh, coming to a realisation. You wondered why those cookies were selling so well all of a sudden.

"I just wanted to say thank you. It might not seem like a big deal, but it's really huge for us. I also wanted to explain why all of those cookies were suddenly going missing at like ten in the morning."

You gesture at him to sit, the both of you taking a seat at one of the tables nearby.

You talk for almost an hour, listening intently to Rafael as he tells you about his family. He moved to California to be with his sister Maria when she got sick, no one else around to care for her. He asks about yours, and you tell him about your parents and their constant encouragement. He's also interested in how you got into baking, so you tell him all about culinary school, and the dreams your Grandma gave you when you were a kid.

"You're really talented, you know."

"I bet you say that to all of the bakers around here. But thank you."

His fingers brush yours where they're resting on the table, making you shiver.

"I'll make Maria her own box, if you like. I'll leave them behind the counter, just tell Isabel who you are."

"You'd do that for her?"

"Of course," you smile. "The idea that I'm helping someone with my silly little creations makes me really happy. We can work out a schedule, and I'll make sure I bake Maria some extras when I do my usual batch."

"You're incredible. Seriously. Thank you."

He squeezes your hand and you squeeze back. The two of you are sat in the café as the sun sets, orange glow illuminating the room. You didn't expect to make a friend today. You're glad you have.

"Well, I should probably go and clean up the kitchen. You know where to find me, if you need anything. It was lovely to meet you, Rafael."

He rises when you do, smiling at you earnestly.

"You too. Nice to finally put a face to the cookie, so to speak."

You chuckle and show him out of the door, waving as he walks down the street. Suddenly, he turns around, striding back towards you.

"I'm so sorry if this is forward, and please feel free to say no, but... are you single? If you are, I'd love to ask you to dinner sometime."

The answer to that question is much more complicated than Rafael could ever imagine. So instead, you say,

"I'm not. I'm Tethered, actually."

His brows raise in surprise, but he's smiling.

"You are?"

"Yeah, I am. He doesn't live here, though. He lives back home, where my parents are."

"You guys are married?"

"No! Not yet. It's, uh... a complex... situation."

"Ah," he says, gentle, knowing look on his face. "I thought Tetherings weren't meant to be complex. Isn't that the whole point? That they're easy?"

You laugh, but it's not malicious. You're thinking about how sweetly naive he is, how he's got a huge storm coming his way one day.

"He's my Dad's best friend."

You're not sure why you're admitting this to a man you met an hour and a half ago, but you are. It's almost a relief, to get it off your chest again - to tell someone who's completely neutral, who doesn't know either of you.

"Woah."

"Yeah."

"That... is complicated."

"Yeah," you chuckle. "Understatement of the century."

Rafael leans against the wall, watching you intently. He's curious.

"How did your parents react?"

"They don't know yet."

His eyebrows raise almost comically high.

"Wait, what? How did you hide that? I thought it was supposed to be impossible to hide that you're Tethered. Although, I guess I had no idea, seeing as I asked you out."

"We wanted to figure it out for ourselves first, before telling anyone. And then I moved out here, so we're doing long distance. Like I said, complex."

"Understatement of the century," he laughs.

You look at each other for a moment, before he smiles.

"I'm sorry I asked you out. I wouldn't have, if I'd known."

"Please, don't apologise. I admire your... courage?" you grin. "And I appreciate you coming to see me today. I have like two friends here in Cali, so it's nice to feel like I've made another."

He smiles again, wider this time. Someone's going to be lucky to be Tethered to him one day, you think.

"I know it might surprise you, given my good looks and... courage," he chuckles, "but I don't have many friends out here either. I've been so focused on Maria, I haven't had time to socialise."

"The Universe works in funny ways, huh?"

"Sure does."

You wander back through the door, ready to close up for good this time.

"I'll see you tomorrow, for the cookies. And I'd love to meet Maria one day, if she's up for it."

"I'm sure she'd love to meet you. I'll bring her by."

"Thanks, Rafael."

"Of course. Thank you."

"Of course."

That night, when your Mom calls, you get to tell her you've made a new friend. That makes the both of you very happy.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

You're testing out a recipe in the kitchen of your new apartment when your phone rings.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo. You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I am, actually. I'm settling in."

"Good, I'm glad. I don't wanna keep you on the phone for too long, but I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead, Dad. Anything."

"How would you feel about surprising your Mom for her birthday?"

"What kind of surprise?"

"I know you haven't been gone all that long, and I know it's kind of last minute, but, I was thinking you could come back to... be her gift? She really misses you, you know."

"I miss her too," you say softly, trying to keep your voice even. "I'll talk to Stella, see if we can figure something out. I'd really love to see you guys."

"We'd really love to see you too, sweetheart."

"I'll call you back later, when I've organised everything. Love you, Dad. See you soon, hopefully."

"Love you, kiddo. Proud of you, you know."

"I know," you smile. "I know."

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

The journey always seems shorter when you know you're going home.

You make it back in record time, salty ocean breeze whipping through your hair as you cruise along the roads. You take a deep breath and sigh it out, relief filling your lungs. It's good to be back.

You can't let your Mom see you, so you head straight back to your apartment. Your Dad told you they're in the process of renting it out, but they haven't made much progress yet. For now, it's still yours.

You inhale the familiar scent, smiling gently. There's something so particular about the way a place smells when you feel like you belong there. It's like home and comfort and ease all rolled into one.

You unpack a little, folding your clothes and tucking them into the dresser. You told Stella you'd probably stay a few days, wanting to spend as much time with your family as possible. You're rifling through the refrigerator and thinking about a grocery list when there's a knock at your door.

You know who it is.

A feeling of relief washes over your body, tension melting from your shoulders. Your lungs fill easier, your breath falls deeper, everything is a little brighter, a little more colourful.

You open the door to be met with the sight of Bucky Barnes.

He's in work pants and a white t shirt that's stained with grease and oil, heavy boots on his feet. He must have come straight from the Garage.

He looks at you carefully, as if he isn't sure that you're real. You rake your eyes over his form, trying to drink him in. All the pictures you've taken and saved don't do him justice.

He exhales, beaming grin appearing on his face.

"You're here."

You can't help but smile back, his happiness spreading through you.

"I'm here."

Bucky rushes forward and scoops you into his arms, enveloping you completely. He wraps himself around you as he tucks you into his chest, his grip tight and unrelenting. You breathe him in, overwhelmed with emotion and sensation. You didn't realise how much you needed this. Three months is too long.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, slight shake in his voice. He's holding off tears. So are you.

"My Dad wanted me to surprise my Mom for her birthday. It's all a secret."

He smiles, before leaning down to capture your lips in a knee buckling kiss. A kiss that says I missed you. A kiss that says I need you. A kiss that says please don't leave me again.

"How did you know?" you whisper when you pull away for air.

"I felt it. I think I knew the moment you arrived back in town. Thought my mind was playing tricks on me, for a second. But there's no mistaking that feeling. I had to come and see for myself."

"We're getting pretty good at this whole soulmate thing, huh?" you laugh, unaware of the tears running down your face. "I missed you, Buck. So much."

"I missed you too," he murmurs, kissing you again. "Didn't think I was going to survive, some days."

"Me too. Do you know how many times I stood with my car keys in my hand, ready to drive back to you?"

He chuckles and then sniffles, emotion dripping down his cheeks.

"I did exactly the same thing. So many times."

You wrap your arms around his middle, reveling in the way he smells like gasoline and home.

"How long are you here for?" he murmurs, worried he'll disturb the peace.

"I'm not sure. A good few days, at least."

"Okay," he breathes. "I can do a few days. We can do a few days."

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't know, to be honest. It was all kinda last minute."

"It's okay, pretty thing," he mutters into your hair. "It was a nice surprise."

"You're coming tonight, right? To my Mom's party?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

You stay wrapped up in each other for a little while longer, savouring his warmth. He rubs absentminded patterns across the skin of your back, committing the softness of it to his memory.

"I should probably get back to work. I took off with no warning."

"You're the boss. You're allowed," you chuckle.

He laughs with you, and the sound lights up your nerves, illuminates your bones. It settles itself in the hollows of your ribcage, tangles itself in your heartstrings. It's like medicine.

"Can't wait to see you tonight," you whisper. "Wear something cute."

"I always do," he winks, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "Miss you already."

"Miss you more."

He looks at you, smiling.

"Man, we're the worst."

"Truly."

He kisses you once, twice, three times before finally leaving, reluctant to let you go. You spend the rest of the afternoon floating on air, relaxed and at ease. You haven't felt like this in a while.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

Your Dad sneaks you into the house through the side door, hiding you in the kitchen as he ushers your Mom through to the back yard.

It's decorated with floral garlands and streamers, flowers in vases covering the table he's set up. The golden, warm fairy lights illuminate the space, keeping it soft and intimate. He's been watching, carefully observing the way that she does things. He's recreated her party style perfectly.

There's a few of her closest friends waiting for her, gifts littering the spare chairs. Your Dad walks her outside, hands covering her eyes.

"Surprise!"

You watch through the door as your Mom gasps, grin on her face.

"Oh my God! You guys!"

She runs into your Dad, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I can't believe you managed to pull this off," she says in disbelief.

He sets her back down on the ground and kisses her gently.

"I got you something. I hope you like it."

That's your cue. You sneak out as quietly as possible, standing behind her.

"Happy Birthday, Mama."

She whips around to face you, shock written across her face. Her eyes well up, tears threatening to spill. Yours do the same, bottom lip quivering.

She throws her arms around you, tugging you into her.

"I'm so happy you're here, baby girl. I missed you so much."

"Missed you. You look beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you! Look at you, all sun kissed and glowy. You look so pretty, sweetheart."

You grin at her and she does the same back, your Dad beaming at your identical smiles.

"You're the best gift I've ever received. Then and now."

You're overwhelmed, suddenly, by the realisation that no matter what happens, no matter what life throws at you, no matter how many miles are between you - your Mom will always be in your corner. Your Dad will always be in your corner. Bucky will always be in your corner.

You think, for a moment, that despite everything, you might just be okay.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

The night goes off without a hitch.

You drink, you laugh, you sing. You and your Mom dance to ABBA, Bowie, Donna Summer. Your Dad joins in, and can't help but grin every time he watches his girls together.

What a life, he thinks. I'm the luckiest man in the world.

When everyone gets a little past tipsy, your Mom changes the music to something slower, jazzier, richer. Your Dad pulls her into his chest, holding her close as they move to the melody. You're sat at the table taking off your heels when Bucky slides into the seat next to you. He pulls your foot into his lap and undoes the strap, sliding the shoe off gently. He rubs his thumb into your sole, smirking when you groan.

"Have you been avoiding me tonight, pretty baby?"

His cheeks are flushed slightly, top few buttons of his shirt open. He's been drinking a little, his walls lowered more than usual.

"I have to."

"Oh yeah?"

"I feel like I'm gonna burst into flames every time you look at me," you whisper. "I kinda want to rip your clothes off, baby."

He groans at the nickname. You know exactly what you're doing.

"It only takes one look for a minute too long to figure out how I feel about you, Buck. They'll work it all out instantly."

"Dance with me," he murmurs suddenly. "Your parents are too busy staring into each others eyes. Come on, honey. One dance."

His big blue eyes bore into yours, and you know you're fucked. You're never going to be able to say no to him.

"One dance," you whisper.

He takes your hand and leads you to the decked area, brightened by the golden lights. Bucky slides a hand over your back, resting there carefully. You intertwine your fingers with his and step into him, embracing the warmth that rolls off his body.

I'll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday begins to play, and the two of you start to sway gently, eyes never leaving each others. Bucky pulls you in closer, and you melt into him. You don't care about the repercussions anymore.

Maybe it's the wine talking. Maybe it's something else.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

"That was close!"

Your Mom's giggling as your Dad holds her, having just saved her from tripping down the front steps. Everyone's giddy, both from drinking and from laughing.

"Sweetheart. Bucky. Come back for lunch tomorrow. Your Dad ordered too much catering, and we need help eating it."

"Mama, are you sure?"

"I want to see you as much as possible before you go, babygirl. You too, Buck. I feel like we don't see you as much as we used to."

"He'll be there," you reply before he can protest. "We'll carpool, and I'll bring a strawberry and cream tart that I made for you."

She kisses you on the cheek, your Dad leaning in to kiss the other side.

"Love you both."

"Love you," they say in unison, laughing and yelling jinx. "Get home safe, you two!"

"I'll take care of her," Bucky chuckles. "Always."

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

"Why don't you see my parents much anymore?"

You and Buck are walking home along the sandy coastal path, fingers intertwined and sides pressed together. You look up at him, frowning slightly when he hesitates.

"Don't lie to me, James. I can feel it, remember."

You place a hand on your chest to remind him, and he nods.

"It's not the same here without you."

You weren't expecting the sincerity. It knocks you off balance a little.

You stop when you reach a wooden bench, sitting down and pulling him with you.

"So you're isolating yourself from the people who love you?"

He smiles, sadness rife in his eyes. Your tough guy act is crumbling.

"Not on purpose. It just kinda happened."

"You promised you'd talk to me, Buck. Especially if it got too hard. You need to accept support from people, or everything is going to come crashing down."

"I know. I know. But every time I go to their house, I'm expecting you to be there. Every time I go to the beach, I'm expecting you to be there. Every time I walk past your building, I'm expecting you to be there, waiting for me to pick you up. Even when I'm sailing, I can't stop thinking about that day we spent on the boat."

"The other day I had to make three batches of buttercream, because I messed up the first two. I was so distracted thinking about you that I split them both."

He laughs, then, wholehearted and genuine. You can't help but join him, shaking your head at the absurdity of it all.

"Bucky, you have to promise that you'll keep going, even without me. You have to see my Mom and Dad like you used to, you have to still sail and go to the beach. You can't put your life on hold for me."

He takes a deep breath, sliding an arm around your shoulders to pull you in closer.

"Okay. I promise."

You whip your head around to look at him.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that, honey. You're right. I've been waiting for you to come back, so I can start living again. But life is still happening, whether you're here or not."

"Wise words, wise man," you smile. "Not a minute goes by where I don't think of you. You know that, don't you?"

"I know. I feel it."

You watch as he brings your linked hands to his chest, placing them there. You rest your head on his shoulder, lulled into calm by the steady melody of his heart. You swear it beats to the rhythm of your name.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

The two of you can't bear the idea of separating, so Buck comes home with you.

"Have you got a blanket?" he asks as he's kicking off his shoes.

"I have. What for?"

"The couch."

You process for a moment before it clicks.

"You're not sleeping on the couch, Buck."

"No?"

"No. I want your ridiculous, radiator-like body heat in bed with me."

He smiles, all giddy and lopsided, before striding across the room to you. Cradling your face in his rough hands, he kisses you with fervour. He's making up for lost time.

You tangle your fingers into his hair, tugging and pulling, smirking when he groans. He retaliates by grabbing your ass and picking you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. He carries you through to your bedroom, lips never leaving yours.

Throwing you down onto the bed, he pulls his shirt over his head, watching you hungrily as you do the same with your dress. You're left in your underwear, leaving little to the imagination.

"You're so beautiful," he murmurs. "Makes me want to cry."

You reach for him as he settles on top of you, your hand sliding along his stubbled cheek.

"I'm so glad you're feeling what I'm feeling," you whisper. "I'd think I was going insane otherwise."

Bucky kisses you again, before trailing his lips across your jaw, your ear, your neck. He's careful not to leave any marks, as much as he wants to. You glide your hands along the expanse of his shoulders, his back, his biceps. He's so strong, so broad. It makes you ache.

"So fuckin' pretty," he mumbles against your chest. "Like a goddamn dream."

You throw your head back as he attaches his mouth to your tits, nipping and sucking as he goes. Your hands are in his hair again, reveling in the way his groans vibrate through you.

Bucky slots his knee in between your legs as he kisses across your chest, smirking when you grind your hips into it. You chase the friction as best you can, moaning when it hits you just right.

"Needy baby. You don't want my fingers? My mouth? No? Just my knee?"

You nod, then shake your head. You're not sure what you're asking for, drunk on him already.

"Please, Buck. Anything."

"I'll give you whatever you want if you keep saying my name like that."

He makes quick work of pulling your underwear down your legs, swiping his fingers through your wet heat.

"Oh, fuck," he chokes. "Fuck, honey. Is this all for me? Hmm?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

"Yeah?"

"It's yours, Buck. I'm yours."

Bucky drops his head forward, bumping your nose with his.

"I think that's my favourite thing you've ever said," he mumbles against your mouth.

You reach up to kiss him, sucking his tongue before biting at his lips. You can't get close enough. Every inch of your skin is pressed to his, and you still want more.

Bucky crawls down the bed, situating himself between your legs. He nudges at you with his nose before diving in, lapping at you like a man starved.

You'd forgotten what people said about sex when you're Tethered, but it all comes back to you now. Everything is heightened, your senses on overdrive. It's like Bucky has the handbook to your body, and all he has to do is read the instructions the Universe has given him.

He's got you teetering on the edge in no time, right on the precipice. No ones ever made you feel like this. It feels like some sort of small miracle is happening, an otherworldly connection.

"Give it to me, honey baby," he murmurs into you. "Let me see how pretty you look when you come."

You tug at his hair as you reach your climax, the vibrations of his groan only prolonging your release. Bucky helps you ride it out, only ceasing his action when he's satisfied you're satisfied.

He rests his head against your thigh and looks up at you as you come down, breathing heavily.

"You good?"

"So good," you grin. "Never better."

"Me neither," he whispers, crawling up your body to kiss you again. You taste yourself and whine, desperate to feel closer to him.

"Need you," you demand against his lips. "Need you more than anything."

"I know, baby," he soothes as he smooths the hair back from your face. "Gonna give you everything you want. Anything in the world."

You're on the verge of tears again, completely overwhelmed. He's looking at you like you hung the stars in the sky just for him. You think maybe you would, if he asked you to.

Bucky slides home in one gentle thrust, easy as breathing. The both of you exhale, savouring the moment. It's like nothing either of you have ever felt before.

You pull his face down to you, resting your foreheads against each other.

"Buck, I-"

"I know," he breathes. "Fuck, I know."

"Need you to move, baby."

He nods and kisses you sweetly, before pulling his hips back and gliding forward. The angle is just right, both of you keening.

"Fuck, honey. So pretty. So tight. Fuck."

Bucky sets a steady rhythm, not too fast, not too slow. It's like he can read your mind, knowing exactly what you need. All you can say is his name as stars cloud your vision.

He slides his hand down your front, rubbing perfect circles on your clit with his fingers. You clamp down on him and he groans, low and gutteral.

"Need you to come, pretty baby," he whispers hoarsely. "Please. Waited so long for this. Please."

The desperation in his tone is what throws you into your release, muscles tensing and back arched. You grip his biceps, scratching your nails into his sun kissed skin.

Bucky can't hold on any longer, falling over the edge with you. The way he says your name as he does will be ingrained in your mind forever.

He drops his weight onto you entirely, no longer able to hold himself up. You wrap your arms around him, drawing absent minded patterns across his back. You're both sweating and panting. You're both completely content.

"Holy shit," he whispers after a while.

"You think it's gonna be like that every time?" you ask, grinning.

Bucky rolls off you and lands on the bed beside you, pulling you into his chest.

"Honey, just you wait. I've got moves you've never seen."

You snort, unable to hold in your laughter. You're floating on cloud nine, satiated and warm.

"You're the worst," you giggle, running your fingers over his abs gently.

The two of you stay intertwined for hours, enjoying the way your bodies fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. You both drift in and out of sleep, conversing in the gaps. At some points, you just lay in silence, completely comfortable. No one needs to say anything. You both know what the other person is thinking.

Eventually, the sun rises, casting the room in a golden orange glow. Bucky looks like an angel, illuminated by the morning light. You wonder for a second if he is, sent down as a gift to you.

Suddenly, you feel an intense sadness in your chest. You look up at Bucky from where you lay across him, and see a single tear drip down his cheek.

"I don't want you to go."

The only sound that can be heard is his sorrow hitting the pillow.

"I don't think I want to go."

He strokes your hair softly, taking a deep breath to try and get a handle on his emotions.

"You have to, baby. It's your dream."

Your bottom lip wobbles for a second, before the words come spilling out.

"You're my dream."

Bucky sniffles, and you continue.

"I could have nothing, but I have everything if I have you."

You sit up and Bucky does too, capturing your lips in a tear stained kiss.

"We'll be okay, my honey girl."

You crawl into his lap and wrap your arms around his neck, letting his warmth bleed into your bones.

"I know," you say, unsure if you're trying to convince yourself or him.

You know you'll be okay. It just doesn't feel like it right now.

You wonder how many times you can keep leaving and coming back before one of your hearts breaks for good.

tag list part one

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[covenofagatha]

Nicky's mom has got it going on (Part 2)

More flirting from Agatha the morning after and then the much anticipated Halloween party starts...

Word count: 2500

Warnings: allusions to smut

The sunlight streaming in through the windows wakes you up and you stretch with a groan. It takes a few seconds for you to get your bearings and heat floods your face at the memory of Agatha last night. 

You really need to get a hold of yourself. 

You brush your teeth and head downstairs. The door to Nicky’s room is shut, which doesn’t surprise you. You cannot sleep past eight, meanwhile, he can easily sleep until noon if he isn’t interrupted. 

Agatha is down in the kitchen, humming to herself as she cooks eggs on the stove. 

“Good morning,” you say quietly so you don’t startle her. She turns around, eyes raking up and down your body, still clad in the nightie she gave you last night. The older woman’s hair is messy and she wears a black robe with flower designs, still managing to look hot as fuck. The robe has a low V-neck and you have to make an active effort not to stare.

“Hey, sweetheart. My clothes look good on you,” she says with a smirk. You have to bite back a comment about how they’d look even better on her floor. “How’d you sleep?” 

She turns back to the stove, but has her head tilted toward you so you can tell she’s still listening. 

“I slept great,” you answer honestly. “The bed is so comfortable I might just move in.” 

She gives you a heated glance. “I’d be more than okay with that.” 

You swallow hard. “Thanks for having me over for dinner and for letting me spend the night. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime, dear. You’re always welcome,” she says warmly. “What time do you have to leave for work?”

You glance at the clock. Your shift starts at 9:30 am and it’s currently 8:15. It’s a twenty minute drive from their house. “Around 9 or so.” 

She hums and scoops some eggs onto a plate and hands it to you. They’re scrambled, your favorite. She retrieves a fork and gives that to you as well, your hands slightly brushing. 

“Thank you so much,” you say and sit on a stool at the island so you can watch her. She makes herself a plate and stands on the other side by the sink so you’re facing each other. 

“So, you’re dressing up as a witch for Halloween,” she starts. You blink, and then recall that you had mentioned that last night. “Why a witch?”

“I don’t know. I’m really into witchcraft and all that, plus they’re a staple of Halloween. I just think their history is really fascinating and there’s all different kinds of representation of witches in the media. I also just like the costumes,” you hastily add, not wanting to bore her with your nerdy thoughts. But Agatha is hanging on to every word, nodding in agreement.

“I’m glad Nicky has a friend as smart as you. And I’m sure you’ll look great in a witch’s costume,” she says with a wink. 

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” She looks positively delighted that you’re playing along and internally you are proud of yourself. If she’s going to flirt with you, maybe you can have some fun back. “Are you dressing up for your party?”

She laughs at that. “Dear, I think I’m a little too old for that. No one wants to see a forty-five year old woman dressed as Snow White.” 

You bite your lip. It’s got to be a crime to be this turned on by how old she is. “Maybe not a princess. You could be a witch. Or maybe a cowboy or something.” Images of her wearing a slutty Halloween costume flitter across your mind and you work hard to push them out. 

“Maybe you can pick me something out. Now eat your eggs before they get cold.”

You obey. You’d do anything she says, you think. She also picks up her fork and is bringing the egg to her open mouth (not that you’re staring or anything) when a piece of egg falls off and falls right into the open V of her chest. 

“Whoops,” she says innocently. She cranes her neck to look down and swipe the egg up with her finger and then sucks the finger into her mouth. She looks up at you, meeting your eyes. “You’re staring, sweetheart.”

You stammer out an apology, blushing harder than ever, but she doesn’t seem to mind. The last thing you want to do is make her uncomfortable in her own home, but she seems to be enjoying the effect she has on you.

“I don’t mind, dear. It’s always nice to get some attention.”Oh, come on. She has to be flirting with you now. “Ever since Nicky’s father left…” She trails off. 

“I’m sorry,” you say lamely, because you don’t know what else to say. You don’t know the story of what happened and you don’t want to make Agatha feel like she has to talk about it. But if she thinks that no one would pay her attention when she looks like that, she is wrong. 

She gives you a soft smile and then brightens up. “It was for the best. I realized that I wanted something different than he could offer. He was a safe option, but I was tired of that. I wanted something new.” Her eyes burn into you as they travel down to your chest. 

Is she saying what you think she’s saying?

You look down at yourself just to make sure you didn’t accidentally spill anything and you see your nipples poking through the silky material of Agatha’s nightie. Oh. You look back up and she finally tears her eyes away and looks at you. 

“Who’s staring now?” you say before you even have a chance to think about it. Her grin is wolfish and her stare is unapologetic. She shrugs. 

“I’m just admiring how good my clothes look on you. Why don’t you keep it? Any woman who gets the pleasure of seeing you in it is a lucky one,” she says. 

“Oh, I couldn’t–” Is she counting herself lucky? Or is she just being nice?

“I insist.”

“Thank you.” And now you need to get out of here before you explode. You shovel the rest of the eggs into your mouth, stand up, and go to the sink to wash off your plate. 

You’ve just turned the water on when, all of a sudden, her warm body presses against you. Your brain short-circuits and you freeze. Her arm reaches around and shuts the water off and she pries the plate from your hand. 

“Let me,” she whispers right in your ear. You shiver and you turn around. Her face is three inches from yours, her body just a hair away. You can feel her hot breath on your face and you can’t help yourself from looking down at her lips. 

Her tongue darts out and licks her lips and oh god, you are going to kiss her. 

You look back up and meet her hooded blue eyes. Neither of you move, and you’re just about to say fuck it and lean in when you hear a noise from upstairs. 

Nicky. He must be awake. 

Agatha smirks and steps back, putting some space between you and you finally feel like you can breathe. 

“I should probably get going. I think I’ll run by my house and change my clothes,” you tell her, heart going a hundred miles an hour. 

“Good plan,” she says, not taking her eyes off you. “I’ll see you on Halloween.”

You give her a tight smile. “Tell Nicky I’ll see him Monday?” She nods and you quickly leave her house. Once in your car, you run a hand through your blonde hair and inhale and exhale slowly. 

Holy shit. 

***

The next few days pass quickly. Your Halloween costume comes in and you don’t remember it being this tight or short when you ordered it. The black long-sleeve crop top accentuates your breasts and the dark purple miniskirt barely covers your ass. The purple hat is really the only thing that looks like it belongs to a witch. 

You don’t care, though. If anything, you can’t wait to see Agatha’s reaction to it, assuming the looks and the touches and everything else from her last week wasn’t just a fluke. 

A text from Nicky buzzes on your phone, saying that you can come over whenever for the party. It’s supposed to start at 8 pm. It’s an hour and a half before, so you text him back that you’ll get ready and then come over. 

You curl your shoulder length blonde hair and the black smokey eye makeup makes your green eyes pop. You finish off with a cherry red lipstick. You put your costume on, topping it off with a pair of knee high black boots. 

You have to admit, you look hot and your stomach warms at the thought of Agatha seeing you like this. 

You arrive at their house at 7:45. You see no other cars in their driveway, but you figure it’s early and you’re best friends with Nicky anyways, so who cares. 

The doorbell rings and it almost immediately swings open. Nicky stands there, black vest, black-and-red striped pants, a sword hanging from his belt, and a pirate hat on his head. He whistles at you. 

“Damn, you look good,” he says, stepping over so you have room to come in. 

“I’m glad you found a costume in time,” you remark, laughing as his fake sword gets in the way. 

“Mom would’ve had my head on a spike if I didn’t,” he replies solemnly. “Come on, we’re almost done setting up. You can help me spike the punch.”

You follow him into the kitchen and are taken aback by how decorated it is. The lights are dim and it looks like cobwebs are covering the countertops. Fog is rolling in from somewhere. Fake spiders and bones are strategically placed around the kitchen. There’s donut holes decorated to look like eyeballs, the punch is bright green and in a cauldron, there’s candy. 

It’s going to be an awesome party. 

“Nicky, can you grab the tape from the drawer,” Agatha yells from somewhere else, not in the kitchen. Your friend springs into action and leaves you alone in the kitchen. 

You slowly walk around the island, tracing a finger along the cobwebs. You pick up an eyeball-donut and pop it into your mouth. It’s good. You can tell how much thought Agatha and Nicky have put into setting up for the party and you love it. 

“Where did you say it was?” you hear Agatha say, you’re guessing to Nicky, her voice growing louder. You spin around just in time for her to enter the kitchen, stopping in her tracks the moment she sees you. 

“Hi,” you say sheepishly, covering your mouth as you finish chewing on the donut. Her mouth settles into a smirk as her eyes trace you up and down. 

“Quite the getup, sweetheart,” she says in a low voice. 

You blush and then notice what she’s wearing. Maroon leather pants and a long black vest that doesn’t touch in the middle, leaving a strip of skin all the way down from her neck to her wide belt. A headband is wrapped around her head, bunching the hair at the top. 

“Look at you,” you say breathlessly. You want nothing more than to run your tongue down her bare chest and listen to her moan. 

“I decided to dress up after all. Now, would you be a dear and hand me the scissors from the bottom drawer to the left of the fridge?” 

You nod and it’s as you're bending down that you remember how short your skirt is and you realize that Agatha can probably see the lacy purple underwear you’re wearing (just for her). You swear you hear her breath hitch and suddenly you feel her presence right behind you. 

Her warm hand touches your lower back and you fight the urge to gasp. 

“Did you find it?” she murmurs. She leans over you and her hand slides down you, almost reaching your ass. Fuck. 

“Yep!” you almost squeal and jump up. You hand her the scissors and she deliberately puts her hand over yours to grab them. 

There’s no way this is in your head. Agatha is either playing some cruel joke on you, or she actually wants you. 

And you’re praying to god that it’s the second one. 

***

Thirty minutes later, the party is in full-swing. It seems to you that the entire neighborhood must be here. People in costumes fill the kitchen and the surrounding halls and you push through the crowds to find your way back to the punch. You’re not sure what’s all in it, but it’s addicting. Nicky and you had poured an entire bottle of vodka in it, much to Agatha’s chagrin, but almost every partygoer you saw was drinking it. 

You scoop yourself another cup and lean back on the island, slowly sipping it, just watching everybody at the party. An older man dressed as a police officer comes over to you, obviously drunk from the way he’s moving. 

“What’s a pretty young thing doing at this party all alone?” he slurs, the smell of vodka and maybe something else hitting your face. You wince. 

“I’m not alone, I’m about to go find my friend,” you say loudly over the music and stand up straight so you can leave. 

He grabs your wrist. You feel a spike of fear flash through you, but in an instant, you feel a protective arm wrap around your shoulders. You turn your head, figuring it’s Nicky, but instead, it’s his mother. 

“Herb, get out of here,” she says harshly and steers you away. Her arm doesn’t leave your shoulders and her hand has started stroking your bicep. “You alright?” 

“Yeah, no, I’m fine. Thank you for that. He was just a little drunk,” you say, not quite sure why she’s leading you up the stairs. 

“That doesn’t excuse it,” she says, a tight expression on her face. She takes you into her room and motions for you to sit on her bed. She sits next to you. 

You don’t know what’s happening, but you’re in Agatha’s room with Agatha, so you’re not complaining. “Well, luckily I had my knight in shining armor to protect me,” you say, nudging her shoulder with your own. 

She smiles and tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear. “You look really nice,” she says. “Super witchy.” 

You laugh at that. “I didn’t realize I ordered the slutty witch costume. Must’ve accidentally ordered it a few sizes too small.”

“I’m glad you did,” she flirts, her eyes obviously dropping down to your cleavage. 

“Agatha…” you whisper, not sure where you’re going with it. It’s wrong, you know it’s wrong. She’s your best friend’s mother. She’s twenty-five years older than you. There’s no way she’d want someone this young, this inexperienced. 

“Yes, sweetheart?” she whispers back, looking back up at you. 

Your brain is going a mile a minute trying to figure out what to say. But what can you say?

So you just lean forward and press your lips to hers. 

[yoongiseesawmp3]

ceilings - san

summary: pe teacher!san x single mom!reader. your kid is finally ready to go to school, and you're spiraling. thankfully, you find friendship with your kid's teacher and she becomes determined to become your best friend. simultaneously, she tries to set you up with the cute pe teacher, but you know him from somewhere deep within your past. can the truth come out without jeopardizing your future?

word count: 12.4k

warnings: afab reader so gendered terms, mentions of accidental pregnancy

masterlist / part two

"violet, come on, we're gonna be late!" you shout to your daughter. it's her first day of kindergarten, her first day of real school, and you're so close to tears. you want to cry because your baby is growing up, because you won't get to cart your little mini me around with you everywhere now, because you're so stressed about getting her to school on time. it's been a rough morning, and your daughter taking her sweet time is not helping.

"i'm almost ready!" she shouts back from the bathroom, and you suppress a groan. what does a five year old have to primp for?

"one more minute and i'm dragging you to the car!" you threaten lightheartedly, knowing she'll only take it to mean she has a minute before you go and help her.

"i'm done," she says proudly as she appears in the doorway to the kitchen. hands on her hips she asks, "how do i look?"

"ridiculous," you laugh. "is that my shirt?"

"and my belt!" she defends herself. "i thought it was cute."

"it is cute, baby, but maybe you should wear something more comfortable for the first day?" you offer. you shuffle over to the laundry basket you left on the stairs and dig around for an outfit, handing your stubborn daughter some jeans and a sweater. "just wear something comfy today, and later this week you can dress silly."

"i wasn't dressed silly, i was dressed like you," violet mumbles, and you roll your eyes. your daughter definitely got your sass, and your stubbornness, but the resemblance kind of stops there. she's a spitting image of her father, a constant reminder of the mistake you made when you were younger. but it wasn't really a mistake, was it? if it brought you the one thing that's made you happier than anything before, it wasn't a mistake at all. violet was the best thing that ever happened to you, and again, the waterworks threaten to fall as you think about dropping her off for her first day of school. a day, you realize, you're late for.

"c'mon sugar, we gotta go!" you shout, grabbing her hello kitty backpack. "i've got your stuff, meet me in the car!"

-

you work close enough to violet's school that you can be one of those annoying carpool parents swarming the school grounds every day. while violet may hate it, you're so excited for all the memories that will come from these trips to and from school each day. like today, you'll always remember how violet started crying a few minutes down the road, claiming she didn't want to go to school because she didn't want to eat school lunch.

"it's not that bad, vi." you tell her as you peek at her through the rearview. "i remember loving some days of school lunch so much i would always go, even if i was sick."

"but you only liked some days," she sniffed. "what if i don't like any of the days?"

"then i'll pack you a lunch," you assure her. "just try it this week, every day, because some days will be better than others. then if you don't like any of it i'll start making your lunch. how does that sound?"

"okay," she nods, her sad little sniffles clearing up. "thank you mommy."

"we're almost there," you say quietly, more to yourself than to your daughter. "are you excited, sugar?"

"kinda," she admits. "i'm excited to see miss jen!"

"she's gonna be a great teacher," you agree. "you're gonna learn so much, and you're gonna have so much fun with her and all the friends you're gonna make. right?"

violet nods again, and you're satisfied for now. you're sure your baby is alright to go off to school for the first time, at least for the time being. surely there will be another thing to freak about later in the day, but for now you need to worry about navigating this carpool line. a man in workout clothes with a haggard looking traffic vest is directing traffic, and while you pass him, you feel your heart skip a beat.

it can't be him, right? there's no way he works here. it can't be. you keep driving, following the cones until you pull up to the sidewalk and a very kind looking teacher approaches your car with a soft smile.

"good morning!" he chirps. "i'm mr. kang, the librarian," he says as he stoops to peer through your window. his gaze goes to the backseat, asking violet, "are you ready for the best day ever?"

she nods shyly, and you watch as she undoes her car seat and slides out of the car with her too big book bag engulfing her frame as she walks away. you shout her name and she turns, a nervous look on her face.

"have a great day, my love!" you blow her a kiss for good measure, and you carry the way she smiles proudly with you for the rest of the day. the man in the traffic vest is all but forgotten, but he watches from afar in confusion. was he seeing things, or were you really here dropping off a kid? a kid, in fact, who looked exactly like he did at that age. weird, he thinks, but he shakes it off and continues directing traffic, wondering how he could find a way to introduce himself over the next few days.

-

when you were younger, your parents always supported you academically, but they were never involved with the school itself. pta meetings were not their thing, and it was a struggle getting them to take off work for a parent/teacher conference. you had decided early on that you would be one of those involved parents, one that knew your kid's teacher well and participated in room mom activities. you were texting violet's teacher last night, actually, asking if there was anything you could bring to help celebrate the first week, and she was eager to have the help.

she'd asked you to bring lollipops, so on thursday afternoon you're searching for a parking spot before school lets out. you were going to drop the goodies off at violet's classroom and help jen with the goody bags during dismissal, quick and easy. except, an intimidating figure walking toward your car may not make this process as easy as you'd have hoped.

san saw your car pull up and immediately stepped out into the parking lot. as the unofficial carpool guardian, one of his daily jobs is stopping parents who try to cheat the system by taking up faculty spots so they can be first in line. san didn't know it was you or he would've approached with a different demeanor, but today was rough. he had at least two criers per class and one kid who ran so hard after lunch he puked outside san's office. he wasn't in the mood to deal with a privileged parent, so he lets out a deep sigh as he approaches your now open window.

"ma'am you can't park here-" he starts, but as soon as his eyes meet yours he chokes on his words. "y/n?"

"hi san," you smile shyly, heartbeat racing. "so i can't park here? there weren't any guest spots out front, and i need to take something to vi's class-"

"vi?" san questions, and you let out a deep sigh of your own.

"violet," you tell him. "my..my daughter."

"i thought that was you the other day," san admits, and you nod in confirmation. "well, um, if you're just coming to drop something off, you're all good, you can leave your car-"

"oh really? i can move, it's no problem-"

"no, no, don't worry about it-"

"are you sure?" you ask, finally stopping the awkward back and forth. "you won't tattle?"

"pinky promise," san laughs, holding your door for your as you get out. "but i'd sneak out before carpool starts up if i were you, it'll be hard to pull out once the lot fills up."

"got it," you nod graciously, slipping your hand into the backseat to grab the bag of candy. san is still standing there, so you clear your throat and try to leave. "well, thanks for letting me-"

"no worries-"

"it was good seeing you-"

"yeah, yeah..." san trails off. once you're a few feet away he calls your name. you turn to see what he needs, and he thinks about it before shrugging. "never mind," he says. "it was nice to see you."

"bye san," you manage to get out before you turn the corner, hands sweaty and heart doing funny flips in your chest.

you hadn't told violet about your visit, so when jen lets you into the room you hear an excited squeal followed by a pair of small arms wrapped around your legs. violet looks up at you proudly, a spot of something on her cheek. you forget sometimes, just how much she looks like san, but your exchange outside has him fresh on the brain. she has his smile. you shake the thoughts from your head and try to take a step, but violet won't budge.

"hey sugar," you laugh, ruffling her hair with your free hand. "go back to your seat, school's not over yet."

"but-"

"violet, do you want to show your mom where to put the bags she brought?" jen offers, and you send her a thankful look. violet tugs on your hand, bringing you over to the "treasure box" which is really just a filing cabinet jen must have filled with candy and toys. violet shows you each drawer, and you make her look away as you place the candy in it's appropriate drawer so it won't ruin the surprise for now. satisfied with her work, violet goes back to her seat as the bell rings for dismissal. you organize some of the other things you brought on jen's desk as she goes over reminders for the class, and then the first few rounds of students start leaving.

"thanks for bringing all this," jen says as she joins you.

"do you need help putting them together?" you ask, and she thinks for a moment.

"no, i don't want to keep you," she starts.

"well, i think i'm stuck for a while anyway," you inform her. "i had to park in a faculty spot, and carpool-"

"oh yeah, you're definitely stuck," jen laughs. "let me get everything set up, and then you can start while i help the rest of the kids leave, if you don't mind?"

"not at all!" you assure her, looking out to find violet watching you both like a hawk. "do you think we'll need another set of hands though?" jen follows your gaze and laughs before waving violet over. the three of you get everything set up, and you ask violet about her day as jen organizes the next group of kids for bus call.

"it was good!" violet says happily. "i liked lunch today."

"what did they have?"

"chicken sammiches," she says, and you laugh.

"sandwiches, baby," you tell her. "sammiches is a me and you word, but some people may not know what that means."

"i like chicken sandwiches and chicken sammiches," she nods. "and then we had pe and a boy in my class threw up. he had pizza."

"gross," you crinkle your nose. "you liked pe though?"

"yeah, it was fun!" violet goes off on a tangent about all the games, and jen rejoins you to help finish the bags. the three of you fall into comfortable conversation with violet as the life of the party. you like jen, you find yourself thinking. you hope it's not weird to be friends with your kid's teacher, because you could really use one here. you're lost in that thought, so you don't notice when someone appears in the doorway.

"mr. choi!" violet chirps, abandoning her task and rushing to meet him. never met a stranger, your child, because she's tugging his hand and bringing him over to you. "this is mommy."

"that's not her name though, is it violet?" jen asks, ever the teacher.

"y/n," san nods, and you don't miss the way jen looks from you to san to violet and back again. "did you get tricked into staying late?"

"no, i offered," you reply. "but i didn't have a choice, i didn't listen to your advice and couldn't leave before carpool started."

"you're all good now," he says, holding up his reflective vest all crumpled in his big hand. "just sent the last kid home."

"good to know," you nod. "vi, where's your stuff? we'll leave soon."

"no!" she whines. "i don't wanna leave!"

"don't you want a snack though?" you tempt her, and that sends the mini menace into motion.

"to what do i owe the pleasure of you stinking up my classroom, choi?" jen asks.

"i wanted to talk to you about the kid that threw up today," he says, and you must look at him confused because he asks you if anything's wrong.

"are you the pe teacher here?"

"yep," he answers. "i didn't know this was your violet," he says, nodding his head toward your kid. "she's a sweetheart. ball of energy too."

"you're telling me," you smile softly. violet walks over then, informing you that she's ready to go. you ask jen if there's anything else you can do, but she insists on you taking violet home.

"you've helped enough, believe me," jen tells you. "i'll see you tomorrow violet!"

"bye miss jen!" violet says with a smile. "bye mr. choi! i hope no one pukes on you tomorrow!"

jen waits for you and your kid to be far enough down the hall before she asks calmly. "so. how do you know y/n?"

"we, uh, we go way back," san says. "went to school together, college, all that."

"oh, so you like, really know her," jen says, a plan brewing in her head. she saw the way san looked at you. she also knows you're single. "you didn't know her kid went here?"

"didn't know she had a kid at all," san shakes his head, and he seems to get lost in a thought before he remembers what he came here for. "anyway, this kid today, you gotta tell him not to eat so much before pe..."

-

you and san didn't grow up together, exactly, but you have known him since high school. you floated around similar groups of friends, so you hung out regularly without ever getting too close. it wasn't until college that you actually became friends. you both went to a local school, at least as local as you can get for your small town. living in a city all by yourself was intimidating, but you weren't worried about not making friends. you knew they would come.

the day of your orientation, san saw you sitting by yourself in the auditorium and immediately recognized you. he brushed off his sweaty hands before walking over and softly calling your name. when you registered who he was, you smiled and invited him to sit next to you. both happy to see a familiar face, you spent the rest of orientation attached at the hip. in fact, you spent the rest of your time at school like that. san was your best friend, nothing more. he didn't always feel that way, but he did a good job of hiding his feelings. he was able to hide how he felt about you all the way up to the final semester of your senior year.

you were thriving, one of those seniors itching to finish school and get out into the real world. you knew you were just months away from a successful career, and you wouldn't let anything get in your way. you liked that you didn't know what was coming next or where you would end up after graduation. the prospect of moving to a new city, hell, maybe a new country, was exciting. this restlessness is what made san speak up. he was ready to graduate too, sure, but he was ready to get out of the city. san always wanted to be a teacher, and he already had offers all across the state, but the only job he cared about was in his hometown. it's where he wanted to be, and he knew that if he didn't tell you how he felt now, he may never get the chance. he wanted you to know so he could at least have a chance with you, even for a little while.

so he confessed, one night early in the semester. he was walking you home, his dorm only a few doors down from yours. at the door to your dorm he pulled you into a hug, which was normal for him. san was always a touchy friend, but what he said as he pulled away still bounces around in your head.

"y/n, i think i'm in love with you," he said earnestly. you looked in his eyes, trying to find the beginnings of a smile, some hint of a secret, that this was a joke. but he was serious. when you didn't say anything he shrugged, stepped away, and added, "i just wanted you to know."

you still don't know if it was shock or fear that kept you from saying anything that night, from calling his name and pulling him back in. but you didn't say anything then, you didn't say anything for months. san pretended like it never happened, and you just went along.

it didn't come up again until the going away party at the end of the year. school was over, finals done, and graduation was days away. everyone wanted to celebrate the past four years and freak out over what was next, all sharing where they were going and how scared they were. san was moving back home to be a teacher and wasn't scared at all. you were leaving for a bigger and better city the day after graduation and you were terrified.

later, san pulled you to the side and asked if you were ok. you knew he was referring to the job stuff, but you had other things on your mind. you were a little tipsy, so you decide that's why you leaned in and kissed him. it was quick, soft, barely a kiss, but you did it. you kissed him and pulled back faster than san could think, his eyes still closed when you parted and said, "i just wanted to know what it would feel like."

you were able to avoid him for the rest of the party, enjoying your last few hours with some of your best friends. you had an early morning, so you stopped drinking before everyone else and found yourself as a designated walker at the end of the night. you and san were elected to walk a few friends back to their dorms, dropping them off as you passed each building on your own walk home. inevitably, you were left alone with san at your door like that night months ago. san looked like he wanted to say something, and you didn't want him to leave, so instead of separating at the door you invited him in.

you'll never forget that night, and neither will san. but with your paths parting in a few days, you thought it would be something you could move on from eventually. a few weeks later, in your new city, at the perfect job, you found out you were pregnant. it hurt, the decision to not tell san, but the thought of stopping your life before it even started hurt more. you figured you would never see san again, or that you could at least keep the kid a secret if you ever hung out with your college friends again. you never thought that you'd somehow end up moving your daughter to the neighborhood where san grew up, or that the great school you fought to enroll her in could possibly be where san currently worked. but that's life, isn't it? or fate. or maybe just dumb luck. whatever it was, the universe was trying to get you to tell the truth and you're not sure you're ready to do that. to yourself, to violet, or to san.

-

san can't stop thinking about you. he tries so hard to catch a glimpse of you during carpool, but he's too busy focusing on a million other things and never manages to find you. he tries to think about how he could use violet to talk to you, like sending a note home with her, but that's inappropriate. he needs to see you again, though. that's when he gets an idea.

you and jen have become genuine friends, which has made things confusing for violet only because she treats jen like her teacher in casual settings. you met up for dinner the other night and violet raised her hand to ask jen a question, so hopefully she'll get used to it. san knows you two are close, and he knows if he asks jen about you she'll tell him whatever he wants to know.

at lunch one day he finds jen in the teacher's lounge and motions to the empty seat at her table. she lets him sit, but warns, "wooyoung saved the other seats for himself, so leave now if you want to."

wooyoung, one of the third grade teachers, was actually one of san's best friends. he's a hand full, yes, but fiercely loyal and caring. san doesn't necessarily want him to hear the conversation he wanted to have with jen, but oh well. as soon as san has that thought, wooyoung is bursting through the door with a stack of plastic containers from the lunchroom in his arms.

"m'lady," he nods to jen as he passes her a container. he looks to san and asks, "you want one bro?"

"what's in it?" san asks skeptically, and wooyoung shows off a stack of chicken sandwiches. "seriously?"

"hey, they're really good," jen pipes up. "the kids are lucky they get to eat these."

"how did you get so many?" san asks wooyoung as he takes a sandwich anyway.

"flirted with the lunch ladies."

"course you did," jen rolls her eyes, taking a bite of the sandwich. she chuckles to herself, and then shares, "you know, there's a kid in my class who calls these sammiches? no matter how many times you correct her, she won't say anything else. she told me this morning she didn't want to come to school, but she did because it was sammich day."

that's violet. san knows it is. he heard a snippet of your conversation in jen's classroom weeks ago, but he also knows he's heard violet say something similar when she comes to the gym. she loves those sandwiches, and san must admit, now that he's tried one he gets the hype. this is his shot though, he thinks to himself. he clears his throat and asks, "that's y/n's girl right?"

"who's y/n?" wooyoung asks, and jen responds, "san's girlfriend."

"no she's not," san says quickly. "she's kidding."

"you like her though?" wooyoung smirks, and san shakes his head.

"i-it's not like that," san explains. "i knew her a long time ago, and haven't seen her for a few years. that's all."

"so what about her?" jen asks.

"what do you mean?"

"well you brought her up," jen laughs. "you want me to tell her you asked about her? that feels very elementary of you, san."

"no, no, i was just, uh," san racks his brain for a response, "um, she's your room mom right? i may need to talk to her, for um, uh, field day."

"sure," jen nods. "i can give you her number, if you don't have it?"

"yeah, yeah," san nods too, "sure, if you think that'll be ok. i mean, i just needed to ask something, really quick, but, um, sure, yeah."

"if you really need to talk to her, she's coming in tomorrow i think," jen says, checking her phone. "yeah, tomorrow is violet's birthday, so y/n is bringing cupcakes at lunch. you can just stop by my class table and ask her whatever you need to ask her."

"oh, cool, great," san nods. wooyoung and jen share a quiet laugh, noticing that san seems like a bobblehead nodding so nervously. "yeah, tomorrow. lunch tomorrow. i'll be here."

-

you're running late. it's your kid's frickin birthday and you're late. you wanted to be supermom, make cupcakes from scratch, but work has been crazy on top of all the prep for violet's party, and you're just one woman. you can't do all of this by yourself, and it's times like these that you wish...no. that's not where you're going to let your mind wander today. today is all about violet, so as you rush out of the grocery store, you handle the store bought cupcakes with intense care. you can't be late and show up with smushed cupcakes.

thankfully this town is small enough that everything is within spitting distance, so you arrive at violet's school with just a few minutes left in her lunch. you hurry through the check in, rushing off to where you hope the lunchroom is. it would be just your luck to get lost right now, but you let out a breath of relief when you turn the corner and see the cafeteria ahead. you have to pause at the door to look for her class, and you hold back a sob when you see one very broad shouldered man sitting next to your beautiful daughter. you manage to walk up without violet seeing you, but at the sound of your footsteps, san turns. he smiles at you softly and he looks so much like violet it hurts. your eyes drift to your daughter, who's noticed you now and bounces in her seat.

"hey birthday girl," you say meekly, clearing your throat before you speak again. "how's your day been?"

"good!" violet smiles, showing you a half eaten vanilla cupcake with purple icing. "mr. choi brought me birthday cake!"

"aw, that's sweet," you say, looking to san. he's staring at you intensely as you ask, "did you tell him thank you?"

"i did!" violet confirms, but she turns to san and repeats, "thank you, it was yummy."

"do you have room for another?" you ask her, holding up the cupcakes you brought. violet already looks ready to bounce off the walls, so you'll have to apologize to jen later, but you ask if she wants to help pass out cupcakes to her friends. you hold the containers as she carefully hands out the treats, and you're pleased to know there were plenty of cupcakes for everyone. actually, there's some left over, so you start packing them up to take home but violet stops you.

"mommy, we need to give mr. choi one," she tells you, and you look to san sheepishly. "and there's one for you too, mommy!"

"i guess we're having cupcakes," you chuckle with san, offering him one of the last two cupcakes. "vi, can i take your spot?" she nods eagerly, letting you sit on the hilariously tiny lunch chair. you struggle balancing on it and look up to see san watching, trying not to laugh. violet is oblivious though, icing smeared all over her face as she talks to her friend across the table. "hey, no laughing. it's been a long day."

"sorry," san says, the remnants of a smile still on his face. "you doing alright?"

"i'm fine," you sigh slightly. you look at san again, really look at him, and you feel your heart constrict. "thank you for bringing her a cupcake."

"oh, sure," san says. "i didn't want to overstep, but jen told me yesterday, and i figured violet could at least take it home, but when i got here and didn't see, uh...you weren't here-"

"you can say it, i was late to my own kid's birthday," you laugh, rubbing your hand over your face. san finds himself staring at your fingers and something pops into his head.

"and again i ask, you doing alright?" he laughs with you. "being a parent must be hard."

"it has its bad days," you admit. "but for every bad day there's hundreds of good ones, so it makes the whole single parenting thing a little easier."

there it is. single. san looks down to your hands again, and has to hide his satisfied smirk. there's no ring.

"so, what-" san starts to ask, but the bell dings and the cafeteria erupts in even more sound. students talking, teachers yelling, chairs scraping as everyone is set in motion. jen walks over then, smiling when she sees you and san sat so close together. she waves hello before calling for her class, and you give violet a big squeezey hug and a kiss on the forehead before she takes her food and runs off. san watches you watching violet, and now it's his turn for his heart to twist. he's missed you. a lot.

"i guess i better go," you say as you gather all of the cupcake trash. san covers his hands over yours, stilling your movements and your heart, and says, "let me, i'll clean up."

"th-thank you san," you say shyly, and he waves you off. he can feel your eyes on him as he walks to the trash cans, and he can't help it, when he turns around he pulls a face that used to always make you laugh. his success rate is still high, because a beautiful giggle appears from deep within your chest, and then san is standing back in front of you. you know him, and you know there's something he wants to say, so you ask, "are you doing alright?"

"i'm fine," he nods, and you playfully push his shoulder. he smiles as he goes on, "actually, i was thinking about it, and i'll need your new number. for field day purposes, of course."

"oh," you breathe. "oh, right. room mom stuff. um, well unless you deleted my contact info, my number is the same."

"oh."

"yeah."

"right, then i guess i'm good," san says, looking around for any last bits of trash. "always good seeing you, y/n. tell violet happy birthday again from me."

"will do," you squeak out, calling out your thanks to him one last time as he walks away. you're left in the now silent lunchroom, heart and mind racing.

-

"i'm just saying, you and san would make a cute couple," jen repeats for what feels like the millionth time today. she's come over to your house early to help set up violet's birthday party, and you're thankful for the help but wishing the set up was less obvious. "you already know each other, so it's not like you'd have to go through that awkward dating phase-"

"did we put balloons on the mailbox already?" you cut through her words, grabbing a couple pink and purple balloons from the pile on the table. "i'll do that now, so people know which house it is. if vi wakes up, tell her i'll make birthday pancakes as soon as i'm done."

"will do," jen salutes you, taking the remaining balloons into the living room. "i'll tack these to the ceiling or something."

"please don't!" you call out before you shut the door, and you take a deep breath when you're outside alone. you don't know how to make jen stop talking about san, and it's draining. you've tried changing the subject and she always finds a way to bring san back into it. she means well, you know that. but what she doesn't know is that everything she says about san just rubs salt in the wound you inflicted on yourself, and it's getting harder to ignore. you're either going to snap and tell her to shut up, or you're going to snap and admit to what you've been hiding. either option isn't ideal, so fingers crossed violet wakes up soon and you can use her as a buffer.

tying the balloons to your mailbox ended up being more of an ordeal than you thought, so it takes you a while to trudge back into the house. you're tired already and the party hasn't started yet. you're making another cup of coffee when you realize the house is quiet, no sounds of jen and no sounds of vi. you let the coffee pot run as you walk around in search of the girls, and you hear a faint noise coming from the backyard. a peek through the window shows jen and violet running streamers from the back porch to vi's playset, and your heart warms. while they're outside, you get to work on the birthday pancakes in peace. you're almost done with them when you get a call, groaning to yourself thinking it's a parent calling about the party. you don't check the name before you answer, letting out a perfectly nice, "hello?"

"y/n, hi," san says on the other line. "is this a bad time?"

"um, n-no," you stammer, "it's um, no, i can talk. just for a minute."

"if you're busy i can call back-"

"no, san, go ahead," you insist. "just be warned i'm making pancakes, so i am a little distracted."

"oh yeah, you used to suck at those," san teases, and for a moment you're thrown back to college. you remember san staying over at your dorm, claiming he was too drunk to walk the fifteen steps down the hall. you let him crash on your floor, and he woke up to an awful hangover and the sound of you cursing over your batch of blackened pancakes. trying to be nice, san tried one anyway. you'll never forget the way you both belly laughed after he lied and said they were good with a look of fear in his eyes. later he admitted he'd never had something so bad, and you swore to never make pancakes again. san obviously remembers, because he asks, "what made you stop the pancake ban?"

"they're for vi's birthday."

"her birthday was on tuesday i thought?"

"yeah, but we're having her party today," you explain, and then you clap your hand to your forehead. you shouldn't have said anything.

"oh then i won't keep you," san says quickly. there's something strange in his voice, but you're so far removed from him that you can't pick up on it. "i hate to call about school stuff on the weekend, but this is the only time i had..."

while san explains the reason for his call (room mom duties + he missed you, but he leaves that part out), jen and violet come in from the backyard. streamers are done, and violet is wearing a torn one around her neck like a scarf. you wave her over for a hug and a kiss, and jen mouths, "who are you talking to?" so you show your phone screen. she gasps when she sees it's san, and it's like you're watching a lightbulb spring from her head. she's got an idea.

"invite him to the party!" jen hisses, and you push her away.

"is that the birthday girl?" san asks, and there's a softness in his voice that makes you melt. "do you need to go?"

"no, just one of the birthday elves being annoying," you grumble, trying to elbow away from jen but she grabs your phone anyway and says a cheery hello to her coworker.

"hey san! happy saturday," she starts off. "listen, are you doing anything around, say, one o'clock?"

"uh, not that i can think of-"

"great! then i'll have y/n text you her address, you should come to violet's party. there's plenty of food, and we'd love to see you!" jen says with an evil smile plastered on her face.

"um, can you hand me back to y/n?" san asks, and jen relinquishes your phone then disappears.

"san, you do not have to come if you don't want to, jen is-"

"jen's what!?" jen shouts from somewhere within your house.

"i want to come," san says, and you're so surprised you almost drop the pancake you're trying to flip. "if that's ok."

"i..." you trail off, and then you look at violet. sweet, lovely violet. you would do anything for that girl, but you know she deserves more. she deserves both parents, and the little part of you that's been wondering if san's reappearance was a sign is the part that wins you over. you say, "yeah, come to the party. i want you here."

"then i'm there," san says, and you can hear his smile. "should i bring a present?"

"no, god, don't worry about that. girl's spoiled already, she doesn't need another toy," you tell him, and san laughs.

"alright. then text me the address, and i'll see you soon i guess."

"yeah, see you soon," you mumble as you hang up and look around for jen. she's rightfully hiding somewhere, but violet's voice distracts you as she asks who you were talking to. "well sugar, i have an extra birthday surprise for you," you say as you plate her pancakes. "mr. choi might be coming to your party, is that ok?"

"mr. choi?!" violet shrieks as she stands in her chair. you remind her not to do that and she listens, but she looks at you and asks, "for seriously? he's my favorite teacher."

"hey," jen whines as she rejoins you, throwing away the remnants of wrapping paper in her hands. "and to think i got you the biggest coolest birthday present ever."

"really?" you and violet ask in unison, and jen nods enthusiastically at your daughter. when she joins you at the sink she whispers, "i didn't go overboard."

"yes you did," you whisper back.

"what did san want?" jen asks with that evil smile again, and you try to elbow her side but she darts away too quickly.

"i had told him about the game the kinder moms wanted our grade to do for field day, and he forgot what supplies it needed," you explain. "so he was calling about that, and the call was almost over when someone interrupted."

"y/n, listen," jen says sternly, and you both look over to violet to make sure she's distracted. jen keeps her voice down as she continues, "he likes you. don't ask me how i know, but i know. and the way you get so nervous around him, i know it sounds childish, but i think you have a crush on him-"

"jen," you say seriously. "please stop. you don't know what you're doing."

"no, y/n, you don't know what you're doing!" jen says, and you step back. "no, i don't mean it like that. i just mean, you said you were having a hard time doing this on your own. it may not be my place, but i think san could help. he'd be good for you and violet."

"you remember how san and i were friends years ago?" you ask, and jen nods, about to add to her case, but you cut her off. "we were close. really close."

"did you kiss?" jen asks excitedly and you roll your eyes.

"will you focus?" you smile anyway, and add, "we spent most of our time together, but then life stuff changed. we went in completely different directions, and it was just easier to say goodbye and go our separate ways. that was five years ago. well, six, now i guess," you correct yourself, your eyes betraying you as they flick back over to violet.

"oh my god," jen gasps. "no."

"yes."

"no way."

"yes."

"you're a liar."

"mommy's not a liar," violet chimes in, and you let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry. "miss jen, that wasn't very nice."

"i'm sorry violet, you're right," jen says calmly. she looks closely at violet and then to you. "but sometimes what's right is hard to do."

"i know that," you sigh. "believe me. but we can talk about this later."

"you bet your ass we are!"

"miss jen!"

"sorry, sorry!"

-

you and jen do a good job of ignoring the truth bomb you set off just before guests started arriving, but knowing san will be here soon keeps you on edge all day. violet is having the time of her life, which takes a little bit of pressure off of you at least. you just have to play host to your family and friends all while keeping one eye on the door for san.

he arrives just past one. you heard the doorbell from the backyard, but as you're walking through the house you see your aunt opening the door for him. it opens to a stunning version of the man you've tried so hard to hide from, and just looking at him makes you blush. he's dressed casually, but nicer than the work out clothes you see him in at the school. jeans and a sweater, and glasses. san never wore glasses in school, and you're wondering why this news is making your stomach flip. when san finds you, his face lights up. he makes his way around a group of kids and pulls you into a polite hug, mumbling his greeting into your hair. you wish time would stop for a moment, let you stay in his hold a second longer. but he's pulling away and shyly presenting a gift bag, his sheepish eyes saying "sorry but not sorry."

"i told you not to bring anything," you scoff, taking the gift over to the present table anyway.

"it's something small, but i think she'll like it," san says, and you thank him. it's awkward for a second as you both search for something to say, but in the quiet san reaches to push his glasses further up his nose and you smile.

"so you getting old, choi?" you tease him, pointing to the glasses. "how long have you needed those for?"

"just a couple years," san shrugs. "i don't mind them, but it's easier to wear contacts at work. i actually like the way they look."

"they're cute," you agree, and you feel your heart thudding in your chest as san processes the compliment. he looks around your house then, and he distractedly puts an arm around you in another hug as he says, "your house is great, by the way. you've really made a life for yourself, y/n." he looks at you while he says the next part, "i hope you're proud of yourself."

"i am," you nod, suddenly very aware of how many people are here and possibly looking at you two. you feign a cough and san gets the hint. he pulls away and you immediately feel cold, but you catch a glimpse of jen eyeing you in the corner of the room. you shake off whatever was distracting you because of the man at your side, and you're about to excuse yourself to find violet when the woman in question appears below you.

"mr. choi!!!" she shouts as she jumps in place. "you're here!"

"i am!" he replies, holding hands and jumping with violet. "are you having fun?"

"yeah! cmere, i wanna show you my swings!" she says excitedly, and then san is being dragged outside. you follow at a safe distance, wanting to see how they interact without making it too obvious you're watching san and not your kid. some of the school kids present recognize a big kid in san and soon he's got a whole herd following him around. you laugh seeing him be so silly, so freely himself with these kids, and you wonder if this is what he's like as a teacher. then you find your mind wandering to what san would be like as a dad. you know he'd be great, so what are you doing?

you know you have to tell him. you see the way violet is smiling and laughing, and you can't keep this kind of joy from her anymore. you don't know when, and you don't know how, but you will tell san that he's the father of your daughter.

-

violet's birthday party was perfect. she had an amazing time, her friends had an amazing time, and you had an amazing time. with san. he fit back into your life perfectly, and as you were saying your goodbyes at the end of the night, you had the intense desire to kiss him. you didn't, but that's only because jen came over with a sleepy violet that she thrust into your arms. you and san were cooing over the tired party girl and jen inconspicuously snapped a picture of the three of you. you and san, looking down at violet with so much love in your eyes, and violet smiling her biggest smile. jen texted it to you later and you were grateful to have this moment captured forever.

you were staring at that photo now, waiting for violet to finish getting ready for school. you weren't really paying attention to the time, caught up in admiring san. you felt a sense of calm and safety when you thought of him, looked at him, and you're kicking yourself for keeping that same feeling from violet's life. you were so distracted by your thoughts that you didn't hear violet walk up, so you almost jumped out of your skin when she says, "whatcha doooin?" directly into your ear.

"oh baby you scared me," you gasp. she giggles and points to your phone.

"you were staring at mr. choi!"

"i was not," you roll your eyes, but she nods and goes, "yeah huh."

"i'm not getting into a yeah huh nuh uh fight with you right now," you say as you ruffle her hair. "you ready for school?" it's then that you give her a once over and screw your face up in confusion. "where's that shirt from? i don't remember buying you that."

"it was my gift from mr. choi, 'member?" violet says proudly as she shows it off.

"yeah, yeah, i guess i do," you reply. "you wanted to wear it to school?"

"so i can tell him thank you," she says simply, and you place a soft kiss on her forehead. your sweet girl.

"i'm sure he'll be happy to see it. c'mon, let's go."

-

san had an awful morning. none of the classes would listen to him, half of his equipment for this unit was broken or missing, and apparently he was getting evaluated this afternoon. nothing was wrong, it was just protocol, but why did he find out about it two hours before it was supposed to happen? he was stressed, unprepared, and wearing a t shirt that apparently has a hole in the armpit. one of the unruly classes so kindly pointed that out for him. so yeah, it's been a bad day. that's why he sat down at lunch with a huff, interrupting whatever jen and wooyoung had been talking about prior to his dramatic entrance.

"what's wrong with you?" wooyoung asks bluntly, and san scoffs.

"one of those days where i'm considering child abandonment."

"san!" jen gasps.

"i'm joking, chill out," he sighs. "i just. can today be over? i'd like it to be over. or can i get a redo? that might be better, considering i have an eval today i know i'm not gonna pass."

"if you go into it like that then duh you're gonna do bad," jen says. "but it hasn't even happened yet, so why be so negative?"

"whatever," san huffs again, poking at his food like it's the root of his bad day. "how has your day been."

"great, my kids are angels and i love my job," wooyoung jokes, so san kicks him under the table.

"your class was the first one to put me in a bad mood this morning."

"yeah, because i told them i accidentally killed our class pet."

"wooyoung!" jen gasps again.

"accidentally!"

"how'd you manage that?" san asks with the beginnings of a smile on his face. not that he was laughing over the death of a very tiny pet, no. but he did enjoy seeing wooyoung making mistakes. makes the world go round, he thinks.

"i forgot to take it home for the weekend and i came in this morning to bob the beta fish belly up," wooyoung explains. he raises his carton of strawberry milk in a toast, which san and jen play along with. "he didn't live long, i didn't like him, and the kids barely knew he was there. bob, may you rest in peace."

"this isn't making me feel better," san whines as they clink their drinks together.

"oh!" jen says happily, "i have something!" she shuffles around looking for her phone, and excitedly pulls something up for san to see. she shoves the screen so close to his face he can barely see anything, so he takes her phone and blinks to let his eyes adjust. he smiles immediately when he realizes it's the picture of him, you, and violet. he's so mesmerized by your beauty, all these years later, that it takes him a minute to shift his focus to the equally beautiful violet squeezed between you. she's perfect, san thinks. if he had a kid, he'd want her to be just like violet: kind, funny, full of energy and life.

"who is that?" wooyoung asks, pushing his face close to san's to catch a glimpse. "ooo, is that your milf?"

it's jen's turn to kick him underneath the table, but san must admit, that was a little funny. he doesn't answer right away, though. something about the picture has caught his attention.

"no," jen says sternly since san has gone mute. "that's my friend y/n and her kid violet, we've talked about them before. san came to her birthday party this weekend."

"the milf?!"

"no!" jen repeats. "violet. i helped y/n with the party, and since she and san go way back, i kinda invited san without her knowing."

"nice," wooyoung nods. "good. get him into the house, and then into her heart. maybe the pants too-"

"dude," san finally cuts in. "what's wrong with you?"

"you two are boring me," he sighs. "sue me if i wanted to have a little fun with our conversation."

"you took this?" san asks jen, ignoring wooyoung now. she says yes, so he asks, "can i send it to myself? do you think y/n would mind?"

"no, i think that's fine," jen replies with a smile. "go ahead."

"thanks," san mumbles, typing his number in quickly to send the photo. he doesn't want to seem weird, sitting here staring at it, but there's still something he can't quite put his finger on. something familiar about it. not quite deja vu, but like he's seen this before. he hands jen's phone back to her, and she continues some inane argument with wooyoung as san checks his phone. huh, he thinks, taking one last look at the photo as he saves it to his library. violet sure has a nice smile.

-

san's day does not get better. the evaluation was mediocre at best, but the assistant principal doing the visit pulled him aside and promised better equipment in the new year. at least one good thing came out of this awful day.

well, two good things. san keeps opening his phone just to stare at that picture of himself with you and violet. his desire to patch things up with you only continues to grow, and he's been thinking about you so much that he swears he hears your voice calling his name at the end of the day. then a squeakier, tinier voice joins in, and san realizes, oh shit, you and violet are in his office.

"hey, sorry," he shakes his head to clear his thoughts. "god, sorry. how long were you standing there?"

"not long," you assure him. "i hope we're not bothering you?"

"not at all," he says as he stands. violet runs up to him then, turning from side to side with her hands clasped in front of her. san laughs, looking from her to you as he asks, "what's going on?"

"vi had a surprise for you, and she forgot she didn't have pe today so she got into the car crying because you didn't get to see it," you explain. "we turned around as soon as i got the story, and now we're here. do you recognize her shirt at all?"

"oh my god!" san smiles, violet joining in. san bends down to pick her up and swings her around to the sound of giggles. "you're wearing my present! do you like it?"

"i do!" she chirps, hiccuping a little as the giggles continue. san slows and carefully places her back down as she says, "thank you for coming to my party."

"thank you for inviting me," san replies, and you realize he's talking to you. you consider telling him now, you can feel his gaze pulling the words right out of you, but you chicken out.

"thank jen," you remind him. "she's the one who ambushed me."

"ambush?" san laughs nervously. "i hope me coming over wasn't an ambush."

"i shouldn't have said that," you shake your head. "i just." you take a deep breath. "it's been hard, you know, seeing you again. getting used to you being back in my life."

"happy to be here," san says coolly, and you pick up on the undertones. you knew he must have been upset with you, only wanting him when you couldn't have him. he'd given you so many chances to be his, but you grasped the last one. san was mad at himself first, and he's not mad at you per se, but the memory of that still hurts. he could have been in your life, violet's life, this whole time. it was you who kept the door bolted shut. now it's like there's little cracks filtering in bits of sunlight, and you're basking in them. you're just afraid that the warmth you feel from san now will burn you someday, that your past will be too hard to get over, and you can't tell him about violet until you know how he really feels.

"listen, we should go, but i want to hang out with you soon," you tell him, and san looks at you confused. "we need to catch up, don't you think?"

"sure," san agrees. "let me know where to be and when, i'll make it work."

-

that friday night, you have a babysitter (jen) and plans to meet san for dinner. jen is already here, you can hear her and violet whispering about something in the living room as you finish getting ready. this is not a date, but you're so nervous it might as well be. you could end up telling san tonight, if things go right. and if they go wrong...that's what's making you so nervous. the anxious side of you is already thinking of schools you can move violet to if the night goes bad, and the optimist is thinking about san finally being a dad to violet.

it's like he knew you were thinking about him, because his caller id lights up your phone (yes, his contact photo is that picture).

"you're cancelling," you say as soon as you pick up.

"what? no, freak," san chuckles. "i'm outside, but i'm sorry, i can't remember if your house has the red door or the blue one."

"you're what?" you ask, walking from your room to the front door. jen and violet watch on in curiosity, and you let out a sound of disbelief when you open the door to see san, standing by his car, looking from your house to the one next door.

"oh. found it," he teases, hanging up as he comes to the door. "you're not ready yet?"

"no, because i thought we were meeting there, i had more time," you say as you check your phone and notice you actually did not have time. "ok, i thought i had more time, but still. you didn't say you were picking me up."

"surprise?" san says sheepishly, peeking inside to wave to the girls.

"hi mr. choi!" they respond in unison, and san chuckles again.

"um, well, i wasn't expecting- i still have to-" you stammer out, basically turning in circles before staring back up at san. "give me two minutes."

"two? it'll be more like ten," san calls after you. you sort of sprint back to your room, checking that you look put together. your eyes look nervous, though. you hope san can't pick up on that. you grab your favorite necklace, one that violet picked out for you recently, and hold onto the heart pendant as you take a deep breath. you can do this. it's just san, your old pal! your friend! the father of your daughter who has no idea his life could have been completely different or that it's going to change with the information you're about to give him! great! let's go eat some tacos!

you and san both give violet hugs goodbye (she insisted) and jen says goodbye with a wiggle of her eyebrows. she thinks this is a date, and she spent an appropriate amount of time hyping you up tonight. she's known san more recently, so she gave you good insight on the whole telling him situation. she assured you that, while he may be frustrated by you not telling him sooner, under it all he'll be happy. he's wanted a family of his own since he started working at the school, so she's sure he'll be nothing but thrilled once the initial shock wears off. boy do you hope she's right.

-

san is being such a gentleman. first picking you up, then rushing out of the car to open your door for you, pulling your chair out at the restaurant...it's making this feel like a date. it's also making you scared that you're going to chicken out, but you can't.

"so," san says with a :] smile. "what did you want to talk about?" you take a moment to mess with the chips and salsa in front of you before you respond. you're taking so long that san takes a deep breath and starts, "i hope you know i'm not mad at you."

"what?" you ask in a small voice, chip halfway to your mouth.

"i'm not mad at you," san goes on. "i never was. i hope you know that."

"but i was a dick," you tell him, and he lowers his head with a laugh. you want him to listen to you though, so you grab his hand laid out on the table and squeeze. "no, seriously, that was such an asshole move on my part. only letting down my walls and letting you in the night before we both moved away? i've never forgiven myself for that."

"but you should," san shrugs. "i understand. i'm glad it happened. if i had to choose, i'd rather it happen the exact same way than not happen at all."

"right," and now it's your turn to look down. you let go of san's hand and go back to messing with the food in front of you. "i'm still sorry for how i acted."

"it's ok, i promise," san assures you. you aren't looking at him so he clears his throat and says, "actually, while we're talking about...back then. i have something to tell you too." oh no, you think. you nod to encourage him to continue, not sure you can speak right now. "um, well, here goes. i know it's been years, and we've barely talked since school, but..i don't know, y/n. i still think you're the one for me, and i was just wondering, maybe, since we're both in the same town again, and we see each other so often..."

"what, san?" you whisper, afraid of what he's going to say.

"will you go out with me?" he asks. "finally?"

"san," you sigh, and he shakes his head.

"no, don't say no yet. you can think about it. i know you have a lot more to consider than i do, so i don't mind waiting. but i wanted to put it out there. in case, uh, in case you were interested."

"put it out there? why are you talking about this like a couch you're trying to get rid of?" you tease him to ease the tension. "you just asked me out and now you sound like you're not sure."

"i'm sure," san says firmly. "very sure. but i don't want you to feel pressured."

"you've never made me feel anything but loved, san," you let slip, and you want to etch the look on his face into your memory forever. he looks so pleased, so purely happy at your words. they're hanging in the air as the waiter comes by to take your order, and that provides enough of a distraction that you both go back to a semblance of normalcy when he leaves. you fall into an easy conversation, catching up over your lost years. san tells you all about work, his family, his friends. it makes you happy that you chose this town, this school, to raise your kid in.

you fill san in too, but only the highlights. you don't want to ruin your dinner with the news, so you tell him about your career since he knows the least about that. he can't stop telling you how proud he is, and reiterates how amazing you are for raising a kid on top of it. you've got a steady blush on your cheeks as you keep chatting, and you notice then that the meal is over. your plates have been cleared for a while, and san paid without you knowing. how'd he do that?

"i was going to pay for my food," you protest.

"nope, my treat," san says. "let someone else take care of you for once."

"well thanks," you squeak out. "i've got you next time though."

"if there's a next time, i'm still paying," san replies so you roll your eyes and drop it for now. "um, before we go though, i was wondering...can i ask about violet? i feel like you barely mentioned her."

"oh, sorry," you laugh it off. "i don't get a chance to talk about myself a lot, so i'm not saying i forgot to mention vi, i just..."

"i get it," san nods in understanding. "you wanted to brag about yourself for a minute, that's ok. i'm glad you did."

"good," you smile shyly. "but, yeah, violet. what about her?"

"i wanna hear as much as you're willing to tell me," san says, and looking into your eyes, you know he means the father. "was there some great love of your life you don't want to tell me about?"

"san, it's not like that," you tell him, then think to yourself that in a way it is true. you think san is the love of your life, but you can't say that yet. "right, well, i have something to tell you, actually," you say in a voice stronger than you expected. you thought you'd be nervous, but it's like some mom power kicks in and you're able to stare directly into san's strong, gorgeous eyes as you speak. "can i?" you motion to his hands, and he holds them out so you can place your smaller ones in his. still looking into the eyes you've grown to love, you take a deep breath and say, "i'm sorry i didn't tell you sooner. but san, you're violet's dad. she's your daughter."

"what?" he asks in a shaky voice.

"when we.." you try to explain, and have to start over, "that night. five years ago-"

"six," san corrects.

"six, you're right. that night was when she...yeah. i found out about violet a month later, after i had moved. i tried calling you. i did, i swear, and i know that sounds so childish but it's the truth. i tried calling you, tried figuring out how to tell you...but i heard how happy you were, how easy it was for you to settle into your life back at home. i didn't want to throw something unexpected at you and change all of that."

you rambled, and you're not sure how easy that was to follow. or how believable it was either, but you've said it. you're watching san take it in, and he's unnervingly calm. you can't read his face at all, but you realize you've been squeezing his hands and he's squeezing yours right back. you relax your grip then, but he doesn't. he stays quiet.

"san, say something."

"th-thank you," he stutters, finally slipping his hands out of yours. "thanks for protecting me from that, i guess."

"san, i-"

"no, y/n, it's fine," he shakes his head and stands. "come on, let's go. it's getting late."

-

the car ride is silent. san says nothing, but you can feel the emotions radiating from him. or maybe those are your own? fear, resentment, sadness...you always thought telling san the truth would make everything better. make you feel at peace at last. but currently you feel more ill at ease than you ever have. you want to crawl out of your skin, you want to scream at yourself, at san, just to get some kind of reaction out of him.

when he pulls into your driveway, he puts the car in park but doesn't unlock the door. you can tell he wants to say something, so you wait. you think you see jen peeking through the blinds, but you're not sure. a quick glance at the clock tells you violet's been in bed for a while, but knowing jen she probably let her stay up a little longer. you hope she's still awake when you go in, you could really use a hug from her right now.

"y/n," san calls your name softly. you turn your body completely so he can see you fully, and you see he's gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white. "does she know?"

"huh?"

"violet," san says her name so carefully, so purposefully. like it's taken on a new meaning. "does violet now i'm her dad?"

"n-no," you stutter, and san slumps his head down. "but i told her about you. about her dad."

"she looks just like me," he says, and that's when you notice the sadness in his voice. he sounds broken, and it feels like your heart rips itself to shreds.

"san, i am so sor-"

"don't. just don't." you watch him carefully, and you think you see tears. "i can't..."

"can't what?" you want to reach out and touch him, to brush the tears away, but you hesitate.

"i can't believe you kept this from me," he says in a whisper so small you barely heard it.

"i was young and stupid and scared, san," you defend yourself. "i didn't know what i was doing, i should have tried harder to get in touch but-"

"i didn't get to be there y/n," he spits out, and you stop talking as he turns to you. "i missed her birth, her first steps, her first words. i wasn't in her life! she's my kid and you kept her from me for some of the most important years of her life."

"i know, and i'm..i'm sorry."

"sorry doesn't cut it." he's full on crying now. "i thought...i thought you cared about me. about what we meant to each other. how could you do this?"

"i was wrong to keep you away," you admit. "it ate me alive every day, but the longer i waited the harder it was to call you. and this is totally self inflicted but raising a kid on my own was hard! after i made that choice i barely had time to think about anything else!" you're shouting now, not out of anger, but frustration. "it was selfish, and i'm sorry. but i told you. you've always been part of violet's life. i tell her about her dad all the time. she asks about you, and i've never lied to her. i only kept your name, who you are to me, a secret."

"yeah that makes me feel so much better," san rolls his eyes, and you scoff before reaching over him to unlock the doors. as soon as you do, you're out of the car and rushing to your front door, san running behind you calling your name.

you get into the house and see jen moving around in the kitchen, but no signs of violet. san has stopped behind you, standing awkwardly at the threshold, so you grab his shirt and pull him along with you into violet's room. at the sound of the door opening she bolts up in bed. she looks confused, seeing two figures in her doorway, but when she recognizes you she makes little grabby hands for you to join her. again, san stays at the door, watching the two of you with a new perspective.

"cmere sugar," you whisper softly, sitting on violet's bed. you maneuver her so she's sitting on your lap.

"why is mr. choi here?" she asks, and you hear san take in a breath.

"his name is san, violet. and he's very important to me," you explain. violet is facing san as you ask, "can you tell us all you know about your daddy?" she nods, and then begins.

"mommy says he's very nice, the nicest man in the world!" violet starts out. "she says he's smart and strong and funny and handsome. she says i have his smile!" and with this she smiles, teeth and all, and san sees himself in her. it brings tears to his eyes, but she keeps going. "mommy says he's caring, and i had to ask what that meant. she says being caring means you're a good friend and you're nice to everybody. that reminds me of you, mr. san!"

"anything else baby?" you ask violet, stroking her hair. "what else do we say about daddy?"

"we love him very much," violet answers proudly. "and even if he's not with us, like in the same house or something, he's always right here!" and with that she puts her hand over her heart. she looks up at you then, asking, "did i miss anything mommy?"

"nope, you got it all sugar," and you kiss the top of her head, afraid to meet san's eyes. "thank you, violet. are you ready to go back to bed now?"

"yeah, but i want a bedtime story," she pouts, and you wonder if san notices how similar they look then too. "babysitter jen does too many funny voices, and one of them scared me."

"ok, i'll read you a story," you whisper, slowly and carefully dumping her back into bed as you stand. "but i need to talk to san really quick, is that ok?"

"uh huh," violet nods with a yawn, cuddling back up to her favorite stuffie. as san looks around her room, he notices a pillow he used to have, tucked in the corner of violet's bed. he used to call it shiber, it was something silly, but he loved that thing in college. it went missing the week before school ended, and san always wondered where it went. well, now he knows.

you carefully pull violet's door shut as the two of you back out into the hallway. the rest of the house is quiet, so you wonder briefly if jen has gone home. you look to san, ready to defend yourself further, get him to understand where you're coming from, but then you see the tears on his cheeks. now you do reach up and wipe them away, his hands covering yours and squeezing tightly.

"i am so sorry for keeping you away," you say one last time. "it was wrong. it will take time, but i will do everything i can to make that up to you."

"you can do it right now," san breathes out, the first easy breath he's taken since this conversation started. "let me be in her life. in yours. i missed so much, i can't miss anymore of it."

"we're here if you want us," you tell him, and san squeezes your hands again before pulling them from his face. he drapes your arms over his shoulders, his drifting to your waist.

"i do," he nods eagerly. "i want you." and with that, he kisses you. it's not a soft kiss, no. there's more force behind it than that. there's six years (maybe more) of repressed feelings in that kiss. it's the kind of kiss that makes you want to pop your foot up, the kind that sends butterflies soaring up from your stomach through your chest. you're so lost in the feeling that you don't hear violet's door open, and then...

"oh! mommy! mr. san is biting you!" violet shrieks, so you and san finally detach. you keep your foreheads together as you look down at violet staring disapprovingly at you.

"he's not biting me, we were kissing," you explain to her, but she doesn't like that answer.

"hey, i got in trouble for kissing a boy on the playground," she whines, and san looks at you in shock. you nod to confirm as you tell her, "that's because you shouldn't kiss at school. and you're too young. you can kiss when you're-"

"thirty," san finishes for you, making you both laugh as violet whines more.

"i was just gonna say when she's older," you whisper to him, and he shrugs.

"had to assert my parenting style somehow."

"why are you and mr. san whispering?" violet asks with a jump and her arms in the air. you're about to pick her up when san bends down and scoops her instead, so you can talk to her eye level.

"we're talking about you," you say as you boop her nose. "and stop calling him mr. san."

"what do i call him then?" she pouts, and you share your first silent parent language stare with san.

"actually baby, we have something we need to tell you..."

[obessedwithfictionalmen]

Co-Stars pt.10

Callum Turner X Actress! Reader

Summary: The journey of Y/n's pregnancy...

Warning: pregnancy/ mentions of throwing up/ mention of birth/ use of Y/n/

Word count: 2.1k

When she found out she was pregnant, Y/n was the happiest she’d ever been, but this happiness quickly faded into worry. She and her baby daddy were celebrities, her pregnancy was going to be all over social medias, her baby too. Callum and she talked about it and decided they wanted to keep it private. They told the cast that she was pregnant, because they should know, and their press tour wasn’t over. Yes, Master of the Air was out already, but the interviews didn’t stop. During the first weeks of her pregnancy, it was easy to hide, her belly was flat, and she didn’t have any symptoms. But as she was in her 7th week, she started to get morning sickness.

-

She tried to listen to all the questions and the answers of her co-stars, but she felt like throwing up. Luckly for her, the microphone wasn’t attached to her, it was a microphone that she held in her hand. She put it far away from her, so the public won’t hear her humming, it was a tip Callum’s mom gave to her to prevent her from throwing up. But it didn’t work. ‘’Nate, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I must go to the bathroom’’ she tried to hide her sickness in her voice. She got up and walked quickly backstage. ‘’Yeah, we can take a break, after Nate’s answer of course’’ The interviewer said. ‘’Oh, I was done, we can take a five-minute break’’ he said. Y/n was running to the bathroom, but an assistant was running next to her with a trash bin, in case she didn’t make it. She pulled the trash bin as she sat on a chair to empty her stomach in the trash. Callum walked up to her and pressed his hand on her back, to support her. He held her hair as she continued to puke her guts out. ‘’I’m sorry, I tried not to, but – ‘’ she threw up again. Austin and Anthony walked up to the couple; Nate was behind them. ‘’If my answer was that bad, you could’ve told me’’ he joked. Y/n looked at him, rolling her eyes before wiping her mouth with a tissue.

-

For the first few months, she succeeded in hiding her condition, but when her belly started to grow, it became harder. Her outfits became more baggy, which the internet found weird since she was always beautifully dressed. Some fans started to speculate about Y/n being pregnant, but the rumours stayed low. But when she reached mid second trimester, she decided to stop doing interviews, it was too risky. Now, the fans started to speculate, even the actors were asked questions about her not being with them anymore. They dodged the question and protected the secret of their colleague. Callum found it difficult, when she was with him, he could make sure that she was okay, now she was at home, he found it hard.

-

‘’The fans can’t stop asking about you, I think you should come to the next interview’’ Callum said, looking at his girlfriend, who was 8 months pregnant, with twins. It’s been a long time since she was in front of a camera, but he was right, the fans were becoming too much, and she should make a public appearance. ‘’Yeah, where’s the next one?’’ she asked, pushing on her arms to sit on the couch. ‘’It’s tomorrow, and it’s close, not a long drive’’ he said. ‘’Good, because the twins won’t be happy with me, dressing up and moving that much’’ she laughed. Her pregnancy was going well, because her doctor told her that if she wanted to go back to work, she could.

-

She was nervous, but the guys were so sweet. They were backstage, waiting for the interviewer to call them. ‘’It’s nice to see you back!’’ Ralf said, smiling. ‘’Thanks, I missed you guys’’ she breathed out. ‘’So please give it up for Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Ralf Laur, Barry Keoghan and the wonderful Y/n Y/l/n!’’ when the crowd heard her name, they made so much noise she thought the walls were going to collapse. But when they say her pregnant belly, the sound level exploded. Y/n smiled and waved at the crowd. She sat next to Callum and Austin. After minutes, the crowd finally went silent. ‘’Wow, you guys missed me that much?’’ Barry joked; he missed the last interview. Everyone laughed and waited for Y/n’s replies. ‘’Yes Barry, they were screaming for you’’ she teased, looking at him. She winked at the crowd and smiled. ‘’How are you, Y/n?’’ someone in the crowd yelled. ‘’I’m heavily pregnant with twins, thank you very much, how are you’’ she replied. The public laughed. ‘’Joke’s aside, I’m really great, I’m happy to be back’’ she said. The interview went well, but now, it was time for the public to ask questions. ‘’Before we start with the questions, please respect my private life, I will gladly answer your questions, but don’t push it’’ Y/n said. ‘’Hi everyone, I wanted to ask what’s a character trait or habit that stayed with you after filming?’’ the fan asked. Y/n raised her brows, the question was really good. The cast looked at each other, wondering who was going to go first. ‘’Well, Rose is a complex character. Uh, the thing I learned with her is that everyone is not invincible, it sounds stupid, but we often think that people, especially selfless people, can break sometimes and as a person that puts others first, it made me realise how important talking about it is. It might not be clear, but yeah, we’re all humans and you don’t know what people are going through.’’ She said, trying to be clear. The guys nodded. She smiled as she felt her babies kick, they were agreeing with her. Others answered and the microphone was passed to another fan. ‘’Hi, Y/n, Callum, how do you deal with the attention you’ve been getting since the beginning of the press tour?’’ one of the fans asked. They both looked at each other. ‘’It’s a lot, and we try to contain it, so it doesn’t affect people around us, like when Y/n posted the pictures on her Instagram and people were speculating about it, we had to ask Graham Norton to talk about our show, because that’s why we’re doing interviews, promote Master of the Air. So, we like it, but it can’t take too much in our lives’’ Callum said. ‘’That’s mainly one of the reasons why I came here today, people were only asking questions about me. So, we love it, but like Callum said, we love the attention, as long as it doesn’t become too much’’ she added.

It was time for the last question, fans were respectful with Y/n’s pregnancy, and she was grateful for it. ‘’Hi, Y/n I love you so much! Can I ask about what changed since you’re pregnant?’’ the fan was so sweet. ‘’Hi, uh, other than my body, my mentality changed a lot. I’m slowly realizing all the responsibilities that’s going to come with having twins. I also started to understand what parents mean when they say that it goes too fast. So, I’m understanding that I’m going to be a mother and it’s going to change me forever. But my body is the main change’’ she laughed. ‘’Do you know what you’re having, yet?’’ Anthony asked. ‘’Yes’’ she looked at Callum. ‘’We’re having two little girls’’ he said. The crowd cheered on the couple. ‘’Awn, do you have names yet?’’ Austin asked. They both nodded. ‘’We’re going to keep it secret until they come out, but yeah, we got it all figured out, the only thing that we don’t know is who the godfather is going to be’’ Y/n said. Barry and Anthony lifted their hand at the same time, making everyone laugh. ‘’You’re the godmother of my son, me!’’ Barry exclaimed, making Y/n laugh even more. ‘’We’ll come back to that later’’ Callum said, since his girlfriend was laughing too much, and wasn’t able to speak.

-

Austin sat at the end of the table; they were going to tell him that they wanted him to be the godfather. ‘’Why does this feel like an interrogation’’ he laughed. ‘’Sorry, we have something to ask you’’ Callum starts. ‘’Um, we want you to be the godfather of our girls’’ Y/n says, smiling. ‘’Are you joking?’’ he asks, smiling. ‘’No, we’re serious. You’ve always been there for us, and we want you to be there for our girls.’’ Callum explains. Austin’s eyes fill with tears as he nods. ‘’I would love to be the godfather of the babies you’re carrying’’ he says, looking at Y/n. When Austin stops talking, Y/n feels the babies kick, and they kick hard because she can see her belly move. ‘’I think they approved our choice’’ she laughs as she shows the two men the fight that’s taking place in her stomach.

-

The closer they were from the due date; the more Callum was freaking out and the more calm Y/n was. Frankly, Callum couldn’t understand how she was calm, she was about to push two babies out of her and looked like she came back from a Spa in Bali. ‘’Callum, honey, you’re giving me a headache, calm down. Everything is fine, I’m only 2 centimeters dilated, they can put me in the hospital when I’m at 3, we live 8 minutes away. It’s going to be fine’’ she giggled, seeing her boyfriend pacing around the living room. ‘’You are being too calm and it’s stressing me!’’ he said, looking at her. Y/n smiled and tried not to laugh. When she felt another contraction, she gave him a look, telling him to come sit down next to her so he could support her. But since he was stressing her, she asked him to go in their room and get her a new shirt, she was sweating. She breathed her way through it and timed it. She got up to walk around the house, in hope of making the contractions painless, but when she stood up, her water broke. ‘’Honey, don’t panic, but my water just broke’’ she shouted to Callum, he was in the other room. ‘’WHAT? IT’S HAPPENING?!’’ he yelled from their bedroom. ‘’Yes, it is’’ she replied.

-

Daisy Rose Turner and Ophelia Mary Turner, that was the name of the two newborns. Callum was holding Daisy, and Austin, who Y/n called to help Callum calm down, held Ophelia. Y/n was sleeping, the labour and delivery went on for 11 hours, she was a trooper. She did get the epidural, but her body was tired. Callum was so happy, he called his mom, telling her that his girls had her names as a middle name was something he was looking forward to ever since they decided on their names. When he broke the news, his mom immediately started to cry. Telling her son how proud of him she was and how excited she was to be a grandmother. ‘’Kaia was right, your children are so beautiful’’ Austin whispered. Callum smiled and looked at his daughters. ‘’Like their mother’’ he whispered back. Minutes later, Y/n woke up, she was still tired. ‘’Hey, how did you sleep?’’ Callum asked. ‘’Good, where are the girls?’’ she asked. ‘’The nurse took them to do their tests, Austin followed them.’’ He reassured her. She was traumatized by the baby kidnapping in Jane the Virgin, that was something she said to Callum very early in her pregnancy: You always follow our baby. In this case, babies. ‘’Thank you for making me a father, that’s something I’ve always dreamed about and I’m so grateful that you’re the mother of my girls.’’ Callum said, kissing her hand. Y/n was smiling, tears of joy immediately fell on her cheeks. ‘’And I’m ecstatic that you’re the father of my babies. I love you, Callum’’ she said, with a gentle voice. ‘’I love you too, Y/n’’

[gatitties]

Care and comfort

─ Yandere!bonten x motherly!reader (platonic)

─ Summary: you were just trying to help someone and you ended up being the obsession of a criminal organization

─ Warnings: obsession, stalking, toxic behaviors, kidnapping, slight mention of drugs and stuff related

Part two / Part three / Part four / Part five

You turned on the light in your kitchen, almost tripping over one of the stools because your eyes were still half closed, you had fallen asleep correcting the last report that the newspaper where you worked had sent you. You had noticed that you hadn't even had dinner before, so you made a quick meal before heading back to work, but before you could touch your laptop you heard a crash at the front door, as if someone had collapsed and slammed against it.

It's not that you lived in one of the worst areas of the city, but it was strange that something happened in the wee hours of the morning, you walked slowly, opening the door, or trying to, because the body of a man was blocking the entrance, a few minutes of struggle was enough for the unconscious body to fall to the other side, leaving you to open the door completely and contemplate the man.

He had one of those mullets that were fashionable among young people, several earrings, some scars on his mouth and stains of what appeared to be vomit and blood, okay, you did not want to interfere with anyone who seemed to be a drug addict, but on second thought, it was better to help the man than to have to give statements to the police as to why there was a dead body at your door.

You dragged him home and laid him on the couch, laying him on his side so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit if he ever did, though after further scanning you decided he needed a good shower. You did not feel self-conscious in doing this job, you are of an age and you have worked in many things, among them you had a position taking care of the elderly, all kinds of care being more specific, so no, you did not feel uncomfortable having to wash this man.

You changed his clothes and put his striped suit in the wash, leaving him back on the sofa, you continued with your work, reading and quickly correcting the errors you found, the night passed quite quickly and you fell asleep once you were completely done your work, sending it to the head of the newspaper.

The next morning you woke up with a gun pointed at your temple and that man's pretty eyes staring back at you, good way to start the day indeed.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Are you young people these days so ungrateful? It was you who passed out on the doorstep of my house at two in the morning."

He lowered the gun, seeming to remember some parts of his night, he sat still a little bewildered and with his head elsewhere because of the drugs taken yesterday, he looked at you in silence now noticing his change of clothes as well as the smell of his hair, it was not the smell of his usual shampoo.

"Did you…?"

"Yes, oh, don't be ashamed, it's been a long time since I stopped being interested in that kind of thing, at a certain age the only thing one looks for is economic stability and peace of mind, are you going to stay for lunch?"

He blinked contemplating your calm form, he didn't know if he was still under the pressure of narcotics, but he didn't reject your proposal, Sanzu was anything but embarrassing, however he felt like a little boy next to you being cared for by the mother he never had.

For your part, he was not the first brat you helped, you had married friends, with grown children or adolescents who did not stop getting into small problems, you acted like the aunt who drinks wine and criticizes everyone at family gatherings, for your attitude, they found it easier to access you when they had problems they didn't want your friends ─their moms─ to know about, you always had their backs unless it was something that was detrimental to their health, then you wouldn't hesitate to call your friends to give their children a lecture, even as adults.

That same attitude was the one that made Sanzu visit you more often than he would like to admit, although most of the times he left scolded for coming home drunk or drugged, you never closed the door on him, how could you? You weren't heartless enough to leave him lying in the street when he came desperately asking for help with some of his hallucinations.

Your kindness led him to an obsession towards you, you were like his little lifeboat, his conscious part about all the madness in which he was involved, he began to watch you from afar, observing your interactions with strangers and friends, it bothered him, it bothered him that you were just as kind to others as you were to him, he wanted all your attention just for him. He was also worried about you, he had seen the worst part of the rotten world in which he lived, someone with a soft heart like you could not survive against the predators of this society.

Of course, Bonten executives were not stupid, usually most of them lived in the headquarters, they had private properties where they spent a few days or weeks, but most of the time they were in that headquarter, especially Sanzu, that's why they started to noticing his absence more and more, it's not like he had to explain himself to anyone ─except if Mikey asked him to─ but his behavior was strange, didn't he arrive drugged? It seemed like a bad joke, clothes without a bloodstain? he was definitely doing something outside their radar.

Not that the others cared much, but the Haitani brothers were a bit nosy, like gossips who want to know why their partner seems happier when he comes back in the morning after a night of 'fun'. They discussed it a couple of times with the others when Sanzu wasn't around, and they all agreed that his behavior was unusual, so they began to investigate what he did in his leisure.

This led to an ordinary person like you being watched by two executives of the largest criminal organization in the country. At first they thought that you were a whore with whom he had fallen in love, but investigating more about you, they discovered that you were a lady with an established daily life, there was nothing about you that stood out and yet you seemed so interesting.

"Sanzu please, I need to finish correcting this report, I promise you that later you can have all the hugs you want."

"No."

He tightened his grip on your waist, burying his face in the crook of your neck, you were trying to do your job but Sanzu found your hugs too comforting after you once found him crying ─from being drugged─, killing people leaves obstacles in any person and as much as he loved it, certain deaths of innocent people always ended up flying over his thoughts like ghosts that tormented him from time to time.

The sound of the doorbell made you stop typing, moving the man slightly away to go to open, you were not expecting a visitor which was strange to you, Sanzu felt a chill when you opened the door, meeting the eyes of the youngest of the Haitani directly, he got up quickly without even letting you ask what those guys wanted, he pulled you back before Ran could drag you with him.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?"

"Make sure you don't have too much fun, are you so in love that you forget the meetings?"

They started a little discussion while you looked blankly, you and Rindou looked at each other in silence while the other two talked, you greeted with a brief nod, thinking they were Sanzu's coworkers.

Luckily just when the discussion was getting more heated, a 'ding' coming from the oven threw everyone off concentration, taking advantage of this you got out of the man's strong grip, walking towards the kitchen to see that the cookies you had been working on before were ready.

"There are plenty of cookies for everyone, Sanzu you can invite your friends."

"They are not my friends!"

"That's very kind of you, we'd love to meet our friend's friend."

So you ended up having lunch with the three men in an awkward silence between them, due to the tension of which you preferred not to take into account, Ran and Rindou were quite nice and understood that you were not a love interest, nor did you want it, nor did you seek it. Alarm bells of boys without a mother figure going off again, of course you caught their interest more than before, they knew your background but not your personality, and they ended up falling into that obsession towards you, as if there was something that made them gravitate towards you, was it because of your simplicity? for your kind words? They didn't know it, but they were jealous that Sanzu could snuggle up against you and they would have to keep more of their distance.

Now you had three of Bonten's executives constantly visiting your house, whether it was asking you for small favors or advice on nonsense to asking you to make them cookies or food in general, they just desperately wanted your attention, like babies crying out for their mother.

This cycle of obsession only made the others begin to suspect that they were up to something, whether it was harmful to Bonten or not, Takeomi was the first to notice, Kokonoi the same, he noticed how the brothers spent a certain amount of money, which they didn't used to do that often, followed by Kakucho, Mochizuki and lastly Mikey.

So it led you to be kidnapped by Mochi after doing enough research on you, because they didn't take much notice of it at first when the brothers first noticed. You were tied hand and foot, a blindfold was removed after consciousness returned to you, you found yourself face to face with a man with immense dark circles and eyes full of lifeless, on his right side another man with a large scar on his face, on his left side another man with a small scar on his left eye.

You felt something cold touching your temple, again you had a gun pointed at you, held by the same boy who had kidnapped you, you turned your head also noticing another man with long white hair.

"Who are you and why do you have my executives after you?"

"Executives…?" you looked at everyone carefully, connecting the dots when you saw their tattoos "Oh- so that's why they never wanted to tell me what they worked for… are you some kind of organization? Like arms smuggling, money laundering or something?"

You took the situation calmly, that your life was hanging by a thread right now was not one of your biggest concerns, you had lived a full and happy life up to now, you had no regrets, you were mature enough to understand the point at which you were, the more the years go by, the less afraid you are of the things that used to terrify you when you were young.

"GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF MY MOTHER!"

Everyone was surprised to see how Sanzu entered kicking Mochizuki so that the weapon flew out of his hands, away from you, the Haitani brothers followed closely untying you quickly while all those men had a discussion of looks, the dense silence was broken by your giggle, you were trying to control yourself as much as you could but it was impossible.

"My God, Sanzu, you just called me mom!?"

The boy's face was completely dyed in pink tones, all the attention was now focused on you while you let out a laugh at the slip that your child had, something made the hearts of others clench in pain when they heard your laugh, no matter how bad it sounded, whether it was asthmatic, uproarious, or silent laughter, it was like real music to the ears of all the executives at Bonten, including the leader. As if you had flipped a switch in the mind of their rotten minds, they now had a new interest in you, as if you had further triggered an obsession you were unaware of with the first three you met.

They began to understand why those three felt attracted to you, it was as if your mere presence was intoxicating for them, as if just listening to you or looking at you calmed their broken hearts, many alarms from boys without a mother figure, of course that was a triggering reason, all these men longed for that kind of love that they could hardly experience.

Now you had the criminal organization after you, not in a bad way, more like a bunch of men acting childishly because of your limited attention. One thing they were clear about without the need to speak, you were not going to leave their sight for a single moment from now on.

[mattatouilletkachuk]

hi! 30. “You’re definitely your mother/father’s child.” with Matthew Tkachuk please

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far || Matthew Tkachuk

Prompt: 30. “You’re definitely your father’s child.”

WC: 1.2k

A/N: I told y’all I would work on my requests.

Warnings: children fighting (but it’s all in good fun. )

Summary: Off season meant that your husband was home every day, which provides a break for you and time with their dad for the kids. The same kids that idolize their father so in hindsight, perhaps you should have seen this coming. After all, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

It was no secret that the off-season was your favorite part of the year. You loved to watch your husband do something that he loved and enjoyed and ever since your children got old enough to bring to their father’s games, hockey had become special to everyone in the house. The off-season is special in a different way. Matthew was at home and even though he trained five days out of the week, he was still mostly at home spending time with you and your two kids.

It was nice to wake up in the morning and have Matthew beside you and every morning it felt like you were falling in love with your family all over again when your son and daughter would sneak into the room and cuddle against you and Matthew. You would always take a minute to watch fondly as your husband squeezed both of the kids to his chest before you left the comfort of your bed to make breakfast.

The afternoons were always spent outside. You soaked up the Summer sun as you sat on one of the patio chairs drinking sweet iced tea and watching as Matthew and your children ran around playing.

Today was no different. You relaxed as you watched Matthew run around the backyard with the kids. You couldn’t make out what game it was and suspected that it was one that the kids had made up. It didn’t matter much to you, just as long as no one was getting hurt and they got their energy out. At the ages of six and four, your daughter and son, respectively, had more energy in them than anyone else you knew.

You laughed as you watched your son, Link, screech as Matthew threw him over his shoulder and took off running. The screeching quickly turned into loud laughter not just from your son but your husband too. Your daughter, Maxie, giggled hysterically as she chased her father and brother.

It didn’t take long for her to catch up to them, after all, Matthew was running slower than usual so she had a chance.

“Run!” Matthew called out loudly as he set Link down. “Save yourself!”

Maxie who had wrapped herself around her dad’s legs looked at her younger brother's small frame as he ran in the other direction. You winced, already knowing what was likely to happen. Your daughter was highly competitive, a trait she likely inherited from her father, and she wasn’t one to go easy on anyone if she wanted to win. Not even her brother. Especially not her brother.

You fought the urge to get up from your set and get involved before things got out of hand. You reminded yourself that Matthew was home and that you could take a step back from being the disciplinary one.

It was just last week that you were talking to Matthew’s mom when she told stories about Matthew and his siblings when they were younger. When you mentioned your worries about your own kids fighting she eased your thoughts, assuring you that siblings fight, especially when their last name happens to be Tkachuk.

It was as you were thinking back on the conversation that you heard a thud followed by a cry. Your eyes landed on your children tangled together on the grass. You didn’t see what had happened but with the way Maxie was nearly sitting on top of her brother, you realized that she probably tackled Link to the ground. Your daughter still had a hard time understanding how rough she could be with her brother, not yet understanding how even though they were two years apart, four and six was still a significant difference.

You were about to get up when Matthew came walking up to the kids. You bit your lip to hold back the laugh that wanted to escape. You couldn’t remember the last time that Matthew looked so serious or when that look was directed at his kids, the same kids that he claimed were “perfect little angels.”

He plucked Maxie off of her brother as if it was nothing and set her on her feet and with a disappointed frown said, “I know you want to play but you need to realize that your brother is still a lot smaller than you and you shouldn’t be so rough with him.”

“Daddy-“ Maxie tried, looking up at Matthew with round eyes that were his exact replica. You could see it in the way she was behaving. She had no idea what to do or say because her dad was never the one to scold her. If it was you you would be on the receiving end of her sassy attitude that she reserved just for you.

“Your brother deserves an apology,” Matthew said as he helped Link stand up. Your son was still sniffling and his face was red. He wasn’t seriously hurt and was likely crying from the shock of being hit so hard.

Your daughter crossed her arms and looked at her brother. It was like looking at a smaller version of your husband as she frowned and shook her head. “If he didn’t want to get hit he shouldn’t have been in my way.”

This time you couldn't hold back the snort that left you at her words. You could have sworn you heard Matthew say something just like that before. Neither your daughter nor Maxie looked at you but your son did. His red tear-stained broke your heart and you leaned forward and opened your arms for him. He wasted no time in running into your arms.

You wrapped your arms around him and ignored the snot and tears he got on your shoulder.

“It’s time for you to cool down,” Matthew said.

“But-“

“Go to your room until you figure out how to apologize,” Matthew said, his voice stern.

Maxie huffed in frustration but didn’t argue. Matthew followed behind her and when she walked through the back door, ignoring both you and Link, Matthew stopped. He watched from beside you as she disappeared into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom.

Finally turning to you he let out an exasperated sigh, “What do I do now?”

You were combing your fingers through your son’s curls when you shrugged, “Wait for her to come out and apologize. It won’t take her long, she’ll get hungry soon.”

Matthew groaned, sitting in the seat across from you. He raked his own fingers through his short hair. Now that everything had finally calmed down and Link was no longer crying you finally let yourself appreciate just how amusing this whole thing was.

“What’s so funny?” Matthew asked, looking confused and exhausted, as if dealing with his troublesome daughter was going to take years off of his life.

“You do realize that she’s exactly like you, right?” You said in between giggles.

Matthew rolled his eyes but smiled anyway, flashing the gap between his teeth and making your heart beat a little bit faster than normal.

“In that case, we’re in trouble for the rest of our lives.” He chuckled.

Link finally pulled back from you to look at Matthew and then at you. His face had gone back to its normal color and you wiped away the tears and snot from his face. His curls were everywhere and his wide eyes met yours as he asked softly, “What about me?”

You flicked your eyes over to your husband briefly before looking back down at your son. He wasn’t like Matthew when it came to his mannerisms but your little boy loved fiercely, and as much as a four-year-old could. He was Matthew’s twin in everything but roughness.

You pushed his curls to the side and kissed his forehead, “you’re definitely your father’s child.”

[wandamaximoffsbadgirl]

hi i love your agatha fan fic so much ❤️ if your request still open, can you write fem reader ignoring agatha so agatha get her attention by masterbating in front of her and taunting her while she watch until agatha gets off making mess everywhere

You Just Want Attention.

Service top!Agatha Harkness x Power bottom!Fem!Reader

Word count: 633

Warnings: 18+, MDNI, A masturbates in front of R, R is packing, mentions of subspace, legal age gap(specific age not mentioned R is just younger than A)

A/N: Once again, sorry for the delay on this~

You might be younger than Agatha, but you swore she was more like a teenager when it came to just how horny she could be some days. All you were trying to do was get some work done. You worked for Stark Industries as a supervisor over the accounting department. You were going over the different budgets of things when Agatha had come into your office, saying she required your attention. You brushed her off though reminding her of your work. She tried convincing you to take a break, but you gave her what she dubbed ‘the mom look’ and pouted a bit before finding a seat on the couch that faces your desk.

At first you didn't take notice of what the witch was doing until a familiar little whimper came out her mouth. Your eyes flicking up at the familiar sound only to find your girlfriend with her skirt lifted up and rubbing. It seems she had forgone panties today.

“I don't remember giving you permission for that.” Your voice was harsh in its words, but Agatha just smiled, knowing she'd caught your attention finally.

“Just want you Sweetness. Need you desperately. Can’t you give me five minutes?” She was begging for you inbetween moans. You sighed,

“No. I have a deadline at five I can’t right now Aggie.” You turn your focus back to your work, still you could see Agatha carry on as if you weren’t there. Her moans pierced the air every so often as you worked. “If you’re going to carry on, you better at least ask for permission to cum.” All you got in response was a frantic nod.

Over an hour later she was a mess, you could see how wet she was from your desk. She'd asked you many times if she could cum, but each time you denied her request, making her stop touching just long enough that she could then build herself back up.

“Please sweetness. Please allow me to cum. Wanna show you how good you make me feel.” She asked. You had finished your work, just waiting for her to beg for a final time as you got up from your chair. You make your way over and sit at the coffee table right in front of Agatha's spread legs.

“Go on Mommy wanna watch you cum for me.” You say as you lean forward. Agatha's skin had been flush for a bit, but your words made the color darken. She loved these little moments. The little mind games the two of you played back and forth as she's finally allowed to come undone for you.

“Thank you sweetness. Thank you for letting Mommy cum!” She cried out, voice hoarse as you reach out a hand, letting your slender fingers run through her folds before bringing them to your mouth. Savoring her taste on your tongue before unbuttoning and unzipping your pants, pulling out the strap you'd been packing all morning. You'd been waiting to fuck her. Had even thought about making her cockwarm you while you worked, but the little show she displayed was fun in its own right.

Agatha stared wide eyed at the strap, her favorite purple strap. She her eyes had gone hazy before, but now they were like puddles melting.

“C-can't take more sweetness…” she tried to argue, but you both knew what was about to happen.

“Yes you can Mommy. Gonna take every inch of me and you're going to take everything I give you until I've had my fill. That's your punishment for being a slut who can't wait until I'm finished with my work.” Agatha could only whimper, looking up at you with wet, pleading eyes. Sure you called it a punishment, but Agatha was about to enjoy every second of it.

[jeansplaytoy]

‘ 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘 .

part three.

if you haven’t already, please read part two and one first. warnings: physical + verbal abuse, language, fluff (in the beginning), mentions of alcohol, lots of angst. if this is too much for you, please don’t read it.

‘i wont get too drunk, i still have to go home.’

that’s what you told yourself every five minutes when you went to pick up a drink. and every five minutes, you changed your mind about that drink.

‘fuck, i have to go home.’ you thought to yourself while checking your phone. 1AM. “shit.”

but you stayed sitting on the couch, regardless of the fact that it was already getting out late, and you were supposed to be out studying.

but those thoughts were brushed away when you felt someone sit down beside you. “what’s wrong?” ony asked, looking at you. you slowly shook your head. “nothing… just worried about what my moms gonna say when i get in the house at three in the morning.” you said, staring at the ground with your lips softly pursed together.

ony smacked his lips. “you know she ain’t bouta say shit bout it. she gon be cool.”

“you can think that cus we not related. if you really knew how she was, you’d picture her like i do.” you said, shaking and scratching your head.

“you tryna go home?”

“not really.”

“then why you complaining? go find armin or sum.” ony softly smacked the back of your head. you groaned. “i don’t wanna talk to armin. he already think i’m a hoe.” you looked at ony as he grabbed your wrist and led you through the crowd.

“well… you could’ve fooled me.”

“bitch-“

“armin yo future girl lookin for you. she said you think she a hoe.” ony nudged armin and brought you into view. you looked at him with an annoyed look and then at armin while rolling your eyes.

armin chuckled. “wassup.”

as ony walked away you dramatically sighed. “you uh.. ready to go home?” you asked armin while tilting your head. “why? you tryna go?” you shrugged.

“we can leave if you wanna go.” armin shrugged, putting his phone in his hoodie pocket. “yeah.” you nodded, almost rushing out of the party. you left through the front door and hurriedly made your way down the walkway.

“damn, hold up.” armin held up his arm. “you know yo back pack still in ony room, right?”

you sighed, anxiousness filling your heart. “fuck. can you go get it? you don’t have to.” you rubbed your eyebrows. “i’ll wait for you.” you said, adjusting your crop top to stop the sweat from forming. armin nodded, going back to the house.

it was only a few minutes when he came back out, holding your backpack. “my fault. people was crowded and shit.” he said. you nodded. “thank you.”

you let armin hold your backpack as the both of you walked down the street, since that’s how you got to onys house in the first place. you walked quickly, armin following beside you. he seemed calm. like this was something he did everyday.

“why you so nervous. yo mom can’t be that irritating.” he mumbled.

you shook your head. “this the latest i ever been out. she strict as hell and i know it’s finna be a never ending argument when i get in the house.” you exhaled and rubbed your hands together.

“me and you both. dad bouda be on my ass.” armin raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “fuck. i hope he sleep right now.”

“me and you both.” you repeated his words with a quiet voice. armin seemed the notice it and glancing at you before looking forward again. “we can get yelled at together.” armin shrugged. “i thought you said you ain’t have no curfew when we first saw each other again.”

“no curfew before 11, yeah.” you shook your head.

it got quiet as you both continued to walk. you started to slow down a little, realizing it was already too late to start rushing home.

“i was playin when i said that stuff about you lookin at me. i know you don’t do that to everybody.” armin suddenly spoke. you hummed. “what made you think about that?” you asked. he bit his top lip. “when ony told me you said i think you a hoe… sumn like that. i know you ain’t no hoe.” he said, looking down at you as you walked. you didn’t look up from the concrete.

“it’s whatever.”

armin heard your tone and inaudibly sighed. “if it makes you feel better, i can talk back to my dad so he can yell more. yknow, so he can yell his ass off for the whole night, and you can rest knowing i’m still getting called names and shit.”

“don’t put yourself at risk to make me feel better.”

“i’m not risking nothing. that’s the thing.”

“you risking the relationship between y’all though, so…”

armin pursed his lips together. “ain’t no relationship between us no more. he been gettin more fuckin’ irritated by the days.”

you hummed. “oh.”

only a couple more steps forward and that’s when you made it in front of your house. “well. here we go.” armin clicked his tongue, starting to walk towards your backyard. “you gon keep my backpack?” you asked. armin shrugged and looked back at you.

“call me.” he mumbled.

“no number.”

he paused and hummed, reaching in your backpack and pulling out a random piece of paper and a pencil.

he wrote down his number, barely being able to write it down because of the fact that he had to put the paper on his palm. he passed you the paper, putting your pencil back.

“when we get done getting yelled at.”

you put the piece of paper in your skirt pocket and nodded with a small smile.

knocking on your own door, a few seconds came your mom. with a worried, but more angry look on her face. “get in this damn house. right. now.” she pointed behind her. you sighed and walked in, rubbing your forehead.

she slammed the door behind you and frowned. “you said you was going out to eat, so why the hell you coming back in my house at 1 in the morning?” she said, blocking your way to the stairs.

“i went to a party at onys house, it’s not that serious.” you mumbled.

“not that serious? i almost called the police because i thought something happens to you, but it’s ’not that serious’? and i bet you was out there with a bunch of damn boys, huh.” she squinted. “a bunch? what you tryna say? i’m some kinda thot?” you frowned and tilted your head. “i went to a party, had some drinks, and lost track of time. i barely did anything at the party anyway, so i don’t know why you tryna make it seem like it’s the worst thing in the world.”

“and you might be just that.” she mumbled.

you frowned in confusion. “what?”

it took you a minute to realize she answered your first question and disregarded the rest of your words. “because every damn time, it’s something else. then you gon end up pregnant with no help.” she shrugged, continuing to stand by the stairs.

you scoffed and shook your head. “yeah, right. i’m gon get pregnant, fuck a thousand boys, cus i’m a thot right?”

“you need to find you something else to entertain yo damn self with.” she pointed her finger in your face. you started getting irritated. “can you move?”

“no i cannot. because i don’t know who the hell you been hanging around that’s making you act like this, but you not going out no more.” your mom continued to yell in your face. “you a little ass girl-“

“first of all i’m 18 years old, damn!” you smacked your lips and pushed past her, going up the stairs.

“i wish a had a damn son. don’t know why little ass girls like you act like this. shoulda knew that from the time you was born.”

for some reason, those words struck you somewhere you’ve never really been hit before. now your moms said a lot of fucked up things to and about you, since you were young. but to basically say she wished she never had you? it was weird.

“cool.” was the last thing you mumbled before walking into your own room and shutting the door, locking it behind you.

meanwhile there was armin, listening to his dads yelling. still listening.

“i don’t know why the fuck you come in and out of this house when you feel like it, but next time you do that shit, i’m gon’ fuck you up, you hear me, armin?!” his dad yelled outside his locked door.

“i heard you the first time bruh.” armin mumbled.

but he guessed he heard what he said perfectly, because he jumped at the loud pounding on his door. staring at his door knob, which looked like it was about to practically break from the sounds it made and the way it moved.

he looked like a deer in headlights.

the sound of his mom yelling and the sound of his dads silence, mixed with the banging of the door, it made armin go silent, and put his phone down beside him on the bed.

suddenly, his moms yelling and muffled and his dad broke down the door, going straight for him. before he could even flinch, he felt his self getting thrown into his dresser. “i’m sick of this disrespectful ass kid!”

he felt his dads grip on his hoodie, as he got thrown into the wall, where a big hole laid when he was swung off the wall and into the door, nearly breaking it off the hinges. “you disrespectful son of a bitch! you need to learn some respect!”

as armin tried to fight back, he threw a punch to his dad, which landed. and hard.

it only made him more pissed.

armin felt his self being slammed to the floor, which he was glad was carpet because his head hit it instantly. he squinted at the pain before throwing full punches at his dad, who did the same on top of him. and was much stronger.

the sound of his moms yelling still didn’t blink in yet.

“get off of him, he didn’t do anything wrong!” his mom yelled, face almost soaked with tears.

“you need to learn respect, you fucking hear me?!”

his dad pinned his arms down to the floor. “get the fuck off of me! i fucking hate you!”

armin kicked his legs and screamed, but it was no good. that’s when he felt tears flood his eyes and roll down his face. his room was filled with nothing but yelling from him, cries from his mom, and harsh words from his dad. he was basically throwing a tantrum now, kicking his legs around, knocking things off of his dresser.

his dad suddenly yanked away from him, standing up and running his hand across armins dresser, sending all his things flying.

his dad pushed past his mom as he laid there on the floor. armins mom, shaking, slowly shook her head, sobbing as she slowly left the room.

armin, heavily breathing, fists balled, sweating and still crying, suddenly started to yell again, this time at his self. he was mad. more than mad.

throwing things around his room as he yelled, kicking his lamps over, throwing glass around, tearing curtains, and more. “i fucking hate this house!” he yelled, tears still dragging down his tired, red face. he sent a punch towards his bathroom mirror, completely shattering it. throwing things around his bathroom, he panted, walking back in his room and grabbing his phone and his charger. he grabbed his backpack, shoving any clothes he could fit, along with his toothbrush, deodorant, things like that.

he put on his shoes, and swung his door open, breathing heavily as he made his way downstairs, leaving and slamming the front door behind him.

and you? you stared at the ceiling, thinking back on your own mothers words.

for a few minutes, you were lost in your own thoughts.

until you heard a knock on your window.

part four here.

[thisismeracing]

I'll always take care of you | MS47

― Pairing: Mick Schumacher x reader (she/her) ― Word count: 1.2k ― Warnings: mentions of food and sickness; overall fluff.  ― Summary: The flu caught you out of the blue, and completely unprepared, good thing you have your boyfriend around to take care of you. ― A/n: This piece was based on this request. This is a special piece for my mick schumacher sick girlies (gn) club (as many of us were sick this week). I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know your thoughts by reblogging and/or leaving me an ask (anons are on) *mwah* 🤍

✷ my masterlist | my taglist | patreon guide ✷ you can support my writing by reblogging, leaving a comment (don’t forget to follow me if you like the piece), or buying me a coffee

Mondays are usually good days for you.

Though the week starts on Sundays, for you, they truthfully get going on Mondays. Mondays are when classes and work are back in full swing and when you make a list of everything you need to do for the week. When you are energized to clean your room, and when Mick comes home from races.

This Monday, though, you wake up with a cough, a runny nose, and your head pounding. It’s terrible. It doesn’t take you long to realize that it’s the flu and it’s not going away in time for you to get to work and classes, so you text your supervisor and send an e-mail to your professor, leaving your cell phone back on the nightstand and trying to sleep it off at least a little bit.

It gets worse after five minutes. Your whole body is aching and you wanna cry from stress because why couldn’t it happen any other day? Why today? You shrug the covers off, get Angie some food, get your water bottle, and some painkillers, and go back to bed. This time, the wiggly dog lies on your feet, as if she sensed something was wrong.

That was the first signal for Mick. Every Monday when he comes back from wherever he was in the world, Angie is at the door eager to greet him, but this time the apartment holds a weird silence, and there’s no signal of his dog. You also hadn’t answered his messages earlier this morning, something you would always do because, by the time he got home, you were up and running with your things.

He takes off his shoes, leaves his luggage by the entrance, and makes the short trek to your shared bedroom, a million thoughts going through his head. All of them dissipating when he opens the door and sees your sleeping form along with Angie lying on the bed. His shoulders drop in relief, only to go up again when your body moves on the bed, a nasty cough scratching your throat and making you whimper in pain.

Mick is by your side in a heartbeat.

Angie watched everything attentively as if knowing that he would talk to her soon, that right now her mom needed dad more.

You sit up reaching for the water, and finally notice Mick by your side.

“Babe,” you start but the coughing fits interrupt.

The blonde by your side passes your water bottle while rubbing your back, a worried look on his graceful features, “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick, Schatzi?”

And though there’s no judgment on his tone, you feel like crying, particularly because you’re sick, but also because you feel emotional. Of course, you know that Mick would always take care of you, but going through it was a completely different story, “It started earlier this morning,” you explain, taking a sip of your water again.

“Did you call your boss and your professor? Want me to do it?”

You nodded, then shook your head, “I already did, thanks though.”

“Have you eaten?”

And this time your eyes go to the ground. You know he’s about to huff a worried reply, but you’re too tired to try and explain, so you just lie back and watch as Mick kisses your forehead and starts changing his clothes, putting on his grey sweatpants and white shirt while telling you that you’re burning and he’s going to call the drugstore down the block to drop off some meds.

You hum in agreement. He pets Angie, leaving a kiss on her waiting head, but when he leaves she doesn’t follow, staying planted on the bed with you.

“Angie, sweet angel, you can go with Dad, I know you missed him,” you talk as if she would understand. Angie wiggles her tail, gets up from the bottom of the bed, and lies with her head on your belly.

You smile, caressing her fur, and it's not long before you’re falling asleep again.

You wake up minutes later, with Mick telling you to open your mouth while he’s scooping some kind of medicine in a spoon. You protest but drink it anyway, making faces at how sour it tastes.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“Terrible, I can’t breathe through my nose, and I’m cold, but I’m also burning.”

His fingers brush on your cheek, “Yeah, you have a fever, but I just gave you something to get the fever down. I’ll keep putting cold compresses on your forehead, but you can keep napping, okay?”

His soft tone makes your lips turn into a pout, some tears gathering in the corner of your eyes, “Baby, you’re gonna get sick too, no. I can take care of mys–”

Mick shakes his head, “I’m your boyfriend, I’m taking care of you. And besides, I’m an athlete, I won’t get sick that easily.”

Mick could very well be stubborn when he wanted to, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes, sighing, “At least put on a mask.”

“Can I get a kiss first?”

You turn your head to him so fast you almost get whiplash, your brows are furrowed and your lips parted, “Are you out of your mind, Schumacher?”

He gifts you with a belly laugh, throwing his head back and showing you the milky skin of his neck. You so wanted to kiss it. And his pink plush lips too. But you couldn’t, and you told him this much.

“Yeah, I was messing with you, princess.”

You huff.

“Now, get comfortable, I’m gonna grab my mask. Your soup is almost ready,” he says, standing up from his sitting position on the bed.

“I’m not hungry,” you whine, lying down and bringing Angie close to you, snuggling on her soft fur.

“You gotta eat to get better soon, Schatzi.”

You mumble something not even you can understand, and Mick chuckles, walking back to the bed and sitting beside you. He brushes your cheek and holds your jaw, holding your eyes to his. You’re sick, you’re tired, and you have a headache pounding on your head nonstop, and a nasty running nose, but those blue orbs staring at you sure made your body tremble, all warm and fuzzy. His head dips and he takes the covers from your legs, just enough so his lips can find your naked thighs. He kisses there, and then your belly, and the inside of your wrist. There’s nothing sexual about it, he’s just kissing what he knows you would classify as a safe spot, far from your coughs, and snout.

Mick misses you though you are in front of each other right now.

And you miss him just as much.

“We went a week away, you really wanna make it more than it needs to be?”

You open your mouth, but then just drop your demeanor, shaking your head.

“Good, because I miss snuggling with you and kissing you, and we won’t be able to do it while you’re sick, right?” You nod. “I wouldn’t mind getting sick for you though.”

“Nope,” you pop the p. “Not happening. You’re sleeping in the guest bedroom until I get better.”

“Then you’re eating and taking all the meds I bring,” there’s a determination in his tone, and you can’t help but nod. “We have a deal?”

You nod reluctantly and shake hands with him. There’s a winning smile on his face, “good, I’m bringing the compresses and the soup.” 

― ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: Hi, besties! I hope you guys like this piece! Rooting for our mick schumacher sick girlies (gn) club to let all of its members go back to being exclusively from the mick scumacher simp club hihi A huge shout out to my coffee anon for proofreading this piece and suggesting the title (ily, C)!🤍

If you liked this piece and want early access to new ones and exclusive access to others, subscribe to my patreon!💘

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©thisismeracing do not copy, steal, or translate my work. do not repost on a different media platform.

[ejzah]

A/N: Since I’m still thinking of Neal revealing more of his past to Peter, here’s a little fic on that topic. Yes I’m, shockingly, taking a tiny detour from my usual fandom. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.

***

The Conman Revealed

Peter has known for some times that Neal didn’t exactly come from a stable family. Most people didn’t end up criminals because they had a happy childhood. Plus, there were the various kernels dropped over the years, dolled out almost like strange gifts or slips of the tongue.

He’d never graduated high school, his dad was a dirty cop, and on it went. A part of Peter had wondered if some of these details were the complete truth or just another example of Neal Caffrey creating his own legend. He could usually tell when Neal was being completely earnest though; not to mention Neal didn’t reveal more than the bare minimum in those moments.

So, Peter sits at a crappy picnic table, eating his fancy takeout, and listens to Neal unravel his past. Neal’s voice is a little softer and quieter than usual, even though it’s just the two of them out here. Peter knew this would be a difficult conversation, but didn’t anticipate how vulnerable Neal woul be.

“When my dad went away, my mom just checked out. I mean, she was around, but she wasn’t around, so Ellen looked after me,” Neal says. His eyes shift from Peter to just beyond and then back again.

It takes Peter a moment to process Neal’s revelation, and another to decided it doesn’t make sense.

“Well, how could she look after you if you she was in witne—” breaks offs, and now Neal looks him in the eye, his look knowing as he lets Peter put the pieces together himself. “You grew up in witness protection,” Peter says, and Neal nods, his voice a little rougher when he confirms,

“I was three when the marshals took us away.”

Everything makes sense now: Neal’s ability to create new peronas, to live those personas so vividly, his strange mix of self-preservation and extreme recklessness. His impressive ability with firearms; Peter smiles a little when he thinks of that particular skill.

In the following weeks, Peter learns a little bit more each day about Neal’s childhood. He’s slightly more open now that the biggest secret is out in the open and Ellen shares bits and pieces with the kind of calculation that makes Peter believe she must have been an excellent cop. He even sees signs of Neal’s shrewdness in her.

One morning a couple weeks after Neal’s revelation, they’re set up in Peter’s office with a stack of fraud cases. Every so often, Neal throws often a question or observation, which Peter makes note of. It’s not the most riveting work, and Peter finds his mind wandering back to Neal, his parents, Ellen.

“What’s stumping you? You’ve been staring for the last five minutes,” Neal says, catching Peter off-guard.

He hadn’t even realized he’d been staring or that Neal had noticed. Peter briefly considers deflecting, but quickly shuts that notion down. They’re trying to be more honest with each other, even if it’s not always pleasant.

“I thinking about what you said about being on WITSEC. If your mom was dealing with her own issues and I assume Ellen was working some of the time, what did you do during the day? Who took care of you?” Peter asks as neutrally as he can.

Neal doesn’t bother looking up from his file. “You’ve been talking to Ellen,” he surmises and Peter shrugs, not denying it.

“She tells some pretty good stories.”

“What do you want to know Peter?” Closing the file, Neal sits back with his arms crossed, perturbed but not completely closed off. That’s a good sign.

Peter sets his own work to the side since it’s not like he was making any progress with his thoughts on Neal’s past.

“Between what you and Ellen have shared, it sounds like you were left to your own devices a lot,” Peter starts, approaching the topic carefully. Even so, Neal visibly bristles.

“Ellen did the best she could,” he objects emphatically. The fact his mom isn’t included in that defense doesn’t go unnoticed.

“I’m sure she did.” Peter holds up a hand to head Neal off before he gets too worked up. “I didn’t mean anything against her. I can tell she cares about you a lot.”

That seems to mollify Neal for the moment and he sighs, rubbing his forehead. “Sorry. Touchy subject.” He smiles, maybe at the understatement. “Ellen tried to take care of me as much as she could, but she did have to work and especially when my mom,” he sighs again. “Sometimes my mom could barely even brush her own hair. She wasn’t in any state to take care of an energetic little boy, so I figured out how to do things for myself when she couldn’t.”

“That had to be a lot of responsibility for a kid.”

“Well, I didn’t have a lot of options.” Neal says with a shrug, his eyes softening with a combination of fondness and melancholy. “I remember when I was seven, there was one day that Ellen had to go into work early, and mom was still asleep. There wasn’t anything ready to eat, so I pulled a chair up to the stove and started making eggs for both us. Mom came out about halfway through. I thought she’d be so proud of me, but she was furious—in restrospect I realize she was terrified I would burn myself or set the apartment on fire—and told me to never touch the stove or oven without an adult around.”

Peter feels profound sadness and a touch of disquiet as Neal finishes the story with a slight smirk, which looks somewhat genuine. He conceals his reaction, knowing that Neal will not appreciate pity or worse, horror, in this moment.

“So what did you do?”

“I learned how to use the toaster and be a lot quieter until I was about ten and she randomly decided I was old enough to handle open flames without supervision,” Neal says, like it makes perfect sense, and Peter sees a little bit more of how the conman was born.

“I imagine you got pretty good at pulling the wool over adults’ eyes wherever you went,” he observes. For once, Neal doesn’t take it as a compliment.

“I had to if I wanted to stay with mom, and Ellen. I mean, it wasn’t like I was being hurt, I just didn’t have anyone around some days or mom wouldn’t have signed the paperwork for a field trip, so I learned to do it for her. My crimes were pretty harmless back then.”

“It’s a shame it came to that ,” Peter can’t help but observe. He wonders what Neal would have been like if he had a solid parental presence in his life, if he hadn’t felt forced to lie and fight his way through his childhood. Clearly Ellen had done her best, but she had her own demons and life to deal with.

“Hey, I could have turned out worse,” Neal points out with a charming smile that lacks the sincerity of moments ago.

“That you could have,” Peter agrees, chuckling as he shakes his head. He tosses his open pen on his desk, grabbing his suit jacket off the back of his chair, and stands, gesturing to Neal. “C’mon, let’s go get a coffee. I’ll even buy.”

Neal makes a show of checking his watch. “It’s only 9:45 and I thought we had important acts of fraud to uncover.”

“Are you going to turn down a free cup of your fancy, small batch roasted coffee?”

Neal tilts head, eyeing Peter suspiciously for a few moments, then his mouth morphs into a massive, and this time genuine, grin. “Peter, are you attempting to make up for my crappy childhood with overpriced drinks and quality time?” he asks, clearly delighted.

“Hey, if you don’t want the coffee, then we can just go back to—”

“Oh no, I’ll take any excuse to leave.” Quickly pushing his file to the side, he stands and doffs his hat with an extra flourish. “If you really want to make it better, I’ve been dying for a cinnamon scone all week.”

“Don’t push your luck,” Peter warns him, though there’s no heat behind it. They walk down the stairs, through the building, and outside together, they’re halfway to Neal’s favorite cafe when he nudges Peter’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Peter.”

[thefallennightmare]

Miracle-ten

(gif created by me, the fallen nightmare. feel free to use, simply give credit)

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x Reader

Warnings/Tropes: forced proximity, slight enemies to lovers, slow burn, smut, angst, fluff, mentions of death, and swearing.

Summary: Reader is the merch girl for Bad Omens. It wasn't what she wanted to do with her life but when her mother got sick with Alzheimer's, reader took a job where she could to help with the costs. She thought it would be a one-time gig but the longer she was on the road with them, the harder she fell for Noah Sebastian; even if he wanted nothing to do with her. She needed a miracle to save her mom and her future.

Author Note: I told ya'll I was having thoughts about Noah's fingers.

Tags: @ada-clarence @nonamessblog @thescarlettvvitch @malice-ov-mercy @crimson-calligraphyx @theoneandonlykymberlee @yumikitten @blackveilomens @cherrymedicine13 @thebadchic @notmaddihealy @jay02bo @beaker1636 @jakekiszkasguitarpick @punk-pr1ncessxoxo @er3nslovergirl @iamdesolate @lma1986 @jessitpwk @themodern-daywednesday @writethrough @bngurngheart @dreams-that-are-anwsered @loeytuan98 @omens-in-reverse

"I promise, I shouldn't be that late tonight," I told Lana as I was rushing though the house gathering my things.

She simply shoo'd me away by a wave of her hand and handed me my camera bag and jacket.

"Don't rush back, dear. Finish your work and whenever you get back, I'll go."

I sighed, coming to a stop at the front door. "You deserve to have the whole night off, Lana."

Her worn hands cupped my cheek, and I leaned into the warm touch. "I'll have the entire morning and afternoon off tomorrow. Now, go before Mr. Sebastian fires you for being late."

Ignoring the way my heart rate sped up at the mention of Noah, I rolled me eyes, and I called over to my mom who was sitting on the couch in the living room watching television.

"I'll see you later mom. I love you!"

She barley looked over her shoulder at me, her vacant eyes staring straight through to my soul then simply turned back to the show. Lana gently patted my cheek, dismissing me, and with a sad sigh, I let the front door shut behind me and walked towards my car. It was in the same spot I left it two weeks ago before I left for the road.

Yesterday after realizing what Noah had gotten tattooed, I ran back to my room to call an Uber to bring me home a day early. I was already on edge from the comments I read online and the phone call with Lana that when I saw that tattooed on his thumb; it was the breaking point. My mind was a fog of so many emotions and I didn't know which one to process first.

My phone had plenty of missed calls from Folio and Noah, some texts as well, but I ignored them. I meant what I said to Noah; I needed space. There was no reason for him to get a meaningful tattoo like that, we weren't dating. What if we end up hating each other and he has to look at that for the rest of his life? It was meant for the pet name he calls me but he might as well had tattooed my fucking name on him.

I got home late last night and spent the entire morning well into the afternoon with Lana and my mom, even though she didn't recognize me. That I was used to. What I wasn't used to, however, was how different my mom looked. In the two weeks I had been gone, she lost weight and dark circles surrounded her eyes. Lana also mentioned my mom had been a pain in the ass to give her meds too but did regardless. She knew she needed them to make her feel better, something I've told her countless times.

Once it reached four in the afternoon, I knew I couldn't avoid Noah any longer and had to go to work. I sent a text to Folio saying I would be at the venue by five, which he responded with four words.

Cool. Also, Noah's pissed.

Great, as if I don't have other shit to deal with.

The drive to the venue was quick considering it was only ten minutes from my house and after making sure I had everything, I walked through the back entrance to where Folio said the green room would be. Shifting into work mode, I pushed out all the thoughts of Noah and my mom, instead of thinking of differnt kinds of media I could get for tonight. Much to my dismay, the Bad Omens message boards were demanding to know what Noah's tattoo was for losing the bet and I knew I couldn't deny them that.

Loud voices echoed through the wood of the door before I stepped through it, various sets of eyes landing on me.

Jolly and Nick gave me a small wave.

Bryan was recording Folio goofing around; typical.

Matt was talking to one stagehand, probably something about making sure everything runs smoothly tonight.

And when my eyes finally landed on Noah, I noticed he was taping up his hands, his actions slow and precise. He noticed the talking stopped so his eyes landed on me as I stood in the doorway, hand still gripping the doorknob.

Before I could open my mouth to utter a hello, Noah was on me like a hunter on prey with his hand wrapping around my wrist and pulling me back into the hallway. Once the door was shut, he pressed me against the wall next to it.

"What the fuck?" I snapped, completely taking off guard by his dominance.

But also very turned on. The damp spot on my panties proof of it.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Noah's voice was eerily calm which made me nervous.

"I-uh-I came home a day early. You didn't need me for anything so I figured I'd spend time with my mom," I said.

Noah's eyes flashed as he pressed his hips deeper into me, keeping me locked in place. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep the moan quiet because I didn't want Noah to know how much his actions were turning me on.

"Why didn't you call or text me back?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I told you I needed space. You got a tattoo for me before we were even dating! How else did you expect me to react?!"

My voice carried down the hall which earned a few stares from people working backstage so Noah looked around before noticing a closet a few feet away from us. He pushed me towards it and soon we were encased in darkness, our heavy breathing the only sound echoing in the small space.

A faint light clicked on from above and I saw only a fraction of Noah's angry expression.

"It's not that big of deal, Y/N. It's a fucking tattoo."

"Yes! One that you'll have on you for the rest of your life and you can't hide it either!" I snatched his hand to hold it up under the light.

If I wasn't so upset about the whole situation, I'd marvel at how beautiful the small design was.

When I went to drop his hand, Noah linked our fingers together and pulled me into his chest. He towered over me so I had to crane my neck back to look up at him, his fire eyes burning deep into my soul.

"You don't think were dating?" Noah questioned.

I gulped before shaking my head. "No, we're not."

He hummed, brushing his nose against mine. "What do you call what we've done together then?"

I was careful to lick my dry lips, not wanting my tongue to brush against him.

"We hooked up, that's it. If you could even call it that. You got me off twice, no big deal," I lied with a shrug.

Noah chuckled as he buried his face in my neck, his warm breath cascading over me as his hand gripped my throat, thumb on my pulse point.

Oh. Shit.

I squeezed my thighs together so hard I thought I would strain a muscle. I had every intention of ignoring Noah, only focusing on work, but now with his hand around my throat and wetness pooling between my legs, I knew I was fucked.

Figuratively and possibly literally.

Hopefully literally.

With a gentle squeeze, Noah forced my head to the side so he could get better access to my neck, him working to leave a red mark there. His teeth scrapped and pulled causing a harsh moan to fall from my lips.

"This isn't dating?"

I went to shake my head but realized I couldn't do to his grip on me so instead; I let out a hushed no in response. With the hand still wrapped around my throat, Noah's other hand brushed over the valley between my breasts, down my stomach, and slipped underneath the waistband of my leggings. Long fingers glided over my slit through my panties and I bucked my hips up into the touch, needing more.

"What about this?"

Noah pushed two fingers past my panties and sunk deep into my pussy.

"Fuck," I groaned as the sensation of his fingers thrusting in and out in rapid pace ignited every cell inside of me.

This hand was taped while the other around my throat was only halfway, the black material hanging loosing against my chest.

"You said it meant nothing but what's this angel?"

He pulled his fingers out, the sudden emptiness making me whine. He smirked as he held up the two fingers under the light and my pupils dilated when I saw them glisten with my arousal coating the tattoos. Noah brought them to my lips, his own pupils blown with lust.

"Lick," he demanded.

Something inside me burned other than arousal and I stood taller against him.

"Lick them yourself," I tossed back with a smug smile.

A muscle ticked in his jaw and he forced my mouth open with the hand around my throat and pushed his two fingers past my lips.

"Be a good fucking girl and lick them clean, angel."

My core clenched around nothing and suddenly wanting to obey because of the praise, I wrapped my tongue around his fingers and licked up my arousal. I didn't even cum but his fingers were soaked. Noah's chest vibrated in approval when he pulled his fingers out, a loud pop echoing in the confined space.

"On your knees," His hand left my throat and pushed he down.

Not wanting to disobey again, I felt to my knees and gazed up at him through my lashes. Noah cupped my cheek and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip.

"You did so good sucking my fingers. Why don't you do that to my cock?"

The base of my spine ignited with warmth at his words and I made quick work of undoing his black cargo pants, the outline of his hard dick pressing, almost begging, to be released from his briefs. I gaze back up at Noah, a silent question one he answered with a nod.

I pushed down his pants and briefs to mid thigh and watched as his cock bounced free, slapping against his thigh.

"Oh, God." I licked my lips at the sight of it.

"There's no god here, angel. Just us," Noah guided the head of his cock towards my mouth, pre-cum spilling out from the slit. "Open."

Not wanting to waste another second, I took in as much as I could, nearly gagging on the length of it. Noah tasted so fucking delicious and whatever I couldn't fit in my mouth, I wrapped my fingers around it. While my head bobbed up and down his length, sucking as I went, my hand squeezed and pulled. At one point, I hollowed my cheeks so I could take even more of him. Noahs hands had a death grip in the strands of my hair and the burn at my scalp made me moan which vibrated against his cock.

"So good, angel." He purred. "Oh shit, right there."

I pressed my tongue on the underside of him, right below the head, and my body vibrated with his praise. The wetness between my thighs was now warm and sticky, my clit begging to be touched so I went to slip a finger in my leggings but Noah's harsh voice stopped me.

"Don't you fucking do it. You walked away from me, Y/N so you don't get to cum."

My nails dug into the sink of his thigh, making him hiss in pain, but his grip was so tight on my scalp that I wasn't able to pull off of him to argue. I was so close that just a few short circles against my clit would be enough to tip me over the edge.

"You're mine." He enunciated each word with a thrust.

"Mhmm," I hummed.

His breath was erratic. "I'm yours, angel."

This time I nodded, working harder to make him come undone.

Noah's body tensed and when I looked up at him, his head had fallen back and lips were parted. Sheer ecstasy radiated off of him and it made me want to make him fall apart for me. My tongue circled the head of his cock while my hand now played with his smooth balls and Noah bit out a strand of curses.

"Fuck, angel. I'm gonna-," he uttered.

I moaned over his cock, edging him on, and with a loud groan Noah spilled himself deep in the back of my throat

"Every. Last. Drop," he demanded with languid thrusts into my throat.

I did, greedily.

With his grip still in my hair, he yanked me off of him to my feet and I wiped away the drool with the back of my hand. Noah lifted me on top of a set of crates in the room and kicked my feet apart so he could spread me wide for him. I leaned all of my weight back on my hands and lifted my hips when he began clawing at my leggings working to take them off.

"Noah," I whined. "Don't tease me, please."

His intense gaze flashed up at me. "I had every intention of not letting you cum but now I want to taste you on my tongue when I make you fall apart."

Noah Sebastian will be the death of me.

He slipped me out of both my leggings and panties, leaving me bare in front of him. My knees instinctually pressed together to hide from him but his large hands forced them apart, leaving bruising marks there.

"No, angel. You don't get to hide from me. Anything. Alright?"

I let out a soft whimper, knowing when he said anything, he truly meant that; anything. I could tell him things I were afraid of and he wouldn't judge me or run away. Noah didn't want me to hide from him and after this moment, I wouldn't.

Not anymore.

Seeing the answer on my face, Noah yanked me closer to the edge of the crates then leaned down on his knees becoming eye level with my drenched pussy.

"Fuck," his breath fanned over it. "It's so much prettier in person."

I was so gone in my haze of a brain that I didn't fully catch what he meant by those words.

My nails dug into his scalp to force him closer to me; I was aching for some kind of friction, almost begging for it.

"Please, Noah. I can't," my voice sounded wrecked.

His tongue darted out to lap at my clit, and I almost came. Noah licked from my clit, down the entire folds of my entrance and when he speared his tongue into me, I cried out his name.

"Say it again," he ordered.

"Noah," I rasped.

He replaced his tounge with two fingers, going knuckle deep, while his tounge attacked my clit in such an assault I raised off of the crates trying to create some distance. Noah's free hand held me down with a hand on my stomach before sliding up underneath my shirt and bra to pinch and pull on my nippels.

This was it; the dam was about to burst, my orgasm so fucking close to crashing through my entire excistance.

Noah's fingers pupming in and out, his tounge's ruthrless licks on my clit, and him rolling my nipple between his thum and finger was enough for me to strangle out his name in a prayer, my orgasm causing my body to quake underneath him. When the after shocks began to fade is when Noah finally pulled away, my cum coating his lips and jaw.

With my hand gripping his forearm, I pulled him up while I met him halfway, legs wrapping around him. I smashed my lips to his, our first kiss being inside of a dirty storage closet meant nothing to me. It didn't matter where we were, our first kiss with each other would be special regardless.

Noah didn't miss a single second of the kiss, him immediately forcing his tongue in my mouth so I could taste myself. I groaned in the most intense, teeth clattering, tongues dancing, lips bruising kiss I'd ever experience. Noah kissed me like a man starved and I was his last meal.

Finally, needing to take a breath, I pulled away and rested my forehead against his.

"Wow," was all I said because after everything that just happened, the kiss was the most knee buckling one.

Noah beamed at me before laying another quick peck on my lips. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

I brushed the hair out of his eyes and nodded. "Me too."

His eyes had softened back to their normal brown as he linked our hands together, showing me the tattoo on his thumb, the one that started our argument.

"Let's get one thing straight, Y/N. I won't regret this tattoo. If we don't work out, it'll be a great story. I didn't just do it to show you how important you are to me, I also did it because I lost a bet and I keep my promises."

Noah's last words had more meaning that he meant and I took it in with a small nod.

"Okay," I murmured.

He gently helped me off the crates and once on my feet, Noah pulled up my panties and then my leggings as I brushed my shirt back down to cover my stomach. He must have tucked his cock back into his pants without me knowing because he shut the light of the closest and pulled me back into the brightly lit hallway. I blinked a few times so my eyes could focus and when they did, they saw the three other members of Bad Omens staring at us with amused expressions.

"We were wondering where you two headed," Jolly said.

My cheeks burned red as Noah wrapped an arm around me to pull me into his chest. "Sorry, we got a little distracted."

Nick chuckled. "Well, we were supposed to go on five minutes ago so if you're ready."

"Oh fuck," I muttered. "How long were we in there?"

Folio ruffled my hair then handed me my camera. "Awhile"

I took it with a smile of thanks then turned back to Noah. "You should go, you're already late."

He merely shrugged and left another kiss on my lips. "Worth it."

Giggling into the kiss, I playfully smacked his chest then pushed him towards Jolly, who began leading him to the stage. My fingers went to my lips which were still tingling from Noah and for the first time in a long time, I enjoyed the thought of the future.

[woneuntonzz]

𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩 .ᐟˎˊ˗

📞 ; “left twix or right twix?”

𖹭 : like-a-big-brother!sungchan x afab!reader x partner in crime!wonbin

💭 wherein wonbin chose you to be his ride or die and sungchan, well he just loved sharing his twix with you.

⤷ contains: fluff, cussing (very light), humor, mention of other idol

names for world building, twix lmao

⤷ warnings: none :))

⤷ wc: 8 . 4 k !!

not proofread >:)

under the cut .ᐟ ✂ - - - -

There are things in life that are just as beautiful as the twinkling lights of the city at night. Sometimes these things are salvageable, say, like a butterfly. most butterflies would live for two to four weeks, too short. That’s why with every butterfly that flew by and over the bushes of azalea outside your home, you made sure no one would come and ruin the very little time it had on this earth.

Your young self would have a daily routine of just sitting at the front porch of your house and just watching the flying critters flit their wings. To the pair of eyes that watched through their living room window, you looked lonely. You’d beg to differ though, butterflies were the closest you were gonna get to fairies, and every moment with them is fantastical at most. 

The eyes that spied on you from the confines of their house would soon join you, but he would never get too close. He just stood near your lawn, not even daring to take another step. 

Your conversations were of very frivolous things, you were children after all.

“What are you doing?” —he would be blunt the first time around. 

“Watching the butterflies” his eyes would shift around a bit, and after some struggle, he was finally able to spot them.

At that point he could’ve said anything else at all, but his reply was very arbitrary, “I can swim very well.” 

“That’s cool, I guess.”

“You should be my friend, do you wanna?”

“Mm-hmm~”

He’d learn that your name is Y/n, you lived just across the street and you went to a different school. Every day, you would be at the bus stop with your mom, sometimes it was your grandma, and he was there too but he couldn’t talk to you with the presence of an adult. You went to a different school, to his dismay, so really he could only idle around with you during those mornings at your front porch.

Overtime, he’d see you less and less at the bus stop. Instead, while he took his steps out of their house, he’d see your dad’s car taking you to school. The next morning, he finally mustered up the courage to sit next to you, and he’d ask, “Why is your uniform different? Did your school change the uniforms?”

You giggled, he seemed genuinely concerned about the sudden change. “No silly, I go to a different school now.”

And in a blink of an eye, you were away from him. He thought it was traffic’s fault that it was taking you so long to get home, but after the fourth day, he’d resort to a different excuse. She’s probably on a vacation, with lots of butterflies —it made enough sense for him to start waiting for you to show up every morning at their front porch too, until they too had to move. 

At first he opposed the idea and felt particularly betrayed by his parents for hindering his quest to await your return, but after some time of staring at your deserted house, he thought maybe they were moving to where you moved, or at least close enough for him to end up at the same school as you. 

Perhaps his expectations were too much of a major leap. Still, he kept his hopes up, maybe one day he’d stumble into you again. 

He would walk to the bus stop a little earlier than thirty minutes before the bus arrived. He stared at the stop across the street, and he wished everyday that ‘one day’ would be today. 

The day would come where he could no longer wish. Bearing only his dwindling hope, five years later he was almost running late he had to catch the second bus. Whilst he ran, he could hear bells ringing like christmas eve —a boy with black boxy glasses and a girl with a ponytail tied with a yellow silk ribbon, both on bicycles would speed past him.

He almost missed the bus again, because the yellow silk ribbon belonged to you. He would think that recognizing your face through the years of growing apart would be nothing but an impossibility, but the innocence that embellished your eyes and the lines that drew on your face when you smiled, he could recognize them like it was yesterday when he first saw you on your front porch admiring butterflies. 

What he definitely couldn’t recognize was the four-eyed kid that you cycled with to the bus stop. He’d just watch since your stop was the one across from his, so every morning, he would be across the street sitting on the wait —he not only waited for the bus, but he waited for you too. He’d observed the kind of relationship that you had with that boy, and he’s admittedly grown jealous of the way he could make you laugh and how close he would be to you all the time —or at least when you were at the stop.

It’d be like that, and you’ve always thought he looked familiar, but you never really came around with who he actually was. Highschool came around, and you would never know that one kid that always hung around every after breakfast at your front porch would be your classmate. 

“Can I have some? I’m really hungry.” you were eager to get a bite of something since your activities for that day were particularly tiring —in this case you eyed an unopened packet of twix bars. 

“Hmm, okay.” 

The chocolate was freed from its packaging, and you were expectant, and very evidently so. Your eyes followed one bar being held up, and —snap.

“Here.” —you would receive the shorter half of the right twix bar.

“Wow, thanks Jung Sungchan.” a playful smirk would play on his lips.

“You’re welcome.”

It wasn’t much, but you’d try your best to maximize the bites you would take. Three bites, and it was gone. The last bite felt like you were being snapped out of the universe, fading away into nothing and willed to the state of inexistence.

Luckily your best friend was there to save the day. And there he was, carrying two quantities of the infamous cafeteria sandwich. 

With a smile, he’d hand you one of the sandwiches. You were inspecting its edibility when you asked him, “Wait, were you saving these?” 

“Yeah. p.e. hit me real hard today.”

“Wow, coming from the Park Wonbin?” 

He was a track runner but eventually he’d move on to join the school’s dance team. Still, he had the stamina like that of a wolf. 

“Hey Wonbin, seniors told us to meet for practice.” —Sungchan is in the dance team too.

You definitely thought he was one with the typical cool guys of your high school. He’s a football varsity, and got pretty decent grades, but he was more atypical than anything really. Other than being extremely talented, he was deemed to possess a high sense of responsibility and was appointed to be a protocol officer by the supreme student government. You called him the school eagle —his eyes sealed the deal. He was such a watcher, sometimes you felt like not moving at all fearing that moving at the wrong angle for even just a few inches might get you in detention. 

Somehow, though, you never got sent to detention. You weren’t a troublemaker per say, but you’ve had your fair share of late arrivals, and under cloudy weather your teacher might just announce your detainment to the whole class just because you stood from your seat a little earlier than everyone else when class was dismissed. 

Sungchan was in charge of taking people to detention, but when it was time to turn in the transgressors, he’d just go on to tell you, “Meh, not really in the mood to send people in there today, besides, detention should be illegal, don’t you think?”

Now who wouldn’t agree to that? “I think so too!”

A faint chime of bells —a sigh would leave Sungchan’s lips, one you wouldn’t catch for yourself because all of your attention would lie on your best friend who rode his pure black bicycle. 

“Hi Binnie!” you’d wave your hand and exclaim like a child.

“Hi Y/n-nie, I thought you got detention?” Wonbin was genuinely surprised to see you out of school, the humiliation your teacher put you through would've been enough to kick you straight into the disciplinary dungeon —students liked to call it that. 

“Oh, that? Sungchan got me out, ain’t that right Channie?” 

Sungchan nods at you like a puppy, with strikingly excited eyes. He finally got himself a nickname. It didn’t even matter if it sounded like Binnie that he hated hearing so much, it was from you, and that was all that mattered. 

Your next stop —the bus stop. It was the same one you and Wonbin always cycled to every morning since you became each other’s ride or die, the same stop Sungchan stared into whilst he wondered if you could still remember. 

Whether you remembered or not, it was certain you moved on. You were just children anyways. That swimmer kid was cute, friendly, and funny for being his outlandish self. But you couldn’t even remember his name, Susan? Sangchin? —whatever it was, he would be just another memory you’d grow apart from. Either way, you already had Wonbin.

Yet, Wonbin was so hard to love. You’ve heard it all before, never fall in love with your best friend. He was once a timid boy that wore thick frames and was a bumble-borne. You befriended him because you thought you could be that one nerdy duo since you were so nerdy. You’ve both had your handful of friends, but in the end you would end up being there for each other when outcasted from the rest. It’d be easy to say you’re attached to each other, it’s already been a good seven years of rushed bike rides and chasing each other in empty spaces. Your friendship would be the foundation for your shared felicity and solace. 

The prime of your wretched feelings would root from your middle school days. 

“Do I look okay?” you heard Wonbin ask from behind you. 

You turned around, and it would take you a while to actually look at him because you were busy fixing —or trying to fix— his glasses which hinges went loose causing its temples to break off. “You look great.”

“You haven’t even looked yet.”

“Okay drama queen, hold up.” you set aside his poor glasses and the roll of tape you had worn on your wrist.

When you finally spared him your eyes, suddenly your glands were producing double the hormones. “Ew.” is what you’d utter, contrary to what you truly felt. Smitten, suddenly your best friend was too attractive for your eyes. 

You would try to forget about that embarrassing moment —embarrassing for it was one-sided. You’d feel mortified over your own shenanigans and the fact that he never even knew you did karate with the air in your room later that night by the sheer thought of him. 

You’d think that was it, that it was only your man’s journey to self-discovery —but he was just so attractive when he ran the track. You are what you eat, and everyday you’d feed yourself with your delusions. Your practice of being touchy and soft with each other with your sudden upsurge of attraction for him was not a good combo at all. 

Hand holding, side hugs, linking arms, resting your head on each other’s shoulder, it all used to be in your best friend etiquette, but because he couldn’t stop your heart from pumping a thousand beats per minute, there would be a shift. Boundaries were established later on, it felt just right since you were both changing and heading towards the confounding parts of your adolescence. You would be less touchy, perception growing as quickly as your bodies changed. 

Now he’d let his hair grow a little longer, would occasionally get a trim to follow school regulations, and he’d get rid of his glasses, though would still have them on when he needed them. He definitely got dapper, more charming. Eventually, you wouldn’t be the only one subjected to his attraction, and he’d hold his title as a ladies’ man. 

His timidity was long gone for sure, but if he were being honest, your attention was all he needed. He didn’t need, nor asked for the love notes stuck on his desk, or the letters stuffed in his locker. Still, he’d go through all of them, thinking maybe one of them might be from you. 

Him catching feelings for you was an absurd idea, but every day you’ve spent with him felt like a spark, that maybe would ignite the flames of your affinity. He saw the way tables have turned —then, he used to be the one to shy away from physical contact, more than often blushing even, and of course you'd just be your enthusiastic self. Now, he was the one who’d usually initiate skinship, smiling at your inept attempts of seeming unbothered. You’d gulp and inhale thick air whenever he gave you compliments also, and in his eyes you’d be his cute, little best friend —little, because he was a few inches taller but wouldn’t want to be discredited for only being a little loftier. 

Even then, your bond would only grow and it thrived with your little escapades like staying out after school till curfew, making shameless excuses to your parents that convinced them enough that you were just really studious and preferred after school till curfew group studies. For that though, you were obligated to maintain above average grades, it was hard, but it was crucial to mask your leisure.

You’re a fairly active student, the type to not feel anxious over giving the wrong answer because you believed redemption could be achieved by anyone who knew the right steps to take. School was definitely not easy, but it shouldn’t be made complicated. You’d learn to sort your priorities, separating academics from the twists and turns of your life. 

“Left twix or right twix?” —school would still encompass such interesting encounters nonetheless. 

It was the first time Sungchan would raise this offer, and you tittered at him for being a believer of the left twix versus right twix agenda. “There’s no difference anyways.” 

He took his time, basking in your sweet, sweet laughter before he replied, “No, but just imagine—” he takes out both bars from its packaging, holding them out with both hands. “This is me—” he’d bring the left one forward a little, “—and this is Wonbin.” then the right. 

Under a frolicsome mood, you wore a grin as you reached for the right twix, but he’d move it away. “Hey!”

“Wow, I’m giving you my chocolate and you still hate me.” 

“It doesn’t mean I hate you, but I like Binnie more.” —way more. With a bitter smile, he gave you the right twix, but not without snapping off an inch. “Sungchan.”

“What? If i’m a full twix bar and this is Wonbin, it should at least be accurate and Wonbin’s definitely not as tall as me.” you broke into a chortle from his unserious justification. 

“Wonbin is still tall though, besides, you probably want more for yourself just to spite me.” 

“Untrue.” he took the piece he snapped off and held it close to your lips. “This little piece can be you then, have it.”

“Are you’re trying to say I’m just about an inch of your height?”

“More like a foot, but yeah.”

He fed you the small piece, eyes following the movement of your lips as you bit on it. “Thank you, Channie.”

There truly was no difference between the left and the right side, he just wanted to test something out, to check how likely you were to pick the left twix —to pick him. 

You would wonder why he seemed to always have a packet of twix with him, and why he always hit you with the left or right question. You always answered right, and he always snapped it to the same length, giving you both pieces. You thought maybe instead of left and right, he thought of it as him and Wonbin still, like the first time he asked you. It was such a bold assumption to make, especially when you treated him like an older brother. He was waggish, not much of a prankster, but he knew how to turn a smile upside down and at the same time, he was dutiful, and caring at times needed.  

It was something about him you thought you didn’t have to second guess. Well, while he did help you stay out of detention for all the times you were sent there, you figured he might’ve done that for his friends too. 

“Dude, please, I can’t get detention today. I don’t have any other excuse for getting home late again.” 

“Bro, you know I have to turn you in, if not I might get in trouble.”

Okay, maybe not all his friends. Overhearing their smalltalk made you think back on all the times he’s gotten you out of trouble. Shouldn’t he have been kicked from the supreme student government if he really faced any consequences for never taking you into the disciplinary dungeon?

“Hey Channie?” 

Sungchan had never stood up so fast in his life. “Yes? Is there anything I could do for you?”

“Oh, no, I just wanted to ask you something, is it okay?”

“Yeah! of course, go ahead, hit me.”

“So I heard you and your friend talking the other day…” Sungchan anxiously swiped his tongue over his top lip as he waited for you to continue speaking. “Did I get you in trouble for saving me from detention?”

He profusely shook his head and would briskly reply, “No, not at all. Don’t you worry about it.”

You kept your eyes locked with his, and you’d furrow your brows and squint your eyes in jest, displacing your doubt with a playful scowl. His eyes would widen in the slightest bit, chuckling at your mien. 

“You know I always got your back.” —he meant it as a sign that you’d hopefully pick up on, but you learned to just not question his sweet gestures, all the big and all the small.

But from that day forth, you haven’t gotten detention, not even a single warning. Sungchan wouldn’t acknowledge your efforts till one the day you would be waiting for the early morning bus beside him, and you weren’t with your best friend like you usually were. 

“Y/n, you’re early today. Where’s Wonbin?”

“Still asleep probably. I already told him I wanted to go to school early, but he didn’t meet me at the exit street.” you yawned, carefully ridding the water in your eyes with your fingers. “I waited for him there for thirty minutes, but I just went ahead. Can’t miss the first bus.”

Sungchan blinked a couple of times, trying to process what he was hearing. The morning haze was quite strong, and it was getting to his head. If she chose to not wait for him, she wanted to ride the bus with me, right? —his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of you clearing your throat.

“How about you? you seem pretty early too.” your query had left him flustered for a second.

Truth be told, he would come that early in the morning to wait for you, and unfortunately for Wonbin too. However, in all of those mornings, you’d assume he had just gotten there like you have, and for that, he deserves an oscar. Though, there were mornings where he wouldn’t he wouldn’t be there, it was the days you got detention for arriving late at school. Sungchan could take the risk, but would rather not get himself in any trouble as a part of the student government.

“I ate some good breakfast today so I was in the mood to go to school a little earlier.” He sounded convincing enough, so you’d just shrug your shoulders.

The first bus was less full, with one or two vacant seats left at the back, and you sat next to him somewhere in the middle. Before you were sat though, he would place a hand on top of your head, anchoring you where you stood and rushing past you —and you thought he did that so he could have the window seat to himself, but instead he got himself settled on the aisle seat, giving the seat next to him a little tap, signaling you to sit down. 

“You’re unbelievable.” your words came out in an exhale as you sat down, struggling a bit because his lanky legs were in the way. 

“And you're just so cute!” he’d do that thing where he’d shake his head, pointing a pout at you. 

His supposedly teasing little gesture would cause your mouth to fall open, just enough to express the cringe you caught from his tomfoolery. “Ew, what the hell.”

“What?” he’d laugh at you —quietly, for the sake of paying respect to the other people in the bus— and for a second, would wear a smirk on his face, “But seriously, you’re really cute, you know.”

Your brows would lift itself along with the dilation of your eyes. He did sound genuine, but it was just a sheer compliment, one you didn’t hear often, but still, you took it as words he pulled out of the kindness of his heart. 

That day, Wonbin got to school eight minutes late.

“Sorry, I forgot we were supposed to be early today.” he’d tell you during lunch time, barely having touched his food.

“It’s okay, be sorry to yourself. You’re being sent to detention today —eat your food Binnie.” you watched his hasty movements, taking a bite out of his already lukewarm food. “You should practice being early too.”

“Is that why you wanted to be early?” he’d reply as soon as he got the food down his throat. “Sungchan kept you out of detention, didn’t he?”

“Yeah but, he might get in loads of trouble if he kept covering for others.” 

Wonbin only nods. “I guess I better be careful then.”

When Sungchan took him to that horrid room, he’d reflect on  —not his actions, but rather, Sungchan’s. Wonbin could tell that he stuck around you often, so often that there was no way you couldn’t discern his mellow doting, but you didn’t notice at all, did you? And from the very conversation you had with Wonbin at the cafeteria, he’d conclude that maybe, you like —or at least was starting to like Sungchan as well, he took it as if you were only staying out of trouble just for Sungchan. 

But there’s no way, Wonbin had only ever seen you with a rosey shade on your cheeks when you were with him, him and not Sungchan. He would be awakened from his nap by the detention monitor, and he would wake up with a new purpose. Like track and field, he was determined to stretch himself far enough to be able to reach you, to earn you once he pushed through the finish line tape. 

For the next following days, he’d wake up before the chickens could cluck, and he got to the exit street first and waited for you. He kept up the routine, even when he was tired from p.e. or dance practice the previous day, he’d greet you with a sheepish grin like he was telling you that he beat you to being the proficient early bird. 

When it had all started, Sungchan was utterly bewildered —but even more let down, but he’d never show it, to you especially. He had no reason to feel perplexed even, you saying that you waited for Wonbin the previous day on which he failed to show up should’ve been a hint that the four eyed kid —now not so four eyed— would stick around. For a while you would think he was excited to see Wonbin because he got more fired up, fired up in a positive way it seemed. 

Little did you know, they’d softly scoff after one of them spoke. Now they were sure of their competition, and you would be oblivious of it all. Fortunately for Wonbin, you still had heart eyes for him, which Sungchan would catch up to quickly. He’d try to contest it by helping you with anything and everything, humorous pick-up lines evolving into actual and genuine compliments, and when he had the chance, he would approach you when he sensed the gloominess in your demeanor and turn your frown upside down. If there was anything that didn’t change, it was of course, the never-ending left twix or right twix query. 

“Left twix or right twix?” he held the half-opened packet to your face. 

Without sparing him an answer, you’d snatch the right twix. Sungchan’s bittersweet chuckle subsided quickly when you snapped the bar yourself, popping the shorter piece into your mouth first. “You never run out of twix bars huh?”

But he was surely running out of time. Perhaps his practice of splitting the bar in uneven lengths was foreshadowing, if you and Wonbin came from the same twix bar that he split up, that would mean you two are each other’s halves. Stupid —he felt stupid in love.

He had a twix bar and a dream, but Wonbin had you close already. Besides, what could a split bar of chocolate do? Everytime Wonbin saw that pathetic excuse of a conversation being pulled out of Sungchan’s bag, he made sure to bring you a nice and cold bottle of honey ice tea to wash down the sugars. It was your favorite too, now how could a twix bar ever compare to that? 

Their antics would persist with time, still no one made any substantial efforts. And by the time you were in your senior year, you would think the two have just gotten closer, but with that they’d confront each other —prom night hung by a thread, and it was getting close. 

“What’s your plan? gonna pull out a giant twix bar?” sickly was all it sounded to Sungchan. 

“I already asked her. She said yes.” Wonbin’s assertive facade would break when he heard the certitude in Sungchan’s voice. 

“She did?” 

“Yeah, funny I used a twix bar too.” 

A quick and defeated exhale would fall off of Wonbin’s lips that would soon display a weak smile, “Good for you.” he had lost races before, practically got used to the feeling, because he knew there was always room for improvement, and that there would be another race for him to win. 

However, this race would have him limping. He does admit he was a little careless sometimes, still giving away his time to talk to a previous admirer before politely rejecting them, it wasn’t for a long time, it lasted for a good two days, but after those two days, it would take a while for Wonbin to win back your laughter —a while being a little over a week. For a minute he thought you were bound to grow apart by the end of highschool, but he’d almost go crazy over your shy glances and the slight stutter in your voice whenever he said something out of the best friend zone.

“You should’ve joined the school band, or the choir.” he says moments after he voiced out to you his concerns for college.

You sat up, lifting your head from his shoulder to answer him. “I considered, but I got too... scared.”

“How about this, promise me you’d be more open to showing off your talent to people —I know you love to sing, you’d love it even more when you realize through others how wonderful you actually are.”�� his hand would slowly move close to yours. “Performing might help you love yourself in some way.”

“Okay, okay, I promise.” you held out your pinky, and he’d intertwine his own with it. 

“You have a beautiful voice. So, so beautiful.” you weren’t certain if he had intended for you to hear the last part, as it would be a little faint, but you heard it. 

In a hospital, you’d be close to the state of losing life just by how rapid your heartbeat was going and how hot you were, matching the crimson spread across your face. Wonbin kept your pinkies intertwined, who knows, that might be the last one you’d have.

Prom night inched closer, and closer, and a week before you were growing anxious. Then news would fly by of a lucky girl, so lucky that she got Park Wonbin to ask her out to prom. 

Let’s just say, you weren’t lucky at all. Devastating, heart wrenching, you had used every word in your mind’s dictionary to describe how you felt, at that point you couldn’t really run to your best friend to cry when he was the sole reason for your heartache, so to whom do you go to?

You sniffled, expelling a weak laughter through your stuffy nose before you’d say, “I want the left one.”

“Really? why?”

“Cause he left—” sniffle, “—he left me.”

Sungchan was only now realizing just how much you actually liked Wonbin. His guilt would arise, and he would look back on the moment he had deceived Wonbin to believing he already had you as his prom date when he hadn't even composed a proper plan to ask you out.

“Take it.” He gave you both bars. 

“Do you not want any?”

“No, I want you to have it.”

You ate your heart away, tears dissolving into nothingness once you’ve had a sweet bite of his succor. Sungchan offered you his water bottle, and it was half full of warm lemonade. You’d never expect him to carry around a bottle of hot lemonade, still you’d drink it. It was perfectly tart and sweet, like comfort in a cup. Soon enough, you were feeling a bit more lively and somehow felt like you needed to pop him a question. 

“Who’s the lucky girl you’re taking to prom?”

You were flustered to hear him laugh a bit as he spoke, “I don’t have one, actually.”

“Wait, really? not even one of the girls who held up those big signs that said ‘marry me jung sungchan’ in your football matches?” 

“I’d only take a girl I actually like. I don’t want to pretend to be enjoying myself around someone I’m not familiar with.”

You didn’t know what was in the air that day, but for a while you’d glance out the window, there was a butterfly —you used to love them so much, as a kid you’d always be there to accompany them, it was his fault you’d grow out of it —that little boy. Your glee that was once those tiny fairy-like creatures soon took the form of that little boy, but why were you suddenly just reminiscing about that childhood crush you had? it wasn’t like you’d meet him again, he could be an olympic swimmer for all you know. 

“I wanna be your lucky girl.” six small words were enough to make a mess of the big guy that he is. 

The next thing you knew, he was picking you up from your house. “Shit.” he’d only seen a glimpse of you through your living room window but he was already fumbling, sweaty palms and all. And when you finally stepped out of the door, all eleven organ systems in his body would start malfunctioning. You were even more beautiful than those azaleas or the garden butterflies that flew over them. He was so lost in your grace that you had to snap him out of it. 

“These looked like the ones we had back at my childhood home. They’re beautiful Chan, thank you.” you held the bouquet close enough to get a whiff of its scent.

They were azaleas, other than butterflies, it was these flowers that reminded him of you. Did he know what flowers they were the first time he saw them? no, but did he remember its appearance clearly enough for him to spot it within an array of several other flowers? Well of course he did. 

“They remind me of you.”

“Wait, really? how?”

He wanted to say it —I used to swim very well— but for some reason, he held back. “Cause you’re beautiful, Y/n.” 

It was the first time you’d actually feel your face heat up because of his compliments. However, this one sounded different, and soon you were shying away from his gaze, trying to hide the ridiculous color spreading throughout your face.

That night, you saw Wonbin with his date. For a while, you’d convince yourself that you were in the stage of acceptance, it was time to let go. But then, your efforts of avoiding him were vanquished, he only seemed to be appearing in your sight more and more throughout the night. He looked so… happy, happy like he was with you, but you were a couple meters apart, only giving each other abrupt glances. 

The night would end, with your eyes brimmed with tears, face to face with Wonbin at the back of the gymnasium where no one else could see. 

“I like you Wonbin.” was not what he expected at all. 

He was already shaken by your watery eyes when you had asked him to talk for a while. “But, why’d you say yes to Sungchan?”

“Because you had already asked Lia out.” and I thought you would ask me —you could only finish it in your head, too afraid that you might just be going crazy.

“Wait, Sungchan told me you already were his date before I asked Lia.” 

Suddenly, your tears would dry up. Your brows furrowed, feeling a great sense of betrayal. “I wasn’t. He's only my date now because he didn’t have a date either.” your voice became a little more stable, your anguish diminishing, and in its place would surface, the feeling of being misled. 

“Y/n, I liked you too.” Wonbin, for a short while, would look out into the lights of the gymnasium that seeped through the ajar door. 

Lia was waiting for him. While he had his moments of sorrow, he’d be by himself, and he’d find that she, a beam of sunlight, gave him enough motivation to look a little farther into the future. His feelings for you, while it did linger, would eventually dwindle from the thought that maybe you had been more fond of Sungchan after all. Now that it was refuted, all he really felt was confusion. His worries would lie with you, but mostly it was for the girl who he had told to wait for him, the one he had already made promises to. 

“Let’s stay best friends, yeah?”

Just a little later, you'd be back at the table where you had left Sungchan, and he was still there, his doe eyes lighting up at the sight of you. “How’d it go?”

“Why would you do that?”

He instantly knew what you were talking about, and with an anxious breath of air, he said, “Y/n, I didn’t think he’d take it seriously.” 

“Seriously?”

He was being honest though, he thought Wonbin would’ve double checked with you, he thought, if Wonbin really wanted to have you as his date, he could’ve had you instead of some other girl, right?

Now, there could be a billion ways to apologize, but chose to play safe, saving his confession for some other point in time. Forgiving him wouldn’t come as easy as he thought it’d be —what a man, too sure of himself for his own good. He took his time, being extra cautious and keeping his tranquility to take care of yours. You’d be nonchalant with him, something he’d never get used to, but even then, he was the same —if not more altruistic. For a while you’d feel bad for shunning him when he gave you most of his energy every day for you to reconsider his apology. But the whole ordeal at prom night was cauterized into your soul. Wonbin would only and quite literally be your best friend forever, not even really forever. 

You wouldn’t really say your friendship with him was at the verge of falling apart, but you most certainly weren’t spending as much time as you used to with him. You wished you could bring the old times back, you wished you had asked him to prom yourself. But the chances were long gone, you were already in college, still with a handful folks you’ve gone to highschool with —and the most notable of the few, Sungchan and Wonbin.

Much to your dismay, Wonbin would stray a little further from you, taking a major that was way too different from yours. Though, you made sure to make time for each other whenever you could, in the meantime, you’d have your moments with the only person you felt comfortable enough to stick by. 

“Left or right?” 

Your first instinct has always been to grab the right bar. “I’ll be on my way, Wonbin just texted me that he’d been in the mall since five. I’ll see you for group study tomorrow!”

You were in a hurry because it was already five-thirty. You chose the right one again, but at least you weren’t rejecting his offer anymore, unlike when you haven't forgiven him for his deception. You’ve come to terms with just letting it go, and you believed he deserved your forgiveness because he treated you so well, maybe too well even. You saw a shift in Sungchan, he was a lot more —sincere? genuine? honest?— honestly, it’s quite hard to pinpoint which one it is, but he was all that and more. 

Just letting it go was a painful process, especially when you still had to maintain your friendship with the very man that pulled on your heartstrings and cut them off. After everything that went down that night, you two became evidently distant, but only for a considerable while. Getting back to bff terms just came naturally and there was no actual talk about what happened that fateful night in your old highschool’s gymnasium. 

At this point, you were so close to accepting the fact that you’re only fated to meet a friend just to be a friend and nothing more if you wish to be nothing less. Maybe the best friend rule was right, maybe you should’ve been more rational. 

Your movie night with Wonbin would end with him giving you a very light hug, and words that would trigger your past misgivings, “I’m meeting Lia again tomorrow, just catching up, she’s at the neighboring campus, are you free tomorrow?”

You gripped tightly on the the straps of your bag, trying to look for something, anything that could possibly affect him the same way. “I’m pretty packed tomorrow, Sungchan and I are preparing for multiple tests coming this week.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Goodluck! and tell him I said good luck too.”

His unfazed visage left a stinging in your heart. Why did he have to grow his hair out to a length that made him look so alluring when he’s choosing to act unbothered by your sly hinting? sure, he wasn’t as beautiful as a bouquet of azaleas but still, it was unfair.

“You good? you seem very down today.” 

You were thankful the group study was not just a blatant last-minute excuse even though it might’ve sounded like one when you spoke it. 

“Did something happen last night?” Sungchan would quickly catch up with the shift of expression on your face, so he’d add, “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything.” 

“I look fine, right? like, just okay?” he was taken aback with your question and your voice that just sounded so tired.

You just had your eyes on each other, after a while his eyes would move down slowly as he said to you, “I don’t know about everyone else, but I think you’re really pretty.” his eyes would shift back to yours that fluttered with his dulcet words. “I really love your eyes.” 

He really did, he always have. He loved your watchful orbs that glistened against the harsh sunlight, lashes flitting with the morning breeze as your irises followed the butterflies.

That day was suddenly not so bad. 

The times you’ve met with Wonbin to catch up would be a time for revelations. You’d learn that he’d made a lot of friends —quite a friend group they are, just a group of pretty and talented people. Wonbin seemed to be handed opportunities left and right, and you were happy for him, it’s just that when it was your turn to share the events of your life, you’d be empty handed, and occasionally would tell him that you’ve been busy with projects, tests and whatnot. You’d feel mortified, having him feel bad for you when everything was going well for him. Those meets would lead to gruesome mornings the following day, but luckily, Sungchan’s always there to mend you. 

“Say ‘ah’” you’d part your lips, just enough for Sungchan to feed you a twix bar.

When the chocolate in your mouth was almost gone, you ask him, “Why didn’t you ask me if I wanted the left or the right one?”

“Well, did you want a specific bar?”

“Hmm, maybe? I mean, I would’ve chosen the left bar.”

It wouldn’t take you a while to familiarize yourself with Sungchan —him and his everything, his routine, his favorite things, his little habits, his comforting patterns, he was unlike any other guy you’ve met despite him appearing to be on the surface. He’d give you a sense of hope every time you felt like closing your eyes and falling into an eternal slumber, and eventually, he would become a reason for you to wake yourself up everyday.

While he’s explained to you the things you could still observe with your own eyes, you wanted to know more, to understand him a little better like he did so well with you. You were hesitant to go past standard questions, but he’d encourage you to continue asking him whatever. He answered every question, from his highschool life to his very upbringing. You’d learn that he wasn’t always a football player, he used to be a very well-equipped swimmer, and that the place his family used to live where you used to live, and that— wait, he was a swimmer? —you’d interrupt your train of thoughts. Sungchan wasn’t even there anymore, but you were still thinking about everything he had told you earlier that day. 

You’d take your time to think again, about that little boy that lived across from your house. He was a swimmer, and what are the chances he’d become a football player? What are the chances that that little boy is now the not so little Jung Sungchan? 

“Left or ri—” you’d bite the left twix from his hand, locking it in between your lips. “Oh, okay. Do you want the other one? I’m not really hungry right now.”

“No, no—” chew, “Have it. And while you’re eating, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, anytime. There’s no need for you to ask if it’s okay.” he took a bite out of the twix bar he held.

“What do you think of butterflies?” —he’d stop chewing for a while and his eyes would light up like a night sky of constellations. 

“I’ve always thought they’re very pretty, but I know I could never love them as much as you did.” —so it wasn’t Susan or Sangchin, it’s Sungchan.

“Oh, so you didn’t become an olympic swimmer?”

Relief and felicity, there was nothing else in Sungchan’s mind and soul —nothing else but you. His butterfly-loving Y/n whose beauty surpassed even the most well-nourished of azaleas, everything about you, to him, was the closest God had ever gotten to perfection. 

From then on, you would tell each other stories, the hows and whys of your detachment. 

“We moved because of my dad’s work, but I was sad because I thought I'd never see you again ever —but you’re here now. I gotta admit though, I kinda forgot most of what we had then, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I understand. All that matters to me is you still love butterflies —I mean, that you’re still happy.”

“Thank you Chan. How about you? Why did your family move?”

“Well, I spent like, what? four years maybe? —I was practically begging my parents to move me to a better school, y’know, because…”

“Because?”

“I wanted to be with you. I love you Y/n, I always have, haven’t I told you?”

His confession was something you didn’t foresee, but he didn’t either. It was all unplanned, but he just felt like it was the right moment. Just you and him at the most tranquil site on campus. He wanted to lean in, to just close the already little distance that separated the two of you, but he didn’t. He wanted you to be willing, to give him an avowal that you felt the same. It was only then that you’d start seeing him beyond his brotherly demeanor.

Tomorrow would be the first day that Sungchan would fulfill his duties as your suitor. 

First thing in the morning, he’d pick you up, three rhythmic knocks on your door was all it took for your heart to start tumbling and jumping from your chest. And everytime he opened the door, you’d be met with a pair of lively eyes that would become fervent when he finally had you close to him. You two were always together, so much so that it was hard to spot the two of you in two different places at the same time. At hectic times, you’d confine yourselves in each other’s presence. A twix bar and a smile was all and everything that could relieve the two of you of your frustrations.

Your birthday, unfortunately, was an exam day —something both you and him can’t miss for your life. You studied all morning, and before you could snooze away, he’d start to randomly play songs and dance around, dismissing the judgemental eyes that watched him caper. If that wouldn’t work, he’d lay his weight on you like a baby, pushing his nose against your cheek or shoulder. You just hoped you didn’t look too annoyed, because if you were being honest, you thought you would’ve never been able to answer anything on that test at all if it weren’t for him and his foolish, but sweet pokes. 

After such a long day, you two would be sat next to each other at an empty stairwell in campus, somehow, for you it felt like sitting at your old front porch all over again.

“Happy birthday!”

“Not really happy, I feel like I got half of the answers wrong.”

“Oh? birthday!” once upon a time, Sungchan could only hope he’d be the one to evoke your sugared laughter through your hardships, but now, he had it all to himself which was more than he could ever ask for. 

You watched as he fished a packet of twix, and with a cheeky smile, you’d snatch it from him. “Oh.” was all he could utter, dispensing another guffaw out of you. 

You opened it, holding both bars with two hands. Holding out the left bar, “So imagine this is you.” and then the other, “And this is me—” he takes that bar out of your hand using his lips, munching away as you laughed, “Hey! I wasn’t done yet!”

He could only laugh with you, coughing slightly from the sudden sugar attacking his throat. “Okay, o—” cough, “Sorry.”

“What I was meaning to say was—” you took a minute to admire the boy in front of you who stared at you with such fondness and anticipation. “We’re like twix bars. This is gonna sound so cheesey…”

His chortle would make you shy away from his gaze, but he was quick to assure you, “Go ahead, cheesey or not, all that matters is that you mean it.” it was all jested words for encouragement, but he’d soon realize that his jovial advice would apply greatly. 

“Well, I was gonna say, we’re like twix bars. Say one twix bar is you, and the other is me. If you break it in half and misplace it, you might just confused which half belongs to which half, so, technically speaking, no matter the consequence, we’d be each other’s other half.”

He had his lips pressed together, like supressing a laugh, but what it truly was is him fighting the urge to just jump you and shower you with all his affection. 

“Don’t laugh!”

“I wasn’t gonna!”

“Yeah you were.”

“Were not, you’re just really cute, that’s all.” he’d gently pinch your cheek, but you remained expressionless, so he’d start poking it, progressively becoming a little more pushy, until— “Y/n—”

It took a lot of your power, but you were able to grab him by the wrist, the hand that poked on your face would now be linked with yours, not only that, but your lips were locked too. 

“I love you too Sungchan.” “Your lips tastes like twix.” —you’d spew at the same time after pulling away from each other. 

Your own laughters were the only thing you could hear, nothing else but each other would matter as your lips would soon attach to each other again. 

“Wait, Sungchan, don’t you think we should be somewhere more, I don’t know, private?”

“Sorry, your lips just really taste like twix, I can’t help it.”

It wasn’t really because of the remnants of chocolate on your lips, he just wanted to go all in, as if he already hadn’t gotten you all to himself at that point. 

Though, it would be quite an interesting story to tell. Jung Sungchan, who used to swim very well, met a girl who loved to watch butterflies from their front porch. He fell in love, but she wouldn’t reciprocate after a few fifty twix bars. Maybe Wonbin was the one who’d been foreshadowing with precision, because Sungchan had a twix bar, and a dream in the form of you. And he hoped that maybe, some time in the future, you’d be watching butterflies at the front porch of the house you would share in morning and bask in each other’s love for the rest of the day, and maybe forever too. 

End.

[riahlynn101]

"Pancake Date."

With all the angst, I needed a little bit of a breather. So, here's a fluffy one-shot with pre-established Schmelly (Mike x Vanessa).

--

“It’s your birthday?” Vanessa asks, frowning. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

They sit across from one another at the tiny table in the security office. It had been a quiet night so far - the animatronics keeping to the main lobby and the stage. So, the threat of death-on a one to ten scale (with one being they are under no threat of death, and ten being, if they sneeze, they die)-is currently about a five, maybe six. 

Mike crosses his arms, half-asleep. Or at the very least, he looks half-asleep. The dark bags under his eyes only ever seem to get darker as time goes on. It never ceases to amaze Vanessa how he can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. The fact that she (continually) warns him about this place doesn’t seem to bother his sleeping habits. 

“Because it’s not important.” He shifts in the office chair. “Besides, it’s two in the morning. What can I possibly do in the morning?”

“Dunno….oh!” Vanessa's face lights up. “I can sing you the Fazbear birthday song.”

Mike shrinks down. “Please, god, no.” Quickly he adds, “though, I’m sure you have a great singing voice.”

“Oh, come on, don’t you want to hear the famous Fazbear birthday song?” 

Mike sends her an annoyed look (though, knowing him, maybe that’s just his natural resting face).

“Hm….can I at least take you out for breakfast?”

He frowns. “I have to be home by 8:30. I promised Max I would be home by then, and she already thinks I’m unreliable.”

It breaks Vanessa’s heart that-no matter how hard he tries-in the eyes of Mike’s (very limited) support system, his efforts will never be good enough. It shouldn’t be all on his shoulders, but it is. And she knows, without a doubt, Mike will do whatever he has to, to keep his little sister from being taken away. 

“She could come with us,” Vanessa offers. Over the time she’s known Mike (which, to be fair, hasn’t been very long) Abby has become something like a little sister to her. So, it feels less like she’s ‘tagging along’ and more like a ‘no-duh’ decision. 

“I can’t afford to go out right now. Money is really tight.” He looks almost….sad? Regretful? But probably not for himself. Mike is someone that has long since given up on caring. Caring for himself, but not caring for his sister. A realization sets in. He’s sad, because he knows Abby would enjoy going out to eat, and he can’t give that to her. 

Vanessa gives him a gentle smile. Without thinking, she says, “I’ll pay for both of you. Think of it as a birthday present.” 

Mike chews his bottom lip, considering her words. “Okay,” he says, after a solid minute of thinking. 

“Great,” she says, a pleased smile forming on her face. “I know just the place.”

-x-x-x-

After swinging over to his house to pick-up Abby, Mike meets her at the restaurant. A little diner smooshed between a used bookstore and a tire repair shop. The sign is faded with age and the windows are covered in dust. Vanessa’s almost impressed it’s still open.

They find a seat in a booth towards the back of the diner. Abby sits near the window, and Mike slides in next to her. Vanessa sits across from them, a little jittery from the copious amounts of coffee she drank last night.

“My mom used to bring me and my brother here all the time. They have the best pancakes.” She can still taste the delight concoctions her and her brother would order into their pancakes. The waitress and cooks must have thought they were insane. 

Abby’s eyes light up. “Pancakes?” She asks. “Can I get whip cream and sprinkles?”

“Abby,” Mike starts, “we can’t ask-”

Vanessa interrupts him. “Of course you can. Do you want chocolate milk with it?”

Abby nods, smiling big. “Yes, please.”

Mike mouths, “thank you.”

Again, Vanessa’s heart breaks for the two people across from her. So, she mouths back, “don’t mention it.”

-x-x-x-

The food is just as good as she remembers it. Thankfully, for once, childhood nostalgia hadn’t steered her wrong.

“Thank you, Vanessa,” Mike says.

“Yeah, thanks, Vanessa,” Abby tells her, hugging Vanessa. “The food was really good.” She looks back at her brother. “And I think you made my brother happy. He really likes you.”

Mike claps. “O-kay, time to go.” 

“I think you guys should get married- hey!” 

Mike pulls her to the car. “Kids say the darndest things, don’t they?” He laughs, but there is undeniably panic in his eyes. “Thanks again, I’ll see you tomorrow night.” 

Abby waves at her, a mischievous smile on her face. 

Vanessa waves back, watching them leave. 

An excited, almost giddy feeling wells up in her chest. She walks to her car, the caffeine high she’s been on since eleven last night has started to lessen, but Vanessa hardly notices. Her heart continues to beat fast, and it’s hard to see her face in any of the mirrors at this angle, but she’s confident it’s bright red. 

On the way home, all she can think is:

he likes me. 

And maybe that’s childish of her, to dwell on that thought. It’s just a stupid crush, but for some reason, she can’t stop thinking about it. Vanessa is a fairly logical person. Outside of ghosts in an abandoned pizzeria, she holds herself to a certain standard of intelligence.

But maybe, for once, it would be okay to have this one little thing. Even if Mike doesn’t actually like her, it wouldn’t hurt to hold that feeling close to her chest. He’ll be gone or dead within the week. 

Her heart clenches painfully, at the thought of Mike being dead. The thought of him being beyond her reach, just like her brother, makes Vanessa want to scream at the top of her lungs. She wants him to stay with her, for as long as possible. 

Which means, she can’t let him win. Contract or not, Vanessa will save Mike. 

Even if it costs Vanessa her life.

[srjlvr]

SEVEN ROYALTIES

“once upon a time a prince mistakenly fell in love with the wrong princess” — kim sunoo

kim sunoo x fem!reader genre: mistakenly falling in love , strangers to lovers , fluff , a bit of angst ! warnings: none (at least not that im aware of! please update me if you find anything!!) || NOT FULLY PROOFREAD !!

WORD-COUNT ; 5.2k+

NOTE. besties its been A REAL WHILE!! i’ve been trying to balance my life but i fail miserably honestly. i wrote all of this on one of my free days instead of studying for math!!😭 you better like it or i’ll cry. please leave feedbacks!! i love reading them!! hope you have a good day / afternoon / evening / night!! mentions of jungwon’s story are here too!!<3

“y/n did you forget you have manners class today? get up!” your mother was the one to wake you up after your maids failed attempts, she pulled your blanket away and you groaned.

manners classes always annoyed you. probably because it had something to do with ‘how to act in front of your future husband’ rules and manners.

“do i have to go?” you whined. your mother raised her eyebrow, “did you really just ask me that question?”

you rolled your eyes and got up, “i’m up, you can go now”

she left your room without saying anything else. you sighed loudly and sat on your bed.

“good morning your highness, let’s get you ready” one of your maids smiled softly at you.

“give me only five more minutes” you begged and she shook her head, “your mother will get furious if you’ll be late”

you closed your eyes in defeat, you know she’s right. sometimes you wish your mother wouldn’t be so strict about everything in your life.

after getting ready you rushed to eat dinner with your parents, who were already waiting for you.

“mother, father” you greeted them, without even a good morning.

your relationship with your parents is quite weird. if you’d be asked to address it you would’ve said its a co-workers relationship. you barely talk about your problems with them, nor they ask about your well-being. all they care about is royalty, royalty and royalty.

“have you heard? hybe’s kingdom will have a ball for their youngest’s birthday” your father spoke.

“oh yes! i saw the invitation” your mother answered, “it’s a no-adults party except for his older brothers, y/n you’re invited there”

you glanced at your mother who was busy cutting her bread, “hm?”

“hybe kingdom invited all younger royals to celebrate the youngest son’s birthday, you’re definitely going!!” your mother smiled.

“you’ll be able to meet your future husband there! we didn’t want you two to meet up yet but who knows, maybe it’ll be a start of something” your father added.

“we’ll tell you into more details later, now go to your class! your teacher is waiting” your mother ordered and you did as she said.

you’ve had manners classes as soon as you turned into a beautiful young lady, according to your mom, you should’ve taken them earlier—so you’d be more prepared and will have some manners in front of her friends.

when you turned fifteen, your family already informed you they decided on your future husband, and you had no option to resist, they forced this marriage on you and didn’t even give you the chance to say no.

you’ve never heard of the man, you don’t know anything about him. the only thing you do know is that you’re going to get married to him as soon as you turn 21 which means, your clock is ticking and you’re slowly going out of options.

ever since you can remember yourself, you wanted your own fairytale love story, a one love story that will make anyone envy you, a one true love story you can use when you want to tell your future kids a night story, a one true love story where you’d be the one to pick the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with.

your parents however, thought it was a good joke, and always used to laugh at it.

“true love story? there’s no such a thing” your mother always says.

“we got married for the benefit of our kingdoms, and we fell in love through the marriage, you’ll get to experience it too” your father adds.

“marrying someone you don’t know isn’t that bad! you’ll get to know each other after the wedding” your parents both love to laugh about it whenever they could.

your manners class should’ve been called ‘how to be a good wife’ class in your opinion, you learn nothing other than how to behave around your future husband and how to take care of him. stupid primitive royalties.

“good morning y/n, let’s get to class quickly” your teacher who had been waiting for you in your usually room greeted you and you greeted her back.

“what do you do if your husband tells you that he’s tired from duties and he’s hungry but the maids are already asleep?” you teacher asked.

you sighed before answering, “i get up and massage him, then go to the kitchen and make him something the eat”

your teacher clapped her hands in excitement, “that’s all for today, good job!”

this life is tiring.

when you look at your other friends who you’ve met in ball events, they seem to enjoy their single life. none of them was promised to marry someone they don’t like, so where did you go wrong?

feeling too tired from class, you decided to go and take a short nap, it wouldn’t hurt to go back to sleep right? it’s not like you have something important to do anyway.

before going to nap you laid down on your bed and stared at the ceiling.

“will i ever get to meet the person i would choose to marry?” you asked yourself before you drafted to sleep.

“sunoo!! focus!” while you were sleeping loudly, the fifth prince of hybe kingdom was busy taking manners class.

“i was just now at (your kingdom’s name) kingdom, how come it’s easier to teach ladies than gentlemen?” his teacher complained.

his teacher is your teacher as well, but of course both of you doesn’t know that.

“i apologize” sunoo quickly then bowed as an apologetic gesture.

“focus!” the teacher tsked and sunoo sat straight.

“if your wife comes home from duties and she tells you she’s quite tired, what do you do?” she asked.

“i’d ask her to tell me how her day was and i’ll make her some food” sunoo smiled widely and the teacher shook her head.

“no, no, no! you ask your maids to make her something to eat!” his teacher sounded disappointed.

sunoo pout, he didn’t understand the logic behind it all, a husband needs to take care of his wife, and what are those manners classes? who made those stupid classes anyway?

out of all 7 brothers, his parents chose him as the one who needs to suffer the most in his opinion.

sunoo is the only one who has been taking manners classes, and he’s the only one who’s promise to marry someone he doesn’t know.

does his parents think he won’t be able to find someone he’d like to marry?

“that’s it for today, practice and study more! for the next time i want you to be better” the teacher left without giving him a chance to send her off.

she must be really angry then, huh?

sunoo then sighed and gathered his papers.

“tough day?” he heard a voice and shoot his eyes to the figure who was standing right at the door.

“you could say that” sunoo nodded and dropped his glance.

jungwon pitied his older brother, he has always been the one to suffer from their parents’ endless bickering, and jungwon always wondered why’s that.

“just hold it in for a while, it’s going to end soon” jungwon walked closer to his brother and pat his shoulder.

sunoo groaned, “easy for you to say, you already basically know who you’re going to marry”

jungwon smiled a bit, “mom and dad are starting to get on your nerves, aren’t they?”

sunoo nodded, “can’t they just let me live my life the way i want to?”

a door slammed and you woke up immediately.

“i apologize your majesty, the queen asked me to wake you up from your nap” one of your maids said, “she wants to meet you in the garden”

you dismissed your maid and went down to your castle’s garden, your favorite place on earth.

“mother,” you called her, “you were asking for me”

your mother who was sitting on one of the benches turned her glance to you and smiled, “do you know why i called you, y/n?” she asked.

you shook your head and moved closer to her.

“your wedding of course!” she opened her arms and hugged you.

you let out a big sigh, of course! why would she want to talk with you about anything else?

“i’m joking, joking” she giggled, “i was a bit bored, i wouldn’t mind some company”

you nodded and proceeded to sit on the bench next to her. both of you sat in silence, she looked pretty relaxed, but you’re always being extra careful around her.

“have you ever heard of hybe kingdom?” she suddenly asked.

“no, the only thing i know about them is that they’re seven siblings, and each one is soon to get a throne”

“their family is quite weird i must say,” your mother chuckled, “the oldest son is going to marry a commoner! can you believe it??”

you nodded, “if they really do love each other, they deserve to be happy together”

your mother looked at you in disbelief, “it’s not a good reason to break a royal rule!” she argued.

“what royal rule? they’re ancient and no one’s even looking at them anymore!!” you argued back.

“ancient or not!! a royal rule is a royal rule!!”

“sometimes love is more important than a stupid rule!!”

“you—“ your mother stopped for a second to take a deep breathe, “if that’s another way of you to try and convince me to let you marry whoever you want, it’s not going to work”

you rolled your eyes and looked away, “you don’t even realize how important it is to me” you mumbled and she stayed quiet, completely ignoring what you’ve just said.

“you’re going to meet your soon to be husband at hybe’s kingdom party, you should be prepared”

eventually you left her alone and went back to your room, you had nothing to talk about together anyway.

“there you are sunoo!! we’ve been searching for you!!” hybe’s queen remarked.

“hello mother” sunoo whispered.

“your teacher told me you’re not doing well!! sunoo, what’s wrong with you?” she raised her voice and sunoo shut his eyes.

“if you’d just let me feel free and let me do what i want maybe i’ll be able to be mannered enough for you!” he spoke back and his mother stepped back.

“sunoo!!”

“what? did i say something wrong? instead of letting me find someone i’d truly love and want to marry, you’re forcing me into it!” he raised his voice back.

“this is not up to discussion!! your marriage is final!” his mother fired back, “it’s okay if you dont love her now, you’ll force yourself into it and eventually fall in love!”

sunoo sighed and tears filled his eyes, “you’d never let me live the way i want to, would you?”

his mother stayed quiet and he slowly nodded, “got it” he whispered and went to his room.

the next mornings felt all the same, manners class and getting back to sleep, it was the same for sunoo, other than the fact that he had to help his younger brothers with their own love stories. love stories that he’d never have.

“i don’t know what to do, it hurts, i miss her” jungwon cried to his older brother as he hugged him and suggested him a few steps.

looking at his brothers living freely as they want made him really happy for them, but also envy them for being their parents’ favorite in his opinion.

eventually, ni-ki’s birthday came and everyone around the castle were busy getting ready.

“good morning sunoo! time to get ready” the maids said and he barely got himself up.

“you’re going to meet your soon-to-be wife!! isn’t that exciting?” jay, who came in together with sunoo’s maids, decided to tease him a bit.

sunoo groaned and covered himself with his pillow.

“get up sleepy head! it’s your brother’s birthday today!! at least wish him a happy birthday!!” jay took the pillow and threw it at him a few times.

sunoo really didnt want to wake up today. dont get him wrong, he loves his brother, its just something about today that makes it extremely hard for him to wake up.

“right, what was her name again?” this was the exact reason sunoo couldn’t wake up, his parents couldn’t even recall his future wife’s name!

“nevermind, you need to go get ready!” his father commented.

“you’ll know it when you see her, she’s awfully pretty!” both of them said and pushed him back to his room to get ready.

“oh my dear! you’re awfully pretty!” your mother clapped as you gave her a twirl of your dress.

“you’re only saying that because you’re my mom” you scoffed and she shook her head.

“you really are really pretty, our pretty princess” your father got involved and smiled.

you gave them a short smile, “thank you—“

“can you believe it? you’re going to meet your future husband!! are you ready for it?” your mother stepped closer to you, cupping your cheeks in both hands.

“no” you sighed. “well then, be ready for it! we don’t want him to think you’re messy and unorganized”

what does not being ready for this even have to do with being messy and unorganized??

you just nodded and closed your eyes. if you start crying now, the beautiful makeup your maid had put on you would get ruined.

“we’re so proud of you, y/n” both of them said and you just nodded.

“oh! you look exactly like a prince” his brother sunghoon remarked. “i didnt look like one up until now?” sunoo rolled his eyes but sunghoon only chuckled.

“hey im just joking, you look really good sunoo” the older complimented him and sunoo smiled, “thank you”

“off you go!! enjoy the party!” your parents said as they sent you off to hybe kingdom, with a thumping heart you smiled and nodded.

five minutes into the drive and it finally sank into your mind, your parents never mentioned his name, not even once.

quick!! what should you do?? risk it all and just continue the drive and hope to find him in mysterious way? or get back to your parents and ask them for it??

obviously option one is the best option.

“we have arrived, your majesty” your driver informed you and went out to open the door for you.

you took a few deep breaths, “you can do it”

as you got out you saw lots of princesses and princes, all entering the big and beautiful castle.

“please welcome princess y/n from (name of kingdom)” the door opened for you and all eyes were on you, you hated it, you hated this welcoming.

it was somehow a royal thing, to inform of a royal entering a castle, but then what? it drew everyone’s attention to you.

you felt everyone’s gaze on you, mumbling nothings and whispering whatever. you slowly entered deep into the crowd until the other royals didnt care about you anymore.

“hello there, beauty” you heard someone say, you turned around to meet with a very pretty looking guy.

“hello” you replied back and extended him your hand for him to kiss.

you hated this too, the feeling of a stranger on your hand, why was this even a royal rule??

“i couldn’t stand seeing you alone so—“

“and finally, please welcome the hybe family” all of your heads turned to the door.

first one to enter was prince heeseung, you could see him searching for a specific person in the crowd and as soon as he saw her, he smiled.

second to enter was prince jay, he looked super focused, he too, was searching for a specific person in the crowd.

third to enter was prince jake, he looked so peaceful somehow, as if he already knew where was the specific person he was searching for.

fourth to enter was prince sunghoon and god, his visuals were no joke, whoever will end up with him definitely won a handsome one of a kind.

fifth to enter was prince sunoo, as soon as he entered you felt as if the world had stopped.

you two somehow made an eye contact for a few good seconds, as if he already found the person he was searching for.

is he….? no, he can’t be, can he?

the voice of the welcoming of the sixth prince woke you up from your deep thoughts.

sixth to enter was prince jungwon, he looked around, smiling at everyone while obviously trying to search for someone.

“and lastly, please welcome the birthday boy, riki!” as the seventh prince riki entered, everyone clapped and cheered.

only he, was smirking at everyone. he was definitely up to something.

as the party started, you started to feel tired. what if you just ditch early? no one will notice anyway.

you started walking towards what you thought was the exit, turns out it was a door for the castle’s garden.

“great, how do i get out now” you mumbled.

you heard steps behind you and turned around immediately.

your eyes widened as you saw the person that was standing in front of you.

“hello” he said with a warm smile.

“prince sunoo” you whispered under your breath, “hello”

“you probably have already heard who i am, but i’m sunoo” he said and bowed to you.

you couldn’t understand why, but you felt your cheeks heating up. focus y/n, focus!!

is he your promised prince?

“i’m l/n y/n” you introduced yourself with a curtsy, sunoo took your hand and kissed the back of it, “you look awfully pretty, y/n”

you said you hated it, hated it when a stranger kissed your hand, but why did it feel so different when he did it?

you wanted him to keep kissing your hand, and maybe not only your hand.

no, y/n what are you thinking!!

sunoo couldn’t explain it, ever since he laid his eyes on you, he felt something.

you were so, so pretty in his eyes. he saw the whole crowd but his eyes only looked at you. he wanted to get to know you more, he’s more than 100% sure you’re promised to him, how could his parents forget your beautiful name?

and if it turns out you’re not the one who’s promised to him, he’s more than determined now to make you his wife.

“would you like to have a dance y/n?” he suddenly asked, looking into your soft eyes.

you could still hear the music at the back, you enjoy dancing anyway, so why not?

“i’d love that” you replied.

sunoo took your hand and guided you, you were extremely close to each other.

your hands were around his neck, and his held your waist.

“how come i’ve never seen you before?” he asked.

“i’m not the type to go to royal celebrations, i came here for the first time since i’m kind of forced to meet my future husband” you replied softly.

“future husband?” sunoo disappointedly looked down.

did you already find your future husband? your promised one?

you shook your hand, “i have yet to find him, but now that i’m being here with you…” you stayed quiet for a bit, “i think i found him”

oh you were bold. what if he already has someone he’s going to marry to?

“oh,” he suddenly said and chuckled, “i think i already found my future wife too”

both of you shared a long eye contact, god he was so attractive and you were so beautiful in his eyes.

you changed position and crossed your hands together, going in circle while not even breaking your eye contact for a mere second.

you didn’t want to let go of each other, as the song ended, so did your dance.

you decided to sit on one of the benches at the garden and share a little conversation.

a little conversation ended up lasting for almost until midnight. you’ve been at the garden since eight pm.

you talked about your hobbies, your family, your miserable life with your manners classes.

“no way! you’re having them too?? i thought only my parents were old school” he said in excitement.

“yeah, i guess both of us are experiencing the old school parents” you chuckled.

the conversation just kept on going further and further until the maids reminded you it’s time to go.

both of you got up from the bench and looked at each other.

“i don’t want this night to end” you pout.

sunoo giggled and put his hands around your waist.

“i don’t want it to end either” he replied.

it was a comforting silence between the two of you, until he started getting closer.

“can i…..?” he asked and you nodded.

he crushed his lips on yours and held you tightly. you kissed him back and put your hands around his neck.

the kiss was so innocent and sweet, as if you’re having your first teen love.

as you slowly let go of the kiss you opened your eyes and giggled.

“there you—am i interrupting something?” you recognize this prince, it’s prince jake.

“not at all, i was just about to leave” you said after and curtsied to the prince.

you walked away but not before whispering into sunoo’s ear, “hopefully i get to see you again”

as you left, jake pushed sunoo and cheered for him. “you found her didn’t you!!”

sunoo smiled, his cheeks still blushing from the kiss you shared a few minutes ago. it was just like in the love stories he liked to read.

“oh! her name is minju!”

no. this can’t be.

after the celebration, his parents came up to him to ask him how was meeting his future wife.

only then he realized he has been wrong this whole time.

“what?” he asked.

they nodded and smiled, “we’re so glad you enjoyed! we were actually worried about you not liking her”

“i need to sleep” he mumbled.

“what?”

“i need to sleep now” he said louder.

his parents left his room, shocked and speechless. did they say something wrong?

“y/n dear, how was the party?” your parents came up to you, they’ve probably been waiting for you to get back.

you knew they didn’t really care about the party, but more about the person you’ve met there.

you already knew that the person you’re promised to marry wasn’t sunoo, but you couldn’t help it but fall in love with him.

you realized it wasn’t sunoo halfway into your conversation. your parents told you a few facts about your future husband, and none of them matched sunoo. still, you kept on spending the night with him instead of going to search your promised one.

“it was fine” you replied.

“just fine….?” they asked surprised.

“yeah”

“what about….?”

“oh, it was amazing actually, i already feel myself falling for him, he’s the person i want to marry to and no one else” you smiled, “ever since i saw him i only think of him”

your parents looked at you in confusion. they weren’t expecting to hear that from you, especially because you hated this idea.

“are you…doing okay?” they asked and you nodded, cheeks heating up after remembering your past events.

“i’ll be going to sleep now” you skipped to your room happily, leaving your parents dumbfounded.

the next day you woke up, “y/n! you got a letter” one of your maids brought your letter to you and you opened it.

‘meet me at xxxx around 9pm — sunoo’

you smiled after reading the letter, and you couldn’t help but wait for the eve to come.

around 8:30pm you sneaked out, telling your parents you weren’t feeling well and getting out slowly and surely, no one noticed you.

you arrived the place and waited for him. you sat on a bench and looked at the sky.

the sky was so dark and the stars were shining brightly, you enjoyed looking at the sky, until you couldn’t see anything.

someone covered your eyes, “guess who” you heard a familiar voice and chuckled.

“my future husband” you said.

this new nickname you gave him made him flutter each time he hears it coming out of your mouth.

he removed his hands and pecked your cheeks, “ding ding ding, we have a winner” he smiled and went to sit next to you on the bench.

“i missed you” he added.

“you saw me yesterday” you replied.

“24 hours without seeing you, my heart can’t handle it” he held his hand against his heart and you rolled your eyes, “you’re so cheesy”

“you didnt mind it yesterday” he shrugged, “i still don’t”

both of you chuckled and kept talking with a wide smile all over your faces.

the two of you knew, you knew you’re not promised to each other, you knew you won’t end up getting married to each other, so why does none of you bring this up?

you kept talking and talking without even realizing it was past 3 am. you have manners class later today, you have to get some sleep.

“you have to go?” he asked and you nodded sadly.

“my parents will kill me if i dont wake up in time” you sighed.

“let’s meet up tomorrow too, same time, same place” he said and you nodded.

you pecked his lips and ran back, leaving him with blushing cheeks.

none of you wants to admit it, but you’re not going to end up together. so you’ll just spend your time together as long as you can, holding into the fact that maybe, maybe you actually will have a chance to marry each other.

your sneaking out became a usual thing for you and sunoo, you really did keep your promise and met up every day.

“how do you want our wedding to be?” he asked you once.

your head was resting on his lap as he caressed your hair.

“my family, your family, and maybe just a few important royals, in your castle too, because that’s where we first met” you smiled and he smiled back at you.

both of you knew it’s not really going to happen, but you still held into the hope that maybe, against all the odds, maybe you will be able to change your fate.

“i love it, what do you think about honeymoon?” he asked in addition to the wedding part and you just giggled.

as you came back to your room that day from meeting sunoo, you noticed a figure sitting on your bed.

you got scared and immediately turned on the lights, just to notice it was your mother.

“mother,” you whispered.

“i thought you’re not feeling well?” she asked seriously.

“i-i went to catch some air—“ “dont try to excuse yourself” she said firmly.

you looked down and sighed, “i met up with my future husband”

her serious face turned into a wide smile, “really? what did you two—“

“kim sunoo from hybe kingdom” you cut her off as you just now told her who you met up.

“what?” she asked, the wide smile turning into confusion.

“i met up with sunoo, my future husband” you boldly said.

your mother laughed, “that was a good joke! dont scare me like that again” she continued to laugh but her laugh faded when she noticed you were serious.

“oh, you’re serious?” she asked and you nodded.

“i want to marry sunoo, mom” you said.

“that’s not possible” she argued.

“why not? i love him, he’s the person i want to marry” you said.

“a no is a no, i don’t want to argue about it” she got up.

“but i do, i won’t marry any other person, even that ‘future husband’ you’ve been telling me to marry” you’re a one stubborn child, and you’re not going to give up on sunoo that easily.

your mother sighed, “i will not argue about this with you, you’re grounded, i’ll put hundreds of guards around just to keep you here” she raised her voice.

“you can try and keep me here all you want! it’s not going to change my feelings!” you shout as she went out of your room.

sunoo wasn’t doing any better, he too, got caught as he came back.

“no!” his mother argued, “you’re promised to marry minji and that’s final! i don’t want to hear another word!”

sunoo scoffed, “out of all seven of us, you chose to be strict with me, now that i finally found someone i love, you’re taking her away from me? why did you let heeseung marry a commoner then?” he shout.

his mother stayed speechless.

“exactly, you have no good reason” he said in disbelief.

“you’re not allowed to go out anymore until you realize what you just did, minju is your future wife and no one else” she said before smacking the door.

while both of you weren’t allowed out of your castles, you could send letters one to other.

you kept communicating through that, however, it was slow and hard as one letter per day came in.

on one of the days you shared dinner with your parents, as usual you stayed quiet and didn’t talk to neither of them.

only today was different, “y/n,” your father called you but you ignored.

“we’ve decided to break off the agreement with the other kingdom” he continued and your eyes light up.

“me and your mother decided it’s what best for you, and we want nothing more than to see you happy” he said.

“does that mean…..?” you whispered and your mother nodded, “you can marry prince sunoo, we talked some sense in his parents too”

you looked at the clock and saw the time, 8:30pm.

you looked over your parents, “can i….?” and they nodded.

you pushed away your chair and ran out of the castle to search for your sunoo.

you arrived at your place with a wild smile, expecting to see him already, your smile faded as you saw no one.

your eyes teared up, until someone covered your eyes behind you, “guess who”

without waiting, you turned around and hugged the person you were so longing for.

“my future husband, my real future husband” you cried into the hug as he hugged you back tightly, not wanting to let you go.

“i missed you” he said and you cupped his face.

“i love you” you said before kissing him.

you caught him off guard but he was quick to kiss you back, holding your waist and getting you closer to him than ever.

both of you pulled away when you felt you were out of air.

you pressed your foreheads against each other with eyes closed, “it’s been so long, it feels so good to hold you again, i love you” he said and you smiled.

“i was wondering how long it’s going to take for my parents to realize i only want to marry you” you chuckled.

“took them too long” he scoffed and you nodded.

“what’s important is that you’re here now” you whispered.

“i’m here, forever and ever, i love you”

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[callmissrogers]

There For His Girl | Steve Rogers x Reader One Short

Summary: Y/n has reached her limit. Work has been difficult. People have been short, and some just mean. It all brings her back to her childhood, and right now, she just wants to pretend to be ok. So determined to pretend she tries to push her concerned husband away.

WARNINGS ⚠️ This contains mentions of a toxic relationship with the reader's mother and quotes some of their arguments. If this is a trigger for you, please DO NOT proceed. It also contains angst, fluff, and comfort. Also, very little editing and wrote on my phone.

Steve Rogers x wife reader

Word count: 1,370

Notes: The next part in the That's My Girl series will be going up today or tomorrow. I was feeling the need for some comfort myself, so this is what I wrote. Hope you like it!

Y/n slammed the door, tears streaming down her face she pressed her back into the wall and slid down until she was a small ball on the floor.

"Why do I do this?" She sobbed hating herself.

Y/n had had a rough few days. It seemed like no matter what she did or said, people were short with her. Everything was going wrong, and after one mistake, which led to a snarky backhanded compliment from Tony Stark himself, well, Y/n was done. Usually, it didn't get to her like this anymore, but her emotions frayed to a breaking point.

Her dad always told her she wore her heart on her sleeve but she just thought her mom was right and that instead of enduring this made her a nuisance.

Why should she be so bothered when people utter unkind things to her?

Why can't she pull herself together?

"You're always start crying! Stop trying to make me feel bad"

"You're stabbing me in the back by trying to do something different"

"Don't you know I need you here? Stop thinking about yourself and making everything harder on me"

This and many other instances where y/n would be belittled, ridiculed, screamed at, lectured for two hours at 1 in the morning, and reduced to making herself as small and as unseen as possible while being a sobbing mess, had made her what she is today.

Too sensitive. At least that's what she told herself at times like this.

And why couldn't she just talk about it like a normal person instead of blowing something trivial out of proportion?

Literally five minutes ago....

Steve had come home the night before. Poor guy had been so tired that he fell asleep in uniform on the couch.

Y/n had been carefully tiptoeing around the kitchen so as not to accidentally wake him up. Intending to surprise him before heading to work.

She was supposed to be going over mission plans with Vision today. This was the kind of work that excited her. None of the agents would bother them while they were working, which meant that she could just disappear for the day.

She platted up breakfast and carried it over to set it on the coffee table in front of the sleep soilder.

Tho he didn't actually wake up until she set down his mug of coffee.

Eyes fluttering open he peered up at her groggyily. "Hi" He mumbled, pushing himself upright. "Hey sleepy head." Y/n said, trying to make her voice sound chipper.

Steve sighed contentedly as he stretched out his muscles before standing up.

"Mind if I go change clothes before I enjoy this masterpiece?" He asked. Y/n turned to face him, attempting to smooth down his wild bedhead and then said, "Go ahead"

He was back a matter of moments, settling down next to her and drinking deeply from his coffee.

"Thank you for this," He sighed leaning over and gently kissing her on the cheek. Y/n just nodded, trying to keep her mind on a healthy track she focused on eating.

"Did you sleep well?" Steve asked. Taking another bite, she thought about lying and telling him that she had had the best night sleep.

"Sorta" She said trying to stiffle a yawn. "What does sorta mean?" Steve asked turning to look at her. "Nothing really. I'm good! Nothing some strong coffee won't fix."

Steve placed his hands on her shoulders, making her look at him. He studied the dark circles, the faint tint of bloodshot in her eyes, how she held herself and her fiddling hands.

"Hm," He said, his voice low in his chest.

Y/n knew exactly what he was doing, shaking his hands off her shoulders and standing up she said, "I should probably get ready for work."

Steve stood up, grabbing her wrist and stopping her. "Y/n, you look exhausted." "I'm fine" "You're twirling your hair, which means you're not telling the truth." "Steve, c'mon I don't have time for this" "Y/n, it looks like you've been crying" She pulled his hand off her wrist and started to walk away from him, "I'm going to work." "Sweetheart, please just tell me what's - " "Steve! Please just listen to me and leave me alone!" She yelled, cutting him off. She ran off to the bedroom, and that's when the door slammed.

Steve stood there a moment, thinking about honoring her request and leaving her be. But his protective nature overtook him and he decided that the best thing to do would be to be there for his girl.

In the bedroom.

Y/n sat against the wall still crying into her hands, body trembling, thinking hateful thoughts about herself.

She heard Steve knock on the door, saying "Sweetheart, can I come in?"

When she didn't answer him, he slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

She could feel him kneeling down in front of her, "Sweetheart," He whispered, trying to tuck her hair behind her ear to which she only buried her face further.

The next thing that happened, was Steve scooping her up into his arms and settling down in the arm chair that sat in the room.

Somehow this just made her cry more.

"Oh honey, come on now. Take a deep breath. In through the nose and out through the mouth." He soothed.

After about ten minutes of this, her crying settled down, breath becoming rhythmic.

Once he was sure that she had calmed down enough to be able to communicate with him, he asked his voice low and rumbling through his chest, "Do you wanna talk about what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

She nodded against his shirt. "Everything" she gasped. "Everything?" He asked, pulling her back so he could look her in the face. Dabbing away the leftover tears.

"I'm too emotional. Everything the last few days just hurts. I let everything get under my skin... I just. . Lately, people and Stark are just mean, or maybe I'm just too sensitive.. and now I've yelled at you, too." She said, trying to get up.

"Now hold on a minute, " He cooed, keeping her in place.

"What did Tony say?" "Nothing. I messed up and he was being sarcastic, but I'm such a mess that it hurt" she said her voice breaking. "Alright. Listen to me. One, you are not too emotional. The world tells everyone to button up and be cynical. You, my dear, are a light in all that mess. You do care and that's a very good thing -- I don't want you to listen to anyone that would belittle that, ok?" He asked getting a slow, uncertain nod in response. "Ok. Secondly, people can be mean, especially Stark. People also have power trips and want to pull people down to make themselves feel stronger or better. This means there's one thing you can always be certain of: Do you know what that is?" "What?" "They're wrong. Anyone who would belittle you to make a point or to win an argument or for any other reason, is just a bully." "But what if-" "ah. No what ifs. Thirdly, and this one is the one that's most important of the three." "Then why'd it come last?" She asked clearly beginning to feel a little bit better if she could tease him now. Steve simply rolled his eyes and continued,

"I want you to remember that when you're upset, you can always talk to me. No matter how silly it might make you feel, your feelings are safe with me." "Steve I just yelled at you for no rea-" "No. You had a reason. You were upset. I can see that and you know what that means? It means I can take it too. When I put this ring on your finger," He said taking her hand in his and running a finger across her knuckles. "I signed up for this. I'd rather have you get emotional than bottle things up and hide them from me."

Y/n looked down at their still intertwined hands and then back up at him. Nodding again and breathed out an "ok"

"Ok." Steve replied, giving her his usual comforting smile and kissing her forehead.