#now I’m going to sleep (at 11pm) and waking up in seven and a half hours 😌

[kickbutts-singsongs]

Guess who’s actually going to bed EARLY for once!!

[thatgirlonstage]

Blegh I am obligated to be a morning-ish person for the moment in order to catch a rush hour bus so my commute is not twice as long and annoying but I always always feel HORRIBLY tired in the morning and now I’m horribly tired by like 10:30 at night too

Like, seriously — go to bed at 2AM, wake up at 9AM = perfectly fine and alert all day

Go to bed at midnight, wake up at 7AM = exhausted, nauseous, half the time I can’t really get up until almost 8 anyway, I feel a desperate need to crash by 11PM the next night

I have to sleep an extra hour for every hour I move it back from 9AM I think. Seven hours of sleep is fine if I can sleep til 9AM, but if I need to get up at 7, I better be getting a full nine hours and even then it’s dodgy.

It’s just horribly frustrating bc I NEED that time to do work but I am Acutely aware that I cannot skimp on giving my body enough rest rn, I have too much potential covid exposure and I need my immune system not to be knocked out because I haven’t SLEPT

[redcameleon]

SSM 2020 Day 5

Prompt: Arrivals

Summary: Modern AU. Sasuke’s a businessman who was supposed to come back to Tokyo from a business trip. Needless to say, Sakura was kept waiting.

Rating: K+. curse words

A/N: I’m not trying to make Sasuke like the bad guy here. I mean when you’re so busy, there’s always a possibility that you might forget some things, right?

Work work work. It seemed to be the only thing in Sasuke’s mind. Sakura had to suffer most of the time because of it, and today was no exception. Except that today was their third wedding anniversary.

He was supposed to come back home from his five-day business trip in Hokkaido today. Sakura had planned a special evening for them, spending extra time to cook Sasuke’s favorite meal to welcome him from his long trip. She even cleaned the whole house. She knew how much of a neat freak Sasuke was.

7:30PM.

His flight was supposed to land at 6:30 and given the distance from the airport to their home, it would take him about an hour to arrive home.

She had timed everything perfectly. She just finished cooking a few minutes before half past seven, and by the time Sasuke arrived, they could both enjoy their meals right away. She put on a soft instrumental in the background, to liven up the mood. She couldn’t contain her excitement to see him again. Three days without seeing him had been hard enough. This time she had to wait for a whole week!

8:00PM.

Still no sign of Sasuke. She checked her phone to see if he had left any messages. Zero. She figured maybe traffic was especially bad. She didn’t want to be pestering him every second, so she decided to wait.

11:00PM.

Waiting seemed to be the only thing she could do. She’d practically finished half a bottle of wine by herself. The food had grown cold, along with her mood. Half of her was worried that he’d got into some trouble or accident that prevented him from coming home, but half of her was beginning to think that he had forgotten to come home, which would seem impossible. Right? She decided the only way to get answers was to ask the man himself.

Sasuke-kun. Where are you?

A few minutes later, he responded.

On my way to the hotel.

“The hotel? Don’t tell me he’s still in Hokkaido.” Her latter guess was in fact proven correct.

But I thought you were supposed to come home today? Remember? Today’s our anniversary.

“Shit.” As he read her text in the taxi, Sasuke inwardly cursed himself. How could he forget such an important day? He must had booked the plane ticket on a different date. In his mind, their anniversary fell on a Sunday. He was wrong, of course. It fell on a Saturday. He ran a hand along his exhausted face. How am I gonna make this up to her?

He was going to need a lot more than just an apology. But for now, it was the only thing he could produce. He wasn’t trying to make excuses, but somehow the truth itself felt like one.

I’m so sorry. I booked the ticket on the wrong date. I’m sorry, Sakura.

Sakura felt crushed. She felt like every ounce of energy left were being sucked right out of her. She couldn’t even write a response. She didn’t bother to clean up the table and headed straight for the shower.

Of course. Work would always come first. She thought to herself. She let the hot water drench her, trickling from her head to her toes. She tried to focus on the scalding heat instead of the scorching pain in her chest. She couldn’t tell whether her lack of disappointed outburst was due to the wine or to her solidifying heart. She loved Sasuke with all of her heart, which made it especially hard for her to be left alone to wait for him like this.

She stepped out after a shower and fell asleep. Alone.

.

.

His flight was scheduled for Sunday at 8:00AM. Sleep hadn’t come to him at all. Thinking about how much he had hurt Sakura seemed to have kept his mind alive. He knew he didn’t deserve her. He deserved to be punished, and he was not going to make himself any less guilty. He just hoped Sakura was going to forgive him.

Countless hours in the office, leaving his wife alone at home the whole day would definitely affect their relationship. All this time he thought he’d be able to make her happy if he worked harder. Being one of the providers for the family, he thought their life would be so much better if he’d earn more. After all, Sakura also had her shifts at the hospital, and he knew how much she valued her own career.

He realized, however, that he’d been wrong this whole time. The only thing she needed was him. How could he had forgotten? The first thing she said to him when they got married.

“I don’t need anything luxurious. I’m happy whenever I’m with you. Even if it means living in a dump.”

It felt like the longest plane ride he had ever taken.

Arriving at their home, Sasuke took off his shoes and neatly set it on the shoe rack. Hearing the water running and plates clinking, he assumed Sakura was washing the dishes. He took a deep breath and went to greet her in the kitchen.

With a sunken voice, he managed to say, “I’m home”, earning a mere glance from Sakura. The only expression painted on her face was that of disappointment and defeat; expressions that never looked good on her, or on anyone in fact.

“Well you look like shit,” was the first thing Sakura said, and he couldn’t help but agree with her. He looked and felt like shit.

“Sakura.”

“It’s fine Sasuke-kun. I’ll just try to get used to letting work come between us.” His heart ached at her comment. He bitterly admitted there was truth behind them. He had been letting work come between them for too long. However, he wasn’t going to let that happen any further. Something had to change, and Sasuke was ready to do anything for her.

“I’m sorry.” He was hesitant to approach her. She turned off the water and rested her hands on the edge of the sink.

“Look. I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now. I’m just tired. Can you give me time?” He was expecting her to fully lash out on him. However, this felt even worse. It felt more serious, more severe. He’d have to really earn his forgiveness.

He decided to step back and give her space. She continued her task while he settled to unpack his luggage and shower.

All freshened up but still not managing to wash off the guilt, he went into the kitchen only to find that it was empty. Sakura was nowhere to be found. She must had stepped outside. He saw a meal had been laid out on the dining table, with a set of chopsticks and a note on the side.

Lunch. Dinner’s in the fridge.

He heaved a long sigh. Even when she was mad at him, she still cared for him enough to make sure he didn’t skip his meals. His heart ached more. The only thing he could do at that moment was give Sakura space and wait for her to return.

.

.

Sakura didn’t return until 11PM. He waited for her in their bedroom, reading over some reports. When he heard the door open, he peeked through the bedroom. Her expression hadn’t changed. She wasn’t sparing a glance towards him. She went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water before heading to the bedroom and preparing to hit the hay.  

He quickly set aside his reading materials and turned off the lights.

She sat on her side of the bed and lied down, only displaying her back towards him. Little did he know, she had only been outside at a nearby park, trying to collect her thoughts and calm herself. Still trying to act strong, she had to put up this armor showing that she wasn’t going to let her anger control her. She knew she couldn’t look at Sasuke in the eye or her emotions would explode in an instant.

“Goodnight, Sakura.”

“Goodnight.” her voice faint as ever.

.

.

Monday wasn’t supposed to be a day off for him, but he made it one anyway. He was determined to set things right, and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

His biological clock had always been punctual. Getting to work early meant having to wake up early. He woke up half an hour earlier than usual and quietly headed to the kitchen.

Gathering ingredients from the fridge and pantry, he was making Sakura’s favorite dishes for breakfast. He thanked God he could find all the ingredients at home, making sure he didn’t leave anything out. Trying to be as silent as possible, he started his task.

.

A delicious scent started poking at her senses, awaking her. Sakura opened her eyes and blinked a few times. Sunlight was pouring in from the blinds. She reached to her side to see that Sasuke wasn’t there. She heaved a sigh before detecting that sweet aroma again. She slowly sat up, gathering herself before heading out to the kitchen.

“Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?” She tried to take in the sight before her. A few plates were laid out on the kitchen table. She eyed them one by one, recognizing that they’re all her favorite dishes. Surprise overcame her as her mind hadn’t been fully there yet.

Sasuke was finishing up the last egg roll and setting them on a plate.

“Have a seat.” She obliged and took a seat before he joined her. She joined her hands on the table, her thumb fiddling with each other.

“I’m sorry I forgot. I know I’ve been away too much and spending less time with you. And you have every right to be mad at me.” He paused. He noticed she was still avoiding his eyes. However, he recognized the look on her face. It was the look of someone who was just trying to act tough and undisturbed, hiding the real Sakura underneath who was ready to break.

He reached out to place his hands on top of hers, watching her flinch a little at the sudden contact.

“But I want to change that. I’ll no longer be working during weekends, and I won’t take business trips too often. I’ll try my best to come home on time.” He paused.

“I’m sorry, Sakura.” He let silence fill in between them.

She knew she could never stay mad at him forever. Her love for him would always be greater and dissipate her anger quicker than she probably would have hoped.

He watched as her armor finally broke and tears were spilling from her eyes. Her lips quivered as she began to speak.

“Idiot. You’re lucky I still love you.” Sasuke couldn’t help the feeling of guilt from being lifted off his shoulders. He gently squeezed her hands.

“I love you too.” Her eyes finally met his before she leaned over and put her lips on his. He leaned into the kiss, touching her wet cheek. They pulled away and brought their foreheads together, finally reconnecting with each other.

“I missed you.”

“Aa. Me too.” He made sure he would keep his promise.

[yyxgin]

no bar!! never fret about replying late. i know what it’s like to not want to talk to anyone. honestly. i won’t call it (my experience) a depressive episode bc one of my friends used to brush off me when i was saying things like i’m depressed and say ‘sad’ instead. like if i were to say ‘that made me/i am depressed’ she’d say something like ‘oh god same! like if it’s making you sad,, don’t do it.’ which is a v poor example of what she did but i never called it depressed after that bc she pissed me off n was disregarding of my feelings (even though she’s incredibly anxious herself) bc i didn’t get it officially diagnosed. idk if you’ve ever read about birth control pills but i always read on tumblr people calling them literal depression pills and i ignored it, thinking either 1) people were being dramatic / were over-dramatising it or 2) it wouldn’t happen to me anyway. it fucking happened and they were not being dramatic. i was never happy n always working on minimal sleep n making self depreciating jokes all the time bc it was the only way i could cope with my thoughts n constant mood swings. so what i’m trying to say is,, i know how it feels. if that’s any consolation. it’s not me trying to be ‘oh me too!’ or ‘mine was worse than you’ it’s just me being understanding n telling you it’s okay. also lemme at your friends!! i’ll stomp them out n get the barman to run them over for you!! they’re so mean to forget you!! i find that deciding i want to do something specific n then asking the appropriate people if they want to do saïd thing/place works for me. it can be a simple ‘we should do this, when are you free?’ helps. making it known that you want to do things helps. or aggressively remind them that it’s nice to be asked bc it means they thought of you even if you couldn’t go n tried to include you. or we can revisit me stomping them out w my beloved barman,,, whatever works best for you my dear <3

admittedly me and one of the girls were discussing that we are going to miss our manager. even though literally everyone moaned about her (i feel like it’s impossible to avoid in literally any job/situation) she did have her moments and she did a lot for the staff like after work-drinks, asking the chefs if we could order off of the customer menu instead of the staff menu or whatever they cook in bulk for everyone to take home in the evening. apparently she did this a lot more than the previous manager. she has a good heart but sometimes she ignored some of the girls when we ask for days off or our availability for the week which was very annoying of her. it could’ve been a lot worse, i suppose, but overall she wasn’t terrible.

thé lady who lives in my town and drops me given the chance, told me the other night that she used to be the duty manager. i asked her why she stopped and she explained that when they furloughed everyone they asked her to come back on like half pay or something? idk i just remember it being explained as they wanted her to come back sooner and take away her furlough so she said no and got demoted. but somehow she still gets some of the furlough? idk i have been taught that asking how much or discussing specifics of paychecks kind of thing is rude, growing up. she has been telling me they keep asking her to come back (now they’re asking her to be a supervisor since she declined the manager role) and she keeps saying no. i love her and want the best for her so i won’t say anything to anyone about the conversations me and her have had (i mean, apart from maybe my mum if i can remember, and you bc, let’s be real, you don’t know me and idk you) and she says they’re just difficult to work with as a management team. she even said our area manager isn’t impressed with our current assistant manager (who is currently the only person on an houred contract since our manager left) which shocked me since i personally think he is quite good considering he has a good relationship with the staff and kitchen (he’s thai so he can communicate with the kitchen better than most of the wait staff (some wait staff are thai but mostly not)) i think she doesn’t want to be the eldest person in management or she doesn’t want the age gap to be so big since she has a kid she can lecture at home, she doesn’t need to be looking after people at work, y’know?

also today, me and one of the girls were upstairs (two floors of the restaurant!) and it’s nearing 11pm and her brother (who also works there) comes up and asks us when we’re finishing (mostly her lol) but we had two tables just sitting talking amongst themselves so she just said idk. he was saying he wanted to go bc he’s tired etc n he’s driving n she was like it’s fine go home i’ll call an uber or something n he was refusing to leave her behind. (i feel like i brushed over the two tables sitting there but it must be noted they’re the only tables left in the entire restaurant and we were the only two wait staff still there, apart from her brother but he changed and was waiting downstairs). anyway, she was sweeping (i was cleaning the booth/sofa thingy chairs as it was a mundane task we could do to pass time and while she was sweeping by one of the tables thé boyfriend was whispering to his girlfriend saying ‘should we go?’ and the girlfriend said ‘why should i care?’ and the girl came over to tell me v quietly and i got so upset for her. bc she is literally the sweetest person on the earth and the only reason i didn’t go to ask the manager to see if i could go home with the lady who offers to take me (ex-duty manager lady!) was so she wasn’t alone up there. if i had been the one sweeping near that table i would’ve snapped so fucking hard at them. i mean, we’re 18 and have lives and sleep schedules, and we’re working until 11pm on a thursday before we even get home?? like i wouldn’t have minded staying if they were reasonable tables but after the gf said that i was like ‘shall i go get our stuff from the staff room?’ so i could split as fast as possible. in the end the temporary acting manager came up and told us we could finish and she kicked the tables out ten minutes later. i told her what the table saïd and she thought that was mean and unnecessary too. i was also worried about my sleep tonight since i have my first vaccine tomorrow morning. that’s why i was more pressed about what time i left work today. oh well.

im sorry for talking so much about work! sometimes i don’t have someone to talk to about it (at home) bc of my weird hours and sometimes i don’t like re-explaining things to my mum if she doesn’t get it the first seven times. sometimes it’s just a little too draining as she doesn’t understand since she’s a lifer at her job. it’s easier to explain to my dad but then i get a whole lecture on something that i ultimately have no control over n id rather just bitch w the girls at work but the problem is WE’RE AT WORK!!!

also i booked for my first tattoo!! i’m excited. it’s for next week,, which was super quick considering i was expecting to have to wait soooo much longer. i’ve been telling people about it and that it’s happening but i haven’t had the pleasure of telling people exactly where i got the idea from. bar, my dear, you know wheein’s new album, redd? well, it comes with loads of things, including these stickers (one for each song) and the one from springtime was just so perfect and when i saw it my first thought was, this would be a perfect tattoo. and so i am having it tattooed on my body. a subtle nod to kpop whilst also having something meaningful on my body. i also have just decided i want a small, minimalistic (or one-line art) rose on my sternum, kind of in the valley of my breasts, bc my nan was a rose. i like having her close to me. i recently got her necklace fixed which has left me feeling so incomplete after it broke in august last year. it’s been almost ten years and i think i’m long overdue something to remind me of her. i fiddle with my necklace when i’m nervous which is why i love it so much but incase it breaks again (i pray it doesn’t but i have a long life ahead of me) i would like her close still.

gosh there’s never enough space in my head to remember what i want to tell you so i’ll stop here for now since i should sleep to be able to wake up in time for my first jab. i’m scared but it’s whatever i’ll do it i suppose,, eeek 😨

ilyl ~ 🌻

thank you so much for opening up to me about this, it means a lot to me :( i am so sorry you had to go through this and honestly,, i really resonate with you. i feel like when i talk about my emotions and my sadness (dont know if its okay to call it depression either but yea), my friend either always either makes me feel like my emotions arent valid or she tells me she doesnt know how to help, which is frankly, why i dont talk about my emotions to people irl anymore. i dont open up and it takes me a long long time to do so if i ever do, because i tend to feel insecure/not safe :D so really, thank you for telling me and i hope you are doing better. your emotions are valid and i am always here for you 

HAHAHA i mean i dont have many friends so theres not many to stomp on:( but i mean,, i get passive aggressive when i feel forgotten/left out so you best believe i told my friend how im feeling, but like uhhh it didnt do much. i spent the whole weekend at work and i was free on friday but my friend decided to ditch me and yeah. i havent been out in like two weeks now and i mean i am an introvert so i dont mind that much but even i want to socialise sometimes

aah i mean every manager has their flaws, no one’s perfect. my manager keeps calling me to go to work even though i was literally there for 11 hours on saturday AND sunday which means i worked for 20 hours in two days. and i work 20 hours a week at max. and i already worked some hours before the weekend so i think i have like 30 hours now and she keeps calling??? dude i need a break too,,i am so exhausted and tired of this shit :dd

oh i totally get what the lady that drops you off sometimes told you. i would feel a little iffy if i heard it too, but like,,,judge by your own experiences!! if you feel like something is off, you can always leave,, so i wouldn’t be so stressed about it.

why are people so rude ??? dude,,you should care, because we are all human. everyone has their needs and their lives and i bet he wouldnt like it if he was the one in your place. why should you stay there longer just because he didnt want to leave?? that was so unnecessary. people are weird beings and i learnt that after working with them this weekend,,,like i litereally got screamed at because i couldnt accept cash in different currency. like,,what tf do you want me to do?? i dont have every single currency with me so i could give u the change ?? tf ??

ALSO ITS OKAY TALK ABOUT YOUR WORK HOWEVER MUCH YOU WANT !!!! i also feel like i dont have anyone to talk to about work bc my parents dont listen to me as much as they used to these days and my friend unsurprisingly just doesnt care bc she doesnt work,, and i dont wanna talk to my internet friends abt it as much bc i feel annoying so i am glad us two can talk about these things together !!!! 

YOUR FIRST TATTOOOO WHOAAAH thats so cool. i love tattoos hihi dfkja idk if u already had the appointment but tell me how it went after !! i wasnt able to find the sticker on the internet but im sure it looks hella pretty. also i love how it reminds you both of kpop and your grandma, its wonderful <3 i really want to get a tattoo one day,, and i also want something meaningful (not that i am hating on people that tattoo themselves just for fun and have no meaning behind their tattoos i just have commitment issues so i want something long lasting). alSO my crush (yes i have a crush now ew) has a tattoo and it looks like satan lowkey,,but apparently its a japanese something (i forgot the word oopsies) and it means jealousy, bad past and wisdom ?? i was like BOY IF U DONT??? fjdkla he has blue hair btw i am very much whipped but he also doesnt know me and i am older than him so this is embarrassing

ALSO I HOPE YOURE FEELING WELL AFTER GETTING THE VACCINE !!! 

ily <333

[futurewriter2000]

Opposite numbers ~ pt. 1

A/N: Welcome, to my torture for you. Cuz this is gonna get good.

xx

There was a privilege of having another student for a neighbor. The two of you could talk about school, study together, go on adventures and have some good memories to reminisce about later in life.

Well, yeah, you definitely didn’t have that with James Potter. The two of you HATED each other.

It started as soon as you moved into the house next door and he threw an egg as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. He was an evil delinquent to who you lived for the last 10 years.

Here is the story. His way of getting on your nerves was pulling pranks, your way on getting on his nerves was blasting music. Your windows were right the opposite of each other. The two of you grew up next to each other in hate and resentment. In school, the two of you pretended not to know each other at all.

Simple. It was simple until one night you decided to drink two cups of coffee.

Coffee. How could you not love a drink like that? It was delicious and it sent all kind of emotions through your body, especially adrenalin.

---

James held his pillow around his head, pushing them against his ears and trying to muffle the music coming from the window opposite his. He was so irritated by your taste in music. And why on earth would you be listening to The Jacksons at 11pm?

If you haven’t played the same song for the last hour than he might as well know all the lyrics to it.

It was coming to end right now...so if you play it one more time, ONE MORE TIME, he is going to lose it.

He closed his eyes as the music finally stopped and he squeezed the pillow tighter. “ Please don’t. Oh, God please just let her go to sleep and stop with the music. Please, please I beg you-”

‘ My baby's always dancin' and it wouldn't be a bad thing  But I don't get no lovin' and that's no lie  We spent the night in Frisco at every kinda disco '

“ ARGGGHH! “ he jumped from his bed and opened his window, throwing one of his pencils towards it. “ OI! Jackson the 6th! “

Here’s the thing. When you drink two cups of coffee, blast music and feel endorphins in your body, you don’t hear the pencil hitting your window. You feel the rhythm in your bones and the music in your ears. Dancing, whether you were good at it or not, when it came to funky music, there was no denying you weren’t shimmying or doing the boogey.

Having neighbors didn’t matter, nor anything in that matter. What mattered was that all the energy went somewhere and at this point, you were dancing and holding your microphone in your hand which in this case was a hairspray.

Oh, how James didn’t believe his eyes when he saw a girl with who he grew up with in resentment, dancing to Blame it on the boogey in only her messy bun and an oversized shirt. He laughed and he watched because that was something he couldn’t let go as another way of you annoying him.

That was until the music changed and you finally stopped dancing. The heat finally washed over your body and you felt your cheeks burn as well as every single body part started to sweat.

You threw yourself on the bed but that didn’t help. So completely blind to the boy watching you from the other side, you slipped out of your shirt and pulled on a tight top.

James froze where he stood and he couldn’t help himself but feel another, different kind of heat wash over him. And as if seeing you in only a top and lacy red panties weren’t enough, Careless Whisper by George Michael started playing on your stereo.

Oh, how funny the universe worked.

“ Should've known better than to cheat a friend  And waste the chance that I've been given  So I'm never gonna dance again  The way I danced with you… “ you started to sing along the song, calming your heart rate and starting to fix your messy bun that was falling apart.

Your voice was different. When you usually sang it annoyed him, as if he was listening to a suffocating hijena, but now your singing seemed to be the perfect music to his ears. The way you let your hair down and brushed them on one side seemed to be a perfect turn on.

Though it seemed perfect for James at the very moment, the music seemed to bore you. Jumping over to the stereo, you switched the song and grabbed half empty water bottle next to it.

‘Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy  Somewhere just beyond my reach, there's someone reaching back for me  Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light... "

You jumped, did everything you could with your body. The song was taking over you and to be honest you had no idea what you were doing at the moment, especially to the boy next door. What you did know the song got you on your knees and you couldn’t help yourself but sing your lungs out until your throat started to ache.

Opening your eyes and looking over to the mirror, you saw a familiar face leaning over their window and watching you. It was obvious that you saw him and he couldn’t help himself but to blush and duck under his window.

Grabbing your sweatpants and pulling them on you ran to your window and smirked. “ Hiding, Potter, are we now? ”

He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that this might as well be a nightmare he can’t wake up from. What kind of guy hides away? What was he thinking?

“ I know you’re there, you might as well show yourself.” you put your head on your palms and watched innocently at his window. “ I have all night. “

He let his heart rate calm down first. He couldn’t get even more embarrassed than he already did. He crawled his way behind a wall and spun his body to the window with a mischievous grin plastered on his smug face. “ Some dance moves you’ve got there. Might showing me some?” he winked at you and your grin only grew.

“ OH? “ you scoffed surprised, crossing your arms over your chest before leaning forwards again. “ So now you like me or what? “

He chuckled and licked his lips as your cleavage was exposed and your hair seemed to block that perfect neck. “ I don’t know what you mean. I have always liked my best neighbor. “

“ You threw me off the tree house when we were seven.”

“ I said my best neighbor, I didn’t say that was you.” he winked and couldn’t help himself but to feel the heat strengthen in his body as you started to put your hair in a high ponytail.

“ Whatever, Potter. I’m going to sleep anyway so don’t worry about the music.” you rolled your eyes, closed the window and wiping his smirk off his face.

He couldn’t help himself but stare at the dark window, so instead of going to sleep himself, he decided to do something else for a change.

----

Your parents were out with Potters that was why you could blast music today. It was those adult gatherings everybody attended and let kids like yourself and James be home alone for once in your life.

You saw him today at how he looked at you. He observed your features, drolled over your body but he hated you. He has always hated you just as you always hated him. It was always like that and it will always be like that.

It seemed to upset you how the two of you could have been close. Around his friends he seemed to be relaxed and fun, always laughing. With you, all he did was smirk or pull some kind of prank. It always happened at home and not during school.

Here, the two of you were practically at each other's throats and in school it was like you have never met the guy.

You didn’t go to sleep because it was barely 11pm. It was summer and what kind of teenager would you be if you went to bed at 11pm during the summer. Instead, you walked your way towards the kitchen, turned on the radio at a low volume and opened the refrigerator.

Your eyes set on the leftovers in the back but before you could reach them somebody knocked on your door. You pulled your head away and slowly closed the refrigerator.

‘Who could be at your door at this hour?’ you thought to yourself and slowly walked to the door.

Three knocks and a kick. That’s what you heard and it didn’t take you a second longer to figure out who it was. It was James because since the two of you were kids, that was his secret knock.

“Seriously, James.” you opened the door as fast as you could and before your thoughts could even manage to process anything else, he was kissing you.

Pinning you against the wall and trying to close the door with his leg, he kissed you passionately and with hunger. “ James-” you pulled away and feel his heart rate racing as he was pressed against your body. “ What-”

He shut you up with another deep kiss before pulling away again. “ I want you. Right here, right now. I want you.” he practically begged and you couldn’t help yourself but to smirk at his desperation.

“Than take me.” you let his grin spread wider and he pulled you into another kiss.

It started with a kiss. A deep, passionate kiss which revolved teeth clashing and tongues fighting for dominance. Of course, he won. He was definitely more eager to taste you, the whole you.

His hands slid up your body and to your breast but before he could take off your bra you pushed them away. “ I think it’s better to take this elsewhere,” you smirked and glanced to the stairs on your left.

You grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs with you. He was so impatient about it, it was so damn hard to stay away from you, to not touch you at those 30 seconds where you led him to your room. He craved your kisses, your touch,...

Entering your room and you were back at the beginning. Against the wall and being covered with his kisses. He wasn’t patient enough. He ripped your top off your body, exposing you and your red lacy bra. It took him a moment, a moment to take in the image in front of him but for you, he took too long because you were hungry as well and impatient just like him. Grabbing his shirt, you pulled it over his head and was immediately pushed back against the wall. His hands slid down your thighs, under your sweatpants, and to your bare skin. He gripped your ass harshly and you wrapped your legs around his waist.

Your lips were locked, your lungs running out of air and he...he didn’t stop. As soon as you two reached your bed, he hovered over you and let his eyes wander on your body. He smelled like vanilla, spice and strong scent of sandalwood and it drove you insane. You craved for his kisses but he only roamed your body with his rough hands as well with his flaming hazel eyes.

He kissed your neck, softly. He brushed his mouth down your collarbone and slowly, teasingly, he left soft and gentle kisses on your body.

But then there was a sound.

“Why is the door open?” you heard your father say down-stairs and you immediately pushed James off you.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” you say as you quickly grabbed the shirt from your wardrobe.

“Well, apparently not.” James rolled his eyes and grinned at you.

“James! Hide!” you whispered at him.

“It’s just your pare-”

“I see you repainted the walls.” Mrs. Potter’s voice came down as well while your father's footsteps kept approaching.

“Oh, shit!” he got on his feet and grabbed his shirt from the ground and ran into the wardrobe.

“(y/n):” he burst into your room and you just kept putting your pants on.

“Daaaaaad!!” you closed the door. “I’m changing!” you lied. Well, technically you weren’t lying but-

“Sorry, honey. I was just worried since the doors were opened.”

“Yeah. Umm...James was here.”

“The Potter’s boy?” he furrowed his eyes and came in the room.

You leaned on the chair casually and crossed your arms, shrugging. “Yeah.”

“What did he want?”

“He- um- he just rushed his arse in and started yelling at me to turn my music down. You know. The usual.”

“Did you blast it again?”

“Maybe.”

“(Y/n).” he sighed.

“ I turned it off, okay.”

“Or you turned it up?” he quirked an eyebrow, a smirk appearing on both of your lips.

“Maybe.” you smiled.

“You two used to be so close once.” he sat on the sitting bag in front of your closet, making you tense up. “Thick as thieves.”

“When?” you scoffed, glancing from the wardrobe to your father.

“When the two of you were kids. Both of you always played tag and had these cute fights.”

“Dad.” you looked seriously at him. “We weren’t playing tag. Or had cute fights.”

“Yeah, I know.” he chuckled. “But the two of you were the most adorable rivals.”

“Were?” you quirked an eyebrow at your father. “We still are.”

“Maybe he likes you.” your father continued, unaware that the boy he was talking about was right behind him, hearing every single word. “You know boys would do anything to get a girls attention.”

“Really?” you moved closer to your father and sat on the bed, glancing at the wardrobe and though you couldn’t see James at the moment, you just knew the roll of his eyes.

“Don’t know why you hate him so much though?”

“Dad. He ruined my auntie’s dolls.”

“Those dolls were horrible, to begin with. He did you a favor.” he continued to chuckle.

“Well...That only made auntie make more of them, which was worse. “ you stood back up and walked away. “He hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, honey.” your father stood up as well.

“Why else would he do those things he did and continues to do?” you looked up at your father though the question was directed to the boy in your closet.

“Maybe because he likes-”

“He likes the redhead Gryffindor. I thought the whole of Britain would know this by now. He just likes torturing me.” you moved around your father and started pushing him through your door. “Now you’ve got guests. Shoo.”

“You can say hi as well. “your father took your hand and pulled you with him.

“I’m not dressed properly.” you tried to find an excuse.

“They have known you since you were a seven and it’s midnight, so it’s acceptable.”

“Uh-yeah-okay.”

---

After the whole parents’ interrogation, you were put through, you excused yourself and went back up to your room.

He was still there.

“James, the hell?” you rushed over to him and slapped his arm. “Get out of here!”

“You really think I hate you?” he asked seriously.

“James, this is really not the time to discuss it.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Bet your arse you are. Or you’ll accidentally get thrown through the window.” you pushed him through the door. “Use the back door and be careful for them not see you.”

“(y/n).” he tried to come back in.

“James. Another time, please.” you pushed him back but he grabbed your hand from his chest and pulled you into a kiss. A deep, hell of a fiery kiss before he pulled away and smiled.

“I don’t hate you, (y/n).” and he left.

[organabanana]

Here are the eight things that seemed most important when I decided to put together an ~aesthetic~:

Bonus ninth thing: I am long-winded so I had to put this under a read more to save your dashes. I apologize in advance for the rambling stream of consciousness under the cut.

One. I need coffee: I like tea, too, but I need coffee. There’s nothing snobby or pinterest-worthy about my relationship with the stuff, either. I drink it nearly black, instant (I KNOW, I KNOW BUT I DON’T HAVE THE COUNTER SPACE FOR A COFFEE MAKER), and in ridiculous quantities. I go through two 100-cup tubs a month, though I put in more spoonfuls than they recommend so I guess the number is more likely 150ish cups a month. Which is still frankly appalling, but you know. My excuse is I work full time as a teacher and also full time as a writer which means waking up at 4AM seven days a week and going to bed at around 11PM if I’m lucky so what I lack in sleep I make up for in caffeine.

Two. I hand write a lot: I’ve been journaling since I was around 7 or 8. It’s gone from your basic ‘today the teacher was super unfair and I had orange juice at recess’ kind of journaling to a beautiful mess that’s a mix of journal, sketch book (I’m terrible at visual arts, but dammit, I love it), wish list, scrapbook, and obsessive record-keeping. Though I’ve gone full digital for all my actual writing, my journal will always remain handwritten. A blog just isn’t the same.

Three. I belong near the sea: I was born, raised, and have always lived in a small coastal town. I was landlocked for two different periods of my life (college first, and then a couple of years abroad) and I missed the sea more than anything else in the world. I always hear people say not seeing the sea makes them feel claustrophobic, but for me it’s the opposite feeling. My town is a peninsula so I’ve always thought of the sea as a sort of barrier between ‘home’ and ‘the outside’. Land locked places make me feel like I’m out in an open space with nothing to keep me safe.

Three and a half. My dog also belongs near the sea: I was going to use a picture of him, too, but I didn’t have any in my computer and using a random dog seemed weird. He’s a black lab I rescued when he was three. He’s now six and has some white hairs on his chin which make him look very distinguished. He leads a very pampered life in many ways, but I think his favorite thing is the same as mine: we live fifty steps away from the beach, where he can run off-leash and swim every single morning and night. I like to say I’m his service human because he has epilepsy which means I’ve gotten really good at sensing seizures and making sure he doesn’t hurt himself when they hit. In exchange, he keeps me warm in bed and makes me feel like the most important person in the world.

Four. I’m a woman and I love women (a ton): I fall in love at least twice a week on average, and three times if I happen to visit our vet who is an actual angel. I also have the flirting skills of a sea cucumber, but I make up for it by coming up with the smoothest lines for my characters because I am a benevolent overlady and they deserve better. I extremely rarely, if ever, spend my time consuming media with no women in it. Bonus points if they’re queer, but passing the Bechdel test is usually enough (notable exception: I will love Star Wars until my very last day on this Earth, Bechdel be damned). 99% of my characters are also women, and generally of the woman-loving disposition, and I think that’s okay.

Five. I’m a teacher and I love teaching (also a ton): I’m a special education teacher, and I love (nearly) every second of it. I get to work in small groups, sometimes even one-on-one, with kids and teens and adults who need some extra help. I often say my endgame goal is to transition to writing as my ‘main’ career, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop teaching because I love it far too much. I’d love to reach the point where I can make my own hours and not feel overworked and underpaid while struggling to make ends meet, but a teacher is what I am, not just what I do.

Six. In a different life, I was a stage actress: I even looked into drama schools for years. I think a part of me will always wonder if I could’ve made it, but I’m very happy with the small-scale classroom version of acting I get to do every single day instead. The theater is one of the things I love the most in the world, both musicals and straight plays. I watch nearly everything that comes through my town, and I save up and spend a week in London getting my West End fix as often as I can possibly afford. If I had to go without all other media in exchange for keeping live theater, I would (though it’d make me very sad).

Seven. I read as much as I write: I read, and I read, and I read. And then I read some more. I devour novels, but also long form articles, short stories, plays, COMIC BOOKS OH MY WORD, and even the back of the cereal box if I’m desperate enough. I’ve been living in my apartment for nearly two years, and I still have several boxes of books and comics in storage waiting to be unpacked. I will never not be amazed that comic books are suddenly cool after so many years of being for nerds, and I’m loving every second of it (though as a big time DC fan, I am somewhat butthurt about the current state of affairs in the DC/Marvel competition). My biggest book weakness are old timey nonfiction books for women and/or educators. The more problematic, the better. The crown jewel of my collection is a book written in the 60s for pubescent girls in which the author (a priest) attempts to tackle sex ed. Beautiful disaster. It includes the ‘true story’ of a woman who used lipstick as a teen and that set off a chain of events which ended with her grandchildren blaming her for their syphillis. Living in a country which was under ultra-Catholic fascist rule until 1975, my collection of problematic books is pretty impressive, I must say.

Eight (FINALLY I’M SO SORRY I TOLD YOU I WAS LONG-WINDED). I watch a ton of movies: Old timey, new timey, it’s all good with me. Because I don’t have a lot of time, I’m trying to make a conscious effort to be a bit more selective with what I watch and explore new things instead of rewatching Moulin Rouge for the millionth time. Letterboxd has been a godsend and I spend waaaay too much time fiddling around with it. But no matter how many new (to me!) masterpieces I discover, I reserve the right to watch Imagine Me & You at least three times a year. 

[survey--s]

177.

If you have a job, who’s your closest friend at work? I work on my own and I’m my own boss. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Do you have any exercise equipment in your home? We have a mini trampoline and an exercise bike, but I don’t use either.

Were your parents born in the same country they now live in? No, neither of them were born in this country.

How did you celebrate New Years last year? No, we just stayed home.

What would you do if you found a wallet containing $100 on the street? Check for ID and return it to the owner.

Have you told anyone you love them today? Yes, Mike and my mum. And the animals, obviously.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? About seven hours but it felt like WAY less and I’m absolutely shattered this evening for some reason. Luckily I don’t have to be up early tomorrow!

Are you in any physical or emotional pain right now? I’m tired and have a bit of a headache but otherwise I’m okay.

What’s the time right now? 9.23pm.

Is the sun still up, or is it dark? It’s dark outside.

Have you seen all The Hunger Games films that have been released so far? I saw the first two and then got bored with them, to be honest. I think I’d grown out of them by the time the Mockingjay films were released.

Is there an automatic fog light in your yard? No.

When was the last time you used the bathroom? About half an hour ago.

How many living grandparents do you still have? Zero. They’ve all been dead for about a decade now.

Are you currently in a relationship? Yeah, I’m married.

Have you ever heard people having sex in the next room? Yes.

What are your plans for the rest of the day? Go to bed once I’ve done this survey. I’ll probably mess around on Reddit for a bit and then try and get an early night as I have a dog-sit tomorrow and won’t get done until 11pm.

How many times have you been sick this year? Once or twice.

Is there a garage or carport attached to your house? Yeah, we have a garage at the end of the garden.

Were you born somewhere other than a hospital? No.

Have you ever been on a strict diet and exercise regime? Yes, in the past.

Who did you text today, and what did you talk about? Lisa, and she was just saying she’d paid me for next week and asked if I could feed and muck Monty (her horse) out again at the beginning of April.

How long do you usually take in the shower? About 5-10 minutes, depending on whether I shave or not.

Have you ever worked in an office? I’ve never had a job that’s 100% office-based, but my previous job was maybe 50% office and 50% shop floor.

Who does the grocery shopping in your house? I do the big shop online on Sundays, and Mike goes mid-week to get things like milk and bread on his way home from work.

How many times have you been out of state that you can remember? Hundreds of times, no exaggeration.

Have you ever stayed in a hotel without your parents or older relatives? Of course.

What time do you plan to wake up tomorrow? I have no idea. I don’t need to be anywhere until 1pm so maybe 10am or so sounds good, so I can get up, shower, eat etc. before going to sit Bonnie.

Have you ever been in serious trouble at work or school? Nope. I’ve always been way too anxious to do anything bad like that, lol.

Do you know anyone who struggles with a mental disorder? Yes.

What’s your go-to activity when you’re bored? Do surveys, scroll Reddit, read, watch TV, walk the dog, clean.

Have you ever been vegan or vegetarian? I’ve been vegetarian in the past.

Are you tired right now? Yeah, I’m off to bed shortly.

[sailormashiho]

Drunk Texting - seven masterlist

genre - fluff, angst, smut(maybe)

pairing - Jaehyun x oc

Dajeong wakes up to a high pitched squeal in her ear before being forcefully shoved out of the bed by Ten's foot. She lets out a loud groan as her head his the knob of the dresser beside the bed, "what the truck man" she shouts as Ten covers his not so naked chest with the blankets. "I can't believe I slept with not only my friend but a girl, what was drunk me thinking" he wails, on the edge of tears. Dajeong rubs her throbbing head before climbing on to the bed and smacking his forehead, "you idiot, we didn't have sex, I wouldn't have sex with you even if I was drunk, Jaehyun let me stay the night because I didn't have a ride home" she grumbles before slipping back in the the warm sheets. Ten lifts a hand to his now sore forehead, "I didn't know you knew Jaehyun" he checks the time on his phone before climbing out of bed and going through his cupboards. "We met last night, he's pretty chill, plus he needed help getting your fat ass home" she lets out a yawn, "by the way, where is he?" She averts her eyes the empty bed beside her, the sheets neatly pulled up to the top and tucked in. "He has a lecture" Ten replies before exiting to the bathroom, Dajeong lets out an exaggerated sigh and reaches for her phone as it begins the ring. 

 Jaehyung felt his eyes droop as the lecturer drones on, his pencil slipping through each finger on his right hand as he mentally begged for the class to be over. "Just two minutes" he mumbles to himself before letting his eyes fall shut, but two minutes seemed to have turned in to the rest of the lecture and Jaehyun was woken by a hard slap to the back of the head by Ara who was ready to leave. "I can't believe you slept through like half of the lecture Jaehyun, you complain that I have a short attention span" she slings her bag over her shoulder as Jaehyun rubs his eyes and stands up to leave with her. "That's because you do, I'll be talking to you and you'll be listening one minute and then completely forget I was talking to you, it's unbelievable really" Jaehyun turns to look at Ara but she was busy daydreaming. Jaehyun sighs in frustration before shoving her in to a random passing girl before running away.

 Dajeong's fingers drum against her thigh as she patiently and nervously waits in front of Yuta's apartment. She takes a deep breath before raising her fist to tap against the red painted wood door. After a few minutes of waiting the door is swung open to reveal a stoic looking Yuta, but as soon as he laid eyes on her they pooled with worry and sadness. "Hey Dajeong" he watches her cautiously, she swings on her heals before building up the courage to say something, "hey Yuta, I thought we might be able to talk". He lets out a breath "sure, come in" he opens the door wider to let her enter.

 They sit across from each other at Yuta's table, both with a mug of tea in their hands. It was strange, they knew each other so well and now Dajeong felt like Yuta was almost a stranger. Yuta took a sip of his tea before placing his mug back down, "Dajeong, lets forget everything that happened that night" he sighs. Dajeong looks up at him, her fingers drumming against the ceramic cup in anticipation; "because even if you don't feel the same way as I do, I still don't want to lose you as a friend" he speaks calmly. Dajeong feels a lump rise in her throat, upset at herself for not returning Yuta's feelings, "I'm sorry that I don't like you Yuta, I'm really sorry, because you are such a good guy, I don't even deserve you honestly" she starts to cry. Yuta, shocked by Dajeong's outburst, abandons his tea and is quickly at her side, pulling her out of the chair in to a hug. "Jeez, you're more upset over this and in the one that got rejected" he chuckles and rubs her back and she cries on to his shoulder. "I'm sorry" she wails like a child, Yuta smiles, enjoy having her in his arms, even just as a friend, "you don't need to worry about me, I'm fine, I'm happy being your friend forever and nothing more because I'd rather that then not have you in my life". Dajeong starts to cry even louder after he says that, "you idiot" Yuta sighs and strokes her hair.

 Jaehyun sips his coffee and rubs his temples, it was currently 11pm and he had been finalising assignments since 4pm at the public library, he was so looking forward to his bed. He planned on jumper straight under the covers as soon as he got in but his plans were ruined when he found his roommate Ten and Johnny Seo doing intense tongue tango-ing ON HIS BED. His eyes widen and he backs the truck out of there while they still hadn't noticed him, closing the door as quietly as he could. He lets out a relieved sigh before leaving the building to go street food hunting instead; while searching, he spots Dajeong at a pojangmacha stuffing her face with fish cakes and drinking soju straight out of the bottle. He chuckles as she furiously blows at the hot meat on a skewer before shoving it in her mouth like a starved old man and decides to go sit with her. He quickly sits down in front of her and orders a serving of tteokbokki as she notices him and grins from ear to ear, "pretty boy!" she jeers, obviously quite a bit drunk. "Wow, how much have you drunk?" He averts his eyes to the many empty bottles on the ground next to her. "Rough day?" He asks her after thanking the lady who gives him his serving, Dajeong lets out a grunt before taking some of the tteokbokki. "Okay so, my best friend suddenly likes me and he said that he's fine being my friend but I know he's not fine and I feel bad because I like a boy who barely even knows me and not him" she rants, taking another huge gulp of her soju. "Oh jeez" Jaehyun mumbles as she finishes her current soju bottle, just as she was about to call for another, Jaehyun catches her hand and pulls her up, grabbing her handbag and slipping it over his shoulder. "Heeyyy, where are we going" she slurs as he pays the lady and walks them away, supporting her drunken body with his arms. "You seem like you've had a long day but I don't think drinking anymore is going to make you feel any better so let's get you home". She giggles and stumbles, not able to keep up with Jaehyun's pace; he lets out an impatient sigh before kneeling down in front of her so she could get on his back. She slouches over on to his back and throws her arms around his neck “you’re like my dad lmao” she pats his soft hair and rests her cheek on his back, “I can’t believe you just used lmao in a real life sentence” he stands up, holding her up by her thighs.

Once Jaehyun finally gets Dajeong to tell him her address, he carefully makes his way to her apartment. “Give me your keys” he puts her down and sticks out his hand, “I can do it myself” she stubbornly tries to shove the key in the keyhole multiple times but fails. He sighs and takes the keys from her, unlocking the door and turning on the lights, he takes a moment to admire her neat apartment as clumsily pulls her shoes off and trudges towards to kitchen. Jaehyun takes his time to explore before realizing that Dajeong hadn’t come back yet; he walks in to the kitchen to find her sitting on the floor with a pot on her head. “Why?” he asks, not really expecting a logical answer, after not getting a response he lifts the pot of her head and a small snore escapes her lips, she had fallen asleep. “Why do I even like you” he mumbles, lifting her up and starting his search for her room, once he finally finds it, he places her down and pulls the covers over her, tucking her in like a child. A long yawn escapes his mouth as he watches her peaceful face for a while and he smiles before going back to her living room and laying down on her couch before drifting off the sleep himself.

[kreacts]

BTS Convenience Store Scenario

Hello! Can you please do a scenario or reaction whatever you feel like tbh with BTS when you work in a store and you have different shifts and when you have the morning shift you have to be at work at 6 and when you have the evening shift you get off at 11pm and you life pretty far from work.

Group: BTS Scenario: BTS meeting & befriending mc at her job  Genre: Fluff Word Count: 2969  Description: MC works long and late hours at her convenience store job and has slowly started to befriend the boy group, BTS. 

Hey, anon thank you for the request! I’m so sorry this took me so long!

I’m not really sure what you wanted. It was a little bit vague but I wrote what I thought would be nice. I’ve done a scenario as a reaction wouldn’t have worked considering there isn’t very much for them to react too. 

I hope you like it though and I hope you enjoy it. It’s really just a little bit fluffy and cute with the quirks of the members being shown and a friendship developing between the main mc and the boys.

You were pretty used to cold mornings as you often had to travel pretty far to get to your 6am morning job. You had to walk nearly fifteen to get onto the bus, which took another half hour to get to the next bus stop where you had to walk another twenty minutes to get to your job. It was pretty tiring considering you had to wake up at 4am nearly every morning. The mornings were generally always cold, the sun still waking up as it peeked slightly over the hills. Not even the sun wanted to be awake at this god awful time.

You didn’t have this job for very long. You had been here for about two weeks. It was pretty boring if you were being completely honest. Working at a convenience store at the early hours of the morning meant people were still sleeping, some still getting ready for work. Things usually only picked up at around 8am. You usually worked until 2pm and then you made your way home.

It was a rather slow day when your eyes slowly started to focus on a boy in slightly odd matching clothes. He was wearing some black, baggy tracksuit pants and some sort of camouflaged hoodie. It wasn’t exactly pleasing to the eye but it somehow worked on him? He was piling drinks against his chest, fitting some underneath his chin and holding the rest as he awkwardly wobbled towards you.

“Hello,” he greeted you behind a face mask. You glanced up at him and you could tell he was smiling as his eyes crinkled slightly. He tried to place the drinks down, really, they honestly just fell down into a heap and he quickly apologised as he tried to set them up straight. “Woah, these are a lot. You must really like them,” you joked, conversationally as you started to scan all the items.

“Huh? Oh, no these aren’t just for me they’re for my members!” he said, excitedly as he plucked two chocolate bars from the side stands and slipped them into the line for you to scan.

“Your members?” you questioned as you slowly started to put his things into a packet, he had already grabbed one of the chocolates and was opening it to eat it as he handed you some money and you gave him his change.

“Yeah,” he said as he chewed some of the chocolate. “I’m in a boy group,” he said with an eager nod of his head. Your eyes widened and you nodded your head and smiled over at him. 

“That’s pretty cool. What are you guys called?

“BTS,” he answered and you nodded your head, mumbling the words under your breath to remember it. “I like it, it’s nice and short. It get’s to the point! Well, I hope you and your members enjoy your drinks! Thanks for shopping here,” you told him as you waved him off as he turned to leave but quickly returned to get his packet as he had nearly forgot it.

“See you around!” he called out as the bell chimed at the store’s door as he left.

Over the next few days you head learned that the boy with the slightly odd fashion sense was actually really adorable and his name was Taehyung. He had moved in with his group to one of the newer apartments pretty close to the store. 

You knew of a few trainees from different idol companies that often came into the store, usually getting quick meals and having them at the tables outside. It wasn’t uncommon for you to see newly debuted idols or idols that were debuted already.

Not that you could often tell the difference considering so many people wore facemasks.

Your manager had spoken to you and asked if you wanted to do the night shift that lasted from 6pm to 11pm and considering you needed the money you agreed.

You’ve never worked at the shop during late hours. The hours that the store was at its busiest. You barely had time to sit down and rest with people just continuously coming in and going. You had to keep on smiling, scanning, finding things for people that clearly didn’t know how to look, clean up the floors and tidy everything else.

You finally took a break, hiding behind the counter in a heap. No one had come in for quite a few minutes so you could closed your eyes and actually take a breather. You were actually falling off to sleep and you barely heard the sound of the store’s bell chiming.

“Hyung, buy us drinks,” murmured a voice and you perked up slightly from your half awake half asleep state. “Yeah and ramen too, please, hyung,” said another voice, whining slightly.

“Okay, okay! Go get what you wanted,” said the other voice. They got closer to the counter and you heard someone call out your name.

“Y/N? Are you sleeping? Wake up, y/n,” called the voice and your eyes flew open as you sat up in your seat and looked around wildly.

“Hello! Welcome to our shop,” you blurted out and blinked. Your hazy vision took in the three figures before you as you sat up quickly and  smiled over at them. Taehyung was looking down at you and next to him were two other boys.

One that was nearly the same height as him, wearing a white shirt and another that was smiling brightly from the side as he pushed the items towards you for you to scan.

“Hey, y/n. I didn’t know you worked the night shift. I didn’t see you this morning,” mumbled Taehyung as he was turned around, getting distracted by the other boy as he pushed his side playfully. “These are my members, y/n,” he said as he began to introduce you.

You were still a little groggy and you nodded your head trying to wake up. They were both really handsome you had to admit. You scanned the items slowly as you glanced over at them.

“This is Hoseok or well, Hobi hyung and this is Jungkookie,” said Taehyung as he pointed to each of them. Hoseok, was it

“I’m your hope-”

“Hyung, please, no,” whispered Taehyung as he pushed Hoseok out of the way and turned to you quickly. “Uh, just these things, y/n! We’ll be sitting over at the tables if you wanna come join us! You must be tired, you should rest,” he said. You gave him a small smile. He was really quite kind and a little silly. You stayed in the counter for a few moments.

The three of them were pretty loud and boisterous. You felt a little shy. No one had come into the shop for a little while now and so you slowly made your way over to the table they were sitting at.

“Sit, sit down, y/n,” said Hoseok, already being pretty friendly to you. “Taetae tells us about the pretty shop keeper quite often,” mumbled Hoseok as he slurped his food. Taehyung practically choked and Jungkook to the side burst into laughter at the sight of Taehyung getting embarrassed, even the tips of his ears were turning a light red.

You couldn’t help but smile over at the three of them. It was a really warm and pleasant atmosphere. Despite not knowing them for long they were really friendly. You weren’t exactly intimidated by their idol status since you weren’t really aware of how famous they were either. It was nice. It was like hanging out with friends that you knew forever.

“So, how long have you been working here, y/n?” asked Hoseok, as Taehyung perked his head up while Jungkook glanced over at you over his cup of ramen that he was still shovelling down his mouth.

You were taken off guard for a second as you were staring over at Jungkook and the fact that he could eat the noodles so quickly.

“Oh, uh like around six weeks or so? I usually work the day shift which is why I get to meet up with Taehyung a lot,” you said with a grin.

“So, what were you guys doing? Do you have more members in your band?” you asked, pretty curious as you leaned forward on your hand and looked over at the three of them.

“We’re seven members together. We were practicing. We’ve got a comeback coming up pretty soon,” said Taehyung as he nodded his head eagerly, while mumbling through a mouthful of food. They were pretty cute.

“That’s really awesome, when’s your comeback? I’d love to come see some stages and all of that,” you grinned as you nodded your head eagerly.

Hoseok and Taehyung grinned over at you brightly as Jungkook gave you a small smile. You returned it back as you leaned back slightly into your seat. You didn’t realise it then but it was the beginning of your friendship with the boys.

Two months had passed. You had become pretty close with the boys that constantly visited the small convenience store. You had come to learn all the names of the bangtan boys. Taehyung would often visit the most often, bringing Jimin along with him. They were usually buying snacks and drinks for the other members. Jungkook would often visit sometimes as well, he opened up a little bit more and spoke a lot to you.

You didn’t really think it was all that weird that you were friends with idols. You were the shop keeper a convenience store they saw you pretty much almost always as they were always getting food. You tried to see them as everyday normal people instead of these famous stars. 

You met the eldest hyungs too, Yoongi and Jin the one like a sloth the other like a middle aged man. You even met the clumsiest person that has ever existed, Namjoon. You were pretty used to all the members by now already. You knew what they were like and how they interacted with each other.

They seriously made you laugh and sometimes, well, sometimes they made you want to smack your head against a wall.

Jin had reached into the coffee machine dispenser as he got himself a cup of coffee before he added in some milk and sugar and took a sip of it. He held it up and looked around at everyone, smiling brightly as he did. “What do you call a sad cup of coffee?” he asked.

You heard a collective groan coming from both Yoongi and Namjoon. Namjoon ran his hand over his face trying not to smile as he shook his head. “Hyung, please, not again,” he whined. Yoongi had an indifferent look on his face but you could totally tell he was glaring over at Jin.

Jin ignored him entirely as he tried not to laugh as he was about to tell his punchline. “A despresso!” said Jin as he burst into laughter, his laugh pretty unique as he practically wheezed while he slapped his knee, finding himself absolutely hilarious as he sipped at his coffee.

“Why, why am I friends with them?” you whispered. Namjoon was shaking his head and walking off to do other things, meanwhile Yoongi just walked out of the shop to go sit at the table outside.

“Wasn’t it great, y/n?” asked Jin. You gave him a small grimace as you laughed just a little bit and turned away quickly.

“Na-Namjoon, please- don’t don’t touch anything really. I’ve got this, honestly,” you said hastily as you ran over to the small sunglasses display section where Namjoon was attempting to put back a pair he didn’t want. He quickly raised his hands and stepped away, giving you a bashful smile.

“Yeah, I got it, y/n. Stay away from the displays,” he said, laughing slightly before smiling, his super adorable dimples showing as he looked over at you. You gave him a hasty smile in return as you placed the glasses back. Honestly, you were still afraid that his mere presence in the shop might break something. Not that you didn’t want him here, you really did but...outside, where there was more space.

“We can hangout outside? With Yoongi and Jin. I’ll bring us some fizzy drinks?” you asked as you grabbed a few, bringing them out for the others as Namjoon made his way outside. You were just about to close up shop and you didn’t expect to see anyone coming into the shop this late.

“Yah, this kid,” said a voice and you looked around as you walked outside, sliding onto the small bench seat as you sat opposite from Namjoon.

You smiled brightly as you recognised the figures walking towards you and Namjoon. You sat up slightly and waved your hands around. “Over here!” you shouted out as you gestured for them to come and sit down with you all.

“He’s getting cocky, huh,” said Jimin as he grinned and pushed Jungkook, who was giggling like mad as he mocked a dance move and looked over at Jimin once again who was trying not to smile as he shook his head before waving over at you. “Y/N!” he yelled as he and Jungkook ran over towards you.

Jungkook pushing him to the side as he ran over to slide into the seat next to you. “Hey, y/n, how was your day?” he greeted you as he grabbed one of the drinks on the table.

Jimin was glaring at Jungkook from the opposite end of the table as he looked over at you as he sat next to Yoongi who was already sipping slowly from the bottle. “Yeah, how has your day been, y/n? We were just practicing earlier,” said Jimin, with an angel like smile and you blushed over at the two of them asking you questions.

You couldn’t lie to yourself. The fact that they were so relaxed with you and that they saw you as a friend really made you happy.

“I had a good day- it was long and I’ve got the morning shift tomorrow morning so, maybe I’ll see you guys again. Jin, you can come in for some coffee too,” you said.

“Wait, did you guys hear my joke?” asked Jin as he came up to Jimin and Jungkook and truly, you felt sorry for the boys.

Loud footsteps could be heard from the street as they padded along the sidewalk over to where you were all sitting. “Y/N! It’s getting late, let us walk you home!” shouted out a voice and you sat up slightly as you watched Taehyung and Hobi make their way over towards you.

All the members were here. This was the first time they had all been together in one spot greeting you. It was pretty damn great. You glanced down at your watch and it was already nearing midnight. The last bus was about to run and you were screwed if you didn’t get on it.

“Oh, shit, shit! The last bus!” you said as you looked over at everyone and did a quick wave goodbye to everyone.

“Woah, wait up, y/n. Are you gonna be okay, it’s so late out right now,” said Jimin as he stood up and looked around. You nodded your head as started to walk to the store to shut off the lights, switch all the machines off and to lock the door.

“Yeah! I’ll be good, don’t worry about me! I just need to make it to the bus before it leaves,” you said.

“Come on, y/n. Hobi hyung and I will walk you there,” said Taehyung as he draped an arm around your shoulder and smiled down at you.

You were a little flustered. “Wha-guys, you don’t have too it’s only like a twenty-minute walk, ten if I speed walk. I’ll be fine, really,” you said.

“We’ll come with too! We can see, y/n off properly,” said Jin and the others agreed. Even Yoongi nodded his head as he tossed his bottle effortlessly into the bin.

“Yah, let’s go. We’re gonna make y/n late if we continue talking like this,” he said, a small smile tugging at his lips as you smiled over at them, hiking your bag up along your shoulder. You were lucky you remembered to grab it before you left the shop.

“Thanks guys, that really means a lot,” you said as you all began to walk along the sidewalk towards the bus stop.

The guys were all pretty loud and happy as they walked along with you. They were making jokes and pushing each other out of the way to talk to you. They were generally just being silly and asking you if you were going to be okay going home all on your own so late at night. You reassured them you’d be fine and it was really nice of them to care, though.

As you got closer to the bus stop Taehyung wrapped his arm around your shoulder and smiled down at you. “Thanks, y/n,” he said as he peeked down at you and you frowned, laughing slightly.

“For what?” you questioned.

He shrugged his shoulders a little as you all neared the bus stop.

“For being my friend,” he answered, “all of ours, really. It’s not really easy for us to make friends and to make friends with someone genuine who doesn’t want anything from us,” he said, smiling down at you as let go of you and pushed you towards the bus stop with a playful grin.

You were a little taken aback not really sure how to answer. It wasn’t something you’d ever to expect to hear Taehyung say. It really touched you and you didn’t know what to say to that at all.

The bus skidded to a stop before you could really answer or anything. Taehyung was waving his hand over at you as you climbed up onto the step.

“Bye, y/n! Be safe! We’ll see you tomorrow,” you heard a chorus of shouts as you climbed onto the bus.

You waved your hand goodbye as you swiped your card and slid into your seat turning around and waving to the rest of the boys too, your hand pressing up lightly against the glass.

“Thank you guys, too,” you found yourself mumbling as the bus drove away and smile was plastered on your face.

Thanks for reading!

I’m hella sorry there isn’t enough of each member in this it was just hard to incorporate everyone and whatnot. It’s generally just a cute story about friendship, ya know? 

I didn’t want to add in romance cause then it would be a damn one-shot. It’s a little fluffy and cute, showing the member’s quirks. I tried man. 

It’s also longer than I expected. Whoops, my bad. 

✩ Indigo 

[hellpotter]

broken frame

A/N: just posted this story on https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12550748/1/Broken-Frame-EN ! muggle AU, inspired by the song Broken Frame- Alex and Sierra, hope you like it!

Lily

It was almost a tradition. The both of us sitting on his couch, talking about anything and everything.

"Lily", he asks, after a quite lasting silence.

"Hm"

"Do you remember the day we first met?"

I smile at the memory.

"You mean, when you pushed me and made me fall like a moron?", I tease.

"Hey! I was 11, ok? And it was an accident!"

"Of course it was. You were too busy running around the playground with Sirius to even bother paying attention to the little unimportant redhead girl standing on your way, right?"

He can'' fight his smile, but doesn't answer, either. Then he looks away.

"You weren't unimportant.", his voice is so low that I almost can't hear it.

I frown.

"James?"

"Hm"

"What time is the surprise party that Sirius and Marlene are organizing while you make me wait here?"

He laughs, not even a little surprised by the fact that I found out about it.

"I'm not telling you what time the party starts!"

I shrug.

"Just wanted to know how many time we have before I'm forced to put on some make-up so that I look better when we get to my house."

"FYI, it's not at your house, ok?", he says, revolted, "We figured it actually wouldn't be the best idea to keep Sirius and Petunia in the same house for a considerable amount of time."

"Oh."

He rolls his eyes before literally giving up.

"We have to be at Marlene's by seven.", he says, "In half an hour we'll go to your place so you can get ready."

I smile, happy with my victory.

He suddenly gets up and offers me his hand.

"I have something I want to show you."

He keeps holding my hand while we climb the stairs up, unconsciously. As soon as we reach the first floor, though, he notices it and lets go of it, a little embarrassed.

He goes to his room, grabs a package from his drawer and gives it to me.

"James..."

"Open it."

I tear the paper up and… I literally can not believe in my eyes.

"James fucking Potter! I don't believe this!"

I throw my arms around him and hug him with all my strength and happiness.

"You remembered this?", I ask happily when we break apart, "How could you possibly remember this?!"

His smile mirrors mine.

"Well, you know… We were 11, I bumped on you, you fell on the ground, your awesome book fell in the water, you spent hours yelling at me because of that, all that."

I roll my eyes.

"I did not spend hours yelling at you. It was just until the snack pause was over, ok?"

He laughs.

"How come you stopped hating me, anyway?"

"Something like a week after that, when I had to do that English group work with you and Remus, and you gave me a pack of gummy bears as an apology.", I answer, laughing, "How did you find this edition, though?"

"I looked it up in a few bookstores and garage sales. 'Good afternoon, do you happen to have that old edition of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl from I-don't-know-which-year around?' was, like, my favourite sentence for a few weeks."

I hug him again, and he whispers in my ear, "Happy birthday, Lil."

"Thank you", I say.

xxx

"We have to watch that new movie featuring Zac Efron", I tell Marlene and Alice as I take a sip of whatever it is that I'm drinking.

It turns out that my not-so-surprise party was very cool.

My parents had showed up at the beginning, but had already left a while ago. Petunia didn't even bother to show up, put that did not surprise me.

Music was playing loud enough for anyone to dance, but low enough if we wanted to talk.

"Sure.", Lene answers, but I immediately realise that she's not paying attention to what I'' saying. I follow her gaze to see what's bothering her and my eyes fall on Sirius Black snogging some random girl next to the kitchen counter.

Alice understands what's going on almost instantly.

"Lene,", she says, but Marlene interrupts her.

"Don't you even start. Both of you".

"You don't have to act like you don't care...", I try.

"No, I don't, because I'm not fucking pretending, damn it! I actually don't care. He can snogg whoever he wants! It's not like we're dating. Or seeing each other. Or hooking up, or nothing like that, ok?"

She crosses her arms, as who says the discussion is over.

Alice and I exchange looks. Marlene seems to be finding it harder each day not to forget to remember her lies. She must think she was tricking us and herself, but the truth was we all knew what her real feelings were.

Before any of us can say anything else, Hey, Jude starts to play.

The first thought that comes to my head is: James. This was like "our song" or something like that.

"Girls, I'll just-"

I'm suddenly interrupted by Frank, who announces his presence by giving Alice a not-even-a-bit-discreet kiss. Lene and I raise our eyebrows and silently agree to leave them be.

I keep looking for James as we walk to the food table.

Marlene sighs, "Just go find him already, Lils. I'll be fine, I promise."

I smile thankfully and go look for my best friend.

I feel something weird in my stomach when I spot him lively talking to Emmeline Vance.

I'm certain it'' just because of the music, though. We don't have reasons to feel jealous about each other. Me and James, I mean.

Either way, I decide to interrupt the conversation.

"James, can I talk to you for a sec?"

He excuses himself and comes to me with a smile.

"So, how's my favourite redhead doing in her party tonight?"

"Listen", I say, also smiling.

He appears to have only noticed the song now and offers e his hand, playfully inviting me to dance. I retribute the joke and we start to slowly sway to the rhythm.

"Hey, Jude, don't make it bad"

He spins me around laughing and I almost lose balance.

"Take a sad song, and make it better."

James holds me by the waist and I look at him, thankful. His face is a few precious inches away. He doesn't look away.

"Remember to let her under your skin; then you'll begin to make it better"

"Hey, James! Have you seen- Oh! Sorry, I'll just..."

It was Peter, who was coming to our direction with a confused look, but turns around when he sees us.

We separate quickly and I can feel my face heat.

"No, it's alright, Wormtail… What's up?", James says and, giving me an apologizing glare, goes after his friend.

It's fine, I think. He hadn't interrupted anything, really.

Right?

xxx

James

The doorbell rings.

It is like 11pm and it's raining so much that basically the world is falling down out there. I know who it is way before I open the door.

"Lily?"

She is soaked, but it isn't only because of the rain. Her eyes are swollen and red. Without a word, she comes closer and I hug her. We spend a few minutes in silence.

"C'mon. Let's go inside."

When I close the door, my mom shows up at the top of the stairs, wearing a nightgown.

"James, is everything alright?", she asks, before she sees Lily crying, "Oh."

"It's ok, mom. You can go back to sleep, we're fine."

She shakes her head, as who understands.

Lily sniffs and talks in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry about this, Mrs. Potter."

My mom, who's almost halfway back to her room, turns around and smiles, "It's okay, Lily, you know you're always welcome here. Have a good night, honey."

With that, she disappears through the hallway and Lily crashes on the couch.

"It looks like someone here is craving for a cup of James Potter's famous hot chocolate."

I take her by the hand and leed her to the kitchen, where she sits down on a bench while I take the ingredients. I start to make the chocolate in silence. I knew that she would tell me what it was whenever she was ready, and I didn't want to push her.

After some time I hear her breath become calmer. I feel her coming closer and stand by the sink. I look up and face her. The trembling light of the kitchen lightens up her face, her freckles almost invisible. With my left hand I wipe the tears of her cheeks.

She grabs the chantilly can and sprays a little on her fingertip.

"Petunia", she says, looking at the ground while licking the sweet out of her hand.

I nod when I turn off the fire and open the cupboard to grab the mugs.

I distribute the liquid in equal quantities and she puts the chantilly.

"We should go upstairs. I don't want to wake your parents up." , she says.

We climb the stairs up and go to my room. I sit on my bed while she closes the door. She sits by me and puts her head on my shoulder.

"What happened?", I ask, as she drinks a little bit of her chocolate.

She fixes her gaze in my eyes.

"She has basically banned me from her wedding. I mean, one of the bridesmaids broke her foot, so Petunia was like freaking out, when my mom suggested 'Hey, Tueny, why won'' you ask Lily to replace her?", and Petunia was all like "Oh, sure, why not", but my mother insisted, and then she said... ", she tells me all this in one single breath, without stopping and very quickly, until she hesitates, holding her tears, "She said 'Okay, but you'll have to dye your hair, Lily, 'cause the dress is lilac, and you'd better start off a diet, otherwise the dress won't fit and it won't look good on you.'", Lily stops and takes a deep breath.

I open my mouth to protest, but she shakes her head, asking me not to say anything. Tears show up again in the corner of her eyes.

"So I told her that I would not lose weight, and there was no way I would dye my hair; and then it only kept getting worse every word we said. I don't even remember exactly what I said or what she said, all I know is that it came to a point where she told me 'So don't even bother to show up, Lily. Actually, it's going to be better that way, since all you ever do is embarrass this family.'"

By this time, she is all over tears again, and I hug her, caressing her hair.

"I don't know, Jay. I might have gotten used to this, but… I'm just tired of all that, you know? She's my sister, for God's sake! Shouldn't she be supportive or, at least respectful? Fuck, I don't understand how we got to this, in the first place."

"Lily. Look at me. You are amazing. You're beautiful. You are kind, and smart and funny. You're strong and independent as hell. You fight for what you believe in. You stand up for yourself and for those who love you. You are… You're from out of this world, Lily Evans. You're fantastic. You're probably the best person I ever had the luck to get to know. And I'm sorry if Petunia can't see that, but… She's the one losing something here.

She raises her head and stares at me. I hold the gaze, admiring those vivid green eyes that I knew so well.

"She's the one getting the shitty side of the story, because I can't think of something more stupid than not wanting you by her side. The biggest mistake someone could make is getting the chance to know you and pushing you away. You are special, Lily. Having you in my life is actually a gift. I'm sorry some people are stupid enough not to realize that. But being lucky enough to have the chance of talking to you every single day, or just being near you really… It's like, I don't even know what I did to deserve that. It just… It makes my life a billion times better. And if someone can't see this, so they're just losing the opportunity of, for once, actually have something that makes this life be worth it."

She opens her mouth to say something, but closes it right after.

I notice she's shivering and realize her clothes are wet and she's probably insanely cold. I get up and go look for something to help her warm up, so I grab my Beatles' sweatshirt, the one she had given to my a couple years ago, and give it to her. Then I open the closet and search for a blanket.

"Lily, did you, like, run away or something?"

"No.", she answers, as she puts on my sweatshirt, "I told my mother I was coming here. I just needed to get away a little bit."

I nod, covering her with the blanket. She was already lying down at my bed, her eyes closed.

I kiss her on the cheek and start to walk away, but she holds my hand.

"James."

"Hm?"

"Stay here?"

Surprised, I sit beside her and lean on the wall, putting her head in my legs and letting my hands twirl her hair.

"Just for five minutes", I say.

"Uhum."

I close my eyes, feeling the moment.

"James?"

"Hmm."

"Thank you.", she whispers, way more asleep than awake.

xxx

Lily

"Lily?", he answers the phone in seconds.

"James… My letter is here."

I can hear his breath, just as frantic as mine.

"Mine too.", he answers.

We stay silent for a couple of seconds.

"I'll get there in 5 minutes.", he says and then turns off the phone.

I look at the envelope in my hands.

I seemed like yesterday that we had gone together to the mail to send our applications to Cambridge. Of course, we had applied to a lot of universities, but Cambridge was, like, the dream. We talked about it since we were 14, studying together in Cambridge. And of course we wanted to be accepted at the best university of England. But sure, no pressure.

I connect my cellphone to the speaker and let it play on random. I lay on my bed and try to relax as I wait for James to arrive.

"Lily, James is here!", my mom yells from downstairs.

"Tell him to come up here!", I answer.

The familiar face of my best friend shows up at the door a few seconds later.

"Hey.", he says, more because we don't actually know what to say.

"Hi."

"I'd better tell my mom that I found my sweatshirt", he says, looking at me.

"Oh. James, I stole your sweatshirt, ok? Forgot to tell you, sorry.", I say, smiling at him.

He laughs and rolls his eyes.

"Maybe I'll take it back. Maybe not."

My smile grows bigger, but then it fades when we exchange looks. Reality hits us like a bomb. He comes closer and I get up. The both of us put the letters on the bed.

"Ready?", he asks.

I gulp and nod, almost automatically. No one's ever ready for that kind of stuff.

"Whenever you are." I say.

"Ok. "

When he speaks, I realise he's just as nervous as I am.

James starts to open his letter, but I stop him.

"Wait! Don't you think it'd be easier if..." I trail of, licking my lips, "If it's not your own letter, like..."

I look up to face him.

"Yeah, Sure. Right. Sure."

We trade envelopes, but neither one of us makes a move. I take a deep breath.

"In 3, 2… "

Before I can say "1", we begin to open the letters, desperately. My eyes don't take in all of the words in the paper.

"Dear Mr. James Potter,... we would like to thank you for… we have the pleasure to announce…"

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!", I scream.

He looks at me. There's a terrible moment of silence.

"You're in." , we say together.

Everything after that was just a hurricane of hugs and shouts and crying and me throwing myself around James and "Honey, what happened?" and all I know is that James' smile in that moment was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

xxx

James

Sirius raises his glass with a smile on his face.

"I think this is one of those situations in the movies where someone would propose a toast."

We all laugh and clink our own glasses.

"Oh my God, I'm just so happy for you, guys!" Marlene basically screams while pulling Lily to a hug. The thing is, when doing that, she ends up squeezing me as well, since I'm sitting between them by the booth at Pizza Hut. Sirius and Remus, comfortably sitting by the other side of the table, blatantly laugh at me.

"Ouch. Too. Tight.", I say, as I try to breath through their arms. Everyone laughs as they release me and my face goes back to its normal color.

Lily leans into my shoulder as she takes a bite of her pizza. The warmth of her body close to mine brings me a good feeling.

"Have you guys thought that", Sirius speaks, all of a sudden, "like, 4 months from now… "

He stops talking as the atmosphere around the table feels heavier. We all new what he meant.

4 months from now, I'd be with Lily in Cambridge, Remus would be in Oxford, Sirius would travel around Europe with the money he'd been saving since middle school and Marlene… Wait. Where would Marlene be, anyway?

"Lene...", I carefully introduce the conversation, "What exactly are you going to do when we finish high school, really?"

I notice Lily quickly facing the floor, what meant she knew something I didn't. Remus and Sirius held expressions just as curious as mine.

"Well, I… ", she blushes and trails off.

"Blurt it out, McKinnon.", Sirius insists.

"I, uh… I have an aunt that, uh, knows a guy who...", she clears her throat, nervous, "who owns a fashion company or something and… I, I mean, he-"

She's interrupted by an impatient Lily.

"Oh, for God's sake! Marlene was invited to work was a model, and she accepted the offer, and that's what she's been doing in the last months, and she'll keep doing it after school."

Marlene was bright red and stared intensely her glass of water.

"Wow.", Remus is the first one to pronounce himself.

I hug her, smiling, and I don't have to say a single word. And she knows it.

"You know, McKinnon,", Sirius finally gets himself to remember how to speak, "I always wondered what would be like to date a supermodel. But, believe it or not, I'm not looking forward to the possibility of sharing you with the rest of the world."

Marlene stares him and opens a smile that I'd hardly describe as "purely friendly". She raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know where did you take this whole dating idea. And I don't think I was ever yours for you to share with anyone, Black."

He just blinks, "Never too late to try."

"Woaaaah, limits?", Remus interrupts, "Let's stop, before you two start to undress each other with your eyes, something I really don't want to witness!"

I smile at the scene.

"I think,", I say, "that this night deserves some good old 'Truth or Dare' rounds."

After a confusion of oh-no's and oh-yeah's, everyone agrees.

"Rules?", Sirius asks.

"Easy.", Lily answers, "Whatever we say here or whatever happens here DOES NOT. GET OUT. OF HERE."

"And hiding is lying.", I remember.

"And lies can be questioned."

I grab a fork and we establish which side is pointing to the person who asks and which one points out who answers.

I put it on the table and make it spin around.

Remus asks Marlene.

"Truth.", she says, quickly.

He raises his eyebrow, "How desperately do you want to kiss Sirius right now?"

She laughs, but stays strong.

"Oh, Remus, my dear. My mind has already gone waaaay further than that, if you know what I mean.", she blinks, and I can see Sirius' eyes widen. He couldn't be that oblivious, right?

She grabs the fork and turns it again.

Me to Remus.

I smile. He puts on a face that shows complete despair.

"Uh… Dare.", he decides, slowly.

"You, my friend Moony,", I decide, "are going to stand up and walk to that beautiful young lady with the blue hair next to the counter..."

He throws his head back, recognizing himself defeated. My other friends are already laughing.

"And you'll only come back here", I continue, "with her number in hands."

He does as it's requested and comes back with something I'd classify as an interesting smile on his face.

Ignoring our comments, he spins the fork again.

Sirius asks me.

I don't even look at the idiot. I didn't have to. I know exactly the devilish grin he has on his face.

"So, Prongsie, my dearest friend. What is it going to be?"

"Truth.", I say before I can think twice.

His smile gets even larger, what really worries me deeply.

"As you want.", he pauses, probably thinking of the best possible way to humiliate me, "Imagine we're fighting against a zombie apocalypse. Darth Vader controls the hordes of living-dead creatures and the five of us are the only reminiscent human survivors. It's a lost battle.", I really don't know how he can think of something like that and say as if it's serious, "We're lost, cornered in a small cave. In a few minutes, the zombies' army will find us and we won't survive. Mourning, we sit on the cave's wet floor, trying to enjoy our last moments i silence. That's when, suddenly, behind the rotten leaves, you, my dear Prongs… You see an unknown blaze, a trembling flash of light. You walk to it, imagining what would that be. Could it be a magical artefact? Maybe something to help us survive? You find a knob, and, together, we-"

"Sirius, would you, please, just cut to the chase, already?", Remus interrupts, tired.

Padfoot puts his best stray dog face.

"But… I'm telling the story! Don't you guys want to hear the exciting adventure of Sirius Black and his friends through the woods?"

"Surprisingly, that doesn't seem so attractive to me right now.", Marlene says, salty, "Just get over it and ask your question."

"Okay, I'll go straight to the point.", he rolls his eyes, "It was the door to a trapdoor, and we climb down the stairs. Down there, we find a place 100% safe, it's an underground uninhabited city, and we have to lock the door and reestablish the human race, starting a new era. Remembering that we're the only survivors, who do you choose to be the mother of your childs, James?"

Everyone laughs, but I'm just too shocked to believe that this thing is what I call my best friend.

"You said 'truth', now you have to answer, Potter.", Lily says, defiant.

I look at Sirius.

"Lily.", I say.

Pads smiles, satisfied. Remus laughs and Marlene whistles playfully.

I shrug, "Hypothetically."

I spin the fork one more time.

Marlene asks Lily.

That was going to be good.

"Truth...", I could almost sense the fear in her voice.

Marlene raises her eyebrows.

"Is it truth that you don't feel and never felt nothing, not even a tiny little bit of physical attraction for James?"

I don't know who's more embarrassed, me or Lily. She glares at Marlene with what's left of her dignity, and then she stares at the table.

"No."

And that's how I can't stop looking at her for the rest of the night.

xxx

Lily

Lying in my bed, I can feel James staring at me, even though he's out of view. He's sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall.

I try my best to focus on the movie that we're technically watching, but I actually did not know what the story was.

James had come suddenly to my house around 5pm and I had made popcorn before we went to my room watch some random movie in Netflix. But I can't pay attention to the movie when it feels like I can raise my hand and simply touch the tension inside the room. After some things that had happened the night before, things between us were kind of weird.

Let's just say that Sirius and Marlene had tried the best to keep the game focused on the subject "me and James". And they weren't satisfied with the classical "James, kiss Lily" dare. They had gone further and took advantage of the words, making us confess some things that were, at least, in some level embarrassing.

All I know is I took two important conclusions after yesterday:

1- Choosing "truth" in a Truth or Dare game can be way more dangerous than I thought.

2- James fucking Potter. Is. A. Freaking. Good. Kisser.

Anyway, the thing is… After all that, things are kind of weird, right?

I knew he's not paying attention to the movie, either, and when I quickly turn around to grab some popcorn, my suspects that he's staring at me are confirmed.

But he is staring, let's say… differently.

Suddenly I'm aware that my shorts are very short, and for the first time I'm affected by the thought of James seeing that.

When I sit down to straighten myself, he stands up out of the blue, puts the popcorn in the table and simply starts to tickle me.

"James! JAMES! STOP IT!", I try to say, as I laugh.

Just like in a movie, he ends up on top of me, kind of immobilizing me between the bed and his body. His face is a only few inches away. I don't even realize when we stop laughing, and I can't take my eyes off his. I can feel his breath in my face.

And when he finally speaks, it is in a voice that I'd give anything to hear again.

"You know,", he licks his lips, the way he does when he's nervous, "I never really realized how much I had always wanted to do this, until yesterday."

"What, tickling me?", I ask, even though I know that's not what he meant.

James comes even closer before he answers, and when he talks, I can feel his lips brushing mine.

"No."

I guess I don't have to say that he kissed me.

xxx

Kissing James Potter is something very hard to explain. But I'll try.

First, it's a wonderful feeling, literally as if the ground simply disappeared for some minutes.

Then, it's insanely addictive.

Once you try it, there's no way back. It's an endless road.

And the more you kiss, more you want.

There is something like a week that I can't fulfill my wishes completely..

"Lily?", James asks.

We are, as always, sitting on his couch, The Beatles playing in the radio. On the table there are two mugs, once filled with hot chocolate. We're alone at his house and I'' trying hard to finish my Maths homework while playing with his hair.

"Hm?", I say, only for him know that I'm listening.

"Are you afraid?"

I put my notebook on the table and he sits down, looking straight into my eyes.

"Afraid of what?"

"I don't know. The future?", he has a worried look on his face, and I know for sure that this has been on his mind for a while now.

"I'm scared of a lot of things, Jay.", I pull him closer, twirling his curls, "The future is one of them. It's impossible not to be. It's natural that we fear the unknown."

He hugs me by the waist as he puts my hair behind my ear.

"I'm afraid too. Of the future, I mean.", he speaks each word lower than the other, "The only thing that makes me feel safer is thinking that you'll be with me, Lil."

I get closer and kiss him. It's a subtle kiss. Calm and gentle, as delicate as the moment is.

After a while, though, he pulls me closer and I sit on his lap, one of his hand going to my thigh, and that changes the kiss completely.

I slip one of my hand to his back, making circles with my nail, while the other one plays with his hair. That's when he decides to explore my neck, and I'm pretty sure this is going to cause some sort of damage.

Not really caring about all the make up I would have to wear on my neck these days, I get tired of his hair and begin to play with the buttons on his shirt. He puts his mouth next to my earlobe.

"Too bad my shirt apparently distracts you, Lily, I wasn't planning on keeping it for so long."

I smile, and when he tries to kiss my mouth again, he doesn't find it, since it's already on his neck.

I can feel my lips touching his ear when I whisper, "My turn to have some fun around here, Potter."

And somehow I manage to throw him on the couch, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, between kisses.

Oh, God.

Lily, you had already noticed how hot he is, why did it take you so long to do this?

xxx

James

The school year is almost over, and I simply can't believe it.

It's prom day and I'm looking forward to the party at night.

I stop the car in front of Lily's house and ring the doorbell. She asked me to pick her up and take her to the hairstylist.

Petunia answers the door, not even bothering to say hello.

"Lily, your boyfriend is here!", she screams, then turns around and goes upstairs.

"He's not… Oh, forget it.", I can hear Lily saying before she shows up at the door, "Let's go?"

We enter the car, but before I can start it, she grabs my hand.

"Wait!"

I look at her.

She opens her purse and takes a box.

"I asked for you to come only because I wanted to give you this."

"Lily, what?", I don't know what to say, "But… It's not even my birthday or anything!"

"Just open it, James!"

I do as she says.

Inside of the box, there's a sweatshirt and a note: "I guess I have to ask you something before you can wear this sweatshirt."

Written on the sweatshirt, there was "DON'T TEXT ME"

"What?", I ask.

"Turn it around, James! You know, since I stole that one with the Beatles picture, I thought I should give you one that I can't steal, this time… But I warn you, it's VERY cheesy."

I finally unfold the gift and turn it around. At the back, there is "I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND."

I laugh.

"I think someone here is getting jealous…", I tease.

"Just a little bit.", she says.

"Lil, I can't believe you did this!", I give her a quick kiss, as a thank you, "But I won't let you make me that question."

"You won't?"

"No. 'Cause I'm gonna make it."

It was her turn to laugh at me.

"Sure you will. Will you, James Potter, officially be my boyfriend?"

"Only if you, Lily Evans, give me the honor of calling you my girlfriend."

"Dork.", she says.

But the way she kisses me tells me that it doesn't bother her. Not at all.

xxx

[melaniesuzannewilson]

Lifestyle changes during early pregnancy

Life looks different when expecting

 We all hear about the changes for couples who have a child. Lifestyle changes may actually start early during pregnancy. 

I'm very glad to be a few weeks into my second trimester. In a great contrast, my first trimester transformed my body in surprising ways. I became tired and lost my appetite. My body didn't suffer from ongoing nausea. Although a surprising gag reflex meant I couldn't swallow tablets.

Those nasty first-trimester symptoms have all eased up now during my second trimester. I can breathe a sigh of relief. Those first twelve weeks brought a few months of health concerns. Being less physically able to live life, some real lifestyle changes were inevitable.

My life turned upside down from the moment I was expecting. Here are some contrasts for a normal day before and after becoming aware of my early pregnancy. 

 Sleeping Patterns

 There's a stereotype about parents losing sleep after a baby is born. The infant is expected to cry at random times of the night. I didn't predict how my sleep would change within a few weeks of conceiving.

 I was a complete night owl in the past. 11pm was an extremely early bed time, by my standards. I normally tried to get shut eye from midnight. Even 1am was alright. 2am was pushing my luck. These patterns didn't change whether I worked 9-5 or not. I just couldn't train my body to have any time zone besides a nocturnal one.

 Snoozing times went by a new clock just a couple of weeks after conception, before I had even taken a pregnancy test. There was a scattering of strange wake-up moments at 4-5am. Yes, AM. By 7-8 weeks along, I was almost guaranteed a sunrise wake up call from my body clock. I was just wide eyed and ready for the day before the sunshine emerged.

 My body wasn't fully ok with such a change. Energy levels would drop after the first few hours of being awake. By the same time as any corporate office starts opening, I would be really worn out. Clearly I wouldn't be returning to the corporate world during that time. Sleep-working isn't an option. 

 Then there's the afternoon nap. For me. 3pm became a predictable time for extreme tiredness. That middle of the afternoon would just feel like bed time. What on earth! 

 Despite the daytime bed rest, I would nonetheless be glued to the pillow around 8pm. Maybe I would last until 9pm when watching a really entertaining TV show. Either way, I would barely last an hour or a few after dinner time. 

 So there we have it. Pregnancy made me sleepy from 3pm and then again at 8pm. The little human inside my tummy would then wake me up at 4am. All I can say to future baby is: please be grateful. 

 Not Eating Fancy Meals

 My appetite went AWOL during the second month of pregnancy. Instead of traditional throw-up nausea, I just barely wanted to consume food. This made eating out borderline pointless - or at the best, low maintenance. 

 I visited a pizza place with my husband at the seven week milestone. My appetite vanished. A margherita pizza seemed overwhelmingly filling. It was around the size of a side plate. I gradually ate half of the simple cheesy slices.

 That moment summed up two problems that dictated my diet. Firstly, I had an aversion to flavour. All flavour was bad, according to my suddenly sensitive taste buds. Secondly, my portion sizes were suddenly adorably tiny. I was eating like a little kid. Deep down I knew I was going to have a child. But it seemed as though I was becoming child-like with my eating.

 On my most sensitive days, I ate just a few crackers with sliced cheese for dinner. That's all I could stomach. I drank small cups of watered-down fruit juice. But I couldn't guzzle down lots of water like I used to. This was a surreal practice in maintaining child-sized meals.

 Goodbye to the days of pub food, experimental pizza toppings and indulgent desserts. My diet had became super simple. Was I still fun to be around? Maybe when I was awake.

 Not Attending Social Events 

 The old me loved attending events and being social. That is, until my odd sleeping and eating habits started controlling my days. It's not easy trying to have a social life during pregnancy. I can't be the life of the party when 9pm is my bed time. There was no point in attending networking lunches or snack days when I couldn't eat anything. Plus, with basic physical health dominating my days, I felt like I became less interesting for conversation and small talk. That's why I stopped going out.

 It Gets Better

 I'm glad to be writing this now at eighteen weeks pregnant. My life is still very different. And no amount of optimism ever compensates for the difficulty I endured. But I never imagined how much better life would become in the second trimester. Things are still different, but better.

 My appetite started improving right on schedule, when transitioning from the first trimester to the second. I chose to sit at the dining table for dinner one day, instead of eating in bed. I slowly ate half a burrito for that meal. This simple normal activity showed me how incapable I had been until then. I cried tears of combined resentment and joy. These days during the middle of pregnancy, I generally eat like a normal adult. That feels good. 

 Sure, my pregnancy diet still changes my food lifestyle. So many foods are off-limits throughout the nine months. The one lesson I wish I learned earlier is this: substitute favourite foods and drinks for pregnancy-friendly alternatives. I don't eat my favourite appetisers - salami and other cold deli meat, along with soft cheeses such as camembert cheese. Those snacks are swapped for swiss cheese and olives. I treat myself to a stemmed glass of flavoured mineral water instead of wine. These simple treats help to serve my personal preferences and desires. Then I can feel more like an individual person. I escape the controlling diet by embracing a slight level of freedom.

 I still become tired about half as often as before. My body is growing a baby. That takes energy. But I'm not confined to my bed as much. I try limiting big outings to half a day at the most. At least I get out at all. I now cope with staying up until nine or ten at night. That's not the same as pre-pregnancy. But it's a bit easier. I recently started weekly nights out with my husband. We normally go for dinner and a movie. Before a 'date night,' I try resting prior during most of the day. I'm still not a wild party animal or networking superstar during pregnancy. My life is more settled as I prefer to stay inside. But any step towards balance makes pregnancy more enjoyable.

 Keeping an Identity 

 Us women can keep aspects of our identities and personalities in pregnancy and into parenthood. During that second and third month, I felt like a shadow of myself. So much of my identity was previously tied into community events and tourist-style leisure. Who am I when I'm at home?

 Once I regained some energy, I regained gratitude for the remaining meaningful parts of my life. I can always delve into spiritual philosophical thought. Some genuine friends will pick up the phone at any time. Our home decor environment can express values and interests. Peaceful quiet time allows opportunities to explore relaxing music and meditative practices. The slower pace of pregnancy and future parenthood can bring new experiences within existing values and beliefs.

 I can't believe my journey is close to the half-way milestone. What do I expect from the later weeks of pregnancy? I'm keeping an open mind. Anything is possible.