#now i am Wide Awake and i regret

[joodeegemstone]

it's almost 4am and i can hear my niece jumping on the bed and talking in the other room

what is she even up to right now

[ma1practice]

Oh MY gosh liking somebody is a curse this is agony make it stop

[xx-kitsune-xx]

Drunk On You

Leon x Reader

Summary: You were both way too drunk for your own good. It also made you all the more needy for eachother.

Warnings: Drunk sex, Oral sex, rough sex, teeny tiny dubious consent coz they are drunk

Word count: 3411

A/N: I may have started writing it while incredibly drunk…. And I was about to say sorry if it’s a bit weird, but rereading it… perhaps I should drink every time before I start writing (a joke!! Remember to drink in moderation!!!)

I had RE2 Leon in mind, but any will work!

Also on Ao3!

≻──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────≺

Your head was spinning.

It was the only thing you could really feel as you slumped against Leon’s shoulder, the haze of cheap liquor turning the bar’s noise into a warm, blurry lullaby. Everything was too bright and too blurry all at once, but his warmth beside you was steadying – and you were grateful for it, even if your eyelids kept slipping shut.

“Hey,” Leon murmured, his finger booping your nose, giggling like he’d just done something genius. You cracked one eye open, only to find him grinning at you, cheeks flushed and gaze hazy. You’d have swatted him for bothering you, had you not been too drunk yourself. “Someone’s sleepy,” he teased.

“Am not,” you mumbled, words clumsy in your mouth. You’d never admit he was right, but your head drooped against his shoulder again. You knew he saw right through your lies, but hoped he would just ignore it… You wanted to stay a bit longer, listen to the music and the conversation your friends were having!

“Uh-huh. Sure, Mrs. Wide Awake.” He shifted, straightening up, and you almost fell not expecting him to move. He was trying to stand, you realized when you finally stabilised your own wobbly body. “C’mon. Time to get you home.”

“Nooo,” you whined, your lips pulling into a pout. “But it’s so fuuun here… can’t we just stay a couple more minutes??” That first part wasn’t exactly true. The sticky bar floor, all-surrounding smell of alcohol, and cheap neon lights that were making everyone look just a little sick were starting to give you a headache – or perhaps that was just the amount of alcohol you’v had earlier. But the warmth you felt in your belly, the fuzz in your head, and Leon’s arm brushing yours… that was nice. You were comfortable here, among friends and so close to him, but he was clearly determined to get you home. You watched Leon as he wobbled a little pushing himself upright, hands braced on the table like his life depended on it.

He looked about as stable as a baby deer on ice skates.

You sighed. If he was that gone, you probably weren’t much better… and bed did sound nice right about now.

“Fine,” you gave in, huffing like it hurt – though you both knew you weren’t really mad about it.

You mumbled your goodbyes to the others, before Leon’s hand found yours. You would call it an anchor if at least one of you had the ability to walk straight. The fresh air seemed to do little good too. Sure, it was nice to be able to breathe something else than the stuffy, alcohol-filled air in the bar, but it didn’t do much to two drunkards, trying to make their way home.

You were bothe swaying as you walked the rocky path that lead from the bar to the main street, half-holding each other up, half-ready to topple over at any second.

“We should get a taxi,” you slurred, trying to stop your escapade. With how the walk was going, you would be lucky to get home with just a few scrapes.

As you said that, it was Leon’s turn to pout.

“A taxi?” he repeated, like you’d just suggested putting his dog up for adoption. “We’re so close, though…” The house wasn’t far, that was true… but with the world spinning, every step felt like an achievement.

“I won’t carry you, when you fall on your face.” you huffed as he tugged your had to get you moving again.

“Wouldn’t let you,” he snorted, clearly amused “I’ll crawl, like a real man.” You rolled your ayes at that – a move you quickly regretted as the world spun even more. Enough to make you loose your balance. Whether you would have kissed the pavement or not, would remain a secret thanks to Leon’s swift reaction. Surprisingly fast for someone this drunk, but you were glad for his arm wrapping tightly around your waist.

“Careful.” he murmured, pulling you closer against his chest, forehead bumping clumsily against yours.

“ ‘m fine,” you mumbled back, but you clung to his jacket anyway, grasping at the only stable thing in your spinning world. He didn't let go of you for the rest of the way back, arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his side as you both marched forward.

It took twice as long as it should’ve, but somehow you made it down the street, past the apartment buildings with mostly dark windows. You looked at the ones with light inside with a soft smile. There was something deeply comforting in the fact you weren’t alone in your nightly escapades. Somewhere, someone was also up at this ungodly hour. It made the walk a bit more… pleasant.

As you finally reached the door to your house, you fumbled with the keys, giggling when Leon snatched them from your hand. Clearly he didn’t believe you wouldn’t drop them – a fair assumption really. He managed to shove the door open after three tries, making you both stumble inside. Neither of you were ready for them to open.

"Home sweet home,” Leon muttered dramatically once you were standing steadily again. He leaned against the door to click them shut. For a moment, you thought he would slide down and stay on the floor with how heavy his eyes were.

There was something in the way he looked – eyes dropping, lips slightly parted – that made you unable to look away. He looked so soft, so stupidly pretty like that, it made your chest tighten. You took a step closer, fingers slipping under his jacket, just enough to feel the warmth that laid beneath.

Leon blinked, a slow, sleepy smile tugging at his mouth. “Hey,” he breathed, voice low, a little hoarse. His hands found their way to your hips like it was second nature – thumbs pressing lazy circles into your sides through the thin fabric of your clothes. His hands alone made you feel steadier than your legs did. Warm and solid… your head spun in a different kind of way. You pressed closer, chest brushing his, mouth so close you could feel his breath on your lips. You didn’t need a clear brain to know you needed him.

Without thinking – you weren’t even sure you could think anymore – you leaned in and pressed your lips against his.

“Want you,” you whispered into his lips, the words slipping out between kisses. Leon’s breath caught for just a second, his brain needing a moment to process what you had said, how needy you have been. He was all over you after that second, like you’d just given him permission for something he’d been craving all night. His fingers dug into your hips and he pulled you even closer against his body, kissing you desperately.

You barely felt his hands slip down to cup your ass, squeezing just a little too eagerly before venturing even lower. He only paused when his fingers reached your thighs. He had to bend a little to grasp them, just enough to hook his hands underneath. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted you up, slow and steady, and your legs wrapped around his hips. You squeaked softly as his body wobbled for a second. Truthfully, you were both lucky there was a door behind him – otherwise, you would be lying on the floor now. He took slow paces through the hallway, aiming for their bedroom, and you gasped when your back hit the wall, his body pressing against yours.

“I… planned that” he huffed, making you choke out a laugh. He pretty clearly did not plan on that, but just did not aim for the doorway in his drunken state. That didn’t stop him from using this brief stop to devour you. His lips traced a path from your neck to your collarbone, leaving behind a trail of fervent kisses that sent shivers along your skin, each warm breath a silent promise of more.

“Sure you did,” you tried to tease, but the words that left you were more breathless than you intended, the neediness betraying you.

His teeth sank into your collarbone, making you whine softly as your hand tangled in his golden locks. “Smartass,” he huffed against your skin, lapping at the mark he had left. You tugged his hair, a weak attempt to pull him back so you could see his face – or perhaps just get him away from the now slightly painful spot – but all it did was make him groan against your skin his breath hot and uneven.

“Leon…” you managed, hands clumsily tugging at his hair again. He pulled back just enough to meet your eyes.

“Yeah… yeah, right,” he huffed, annoyed that you had stopped him from enjoying you right here “Bed.” the words were as if he needed to remind himself too. He shifted his grip under your thighs, tightening his hold before pushing off the wall – carrying you the few stumbling steps that separated you from the soft bed.

It was somewhere behind you – close enough to fall into. And you did, pulling him down with you, bodies hitting the mattress with a not-so-soft thud and matching groans.

“Shit, we need a new mattress,” you groaned, face scrunched up from the unpleasant meeting your back just had with the bed. You were both just a bit too eager to remember that throwing yourselves onto the bed wasn’t exactly the smartest idea.

Leon mumbled quiet “sorrys” against your skin, lips brushing your neck between every word. Whatever guilt he felt about the rough landing clearly wasn’t enough to stop him – if anything it made him act even more desperate to touch you, mouth trailing down the slope of your neck, hands slowly slipping under your shirt.

It was off before you knew it, his hands moving behind you to unclasp your bra.

“So beautiful…” he mumbled, watching your chest with shiny eyes.

He was drunk, incredibly so – you both were. But his eyes still slipped to yours before he did anything, looking for the permission to continue. The slightest nod of your head was enough for him to lean down, lips pressing a soft kiss to your nipple. He was slow only for a moment, only until first gasp escaped your lips, before he was all over you again, kissing and sucking on your tender breast, while his hand was playing with the other.

“L-Leon…” you stuttered, thighs rubbing against each other in hopes to get any kind of friction. You burned for him. Burned with the need that was making you go crazy. “Please… just,” the words died on your tongue when you felt the softest scrape of his teeth.

That bastard chuckled against your skin, clearly amused by your inability to speak. “What do you want, princess?” the nickname made you giggle. He only ever used it when he was drunk, otherwise calling you something cheesy like his pumpkin or petal.

“You,” you whispered, smashing his cheeks between your hands. “I want you. Need you. Please… fuck me until I can’t feel my legs.”

Leon seemed a little taken aback by how straight-forward you were – another side effect of alcohol, it took all the shyness right out of you. You, at least. Him? He turned bright red, eyes widened for a split second before he buried his face in the soft valley between your breasts, hiding in it. He mumbled something unintelligible against your skin, before his lips were back on you, slowly travelling down to the hem of your pants.

You felt a wave of heat wash over you as he struggled with the zipper – not that it was particularly hot, but the way his fingers fumbled with it and the focused look on his face with his tongue caught between his teeth made you feel hot. That was your man. Desperate and needy and so, so  drunk.

When the zipper finally gave in with a soft click, Leon let out a breathless little laugh against your stomach before pulling down your pants and underwear in one swift motion. You giggled when he nearly lost his balance, unprepared for how easily they would give in.

“Keep laughing,” he murmured, voice hoarse as he leaned to press a soft kiss just below your navel. “See what happens.” Your breath hitched when his mouth dipped lower – down your belly, until his head was between your parted thighs.

“Pretty…” he murmured, the word slurred, muffled against your skin as he peppered soft kisses on your clit. Not yet feasting, but appreciating the meal he had before him. “So fucking pretty…”

Your fingers buried themselves in his hair, tugging just enough to make him groan. He didn’t mind – if anything, it only made him hungrier. He dragged his tongue along you, slow at first – a lazy, teasing stroke that made your hips jump – then deeper, his mouth locking onto you like he’d die if you pulled him away. He ate like a man starved, whining into you like it was giving him pleasure to be buried between your legs.

“L-Lee~” you whined his name, hand pulling on his hair. No strength in the world could pull him away now. “S-shit…” Your head tipped back, eyes fluttering shut as heat coiled tight and low in your belly. Every wet, sloppy drag of his tongue pushed you closer. It was too much already… You tugged at his hair again and he groaned into you, the vibration shooting up your spine.

Before you could argue, he pressed you closer against his face, tongue fucking you open while his nose bumped against your puffy clit. You were so close you could almost taste it. Moans of pleasure spilled from your lips, with every movement, interrupted only by the frustrated when he stopped for a brief second.

He pulled back just enough to speak, still close enough that you could feel every breath against yourself. “C’mon, baby,” he panted, his mouth slick and red. “Wanna feel you come for me.”

And when he sucked on you again the pleasure came crashing through you all at once. Your hand grasped his hair as the orgasm shook your body, riding it out on his face. You were still catching your breath when Leon finally pulled back, mouth slick, lips swollen from how thoroughly he’d ruined you. He gave your thigh one last kiss before parting from you. Pushing himself up, he crawled up your body until his face was hovering over yours, and you watched as he licked his lips to clean the last of your come from it.

You could still taste yourself on his tongue when he pressed his lips to yours. His tongue invaded your mouth in a kiss that could only be described as heated and sloppy. Neither of you worried about being graceful, nor did you care for it.

“On your belly, princess. C’mon…” he purred, voice hot against your ear. His tone made it sound like a question, but his hands were already on you, slowly guiding you to turn on your belly. You cheek was smushed against the pillow and all you could do was squeezed the bedding with your fingers as he lifted your hips higher. “Good girl…” he rasped, leaning in to kiss the back of your neck., his hips already pressing forward, letting you feel just how hard and desperate he was. You felt a soft kisses being pressed down your spine as his hand slipped lower, fingers curling into the skin of your hips. He just couldn’t wait another moment.

“Stay still,” he warned with a spank to your ass. He pulled away for a moment, and all you could here were the sounds of his breathing and clothes being thrown onto the floor. Then, he was behind you again, murmuring praises at how good you were for staying still.

When the blunt head of him nudged at your entrance, you couldn’t help but push back a little, earning yourself another quiet laugh and a smack to your hip that made you gasp.

“Impatient,” he teased. “Can’t even wait a second, huh? Gonna give you what you want, princess. Gonna fuck you so good you won’t even remember your own name.”

He was slow at first, the way he bullied his cock deeper inside your tight warmth inch by inch, slapping you softly each time you tried to buck back into him. You thought you’d actually go crazy before he bottomed out.

You could feel him let out a pleasurable sigh when he finally did, his hips pressing against your ass making his head swirl with need. Still, he took his time, forehead resting on your back as he let out a groan.

“So good…” he breathed, voice mumbled by your skin “Could stay like this forever…” the soft shaking of your hips brought him out of his haze. He could stay like this forever, but right now, he needed to fuck you was overpowering every cell in his body. He needed to hear your moans filled with pleasure as his hips snapped into you. He pulled back, then snapped forward again, a little harder this time – enough to prompt a soft moan out of you and make your fingers curl tightly in the sheets.

Every thrust pushed you forward into the mattress, the soft smack of skin on skin mixing with your broken moans and his rough, breathless praises.

“So fucking tight… so good for me… that’s it, baby, take it– fuck…” His voice cracked when you clenched around him, your hips pushing back to meet his thrusts.  He pressed his chest to your back, mouthing at your shoulder, teeth scraping at your skin. You could feel the way his breaths hitched witch each snap of his hips. He was close… you didn’t need words to know that, just the sudden roughness of his thrusts and uncontrollable, downright sinful whines that left his lips.

The room was filled with your joined moans and the sound of skin slapping against skin so loud you almost felt bad for your neighbours. Almost. The thought quickly slipped away from you, replaced by overwhelming pleasure.

“I’m so close–” he whimpered, each thrust turning sloppy, desperate.

He was close. But Leon wasn’t a selfish lover. Even in his drunken state, he aimed for you to cum with him, and you cried out when his hand slid down to stop between your thighs.

“Shit–  F-fuck, Leon~” you cried out, the pleasure blinding you. You barely had time to recover from your first orgasm, and he had you right on the edge of overstimulation with how rough he was treating you. Anything to make your walls squeeze around his cock.

“C’mon princess,” he rasped, the gentle massaging of his hand a stark contrast to how rough his thrusts were. “Milk my cock–“

Your words dissolved into broken gasps and your whole body shuddered, walls tightening around him so hard it knocked the air out of his lungs as he came with you, emptying inside your warm heat.

“Fuck… that’s it princess–” he gasped, riding out his high with his cock buried deep inside you. Your body fell limply onto the bed, held up only where the two of you were still connected.

“Holy shit” you whined into the pillow. Your legs felt like jelly. Your whole body did, and the moment he pulled out of you, you plopped down lifelessly.

“Wait here,” he mumbled, softer than before, words adorned with a few kisses to your shoulders. You barely managed a nod, your eyes fluttering as you were snapping in and out of consciousness. You felt him slip away, and the room went quiet for a moment, lulling you away from the world. Until the sudden warmth of a wet cloth made you flinch back to life. Gentle and careful, Leon wiped you clean. After he finished, the towel landed somewhere on the floor with a plop, and the bed dipped again with his weight. He curled next to you, warm hands pulling you into his embrace.

“You okay?” he aske with hands rubbing soft circles into your hips – an apology for how rough he was with every snap of his hips. Not that you minded him being rough, but the softness was always greatly appreciated. So you smiled, using the last of your energy to nuzzle into his naked chest.

“Brilliant.” You let out a soft chuckle, eyes slowly closing.

[bbgsaja]

ℓσรƭ ɦα૨ɱσɳเεร (ɓαɓყ รαʝα א ƒ!ɦµɳƭε૨!૨εα∂ε૨)

summary - it's been months since you sealed the Honmoon, and it's been nice, peaceful, and...nope, the Saja Boys are chaotic little gremlins who really struggle with human concepts, games and technology warnings - none a/n - if you were on the previous tag list, please let me know if you still want to be tagged!

"Is it supposed to do that?!"

Up until that moment, you had been sleeping peacefully. Now your body jerked upwards, eyes still drooping, head snapping side to side. Baby wasn't in bed next to you, so you looked at the door.

"Put it out! Put it out!"

You looked at your alarm clock.

5:37 AM.

Sighing, you slowly dragged yourself out of bed, sliding your slippers on before making your way to the door. You emerged from the room to hear hushed whispers and panicked whisper-yells from the kitchen.

Nearby, the other sleep-riddled Huntrix girls were also coming out to see what the fuss was about. Together, the four of you walked into the kitchen.

Abby screamed, and hid behind Baby.

"Demons!" He pointed at the four of you.

Romance turned to look and jumped, letting out a sound between a yelp and a scream. He thrust Jinu forward before scrambling behind the island.

"Okay, what is going on?" You asked, rubbing your eyes tiredly. Then you looked at the other girls, and your eyes widened.

Simultaneously, all your hands shot up to fix your hair.

"We, uh, we tried making breakfast," Jinu admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. His cheeks flushed a light pink, and the other boys looked around like they suddenly found the lights interesting.

"At five in the morning?" Rumi groaned.

"Isn't that when you wake up?" Romance looked confused.

"No!" Mira groaned, face-palming. "No sane person wakes up at five to have breakfast!"

The toaster went off at that moment, Baby quickly sliding in front of it to hide the very burnt toast that emerged. Your eyes widened, because as much as he could hide the physical evidence, the smell was still there.

"Dare I ask what the eggs look like?" You sighed.

The eggs were burnt too. Yolk hard as rock, the white around it now an unsavoury shade of brown.

"Well that's...uh...sweet!" Zoey smiled, eyeing the eggs nervously.

Mystery approached her with a plate of eggs and a slice of black toast, holding it out to her. Nodding at the food, then looking up at her expectantly.

"Okay..." You looked at Baby, "Why didn't you just ask us?"

"Because Google is our best friend!" Abby replied confidently, his smile eerily wide for such an ungodly time in the morning.

Your jaw dropped, "You googled how to make eggs?"

"Well, Baby did," Jinu glared at your boyfriend, "And he is terrible at giving instructions."

"He gets distracted a lot?" You nodded, "Yep. Playing games in one half of his screen? I regret teaching him how to split it actually."

Baby walked up to you and pinched your waist, "You say that too much."

You swatted his hand away, "It's true most of the time."

"We wanted to surprise you," his voice dropped to a murmur as his arms snaked around your waist, his head dipping to bury itself in your neck.

"That's sweet," you smiled, wrapping your arms around him. "Come on, let's go back to bed. We'll clean that up in the morning."

"But it-"

"At a reasonable time in the morning."

You dragged him back to your room, curling up against him once more and going right back to sleep. He stayed awake for a moment, looking down at you.

You didn't eat the eggs, but you appreciated the gesture.

A few hours later, when everyone was awake and actually ready for the day, you guided Baby into the kitchen and turned on the stove.

"This is how you crack the egg-"

He growled playfully and bit your ear.

You laughed and threw the shell away, "You're not supposed to eat the shell, by the way."

"Don't tell Abby that," Baby grinned, "I told him it's extra protein."

"Why would you do that?" You laughed, shaking your head.

"It was funny."

Next you showed him how to fry the egg, and when to take it out. But when he reached for it with his bare hands, you almost had a heart attack.

"NO!" You slapped his hands away, "Not with your hands!"

He bit your ear in response.

"You'll get burned!" You grumbled, rubbing your ear.

"I like the burn," he said, looking dead serious.

"No, bad Baby!" You sprayed him with Mira's spray bottle for Romance and Abby, and he recoiled. "None of that here!"

Then you showed him how to use the toaster. How to put the bread slices in, what settings to use, and how to operate it.

He eventually got the hang of it.

Eventually.

Then it was the pool catastrophe.

You and the other Huntrix girls were relaxing in your pool on a day off, because it was hot and you needed to cool down. The Saja Boys stood around the pool on the edge, hissing at the water like it personally offended them.

Without opening your eyes, you sighed, "You guys can come in, you know. You won't melt."

"I don't like the way it moves," Abby shivered.

"What if it's not water?" Romance asked. "And you're just slowly cooking in there?"

You groaned, face-palming and sliding below the water's surface.

You heard Baby's cry from underwater, followed by a splash and rippling waves that made you stick your head out of the pool.

"What was that?"

"Baby pushed Abby in," Mira replied, her head still tilted back in relaxation. "Yelled at him to go and get you because you were drowning. Or something to that effect."

In the middle of the pool, Abby was letting out loud screeches that definitely did not fit his macho man appearance.

"It's burning me! It's- oh. It's actually nice."

Mystery was still hissing at the pool, "There's something down there." He stared ominously at the deepest end.

"What?!" You and Zoey shrieked.

"Mhm," Mystery nodded. "It's waiting."

Abby was now lying on his back, half-sinking and half-floating as he stared up at the sky. Jinu put one foot in and screamed, arms flailing as he fell backwards onto one of the reclining chairs.

"Why is it so cold?!"

So much was happening that you didn't notice Romance clinging to Baby as the latter slipped into the pool, calmly and slowly. They were the only two to not scream or splash or say something weird was lurking in the darkness.

Or so you thought...

"What was that?!" Romance cried, grabbing the pool edge and lifting his legs up. "Something touched my foot!"

Baby let out the most undignified screech you had ever heard from him and half-swam, half-drowned in your direction, "Probably Mystery's monster. It's gonna be a no from me. I'm not getting eaten today!"

He looked like an irritated, wet cat - glowing yellow eyes with slits, blue hair sticking to his skin as he paddled with his arms and let his legs just...hang.

"Baby, you're supposed to kick your legs too," you laughed.

When he tried it, he was surprised to see how much faster he moved. Then he got to you, wrapped himself around you and refused to let go as Romance used the edge of the pool to make his way to Mira - feet not touching the bottom once.

Rumi had to get out and actually pull Jinu into the pool, sighing when he almost drowned her by trying to climb on top of her, pushing her head underwater in the process.

Abby still floated around the pool like a life-sized demon floatie, and you weren't sure if he was still breathing. You were afraid to check.

Then Jinu sneezed, and the water vanished.

Baby quickly hovered and caught you before you could fall. Romance did the same for Mira. Mystery, still crouching on the edge, grabbed Zoey's wrist and prevented her fall.

"It's gone," he murmured.

Rumi's hair cushioned her fall, her eyes wide as she watched Jinu fall flat on his face. Abby slammed into the ground on his back so hard that he cracked the pool floor, his own eyes wide. He didn't even flinch.

Everyone looked at Jinu.

"What?" He got defensive, "The water was cold!"

"You're a literal demon," Mira deadpanned.

"Who isn't immune to extreme cold!"

"But it isn't even-" she stopped and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I think that's enough of the pool," Zoey suggested, "Maybe we should go inside and play some board games?"

That didn't go well either.

You tried to teach them how to play Monopoly, and it turned out to the biggest mistake of your lives. For one, the boys didn't even know that those countries and cities existed.

"Ha, ha," Abby laughed boisterously, "Rome, as if that was a place. It's just short for Romance!"

You face-palmed.

Then they tried to lay claim on certain places.

"This is the first round!" Rumi protested. "You can't claim anything during the first round!"

They relented.

Once the second round came, you and Mira, Rumi and Zoey didn't get a chance to buy anything. As soon as one of the boys landed on a place, they took it without a second thought.

Jinu's money pile remained suspiciously big.

Baby was growling at Abby, who was attempting to buy the place he landed on, though he didn't have enough. Baby wanted it too, so he laughed and picked up the dice.

"No, wait!" Abby stopped him, picking up a fifty from the bank. "Now I have enough!"

Mira was breathing in and out deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Baby promptly turned Abby's new fifty into ash.

"Hey! No demon magic!" Zoey scolded.

Mystery whimpered.

Baby and Abby gave each other dirty looks, before they both agreed not to buy that place. But the second Baby landed on it, he purchased it.

Abby jumped him like that had been a declaration of war.

"Jinu, that's cheating!" Rumi yelled, confiscating the money he was magically duplicating.

Mystery ate a piece, whether by accident or on purpose you weren't sure - and you didn't want to ask. You turned and buried your face in Baby's neck, laughing as the other girls tried to reign in their own boys.

Then your phone rang, and without breaking away from Baby, you picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello," a deep, distinctly male voice drifted into your ear, "Is this (Name)?"

"Yes, who's asking?" Beside you, Baby tensed.

"An old friend," he responded, voice low and languid. "I'll see you soon." And then he hung up.

You dropped your phone.

Seven heads turned to you.

Baby instantly pulled you close to him, knowing his scent helped you calm down. You held onto his sweater, trying to stop the incoming dread that was going to consume you.

"(Name)?" Zoey called tentatively. "What's wrong?"

You just broke down crying.

"I'm sorry."

[pinkpurplesunrises]

3:37 AM (And None of My Organs Are Where They Should Be) - the short story - Alexia Putellas x Pregnant!Reader - because you all loved the other one so much, I couldn't help to write one more...

It’s 3:37 AM.

You know this because you've been staring at the glowing red numbers on the bedside clock like it personally wronged you.

You shift to your left.

Nope. Immediate regret. Baby-on-bladder combo says: "Nice try, fool."

You turn to your right.

Okay. Slightly better. Except now there's a stabbing pain in your back that feels like a 900-year-old goblin is poking you with a stick and whispering "you’re ancient now."

You flip onto your back.

Ha. HAHAHA. Who are you kidding? That was banned three months ago by your OB, Alexia, and your own lungs.

You groan. Loudly.

There’s a shuffle beside you. The rustle of sheets. A sleepy, concerned voice:

“Amor?”

Alexia. Half-asleep. Full-worried. Sounding like someone just told her you went into labor in the middle of a Champions League final.

“I can’t get comfortable,” you whine. Not just whine. Whaaaaiiine. Like a distressed dolphin.

Alexia props herself up on one elbow. “Didn’t we build you a pillow fortress before bed?”

You look down.

Yes. Yes, you did. There are five pillows under various parts of your body: one between your knees, one under the belly, one behind your back, one hugging your chest, and one... who knows. Possibly sentient and planning a coup.

“Your fortress is failing,” you grumble. “I think I’ve merged with it. I’m either a person or a beanbag now. Unclear.”

Alexia blinks blearily at you, then sits up, gently rubbing your shoulder. “Want me to get you more pillows?”

“I don’t need more pillows, I need a new spine. Or a better gravity. Just turn gravity off. You’re Alexia Putellas, can’t you do that now?”

She laughs, soft and scratchy with sleep. “If I could turn off gravity, I’d float us to a spa in the Maldives.”

“God. Yes. Let’s go. Right now. I’m not even joking. I’d pay one million fake euros.”

“You don’t have one million fake euros.”

“I don’t even have clean socks, Alexia. Don’t make this about economics.”

She’s smiling now. Fully awake. Reaching behind her to grab the lavender pillow spray that neither of you believe in but always use anyway because it smells like you’re about to be hypnotized into sleep. She gives your pillow a few spritzes.

You lie back down. She gently helps rearrange the pillow-under-belly with a kind of practiced choreography. You’d both gotten absurdly good at the pregnant pillow shuffle. Which honestly deserves an Olympic event.

Then Alexia does the one thing that still makes your entire soul melt. she starts tracing little shapes on your arm with her fingers.

“You know,” she says quietly, “you’ve handled this pregnancy like a champion.”

You grunt. “I’ve cried over a dropped sandwich, yelled at a pigeo and almost fought a toddler for the last mango popsicle at Mercadona.”

“That toddler shoved you,” she replies, very seriously. “I saw it.”

You turn to her, eyes wide. “Thank you. I knew I wasn’t imagining it.”

Silence settles for a second. Then you add:

“Also, I think my rib is broken from the baby doing ninja flips.”

Alexia leans down and kisses your forehead. “Maybe they’ll be a gymnast. Or a defender with sharp elbows.”

“I want them to be a librarian who sits down a lot.”

She laughs again. Wrapping her arm around you gently. Careful not to disturb your elaborate pillow nest. “We’ll tell them they were born under a full moon and several orthopedic nightmares.”

“And that their mom scored a header the day after I threw up on her cleats.”

“You always bring that up.”

“I threw up on your cleats, babe. That’s love.”

She kisses your temple. “You’re the love of my life.”

You close your eyes, finally. Finally. Finding a position that isn’t 100% suffering.

And as you drift toward sleep... still a little uncomfortable. Still very pregnant. Still wondering if your ankles will ever reappear. You feel Alexia’s fingers gently moving across your arm. Tracing out letters.

You smile.

Because you know she’s writing "T-E-Q-U-I-E-R-O", over and over again. Just like she did back when you first started dating. Long before babies and pillow forts and 3:37 AM existential crises.

Love. In the quietest, weirdest, realest way.

[fastandcarlos]

"I Can't Sleep Without You" : ̗̀➛ Daniel Ricciardo

summary: after watching you walk out after an argument, daniel finds himself unable to settle knowing that you're not there with him

Your eyes found themselves fixated on the ceiling once again, unable to push your argument with Daniel away from the forefront of your mind. It replayed again and again, the things you said, the feelings that surfaced, the hurt that Daniel had caused. 

Soon enough you found yourself walking out of the apartment, deciding to spend the night at a friend’s house. You thought it would be the perfect thing to do to forget about it, but you couldn’t have been further from the truth. 

Just like you, Daniel laid wide awake, struggling to believe what had happened. The bed felt empty without you, all he wanted was for you to be back there with him again. He couldn’t remember the last night he spent without you, although he knew the reason for it was all down to him. 

Arguments were rare between the two of you which was why you were both so overwhelmed. You’d shouted at Daniel louder than you ever had done before, likewise he’d said things you never thought you’d hear come from him leaving you both clashing. 

On his chest, Daniel’s phone kept lighting up. Each time he looked in anticipation that it might be a notification from you, only to be left disappointed each time he checked. 

No matter how many times he closed his eyes, Daniel soon found them open again as he thought about your argument and the things that he regretted. He knew now the things that he should have said, angry at himself for not saying those things rather than what he ended up saying to you. 

He knew the blame landed on him, but that didn’t stop Daniel feeling sorry for himself laying in the cold bed all by himself. The feeling of being without you was horrendous, hoping that you were struggling just as much as he was not being by his side. 

As another hour passed, Daniel picked up his phone again, scrolling through his list of contacts. His finger hovered over your name for a moment, silently debating with himself whether calling you was the best thing to do or not. 

Your eyes grew heavy once more when suddenly you were disturbed by the vibrations that came from underneath your pillow, reaching your hand under and pulling out your phone. 

When you saw Daniel’s name, your immediate response was to answer, that was until you remembered what had happened. You toyed with the idea for a moment, deciding to accept Daniel’s call on the last ring, gently pressing your phone to your ear, greeted by the sound of Daniel heavy breathing. 

“Dan,” you sighed, “what are you calling for at this time?” 

“I’m sorry, I know it’s late,” he replied, stunning you with how his voice wavered with upset. “I just wanted you to know how sorry I am. I’ve been such an idiot love, and now I’m lying here, unable to sleep without you here.” 

As he fell silent, you could hear Daniel sniffing as he tried to fight back the tears. You couldn’t begin to imagine how hard he was being on himself, unable to remember the last time that you heard Daniel upset, let alone crying and wiping away his tears.  

“It’s probably really selfish of me to ask, but is there any way that you could come home? I can’t sleep without you, and judging by the fact you answered my call, I'm guessing that you’re the same.” 

A sigh came from you as you thought for a moment, as much as you loved your friend’s home, it wasn’t the same as being in your own home and in the comfort of your own bed. 

“I’ll be there shortly.” 

Daniel muttered a thank you before leaving you to start heading home. You grabbed a couple of your things, writing a note for your friend before heading to your car. You were careful as you drove, keeping yourself composed as you dreaded to think how things would go when you got home.  

There was a light on as soon as you pulled up outside your home, locking your car and heading to the front door. You barely opened the door before Daniel greeted you, his face red and blotchy from where he had been crying. 

“Hi,” you murmured. 

A lump ran down your throat as your eyes met Daniel’s, walking into the apartment and taking a seat on the sofa. The place was a mess from how Daniel had left it, with him sitting on the seat beside you, but keeping a bit of distance between you both.  

His hands brushed through his hair as he tried his best to stay composed beside you. “I’m glad you decided to come back,” he whispered, “thank you.” 

“It’s fine.” 

You were blunter than Daniel had hoped, although it was the least that he deserved for how he had treated you, it still hurt him. 

“Love,” he slowly whispered, “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. I should never have said what I said, I was selfish, stubborn, inconsiderate, just an awful boyfriend. “ 

“You were an ass,” you agreed with a faint chuckle, glancing across at Daniel. “I shouldn’t have pestered you so much though, you obviously needed space and I didn’t give that to you, I probably just wound you up more.” 

Despite Daniel insisting that he was fine, you refused to believe him. You nagged and nagged, reminding him that he could open up to you. Daniel’s frustrations only grew though as he told you that he was fine, deciding to deal with things all by himself. 

“I wish things went differently tonight, Daniel,” you admitted, “this is our home, it’s where we should be spending every single night together.” 

“I agree, no matter how angry we are at each other.” 

Despite the early hours, the time apart was exactly what you needed. Both of you had some time to reflect, reminding yourselves just how much the two of you hated arguing with one another. 

Daniel’s hand slowly reached across and rested against your leg, shuffling along the seat so that the two of you were sat next to each other again. His smile turned up as your head rested down against his shoulder. 

“Can we go back to just being us? To cuddling in bed and falling asleep side by side.” 

You hummed in reply to Daniel, feeling his arms wrap around your frame as he lifted you up off of the sofa, resting you against his chest to keep you still. 

He didn’t let you go as Daniel dropped down onto the bed, resting you into his side as he pulled the duvet over you both. It felt like home again, smiling at how warm it was again with you right there with him.  

“This is much better,” Daniel murmured as he rested his head on yours, allowing his eyes to close once again. 

Your smile grew as he spoke. “Don’t ever let me complain about uncomfortable our bed is again, she had me sleeping on the sofa and I think if I’d have spent the night there, I’d have ended up with a broken back.” 

A chuckle came from Daniel, “that’s because nowhere can compare to our bed, no one makes you feel as comfortable as I do anyway.” 

“That’s true, you’re the best.” 

˗ˏˋ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ´ˎ˗

[backinmyphase]

Not your letter

Synopsis: Gojo Satoru wouldn't call himself a very anxious man. But now as he hears cries every night, he can't help but worry- about his darling wife.

Or: Satoru Gojo doesn't even know how attached he will grow to his wife yet.

Pairing: Gojo x reader, 3300 words

Series masterlist

Contains: arranged marriage, generational trauma, jujutsu clans and higher ups

I'm sooo tired, but I hope you enjoy! I'm really happy you all seem so sincerely to enjoy it. Like always your comments make my day <333

Gojo Satoru liked spending money far too much.

After the last few days, this became clear very quickly. Yes, he was rich. But the way things were going this week, probably not for long.

He probably wouldn't even read every book that was on the bedside table.

Every morning he was awake before you and explored the town the two of you visited. When you were awake he took you out of the little charming hotel and showed you what he discovered.

You wouldn't see any problem in it if he didn't always had his credit card ready, the moment you looked at something.

And the two of you didn't need that many souvenirs either. But at the same time, it was hard for you to tell him not to use his money.

And now, too. As you walked through the small village. You knew what was coming when you passed a small café.

His eyes grew wide behind his sunglasses and a smile stole itself onto his face.

"Would you fancy something sweet?"

Not really. But he smiled in a way that made you feel sorry for taking the wind out of his sails.

So naturally, you left with three bags of sweet pastries.

Your mother would wring your neck. You could hear her lessons. 'You should bake something for your husband instead of letting him buy it!

"Don't you want something?"

Satoru looked at you with a bitten cupcake in his hand and some icing on his cheek. At the same time, he held out a new cupcake to you.

Of course, you didn't just take it because of his smile.

"Thank you." carefully you took a bite, trying to not look messy while you eat.

As you looked over to Satoru, you saw how he swallowed the rest of the cupcake in one go. You couldn't help but smile as you saw him chew way too much at the same time.

"Satoru, you have no manners." It was refreshing.

He gasped. "Am I now not even allowed to eat normally in front of my wife? What has the world come to?" Dramatically he held onto his chest.

His eyes shut and head tilted a bit back, he expressed his 'hurt' so playfully you couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh Satoru, if that's how you eat normally, I'm really concerned for your stomach."

As you saw how shooked he looked at you, you regretted saying anything. But then he grinned at you and leaned a bit forward.

"Did I just see my darling wife laugh?"

"It's not like I never laugh." you muttered as you started to eat again, hiding your embarrassment behind the pink, sprinkled, icing of the cupcake.

"Well, never before in front of me."

"Nonsense." you shook your head, while making sure your face was clean.

"It's true." he took another cupcake. "You should do it more."

The warmth that shot into your face was now a regular visitor. Something had changed. His presence made you jumpy, your heart was suddenly working overtime.

And your head. Oh, your head.

The thoughts that crept into it became more and more jumbled. Every time your looks crossed paths you couldn't help but spiral in a trail of thoughts, that made you feel dizzy.

You were truly sick. But it didn't feel bad.

A scream shattered the relaxed atmosphere. Your stomach turned when you saw a woman with a baby behind Satoru.

The baby was thrashing around, his voice continuing to tear the air and his cheeks red from the water running down.

The baby clutched the woman's hand, crying desperately.

"Are you okay?"

You quickly turned your head away to hide the rising panic. "Yes, I'm just tired."

His look spoke volumes. Always being tired was probably not the best sign.

"Then let's go back." He stood up, the food tucked away carefully.

"It's alright. It's not too bad."

He shook his head. "You look like I'm forcing you to go out everytime. I don't want that."

Defeated, you also stood up slowly and trotted behind him. You really wanted to enjoy your trip away, and get to know Satoru. But the words of the higher-ups were like a pest, constantly reminding you that your duty wasn't getting to know him.

It was having a heir.

"I'm sorry." your voice was hoarse, embarrassingly quiet. "I'm always in the way."

He laughed, while slowing down, to adjust to your speed. "What do you mean?"

"I'm always breaking of our time." you shook your head. "We barely get to do something."

"Oh please." he chuckled. "We have still plenty of time. We are just three days away. And it's not a problem, I still get to know you."

He looked at you again, his sunglasses barely covering his skylike eyes. "And I know." He smiled at you. "That you are not sleeping very well. Or that you are very exhausted. Maybe both."

"Am I right?"

He was. You were sleeping terrible. Even though the reading helped with sleeping in, the nightmares didn't disappear.

The constant thoughts about your 'duties' were kept alive through them. You wished you could just forget all of these things. Satoru seemed like he could.

You just shrugged.

"Just try to sleep when we are back." Slowly, very hesitant, did his hand engulf yours. His hand was warm. So, so warm.

"I have planned something for later. And I want you to be able to enjoy it."

You were wrong. Gojo Satoru didn't like spending money too much. He just enjoyed spoiling you far too much.

~~

"So how do you like your little 'rebellion'?"

The dark surrounding you, engulfed your mother almost whole as she sat there in her chair. Her arms crossed like chains, heavy, ready to arrest you.

"It's not like that-"

"Yeah, yeah." she waved her hand, wiping your words away. "That's what they always say."

Her leg twitched, but her face remained a mask. She sat unimpressed on her throne, looking at you like you stole candy. "How did you imagine all of this?"

She crossed her legs, it's twitching being held down like a child. "What did you think will happen after all of this?"

You looked at her, your mouth thin as a line. Your tongue felt like it was chained down. Heavy, like a boulder.

"Perhaps…" She tilted her head. "Running away together?"

'Stop.' you wanted to say, no scream. 'Stop speaking.'

"Maybe a romance where he takes you in his arms? Just leaving jujutsu society together behind?"

Your body felt light and so so heavy at the same time. Dizziness overtook you mind, making your vision blurry.

"No Clans and no responsibilities. Like Paris and Helen." she laughed loudly, her voice made you shiver.

"That would never happen. You know that. You are no Helen. Helen was a beautiful, desired and foolish woman. She didn't consider her people."

She stood up, while you lost your balance, she was suddenly towering above you, looking down with this well-known expression.

"And Gojo is no Paris. As if he would start a war for you. This boy has no courage. That's just selfish to wish." she shook her head again.

"Stop mother." your throat was burning. "This is pointless. Satoru is not like that. Satoru-"

Her eyes narrowing like a predator ready to pierce her prey. "I'm just reminding you to not do something foolish. And after your recent behavior that seems rather needed."

Your hands were shaking, sweating. Your breath was heavy and your body seemed paralyzed. You felt like a kid again. Crawling to your mother crying.

'I don't want to marry someone I don't know!' you hiccuped, chocking on your own tears a bit. 'I don't want-'

You still felt the burning sting on your cheek. Still felt her unforgiving stare as she looked at you.

'You don't have to want. You have to fulfill your duty. And that's bringing connections to your clan.' she didn't scream. No she was in control of herself what made it so much worse.

"So stop whining."

You only saw darkness. Your body jolted uncontrollably, it felt like being pushed down into the darkness.

Like you were dying.

"Enjoy your time. And use it." She waved and-

Your consciousness came crawling back, while you were being shaken awake. You felt cold, unbearable so. The sweat on you rather sticky.

It was a nightmare.

"Everything is alright."

You felt heavy, eyes fighting to open. But in the end they lost. You were so tired. Every ounce of sleep was a fight with your conscience. It was almost… Unnatural.

Warm arms embraced you, pulling your limp, cold, and heavy feeling body towards their warmth.

"I'm here now."

You knew it was him. It was the only logical explanation. But it felt so surreal. Feeling his strength and reassurance so close.

His grip on you was not forceful. No, it was so soft you couldn't help but start slipping into unconsciousness again.

"I'm sorry."

You didn't know why you apologized. It just felt right.

~~

"How late is it?" you paced through the room, while Satoru layed lazily in the bed, yawning.

"Don't know. It's not that important." as he sat up his silver white, no snow white hair was sticking up in all directions. It was so messy, it was endearing. Which is obviously just a fact-

"I thought you had something planned? Why didn't you wake me up?" you gathered new things to wear, since you obviously had to take a shower.

"You were sleeping so peaceful." he shook his head like it was obvious. "That was the first time I saw you smile in your sleep."

You stop for a second, cheeks feeling like they were on fire. "You watch me sleep?" you joked, while you pretended to look for something in your suitcase.

"No! I-, that's not what I-, I don't…" he stopped and you couldn't help but chuckle at him. It felt so crazy to have him stutter. You looked at him over your shoulder, hoping to have cooled down your face.

As he saw you holding in a laughter, his panicked look fell.

"Oh, ha ha." he raised an eyebrow.

"What did you plan? Can we still do it?" You didn't want to cancel his plans. Not Again. Not because of you.

He scratched his the back of his neck while thinking a bit. "Do you know the time?"

"It's…" you search for the clock in the bath. "8:46 PM? How long was I out??"

He chuckled while murmuring something to himself. You wanted to ask but also didn't.

"Well it is a bit late. Don't know if you even want to-"

A long, loud growl from your stomach interrupted him. Silence set in while he was just looking at you. The warmth in your face returning.

And then he laughed. "Well I guess that answers my question. Can't let my sweet wife starve."

"Sure, Satoru." you muttered as you chuckled a bit too. "Because you are of course not hungry at all after being here the whole day."

He grinned crookedly, while pulling the blanket away and also standing up. "Let's just make ourselves ready and then go."

You nodded and gathered what you found for yourself. Standing up from the ground and gripping the door of the bath, you stopped as he spoke again.

"But if it's too much please say so right away. I don't want you to suffer through anything."

Hands sweating again, you smiled at him. "I will." Then you got ready.

~

Satoru was nervous as fuck.

It still felt so unreal. Having you in his arms, you holding so desperately onto him, but slowly over time relaxing.

You cried. During your sleep.

It wasn't a one time thing. You cried almost every night. It was very silent, almost not audible, but he could hear it.

And see it.

He wanted to help you, but didn't know if he overstepped a silent boundary. A boundary so carefully layed out the last days.

But today was different. You spoke. Saying something like 'Stop mother'.

And you whispered his name.

He didn't know why. Didn't know if you had a nightmare where he was a part of, but he felt like he had to help you. Like you called for him.

He didn't watch you sleep. He listened to you sleep. To your cries.

~

"Where are we going?" you looked around. This was not a street you two had explored before and it was dark enough that you couldn't recognize even if you did know it.

"It's a surprise. Guess you have to wait." he grinned as he went sternly, while still making sure you two were going next to each other.

"You are so unfair sometimes." you shook your head. "Can't believe I married you."

"Oh please." he grinned back at you, playing into your dramatics. "As if you don't love surprises."

"Oh, Satoru." you deadpanned at him. "I hate them."

For two seconds you just stopped and looked at each other. But then you started laughing at his nervous expression.

"I'm joking, sorry. But you should have seen your face!"

He chuckled lightly, while looking around. Then he grinned back at you. "Well I hope you were joking, because here it is!"

You looked around but only saw a fancy restaurant. After looking for any small places you usually had take out, it dawned on you that the restaurant was the place he wanted to go.

"Oh Satoru…" you looked at the old, but very preserved, Restaurant in front of you. The letters on top of it almost shy, not being big and very eye catching, but very elegant. It spelled Sato's Kitchen.

"If you don't like it, we can always go back-"

"It's not like I don't like it!" you interrupted him, before he could make false conclusions. "It's just… This was very expensive, was it not?"

"Why talk about money? Let's just have a nice evening." he smiled and you knew it was expensive. Defeated you sighed.

"Okay. But you have to stop spending so much money-"

"Alright, let's go!"

He just took your hand and pulled you softly behind him.

~

It was very late. So it wasn't so surprising that your reservation was already long gone. But as you stood there behind Saturo while he tried to get a table for you, you felt bad.

It was almost laughable how naiv you were.

Dragging him out at these hours just to be told that they didn't have any tables left and we should come back tomorrow.

"Is there really no way-"

"I'm sorry good sir, but we are out. We can rearrange your reservation for tomorrow."

They were very kind for that. But you still felt bad.

"That wouldn't be so bad, would it Satoru?"

He nodded, obviously a bit frustrated as he gave his information to make the reservation or furthermore rearrange it.

"Yeah, that's alright." he muttered to the waiter. After making sure everything was alright, yoi two left shortly.

It was a bit embarrassing. Showing up almost an hour and half late at such a desired restaurant. Another reason you felt bad.

"I'm so so-"

"Well we can still do it tomorrow." Satoru smiled. Smiled so softly at you that you felt like crying. It made you feel so stupid, so unstable.

"Yeah." you almost chocked at the word.

He started going again, silently trying to get you to walk ahain. Silently walking beside him, you tried to find the light words you just had said so easily. But there were none.

"Well we can still have take out." he walked closer than before. Not too close, just a bit closer. "If that's alright for you?"

You chuckle a bit, trying to relax. "Of course. That sounds lovely."

The night was beautiful. The moon was already high up and you could see countless of stars here. In Tokyo you could only rarely see the stars. It was comforting.

The silence between you wasn't awkward anymore. Maybe you two did start to get to know each other in a way. Even though Satoru was still a mystery to you most of the time.

It just was comfortable as a whole.

Going together to your favorite ramen shop. Eating in silence and slowly walking back.

It must be really late. But Satoru did bring the bag of the sweet pastries. And as you were walking back to your hotel, he did eat from them.

You couldn't help but watch him. It was cute really. How he enjoyed it so much. And a small smile made it's way onto your face.

"Did you Always like sweets this much?"

Satoru looks at you and thinks. A cupcake still in his mouth, he tries chewing faster to give you your answer.

"Well, I think I did." he coughs as his mouth was empty. "When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to eat anything sweet or unhealthy because of those obsessive higher ups. Said it would make my powers weaker, to keep me away from them."

He took another big bite after saying that and smiled at you as he chewed.

"Well," he was grinning like an idiot after he swallowed. "After I started eating sweets I didn't get weaker. In fact quite the opposite!" He laughed.

You admired him, as he took another bite. That he could just call them obsessive and wipe it away. You wished you could not care.

And as he took his last bite, you looked at the remaining cupcakes and wondered. Could you try making them for him? Would he like them?

It was too late to think anymore, after you got home you just got ready for bed and layed down while Satoru was in the bathroom.

But as you wanted to close your eyes, this uneasiness from before seemed like it was back again. You began to feel cold and wrapped yourself tighter in the blanket.

Satoru came out of the bathroom looking at you, like he was fighting with himself.

And in a moment of weakness and exhaustion you let yourself say the words you normally would only think.

"Do you want to sleep in the bed?"

He just looked at you, the darkness around you made it hard to see his expression. Also your vision started to get blurry because of your tiredness.

"If you don't mind.".

You yawned as your eyes fell close. "You helped…" you mumbled and didn't fight your exhaustion anymore.

And as you felt his warm arms around you, again you couldn't help but smile.

~

Satoru didn't want to wake you up, but he also wanted to do his daily routine round to get you and himself breakfast. Tough decision.

Before all of this he would have never gotten up earlier than he had too. But here with you it was different. So so different.

And he didn't want to let you go. But in the end he did get up and got ready to leave for his round.

As he went down the stairs, Hina's Grandma smiled at him like every morning.

"Good morning, Mr. Gojo. On your way again?"

He laughed a bit and nodded. It was part of the routine to talk to her a bit, as she was a lovely person and knew the place well.

"Well a two letters arrived today. Both adressed at Mrs. Gojo. So I thought I could give them to you for later."

She handed him the two envelopes with a smile.

He didn't mean to sneak into your business or anything like that. But he couldn't help but feel uneasy almost angry when he saw the names of the senders.

One was from the higher ups. And one from your mother.

And he felt cold as he wondered why they would only write you.

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[claudaze]

𓏲 ˖. ♡̷̸ what jealousy makes you do ⤿ ( 송은석 )

cw. ⋮ fluff .ᐟ some kissing and cursing. ﾒ 紀要 what else can jealousy lead to.. except confessions and kisses?

“you like him more than me?”

you didn’t answer right away. you stare at your phone, pretending it’s a lifeline, something to distract you from the question that’s suddenly made the air heavy between you two. eunseok’s voice is low, tense, not angry, but the kind of hurt that’s harder to hide.

he pulls his hand away, runs it through his hair in frustration, and lets out a breath that sounds like it’s been trapped for days. “i like you,” he says, voice rougher now, more honest. “i’ve liked you for months. and you never notice. or maybe you do. maybe you’re just pretending not to.”

he pauses, blinking like he’s trying to find the right words — like he’s about to confess something he’s been holding inside for too long. “but i—i don’t know how to act around you anymore.”

you look up, meeting his eyes. there’s a flicker of vulnerability in them, the kind that doesn’t match the cool, calm eunseok everyone else sees. “eunseok..” you say softly, but he shakes his head like he’s not ready to be soothed.

“sleepovers used to be chill,” he continues, voice cracking just a little. “we’d talk shit, watch dumb shows, eat snacks like nothing mattered. now i’m—fuck, now i’m laying awake while you’re next to me on the floor and i’m wondering if you can hear my heartbeat thumping like a goddamn drum. and then you call shotaro cute, once, just once, and i just—”

he stops, breath shaky, like he’s scared he’s said too much. “i’m sorry. i sound insane.”

but you didn’t say that. you don’t want to interrupt the storm spilling out of him. because inside eunseok’s head, it’s chaos.

why the hell do i care so much?

he thinks, fingers clenching the hem of his hoodie. she’s probably just joking. maybe she doesn’t even mean it. or maybe she means it but doesn’t want me to know. fuck, why am i overthinking this?

his mind races with every little moment you shared, the way you laughed at his dumb jokes, the way your eyes softened when you looked at him, the warmth of your hand brushing against his arm. but what if it’s not enough?

he hates how much his heart clenches when you look at someone else, even for a second. jealousy isn’t just a feeling, it’s a storm that twists his stomach, makes his chest tighten, makes him say shit he regrets.

he’s scared of losing you to someone who doesn’t stumble over their words, who doesn’t get tongue-tied when you’re near.

“fuck,” he mutters under his breath, voice breaking. “i don’t know how to do this. how to be.. whatever you want.”

you move without thinking, fingers catching on his hoodie, pulling him closer. he freezes for a heartbeat, eyes wide like he’s afraid you’ll pull away. but then he leans in, forehead resting against yours, breath mingling with yours.

“you don’t have to be anyone but you,” you whisper.

his eyes flutter shut. “i’m scared, okay? scared i’m too much. scared you’ll get tired of me. or that you’re already tired.”

you shake your head, heart aching at how broken he sounds. “i’m not.”

“then show me,” he breathes, voice trembling. “show me i’m the only one you want. because right now, i feel like i’m just.. holding on to a ghost.”

you cup his face, thumb brushing over his cheekbone, steadying both of you. “you’re not a ghost. you’re my everything.”

and maybe it’s the late night, maybe it’s the way his lips part in surprise, or the way your chest swells with hope, but in that moment, it feels like everything might just be okay.

because he’s finally said what’s been eating at him, and you’ve finally said what he needed to hear. and for once, jealousy doesn’t feel like a poison.

you held his face in your hands, fingers trembling just a bit because gosh, this is all so raw, so close. eunseok’s eyes flicker from hopeful to nervous, like he’s balancing on the edge of saying everything he’s ever felt.

“listen,” he starts, voice barely more than a whisper, “i’m not good at this shit. at telling you how much you mean to me without sounding like a total idiot.”

he laughs softly, a little shaky. “but i’ve been carrying this for months — this feeling that you’re the only one who makes me want to be better. the only one who gets me to stop hiding behind jokes and acting cool.”

his hand cups your cheek gently, thumb brushing over the skin there like it’s the most precious thing he’s ever touched. “you make me want to say things i’m scared to say, and maybe i’m a mess, but god, i like you so damn much it hurts sometimes.”

you blink, heart pounding so loud you’re sure he can hear it. all those words, so honest, so unfiltered, it hit you like a wave, crashing over every doubt you ever had about him.

you want to say something, anything, but the words get stuck in your throat. instead, you press your forehead against his, breath mingling with his, and whisper, “i.. i like you too. more than i thought i would. and i’m scared. scared you’ll think it’s not enough, or that i’m messing things up.”

his smile is soft, like he’s been waiting to hear those words forever. “it’s never not enough.”

then, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, he leans in, slow and steady, until his lips brush yours. the kiss is tentative at first, sweet and searching, but it quickly deepens — full of everything he’s been holding back, all the feelings he’s been too scared to say out loud.

you wrap your arms around him, fingers threading through the back of his hoodie, pulling him closer, needing to feel every part of him.

when you finally break apart, breaths heavy and hearts racing, he rests his forehead against yours again, voice soft and low.

“i’m not going anywhere. not if you don’t want me to.”

and you believed him. because for the first time, you don’t have to pretend or hide or second-guess. you have each other.

you barely have time to catch your breath before eunseok’s already nuzzling into your neck, voice thick with sleep and something so tender it makes your chest melt.

“don’t leave,” he murmurs, fingers curling around your wrist like he’s afraid you’ll disappear if he lets go.

you shift so you’re sitting closer, his head resting against your collarbone, and you can feel the steady rise and fall of his chest.

“sleepovers aren’t just for watching dumb shows anymore,” he whispers, voice heavy and warm. “they’re for holding you when the world feels too loud. for telling you i’m yours even if i’m too scared to say it right.”

his fingers trace lazy circles on your skin, and your heart feels too full for words.

“i’m gonna be annoying,” he warns with a sleepy smile. “gonna want you close all night. gonna fall asleep staring at you like you’re the best thing i’ve ever seen.”

you laugh softly, brushing your fingers through his hair, humming. “i wouldn’t have it any other way.”

and as he drifts off, you catch his last murmured promise, barely audible but full of everything he feels —

“i’m yours. always. in all ways.”

[konigsm]

ghost x soap || price x gaz

Price calls Simon at night, discovers a naked seargent (and vice-versa). Slightly inspired by that one fanart but idk how to tag yet haha...😔

It’s 2:17 am in the morning when Simon’s phone lights up.

He groans, buried beneath a fortress of thick blankets, only his eyes and the bridge of his nose exposed. The soft glow of his bedside lamp is the only illumination in the room. He blinks at the screen. Incoming Video Call: John Price.

For a moment, he considers letting it ring out. But Price wouldn’t call at this hour unless it was important—or unless he wanted to ruin Simon’s life for fun. Both were equally likely.

He swipes to answer, grumbling. The camera shakes a little as he props the phone against a half-empty water glass on his nightstand.

"This better be important," Simon mutters, voice gravelly with sleep.

"It is," Price says, and of course he’s wide awake. "Logistics foul-up. The KSK’s shipment got rerouted and HQ’s asking for an overnight fix and—

Simon groans again, pushing himself up slightly, blanket still wrapped tightly around him like a burrito. He squints at his screen. Price is sat at his desk, files spread everywhere, his lights on too bright for Simon's eyes.

Simon isn’t even halfway through processing the intel when,—

"Si, what's going on?"

The voice is muffled, somewhere off-screen.

Simon doesn’t react.

Because a second later, John "Soap" MacTavish shuffles into frame behind him—bare chested, hair wild, one arms propped up to look at what the noise and light was about.

A beat.

"...Was that MacTavish?" Price asks, entirely too calm.

Simon doesn’t blink, "No."

"Simon," Johnny whispers, off-screen now but very audible. "I think you’re on a call. Are you—? Oh. Oh shite."

He tries to dive out of view but it's far too late. Price has seen everything. But he’s not the only one.

Because just as the moment descends into awkward silence, another voice pipes up—

"John? What’s going on—?"

Gaz.

Gaz, who is very clearly in Price’s room. Also shirtless. Also blinking into the camera like a confused puppy.

He stops mid-step when he sees the screen.

And sees Johnny.

And sees Simon.

"JOHNNY?" he yells. "What the fuck are you doing in Lt.'s bed?! NAKED?!"

Johnny, already halfway into Simon’s oversized hoodie, stares at Gaz. And then—bursts into laughter.

"Me?! You’re in the Captain’s bed! Naked! Look at your face—you’ve got a bloody pillow line!"

Gaz’s hand shoots up to his cheek, betrayed by the faintest crease. "This isn’t—! That’s not—!"

Price sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I regret every decision that led us here," he mutters.

Simon’s eyes are closed now. He is meditating. Disassociating. Possibly considering disappearing into the walls.

"I'm hanging up," he says.

"Yeah," Price agrees. "Same."

When the call drops, Johnny rolls onto the bed closer to him, wheezing with laughter, hoodie half on. "You think they're shaggin' too?"

Simon doesn’t answer. Just pulls the blanket back over his head.

Somewhere, in another room, Gaz is shouting about "context" while Price lights a cigarette with the expression of a man who’s seen too much.

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

Press One for Love, Two for Regret

Chapter 2

Summary: Proper confessions should never happen over the phone. Viktor knows that. So how did he get here?

Pairing: Viktor x Reader

Word Count: 3.6K

Warning: Mature (mentions of explicit content, explicit in last chapter)

Notes: This was originally supposed to be a real quick one-shot. And yet, here I stand, offering you a three-chapter fic that is probably going to be a little under 10K total. Like a stray cat proudly bringing you a dead squirrel. I'm bozo the fool and I can't stop writing about Viktor.

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 3) (Chapter 4/End)

In theory, you’re pretty sure being a hitman should be fun.

There should be something thrilling about following someone around, tracking their every move in the shadows, finding the perfect opening to shoot them right between the eyes. The hunter and the prey. Riveting stuff.

Except you're not a hitman. And you're not tracking down someone to shoot them.

You're a dumb, stupid idiot. And you're just trying to talk to your dumb, stupid best friend who is doing everything in his power to not talk to you.

And he's quite good at it too; it's like he's vanished from the space-time continuum itself. No one has seen him, no one has talked to him, no one has even heard of where he might be hiding. It's almost annoying how good Viktor is at everything he does.

You hadn't managed to sleep the rest of the night of what you now refer to as ‘The Call’. You watched the minutes pass one by one on your alarm clock, eyes wide open, mind bustling with too many questions to go to bed.

At six am sharp, you deemed you had waited long enough to stomp your way to Jayce's and Viktor's apartment. You weren't even sure of what you were going to say; you just had to talk to him. You couldn't let that conversation end the way it did.

You knocked firmly five times before Jayce cracked the door open with an audible groan, hair tussled, eyes barely open. It seemed he, too, hadn't spent a very restful night.

It took a few seconds for him to even register who was standing at the door; when he did, he visibly straightened his back in an attempt to look awake and composed.

Unfortunately for him, it did not work very well.

“H-hey,” he stammered, leaning against the doorway in false non-chalence. His voice was still heavy with sleep, and he audibly cleared his throat. “It's a little early, isn't it? The ol’ operating system usually only boots up when the sun is out,” he added jokingly, pointing a finger toward his forehead.

A valiant attempt at breaking the obvious tension, but you refused to budge. You glared at him, decidedly looking into his eyes.

“I need to talk to Viktor.”

Jayce made a strangled sound, which he tried to hide with a theatrical coughing fit.

“You… just missed him?” he managed to choke out with uncertainty. He was visibly trying to convince himself just as much as you. “He left to go prepare the lab. You know him, always doing extra research.”

He flashed you a smile, a practiced grin with perfect teeth that might have seemed genuine in other circumstances. But his bottom lip was quivering, and you could see Viktor's daily use cane leaning against the coat rack right behind him. Jayce was not exactly a master manipulator.

“Jayce, the university doesn't even open until seven thirty.”

He deflated at that, his large shoulders comically lowering. You could see he was thinking desperately for anything to say, but coming up empty-handed. Chances were he hadn't had his coffee yet, which knowing him, considerably lowered his ability to formulate coherent thoughts.

You were starting to feel bad; the poor guy was stuck being the literal last defence to his roommate, and he was genuinely giving it his best. Jayce might not have a career in acting, but he was a good friend.

That was more than you could say about yourself.

“Ok. I get it,” you sighed. “He needs space. I can respect that. Just… tell him to call me later, alright? Even just a text would be fine.”

Jayce seemed profoundly relieved you had agreed to back down, something you almost always refused to do under any circumstance. Yes, technically, you could stay put in front of that door and progressively chip away at Jayce's still barely conscious mind until Viktor decided to show himself.

But you felt guilty. Guilty for not realizing how he felt, guilty for treating him like your personal diary over the phone, guilty for not saying how you felt sooner. The conversation should be on Viktor's terms rather than your own.

“Yeah, I'll tell him,” Jayce gave you a small smile, comforting and honest. The next words came out less encouraging than he likely intended: “I'll try.”

But now, it's been a week since ‘The Call’, and Viktor has still shown no sign of wanting to talk. Your phone is frustratingly devoid of unread texts or missed calls no matter how often you check it. Your world feels like it's been spiralling out of control a little more every day, the uncertainty of everything left unsaid weighing you down like a ton of bricks. It's torture, and you can't help but feel like you kind of deserve it.

You should have known better than to call Viktor when you were drunk, and yet, you still did. Because there's nothing more natural to you than talking to him. It's become second nature, as natural as breathing or blinking.

Viktor is always so smart, and so composed, and so understanding, and so helpful- and he's probably the only person who likes hearing you go on rants for hours on end. How could you ever want to talk to anybody else after a breakup?

But when you're drunk, you lose the already feeble control you have over your verbal on-and-off switch. Everything spews out of you without a filter, as if you're vomiting all the thoughts that go through your mind one after the other. It's cathartic, for sure, but then you end up saying things that should never be said to the best friend you've secretly been in love with for years now.

Things like how your ex never took time to finger you properly, or how he had this stupid obsession with men not going down on women because he was an ungrateful asshole.

And then, those two little words.

“I would.”

There was no hesitation in his tone, no uncertainty. It was like he had the sentence on the tip of his tongue for the last two hours you had been whining to him. Like he had been waiting to say it for too long to contain it anymore.

The irony was that you had spent the last four years trying everything in your power to not let those stupid little words out too.

—

You met Viktor at your first university's faculty Christmas party.

You hated work parties.

You had only gotten the position of academic advisor a few months prior, and in that time you hadn't managed to form a single bond with any other employee in your entire department. It was always the same; you talked too much. You were too intense. You were tiresome.

You were you. And that was something a lot of people didn't like.

Needless to say, you didn't want to go to that stupid party. Everyone would split up into groups of friends and previous acquaintances, and any attempt at joining the conversation would result in discreet sighs and rolling eyes. Yet you still went, partly out of obligation, but also in the hopes something that night might be different for you.

But it hadn't been, and you were alone.

So you did what any well-adjusted adult did when they were faced with the indisputable fact they were the party outcast; you drank.

After one glass of cheap white wine, you felt more relaxed, less stiff. Just a nice amount of mellowed out.

After two glasses, you started to forget the self-preserving instinct of not approaching others. ‘Maybe you could try talking to someone, after all. It could be worth a shot.’

After three glasses, you forgot why you were so apprehensive in the first place. You were great! You rocked. You had so many things to say there was absolutely no way someone wouldn't love to hear all about it.

…but maybe you could get a fourth glass, first.

You headed back towards the drinks table, a little less steady and a whole more lot confident. So confident, you didn't realize you bumped right into someone's chest until a hand grabbed your arm to keep you upright.

“Ah, are you alright?” came a heavily accented voice above you. ‘Eastern European,’ you thought absentmindedly. ‘Ukranian, maybe Czech. I wonder if he knows they created the sugar cube…’

You took an unsteady step back, peaking up at the man blocking your way to the wine bottles.

‘Wow, he's handsome’, was your first, immediate thought.

“Wow, you're handsome,” were your first, immediate words.

The man spluttered in surprise. In all fairness, he probably hadn't been expecting for a stranger at a faculty party to be so direct. If you were still at glass number two, you might have realized it wasn't a very appropriate thing to say in this specific context.

But you were at glass number three and unabashedly staring at the man's face, the sharpness of his cheekbones, the curve of his nose.

That was the moment you realized he wasn't a stranger.

You knew him. Not his name, or who he was, but you felt absolutely certain you had seen him before. You scanned your jumbled brain for the memory of his face. So beautifully sculpted, like he was made of stone. You knew him, you had it on the tip of your tongue-

“Miss?” the man asked, seemingly unsure whether to be perplexed or worried at your silent glaring. “Would you like me to help you sit-”

“Tuna sandwich!” you yelled with a huge grin. A few other partygoers turned towards you in confusion, but you were much too overjoyed at the epiphany you were experiencing to realize.

The man blinked slowly. Then once again, like he was trying to process whether or not he had understood correctly. His head cocked slightly to the side in bewilderment.

“… I'm sorry, what did you say ?”

You poked his chest with an insistent finger, beaming: “You're tuna sandwich! The tuna sandwich guy!”

The man looked to the side warily, mouth opening and closing, visibly searching for some kind of help. When he found none, his golden eyes fell back to you, catching the glow of the ceiling lights. The spark of an aurora through the night sky.

“I'm… afraid I truly have no idea what you're talking about,” he explained gently, the warmth of his hand leaving your arm. You deflated a little at that, the notion of embarrassment creeping back in you.

But he hadn't left. He was still here.

He was listening to you.

“My office is next to the cafeteria,” you started, straightening your dress and trying to appear more professional. “I see you, every day, at eleven forty-five, before morning classes end. I always thought that was smart, because you get to skip the lunch rush and there's still a lot of choices for meals.”

The man seemed bemused by the comment, but didn't show signs of wanting to take off. That made you regain some of your drunken confidence.

“But you always take a tuna sandwich,” you continued. ”That's it. Every day. You never buy anything else. It's always the tuna sandwich at eleven forty-five.”

He let out a confused chuckle, the ghost of a teasing smile on his lips.

“I didn't realize I had an audience.”

His presence had been so hypnotic you barely even realized what you had been saying.

‘Oh God, that sounded creepy, didn't it?’

“Don't flatter yourself,” you quickly added, embarrassed, looking away to stare at a particularly interesting stain on the floor. “I look at what everyone's doing. It's my job to.”

He hummed mirthfully, his golden gaze fully amused now:

“And what job would that be? Voyeur?”

You almost choked on your own spit.

“Guidance councillor, smart guy,” you countered, feeling your cheeks heat up. How was a stranger rattling you this much? You were usually the one whose words left others confused. “I look at people, and I figure out what they want in life. I help them find careers. I’ll have you know that's an extremely important task, mister-”

You squinted at the sticky nametag on his chest, trying to decipher the very slanted handwriting. You vaguely remembered the blue stickers were reserved for teachers.

“…Professor…?” you struggled weakly, hoping he would fill in the illegible part.

He thankfully seemed to find your attempt more endearing than insulting.

“Just call me Viktor,” he answered with a sincere smile. His lips were slightly crooked, the left dimple just barely more present on his left side than his right. There was a tiny little beauty spot next to his cupid bow; the thought that it would be nice to lick it just to confirm it wasn't a speck of the chocolate cake flashed in your mind.

‘Focus, focus!’

“Tell me, Viktor,” you cleared your throat. You had to get it together. This was the longest conversation you had been able to maintain with a fellow faculty member without them looking like they wanted to run away. “Why tuna? There's so many other sandwiches to choose from. You could take the egg salad, or the turkey sub, or the spicy chicken…”

You were definitely being too insistent on the tuna thing. If he didn't think you were weird before, he would now.

And yet Viktor still didn't leave. He considered your question seriously, taking a few thoughtful seconds to answer:

“It's the only one with multigrain bread. Very low fat for a good source of omega-3 and protein. And I don't dislike it, so it makes the most sense as a daily meal,” he mused, almost like it was the first time he had ever thought about it, too.

Huh.

“That's a sad way of looking at things,” you commented before thinking.

Before you could mentally swear at your debilitating lack of restraint, Viktor countered the statement with seemingly genuine curiosity:

“How so?”

You had a chance to say something cute and short, and leave the topic at that. It would be a major win for you; your first enjoyable talk with a coworker. Maybe you would even exchange email addresses by the end of the night.

Or…

You could be yourself. Let the floodgate of constant thoughts and observations pour out for a minute. Show this random handsome man who you were, really.

Had you not been drunk and sound of mind, you would have gone for the former. But as it happened, you were quite drunk, and you chose the latter. You took a deep breath before speaking:

“Means you only value food as something that's needed, like taste and flavour isn’t important. You deny yourself basic pleasures out of fear you'll get used to them and grow complacent. You're probably the type of guy who slaves away in his office for hours, not even realizing he's hungry, because it's lost all relevance to him.”

The silence that followed felt eerie. The expression on Viktor's face was blank, mouth barely agape, brows slightly furrowed. You had fucked it up, again.

“Sorry,” you muttered, feeling incredibly foolish. “That was overstepping.”

“No, actually,“ Viktor responded almost eagerly, the sparkle in his eyes bright, “Keep going. What else can you tell?”

There was palpable interest in his tone, in the way his body leaned slightly closer to yours. He wanted to know. He wanted to listen to you.

“The tuna sandwich is twenty-five cents cheaper than all the other ones,” you continued slowly, afraid of breaking the spell that was keeping him attentive to your words. “Usually a sign of a lower class upbringing, shows that you're used to thinking with a controlled budget, even if you don't need to anymore. You likely value hard work and commitment.”

You paused once more to gauge his reaction, but he didn't say anything, clearly waiting for you to continue. So, you did.

“It's always eleven forty-five sharp. You're precise, mechanical. Probably in the department of medicine, or some form of applied science. Am I right?”

“Biomechanical engineering,” he specified with a baffled smile. “Incredible. All that from a sandwich?”

You shrugged, feeling giddy under the weight of the compliment. It was so utterly rare that anyone would actually enjoy your rambling.

“I notice things about people, and I tell them. Couldn’t quite cut it as a detective or a psychologist, so it makes me an ok guidance counsellor,” you smiled, adding an audible wince. “But the person you really gotta avoid at parties.”

He laughed at that, a pretty, earnest sound, slightly low and nasal. The kind of laugh that would make the heart of a weaker person skip a beat.

You blamed the fact that yours did in fact skip a beat entirely on the alcohol.

“I-I'm sure what you do is a lot more impressive, though,” you quickly stammered out. Why were you stuttering?

He shrugged, bony shoulders visible through his button-up shirt. A few beauty marks decorated his neck where the collar didn't reach; you wondered how many more the fabric was hiding.

“Eh, I wouldn't bet on that. Gait analysis, prosthetic limb design. Much less creative than one might think,” he commented with a certain indifferent boredom; yet there was a certain light in his eyes that spoke otherwise. Maybe he was also the type of person people didn’t listen to much. “But it does feel rewarding to do something for others who might not have my luck.”

He pointed down with his chin, and for the first time since you began talking to him, you realized he was holding a cane.

You, whose only redeeming quality was having good observational skills, hadn't noticed the man you had been talking to for the last ten minutes was holding a cane. A refined-looking one at that, with a deep burgundy tainted wood for the shaft, and a sleek handle the colour of tarnished gold. ‘Maybe if you stopped looking at his face for a goddamn second you would have noticed’ you scolded yourself.

“Ah,” you blurted out pathetically. “That's… that's really cool.” You were looking at his fingers. You were looking at his long, slim fingers holding his cane, calloused yet delicate, and you were imagining them in places they should definitely not be in.

You had absolutely no idea what you had just said to him.

Yet Viktor only seemed more amused, his smirk growing ever so slightly.

“Yes, I also like to think of it as ‘cool’, from time to time.”

A drink. What you needed was another drink. Then perhaps you would reach a level of enlightenment where you would remember how to not look like a complete fool in front of attractive professors, who probably did quantum physics as a hobby.

As if he had read your mind, Viktor shifted in the direction of the drinks table, giving you a knowing smile. Were you so easy to read, or was he simply so good at reading you?

“I’d offer to bring you a glass of wine, but I believe that may have been your original intention before reading my palm,” he joked.

‘It's nothing like fortune telling, it's just logical analysis !’ part of you wanted to retort.

‘Give me your palm and I'll show you what my real fucking intentions are,’ purred the other one.

If you didn't get out of here now, you would say something that would definitely end your career before it had even taken off.

“I think I'll probably head home for the night. I've already had a little too much to drink,” you smiled hesitantly. Understatement of the century.

You could have sworn you saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes. Then again, you had probably imagined it. If anything, he was likely relieved he had finally managed to escape the babbling lunatic. Someone like him, so brilliant and accomplished, had no reason to willingly listen to the ramblings of a glorified high school school councillor.

But…

“But… maybe you could give me your number?” you asked hesitantly, taking one final, vulnerable leap of faith. “Just for work, of course!”, you added hastily.

Viktor did not seem angry or disgusted at the proposal; in fact, his smile widened, revealing a slightly uneven row of teeth. Cute. Everything about him was attractive.

“I would like that,” Viktor said softly, amber eyes warm. “I did enjoy hearing you talk.”

Your heart made a heavy, dull thud. With a small wave, he was gone, disappearing somewhere into the crowd like he had been nothing more than a hallucination conjured up by the cheap wine.

Your first work friend.

A potential real friend. Someone who genuinely didn't seem to hate the sound of your voice.

It was much too precious to lose over some passing, drunken attraction. You absolutely had to crush these emotions now to prevent them from becoming anything serious. After all, it wasn't like you had a shadow of chance with someone like him.

Perhaps for the first time in your life, you decided to stay silent about something, no matter what would happen in the future.

He couldn't know.

You would never let him know.

[writingmeraki]

ribs — a rafe cameron series.

i. and the ocean is still the same. disgustingly blue and terrifyingly deep.

❝ In which your cousin thought it was a great idea to basically deceive you and here you are, spending one month at Outer Banks. Perhaps, meeting new people could interest you more into the 'beach' lifestyle? Well then, only one way to find out.

pairing : richboy!rafe cameron x tourist/newbie!gn!reader, brief one-sided enemies to acquaintances to friends to lovers. genre : fluff, humour, angst, romance, friendship, coming of age, realisations and epiphanies, contemplations and questioning, summer seasonnn!! also ft. rest of the obx characters and ocs too! chapter warnings : cussing, nothing alarming in particular but lmk if i missed anything! not proofread. series inspo : ribs by lorde. | series playlist : here

w.c : 4.2k | NEXT

“Are you being serious right now?!” 

You turned to look at your cousin as you stepped out of the car, immediately regretting it the moment your feet dug deep into the hot sand. Hissing in annoyance at the feeling of sand between your toes, you glared at your now sheepish yet delighted cousin. 

 Joshua or as you preferred to call him Josh and sometimes Joshie, just to spite the hell out of him, rolled his eyes at your dramatic antics. 

“Oh come on, we got this one chance to spend a vacation finally out of our damned hometown, of course it should be a beachy one!”

“I’ll show you who the real bit-”

“Please, try to think of it!”

Sighing out, you shut the car door and leaned on it. The sun was blistering hot as you looked ahead. Goddamnit. You knew you should not have tried to get some shut eye in the car. Perhaps if you stayed awake then you’d know you were in fact, not heading towards the chilly mountains as you’d have thought you were and then you would have disagreed with Joshie and went by your own. 

But no, he just had to be the only person you happened to be great friends with throughout your life that stuck to you like he was somehow etched to your side by fate since you could speak.

Hearing movement, you saw him come and stand beside you, looking at you with that look. The one that would always manage to get something out of you exactly how he’d want.

“Come on! This is like the only summer ever that we’re getting this chance. Do you really want to spend summer,  a season meant for sunny beaches and the vibrant ocean, in the mountains?”

Scoffing at him, you clicked your tongue and spoke in a sharp tone, “You know damn well, how much I hate the beach! The ocean in itself! It’s all so…so cliche and honestly a little terrifying, the ocean is scary.” 

If someone else would have heard you, they would have probably mocked you, but Josh was the one who knew you, he knew everything and yet he went ahead and did this.

“Okay how about this, we make a deal?” You raised your eyebrows at him in question, wondering what sort of ideas must be running behind his cunning doe eyes. Doe eyes that seemed to always somehow make you do as he pleased if he just as much flashed them at you widely.

“One month here, in Kildare and the rest wherever you want, okay? Besides, I already rented us a villa with half of our allowance as deposit and uh…yeah it’d be a waste.” 

Face palming yourself, a groan slipped past your lips as you rubbed the bridge of your nose, “You-how-wow just wow. I am not sure whether to be even more pissed or honestly slightly impressed you planned this out so well.”

Looking up, you looked back at the view that raised up more emotions, falling more to the negative side than anything, and thought about it. 

It had been a while since you smelt that familiar signature aquatic scent, since you saw just how truly blue water could be, just how much the sand always seemed to find itself into each nook of your feet, making it impossible to remove it. 

It had been a while since…since everything.

Maybe this was another chance. 

“Fine. One month. I’m counting and by the end, we’re out.”

[ A few moments later ]

The villa turned out to be nothing like you’d expected.

In a way, it was way beyond your zero expectations and if you had any, it was also above that. Other than the fact it was nearer to the ocean than you’d have preferred, it was simply heaven on Earth. 

“You can take the bigger bedroom.”

“Yeah you don’t need to tell me that.”

Josh scoffed at you but smiled when he saw you looking around in amazement. He was glad you agreed more quickly to this than he thought you would have. He was worried you would have gone back home instead of even thinking of going somewhere else. 

Then again, you would have likely gone even here than be stuck in the summer back there.

“Are you sure this was like what, only half the money we have?” You touched the antique vase that laid in the middle of your bedroom hallway. It was a mix of indigo blue and white that made it look like those fancy artworks you’d seen in expensive stores.

“Yeah it was! But also, this is sort of a friend’s too.”

“You have friends? Well other than me of course.”

“I do and also fuck you.”

Grinning in victory, you tugged your luggage to the front of your new temporary bedroom.

“Well, I am sorry “Mr.I can’t socialize for the life of me” I didn’t exactly think you’d have such friends, not ones who owned such villas at least.”

“Technically, it’s not hers but her father’s. She sort of hooked me up with the discounted rent.” 

Opening the door to your bedroom, you wondered if your jaw could drop any lower as your eyes took in the closest you’d ever get to living in an actual bedroom straight out of a magazine room in front of you. Oh wait, you were going to live in this! Only for a month, but it counted!

The large bed in the middle had the prettiest shade of blue sheets, with the same on the curtains that covered a large window which looked out into the sea. There were even those cool sitting arrangements in the far left before the window, with the two white sofa chairs and marble table between with a golden showpiece on top. You thought those only existed in rich people’s life but this seemed like your life for once. 

“Her?” Your brain snapped back to your cousin’s voice as you threw your luggage, a little carelessly to the side, and turned towards him.

He looked at you weirdly as he stood at your door, and raised an eyebrow in question at your tone.

“Yeah ‘her’, her as in Sarah, Sarah Cameron.” You still looked at him skeptically and asked,

“Well this Sarah…she’s real right?” Your voice carried mockery and you tried not to laugh. Even more so at the offended look on his face.

“Yes! She’s real, I- I can’t believe you’d think I’m making someone up-”

“My bad dude, your rep isn’t exactly again, the socializing kind let alone the romantic kind-”

“Sarah is just a friend!”

Raising your hands in defense, you gave up, “Jeez alright, alright!” 

He didn’t believe your words, he knew you and knew you were still doubting him.

“And I know your ass still doesn’t believe me but tonight you can meet her, there’s this bonfire party thing by the beach she told me that’s like a basic norm here, she invited me.”

“Great, have fun then.”

“And you as well.”

Your attention had gone back to your suitcase as you laid it down and opened it to find clothes that would help you rot away for the rest of the day because you were already drained, but upon hearing Josh’s last words, your head snapped towards him again.

“Me? Oh, oh no no no, I can’t- I don’t have the energy to function let alone socialize like a proper human being for today.” 

It was serious for you, with the whole fiasco of finding out your entire trip was a sabotage to the way the smell of the sea didn’t seem to comfort you but make you want to throw up every few moments with the thoughts you were having, it was draining. 

“Listen, we’re staying here for practically a month, if we familiarize ourselves, at least we can make the best of it from people who live here!” 

Deadpanning him, you went through the options in your head. In the end even though it was beginning to feel like this trip was more fun for your cousin than you, you reluctantly agreed. 

“I didn’t even pack suitable clothing for this type of place, see this is why you should have just told me beforehand!” Resorting to arranging your clothes, you retorted in annoyance when you thought of how all you had were clothes meant for cold weather and barely anything loose meant for such places. 

“I’ll ask Sarah to lend you some after we meet her?”

“And are you sure this ‘friend’ of yours will agree?”

“She will, she’s pretty sweet you know, give her a chance.”

Eyeing the look he had on his face when he talked about his ‘friend’, you realized there was definitely more to it than he said, but you wouldn’t intrude more than needed.

Finally, you found some suitable-ish attire for the night, it was still a bit on the warmer side but you figured you’d just avoid going in the general area of the bonfire so as to not end up overheating. 

“Fine, we’ll see.”

[ time skip to the night ]

It was not like you had any expectations but certainly it wasn’t this. 

This bonfire party was more lively than you thought, everyone chatting around, drinking concerning levels of alcohol and overall having probably the greatest time that would become a core memory for their future selves. 

You on the other hand?

The moment you saw where it was situated, you just stayed just at the back, not even wanting to go near the fire nor the sea. 

However, at night, you will admit the sea looked different. The moonlight reflecting on parts of it made it seem like a black sky full of twinkling stars. It felt less…less scary to think of it like that. But you know it was an endless void that could quite literally suck you up, never to be found again. 

“Come on,there she is!” Josh waved over someone and your attention turned to her. 

Your jaw slightly dropped but you kept it cool even though you definitely had a look of disbelief.

Her blonde hair flowed freely from the slight breeze that passed by, and her eyes seemed to spark from the reflection of the fire. Her face itself seemed lit up and you could tell, it was just how she probably was. A bright person. She was simply put in one word,beautiful. 

“Since when the fuck did you have such pretty friends and why do I not know about it-”

“Shut up.”

You were whispering to Josh as you continued to look at her, her smile also seeming to put you in a trance. She finally stood in front of you, you noticed she was shorter than you both. 

“Hey! You made it!” You already knew her name, Sarah said enthusiastically as her eyes darted between you both. 

“We just came a while ago, and oh also-, Sarah this is my cousin Y/N, the one I told you about and Y/N, this is Sarah.”

You did not know what to say so you just muttered out, “Nice to meet you.” and awkwardly smiled with a small wave of your hand.

A wave?? Who the fuck waves???

Internally, you hated how your social side basically had decided to ditch you. Normally, you would be able to make conversation easily but it seemed that it malfunctioned when you were surrounded by pretty people.

Josh snorted at your behavior and raised an eyebrow at you while Sarah’s smile seemed to have gotten impossibly wider. You swore your heart skipped a beat. 

 “Nice to meet you too! Joshua’s told me a lot about you!” 

“Good things I’m assuming.” You finally spoke normally, your voice finding its way back to your mouth.

She laughed at that, and you really wondered if you could be almost smitten by someone in the first few minutes of meeting them but you felt a small smile tug up your lips. 

“My friends are just around here and also feel free to have anything! In fact, some of my friends are helping out with the drinks and stuff, I’ll take you there.” 

Before you could even give an answer she turned around and began to walk towards the main area. Joshua began to follow the same but you stayed glued to your spot, your gaze shifting to the bigger background. It wasn’t like you could avoid it forever anyway.

You nodded at him to continue as you slowly began to follow. 

Turns out, pretty people came along with even more pretty people. They were like a package it seemed. Because the rest of Sarah’s friends were on that scale. 

There was John B with his messy hair, sun-tanned skin and freckles that was the definition of the typical island boy. Then there was Kiara, who was just as pretty with her warm gaze and smile, her curls seeming to have a direction of their own as they moved around her face from the breeze. Then Pope, whose eyes seemed to scrutinize you and a jawline you could probably cut your finger on and the fact that he was smart too? Cherry on top. 

JJ Maybank. He was something alright. His demeanor in itself was laid back but he was just as mesmerizing. His blue eyes seemed bluer than the sky in the day and just as bright as the ocean at the same time. He made you even more nervous than you thought you could get. And he was just as charming, slipping in compliments that made your face even warmer than the alcohol was making you feel.

It seemed this island was where all unrealistically attractive people stayed. 

But all the socializing that you’d done was making you even more tired, plus the unhealthy amount of ‘punch’ you’d downed along with beer did not help. Your senses appeared to have heightened and everything was overwhelming, your tolerance for being close to the one thing you despised thinning. 

“I-I’m just gonna go there for sometime, I-i need to breathe a bit.” You pointed to Josh as you poked his side to a place you could that was further from the sea but had rocks you could sit on. It was a good distance. 

“You alright?” Another voice came from your side and you’d forgotten how JJ was sitting to your right. You nodded at him as you stood up.

“‘M good. Just- just need some air.” His blue eyes shone with concern. Even if he’d only met you a while ago, it was like you’d taken his attention from then. He couldn’t quite figure out why but hey maybe he’d find out eventually. 

He decided not to follow you, so as to not overstep any boundaries considering you’d just met. The rest of the group were talking around, while Joshua also nodded at you in understanding when you glanced at him.

Stepping away, you stretched your body a bit, not realizing you’d been sitting around for so long in the same place and just talking. It was indeed true that time passed by when you were lost in fun. 

As you walked away, you noticed a figure sitting there already, wondering how you didn’t see them before but probably due to the darkness and the distance, they weren’t visible. You paused in your steps, contemplating if it was a good idea to go there when it is clearly pre-occupied. 

In the end, you just shrugged and continued your way, figuring there was enough space for another. 

The sound of sand crunching beneath feet snapped Rafe out of his daze as it shifted from the scene in front of him to where the sound came from. 

You froze when his eyes landed on you. 

From the way the moonlight shone, he wasn’t very visible but it was enough to give you a glimpse of the person in front of you. And if you thought you couldn’t be more surprised at how attractive everyone around here seemed to be, well you were proven wrong.

He had a surreal beauty, with piercing eyes that seemed to captivate you. His hair fell effortlessly and just like the others, the breeze seemed to tousle it around and framed his face in a way that was both perfectly tousled and impossibly neat with strands framing his forehead.  His features were sculpted with an almost ethereal precision, being highlighted by the moonlight : high cheekbones, a strong, straight nose, and a jawline that looked like it was carved from marble. He was the kind of pretty that didn’t quite seem real, as if he’d stepped out of a painting.

Yet what interested you most was the emotions that shone in his eyes. He appeared to be more annoyed than surprised along with another one you couldn’t quite understand and you really wished you didn’t assume it was right to come there. 

“Uh…can I like, sit here, if you don’t mind…?” Asking it felt sort of stupid, wondering if you were really going to go ahead and annoy this pretty guy even more. And even though his face didn’t twist in anyway, his eyes told everything as if they couldn’t hide his true emotions. 

He contemplated. For one, he came to that place to distance himself from others, making sure to choose a spot no one would easily find him at because it was as though everyone just wanted his attention, his presence everywhere and it got too much. 

Then again, another part of him was curious. He didn’t think he’d ever seen you anywhere. And Rafe Cameron, for all of him, didn’t like not knowing. 

Nodding, he turned his head back to the scene in front of him as he folded his arms above his propped knees. You seemed skeptical, but again, just followed your instinct and thought what harm could possibly be done anyway. You just hoped he didn’t turn out to be some serial killer. Otherwise it was probably okay. 

Sitting with a good distance from him, you looked in front of you. It was a nice scene, the night ocean really did seem more…better. In the day, it was disgustingly blue and all the more made you truly think about how deep it was. Then your eyes wandered a bit to the boy beside you, his body language intriguing you, more specifically his gaze that made him seem blanked out.

“You look like you’re more miserable than I am, right now.” Sometimes, the filter you had on your mouth momentarily disappeared even more so when you’ve had a little more to consume than you can handle. 

Rafe’s attention shifted to you fully, even though he was paying attention to you from the corner of his eye. He frowned a bit at your words, brows in creasing as well. You thought about the hell someone could do that and still manage to look attractive. 

Scoffing as he registered your words, he muttered under his breath, “Of course, another annoyance.”

“Hey! I wasn’t trying to be mean or anything, ‘just-just trying to make small talk or something.”

“Well I don’t want small talk, I didn’t come here for that.”

His tone and words shut you right up. You blinked at him in disbelief, but realizing what exactly did you expect from a stranger, plus your words were very…something. His attention on you made you even more nervous, feeling warm even more than the alcohol and clothes made you feel. 

“...my bad. I didn’t mean to say that.” You apologized and looked away, deciding if he didn’t want to be bothered, you would not even look at his way. You turned around, away from him creating further a distance and now faced completely away.  

It was silly to feel hurt but then again, your usual emotions were completely botched by the liquor in your bloodstream. You would punch yourself in the morning when you realize the level of idiocy you had the previous night. 

It was idiotic of him to feel a tinge of guilt as he heard your words. For fuck’s sake he didn’t even know you, he wasn’t the sort to feel sorry for people he knew let alone a damn stranger. 

Sighing out, he spoke a little loudly over the sound of waves to make sure you’d hear, “I-well yeah I do feel miserable, you’re right about that.” 

His voice was clear, considering you weren’t too far. You thought over if you should even reply to him after his…rudeness but hey, what’s another possible bad decision added to the already questionable ones?

Looking at him, you scoffed, “I think that’s obvious.” 

The way you said it, almost made him feel less miserable than he was, his lip twitching as he turned his eyes from you. 

“Sooo…fight with your girlfriend?” You wanted to throw yourself in the ocean…you just met the guy and you’re already asking personal questions as if you were friends. This is why you need to talk with people more and improve your people-talking skills. You failed to notice the guy next to you looking at you in amusement as he finally let himself smile for a brief second.

Wincing, you choked out, “Yeah no. Uhm you-you don’t have to answer, I don’t know why I asked that, sorry I tend to not know what to say and when to say and just yeah I’ll uh- I’ll shut up now.”

When you suddenly heard the sound of a chuckle, your eyes widened when your gaze met the sight of where it came from, Rafe just shook his head and spoke with amusement, “I can tell you aren’t much of talker.”

You couldn’t even look offended when he said that because you knew it was right so you just shrugged and agreed, “I think now this is more obvious.”

When you heard him laugh a little at that, you couldn’t stop your own smile and the way your cheeks seemed to warm up. You were unsure if it was from what was in your system or was it him. You hoped it was the former because for everyone’s sake, you did not want to even go near what would imply otherwise.

“I’m Y/N.” Randomly saying it was awkward but it made you realize you didn't even know his name. So throwing out yours like this was the only way you hoped would get him to say his.

“Rafe, Rafe…Cameron.” You turned your head in knowing towards him, the name familiar to you.

“Wait Cameron as in Sarah Cameron right? Is she related to you? You couldn’t quite make out his expression but it was as if a thought hit him and it instantly fell down. Of course, you’d somehow know his sister.

“Yeah, she’s my sister…unfortunately.” The last word was more of a mumble and you couldn’t hear it but upon knowing she was his sister, you raised your eyebrows in wonder.

They definitely did look the part of being highly attractive.

“Well it was nice to meet you Rafe, but I think I should call it a night before I eventually embarrass myself even more by passing out here.”

For Rafe, it had been a while since he’d heard someone feel nice to meet him, even though he knew you were a little out of it, he couldn’t help but let the smile on his face fully show.

Maybe he could forget why he came there in the first place for the brief moment, even if he’d have to face it soon enough.

“Are you sure you can handle yourself?”

“Pfft, you don’t know me Rafe, I’m perfectly capable of handling myself-”

With those famous last words, you stumbled as you stood up, nearly falling over because you forgot you have to balance your weight on both legs.

Following a concerned and amused look from him that you chose to ignore, also ignoring the fact that he now stood up and was closer, making you realise just how much taller he actually was compared to you, you cleared your throat as you finally stood straight.

“See, I’m good.” Your smile was wobbly and your eyes even more glossy, which only made you appear more sincere. It should not have affected him the way it did as his gaze met your own. 

And when he was closer than before, you could see the colour of them, bluer than you ever could imagine. Maybe even more than the very ocean you despised, yet somehow you could not manage to find that same distaste with his eyes. They were dreamy. 

Or it was just the beer, definitely the beer. You convinced yourself.

“Night. Rafe. Don’t be…miserable alone out here. You should head home soon.”

You miss the way he shook his head at you as you turned around and began walking back to the group. 

It wasn’t often that there was someone intriguing to catch his attention right from the beginning, so to say the least, Rafe Cameron was more than intrigued. 

And you for the hate of all things marine, could not get his deeper than the ocean blue eyes out of your mind. 

Perhaps, a second meeting would set you right.

a/n : well this is finally out!! i want to start of by saying i have been putting this aside for way too long and i still do feel like this could have been better but again it's an intro, so hopefully it makes sense. and yes reader's hate for the ocean is sorta...self indulgent i suppose. i mean i'm more terrified than disgusted but anyways, i hope you aren't sick of all the ocean/beach/marine etc references ahaha and do let me know if you wanna be tagged for other parts? i'll be uploading them soon as i'm motivated to write for this atm :)

well as images and edits (unless credited) belong to pri. do not plagiarise, repost, re-edit or claim as yours. pics mostly found on pinterest.

writingmeraki Ⓒ 2024

feedback is always appreciated 💌 ! links : main navi ! | obx masterlist | info !

[cobaltperun]

Darkest Part (4) - Died In Your Arms

Astrid Deetz x female Reader

Chapter summary: Of course Astrid's first date would somehow be a problem you had to deal with.

Masterlist / First part / Previous Part / Next Part

Word count: 5.3k

-Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight, it must've been some kind of kiss, I should've walked away-

This was a good life, hot chocolate, paper taped to the desk as you drew your third sketch of the building you had in mind. Away from all the worries and for a moment free from any obligations.

“How’s it going?” your mom came up to you and leaned over to kiss your cheek.

“Mom, you shouldn’t-“ she didn’t wince, her back didn’t hurt, yeah, it would end soon, and you desperately wanted it to continue. Wanted things to get better, wanted her to be healthy again.

Your phone had other ideas, as the alarm rang and the sound of it startled you awake. Curse your need to constantly change your alarm ringtone, otherwise you’d get used to it and sleep right through it. This new one was ridiculously awful, like someone constantly ringing the bell, but it got the job done. “Am I ever going to wake up well-rested again?” you wondered, feeling like you barely slept a wink. You just couldn’t get used to this house.

Well, considering the tales about it, maybe that wasn’t that strange.

Or it was just the reasonable explanation.

As it was, last night your exhausted body just collapsed onto the bed and you fell asleep, and then got woken up by the chill of the night, because of course you were too tired to cover yourself. What followed was you spending way too long trying to warm up. Winter River indeed, it really was cold. Why couldn’t this be some pleasant warm place, somewhere you could still go around wearing short sleeves instead of already needing several layers of clothing.

The only thing worse than the cold was the Chihuahua that was also in the house. “Why the fuck would I let her be on my mind first thing in the morning?” you slapped your forehead, now even more annoyed. Of all the people you could have thought of at the start your day, it had to be her.

Annoyed, you threw the covers off and immediately came to regret it as the cold air made you shiver. On second thought you should probably stay in bed a bit longer, so you went back under the covers into the warm escape from the chilling cold. You swiftly unlocked your phone and figured you might as well check up on your mom and Alex. You sent each of them a message asking how they were and if everything was fine and put your phone away. It was still too early to call them and if you had to be awake it didn't mean you had to wake them up too.

~X~

Halfway through the day and a lot of packing later, you sat down at the table exhausted with the hot cup of tea in front of you. You really needed that as the warmth of the tea seemed to seep into your very soul. Actually, you also needed a blanket around your shoulders and the nice warm fire accompanied by perhaps movie. It's been a while since you've watched ‘Kill, Baby, Kill’ and you were really in the mood for it after these past few days.

Seeing your favorite movie again would probably make your life a tiny bit better.

No, instead of that you had to deal with someone rather happy getting inside the house with an obvious bounce to their steps. You raised your head, confused and for a moment even terrified that someone actually broke in and just didn't care about making noises. And then that someone walked through the door into the dining room and you would have been a lot happier if it was a burglar.

No. Instead it was the fucking Chihuahua what a wide, frighteningly bright, and happy grin on her face and the world was going to end any moment now. You were fairly sure, and not at all being too dramatic, that Astrid Deetz, also known as Chihuahua, being this obviously happy was one of the eleven signs of the apocalypse.

“Oh, of course you're here. Well, it doesn't matter, not even you can ruin my mood,” she just  walked past you, still happy, and not throwing insults at you. She didn’t do anything! Absolutely nothing! Not even glaring at you and you could not remember the last time you were this frightened.

You scrambled to your feet and rushed outside. “Delia!” you cried out hoping the woman would have some kind of help for you maybe some medicine for hallucinations or a plausible explanation or anything really as long as it helped. You desperately needed someone to convince you that just made what happened up in your head!

It was all in your head. There was no other explanation, which made it even more concerning because Astrid Deetz being in your head and part of your hallucinations was not a good sign for you. Frankly, at this point you had no idea which was worse, Astrid being happy or you thinking about the damn Chihuahua to the point of hallucinating seeing her happy.

~X~

“Damn it Delia, why couldn’t you just get this delivered to the damn house?!” you hissed, a lot like the creatures inside the box you were currently carrying. You knew you had fear of heights before, but apparently you also had a fear of snakes. Which was made a lot worse by the sounds the snakes were making and you were praying that the people Delia bought the snakes from didn't scam her and actually defanged them.

Sure, in theory you were safe. The box was sealed, and safe, but your brain still came up with frightening scenarios. As safe as the box probably was you were still frightened that they would somehow find their way out and bite you and you did not want to die due to snake bites.

‘How many times am I going to risk my life in one single week?’ you wondered, and you really shouldn't have because you had a few more times before the end of this trip.

You finally reached the house and couldn’t have been happier to see it as you rushed up the stairs and set the box on the table for Delia to do whatever she intended to do with the snakes. You really hoped she wouldn't make you go with her because at that point you might actually think staying with Rory would be more pleasant. And just to be safe you immediately turned to Delia when she walked into the room. “I'm done with the snakes, I did my part the rest is up to you,” you urgently informed her before she could get more great ideas.

Delia just laughed. “They are defanged, don't worry,” apparently they were, you weren’t about to check.

You slumped slightly, doing your best puppy eyes to get her to let you stay out of this. “I am still not comfortable around snakes, so please don’t ask me to help you with them,” well at least she didn't look like she would push you to join her as she smiled and patted you on the shoulder.

“Come on, I'm not that cruel,” she smiled at you and then shook her head in amusement at the relief showing on your face. “I thought it would be a good experience is for you to watch, but it’s fine if you don’t. Oh and Y/N, you can rest tonight, you don't even have to go to the wedding,” she was telling you one good news after the other. “We have a few more things to do tomorrow morning and then you can go back home,” Delia surprise you but maybe you should have expected it. She had her moments of kindness and you've been on the receiving end plenty of times, despite all the less pleasant, more dangerous and difficult moments you had with her.

“Thanks Delia, I really appreciate it,” you told her as Astrid joined the two of you.

“Snakes?” Astrid looked at the content of the box, surprised by what she saw and for once you couldn't blame her. Personally, you didn't quite get why Delia got them herself but she wanted them and she got them. Something about Ancient Egypt and Pharaohs from what you understood.

“Actually asps,” Delia corrected her, and you had to admit she actually sounded excited about them.

“Why? Are they a wedding gift for Rory?” Astrid asked, hopeful that the answer would be yes.

“Now that would’ve made it worth carrying them,” you knew that wasn’t their purpose but  no one could force you to stop happily imagining Rory freaking out over the snakes.

For the first time since you've known her, Astrid actually didn't have a rude remark or an insult for you, and actually just rolled her eyes with a smile which was almost freaky but not exactly an unwelcome change.

“Too late they've be defanged, guaranteed harmless! And they're for me.” Delia shattered your dreams well, yours was never even allowed to begin because you knew from the start what she wanted to do with them. Still for a moment you could hope that she would at least use them as a prank. It’s not like they were one se only! She could use them for more than one thing. After all, she already got them, why not just use them on the bastard as a very funny prank. It would not change anything about the snakes, and they could still be used for the ritual thing she had in mind.

Well, you were left with only your dreams.

You left the two of them to check if there was anything left unpacked, you were just about to head back upstairs when Lydia rushed down and you turned around, not sure how to react to the frantic woman.

“You got your wish, we're leaving! Pack up your things, I'm driving you back to school,” Lydia seemed absolutely frantic, like she just saw a ghost, which, well, she was supposed to be able to see them. You watched from the stairs as she went by you and toward the front door

“Wait! What happened” Astrid called after her.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” Lydia denied answering Astrid’s question.  That actually made sense, especially if it had something to do with ghosts, which this house apparently had at one point. So going by their relationship and the issues Astrid had with her mother you guessed it was something paranormal in question.

Delia, however, did not make that connection. “Oh you're calling off the wedding?” she went after Lydia outside and just for a moment you and Astrid exchanged looks do you just shrugged finally realizing that you couldn't even begin to try and have a normal conversation with her. That's how used you were to just fights and banter and insults and everything that came along with this hatred between you.

Eventually you just pointed at yourself then point upstairs and then point at her and outside. The message being clear, you would, rather regrettably, check up on Rory while she would go and check up on her mother.

To that Astrid, just as unsure of how to interact with you like a normal human being, just went and gave you a thumbs up and you both went your separate ways, one up the stairs to the attic and the other outside to talk to her mother.

~X~

Lydia was stuck in the office, just contemplating everything about her and Astrid’s relationship.

Apparently, her daughter was not gay. In fact, she had a date with a boy. Her first date was with a boy, not with the girl as she expected it would be. Did Lydia really mess up that much that she wasn't even capable of seeing how things actually were? Her daughter, who she believed was gay and actually had a crush on you and was just unable to properly act up on those feelings, threw her a curveball and was going on a date on Halloween night with a boy she met 2 days ago.

How did she miss the signs?

Her concerns were now even bigger because, unlike you, this boy was a complete unknown for Lydia. She didn't know his full name, she didn't know his parents, granted she didn't know your parents either but that was beside the point, she didn't know how he spent his time, what his interests were. She didn't know anyone who knew him, and she was now overthinking it and panicking and was getting even more nervous and afraid for her own daughter because this was a mess, and she was disappointed in herself as a mother for mistaking her daughter’s sexuality.

Maybe Astrid was just bisexual. Maybe. Maybe Lydia just got so deep into preparing for a girlfriend that she forgot that there were other options, all equally daunting for her as the mother of a child that would soon start, that actually just stated dating, and find her own love and heartbreak and everything Lydia herself went through all those decades ago.

Also did her daughter actually just tell her that she crashed through the fence and that's how she met the guy? Like it was just something people did for fun? How did that even happen?

Lydia began breathing deeply, huffing and taking very loud, very deep breaths. She could not go down that train of thought.

~X~

He liked her.

Jeremy liked her. Astrid knew that much, she could see signs that he wanted to kiss her, that he really didn't want to spend any time handing out candies to the kids and instead actually wanted to spend time with her.

And she, at least logically speaking, wasn't opposed to the idea. At least it would prove to her that some feelings she may or may not have were, in fact, not real and just her heart playing with her brain so she would kiss him to prove her heart wrong.

Astrid let him approach her, she felt his hands on her, hugging her and she hugged him back, and he held her like he hasn’t been touched in years. Like he was desperate to feel someone’s touch, someone’s kind and positive touch. Astrid could almost feel his breath on her lips and then she just couldn't do it, because there was an infuriating Barnacle plaguing her thoughts at that very moment.

She pulled away, separating from him even though she knew how it looked. “Sorry I just I think we are rushing too fast into this,” she apologized and he seemed understanding at first. At least from the looks of it, he just turned to the window and looked rejected “I'm not saying I'm opposed to kissing you eventually, but we just met two days ago,” she tried to cheer him up but then he turned to face her.

“No, you’re right, I'm- I'm sorry I just got excited because you can see me and for over 23 years no one saw me and I just thought we had something,” she must have heard him wrong but then she looked down and saw it.

He was floating and that's when she realized all the stories her mother told were actually true and she was actually seeing a ghost these past few days

~X~

You were in the living room, with everyone aside from Astrid and Rory, plus Jane, just lazing around on the sofa and texting Alex. You weren’t in a costume, you had no intention of dressing up for the Halloween.

The truth was, you kind of hated Halloween. Well hate might be a strong word, mostly reserved for Astrid and maybe another thing or two. No the actual word you were looking for regarding Halloween was more like indifference brought upon by that's one time you got dressed as a pumpkin and got teased for by your classmates.

It wasn't fun. It was actually horrific and ever since then you just didn't bother celebrating Halloween. So, what if Astrid was currently on her ridiculous date? It had nothing to do with your current mood. Even if you did hated the guy more than you hated her for some reason. You should have felt sorry for him, after all he was the one who had to deal with being on a date with the Chihuahua.

So, no, you did not care about Astrid being on a date with some random dude.

You just realized you’d be all alone. Delia would be at the cemetery doing whatever she seemed to want to do with the snakes and Lydia would be preparing for her wedding and Rory would be giving out the candy. And you were fine with that. You would just be hanging around on the couch in the living room waiting for Delia to sign all the papers and then you could just go ahead and leave, just start packing what little things you brought here and get ready to go back home. Luckily Delia promised she would arrange a car to come pick you up.

“Where's Rory?” Lydia asked out of blue, almost as if she was asking out of obligation, because she should know where he was and not because she actually had to know where he was. Especially since she had Chihuahua’s first date to worry about.

“Supermarket swapping out the candy I bought for carrot sticks, because Rory loves to fun suck everything even Halloween,” of course Delia did not miss a single chance point out the kind of person Rory was, because Lydia apparently couldn’t see him for who he really was. Even if it didn’t change anything you figured she did feel the need to, in her own way, warn her stepdaughter about him because as far as you knew telling Lydia that Rory was not who he was presenting himself as wasn't working. “Gotta run, see you at the church,” she turned back to Lydia and with a hopeful look added. “Unless you're calling off the wedding.”

“No Delia,” Lydia sighed and just noticed Delia was leaving, that was how focused on Astrid she was. “Wait, why are you going to the cemetery?” Lydia asked. It just crossed your mind that she in her panic earlier today did not see the snakes Delia bought.

“To commune with my dear husband spirit,” was all Delia needed to say. She quickly waved at you and was on her way leaving you alone with Lydia and Jane and from the looks of it, Jane was going to leave soon so that would just leave you and Lydia alone in the house for a while. At least until she would go and get Astrid. Oh, and until Rory came back.

Still, it could be fun. You haven't had the chance to be on your own wait the Lydia Deetz and you actually were curious about her. And it had nothing to do with maybe not wanting to be alone while a certain Chihuahua was on a date with a guy she met two days ago, while she spent so damn long hating you. Yeah, that had nothing to do with it.

Nothing at all!

You did not care where that stupid Chihuahua was or how quickly she fell in love like dumb ass.

“The closest we ever got to Disney was when Astrid dressed as Cinderella’s dead mom,” you absolutely did not filter out what Jane mentioned about her daughter and scouts or whatever group her daughter was in and you absolutely did not think Astrid’s costume sounded exactly like her.

Jane said something something fruit salad mortgage something something non triggering and then asked the question that was annoying the hell out of you, that is, she asked where Astrid was.

Lydia had this soft, yet somber smile on her face. “On a date,” she said, like a parent learning to accept their child was growing up. “Her first. I think I'm more nervous than she is. The boy lives over on Jefferson,” Lydia really did sound nervous when she said that, and you guessed between their rocky relationship and all the things that happened Astrid’s first date at this moment wasn’t something Lydia was entirely prepared for.

Something something perfect sales records something something on the market for years something something once more you're pretty much tuning out the words of the woman the Deetz family hired to sell their house. And you were doing good, tuning her out, that is until she said three words: the murder house and you immediately sat up and stopped texting Alex. A sinking feeling inside of your guts was almost telling you to pay attention because you just had a bad feeling about what was going to they said next.

“Murder house? Which house?” Lydia asked now frantic and you sort of pieced together that's maybe the house show left Astrid at wasn't that far off from looking like a murder house. Because if the house looked normal and if Lydia you got to see the parents or that boy she would not be looking this afraid right now.

“125,” James said and just from the look of Lydia's face you knew that was the house Astrid was in and so you jumped to your feet and rushed to get the car keys.

“Fucking hell Chihuahua, what did you get yourself into?” just as you've got the keys you saw Lydia rushing out. “I'm going with you!” you quickly told her and followed after her into the car. The woman was clearly in shock but all she cared about was just getting to Astrid, nothing else mattered.

You did not dare to tell her you would get there in time. You had no idea how all of this worked, sure you believed in ghosts and you've been seeing glimpses of strange things throughout your life. You still had no idea how any of that actually functioned. You had no idea if they could harm Astrid.

If the guy she was with was bad news then she probably was in danger and especially if Lydia, the most competent person to judge if her daughter was in danger from ghosts was also panicking. “He killed his parents 23 years ago!” okay, Astrid was definitely in danger. “If I just didn’t let her into that house, if I just went in with her! What kind of mother am I if something happens to her-“ Lydia was mostly talking to herself.

“Hey, wait, wait, don't go there you couldn't know!” You tried to get her to calm down. “You're the expert but you couldn't know! Just focus on saving her so you can berate yourself later,” you needed her focused because if she wasn't, you had no hopes of getting Astrid back in time. And you really, as much as you didn't like Astrid, did not want her dead or in danger.

~X~

The moment the car began slowing down in front of the house you just ran out, without even waiting for it to stop and ran up the stairs ignoring the for sale sign in front of the house. You ended up bursting through the doors so hard the handle might have gotten a bit damaged because the doors were old.

You stumbled when you entered the house, you felt sick for a moment when you saw the man. But you did not see him clearly, it was like there was a mist around him.

"Astrid!" Lydia yelled and it snapped you out of your confusion. That man was a ghost, mist meant ghost, at least at this stage of your ability to see ghosts. So, you rushed right through the woman going down the stairs.

"Wait! Deetz!" you yelled as loud as you could as you ran up the stairs two steps at a time. You saw the light and broke through the door, but Astrid just walked through something.

"What the? Barnacle?" your eyes met and you reached out to her but the ghost guy grabbed her forearm and pulled her along and the portal closed before you could reach out and grab her hand.

"Astrid!" Lydia cried out, but it was too late as well.

If only she reached out to you. For the first time since you met her you cursed yourself for not being at least civil with her. "Damn it!" you slammed your fist on the old table, right next to some thick book. "What do we do now?"

Lydia grabbed the book on the table, your outburst probably caught her attention. "Come on, I have a crazy idea," you saw uncertainty in her eyes, fear that maybe not even what she had in mind would be enough, but she had to hope. You both rushed down the stairs, every second mattered and you couldn't waste time on just talking. "Can you drive?" she asked, clearly intending to go through the book.

"Of course," you nodded and ran to the car, starting the engine once more as Lydia sat down next to you.

~X~

You had no time to waste, as you drove around the house and parked the car right in front of the entrance to the house, not even caring that you would somewhat block the path for the kids. They could avoid the car, it didn't matter, you just had to be quick and find a way to rescue Astrid, so up to the stairs you drove.

“Y/N?! Where’s the rush? You're nearly drove into the house!” Rory exclaimed as he was on top of the stairs preparing to hand out the candy to the kids, but you just ran past him not really wasting a moment to stop and chat. You didn’t even turn the engine off, just parked the car.

Lydia gave him some excuse or whatever as you both rushed upstairs. She already told you where to go so you just grabbed the crowbar on the way upstairs and started removing the boards Delia and Lydia put there just an hour or so ago. By the time Lydia came up the stairs as well you were almost done and you both pulled the last wooden board out of the way and went into the attic and from that point on you could only watch her as she found the solution.

The first thing that caught your eye was the small scale model of Winter River, done in amazing detail, and if things were any different you would have spent hours studying it.

“I can't believe I'm doing this,” she took a deep breath. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!” you had no idea what was going on as she repeated that word? Name? Whatever it was three times.

And then the freakiest thing happened the mist slash smoke surrounding the paranormal vanished from your vision as the zombie-looking guy with green hair and striped suits and rather unhealthy-looking skin emerged from the Winter River model. “The juice is loose,” he said and vanished, only to appear right next to Lydia.

“I need you to tell me what this means,” she skipped the formalities and just showed him the pages of the book she found in that room where Astrid was.

“Let's have a look,” he pulled out a magnifying glass. “Long story short, your daughter is screwed,” well, fuck! “She decided to trade lives with a boy, he gets to come back while she's stuck on the other side, permanently. One way ticket to the Soul Train,” this guy, Beetlejuice, explained and you were just absolutely confused about what was going on. Afterlife actually existed, and people could come back.

More importantly… “She did what?! Why would she do that? Who does that?” you demanded. Astrid was smart! What did that ghost offer her to make her accept giving up her life? Or did he just outright trick her? “Shit, we need to get her back,” you turned away from Lydia and Beetlejuice and ran your hand through your hair, not even sure you would make it in time.

“The Soul Train?” Lydia asked for further explanations.

“That's right! The last stop, The Great Beyond,” he said and you just leaned back against the wall. Was there even anything you could do at this point? Astrid was on the other and you were over here in the living world. But then again Beetlejuice was from that other world. Was that why Lydia called him? Because he could somehow move the two of you into the world of the dead?

Wait, were you about to go into the world of the dead for Astrid? Not knowing the risks, or the consequences, or if it would be dangerous? You knew nothing about it, it was a complete unknown that you weren’t even sure existed five minutes ago!

Somehow you knew the answer was yes. You would take all those risks to take her back, because you plain and simple couldn’t live with yourself if you just let her die.

“Can we go in after her?” You asked as you once more turned toward Lydia and Beetlejuice.

“Quid pro quo, I want something in return,” while he replied to you he was looking at Lydia, as if he would only accept something from her.

Maybe those were the rules? Since she summoned him?

“Of course you do. What do you want?” Lydia asked ready to give him anything he asked for as long as it would save her daughter.

“Well I've got this ex-wife-“ Beetlejuice began and you've spent enough time with Delia and you knew a tangent when you saw one.

“Get to the point!” You exclaimed. Each second could be vital in keeping Astrid alive, and you did not want to waste it on his tangents.

“You want me to marry you,” Lydia knew what he wanted, and you just turned to look at her because what the fuck was that about? How would that even work? All of this was too much and the only reason you were keeping your sanity was because you had a goal in mind.

You weren’t sure you’d be keeping your sanity for much longer as so you watched this Beetlejuice act like getting married was Lydia's idea, like she just proposed to him because she wanted that. And then he made her sign some contract because apparently, he needed that in writing. You were in the most absurd situation possible and you half- expected to just wake up and see that everything was fine. Like this was all just a fever dream and you would wake up go to the work at the library you'd see Astrid there being annoying and being a Chihuahua and getting on your nerves and not on the way to swap lives with a ghost and die.

“What's the plan on getting in?” Lydia had enough of his bullshit as well and just demanded to know how you all would get in.  

Beetlejuice just vanished again and appeared in front of the wall, crouching and drawing a bomb with the fuse. He then just went and lit his thumb on fire. This was all absolutely ridiculous because the drawn fuse just lit on fire and the bomb exploded and instead of looking outside of the house you were looking into some office.

“Deetz, you're gonna be the death of me,” you said, ready to just go through.

“Trust me kid I know the feeling,” Beetlejuice said.

“I did not ask,” fuck it, you were going in, and you were not getting out without Astrid.

Taglist: @alexkolax @osnapitzmel1 @bee-keeping @nebthetautora @lololauser

@nwestra @rroyale-109 @gemz5 @social-pomegranate @mirage018

@the-thing-withfeathers @hello-mtf @leafanonsforest @jaxon-nathaniel-drake

Masterlist / First part / Previous Part / Next Part

[sturniolohohoho]

Behind Closed Doors

sweet!matt x reader blurb??

summary: you get into a fight with matt about the fact that he's kept your relationship under wraps for a year

c/w: angst, fluff, cuddling, swearing, kissing, yelling and fighting

dividers by @anitalenia here

You stir a pot of pasta mindlessly in your kitchen, awaiting Matt’s return. Looking up at the oven clock, it reads 12:32 AM. He was late coming home. Again. Scrolling through instagram, you pause at a video captioned “Matt Sturniolo is my man 😍😍. new fanfic on tumblr!!!”  

You knew it was just some random fan, but every bone in your body wanted to comment. You wish you could tell the world that he was yours, and only yours. That he was the thing you most cherished and loved in your world. But you knew that it couldn’t happen. Despite the several long arguments you had with Matt, he didn’t want to make it public.

You sigh, shutting off your phone just as you hear the sound of keys at the door. The door cracks open and in walks Matt. You walk over to him, a big smile on your face, taking his jacket and bag away. He looks tired, but the hearty pasta and a kiss will probably rejuvenate him.

“Hey baby! I made pasta for you for dinner, come on, sit down.” He gives you a tight lipped smile, walks over to the kitchen table sitting down with a sigh. You eye him nervously as you set the plates.

“You good Matt? You came home pretty late…” His eyes snap up, immediately becoming defensive. “Relax okay? I was just out, it was a really long day today.” You’re taken a little aback by his reaction, but you ignore it, pushing the feeling down.

“Well good thing you’re home now,” you say, sitting down next to him to eat. He nods quietly. “I just saw the most ridiculous post on insta, someone promoting some fanfic of you. Sometimes I wish I could just comment “He’s mine!” y’know?”

“Well you can’t.” He replies sharply. “I don’t want to have this conversation again. I’m exhausted and my answer isn't going to change. We’re not dating publicly, you’re not filming content with us.” He gets up to leave, pasta only half done. “I’m going to sleep.” You listen to him walk away, his footsteps receding up the stairs. You feel tears pooling up in your eyes and dripping into your bowl, onto the pasta you made for him.

1 year. You had been together for exactly 1 year. Today was your anniversary, and he had forgotten about it. Like a rubber band, all your self control snapped, you stood up, taking both of your bowls and slamming them onto the kitchen counter. You nearly run up the stairs into Matt’s room swinging the door open. He’s in his bed, wide awake, scrolling on his phone. He looks up at you startled but mostly annoyed.

“Wha–” You interrupt him. “NO. NO, MATT. This is not okay. You can’t keep hiding me from the public, keeping me at home like I’m just your bitch that cooks and loves when you want me to.” He gets up, temper flaring.

“What the FUCK are you talking about? This isn’t about that. I’m not hiding you, I’m protecting you. I’m protecting us from the world.” 

“FUCK THAT, CHRIS. You haven’t taken me out in weeks out of fear of being recognized. You’ve been coming home late every night, taking me for fucking granted. You know today was our 1 year anniversary, right?” You see a glimmer of regret in his eyes. 

“One entire fucking year and you still don’t care about me enough to introduce me to your online life. Have you ever thought of MY YouTube career? My channel could be BLOWING UP if you even just let me show up in one of your videos, even just a TikTok. This isn’t about protecting “us”, you’re being selfish” Tears streamed down your face as you struggled to get the words out, each one heavier than the last. 

“I’ve been busting my ass for this. For us. And you’ve been too busy hiding me away, like I’m some dirty little secret. You know what? I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep sacrificing everything for a relationship that you aren’t even willing to put your full heart into. I deserve someone who sees me, who wants to share their life with me. If you can’t do that, then maybe it’s time I start thinking about me for once. Maybe it’s time I leave.”

He just sits there, frozen, eyes glazed over. You can’t tell at all what he’s thinking. You back out of his room, wiping the tears off your face. “Think about it, Matt,” you whisper, before you close the door and walk over to your room to collapse on the bed.

Hours pass by of you sleeping, waking up, crying, then going back to sleep. Your pillow is tear stained and your face is salty. Finally, you hear a knock on the door. 

“Can I come in?” You don’t respond just laying there motionless. Matt cracks the door open, walking into your room slowly, and closing the door behind him. He looks like he’s been crying too, eyes and cheeks red. He sits on the bed next to you, reaching his hand out to smooth your hair. He stays there for a couple minutes, just playing with your hair, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Baby, I thought about what you said,” he says in a quiet voice. You raise your eyes to meet him, a glimmer of hope in your eyes.

“You… you are the most important person in my life, sweetheart.” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “And I can’t believe I let my own selfishness about the complexity of dating publicly hurt us. I can’t lose you. I love you so much. I-” he chokes up. “–can’t lose you” Tears pool in your eyes as you lunge forwards to wrap your arms around Matt. “I’ll make the post tomorrow morning. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me, I’ll do anything. Please”

You bury your face against his chest, listening to his heart beating quickly. You let out a deep sigh, melting into his arms. “I forgive you, Matt. I just- I can’t live without you.”

He pulls you closer, his arms tight around you as if he's afraid to let go. His lips press softly into your hair, and you breathe in his scent, letting it calm your racing heart. “I love you more than you’ll ever know,” he whispers, his voice hoarse.

You pull back just enough to look him in the eyes, wiping away a few lingering tears. "I love you too," you reply, your voice barely above a whisper. The tension of the past few hours seems to melt away.

Matt smiles softly, brushing his thumb gently against your cheek. “How about we make the rest of this year the best one yet? I’ll be the guy who shows you off to the world. I’ll let you be a part of all of it—because you deserve that and more.”

Your heart swells, a mix of relief and joy flooding you. "Promise?"

“I promise," he says, his words sincere. “I’ve got you, always.”

a/n: all done!!! This is my first angst fic and I like it i thinkk. I probably wont make it a series and i dont have much to say so thanks for reading!

suggestions and criticism greatly appreciated, requests VERY OPEN <33 love youu

[justwonder113]

Showering Hyunjin with affection

Bang Chan; Lee Know; Changbin; Han; Felix; Seungmin; IN;

Summary: you just had to show your drama queen of a boyfriend how much you love him. word count:2.5k

Warning: lot's of kissing, reader is gender neutral, both of them are whipped, appearance of 3racha, predebut Han almost making an entrance, Hyunjin is drunk and a drama queen, overall soft stuff. Please tell me if I missed something

A/N- I'm back with another fic, this took me a while but I'm kinda really satisfied with it, I really hope you all like it. I will try to write the next part as soon as I can. I wanna finish these series as soon as I can, first of all because I'm all excited and can't wait, also I'm excited to try out new tropes, I was thinking of challenging one bed trope after this, with various different dynamics. The requests are open, if you want me to write something I'll gladly accept the challenge. Also feel free to share your thoughts with me, I absolutely adore interacting with y'all. If you like my work you can buy me coffee🩷

After sighing for the nth time you finally forced yourself to turn off the shitty netflix show you were watching to spend time. You had nothing to do and were bored out of your mind, but not to that context to sit through another minute of this. It was almost 3 am and any normal person would be asleep by now, but here you were wide awake, feeling nothing remotely close to sleepiness.

You sat up straight after laying for couple of hours and boy you regretted it. The dizzy spell you got was nothing to joke with, maybe you should check your iron levels. Also your poor muscles felt so sore you would surely feel all stiff tomorrow. Your back was killing you, and, not to be dramatic but, you would marry anyone on the spot if they managed to massage the knots out. It was safe to say, you desperately needed some good spa day.

Speaking of marriage and partners, you were curious on how Hyunjin was doing. Even a mere thought of your amazing boyfriend bought a smile to your face. You couldn't believe you two were actually dating after pining over him for so many years. You sure were lucky tho, to have a sweetheart like him as your boyfriend. Your one year annivercary was coming soon and you couldn't surprise wait to surprise him. You've been planning everything for weeks now and you made sure everything would be perfect. Well you had to share some of your plans with him, so that you could plan your day together but you still had major card up your sleeve and you were sure he would lose his mind when you showed it to him. Two days, you only had to wait for two days.

You couldn't help but sigh, you missed him so much. Even though you saw him two days ago it felt like centuries had passed. This boy made you feel so many so foreign emotions you were never sure you would get to or actually could experience. He always went above and beyond to make you feel like the most special and cherished person, and the fact that he also did so even before you two started dating each other. He was always so sweet and gentle with you. You always felt like a hero of a romance novel. Also you adored how being with him was so fun and exciting but at the same time bought peace to your heart and mind. You might be rushing into things but day by day, second by second you were convinced he was your soulmate, your other half.

A sudden buzzing of your phone startled you out of your daydream, you were curious who in their right mind was calling you at this hour.

Seeing the contact name had you even more confused. Why would Chan be calling you at 3 am? You knew the boys were out having fun night for themselves. Did something happen? You hoped he called you for other reasons, because it would really suck if their rare chance of having fun got ruined by something unplanned. You sure hoped everything was okay tho. Quickly as you could you grabbed your phone and answered it mentaly preparing yourself to hear anything Chan had to say.

Chan's call of your name bought you down to reality from another spiral of unnescesary thoughts.

"Hey Chan what's up?" You tried to sound as calm as you could.

Chan cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" You quickly denied it," no I'm awake, what's up? Is everything okay?"

Chan chuckled and it made you relax a little, so nothing bad had happened, "yeah, yeah everything's fine , nothing to worry about, it's just your boyfriend is getting a bit fussy." You couldn't help but mirror the last word, you heard Chan chuckle. "Yeah alcohol must've got to him. We were about to go home, but he refuses to cooperate. He says he wants to go at yours because he as he quotes "misses his baby so much he can't take it anymore!" He dragged the words mimicking your boyfriend, you couldn't help but chuckle.

"Where are you guys, I can come pick him up." You suggested while searching for your keys with your eyes.

"No, no it's okay, we can bring him at yours. Binnie and Han are with me too so I don't think it will be much trouble. I just couldn't knock some sense into him, I told him to call you but he said his phone died. At some point he even ran towards your house or that's what he thought I had to tackle him before he could get lost. I don't think he can tell left from right in this state" He paused for a second, you heard someone talking but you couldn't hear anything, " I'm getting off track sorry, so it's good to bring him at yours?" You were full on chuckling now, what a silly little man.

"Yeah, it's totally fine. I'm sorry he's being trouble."

"No it's fine, it's kinda endearing to see him this whipped. All he talked about was you and how amazing you are." Your cheeks hurt from smiling this wide, God, you loved that idiot. "Okay I won't bore you anymore, we'll be at yours soon."

"Okay I'm waiting."

After finishing the call you made sure you looked decent enough for your taste and that your apartment looked neat. You also prepared clothes for Hyunjin to change into from his drawer and some water and painkillers for tomorrow.

It didn't even take 20 minutes for the boys to arrive. The second you opened your door Hyunjin tackled you into a hug, almost knocking you over, thankfully Changbin and Chan caught you two before you could manage and break your necks. You giggled at your boyfriends eagerness, before frowning when you saw how swollen and red his eyes were. "What happened baby?" You cooed at him and moved his hair out of his face. Hyunjin sighed and hugged you again, hiding his face in the crook of your neck. You heard collective sigh of boys and turned your attention to them, looking at them with confused eyes, hoping they would tell you what was up.

Han decided to break the silence-"don't worry he was just bawling his eyes the whole ride, crying how amazing and perfect you were and how there is no one like you." He said and rolled his eyes, you huffed out a laugh, you knew he had nothing against you, but he must have had enough of this. Hyunjin frowned and glanced at him, his hold on you tightened, you were not sure if he felt possesive or just couldn't keep himself straight. "You're just bitter cuz you're single!" Hearing your boyfriends grumble Han's eyes widened and for a second you were afraid predebut Han would return. "Oh I'm gonna beat his ass!" Han leaned in but Changbin held him back by his collar, Changbins gaze then turned to you and you noticed how tired he seemed. "Good luck, he's your headache now."

Chan looked at you" Do you need any help with anything?" You smiled at him and shook your head. "I can handle him. Do you guys wanna come in tho? Do you want something to drink?" After hearing the last word you could see all three of them shiver.

"We're fine. It's late too we better head home." Chan reassured you after glancing at Changbin and Han for their opinion.

"Okay, thanks again for bringin him. Tell me when you're home, it's really late."

You said your goodbyes and turned to hyunjin who looked at you with dazed, sparkling eyes. "Let's get you settled pretty boy." You took his hand and started leading him towards your bedroom. Hyunjin eagerly followed you, you were amazed how pliant he was being, usually he loved being a brat but he must have been too tired now to act so.

After helping Hyunjin get ready for bed, you quickly got changed too and got in bed next to him. turning to him you noticed that he looked at you with wide eyes, nowhere near sleepy now. You leaned in and removed hair from his forehead, "I thought you were sleepy baby." Hyunjin looked at you for a second or two and opened his arms, "wanna cuddle." His words were slurred but you still got what he meant, you smiled and immediately snuggled next to him his arms finding solace around you. Based on how content he looked, if he could he would start purring any second now. How was he so cute and lovable? You knew you were whipped for him but you could swear he looked extra yummy right now.

You spent couple of minutes like this, and based on his even breathing you were sure he was asleep now, but you were proved wrong when he huffed while glaring at you and then changed sides so that you were now facing his back. To be honest you were a bit dumbfounded.

"What's wrong sweetie?" You couldn't help but pry, you had no idea what could've brought this behavior from him. Hyunjin just huffed. You sighed for yourself, you had got to use the big guns. You leaned in closer, amused at how he tried to get away from your touch, as if he had much space to run off to, and soon, not really to your surprise you had him trapped in the corner of your bed. You wrapped your hand around his stiff body and leaned in closer so that you could sweetly whisper against his ear. " Please tell me what's wrong my love" you dragged his nickname as sweetly as you could knowing it made him weak in the knees, and it did break through him. Hyunjin sighed and laid on his back, you glued next to him, his lips were pouted and his eyes a little bit glossy, you rubbed his side to ease him into talking .

"You don't love me" he whined quietly, you expected to hear anything but this from him if you were honest. You blinked at him confused, trying to gather your thoughts, you were both perplexed and also hollering from laughter inside. He was so ridiculous sometimes. You took a deep breath and moved your fingers to play with his soft locks, Hyunjin immediately leaned into the touch.

"My love, I love you so much I don't think you can even comprehend it! What brought this up?" Your voice was soft, you wanted him to know how sincere you were. Hyunjin sighed and put his hand on your waist, successfully bringing you closer to him, your fingers migrated and now were gently scratching his nape. Hyunjin hid his face in the crook of your neck and quietly grumbled "you didn't kiss me even once since I got here, we haven't seen each other in a while tho." No matter how hard you tried you couldn't hold it in and started cackling, this adorable as hell drama Queen! He had you worried for nothing! You even thought for a second you did something wrong.

Noticing your shaking figure, Hyunjin looked up at you with doe eyes, and his pout deepened when he saw you that you were wholeheartedly laughing. "Stop laughing I'm talking from my heart here!" His comment made you laugh even harder. "I should've gone home, you hates me" noticing how sad he sounded you got reminded that he was drunk as hell and was feeling more fragile, you wondered tho if he would remember any of this in the morning? Was it too late to grab a camera? Pouty Hyunjin was adorable.

"I'm sorry my love, you know I love you the most." Hyunjin rolled his eyes, and you knew he was playing with you, his eyes glimmered with mischief, well, two could play this game. You lowered your voice so you sounded almost sultry "Why don't you let me prove my sincerity to you then? Are you gonna let me?" You carefully watched as Hyunjin's eyes widened for a second, the big gulp and careful nod of his head.

This was all the permission you needed, you leaned in and carefully sealed your lips together, your boyfriend basically melted against you. You just loved how soft and pillowy his lips were, you always felt like you could kiss him for eternity.

The kiss started out soft, with you gently caressing his lips, his hand firm on your waist, holding you as if you were going to go away. Everything went quiet, you could only see, smell, taste, feel, hear him and so much more, he was the center of your universe. It was just you two right now, you didn't care about anything else. You had one goal only and you were dedicated. Everything about him was driving you crazy, you were sure he couldn't even grasp what, or how much you were feeling.

Your kisses quickly deepened and apart from gasping for air from time to time you two were inseparable, like two magnets pulling on each other.

The second Hyunjin leaned back for a second for some air, you decided to continue your little attack on his jaw, then his cheeks, absolutely loving the feel of his soft skin on your lips, then came his forehead, his eyelids, his beautiful nose, his chin, his neck... You wanted to cover every inch of him in kisses, to show appreciation to whichever god or gods crafted him, to show appreciation that this walking perfection was yours, his soft sighs and whines making you go even crazier.

You littered every part of skin you could reach with kisses until your lips were so numb and buzzing you got afraid they would fall off. Although, it didn't sound that bad, knowing the last thing they did was to kiss the Hwang Hyunjin senseless.

Looking at him, he looked at you with so much love and adoration, his face and neck all flushed, his breathing was quick and shallow,his hair all disheveled, his beautiful hands held you so tightly, your heart started fluttering all over again. He looked absolutely breathtaking, you wished you could engrave this moment into your mind for eternity. You smiled at him and softly grazed his cheek. "Are you satisfied with my answer my precious?" Your voice was soft, Hyunjin gleamed at you and eagerly nodded his head, and the next thing you knew you were on your back on the bed, Hyunjin above you, hugging you as tight as he could, his lips softly kissing your collarbone. "Absolutely, I love you so much beautiful, you have no idea" he pressed another kiss on your neck and then your lips with so much love and passion you just knew your feelings were returned with the same passion and vigor.

Reblogs and feedback are greatly appreciated ^^

If you like my work you can buy me coffee🩷

[toge1kiss]

Remember Me.

📢 | Fem!Reader, suffering a brain injury after a solo mission. Thus, resulting in her losing her memories. What happens to the first years after hearing she lost her memories?

Jjk first years x Fem!Reader ( can be seen platonic or romantic ) Reader is heavily implied quiet & very feminine!

A/N : Chat my reader is generally rly quiet bcs I cannot for the life of me properly right a cheerful & giddy reader without overthinking that they're being obnoxious..... I am so sorry!!! I will most probably be posting agn onnnn Monday because m tryna find a proper posting schedule instead of posting daily..

˚·˚ Kugisaki Nobara ｡˚

🎧 | Truth be told, she didn't know what to feel. She never felt another big loss like Saori or Fumi, but this was just cruel.

🎧 | She first heard it from Gojo-sensei, at first she thought that he was just fucking with her and it was some sick joke.

🎧 | Days passed, she never believed it. She won't believe it until she sees it. She won't trust anyone to be the bearer of news for this.

🎧 | Well that was until she actually visited you and you were just sitting there confused. "Who is she?" You'd ask while looking at Ijichi who brought her.

🎧 | "Are you fucking with me? You can't be serious..! yn.."

🎧 | Even though she's aware that she shouldn't be mad at you, she couldn't help but feel betrayed in a way. But also guilt. You asked if she wanted to come to the mission you're taking but she refused. Only because she didn't feel like it.

🎧 | She knew she wasn't at fault, she knew injuries were inevitable. But she can't help but feel she could've done something to prevent this from happening.

🎧 | Of course, she desperately tried to make you remember her, to remember what you both did together. She eventually just gave up and inevitably decided to just stick with you once again.

🎧 | But one things for sure, she won't ever leave your side again.

˚·˚ Itadori Yuji ｡˚

🎧 | This is another person who wouldn't know how to react, unlike Nobara, he isn't in denial.

🎧 | The poor boy was just.. confused and disturbed.

🎧 | What's worse is he was with you during the mission. It happened way too quickly for Yuji's liking. He just saw you lying on the ground with your scalp cracked.

🎧 | When Yuji saw you lying on that hospital bed, looking all terrified by everyone's faces even when you've already seen them.

🎧 | Gojo-sensei informed him about your loss of memory and he was speechless. Eyes that was used to meet his with comfort was replaced with discomfort.

🎧 | "please tell me you remember me." Yuji quietly pleaded as he took a hesitant step forward.

🎧 | "..am I supposed to remember you?" You replied back and instinctively inched back on the bed.

🎧 | The immense guilt just ate him alive, he saw and watched that Cursed Spirit thrashed your head so why couldn't he have stopped it? Or took the hit?

🎧 | It's like that time where Sukuna almost killed Megumi, but this was permanent. He couldn't look at you the same, especially with the knowledge of you because of him.

🎧 | Well he feels like it was his fault. Since then, he couldn't properly speak to you without feeling a sense of nostalgia. A bad sense of nostalgia.

˚·˚ Fushiguro Megumi ｡˚

🎧 | To him, it's like Tsumiki's state all over again. Except you were wide awake.

🎧 | Yes, you were awake. Yes, you were alive. Yes, were still in one piece. But you might as well be dead if you can't remember anything.

🎧 | Megumi visited you, numerous times, actually. In hopes of you actually remembering him again. Of course, in the end that's just false hope.

🎧 | Instead of feeling guilt, regret seeped through his pores.

🎧 | Could've he'd been a better friend to you? Protected you, possibly? Prevented the situation when you lost your memory? He regret it all.

🎧 | He didn't regret meeting you. Oh he's more than blessed to have you. He's just mad at himself for letting this happen to you.

🎧 | He already lost Tsumiki who was confined in a hospital room, now you? You, who lost all memory of him. Every experience with him, every conversation, all of them.

🎧 | "I'm sorry for being a shithead." "..what do you mean?" "Nothing."

CONCLUDED!

MASTERLIST!

[nyrandrea]

Restless

Summary: As your sleepless nights start to catch up with you, you turn to a certain vampire who might just be able to help.

Also available to read here on A03!

Word Count - 2.7k

Enjoy!

xxx

Sleep had always been something of an illusion to you. 

Each night, as the world succumbed to slumber, you lay in your bedroll, with eyes wide open, gazing at the twinkling stars of the endless night sky. It was as if the world had pressed pause, leaving you to confront the shadows of your own thoughts. Your insomnia was a relentless adversary, a cruel warden that held you captive in the prison of wakefulness. 

The nights stretched on endlessly, and as the hours ticked by, your exhaustion grew more profound.  

Your mind raced with thoughts, a relentless carousel of worries, hopes, and regrets. You would toss and turn, your body tangled in the sheets, seeking elusive comfort. Come morning, the birds seemed to mock you, a constant reminder of the passage of time that slipped away while you lay wide awake.

By the time everyone else was up and refreshed from a good night’s sleep, you were still lying flat on your back, your bloodshot eyes stinging as you stared up at the pale morning sky. 

“Darling, it’s time to get up,” Astarion said, standing above you with hands on hips, his expression somewhat bemused. “Honestly, you’re so lazy, just like Gale.” 

He muttered that last part, glaring towards the wizard’s tent as a rumbling snore emanated from it and echoed throughout the camp. The vampire suddenly smirked, and you rolled your head to follow his gaze, only to see Karlach sneaking towards the tent with her hands out, ready to pounce. 

The snoring was cut short with a high-pitched scream, followed by a roar of laughter, and a lot of cursing on Gale’s part. 

“Good, at least that’s one of you up,” Astarion said, turning back towards you. “Now, are you going to follow suit? Or am I going to have to stoop to Karlach’s tactics? Brash as they are.” 

“Hey! My tactics are quite refined, thank you very much,” Karlach rebuked, stabbing a thumb in Gale’s direction, the poor man stumbling to find his cloak. “Got him up, didn’t I?” 

“That you did, darling.” 

“I’m up,” you muttered hoarsely, wincing as you slowly pushed yourself up off the ground, your body feeling about a hundred years old. “I’m up.” 

“Oh dear,” Astarion grimaced. “Looks like someone didn’t get their beauty sleep last night, hm?” 

His tone was light but there was an almost... concerned note to it, as if he was prodding. You felt a pang in your chest; he only spoke the truth; your eyes, once bright and expressive, now bore the heavy bags and dark circles of sleep deprivation. Your skin had dulled and paled considerably over the past few weeks, and your hair was dishevelled and unkempt.  

You almost certainly looked as bad as you felt. 

Part of you wanted to blame the group: Astarion for nearly sucking you dry of your blood, Karlach for being so damn loud all the time, Gale for making demands of you every ten minutes, Lae’zel for very nearly causing fights everywhere she went with her brashness, Shadowheart for her condescending demeanour and Wyll for craving validation from you every time you had a chat with him. The only sane person here seemed to be Halsin, and even he was starting to grate on your nerves for just looking so damn well-rested and perky.

The other part of you wanted to cry, to apologise for being such a failure and run away into the woods to never be seen or heard from again and just succumb to whatever fate the mind-flayer parasite had in store for you. 

Instead, you forced a smile, and lied.  

“Just had a nightmare, is all.” 

“Hm,” Astarion hummed, a simmering concern etched into the lines of his face. In that moment you felt a soft push in your mind, and the tadpole behind your eye squirmed as if responding to something. The atmosphere was heavy with unspoken emotions, a palpable tension that seemed to hang between you both.  

It was only when you winced that the vampire averted his gaze, and the unseen force retreated from your mind. 

“Terribly sorry,” Astarion said as you rubbed your head. “It would seem that my worm wanted to talk with yours; perhaps it was... concerned. Ooh, do you think that they’re best friends?” 

“I doubt it,” you muttered, a little annoyed at his giddiness. “Maybe tell yours to mind its own business next time.” 

“Of course, apologies again,” he said with that smooth voice and puppy-dog eyes of his, it was enough to make your irritation melt away. “But should a nightmare ever arise in that darling head of yours again, just know that you can seek me out.” 

You blinked, a little surprised at the open invitation. You couldn’t quite tell if it was genuine; it was always hard to tell with him. The only times you had ever been intimate was whenever he sought you out for a bit of casual fun. He seemed confused as to why you never wanted to initiate, but you tried to explain that while you enjoyed your time together, you never wanted to invade his privacy as you respected that camp time was everyone’s chance for a bit of peace and were entitled to such.  

This only seemed to confuse him further. 

Still, this had to be a big step for him, to ask you to his tent -his sanctuary- and you didn’t want to seem ungrateful. 

“I-I will,” you stutter. “Thank you.” 

“Anytime, my dear,” Astarion smiled. “Now, shall we see what chaos today brings for us? It’s been far too long since we’ve had to kill anyone.” 

You bumped his shoulder playfully. “We killed that group of bandits only yesterday.” 

He returned the gesture with a sly smirk. “Exactly.” 

During the day, you continued your journey with a fragile facade of normalcy, sipping on coffee like it was the elixir of life, desperately trying to stay awake. Your interactions with others were tinged with a weary detachment, as if you were viewing the world through a foggy pane of glass.  

Emotions played hide-and-seek within your very soul. Frustration lurked just beneath the surface, ready to erupt at the slightest provocation. An innocent quip or question would trigger an unexpected wellspring of tears, followed by nervous laughter, leaving everyone in the group perplexed. You merely brushed it off as the tadpole messing with your head, but even that raised a few eyebrows as nobody else was acting up—it was a good thing you were persuasive. 

You tried to avoid battles wherever and whenever you could, opting to take the longer roads or attempting to sweet-talk your way out of a sticky situation. However, some fights were unavoidable, and this was when your sleep deprivation was really put on show for everyone to see; your movements were sluggish, enemies were able to get more hits on you and you had to be helped back up to your feet on more than one occasion.  

The others insisted on setting up camp a little earlier than usual so you could rest and, despite your trying to tell them that you were fine and wanted to keep going because these tadpoles weren’t going to remove themselves anytime soon, they wouldn’t take no for an answer.  

So, here you were again, on your back, staring up at the stars. Another night of having an existential crisis while everyone else slumbered on peacefully. Rinse and repeat. 

You had tried everything to conquer your insomnia. Experimented with herbal teas, soothing music, you had even consulted a sleep specialist back in Baldur’s Gate who prescribed a cocktail of medications. But the battle persisted, night after night. 

Sitting up and rubbing your dry, stinging eyes, you decided to try something else. 

As you crept through the camp, you were careful not to wake anyone else up as you approached Astarion’s tent, tentatively peeking in through the flap before reprimanding yourself; even though he had invited you, boundaries were important, you couldn’t just go barging in. So, you gently knocked on one of the wooden beams that supported the tent. 

“Astarion...?” You softly whispered, waiting for a response. 

Only silence followed. 

You knocked again, wincing slightly at the louder noise you made. For a moment you thought about abandoning this whole silly idea and going back to staring into space for the next eight hours, but desperation made you persistent. 

Mercifully, you heard a faint shuffle come from inside the tent. 

“Come in,” Astarion’s husky, muffled voice answered. 

Nervously, you slipped inside, and a wave of warmth immediately washed over your face as you were greeted with the sight of a bare-chested Astarion sitting cross-legged on his bedroll. You were grateful he at least had pants on, otherwise you would have been out of there like a shot. 

A mischievous smile spread across his face as he watched you squirm uncomfortably. “Whatever is the matter, darling?” His lips formed a perfect pout. “Come to ask me for a little cuddle to chase the bad dreams away?” 

Your nostrils flared as you glowered down at him while he smirked smugly back up, because of course he would tease you about something like this. You should have known that he wasn’t going to take you seriously. 

“Forget it,” you said, making a sharp turn to re-open the tent flap. “I-I never should have come here, I’ll just... leave you be.”  

You missed the flash of panic on his face as he quickly got to his knees to reach out and grab your wrist before you could make it out.  

“Wait!” He said, stopping you in your tracks. “I’m sorry, come back in, please?” 

You slowly turned your head. 

“I promise not to tease you.” 

Begrudgingly, you allowed him to take your hand and escort you back inside, guiding you to sit down beside him on the floor. 

“You’re having trouble sleeping again, I presume?” 

Nodding your head, you squeezed the bridge of your nose and sighed, trying to swallow down the overwhelming urge to break down in front of him and cry in pure frustration.  

“I... I’ve been struggling with insomnia for a while now.” 

Astarion scoffed. “Well now, that’s a revelation.” 

You had half a mind to slap him. 

“Sorry,” he said, holding up his hands in a placating manner. “No teasing, of course, but come on darling, it was pretty obvious from the start.” 

“Thanks,” you mumbled, your gaze cast downward, wondering why you even came here in the first place if he was just going to insult you. 

“You’re still beautiful,” he said, softly caressing your jaw to angle your face towards him. “Very beautiful indeed.” 

Your heart thumped wildly as the tip of your nose brushed his, and you would have crumpled into his well-tuned act of seduction if it were not for one burning question suddenly on your mind. 

“How do you do it?"

“I- do what?”  

“Elves don’t sleep, right?” You said, blinking curiously. “How do you... not sleep?” 

“We uh... meditate, darling. Wait, how do you not know this?” he asked, pulling back with his eyebrow raised. “You must have seen me doing it at some stage or another.” 

“...I always just thought you pretended to sleep,” you hummed in thought. “Now that I think about it, the way you lay down was always kind of strange looking.” 

He snorted a laugh at your brutal honesty, and feeling a jab of guilt, you tried to back-track on your word vomit. 

“Sorry! Um… no offence?” 

"None taken, darling,” he said, waving a nonchalant hand. “I can see why my eloquent poses would look strange to you, but for elves, meditation is a common practice. Helps us to… calm down; be in the moment, as it were.” 

A comfortable silence fell between you.

“Could you show me?”  

Astarion gave you a questionable look. “You want me to show you how to meditate?” 

You nod vigorously and cross your legs with your arms resting on your knees to show that you’re serious. It takes you a moment to figure out which fingers were supposed to touch together but you get there eventually.  

With a bemused smile, the vampire shrugs. “Alright, I've had stranger requests.” 

You wanted to question that but put a pin in it for another time. 

"Are you ready?" Astarion asked. You nod, your heart fluttering with both anticipation and trust. “Now, clear your head.” 

You give him a dry look. 

He rolls his eyes back. “Yes, admittedly a little hard, what with the little residents living up there but just... trust me, alright? Close your eyes.” 

You complied, and Astarion began to guide you, his words soft and rhythmic, like a gentle lullaby. "Breathe in deeply," he said, his own breath aligning with yours. "Feel the air fill your lungs, expanding your chest, and exhale slowly, try to let go of any tension." 

You followed his instructions, your breath matching his like a perfectly choreographed dance. With each inhale and exhale, you felt a growing sense of calm washing over. 

"Thoughts may arise, like passing clouds," Astarion murmured. "Acknowledge them but let them drift away. Return your focus to your breath.” 

You found yourself navigating the currents of your thoughts with newfound ease, like a sailor guiding a boat through calm waters. The more you let go, the more profound your sense of inner stillness grew. You felt the weight of your worries begin to dissolve. The burdens of your leadership, of the mind-flayer tadpoles and the problems that came with it seemed to retreat into the distance, leaving you with a newfound clarity. 

"Good," Astarion whispered. "Now, focus on your body. Notice any tension, any discomfort. Let it go with each breath. Feel your body becoming lighter, more at ease." 

Minutes passed like hours, and the tent seemed to fill with an ethereal stillness. You and Astarion remained connected through your breath, it was as if time itself had become irrelevant, and you were both suspended in a moment of pure existence. 

You could feel the tension in your shoulders and neck melting away. It was as if the cares of the world were simply slipping through your fingers. 

Slipping... 

Slipping...  

“...Darling? Are you-? Oh.” 

Astarion’s eyes widen, and he winces a little when your head falls into his shoulder. He catches you gently by the arms, so you don’t slip and go face-first into his lap; it was a delicious thought but for another time, when you were conscious and ready.  

But right now, he isn’t quite sure what to do with you. He certainly knows he can’t hold you like this all night; it would be uncomfortable for both of you. His eyebrows crease as he frowns while he tries to slowly lower you to the ground. 

To absolutely no avail; unconsciously you end up pulling him in closer. 

“Oh, for Gods's sake,” the vampire huffs incredulously. “What am I, some sort of glorified teddy bear?” 

Half-asleep and still nestled into Astarion’s chest, you mumble something incoherent in response, your breath warm against his skin. You snuggle even closer, your head burrowing into the crook of his neck. 

For a moment, Astarion felt a flicker of irritation, his desire for a good night's rest warring with his affection for you. He yearned to stretch out, to find the perfect position that would allow him the bliss of undisturbed meditation. But as he looked down at the peaceful expression on your face, all traces of weariness and anxiety erased, he just couldn't bring himself to disturb you. 

Reluctantly, he wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer still. He could feel the gentle rise and fall of your breath, the slow, rhythmic cadence of sleep. The warmth of your body against his own gradually seeped through the cracks in his defences, and his irritation gave way to an overwhelming tenderness. 

In that moment, he realised that the inconvenience of being your living pillow was a small price to pay for the privilege of holding you close, of being the one you sought comfort in. As you drifted further into slumber, Astarion closed his eyes and surrendered to the serenity of the night, the gentle weight of your devotion for each other enveloping you both, anchoring him in the moment and reminding him of the beauty in life's simple, sweet sacrifices. 

xxx 

Yyyyyeah I know this one has the same beats as 'Everything's Fine' but what can I say? I'm a sucker for begrudgingly soft Astarion ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Let me know what y'all think!

Links to my other Astarion works

'Everything's Fine'

Request - Astarion kills everyone in his path to get to you