#of course doing this right before the end of the month

[organic-bloodbath]

Please, forgive me (i love you)

Thanos x Pregnant!Reader

Summary: Thanos finds his ex-girlfriend, now very much pregnant, in the games with him. You didn’t break up in good terms but Thanos does everything he can to protect you in the games. You and your baby.

A/N: Forks don't exist in Squid Game ok. Idk whatever the hell this is but i missed this little purple shit in s3 😔

☆☆☆

Thanos was prepared to leave the games with a stack of money – not with a stack of money and a newborn baby.

When he saw you for the first time, right before the first game started, his heart dropped and for a moment he forgot how to function. What the hell were you doing here?

"Y/N?" he asked, making you turn around to face him. He was about to pull some sort of a joke on you, but his amused and cocky smile faded as he looked down to your stomach – clearly a very, very pregnant stomach. Getting any words out of his mouth wasn't so easy anymore.

“Su-bong,” you replied coldly and crossed your arms against your chest. You had already seen him inside, being surrounded by a crowd of his fans, eager to be in the picture with him and disappointed when they couldn't get the photo together with the oh so amazing rap artist. You were probably the only one who didn’t want to talk to him or hear a single word from him in return, having nothing good to say to him.

“What… what are you doing here?” Thanos asked, shocked to see you after all these months.

8 months exactly. The last time Thanos had seen you was in your apartment. You were shouting and throwing things at him, screaming at him for ruining your life and how you never wanted to see him again. You had kicked him out in the middle of the night, ending the three year long relationship. You had taken a lot of shit from Thanos, always forgiving him, but using your money for more drugs without your knowledge and permission, a lot of it too, when he had ran out of his was the final point of a breakdown for you and ending things between the two of you. Later, when you were already gone, he had realized how he had taken you for granted and put his career as a rap artist before you. Both his career and drugs, while you were supposed to be his priority.

“Do you actually have to ask that?” you scoffed. “I think you know pretty well what kind of debts you left me after you emptied my bank account. And my life has only gone to worse ever since.”

The game will now begin.

“Y/N, I —“ Thanos started but you brushed him off.

“Fuck off, Thanos,” you spat and quickly walked away from him to the other side of the field before the game would start.

You had never called him ‘Thanos’, it was always Su-bong. Thanos knew that he deserved all the hate from you, he was aware of that. He had fucked up, big time, and he didn’t know if you’d ever forgive him for that.

☆☆☆

As the first few days passed, you didn’t talk to him, didn’t even look at his way. You simply wanted nothing to do with him, and Thanos understood that. He deserved it. But he couldn't help but look in your way whenever the players were thrown back into the dorm after the games.

You had found your own group there, hanging out the most with the player 388, 120 and 456. He watched you, whether you were aware of it or not. Wanting to approach you, talk to you, but you would just push him away, and he didn't want to cause a scene in front of other people. Thanos didn't know if you wanted to be associated with him there at all, letting others know that you already knew each other and even that Thanos had been the one to knock you up. Or had you told about it to the others already? No, of course you hadn't. It was a secret you didn't want to spill. Thanos had to respect that.

Thanos opened the cross hanging from his neck, planting one of the pills on his tongue to get his mind off everything.

Off the games. And you.

☆☆☆

During the game of Mingle, Thanos made sure that you had a team to search for a room with before he'd start heading towards one of the rooms with other players. He had to see that you made it in and weren't left all alone by the carousel.

But the player 388 and 120 took good care of you.

However, when it was time for two players to find a room together, Thanos noticed you nearby still without a partner. Before the player 388 (Dae-ho, was it?) would manage to reach you, Thanos grabbed your hand and started leading you towards one of the rooms.

“Thanos, for fuck’s sake can—“ you started, angry at meddling into your business when you were just fine with a partner already.

"Will you stop avoiding me?" Thanos asked, annoyed of your stubborn behavior. “Please, can we just talk?”

“About what exactly?” you asked, crossing your arms.

Thanos wasn’t sure what to say. There was so much he wanted to say but he didn’t know where to start or how to form his thoughts into real sentences so that they’d make any sense. It didn’t help either that he was a little high. And you seemed to pick on it. You could always tell.

“Are you high again?” you asked, narrowing your eyes. You scoffed and shook your head, turning away from him. “Typical.”

“Y/N, seriously,” Thanos repeated. God, why did he have to take the pill again. “I just want to make up things between us.”

“Why?” you chuckled. “Because I’m pregnant and suddenly you have a need to be a responsible dad?”

“No, I don’t mean that,” Thanos shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Then what?”

“I just,” he started but the words got stuck in his throat.

The door unlocked, and you didn’t spare him a moment longer, leaving him alone in the room.

☆☆☆

That night, you had ended up to lying on the nasty bathroom floor, knees up and legs spread. This was absolutely the worst fucking moment to start giving birth.

It was the middle of the night, you had woken up to bad stomach cramps and felt the mattress turned wet underneath you. So, after the initial shock and panicking, you woke Geum-ja up, knowing she was the best person to help you.

Although, as Geum-ja was walking you towards the bathroom, you hadn’t been the only one up and awake. Thanos had been sitting on his own bed, not being able to sleep, when he noticed you going towards the bathroom with the old woman supporting you so you wouldn’t fall on the floor.

Something was clearly wrong. Thanos knew you didn’t want to see him, wanted nothing to do with him, but he grew worried and had to get up and go to see what was going on.

You were crying, tears streaming down your cheeks.

“I can’t do it, I can’t,” you sobbed, shaking your head. “I don’t want to. Please don’t make me do this.”

“It’s time, dear. The baby’s coming, whether you wanted it or not,” Geum-ja said calmly. “Now, take a deep breath and lay down, alright?”

When both of you noticed Thanos arriving to the doorway, you fell silent, just a hiccup slipping out of your throat. Thanos’ eyes widened when he realized what was going on.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck shit.

“Su-bong, get the fuck out of here,” you growled, fuming inside.

But Thanos was frozen still on his spot, eyes wide unable to move.

“Su-bong. Get. Out.”

But he stayed, Geum-ja approving his help since there was nobody else around right now.

“I fucking hate you,” you gritted between your teeth, squeezing Thanos’ hand so hard it hurt but Thanos tried not to show it. “God, how much I hate you.”

“I know, I know,” Thanos mumbled, trying not to take anything coming out of your mouth personally right now.

Thanos brushed your hair and forehead with his free hand, a few strands of hair sticking on the sweaty skin. You had lost the sense of time how many minutes had passed. Ten minutes? An hour? It felt like the baby was taking forever to come out, the pain being unbearable, the worst pain you had ever had to go through. This would certainly be the last time you would willingly give birth to a child.

“One last push,” Geum-ja instructed.

When the baby finally came out and you heard crying, you let yourself relax. Thanos held you behind you, your body shivering and limp from exhaustion.

When the baby was in your arms, the initial crying and screaming stopped, you could have burst in tears as well. And you did, without realizing it.

You let yourself lean against Thanos’ chest, his arms around your waist as he pulled you slightly up, but still sitting on the floor while Geum-ja cleaned you up a little. You were way too tired and out of energy to even move your limbs at the moment, actually glad that Thanos were there to support you.

“She’s pretty,” Thanos whispered and pressed a kiss on top of your head.

“She is,” you said and smiled, only concentrating on your newborn baby and how much love you already had for her.

☆☆☆

Your arm was broken after the hide and seek game, it definitely was, and you could barely hold the baby in your arms. How the hell could you make it through the game without accidentally dropping her on the way?

"I can carry her," Thanos offered.

"What?" you asked. "Oh hell no."

"Y/N, you clearly can't carry her on your own," Thanos argued.

"Are you on drugs right now?" you asked, trying to get closer to look into his eyes.

"No, i'm not on drugs," Thanos sighed. He knew you wouldn't believe him that easily, knowing how he had acted during all the previous games.

"I have a really hard time believing that," you scoffed. "You've been on drugs constantly since we got here."

"Fair, but i haven't taken a single pill after you gave birth," he explained.

"That was literally one day ago."

"What else are you going to do with her, huh?"

You knew you wouldn't be able to pass the game with your baby in your arms.

"Come on, give her to me," Thanos pleaded. He wanted you and the baby go to the other side safely. He wanted to help you to get out of here. Take care of you. Keep you safe. Protect you.

Because god damn it how much he loved you.

You looked around you. Gi-hun was going to carry Jun-hee’s baby across the bridge, so he wouldn’t be able to help.

Yes, two babies had been born during these games. Bet the VIPs were having a blast.

Dae-ho was dead, Hyun-ju was dead, even Geum-ja was dead — you had nobody left anymore. Nobody who you truly, from the bottom of your heart, trusted. Even though you had known each of them for barely a week, you trusted them more with your baby than this reckless drug addict in front of you.

But you had no choice.

“If you drop her, I’ll actually kill you with my bare hands,” you threatened him.

“And I’d expect nothing less,” he replied with a smile on his lips, but the look on your face told him that this wasn’t the time to joke about anything. He cleared his throat and turned more serious. “I’ll keep her safe, I promise.”

You were hesitant but gave the baby to Thanos. He handled her like she was made of glass and would break in pieces if he held her too tightly.

“Hi, baby,” Thanos whispered and smiled, looking directly into his daughter’s eyes. It was the first time he held her in his arms, and the sight of them together made your heart skip a beat and eyes tear up a little, smile threatening to crawl on your lips but you tried to keep your face neutral.

You looked towards the bridge, half of the people had already stepped their foot on the bridge. You swallowed, your body getting filled with so much anxiety your hands were shaking and you felt like you could throw up. You can do this, you thought. It’s not so bad. Just jump at the correct moment and you’ll be fine. Easy. Easy game. Nothing to worry about.

But each time the rope swept another player off the bridge to their death, you became less and less confident on passing the game yourself.

“Hey,” Thanos said quietly, startling you from your thoughts. “It’ll be alright, you can do it. We can do it.”

You took a deep breath in, trying to calm yourself down.

“You wanna go first or should we?”

“I… I’ll go first,” you muttered and took one last look at your child in Thanos’ arms, pressing a kiss on her forehead before heading towards the bridge. You didn’t spare Thanos another look, you couldn’t. You’d see him on the other side, right?

Thanos didn’t think he had ever been as scared as he was right at this moment. He didn’t care that much if he fell and died. To be honest, he was surprised he had managed to progress this far in the games, not taking them seriously and recklessly fooling around. Now, he had to concentrate a lot more, because he was responsible for another life as well. A life that hadn’t even properly started yet. And if he fucked up this, you’d be gone forever. You would probably push him over the edge in the end of the bridge if he arrived there empty-handed.

Thanos glanced towards the platform at the end of the bridge. You were safely standing there among other few players who had passed the game. You were safe, thank god for that; Thanos wasn’t ready to become a single father, raise his kid on his own.

One jump, two steps, then he looked back into your eyes again. You didn’t dare to move your eyes from them for even one second, as if staring at their progress would help Thanos keep his balance and not trip on his feet.

He was doing well, he could do it. Almost there. Almost back there with you.

Finally, Thanos stepped on the platform and walked towards you.

“See, told you it was gonna be simple,” Thanos said with a smile.

You instantly took the baby back into your arms from Thanos. She was alright, you were alright - he was alright too.

“Y/N,” Thanos said before you could turn around and leave. “I want to be in your life. Both of yours.”

“Yeah?” you said, raising your eyebrows. “Not until you quit taking drugs and are able to prove that you’ve changed.”

Thanos hesitated for a moment. Then, he pulled his cross necklace over his head, opening it and showing the remaining four pills inside of it.

“This is all I have here,” he said. “I won’t take any tonight or for tomorrow’s game, alright?” You didn’t answer at first. He then closed the cross and turned around, throwing it over the edge until the metal cross hit the floor next to the fallen corpses. Thanos turned back to you.

“That’s a start but not nearly enough,” you said.

“I know.” Thanos pushed a strand of hair behind your ear. “I promise I’ll try.”

☆☆☆

[sgtgascan]

I wasn't even sure how it happened to start with.

My group was assigned to the palace early on in the siege. Most of the 10th division had already been smashed outside the city, and we were the leftovers from the support companies in the area. My captain answered the call from General Ramic, and we joined the defense of the city in early October.

The invasion had been so fast, most of the royal family got trapped within the city after the air bridge was cut. One moment the route southwest was clear and the next it was full of flying wreakage.

I met her as we dug into the gardens. She was lifting empty sandbags out of the truck, handing them out. I was the last one in line. She split the last stack with me, joking that it was nice to do something with her hands.

We filled sandbags for the next 5 hours. The whole time, she had a smile on her face.

I think most the unit felt bad for us.

They were all combat veterans, having fought 8 battles in the last 10 months. I was part of a quick surge from the universities, last conscripts in before the winter started. She was the youngest daughter of Our Queen. Her face matched very nearly in age with my captain's own daughter.

I think they just wanted us to act young for once.

We talked all that afternoon. Who we knew before the war, what they were planning to do, what we were planning to do, where we were planning to do it, stuff like that.

It felt normal.

During it all, they started shelling the city. Diving into the nearby foxhole, covering her from the shrapnel, I said the only thing I could think of in the moment; "If I could do anything right now, it would be marrying you".

Most of that was in reference to the "greatest party you've ever be to", one-upping game we had been playing before, but part of me really meant it. She was the spot of sunshine that we all needed, and I have never met another person who hasn't remembered her strength during the war. How she gave us all the hope we needed to keep fighting.

I was just lucky enough to know her in between those moments of strength.

Of course we survived. Saved by the Allied Counties at the final hour, when we had run out of just about everything but our teeth and nails. Our unit evacuated out of the city 3 months to the day we dug into that garden, and we never separated the whole time. We collapsed into a heap on the cargo plane out and slept like the dead.

I will never forget waking up to the Queen smiling down on me, Anna snoring on my shoulder.

Anna held me to my word of course. "You said you would marry me, and no other man in the kingdom can stand me, so that's that", she would say with her little satisfied headbob. I didn't really think we loved each other, I thought I was the closest thing to her age during those hellish 3 months.

Man she set me straight on that one. Of course the Queen released us all from our service after the war. "Peace has been earned by these men and women, never let anyone doubt that". I'm standing in the background of that speech by the way. Very far left of some of the photos depending on which newspaper you read.

I said goodbye and boarded a train 2 days later. 3 days after that, I opened the door of my parents home to the Royal Car sitting out front.

Of course she had followed me. My father didn't know what to think, and alternated the whole visit between glaring at the back of my head for daring to 'disrespect the royal family' and anxiously observing my mother and the Queen swap baby stories in the kitchen. Of course they would.

Anna, as always, got what she wanted in the only way she knew how, by ensuring that everyone was already happy with the terms she put forth.

Our wedding was the party we talked and planned about during the siege. Complete with every person in the county fit to stand, sit, or crawl invited. The Grand Paper of the Kingdom called the event; "The greatest symbol of peace, hope, and vision for the future. A true end to the war."

I just knew it as the day I married the best person in the whole world.

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

I see a great little story in here about two people who are smashed together in the middle of a great war. Something like WW1 or WW2, and through it they support each other as partners and later spouses. It would also be an interesting story to explore the role of royalty in a modern world, and how they shape and interact with a modern society.

Either way, I like a good love story.

The soldier had proposed to the princess out of a mix of getting it out now and the belief he wouldn't make it. Now that the two are alive after the final battle, she intends to make good on what he promised and he's now wondering on how to explain it to his family.

[starkenobi]

FOR MY LAST TRICK | 1

masterlist — the pitt x avenger!reader crossover masterlist

Pairing: Jack Abbot x fomer avenger!reader.

Summary: The new attending on the night shift is a complete mystery. She carries herself as if she's seen something worse than hell but smiles as if she has no worries. There's at least 7 bets running about her, and Jack can't stop wondering if she has skeletons in her closet too... And then, her past comes crashing down on the ER like a ticking bomb.

chapter warnings: none, it's a strangers to coworkers through Jack's eyes.

read for my last trick snippet

It was mid-July, the day had started sunny and with a cloudless blue sky. The thunderstorm came without warning, bringing chaos into its awakening and drastically changing the mood of the people waiting in the chairs. The department was crowded and, with the sudden storm, it didn't seem like it was going to calm down any time soon. At least the thunderstorm also brought an angel sent from heaven - one wearing a long, heavy green raincoat, black cargo pants and combat boots. 

You introduced yourself as the new attending, shaking hands with Dana and Robby. And soon enough, you were speeding up the patient care of those who were not routine visits. Moving fast but with precision, making sure of asking the patients for a positive review with a charming smile on your face. It was like you knew the right words to say and what to do, no uncertainty.

After just one week working the day shift, you got all the department hooked and curious with how mysterious you were. It’s her thing, Robby mused one night during shift change with Jack, she’s chatty and smiles a lot but is very private about her personal life. 

After two months on the day shift, you started helping Robby deal with Gloria. However, with all the chocolates and sweets you offered both Robby and Gloria, as if it were a distracted and unplanned act and not you meddling in the conversation, Jack would call it training. 

Six months in, you got a double. And it was the first time Jack had really interacted with you. Sort of. He exchanged a few words and patient information. When a difficult case came in and Jack was already busy, you pulled Ellis into the driver's seat and guided her smoothly. You captivated everyone so easily, the night crew begged you to change shifts.

You compromised, changing your 12 hours so you could be on both shifts. Because of course you'd end up doing that. She's not exactly a cowboy like you, Dana stated on your first shift after the change, but I'm sure that her middle name is trouble. At first, Jack was offended with her comparison, until he understood what Dana was talking about. What usually would end up in a huge fight with Walsh over a patient treatment if it was him, you end up getting it your way. A sweet smile on your lips and honeyed words was quickly to convince Walsh.

You were trouble. But a good kind of trouble. 

Then six months became one year. Time flew by and it turned three years. You became a constant. The interns, med students and the residents would seek you out for inputs. Or when they needed help to solve a problem. Even the nurses and technicians would come to you. You knew everyone by name and occupation, some people you knew other types of information like birthday and coffee order, not because of gossip but because you just liked to know. You were just that considerate. 

But even after three years, no one knew for sure about your life before joining the ED. It drove Jack crazy. The firm hands and the way of dressing indicated a possible military (or similar) past, but there was no dog tags or tattoos, most of the jargon were ignored as if you didn’t know them - but your eyes said something else. You were excellent at compartmentalizing, even better than him.

Jack would never say out loud, but he loved to observe you work, from the most simple case of sprained foot to a bloody trauma. You were a light in the quiet moments. However, it was in the worst cases that you shone bright. He loved how well you two worked as a team. It was as if you could read his mind the same way he could interpret your movements and expressions. 

Of course, nothing was perfect. Even more so in an ER. You fought tooth and nail to save all the lives that came to your hands, but sometimes your everything wasn’t enough. And that night was one of those terrible nights. Three patients you were unable to snatch from the reaper's hands. Three deaths you had to explain to family members who couldn't understand the suddenness of the absence. You didn’t cry nor your hands shook, but your eyes didn't have the usual sparkle. You looked exhausted. 

“Here,” Jack murmured, sliding a cup of warm coffee and a chocolate bar towards you. Not daring to ask how you were, he points to the computer with his chin. “Want some help with those charts?”

Opening the chocolate and taking a big bite, you sighed in contentment. “Just reviewing information to avoid future problems.”

Jack nodded, pushing his hands deep into his pockets to prevent him from fixing the collar of your coat. “Drink your coffee and go home then.”

“You’re so bossy.” You retorted softly. But you quickly finished the chocolate before closing the charts and turning off the computer. You grabbed the warm coffee and got up from the chair. Standing close to him, you gently squeezed his bicep with your free hand. “Thank you, Abbot.”

“I got you.” Jack answered simple, shrugging one shoulder like it was nothing to worry about.

You offered him one last soft smile, then turned on your heel toward the lockers. You didn’t look back, but Jack silently watched you go.

Three years working with you and you still were an enigma. Jack liked to think that he knew what mattered about you, but sometimes he wondered what made you be the way you were. What types of skeletons and ghosts were hiding in your closet? He hoped it wasn’t like the ones he carried with him. 

Little did he know it was worse.

Thank you for reading and supporting my writing 💜 Let me know what you think! Comments, likes and reblogs are welcome and appreciated!

There's no taglist, but you can follow this story (and the other crossovers) through the tag #avenger!reader x the pitt!

[hearts4hughes]

helloooo can u write about drew having a crush on reader? like she’s a singer and when he’s asked about his celebrity crush during press (like obx 4 or queer press) and he mentions her and she gets in touch with him? pls pls pls super cute and fluffy!

“okay, last question,” the interviewer grins, leaning forward. “celebrity crush. go.”

madelyn answers first. she says something sweet and predictable. chase says rihanna, because of course he does. rudy blushes too hard when he answers his girlfriend’s name. then, they all turn to drew and he freezes.

his mouth twitches because he knows he should lie. he should say someone safe, someone he hasn’t been thinking about for months. but then he shrugs, half a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “uh… probably y/n.”

the room reacts. madelyn lets out a dramatic gasp. the host lights up. chase whistles under his breath. “wait wait wait, the singer?” the interviewer asks.

drew laughs, ears turning pink. “yeah,” his face is burning now. “she’s cool, talented, and her voice is insane.”

“you’re obsessed with her,” madelyn adds, elbowing him.

“i’m not,” he says, grinning despite himself.

“you listened to her album for three days straight,” chase says.

drew shrugs again and looks right at the camera. “god forbid a guy likes good music.”

~

you find out two days later. you’re half asleep on your couch, scrolling lazily through your mentions when the clip pops up. someone’s tagged you. then a hundred someones. then your group chat explodes.

girl you HAVE to respond. look at his face when he says your name.

he’s SO cute oh my god.

you’ve won at life. i’m jealous.

you watch it three times. then again, just to be sure you’re not imagining the way he shifts in his seat after saying your name. the little smile and the way his voice goes quiet. you hesitate for half a second. then open instagram and search his name. he follows you and has liked every single one of your posts.

you grin, finger hovering over his dm’s before finally typing. your face is hot and your skin is tingling.

yourusername: so you listened to my album three days straight huh?

he responds so fast it’s actually kind of adorable.

drewstarkey: busted.

drew starkey: i was gonna play it cool, but i can’t when it comes to you

you end up talking all night. you talk about music, life, mutual friends, inside jokes that shouldn’t form that fast but do anyway. by the end of the week, he’s flying back to LA. by the next one, you’ve agreed to meet.

~

you’re nervous. you’re never nervous. not before a performance, not during a livestream, not even when your face is on a times square billboard. but when you spot him in the corner of that little coffee shop—hat pulled low, hoodie loose, scrolling his phone—you feel it all at once.

he looks up, smiles, and stands way too fast. “hey,” he says, almost shy. “you came.”

you smirk. “i mean, i had to. wouldn’t want to leave my biggest fan hanging.”

he laughs, cheeks pink. you can’t stop smiling. and when he opens the door for you like it’s second nature, orders the drink you mentioned in your last text, touches your hand for a second too long when he gives it to you, you already know this isn’t going to be just a one-time thing.

taglist ~ @ren-ni @bungurus @kayperrysinging @cupids-diner @mojitrvo @babygirlboeser @makiplan @ladyatwalmart @qversazex @nothingtosee333her @soft-starr @f10werfae @brennanyay @grungefck @kravinoffswife @restinpaece @illumoria @meetmeintheemeraldpool @miaaaoa @imtalkinnonsense @strawberrymilk99 @angel06babysworld @rafesteddy @drewrry @urcoolgf @thegirlnextdoorssister @sydneysslove @dsfault @missabsey @ivysturnss @kisses4rafey @katiebby04 @kelbrave @bebebambs @leviathan0000 @yolgart @jkmylove97 @blushhbambi

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

you’ll like it eventually

a/n: shout out to the booty lovers! this one goes out to you, babes!

summary: “remember, back in the basement, when we came up with that brilliant plan to draw at random who gets the honour of popping this cherry? Well, guess who the winner was.”

warnings: innocent!reader x frat!lloyd hansen, stepbro!steve rogers, smut, dark content, dubcon/noncon, college au, polyamory, corruption kink, pervy frat bros making y/n clean in a slutty maid outfit, kissing, clothed sex, dirty talk, size kink, manhandling, multiple orgasms, squirting, overstimulation, edging, orgasm denial, impact play, pain kink, spit kink, crying, dacryphilia, oral, fingering, pussyjob, anal, loss of anal virginity, painal, oops it just “slipped” in, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie, just a bunch of unrealistic details about anal (like no prep or anything) but this is just porn so it's okay

word count: 2384

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

take her under your wing au masterlist | 101, intro to the au

masterlist | join my taglist 

“Hmm… yep… I’ve had this dream before.”

Tearing your gaze away from the dusty shelf, you’d climbed up on a chair in order to wipe clean, you glanced down to spot the guy who’d appeared and promptly leaned back against the doorframe.

“Sorry, Lloyd. I thought I’d be done with your room before you got back,” you sucked in a breath at his presence.

“Not that I’m complaining, but why are you in here cleaning my room?” he then tried to sneak a peek up your skirt, “looking like a fucking pornstar and everything.”

You’d come to learn that there were very few things in life that you despised more than having the guys be mad at you. It had been a few weeks since the incident with the Gamma Sigma Zeta boys and the consequential slap over the wrist that you’d gotten afterwards, but your stepbrother and his friends had still not fully forgiven you yet, and you couldn’t stand it.

So therefore, in your desperation, you found yourself doing anything and everything under the sun to crawl your way back into their good graces.

This time, it had just started as a throwaway comment yesterday about how much the unorganised and messy state of the fraternity stressed you out, to Steve promptly suggesting that if you had such a problem with it, then you were more than welcome to do something about it yourself.

Now, what you hadn’t expected was the tiny maid’s outfit that he handed you as soon as you came to do the deed. It was dangerously short and black, with a little apron and dark stockings to match. He’d even demanded that you hand over your panties, rendering you to roam around the house completely exposed if you so much as shifted an inch.

You wanted to protest and throw it back in his face, you truly did, but if a little humiliation was what it took to get him to smile at you like he used to, then so be it. You could take it.

“I just–… wanted to do something nice for you all…” you ended up saying, instead of the long-winded explanation, in hopes that it would aid your case, “but the get-up wasn’t my idea, that was all Steve.”

“I know. He bought it last month after that beer pong tournament when he found you down in the kitchen, organising the pantry instead of partying like the rest of us.”

“Of course, he did…” you sighed as you finished cleaning the shelves and crawled back down from the chair. Shifting under his stare, your eyes briefly darted back to him as you muttered, “did you wanna be alone? I can come back and finish later, if you want.”

“No, no, you go ahead,” he pushed himself away from the doorframe and slipped further into his room, “do what you gotta do, I’ll just enjoy the show.”

Watching as he settled down into the chair by his desk, whirling it around in order to face you, a sharp breath then filled your lungs as his stare ate you up, “…right…”

And as you then began to strip his bed of the dirty sheets, the slick sounds of his fist shamelessly stroking his fat cock found your ears before you peeked back at him to see.

“You know, I’ve got something you can polish up real nice for me.”

“Oh, I bet you do… but I’m kinda busy right now–”

“Aren’t you losing your fucking mind?” he promptly cut you off, ignoring your words completely as your task made it impossible for him not to stare directly up your skirt at your bareness, “none of us have banged you since that little stunt you pulled and we all know you don’t know how to take care of business by yourself,” he chuckled condescendingly.  

“I’m okay,” you swiftly uttered before a lie rushed out past your lips, “I mean, yeah, I-I can’t do it by myself, I don’t know how yet, but I manage,” you fibbed, even though you hadn’t been able to stop making yourself cum, even since professor Richards gave you that little lesson a week prior.

“Well,” Lloyd then rose from his seat as he decided, “maybe you don’t have to just manage anymore…”

“What are you–,” twisting your neck, you cast a glance over your shoulder at him just before he kneeled down behind you and caught your hips. With your frame already bent over the mattress as you crawled to put on the fresh bedding, the frat boy barely had to do a thing to get his mouth on you, “oh my god…” you gasped as his insistent tongue swiftly parted your petals, though you still stayed cautious and rigid in his hold, “I-I thought you guys didn’t wanna–”

“The ban on not touching you lifted a whole week ago, it’s fine,” he muttered in between sloppy pecks as he began to bully your clit, “so what if the others are stubborn. Doesn’t this feel good?”

“Y-yeah,” your eyes promptly rolled as he suddenly took a detour and began to direct all of his focus on your other little hole, his tongue lapping at the little rosebud as if it was made of candy, “but–”

“No buts, don’t think about it,” his voice tickled your skin as he barely paused in order to talk, “just let me make you feel good, yeah?”

Peeking back at him, your fists curled in the sheets below as you couldn’t deny how fiercely you missed this, “…okay.”

Feeding himself on his obsession, Lloyd continued to eat you out, though mostly focused on that little untouched button of yours, till you were right about to cum.

But just as your thighs began to tremble and your eyes fluttered closed, his lips disappeared with a pop as he instead straightened up behind you, denying you of the ecstasy.

But just as you were about to complain, you glanced back to watch as he propped up a knee to rest on the edge of the mattress, his fingers enveloping the base of his dick before he tilted his hips and buried himself deep in your pussy in one fell stroke, greedily thrusting right past the tightness that had built back up over your brief patch of celibacy, and letting you simply huff and puff to try and take the sudden stretch.

“Fuck, I’ve missed this sweet little pussy of yours…” he groaned in your ear as he savoured the sensation a moment, the tip of his length nuzzling up against your cervix as he gently rolled his hips against your ass, before he reeled on back and snapped back in.

You were quick to scramble back to that sought after high, especially when Lloyd pounded your pussy like a man possessed. Though as you unravelled, the orgasm was so blinding that your cunt clenched down around his girth so severely that he was squeezed out completely. And as your cream now dripped from his thick cock, your body promptly flopped down to lay flat atop the bed.

Like a shadow, he followed you down. As his weight squished you further down into the softness, it also kept you in place as you began to squirm, the manner in which he didn’t hesitate to reach down to part your sensitive petals with his dick being nearly too overstimulating to bear.

But then as his movements grew sloppy, messily sweeping his hardness against you so crudely that he flicked all the way up to tickle against your puckered little asshole as well, soon a sharp stretch stung your senses and snapped you awake.

“Lloyd!” you gasped as the very tip of him breached, splitting open your virginal hole.  

“Sorry, it just slipped in,” he lied as if it had been an accident, “it’s your fault, you’re too fucking wet,” he argued, pointing out the obvious.

“Ow, pull it out!” you panted as the unfamiliar and sudden intrusion made you tremble beneath him, but to your horror, he didn’t so much as move an inch, “Lloyd, stop! Pull it out!” instead the cocky bastard just bullied his way in a tiny bit deeper, “what are you doing? You’re not supposed to–”

“What? Fuck your ass? Actually, I am,” he proudly stated before nipping at the back of your neck, making your poor fuckhole clench around him, “remember, back in the basement, when we came up with that brilliant plan to draw at random who gets the honour of popping this cherry? Well, guess who the winner was.”

“No, no…” you muttered into the bed as your face promptly scrunched up at the dizzying burn.

“Oh, yes,” he only chuckled as he slowly attempted to move, though his unhurried speed had nothing to do with kindness but everything to do with the innocence of your tight little hole, “and I know, I know I should have probably taken my time, prepped and worked you open over the course of an eternity, but you’re just so fucking hot, I couldn’t stop myself…” he drove his fat length in even deeper, making you squeak beneath him in protest. However, as he then murmured, “come on, you’re a good girl, you can take it…” your thoughts couldn’t help but drift to your dream that had pushed you to prance around the fraternity in a ridiculous outfit and clean the entire abode. Perhaps enduring this could do the trick, even though the ache of the unfamiliar stretch was nearly too much to bear, if that was what it took for everything to revert back to normal, then you’d sure as fuck lay there and take it.

Catching your quivering hands, Lloyd trapped them at the small of your back as he then tilted back and sat up a bit to let his glance catch sight of the way he broke you in, “oh my god, your little hole is so tight,” he briefly pulled all of the way out, just to watch how it winked back at him, “it just snaps right back into place,” his thumb drifted down to brush over the quivering rosebud, though only for a moment before he stuffed you full once again, “god… it’ll be fucked up by the time I’m done…”

And with your palms entangled by his grasp just over the curve of your bottom, it not only held you in place, but also kept you from reaching down to tickle your clit, something that might have made the whole process a bit smoother.

“Shh, it’s alright,” he cooed when he noticed the hot tears that soon began to stream down your cheeks, “tell me how it feels…”

“Hurts–,” you blubbered truthfully, though you tried your best to put on a brave face.

“Yeah? It hurts?” a grin lit up his features, “does it hurt?”

“Mhm,” a faint nod found your head.

“Well, that’s okay, baby. You’re doing so great,” his free hand came down to palm at your butt, kneading the cheeks and pulling them apart, “you’ll like it eventually. You just gotta keep taking it till you do.”

And the next thing you knew, before you could blubber another squeak, his broad palm had found the back of your head and shoved your face down into the mattress, muffling your soft whimpers.

Through the soreness, you ceased to notice the way in which your puffy pussy throbbed for attention. In fact, even before Lloyd’s hefty balls began to tap against your neglected cunt from the steadily increase of his pace, it had already begun to drip and leak from the new sensation you were experiencing.

“Hmm… must not hurt that badly, just look at that pussy,” he soon noted as sticky strings kept your bodies connected, the embarrassing webs only worsening with each zealous thrust, “she won’t stop drooling,” he groaned and your cunt clenched around nothing, “she’s just begging for some attention, isn’t she? Asking so nicely for me to stop and go back to her… well, too fucking bad… she can make all the mess she wants, I don’t care.”

When you then unexpectedly tumbled over the edge once again, your lonely cunt cumming so wickedly that a gush of squirt shakily showered the clean and rumpled linens below, nothing but the purest form of confusion possessed your foggy mind.

How could a sensation so strange make you cum so hard? Was it really so excruciating, or did the initial pain of Lloyd’s harshness just mask a whole world of euphoria?

“Fuck… that’s it… that’s a good little anal slut…” he moaned when you gushed around nothing, leaving you a shaky mess beneath him as he selfishly kept up his pace, fucking you into oblivion, “we just gotta keep going till you give in and start craving it… train this little ass, real good…”

Crudely, his wide palm then found your buried features and raised them back up, making your back arch as he made you blink up at him. And just as your hazy eyes locked with his, in the heat of the moment, he first let a drop of saliva collide with your face, before then prying open your lips with his broad thumb and spitting on your soft tongue as well.

“That’s my little hole,” his gravelly grunt vibrated in his chest and buzzed against your spine as he craned down to stare into your foggy eyes, “so fucking pretty…” his grasp stayed locked under your chin to curve you back, “it’s mine, right? Tell me that it’s my hole.”

“It’s your hole–,” you mindlessly mumbled, “I’m your hole–,” before he then ultimately came undone.

Pumping your little ass full of his hot cum, it first began to leak out once he’d caught his breath and rolled off of you.

“Fucking shit…” he briefly reached for your butt, spreading your softness apart to watch for a moment as his load began to drip from your sore little opening. But then, just as you expected his warm palm on you to sweep up and around you in a tender hold, it instead smacked your raw bottom before he got up from the mattress and exhaled, “alright… enough dilly-dallying. You still aren’t done cleaning the house.”

© 2025 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[yukioos]

hows my fav write doing??? May I get a large cappucino?? (Shinsou x reader (hes in 1a) where the whole class are at like a met gala for heroes but he notices she not feeling well. She leaves the program and goes to the washroom and he follows. He finds her trying to stop her hip wound bleeding w blood all over her hands and shes on the verge of passing out) lots of fluff and romantic tension pleaseeee

when your injury becomes severe during the worst time, so hitoshi comes to help you

a couple of months after the war, class-a in the hero course was invited to a gala as a celebration for winning the war. you took hours getting ready, picking out the perfect outfit and accessories to look your best. while getting dressed, you came across a major problem. a few days prior, you were on a mission to catch a few villains caught up in an underground drug scheme.

with everything you’ve already dealt with, you knew you could finish and catch the villains quickly, just wanting to go back to your dorm and rest. however, it ended with a deep gash being cut into your hip, and no support hero was there to heal you.

but eventually, you handed the villains over to the police, and were given basic treatment by a nearby medical specialist, who was in an ambulance to help hostages. bandages still cover the injury, and you switch them out daily to keep it from getting infected.

but now, your photos are being taken by paparazzi, lights flashing and nearly blinding you, though with pain, you try to keep your eyes open. the injury on your hip is burning, stinging as you try to focus on posing and smiling, making a small show of your quirk.

once you’re done, you speed through past other heroes, but regrettably slow down when you feel an aching pain in your hip. you whimper in pain, rubbing over the clothed skin comfortingly.

but the pain continues even as the host is serving dinner to you and your classmates. in the middle of eating at a large dinner table, filled with exquisite dishes all lined up along the middle, you excuse yourself. the pain is nearly unbearable now, you need to check your injury to make sure you haven’t bled out even more.

hitoshi pauses taking a sip from his drink and looks to his right, where he sees you walking out, with a hand covering your hip. you appear to be in pain, as you seemed so an hour ago. during the photographs, when yours was being taken, you gave the paparazzi soft smiles, different from the ones you give when you’re enjoying something. to him, they were clearly fake smiles.

so he excuses himself, politely standing up and pushing his chair back in before rushing and following you.

but he watches you run into a washroom and quickly close the door behind you. he grumbles, not wanting to intrude, so he instead stands outside the room, tapping his foot impatiently. he’s unsure if you’re alright, not knowing whether or not he should walk in.

ultimately, he decides not to.

you choose a stall to lock yourself in, and you take off your clothing, though it’s sticky and uncomfortable near your hip.

“are you kidding me,” you mumble in complaint.

your bandages are soaked with blood, and your clothes are soaked on the inside with it too. the more you shift your body, the more the injury burns.

you push your hand on the injury, trying to stop the gash from bleeding more. within seconds, your hand is red, and you can smell the blood on your hip, and it even starts dripping down your thigh.

but hitoshi’s had enough of your silence. he’s growing worried, so he knocks on the door.

you flinch, hearing a voice speak, “y/n, i saw you were moving a bit weirdly today. i heard you were injured a few days ago, are you alright? do you need help?”

it sounds like a man’s voice, hitoshi’s, perhaps.

pondering, you stay silent for a minute before responding, “i’m not— i’m not feeling good, i might need some help.”

he hesitates before asking, “can i come in?”

you give a soft, “yes, please.”

within a second, he’s barging in, observing the clean area before concerningly asking, “is there anything i can do?”

slowly, you unlock the door, and hitoshi’s standing there before you, but sees you in all your glory. you’re standing there, propping yourself up against the wall, only in underwear, your bra, jewelry, and your heels.

he blushes, he’s never even seen a woman in something like a tank top. for him, this is so revealing, but he’s not too worried about it when he sees your bloody hip and your shaking stance.

you’re losing color, becoming paler, and you embarrassingly turn your head away from him.

his eyes widen, scared for you, and he suggests, “hey, how about you sit on the countertop? maybe it’ll be easier to treat your injury like that.”

“i— i don’t think i can move, hitoshi,” you mumble out, arm propping yourself up against the wall.

he softly asks, “can i?” as he reaches out to you, beginning to put a hand on your bare back.

you nod, and with the injury, it makes it even more difficult to walk, along with the heels.

so he gently picks you up bridal style, and you let out a squeal of surprise, then he takes you across the room to sit you atop near the sink. he holds your hand on your hip, putting more pressure on the wound. as he does that with one hand, he takes off your heels and places them on the ground near you.

but your eyes are hazy, stilled, and focused on some wall behind hitoshi.

he inquires, “you still here with me, y/n?” he then softly says, almost whispering into your ear, “i need you to focus,” the way he talks sends shivers down your spine.

“mhm, sorry,” you weakly say, mind still cloudy.

he takes some paper towels and picks your hand up, quickly pushing paper towels on the bloodied bandages, though it already soaks up most of the blood.

neither of you has the proper equipment to disinfect the wound. he sighs, this really is an unfortunate situation for you both.

he replaces the towels with other, clean ones, throwing the dirtied ones into the trash.

once you feel the difference, and the pressure of his cold hand on yours, you whimper, “toshi,” and he perks up, face flushed, “it hurts, i think— i think we might have to wait this one out, i’m sorry,” you pause, feeling embarrassed of dragging him into this mess, “you can go back and enjoy your time at the gala, i’ll stay here.”

he shakes his head, purple hair splayed everywhere, “no,” he stares into your cloudy eyes, “i’ll stay here with you.” he then pauses, seeing your head bob up and down, as if you’re drifting into sleep.

he scooches you over easily, briefly taking off his suit jacket to place it over you. you must be cold, nearly naked, and there are goosebumps on your thighs and arms.

hitoshi rolls up his sleeves, and his scars show easily, scattered across his arms attractively. although you hardly notice, he peels off all of your bandages, thinking maybe your wound would feel better if he fully changes out the bandages.

so he pours some water over your wound, cleaning the skin around it and pouring it over the injury. you sigh in relief, and the wound already feels a bit better. your underwear feels a bit damp, but you aren’t too bothered by it. you hardly even know what’s happening right now.

he applies pressure on your wound again with the towels, and he softly rubs your thigh with his thumb.

minutes later, your eyes are a bit more open and clear. your voice is stable, and you nod, “i think i’m able to move now,” you look up at him, smiling, “thank you, hitoshi.”

he grins, and you hesitate, eyes widening, “wait, how will the paper towels stay? my dress is ruined too, what do i do?”

his face slackens, and his eye twitches, but he murmurs, “now that i’m thinking about it, we really do have to wait it out.”

you let out a chuckle, and he smiles, still keeping pressure on your wound at all times. your face becomes warm. you’ve never realized how close you and hitoshi were, and now looking at it, it doesn’t appear as the most appropriate position.

your legs are spread, making space for him to help you with his wound, and he stands in the middle of them, with one hand on the inside of your thigh, and the other on your hip. plus, the fact that you’re only in your undergarments doesn’t make the scene look any better.

but the two of you lose track of time, stomachs going hungry, and the two of you converse for what feels like just a few minutes. before you know it, however, hours have passed, and suddenly, all of the girls come to check up on you, finally noticing how long it’s been since you’ve come back.

and when they see the positions you’re in, and your states of being, sweaty and hands on each other, they immediately run out, giggles escaping their mouths.

here’s your large cappuccino!! hope you like this

[m-robinavitch]

May I have #19 with Jack!

Pairing: Jack Abbot x Reader

Trope: Love at first sight

I’ve posted a snippet of this before but this is my take on how Jack and is wife from in passing., silent., and wet. meet!

“Who is that?” Walsh had asked while walking next to Abbot- hearing the commotion going on and seeing what she assumed was a civilian on top of a patient giving compressions. She was giving an update on the MVC patient from last night when an incoming trauma was announced.

“I think that's my future wife,” Jack mumbled, watching how you took point- strong voice and calling shots. You definitely weren’t a civilian. He was enamored- in love at first fucking sight of the way you held your hand up to pause Jesse from getting the defibrillator ready after you finally found an irregular pulse.

“Who is this and why are you on my patient?” You heard someone comment- taking Jesse’s hand so he can help you off said patient. All you wanted to do after your shift was grab some pizza and sleep for the entire day you had off. But of course you saw the man sway in front of you while standing in line to grab your order- before he even hit the ground you ran up to him before he could add concussion to his list of injuries. You jumped in the ambulance with him, telling the medics to take you to PTMC where you’ve been an intern for a few months already. You explained the situation- how you were in the scene and the attending held his hand up in front of you. You knew him- some asshole that liked to throw rank around but not listen to anyone who wasn’t an attending or a man.

“I’m an intern sir- I-“

“An intern?” He sneered, “Well move aside little lady and let me work.” He physically pushed you away, grabbing his stethoscope while Jesse hooked the monitors onto the patient and gave you a look that told you to not say anything. But-

“Actually we got it from here Dr. Chase,” you turned, eyeing the man who stepped into trauma bay 2. You had seen him in passing, the lead attending on the night shift, Dr. Abbot. Strong arms with salt and pepper hair, snarky comments and a smile that made your knees weak. “That is if our intern wants to keep working on her patient?” Jack hated Chase. Misogynistic asshat who should have retired to the golf courses years ago. And maybe he was so taken by those mere seconds of seeing you but Jack wanted to know how he missed out on you. And eagerly you smiled- nodding and reaching in your backpack for your stethoscope, somehow having so much energy again after a 10 hour shift.

Turns out it was a seizure. The man had a blockage and when he seized it stopped his heart along with it. You were right to stop Jesse from shocking his heart, that would’ve caused more harm than good. And Dr. Abbot praised you for it. You listened and watched the monitors and even mentioned how when the man fell he didn’t grab his chest but jolted for a moment. It was hours later and you were exhausted but you found yourself on the roof with the attending you just met, laughing along with him about Dr. Chase and sharing the pizza he DoorDashed up to the roof- an extra $10 but worth it because you both got your fix. And- you got some time with Jack. He was funny and gorgeous and you’ve only known him a few hours but as you watch the stars light up the sky on what started out as a shit morning yesterday-

“Do you wanna go out with me?” He asks, hazel eyes twinkling with the moon. He only met you a few hours ago but dammit if Jack isn’t a man smitten with a smart, beautiful woman who talks as much shit as he does.

“Yeah- yeah I do. Lunch date?” You ask while nodding, smiling because somehow even if you’ve spent the last few hours with him you don’t want this to end.

“Fuck it- breakfast date. The sooner the better baby.”

[loliskywalker]

Showing Love

James Kelly x Fem! Reader

Summary: Free from prison, but still bound to one undeniable truth: he needs to see her again. And he knows exactly where to find her — the bar where it all began... and maybe, where it could all begin again.

Words count: 1.4k

Author’s notes:

Big thanks to @moonlightkb for helping me develop this one-shot. love you babe 😉🩵

English is not my first language! I'm sorry if you have any mistakes or a word that doesn't match the context so much.

Feedbacks are welcome! I'd love to know what you thought of this one-shot.

Genre: angst + fluff

Dividers by @strangergraphics

In the summer, Los Angeles seemed to shine even more at sunset. The waves breaking on the horizon allowed us to breathe and reflect on the beauty of the city. It's that view that helps me relax at the end of each workday.

"Hey, are you coming later?" — I heard Jenna's voice behind me as I started putting my belongings into my bag.

"I don't think so, Jenn. I'm a bit tired and just wanted to rest a little."

"Then come relax with us! It'll be fun — we can drink and talk about the ridiculous outfit *you-know-who* wore today," said the brunette with a hopeful smile. "And you didn’t come last Thursday."

"Alright… Is it at 8 p.m.?"

"7:30 p.m. at Joe’s."

"Okay. I’ll stop by home to take a shower and meet you there."

After a long shower, a quick makeup session, and a slightly messy room caused by my indecision in choosing an outfit for no real reason, I left for the bar listening to music. I always liked getting ready to go out, so it was actually a pleasant moment.

The music echoed through the place, and the mix of warm and cool lights created an inviting atmosphere for a summer night. In the back, I spotted Jenn and Sarah talking animatedly.

"Look who finally showed up!" — said Sarah as I approached.

"Hey, Sarah!" — I greeted the blonde with a quick hug and did the same with Jenna. "How are you two? Have you ordered anything?"

"We’re good. We just ordered some beers. Here, take one."

In no time, we were immersed in laughter and gossip. What felt like just a few minutes quickly turned into hours. When I noticed it was almost time to leave, I decided to get a different drink.

"I’ll be right back, going to get a drink from Joe."

"Okay, we’ll wait for you so we can leave together."

"Hey Joe, can you make a Sex on the Beach for me?"

"Of course! So… how are things with James?"

"What do you mean, ‘how are things with James’? We’re not together anymore, Joe. Is he here?" — I asked, confused, since I hadn’t seen him since the last time I visited him in prison. That was months ago.

"He was here last Thursday. Said he’d been on a trip with his brother and stopped by to see if he could find you, but you didn’t come," he explained.

Trip with his brother.

Joe’s words made my whole body tense up and my breath caught in my throat. That simple phrase brought back something I had been trying to forget for a while. Thinking about him still hurt, because of how everything ended.

"I didn’t know he was back… from his trip." — I said, shaking my head slightly, trying to push those thoughts away. "But either way, it’s not my business. And honestly, I don’t want to see him again."

"Then I think you might have a hard time with that," Joe said, glancing toward the door just as it opened with the sound of the bell. "This one’s on the house," he added with a half-smile, handing me the drink before turning to finish washing glasses.

"Thanks, Joe," I said, taking a big sip and feeling the burn of the alcohol down my throat. That feeling took over me completely. Moments later, the seat next to me was occupied by the last person I ever expected to see. His scent reached me — the one that used to calm me now made me feel uneasy. Yet, there was still something about it that drew me in, inexplicably.

"James.”

"I was looking for you," he whispered, his breath unsteady, fingers nervously tapping on the counter.

"So I heard."

"You changed your hair… It looks nice," he said, drawing a dry laugh from me. As he turned to face me, our eyes met. His freshly cut dark hair gave him a more youthful look. His black shirt and dark blue flannel rolled up at the elbows, enhancing your forearm tattoo, along with his broad arms, contrasted with the intensity of his blue eyes, which now gleamed with an indescribable feeling.

"If that’s all you have to say, I’m leaving," I said, standing up and pushing the stool back into place.

"I missed you. I still do."

"James, stop."

"I’m being serious. Can we talk?"

"I don’t think we have anything left to say. You made it pretty clear months ago what you wanted and what you thought," I replied, walking away toward where my friends were.

"Are you okay? Did he bother you?" — Jenna asked, noticing my discomfort.

"I’m fine. I just want to go home." — We paid the bill and headed for the exit.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, girls." — I said goodbye to Sarah and Jenna, then walked to my car, which was parked a little farther away in the lot. But it seemed like, out of nowhere, my night decided to turn upside down — my car wouldn’t start no matter what.

I sighed as I realized it was no use. The exhaustion and alcohol made me rest my forehead on the steering wheel. I got out to see if I could figure out what was wrong, opened the hood, and fiddled with a few parts I thought might be the issue. I left the hood open and got back inside to try again. The engine still made weird noises, but finally, it started.

I stepped out to close the hood and heard footsteps mixing with the sound of the car.

"From the noise, it sounds like the belt."

"I’ll take it to get checked tomorrow. Don’t worry about it," I replied, trying to ignore his presence.

"I could take a look for you."

"Can we not do this?" — I asked, turning to face James, who looked pale and tired, tension heavy on his shoulders.

"Do what?" — He cleared his throat, as if trying to say something he couldn’t.

"This," I said, gesturing between us. "You don’t get to say you miss me. Not after you pushed me away. Not after you left me waiting for hours. After I went to the prison to see you and you never showed up."

"I’m sorry. Look, can we please talk?" — His eyes shimmered as he stepped closer, his jaw tense and hands clenched at his sides.

"I don’t think we should. It’ll only bring more pain," I said, crossing my arms as a cold breeze hit me. I stepped back and reached for the door handle, looking at him again. "It’s too late."

"I love you."

Those three words made me freeze.

"I love you. And I know I don’t deserve you. Not after everything. But for once, I want to be selfish. Because the pain of losing you doesn’t go away. I let myself live without you, but I can’t anymore," — he shook his head slightly, closing his eyes as if the thought crushed him — "the idea of not having you… of seeing you with someone else… it suffocates me," he finished, his voice low and strained.

He stepped even closer, just one pace away from me.

"I want to be the one who makes you feel loved. I want to be the first face you see in the morning. To play the piano for you while you drink cheap wine before bed," he murmured, closing the space between us. "I want to be worthy of being by your side. I’ll do anything for that — just let me love you one more time."

His words made my heart race in a way I’d never felt before. His lips hovered inches from mine. I tried to think clearly, but gave in. I kissed him like never before. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe our conflicting emotions. The bittersweet taste of his lips mixed with tobacco and the weight of everything between us hit hard. His arms wrapped around my waist, holding me like he couldn’t believe it was real, while my hands found their way to his neck.

When we couldn’t breathe anymore, we pulled back just enough to press our foreheads together. I felt the cold metal at my back. His right hand cupped my face, and in a reflex, I leaned in and kissed him again. Slower this time, but still intense — pouring everything I felt into that moment.

My love for him had never left. It was wounded, yes, but still alive. Love can be given by anyone, but being truly loved — that’s something different. And in James, I once felt that. And I have no doubt I can — and want to — feel it again.

hope u like it! thank u for reading 🫶🏻 And feel free to comment on what you thought of the one-shot

MASTERLIST

[hyacinth-in-a-haze]

can we pleaseeeeeeeeee see more yandere cowboy?? :3

Of course you can Anon xxx

Yandere cowboy x fem reader

Contains- pregnant reader, possessive behaviour, he's an ass hole, childbirth,

True to his word he stayed close by, only leaving on jobs for a week at most. Taking honest work round locally to you, letting the townsfolk put a face to the name you claim as your husband. Wrapping an arm round your shoulders as you get congratulated by those who spot the soft three month old swell.

There was a set in the preacher's jaw when your cowboy decided to join you in church one Sunday, swapping out your warm bed for the pew. You never thought him a god fearing man, truth be told you'd think even the devil could fear him. But he sits cordially beside you until the service ends, before you leave the preacher stops you with a too familiar hand on your shoulder. Congratulating you for the celebratory news. You blush, embarrassed to realise that you must be showing for everyone to see now, unaware of the dirty looks both men offer the other. Both seeing the other for exactly what they are.

Once you're out of earshot he leans in low to your ear. “you must be some kind of fucking slow to not see the way that bastard looks at you. Where would you even be if you didn't have me to mind you?” you stumble forward before he grabs your arm to steady you. “You ain't going here again if he's gonna be starin’ at you like that, like you ain't even my lady, like i aint even standin’ right beside you.” he huffs, helping you onto the cart. But all you can think about is this is the first time he called you his.

“I can't not go, folk will talk and ask questions,” you tentatively say, trying to advocate for yourself without upsetting him more than he already is.

“Then I'll say you're too weak to handle it or something like that. You look like one hard wind will keel you over anyhow.” He grumbles as he hitches the horse on and drives the two of you to the homestead.

“You should hire some girl to come in and help you,” he says one night at dinner, you're practically six months gone now. Unable to do much round the home at all, and it ain't like he's even letting you do what you can manage. You drop your cutlery loudly on to the ground as the words leave his mouth. “ See what I mean, you can barely manage easy shit like this, you need someone to help.” He gets from his seat to grab your dropped fork and knife.

“I don't want anyone here.” you protest quietly as he groans in annoyance, dropping them with a crash on the table.

“Why are you so stubborn? I'm only thinking for your own benefit, you stupid thing.” He looms over you, in the dim light of the late afternoon all you can think about was how he was positioned exactly like this the first time he found you. How he was so fluid and quick to pin you down before you realised what was happening. How practiced was he in that? Were you the only one?

“How can I trust you round some other young girl!” you yell before freezing and throwing your hands over your face, waiting for the impending blow you're sure to receive. He's layed off you mainly since he found out, sticking to manhandling you to your room and fucking the respect back into you, or dealing a few swift smacks to your arms and face. But all you're met with is a flick to the forehead and his howls of laughter.

“Well ain't you a jealous little thing? What a surprise, tell me baby, were you all worked up thinking I'd abandon you for some other filly just cause you've gone like this?” He doesn't wait for a response, continuing to tease you as he laughs, “and if I did want to have some fun. Which I don't want with anyone but you. But if I did, I ain't such a bastard to find another girl in our home. Almost hurt you'd think that way of me, that I'm just a cad out to break hearts. I'd be a gentleman and go down to a whore house for that.” He catches your trembling and confuses your fear for heartbreak. “No no, sweet girl I was only joking there, no need to work yourself up over nothing, ‘sides I can't go in any of them buildings anyway. I owe money to a few folk who hang about waiting there and I ain't payin’ them back when I got better things for my coin to get to. Okay?”

You nod tearfully and relief floods his face, “there we go, good girl. Now fine, we won't hire a girl to come stay and help if that's what you really want, but at the very least we can find a washerwoman for our clothes and another one to come in and tidy about in the morning so you got less to do. I ain't budging on that.”

You catch him one early morning, slipping from your shared bed. “Where are you going?” You grip to your belly as you ask, nine months gone and fit to burst you can barely walk about but you stand in front of the bedroom door refusing to let him leave.

“Just for a bit Darlin’ please, go back to bed I'll be back before dinner tonight I promise.” He rubs a hand through his tousled hair as he tries to sweet talk you into moving past the door.

“No. You're not going tonight you swore you'd stay with me” you feel crazy the way you're standing up against him, begging for him to stay. But it's late and dark outside. With you any day from popping now you're too terrified to risk it while being caught alone

“And I meant it, why you acting like I'm abandoning you? I'm only going a few hours to take a quick job someone offered up. If I don't take it someone else will. Now let me go.” He grabs you by the arm ready to move you by force if he has to. You dig your feet into the ground to hold yourself down but it does very little when he pulls you along anyhow. “I'm doing this for our sakes woman, stop being so damn stubborn and move.” you stumble from how much effort he puts into pulling you out the way, falling back and hitting your head against the wall, sliding down to the floor.

“Shit baby” he stammers out trying to help you up. “I didn't mean to, you know this was an accident please?” he trails off as you both watch a puddle form underneath you. Your waters break slowly it feels like, as your skirt stains and the puddle stops. He grabs you up from the ground, apologies and jobs forgotten as he gets you into a fresh nightgown and in bed.

“Please don't go,” you cry out frantically as he ties his boots. “I don't know what I'm meant to do please, ” you try to climb out of bed but he shoots you a look so furious you freeze.

“I'm gonna get the midwife, and you ain't moving one fucking inch from that bed or I swear I'm trying you down.” His anger dampens as he gets up “I'll be quick I … just hold on until I'm back.” He leaves you with one final look before slamming the door. It would take him an hour at least to get to and back from town. What are you meant to do? You wish you paid attention to every unasked for piece of advice every other woman offered you, all you can remember is that it's gonna take hours and it's gonna hurt much worse getting out than it

did getting in.

You try to remember your Ma, a blurry face and soft hands. A memory of worried skirts shoeing you from her bedside, you were too young to be told anything then but you wish they did, so you'd know what to expect other than those overheard whispers and burnt bedsheets because no one could stomach washing them after that night.

How long has it been since he left your side until there's frantic footsteps to your door, relief painting your face that you stayed exactly where he left you. “Why are you crying? What's wrong? What happened?” He runs to your side grabbing you and looking over you frantically as the midwife follows behind him. Grumbling for him to leave the women to their work.

He stays outside the room until you begin hollering and howling from the pain. Barging in to stay beside you without any care for the midwife's annoyance. It hurts like nothing you ever felt before, tearing you into pieces and all you can think about if this is how your Ma felt before she stopped fighting.

“I'm scared,” you admit, crushing his hand in yours. “My Ma died when I was small in childbed. What if I go the same way-” he cuts you off before the sentence leaves your mouth.

“Don't you be sayin’ stupid shit like this now,” his voice is low and if you didn't see his face as he spoke you'd think he'd be threatening you instead of fearful for you. “You ain't leavin’ me without you.” he smells like the whisky he kept stashed underneath the stairs.

It's near daybreak when a sharp cry is heard on its own. This small wrinkled pink creature that you birthed almost makes the pain unforgettable. Wisps of light blonde hair across his bald head, they'll become like his fathers in time. You look to him as you feed his son.

“What do you want to call him?” Your own voice soft from screaming the entire night He pauses, unsure of himself for the first time you've ever known him.

“Well, I ain't got no one I'd want to name him after. You should pick.” He mumbles. Just staring down at his son. Suddenly you're aware of how much blood has stained his hands, not least of all yours. But you don't stop yourself from speaking.

“He's yours too, you get a say as much as I do. You don't got to name him after anyone.” you let him take the baby from your arms, rocking him delicately in his own strong one's.

“Poor little bastard to have me for a Pa, I never knew mine but I promise you, you're gonna know me.” Your cowboy looks up at you hesitantly “call him after your Pa or something. Don't want any of my bad blood to rub off on him.”

“We could call him after you?” He freezes as you speak, as though he never thought to consider that.

“My Ma used to call me Teddy when I was young. No one's called me that since I was bout knee high. Would you like that?”

You nod.

[bballesbolol]

The Game We Play

Paige x Azzi boarding school roommate AU

Warnings: none

a/n: sorry y’all the Fourth of July hit me like a bus…needed a few days to reconnect with nature. On the bright side you miiiiight be getting a double update!! (Plus a one shot if you’re good)

wc: 3.3k

Chapter 3

Azzi:

Azzi sat in a cubicle in her school's library. The cold plastic of the chair seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable by the minute. She had decided that she wouldn’t leave for the gym until her homework was 100% finished, which unfortunately meant she would be locked in this library until around 4:30.

She silently cursed herself for her academic dedication. she could be doing this after the gym in her warm bed—or, not at all—but no. Library cubicle it was. But she couldn’t be mad at herself—fully, at least. It wasn’t even entirely her fault she was here. It was Paige’s fault that she had missed the half an hour of notes that demanded her attention now.

***

Azzi’s lack of sleep was apparent. Her eyes were heavy, and it felt like her brain had run a marathon. She had put on her blue light glasses in an attempt to curb the lingering threat of a headache, which didn’t seem to be working. She was nearing the end of her work, but but the pounding in her head was threatening to make her give out before her willpower.

The slides from her history lecture glowed on her screen, her wrist cramping as she scribbled down the last of the information she needed. she let out a sigh of relief and closed her notebook, sliding it back into her backpack along with her computer. She slung the bag over her shoulder and B-lined for the locker room, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and glancing at it as she went.

For some reason, her eyes were drawn to her snapchat notifications, skimming through them to see if Paige had texted her.

She hadn’t, of course, because Azzi was supposed to reach out first. Unfortunately, she still wasn’t sure if she would even want to spend the whole year living with Paige. They had only been talking for what, 2 days? It all felt very fast. And she was not a decisive person, not in the slightest. Actually, anybody around her would tell you that she was the most indecisive person they’d ever met. It took her a month to decide if she even wanted to go to Montverde in the first place, it would take more that one conversation to pick her roommate.

She moved on to instagram, where she refreshed her page and was greeted with an image of Paige. She was going up for a layup, in her Hopkins uniform which billowed around her like it was a size too big, her blonde hair pulled back into a bun with a thin nike headband holding back her baby hairs.

Azzi averted her eyes from Paige, instead focusing on the familiar graphic. The word “Selected” was pasted underneath the image of Paige, and the under armor logo, along with a date, sat to the right of the image. It was the same template Azzi had posted to her own instagram earlier that day.

Of course.

Azzi had almost forgotten that Paige happened to be one of the top players in the country, not just the girl in her DM’s who decided to make it her life’s goal to annoy her. How could she not expect her to be there too? For some reason the thought that they could both go had slipped her mind entirely.

But, the more she thought about it, the better this opportunity seemed. She would get to meet Paige in person before the school year, maybe even discover if the annoying had an off button. And, she couldn’t scope out her talent too. See how hard she’d have to work to get that starting spot at school. Either way, it was a chance to get to know her, for better or for worse.

She let a sly smile slip across her face and screenshotted the image, clicked the share button, and then Paige's contact on snap. She sent the screenshot as well as an accompanying chat.

Me

> delivered

you stalking me bueckers?

She reached the locker room door and slid her phone back into her pocket as she headed towards her locker. She grabbed the handle, pulled, and it swung open with an echoey clang, amplified by the bang of her gym bag hitting the side of the locker as she pulled it out. she grabbed her phone from her back pocket, dropped it in the bottom of her locker. She unbuttoned her jeans, pulling them off and replacing them with a pair of sweatpants, before changing into her sports bra.

She was about put on her tank top when she was interrupted by her phone buzzing once, amplified by the metal of the locker. it buzzed a second time, then a third.

The fourth buzz made it clear that whoever this was demanded her full attention immediately. She dropped the tank top and grabbed her phone from the locker.

paigebuckets05 sent you a chat ■

Of course, because who else?

Paige 🏀

oh yeah

hardcore

you should look into a restraining order tbh

Paige’s bitmoji was still peeking out in chat, waiting for a reply. Azzi rolled her eyes at the sarcasm and replied.

Me

maybe I will

already stalked me on instagram, now you’re moving on to real life?

honestly i’m terrified

Paige’s response was almost immediate. Maybe because she’d been lurking, or maybe because she felt the need to clear her name from the crime of instagram staking. Like it would be the end if the world if Azzi saw her as a pursuer. And maybe it would be for her, it’d break the whole nonchalant persona that the girl tried so hard to curate.

Paige 🏀

wait wait

lemme get this straight for u

i did NOT stalk u on insta

ur acc just happened to be on the commitments page for our school 😌

practically fell into my lap

Azzi caught herself nearly giggling at her phone. She let her lips begin to curl into a smile—immediately stopped herself when she realized—and sent back a reply.

Me

suuuuure

she snapped a pic of herself giving a side eye and sent it along with her chat.

Paige opened the snap, seemingly lingering on it before her bitmoji popped back up in chat.

Paige 🏀

shut up

u in the gym?

Okay, so she was looking at her snap—long enough to scope the lockers in the background and maybe the fact that Azzi was just in a sports bra—something she had forgotten in the heat of the moment. Paige was still typing at the bottom of her screen. After a moment she sent a third chat.

Paige 🏀

prolly should get back to that if you wanna stand a chance at this summit

Azzi scoffed, because this was still Paige, of course she’d find a way to be irritating. Good thing for her was she could be irritating right back.

Me

oh shut up

first think i’m doing at this camp is bodying you

She had to hold herself back from adding “it’d be easy too”. She was interrupted by Paige’s response as she debated sending the extra jab.

Paige 🏀

wouldn’t that break the restraining order?

This girl—

At least she was committed to the bit, but man, she really knew how to push her buttons.

Azzi forced her face into a frown and sent back a snap of her flipping off the camera before turning off her phone and throwing it down onto her gym bag, focusing instead on putting on the tank top that lay discarded on the locker room floor.

She decided that she needed to leave her phone in the locker room. Paige had already been enough of a distraction today, she didn’t need her interrupting her workout too. She would just have to suffer through whatever music the football team was blasting.

She took a deep breath before opening the door to her school's weight room. On a normal day she usually needed to claw her way through lacrosse boys and off-season football players to get to the machines she needed. But to her surprise, the gym was relatively empty. and silent. Guess all the meatheads decided to take a day off.

uhg.

She hated silent workouts, but she wanted to be in and out today. She was already running late from catching up on the lecture she missed, and she planned on shooting around before heading home. If she wanted to get out on time, she would have to stay as far away from her phone as possible. Something about Paige got under her skin in a way that made it impossible to not bicker with, especially when she seemed to not be able to turn off the whole cocky shithead performance.

The workout consisted of hitting biceps, triceps, and shoulders, followed by intervals on the assault bike—because apparently she hated herself and didn’t want to be able to lift her arms tomorrow. Long story short, by the time she finished her upper body felt like a noodle cooked way past al dente. she glanced up at the clock.

5:30.

She could about afford an hour to shoot around, but at this point she didn’t know if her arms could take it. Still, she dragged herself back into the locker room to change. If there was one thing she prided herself on, it was her discipline, because lord knows she was NOT heading into this gym out of her own free will. She would finish this workout no matter what, even if she had to fight through dead arms and nagging potential roommates. The latter, however, seemed to be the least of her worries.

she grabbed her phone from out of her gym bag and was greeted with one blonde blue-eye’d bitmoji lurking in her Notification Center. Shocker. It felt like Paige had made it her life’s mission to harass this stranger until she cracked. Oh well, she’d just have to make her wait.

She clicked on the notification, and opened Paige’s snap, which was a close up of her stupid, smug face. Azzi tapped the image to close it, but was greeted with another snap, this time of Paige flexing at the camera, captioned “I got u beat anyway”.

Azzi snorted at the image, because, well—Paige certainly did not have her beat. She had muscle, of course, but in the same way that everybody does. It was definetly enough to move her arms back and forth, but certainly nothing to tote around. If Paige wanted to be a little shit, she should at least be able to back it up. Azzi thought for a moment, but decided if Paige wants to be annoying, she’ll do it right back. Azzi posed, flexing her bicep and snapping a pic, captioning it “do you?”

She immediately threw her phone down, partially because she needed to get ready to go hoop, but also from the massive second hand embarrassment she just gave herself. She just took a bicep pic like a thirst-trapping 13 year old boy—and didn’t even think twice before sending it to this girl. She found herself wondering where Paige got the absolute nerve to do this shit all the time, because once was enough to make her want to crawl into a hole and die.

Azzi don’t even bother to check her phone. Couldn’t. She had to let the regret die out for a little bit. She turned her attention to pulling off her sweatpants and slipping on her basketball shorts, rolling them once so they sat higher up her thighs. she grabbed her AirPods—she was NOT having another silent workout—and her water bottle and headed out to the gym.

But she wasn’t planning on having too hard of a workout. Just shooting around. Something peaceful. Something familiar. Something low-impact because she definetly couldn’t take a real workout right now. So, after a moment of going back and forth, she decided it would be fine if she left her phone in her pocket. For the sake of the music, of course.

Paige:

Paige had been trying to focus on her homework. Key word: Trying. But Azzi had snapped her about the Under Armor summit, which had so rudely forced Paige’s unyielding attention to be averted away from whatever assignment sat on her desk and towards annoying her—apparently a little too much.

She had peeked in the back of Azzi’s snap—just being observant. Azzi’s bare shoulders and the rows of lockers behind her had given away that she was about to do some kind of training. So, she used it as a conversation starter.

When she told Azzi to get back to the gym she had meant it playfully, but clearly this girl had taken it to heart, because she had been on delivered for a hot minute.

Obviously she didn’t really need to be back in the gym. God, in the two days that Paige had been talking to Azzi it felt like she lived in the gym. Maybe she just felt the need to showboat her athleticism to Paige, some sort of twisted intimidation tactic.

Well, two could play that game. Paige had received an empty threat from Azzi about bodying her at camp, and instead of playing it off, she responded in a way that could only be described as uniquely Paige. She made some joke restraining order, to which Azzi responded with a picture of her flipping off the camera, and instead of laying off, Paige pushed back at Azzi harder.

She snapped a picture of her flexing one arm, which she lovingly captioned “I got you beat anyway” and sent it.

And yet again, Paige was left on delivered. Must be a theme with this girl huh?

Paige had tried to focus on her homework again, but her attempts seemed futile. Her notebook remained untouched, her computer had turned off long ago, and she was slumped over, head resting on her arm, scrolling through tik tok. It had been around 45 minutes since she last snapped Azzi, and none of her friends from home had been quite as interesting to talk to. She had tried to stop herself from nagging her any further, she guessed that Azzi was locked in to her workout, she should have time to talk to her after.

Her back was feeling sore from being twisted in her current slumped over position. In an attempt to remedy the ache Paige abandoned the idea of finishing her homework, and instead moved to her bed, where she stretched out on her back and returned to scrolling.

But even her for you page was offering little refuge from her current problem. She scrolled between basketball highlights, dorm move in’s, and commitment announcements. For some reason her tik tok had decided to become incredibly relevant to her problems. Speaking of—

her phone vibrated in her hand, and a Snapchat banner dropped down from the top of her screen.

azzi.fudd35 sent a snap ■

Her finger tapped on the banner automatically, opening Snapchat.

She was greeted with Azzi’s arm, more specifically her bicep, which was slightly glistening with sweat from her workout. She stared for maybe a second too long. She was definetly strong, it was obvious that it was from more than just basketball. Bigger than her for sure. Solid. Okay, definitely staring for too long.

She had assumed Azzi was in the gym, like basketball gym, not in the gym like lifting weights and being crazy jacked gym. She finally tapped off of the image, trying to find a way to respond that wouldn’t make her seem like a fan. She settled on ignoring it entirely and finding something else to bug her about.

Me

U not getting any shots up?

holy slacker

I know you must be busy but come on 🙄

Perfect. She went back to scrolling though her tik tok, where she was interrupted by a surprisingly timely response from Azzi.

azzi.fudd35 sent a snap ■

azzi.fudd is typing…

azzi.fudd sent a chat ■

Making up for lost time?

Paige opened her snap, which was an image of a gym—because of course Azzi was getting shots up after weight room, because somehow this girl was the perfect super-athlete.

Azzi Fudd

I don’t see you out shooting rn

I think you’re gonna need to lock in or else I’m kicking your ass

Paige scoffed at her bold assumption. Her? She’s in 8th grade—even though she’s a little jacked and somewhat skilled—Paige still had her beat one on one. She had to.

Me

my ass?

yeah right

im going undefeated 1 on 1 and that’s on god

Azzi Fudd

dont be too cocky

im just saying I haven’t seen you in the gym

You haven’t seen me at all, actually. She couldn’t help the fact that she didn’t constantly snap this girl from the gym. But, she could certainty defend herself.

Me

I worked out this morning

you wouldn’t know bc u were prob asleep

I could still beat you if I didn’t tho

Azzi Fudd

you know I’m trying to work out right?

Honestly? Probably the only thing she did know about this girl for certain. That and the fact that she was fed up right now. She was certainly getting under her skin, and had thoroughly distracted her from the fact that she’d spend a solid minute starting at her arm five minutes ago. She typed out her reply and sent it.

Me

you could just ignore me 🤷‍♀️

Azzi Fudd

yk what you’re right!!

i feel like I’ll be doing that a lot

might as well get a head start

Paige sent back a snap of her best smug grin, which was once again met with a big fat delivered.

Okay, Azzi didn’t like to be poked on the basketball side of things. Noted.

Paige let out a frustrated sigh and rolled over onto her stomach. Something told her that Azzi would leave her with her thoughts for a while.

***

It was 8:36 pm. Paige was almost sure that Azzi was home by now, and maybe she had blown off a little steam in her shoot around. She hoped so, anyway.

Azzi had still not answered Paige’s nagging question: to room, or not to room?

She decided to bite the bullet and ask her flat out, hoping that maybe Azzi had taken her time to think it out. She took her time with the message, hoping that it came across as sincere as she had meant it to.

Me

yk you never said if you wanted to room with me for sure

did you ever decide?

ik its a really quick turnaround

But roommate forms are due pretty soon

She waited in the chat for a beat. Azzi’s bitmoji popped into the chat, confirming that she was not busy, and had in fact just been ignoring her. Wonderful.

Azzi Fudd

You know you haven’t been making your case any better for yourself?

If anything you’ve given me every reason not to room with you

She was right about that. But she couldn’t help it if that was just her personality, it would hurt her chances more if she tried to be someone else just to get Azzi to room with her. That situation would have been sure to crash and burn as soon as they actually moved in together. Paige was going to be unapologetically herself, for better or for worse. She just hoped now that it was for the better.

Me

I can’t help it

I am who I am 🤷‍♀️

Azzi Fudd

childish?

Okay, maybe she was asking for that one.

Me

your words not mine

I’m an open book

Still haven’t answered my question

Azzi Fudd

consider this your roomate probation

Paige looked at the chat, head cocked to the side. probation? like jail? Did this girl always speak in riddles? she brushed it off and shot back her reply.

Me

sooo is that a yes?

a breath, and then:

Azzi Fudd

unfortunately.

[leaawrites]

Hii, can you write a bobby or eli imagine where the reader is also a musician/artist and is writing a song but wont let him see the lyrics or hear it and anytime they bring it up she changes the subject. then she performs it for the first time at her show the night of the release and hes there listening to it for the first time and realizes the song is about the reader not feeling confident in her body, (also abt an ed if it isnt too much) thank you!!

Pretty Isn't Pretty

Bobby Skeetz x fem!singer!reader

Summary: as requested

Warnings: Indications of an ED but not openly mentioned, angst, body image issues, abandonment issues, indications of trauma, a bit of fluff at the end

Wordcount: 1.2k

Masterlist, Inhaler Masterlist

It had been weeks - if not months of overthinking before she could finally put her feelings into words. Observations from all sides leading to the conclusion that something didn't feel right whenever she looked into the mirror. Staring at her figure longer than before and quickly covering up her chest when Bobby came in to check on how long she'd take until she'd come to bed.

And he noticed. Of course he noticed. Not just the unusual uncomfortable feeling they had when they were in bed together or the exchange of her clothes for trends. It was the longer times she spent in the bathroom to get ready even when they weren't going out and the scribbled song lyrics she'd never show him. Hiding her words whenever he tried getting a peak at them. Putting her guitar down as soon as he walked into the room to see what she was doing.

The longer stares at Vogue covers. The praying eyes at other people when they were out. The 'no, thank you's that occurred more often when they were out for birthdays of their friends and cake was being handed out.

But nothing ever made her crack.

Not when he asked her about it, not when he tried to find help in his friends. She never said more than, "It's nothing. Don't worry." A quick kiss on his cheek and an even quicker escape out of his sight.

She became a ghost over time.

Not just in the way she acted around others, also in her own vacancy.

"I've been putting off playing this song for very a long time," her voice boomed through the sold out venue as she tried finding a familiar pair of pale blue eyes standing in the crowd. Strumming the first few chords to fill the deafening silence in her ears as she tried putting her thoughts into words. "But this one is coming out tonight so I can't put it off anymore."

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Over the last few months I haven't quite been feeling like myself and it took a pretty big tool, not just on me but also the people around me."

When her eyes found his, he knew what it was about. It wasn't just a revelation, it was also an apology. For the way she acted and that she didn't let him in. But he wasn't mad, he just wanted to understand. He wanted to be able to help, so he listened carefully. Digesting her every word and trying to find a solution.

"This is probably the most vulnerable I've ever been in a song about how I see myself," she said before stepping back, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall.

There was no going back now. She would play this and afterwards everything would be different. Not just how the fans viewed her, but most importantly how Bobby viewed her. What would he say when he heard the lyrics? What was he planning on doing when she distanced herself from him? Would he still want that? The distance between them and the silence late at night.

"It's called 'Pretty Isn't Pretty'."

It was indicator enough what was bound to follow.

Tightening his grip around the drink in his hand, Bobby's stomach churned as he listened closely.

'Cause there's always something missing There's always something in the mirror that I think looks wrong'

His breath hitched when his suspicions were confirmed.

'When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do? And everybody's keeping it up, so you think it's you I could change up my body and change up my face I could try every lipstick in every shade But I'd always feel the same 'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough anyway'

When the damage was done and she finished her set, she couldn't find him in the crowd anymore. At least not where he was once standing. Swallowing the tears and the lost hope, she forced a smile on her lips as she looked out into the crowd, waving and blowing kisses like she felt full from them alone.

Though as soon as her sight was darkened by the curtains she let them run free. Endless rivers streaming down her face as she walked past her crew, high-fiving some, hugging others. But no one actually questioning the tears that seemed impossible to stop.

It was one of her biggest shows after all.

Dublin, the place where could just drive home if he didn't want to be there anymore. She was certain he was already halfway there. She couldn't blame him, she was a mess after all. A mess that wasn't his responsibility if he didn't want it to be.

Though as soon as she closed the door of her dressing room behind herself she was engulfed in a tight embrace. Her face pressed into his chest as his lips planted endless kisses on her head. One for every tear she shed. Whispering sweet nothings in her hairs with his arms around her shoulders. Letting her unwind from the thoughts that played a cruel game with her once more. But now he was here to help. To assure her and to make her feel better.

"It's alright," Bobby mumbled as she tried to apologize for soaking and messing up his shirt with her tears and running mascara. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I'm here."

And he was staying. Sitting her down when her breath calmed down, taking care and removing her make up. Softly wiping away the dark shadows under her eyes and the too bright colour on her lips. Kissing every inch of her face when he was done and she looked normal again. Natural.

"You're beautiful," he mumbled against her skin. Feeling her head turn in shame and her hands lifting to reject his compliment. Taking them in his own, he kissed her knuckles, making her heart churn in admiration. "I'm not saying that because of anything that happened. I'm saying that because it's true. Nothing could ever make me change my mind on that."

"I love you," she mumbled. Her heart swelling at his soft eyes and the little smile taking over his lips. Kissing his hands and smiling against his skin. The first real one in what felt like ages.

"I love you too," he whispered back, like it was a secret only shared between the two of them. "More than you could ever imagine."

"Can we get something to eat?"

Nodding his head, he stood up without losing his hands from her. "What do you wanna have?"

"Nandos? A little time travel to when you were recording Open Wide," she smiled, recalling the memory of having to sit in that restaurant more often than her own kitchen while the lads recorded their latest album.

"Alright, I'll get an Uber and you get comfortable again," Bobby said, getting his phone from the other side of the room and sitting back down. Waiting for her to get changed back into her comfortable clothes and ready to go out.

[hyper-alice]

So I’m watching another production of TGWDLM right now (go watch it please) and of course I’m going to yap about it as I watch so here

I love the opening choreo and the set is so epic!! I love the glow-in-the-dark green vibe with the painted handprints on the back wall

the way Ted rolls Paul out on a wheelie chair, then the whole cast conga lines a bit just to gather around and collectively call Paul a piece of shit I’m dying lmaoo

Melissa actually asked Charlotte about the softball league while Mr. Davidson and Paul were talking :)

Charlotte: But- we skipped last month… The audience: (gasp!)

Charlotte pulled out the biggest fucking flask ever help

while Melissa and Paul were talking Ted walked up to Bill, talked to him about some folder, then immediately got mad and walked away lmao

and then the way he ran up to ask Paul about beanies

Ted: Get me a chai iced tea okay?! Asshole.

Zoey (clearly not working): HiiWelcometobeanies.

Paul and the coffee shop jerk racing each other to the counter loll

“Yeeeah can I get a grandie caramel frappie in a venti cup 10 pumps of frappie roast, 3 shots of espresso no carmeldrizzl whip on top?”

Emma sounds so deadpan free my girl she just wants to go home

“I’m never coming back here again, that sign’s bullshit!!” (Proceeds to sit down and drink his drink anyways)

Pete is so aggressive I’m crying

I love this Harmony Jones please her running backwards to maintain a convo a few seconds longer

The Homeless Man digging through the trash while Paul and Harmony are talking I love that

HM waddles too what a guy

The audience lost it when Ted came out in a robe with Charlotte lol

“If you don’t like what we’re doing here-” (aggressive sexual dance) “there’s the door!” (angry strut off stage)

Sam (walking on stage past Emma): Mm… harghhh haharghh

Sam (now standing next to Zoey): SCUSEMEMAM!

SOUTHERNSAM SOUTHERN SAM SOUTHERNSAM

“That uniform is so fucking sexy on you” (Sam does sexy model poses at audience)

Bill rolling across stage on the chair and holding whatever the hell he’s using as a steering wheel

“Hey Siri, call Alice” (Siri proceeds to not do as asked and there is another several seconds of Bill struggling to call Alice as the audience laughs their asses off)

Deb: Well then I guess we’re out. Danny: WHFATWHAGTHEFYUCK??

The professor aggressively runs on stage, makes slutty poses while talking, and aggressively runs off stage. 10 out of 10 no notes.

Donna was voiced by one of the guys doing an aggressive high pitched voice while Dan had a pretty low voice. I’m using the word aggressive to describe a lot of this play and that’s a positive

The opening dancing to LDDDD was literally just two people running and jumping across a silent stage lmao yeah I’d be confused too

“I’m not a bad guy.” (Harmony Jones ominously steps closer) “I’ve donated to charities in the past” (she steps closer again) “Not yours…” (she does not break eye contact before bursting into song)

The Homeless Man began gyrating his hips at the start of his verse. Yeah I don’t doubt that that’s Ted at all

The world is my ✨house✨

“The dogs are my food RUFF!OH LOOK a new blouse!” HEY MELISSA REFERENCE?!

“🎶Dancing on the concrete🎶 It used. To hurt. A lot.”

They put Pete and HM Ted next to each other HAHAHHAHAHA IM FINE

During the chorus overlapping bit in LDDDD Harmony Jones was miming conducting that’s so cool I could easily see the 4/4 bar movement

Harmony Jones really pulled Paul to the front of the stage just to push him onto the floor and have everyone stand over him Inevitable style

Amazing ending pose

They said the lights down thing and the HM chucked his hat across the stage as he was running off amazing

(moving props after LDDDD) set change set change

Bill ranting about Alice to Ted buddy he doesn’t care :(

Bill: “-a god dang meteor! 🎶Mamma Mia🎶” (CLAP)

Char didn’t get the coffee in the sugar joke and Bill had to explain it to her lmao I love her

Okay these productions might unironically make me a BillTed shipper this shits getting crazy

“He didn’t get home at all” (everyone staring) “IwouldntknowiwasntthereatallFUCK”

Ted slaying those shoes

Paul: Oh, my reports! I’m gonna get it Ted: HA! Loser!

Mr. Davidson started up his song like a robot powering on I never knew I needed that

What Do You Want Paul? is beyond words PLEASE

Mr. Davidson never walking normally

He did the “too many curves” bit except every curve got shorter and wider as he went down

“Carol I want you to.. get a BBL” GAGGED IM CRYING

“If you leave you’re fired ☺️” (kiss on the head)

I need to stop WDYWP? deserves its own post this is madness

Pete and the guy with the hat were in LDDDD but also appeared in Beanies later so they got uninfected?? Or they were faking not being infected during cup of coffee?? Either way wow Pete apotheosis on stage real

on the topic of Pete and Guy With Hat, then sitting next to each other in Beanies was so awkward lol. GWH waves to Pete, Pete moves farther away. Pete keeps looking over at GWH as he’s on his phone. Beanies is a very awkward place from what I see

Pete was just dying to tip when Emma and Paul were talking lol. Then Nora and Zoey came out from behind doors the second the money went in the jar? I fully believe the people we see die in the coffee shop were already dead they were just pulling some scare factor or some shit lmao. Also Pete really enjoyed the tip song kicking his feet and stuff what a silly

Emma just chucking shit at the customers lmaoo

Nora and Zoeys dance moves I’m crying

LMAO during the “walking through the audience shrub alley way” bit Emma said “that shrub is talking??”

Ted was the only one actually in the trash can lol

“If you wanna stay in our hiding spot you’d better be FUCKING quiet, okay?” I’m starting to think this Ted doesn’t like Paul

Paul tried to whisper “the latte hatte, remember?” into Ted’s ear but Ted kept pretending he couldn’t hear him until Paul had to say it out loud lmao what an ass

Ted: Paul, Paul, Paul- Paul: You’re drunk?

Ted very much struggled to get out of the trashcan, he used Emma to hold onto

Charlotte: I called Sam, he should be able to help us! Paul: I love the cops! 😁 . Bill: Yeah, me too! ☺️

Show Me Your Hands is also wonderfully chaotic, aggressive dancing even more aggressive the guy who plays Jeff’s characters is such a treat

Sam: Put it in your mouth and SUCK IT! Charlotte: Sam, please don’t suck it

Oh yeah Ted is drunk that is not a sober man why is he trying to match the cops’ freak

Charlotte didn’t even have to grab Sam’s gun the cops just pointed at Sam on the ground, did a high pitched Wicked riff and ran lmao

she did still grab the gun and start pointing it at the others tho

they changed the alien insides from blue to green (to better fit the theme probably)

THAT’S NOT HIS BRAIN IT’S FUCKING GREEN!!

Ted is gold

“I vote we go to the panic room and we beg for the king’s help, who’s with me? I got whatever the fuck her name is, I got Bill. Paul?Charlotte?Paul?Charlotte?”

(Charlotte picks up Sam’s gun) “Oh yeah, that’s yours.” “Should she have that right now?”

Ted (after looting Sam’s hat, now refusing to help carry him): Oh no, fuck that man.

The long string of “gates opening” noises (like that one AVPS scene where Ron opens the train compartment door idk that’s the best I can explain it)

The professor pointing the gun at Sam byee

Professor Hidgens shoving the blue green shit in Charlotte face help

“Alexa, be a good girl and dim the lights” is wild

Angry Charlotte I love you

Ted: If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna go out doing the thing I love most. Screwing around with another man- (realizes he put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and jumps up) -‘S WIFE

THE SEX MUSIC STARTING UP AND THE LIGHTING CHANGE IM CRYING

no thoughts just this

Then she drops him and he lays in the fetal position on the floor for a bit

Ted and Charlotte the disaster couple of all time he’s arguing like a child I can’t do this

Ted repeatedly flipping her off as he walks away lmaoo

WHY AM I TIED TO A CHYYEAR??

More banger batshit choreo in You Tied Up My Heart, I can’t get enough of this guy

Swivel chairs are such an enhancement

WHAT THE FUCK NOT THE NIGHTMARE TIME MOTIF PLAYING AT THE SCENE CHANGE AFTER CHAR DIES WGHATT

Bill: I’m gonna kick your head! Audience: Ooooooohhh

Bill just flopping down hard on the floor after the kick-your-head argument lmao

Emma sounds so sad during her monologue to Paul my girl :(((

Paul: You’re the reason I don’t like musicals. :) Emma: Thanks Paul.

That long note Charlotte has at the start of Join Us (And Die). Her actress kept making the note higher!!

Sam immediately beelining for Ted

Ted is the one freaking out the most, this man is losing his shit (as it should be). Also he tried to shoot at Sam with a gun but it was out of bullets lmao

During the “sing Moana” bit Paul and Ted did the “HOUH HOUH” thing at each other

Someone needs to keep alcohol away from Ted all he’s been doing is drinking this whole apocalypse I swear

The professor saluted at Bill when he said “god speed”

Okay shit I’m cutting it off at act one since this is already so long, I’ll probably make a part two of this as I watch but it’s already taken me like three hours to get through act one since I keep pausing help.

anyways if you actually read this whole thing, props to you, reblog like a cat emoji or some shit idk I need to know if anyone actually read this

[pokepollsters]

Best Pokémon Villains Tournament- Individuals Bracket- Stats Breakdown!

It's been a little bit since the Individuals portion of the Best Villains Tournament ended, and the Organisations Bracket has already begun! But we're back to focus on the single characters once more, briefly, as we look at the data and numbers for this massive tournament!

After 5 months of matches, Guzma claimed victory, but there's a lot more to the contest that gave him his victory. So, if you're ready, we'll hop into some stats without any further ado!

So, let's start with the overall stats. At 79 main matches, this was the longest main tournament in this blog's history! No wonder it took so long to whittle the contestants down! When we include the preliminary matches though, it does fall to second place, with 84 total matches to the Best Legendary's 88 matches.

Of course, we would expect to see very high total vote counts with a tournament this size, and that's exactly what we got! 47,506 votes were cast, and a still massive 45,682 votes when we discount preliminary voting. Neither of these totals quite matched the Best Legendary Tournament's record, but they came close!

When it comes to our average votes per match this time, however, we see something of a dip compared to previous tournaments. When you consider a particular fact though, this does make sense- this was the first tournament to include content from side games! With less people recognising certain characters, we saw some matches get far less votes than others, bringing down the overall averages. They were still respectable though, 566 votes per match, and 578 per match when you don't count the preliminaries, which always perform worse.

All of the above is displayed below in graph form, taking the non-preliminary results and comparing them with our past tournaments.

And lastly, something I've not mentioned before, but I do keep track of how many votes have been cast across the major tournaments on this blog. As things stand, we are extremely close to surpassing the 200,000 mark, with us almost certainly getting there before the current tournament is over! Right now, we have cast 197,387 votes for our favourites across 8 different tournaments. There have been 368 matches, and an average of 536 votes per match. Here's to another 200,000 votes!

But let's get into specifics. With 79 contestants, more than any other tournament before, we have a lot to go through. Guzma may have won in the bracket, but how do all of our contestants rank by average vote total across their matches? Well, this is how:

Guzma- 687 (4,125 votes across 6 matches)

Plumeria- 572 (4,006 votes across 7 matches)

Cyrus- 556 (556 votes in 1 match)

Giovanni- 551 (2,203 votes across 4 matches)

Lusamine- 523 (3,139 votes across 6 matches)

Volo- 496 (1,489 votes across 3 matches)

Colress- 483 (1,448 votes across 3 matches)

Miror B.- 442 (2,652 votes across 6 matches)

Shelly- 424 (1,271 votes across 3 matches)

Oleana- 411 (1,643 votes across 4 matches)

Archie- 390 (780 votes across 2 matches)

Atticus- 367 (1,101 votes across 3 matches)

Maxie- 362 (1,087 votes across 3 matches)

Courtney- 361 (1,445 votes across 4 matches)

Eri- 340 (681 votes across 2 matches)

Mela- 316 (1,263 votes across 4 matches)

Ghetsis- 279 (279 votes in 1 match) & Paradise Protocol Sada- 279 (1,394 votes across 5 matches)

Ariana- 271 (542 votes across 2 matches)

Giacomo- 269 (538 votes across 2 matches)

Matt- 263 (527 votes across 2 matches)

Lysandre- 256 (767 votes across 3 matches)

Mars- 248 (496 votes across 2 matches)

Ortega- 243 (486 votes across 2 matches)

Charm- 242 (726 votes across 3 matches)

Nascour- 241 (482 votes across 2 matches)

Coin- 240 (719 votes across 3 matches)

Tabitha- 226 (678 votes across 3 matches)

Nobunaga 223- (223 votes in 1 match)

Edward- 217 (434 votes across 2 matches)

Paradise Protocol Turo- 204 (204 votes in 1 match)

Mable- 202 (202 votes in 1 match)

Saturn- 190 (379 votes across 2 matches)

Ice- 189 (379 votes across 2 matches)

Rose- 188 (188 votes in 1 match)

Lovrina- 185 (370 votes across 2 matches)

Celosia- 182 (547 votes across 3 matches)

Bryony- 171 (343 votes across 2 matches)

Cassiopeia- 170 (339 votes across 2 matches)

Xerosic- 167 (167 votes in 1 match)

Arlo- 160 (320 votes across 2 matches)

Jupiter- 159 (319 votes across 2 matches)

Ardos- 158, Zinzolin- 158 (158 votes in 1 match each) & Billy- 158 (315 votes across 2 matches)

Kasa- 154 (154 votes in 1 match)

Venus- 150 (150 votes in 1 match)

Faba- 143 (143 votes in 1 match)

Petrel- 135 & Archer- 135 (135 votes in 1 match each)

Sierra- 133 (133 votes in 1 match)

Greevil- 132 (395 votes across 3 matches)

Clyde- 131 (131 votes in 1 match)

Charon- 129 (129 votes in 1 match)

Lavana- 128 (128 votes in 1 match)

Ein- 126 (251 votes across 2 matches)

Hocus- 125 (249 votes across 2 matches)

Clover- 121 (121 votes in 1 match)

Proton- 119 (119 votes in 1 match)

Gorigan- 118 (118 votes in 1 match)

Eldes- 109 (109 votes in 1 match)

Evice- 108 (108 votes in 1 match)

Blake Hall- 104 & Dakim- 104 (104 votes in 1 match each)

Tiffany- 103 (103 votes in 1 match)

Aliana- 100 & Sordward- 100 (100 votes in 1 match each)

Kincaid- 95 (95 votes in 1 match)

Shielbert- 87 (87 votes in 1 match)

Folly- 79 (79 votes in 1 match)

Trudly- 76 (76 votes in 1 match)

Cliff- 69 (69 votes in 1 match)

Gonzap- 63 (63 votes in 1 match)

Heath- 59 (59 votes in 1 match)

Garret- 55 (55 votes in 1 match)

Snattle- 49 (49 votes in 1 match)

Paulo- 40 (40 votes in 1 match)

Gordor- 33 & Arley- 33 (33 votes in 1 match each)

As we can see, Guzma wins in this category too! Followed by his lieutenant and the silver medalist, Plumeria. Our bronze medalist, Lusamine, is in a still respectable 5th place, and the last of the Semi-Finalists, Miror B. took 8th. All of the top 10 managed an average over 400 votes too! Very impressive. On the other end though, 12 contestants didn't even pass the 100 mark in a single match.

But average number of votes isn't everything! Vote share can tell a different story too, and it looks more like this:

Guzma- 79.9%

Shelly- 72.3%

Colress- 69.1%

Oleana & Archie- 67.2%

Giovanni- 67.0%

Courtney & Mela- 63.3%

Maxie- 62.5%

Eri & Atticus- 62.4%

Plumeria & Coin- 60.8%

Ariana- 59.8%

Lusamine- 59.7%

Charm- 58.7%

Nascour- 58.2%

Volo- 57.5%

Paradise Protocol Sada- 56.1%

Ortega- 55.2%

Giacomo- 54.6%

Ardos- 54.1%

Matt- 53.7%

Miror B.- 53.6%

Edward- 52.0%

Ice- 50.6%

Lysandre- 50.4%

Mars- 50.1%

Mable- 49.3%

Tabitha- 49.0%

Cyrus- 48.8%

Billy- 46.8%

Paradise Protocol Turo- 46.4%

Xerosic- 46.0%

Clyde- 45.0%

Nobunaga- 44.6%

Venus- 44.2%

Rose- 44.0%

Celosia & Bryony- 43.5%

Lovrina & Saturn- 42.9%

Gorigan- 41.4%

Ghetsis- 41.1%

Cassiopeia- 41.0%

Greevil- 40.6%

Kasa- 40.3%

Evice- 40.0%

Hocus- 39.7%

Dakim- 39.5%

Zinzolin- 39.2%

Arlo- 36.6%

Charon- 34.7%

Jupiter- 33.7%

Ein- 33.3%

Lavana- 32.1%

Archer- 31.8%

Petrel- 30.5%

Faba- 30.2%

Proton- 28.6%

Blake Hall- 28.3%

Kincaid- 28.0%

Clover & Sierra- 27.8%

Eldes- 25.3%

Tiffany- 24.0%

Sordward- 23.7%

Aliana- 22.9%

Folly- 22.8%

Shielbert- 21.2%

Trudly- 18.0%

Cliff- 15.0%

Gonzap- 13.7%

Heath- 12.7%

Snattle- 11.8%

Garret- 11.5%

Paulo- 9.0%

Arley- 7.5%

Gordor- 6.0%

Oh look- Guzma wins this category too! But his fellow Semi-Finalists all dropped a fair bit- Plumeria tied in 9th, Lusamine in 11th, and Miror B. dropping all the way to 20th! It just demonstrates that some contestants perform very well in some matches and still lose, while others consistently win by smaller margins.

Overall though, it seems the top 28 contestants all maintained a 50% or higher average, congrats to them! Meanwhile, our bottom 3 couldn't even reach double digits.

Our last graph of the day, well, it looks pretty messy to be honest! Here's how much of the pie that was the total votes in the competition was earned by each character! As expected, Guzma wins here too, having garnered 8.7% of all votes cast. And amongst the Semi-Finalists as a whole, they earned a whopping 29.3% of all the votes in the competition! That's honestly a ridiculous share for 4 out of 79 contestants, even when we consider the fact that they each featured in more matches than any of the other contestants.

And finally, before we wrap up, we have some individual match stats.

The match that got the most votes was the Semi-Final showdown, Round 6: Match 2, Plumeria vs Miror B.! At a total of 2,156 votes, it was the only one to surpass 2,000- though 6 other matches surpassed 1,000, including the second most voted on match, Round 6: Match 1, Lusamine vs Guzma. What a wild set of Semis!

On the flip side, Round 2: Match 12, Dakim vs Ardos got only 263 votes, demonstrating the smaller draw of side game characters. Just ahead of that was the previous match, Round 2: Match 11, Evice vs Greevil, at 270 votes. Both Cipher head-to-heads just didn't gather as much attention as any other match!

Those numbers on both ends are noteworthy for the blog as a whole- the 2,156 votes earned by Plumeria and Miror B. place their match as the 3rd most voted on match across the entire blog. Great job you two! However, until now, no non-preliminary match had failed to gain 300 votes before, and this tournament had 4 of them! Dakim and Ardos take the dishonourable title of least popular match (not counting preliminaries) on the blog.

Who individually won the most and least votes though? Well, Plumeria takes the crown here- finally snatching something from Guzma! In her aforementioned match, she earned... 1,337 votes. Yes, I'm serious. And on the other end? Well, it's a tie, so at least the two of them can commiserate together. Both Gordor and Arley earned only 33 votes in their Round 2 matches, and Guzma and Archie respectively.

Finally, it's time for margins. The closest match in this tournament ties for the closest match we've ever had on this blog! Round 3: Match 2, Charm vs Tabitha came down to 0.4%, a mere 2 votes. Another match came down to the same 0.4%, but this time it was 3 votes, Miror B. vs Atticus.

And my personal favourite bit- the biggest sweep award! This goes to the person who managed to sweep their opponent by the biggest margin. And dear lord, it's a big one. The biggest sweep in this tournament, in this blog's history, was an 88% margin- won by Guzma in his Round 2 match against Gordor. This marks only the second time that the biggest sweep also went to the winner of the overall tournament. All I can say is congratulations Guzma! Your victory in this tournament has been absolute.

And that's all folks! Thank you so much for reading, and for your patience in me getting this out here. I hope you're enjoying the current bracket, and thank you as always for voting and supporting this blog- it means so much to me! Now let's wrap this up- but I'll be back with more stats before long!

[nayrawrites]

Wanda Maximoff x Fem OC

Title: Three Simple Knocks

Summary:

Wanda unexpectedly gets a new roommate and doesn’t know that the stranger isn’t who she claims to be. Secretly, the woman is there to give Wanda Maximoff the happy ending she deserves.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Female OC

Status: Ongoing

Words: 28k+

Tags: strangers to lovers, roommates, slowburn, soulmates

Ao3:

Wattpad:

Chapter 2: A Game

"You can sleep here."

They were currently standing in the middle of Wanda's guest bedroom. It had never actually been used but Wanda still made sure to at least clean it once a month.

The bed sheets were freshly made, soft but plain. A simple gray, no actual personality. Just like the rest of the room.

There were two nightstands on each side of the bed with a nightstand lamp and on the opposite wall was a rather small TV. Wanda wasn't really sure why she even bought one, when she never used it anyway but it seemed like something a normal guest room would have. She liked normalcy.

There was a small desk next to the windows and the only other thing in the room was an empty closet. Maybe she should have decorated it more. Then again, she never actually expected someone else to stay here.

"Neat," Lucy placed her luggage next to the bed and walked over to the windows. "Did you do all that?" her finger was pointing out the window, as she glanced over at Wanda.

She didn't know what Lucy meant at first, until she spotted her garden. She nodded and took in the sight momentarily. Flowers, vegetables and fruits covered most of the green ground. Gardening had been one of her main activities ever since she came back; it was helpful when you just wanted to clear your head.

And Lucy had the perfect view from her new room.

"Some ground rules before I let you unpack." The brunette faced Wanda. "I'm all ears."

"That's rule number one; don't be all ears. I don't need you to be snooping around while you're staying here." If there had been a camera filming them right then and there, Lucy surely would've looked directly into it after hearing that.

"Rule number two." She paused, her forehead scrunching up in thought, "Actually that's it. Mind your own business and leave when you can."

Lucy held back a smile, when she realized that Wanda already ran out of ideas before she even had the opportunity to gather any momentum.

Tough front, huh.

"Yes, ma'am." She had never been good at holding back smiles.

Wanda rolled her eyes and headed towards the door.

"If you need to freshen up, feel free to use the towels and toiletries in the bathroom."

And then she left.

"Oh my God," Lucy whispered and threw herself on the bed. She couldn't remember the last time, she'd been so nervous. Of course she was aware of whom this house belonged to, but seeing her in person was a whole different thing on its own.

She let her stay though, so that gave her hope for what was to come.

Using the time, she unpacks and takes a quick hot shower. Although she had her own shampoo and other essentials, she used the stuff that was already in the bathroom, which was connected to her bedroom — very convenient, if she may add.

And she liked the way apples looked, so why not smell like them too.

When she finally left her room again, her brown hair still damp, she tentatively walked to the living room, where she found Wanda nose-deep in a book.

At first glance, it was hard to tell what she was reading, but as her fingers glided over the paper, swiftly turning the page as soon as Wanda read the last word, Lucy caught a glimpse of the cover.

Lucy knew that book and she also knew why Wanda was reading it. The realization dawned on her, filling the middle of her chest. She'd file that piece of information away for later. All it did now was flood Lucy with more determination of what's to come.

Hearing the soft steps, Wanda looked up from her book. It could totally be her imagination, but Lucy could've sworn the woman's lips were twitching.

What was so funny?

"What are you wearing?" she asked.

The brunette looked down at her clothes; a white shirt with Bibbles face planted on it and a pair of dark blue sweatpants covering her. Not like she would admit it to Wanda, but she just bought them.

"Pajamas?" Maybe she should be offended.

"It's not even 6 pm," the Sokovian countered.

"Can't a girl be comfortable in her own home," Lucy leisurely walked over to the white couch Wanda was occupying and sat down on the opposite end, "besides, there's no way I'm leaving the house today."

"Not your own home but sure," Wanda grumbled.

Silence settled between them again and Wanda genuinely tried focusing on the book in her hands, but it was difficult with the eyes of the woman burning a hole in the side of her face.

Sharing a space with someone felt weird, even weirder when you didn't actually know them, and the weirdest when they were basically openly stalking you.

Lucy didn't even try and hide it. Observing humans was her favorite way to pass some time. Body language, twitches in their faces and breathing patterns; they all told a story. Lucy had no clue what story, she never claimed she was any good at reading, yet that didn't stop her. If anything, it motivated her to continue.

Annoyed, Wanda closed the book with a flick of her wrist — a red mist surrounded said book and transported it right back to the coffee table.

Who knows when it will be able to fulfill its purpose and be read again.

Her new stalker watched, possibly in amazement, the way the magic formed at her fingertips and filled the atmosphere with its power. She'd always wondered, whether or not the mist made a sound. Now she knew it didn't. It was silent, not noticeable at all, if you didn't see it. Just like the wretchedness that had been simmering inside Wanda ever since she opened a certain door one fateful day. But Lucy had every intention to see.

"Can't you find something to do?"

The question shook Lucy out of her thoughts, "Oh yeah, sorry."

However, instead of marching away, Wanda had to stare in concern, as she noticed Lucy shuffling closer to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked incredulously.

"Finding something to do," Lucy deadpanned.

Now don't blame Wanda for where her first thought wandered. She didn't like it any more than you and she feigned no restraint in showing that displeasure for a split second.

To be fair, that phrase alone wouldn't have caused such a reaction, however Lucy basically getting in her face and invading her sacred space, hit the nail in the coffin.

At the plain look of disgust, Lucy's eyes widened.

"Not like that, perv," her hand rose to shove Wanda playfully by the shoulder. The witch just let it sway her, embracing the opportunity to get some distance between the two of them with open arms. Before she got to clarify who the actual pervert in this house was, Lucy continued. The nuisance probably saw it coming anyway.

"Let's play a game."

"No."

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

"No."

"You don't even know what game."

"And I don't need to. Crazy how the world works."

"Please," she stressed.

"No."

"You know, I can do this all day." Low blow, no point in denying that.

Wanda's answer was a groan in annoyance. Lucy took that as a great sign.

"How about 21 questions?"

When Wanda still hadn't said anything in return, she took that as her cue to explain, "I basically ask a question and yo-"

"I know how to play," Wanda interrupted.

In hindsight, the game would've been a good opportunity to find out more about her guest, which was the main reason she even indulged in her antics.

Especially because liars tended to slip up when they got too comfortable for their own good.

She faces Lucy properly, "I'll start. How do you know Clint?"

"Through a mutual friend. I've told you that already," she replied, crossing her legs to get more comfortable on the couch.

"Which friend?"

Lucy just shook her head, "Nope, it's my turn now."

Worth a shot, Wanda thought.

The brunette's eyes looked up for a second, trying to think of a question. She intended to start easy and slow.

"Why do you live so far off the city?" That should be simple enough.

"I like the quiet." Truth be told, Wanda expected worse.

Had Lucy even muttered 'Westview', she'd have shut the whole thing down.

"Why are you here?"

That was a really good question. Lucy just couldn't give Wanda the answer, she would've wanted.

"I needed a place to stay."

Irritation grew in Wanda.

"Are you reading that book for the first time?" to clarify, Lucy nodded over to where it was currently resting, the red mist of Wanda's magic long gone.

The witch tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea what Lucy was getting at but answered nonetheless.

"No." She wouldn't get into detail, how often she'd reached the last page of the novel and how often she'd flipped back to the first page again, in hopes of getting different answers.

“Where are you from?" she asked.

There was a moment of silence, in which Lucy had to take a second and consider her answer. It was only a slight pause, barely detectable but Wanda noticed and in the back of her mind, it unnerved her. Why would someone have to think about where they're from, if they aren't lying.

"I'd say further north from here."

Lucy saw the game for what it was — an interrogation.

Regardless Wanda being aware of that too by now, Lucy's avoidance was enough to piss her off.

"Stop doing that," she demanded.

"Stop doing what?"

Playing the ignorant gal wasn't always the best route, but it had to suffice.

"Giving me these vague answers that literally tell me nothing about you."

Oops, she caught on, Lucy thought.

"It's not like yours were any better," she countered and despite the threatening twitch in Wanda's eyebrow, Lucy had a point. Playing a game of honesty, where both parties had no intention of sharing, was never goint to end well.

"It's only fair that I know who I'm allowing to sleep in my house."

"It's only fair that I know whose house I'm staying at."

God, Wanda really didn't think she had anger issues.

Sure, there was the whole thing of manipulating a whole town and all, but that wasn't done out of anger.

Still, her unwanted guest seemed to get a rise out of her, "No one asked you to stay here."

Now that's when Lucy realized, it potentially wasn't the sharpest idea to test her luck on her first night. There was no certainty that Wanda wouldn't just as easily kick her out as she took her in.

After it was obvious that Wanda pretty much won the argument, which she secretly took great pleasure in, she cleared her throat, "I think the game is over."

Nothing more than a nod was given in return, until Lucy stood up from the couch. Wanda looked questioningly at her, when Lucy didn't seem to do anything else.

"I'm kinda hungry, can I check out the kitchen?", she asked.

Wanda didn't even consider that she could have any other needs; a mistake on her part. And she felt quite guilty for being such a bad hostess, albeit that was something she could quickly work on.

"Right, sorry." Now it was Wanda's turn to stand up.

Together, they made their way to the kitchen and Lucy was almost in awe.

Not because it looked grand and luxurious. No, that wasn't the case. Instead, it was because it seemed like the complete opposite of the rest of the house — save the garden.

While the other rooms she had been in; her bedroom, its adjoined bathroom and the living room, were cozy in its own kind, they didn't appear to be very lived in.

The ambiance was still cold. On pictures, it would've been decent, perfect for marketing and selling. Whereas for a place that had supposedly been lived in for the last couple of months, it seemed...empty.

The kitchen however, was warm and soft, perhaps even the heart of the house, at least for now.

Six hanging pendant lights in some kind of rustic style were the first things she noticed. They were scattered all over the room but the ones hanging near the large vertical windows by the sink were really bringing the room all together. Echoing the last light of the sun, right before twilight fell, Lucy wondered what it would look like when the lamps could rest and natural sunlight took over.

She'd have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

The rest of the kitchen was filled with wooden countertops and cream colored cabinets that were hanging on the walls. She spotted multiple plants near the window and on the small table in the middle of the room, adding to the whole vintage cottage charm.

Having breakfast in here must be a whole experience.

For now, she had to settle on dinner or some snacks.

"I got some leftovers from today, if you want," Wanda offered.

"Please."

Taking that as her cue, Wanda — the amazing hostess that she is, of course — prepares the dish for her and motions for Lucy to start eating.

"You won't have any?"

"No, I've already eaten," she replied and watched for a bit as Lucy seemed way too excited for a simple meal heated up by a microwave, but Wanda guessed she must've been really hungry.

God knows, how long it took her to get here and if that journey included any snacks.

Not exactly sure what to do, Wanda left the kitchen right before the woman got to eat. She settled on the couch again and grabbed her book.

She tried. She truly did. The book wasn't even opened though, so maybe she didn't try that hard after all. Instead, her eyes were settled on the door of the kitchen; a direct view to Lucy.

It felt strange seeing someone in her kitchen and she wasn't sure what it was, but seeing Lucy sit in the kitchen, alone, eating her meal, made her uneasy.

Sure, she still had no actual idea where Lucy was from, why she came and what she planned to do, but she knew what it's like to eat alone. Wanda did it every day. And it's silent and dull and sucks all the fun out of eating something good, if you do it often enough.

So that's why, with the book in hand, she walks right back to the kitchen and sits down wordlessly. Her sole focus on the words in her book.

However, Lucy was happily using her cutlery to devour the veggie casserole and the piece of chicken on her plate, when Wanda came. Her mouth stuffed with a big chunk of broccoli as she looked up in surprise. As Lucy saw Wandas masquerade of nonchalance, she couldn't hide the big grin forming on her face. Lucy would totally take that as a win.

Be that as it may, imagine the sight of a woman trying to grin when her mouth was barely able to cover the broccoli before that.

Chewing like you have a secret went out of the window.

When she was done, her hand patting the satisfied stomach, she promptly did the dishes before the Sokovian got any ideas. Her handiness was pretty much non-existent but it got the job done at some point, all the while Wanda stayed in her chair at the table.

Wanda left as soon as she was done, not bothering to wait for Lucy.

As she was about to follow her, Lucy stopped in her tracks once she saw Wanda standing in the middle of the hallway, a piece of paper in her hand.

She swallowed, when she felt her own empty pocket.

Had Wanda's eyes always flashed red like this, Lucy wondered, as the witch motioned to the note clutched in her hand.

"What the hell is this?"

Lucy already knew what was written on the paper, branded with her initials, before she even looked.

LM

Why aren't you a superhero anymore?

Why do you live here?

Did your fingertips ever start looking different lately?

Why don't you have any pictures in your house?

Why did you let me stay here?

Are you okay

In her humble opinion, it wasn't that big of a deal.

To someone who was wary of your whole existence, it might be.

If you liked it, feel free to check out the whole ongoing fic

[ggukvnly]

Before We Knew || JJK

Chapter 1

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ synopsis; He was her brother’s best friend. That should’ve been the line — but the way they looked at each other said otherwise. It was always there. They just hadn’t admitted it yet.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ genre; brother’s best friend | fuck buddies

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ pairing; jungkook x you

Living with your older brother isn’t terrible. It’s not fun either, but it’s not terrible.

Jimin’s the type who leaves his shoes in the middle of the hallway, forgets to replace the toilet paper roll, and complains about grocery prices while buying five different protein powders. But he’s your brother, and after enough years of watching him boss you around, protect you from your own decisions, and ruin your favorite playlists with his gym edits, you’ve learned to let most of it slide.

Plus, he means well. He didn’t exactly beg you to move in, but he didn’t give you much of a choice either. According to him, your solo apartment hunt could wait. Something about “the market being ridiculous right now” and “you’ll save money” and “you’re not ready to live alone anyway.”

It had felt like a step back at first. Being under your brother’s roof again after finally having your own space at college. But now, two months in, you’re mostly settled. Your room feels like yours. The apartment smells like fabric softener and leftover takeout. You’ve figured out which cabinets hold snacks and which ones are weirdly empty all the time.

You’ve also figured out that Jungkook shows up here way too often.

You should’ve expected that, really. He’s been part of your life since you were twelve. Since Jimin started dragging him over after school, tossing his bag on the floor like he owned the place, acting like Jungkook wasn’t basically a stranger to you at the time.

He wasn’t a stranger for long.

Now, years later, he’s still around. Still casual. Still just Jungkook.

You walk out of your room in shorts and an old hoodie, your phone in one hand, hair tied up loosely. You hear the door open and close, and you already know who it is before he speaks.

“Yo,” Jungkook calls out, voice easy. “Where’s Jimin?”

You don’t even bother looking up. “Gym.”

He snorts. “Of course.”

You glance over your shoulder and spot him heading to the kitchen. He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, leans on the counter like he always does, and scrolls through something on his phone. It’s all normal, all familiar. Nothing new.

You move to the couch and sink into the armrest, legs curled under you. Some random show plays quietly in the background. You’re not really watching. You’re aware of him moving behind you, though. The sound of the fridge closing. His rings tapping the water bottle. His footsteps against the floor.

He walks over a second later and drops onto the other end of the couch without asking. That’s not new either.

“Comfy?” you ask, eyeing how he takes up most of the space already.

He leans back, stretching a little. “More than at home.”

You laugh under your breath. “What’s wrong with your place now?”

He shrugs. “It’s boring when I’m there alone.”

“You could clean or something.”

“That’s the most unfunny thing you’ve ever said.”

You smile a little and pick at the sleeve of your hoodie.

He stretches again, arm resting behind the couch — not on you, but close enough that you notice.

“You still liking your classes?” he asks suddenly.

You blink, then nod. “Yeah. Mostly. One of my profs is kind of useless.”

“Sounds like college.”

You glance at him. “You miss it?”

He thinks for a second. “Sometimes. Not the lectures, but the freedom was nice.”

You hum in agreement.

There’s a short pause. Comfortable, not awkward.

Then he smirks a little. “ Your brother still uses that giant water bottle like his life depends on it?”

You grin. “He calls it his ‘emotional support jug.’”

Jungkook laughs, head falling back against the couch. “He would.”

“He made me carry it to the gym once. I swear it weighs more than I do.”

“Did you actually go to the gym?”

“No,” you say immediately. “I dropped him off and went for coffee.”

He laughs again, quieter this time.

You look over at him again, watching the way his smile lingers. His hair’s messy from his hoodie, and his earrings catch the light when he turns a little. He’s not even trying, and he still looks like that. It should be illegal.

You shift slightly, trying not to let your thoughts drift too far. This is how it’s always been. He talks to you like a friend. Like Jimin’s little sister, nothing more. And you’ve spent too many years convincing yourself that it’s fine.

It is fine.

You remind yourself of that as you glance at him one more time, just before he picks up the remote and flips the channel without asking.

The door swings open again, and this time it’s louder.

You glance back to see Jimin stepping in, gym bag slung over his shoulder, followed by Taehyung who kicks the door shut behind him like he’s done it a hundred times.

“Smells like sweat and regret in here,” Taehyung says, fanning his face dramatically.

Jimin drops his bag by the door. “Blame Jungkook. He’s been here all day.”

“I literally got here twenty minutes ago,” Jungkook calls out without looking up.

You smile, already sinking deeper into the couch. The chaos level in the apartment just went up by two — and honestly, you don’t mind it.

The boys drift toward the kitchen eventually — one of those slow, lazy movements that just happens when boredom kicks in and everyone starts hoping the fridge magically got restocked.

You get up too, mostly out of habit. “You guys didn’t bring anything?” you ask, stepping past Jimin and Taehyung.

“We brought ourselves,” Taehyung says proudly.

“Yeah, well, yourselves don’t count as snacks,” you mutter, opening the fridge.

Jimin shrugs, clearly unbothered. “You eat everything before we even get here anyway.”

You whip around, giving him a look. “Excuse me?”

Taehyung smirks. “She’s not denying it.”

Your mouth opens, then closes. You actually can’t deny it. You just glare at both of them instead.

Jungkook laughs from behind you, shaking his head as he walks into the kitchen.

“Stop bullying her,” he says, grabbing a bottle of water. “She’s the only one here with decent snacks.”

“That she hides,” Jimin adds, opening cabinets with no luck.

“I don’t hide them,” you lie.

“You literally keep chips in your laundry basket.”

That gets a full round of laughter. You look away, cheeks warming. “Okay, that was once.”

“Once a week,” Jimin grins.

“Shut up,” you mutter, tossing a pack of biscuits on the counter just to get them off your back.

Jungkook’s still smiling when he glances at you. Just briefly. Just enough for you to notice.

Eventually, the chaos settled. Everyone stopped bickering long enough to agree on what to eat, and after what felt like forever, the food finally arrived. The boys were practically attacking it the second it hit the table, barely giving you time to grab your share before the fries disappeared.

You let them argue over the last spring roll and slip into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

But then Taehyung says something that catches your attention.

“You good though?” he asks Jungkook. “Like, actually?”

Something about the way he says it makes you pause.

You take a step back, pretending to be filing the glass and adding lemon to it. The conversation drops to a quieter level, but the voices carry just enough.

“Yeah.” Jungkook says.

There’s a pause.

“She messaged me,” he adds. “Last week.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything for a second. “And?”

“I didn’t reply.”

You don’t move. You’re standing just past the hallway now, where they can’t see you, but their voices still reach your ears.

“She’s the one who picked fights every other day,” Jungkook goes on. “I wasn’t gonna chase her after that. She ended it.”

Taehyung hums. “Still. Three months.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook says. “And I’m not going to get back with her.”

He sounds tired. Not broken, just… done.

“Fair,” Taehyung says after a while.

You’re not even sure why it bothers you.

Maybe it’s the calm way he said it — like she wasn’t even a wound, just a name. Maybe it’s how easy it is for him to open up to Taehyung about her, and how you’ve never been part of those kinds of conversations. Or maybe it’s the way your chest reacted before your brain could catch up, tightening with something that felt suspiciously like jealousy, even though you have no right.

You quickly step back into the kitchen like you’ve just walked in. “What are you guys whispering about in here?”

You sit on the couch and sip your water, pretending you didn’t just eavesdrop on something personal. Pretending your head isn’t now full of some girl named Nari and the version of Jungkook she got to have.They don’t talk about her again.

“Nothing,” Jungkook says smoothly. “Tae’s just mad I didn’t let him pick the show.”

“Because your taste is actually criminal,” Taehyung fires back.

“You watched a pottery competition for three hours.”

“That show had heart.”

Jimin snorts. “Here we go again.”

You smirk, already sliding onto the couch. “Honestly? The pottery show kinda slapped.”

Jungkook looks at you like you betrayed him. “Et tu, Y/N?”

Taehyung points proudly. “She has taste.”

“You have propaganda,” Jungkook mutters, grabbing the remote.

Jimin groans. “Can we just agree you all watch weird stuff and move on?”

“No,” Taehyung and Jungkook say at the same time.

The boys go back to half-watching TV, half-scrolling their phones, cracking jokes and yelling at each other over scores like the world hasn’t shifted at all. And maybe it hasn’t. Maybe it’s just you.

Later, when Jimin starts yawning and Taehyung says he’s gonna crash early, the living room clears out bit by bit. You stretch your arms above your head, already planning to grab a snack and hide out in your room.

“You’re tired?” Jungkook asks from beside you, voice lower now that things are quieter.

You glance at him. “A little. Just full, honestly.”

“Could’ve guessed. You were fighting Jimin over spring rolls like it was life or death.”

You grin. “They were good.”

He smiles, leaning forward to place his empty can on the table. His hair falls into his eyes for a second. “You always like those? Or was that new?”

“The spring rolls?”

“Yeah.”

You shrug. “Jimin and I used to split them when we were younger. Now I just hoard them out of habit.”

He hums, like he’s tucking that away somewhere. “Makes sense.”

There’s a pause. Just soft background noise from the TV, voices murmuring from another room.

Then he turns to you again. “You still thinking about moving out?”

Your brows lift slightly. “Why? You want my room?”

“No,” he laughs. “Just asking.”

You rest your head against the back of the couch. “Yeah. I mean, eventually. Jimin’s being all dramatic about it.”

“He’s your older brother. It’s part of the job.”

“Still. It’s like he forgets I’ve lived alone before.”

Jungkook doesn’t say anything to that, but his expression softens a little. He watches you for a second longer than necessary — and not in a weird way. Just like he’s seeing something he hadn’t noticed before.

You look away before you can do something stupid like stare back.

“I’ll probably wait a few more months,” you say quietly. “Just until I find a place I like.”

“You’ll find one.”

You smile faintly. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

He nudges your knee gently with his. “Anytime.”

Your heart does that stupid thing it always does around him — a skip, a flicker, something uncalled for. You wish it would stop. Or at least give you a warning next time.

He doesn’t move his leg away.

But he doesn’t move closer either.

Just… stays there. Right where he is. Easy. Comfortable. Like this is just another night where nothing means anything.

And maybe it is.

Maybe that’s what makes it sting a little.

Taglist: @senaqsstuff @stars4kooo

[unp0pularl0nerkid]

Forget-Me-Not

You and Zoro had a little situation-ship going for the past couple of months. You try to chalk it up as “not serious” but you were head over heels for him and he was for you. Yes, zoro was a bit forgetful, and sometimes nonchalant, blowing almost everything off. But tomorrow was valentines day and you know he wouldn’t do that to you. You’d gotten him this ancient sword and it had the most amazing grooves, you couldn’t wait to give it to him. It has flames carved onto the handle and its threading is so intricate. It’s not typical for you to gift give, but when you saw it, you knew it was the most perfect thing ever for Valentines Day. You’d also made a charm trinket out of needle and thread to attach to it, so he would always remember that it was from you.


You walked to the usual spot, as you waited for zoro with the sword behind your chair. He sat down with a small smile and a “hey”. In that deep grovel voice that you love so much. You wanted to tell him this, that you were in love with him and wanted to officially put a name to what y’all are. You wanted to be his, his partner, his everything. “Hey!” you said cheerily. You noticed that he didn’t seem to have anything but sometimes smaller things are better. I mean you could argue that zoro knew you better than anyone. He always noticed the small things. So you waited. You’d both gotten lunch and were coming to the end of it, yet he still hadn’t said anything. He hadn’t even brought up valentines. So, you decided you would be the first to do it. “Happy Valentines Day Zo!” You exclaimed pulling the sword from behind you chair. His eyes widened in realization. “Woah, is that-How’d you even get that?” he said, trailing off. “Thank you. But, I didnt get you anything…I didn’t think we were doing that.” He said. Oh? Oh. “Oh, uhm it’s okay, I just saw that and thought of you.” You said grabbing your purse and getting ready to leave. He grabbed your wrist and said “really?” Inspecting your face for any hidden feelings. But you masked it. “I just didn’t think we were going to do that type of thing” He said. That was it. The last little bit of water before the pot boiled over. “Of course not! It’s not like it’s about to be fucking valentines day and we’ve been hanging out for months or anything. It’s not like you usually forget everything and valentines day is a day for love and affection. It’s not like I’m fucking in love with you or anything!” You huffed before walking off with tears in your eyes. Had all of this really been for nothing? Did he really not care that much for you? Heading back to your apartment you saw nami. Whose smile dropped and then she asked “What the hell happened?” So you told her, except you’d shortened your crash out. “That bonehead! Girl fuck him. You’re coming out with us tonight and you’re going to look damn good doing it!”


So she dragged you to a thousand stores. Buying shoes, and clothes, and jewelery. The night had came and you looked hot. “I feel like I have no clothes on” you giggled. “Girl you look hot, who cares!!” Nami said holding up some pregames for y’all. You had your hair in a short curly pixie with big hoop earrings. You had on a dress that hung down but left some room so you can see the area between your tits and it was backless, stopping right below your ass. You paired it with ripped fishnets and some black heels. The only thing you hoped was that zoro would see just how good you looked and maybe he’d understand that it was time to be official.

When you got to the club, you immediately recognized luffy and the crew. “Oh my! You all look gorgeous! I feel like I’ve died and went to heaven!” Sanji exclaimed, if he was animated I swear he would have heart eyes. “Hey guys!!” you said swaying slightly to the music. “Woah, you look so cool!” Luffy said to you. “Thanks Luf!” You smiled. You sent a quick glance to zoro whose eyes were roaming down your body, and before you could even thing of a bad decision, nami grabbed you. “Let’s dance!” She said trailing you away. So you were both in the middle of the floor and downing shots at the same time. Of course the crowd was cheering y’all on. All of a sudden you felt some presence behind you. Somebody was trying to grab you but you just kept moving forward because it was too loud to tell him to get off of you. You looked back and zoro had said something to him making him storm off. Zoro just stood behind you and whispered in your ear “You okay?” “Im fine! I don’t need a hero.” You yelled at him over the music before walking away and going outside. Naturally he followed.

“I told you I didn’t need a hero. And I don’t know if you can’t tell but I don’t really want to talk to you.” You scoffed rolling your eyes. “Listen, Im sorry I forgot the valentines day gift. I was wrapped up with practice and everything and-“ he started before you cut him off. “Because you didn’t care about it. I know, that its not a priority for you zo. But I wanted you to care about the little things, to prove that you care about me. But…what we had going on, I made it into an illusion, thinking that it was more serious than it was. So, can we stop what it is, Its obvious that you don’t have the same feelings for me.” You said softly before turning and going back inside, leaving zoro with his thoughts.

It’s not that he doesn’t care about you because he does. He knows he loves you, hell he knows he’s in love with you but you never seemed to be in a rush for anything so he just didn’t put too much thought in it. But now, it seems like his wait time just made everything worse.

In Zoros mind, he knew you were upset, you’d just never spoken up or got mad at anything, so he guesses he’d just become careless? But, seeing you walk away, seeing you upset with him, hurt more than he’d ever thought it would. He can’t just leave things like this, so he does the one thing he knows he should do, he calls on nami for help.

Valentine’s Day.

You woke up that morning to a warm ray of sunlight peeking through the curtains. It wasn’t your favorite holiday, hell you barely recognized it, but this year it hurt worse than before. Maybe it’s because the guy you love doesn’t feel the same? Whatever. Nami had texted you to get dressed up all cute and go to zoros apartment because everyones going to be there. She threatened that if you didnt show up, she would personally drag you out. So you’d put on a brown sweater, with some cute white ruffle shorts and some brown boots to match. You’d styled your baby hairs and added a little bit of water to your pixie cut, with some pieces left out looking nice and curly to frame your face. Even if you weren’t going for zoro, valentines is still a day about love, so maybe you could put some extra love in yourself.

When you arrived at Zoro’s apartment, you knocked twice and waited. There was no answer, so you tried again, a little louder this time.

"Oi, Nami!, Are you in there?" After a few seconds, the door swung open, and there he stood, in a some black baggy jeans, a white tee shirt and a red button up. His hair was done nicely and he even smelled like cologne. He was all dressed up. Which made your heart clench..was it for the hangout?

“Hey (your name)” he greeted, giving you a quick scan up and down “Happy Valentines Day.” He said handing you a red heart shaped box with a note on top. You blinked, your heart speeding up just a little. “Uh, Thank you zoro.” He froze, looking blankly at you for a second before a faint, awkward chuckle escaped him. “I know it’s not much and it doesn’t even make up for everything that happened. But, I got us some breakfast too and we can watch a movie?” He scratched the back of his head, clearly a little embarrassed. You couldn’t help but smile despite everything, even though your heart was still a little sore. It wasn’t a grand gesture, but it was something—Zoro trying. For once, trying. “Of course Zo.” You spoke softly before coming inside. Once you’d set your things down and zoro went to go retrieve the food, you took this as a chance to open the box. It was a brand-new, high-end workout set: a matching jacket and leggings, with a note carefully folded inside. You took a deep breath, your heart pounding, and read the words scrawled in messy handwriting. “I know it’s not enough. But I’ll make it up to you. I love you so much, even if im a bit of a dunce sometimes. – Z” A small chuckle left your lips as you shook your head. You still weren’t sure if Zoro would ever get it completely, but maybe… just maybe, this was a start. And maybe it was enough. Maybe Valentines Day was about the little things after all.

This was supposed to be a valentine’s day post but it’s july…if january is june then july is february right? (say yes!)