#oh hold on i got it. wait for it. coolest tag ever | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

satoruvt · 3 years ago

Text

words you never could say

...and i’m torn apart.

pairing → lee seokmin x reader, some kim mingyu x reader, and also seokmin x oc for a hot minute

word count → 10956

genre → fluff, a lil angst, high school au (only for a sec), college au, slice of life ↳ tags: man aight. love rosie au without the kid (right person wrong time kinda deal), childhood friends to lovers, i was writing this whole thing like “poor mingyu”, pushing the seokmin theater major agenda, mc does not know how to handle anything ever, PROM?!?!, airport moments (tm), unusual amounts of “hi”s and “hey”s, pov you are in love with lee seokmin, seokmin has a disney+ account, Oh My God I’m In Love moments (tm), PINING, when u and ur best friend are in love with each other but too stupid to do anything about it, pain but only for a second, mingyu is trying but it is not working, oh to hold seokmin’s hand...

synopsis → the timing is just never right, is it?

warnings → i think theres some swearing, mc drinks one time, little mentions of anxiety here and there, uhh i think thats it <3

a/n → @seokmingiggles LANNIE!!!!!!! omg when i got u for this exchange event i was so excited <3 i’d like to personally apologize for the length of this LMAO i really didn’t mean for it to get this long but.... here we are 🤡HAHAHA i knew immediately that i wanted to do something special for u and i’ve had this idea locked away in my wips for a while and i thought it’d be perfect. u are the coolest and i love seeing u on my dash. pls enjoy this, seokmin loves u lots <333

for @ficscafe fic exchange event!

the title comes from epitaph by hippo campus, which is included on a cute playlist i made for this fic <3

sixteen.

“I had a dream last night,” Seokmin tells you.

You hum and open your eyes just enough to look over at him, resting on your elbows in the grass. He’s lying down fully, face dotted with the harsh light of the summer’s afternoon sun. You were supposed to have a picnic today, but it really just ended up being too-expensive ice cream and sitting under one of the only trees in the park because it’s so hot. “What was it about?” You ask.

Seokmin looks back at you, moves so one of his arms supports his head. “Ah, really,” he starts. The tips of his ears are red; from the sun or from something else, you’re not sure. “About you, honestly.”

“Oh, I’m honored,” you respond. Seokmin giggles and you laugh with him, ask him why the dream was about you, what you were doing. It doesn’t really surprise you that he dreamed about you - you’ve been friends for years, it’d be weird if the two of you never dreamt about each other.

“It was so weird,” he says with an equally weird face, and you raise an eyebrow at him. “We were in this field or something, and you were, like, miles away from me, but I could still see you clearly. We were facing each other even when we were so far away, and you had an apple on your head.”

Seokmin sits up as you give him a confused look and he holds his hand up as if to tell you to wait, it gets weirder.

“Suddenly I have a bow and arrow in my hand. And I take the arrow and I shoot it at you, at the apple. It’s a clear shot,” he holds his arm completely straight in front of him, finger pointing at you. “I know I’m gonna hit it, even when you’re so far away. But then this entire forest just emerges from the ground, and then I’m thinking I won’t hit you at all. I won’t even come close.”

You do a poor job at hiding the amused smile on your face when Seokmin’s so serious about this. “Okay,” you say, a sign of moderate encouragement. His eyes are bright when he looks at you.

“But I just know that I hit you,” he says.

“Dream logic,” you add thoughtfully.

“Yes.” He leans back on one of his hands, the other shielding his eyes from a line of sun that breaks through the leaves. “The arrow swerves through all the trees, dodges everything, somehow, and hits the apple. And then it’s like I blink and we’re not so far apart anymore, we’re standing right in front of each other.”

A couple of kids running after a frisbee laugh and you wonder if Seokmin’s dream happened here. The park’s certainly large enough. If you think about it, you can almost picture the two of you on opposite sides.

“You’ve got the apple in your hands, you’re getting the juice all over the place, but then I look at you, and you smile at me. And then I woke up.”

There’s a second of barely-quiet, a breeze rustling the leaves of the tree and cooling you for just a moment. You nod like you’re thinking, considering his dream, and then say, “yeah, dream you was definitely trying to kill me.”

“Hey! We don’t know that!”

“Oh, come on! You shot the arrow at me, you hit the apple by luck, and the reason I was smiling at the end was because I was still alive!”

Seokmin grumbles before ripping out a handful of grass from the ground and throwing it at you, laughing together as you fall to the ground dramatically, clutching your shirt where blades of grass linger.

If the dream has any meaning, you don’t remember it.

eighteen.

High school comes and goes and before long it’s the end of your senior year, a world you’re still unfamiliar with waiting for you. It makes you a little emotional, felt in your chest and through the late-spring breeze, like your heart knows everything you consider familiar will soon become a fond memory.

You and Seokmin have had to same plan for years.

“Weird to think that in a year we’ll be finishing our first year of college,” he says one day during a free period. You’re both sitting outside, enjoying a post-lunch snack of boba tea and muffins from your favorite restaurant (courtesy of you having your driver’s license and Seokmin offering to pay). You nod, taking a sip of your drink.

“In a different country,” you add.

And, well. Neither of you have received your acceptance letters yet, but Seokmin is Seokmin, and you’re not worried about him. Any performing arts college would be lucky to have him, even if it happens to be half a world away. You know he’ll get in, it’s just a matter of time. You applied for a general college in the same city - a little easier for you, but still with him. The two of you had gathered up in his room months ago to fill out your separate applications and send them at the same time like it might make a difference.

Seokmin says, “crazy.”

You say, “yeah.”

The conversation drifts into plans for the upcoming end-of-the-year dance, which you expect to be the usual. Go with Seokmin, actually be at the event for no more than an hour, head back to either your or Seokmin’s house to spend the night watching movies and trying not to make too much noise laughing when he inevitably does something stupidly funny.

You expect things to be easy. Familiar like always before things start to really change.

Evidently, the change you’re nervous about hits a little earlier than you expected.

Seokmin gets asked to prom by a girl in your grade, someone named Sarai. She’s pretty and sweet and talked to Seokmin enough for him to say yes (although he checks with you about it first, which, however sweet, seems a little unnecessary). You’re not upset - it’s not as if you can’t still hang out with him at the dance. Your after-prom plans with him still stand, and you remind him of such. Plus, you’re excited to tease him just a little bit about his first real date to anything. And once Seokmin’s found a date, the universe shifts just a little bit more when Mingyu asks you to the dance.

(You’re surprised, but you say yes, because you’ve been partnered with him enough in class projects to know he’ll make sure you have a good time. He’s sweet and funny and laughs when Seokmin threatens him about what’ll happen if he treats you badly. The “threats” are half-assed and Seokmin apologizes for them later.)

And then the universe does a total 180 when you receive a letter in the mail from the college you applied to months ago and it starts with the words we regret to inform you like it really matters to them at all. On prom day, too.

It kills your mood, for sure, but you don’t exactly have much time to worry about it… it’ll just make Seokmin upset, too. You’ll tell him later. Tonight will be good, you’ll deal with it all later. You get ready for the dance a little lackluster, but it’s okay.

Soon enough Mingyu’s picking you up from your house, slipping a corsage onto your wrist and smiling through your family’s unavoidable need for pictures. He cracks jokes on the way to the school and you laugh at them but you know he can tell something’s up. He doesn’t say anything about it.

Once you actually get into the dance and meet up with Seokmin and Sarai, you do forget about things for a while. You spend time cringing at the music playing a little too loud over the speakers, laughing at Seokmin and Mingyu having what can barely be considered a dance battle. It’s easy to get swept up in the moment, and you’re thankful for the distraction.

After you waste your energy on the dance battle (you were brought in against your will, but you still won by a landslide) you tell the group that you’re a little overheated and going to cool off outside. You seat yourself on the steps outside of the gym, take in a deep breath of outside air.

And it… hits, a little, right then. That you’re not leaving with Seokmin. He got his acceptance letter a few days ago, and he’s leaving, and you should have applied to other schools, but application fees are expensive and you really just thought that you’d get in. You thought things would work out okay.

You sniff when the door behind you opens and shuts, music loud and then quiet, wiping what little tears escaped away. Mingyu sits down next to you too fast for him not to know what you’re trying to do, so you give up easily. A second of quiet passes, filled with crickets and the ruffling of your clothes as you move idly.

“Sorry,” you end up saying, voice small. In your peripheral vision, you see Mingyu tilt his head to look at you, and when you look back at him, he’s got a small pout on his face.

“For what?” He asks in response, leaning back on his hands. “You’ve had a bad day. Just ‘cause it’s prom doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel bad.”

Something in his voice makes you want to cry, but you let out a sigh in hopes you can hold off the tears for a little bit longer. “It’s just,” you breathe, feelings your voice shake. “I didn’t get into the college I was supposed to, and Seokmin did, and he’s looking dorms and apartments so far away, and I… I’m not going with him. He’ll be there alone.”

Mingyu hums. “Have you told him yet?”

“No.”

“Are you going to?”

The answer to that question should be an automatic yes. Even you know that much. You say, “I don’t know.”

Mingyu nods and it surprises you. “I think you should,” he says.

You run your hands over your arms. You know he’s right - he doesn’t even have to explain why he thinks it’s a good idea - but still, you…

“I don’t want to have to tell him that we have to do this all separately,” you murmur. “We had a plan. I really wanted it to work.”

Mingyu rubs a gentle hand over your back, and the warmth of his palm provides more comfort than these kinds of things usually do. He’s smiling at you when you look over at him, something soft and understanding. “It’ll be rough to be apart from him, but there’s nothing you can do about it now. And sending him off without telling him’ll only be worse in the long run.”

It still makes you nervous. You don’t want to have to take such a big step without Seokmin, and you don’t want him to have to take such a big step without you, either. All of this change is scary as is, and to do it without the one person you’ve counted on for years… well. You know you’ll still have each other, even through timezones and cultures, but it’s not the same as physically being with him.

You blink away fresh tears as you look at Mingyu, watching him come in and out of focus while you try to get your vision back to normal. He waits, patient, fingers rubbing patterns into the space between your shoulder blades, and you think, briefly, that maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to like him. You lean closer to him so your head rests on his shoulder and he lets you, his hand moving from your back to over your shoulder as you do. “Thank you,” you tell him. “Sorry for being a bad date.”

Mingyu shrugs gently like he’s trying not to jostle you around too much. “You can make it up to me by buying me lunch one of these days.”

Despite what Mingyu said on prom night, you don’t tell Seokmin.

Graduation comes and goes, as does the summer. Seokmin asks about your acceptance letter and your answers range from “maybe they’re behind” to “I wonder if I gave them the wrong address” and he accepts them. You spend the months melted into ice cream and at low-light bonfires, in pillow forts at Seokmin’s and LED-lit movie nights at your place. You visit Mingyu on his breaks at work and look for your own job.

(Seokmin asks why you’re looking for work when you’ll just be gone soon, and you tell him a temp job’s money can pay for textbooks.)

It’s a good summer, even if it feels like you’re plagued by a shadow for most of it. You try not to let it get to you (some days you wonder how you manage it).

Eventually, however… it’s time for Seokmin to leave.

By this point you’ve given up on stalling, and you’ve told him that you’ve received your acceptance letter, you’re just staying behind for a while to tie up some loose ends and make sure everything’s in order. You’re at the boarding gate with him, waiting for his flight to be called.

“So,” he starts, shuffling his carryon bag between his hands. “I’ll see you in a few weeks?”

“Yeah,” you answer, hoping that he can’t hear the lie in your voice. “A few weeks. I’ll text you when I’m done with everything.”

Seokmin pulls you into a hug and you hold onto him for dear life, because whether you’re coming or not, it’ll be a while before you see him again. You’re a little comforted by the fact that he seems reluctant to go, too, his face buried in your neck. You think you hear him sniff and it’s almost comical.

When you pull away from the embrace, you don’t distance yourself, keeping your forehead against his. You refuse to open your eyes, a little too afraid of what you will or won’t see, a little too caught up in all this moment might mean to you, in all that Seokmin means to you. His breath dances over your lips and you lean into it, a hint of something in uncharted territory. A new feeling, a different rush.

His plane is called to board and you break away for real, this time, your eyes opening as you feel Seokmin’s arms slip from around your body. You don’t have time to think about whatever feeling rushed through you.

“Have a safe flight, okay? Call me if you need anything.”

Seokmin smiles, big and bright, says, “‘kay. I’ll see you soon.”

But you don’t see him for a while after that.

nineteen.

“Have you told Seokmin yet?”

Mingyu’s tone is innocently inquisitive, but you know better when he’s been asking the same question every few days for almost an entire year. “Seokmin stopped asking,” you respond, taking a bite of your sandwich as the early-spring breeze ruffles your hair.

Seokmin did stop asking about when you’d be following him to college. You think he figured it out a long time ago - a month into the school year and you were still nowhere to be found - but it’s been harder and harder to talk to him at all, given he’s busy with school and you have little energy between shifts at work. The time difference doesn’t help much, either.

“What do you mean he stopped asking?” Mingyu scoffs, and you shrug, picking off a stray blade of grass from your picnic blanket (Mingyu’s idea for today’s lunch date, since it’s started to get warmer outside).

“I mean he stopped asking,” you say. “It’s been hard to talk to him lately.”

A second passes with neither of you talking before Mingyu murmurs something along the lines of “can’t believe you didn’t tell him” and you roll your eyes, taking a chip from the bag you brought and throwing it at him. You feel bad about it - you think you always will - but there’s nothing you can do about it now, really.

The two of you eat together in lighter conversation, drifting from one topic to the next, enjoying company. He makes stupid jokes and you pretend they’re not funny, but it never lasts long and you can’t help a few giggles from slipping out.

And then he says, “you know, I always thought you and Seokmin would get together.”

You blink at him a few times, then furrow your brows. “Like, dating?”

“Yeah,” he laughs, wiping his hands free of crumbs. “Everyone did, really.”

You’ve never thought of it that much - you figured you’d get a few people here and there asking when you and Seokmin would actually start dating (you did, and it still shocks you) but you’ve never… seriously considered it. Mingyu asks you as such and you shake your head, honest. He looks at you with an unreadable expression.

“Seokmin… he looked at you like he was in love with you.”

For a second you think about the airport, about being so close to him you couldn’t focus on anything else, the moments spent in a different world, but you shake it out of your mind. “You know Seokmin,” you say. “He’s a little bit in love with everything.”

Mingyu hums. “He’s not the only one who looked at you like that.”

He says it so casually you almost miss it completely. You look at him and he’s looking at something else, and it reminds you of partnering with him in class and when he’d send you homework answers when you missed school, reminds you of prom and sitting outside the gym with him, your head on his shoulder and his arm around you.

You say, “Mingyu?”

He says, “sorry, I really wanted this to be better.”

It hits in a second and you’re practically falling over yourself to get to him, hands on his shoulders while you shake him ruthlessly. “Wait, are you being serious?” You demand, barely listening to his protests. “What the hell, are you really -”

Mingyu pushes you off of him, gentle, and you just stare at him like you’ll get an answer without saying anything. You only find half of the words. “How long have you…”

He’s just as flustered as you, it seems, but he understands what you’re trying to say. He scratches the back of his head in a nervous tick you remember him telling you about once. “Since… maybe junior year? The middle of junior year.”

“Why did you say anything?”

His smile is bittersweet. “Well, I thought you were dating Seokmin,” he says. “And when I found out you weren’t, I figured it’d only be a matter of time before you were, so I think I forgot about it for a while. But, I don’t know, we got so close this last year, and I know it’s only because Seokmin’s gone -”

“No, Mingyu, what?” You interrupt before you can think about it. He looks at you and it breaks your heart to think that he’s been feeling this way for so long. “Seokmin is my best friend, but I never saw you as a replacement. You’re you, not him, and I…”

There’s something in the way Mingyu looks at you now, a sliver of fondness steeped in the dark of his eyes. “You?”

You feel like falling. “...I wouldn’t mind a date. Sometime. With you.”

Mingyu grins so wide it makes your heart pound.

It takes a few dates and a few more kisses, but eventually you and Mingyu are officially dating. Summer comes in what feels like record time but it’s good, spending your time working and liking Mingyu, feeling like slow-melting honey. You think you might have enough money for your own apartment, soon.

It happens on a completely normal day.

You’re standing at the register post-lunch rush, meaning there probably won’t be many customers for the next few hours. The health of your nails is a lot more interesting than looking around a restaurant you’ve been familiar with since you were thirteen, so you don’t even notice that a customer’s come in until you hear and quiet ahem in front of you.

You manage to get out “oh, gosh, sorry, how can I -” before you realize that it’s Seokmin.

Seokmin, standing in front of you, hair a warm brown instead of the black you saw him leave with. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and smiles at you.

“Hi,” you say.

“Hey,” he says back.

Your manager is kind enough to let you take your break early, and you grab your and Seokmin’s favorites from the menu before sitting down with him. He speaks first, like he’s been thinking about this for a while.

“So,” he starts, and you raise an eyebrow at him from across the table. “You’re still living here.”

It hits like a brick to your chest and you chuckle as some sort of self defense, choosing to start with a winded “yeah, about that,” before telling Seokmin what happened. In all honesty, it’s not hard to be solemn about it - you feel guilty, and even more so, just sad. You missed out on so much with him, a years worth of new memories.

When you’re done, he says, “okay.”

“‘Okay’? You’re not mad?” You ask, incredulous. Seokmin shakes his head, hair bouncing with the movement.

“No… I mean, I’m upset, but I’m not mad,” he says. “It was hard for you, and that’s okay. I just wish you would’ve told me.”

You nod, leaning back in your seat while Seokmin takes another bite of his food. “I was worried you wouldn’t leave at all,” you tell him. “And after you left, I guess I was worried that you’d come back.”

“Eh, maybe.”

“Maybe? Maybe?”

But it’s easy like it always is with Seokmin, and when your break is over and you have to get back to work he tells you that he’ll see you again when your shift is over. You grin at him when he leaves and he grins back, and despite the surprise, you’re excited that he’s visited. You’ve missed your best friend.

You see him again when he meets you at your place, waiting for you to change out of your work clothes and so he can say hi to your family since it’s been so long. He’s paging through a magazine on your bed while you finish up getting ready in your bathroom.

“Are you dating anyone?” He asks suddenly, and an automatic grin flushes over your face as you stick your head in the doorway to look at him.

“Yeah, actually,” you say, and Seokmin’s eyes widen. “Mingyu and I started dating a little bit ago.”

“Mingyu,” Seokmin echoes, almost like he can’t believe it. “Mingyu from high school? That Mingyu?”

“Yes?” You respond, matching his confused tone. Seokmin turns back to your magazine.

“The threat still stands,” he whispers dramatically. “I’ll have to tell him again.”

You laugh openly, rolling your eyes as you leave your bathroom to find your shoes. You’re not exactly sure where the two of you are going tonight, but you figure it doesn’t matter. You’re tying up the laces on your second shoe when Seokmin speaks again.

“I’m happy for you, though,” he says. There’s something in his voice - in his face - that you can’t decipher. “Mingyu’s good.”

It makes you happy, proud, even, and you make it known with a large grin. The rest of the night is simple, nostalgic in a way you haven’t felt for a while as the two of you drive down familiar streets and listen to old songs you used to love. The sun sets on a day that feels successful and comfortable, and when Mingyu calls you out of the blue later Seokmin does make sure to threaten him again, and this time he finds it in himself to not take it all back immediately (even when he tells you to tell Mingyu he’s sorry later). You think that it’ll be a while before things are this simple again.

twenty-one.

Seokmin answers your call in exactly three and a half rings and with an excited “hey!”

It’s been easier and easier to keep in touch with each other now that you both have a better grasp on your schedules and you aren’t avoiding him. You manage to find a time to talk to each other that isn’t too early for you or too late for him and vice versa, and at a rate that doesn’t leave the two of you silent for weeks on end. “Hey, Seok.”

He asks you about your week, how things have been going, and you humbly brag about already being promoted at your new job. He sends you a weird look but congratulates you nonetheless, and you flick your camera and he pretends like it hurts.

“What about you?” You ask, laying back in your bed. You hear the front door of your apartment open and close and figure Mingyu’s home (which is still a weird thing to just think, even when it’s been a few months that you’ve lived together). “Anything new and exciting?”

Mingyu must hear you talking, because he doesn’t come into your shared bedroom announcing “honey, I’m home,” like he (obnoxiously) does every day. You smile at him when his face appears in the doorway. “Actually,” Seokmin says from your phone, eyes sparkling even through the bad quality of your camera. Mingyu shuffles around in your peripheral vision. “I was cast in a musical the theater department’s doing.”

Halfway through the phrase “no way” Mingyu decides to collapse directly on top of you, and you let out a gust of air you didn’t even know you could hold in your lungs followed by inevitable giggles. Seokmin makes a confused noise on the other end of the line.

“Hi Seokmin,” Mingyu offers as an explanation, voice muffled from where his mouth is nuzzled into your chest. Seokmin laughs.

“Hi, Mingyu.”

You roll your eyes at your boyfriend’s antics but don’t push him off of you, only shifting a little so that Seokmin can still see your face and you’re not uncomfortable holding the phone up. “Ignore him. Tell me about the musical.”

And he does. He tells you what it’s about, that he got the lead even when he didn’t think he’d have a chance, that the first show is in about a month and a half. You don’t pitch in often, only offering hums and nods and sounds of amazement as Seokmin rattles on happily.

It’s not long after that that you say your goodbyes, bringing your faces too close to your cameras as a new sort of ritual before you hang up. You toss your phone somewhere on the other side of the bed and wrap your arms around Mingyu (who’s been very patient), who leans up to kiss you sweetly, then pepper light kisses all over your face as a greeting.

“Welcome home,” you say through laughter.

It’s a slow night, most of the evening spent in bed watching stupid videos and catching up on new episodes of TV shows both of you watch together. When the sun finally sets Mingyu leaves your blanket cocoon to take a shower and you busy yourself with looking up the cost… of plane tickets.

Right when you’re finishing up the necessary research is when Mingyu comes out of the shower. “What’re you lookin’ at?” He asks, motioning to your laptop. He sits on the corner of the bed, toweling his hair dry, and you bite your lip.

“Would it be okay if I… booked a trip? For, say, a month and a half from now?”

Mingyu blinks at you. “For Seokmin?”

You nod, pushing your laptop off of your legs to rest on the mattress. “Yeah, I… it’s his first musical, and when we had this whole plan to move together, I told him I’d be there,” you say. “Feels kinda like I owe him, you know? And I miss him. He’s only visited once since that first time.”

Mingyu smiles at you, supportive, and you smile back. “Yeah, whatever you want,” he tells you, standing from the bed. His voice fades as he walks back to the bathroom. “It’ll be good to get away from you for a while.”

“Hey!”

A few days before Seokmin’s opening night you land in his city.

The first thought in your head is “oh wow, I’m finally here” and it’s immediately followed by the unnecessary and irrational anxiety funded by the fact that Seokmin doesn’t know you’re here. The whole visit is a surprise. You had stopped by his parents’ house to ask his mom for his address and she had gone the extra mile to tell you he wouldn’t have plans when you were visiting and that he’d be home alone.

(“Are you dating anyone right now?” She had asked when you visited. You told her yes, a mutual friend of yours and Seokmins. “Oh,” she’d said. “That’s a shame. I’d always hoped you and Seokmin would get together. I think he used to have a crush on you.”)

You want it to be a surprise, because it’s been so long since you’ve seen him in person, but at the same time… it’s a little inconveniencing to show up at someone’s house out of nowhere. But you know Seokmin, and he’d never turn you away over it.

After you get your bags you make your way to the entrance of the airport, luckily landing a taxi without waiting too long. Everything is busy and you’re a little overwhelmed, but somehow you can’t help but think that it fits Seokmin to be in a place like this, full of life and warmth like him. The taxi driver asks you where you want to go and you read him the address you were given (Seokmin’s address, your brain emphasizes) and he takes off like he knows exactly where the apartment is.

You’re not sure how much time passes but soon enough you’re in front of Seokmin’s building, entering through the lobby and taking the elevator up to the fourth floor. Your heart feels like it’s pounding out of your chest and the smooth, mindless music coming from the speakers does little to help you calm down. When you get to the right floor you count the doors as you pass them, mumbling Seokmin’s under your breath until the numbers on the plaque finally match the ones you’re telling yourself.

You take a second to calm yourself down, one nice deep breath into your lungs before you knock three times in quick succession. There are footsteps, the turn of the lock, and then…

It’s not Seokmin. It’s a girl. A girl you’ve never seen before.

Both of you stare at each other for a little too long before you snap out of it and ask, tentative, “is there… a Seokmin here?”

Recognition bleeds onto her face and she leans back into the apartment to call out Seokmin’s name, reverberating through the walls. It happens in the same way, all again, a little more distinct to your ears - footsteps, the shuffling of clothes, and then Seokmin is in front of you, real, in the flesh.

(Your Seokmin.)

“Hey,” you greet with a smile that you’ve been trying to hold in since you landed. “Surprise.”

In a step and a half Seokmin’s crushing you in his arms and you’re laughing like it’s the only thing you know how to do, squeezing him back just as hard. He smells like the detergent you’ve always known him to use mixed with another scent you’re unfamiliar with but it still fits him just the same, warm and light and potent.

“What are you doing here?” Seokmin asks as he lets you go, stepping back into his doorway and making room for you to follow. He grabs one of your bags and you follow him into his apartment.

“Oh, when you told me about your musical I figured I should come and see,” you say once you both stop in the living room. “I promised I would.”

Something moves behind the two of you but you barely notice. Seokmin stands in front of you and for a moment it’s like it was back before you graduated, before he moved and before everything. “Yeah, you did,” he murmurs.

An ahem sound echoes throughout the room and you remember the girl from earlier, the one who opened the door to Seokmin’s apartment. You spin around while Seokmin makes an “oh!” sound like he just remembered she was there (and you feel kind of bad, but she only rolls her eyes with a smile).

“Sorry,” Seokmin laughs, coming around you to stand by the girl. “This is my friend Ashley. She’s playing the other lead in the musical, we were going over lines.”

You introduce yourself and Ashley is nice, shakes your hand with a firm grip as you tell her your name before she says she should get going. This is what you were anxious about earlier. You tell both of them that you didn’t mean to interrupt and if they needed to keep practicing they could, but Ashley assures you that she was planning on leaving soon anyways and walks out the door calling it was good meeting you!

The door shuts and you’re here in Seokmin’s apartment, and it feels strange… maybe things were always meant to turn out this way, but you can’t help but think that in another lifetime this might’ve been your apartment too, if everything had gone according to plan. You wonder how everything went for parallel universe you.

“So,” you say, looking at Seokmin. “Give me a tour?”

The week is spent relaxing and laughing, catching up with Seokmin as he shows you his favorite hang-out spots and restaurants. On a day that he doesn’t have any morning classes the two of you attempt a homemade brunch and you don’t end up setting off the fire alarm. You spend a solid four hours in a private karaoke room that was definitely too much for you to be paying for but Seokmin was going through Twice’s entire discography and you knew better than to try to drag him away from that.

He reserves a ticket for you for the musical (“Front row, I begged for hours!” He wails when he comes back. He was gone for thirty minutes) and it feels like the time really flies after that, because then it’s opening night and you’re waiting outside the university’s theater. Seokmin had left a few hours earlier than you because, well, he is performing. You’d told him good luck and that you’d be cheering the loudest.

And when the musical starts and he comes on stage you really can’t stop smiling. You’re reminded of when he really decided this is what he wants to do, and you know everything he’s done has led up to this. All he’s for is the stage, for performance, and when he sings you fall into it, losing yourself in the story.

There’s an entire auditorium of people that clap when the play finishes, but based on the looks the people around you are giving you, you’d say you’re at least one of the loudest. And based on the grin Seokmin sends your way when the cast bows, you’d say you’re loud enough for him.

A few minutes after the curtain falls you get a text from him telling you to meet him backstage and you make your way there, finding him waiting at the entrance for you. The first thing you do is tackle him in a hug and he laughs loud, sounding as giddy as you feel, then he takes you backstage with him. He’s wiping off makeup when he tells you about a post-show dinner.

“You should come,” he says, makeup smearing at the corner of his eye. You lean forward, taking the makeup wipe from him and deciding that he’s hopeless at this stuff before gently wiping at his face for him. “It’ll be a lot of fun!”

You purse your lips in thought, then shake your head, grabbing a fresh wipe and rubbing it over the rest of his face. “No, I don’t want to intrude. I wasn’t even a part of any of this, it’d feel weird.”

Seokmin looks at you with puppy eyes, asking if you’re sure, and you nod, flicking him softly in the forehead as both of you laugh.

On your way home you pick up a bouquet of flowers and a single cupcake in Seokmin’s favorite flavor, along with a pack of candles. You only need one of them, but you couldn’t find a single candle that wasn’t a number. It’s not much, but you want to give him something. It’s a memorable occasion, anyways.

You make good use of his Disney+ account while you wait for him to come back, and sometime around midnight you hear the jingle of keys and then the lock at the front door turn. You pause your movie (a little bitterly because you just got to the good part of Tangled) and set everything up accordingly, the bouquet on the counter and the cupcake next to it, and you barely manage to light the candle in time before Seokmin enters the room.

“Congratulations,” you call, quiet to mind the neighbors, your hands out to frame the simple gifts as if to say “here you go!”

He crosses through the living room to stand opposite to you on the other side of the counter, watching the flame on the candle intently. The wax drips onto the frosting. “You gotta blow it out, Seok. The wax is gonna get all over it.”

Seokmin asks, “you got this for me?” in a small voice and it’s only when you look at him that you notice his eyes glassy with tears.

“Oh, Seokminnie, don’t cry,” you say with a gentle laugh, and he sniffs with his own chuckle before leaning down to blow the candle out. You reach a hand over the counter and ruffle his hair while he switches his attention to the bouquet, picking it up and looking at the flowers close up.

And then he looks back at you, ears and the tip of his nose a little red from the almost-crying, smile on his face as usual as ever, but you are - and this is -

You think about that day the two of you hung out in high school, when you went to the park and he told you about a weird dream; you remember the sun on his skin and the way that he spoke. You think about being his date to anything, a routine, familiar, a promise. You think about planning your lives together so you would still be close together even when you’re both old and senile, you think about lost moments, you think about this moment, right here, in Seokmin’s apartment, in a world created by the two of you.

And this… this is being in love. This is being in love with Seokmin. This is realizing.

“Hey,” Seokmin calls, waving a hand in front of your face. You blink a few times. “Did you zone out?”

It takes a second longer than it should for you to respond. “Yeah,” you answer slowly, trying to swallow everything down. You feel hot. “Sorry, yeah.”

“You sure that’s all it is? You look pale.”

You shake your head. Is this really happening? “No, I’m fine, promise. I guess I’m just a little tired.”

Seokmin reaches forward and puts the back of his hand against your forehead to check your temperature. It makes everything worse. “You must be too,” you add, desperate. You don’t know if you want him closer or if you want him far away. “It’s late. You performed in a play today.”

As if on cue, he yawns. You gulp as he takes his hand away to cover his mouth, then nods, his lips forming into a pout. “Yeah, you’re right. Guess we should get some sleep, huh?”

He leaves the flowers but takes the cupcake with him to his bedroom, a giddy and innocent “goodnight” called over his shoulder before his door shuts. You unfold a few blankets onto his couch, turn off the lights, and will yourself to go to sleep like it might make the feeling go away.

Do I want it to go away?

You refuse to answer.

You try to push it all back, at least for the rest of the trip. Luckily, you only stay another few days before you have to head back home, and you think you do a decent job, even if Seokmin senses something (but he doesn’t ask you about it, which you’re more than thankful for). Unluckily, you have to return home to Mingyu. Your boyfriend. And you don’t know what that might mean for you.

The airport gives you deja vu.

“Thank you for visiting,” Seokmin tells you at your gate, and you smile at him.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you say, feeling your heart clench in your chest. “I’ll be back soon.”

For some reason it’s not any easier, despite the fact that he’s been living so far away from you for so long. Maybe… maybe it’s because things are different, at least for you.

“‘Kay,” Seokmin responds, opening his arms wide. You go to him in a second.

And Seokmin has never felt unfamiliar, he’s never been unusual. But it feels different, holding him like this, his hand on your back and his nose in your shoulder. It is so much more and so much worse and you can’t do anything but squeeze him tighter.

He pulls away first and the minimal space between you reminds you of the first time you saw him off at the airport, and now, if you wanted, you could…

It only lasts for a second. (You wonder if it’s a sign.)

You almost tell him, right there, his hands still lingering on you and his scent still attached to your clothes. You almost tell him that the other night, looking at him under his kitchen light, you realized you were in love with him. You open your mouth to, but your throat stops you, and then an automated voice calling for your gate interrupts you before you even get a chance.

(You wonder if that’s a sign, too.)

You can’t, you remind yourself. Not yet, at least. Not when Mingyu’s at home, waiting for you to get back. Not when he’s waiting for you.

Waiting for you to come around, it seems.

You get home and things seem normal, like nothing changed. The world keeps spinning, you suppose. Mingyu picks you up from the airport but somehow holds himself together until you get home, lifting you up and spinning you around, and you can’t help the giggling, don’t stop yourself from kissing him sweetly as a greeting.

But it feels off. Wrong, even. You wish it didn’t.

The weeks pass. You go back to work, face the routine you’ve had for so long now, come home to Mingyu every night until you start to think that maybe this - maybe Mingyu - isn’t worth keeping, when you feel this way about Seokmin. It’s not fair to either of you.

It’s a sunny day when you decide to talk to Mingyu about it. He comes home from work and you let him change into comfortable clothes, hands curled around a mug of coffee at the island when he comes into the kitchen from the bedroom. You say, “I need to talk to you about something.”

He blinks at you but nods, moving to sit on the barstool next to yours. Your heart starts to pound in your chest and you feel your hands start to shake at the force of it, doing your best to hide it by sitting on your palms.

And you know the words, they’re on the tip of your tongue. They’ve been screaming at you so much for so long that you can taste the syllables in your mouth, the sounds of the letters almost too loud. But you can’t say them. You open your mouth, then close it, then open it again. You look at Mingyu and he smiles.

“Is this,” he starts, pushing hair out of your face, “about Seokmin?”

All you can do is nod, then watch as his hand falls back to his lap. “Ah, I knew it,” he says. You want to throw up. “Never could measure up to him, huh?”

“No,” you say immediately, your voice finally finding its way up your throat. “Mingyu, it was never - it was always me. I’m sorry. It was never you.”

He looks at you and you don’t know what to do. Something like this was never supposed to happen to you, and it was never supposed to happen to someone like Mingyu. It’s all so unfair.

“I didn’t know,” you tell him, feeling your lip wobble with the threat of tears. You will them away. Something in you breaks anyways. “I didn’t know until I visited him. And it was never - you were never a replacement, you remember when I told you that, right? You weren’t, and I felt something for you, I loved you -”

“Hey,” Mingyu interrupts, pulling your hands into his. You take in a sharp breath and wonder how he can sound so calm. “I don’t blame you.”

It just feels so wrong that you have to do this, that you have to break him like this. He doesn’t shake like you, but you can see it in the way he moves and how he looks at you. In a second everything changes, and you don’t know what to do, you don’t know what to say anymore. You squeeze Mingyu’s hands and push all of your energy into hoping that the action does something for both of you.

When it all dies down, you pack your suitcase with clothes and leave to stay at your parents’ for a few days. Mingyu watches you leave.

twenty-two.

Your birthday comes right after you finish moving everything out of your and Mingyu’s apartment. Well. Just Mingyu’s, now. Carrying the last box in your hands, you ask him if he’ll be okay (you feel like a bitch for it), if he still wants you to pay half of the rent until the lease finishes… he tells you he’ll be fine, and it makes you sigh. You move back in with your parents while you look for a new place to live.

It crosses your mind to tell Seokmin how you feel about him.

As you settle into a new routine, it shows up a lot. The wound from your breakup is still fresh - not as big as Mingyu’s, but it stings - so it takes you a little while, but you eventually come to the conclusion that you’ll tell him. You don’t know if he feels the same, and if he doesn’t… you know Seokmin. The worst he’d be is sweet.

A video call is the best you can do right now, so you text Seokmin and arrange a time to call when the time difference isn’t too harrowing. You tell him you’ve got news, and he sends back an excited me too!

And you hope, so foolishly.

(Because Mingyu had told you what feels like a lifetime ago that it’d always seemed like you were dating, and even Seokmin’s mom had said that he might’ve had a crush on you. You know it’s nothing. You still want to think that maybe...)

Your heart races as you listen to the low ring of your phone, waiting for Seokmin to pick up. It’s a quiet night, holed up in your old room, and you get lost in the pictures from high school taped along your mirror and the memorabilia strung along your desk in the form of ticket stubs and notes passed during classes, tiny trinkets as gifts from trips. A photobooth picture of you and Seokmin catches your attention the longest, eyes drifting between the set as younger versions of yourselves make stupid faces at the camera.

Your phone makes a noise that the call’s connected and the first thing you hear is a “hey!” from Seokmin that makes you smile despite your unease.

“Hey,” you respond, setting your phone upright on your desk and leaning back in your chair. “How are you doing, stranger?”

“Really good,” he answers. “It’s been a while since we called, huh?”

And it has - with everything that’s happened on your end, you’ve found it difficult to make time for an entire call, and you imagine Seokmin’s been busy as well. The two of you drift into small talk that doesn’t feel like small talk because it’s you and because it’s Seokmin, catching up on all the things that you missed during text conversations.

“Wait,” he says eventually, bringing the camera closer to his face. “Are you staying with your parents? That’s your old room, right?”

Here goes, you think. “About that,” you say, nervousness tangible in your voice. “The news I had to tell you. Or, I guess, half of it… Mingyu and I broke up.”

There’s a delayed noise from Seokmin before he straight up screams, and his face is so comical that you almost forget about your nerves completely. “You what?” he demands, shaking his phone back and forth. You find it in yourself to laugh. “Why?”

“Well, that’s the other half,” you say. A fresh rush of anxiety runs through your veins, but you manage it. Realization bleeds across Seokmin’s face and you think he’s figured it out before you even had a chance to tell him yourself.

“Oh god, that makes my news so much worse,” he says instead of what you think he will, and for a second your heart picks up its pace because - does he mean - but wait, that doesn’t make sense -

“What’s your news?” You ask, a little too breathless and a little too urgent for your liking.

“Are you sure you wanna hear it?” He asks in return, hesitant. “It might make you feel bad.”

Why would his confession make you feel bad? Does he know that you’re -

“Tell me.”

It can’t be worse than the kind way you know he’d turn you down…

“Well… Ashley and I started dating.”

Oh. Maybe it can.

“Ashley,” you start, saying her name like you’re forcing yourself to get used to saying it. The world starts to spin around you. “The other lead from the musical?”

“Yeah,” Seokmin says. “I didn’t… I don’t want to rub it in your face or anything, I didn’t know -”

“No, it’s okay, Seok,” you tell him, mustering a soft smile. “I’m happy for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

And you are, you could never not be happy for Seokmin, especially when he’s smiling like that and the tips of his ears are red because he’s a little embarrassed. He scratches the back of his neck before saying, “oh, but you never told me why you and Mingyu broke up? You said that was the other half.”

You say, “we can talk about it later,” and then, like it doesn’t hurt, “tell me about her.”

Seokmin grins like he used to grin at you and you can’t help but wonder…

(When did he stop? Why did you never notice? How did it go from being your smile to hers?)

Oh, well. Maybe you’ll never know.

twenty-three.

A few more months pass before you see Seokmin in person again, and it’s not by your own will.

Maybe that’s harsh. He’s graduating and invites you to come, and you tell him you’ll be there because you know you’d regret it if you didn’t go, feelings aside.

Feelings… you thought it would go away. You thought your heart would cut it out after Seokmin told you he was dating someone, but it seems no part of you got the memo, because you’re more than nervous to see him again. On the bright side, you won’t be there for as long as you were the last time you visited.

(But then it gets confusing, because you want to spend time with him, but you can’t be around him for too long without losing it. You can barely properly handle a phone call.)

On the flight you reserve a room at a hotel not far from Seokmin’s apartment, since his parents are staying with him and you don’t want to crowd it further. You go through the motions, checking into your hotel room before heading over to Seokmin’s to visit with everyone for a while. It’s almost easy for a bit, laughing with his parents about old memories and tales from a childhood that seems so long ago. You manage to make it through, leaving a little early with the excuse that jetlag has you tired and you don’t want to sleep in past your alarm for tomorrow.

In retrospect, college graduation isn’t that much different than high school, even if you’re just watching this time. You sit with Seokmin’s parents up in the bleachers of the venue they’re holding the ceremony in, scream at the top of your lungs when Seokmin’s name is called and he walks across the stage with a big smile. When it’s all over you meet up with him outside.

“You’re a big-shot, now,” you tease him, pulling at the strands of his tassel. He laughs.

Eventually Ashley finds her way over to your group, her arm immediately winding itself around Seokmin’s torso. You try not to stare, try even harder not to avoid them both completely. Seokmin says, “a few classmates are hosting a graduates party, do you wanna come?”

It’s instinct to shake your head. “I never went to college, Seokminnie,” you remind him, and he rolls his eyes.

Ashley says, “you should still come. I know it’s been a while since you two hung out. It could be fun.”

Despite whatever you feel towards Ashley - you don’t hate her, but it’s hard not to feel something negative towards her - you appreciate the push, and she’s right, either way. It’s been a while since you last saw Seokmin, and, well… maybe you just need to learn how to be around him, now.

And it is fun, for the most part. You’re not a total stranger to parties, having been to a few when Mingyu would insist on dragging you out of the house, and it’s not all plastic red cups and screaming like you thought it’d be. You have a good time, making small talk with a few girls in the kitchen while getting drinks, laughing way too hard with Seokmin, and even talking to Ashley doesn’t sting as much as it did before.

(It still aches, but it’s slower. Maybe it’s just the alcohol you’ve had.)

But eventually she pulls Seokmin away from you, even when he sends you a sympathetic smile. You wave him off, tell him he’ll find you later. You make your way out to the porch of the house (you’re wondering how the hell someone your age has an entire house but choose not to think about it too much for the sake of your head) because inside’s getting a little stuffy, walking past a few people already outside to sit on the front steps. You scroll through your phone, take occasional sips of your now-lukewarm drink.

The door opens, letting out a gentle blast of music and overlapping voices, and you hear Seokmin say, “oh, there you are!” before the door closes again. You turn around and smile at him, watching as he sits down next to you, grunting, “I thought I lost you.”

It makes you huff out a laugh. You hear the front door open and close again as the other people on the porch head back inside. “Just wanted some air.”

The two of you delve into soft conversation, but you can tell Seokmin wants to talk about something else. You bet it’s about Mingyu (you never told him why you broke up, never had the guts) or about how you’ve been acting differently. A space of quiet filled with crickets and distant bass surrounds you and you speak before he can ask, before you can think too much.

“Did you know everyone thought we’d end up together?” You ask, sparing a glance at him. “Like, dating?”

He chuckles a bit, says, “yeah, my mom was our number one fan.”

It makes something solemnly sweet bloom in you. You offer a small smile anyways, turn back to the neighborhood in front of you. “No, really, everyone. I didn’t realize it was such a big thing.”

You hear Seokmin blow out a puff of air. He sounds like he’s pouting the way he does when he’s thinking when he speaks again. “Yeah, me either, I guess. What does this…”

He doesn’t finish, and he doesn’t have to. You say, “Mingyu thought we would. Date, I mean.”

Seokmin stays quiet. You’ve waited so long now to tell him why you and Mingyu even broke up in the first place, and now that you’re here… what are you even supposed to say? How are you supposed to tell him everything in a way that’s equal parts kind and understanding, in a way that doesn’t sound like you’re begging for him to love you, too?

“...Is that why you guys broke up?” Seokmin asks. “Did he think we had something going on?”

You say “yes and no” through a breathy, nervous laugh. When you find it in yourself to look at Seokmin again he looks more confused than you felt when you first realized…

“Yes and no?”

Now or never, right?

“He didn’t think we had something going on,” you say. Your chest fills with a familiar feeling, something like butterflies, a little less poetic. Maybe moths. “But I…”

Seokmin doesn’t say anything, but he looks like he knows where you’re going with this. You let yourself say it because there’s nothing else you can say.

“When I came down to watch your musical,” you tell him, softly. “I think that’s when I realized I love you.”

It feels like you did something wrong, like you’re confessing to a crime, like you’re in court and everything you do is being watched. But the ground doesn’t crack beneath your feet when you say it, stars don’t start falling from the sky, a hurricane doesn’t start destroying everything in its path. The world stays still despite your pounding heart.

“You what?” Seokmin asks. It might be rhetorical. You answer anyways.

“I’m sorry, Seokminnie,” you say. “I love you.”

You’re not sure what you’re expecting from this (you’re not even sure what you’re hoping for), but it is not the anger you receive.

“Why did you have to say this now?” He asks you, exasperated. It surprises you and your eyes follow him as he stands from the steps, suddenly in front of you. “Now, when - you know I’m in a relationship.”

“I know,” you say, brows furrowing. You set your drink on the concrete next to you. “I’m not trying to get you to break up with Ashley, I’m not telling you this because -”

“Then what are you getting at?” Seokmin demands. “You don’t just confess to somebody to do it!”

Your brain can barely process what’s happening, but you stand up, too, like it might make him understand. “Do you even…” you start, swallowing. “Do you even know how hard it’s been to come to terms with this? How much I’ve worried if you’d still be my friend after I told you?”

Seokmin rolls his eyes and for the first time in a long time it’s not in the playful way you’ve grown to love. “There’s no reason to tell me if you’re not expecting me to feel the same,” he says, voice low. “You shouldn’t have said anything at all.”

And that… that hurts, for some reason, makes you physically take a step back. Both you and Seokmin see it, and you can tell he already feels bad, but he stands his ground, and that hurts even more. You grab all of your things off of the steps, pay no mind to the heat on your face and the shakiness of your hands. You don’t look at Seokmin as you leave.

You’re on a flight the next morning.

When you get back home your first instinct is to figure all of your shit out. You get into high gear looking for an apartment, put in extra hours at work, consider making a drastic change to your appearance because for a solid week you think it’ll solve all of your problems. You’re able to find an apartment and set a move in date, and things start to look good again.

You don’t forget about Seokmin, but you act like you do. Maybe it’ll be easier.

(It’s not.)

You don’t know how long this will last, the not talking to Seokmin and changing the subject whenever someone brings him up. A small, sick part of you wants to really forget about him, completely, because what happens after this? If the two of you make up… as upset as you are, you still love him. You don’t know if you’d take it all back, but you miss your best friend… before anything else, he was your person. After everything, you miss him in that way the most.

(Is it even right for you to miss him in a way you never had him?)

You’re organizing your kitchen, putting your dishes and cooking-ware in their newly designated spots, mumbling along to the songs playing through your phone. It’s not the most flashy apartment, but you’re happy to have your own place.

You’re not expecting any company, given you moved in yesterday, so when you hear a knock on your door, it startles you a bit. You turn off your music and stare at the door like it’ll give you the ability to see who’s outside, then figure it might be your landlord checking in. You leave the plate you were holding on the counter and make your way through the stacks of boxes towards the door.

When you open it, not bothering to look through the peephole, Seokmin’s standing in front of you.

There’s a second where neither of you speak, just looking at each other like weirdos, and then he says, “hi.”

A wave of emotions crashes into you at the sound of his voice, and it takes everything in you to hold it all back. “Hi,” you respond, because there’s not very much else you can say.

You’re not really angry anymore.

“Can I, um…” he starts, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” you say, blinking. You open the door wider for him to come in. “Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess, I still haven’t gotten everything put away yet…”

You shut and lock the door, and Seokmin follows you into the apartment. You stand by the kitchen counter, leaning against it, and he stands a few feet away in the empty living room. It’s quiet, which is strange, because it was never quiet with you two. But it’s been a few months since you’ve even spoken to each other, kindly at that, so you think you can allow a moment of unfamiliarity.

Seokmin says, “I want to apologize to you.”

You blink at him a few times, watching as he looks down at his feet and then back up to you. “I’m sorry I freaked out at you like that. I don’t know… what it was like, dealing with it, for you, and it was wrong of me to act like that. I guess I had just been waiting a really long time to hear you say it, and you said it at the worst possible time.”

You barely register it. Seokmin looks at you and you notice that his roots have grown in, and then you see the sun from your living room window shining onto his back, and it feels like silk, the knowledge, like a breath of fresh air. You clench and unclench your hands and feel it. “You…” you start, but you don’t even know what you’re going to say. You remember Ashley. “Wait, but - Ashley?”

Seokmin takes a step closer to you and you wait. “I broke up with her the day after you left,” he tells you. “I knew I needed to but I also knew I’d need some time afterwords, too… so that’s why I’m here now.”

It feels like shock, like your entire body is weighted down, because even - even with everyone always asking about when you’d start dating, even with it being so long now that you’ve loved him and known of it, even when Seokmin is standing in front of you, it feels surreal. You barely notice that there’s little space between the two of you, and you wonder who moved and how fast.

“Is this it?” You ask him, soft, reaching up to put your hand against the side of Seokmin’s face. He leans into it. “Is the timing finally right?”

His hand falls over yours. “I think so,” he murmurs, lips pressing a kiss against your palm. His fingers move over your own before intertwining them together, the afternoon sun dressing both of you in gold and you can’t think, can’t do anything but look at Seokmin. You lean up, closer to him, a question. He pulls you closer as an answer. “No more waiting.”

His kiss feels like a million unsaid words.

260 notes · View notes

nnatsume · 3 years ago

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↳ ❝ [ A LITTLE APPRECIATION] ¡! ❞

foreword: THIS GOES TO MY SILLY MUTUALS WHO I LOVE WITH MY ENTIRE HEART. you make my day fr. i'm going to lovemail you all now i hope you don't mind the tags or anything. twiddles fingers. i hope this list gets to grow longer hehehehhehe. i gave you all a little song each along with it!! it's in the receiver. <3

╰┈➤ dear @yumetokashite,

you were right there from the beginning! i remember the boost i got when you reblogged my first post hehe. you're probably one of the coolest people to ever exist and you have such a colorful personality under your timid shell!! hehe i look up to you a lot you know?? you're incredibly talented and super super kind. ♡ i hope we can stay friends for a loong time!!

╰┈➤ dear @nyaitsu-writes,

okay you are so important. i remember reading one of your posts and i was like, "woah, i can follow this perfectly without stop." and i sent you an ask and bam! you're so friendly and accepting of everyone, and you're the kind of person that i can talk to from midnight to morning!! i'm really happy to have met you. you taught me to chill a little bit, you know? ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

╰┈➤ dear @lisxdumbr,

i saw your letter in my inbox and i combusted. as i'm writing this one, yours is open in another tab ready for response. ♡ i'm so happy to have met you !! the late talks with you were so interesting always, honestly—you're very refreshing! definitely irreplacable—you always think you're bothering, but i'm always overjoyed to see you pop up in my inbox.

╰┈➤ dear @lilikags,

do you know how happy it made me when you decided i'm going to be your kuya? i cried a little bit, i'm honoured to take that spot. ♡ you have a very, very good life ahead of you, i can tell, you're very ambitious!! i hope i can cheer you on in the future too—i'll be the older brother in the crowd with the qiqi support banner.

╰┈➤ dear @oh-man-its-a-banana,

my beloved bestie, my radioactive yellow fruit. talking to you is always so fun—our silly little walls of headcanons and cute shuffles and everything! i care about you lots & lots!! you're one of the most amazing, talented people i've met—you're not afraid to reach into the fire to help people—very admirable!!

╰┈➤ dear @imagineshuitsukieveryday,

i remember i reblogged your post with a silly addition and then you made a masterpiece out of it—i was shocked but wowed. i can tell the path ahead of you is also very bright—take care of it and decorate it, you have an artistic vision that the world should see. ♡ you come in randomly, but then you say very interesting things, you know?

╰┈➤ dear @runanadwiddles,

remember the reaction roles course? shudders. you carried me through it flawlessly—you're a very patient soul, and you're good at passing things to other people. you have a lot of light in you—i hope that one day you'll gain the confidence to shine even more than now!

╰┈➤ dear @rinnelovebot,

i think i've said this a couple times before, but i think you're very humorous. you bring light where you go! i admire you a lot—you're a very responsible and talented person!! i see you juggle a lot of things in your life—i'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, whenever you need me. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

╰┈➤ dear @nikikyuuun,

we don’t talk too much but i still think you’re irreplaceable–i’ll be your admirer from afar. you’re very humorous and endlessly kind, so i hope we get to talk a little more in the future. ♡ i look up to you a lot as well!! the future has good plans for you, i can tell. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

╰┈➤ dear @shucore,

every time we met you’ve shown only love! you let your love flow into what you do, and that takes a lot of practice–or maybe a gift of yours? either way, you hold a special place within everyone’s hearts, you must know. ♡ it seems that life doesn’t treat you well sometimes, but for people like you, light always waits at the end! ♡

╰┈➤ dear @heiiskii,

we haven’t talked too much either, but i still adore you! you put your heart to the things you love–you’re the kind of person that people can’t get tired of talking to, you know? i’ll have your back whenever you need me!! ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

╰┈➤ dear @actuallylgp,

you shoulder a lot of things, and very gracefully! a break awaits you soon. you have my support until then. and afterwards, too. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა bantering with you is like sibling-banter, it’s quite fun and i hope that’s not just one-sided. ♡ you’re very passionate about the things you love! and one day i’ll be the one lifting you, watch.

╰┈➤ dear @s4egusas,

you may think this is redundant because i’ve already lovemailed you in the response to your letter, but i think you need to be appreciated s’more. ♡ you work very hard, and i admire your skill!! and you’re very funny on top of that. (i have to laugh every time you say “pookie”). ibara might find a rival soon (platonically on my side.).

╰┈➤ dear @mocha-tapioca,

my favorite eldritch creature! you kidnap the children, i eat them. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა fooling around with you often turns into a tiny tiny highlight in my day!! you’re endlessly precious, you know? don’t let the stumps in your life stop you–the path ahead of you is filled with happiness. you’re a real bestie. ♡

╰┈➤ dear @ururuo1,

you’re the hard-working type and while that is admirable, i think you deserve to take a looong long break. ♡ sometimes i get the feeling that you don’t like me very much, but i think you’re awesome. you don’t strike me as an overly.. let’s say proofless-believing type, but trust me when i say that there’s miracles to reward you in the future. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

╰┈➤ dear @nvzuna,

we used to talk a lot, remember? ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა housecat solidarity. talking to you is always something new–you’re a super cool and interesting person, you know? you always meet people with kindness and love, and that often takes a lot to do. ♡ you deserve all good things coming your way and more!!

╰┈➤ dear @yuezhong,

can i just say how peaceful and comforting your presence is? you carry yourself in a very graceful manner. or type, i guess, but that doesn’t sound very charming. i find you to be someone very respectable! ♡ i can’t wait to get to know you a liiitle bit more. you’re an interesting type. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

╰┈➤ dear you,

i may not know who you exactly are, but i appreciate you to the moon and back! i’m very thankful for you and all the support you gave me. whoever you are, you deserve all good there is! ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა treat yourself today in my stead, okay?

#🌤.sunny spam #idk #sorry if it's cringe #i'm even more emotional today then usual so i can't help it #*than #apparently my brain ran off too

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indiee19 · 3 years ago

Text

The View From... The Top Bunk

Alex Turner x reader

Summary: You're on tour with the band and (Humbug!) Alex gets you alone on the bus while the rest of the band are out.

warnings: smut, cringey jokes from Matt, Nick, And Jamie.

word count: 3.2k

-This part was wrote by the co-writer and my best friend, Thea, so thank you @teddyarabellapicker. the fic is also up on her page, so be sure to check her out

A/n: sorry for not uploading in a few days, I've just been writing a new story inspired by the Everything You've Come To Expect album. Also, I'm making a tag list, so lmk if you want to be added to it. Enjoy.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑ ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

The sound of the boys shuffling around the bus and chattering woke you up. You tried to nuzzle your head back into Alex's neck, but he wasn't there. You opened your eyes, seeing that Alex wasn't squeezed into the bunk with you. You groaned and forced yourself out of the bunk, eyes adjusting to the sudden ray of light that came through the windows.

You dug into yours and Alex's bag, grabbing one of his shirts and you walked to the bathroom, rubbing your eyes to try and help wake you up. Once you got there, you went in and brushed your hair and teeth, making yourself somewhat presentable, putting the shirt on over your bra that you slept in.

You used a hair tie on your wrist to tie it up so it didn't go past your shorts. You checked yourself in the mirror one last time and then walked out, turning off the light and walking to the small lounge at the back of the bus, seeing Alex and the rest of the band sitting on the sofa.

"Ahh, so the beast has awoken and come out of their cave," Matt said, eliciting a laugh from everyone.

"Fuck off, Matt," you said, still tired and half asleep. You walked over to Alex, sitting beside him and nuzzling your head into his neck, cuddling up to him and Alex wrapped his arms around you, holding you close, and lifted you chin so that he could kiss you. You could taste the last cigarette he had before you woke and you smelled his spicy cologne that you bought him for his birthday.

"Oh, no, we better leave before they start shagging," Jamie said, making a disgust face. You and Alex both held up your middle fingers at him, Nick and Matt laughing. Alex pulled away and you nuzzled back into Alex's neck, closing your eyes.

"You alright, princess?" Alex asked, kissing the top of your head.

"Yeah, just ... just a little tired," you said and yawned immediately after making Alex 'aww' in his head. You drifted off into your own world, not paying attention to anyone or what they were saying.

All you knew was that they were talking about what songs they would play on their set list for the gig later. You heard them say something about playing 'When the sun goes down,' 'Brianstorm,' and 'Teddy Picker' but that was about all you heard.

Thirty minutes went by and then the boys got up, including Alex, making you finally open your eyes when your head fell without his shoulder holding your head up.

"Where are you guys going?" you asked, sitting up completely.

"Oh, we're going to the sound check," Alex said, scratching the back of his neck. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure, just let me get properly dressed," you said and got up and went to yours and Alex's bag.

"Okay, we'll be outside, love,” Alex said, walking outside with the rest of the band.

You reached the part of the bus where your bag was, reaching in it, grabbing some denim shorts and a t-shirt, putting on some shoes and the you walked outside, walking up behind Alex and scaring him. Matt, Nick, and Jamie laughed, Alex on the other hand, did not.

"Not funny," he said.

"Oh, come on, pull the stick out of your ass, it was funny and you know it," you replied, kissing him, making him smile, no longer being slightly mad.

"Okay, you're right. It was funny, princess," he said quietly, wrapping an arm around you, pulling you closer to his side. "We ready to go?" Alex asked the band.

"Yeah, Al. Let me go get Mark," Matt said, quickly telling Mark to come on and Mark grabbed his camera. You all got in the car, just barley enough room for all six of you. You were in between Alex and Jamie, Alex's fingers intertwined with your own. Jamie glanced over to you two and jokingly rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"You two better not snog in front of me," he joked. You and Alex laughed and Alex gave you a quick peck on the lips. Jamie made an over exaggerated disgusted face when Alex peppered your face with kisses, your lips, cheeks and forehead and everyone else laughed.

Alex stopped kissing you and laid his head down on your shoulder. "I love you, princess," he whispered, placing a chaste kiss to your jaw. You rested your head on top of his and you both sat in silence as everyone else talked the entire way there.

Once the car came to a halt at the venue they were playing at, everyone got out, Alex's hands grabbing yours and intertwining his fingers with yours, always desperate to touch you, whether it was by holding hand or laying beside you, he always liked to have some sort of physical contact with you.

You all walked into the venue they were playing at and you sat backstage while they did their sound check. Every now and then during the sound check Alex would look at you and when he stopped singing, he would blow you a kiss.

Even though it was their sound check, they still sounded amazing. Mark was filming them, no doubt for another installment of 'The View From...' videos that Matt was quite fond of doing and were also very fun to film. You laughed when Alex walked over to Jamie and did what you would describe as 'guitar fucking' where Alex was standing over Jamie and played their guitars and made weird faces at each other.

You were kind of sad whenever the sound check ended but you were also happy that you could kiss Alex finally. As soon as he sat down his guitar, he kissed you, his slightly chapped lips moving against your own.

Matt tapped on Alex's shoulder. "Okay, lovebirds, that's enough," he said. You and Alex pulled apart.

"Just because you're sad and single doesn't mean that you have to project onto us, Matt," Alex laughed. You couldn't help but laugh as well, Nick and Jamie joining in.

The show didn't start for another four hours so you all decided to play some games - throw the lime down the corridor, cards, but mostly throw the lime down the corridor, that made the hours go by fast.

You hadn't realized how close the time was to when the show was supposed to begin, after a while of playing the game, Alex grabbed you and pulled you into his dressing room.

"Alex," you squealed. He pushed you against the wall and instantly started kissing you, his hands traveling up your body to fondle your breasts through the material of your shirt and bra.

"Alex, stop, you have to be on stage in a few minutes," you said, pushing him away. You immediately missed the feeling of his lips against yours, but you didn't want to be the reason that he wasn't on stage in time.

He sighed and stepped back, grabbing the clothes he was going to perform in, quickly changing all the while you were watching him. Once he finished changing he ran his fingers through his hair, styling it in the mirror. You were jealous of how incredibly good his hair always looked, jealous of how soft and shiny and smooth it was, and how it rarely ever got tangled. His hair was better than yours could ever be, but you didn't mind because he was perfect.

"Do I look good, love?" Alex asked when he noticed you starring at him, chuckling lightly.

"You always look good, Al," you replied, Alex blushed at your compliment, always being an adorable, shy boy.

"Al, come on. We have to go on stage!" Matt yelled from outside his dressing room. You and Alex walked out, hand in hand. Alex grabbed his guitar and kissed you before going up on stage with everyone else.

Just like always, their show was amazing. The way Matt played the drums that made the songs, Alex's absolutely amazing vocals as well as Matt and Nick's backing vocals and Jamie occasionally messing up the cords, but still doing amazing. You couldn't help but sing along sometimes, though your voice didn't compare to Alex's whatsoever.

Your favourite song they played that night though was Do Me A Favour, though you were confused whenever Alex laughed during the saddest part of the song, but the confusion quickly went away when the drums and guitar kicked in.

Though you enjoyed the sound check, you enjoyed the show even more, and you loved the confidence that they all radiated, acting like the coolest people in the world, because they were. You loved hearing the crowd cheer for them - and you also loved the girls yelling at Alex.

"I love you, Alex!"

"You're amazing!"

"You're a fucking amazing singer!"

"Alright, everybody, it's time for us to go. We're gonna leave you with this one," Alex said, seeming sad himself. They started playing D Is For Dangerous, and you were glad they did, it was one of your favourite songs after all.

You got so into the song that you forgot that it was their last song of the night and you were sad whenever they stopped and said goodbye to the crowd. They all walked off stage, leaving their instruments on stage for the next night when they would be performing again.

You stood up and walked over to Alex, his face immediately lighting up when he saw you, grabbing your waist, kissing your temple.

"Did you enjoy the show, princess?" he asked. You nodded and told him that you absolutely loved it and couldn't wait for tomorrow nights show, certain that it would be even better than this one.

You saw the guys talking and wondered what they were talking about. They then walked over to you and Alex.

"So, we're going to out and eat, you guys wanna come?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, or do you guys want to go back to the bus all by yourselves?" Jamie added, him and Matt laughing. You rolled your eyes and Alex looked at you, then back at the guys.

"Nah, I think we'll go," he said, grabbing your hand, walking you to his dressing room to change, the rest of the guys doing the same. Alex wore the blue button up that you'd bought him for his birthday, he wore it every chance he got, it only being special because you had bought it and not anyone else. He quickly stepped into his black jeans and tugged them up, buttoning and zipping them.

You were on your phone most of the time, responding to messages from friends and family who were asking about the show. Alex saying your name snapped you out of your daze and you looked up at him, seeing his adorable, lazy grin that he only did when he was alone with you, not wanting to show it in public in fear of breaking his 'bad boy' persona that he had.

"You're so cute," you smiled, laughing when he made a weird face at you. You wished that he showed his playful and goofy side in public, you thought that his persona wasn't truthful to who he actually was - a shy, quiet, socially awkward, playful romantic boy.

"You ready?" Alex asked, holding his hand out for you to grab. You took his hand and he helped you stand up, grabbing his bag that had the clothes he performed in and you both walked out, leaving the building entirely, seeing the guys waiting for you two.

"You guys ready?" Matt asked, leaning on the car, Nick and Jamie getting in it along with Mark in the very back, Jamie sitting where he sat on the way to the venue.

"Yeah," you said. You and Alex then got into the car, sitting in the same spots as before, you in between Alex and Jamie, Alex beside the window.

The drive was full of singing, shitty jokes, and occasionally sneaky kisses between you and Alex. Nick and Jamie ended up arguing about witch soccer team was better and it was fairly funny, Matt even joined in. You couldn't help but laugh when they tried to bring Alex into the argument, though he quickly stopped that, saying that he didn't have a say in it.

You layed your head down on Alex's shoulder for the rest of the drive, holding hands, tuning out the stupid argument going on between the rest of the boys.

The car came to a halt at a restaurant, everyone getting out and walking inside, stopping in the entryway for the band to take a picture with a fan of theirs. You all then walked over to a podium where a waitress was standing.

"How many?" they asked, getting ready to pick up some menus.

"Uh ... six," Matt said, stopping for a moment to count up all of you.

"Okay, right this way," they said, picking up six menus, leading you all to a round table where you all took your seats. The seat beside you was empty, Alex sitting on the other side. The waitress left and soon after another waiter came to take your drink orders, bringing them out not long after.

It was a few more minutes until you all had decided what you were going to order and the waiter was quick to come back and take your orders, rushing it to the kitchen.

The boys somehow got back onto their argument on soccer, their bickering amusing, it was like they were children arguing about what superhero was the best which made it all the more better.

They seemed to be too into the argument to notice that Alex was now much closer to you, his hand rubbing up and down your thigh, brushing dangerously close to your clothed clit. You quickly grabbed his hand, reminding him that you were in public. He didn't seem to care though, continuing to rub your thigh, lightly brushing against your clit through the material of your shorts. You held back a gasp and grabbed his hand, pulling it away from you.

He glared at you, grabbing your hand, kissing it. You all talked until your food arrived at the table, though that didn't stop Alex from teasing you again. Whenever the guys were looking away from you two he would whisper dirty things in your ear.

"I can't wait till we get back to the bus."

"You look so hot right now, princess."

You knew that this was either him being horny as always, or it was his gig high that he hadn't shaken off yet. Your second thought was confirmed when he went back to rubbing you thigh, never wanting to do something like this in public, whispering in your ear. "When we get back to the bus, I'm going to fuck you up." That was it, you were gone, couldn't handle his teasing any longer.

"Please, Alex," you said quietly, begging him with your eyes. "As you wish, princess," he said, taking his hand off your thigh. "Hey, guys, I think we're gonna head back to the bus, she's not feeling really well," Alex lied, you playing along.

"Oh, okay, hope you feel better, love," Matt said, drinking his beer. "Thanks, Matt," you said softly, acting as if you were actually not well. You and Alex said your goodbyes to Jamie, Nick, and Mark and then left the restaurant, rushing to get to the bus.

You were both very eagar, more than you could've ever remembered, the ten minute walk taking a little less than five when you began to hurriedly get there, pushing past people so you could get there faster.

As soon as you both reached the bus and got in, Alex pushed you against the wall, attaching his slightly chapped lips to yours, moving in sync with one another. He bit down on your bottom lip, demanding entrance and you complied, his tongue easily fighting yours into submission. He was quick to rid you of your shirt, working on getting your pants off.

Once he rid you of your pants, leaving you in your bra and panties, he grabbed the underside of your thighs, signaling for you to jump, to which you did. He carried you to your shared bunk with him. You shuffled out of the rest of your garments before crawling into the top bunk, watching as Alex took off his own clothes, crawling in and laying over you, closing the curtain.

He wasn't in the mood to tease you anymore, too far gone just like yourself. He was quick to give his thick cock a few tugs before he nestled himself between your legs, slowly pushing in, head falling down on your shoulder when he bottomed out, the feeling of your walls stretching to fit his size too much for him.

He let you adjust to his size before starting to move, going slowly, setting a pace of his own liking, though it didn't last long, he couldn't take it anymore, his need to hear you moan for him growing immensely. And it didn't take long before you were a moaning mess for him, fingers knotting in his precious hair that you loved so much.

He began to place wet kisses on your neck, one of his hands coming in between your bodies to rub vigorously on your clit, his other hand the only thing holding all of his weight off of you. You knew that it wouldn't be long until you came undone, his thrusts getting faster and faster, but at the same time sloppier and it was obvious that he wasn't very far off either.

"A-Alex, I'm so close," you whimpered, voice trailing off into a moan as Alex had delivered a particularly hard thrust, hitting the spongey spot that made you see stars.

"Come for me, princess," he said, delivering one more hard thrust, flicking your clit, sending you over the edge, your own orgasm triggering Alex's, his hips stilling, his hot release spurting inside you.

His support arm gave out and he collapsed on top of you, panting heavily.

"God, I love you," he panted, the both of you coming down from your highs. "I love you too, Al," you responded.

All of a sudden, you heard the bus door open and heard Matt yell yours and Alex's name. You heard him walk over to the bunk and opened the curtain, quickly closing it when he saw you both.

"God, Al, you could've given me a warning," Matt said, walking away. "Jamie, Nick, don't look in their bunk. Trust me, you'll regret it," you heard Matt say in the small lounge room and Nick and Jamie's laughter echoed through the bus.

"Sorry," Alex yelled, pulling out of you with a sigh, the two of you shuffling so that you both could sleep comfortably in the very small bunk. "Goodnight, princess, I love you.

"I love you too, Al."

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paisley-print · 3 years ago

Text

Near The Water’s Edge: Chapter Four

After fleeing your abusive husband, you find yourself in the small coastal town of July, North Carolina. Soon you meet Frankie Morales, Air Force Veteran and single dad. As the two of you grow closer, you begin to let go of your past and learn to love again. That is until a strange man shows up in town, and you ’re forced to choose between your safety or the safety of the people that you love.

Inspired by the novel “Safe Haven” written by Nicolas Sparks.

Series Master List

Frankie Morales x Female Reader Rating: 18+ / Heavy adult themes eventual smut. Trigger Warnings: Domestic Abuse, Mentions of death, PTSD, anxiety, mentions of police case, police. Word Count:

Note: Another heavy chapter, but things will let lighter as the chapters go on. Enjoy the first half of the beach day.

Tag List:@qytyy @winter-fox-queen @sherala007@inkededucatednnerdy @quica-quica-quica @hnt-escape @giizhkens-cedar@heythere-mel @toomanystoriessolittletime

The ride passed in comfortable silence, the three of you listening to the radio and Lucy looking out the window at the cars in the next lane. All Frankie could think about was how nice it was to have someone else there to spend the day. He knew Lucy must have been feeling the same way, since he hadn’t seen her so excited about a beach trip in a long while.

He appreciated how patient you were with her; it was something he noticed even on that first day. The way you refused help until you knew she was alright. That moment had stuck with him more than anything else.

The memory of what Will said earlier surfaced in his mind. He shifted in his seat and glanced at you. Yes, you were beautiful. Strikingly so. A woman who could walk into a room and turn every head in the place; both men and women alike. Of course Frankie had been taken with you. He tried to suppress it, scolding himself whenever he was alone in bed at night and found his thoughts wandering....

His only goal right now was to be your friend because he cared for you and knew that you needed help. He wasn’t sure what kind of help, but he sensed that you were alone and at some point in your life something very bad had happened to you. He wouldn’t pry though, he would wait until you were ready to share.

The beach wasn’t too packed; it was still early in the season and the tourists hadn’t moved into their summer homes yet. The boys had done an oddly efficient job at setting everything up. When Ben and Will got into a little spat about how to sink the umbrella into the sand , Frankie simply rolled his eyes and continued to spray Lucy with sunblock. It made you laugh, they all seemed so comfortable with one another.

The day was hot and everybody seemed eager to get into the water, everyone except you and Frankie. You had bought a bathing suit at the store, intending on going in... but somewhere during the car ride you changed your mind.

“You can go in if you want,” you told Frankie “I don’t mind just watching.”

He shrugged, “I don’t normally go in either.”

Then just like that the two of you were suddenly alone, both woefully unprepared for any sort of conversation.

You thought of something quickly, filling the silence “the marina was packed today.”

“Yeah, It’s always like that on memorial day. Most of the summer too, be prepared for the restaurant to start getting busy.”

“I prefer it that way. It makes the shifts go faster. So I’ve been meaning to ask, what exactly do you do? I assumed you owned the marina?”

He paused for a moment. “Uh, technically I do. It was a wedding gift from my parents. An uncle had died and left it to them. I think they just wanted to get rid of it, but I have an office manager that does all the upfront stuff….. normally I just work on repairs.”

Married. That wasn’t what you were expecting, but still no ring. “Did you go to school for that?”

“Kind of. I had training for planes, but you would be surprised just how similar the two are.” You gave him a look. He glanced at you and laughed sheepishly. “What?”

“I’m sorry, did you say planes?”

“Yeah”

“You fix planes?”

He smiled and crossed his arms, trying to seem much cooler than he actually was. “I fly them too.”

“You fly pl-....do you take constructive criticism?”

He laughed, “Of course.”

“Lead with that next time.”

He looked at you skeptically. “How am I supposed to lead with that, exactly?”

“You say, hi my name is pilot Frankie …..”

He shook his head, grinning. “Morales,” he informed you.

“Hi my name is pilot Frankie Morales, nice to meet you.”

He played along, “but how will I know if people actually like me for me, or they just want me to take them for a ride in a plane?”

You shrugged “it's tough being a celebrity, I don’t make the rules.”

“Oh yeah, celebrity, that’s me,” he said sarcastically.

You kicked at the sand with your foot. “Also I liked you before I knew you had the coolest hobby in the world. So, you know that you can trust me.”

He glanced over at you and immediately noticed your smile. He had seen you smile before, but they would never quite reach your eyes. This one, he could tell, was real. He opened his mouth to speak when, in the distance, a wave crashed and Lucy squealed with laughter. Both of you turned your heads to look.

“Will Lucy be okay out there?” you asked. She had on a life vest and was being supervised in the shallows by the rest of the adults. Santi was holding onto a boogie board Lucy used to keep herself up.

“Yeah, I know they seem like idiots but they are good men.” Frankie reached into the cooler to grab a bee and popped the cap off with the bottle opener. “Do you want one?”

You shook your head, “No thank you, but I’ll take a water bottle if you have it.” He set his beer down in his cup holder and reached into the cooler again. The bottle was freezing cold when he handed it to you. Perfect for a sunny day.

You wiped the condensation off on your dress. “Can I ask you something? It’s okay if you don’t want to answer.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, taking a sip of beer.

“Lucy’s mom is she….? Are you two still….? I don’t mean to pry, I guess I’m just a little confused.”

“You and I both,” he said with a sigh. “I’m married but we are not together anymore, haven’t been for a few years.”

“Oh,” you said simply, not finding any clarification in what he told you. If anything, you had more questions, but you didn’t want to push. Besides, it didn’t matter anyway…. you couldn’t, you were married as well. “Does your family live in the area?”

“Nope, they live up north. Katie never really knew her family. She grew up in the foster system and was bounced around until she enlisted at eighteen. It’s just me and Lulu now, and the guys when they find the time to travel here.”

“I’m sorry,” you said honestly. “It must be hard not having your parents support.”

He shook his head and took another sip. “I expected it, even when I was younger, it seemed as though they were only interested in keeping me alive.” He looked down and started to peel off the sticker on the bottle as he spoke. “They are both doctors, mom is an archaeologist and dad an engineer. He actually helped design parts of the international space station…. I think they valued their careers more than anything else... they still do. The only time they ever came down to see Lucy was right after she was born, aside from that it’s usually a phone call on a holiday and a card with money in the mail.”

Although he tried to play it off as if it were just another part of life, you could see that it still affected him deeply. For a moment you thought about reaching out to take his hand, but you stopped yourself. “It really is their loss, they are missing out on two wonderful people.”

Frankie adjusted the baseball cap on his head, a sheepish little smile playing on his lips at the compliment. “Well, thank you. Lucy and I could say the same thing about you. You’re great with her.”

You glanced back at the little girl. She was smiling happily as Ben pulled her along on the boogie board. “I think little girls need to be protected, but not only that - they need to be seen and heard. She is already so independent and fierce. I can see how you encourage her to be her own person and not fit into any one mold. That’s important for little girls to learn.”

He laughed, “Yeah, she definitely gives me a run for my money, that's for sure. She can already repair an engine better than most men I know.”

A large gust of wind came through and took hold of the multi-colored beach ball beside you. Both you and Frankie sprang from your seats to race after it. The thing was fast, and you could not stop it from crashing into the waves. You noticed just how much cooler it was near the water’s edge. Although the temperature outside was sweltering, the Atlantic still held that winter chill. Both of you stared at the ball as it bobbed up and down with the tide.

Frankie waved it away with his hand and squinted in the sunlight. “It’s fine, it’ll probably just float down the beach to another family or something.”

You smirked at him “or choke a poor dimwitted sea turtle to death.”

He paused and shot you a pretend glare, then took off his hat, dropped it in the sand and reached for his shirt.

You giggled “no, no I’m joking. I got it.” You said, starting to strip down to your bathing suit also.

“Well, you gotta be faster than that,” he said, half jogging to the water.

You slipped off your dress easily and ran straight past him into the waves. Frankie was not far behind. You two were pushing against the tide as you reached for the ball. Fingertips just barely brushed against the plastic before it slipped a couple more inches away. This left just enough time for Frankie to swoop in and grab it.

Your stomach hurt from laughing so hard “hey!”

He shrugged, “I’m sorry that I care more about the environment than you.”

You splashed him with water playfully.

The two of you swam for another fifteen minutes, chatting about the town and volleying the ball back and forth. Frankie pretended not to see the way the droplets of water clung to your skin and sparkled under the sunlight. When he noticed the little lace pattern on the bottom of your swimsuit, he knew he had been staring for too long and forced himself to look away. The very last thing he wanted to do was scare you away, or make you believe he had some sort of ulterior motives to helping you.

You both dressed again before walking back up to the chairs. When the two of you returned, the group had already come back from swimming. They were passing around Tupperware full of fruit while Santi was starting up the tiny little grill he had brought.

“You guys really don’t play around for beach days,” you mentioned to Frankie.

“I tried to warn you,” he said with a smirk.

Will had Lucy thrown over his shoulder, carrying her easily with one arm. “Has anyone seen Fry?”

“I’m right here!” Lucy’s little voice drifted out from behind him.

Will started turning, pretending to look for her “Fry! Fry! Where are you!”

Lucy was hardly able to speak through her fit of giggles, “I’m behind you!”

He put her down on the sand, pretending as if he had seen her for the first time. “Jesus Fry! You scared me!”

“Lulu,” Frankie said, “come here so I can put more sunscreen on you.” Frankie took the bottle from the bag and sprayed her again, making sure to get her ears and the tops of her feet as well. He sprayed some in his hands, and Lucy scrunched up her nose as he applied it to her face.

Watching the two of them together made you smile. You were reminded again just how different Frankie was from your husband. David would have felt emasculated by having to take care of a child. If he had attended today, you would be sitting beside him silently the entire time, only getting up to fetch him a beer.

“Do you want some?” Frankie asked, and you were suddenly snapped right back to reality.

Even though you weren’t threatened by a burn yet, you figured it would be a good idea. “Yeah, thank you.” You offered him your arms, then the front of your legs.

“I used to be terrible with remembering sunblock until I got sun poisoning in Iraq, god never again.”

“Iraq?” you asked, and turned so he could get the backs of your legs.

“Yeah, with the air force” he told you, assuming you already knew.

Breath hitched in your throat as he brushed your hair over your shoulder. You cringed at the feeling of the warm sunscreen hitting the back of your neck and jerked away. It was enough for the others to notice. You laughed and lied quickly “damn horse flies hurt when they bite. They say you should wash off the bite with soap to get it to stop the swelling. Is there a bathroom here?”

You sounded believable. Becoming an expert liar had been the only thing keeping you alive for so long.

Frankie felt horrible. He didn’t quite know what he had done to trigger you, but he knew it was something. “It’s pretty far, I can walk with you-”

You shook your head, a wide smile still plastered across your lips. “Nope, I just need a direction.”

Santi jumped in quickly. “That building when we first came in, near the tennis courts.”

You nodded and started forward, tears stinging at the corners of your eyes. Why was this happening right now? You were fine a moment ago and now you felt as though you couldn’t catch your breath. You shivered, remembering the feeling again and putting your hand on the back of your neck to stop it.

A soldier…. it made sense. You were too stupid to have seen it, the nicknames and the holiday......

Thankfully, they were single stall restrooms; you pulled the door shut and locked it behind you. The bottom of the floor was disgusting and filled with wet sand. You lifted yourself up onto the counter and sat, trying to calm down. A soldier, a soldier, you kept repeating to yourself. It was too similar. The anger, the potential for violence…. just like your husband.

You placed your head in your hands, and suddenly you were back in New Jersey. It was a bitter February, snow still on the ground. You were in your bathroom hiding as David raged in the living room and screamed at his coworker on the phone. A little boy had been killed by his father weeks ago. David was assigned to the case. When the trial came, the jury found the man innocent and let him walk free, even though all the evidence pointed to him as the killer. It was an embarrassment to David and the entire homicide unit

“God fucking dammit, y/n! y/n!”

You pulled yourself up on shaking legs, straightened your dress and walked out. David was red in the face waiting for you. “I thought I told you to call Comcast, did I not?”

“They said that they could get someone out here Wednesday because of the snow-”

He took the television remote and threw it at you as hard as he could; he aimed for your face but it hit your shoulder instead. The plastic connected straight with your collarbone. You doubled over in pain, holding it as it throbbed. He stalked up to you and you moved back, the fear evident in your eyes.

His voice was teetering on the edge of lunacy as he screamed at you.

“I give you a simple fucking job to do and you can’t even get it done. You’re a lazy fat fucking bitch.” he shoved you hard but you manged to keep standing. “Spend all day sitting on your fucking ass while I have to go to work for the both of us! I need the television because I need to see the news coverage of the fucking case! You knew this! Or would you like me to get fired and the both of us live on the fucking streets!” He shoved you again, and you fell against the stone fireplace. Your hands came up to shield your face as he picked up the remote and hit you with it repeatedly. It caught your lip, busting it open.

You didn’t care about the blood, all you could think about was the gun still holstered in his belt. You got the television fixed the next day-

“Summer?”

You stood quickly and wiped away the tears from your cheeks, pretending like nothing was wrong. “Yeah?”

“Are you alright?”

It was Frankie.

You shook your head and smiled in the dingy plastic mirror in front of you. “Yeah, why?”

He could hear that you had been crying. He pushed on the door but it was locked.

You didn’t like that at all; you slipped off the counter and sat on the floor, against the door. Bracing it closed with your body “I’m fine-”

“You’re crying-”

“No, I’m not I- I get allergies and that horsefly hurt. I am such a baby I’ve always had a low pain tolerance-”

“If it’s something that I did -”

“Nope, it’s nothing that you did. I’m fine, I’m really, really fine I promise. I just got overwhelmed and needed some air. I’ll be back in a few minutes, and you guys can eat without me. Don’t let me hold you up.”

Frankie wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t want to force anything. “Would you like me to save you a plate?”

“Yes, please.”

You could hear his footsteps start to retreat and relaxed a little.

“Summer?”

“Yeah?”

Frankie was about to say something, but he thought better of it. He figured it was better to let you have your space now.

#ntwewy #nearthewater'sedge #pedro fanfiction #pedro fanfic #Frankie Morales fanfiction #Frankie Morales fanfic #frankie morales #Frankie fanfiction #triple frontier #triple frontier fanfic #triple frontier fanfiction #pedro pascal fanfic #pedro pascal fanfiction

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awanderingdeal · 3 years ago

Text

Happy birthday, Finnegan.

I was writing this in the office at work the other day and my manager asked what I was doing and I answered that I was writing a story for my friend for their birthday because I didn't want to tell her I was writing fanfic. So, in true being friends with Lucy style, this is two days late. Sorry! No matter what, the creation of this character deserves to be celebrated.

This is set in an AU universe where the cubs are out.

CW: Food talk and a brief mention of alcohol

Rating: G

Please message me if I missed any content warnings or you think I need to change the ratings.

All characters (except Bailey, she's mine) belong to @lumosinlove.

“Friday night and the lights are lowwww, Looking out for a place to goooo,” Finn spun around the island, the wooden spoon at his lips providing the perfect microphone for his rendition. He halted in front of Logan, laughing at what he could tell was a disgruntled expression despite most of his face being covered by the hoodie he’d pulled tight around it, his hands covering the bottom half. “It’s my birthday, come and dance with me,” Finn pleaded, tugging at the overhang of Logan’s sleeve.

“Non, it is too early,” Logan grumbled. “Dance with Knutty.”

“Knutty is busy.” Finn threw a glance over his shoulder at Leo, smiling at the sight of his boyfriend humming to himself as he moved gracefully at the stove. Leo turned to meet his gaze, his damp hair forming golden curls that Finn thought made him look like a cherub.

“Here,” Leo tipped his head at the freshly prepared coffee. “Coffee’s ready, you can caffeinate him. Just needs sugar.”

Finn pressed his lips to Logan's forehead. "If bring you coffee will you dance with me after?" Logan huffed but nodded, pushing his hands through the holes in his sleeves to receive the steaming cup.

"Okay, deal, but I'm starting the song again." Finn's grin was met with a low groan. After drawing the drink out as long as he could, technically, Logan did fulfil his promise, standing to reluctantly move his body to the music.

Finn saw the exact moment Logan chose mischief, his bright green eyes lighting up even more than usual. "Catch me and I'll dance with you properly."

Finn raised an eyebrow, matching Logan's fast walk around the island. He was the first to risk Leo's wrath, picking up the speed to a jog, and took advantage of his longer arms to close the gap.

"Got' cha," Finn grasped Logan around the waist, Logan's head tipping back in an uncharacteristically bright laugh as Finn reeled him in. "You are the dancing queen, young and sweet," Finn sang loudly, spinning Logan away from him and pulling him back when their fingertips threatened to split.

Logan placed his palm on Finn's chest, letting himself be rocked to the music. "You should be singing this to Leo, not me."

Finn glanced down at Logan and despite the fact no words were vocalised in that moment, their eyes said a lot. In an almost synchronised moment they turned their gaze to Leo.

"Nutter butter," Finn said. "It's your turn to be serenaded."

"Oh no, what a shame, breakfast is ready," Leo smirked, pouring a generous helping of maple syrup over one of the bagel stacks; Logan's. Finn considered protesting, but the sight of his own plate was too tempting.

"The serenading will recommence at a later time," Finn insisted, grabbing one of the plates and carrying it through to the dining table. They didn't eat here often, preferring either the island or the sofa, but today it had been decorated with balloons and presents had been piled at the end.

***

"That was amazing, thanks Le." Finn already missed the stack of bagels; bacon and a poached egg layered between them, and dripping with hollandaise sauce. "Can I know what you've got planned now?"

"No problem, anything for the birthday boy." Leo swallowed a bite, sliding one of the wrapped boxes towards Finn. "We told you, it's a surprise. You can open presents though."

Finn worked his way through the gifts, too many of them from Leo and Logan. There was nothing extravagant but they seemed endless and each one reminded him how much they knew him. His favourite chapstick. A crate of beer from a craft supplier he really enjoyed. A set of massage oils and a promise to help him use them. Some monogrammed golf balls. And his favourite, a handwritten letter from the both of them that he would treasure forever. He read the cards from the rest of the team through damp eyes.

“Can you tell me the plan now?” Finn asked the question again once he’d worked his way through the gifts and the cards. Logan dragged his lips against his teeth, as if he was physically keeping the words from spilling from his mouth.

“Don’t give us those bambi eyes,” Leo shook his head, throwing a balled up napkin in Logan’s direction, the item hitting him square in the forehead. “Don’t you dare tell him.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“I can tell you want to,” Leo retorted. “We have to clear up first. Put the music back on. I want to dance now.” It was much later that Finn came to recognise this for the distraction technique that it was, hence the three of them were arguing over the lyrics to Montero when the sound of the doorbell rang through the apartment.

Finn opened the door, a bounce still in his step and swaying his hips to an imaginary beat. He blinked at the figure in front of him, closing the door for a second before opening again. “Alex!” Finn pulled his brother into a tight hug, slapping his hand on the broad of his back. “Sorry, I thought I was hallucinating. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see my baby brother on his birthday, obviously,” Alex laughed, squeezing Finn back until he struggled out of his hold.

“But,” Finn spluttered. “You were in Florida yesterday? I saw your Insta story.”

“I caught the first flight this morning, I’ve got to be back tomorrow for a photoshoot.”

“That’s crazy,” Finn said, shaking his head. “You’re crazy.” He tugged Alex inside, leading him down the hall into the kitchen. “Look who’s here!”

“Hey Alex,” Logan thrust his fist for Alex to bump his fist against. Finn looked between Leo and Logan, both of their faces showing no sign of surprise.

“Did you know?!”

***

It took a while for Leo and Logan to convince Finn they didn’t need to come along and he should spend time with Alex, but now they were alone, he was realising exactly how much he had missed his brother. The conversation flowed easily, Alex having almost an entire lifetime of practise at following Finn’s leaps in topics.

“So, I booked us in for a pottery class,” Alex glanced at Finn briefly before setting his eyes back on the road. “I thought you’d like that. It’s very tactile, y’know?”

“Nice,” Finn grinned. “I’ve always wanted to do that. I hope you brought spare clothes with you, because things are about to get messy.”

It was true. Finn had binge watched The Great Pottery Throw Down, so he knew learning to make even the simplest of things would be more difficult than it looked, but somehow the two of them managed to get the clay everywhere.

“Alex, that's too fast!” Bailey, the instructor warned, but it was too late. The clay sloped to the side, thinning out as it flew off the wheel and hit Finn on the cheek.

“Oops,” Alex grimaced. “Sorry, bud.”

Finn sent a mock scowl in his brother’s direction as he peeled the clay from his skin, dumping it back on Alex’s wheel. However, O’Hara’s were nothing if not perfectionists, and the two of them were determined to create something good. Neither of their first bowls came out right; Finn’s was too tall and thin, Alex’s was short and thick. When they tried again, Finn overcorrected, creating something that resembled Alex’s first. Alex’s second attempt was going well until it spontaneously collapsed.

“Third time’s the charm,” Alex huffed, manipulating his clay back into a lump to try again. He was right, giving a triumphant smile as he watched the grey ball transform. His work wasn’t as good as the ones filling the shelves opposite, their price tags indicative of the skill that had gone into them, but it was relatively smooth and definitely a bowl.

Finn whistled through his teeth, admiring Alex’s work. He laughed as he looked down at his own third endeavour, a small stumpy thing that could perhaps hold five Cheetos. “I tried.”

“Hey, no,” Alex argued. “Give it another go if you want. You’re nearly there.”

Finn rolled his shoulders back, pursuing his lips with determination. Alex watched Finn push his foot on the pedal again, his elbows tucked into his torso as he worked the clay.

“That’s it, apply a little more pressure on the bottom than the top.” Alex encouraged him. Finn smiled, his brother was always his biggest supporter. It reminded him of the time Alex had watched him tie and re-tie his shoelaces over and over again until he’d finally mastered it and could prove to their parents that he was ready for that new pair of sneakers.

“I guess I’m not needed here,” Bailey joked. “ You’re looking good, Finn. How about you two wash up and I’ll get those mugs you wanted to paint. We’ll get these in the kiln later and they’ll be ready for collection in a few days.”

Painting the mugs was a much more relaxing process, both Finn and Alex decorating two mugs each, one for each of their partners. Bailey sat with them and Finn watched in awe as she quickly made stencils whenever they needed assistance getting the designs in their heads onto the ceramic. By the time they’d finished, the three of them had come up with an elaborate plan for Alex to get back at his team mate for filling his hotel room with balloons and Finn concluded that Bailey was the coolest person ever.

“Damn,” Alex glanced at his phone. “It’s nearly 4. Let’s get you back to your boys before I start getting threatening messages from Tremblay.”

“Trust me,” Finn snorted. “It’s Knutty you need to be scared of.”

“Crazy goalies, am I right?”

***

“Wait, why are we at the aquarium?”

“You’ll see.” Alex’s smirk was infuriating. Finn craned his head forward, excitement bubbling inside him. Alex rolled his eyes as the engine rumbled to a stop. “Go on then,” he said, tilting his head towards a modern looking building, all glass and sharp angles.

“You’re coming as well?” Finn asked when Alex slid out the car too, locking the sleek black rental behind him. “Not that I mind.I just thought you had a flight to get?”

Alex shook his head. “ No, I’m not staying for long. I want to see your reaction though.”

“My reaction to what? We all know I love the aquarium but I’m not going to explode or anything.”

“I told you, you’ll see.” There was that smirk again.

Finn held in the urge to stamp his foot. “Urgh! You’re so annoying.”

“Love you too,” Alex laughed, pushing through a set of tall glass doors. A sarcastic quip rested on Finn’s tongue, but it shattered as he looked up to see Leo and Logan waiting in the entrance, backpacks slung over their shoulders.

“Lo! Knutty!” Finn jogged the short distance, “I missed you.”

“Glad to know I’m such good company,” Alex deadpanned.

“It’s only been a few hours,” Leo chuckled, accepting Finn’s hug. Finn smiled, lifting his head for Leo to place a soft kiss on his lips. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah, we went to this pottery studio, and then we got burgers and shakes like we used to when we were kids,” Finn nodded. Oh! I made you something.” He turned to Alex who had stepped into place beside him, holding his hands out. Alex grunted, but pulled the tote bag from his shoulder, placing two carefully wrapped items into his hands. “Open it!”

“Alright, give us a chance, Harz,” Logan laughed, tearing at the delicate tissue. Leo was much more methodical, peeling back the layers neatly enough the paper could probably be re-used.

“Did you do this?” Leo looked between the mug and Finn. He ran his fingers over the shiny glaze, a dark blue with tiny white stars scattered over. Inside, a moon phase created a border around the rim.

“I didn’t make the mug. We made bowls, but they won’t be ready for collection for a few days. I did paint it though. With some help from stencils. There’s a little note in the paper somewhere.”

“I couldn’t bring you the real ones, but hopefully these will do,” Leo read, his voice cracking slightly towards the end of the sentence. “Finn.”

Logan whined, the sound curling in the back of his throat. “It’s your birthday, you’re not supposed to give us things.” The mug he held had been painted white and the words ‘sweet like honey’ written over it in Finn’s neatest attempt at cursive along with several bees.

“Do you like it?” Finn rocked on his feet and Alex knocked their shoulders together, a small gesture of reassurance. “Look it’s you,” he pointed out a bee that had a small red cap on its head. The French left Logan’s mouth so quickly Finn couldn’t even begin to parse the words, let alone make any sort of effort to translate them.

“He’s mad that you are making him emotional in public,” Leo provided at Finn’s distressed frown.

“Aww, you do like it,” Finn grinned, wrapping his arms around Logan.

“Be careful! You’re going to break it.”

Alex cleared his throat. “As beautiful as this is, I’m going to have to go soon, so if we could do the big reveal?”

“Alex,” Finn almost growled. “I swear I will phone Nat - wait, what big reveal?”

Leo swung a backpack off his shoulder. Finn only now realised he was carrying two, one of which belonged to Finn. “We’re staying at the aquarium!”

“Well, yeah? Why else would we be here?”

“Non, Harzy, “ Logan laughed. “We’re sleeping at the aquarium. Overnight. Under the shark tunnel to be precise.”

“Oh my fucking God!” Finn couldn’t contain his grin as pulled Leo into the hug too, “Is this a joke? This better not be a joke.”

“Fish, there are children around,” Leo scolded. “And no, it’s not a joke. That would be mean.”

Finn let his boyfriends go, spinning around to face Alex. “Al, are you sure you don’t want to stay? This is going to be so cool!”

“I really have got to go soon,” Alex shrugged, a soft smile on his lips. He jerked his head in Logan’s direction. “Somebody count how many times Finn screams though, please.”

***

“Look!” Finn gasped, pointing up at the glass tunnel above where the three of them lay in their sleeping bags. “It’s a nurse shark.”

Logan rolled over, propping himself on his elbow and looking at Leo. “We’re not getting any sleep tonight are we?”

“I don’t think so.” Leo chuckled, shaking his head. He pointed to the tunnel. “What’s the weird looking one, Fish?”

“That’s a wobbegong, they blend into the sand,” Finn answered, curling into Leo’s side. Logan lay back down behind him, having offered Finn the middle spot for tonight. “This has been the best birthday,” he sighed happily.

“Happy birthday, Harzy,” Logan squeezed his hand through the layers of their bags. “Tell us more about the sharks.”

#finn o'hara #alex o'hara #logan tremblay #leo knut #lumos in love #rating: g #cw: food #cw: alcohol

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tarantula-teeth · 3 years ago

Text

“Rhonda Hurley was the coolest, smartest and funniest person I had ever met. She was tough —tougher than Dean, tougher than Dad—and she made the best grilled ham sandwiches in the world,” Sam says, smiling down at his hands. He’s holding a blue scarf, a filmy silk scrap of fabric. The box he pulled it from, the one stashed under Dean’s bed, sits emptied on the war table between him and Garth. “She had moles under her eyes and down her neck and never wore shoes and she called me ‘Bruiser’ when she helped me with my homework.”

“She sounds like...like she was important,” Garth offers. He runs his fingers over the pile of Dean’s silver and tin rings they’d found in the bottom of the box.

“She was...she was family. Maybe the first person me and Dean ever knew and loved outside of Dad.”

***

He’s 13 and Dean’s working at the garage under the table because he doesn’t have a work permit or degree. Rhonda always helps Sam with his homework while they wait for him to come home, leaning over his Algebra worksheet with her long blonde hair in a peppy ponytail on the top of her head and her yellow waitress uniform on. She works the graveyard at the all-night diner in town.

That’s how Sam and Dean met Rhonda. Well, Sam met her first. He’d been camped out in a corner booth at five in the morning, three weeks out from when they’d last seen Dad. He and Dean were crashing in the car, too broke to keep up the hotel room. Sam was eating a bowl of oatmeal, no fruit or sides but lots of sugar packets, and a glass of orange juice while he went over his math homework. Dean hadn’t ordered anything before he went to work.

“Check that one again, bruiser,” the beautiful waitress who smelled like vanilla had said. She tapped her sparkly blue fingernails over problem six before collecting Sam’s empty bowl. “Don’t forget about PEMDAS.”

“Thanks,” Sam said to the table. A darted glance revealed that the waitresses’ name tag had ‘Rhonda’ written on it in little yellow stick on letters. “Do I need to order something else to stay?”

“Nope,” Rhonda replied, popping her gum. “You’re just fine, sugar.”

“Sorry I don’t tip more.”

“I’m sorry you have to listen to old Fred holler at the golfing channel,” she’d replied and they’d both looked over at the gentleman waving a cane towards the ceiling mounted television.

Sam broke first, breaking into giggles. Rhonda had smiled back with big, bright teeth as white and pretty as hominy. She’d come back twenty minutes later with an obscene stack of pancakes in one hand and a monkey dish of chocolate chips in the other. The whipped cream can was in her apron pocket. She’d told him she was going to split the pancakes with him and then watched happily as he scarfed them all down. Then, she’d helped him with his homework.

It didn’t take long for Rhonda to meet Dean. She kept Sam company most mornings and nights in between waiting tables. Sam knew Dean really liked Rhonda because his whole neck turned red whenever she laughed at his jokes. One thing led to another, and then Sam was waking up on Rhonda’s overstuffed grandma couch every morning and Dean was making scrambled eggs for her to eat when she got off her overnight shift.

***

They’re fishing for dinner while Dean’s at work, sweaty and lazy in the Oklahoma heat, and the fish aren’t real interested in biting. Rhonda’s wearing a gold bikini top and Wrangler cut offs and her blonde hair is pinned up in a blue silk scarf. Sam has never seen a more beautiful person.

He tells her as much.

“You Winchester boys,” Rhonda said through a smile. A cigarette dangled in the corner of her mouth. “You’ll ruin me for the rest of the male population.”

“You don’t need to worry about them,” Sam said, casting his line out again. He’s stopped wearing his shoes to match Rhonda and he sticks his foot into the river while he reels. “You got Dean. And I’ll be your brother-in-law eventually. You’ll have Dad, too. Once he’s back.”

Rhonda, pink across her nose in a way that certainly isn’t a sunburn, stared at him from her side of the canoe. Her eyes are brown like chocolate. She recovered quickly enough, her mouth curving into a little smile.

“Me and Dean are married in this scenario?”

“Yep. And I’m his best man.”

“What if I want you to be my best man?”

“I guess I could do that too. But not a flower girl.”

“No, I suppose we’d have to let old Fred handle that.”

***

Dean really loves Rhonda. He almost tells her about the truth when they leave, about the supernatural. But he stops. And his eyes are sparkly with tears when he looks away. Sam thinks he should.

He tells him as much. They’re about to leave Rhonda’s trailer park, drive back to the hotel dad left them at. Sam’s still crying a little, quiet and painful because he’s trying to stop. He’s got his Algebra book in his lap, close to his chest. They won’t have time to return it to the school, Dad was only a half hour out when he got ahold of Dean. It smells like vanilla.

“I can’t, Sammy,” Dean says. He smudges his fingers, black with car grease, under his eyes. He sniffs. “Dad won’t like Rhonda. Once we see him? We can’t talk about her again. We gotta move on from Rhonnie. For good.”

“That’s stupid, Dean,” Sam says. He’s mad now and it makes it worse that Rhonda’s still sitting on her trailer steps with mascara dripping down her chin and her yellow waitress uniform on. “He’s stupid.”

“Sammy,” Dean says, aiming for firm and landing on heart broken.

Sam gets out of the car. Dean doesn’t stop him. He walks up to Rhonda and sets his cheek on her bony shoulder, wraps his arms as tight around her as he can. She squeezes him back, just as tight.

“I love you, Rhonda,” Sam whispers, tears burning hie eyes. “I was so happy to know you.”

“Oh,” Rhonda says, sniffling. “I love you too, bruiser. You be good. Be safe. You’ll be okay. I love you.”

And she’d pulled the scarf from her hair, letting it down in a blonde cloud smelling of Suave Sun Ripened Strawberry shampoo. And she’d pressed the scratchy blue scarf into his hands. And kissed his forehead.

And put her hands on his shoulders. And breathed in deep. Then out. Then she’d turned him around to face the Impala and given him the gentlest push.

And he’d started walking. And Dean started driving. And Sam watched Rhonda Hurley and her trailer park shrink in his side mirror.

***

“I must have left the scarf when I went to college,” Sam says. He’s a little teary. Garth is flat out crying, hand over his own mouth. “Rhonda Hurley. What a woman.”

“To Rhonda,” Garth says, lifting his wine cooler.

“To Rhonda,” Sam echoes. He takes a long drink from his coffee cup.

Inspired by @skepticalfrog’s Rhonda art pieces.

To Rhonda Hurley.

#Rhonda Hurley #I have a lot of emotions about her #especially when she’s not cis #anywho #Rhonda affectionate #tw dean is dead #sammy centric #tw vague transphobia #my writing

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tooruluv · 4 years ago

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Tooru Oikawa x F!Reader ( part 4 )

❝ my love for him is much like winter, a skeleton for the world to see. too bad he never liked the cold. ❞

description: being the neighbor and lifelong best friend of tooru oikawa definitely had it’s perks. you were never an outcast, always had a seat at lunch, got into volleyball games for free. the problem was, however, that being in love with him outweighed those perks. you would never tell him that, though, even if it hurt like hell.

genre: best friends to lovers, angst, unrequited love, fluff if you squint hard enough

word count: 2,320

warnings/notes: i’m posting this early because i’m so busy this weekend! hope you enjoy!

tag list: @afuckingunicornn @maii-flowers @clandestinerays @brownandchill @readeretal

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You wanted to hate Sana. You wanted to resent her, wanted her to be a bitch. But she wasn’t. She was beautiful, and kind, and she just wanted to date Tooru Oikawa. Who were you to blame her for that?

“What is your skincare routine?” Sana asked. She pulled you closer, eyeing you as if she could see into your soul. “You have to tell me what you do with your skin.”

“Only if you tell me what hair products you use.” You told her before thinking. Sana also happened to be very easy to talk to.

She turned to Oikawa, smiling with her hand wrapped around yours. “I’ll see you later, babe, but right now I’m going to get some incredible insight. I might steal her from you.”

Oikawa just stood there. You had never seen him more confused in your entire life. He looked out of place. Like he wasn’t expecting things to happen the way they were. “Go for it.” He said. Stoic.

Sana basically dragged you away, arm in arm. She was taller than you, so you had to put in effort to keep up (something you happened to be very good, all your friends were giants). The two of you spoke nonsense about skin and hair and some other things you couldn’t remember.

“You know, I was scared to meet you.” She told you as you stopped in front of her locker. You gaped. “I know, I know. I just didn’t want you to blame Tooru for not telling you about us. I asked him not to.”

“Can I ask why?”

She giggled. It was soft. “I wanted you to like me.” She pulled out a book and shoved it into her bag. “I needed the soulmate stamp of approval.”

“..Soulmate?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Sana turned to you. Her hair flipped over her shoulder as she did, her bangs never leaving the perfect place across her forehead. “You guys are literally inseparable. You and Tooru. A lot of us joke about how the universe put you guys together, platonic soulmates.”

Platonic soulmates, she said.

“I couldn’t possibly let myself be with him if you didn’t like me.” Sana continued, not really gauging how you were responding. “That’s why he hasn’t really talked to you. I’m so sorry for that, I shouldn’t have told him to keep his distance.”

“I guess I just thought he was mad at me.” You told her. Again without thinking. “We’ve never gone this long without talking, ever. And he was…” you paused. “He asked me for his jersey back and I didn’t really..”

“He asked you for his jersey back?” Sana slammed her locker shut. “I swear I’m going to kill him.”

She mumbled something about how he doesn’t listen. You stood beside her, hands at your sides.

“I literally told him not to do that.” She told you. “He offered me the jersey, and I told him that it was not my place as his girlfriend of a god damn week to take a jersey you’ve worn for years. He’s an idiot. Keep it, I’m serious.”

You didn’t know what to say.

You wanted to hate her, you really did. You tried to find a flaw, something to stick to, but nothing came up. God how you wanted her to be a bitch.

“You don’t hang out with girls often, do you?” She asked. You were walking to class now, her arm linked with yours as her bag hung over her other shoulder.

“I only hang out with ‘Kawa and the boys.” You shrugged.

“Well consider me your official girl best friend. Starting now.” Sana stopped, gasping as though she came to a sudden realization. “Oh my god! We should go to the mall together this weekend!”

You shifted your backpack on your shoulders. “I.. I don’t think..”

“Oh, come on! It’ll be super fun.” She continued, her face lighting up. “We can even have a sleepover after! Please!”

“I’ll have to talk to my parents… I..” You gave up trying to make her the Bad Guy. “Yeah. That sounds fun. We can stay at mine, if you don’t care.”

Sana sent you the brightest smile. “I can’t wait. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Your arms were unlinked, you heading down a different hallway to your class. “Oh, and Sana?”

“Yes?”

“You have the soulmate stamp of approval.” You turned around before you could see her response.

“You’re not mad at him?” Iwaizumi asked you. “How are you not livid right now?”

“I am mad.” You twisted a pencil in your hand. “But I’m more mad at him for completely ignoring me than having a girlfriend.”

“If I were you I would beat the shit out of him.” Matsukawa spoke up from beside you. He gasped. “Oh my god, I can beat his ass for you. Do you want me to?”

You chuckled. “I’m flattered, but no. Not worth your time or energy.”

The three of you were in the library during lunch, again. You know you should go back to the cafeteria, find a new spot at the lunch table (your previous spot next to Oikawa, in between him and Iwa at the circle tables). But the three of you liked to have a break and just hang out and talk shit at lunch. It became a thing between you and Iwaizumi, but you were happy to have Matsukawa join.

“Speaking of me being pissed off,” you changed the topic. “I’m pissed off that I’m the only one who knows about you two? Um, hello? When will you guys just say you’re dating and get it over with?”

“Hanamaki knows, though his suspicions are unconfirmed.” Matsukawa said.

They were official, you knew. The two of them never told you “hey we’re dating!” or anything like that, but you knew. The same way Iwaizumi knew you were (are) in love with Oikawa. And, it doesn’t held that both of them call each other nicknames and have each other as “bf” with about three trillion hearts in their phones.

“We’re going to wait.” Iwaizumi said. He wasn’t uncomfortable. “I have to tell my parents first. Then we can tell everyone.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry Iwa I didn’t even think…”

“Seriously, don’t apologize.” He smiled at you. “You just want us to be happy. And right now, we are with what we have.”

Matsu put his arm around your shoulder from beside you. You were happy for them, too. Though the same couldn’t be said the same about your love life.

Tooru Oikawa invented a game when the two of you were kids. It was a stupid game, and you were pretty sure it was just a game he found while playing with other kids, but it was so fun to you.

You would invite kids over, including Iwaizumi, and would play it all the time in your backyard. The game was simple. Someone was the Catcher, and whoever was Catcher had to stand with their back to the players as the players stood against your house. The Catcher would then shout out a color, and if a player was wearing that color, they would have to run to Oikawa’s house (and touch it) before the Catcher caught them. Oikawa called it “Rainbow”.

One day while playing, Oikawa caught you while you were sprinting. He snatched you by the waist and basically bear hugged you. Everyone was a giggling mess, as kids are.

“Got you!” Kid Oikawa exclaimed. “Got you, got you! You’re it!”

Sometimes, you wished you had the ability to see when you grew up.

Sana ended up becoming a pretty decent acquaintance, despite only knowing her for a day. She was very nice, and extremely fun to talk to. Sana just wanted a girl friend; and after talking to her, maybe that’s what you wanted too.

You were walking in the hallway with her, arms linked as Sana preferred, talking nonsense about classes and the game that night. It was the beginning of the day, so the halls were filled with people who weren’t in class still.

“Are we still on for tonight and tomorrow?” she asked you.

“Yeah. If you’re cool with staying at my house, I think my parents were excited to hear me bring a friend whos a girl over.” You said.

“Oh my god, yes. That sounds perfect!” She nudged you with her arm.

“Okay.” You thought for a second. “If you like to drink, we can get some bottles or wine coolers or something before going home. I know a place.”

“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”

You stopped in front of your class and she unlinked your arms. “I’m not kidding when I tell you that I’m excited. I’ve told you before that I was nervous about meeting you when I started dating Tooru, but you’re so cool. Thank you.”

“You’re thanking me?” you laughed. “For what?”

“For being the coolest friend to Oikawa.” A bell. “I got to go to class, if I get another tardy my parents will have my head. But I’ll see you at the game! Wear the jersey!”

She sent you a wink before heading to class.

“Thank you!” you called, and she turned around. “For being the coolest girlfriend to Oikawa.”

After school, Iwaizumi came over. They had a bit of time before the game, so most of the guys like to come home to eat a little bit or hype themselves up.

Like most days, you were sprawled out on your floor as he sat up against some random object in your room. That day, it was your dresser. He was exhausted, and you could tell.

“Iwa, can we be serious for a minute?” you asked.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” he said, and you sat up. “You’re in love with him. You’ve been in love with him for years. How did you know?”

Your eyes flickered between his. “What do you mean? I thought you already asked this before.”

“No, no.” he was nervous to ask you. “No, how did you know that you were in love with him? Like what does that feel like?”

You couldn’t hold back a gasp and a smile. “Oh my God! Hajime Iwaizumi, you’re in love!”

“No..”

“Yes you are!”

The teasing went on like that for a while. It went on and on, the both of you giggling and bickering about teenage love. You didn’t remember exactly how it ended up like this, your head resting on his lap and Iwaizumi’s hand in your hair. You felt your friendship with him, in that moment.

“I think I am, in love with Matsu I mean.”

“I think you are too.” You spoke. “I see the way you two are with each other. The glances and feeling. He definitely loves you too.”

“We’ve been together way longer than when you found us in the closet.”

“I know.”

“Are you still in love with him?’

A pause. “Yeah.”

“He’s an idiot.”

“’Kawa may be the stupidest person I know.”

“…but..?”

“No but. He’s just the stupidest person I know.”

A chorus of laughter. You didn’t even hear yourself, didn’t hear Iwa. You missed this.

You also didn’t hear Oikawa come in, and didn’t notice him standing at your doorway.

“Right.” Oikawa said, bringing a silence to the room. He just turned and left.

You stared at the now-empty doorway. You didn’t remember when you sat up.

“Go.” Iwaizumi pushed you at your waist. “Go get him.”

Without thinking, you rushed out of your room and down the stairs. You finally caught up to him outside, in the middle of your houses.

“Are you ever going to talk to me?” You called. You were angry, upset.

Oikawa’s back was toward you. He wasn’t walking, but you didn’t get any closer. It was like talking to a fucking brick wall.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” He said simply.

“We almost kissed, ‘Kawa.” You said. Your hands were in fists at your sides, shaking. “We almost kissed. And you haven’t talked to me, haven’t even looked at me since. You don’t get to be mad at me. You don’t get to be mad I’m hanging out with Iwa when you haven’t talked to him either. And you can’t hide behind Sana asking you to not tell me about you two, not anymore. Please just talk to me.”

“Like I said.” He still had his back toward you. “Nothing to talk about.”

With that, he walked back to his house. You stayed on the sidewalk until you felt Iwaizumi pull you back to reality.

You were pretty sure that anger took over every emotion that night. As you sat at the game, in that stupid fucking jersey you put on as routine, you stared daggers at the floor from the bleachers. You weren’t even in the student section.

You were slouched in the bleacher, arms crossed, when you felt a body sit next to you.

“You seem far too pissed off to be watching a volleyball game.” The boy told you. “A game you’re winning.”

You stole a glance, not leaving your slouched position between the bleachers. He was cute, dark hair and definitely tall (though it could just be because you were sitting). He wasn’t even looking at you, so you turned your eyes back to the court.

He offered you an already open bag of chips, holding them in front of you.

“You don’t go here.” You ignored his offering.

“You’re not wrong.” He looked at you. “I’m here from another school. Trying to see what some friends of mine are up against.” You finally looked up at him. “What’s your name?”

You deadpanned. “What’s yours?”

“I asked you first.”

“Second the best, first the worst. I win.” You said. “What’s your name?”

The boy set his bag of chips down and held out his hand. “I’m Kuroo, Tetsurou Kuroo.”

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6rookie-writer0110 · 4 years ago

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Let's make a playlist of your favorite songs

Cassie Lang x Male Reader Stark

Request - Can you do Cassie lang x Stark!reader where he and cassie are the same age since they are born in 2007 and should be 16 in 2023. R is Tony's son and survived the snap. Before the snap he was best friend with Peter and ned when he was like a kid and the three of them hang out. Plue Y/n and peter do like spiderman ideas. After the snap he was living with Tony, pepper, and his little sister in the lakeside cabin. In the year 2021 he got bitten by a radioactive spider but has an alchemax logo and number 42.

Since you were a toddler you have been friends with Peter and Ned. Always together playing together. Even during high school, you didn't lose your friendship with Ned and Peter. You have always been into creating music and art, sometimes you would like to tag the buildings and the trains. Only, Peter and Ned knew they are your supporters.

Sometimes you and Peter would do parkour. You and Peter have sketchbooks and notes of being a hero and being called ’Spiderman’

You, Peter, and Ned never left each other side. People always saw you three spend time together all the time.

-----

Spring 2018... 50% of the population disappeared. The older you got, you started to study what happened during the fight against Thanos. You collected notes, hacked into your father’s computer and his friends’ computers then into Shields.

You survived the snap when you found out what happened it broke you. You cried when Peter didn't survive, or when your dad is stuck in space. You would spend hours in your father’s lab and look at his stuff.

”Y/N, I knew you would be here. You are like Tony can work on something for hours or days” Pepper said.

She put her hand on your shoulder.

”I miss him and Peter,” You said.

”I miss them too. You should see Ned, he came by earlier” Pepper said.

You nod.

”I will go see him. *sighed heavily* I want Thanos to suffer” You said.

”One day he will,” Pepper said and she kissed your head.

Later, you went to see Ned. Ned did give you new ideas for your spiderman gadgets so it won't break half of the time. You and Ned start to work together on it.

✬ ✫ ✯ ✬

The year 2021...

You walked through the alley for a short cut. You dropped your cell phone, you bend down to pick up. You stood up and checked your phone while walking you hit a web. You tried to get rid of the web and you didn't notice the radioactive spider crawl on your shoulder and bite your neck.

”What the hell?” You yelled.

You rub your neck then noticed the radioactive spider on your forearm. You noticed the spider has an alchemax logo and number 42.

”You are coming home with me” You mumbled.

You went home and straight to the lab. You put the spider in a small tank and watched it move around.

-----

The next day you woke up feeling strange. You couldn't explain it, you are in shock just seeing electricity go through your hands. You start to breathe hard and your heart started to beat fast. You go to the bathroom to wash your face suddenly you turned invisible.

”I have powers!” You yelled.

Your mood changed, now you are happy that you have powers. You always dreamt of being a hero and having powers, you couldn't stop smiling. You called Ned and told him to meet you at your house. Ned did help you figure out what kind of powers you have.

----

You stare at your father’s suits and you thought about using them. But you wanted to make your identity as a hero, you want to give people hope again.

the first suit you made with Ned it's an armored suit. Ned helped you pick out the colors red, white, and black. When Ned saw you wearing the armor suit, he freaked out.

”Dude, it's awesome! You will be the coolest hero ever” Ned said.

”Thanks. I can't wait to go to the city and start saving people” You said.

You and Ned high five each other. You go to the city and start saving people. Everyone started to talk about the new hero on tv and the Internet, you felt proud of yourself.

✬ ✫ ✯ ✬

Being a hero wasn't easy for you. You found out working alone is hard, some people didn't like what you are doing. Other people do cheer for you. Balancing life and being a hero is very hard. But you got an idea and you worked day and night to make the app called ’Friendly Neighborhood 1.0’

People can report crimes and you will go save them and keep you in the loop, what happens in the city.

Today is slow and no one is in trouble. You decided to go tag some places. You swing to an abandoned building, you take out the spray cans, and started to draw. You stopped to put on your headphones then you started to draw again. Once you are finished you took pictures then tagged the subways.

----

You got an alert on your app, gang gun shoots in downtown. You started to swing fast and you see people caught in the crossfire. You started to venom blast to fight them and you used your web to take their guns away. You noticed the boy is deaf and you started to do sign language and he smiled.

”You know sign language?” Cassie asked.

You nod. ” Yes. I thought to learn so I can communicate with someone who is deaf”

You asked questions to the boy and you're glad he isn't hurt.

”I’m Cassie and this is Roger,” Cassie said.

”I’m Spiderman,” You said and it in sign language.

Later on...

You and Cassie became friends. She found out your secret when your mask fell apart while fighting Kraven the Hunter. Sometimes you would swing to her place to see her. She would always smile when you're around.

---

Cassie noticed you set a spider-free and didn't kill it.

”I hate spiders I don't know how you stand them,” Cassie said.

”it was a harmless spider. I don't feel scared when bugs are around” You said.

”I hate all kinds of bugs. But it's cute, you liking bugs and not killing them, bug boy” Cassie smiled.

You laughed and smiled back at her.

”Bug boy?” You asked.

She nods.

”Your new nickname” Cassie giggled.

”Thanks for the nickname?” You giggled.

”Anytime, Y/N” Cassie smiled.

~The next day~

Cassie went to your house. She met Pepper then Cassie goes to your bedroom. Cassie didn't say anything, she watches you make beats and you started to sing, you have your headphones on. She kept watching you and you keep making beats. She tapped your shoulder and you looked up, your eyes opened wide.

”Cas!” You said too loud.

”Hi Bug boy. You are talented” Cassie said.

”Thanks. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in” You said.

”So, you're into music?” Cassie asked.

”Yes, also I'm into art. If you want I-I-I can show you my work” You said shyly.

”I will like to see it, Y/N,” Cassie said.

”Cool!” You said.

You grabbed your sketchbook and she starts to look at your art.

✬ ✫ ✯ ✬

The year 2022

You told Cassie you wanted to upgrade and design a new suit. Again Cassie caught you making beats this time you teach her how to make beats.

”This is fun, Y/N,” Cassie said.

”I’m happy that you're enjoying making beats,” You said.

”Y/N aren't you scared when you swing around the city?” Cassie asked.

”At the very beginning, I was terrified when I would swing and jump from extremely tall buildings. Much later on, the fear went away so I'm not scared anymore. If you want you can swing with me around the city” You said.

”Okay. That would be an interesting experience, but yeah let's do it. Oh, I got an idea how your suit can look” Cassie said.

”Tell me,” You said.

Cassie started to explain how your suit should look with what colors. Music is the main inspiration for your suit 2020.

----

You are standing on the roof with Cassie. She wrapped her arms around you very tight.

”Ready?” You asked.

”Y-yes,” Cassie said.

You hold her tight and you start to swing. Cassie’s heart is beating faster and faster, you feel her grip tighten. You keep swinging and you noticed how scared she is. You stopped on top of the hotel building.

”Are you okay?” You asked.

She put her hand on her chest.

”No!” Cassie yelled.

You laughed and she smacked your arm.

”I’m guessing you had fun?” You teased.

”I got scared halfway. I thought I was going to fall, I don't know you get used to that” Cassie said.

”Takes time. I got over my fear the more I started to swing” You said.

”I won't do it again,” Cassie said and you laughed.

----

Cassie is sick and you went to buy soup for her. You knocked on her window, she opened it and let you in then you take off the mask.

”I got this for you, Cassie,” You said.

”Thank you, Y/N” Cassie smiled.

”Cassie, I know we been friends for a while but I really like you a lot and I hope we can be more than friends,” You said.

”Y/N, I like you too a lot. I would kiss you but I don't want you to get sick” Cassie said.

You smiled and she sneezed.

You and Cassie do spend time together mostly watching tv or movies. Cassie finds it sweet that you're taking care of her. You gave her medicine and reheat the soup. Later, you and Cassie do play board games, video games and asked questions about each other.

You noticed Cassie has in her bedroom for a while. You go upstairs and you can hear her crying

You sit next to her on the bed ”Cas, what's wrong?”

”I miss my dad so much” Cassie cried.

You wrapped your arms around her and she starts to cry more. You rub her back and you listen to her.

You did try to make her feel better worked for a little bit, but she is still feeling depressed. You stayed with her all-day

✬ ✫ ✯ ✬

Finally, your 2020 suit is complete. You can't stop smiling and start to put on the suit. The led mask, you loved it when Cassie told you about it. You got an alert on your app

”Time to test out the suit,” You said.

”Be careful, Y/N” Cassie said.

”I will,” You said.

Cassie watched you swing away.

You were busy saving people, Doctor Octopus and Kraven the Hunter kidnapped Cassie. They sent you a message and you got angry. You started to swing rapidly to Doctor Octopus’s lab. Cassie is tied up in a chair and she is feeling terrified.

You start to fight them. You used venom blast to punch Kraven, then Doctor Octopus grabbed you. Kraven punched you then you kicked him in the face and you used your web to cover Doctor Octopus’s face. You turned invisible and you started to fight them.

----

You grabbed Cassie and left the lab. You stopped on a roof and she hugged you tight then she smacked your chest.

”What was that for?!” You yelled.

”You know I hate it,” Cassie said.

”I’m not a speedster. I had to swing us away from them” You said.

You take off the mask.

”I know but I still hate it,” Cassie said.

Cassie started to ramble on then you did the same ramble on. She kissed you and you kiss her back, you and Cassie pulled apart and smiled. It's the first kiss.

✬ ✫ ✯ ✬

Time Skip~

Everything changed for the best. You found out Tony came back from space, you ran to him and hugged him.

”I missed you, dad,” You said

He kissed your head and held you tight.

”I love you 3000, Y/N,” Tony said.

Peter came back and he hugged you and Ned. Ned told everyone by mistake you are dating Cassie. No one knew about the relationship just yet.

”Sorry, bro,” Ned said.

”When we will get to meet her, Y/N,” Tony said.

”Soon, dad. Don't worry about it, Ned” You said.

You celebrated with everyone and you can't stop smiling.

----

You and your family moved to the woods, now live in a cabin. Now it feels like a family and you don't want that to change. Your little sister started to scream and ran towards Pepper.

”Why do you have a pet spider?” Tony asked.

”I hate spiders,” Morgan said.

Pepper was going to kill your pet but you stopped her.

”Stop!” You yelled.

The spider is in your hands.

”The spider is my pet. I got used to him being around” You said.

”Y/N, I will never understand why. But please just keep him in the cage” Pepper said.

”I will,” You said.

You go to your bedroom and put the spider in the tank. You feed him and just watch him.

✬ ✫ ✯ ✬

Date Night...

You arrived with pizza and she kissed you. You and Cassie played videos and it became competitive. You were going to take her out, but there is a rainstorm. The night is going well, she is having fun with you. You and Cassie eat pizza and started to debate what is the best movie and worst movie.

Later, you and Cassie started to play Uno but you and Cassie argued about the rules. You and Cassie eat more pizza and tried to play Uno again. Later, you and Cassie watched a movie on the couch, but end up falling asleep.

----

Scott found out what happened, he is in shock. He rushed home and knocked on the door. Cassie opened the door, they start to cry and they hugged each other. You did spend the night at her place, then Cassie introduces you to Scott.

“Wait, you're Tony’s son!?” Scott said.

“Yeah, I'm his son,” You said.

“Hurt my daughter and I will go after you,” Scott said.

“Dad!” Cassie yelled.

“I won't break her heart,” You said.

“I will keep my eye on you, Y/N,” Scott said.

“UGH!” Cassie mumbled.

Later, Scott joined you and Cassie for breakfast.

---

Later, you meet up with Peter to show him your 2020 suit. Peter is loving the suit and asked many questions about how you build your suit. You and Peter worked together to save people.

#cassie lang #cassie lang x reader #Cassie lang x male reader #Cassie Lang imagine #marvel x male reader #marvel imagine

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tinyboxxtink · 4 years ago

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Build Me Up Buttercup *Part 5*

WARNING: This chapter contains mention of sexual assault, please read at your own discretion. Also, I’m sorry these last two chapters have been kind of dark but next chapter will be super fluff I promise!

If you need to catch up:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 6

Tag List: @wanniiieeee

....And you just ran out?”

Your roommate’s judgement came through loud and clear, even through the phone.

“Yes! What the hell was I supposed to do?!” You tried defending your actions. You called them to feel better, not worse.

“Well, first of all you shouldn’t have LIED,” They kept their snarky tone.

“I didn’t LIE….per say,” You paced back and forth, twirling your hair in your fingers nervously. The silence after your statement was like you could SEE their faces just giving you “that” look.

“Oh okay what was I supposed to say? ‘Oh hey yeah you’re right Fin, I was an absolute party wreck until I couldn’t be anymore’?”

“I mean I don’t--” You heard footsteps coming up behind you, so you swung your phone to your side, cutting off their sentence.

You turned to see Rafael standing there, that permanent concerned look for you pasted on his face.

“Hey...are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just needed some air,” You tried your best to stay calm and nonchalant.

“Are you sure? Because you--” He started to say something but you quickly interjected.

“Actually you know what Barba I’m kind of on the phone right now, can I meet you back inside?” You motioned with your phone, kicking yourself for being cold to him right now but you couldn’t deal with anything else at the moment.

“I...uh...yeah, sure,” He shook his head with an awkward smile, and walked back inside. Relieved, you put the phone back up to your ear.

“Aww, how cute. Barba cares!” your BFF’s voice cooed through the speaker.

“Yeah, in like a ‘dad caring’ kind of way,” you rolled your eyes.

“Oooof, I wouldn’t start throwing that term around, we might have to start talking about ‘daddy issues’, Y/N,” they giggled.

“SERIOUSLY?” You practically screeched into the phone, thanking every god you could think of that Rafael had gone inside before that comment.

“I’m just sayin! I’m ALSO saying that you need to go back in there and tell your squad the truth,” they returned to a very serious tone.

“Yeah I guess…” You sighed, knowing they were right.

“And I’m sorry I can’t be there with you holding your hand while you do it babe. But…”

“But what?”

“But maybe Rafael can?”

“Jesus, can you please be serious right now?”

“I am being serious! You just told me he helped you calm down earlier, and that wasn’t even half traumatic as this is gonna be,” They insisted.

“I don’t….how…?” Your face scrunched up trying to think of NON creepy ways you'd ask for someone's hand.

“Whatever, do what you want; But I do suggest telling them. Clearly you're not going to be able to keep this under wraps, and I doubt you want to keep freaking out on your co-workers. Trust them, trust RAFAEL,”

You sighed again, you knew they were right. Olivia said it herself, it was important to have a squad you trusted.

“Alright I’ll call you later,”

“You better!”

You took a deep breath and walked back into the bar, your hands shaking as you reached your booth. The group all started to speak, but you put your hand up.

“No just-- Let me talk. Fin, I am so sorry,” You addressed Fin, who shook his head in a “don't worry about it” manner.

“No, I really am. I’m sorry I freaked out on you and I’m sorry...I lied. Kind of,” the squad again looked at you in total confusion.

“God….okay, how do I….? Um….”

You started trying to form sentences in your head, words jumbled around in your brain. You started to panic again, when you felt a hand grip yours under the table. You snapped your eyes open and looked next to you where Rafael had taken your hand. He gave a small, supportive smile making you suddenly feel at ease.

“Okay. So, like I said I was pretty much a ‘caged’ child. I was homeschooled, I didn’t have any friends, just academics. Being born a ‘prodigy’ sounds good on paper, but I just always felt like a show pony. Or an alien experiment. People were always coming by to check out the ‘genius 5 year old’ play Mozart, or ‘the brilliant 10 year old finish calculus problems in under 30 seconds’.”

You took a deep breath, watching their listening faces. Too much detail hon, get there faster.

“Um, anyway. I graduated ‘high school’ at fifteen years old. I had barely made it through puberty, and I was already done with my academic childhood. Obviously, I wanted to immediately enroll in college, if for no other reason than to get away from my insanely controlling parents. But big surprise, they had a problem with it. It took me a minute to convince them that it was the right next step, full ride scholarships to literally any school in the country helped. And I mean, ANY school. All the Ivy leagues sent out their top recruiters to speak with my parents about having the ‘prodigy’ attending their establishment.

So with that, I was able to convince my parents that I knew what was best for me. I told them I was smarter than them, so clearly I could parent myself better. And God help them, they believed me,” You had to pause again, tears catching your throat. Rafael gently started rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.

“So, I started at NYU that fall, just after my sixteenth birthday. Sixteen years old, the only child in a university full of adults,”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Sonny whispered to Amanda who nodded in agreement.

“So I got paired with this room mate Layla, who was the polar opposite of myself. She was gorgeous, totally socially gifted, but dumb as a rock. Her daddy had paid her way into the school,” you rolled your eyes just thinking about her.

“And truth be told I loved her at first, because she was the sweetest girl. My first ever real friend. She took me under her wing and gave me a complete makeover; socially and physically. I had NEVER had guys look at me the way they did after she helped me. It was....intoxicating.” You paused in shame, picking at your jacket.

“So, naturally, I wanted to hang out with my friend. My ONLY friend. And hanging out with her meant going to all the coolest parties, frats and sororities. I was SIXTEEN, I didn’t….I didn’t think,” You bit your lip and stared at the floor for a moment before continuing.

“I lost my virginity at those parties,” you muttered quietly, and to your surprise the team started reacting.

“Wha-- Wait wait wait, guys that’s….that’s not even the bad part yet,” you gulped. Jesus the judgement was quickly getting real.

“Anyway I...was pretty much a huge party girl slut,” you shrugged. “I’d go and party, and hook up with random guys, and never thought twice about it because I thought ‘that’s what college girls do’,” You scoffed at your younger self for even having that notion. How could you be that smart and that stupid at the same time? It was baffling.

“And one night, it bit me in the ass,” You sighed, here comes the hard part.

“I don’t...I usually got so wasted that I didn’t CARE who I was having sex with and most of the time never remembered WHO it was anyway but-- but I’m pretty sure that night I didn’t want to,” You breathed out and looked up, willing the tears on the rims of your eyes to go back in where they came from. Rafael’s hand gripped yours tighter, making you feel safe.

“But it is what it is, this guy did what he did and left me on the floor in a frat house,” You scoffed again, this time tears dripping down your face. You couldn’t believe there was a time that you had been that pathetic, to just be left laying on the floor like a blow up doll.

“I guess Layla found me and took me home, because I woke up in my own bed. But I had bruises and hickeys ALL over my body, and just��.brutal stuff,” You trailed off while you picked at your food, not wanting to go into any more detail.

Suddenly, as if turning on a light switch, your entire demeanor snapped back into ‘normal mode’, you wiped the stray tears away and cleared your throat. You were

“AHEM So...anyway, after….that, I told Layla that I couldn’t hang out with her anymore if that’s all we were going to do, and she understood. She didn’t like it, but she understood. The next semester I got a new roommate who was pretty much like myself, boring and socially inept, so I went back to the thing I knew best-- academics. I changed my major from biochemical engineering to law, because I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I went through without a voice. And after that, and a WHOLE lotta therapy, I just pushed that whole semester I lost deep, DEEP down, you know like a totally healthy person,” You tried playing it off with a laugh, but they weren’t amused.

“But...just thinking about Mary Fahey,” you sighed. “That girl had everything going for her, she was probably really smart and had a whole life ahead of her. She made the bad decision ONCE, to go to a frat party and she’s DEAD. Meanwhile, I was a stupid slut for a whole semester and the worst I got was bruised up and a pregnancy scare.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re saying what I think you’re saying,” Amanda gave you a look.

“What? That I should have been killed? Well why not? Why HER?” You protested, sipping your hurricane. It was unsettling to the squad how little you seemed to care about yourself.

“....I knew there was more to it in the bathroom,” you heard Rafael’s soft voice beside you.

“I’m sorry...I didn’t know how to tell you,” You looked at him with apologetic eyes. “I didn’t want you to think I was...trashy,”

“Ok now hold up” Fin interrupted.

“First of all, you need to stop throwing words like ‘slut’ and ‘trash’ around, especially about yourself, Y/N,” he took your hand.

“You said it yourself, people make mistakes. Hell if I worried about the amount of dumb shit I did when I was a kid I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning,”

You had to break into a small sad smile after he said that, nodding your head in an understanding manner.

“And whether or not it was a one time thing or a ‘phase’, no one ever deserves to be assaulted for overdoing it at a party, or anywhere else,” Olivia chimed in. “EVER.”

“Exactly what the Sarge said. Assault is NEVER ok, in ANY circumstance. Even when you think you were ‘slutty’ by sleeping around, those guys are accountable too.” Sonny added. “Taking advantage of an inebriated woman is not okay,”

“AND it was statutory!” Rafael finally spoke up, his fists clenched. It was as if it had taken this entire time for him to fully process your story, and now that he did he was PISSED.

“Okay, Rafa, calm down,” Olivia placed a hand over his.

“No Liv, these guys should all be in prison for having sex with an incapacitated SIXTEEN YEAR OLD”

“Will you knock it off, counselor?” You hit his arm. “I didn’t tell you that story so you would go after a bunch of random idiots for something that happened over 10 years ago!”

“Well they should pay!” Rafael yelled again, but after you softly stroked his shoulder, he seemed to calm down.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Rafa,” you warily threw out the pet name, happy when he responded with a small smile. “But I’m over it. Mostly. On days that aren’t like this,” you added with a joking laugh, trying to ease the tension.

“Well, I really appreciate you telling us the truth, N/A,” Olivia nodded at you, the others followed suit.

You gave the first genuine smile since you came back in, looking at Rafael. He took your hand once again under the table, giving it three small squeezes. Before you knew what you were doing, your head was dropping onto his shoulder and you were scooting closer into him.

“Get a squad you can trust, right?”

#rafael barba #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba imagine #law and order special victims unit #law and order svu #build me up buttercup

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lunatens · 4 years ago

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am i wrong?

requested by @hotgorlxiao <3

prompt: “no no no, sorry! i just-i didn’t think you even knew my name,”

*part of my 2 years with luna event!

word count: 1.0k

genre: fluff. coffee shop au, college au

pairing: min yoongi x gn reader

could this line move any slower, you think to yourself as you stand behind several other students waiting to order their morning coffee. to be fair, it is 8:30 AM on a monday morning, so you probably should’ve expected this, but it doesn’t make you feel any better about waiting in line. the cute cafe on campus is usually busy anyways, with students often making stops throughout the day for various drinks and snacks, or even just a chill environment to study. you don’t typically come here; you find the menu a bit pricey for a student, but on early mornings like these when you’re running late you can’t help but pick up a coffee on the way to class. besides, the cute boy from your music productions class works here occasionally, and you certainly have no complaints about seeing him behind the counter.

you’re fairly certain he doesn’t know you exist, seeing how you’re typically more on the quiet side in class and you don’t think you’ve ever spoken a word to him. min yoongi isn’t necessarily the loud, popular kid who gets along with everyone, but despite his reserved nature people seem to be drawn to his quiet coolness--yourself included. it’s hard to explain; he just seems to have this aura of mystery that creates an air of curiosity around his presence. he’s rarely seen hanging around with other people; you’ve noticed he has a small group of friends, but most times you see him alone, straight-faced and headphones practically attached to his ears. the only times you really see him express any sort of emotion is when he’s with his friends or when he’s working on a new song, his face softening or eyebrows furrowing as he focuses on his projects. min yoongi fascinates you, and it’s safe to say you’ve developed quite the crush on him (from a distance at least). jimin’s always telling you to at least try to talk to him, but you don’t think you ever could--what would you even say to a person like him??

look’s like you don’t have a choice today though, you notice as you inch closer and closer to the front of the line and spy yoongi himself taking orders at the till. your heart stops--why is he taking orders?? you’ve only ever seen him making drinks and cleaning tables, not being the friendly face people talk to first thing. is it weird if you leave the line now? you’re so close, and you’ve been waiting for so long for that morning wakeup you desperately need, but the thought of talking to yoongi make you feel nauseous and you can’t help but want to leave and never come back.

“next,” he calls, his voice snapping you out of your daze--you hadn’t even realized the couple of people in front of you had already been served. no turning back now, you think to yourself, biting your lip as you nervously approach the daunting till.

“what can i get for you?” yoongi asks with a soft smile. unlike the other baristas you’ve ordered from before, yoongi isn’t bursting with overwhelming friendliness and energy, yet his quiet greeting feels surprisingly warm and welcoming anyways. you mumble out your order, which he quickly enters into the computer.

“for y/n, right?” he asks, looking to you for confirmation, and you can do nothing but gaze back at him, mouth slightly ajar in shock.

“...sorry, that is your name right?” yoongi asks, slightly confused. “that’d be pretty embarrassing if i got it wrong.”

“no no no, sorry! i just-i didn’t even think you knew my name,” you admit with a nervous laugh.

“oh, well yeah, you’re the cute one from my music production class, how could i forget?” he says as he casually types your name in and hands you the machine to pay. you aren’t quite sure how to respond to that--did min yoongi of all people just call you cute?? you think your brain is short-circuiting.

“you...think i’m cute?” you ask as you tap your card to the machine.

“that’s what i just said, isn’t it?” yoongi says with a teasing smirk. he hands you your receipt, and you feel butterflies as your fingers brush his. “enjoy your coffee y/n, i’ll see you in class tomorrow!” he says before calling up the next customer. you move over to wait for your drink, still dumbfounded and trying to process what just happened. min yoongi, the coolest boy to ever exist, thinks you’re cute.

“i think he likes you,” the other employee (seokjin, you read off his name tag) whispers to you with a teasing smile.

“really?” you ask maybe a little too eagerly, and the other boy nods.

“i never see him that happy on morning shifts. he actually smiled for real for once,” seokjin comments, slightly baffled. “anyways, enjoy!” he says with a bright smile as he places your cup on the counter. you thank him and pick up the cup, the heat a little too intense on your fingers, so you pull your sweater sleeve over your hand to make it more comfortable to hold.

you walk by the garbage can to toss out your receipt, but you stop as you notice something written on the back. you turn the thin paper over to see thin black numbers scrawled in yoongi’s messy handwriting. you turn back to look at yoongi, but he’s too busy serving customers to notice, although right as you turn to leave, your eyes catch his for a fleeting moment and you catch the tiniest of grins flash on his face. you catch a glimpse of the time on the wall clock and realize you really have to rush to class. you walk the halls with newfound excitement, hardly needing the coffee anymore to keep you awake, and you can’t wait to tell jimin about it all later.

#bts #min yoongi #min yoongi x reader #bts fanfction #suga #suga x reader #kpop fanfiction #bts scenarios #bts oneshot #bts drabble #yoongi scenarios #yoongi x reader #yoongi oneshot #request #2 years with luna #am i wrong?#hotgorlxiao

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tchallasbabymama · 4 years ago

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GFG

Hey lovelies, here’s Chapter 9 of Playlist. Don’t forget to check out my masterlist HERE to catch up and read my other stories. Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Also, can someone tell me WHY sometimes when I post from my laptop the words end up all blacked out on mobile? It’s really starting to get on my damn nerves.

Oh, and look forward to a Valentine’s Day surprise!

Word Count: ~7000

CW: Smut

“Usisi!” Shuri threw down her tools and ran to Ashanti, pulling her into the tightest hug she had ever experienced. “What are you doing here?”

It had been a week since that day at the lake, and aside from Zina and Jafari, who had been sworn to secrecy, nobody knew of Ashanti and T’Challa’s rekindled relationship yet. They wanted to take a little time to themselves without having to worry about meddling from other people, but they felt it was finally time to come clean to their loved ones. When they told Ashanti’s people, they all acted as though it was news to them. In fact, Chidi and Bisa had seen them leaving Taj’s that day and since Bisa was a terrible gossip, Binta and Kwame were soon brought into the loop when they stopped by the restaurant later that day. Just like the first time around, the twins noticed her floating around the house with a permanent smile on her face, but they decided to let her come to them despite her obvious infatuation.

Ashanti and T’Challa had yet to tell the royal family, but Ramonda noticed her son’s change in demeanor. He walked taller with his head held higher than usual, and that’s saying something for a king. She already knew what was going on, she could see it in his eyes, but she waited patiently for him to come clean. Shuri had been holed up in her lab every day working on upgrades to their public transportation system so she never even noticed. She was completely caught off guard when Ashanti entered the lab and barely even noticed her brother.

“I can’t just come visit because I miss you?” Ashanti asked the princess in jest.

“It took you this long to miss me?”

“Honestly? It took me this long to not feel uncomfortable about coming up here.”

“Why would you feel uncomfortable?” Shuri asked, a little bit deflated.

“I didn’t want to run into this guy,” she pointed back at T’Challa as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her temple.

Despite the gross PDA, Shuri’s face lit up when she saw them together. They had been apart for too long and she knew how much her brother had missed Ashanti. She was happy to see him smiling again.

“So you worked things out?”

“That we did,” T’Challa answered while beaming from ear to ear.

“Awww I’m happy for you both! And Ashanti, I’m so glad to have you back. We have a lot to catch up on! Wait, does mama know yet? Or N’Jadaka? Did you tell Nakia?”

“Just you, so far, but Ashanti will be joining us for dinner tonight.”

“Ok, but you have to tell Nakia, she’s been harassing me about it all week.”

T’Challa chuckled at his friend’s insistence. “I’ll call Nakia after dinner. Mama is already going to have my head for not telling her sooner.”

“Eh, she probably already knows. You know how she is with stuff like this.”

“Yes, she does seem to have a sixth sense sometimes...”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ashanti shrugged.

“Where is she anyway?” T’Challa asked.

“Oh she went to the river province to get out of the palace for a little while. She’ll be back for dinner. Hey, any idea what they’re cooking up down there? I’m already starving.”

“Well what do you have a taste for?”

Shuri thought for a second before answering, “Peanut stew chicken, jollof rice, and plantains.”

“Then that’s what I’ll make,” T’Challa smiled at his favorite little sister.

“Wait, you’re cooking dinner?! Bast, I’ll have to change into sweatpants before I get there.”

Ashanti and T’Challa both laughed at her, but Ashanti was definitely thankful she wore her favorite flowy yellow dress for the same reason.

The three of them spent the next hour or so together around the lab. Shuri showed them a bunch of new inventions that went right over Ashanti’s head, but the panther suit on a mannequin caught her eye.

“I thought you always had yours on.”

“Hm?” T’Challa looked up from examining Shuri’s newest upgrades to the vibranium gauntlets. Ashanti pointed at the mannequin and he nodded. “Oh, yeah, that’s the previous version. Here, look.” He called his suit on without his helmet and Ashanti’s jaw dropped. She had never seen him in his suit in person and it left very little to the imagination. She reached out to feel the vibranium weave and the sharpness of his claws.

“Is the helmet a separate p-”

She was cut off by the fibers covering his face, and a huge smile came across hers.

“This is the coolest thing I think I’ve ever seen,” she poked and prodded all over him and noticed a purple glow when she used a little more pressure. “What’s that?”

“The suit absorbs and redistributes kinetic energy.” Shuri chimed in, admiring her work.

“I don’t know what that means…”

“Kick him and find out,” the princess snickered, raising her beads to record. Ashanti’s face twisted in confusion as Shuri mouthed to her, “I’ll show you later.”

“Shuri, hush,” T’Challa playfully admonished his sister before turning back to his love. “Basically it just means that if you hit me, the suit hits back.”

“Yep, coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” she leaned into him and whispered in his ear. “Can you control where it does and doesn't cover?”

He chuckled, knowing exactly where she was going with her line of questioning. “Not with this one, but I can convince Shuri to make that a feature on the next upgrade.”

“I’d like that,” she said, biting her lip and taking in his still-masked face.

“I don’t know what you two are talking about, but if you could take that lovey dovey shit out of my lab that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.”

“Fine, we know when we are not wanted.”

“No it’s just you, big head.”

“That’s fine. See you at dinner, scrawny arms.”

“Out!”

Ashanti laughed at the siblings’ interaction and hugged Shuri before heading up the ramp with T’Challa. When they got to the Talon, she pulled him into the sleeping quarters.

“Put the suit on again.”

He called it on all the way so that he was covered head to toe and backed her against the wall, grabbing her wrists and holding them over her head. Her chest heaved as she took in his predatorial face and she looked up to see that he was holding her in such a way that he wouldn’t scratch her with his claws. His helmet shrank back into the necklace and he kissed her, making her knees weak. It was a slow and sloppy kiss, the kind that turned her on and he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Are you going to let the Black Panther eat that sweet pussy?”

She nearly melted at his words, and she could feel her pussy throbbing in her panties. She nodded at him before she could speak.

“Yes, please.” she answered as her lip found its way between her teeth.

“On the bed.”

Ashanti did as she was told and laid back on the pillows, positioning herself so that she could get a good view. He stalked over to her like the predator he was and climbed onto the bed before pushing her dress up to around her waist and taking one of his claws and ripping her new pink satin thong.

“T’Challa! That was n-new,” she fussed as he left a big sloppy tongue kiss on her pussy.

He looked up at her and shrugged. “I’m rich, I’ll get you a thousand pairs just like it.”

She giggled and he went back to work. He carefully used his fingers to pull her pussy lips apart, but she could still feel the cold metal on her skin. One slip-up and he could slice right through her, but that just added to Ashanti’s excitement.

His tongue explored every inch of her pussy, lapping her folds with passion and sucking her juicy clit until she screamed his name and came all on his face. He made sure he lapped up every drop and when he noticed his thumbs had been covered too, he carefully licked her juices from his sharp claws.

Ashanti shivered at the sight, discovering another kink as she watched him. He noticed her squirming and leaned down to kiss her so she could taste herself.

“Whew I can’t wait until the next upgrade!” She said, still catching her breath. He laughed and fell to the bed next to her and laid on his side, head propped up and staring at her beautiful face.

“Neither can I. You know, I never thought about fucking in the suit.”

“Oh that’s all I thought about when I would see you on the news.”

He laughed and kissed her forehead, then her nose, then her lips.

“Come on, I’m sure we’re at the palace by now.”

The two of them made their way to the kitchen to get started on dinner, hand in hand. Despite the fact that they hadn’t come clean about their relationship yet, they just couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, even in public. Especially T’Challa who had to always touch her in some way, but Ashanti loved it and would never complain.

“So what do you need me to do, chef?”

-------

“Unyana, you have outdone yourself this time,” Ramonda said after a couple of bites.

“Thank you, but I believe it has something to do with my beautiful sous chef,” he nodded towards Ashanti who was seated to his right.

“Obviously, but what I want to know is how long you two really thought you could keep this from me.”

T’Challa already knew this conversation was coming, and let out a sigh. Ashanti reached out her hand and grabbed his, intertwining their fingers.

“I just wanted us to have some time to ourselves, and I think it actually worked out pretty well.” she smiled at T’Challa, who brought her hand to his lips.

“You two are disgusting,” Shuri gagged.

“I’m with Lil Bit,” N’Jadaka said under his breath, equally disgusted by their lovey dovey bullshit.

“Oh hush, you two could stand to learn a thing or two from them. So do I hear wedding drums in the future?”

“We have discussed a future together, but no plans as of yet, mama.”

“I just want to live in the moment with him for now. I know that once we go public we’ll have to deal with the council, and I don’t want to do that just yet.”

“Smart choice, they can be brutal sometimes.”

“So how’d y’all get back together?” N’Jadaka asked, already on his second plate.

“Well I guess it started when I called him a couple months ago…”

Ashanti proceeded to tell T’Challa’s family a PG version of the story of their new relationship while he simply looked on, entranced by her beauty, adding his two cents every now and then.

“Ugh!”

“That’s disgusting.” Shuri and N’Jadaka spoke over each other when Ashanti was finished, but they both had sly smiles on their faces despite their revulsion.

Ramonda shot her daughter and nephew a look across the table while N’Jadaka tried to cover his face as he chuckled into his napkin.

“I’m happy for you, though. Now we don’t have to see his ugly mug moping around the palace anymore.”

T’Challa waited briefly for Ramonda to look back down at her food before flipping his cousin off.

“Ooooh, Auntie, T-”

“I saw it, you two cut it out.”

Shuri snickered and Ashanti couldn’t help but chuckle at the family. She was an only child and her one uncle never had any children, so it wasn’t until she moved in with the twins that she got to experience that type of bickering that can only come from being siblings or cousins. She was happy to see that even though T’Challa and N’Jadaka had only known each other for a few years, their relationship seemed pretty normal.

Shuri leaned back to loosen her “eating pants” and let out a sigh.

“Somebody carry me to my room.”

“I would, but uh,” N’Jadaka leaned back, too, “I can’t move either. T, help us out?”

Ramonda chuckled as her son gave his cousin what N’Jadaka described as his “nigga, please” look, and Ashanti nearly spit out her water. She loved getting to see another side of him when he interacted with his family members.

The five of them finished and the three who didn’t cook lazily cleaned the kitchen as Ashanti and T’Challa rested on the couch, drinking some ginger tea to help their digestion.

“I love how you are with your family, I missed seeing you like that.”

“Like what?”

“As someone’s big cousin and big brother and son. I always see my love T’Challa, and I’ve gotten glimpses of King T’Challa and The Black Panther here and there...but I like seeing T’Challa Udaku, family man.” she smiled up at him as she leaned into his side and his arm went around her shoulder, pulling her in close.

“How much bigger of a family man would you like to see?”

“Just one, maybe two more family members would be nice.”

He smiled from ear to ear and leaned down to kiss her lightly and whisper to her, “That sounds perfect.”

She kissed him again and they settled back into the couch in blissful silence, listening to the clashing dishes and running water in the kitchen behind them. The itis swiftly took them away into a blissful sleep.

-------

Ashanti had been right to want that week of alone time, because shortly after they told the royal family her name was brought up in a council meeting. K’Hari had told his replacement Mala about Ashanti, knowing she would spread the information to other council members, which she did. Before she could even bring it up in their meeting, the Merchant Tribe elder beat her to the punch.

“My king, I have one more item before we dismiss.”

T’Challa nodded for her to continue, curious about where this was going.

“We have all heard rumors going around that we were wondering if you could clear up for us.”

Several other council members nodded around the circle, leaving M’Baku and a few others very confused on who this “all” was referring to.

“What is this about?” the king asked, growing impatient the more she drew it out.

“Well, we have heard...”

“Yes…” he tried to control his growing temper.

“Are you involved with Ashanti Mostafa?”

Everyone turned to look at T’Challa, who was seething in his throne. He knew this had to be K’Hari’s doing. M’Baku knew of their relationship, but was a friend to the king and was a steel trap when it came to secrets. The only other council member who knew was Ramonda, and he knew she wouldn’t have said anything. The other council members knew of Ashanti from the Zenzi incident, and back then it seemed they thought she was a nice girl. Ode, the Merchant Tribe Elder knew her and her parents personally, but that didn’t change how she or some of the other council members felt about the situation. No matter how nice she was, Ashanti was not of royal blood.

“I do not see what that is of any importance here,” he brushed off and continued the meeting.

This happened for several meetings before T’Challa grew tired of the inquiries, and decided to set the record straight. The meeting went about as well as he thought it would: not well at all.

Half of the council was either on his side or apathetic to the argument, but the other half was vehemently against him being involved with and possibly marrying someone who wasn’t of royal blood.

“My king, tradition states-”

“Traditions are a foundation for us to build on. I do not see the issue here,” M’Baku added to the argument, frustrated that the subject was such a big deal to the elders on the council. T’Challa was thankful to have his friend present that day, feeling less alone but still weighed down by the conversation.

“My king, we are simply concerned that all of our old ways will be forgotten. We already agreed to open the country to outsiders-”

“Watch it, old lady,” N’Jadaka warned Mala and although Queen Mother was also offended by the Mining Tribe elder’s use of words, she shot her nephew a look to remind him to be respectful.

“Excuse me, my prince, to the ‘Lost Tribe’. We are concerned about the royal lineage being tainted as well.”

“Tainted?! And just how would it be ‘tainted’ Mala?” The king raised his voice, a rare occurrence which frightened her into silence. “Answer me.”

“S-she is a peasant-”

The king’s blood pressure rose as did the rest of the royal family’s, but Ramonda always kept a cool head and stepped in before the situation escalated, “That is enough for today. We will reconvene next Wednesday evening.”

Mala and her faction of the council stood quickly to scurry out of the room, but they were stopped by the king’s commanding voice.

“Not yet. Sit down.”

A chill went down everyone’s spine as they sat back in their chairs.

“I am your king, do not forget yourself in my presence,” he stared directly at Mala. “I can admit my mistakes, and I can admit that I allowed you to have your opinion on the matter for far too long. I will be continuing my relationship with Ashanti for as long as she allows, and none of you will have anything to say about it from here on out. Make no mistake, you should not speak so ill of your future queen.”

He could see the looks of horror on Mala and Ode’s faces. They would certainly be a problem…

He dismissed them all and they scurried away. M’Baku saluted the king as he lumbered out of the room, needing to get back to the Jabari Tribe for yet another meeting.

“Man, I don't know how you do it. I’d have snapped weeks ago.” N’Jadaka clapped him on his shoulder.

“Trust me, it took a lot of self-restraint. I do not enjoy ruling in that way, but when she called Ashanti a peasant, I saw red...a peasant? Who even uses that term anymore?”

“Maybe they would feel better if they got to meet her,” Ramonda offered.

He rubbed his temples, looking forward to getting back to his quarters, but he knew he had a full day ahead of equally frustrating tasks.

-------

Ashanti perked up at the sound of her doorbell and slid across the wooden floor to open the door and greet her man.

“Hey handsome,” she let him in and kissed his lips, immediately sensing something was bothering him. “What’s wrong?”

He smiled fondly, he should have known he couldn’t get anything past her.

“I will tell you later, I promise,” he kissed her again, pulling her in close,” but I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“You look stressed,” she reached for his forehead and smoothed out the frown lines in the middle of his forehead with her thumbs. “Come on.”

She grabbed his hand and led him to her room.

“Before you called me I had set up a whole self-care night. How about you join me?”

“I’d love to,” he grinned at her.

He got comfortable just like he always does in her space and stripped down to his underwear before plopping on her bed and rolling over to face her.

“Ok, what now?”

“Well I was going to watch a comedy that Binta suggested while I put on a face mask and do a mani-pedi. Then I need to do something to my hair, maybe I’ll braid it again...Did you bring the weed?”

“Of course I did,” he smiled mischievously

“Kim, play ‘Girl’s Trip’,” she called out to the AI in her home. “Ok, now go wash your face and come back.”

He followed her instructions and when he returned he rolled a blunt before laying back on the bed with her. He lit it and held it to her lips since both of her hands were busy.

The movie played as Ashanti sat cross-legged with T’Challa’s head in her lap, massaging those frown lines again. Then she took a jade roller to his face and she could have sworn she heard him purr. She dipped her fingers into her homemade clay face mask and carefully slathered a thin layer on his face, avoiding his lush beard.

“When this dries, it’s going to be hard to move your face. That’s usually about when I wash mine off.”

He laid there completely still, enjoying her pampering. After the mask was on all the way, she repeated the process on her face then she moved to the edge of the bed and had him sit on the floor between her legs as she massaged his scalp with some coconut oil. This was always T’Challa’s favorite, and he damn near fell asleep on her, but he was awakened by the sound of her laughing at the movie.

“Ok, now it’s pedicure time.”

“I had one yesterday, but I can do yours.”

“You’re going to paint my nails?”

“Why not? I am already down here.” He kissed the inside of her calf as he massaged her foot with his gifted hands.

Her feet dangled over the side of her bed as he sat on the floor with her legs draped over his shoulders. He focused on her toes as he carefully painted each one, planting kisses on her legs along the way.

Ashanti loved these intimate moments with T’Challa. He could be so soft with her and she loved that nobody got to see this side of the powerful man but her. After he finished with the top coat he blew on her toes to dry them and her already-wet pussy jumped a little bit. He knew he was turning her on, so he stopped and turned around, coming face to face with her clothed flower. Her hips involuntarily rolled in his direction and he planted a kiss between her legs, causing her to moan his name. He came up and kissed her lips.

“Not now, kitten. Your toes need to dry.”

“What?! You can't ju-”

She was interrupted by his fingers travelling up and down her center.

“What did I say?” he whispered in her ear.

“N-not now.”

He kissed her forehead then her nose then her lips, “Good girl.”

He removed his hand from between her legs and went to the bathroom to wash his face mask off before she followed him to do the same. She spritzed their faces with rosewater before applying face serum and moisturizer. When she was done T’Challa’s skin glowed even more than its usual perfection and it took all of her willpower to not reach out and touch.

They went back to the bed and Ashanti grabbed her tools and products to start the process of braiding her hair as he pressed play on the movie again.

“Would you like help?”

“You know how to braid?”

“I used to do Shuri’s hair all the time. She was tender headed and for a while she wouldn’t let anyone else touch her hair.”

“What can’t you do?” she rolled her eyes

They shared a laugh and he mirrored her positioning from earlier, legs thrown over the side of the bed as she sat on the floor between them. He sectioned and lightly oiled her scalp before massaging her just as she did him. She moaned from the feeling of his large fingers manipulating her body in such a way. He then sectioned and braided her hair in no time flat. She got up to check herself out in the mirror and was more than pleasantly surprised by the results, and she felt hardly any pain or pulling.

“I already knew this from other activities, but you have very gifted fingers.”

He laughed and wrapped her hair in a silk scarf before they settled into the bed, meaning to find another movie to watch, but getting lost in each other’s eyes instead.

“Earlier, when I got here, I was upset about this morning’s council meeting.”

“It must have been pretty bad to stick with you all day like that...what was it about?”

“You.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she sat up a little.

“Me?”

“Yes, some of the elders don’t like that you are not of royal blood and are concerned about ‘tradition’ being broken.”

“They’re just going to have to get over that,” she laid back down on the bed and snuggled into him, throwing her leg across him. “Is there anything I can do to make it better?”

“I don’t think so. Mother suggested you come to a meeting, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“I do not want to involve you in-”

“I’m already involved, baby. It’s about me.”

He considered her words for a moment before caving.

“Alright, the next meeting is Wednesday at 5. They are normally in the mornings, but we rescheduled to accommodate the River Festival” he said before kissing her and pressing play on a new Wakandan movie they had both been meaning to see for a while.

-------

“You could have said something!” Ashanti yelled after the door to his office closed, despite having argued the entire way from the throne room.

“I did.”

“Yeah, after they insinuated I was everything but a child of Bast. What would I be after your wealth for? I have enough money to live a good life.”

“I know-”

“And I just want to carry the royal seed to be taken care of for the rest of my life? In-fucking-sane!”

“I told you it wasn’t a good idea.”

“Oh shut up,” Ashanti spat back, making the king roll his eyes at her attitude. “You’re not the one whose character is being called into question.”

“No, but my discernment is. My ability to rule is.”

“I didn’t realize I would be the downfall of the great T’Challa Udaku,” she said sarcastically.

“Kitten, that’s not what I meant,” he followed behind her as she attempted to avoid him, and he turned her around to face him.

“I-” he sighed, “I had hoped they would have been different after I spoke to them last week, but it seems that is not the case-”

“And Ode? Fucking Ode?! How dare she look me in my eye and call me a commoner. That two-faced old bitch-”

“Ashanti-”

“Fuck her and that ugly ass Mala, they can both choke-

“Ashanti-”

“What the fuck do you want?!”

He looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I don’t know who you think you are raising your voice at, but I’ve had enough of your disrespect-”

“Fuck off, T’Challa.”

A deep chuckle erupted from his body and out his mouth while Ashanti stared at him, annoyed by every sound he made.

“I forgot how much of a brat you can be,” he said while backing her up against the door, reaching out and turning the lock.

“I’m not a brat, I’m pissed the fuck off.”

“You’re going to get tired of cursing at me-”

“No I fucking won’t.”

His hand came up and grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him while his other hand held her waist against the door. “I don’t raise my voice at you, you don’t raise your voice at me. That’s not how we do things. Understand?”

She refused to meet his gaze and tried to shake her head out of his grasp, only for him to bring her back to his eyes.

“Do you understand me?”

“Fine, I understand you.” she rolled her eyes and he pulled her in for a wet, open mouth kiss. Her frustration fueled her as her tongue came in contact with his and he pushed her further into the door.

“On my desk, now,” he growled into her ear before slapping her ass.

“Make me.”

He growled and lifted her over his shoulder before walking to the desk and placing her on the corner.

She crossed her legs under her long printed skirt, her right thigh peeking out from the slit on the side and giving him a little tease. He walked over to her, opening her legs and stepping between them before leaning down and tilting her chin up towards him.

“You think you’ve been a good girl for your king?”

She bit her lip, anticipating her punishment.

“No, kumkani.”

“That’s right, you haven’t. You think it’s ok to yell and curse at me?” he pushed her wild coils behind her ear. “That’s fine, I can just take away that pretty little voice.”

Ashanti sharted to speak, but he shushed her.

“Go up to my quarters and strip. Be on my bed, naked and ready for me when I get there,” he said with a slap to her ass. She hopped down from the desk and scurried out of the room.

Ashanti had never stripped so fast, and she was more than ready to splay herself out across his bed, but she decided to position herself on her knees with her legs tucked under her since she knew how much he loved to see her beg. She stayed like that for 20 minutes before T’Challa appeared with a smug look on his face, tickled at her annoyance for having to wait..

“What took you so long?”

“Did I say speak?”

His calm tone sent a shiver down her spine and she bit her lips to keep quiet.

“Your mouth seems to be getting you in a lot of trouble right now. Good thing I brought this,” he held up a black ball gag with black leather straps and Ashanti let out a faint moan.

He took her jaw in his hand one more time and made direct eye contact with her, “What’s the safeword?”

“Papaya.”

A sinister grin appeared on his face.

“Kim, play ‘Kitten’ playlist,” he called out to the AI.

I know that you made love right here

I won't fall back for you, I want you

Ok say the back seat going up now

High enough to make me never come down

Got that look in her eye like "yeah"

Got her looking for a nigga, wanna cry now

I wanna give it to her now like, right now

Hit the hotel like lights out

Bad as a motherfucker, that's no doubt

Let my name live in your mouth

He pulled her in, licking one long stripe from her collarbone to her earlobe, nibbling on it before running his tongue along the shell of her ear.His hands went down to grab two handfuls of her ass as his mouth travelled back to her neck where he suckled until her hands came up to push him back. He grabbed them and held her wrists behind her as he bit down where her neck and shoulder meet before grabbing her jaw again.

“Good girl. Now, I don't want to have to use this on you, but I will if you can’t keep your pretty little mouth shut. Nod if you understand me,” he paused to watch her struggle to nod against his grip. “Good fucking girl, kitten. Now come down on the floor and sit just like that, good. Look up at me.”

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Let me hear you say oh oh oh

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Get wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Let me hear you say oh oh oh

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Get wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

Wild for a nigga one time, wild for a nigga one time

Wild for a nigga one time, get wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

Wild for a nigga one time, wild for a nigga one time

Get wild for a nigga one time, wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

He pulled his meaty dick out of his pants and tapped it against Ashanti’s lips, signaling her to open up.

“Vula.” he grumbled out to her. Ashanti opened her mouth as wide as it could go and he slid his way into her mouth and down her well-trained throat. She slobbered up and down his shaft while she swallowed every inch that he could give her. When she stuck out her tongue for him to fuck her face she was almost at her limit, but he sensed her fatigue and finished on her face.

“On the bed,” he helped her up from her knees and laid her back on the bed

You're such a good fuckin' girl, I like the look of her girl, good fuckin' girl

Love me right here, you can't hold back huh

Love me right here, won't you, won't you, won't you

Ok, say them foreign legs going up now

Let me show you where a nigga from now

“Remember, no talking,” he kissed her feet, then made his way up her legs to her pussy, planting a kiss right there before working his way back up to her lips and kissing her sloppily. He pulled back and covered her mouth with his hand before she felt his fingers plunge deep inside her soaking wet pussy. She tried to scoot back, but he wouldn't let her.

“Why are you running? You can’t take my fingers inside you anymore, kitten?”

She moaned under his hand, unable to speak even if she tried.

“I can't hear you, did you say something?” he teased, laughing in her face as his fingers picked up pace and massaged her g-spot in circles. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she grinded her pussy into his hand. He could feel her muscles beginning to tighten around his fingers and pulled out.

Got that look in her eye like "yeah"

Hit the jackpot, see I wanna come now

I wanna give it to her now like, right now

Make that thing wet like the tide now

Bad as a motherfucker, that's no doubt

Let my name live in your mouth

“That’s one.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Oh I must have left that part out. You raised your voice at me five times earlier. Five. Do you know what that means? Just nod, yes or no.”

She shook her head no and another evil smile crept up his face.

“That means I have to bring you to the edge at least five times before I even think about letting you cum.”

She squirmed beneath him.

“If you keep moving I’ll tie you up-”

She grunted and continued to move. He removed his hand and replaced it with the ball gag before rope tying her wrists together.

“You look beautiful like this, kitten. Mm.” he licked his lips and took in her naked, tied and gagged form before climbing back into position on top of her and kissing her forehead. He teased her nipples until he knew she would be ready for more and suddenly moved down her body and latched onto her clit.

You're such a good fuckin' girl, I like the look of her girl, good fuckin' girl

Ashanti moaned around the ball gag and spit dripped down the sides of her mouth, she was already on the verge of cumming when he stopped and looked up at her.

“You know I love you, right?” He asked while his fingers ran up and down her already swollen lower lips. All she could do is nod. “Do you know how much I love you?”

Her answer was unintelligible around the dripping ball gag.

His fingers slowly entered her and he kissed her again. “And do you know what one of my favorite things about you is?”

She shook her head frantically, trying to remain unbothered by his ministrations.

“The way you look when you cum. You’re always beautiful, but when you cum,” he tongue-kissed his way down to her neck and curled his fingers inside her. “You look divine.”

Ashanti’s body shivered all over and she closed her eyes.

“So when you defy or disrespect me like you did earlier and I have to punish you, it hurts me too,” he said as his fingers sped up, rubbing against her g-spot with every thrust while the heel of his palm rubbed against her clit. His other hand grabbed her chin, making her open her eyes and look at him. “Then why do you make me do this? Hurt us both like this…” He pulled his fingers out and licked them clean just as he felt her tighter around him again.

“I sohhee kukai,” she struggled to get out, before he leaned in, lightly pressing his forehead to hers.

“Not yet, you’re not.”

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Let me hear you say oh oh oh

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Get wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Let me hear you say oh oh oh

You're a good girl, you're a good fuckin' girl

Get wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

Wild for a nigga one time, wild for a nigga one time

Wild for a nigga one time, get wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

Wild for a nigga one time, wild for a nigga one time

Get wild for a nigga one time, wild for a nigga one time, ah, ah, ah

T’Challa’s teasing tested his own resolve. He would tongue her down then stop to go over documents on his beads, leaving her tied to the bed, heaving and in a puddle of her own wetness. Ashanti hoped that he would cave soon for his own sake, but she hoped in vain. When T’Challa set his mind to something nothing could get in the way, and he was determined to hold out.

After about an hour of torturing her off and on with his tongue, he switched to tapping the head of his thick, meaty dick on her clit. His precum dripped out onto her, lubricating his tip and making every tap feel like heaven. One time, he almost gave in and fucked her, but instead just rubbed his tip at her entrance, driving them both crazy. When he left the room to center himself and came back, his fingers found their way deep inside her at a maddeningly slow pace, bringing tears to her eyes and making her legs shake.

Ashanti knew that he was going to break soon so she just had to hold out a little longer, but then he just had to start playing with her nipples again. He knew what that did to her, that jackass.

She let out a loud moan as she felt him enter her, and she finally felt full for the first time all night. He laid all his weight on her, daring her to move, and stared into her eyes. He stayed like that for five minutes ignoring her whimpering and pleading and placing kisses all over her face and neck while just barely grinding into her.

“Do you think you deserve to cum now?”

She nodded frantically as she looked up at him with her best begging eyes.

That’s what did it. T’Challa’s hips pulled back and snapped forward, causing Ashanti to cry out to the heavens. His hips rolled his dick deep inside her, grinding so she felt it in every part of her pussy. As they sped up, Ashanti got louder and louder until he could feel her tightening around him.

“You can cum now, kitten.” he whispered in her ear, hips still pistoning into hers.

She came with a splash, but he kept on going. He undid her gag and she let out a relieved sigh.

“Oh my Bast, Kumkani!”

After a few more strokes her mouth fell open in a silent scream and her eyes were unable to focus on anything in front of her.

“Cum with me, my love. Give me one more.”

The two of them climbed towards their orgasms and they both got louder and louder as they approached. Ashanti looped her bound wrists around his neck and pulled T’Challa in closer while he bit down on her neck as he released inside her and she came undone around him. He collapsed on top of her and the two of them came down from their shared high. When he tried to roll off her she protested, gripping him tighter with her legs. He chuckled, giving in and staying in that position for a few more minutes before T’Challa untied her wrists. He massaged the marks left behind and got up to run a bath so Ashanti’s muscles wouldn’t hurt after tensing up so much.

When he returned to the bedroom, she was laying across the bed half asleep and he had to carry her to the bath. When he placed her in and slid in behind her she leaned her head back against his shoulder and relaxed there as he washed her body.

They finished their bath and he dried her off before getting her ready for bed and sliding her under the sheets. When he got in on his side she immediately weaseled her way up under his warmth and the two of them laid like that for a while before Ashanti finally spoke.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, baby.”

“I know, kitten,” he kissed the top of her head, “just don’t let it happen again.”

She giggled and tucked herself into his side.

“Yes kumkani.”

Next Chapter

Taglist:

@maddeningmayhem, @theblulife,

@ljstraightnochaser, @determinednot2fall

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fic #t'challa #t'challa x oc #black!oc #playlist #ashanti #danielle brooks

55 notes · View notes

delaber · 4 years ago

Text

Just Friends (Part 8)

Story Summary: After moving to America for a 3-month long internship, you meet two interesting characters on a boring night out.

Word Count: 4.6K

Pairing: Rafael Casal x Reader

Warnings: Alcohol, minor drug use, smut, slight dom!Rafa, swearing, and loads of British references (sorry not sorry lol)

Chapter Note: this chapter is dedicated to exrthangel because she’s honestly the sweetest thing ever and she’s studying so hard rn ❤️

Tag List: lonelydance mysearchforgratification ramp-it-up blndspotting summerofsnowflakes exrthangel honeysucklechocolatedrippin

Other Parts: See Masterlist

You had read the message over and over again ever since you had received it a couple of days ago: I have a surprise for Friday. Will pick you up at 6. Wear dark clothes.

What the hell did he have up his sleeve? Why the dark clothes? You were utterly confused as you on Friday afternoon pulled on a pair of black jeans, a black top, and your leather jacket.

At 5.55 pm, you were tying the shoelaces on a pair of combat boots when you heard Samantha exclaim from her seat in the window sill, "are you kidding me?!"

"Oh no," you groaned, "what is it?"

Samantha was looking out the window with her mouth hanging open when she suddenly started to laugh, "he has a bloody motorbike," she said in disbelief, "Where'd you find this boy? He's textbook American!"

You rushed to Samantha's side and saw Rafa on a motorbike, wearing an outfit that was roughly matching yours. He pulled off his helmet and flipped his hair before he started walking towards the front door.

"Oh, and he's cute up close too!" Samantha said as she studied him swagger up to your house.

You hurried towards the front door, calling out to Samantha, "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Oh no! You do not get off that easily!" Samantha ran from the window sill and held you back at the door, "I am going to meet this guy who's all you've been able to talk about since New Years!"

You heard a low chuckle coming from the other side of the door, "aw, you tell your friends about that guy?" Rafa spoke from the other side of the closed front door, his voice sounding as if it was about to burst with happiness.

"Not when he butts in on private conversations going on behind closed doors," you mocked him.

You could hear him chuckle slightly before Samantha in one swift motion turned the doorknob and opened the door to a smiling Rafa.

"Ladies," he nodded to both of you, sending you a wink. You had to give it to Samantha; he did look particularly good up close.

"Rafa, this is my roomie Samantha," you cleared your throat, "Samantha this is... the guy I've been talking about apparently."

Samantha extended her hand, "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Samantha."

Rafa took her hand, "likewise. I'm Rafael."

"Your real name is Rafael?" it slipped out of you and Samantha sent you a weird look.

"Yeah, what'd you think Rafa was short for?" he laughed, his crooked tooth somehow more fetching than usual.

"I honestly haven't given it much thought," you laughed and he sent you a sappy smile looking at you very softly for a couple of seconds.

Samantha noticed the sexual tension and decided to break it, "well you two have fun, yeah? I won't wait up so don't bother having her home on this side of midnight. The magic won't wear off, I swear," Samantha winked before she let you and Rafa go.

"See you later, Samantha," Rafa chuckled as he stepped down from the porch.

'Stop that!' you mouthed to your grinning roomie before you followed Rafa.

You heard the front door close shut behind you, and first then did Rafa whip around, "are you ready for the best friend-date you've ever been on?" he said theatrically.

"You bet!" you matched his level of excitement, "although I'm a bit nervous as to what we'll be doing with that," you gestured to his motorbike, while dreading his answer.

"We're going for a ride," he said dramatically and threw you one of two helmets that had been lying on the seat.

"You're not serious... I'm not going on the back of that!"

"Do you not trust me?" He smirked as he climbed the bike.

"Of course, but..."

"Then get up. I'll go slow, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"You're gonna love it!"

"O-okay," you said and swung your leg over the seat, tightening your helmet significantly.

"Just hold on tight, okay?"

"Hold on tight to what? There are no handlebars back here," you said in a panicky voice.

"Hold on to me of course," Rafa laughed.

Your arms snaked nervously around his waist, and he put a reassuring hand on top of yours for just a second before he took a deep breath and retracted it again. You couldn't help but wonder if this was the exact reason why he had wanted you on the back of his bike in the first place.

He turned the engine and slowly drove away from your townhouse while you whimpered in the backseat. He started off by slowly going through your neighbourhood checking on you regularly while you felt more and more comfortable on the bike. Every time he felt your arms loosen their grip around him, he sped up slightly, causing you to tighten your grab around his waist significantly. You were quickly comfortable with his full control over the bike, however, and actually had to admit that you were enjoying the fast-paced way of getting around the city.

"We can go faster than this," you bellowed over the sound of the motor a couple of minutes in.

Rafa didn't need telling twice and quickly sped up the bike while you squealed in the backseat, holding on tight to him again. You rode all the way down Sunset Boulevard until you reached the coast close to the Santa Monica Pier. The bike came to a halt right before the beach.

"That was amazing," you laughed completely high from the ride.

He smiled proudly to himself as he turned off the bike, "What did I tell you? I knew you'd love it!"

"I did," you said excitedly, "thanks for making me do it!”

He looked at you tenderly for a few seconds before he came to his senses, "come. We're going over here," he said and put a hand on your leather-clad back leading you to a sketchy looking hotdog stand, where he placed an order for two of the most popular kind.

"Really?" you asked him with raised eyebrows as he handed you one of the hot dogs.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," he laughed as you sat down on a bench overlooking the dark beach, the sky a beautiful lilac colour as you had just missed the sunset, "I was hoping it might lead to the story behind your tattoo," he sent you a crooked smile.

"God you're the worst," you laughed at him, "Alright then - but I'll only tell you because that was a really smooth move. And I'm having a bite of the hotdog first."

"Let me know what you think," he looked at you excitedly.

"They're that good?" you laughed as you took in his excitement.

"Oh you're about to taste a tiny bit of heaven," Rafa smiled, "Diggs is quite the hotdog connoisseur and he recommended the place to me way back in the day. They have bratwursts shipped in from Germany."

"You have expertise in both chillies and German sausages? You're a man of the world, aren't you?" you teased him.

"Shut up and eat your hot dog," he grinned.

You took a large bite of the sausage which was definitely one of the best you'd ever had, "oh bloody hell! This is good," you practically moaned while rolling your eyes backwards in an attempt to show Rafa exactly how much you liked his choice of dinner.

"Hey, you cannot do that," he looked panicky as he desperately elbowed you in the ribs to get you to stop, "you're giving me the chubs," he shot you an awkward laugh.

"That's all it takes?" you laughed at him.

"Hey, I'm a simple man: I see a beautiful girl putting penis-shaped foods into her mouth all the while she's moaning and her eyes are rolling to the back of her head - and the rest is physiology," he smirked and bit into his own hot dog.

"I'm beginning to suspect that's the real reason why you took me here," you laughed at him.

"Hey, don't make me out to be some creep, okay?" He laughed, "I'm your innocent friend Rafa who just loves hot dogs and beautiful women - especially the two combined. Now tell me the story behind that tattoo dammit!”

"If you must know," you groaned, "I got it at Glastonbury when I had just turned eighteen. It was part of a bet."

"Really?" He looked amused, "What did you get out of it?"

"My friends paid for the tattoo and paid me a hundred quid for it - which was a fairly good amount of money back then," you laughed.

"That's what? 130 dollars or something? I sure hope you bought yourself a car with that kind of money," Rafa joked.

"I spent all of it on booze that night alone," you laughed.

"I probably would've done the same thing to be honest," he chuckled.

"So we're both smart people!"

"PhD-smart," he tapped his temple while winking at you, "speaking of; how's your project coming?"

"Good," you nodded, "although, I'm a bit behind schedule with the project I'm working on over here. The next couple of weeks are without a doubt going to be quite busy," you sighed, "I'm not going to have much free-time."

He grunted in response, probably aware of what that meant in regards to your already limited time together.

"I constantly need to remind myself why I'm here and why I'm even doing the project," you eyed him. You wanted to tell him that he had made it hard for you to concentrate on anything apart from him but ended up deciding against it.

"Yeah? What made you decide to do the project in the first place?"

"Because it's the coolest thing ever," you bumped your knee into his.

"Yeah?" He grinned at the contact, "what's your thesis about? Explain it to me as if I'm five because I don't know science for shit."

You laughed at him and told him all about what your PhD was about, explaining it as simple as you possibly could.

"Sounds complicated," he blew out some air when you were done.

"Nah. It's just like learning a new language," you shrugged, "you get the hang of it."

"How are you so nonchalant about almost finishing a PhD?" he laughed, "it's fucking difficult and you've worked hard for it. Don't play it down. Tell me how hard it is to come this far and how amazing you are at it!"

"It's hard and I'm amazing?" you said half-heartedly with a laugh.

"Oh come on. Do it with a bit more gusto. Don't go all British on me."

"Uhm... it's hard and I'm amazing," you said a bit more resolutely this time.

"Damn straight!" he said loudly, "a project like yours does not come easy to anybody. Don't take away your own victory."

"Alright, alright, I guess I did work quite hard. But I'm very privileged to even have the chance to do it."

"Yep, that's fine and whatever," he rolled his eyes at you "- Now tell me how you really feel about it."

You eyed him for a couple of seconds. Was he really able to see right through you so easily? "Okay," you sighed, "at first all the lab work was fun but now it's kind of draining and I cannot wait until I'm done so I can start something new!" you laughed, "also, right now I hate the project because it takes away my very limited time with you."

He looked at you and tried to hide a proud smile. "Look at you being all honest," he nudged you softly in the ribs and winked at you before he responded to what you'd said, "when are you handing in your thesis?"

"If all goes well, it'll be done before summer."

"And then what?" he nodded slowly.

"Ah yes! The million dollar question," you laughed, "I don't know. Maybe a post.doc?"

"You're gonna spend your whole life in academia?" he looked at you intently, "how much money do you have?"

"You get paid a fair salary when you're doing a PhD - and tuition is free in most of Europe so you can just go to another country and study if you don't have the money for it."

"WHAT?" he bellowed, "Tuition... is... free? You’re kidding! What kind of a hippie continent is that and when can I move there?"

You laughed at him, "European welfare, boom!" You said while dropping the hotdog wrapper into the trashcan next to the bench, "Europe 1 - America 0."

"You bet," he mumbled, "Ah, I probably wouldn't have lasted a day anyway. I got kicked out of high school, you know."

"You did? What'd you do?"

"That's a story for some other day," he smiled at you, "come, I have another surprise for you."

He helped you up from the bench and snaked his hand around your waist as you walked over to the bike in silence. You wanted to tell him that what he was doing felt close to violating your code of conduct but just like the other night, his hand around you made you feel safe and warm, so you let him keep it there.

You rode back up Sunset Boulevard telling yourself repeatedly that safety was the only reason for your tightly wrapped arms around his waist.

A couple of minutes later, Rafa parked the bike outside a brick building with a big sign reading 'THE ECHOPLEX presents CLIPPING.'

You could hear the music boom from inside. "Is this a concert venue?" you asked him.

"Yep," he said, "you and I have tickets for the hottest shit in L.A."

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to try and convert me into a rap-lover?" you laughed, "I haven't even listened that much to your playlist."

"I'm not going to covert you," Rafa smirked, "Diggs is."

"Oh, we're meeting up with Daveed?" you said not really sure if you were excited about seeing him or disappointed that you'd have to share Rafa with him.

"...Kind of," Rafa said mysteriously.

"I'm intrigued," you said as you handed him your helmet.

He put it on the bike and took your hand, "Come on, we're late. The show's already started."

He showed the bouncer two laminated tickets and handed you one of them afterwards, "put this around your neck."

"Backstage pass?" you arched an eyebrow as you read the inscription, "really?"

"I came to impress," he laughed, "you want something to drink?"

"A beer would be lovely," you nodded, looking at the stage where a man was rapping rapidly to weird noises and sounds. You weren't really sure that this was anything for you.

Rafa came back a short while later and handed you a local beer. "I brought you an IPA," he laughed, "I figured you'd appreciate my average white-male taste."

"I like IPAs too," you laughed, "this music on the other hand is..." your voice trailed off.

"What, you don't like it?"

"No, Rafa," you laughed and pointed towards the stage, "what the hell is this shit because it surely isn't music! Don't tell me that you actually find this good."

"You did not just say that!" he looked at you with an amused face.

"What?"

"Have you even seen who's performing?" he laughed whole-heartedly and pointed towards the stage.

The guy rapping shirtless at the front was spitting bars and hyping people up, and first then did you realise that you knew him, "Hold up! Is that Daveed?"

Rafa laughed at you, his hand coming to a rest on the small of your back as he leaned in and whispered in a teasing voice, "I'm going to tell him that you think his music's shit."

"You wouldn't dare," you leaned threateningly close and squinted your eyes at him.

"Oh, but I would - so you better behave," he said devilishly, his gaze wandering between your lips and your eyes, clearly thinking about kissing you. When you noticed, it once again took everything in you to pull back and turn towards the stage instead. Out the corner of your eye, you saw Rafa take a deep breath before turning to the stage as well with a somewhat pained expression in his eyes. He slowly found the rhythm of the music, head bopping in time with the beat while he started quietly rapping along.

"I can't believe he's a rapper," you laughed when the concert was over and you were heading towards the backstage area, "normally he looks so... innocent - but up there he's so... raw!" You laughed and felt the many beers that you and Rafa had shared.

"Easy girl," Rafa laughed, "don't go change me out for Diggs.”

You sent him a look that he most certainly was familiar with by now.

"I know," he chuckled, "just friends. That's what I meant," he lied, "come on, they're in here," he pushed open the door to the band's private room.

"Alright, guys!" Rafa yelled in best hype-man style as he waltzed across the room to the mini fridge in the back, walking as if the owned the room, "well done. Great show! Even my homegirl here agrees."

You waved to the three guys, "very nice show. Love the energy."

"Glad you enjoyed it," Daveed nodded, "Rafa mentioned that you don't really get rap music - did we manage to change your mind?"

"I think the show was really great," you said slowly trying to figure out a way to not hurt his feelings.

"It's not for everyone. I get it, no worries," he laughed, "Just don't tell Rafa; it would just break his heart."

"Hey - quick question," you whispered, "what do you think would rile Rafa up the most: criticising rap music in general or criticising his beloved chili sauces?"

It made Daveed chuckle, "hot sauce! For sure. Did you not hear his lecture the other day? He takes that shit very seriously and just goes on and on and on to anybody that'll listen."

"Who are you guys talking about?" Rafa emerged at your side, casually draping his arm across your shoulder as he handed you and Daveed a beer each.

"No one," you and Daveed said in unison.

"Are you plotting against me?" Rafa chuckled, "should I be concerned?"

"No," you both said at the same time looking excitedly at each other.

"Right..." Rafa pulled you just a little closer to him, clearly wanting to show his friend that he needed to know his place - subconsciously or not, you did not know.

"So... what do you guys usually do after concerts?" you asked, hoping to break the tension you felt in Rafa who was now pressed completely up against your side.

"We get high," Daveed laughed, "I was just about to ask..."

"Don't worry, I didn't take you here to get high," Rafa interrupted his best friend and sent you a smile.

"It's okay! If it's what you usually do, I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Rafa shot you a look, "it feels like kind of a dick move on my part to meet up with a bunch of my friends and get high when we're on a date."

"I thought you were just friends," Daveed mumbled without looking up from the cone he was folding.

"He gets it," you smiled and sat down on the sofa next to Daveed.

"Okay, sure," Rafa nodded and sat down next to you with a small laugh, "I guess I could get high too if you're definitely up for it."

"I am," you sent him a grin.

"Alright, let's do this," Rafa said and draped his arm around your shoulders.

"Oh god, I haven't done this since I was twenty," you were slightly nervous as you eyed the blunt that Daveed was now lighting up.

"So last year?" Rafa teased.

"Easy grandpa, I'm 29."

"Ah yes, so young and innocent. So easy to manipulate!" he sighed, "I remember when I was your age."

"And you're what? Four years older than me?" You arched an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, but the years between 29 and 33 are really what define you as a person," he smiled and put his arm back around your shoulder.

Daveed took a puff of the joint before handing it to you, "Here you go," he said, "It's strong so you probably don't need that much."

You inhaled slightly, resisting the urge to cough before you quickly exhaled a mouthful of smoke already feeling its effects, "oh damn," you said as you already felt yourself growing relaxed and careless. You quickly took your second puff before passing it along to Rafa who was clearly more experienced than you were. He puffed it twice as well before he passed it on to Daveed's band mate Will. You held out your fingers, ready for hit number three.

Rafa raised an eyebrow at you, "are you sure?"

"Yep," you said, your speech a little slurred but you were sure you could take it.

The third hit of the joint hit you like a truck, "oh fuck," you exhaled as you felt a wave of warmth wash over you.

"You okay?" Rafa laughed at you as he took hit number four himself. His eyes were bloodshot but apart from that, he kept it together.

"Yep," you said as you slumped on the sofa.

"You look like a slug," Rafa mimicked you, arms hanging to the side, his chin pressed tightly against his sternum.

"But a cute slug," you pouted.

"The cutest," he snickered, his hands brushing slightly against your knuckles before his fingers entangled themselves in yours.

"Mmmh," you hummed at his touch, all thoughts of what you should or shouldn't do, gone. You couldn't remember if you'd ever been this carefree and relaxed before. Especially when his thumb was caressing your hand as he sent you a cute smile.

Looking into Rafa's bloodshot eyes, you reminded yourself that you needed to keep your cool. You were both drunk and high. You shouldn't be doing this no matter how much you wanted it. So you retracted your fingers from his and sat up straight on the sofa. "I need a beer," you mumbled and walked over to the fridge in the far corner.

"Yeah, bring me one too," Daveed called, "- maybe an entire round. My main man Will is looking a little thirsty over here," he nodded towards his band member who was clearly experiencing cotton mouth.

You looked back at the men in the sofa and counted each of them; thus you picked up four beers and slowly walked back to them. Rafa was staring at you through heavy-hooded eyelids with a smug expression on his face. He was looking very very fuckable as he slid down further on the sofa, spreading his legs slightly as you neared him. You really just wanted to say fuck it all and jump him - but no, you weren't going to go down that road. You had made a promise to each other. A promise you intended to keep no matter how high you were.

You sat down a beer in front of each of the men before realising that you had forgotten one for yourself. Giggling slightly at your own high, you returned to the fridge where you bent over and picked up yet another beer.

"Are you on a mission to torture me?" Rafa's hush voice sounded from behind you, "because bending over like that twice in a span of thirty seconds is just plain mean..."

"What?" You turned around, now face to face with him.

He stepped closer, "I'm sure you're aware of the effect that you have on me. Especially when you bend over like that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," you said innocently, an involuntary smile spreading slowly on your lips as you took in his pained expression.

"Fuck!" he hissed, "That - that - is exactly what I'm talking about," he stepped as close to you as he possibly could without touching you, "half the time you look so innocent and doe-eyed and then suddenly - boom - your innocence is replaced by these... mewling sex-kitten looks and fuck it's hard to keep my hands to myself when we both know what we want - Regardless of your code," he ended up sighing.

He still wasn't touching you but the way he was moving his face told you that he was fighting hard to not kiss you. And to be honest, you were fighting too.

"It's not on purpose," you said, looking up at him, "I'm not so evil that I'd dangle bait in front of you on purpose and then get angry when you bite into it."

"I don't care that you're not doing it on purpose," he grinned and licked his lips, "you're still doing it. And I really want to fuck you right now."

"Too bad you can't," you said.

"You're really strong-willed, aren't you?"

"You don't move half-across the globe for a project you've lost interest in if you're not strong-willed."

He leaned in closer, lips hovering above yours but never touching, "fuck, it's so hard not to touch you..." he groaned, "I hate being friends with you."

"I hate being friends with you," you said softly, almost giving in and closing the distance.

Your moment of weakness, however, was interrupted by Daveed who gave out a loud whistle to get your attention. "Rafa!" he bellowed, "Party's moving downtown."

Rafa grunted in response, turning his attention back to you, "do you want to go?"

"Not really," you said, gulping up at him.

"Me neither..." Rafa responded and fidgeted with the hem of your t-shirt, "do you want to come back to mine?"

"That sounds dangerous," you smiled and avoided his gaze, instead fixating on the thin golden necklace he was wearing.

"I won't try anything," he grumbled above you, "I promise - okay? We could just... watch the rest of the movie from the other night."

You looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot but soft as he watched you contemplate your answer. "Okay," you ended up whispering, already knowing that you were now doomed. You just couldn't help yourself with him. Especially not when high and with alcohol coursing through your veins.

Rafa sent you a smirk, "good girl," he whispered darkly, sending shivers down your spine. "Diggs, we're not coming."

"Right," Daveed nodded, "see you guys later. Have fun," he shot you a smirk.

Rafa quickly ordered an Uber while you pulled on your leather jacket and started walking towards the exit. Rafa was walking behind you, his gaze almost burning a hole in your jeans as you swung your hips a bit more vigorously than you normally would've done. Not to get his attention, you told yourself.

When you arrived outside, the car was already waiting for you. You both got in the backseat, and intentionally left the middle seat empty between you. No need to tempt the devil.

You hadn't driven for more than a couple of seconds, however, before you noticed that Rafa was already having a hard time sticking to his promise of not trying anything with you, "I didn't even get a chance to tell you how amazing you look tonight," he put his neck on the headrest and looked over at you.

"Thanks," you smiled at him, "you look very handsome yourself."

His hand twitched in his lap as if he had decided to reach out and touch you had but reconsidered at the last possible moment. With a sigh, he turned his head and looked out the window instead, completely silent for the rest of the journey to his place.

#rafael casal x reader #rafael casal #daveed diggs #blindspotting #rafael casal imagine #rafael casal fanfiction #smut #bay boys

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amanda-glassen · 4 years ago

Text

The Wonder Years: Part 6

While getting ready for her first school dance, twelve-year-old Olivia starts a path toward discovering who she is truly meant to be. Parts 1-5 can be found under the the tag #alex and liv: the wonder years

Thank you to everyone who reblogged the last chapter and an extra special thank you to @imaginaryoperagloves @oliviaswifey and my lovely anon for your comments.

...and a very happy day THREE of birthday week to my love @ghostwritingcabenson

Olivia had kissed her girlfriend just three more times before Abbie and Serena interrupted their time alone. She had now kissed Alex a total of five times and each kiss had been better than the one before. And it’s going to keep getting better.

“You guys missed the best thing to happen at the dance,” Serena excitedly told her best friend. She sat down on the bench next to Alex and squeezed in as closely as she could so Abbie could sit down on the other side of her. “Logan in our homeroom asked Ava to slow dance with him even though he’s with Allie and when Allie found out she splashed an entire cup of punch on him and his white shirt. Everyone, even the seventh and eighth graders, were laughing at him. He’s such a creep. It’s gonna be the topic of conversation all day on Monday and I can’t believe you guys missed it.”

“What were you doing out here anyway?” Abbie asked. “Were you sick of the eighth graders? The way they dance is just grinding on each other. It’s so gross and they think they’re so much cooler than everyone.”

Serena gasped. “I know why they were out here.” She started to stare at her best friend’s face. “Something about you is different, Alex. You’re glowing and you’re like a whole new woman. You and Olivia were kissing! Tell me all about it. Did she slip you the tongue? Wait, you can’t tell me that in front of her. Call me as soon as you get home and tell me every detail.”

“What?” Alex’s eyes widened. “No! Olivia and I don’t do that! We just kissed normally.”

Serena nearly pounced on her best friend. “You and Olivia kissed? I’m so happy for you! You still need to call me tonight and tell me everything, though. Are her lips soft? Abbie’s are really soft and she wears vanilla chapstick. She tastes like a birthday cake and you know how much I love birthday cake.”

“I’m right here, Serena,” Abbie said in a frustrated tone of voice. “And none of that slipping the tongue stuff for us either. That’s so gross. I have enough spit of my own. I don’t need yours, too.”

Olivia glanced over at the pick-up and drop-off area and noticed a man around her mom’s age pull up in a black sports car. Her mom drove a hybrid and hated men who drove sports cars because she said most of them were pretentious, but Olivia had to admit it was one of the coolest cars she had ever seen.

“That’s my uncle Emerson,” Abbie told them. “My parents are having date night tonight so I’m staying with him.”

“Can we check out his car?” Serena asked. Before Abbie could respond, Serena grabbed her by the hand and started hurrying her over.

“You want to see it, too, don’t you?” Alex asked Olivia. “Nevermind. I don’t even have to ask. Let’s go see it.”

The car was a brand new Mustang and Olivia was in awe of the interior and all the features it had. “Uncle Em, these are my friends Alex and Olivia,” Abbie told him, bringing Olivia out of the trance she was in from staring at the car. “And the beautiful girl in the same dress as me is my girlfriend Serena.”

“It’s nice to meet you girls,” Emerson said to them. He was handsome and well dressed with brown hair and brown eyes and Olivia was sure she had seen him somewhere before even if she couldn’t figure out where.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Olivia blurted out.

“You’re Serena Benson’s daughter, aren’t you?” Emerson asked.

“...yeah,” Olivia hesitated. “Do you work with my mom?”

Emerson shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen your mom in thirteen years. She and I were best friends in college. We did everything together. She was in my fraternity’s sister sorority and I found out her dorm room was a few doors down from mine. We were both pledges at the same time so we’d swap horror stories about pledging every night at the cafe on the first floor of our building.”

“My mom never talks about college,” Olivia said glumly. “She doesn’t show me pictures either, but I saw her sorority keepsake box this past summer and I think that’s where I recognized you from. You guys went to formal together, right?”

Emerson slicked his hair back with his hand, trying to recall when he and Serena had gone to formal together. “Freshman, sophomore, and junior year,” he said matter-of-factly. “Now that I think about it we went every year other than senior year because your mom moved back home to LA when…”

“When she was pregnant with me?” Olivia asked. She could feel Alex, Abbie, and Serena staring at her, but she didn’t care. Whenever she asked her mom or even her aunt and uncle who her dad was, she was always met with a vague answer of her dad being someone her mom knew in college, but she was now face-to-face with someone who could possibly give her answers and she didn’t care how anyone reacted to her getting them.

“Would you girls excuse me?” Emerson asked. “Olivia, do you want to step aside and talk? I can see you have some other questions and it’s better if I answer them privately.”

“I’m her girlfriend,” Alex crossed her arms. “Olivia and I don’t keep secrets from each other, so anything you can say to her can be said to me.”

“Is that okay with you, Olivia?” he asked.

“...yeah,” Olivia responded nervously, now wondering if this conversation was still a good idea.

The three of them were standing close enough for Emerson to keep an eye on Abbie and Serena but far enough for the two of them not to be able to hear their conversation.

“Your mom was something,” Emerson chuckled. Judging by the expression on his face, Olivia could tell he was thinking of fond memories. I’ve finally found the right person to give me answers. “She was president of Phi Delt in her junior year. She was sick of weekly weigh-ins and all of this asinine stuff the girls were forced to do so I got a call from her at 3 a.m. and she’s saying she had an epiphany and that she’s going to run for president so she can change everything she hated about the organization. She laid out her entire campaign plan for me and I remember being so in awe of her because her plan worked. Serena was so fiery and so much fun. That woman was my everything when I was an undergrad. She found out she was pregnant a couple of weeks after our junior year ended. She had gone back home to LA for the summer and she called me a few minutes after she found out she was pregnant. She ended up taking a year off of school and I never saw her again.”

“She should be here any minute,” Alex said, her arms still crossed as she talked to Emerson. “If you and her were such great friends, I’m sure she’d love to see you.”

“I better not,” Emerson responded. “Serena and I had a falling out. I’m not sure she’d be as happy to see me as you think she’d be.”

“Why?” Olivia asked. “Did it have to do with my dad? If you were her best friend and the person she spent all her time with, you had to know him. Can you tell me something about him? Anything?”

“Were you jealous of him?” Alex narrowed her eyes at Emerson. “She liked some other guy so that’s why you stopped talking to her?”

“There was no other guy,” he said to Olivia, completely disregarding Alex. “That May, when she got pregnant with you, there was no other guy.”

“How?” Olivia asked. “If there was no other guy, then how did she－oh. You’re my...” It had suddenly become too much for Olivia. She wanted to cry, she wanted to hug him, but mostly she felt angry with her mom for keeping him from her all these years.

She knew she only had a couple of minutes left with him, so she clinged to her dad tighter than she had ever clinged to anyone before for fear that the moment she let go, she’d realize that this had all been a dream.

Emerson wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on top of her head. “I’ve been waiting so long to hold you, ever since I found out your mom was pregnant.”

“You have?”

“I loved your mom with all of my heart,” he said as she caressed Olivia’s back to comfort her. “I wanted us to be a family, but she didn’t want that. She didn’t even want me to see you, but I’ve watched you grow up online. Your mom and I aren’t friends on social media but I’ve seen your pictures through friends of friends. Abbie says you’re a great basketball player. You and I have that in common. I played when I was your age and in high school.”

“I get it from you then,” Olivia managed to say through her tears. “My mom knows nothing about sports.”

“Olivia,” Alex tried to get her attention. “Your mom should be here any second now. We have to go, unless...Emerson, you’d like to see Serena? Serena and her perfect girlfriend who is tall and strong and can probably hurt any man who messes with Serena.”

“Your girl is a fiery one, too,” he said to Olivia. “I know your mom should be here soon, so I’m going to give you my number and you can call or text me anytime you want.”

Olivia pulled away so she could get her phone out of her back pocket. Once she got his number, she immediately texted him so he could have hers. Her text message simply read, ‘Hi, Dad.’ but she had waited a lifetime just to be able to call someone that.

Olivia watched her dad drive away, wondering if she’d get the opportunity to see him again or if her mom would keep him from her for another 12 years. I don’t care what she says. This is her fault. We could have been a family this whole time but she ruined it for us. She ruined everything.

“I don’t like him,” Alex said as they walked over to where Jamie’s car had just pulled up. “There’s something creepy about him. Your mom seems cool, Olivia. She’s even taking us for frozen yogurt right now when most parents would never do that for their daughter’s boyfriend or girlfriend. If she’s cool about other things, don’t you think there’s a good reason why she never told you about him? And he knows your mom wouldn’t want you to talk to him, but yet he says you can text him behind your mom’s back? A responsible adult would first try to make amends with your mom and then build a relationship with you.”

Before Olivia could respond, Serena came rushing over to her. She had removed her stilettos and set them down on the grass so she could walk faster. I don’t even want her touching me. But the moment she was wrapped up in her mom’s embrace, Olivia couldn’t bring herself to be mad at her. “Ollie, sweetie, why are you crying? You had me so worried.”

She felt the softness of her mom’s sweater dress and smelled the familiar scent of her Burberry Blush perfume and the product she used whenever she wanted her hair in beach waves. Everything about her mom felt like home and she never wanted to upset her or do anything to hurt the woman who loved her more than life itself.

“We just found out something very disturbing, Ms. Benson,” Alex began. “Mrs. Rodriguez, our science teacher, is giving us another science project. It’s really going to cut into Olivia’s ESPN time.”

“My girl,” her mom said as she began to caress her back the same way her dad did just a few moments before. “Is that what’s wrong? You know I’ll help you with your project.”

“Yeah,” Olivia nuzzled into her mom’s shoulder. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She did have a project.

Her mom placed a kiss on Olivia’s nose. “I love you so much Ollie. You’re my smart girl and I know you’re going to do great on your project but if you ever need help with anything at all, you can always come to me. Now let’s go get you girls some frozen yogurt. I want to hear all about your date and get to know your Disney princess.”

“Ms. Benson, stay here. I’ll go get your shoes,” Alex said. “They’re Louboutins. They should not just be lying in the grass.”

“Your girlfriend knows her shoes, Ollie.”

“She knows everything,” Olivia beamed with pride.

“Apparently she knows how to kiss, too, because I can see some glitter lip gloss on your lips.”

Olivia immediately covered her mouth. “Mom, I－wait, is that a mark on your neck?”

“I’m allergic to our fabric softener,” Serena quickly responded.

Olivia was grateful when Alex returned with her mom’s shoes and they could finally drop the subject. “Ms. Benson, your cheeks are so pink. What blush do you use?”

“Oh, I’m not wearing any,” Serena responded. “I only wear foundation, mascara, and lipstick.”

“You’re glowing!” Alex told her. “I need to know your skincare routine.”

Olivia took a second glance at her mom. She did look different. Her cheeks were pink, her lipstick that was usually perfectly applied was somewhat faded, and she had a dark mark on her neck. What did she….oh, MOM! Yuck! She was making out with Jamie right before picking us up. I’m never gonna be able to look Jamie in the eyes again.

But on second thought, now she can’t ground me for kissing Alex. If she does, I'll ground her for making out with Jamie.

Olivia wasn’t sure if she should talk to her mom about meeting her dad or if she should even continue texting him behind her mom’s back no matter how much she wanted a relationship with him. But she had until the end of the night to think about it. For the next hour, she was going to eat some frozen yogurt with gummy worms in it and try to avoid getting grounded.

#cabenson #alex and liv: the wonder years #alex cabot #olivia benson #law and order svu

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