#okay first off what I did was an honest mistake. And I handled it for the most part.

[bear-cubs-art-things]

hey just a couple things bc my step-dad really pissed my off yesterday and I need this to he out there:

People mature at different rates

And it's hard for autistic people to mature (quickly) because autism is a cognitive disability

Autism is a cognitive disability

[iid-smile]

maybe us being extremely stressed with work / overload of responsibilities and husband!nanami seeing us break down and comforting us? 🤍 + love ur work sm i love ur writing 🌸

devotion , nanami kento

x gn!stressed!reader ! nanami is the biggest green flag, he calls you 'love' and 'darling', the reader calls him 'baby', very short kissy moment at the end (spoilers!!!!1!2)

author's note: writers block has been hitting me hard but i wanted this to be the best it could and ive been like "why is this taking so long to finish???" i scroll down the notes app from the top... this feels like SO much more than how much i would usually write 😭 never mind that, but thank you for your request and the compliment! i actually squealed of joy when i first read it!

i hope you like this and it fits well with what you envisioned 🫶

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another sleepless night. the piles of papers were all just too blank, too white, it made your brain dizzy. not the mention the screen of your laptop blaring into your eyes, even on the lowest brightness. everything was just too much. you had too much to do.

it all seemed to be stacking up, each one more complex than the next. the house would've been in complete disarray if you hadn't forced yourself to clean every morning, and the black trash bag by your feet was definitely more than full at this point, overflowing, filled to the brim with take out that you never finish. offering advice to others was a mistake, considering you couldn't listen to them yourself, and your phone was unread messages, and some whom are left on seen. who the hell lives a life like this? built on lies and hiding it from your husband... and did you even pay the bills? or was that on auto-pay?

you're constantly checking the clock, waiting for the time where six o'clock hits. your eyes are barely open, but they just manage to glance over at the ring on your finger. pretty. it only has to sit there, be a sign of devotion and loyalty, and do nothing else. would it be pathetic to say you envy it? perhaps.

oh, how desperately you want to close your eyes. to drift away, not have any weight on your shoulders. maybe on a beach...

"darling?"

you're close to gasping, but two large hands resting on your upper arms just about cuts it off. warm, and a familiar warmth too. "kento?" was the only thing you could squeeze out, your body making an effort to turn your head towards him.

"it's nearly midnight. why are you still awake?" nanami's voice is as soothing as always. you swear you nearly fell asleep right then and there.

"it's not—" you glance at the clock. five minutes to midnight. how did you miss six? "oh... why did you come home so late? i was waiting for you."

nanami doesn't say anything. your excuse was silly, really, your prominent eyebags and red eyes making a clear point.

he turns the chair around. "i don't like it when you lie, love."

"what? no, no. i just—" no matter how much you lie, nothing could hide what was welling up in your eyes. "i..." a shaky sigh leaves your lips, and you avoid his gaze.

"you can be honest with me. it's okay." one of his hands come to cup your jaw, his fingertips tickling your hair. in a soothing motion, his thumb rubs light circles on your cheek. you can't look away. "what's wrong?"

"nothing. nothing. please, it's nothing." it's growing difficult to speak. "there's nothing— nothing—"

"you're stressed."

"i'm not." the tears streaming down your face are saying otherwise. you couldn't hide, no, you didn't want to hide it anymore. "...kento..."

"i hear you." his hands drift down to yours, a firm grip around them, and he crouches further down than the level you're sitting at. through your tears, you can see nanami taking off his glasses, setting them down ok the ground. the love and concern his eyes when he looks up at you was almost too much to handle. "talk to me."

"i can cope with it, baby." you whisper, an involuntary sniffle being added on at the end. clearly, that was the wrong answer.

he sighs, and his fingers twist the ring on your left hand and he lifts it up a bit. "do you see this?"

you nod.

"this is physical proof that my mind, body and soul will always love you." he shifts a little, his gaze returning back to yours. "i remember what i said at the alter, and i always will. 'in sickness and in health', and i promised that. if i don't hold up what i promised, would i really be a good husband?"

for a while, it was silent. it was like he was waiting for an answer, but he knew he didn't need one. you felt different, like something inside of you was telling you to give in. telling you that you're safe, and in the comfort of your loved one's arms. you hadn't even realised that your arms were wrapped tight around nanami's neck, sobs you never thought would come out of your own mouth being more frequent than you'd like.

"i'm here, love." he pulls you closer by the waist, and his hold is tender. "can i carry you?"

you don't give him a verbal answer, just silently clinging onto him as he slowly lifts you off the chair. then, he makes his way towards the bed, sitting down on the edge with you curled up on his lap. "you can tell me about it when you calm down. or do you want to sleep first?"

"no... 'm just stressed, kento. i've been so worried about us, the future, other things... i just— i'm doing too much." "i need a breather or something. it's all too much."

"is there anything i can do to help?"

"i don't know. i really don't." naturally, your eyes start to close.

"get some rest."

the next time your eyes open, it's bright outside, and you're lightly tangled up in the blankets on the bed. one thing that didn't change however, is your husband's face in front of yours, his affectionate gaze remaining on you and you only. you miss this. you miss appreciating this.

nanami admires you, tugging down the comforter so your arms had a bit more freedom. "good morning, love."

"morning, baby." immediately, you eye the blond strands that somewhat disrupt his vision, there's a soft smile on your face, and your fingers run through his blond locks, feeling a bit of his undercut. "your hair isn't styled."

he hums quietly, his crossed arms on the mattress moving closer to your figure. "i'm not going into work today."

your eyes widen. "why not?"

"you're always my first priority. the last thing i'd want is you to be handling hard situations without me." his voice is just above a mutter. "i need to take care of the person i love."

"you don't have to." you whisper, pangs of conscience fizzing up in your mind.

to match your volume, he whispers back. "i want to."

so doting, it makes you feel guilty. would you feel more bad for taking his help or rejecting it? "when you're ready to wake up, i can get a bath ready and..." he takes a breath. "i'll cook you some breakfast. your favourite."

sitting up a little, you glance over at your desk. the papers were piled on the sides of the surface and significantly reduced in size, the trash bag was gone, and only a few of your favourite trinkets are presented in the middle. "my work—"

"we can talk about work after you feel better, okay?"

you turn your head towards him again and nod. slowly, you bring both of your hands up to his cheeks, focus shifting from his eyes to his lips. "can i have a kiss?"

"of course you can." and nanami smiles, his lips coming to close the distance and press against yours.

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[sonarspace]

TEASIN'

a/n: sorry for taking so long anon :3 hope you like it! request wc: 1.5k warnings: italics is past! and just LOTS of NSFW! (teasing, oral - f! receiving, edging, spanking, missionary? penetration? sex and idk what else!) also not proofread so ignore any mistakes, thank you!

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

your eyes are watering as you're close to cumming when he intrudes again. you groan in annoyance. to be honest this is your own fault.

it started when you wore that short dress that hardly covered your ass and danced sensually with your girlfriends to get him jealous. to you it was playful teasing, you didn't think it would actually affect him the way it did.

he's made it his mission to ignore you in any way he can. keeping his answers short when you try to talk to him. "satoru, are you going to keep ignoring me?" you say as you grab his face to make him look at you. "it's been two days too long toru. please. i'm sorry." you climb into his lap. "okay," he says quietly.

"okay? you forgive me? you won't ignore me?" you ask quickly. "okay i accept your apology. now get off of me. i wanna finish this episode." he moves his head around to look at the tv. "no." you move your head blocking his view. "kiss me first."

his cerulean-colored eyes narrow looking at you. "going to count to three and if you don't get off of me you're going to regret it." his voice drops an octave. his thumb caresses the side of your thigh mindlessly. "go ahead, toru. i can handle you." you challenge him with a smile.

he tilts his head as he counts down, "one.." your hands move to his shoulders, fingers brush his undercut. "two.." you take it as your cue to grind on him. he smirks but keeps his composure. "three.." you move closer to him in hopes of kissing him. his head falls back to rest on the couch and he lets out a deep exhale.

you feel him harden as you continue to grind on him. he lets you have your moment. he looks at you and moves in close. both your eyes dart between each other's lips and eyes. he halts your movements. "toru," you whisper. "brat," he smiles.

he picks you up and takes you to your shared bedroom. he drops you with a bounce and quickly undresses. both of you stripped. "move up," his tone is gruff. he pulls your legs apart. your need evident between them. he gets on top of you. his arms on either side of your head. he dips his head down going into kiss you but he pulls away. you chase his lips and he comes in close only to pull away once again. you pull back and just stare at him with a plain expression.

he finally kisses you, letting out a groan. his hands roam your body as he sucks in your tongue into his mouth. his hands massage your boobs, his fingers circle your areola and flicks your nipple lightly. his one hand moves down to where you need him the most. his index finger moves up and down collects your slick as he pushes in to you. you jolt and whine into to the kiss. he pulls back as he softly bites your lower lip. his tongue lulls out to smooth over the bite.

he can't help but be gentle with you until he remembers that little stunt you pulled two days ago. he wasn't jealous per se. he didn't mind you dancing with your girls. but the way you danced...to tease him...knowing he doesn't like dancing, especially in crowded places. or otherwise his hands would've been all over you making sure anyone who looked at you, knew you were his. so he decided to take his revenge ignoring you. knowing you would give in and let him have his way.

he moves down to kiss between your boobs. his tongue pokes out to trace your areola. he looks up to see your mouth parted and your eyes moving between his face in between your boobs and looking down to the hand between your thighs that's bringing you closer to your release. your head falls back to the pillow as his thumb presses down on to your clit and he rubs slowly.

"ya close?" he asks as his lips suck in a hickey at your boob. his finger pumps in and out of you. "mhm," you hum. a smile creeps onto your lips and fades away just as quick when he moves his hand away from you.

you sit up on your elbows "toru please don't start," familiar with his teasing. he could be so mean sometimes. "i'm not doing anything baby, just wanna taste you when you cum." he moves between your legs. his favorite place. he takes his sweet time reaching your core. kisses your inner thighs, leaves bites. "holy shit, you're so wet," he whispers more to himsself than you. "please," you elongate the word. "just keep your eyes on me".

he moans as he tastes you on his tongue. he swears he could live off of the taste of you forever. you moan at his confession. he alternates between sucking and flicking your nub. your juices cover his chin but he continues lapping at you like a starved man. you start getting squirmy as he brings you closer to your orgasm. he dips his tongue into your hole and when you clench around him a few times, signaling your orgasm he pulls back completely. "toruuuuuu," you whimper. "oh were you close" he mocked. he' takes in a deep breath and cheeses at you, "sorry sweets, i needed some air".

your eyes narrow at him and your legs on his shoulder pull him back to your pussy. "oooo someone's getting bossy, i like this look on you," he teases. you roll your eyes at him as your leg moves down to his chest and pushes him away, your hand moving between your legs to pleasure yourself.

he grabs your hand before you can touch yourself. "shouldn't have done that princess," he scolds. he flips you so you're on your stomach and ass up in the air. you yelp when you feel a his coming down on your ass. "harder," you grumble. "such a brat today," he comments. another slap on your ass has you rubbing your clit against the sheets. he notices what you're doing and he lets you go on for a few more minutes. then his hand wraps around your throat and pulls you back to his chest.

now here you were. close to another orgasm before he stops you. "sorry, i'm sorry, please toru, please let me cum i'm sorry." you plead, tears lining your eyes. he grabs your chin so he can look at you. "oh baby," he coos, when he sees the tears.

he lays you back down on your back and gets on top of you. tears still falling down your face he comes in close and kisses them away. he pries your legs open once more to settle between them, lines up his cock with your opening. "didn't mean to make you cry baby, i'm sorry," he soothes.

"it's okay, please i just- let me cum with you," you whine sniffling quietly.. "going to make you feel real good" he promises. you gasp when you feel him push in slowly. "just a little more, you can do it angel," he cheers you on as he pushes in further. you know he's fully in when you feel his tip brushing your g-sport.

you both moan at the feeling. he's already leaking precum as he moves in and out of you, a white ring forming around his base. you beg him once more, scared that he's going to pull away leaving you unsatisfied. his thumb moves to rub your clit. both of you chasing your high as he picks up the speed. the sounds of your body meeting loud and reverberating through the bedroom, loud enough for the neighbors next door and tenants living above you to hear clearly. "you getting close?"

he hisses when he feels clenching around him. "hold it in for me baby" he persuades. his forehead meets yours. he looks deeply into your eyes "you're so perfect for me. feel so good around me. you’re my best girl ya know. going to let me fill you up?" he questions you.

you nod "your best girl". he kisses you deeply. you hum into his mouth. "go ahead baby." you cum with a scream of with his name and he follows suit, filling you up. warm inside. you could live in this moment forever. just cumming with him over and over again.

you're both breathing heavily as you come down from your high. he trails kisses all over your body. pulling out of you, he plugs two fingers in to keep you full. "satoru too sensitive," you whisper. "just give me one more, please," he requests and you give in. he moves down and slurps your juices. you twitch from the senstivity. he removes his fingers from your hole and brings it up to your mouth. lets you suck it as he licks you and you cum once more in his mouth. feeling satisfied he lets you go. "brat," he beams at you and you both laugh.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated :D

© SONARSPACE 2023 | DO NOT COPY, TRANSLATE, OR REPOST MY WORK ON OTHER PLATFORMS!

[daddypriceugh]

Trouble

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Alright, so this is a little something I wrote some time ago.

I hope y'all like it :) i'll start writing more stuff soon as I have more free time now!!

Tw: some curse words but all in one nothing major

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"He's definitely your son"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know it"

The air in the car was thick and tense as you and your husband drove to your son's school. Reason for it was the phone call you got 30 minutes ago, stating that he got himself into trouble with a classmate.

You knew that your son was a bit different when it came to emotions. He was just like his father, quiet and reserved, but more repulsive. You of course denied that he got that from you.

The car came to a stop and Simon turned off the engine, body turning towards you. He had a neutral look on his face but you knew him better than that. When you told him about the call, he took it in better than you did. He seemed fine with it and that made you mad.

"You okay?" He asked, hand reaching for your cheek. You let him put it there.

"To be honest, i don't know. I just don't know how to react." He hummed in response, seeming to  understand your troubles.

"That's alright" he whispered "neither do I but we will know how to handle it" His palm was smoothing over your cheek, trying to give you any comfort. You smile at that.

"Yeah. Let's go then"

You were now sitting in the headmaster's office, desperately trying to not rip his head of. "And therefore I think that your son has some kind of mental problem"

Your body tensed at this sentence, anger spread through your body. How dare he say something like that? Your son is perfectly fine!

"Mr. Miller I think your overstepping a line right now." Simon's voice interrupted your thoughts. "Our son literally helped a friend that got bullied by that football idiot, how in hell does that have to do something with mental health?"

"Well, Mr. Riley from what I know you weren't exactly a steady father figure he could rely himself on. Whether it be your job-caused absence or your own mental state, your son had to deal with his emotions alone."

That's it. Know he reached your limit.

"And how the fuck do exactly know that huh?! Did one of the other parents tell you that? Well guess what, my son grows up in a loving family on which he can definitely rely on! I do not and will not take and crirism and insult from a man that clearly doesn't even know who the actual problem in this situation is. And spoiler, it's not my son but that bully that you just seem to fucking ignore!"

Mr. Miller's eyes widened at your outburst, clearly not expecting you to say someone like that. You felt Simon's hand reaching for your own under the table, giving it a quick squeeze.

"And if you ever tell my husband that he's not in a perfect mental state, than prepare for the worst! And now if you excuse us, we would like to take our son home with us now."

With that you stood up from the chair and made your way towards the door to open it, Simon quick to follow you.

You were greeted by your son standing in the hallway awkwardly with a black eye. He smiled at you and immediately engulfed you in a hug.

You pressed him closer to you, showing him that you care. You part after a minute. Your husband wrapped an arm around your shoulders and lead you towards the exit, your son not far in front of you.

Simon tilted his head to you ear, whispering.

"You do know that we will probably have to change school after that conversation"

A small laugh escaped your lips.

"Yeah maybe. But let that be a problem for tomorrow okay?"

"Of course, my love"

You two shared a small kiss and continued to walk to your car.

You are a happy family and that's all that matters.

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Tips for improvements are welcome!!!

Please ignore grammar mistakes English isn't my first language ♧

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[pamwritessometimes]

Fridays are for beer and heartbreak

Beau Arlen x Reader

Summary: Your favorite patron’s there to mend your broken heart.

A/N: It's just a little something I came up with the other day. If I'm being honest, I've never seen Big Sky, but I'm a simp for a man in cowboy boots, so... enjoy. 🤍

Warnings: none? oh, maybe that English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for any mistakes.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad day. For what it's worth, it was a relatively nice, sunny day in Montana terms. Sure, my boyfriend declared the final break-up of our relationship, but to be frank, I was utterly unfazed by his antics; we’ve been in an on-again-off-again relationship for a year now. Not that it was serious in the first place. At least, not for him. And, if I’m honest with myself, maybe not for me either. So yeah, it was a relatively okay day.

Still, there’s something about hearing the finality in someone’s voice, even when it’s a toxic someone, that leaves you feeling a little hollow. The break-up itself wasn’t anything spectacular. Just another drawn-out argument that ended with him muttering some lame excuse before walking out. It had happened so many times before that I almost laughed when he slammed the door shut behind himself.

I was free. Really free. But that didn’t stop the ache sitting heavy in my chest.

I pushed through the rest of my day, the usual routine of prepping for the evening rush at the bar. A glance in the mirror told me I looked the part: western boots, worn-in jeans, a dark brown suede jacket I loved more than I probably should, and my hair pulled back just enough to stay out of my face but still look effortless. I should have felt like myself. I was supposed to be this confident, tough woman who didn’t need anyone to mess with her head, but tonight… I just didn’t have the energy to be that.

The bar was packed, as it usually was by this time of the night. The usual crowd was in full swing, with the sound of old country and blues tunes playing from the jukebox and the steady clink of bottles being set on tables. It was one of those oldie bars that still had that charming and rustic atmosphere, like time stilled between its four walls. That night, I stayed behind the counter more than I usually did, letting the other servers handle most of the tables. I wasn’t in the mood to make small talk or listen to the same old stories I’d heard a thousand times. I didn't have the energy for that either.

Then, Beau walked in. Right on schedule.

He had this easy confidence about him, something I noticed the first time he came in months ago. It was in the way he held himself, like he could command a room without trying, but somehow never made a big deal about it. Tall, broad shoulders, chestnut hair that always looked like he just ran a hand through it after a long shift. And those eyes, green, like the pines up in the mountains after the rain.

He always came in around this time on Fridays, right after his shift ended. Sheriff of Helena by day, patron at my bar by night. There was something comforting about the routine of it. Maybe because he was the closest thing I had to a friend here, even though we were more like two people who enjoyed each other’s company but kept everything else at arm’s length. Still, there was always something unspoken between us, something that hung in the air when he sat down at the bar.

Beau slid onto the barstool closest to me, the one he always sat at, and gave me a smile that eased the ache I’d been feeling all damn day.

“Evening” he said in that slow, easy drawl of his, laying his hat on the counter. “How’s it going, darling?”

I forced a smile, pulling a cold beer from behind the bar and sliding it across to him without asking. He always ordered the same thing, and I always had it ready for him.

“Same as always” I replied, but even I could hear the flatness in my voice.

His eyes narrowed a little as he studied me, and I could feel his gaze linger on my slight but easily visible frown. He had a way of seeing through me like he could tell when something was off even before I said anything. 

“You sure about that?” His voice was anything but pushing. It was the way he asked, like he already knew the answer but was giving me a chance to speak first.

I glanced away, grabbing a towel and pretending to wipe down the already squeaky clean countertop. “I’m fine. It’s nothing. Just… had one of those days, you know.”

Beau took a long sip of his beer, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. “Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

I let out a breath and leaned on the bar, dropping the towel and meeting his gaze.

“He broke up with me. For real this time.” I hadn’t planned on saying it, but the words came out before I could stop them.

He raised an eyebrow, but there wasn’t any hint of surprise in his face. It’s like he not only knew it was going to happen, but anticipated it too. “You mean, finally?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, a short yet sharp sound that felt good coming out. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Beau didn’t say anything right away. He just sat there, watching me with those damn eyes that made it hard to keep things light. I couldn’t keep anything light with him. Not now, not ever.

There was something deeper there tonight, something that had always simmered between us but felt more dangerous now, like we were toeing a line neither of us had been willing to cross before. 

“You good with that?” His voice was softer now, the edges so much gentler, and it felt like a real, genuine question, not just some small talk or polite chitchat.

“Honestly?” I asked with a sigh ”I’m better off. I know that. But… it still stings, you know?”

Beau nodded, and something flickered in his expression, something almost protective. His gaze softened matching his voice. “You deserve so much better than what he was giving you, darling.”

His words hung in the air between us, heavy with underlying meanings. I knew what he meant. I knew he wasn’t just talking about my ex, and that’s when the tension snapped into something sharper, something deeper. I felt it in the way he was looking at me now, not as the bartender he chatted with every Friday, but as someone he cared about. But could that be the truth?

Maybe I wasn’t just his bartender either. Maybe we’d been dancing around this for too long. I leaned in slightly, not even realizing I was doing it until I saw his gaze drop to my lips. The bar around us seemed to fade, the noise, the people...none of it mattered in that moment. It was just me and Beau and the weight of everything unsaid between us thick and obvious in the air. 

“You gonna be alright?” he asked finally, and I couldn't help but notice how his voice became an octave lower... intimate in a way that sent a shiver down my spine.

“I think so” I whispered.

But my heart was pounding, not from the breakup, but from the way he was looking at me. Like maybe, just maybe, he’d been waiting for this moment as long as I had.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad day.

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day, loves. 🤍

[jihyocentric]

“so you want to make her jealous?”

jihyo hums at the question, with her eyes closed, breathing slow and deep. she had been attentively listening to a song playing idly in jeongyeon’s room, a haze in her mind caused by the amount of times jeongyeon had her head between her thighs.

it would take jihyo a lot more than getting dressed (with a shirt much bigger than her, coated in jeongyeon’s scent) and the minutes waiting for jeongyeon to return to the bed for jihyo to stop feeling jeongyeon’s hands — everywhere on her body, from her neck to her ankles.

while waiting, jihyo has to shut her legs tightly to avoid thinking about the way jeongyeon had handled her, apparently into new positions, certainly rougher she used to be. jihyo had been deprived from physical touch, deplorably so, but she knew better than to make jeongyeon return to the warmth between her legs, both sore and entirely too tired for more.

“not jealous,” jihyo says like a whisper, her voice faltering, throat dry after the amount of careless, loud cries jeongyeon inflicted on her. “i want to make her regret.”

sitting is almost uncomfortable, despite the softness of the mattress, and jihyo dismisses the ache, satisfied with it, blessedly sore.

jeongyeon hands her a bowl with instant ramen, all she could do that late at dawn, and leaves a cup of water on the nightstand for jihyo, taking a seat beside her. she looked no better than jihyo, with fresh scratches on her arms, bottom lip red and puffed from the amount of times jihyo had sunk her teeth on it — but surely more composed.

“a bit sudden,” jeongyeon grabs her fork, tummy aching from a hunger she could hardly notice moments back, now more evident as her focus was no longer on her friend. “you both made a cute couple. i thought sana was decent.”

“decent?” jihyo laughs shortly, her voice low, barely audible. “how come you’re only saying that after eating out her ex for…” jihyo glances at the clock jeongyeon kept on her nightstand. 3 a.m. “four hours. wow. is this a new record?”

“as if i wouldn’t do that even if she was decent.” jeongyeon chuckles, crossing her legs, elbows aligned with her knees as she held her own bowl of ramen. “’sides i have the right to. met you first and all.”

jihyo laughs, “and almost dated me.”

“and almost dated you.” jeongyeon nods, playfully agreeing with her. “i’m glad she was the one for you back then. i could’ve ended up in her place.”

jihyo grabs the cup of water jeongyeon had promptly left for her, chugging half of it in one go. it still wasn’t enough for her throat to hurt less, temporarily damaged from all the moaning she did and jeongyeon squeezing her neck, but she would have to deal with it if she wanted to eat.

“you wouldn’t.” jihyo says, reminiscing a time no longer than two years ago when jeongyeon was more than a casual acquaintance, but the one she called weekly to have sex with. an acquaintance with benefits, if anything. “you’re honest. never lied to me, even when you didn’t owe me anything. sana cheated, after two years in our relationship.”

“yeah, i don’t do that,” jeongyeon mixes the noodles with her fork. “if this isn’t asking too much… what did she say when you found out?”

“she was surprised. she said it was a mistake, that she did it only once, told me she wouldn’t give up on me,” jihyo sighs, forgetting about her hunger for a brief moment. “but the other girl was nayeon.”

jeongyeon squeezes jihyo’s knee tenderly. “sorry i asked.” which jihyo replies with a small ‘it’s okay now’. “now that’s fucked up.”

“tell me about it.” jihyo lets out a meek laugh. “i’m no longer angry at nayeon. if she did that to me, then she was never my best friend in the first place. i’m fine with cutting her off and forgetting she was ever in my life. but sana… sana thinks i’m going back to her. i know she does- she talked about it to her friends. one of them was kind enough to tell me she sees me as a prize. told me to keep my decision of breaking up with her.”

“damn.” jeongyeon breathes out. “there’s another way i could fix this for you, y’know. she looks like she can’t handle more than two punches.”

jihyo considers jeongyeon’s offer, knowing she was joking, but there was some truth behind her words. “i want her to see me happy with somebody else. it’s all i’ve been thinking about. sana is in love with me- even if she says these things to her friends, she likes me…” jihyo affirms with sheer conviction, her eyes darker, not usually fond of revenge, but sana incited that feeling on her like nobody else had. “and you’re the perfect candidate.”

“i’m honored,” jeongyeon puts her bowl on a table next to the bed, more than half of it eaten. “i do know how to make you happy.”

jeongyeon takes the freedom to give jihyo’s bowl the same ending, making jihyo’s back hit the headboard, their hips side to side to each other, in a good position for jeongyeon to kiss her. jihyo closes her eyes by instinct when jeongyeon starts fixing her hair, leaving a lock behind her ear.

“it’s not because of that, though.” jihyo says, hand on jeongyeon’s waist when jeongyeon leans closer and kisses her neck. “it’s because you can do it and make it look real without falling in love with me. without it being weird.”

“i don’t do girlfriends, but i guess i’m just a natural, huh?” jeongyeon laughs softly against her neck, then pulls her face away just barely. “that wasn’t a record, by the way. we’ve gone at it for more than 6 whole hours,” she lowers her voice, “i still remember how you got me all wet towards the end, think you could do that again?”

jihyo hums. “i’m sore.”

jeongyeon brushes her nose against hers. “i’ll be gentle.”

“jeongyeon…” jihyo mutters, even wetter when jeongyeon has her hand on her thigh.

“this will be my part of the deal.”

and so it was.

jeongyeon was never an option for jihyo and neither was jihyo an option for jeongyeon.

they were honest about it when they started having their casual encounters. there wasn’t a problem in them not wanting to have a relationship, really, they were able to enjoy what they had without taking any further steps, and perhaps it was even better that way.

jeongyeon had been the one to talk about it first. jihyo was an amazing girl, the type people would fall for at first sight, but jeongyeon didn’t see a future in them as a couple, and neither did jihyo. and so, having a casual affair was easy for them, until jihyo met sana and fell in love with her.

jihyo and jeongyeon, despite ending what they had in a cordial way, simply didn’t keep a regular friendship after that, as there was no reason for them to do so — they would still meet up at times, given that their friend groups were also friends between each other, but nothing more than that.

still, there was something about jeongyeon that makes jihyo trust her. they barely ever spoke, but when they did it was as if jihyo was talking to a friend of years rather than only someone she had seemingly endless, hungry sex with.

beyond that, jeongyeon was someone who could truly understand her, and jihyo figured jeongyeon felt the same way about her. they immediately linked, and yet dating each other was never a subject between them — things were simply already good as they were.

“won’t it be a little weird, though? i had a thing with momo last summer,” jeongyeon asks, carrying both hers and jihyo’s suitcases to the back of jihyo’s car.

“dahyun isn’t the jealous type,” jihyo says, mindlessly texting momo, telling her they’d arrive before noon — until she really understands what jeongyeon had told her. “you and momo?”

jeongyeon puts the lid of the trunk down, closing it without using much strength. “…and it’s summer again, so it’s been what? a year? she probably doesn’t remember we had a thing.”

laughing slightly at jihyo’s frown, jeongyeon makes her way to the driver’s seat. jihyo follows, sitting on the passenger’s seat, hardly aware that that was her car and that she hadn’t agreed for jeongyeon to drive beforehand.

“did you have a thing with any other friend that i have?” jihyo asks, crossing her legs and putting on the seat belt. without making a complaint, she takes her car key and hands it to jeongyeon — jeongyeon decides not to make any comments about the picture of her cat for a keychain, knowing jihyo was serious about him. “careful with the car.”

“not that i know of,” jeongyeon shrugs, replying to jihyo’s question. with the key already in it’s place, jeongyeon twists it to get the car’s engine running. “i know what you’re thinking. i don’t sleep with that many girls. you were my first this year.”

jihyo hums. “and i know what you are thinking,” she looks at jeongyeon. “i’m not jealous, it’s just… interesting that you did it with my friend.”

“it was just a one-time thing. no, three-times thing.” jeongyeon mutters. “no big deal at all.”

jihyo looks at the window instead, arms crossed. “you were the one talking about it being weird anyway.”

jeongyeon smiles when jihyo pouts, doing it mindlessly. when the road is emptier, she places her hand over jihyo’s thigh and tells her to take a picture, all so that sana would know jihyo had someone else even before they arrived at their destiny.

they only had a week to do revenge, so every minute counted. the plan was to act as a couple in love during their friend trip — they went to momo’s beach house along with a couple more friends, and sana would be there, because sana was friends with momo. they certainly fought when momo found out sana had cheated on jihyo, but after an entire month of ghosting her, momo was more willing to forgive her.

to a great extent, it happened because jihyo assured momo that she was over sana, even told her to invite sana to their week out of town. despite being reluctant and having her differences with sana herself, unable to fully trust sana as a friend, momo did as jihyo said, assuming jihyo wanted sana to be there for her own reasons.

it’s already nighttime when they arrive, and nights at that side of the estate were as cold as the mornings were hot.

jeongyeon hardly needs a facade to treat jihyo well, so she wraps her own jacket around her when they’re out of the warmth of the car, telling her she’d get hot by using her muscles to carry their suitcases — which is an entire lie. jeongyeon shivers behind jihyo, but soon momo is opening the door for them and the cold is no longer as much of a nuisance.

“finally,” momo greets jihyo with a hug. “i was getting worried.”

“jeongyeon is a slow driver.” jihyo complains, clearly playful, but jeongyeon still lets go of their luggage and passes an arm behind her neck, messing with her hair in response.

“god forbid a woman drives safely.” jeongyeon kisses the top of jihyo’s head, speaking softly.

if momo was trying to mask her surprise to see that jihyo was, by what it looked, with jeongyeon, then she did a poor job, visibly taken aback, but she could only feel relief — if jihyo was with jeongyeon, then jihyo wasn’t there to get back with sana, which none of their friends would like to happen.

however, she couldn’t say the same about sana, who was there with a goal that she hid behind a wall of glass.

“i would congratulate you two now, but you’ll already hear a lot from the other girls,” momo grabs a suitcase. “come on, let’s put these in a room and come back,” she tells jeongyeon, as if jihyo wasn’t invited to go with her, then looks at jihyo. “the girls are setting the table.”

jihyo nods, knowing where to go. “be quick,” she tells the both of them.

 “why wouldn’t we?” momo laughs, grabbing jeongyeon’s arm as she leaves with her, not waiting for jihyo’s answer.

jihyo doesn’t worry at all about them — momo probably wanted to have a talk with her, but jihyo was sure it was nothing related to their brief past. she makes her way to the dining room, still surprised at how big the place was, despite that not being her first time there. the last time they stayed there, she was with sana, in a happy relationship.

now, the both of them stood relatively far from each other, no longer together, hardly able to look at each other’s eyes. jihyo isn’t surprised to find her there, knowing that would happen, but she was hoping jeongyeon would be with her when it happened.

dahyun, mina and tzuyu do a great job breaking the ice, the three of them rushing to give her a hug as soon as they spot her and then they are flooding her with questions about her new girlfriend, none of them minding the fact that sana was there.

“i’ll tell you everything,” jihyo smiles. “let momo and jeongyeon come back and we’ll tell you what you want to know,” she assures. “how can i help?”

once the table is set and momo and jeongyeon join them, instead of making things awkward by letting the silence prevail, dahyun makes the question they all were curious about. especially sana, who knew jihyo had company, but she didn’t know it was yoo jeongyeon.

sana didn’t know jeongyeon. at least not enough, only that she was an acquaintance of momo and tzuyu, and that jihyo also knew her. whatever else sana knew about jeongyeon was far from substantial. the only thing she remembers, quite vividly, is that jeongyeon is a guitarist — momo might have told her when she introduced them to each other. other than a handshake, sana had never had any contact with jeongyeon.

“so, how did this happen? i thought jeongyeon would never do dating,” dahyun asks, apparently not jealous or upset about her short-term affair with momo in the past.

“so did i,” jihyo laughs, jeongyeon’s hand automatically finding hers under the table. “she rejected me because of that two years ago. but we met again last month and… well, things just happened.”

it wasn’t a complete lie, truly. jeongyeon surely hadn’t rejected her, but they did only meet again after jihyo broke up with sana, met alone, that is.

jeongyeon wasn’t a rebound by any means, but someone who made her company and gave her what she couldn’t have otherwise — pleasure and enough intimacy to talk about the things she needed off her chest. now, rather than an acquaintance with benefits, she was a friend with even more benefits. certainly an upgrade.

“it wasn’t rejection,” jeongyeon defends herself. “back then i just couldn’t see us as we are now. maybe if we got together two years ago, we wouldn’t be together now. everything has a purpose,” jeongyeon says, seemingly wise, and perhaps that was too good of an answer, because jihyo could almost believe her.

“that was actually a sweet comeback,” jihyo says, a smile on her lips, half genuine, half part of the act.

sana keeps silent where she is, both melancholic and irritated about the fact that their friends seemed to be quite happy for jihyo. she felt betrayed, ironically so, because two years back was when she met jihyo. still it seemed likely to be true, because when she met jeongyeon, jihyo already knew her as well.

momo noses in. “so you’re a real deal now, huh? never thought i’d see the day yoo jeongyeon got a girlfriend. jihyo must be special.”

“of course she is,” jeongyeon answers in a heartbeat, meaning her words. to sound less cheesy, she adds: “she deserves the best… and i am the best.”

“okay!” with the exception of sana, who remains quiet the entire time, the girls boo her — even jihyo, which makes jeongyeon pout.

“we should probably start eating now. to keep jeongyeon’s mouth busy and stuff,” momo mutters, prying on what mina and dahyun had prepared.

“jeongyeon’s, sure,” dahyun teases, knowing momo was beyond starving, no matter how many snacks she ate while waiting for the food.

when the others are not looking, jeongyeon inches her face closer to jihyo’s mouth next to her ear. “what if i want something else to keep my mouth busy?”

jihyo’s cheeks heat up, mind rewinding to only a few moments before they arrived there, in the car — and jeongyeon was already asking for more of it. jihyo had almost forgotten how insatiable they could be together, but that was part of why they got along so well. “greedy. but you deserve it.”

“i do.” jeongyeon kisses her shoulder softly, pulling away then. she reaches for a strand of hair close to jihyo’s mouth, putting it back in place with the rest of her hair, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the other girls, yet no one mentions it.

the entire time that they have dinner, sana stares at them. jihyo acts normal, she ignores sana and focuses on what is being said, sometimes smiling at jeongyeon when she kisses her shoulder or touches her arms or waist, refusing to look at sana, knowing that doing so would be seeking for validation, which she didn’t need. all jihyo really needed from sana was for her to break the same way that she did.

(by the end of the night, jihyo was only more certain that jeongyeon was the perfect candidate, and the best part of it all was it hardly felt like pretending.)

“you’re red.” jihyo tells jeongyeon, spreading sunscreen on her face a second time, only an hour after applying the first layer.

jeongyeon was relaxes on the beach chair as jihyo settles on her lap in order to do her task, amazed with how jeongyeon’s cheeks were crimson due to the sun.

jeongyeon had stubbornly rejected staying under the sunshade, wanting to stick close to jihyo as she tanned in case somebody tried to hit on her, doing her job as a fake girlfriend too well at that point — but getting her skin nearly sunburnt in the process.

“i don’t come to the beach often,” jeongyeon justifies, barely pouting.

“i can tell.” jihyo taunts, soft hands spreading more sunscreen on jeongyeon’s shoulders. “does this bother you?”

the question rises as a way for jihyo to give jeongyeon an opportunity to set boundaries between them, worried she might be doing too much — sana was looking, she surely was, but jihyo didn’t do it because of that, doing it because jeongyeon wouldn’t wear sunscreen otherwise.

and jeongyeon could decline being looked after by jihyo, free to feel like that was too much, perhaps too intimate, but she didn’t, not bothered about the fact that jihyo had been doting on her as an actual girlfriend would. it wasn’t a bigger deal, however, because jihyo does the same to mina and tzuyu. except from the part where she sits on jeongyeon’s lap, that is.

jeongyeon rests her palm on jihyo’s knee. “not at all. have you always been like this?”

“always. can’t help it,” jihyo smiles, her job finished when she can no longer see the white from the sunscreen on jeongyeon’s skin. “i just wasn’t like this with you because back then it would’ve been weird.”

jeongyeon tilts her head, slightly so. “why is that? i wouldn’t mind it.”

jihyo shrugs. thinking about the past makes her wonder how she managed to not fall in love with jeongyeon at all, but maybe her feelings only really matured after her relationship with sana. she doesn’t see jeongyeon any differently than she used to, yet now jihyo understands that, in the past, reserving certain acts of affection was essential so that her relationship with jeongyeon didn’t develop any further.

for a reason jihyo could hardly fathom, sana managed to make her fall in love in less than a month, whereas she and jeongyeon had been enjoying the benefits of a compromise-free relationship for more than three without any love. still, that was the best way things could’ve turned out to be regardless of the outcome, because if jihyo happened to fall for someone who clearly didn’t want a relationship, that would’ve been perhaps just as stressful as being cheated on.

“i don’t know. i think i would… i kept avoiding doing some things with you that i knew neither of us would want,” jihyo replies, feeling comfortable enough with jeongyeon to talk about how she felt. “in my head there was a limit that i didn’t want to cross, so i didn’t.”

“makes sense.” jeongyeon says, understanding jihyo’s way of thinking.

they remain silent for a brief moment, jeongyeon wondering if she’d been more straightforward than she should’ve been in the past and jihyo curious if what she felt was also the case for jeongyeon. jihyo guesses it was probably not how things were for jeongyeon, because someone who doesn’t want a relationship doesn’t need to methodically reject negligible intimacy in order to avoid unwanted feelings.

it’s not like jihyo wanted a relationship — jeongyeon was an acquaintance. she became a friend after jihyo met sana, but she was an acquaintance and that was all jihyo saw in her, truly, but the fact that jeongyeon had been honest about keeping things as they were made jihyo be more careful, and that was all.

if anything, in the past jihyo was the one who believed they would be better as friends rather than having sexual encounters.

they seemed to be on the same wavelength about everything, and jihyo had the perspective that being a total opposite to her loved one was a basic requirement. as that was her experience with sana, the impression turned out to stick on her, which was why jihyo was no longer afraid of doing things with jeongyeon that she wouldn’t in the past, now in terms with the way they got along in many different ways, especially sex, but not afraid of love suddenly rousing.

“we wouldn’t have time to do these things anyway,” jeongyeon laughs, breaking the sudden silence. “every moment we spent together was either having sex in my apartment or exploring your exhibitionism kink. really good times. for a lawyer you’re quite deviant.”

“there you go. i am not an exhibitionist! that was a one-time thing and you loved it,” jihyo laughs, slapping jeongyeon’s flushed arm, earning a grunt from her. “come on, you can’t be sunburnt.”

“i would hope so,” momo chimes in, standing in front of them. there’s a ball in her hand, which she supports on her hip.  “can you play volleyball, yoo? we’re missing a player.”

“can i play volleyball?” jeongyeon laughs, as if momo had made her a silly question. she carefully taps jihyo’s knee, as if asking her to get up, and jihyo allows her to stand, taking jeongyeon’s place on the chair. “hirai, you’re speaking to a former team captain.”

“is that so?” momo beams, eyes shining with sudden enthusiasm — and a glint of mischief. “sana and i used to play on the school team as well. sana was the captain.”

jeongyeon looks at jihyo, not asking for her permission, but wanting to see if she would be opposed to the idea. jihyo doesn’t give her any sort of reaction, despite wishing jeongyeon would win, making it a second win for her that week.

jeongyeon smiles, taking her cap off and putting it on jihyo to keep it safe — messing up her hair in the process and making her frown. “may the best captain win.”

“is that really how the game is or were you trying to hurt her?”

jihyo asks, back at the house with jeongyeon while the girls spent more time on the beach, in charge of making lunch because she was the only one who didn’t play with them. jeongyeon follows her, both wanting to make her company and because she was sunburnt.

“that’s how it is. she didn’t move out of the way because she didn’t want to,” jeongyeon mindlessly replies, grabbing a cup of water for herself. “don’t act like you pity her. bet you loved watching her getting hit by the ball. i can say i did.”

jeongyeon smiles, wishing jihyo could feel the same joy she felt whenever the ball hit sana. the ball wasn’t made of a tough material by all means, yet jeongyeon’s hand was heavy and although her aim wasn’t sana, she was constantly hitting her throughout the game — which was more sana’s fault than it was hers.

“i didn’t know you could be so mean, yoo jeongyeon.” jihyo smiles, only because jeongyeon couldn’t see it as she was facing her back while jihyo looked for ingredients in the fridge.

a sound of steps against the wooden floor isn’t heard at all by jihyo and jeongyeon, who are in the kitchen, entirely too occupied with their dialogue to notice someone else had left the beach as well.

sana makes her way back after taking a swim, her face red from the amount of times the ball hit her, holding her tears back. sana wasn’t sad but angry — angry at her loss and angry at jeongyeon, who was nothing but a nuisance, in her way to get what she was there for.

jeongyeon leaves her empty cup on the counter, walking towards jihyo, following her when she moves somewhere else, opening a cabinet. jeongyeon stands behind her, both hands on jihyo’s waist.

while jihyo had hardly noticed someone else was in the house, jeongyeon feels a presence behind them, which only fuels her actions, mouth close to jihyo’s ear as if she wanted to keep it between them, but sana could still hear everything.

at that point, even without being able to distinguish what they were saying, sana would still be heated up, even more so when they were so close, when jeongyeon did what she used to do.

“need help, princess?” jeongyeon asks, voice suddenly raspy, using a term she has only used with jihyo a couple of times, only when favorable enough — mostly when they were both bare, doing what they deemed they did best.

“i can reach it,” jihyo says, pretending as if what jeongyeon did had no effect on her, pride hurt at jeongyeon’s implication that she was short.

she stands on her tip toes, trying to get a pan from the cabinet, questioning why momo kept those there when she wouldn’t be able to get them either. sana watches them, the pain on her face and shoulders hardly bothering her anymore, fists closed tight at the sight in front of her.

laughing, jeongyeon grabs it for her, leaving it on the counter. “there you go. this is costing you a little something later.”

“is that so?” jihyo hums.

just as jihyo is about turn around, sana leaves, hardly making a sound, only letting her tears fall because keeping them in was impossible at that point — she could still hear their laughs from her room, which led her to wonder if that pain was what jihyo felt when she saw her with nayeon.

for the biggest part of jeongyeon’s life, she hasn’t been essentially an affectionate person. not seriously, certainly not without an intention that was linked to taking a girl she is interested in to bed — and it’s not that jeongyeon was faking being nice, but she was a charmer by nature.

she finds out by the middle of the week that doing certain things with jihyo wasn’t that bad. touching a woman without the intention of immediately taking her to bed was good, jeongyeon learns, good almost in a way that was foreign for her.

in the past, jeongyeon simply didn’t want to do relationships and nobody happened to make her want that, not even jihyo.

something shifts at a certain point of her life where she sees all of her friends with a significant other, happy in their respective relationships, hence she stopped doing one night stands, finding relationships not as bad as she used to. it’s a compromise she would take with a person she loved enough.

jihyo was an exception, of course, in honor of their past together, and she needed a friend, which jeongyeon wouldn’t deny her, yet due to their deal, jeongyeon felt like quite the opposite of what she used to feel towards jihyo. in times gone by jihyo was a friend, someone jeongyeon cared about and slept with, but someone jeongyeon didn’t see a future with.

it used to be simple to think about the things regarding her love life as black and white. there was no complexity in what she felt towards the girls she’d been with, no complexity in how she felt about jihyo. jeongyeon didn’t date, jihyo was a friend, and they did what was convenient for them at the time, the both of them agreeing that they were better off as friends, both incapable of seeing themselves doing romance.

but past does not fully resonate in who jeongyeon grew to be, and perhaps the way she saw jihyo was different. it’s hard to tell when having no references of what she was supposed to feel when the time was right and she found someone she would want to build a life with, but jeongyeon starts questioning herself, wondering if she truly saw jihyo as a friend in the present time.

they were faking it so that jihyo would get some sort of revenge — that was the plan. yet jeongyeon couldn’t help but wonder if she touched jihyo the way she did for sana to see, if she kissed her because she knew sana would look, if she called her terms of endearment because sana could hear her.

certainly, jeongyeon couldn’t do romance in the past, she could barely grasp the concept of being so obsessed with someone that she would want to do everything in her hands to make them smile, to make them genuinely happy, but it happens so naturally with jihyo that she fails to realize it was happening.

“thought you would like something stronger today,” jeongyeon joins jihyo in the porch, sitting on the couch next to her. “but we only have beer.”

jihyo accepts the bottle from jeongyeon’s hand, curled upon the couch, with her knees up to her chest in her sitting position. “this one is fine.”

jeongyeon hums. late at night, the sky was full of stars. jihyo seemed to be studying them closely. “tomorrow is the last day. how do you feel?”

“the message was sent. she knows i’ll always be the happiest i’ve been without her.” jihyo replies. “that was all i wanted.”

jeongyeon nods lightly, bringing the bottle to her lips, taking a sip. although jihyo had been deep in her thoughts before she joined her, jeongyeon knew she was welcomed there, therefore the impending silence was comfortable while it lasted.

“thank you, jeong.” jihyo mutters, quiet and sincere.  

only then, that jeongyeon realizes it all had just hit her.

jeongyeon knows from the way jihyo’s silent tears stained her face, falling freely without her trying to dry them up, to the way jihyo was quiet, not trying to flirt or initiate a conversation, much less giving out her frequent smiles — those were the brightest ones jeongyeon had ever seen.

“hey,” jeongyeon pats her back when jihyo can no longer cry quietly. jihyo hides her face in her knees, arms curling around her head, and jeongyeon retrieves the still full bottle of beer from her hand, leaving it on the table. “it’s okay.”

jihyo had been there before. she had cried countless times on her own after finding out sana had cheated on her, both because of sana and because of nayeon, and the intensity of the storm reduced a little each time she cried.

jihyo was over sana, she truly was, but her heart hadn’t accepted the fact that all of her love, her expectations, her happiness — her deepest, sincerest emotions, would no longer exist for sana. or nayeon, who had perhaps broken her heart whereas sana had only bruised it, denying jihyo of a friend to support her and take her pain as her own, the way it used to be.

but jeongyeon was there, and jeongyeon holds her when she cries, tightly enough that she could almost make the pain go away, giving jihyo a shoulder to cry on and a lap she can feel comfortable in.

“she was my best friend.” jihyo says once she is able to do so, a couple of tears ready to fall, but she no longer sobbed quietly into the crook of jeongyeon’s neck.

“i know.” it’s the only thing jeongyeon says, because it was enough. because jihyo wasn’t waiting for an answer, but stating what she was thinking, and jeongyeon allowed her to feel it on her own, being there for her how jihyo wanted her to.

jeongyeon doesn’t pull away when jihyo kisses her, she doesn’t think anything of it, forbids herself of doing so. she kisses her back, and it’s different from the other times. not hungry, or hot, or desperate — jihyo was thanking her, in her own, particular way, holding jeongyeon’s cheeks with a hand as her lips warmly touched hers, soft and sweet.

jihyo places a chaste peck against her lips, finishing their kiss, then opening her eyes to look at jeongyeon. “i don’t… i don’t want you to think that i’m doing this- that i’m kissing you because i want the pain to go away and you’re how it goes away. i want to let you know that.”

with a hand on her waist and the other on jihyo’s face, jeongyeon nods, her thumb caressing jihyo’s bottom lip. “okay.”

“we’re not so bad at this, huh?” jihyo asks, bringing the sun back when she smiles, so brightly that jeongyeon wondered if the other stars were envious.

“we are not.” jeongyeon answers, hardly aware of what jihyo meant, but if she meant that doing romance didn’t feel that impossible for them anymore, then jeongyeon would agree. (she doubted that was the case.)

relatively far from them, sana and momo watched them, only arriving when jihyo was no longer crying, but kissing jeongyeon with no intentions of taking that to bed, laughing when jeongyeon stopped kissing her to crack a joke.

momo sighs, nearly regretting going out with sana and leaving dahyun at home, knowing that she was probably sleeping then.

“they’re cute, don’t you think?” momo asks, crossing her arms as she looked at the couple that wasn’t yet a couple — and she knew because jeongyeon wasn’t able to hide it from her. momo was simply able to read jeongyeon beyond her words, aware of things jeongyeon kept hidden even from jihyo.

“no, i don’t, momo.” sana clenches her fist. “why did you let her come?”

momo ignores her question. “i do. it’s good to see that jihyo found someone good for her. and i know jeongyeon, she will never break her heart.”

unable to keep looking at jihyo, sana shifts, looking at momo, her eyes dark. “you used to know me too.”

“i can’t live my life waiting for the people around me to reveal themselves as deceptive, awful people, can i?” momo asks patting sana’s shoulder, a sad smile on her face. “and here i was thinking you regretted.”

momo leaves, sana doesn’t utter a word. she looks at jihyo again, cries because she didn’t mean to speak the way she did with momo, and because jihyo was happy without her. already.

the last day of their trip is the least eventful.

at night, jeongyeon leaves for a party nearby with dahyun and momo after jihyo insisted for her to go if she wanted to have fun with them, the rest of them stay because they are tired. leaving jihyo alone wasn’t something jeongyeon truly wanted to make, but jihyo convinces her that she should have fun if she wanted to, and so jeongyeon leaves.

mina was there and so was tzuyu, yet sana seemed like the invasive type of person. without her or momo there to protect jihyo, jeongyeon worried about what sana could do or say to her — she was worrying a lot, too much, and jeongyeon didn’t feel like she shouldn’t be feeling that way, but avoiding it seemed impossible.

jeongyeon’s worries were justified and sana does reach out to jihyo, finding and opening when tzuyu and mina go to their room and she stops jihyo from doing the same.

“i want to talk to you.” sana says, noticing the way jihyo reacted when she touched her arm. sana quickly releases it, anxious, desperate to find a way to stop hurting jihyo with her actions, but apparently even standing in front of her was enough to feel like she was doing so.

jihyo keeps a firm stance, with her arms crossed. “what do you want to talk about?”

“should we do this outside?” sana asks, looking everywhere but at jihyo. “i just need some fresh air. i won’t take much of your time.”

jihyo doesn’t feel like accepting sana’s request. they had talked about it — everything that had happened. jihyo had been clear that she would never want to go back to sana. she’d been clear that she didn’t want to know about nayeon, clear that she didn’t want sana to explain why she had done what she did. sana respected her decision because it was the least she could do, still wanting to get jihyo back, but keeping the requested distance.

until something threatens her, that is, and sana feels like going over the promises she’d done for momo and attempting, even if one last time, to get jihyo back. when jihyo agrees to talk to her in the porch, sana feels relieved, leading the way with jihyo behind her, and jihyo was as worried about her decision to talk to sana as jeongyeon was worried about her decision to leave.

“so, what is it you want to say?” jihyo asks, impatient, wanting the safety of her room and the safety of jeongyeon.

“i want you back.” sana states, from the beginning of their conversation. “the thing you have with that woman can’t be as serious as our relationship.”

jihyo can hardly believe what she hears. she’s immediately irritated, because sana was so wrong, but the instant urge to snap at her isn’t enough to make jihyo say or do anything. jihyo stares at sana with a blank expression, her breathing becoming heavier the more sana spoke.

“nayeon was in love with me when we met.” sana explains, although jihyo didn’t want to hear. “when i found out, i felt guilty... so guilty. i didn’t notice she had those feelings for me. it’s not like it would change what i feel for you, because you’re the most perfect woman i’ve ever met, but there’s so much i could have avoided if only i knew…”

sana gets closer to jihyo as she speaks, with only one intention behind her actions. even sana didn’t believe in her own words, sounding fake, making it obvious that she was merely keeping jihyo there for a reason that wasn’t apologizing or justifying herself.

jeongyeon only stays at the party until she knows momo and dahyun will be fine without her there, heading back as soon as she has the opportunity. she arrives on time to see sana and jihyo talking, and despite wanting to give jihyo space, desperately wanting to move, she stays at the entrance of the porch, watching and listening.

“no, sana, let’s not lie here. i was a prize to you.” jihyo says, taking a step back when sana gets too close. “i don’t care about nayeon’s feelings because she didn’t care about mine, and i refuse to talk about her with you. those were two years of my life that you wasted. my life,” jihyo says, her face red with sheer anger. “and i wasn’t even happy with you.”

sana raises her eyebrows. “of course you were.”

“at the beginning, yes, it was perfect. but then you became distant, and…” jihyo shakes her head, letting out a sigh. “no, i’m not having this conversation again-”

jihyo’s voice dies down when sana kisses her, holding her hips tightly, enough to make jihyo grunt in pain. jeongyeon doesn’t have to intervene, because jihyo bites sana’s lip, her palm falling heavy on sana’s cheek.

“you can’t replace me with someone you barely know.” sana snaps, ignoring the heat on her cheek.

“i’m not replacing you,” jihyo replies, cleaning her mouth with the back of her hand. “jeongyeon isn’t a sidegrade. she will never be that. she’s so, so much better.”

“jihyo, it’s been a month. a month.” sana says, as if she was pleading for something she knew she wouldn’t have back. she takes a step closer to jihyo again.

“i won’t be the one slapping you if you touch me again.” jihyo warns, and sana seems to realize her surroundings. momo and jeongyeon would arrive soon, and if jihyo wanted, they would make her regret doing anything against jihyo’s will — besides, it wasn’t like sana to act that way, and the anger vanishes when sana comes to understand what she’d just done.

jihyo leaves her alone, but after taking a few steps away, she stops. “by the way, sana, jeongyeon and i were already together for months before i met you. it wasn’t a month that made me fall for her.”

jeongyeon had heard most of it. she saw jihyo stand for herself and then she left, feeling as if she’d seen more than she should have. jihyo leaves after speaking to sana, spends a few minutes cooling down at the beach, then heads back inside when it gets too cold.

for her surprise, jeongyeon was already back, lying down with her eyes closed. thinking she was asleep, jihyo silently changes her clothes, joining her on the bed then, carelessly making her way to jeongyeon’s arms for some cuddling. but jeongyeon wasn’t sleeping, so her hands naturally find jihyo’s waist.

“sana talked to me.” jihyo mumbles, head on jeongyeon’s chest.

“i know.” jeongyeon replies. “i saw.”

jihyo’s heart races at the thought of jeongyeon listening what she said about her, but she decides not to talk about it. “i’m sorry.”

“what for?” jeongyeon asks softly, a hand brushing jihyo’s lower back under her shirt, the other finding the back of jihyo’s knee when jihyo passes her leg over her hip.

jihyo sighs. “bringing you into this. i shouldn’t have.”

jeongyeon hums. “doing this made it better, didn’t it?”

“yes.” jihyo replies sincerely, feeling lighter after letting sana understand she wasn’t as important for her as she might have thought she was.

“then don’t apologize.” jeongyeon mutters, her voice low.

jeongyeon shifts, barely so, making jihyo open her eyes and look at her, the tip of their noses brushing against each other.

“i’m sorry still.” jihyo insists.

it’s only when jeongyeon pulls away, wanting to see her face before kissing her, that she notices the tear stains on jihyo’s face and how red her nose and lips were from crying.

despite it irking her that sana had made her cry once again, jihyo was the most beautiful when she cried. jeongyeon hopes, instinctively so, that in the future jihyo only cries out of happiness, so she could enjoy the way she looked without feeling an annoying pain in her chest.

“so pretty.” jeongyeon whispers, moving a lock of hair behind jihyo’s ear.

jihyo sighs, eyes closed, feeling a tender kiss on her jaw. “jeongyeon…”

“jihyo.” jeongyeon answers.

jihyo says nothing in response, letting jeongyeon place kisses everywhere — from her jaw to her neck, and when her shirt was somewhere on the ground, on her ribs, then on her tummy.

even if jeongyeon knew all of the corners of her body, it was still new to have her kissing her so passionately everywhere. tender, as if that was their first time together and, for some reason, jeongyeon had to be careful.

jihyo keens when jeongyeon pulls her for one last kiss, tongue brushing against hers so gently she felt like crying again, and she’s unusually flushed when jeongyeon has her head between her legs, taking her time kissing her thighs before she got to take off the last piece of clothing preventing jihyo from bareness.

maybe they really weren’t that bad at romance.

a couple of weeks later, they’re back with their monotonous routines.

jihyo stays longer at work every day, because working made her mind occupied, and she needed to have her feelings at rest before she understood what had happened between her and jeongyeon in their last night together at their trip. jeongyeon on the other hand was already in terms with her feelings, she had been in terms with it, and so she waited, because she was confident jihyo felt the same.

it isn’t until nearly a month after everything happened that jihyo reaches out to her. jeongyeon is waiting for a cab after rehearsing all afternoon, guitar on her back, phone in hands, when she receives a call from jihyo. she picks up in a heartbeat, and jihyo smiles, watching jeongyeon from a safe distance, aware that jeongyeon was there because one of her friends had told her.

“hey, jeongyeon.” jihyo says, holding back a soft laugh.

“hey, jihyo.” jeongyeon greets her back, certainly flirting, just as the usual.

jihyo takes a few steps closer to jeongyeon, unaware of how much she’d missed her until she smells her perfume and her heart aches, desperate to hug her tight.

“would you go on a date with me?” jihyo asks, close enough so that jeongyeon could hear her, but jeongyeon doesn’t notice her presence whatsoever.

jeongyeon makes a noise, as if she was thinking about it. “when?”

“now.” jihyo replies, bossy, not willing to give jeongyeon a choice.

“sure,” jeongyeon says, checking the watch on her wrist. still early enough to do many things. “should i pick you up at work?”

“i’m picking you up this time.” jihyo hangs up, smiling as she appears in front of jeongyeon.

“oh, hey.” jeongyeon breathes out, unusually nervous, but still flirty. “you look beautiful.”

jihyo nods, knowing that already — she worked hard to look pretty for her. she wraps her arms around jeongyeon’s neck, using all the courage she’d gathered during those weeks she had no contact with jeongyeon.

“i’m in love with you.” jihyo states rather than confesses, coming clear with her feelings.

jeongyeon shrugs. “i figured.”

jihyo opens her mouth, slightly shocked that that was jeongyeon’s reaction. “aren’t you happy i’m reciprocating your feelings?”

jeongyeon shakes her head. she grabs one of jihyo’s hands, placing it over her racing heart. “i’m worried.”

jihyo’s eyes widen at how fast it was beating, and that was all because of her — that was, by far, the most beautiful proof of her love jeongyeon could’ve given her. jihyo has to get on her tip toes to peck jeongyeon’s lips, a soft smile permanently on her lips.

“i’ll take care of you.” jihyo promises, aware that jeongyeon had no experience with long time relationships.

“no. i’ll take care of you.” jeongyeon affirms, stubborn, passing an arm behind jihyo’s neck so that they could walk side by side. jihyo passes an arm around her waist, the most comfortable way she could hold jeongyeon, really, given their height difference. “i need coffee.”

“the coffee i make is delicious.” jihyo suggests, but soon she reformulates. “you’ll try it later. we can’t go home now…”

“yeah.” jeongyeon laughs, knowing too well what would happen if that was the case. “come on, there’s a really good cafe nearby.”

[signedkoko]

I saw Charlie and Vaggie in your masterlist but there's no writing for them yet?? Well then I'll be the anon to change that!!

Could you do a plaronic oneshot/headcanon with Charlie and Vaggie (separately or together, whichever you prefer), where reader is the first resident at the Hotel? Think they were there before even Angel. Something about why they went there, how they get along with the others, etc. I'll leave it up to you!

Charlie X Reader X Vaggie [Platonic]

In which the two are happy to invite you to the hotel as their first resident. Reader is genderneutral.

It was an honest mistake

When Charlie was first looking for a spot, the hotel fell into her hands after being owned and neglected by the family

And in its disrepair, they needed someone who could help get it to hotel standards

That's where you came in! They saw your ad for interior design on TV once, and Charlie was quick to call you in to ask for your help

Vaggie wasn't so sure on the idea—not that you could do anything messed up—but she figured something as simple as interior design couldn't be that hard, right?

Either way, they had a lot on their hands, and Charlie was convinced hiring you would get a lot off their plate

When you arrived, you came prepared!

A huge book of samples, another with hundreds of paint colours, wood finishes, and inspiration booklets

But most curious of all, you were kind

You sat down with the two and asked all about their hotel—the first time Charlie had ever been prompted—rather than having to start first

Not only did you think it was a wonderful idea, but you offered to do the consultation free since it counted as 'charity' work

You were a self-owned company, and there was no such thing as 'charity' in hell, but you didn't need to tell them that; they seemed so full of hope

That evening, the two offer you a room to stay the night in, so you can get a feel for the vibe of the place

Unfortunately, when you awakened to several emails from your landlord saying you were being evicted for being past due, you realized you'd be on the streets

The worst part was telling them after they'd been so kind to you, and that's when Charlie offers for you to stay until you can get back on your feet

" It's okay! I mean, we can still hire you to work on the hotel, right? It's a long-term project! We can fund you until you finish! "

Besides, your prices aren't terrible, and they were already going to hire you, so why not?

It was a slippery slope from there, you helped them get all the rooms in order, helping customize as the 'first' guest, Angel, came to stay

Slowly but surely, it was assumed that you were also staying to get clean as well

Though it was called into question several times what exactly made you such a bad person in the first place?

" To be honest with you all, I was never an interior designer. "

You were just a talented scammer who lied about credentials to get a job

" Not that I planned on scamming you guys! I just, usually I'm hired by the wealthy, and you know... But I really do like interior design! I just never studied it. "

It comes as a surprise to most, but it explains a lot

In the hotel, you are closest to Charlie; who isn't! You are both creatives, and she was the one to welcome you so warmly

Vaggie is also a sweetheart, as much as she hesitates to get close to you

Though your muse is Alastor

He handles a lot of the transformative aspects of the hotel, and so you get used to making detailed maps and plans on how a certain area needs to look so he can fix it up for you

Of course, he always adds his own spin, which leaves you huffy

The only time you hadn't designed something was the mess of a bar, which Alastor insisted was 'state of the art' in his time

You let it slide, but very begrudgingly

Overall, you've become something of a 'permanent' designer for the hotel, mostly handling the customization of rooms

While your title of 'first guest' is in the air, the others still consider you such, and you do your best to stay out of trouble for Charlie

Besides, with the money you made, you're able to run your business from the hotel and can start working on getting certified as a designer!

Author's Note - I love these two! I agree, finally I can add something under their names on the list 🖤 Thank you so much for requesting!

[intellectual6666]

The line between us (Part-2)

Synopsis : The guy slowly unfolds his feelings for her while she does everything to prove herself.

Genre : Enemies to lovers.

Warnings : idk if this is called suggestive

Not proofread (terrible grammatical errors and some spelling mistakes)

More under cut ~

Just working hard wasn't an option. She had to prove it to him why she was one of the best Sales manager their company had.

So that is what Kriti did. She worked day and night. Visited places and interacted with customers. Tried to bring as many changes as she could. Hired more people. Made more teams to work under her.

Aadarsh, on the other side, kept thinking about her. There was something stingingly good and bad about her. In the very first meet, he grew a strong dislike towards her. But he couldn't identify why. He just didn't like her demeanor. But also, a small, tiny part inside him craved her. That part wanted to know more about her. Become close to her. Grab her attention. This was so unlike Aadarsh. He never had such mixed feelings for anyone. He always had been clear whether he liked a person or not.

This kind of worried him. But he didn't have to worry more. More work was piling up for him and mainly, Kriti was ready to show him.

Next meeting day

As Kriti showed her presentation and explained the pluses and minuses, she could feel a strong gaze burning through her skin. She didn't dare to look at that direction 'cause she was sure she would get distracted and won't be able to complete her presentation.

Completing her part, she asked "Any questions ?"

"Yes", Aadarsh answered.

She was more than ready for him.

"Yes Sir"

"What skills do you prioritize when hiring new Sales team members ?"

Thinking for a second, Kriti listed all the points she prioritize and explained them.

"Tell me Ms. Kriti, do you really think you're doing a good job ? I want an honest answer."

"Ofcourse Sir. I do think I'm doing a good job. I might not be the best sales manager but I know I do my portion perfectly, perfect enough for any unnecessary questions.", she answered.

"Well, let me open your eyes. You cannot handle all of your work. To show me what you can do you took up so much work and completed them in a haphazard way...." and he went on, trying to point out loopholes. As each second passed by, Kriti grew more and more angry and also, started feeling humiliated.

"I'll help you with your work."

It caught her off guard. But she regained herself and said, "Thank you sir but I don't need that much help."

"I'm doing a favour. And I'll do it. I don't want your permission."

Times like these made Kriti disgrace her position. She wanted to become the top one in the company, so that nobody had the courage to say such things.

Okaying to the response, they resumed the meeting.

Kriti agreed to work overtime. More because she wanted to show "Mr. COO" how perfect she is with her work.

She was doing some paperwork, when she heard the door of her office open and close. There he was, Aadarsh Mukherjee, with beautifully pleated pants and beige shirt, rolled up sleeves and rimless contacts.

"You might not know that you should knock before entering someone's room."

"I am the COO. I don't need to do such manners."

"I don't care if you're the COO or CEO. Manners are manners."

Raising an eyebrow, he glared at her. Walking towards her, he tried to regain his composure and said, "Sorry ma'am, I'll keep that in mind."

Wow. That was very unlike him. Kriti stared at him for few seconds, trying to digest what he just said.

"Shall we start ?"

"W-what ?"

"The work, ofcourse."

"Oh. Yes."

After working straight for an hour, an argument broke out between them.

"Sir, that's not how this works."

"You don't teach me how it works, I've done it like this for years and it worked like magic. Try to learn new things Kriti."

"You're the one who's not trying to learn new things."

"I've come here to teach you new things."

"So what? That doesn't mean you can't adopt new styles in the mean time."

Huffing, Aadarsh replied slowly, "Okay Kriti, I'll learn it. But can you learn this for now ?"

"I'll learn that when I need it. If the work gets completed smoothly the-"

He trapped her between his thick arms and the table. His eyes pierced through her skin. Kriti was dumbfounded. She just looked at his eyes, searching for something, something which will explain what was happening between them. They felt each other's energies. The attraction.

"Try. To. Learn. Kriti." He paused between every word.

Kriti couldn't focus. The surroundings suddenly grew thick and the space felt smaller. As his face came dangerously close to hers, Kriti could sense her heart hip-hopping inside the cage. She didn't want this. Then why isn't she pushing him away ? Why is she letting his cologne intoxicate her mind ?

Before thinking further or breaking the limits, Aadarsh said, "Let's be patient and learn things, alright ?"

"Okay", her voice was barely above a whisper.

Leaving her, he sat down on the chair and continued the work.

She thought that he didn't care about what happened few moments ago, but little did she knew that he was losing it. His heart drummed inside his wide chest and his hands were sweaty. He wanted to slap himself for this sudden behavior, but he also loved that feeling.

He did the what was forbidden in his life. He fell in love.

Is he going to go further or take a step back ? Will Kriti acknowledge the emotions which are buried deep inside her or stay with her initial hatred for him ?

*******************

Worse than before but okay. I'll try again.

Don't repost. Reblogs are appreciated.

Tagging : @liacriesalot @shadowseductress @zeherili-ankhein @lotuseaterwhowistlesthedark @bareillyki-barfi @priimadonnna @fets-luck

[creek-dump-blog]

This is the first part of my fanfiction 'To The Three of Us.' The rest of the fanfiction will be published on Wattpad and I will be making art for the fanfiction here

My Wattpad

__________

Third Person/Kenny pov:

Whenever something good happens in South Park you’ll be foolish to think it’ll last long. That was Kenny’s mistake.

Kenny tries to steady his thoughts by removing himself from the frantic commotion that happens during the lunch period. He couldn’t let himself slip. He’s dealt with way worse situations but the feeling of isolation is corrupting his life.

Kenny hides behind the dumpster at the back of the school making sure no one is around. He takes out a lighter and cigarette, taking in the rush of smoke filling his lungs to ground his body to some feeling. He slowly recognizes quiet footsteps from his left leading in his direction and tries to stomp out the cancer stick, but the damage is done.

He turns his head to the person on looking at his form and immediately notices the mass of erratic blond hair and messily button-up olive shirt.

“Tweek, what are you doing here?”

Tweek looked down at the cigarette I stomped then replied to my question.

“You know, smoking at such a young age is going to make you die faster.”

I was going to make a joke, but for some reason, I decided to be honest.

“Heh, I don’t smoke for ‘that reason.’ Smoking can actually suppress your appetite, and well, my parents would rather waste money on cigarettes than feed the family.”

“Oh… Well- Do you think this could help?”

Tweek hands Kenny a brown bag with a Tweek Bros. logo filled with a sandwich and a muffin. I haven’t talked to Tweek since the whole “replacing me with him” fiasco so why is he suddenly worried about me?

“What’s with the special treatment?”, I ask Tweek.

Tweek replies saying, “Well, most people know Kyle and Stan give you some of their lunch. I noticed you haven’t been talking to them.”

God, why are people at this school so fucking nosy?! Kenny tried to ignore his resentment and responded.

“I’m fine. I just needed some space from them.”

“What did you eat today?”

“Uhhhh…” Why is it so hard to remember? “I think I had one-fourth of a waffle-”

“OH GEEZ! THIS ISN’T NEARLY ENOUGH TO FEED YOU! AHH!! I COULDN’T FORGIVE MYSELF IF YOU STARVED TO DEATH! GH- THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE!!!”

Tweek is shaking frenziedly and pulls his hair hard enough to almost make bald spots on his scalp. Kenny already had a hard time handling Tweek’s uncontrollable frantic movements from afar so Kenny tried to say anything that he thought could help.

“Tweek! I’m okay! Really-”

“GAAAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA-”

Tweek dashed away from Kenny, with arms flailing and all, and left the school premises into town.

Kenny watches in awe for a couple of seconds until the bell rings. Kenny almost makes it to fourth period but is quickly interrupted by a dead-flat monotone voice.

“What the hell did you do to Tweek?”

Kenny turns his head to see Craig staring at him with his eyebrows frowning.

“What do you mean ‘what I did to Tweek?’”

“Tweek told me he was going to talk to you and I can’t find him anywhere.”

“Oh,” How the hell do I explain THAT situation? “Tweek gave me food, then he screamed, then he left school.”

“Okay.” Craig flips Kenny and walks to his fourth period class.

Why are they so weird? Eh, I guess that means they’re made for each other.

__________

Kenny woke up the next morning with the mindset of ignoring the two boys. He honestly doesn’t know how to feel about them, especially Tweek, but it’s not like life has gone his way before so it doesn’t.

Kenny notices people staring at the erratic boy walking towards him. Tweek is lugging on his back an enormous backpack filled with who knows what while also trying to carry his school backpack. Kenny also observes Tweek’s face. Tweek somehow looks more tired than before with large eye bags hanging off of his eyes and he’s barely able to stay awake.

Tweek finally makes it to Kenny and says, “Hey Kenny.”

“Uh… hey to you too.”

“Um, I wanted to give you this.”

Tweek struggles to take off the backpack consuming his form and hands it over to Kenny. Kenny unzips the backpack to look at a backpack filled with homemade sandwiches, baked goods, and fruits.

Did he- did he run home screaming and stay up all night cooking and baking just to feed me and my family? That is simultaneously one of the strangest yet sweetest things someone has ever done to me.

“I’ll be out of your hair now,” Tweek trails to his homeroom but Kenny grabs his shoulder and brings them into a hug. Tweek is shaking profusely in Kenny’s arms, but this time Kenny doesn’t care.

“Thank you, Tweek. No one has done something like this to me before.”

Kenny pulls back and sees Tweek look at him anxiously. Kenny could practically hear Tweek doubting himself.

“Really, I mean it. Who knew someone so cute cared about me.”

Kenny wasn’t lying when he said that. Sure, Tweek was twitchy but he had nice soft yet masculine features and Kenny definitely wasn’t disappointed by Tweek’s face going red.

“ALRIGHT! I’ll SEE YOU LATER! BYE!!! Tweek covers his face and trips to his homeroom.

__________

After Tweek’s intervention three months ago, Kenny started hanging out with Tweek and Craig. Kenny initially distanced himself from people because he was depressed about graduation. Pretty much everyone graduating would be leaving South Park (who can blame them, really?) and Kenny didn’t have any money to leave with them.

Despite Kenny’s concerns he still wanted to spend time with the two boys. He genuinely had a good time with them and they in turn somehow tolerated him.

Kenny was currently situated in Craig’s backyard at night, throwing pebbles at Craig’s window trying to get his attention. After a couple of seconds, he sees a light flicker on from one of the windows and hears the window slide open.

“Can I come in?” Kenny whispers to the familiar chullo silhouette.

Craig flips him off.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kenny whispers back.

Kenny’s times as Mysterion helped him quickly climb Craig’s wall. He lands his feet on the floor and walks to Craig’s bed.

They’ve pretty much made this a routine at this point. Whenever Kenny’s parents would get into a fight (which was often) he would walk to Craig's house and use his telescope to distract himself. Tweek would sometimes join if his parents weren’t coddling him. Even though Kenny didn’t understand space, he did understand the appeal of looking at the vast space to fill your thoughts.

Craig puts Stripe #3 in his cage and sets up the telescope. Craig noticed that Kenny was being abnormally quiet so he decided to speak up.

“So?”

“Just thinking about things.”

“Like what?”

“Like how I’m pansexual.”

“Okay.”

Ah, there goes the classic Tucker charm.

“That’s really all you have to say,” Kenny replied.

“I don’t care.”

“Well, it’s kind of a big deal.”

“Why should it be a big deal? Sexuality is used by both sides as an excuse to ‘other’ each other and I don’t care to continue the trend.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

Craig finishes setting up the telescope and guides Kenny to the eyepiece.

Kenny continues the conversation by saying, “Do you have a crush on someone?”

“Why are we on this topic?”

“Oh come on! You gotta like someone unless you’re aromantic.”

“No. I’m not that.”

“Hmm… is it Clyde?

“Ew. No”

“Is it me?”

“No.”

Kenny was a little disappointed that it wasn’t him even though he knew his real crush.

Kenny removed his right eye from the telescope to see Craig’s reaction to his next question.

“Is it Tweek?”

Craig’s cheeks and ears were quickly covered in a vibrant red. Craig tried to hide his face with his chullo even though his reaction was obvious.

“U-Uh… I don’t know…”

“Aww! Someone has a crush! I think you should tell him though. You guys work well together.”

Craig didn’t say anything, turning his back to Kenny and wanting to cut the conversation. Kenny didn’t push him and continued to look at the stars through the telescope.

__________

Around midnight Kenny sneaks out of Craig’s house and takes out his phone to text in his group chat with Craig and Tweek.

Orange AirPod

hey guys. You wanna hang out tmw?

Space Cadet

dude you literally left my house like 2 secs ago and it’s fucking late. Stfu

Orange AirPod

meanie >:(

Coffee Bean 

aw ;-; I wish I was there

Orange AirPod

see Tweeky wants to hang out

Coffee Bean

Tweeky? really?!

Space Cadet

fine. We can talk about it at school. Night mcwhoremick. Night Tweekers

Orange AirPod

🖕

Space Cadet

Hey that’s my thing

Coffee Bean

what’s with the nicknames? :(

Kenny closes his phone and continues to walk home. He knows he should probably distance himself from them but there are only three weeks of school left so why not?

To make the walk a little more entertaining Kenny sings Butter’s song

“Lu Lu Lu, I’ve got some apples,

“Lu Lu Lu, you got some too!”

What? It was catchy. Don’t blame Kenny.

Kenny sees the outline of his house but then he hears someone running up to him. Kenny turns around and sees a zombie coming close to his face.

“THE FUCK-“ Weren’t zombies supposed to be slow?! His answer was confirmed when the zombie ripped on his flesh and the world went blank.

Huh… nothing ever goes right for me.

My Wattpad

[sseomtada]

being [ruben dias]

you finally learn the truth behind that night.

warnings: none | wc: 5565 | 3/???

“Umm, what are you wearing?” Aki lowered the bottles in her hand.

You cluelessly peered down at the clothes she’d literally seen you wearing earlier in the office. It took a while for your mind to construct the meaning of her slight chastise. Slacks and a button down was certainly not the appropriate attire for the occasion.

“Right! Shit…” You sprang into action, letting her in.

She made herself comfortable in your loft, beelining to the kitchen while you got prepared to join her in the long overdue ritual.

Some time had passed since the launch party at Nike. You’d been so busy with chasing up the next project on the agenda that your tradition had sadly slipped through the cracks. Luckily, your best friend was there to always remind you of the important stuff.

After sprinting through a shower, you slipped into a silk romper and joined her out in the living room. Her ability to whip up a master charcuterie board was out of this world. When did you even buy honey and feta?

“Early 2000s or something new?” Aki pondered as she scrolled through streaming options.

“I’m feeling modern tonight.” You replied around a cheese topped cracker.

She agreed, filtering for options within the last year. While the opening credits ran, you emptied the first bottle of wine she brought between your two glasses. That earned you a look of surprise to which you responded with a cheeky one of your own.

While you were on the more conservative side of alcohol consumption these days, you liked to let loose every now and then. What was the use of working so hard if you didn't blow off steam by getting a bit tipsy with your favorite girl?

Halfway through your glass, you started to wonder whether or not you’d made a mistake. Not on the wine, that was top tier, but the era of movie you chose. Film companies just didn’t put their soul into producing quality rom-coms like they used to.

You chugged the remainder of your Bordeaux and went in for seconds. Maybe fast tracking the intoxication would make this dry ass movie more palatable. Aki followed suit, hissing dramatically at the burn of her massive mouthful going down.

About five, or fifteen minutes passed - you honestly didn’t know now given your warped senses - before you turned to her with a grimace. She was already looking at you with an expression that made you burst into laughter.

“This movie fuckin’ sucks.” You gasped.

“I know!” Aki struggled to breathe. “I’m so sorry for picking it!”

Instead of torturing yourselves with the remainder of it, you decided to place a bet on what the ending would be. It was obvious that they’d end up together given the tone of the movie so far, but how they would get there was up for debate.

Ultimately, one Wikipedia page scan later, her guess was closer to being correct than yours.

“Okay…how about we do a drunk capsule now?” Aki dared you with her eyes.

It was an offer you couldn’t refuse, especially due to your current state. In these traditional events, nothing was off limits and everything was confined to the safety of the moment. To put it plainly, whatever either of you said couldn’t be held against you once you’d sobered up.

“Go on, I know you’ve been waiting for this forever.” You rolled your eyes playfully.

She clapped giddily, shuffling until her knees touched yours.

“Starting off a bit strong, but,” Her bottom lip reduced between her teeth. “Why haven’t you dated anyone since. You know.”

You blew a raspberry. “I-I have been on dates.”

“How many in the last year? Or two?” Aki hiccuped. “Come on, you’re still young and sexy! You should be getting pounded religiously!"

“Ew!” You slapped her leg. “Things have been really hectic with the company, you know that. I’ve barely had time to have a proper chat with my mom much less date a guy.”

That was the God’s honest truth. It was arguably a bigger task than you realistically could’ve handled, deciding to open a new branch of Bana.

The risk had to be taken, though. If you sat there trying to rationalize it through figures and statistics, you never would’ve committed to this next step that already was paying its weight in gold.

You also really needed to carve out time to call back home for more than just a quick hello.

Aki was the only other person who knew just how time consuming all of this was, so she accepted your response - albeit with an emphasized pout.

“We spoke,” She ran a finger along the rim of her wineglass. “Ruben and I.”

Your head reared back as you screwed your eyes shut. That information wasn’t too surprising considering that when you left, they both remained at the party. Still, it hit you with rather powerful force.

Trying to picture that conversation pulled your mind in several directions. Aki was a different person than you in many ways, her methods of communicating being one of them. She was far more straightforward than you were and was never the type to do a long song or dance before getting to the point.

The situation she had with him was rather complicated, though. She was collateral damage in his severance from you. His parting message to her was just as curt and painful as the one he’d sent you - with an added layer of which you now realized was the audacity he always had. 

We can’t be friends anymore. Take care of her.

Going through something like that could create deviations in anyone’s behavior. You wouldn’t hold it against her if she found herself too flustered to articulate herself properly. Especially if he’d displayed the same attitude to her that was directed towards you.

“How are you holding up?” It was embarrassing to admit that this was the first time you’d really checked in with her regarding the entire situation.

She sighed deeply and then nodded. “I’m okay, said what I needed to.”

o passado

aki

Her eyes had been on you since that giant blond man had made his way over.

Not exactly the type she’d seen you fawn over, but there was a first time for everything, right? Besides, it didn’t hurt that he was clearly acquainted with Ruben - whose gaze was glued to you and the guy like his life depended on it. Maybe it would hit him where it hurts.

She prayed it did.

“And that was basically how I figured out I was a genius!” The long winded man she was conversing with finally wrapped up his story - full cackle to boot.

“That’s amazing!” Aki matched his energy, going as far as to throw her head back for good measure.

“Was that your CEO you were sitting with - the one in the white?” His tone immediately had her eyes narrowing.

Your dress was cream, but he was a man so she’d let it slide.

While his appearance was more towards your usual taste, there was no way she’d let him near you. Not with his clearly inflated sense of importance and clear habit of never letting anyone else speak for more than ten seconds without interruption.

“Yep, that’s her.” Aki nodded proudly. It was always nice to tell people that her best friend ran a company.

“Is she single? I’m sorry that might be a bit forward, but I’m sure you’ve noticed how stunning she is.” He chuckled awkwardly.

“She…is.” The smart retort part of her brain clicked off when her gaze drifted to find you talking to Ruben.

Whatever thirsty homeboy was droning on about fell yet again on deaf ears as she watched your interaction with shallow breaths. It was the first time she’d seen him in years, stirring up strange emotions to say the least.

When he’d messaged her that night, her heart broke and sank all the way to her toes. Only a fraction of a moment passed as she tried to rationalize why she’d so suddenly lost the person who was like the brother she always wanted. Her mind almost immediately went to you.

Take care of her.

Fuck, those words still filled her with rage to this day. He knew just how deeply you were in love with him and he didn’t even have the decency to say that shit to your face, or give you a reason. He knew how badly it would break you. Yet, he did it anyway.

Aki would never forget the way every bone in your body shook as she held you. She’d never get over how the heartache ate you from the inside out, watching you turn into a hollow shell of the vibrant girl you used to be.

But more importantly, she wouldn’t ever forget watching you pick yourself back up. Piece by piece, you took shape. Watching you find and love yourself after what he put you through was the proudest she felt in your friendship.

And here he was again.

She thought she’d seen a ghost when you showed up soaking wet and in tears on her doorstep a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a question in her mind as to why you were that torn up suddenly because there was only ever one person that could do that to you.

What did Ruben want? So much time had passed, did he think that was an excuse of some sort to suddenly start popping up like a whack-a-mole? She would’t stand by idly and let him create chaos the way he once did.

Aki watched him as he watched you making your way to the exit, his expression forlorn. It twisted her insides like they were filed with bile instead of bubbly. She excused herself from Mr. Know It All and shot straight to her target.

“Ruben.”

He spun around, eyes widening. “Aki…”

“Look, I’m not interested in the past and I’m definitely not here for any kind of apology.” She breathed. “I just wanna know what you’re doing, Ruben?”

His brows pushed together, “I was just having a conversation, Akenna.”

“Don’t do that.” Her jaw ticked.

He didn’t have the right to say her full name like he used to in jest anymore. They weren’t good friends, they weren’t anything to one another as things stood - all by his doing.

“And don’t play dumb.” Aki scoffed, anger rising by the second. “You weren’t there to see the fall out. No, you were living it up as the nation’s new hot shot and embracing all that came with it. You fucking,” She pressed her nails into her palm to steady herself. “You devastated her.”

Ruben flinched. Her words and the severity of it all finally seeming to click into place. She could see the thoughts swimming around his mind, imagining probably the worse case scenario that she bet wouldn’t even scratch the surface of reality. The air around the two hung heavy, as still as a day with no wind to sway the trees.

“I’m not trying to hurt Y/N, or you, again.” He eventually whispered.

That was rich, was she just supposed to take his word for it? Aki sized him up with scrutiny, wondering what position he thought he would get into with you both to repeat such a thing. Yet despite all her glaring, she still couldn't grasp his intentions.

Maybe deep down, she didn't want to.

In any case, by the looks of him, life had appeared to go unjustly in his favor despite his misdeeds. While that was an annoying observation, she chose to cling to the other side of it. She decided to celebrate that you were infinite miles away from the version of yourself he’d last seen.

A new form of yourself that she'd silently vowed to protect at all costs.

“Then whatever you trying to do, stop.” Aki warned. “She’s in a good place now, don’t ruin that.”

o presente

you

Whatever she was able to get off her chest seemed to provide her with relief.

That left you grinning. Heartbroken or not, Aki stuck to her guns. It made you promise silently to yourself that you’d adopt her stance. If you ever crossed paths with him again, though you should say when since it seemed all but inevitable in this city, you’d lay it all out on the table.

“So…have you tried Hinge?” Aki smiled sheepishly.

You exclaimed and pounced on her, smacking her with a sofa cushion as the light-hearted mood returned. She was surprisingly agile for someone so tipsy, narrowly dodging most of your blows with full bellied laughs.

I’m just doing your mom’s bidding - ah, watch the face!

The small brawl ended just as quickly as it started. Your tolerance was far below what it used to be, lethargy taking over your limbs. With a huff, you flopped onto the carpet. Aki raised your head to tuck a pillow beneath it before assuming a cozy position of her own.

“We’re gonna regret drinking this much tomorrow aren’t we?” You groaned, a hand running over your tummy.

“Nothing a good, hot cup of coffee can’t fix.” She yawned.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

Even after shaking the last of a double shot into your mouth, you were laced with regret. As much as you adored celebrating last night, you currently wished you could’ve slept it off a bit longer.

However, duty called. You had two meetings to knock out and needed to get through a morning brief about both of them.

“Wow, you guys look…” Cindy tried and failed to hide her shock.

“Don’t worry,” Aki pushed her sunglasses up to her hair. “I brought the emergency makeup kit.”

“Let’s just get through this quickly.” You grimaced, clutching at your blouse.

As Cindy walked you guys through all the research she compiled, you chugged down a liter of water to bring your insides back to life. On top of regretting taking wine to the head, you felt guilty about letting a bit loose while she was probably busy working.

Another mental note: give her additional vacation days.

Erling’s online presence was pretty standard for a public figure and athlete. His social media was tightly managed as well. That was obviously smart on his part, enough people in similar standing had sometimes irredeemable flubs by not thinking before posting.

The water was kicking in, leaving your mind devising the skeleton of a pitch. It might’ve been jumping the gun a bit since you still didn’t know their hopes for partnering with Bana.

You always liked to be prepared for anything though, especially when it came to working with busy clients like him. Quick thinking could easily be the difference between success and failure.

“Uh, guys.” Cindy tapped her phone. “You’re gonna need to get started on using that kit - Erling’s assistant just asked if you could meet him for lunch instead.”

Aki yelped, immediately rifling through her bag. You high sprinted to the bathroom to empty your bladder before rejoining the room. After a quick touch up to make you resemble the human species again, you gathered everything you needed.

Since the meeting had been moved up, it would clash with a virtual call you had with another potential client. Cindy volunteered to stay behind to cover given that she was the only one other than yourself with extensive marketing knowledge.

“Where are we headed for this lunch?” You slung your tote over your shoulder.

“City training grounds.” Cindy pulled a face. “Not the most glamorous, but I guess he’s staying on brand?”

Your mind immediately went there. Of course it did, it wouldn’t be normal if he didn’t make an appearance in your thoughts when hearing the location. What you were grateful for, though, was that there was no sinking feeling. No ache in your chest or pit in your stomach, just neutrality.

Aki looped her arm around your free one and tapped your bicep. “Let’s catch this fish.”

“Good luck!” Cindy waved as you exited.

Uncharacteristically, you were the one that had to be forcefully awoken and shoved into the shower this morning. That meant Aki drove you both to work, so you hopped into her passenger seat once more as she fired up the engine.

“What do they even eat there?” She pulled up the address on maps. “Baked chicken and sweet potatoes?”

You snorted loudly. “I don’t think they have a whole team of chefs just to make Instagram fitness bro meal preps.”

Aki made a noise of agreement and then got to daydreaming aloud about their potential offerings. Her imagination had your stomach growling. You hadn’t been able to even sniff the muffins in the cafe earlier without turning green in the face, but you were finally entering the phase of your belly signaling for sustenance.

Her phone rang with an unsaved number on her dashboard. You pulled a face at her suggesting that it could be one of the suitors she’d been seeing under the guise of getting to know the new city. She bit at you like a puppy before answering.

“Hi Akenna, this is Meredith from Dr. Johnson’s office. We’re just confirming your visit today at twelve thirty.” The voice sounded out.

Aki’s mouth dropped open as she looked over to you. “H-hi Meredith! I…”

You didn’t know she had a doctor’s visit scheduled and by the looks of it, she didn’t recall either. That was one hundred percent okay with you. Obviously, her health came before anything else. Your head nodded incessantly, urging her to confirm.

“I will be there.” The words sounded as if she’d dragged them from the bottom of a deep well.

“Cheers! We’ll see you soon.” Meredith disconnected the call.

“Is everything okay?” That was your main concern at the moment.

She groaned. “Yeah, it’s just time for a routine check up with the pussypractor.”

You let out a laugh. Being happy at her using that word to describe her gynecologist was far from your normal reaction, but you welcomed it in place of the fear you’d felt for a minute.

“I’m glad you’re taking care of your magic conch.” You relaxed back into your seat.

“Are you gonna be okay? I feel bad leaving you there all alone.” Aki pouted.

“I’ll be fine.” You shot her a grin. “I’m just going to complete the mission and get back ASAP.”

Whether or not she was convinced remained a mystery. That question was a double edged sword, but so was your answer. You weren’t going there with any intention beside getting your job done.

And feeding the beast in your belly.

Thankfully, the grounds weren’t too far away and traffic wasn’t as horrendous as usual. She turned her car into the security checkpoint that went by without a hitch since they’d been notified of your arrival beforehand.

“This is…weird.” Aki peered around after parking out front.

It was like deja vu. Seeing the turf, hearing the sprinklers in the distance - your senses were all lit up and connecting the dots to your past experiences in a similar environment.

“Yeah.” You refocused on the task at hand, opening the car door. “I’ll see you at home. Want me to bring over an ice pack?”

“I’ll probably already have beat you to it, smart ass.” Aki shook her head. “Text me when you’re back.”

The lady at the front greeted you brightly and let you know that Erling’s assistant would be out shortly. In the meantime, you busied yourselves with taking a look at the large pictures lining the walls. Where City clearly had the money, they also had the success. Image after image were filled with bright smiles, medals and trophies.

“Y/N, it’s so nice to finally meet you.” A young brunette woman appeared into your impromptu gallery viewing.

“Likewise.” You shook hands, extending a smile.

“Please, this way.” She directed you to follow her down a hallway.

Animated voices became louder the further you walked and the smell of rich flavors filled your nose. Whatever was being cooked was so far from barely seasoned cutlets and bland potatoes. Your stride hitched at the sound of one particularly loud laugh.

Right. It must be lunch break for the entire squad.

Just as your ears started to ring, unwanted sensations deciding to make their return, she pivoted off to the left to deviate your path from the cafeteria. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding just as your eyes looked back to catch Ruben’s - wide and confused, watching you disappear around the bend.

Coming somewhat prepared worked well in your favor.

Erling had a rough idea of what he wanted to do, but first asked your opinion about the direction you would suggest. Given the current era socially and culturally, coupled with the timeline of his playing career being almost predefined, you focused on building a diverse brand that spoke to longevity.

Football itself was such a vast world with many paths. You constructed a plan in front of him that held his passion at the center surrounded by interest that could tie back into it. If he wanted to expand his humanitarian efforts, a foundation was always the best bet - donating to boys and girls sporting programs, hosting summer camps, auctioning iconic jerseys for a cause.

Partnerships were the biggest way to expand image wise. Of course, there were the well known luxury brands that would die to have him as their ambassadors. If he wanted to hone in on a relatable image, he could partner with more affordable brands for an athletic line.

You wanted to show him that there was a world of possibility that was easily within his reach. All he had to do essentially was point the team at Bana in the direction he wanted to do and you would get it done.

Erling was extremely pleased with what you pitched to him. His assistant took notes for him to go over later in order to single out where he wanted to start, and get back to you guys with contract details. You were left buzzing with pride and very full with the most delicious chicken salad you ever had.

“I’m excited to see where this partnership takes us.” He beamed as he walked you back to the entrance.

“We intend to take you as far as you want to go.” You promised.

Him and his assistant headed out to his next appointment after you said your goodbyes. There wasn’t anything else on the agenda for the day now with both that meeting and the virtual one at the office being done.

You figured you might as well head home to check on Aki. Also, turning in early for a good night’s rest would be the best thing you could do for your body.

You requested a ride back to your place and hoped the wait would be less than 10 minutes. The confirmation came back to show that the driver was just under that, which nearly made you roll your eyes. Instead, you decided to be grateful and message Cindy to see how her call went.

“Are you going to wait eight minutes for Jeremy to pick you up?”

Your head craned to spot Ruben peering at your phone over your shoulder. Though there was nothing to hide, as well as him already seeing what was on your screen, you tucked the device into your chest and spun around.

“Obviously.” You cleared your throat.

“Why would you do that?” His gaze was scrutinizing.

“It’s what one does when they left their car at home and require a lift.” The hand holding your phone tilted it back slightly - six minutes.

“Come with me.” Ruben boldly suggested.

The laugh that left you was incredulous, there was that fucking audacity again. Under what circumstance would you get into his car with him?

You were actually starting to wonder, seriously, without any offense, whether or not he was entirely there mentally. It was like he had no recollection of what he’d done to you.

Or worse, that he didn’t care.

“No.” Your eyes turned downwards again - four minutes.

“Let me take you home.” He reached out to take hold of your wrist.

There was a slight tremble to your mouth that you were quick to shut down by pinning your lips together. Those words shoved your mind through a wormhole back to all those warm nights in Amadora. Your backpack slung over his shoulder, his fingers laced through yours. Both of your laughs bouncing off concrete structure lined streets.

“Absolutely not.” You spoke weakly.

A step too late, you registered his movement. Your small lunge was futile against his giant step back after he’d snatched the phone away from your unsuspecting grip. Getting onto your tippy toes was even more useless against his extended arm as he canceled your ride.

“Please, I owe you that.” Ruben handed it back to you. “And everything else you need to hear from me.”

Freedom of choice in this situation was an illusion. The opportunity to gain all the clarity you sought, all the answers to the questions that haunted you for years, landed in your lap without any effort on your end. Did the option of rebooking a ride share move the needle away from you wanting to know everything?

Not even an inch.

“Okay.” You conceded, motioning for him to lead the way.

Ruben walked you over to his jeep and opened the passenger door for you before you could even try. The gesture that once made you feel giddy did little to stir anything in you today. You fastened your seatbelt and placed your tote on your lap as he got in.

“Now would be a good time to,” He pointed at his console.

“Right…” You pulled up his gps to enter your address.

“Before you think something weird, just a warning that I’m leaving from the service exit.” His car spun in the opposite direction that you entered in. “Things get a bit crazy in the front with the fans and all.”

Wow, what a hero. You didn’t know whether or not to thank him for at least respecting your right to privacy, so you stayed silent and offered a nod.

The first few minutes of the ride stayed much like that - quiet. You wished he hadn’t turned off the music immediately as the car started. Whatever he listened to these days would’ve been miles better than the sound of his smooth engine running and the hissing of his tires on the lightly misted road.

“I’m sorry about the other night.” Ruben spoke alas. “It wasn’t my place to step in with a stupid suggestion like that.”

“No, it wasn’t.” At least you both agreed on that much.

He chuckled at your swift concur. “Everything went well with Erling then, I suppose.”

“You’re on a roll, Dias.” You said drily. “Two for two.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, catching your attention from the corner of your eye. It was becoming apparent to him that this interaction wasn’t going to happen the way he imagined - whatever that may have been.

Did he expect you to be the same doe eyed girl you were seven years ago? Even without your shared history, that would’ve been an extremely naive ideal.

“Y/N…” Ruben tapped his steering wheel. “About that night…”

You dared to look at him for the first time during the ride. All over his face was the war he was fighting in his mind. As stupid and misplaced as it was, you actually felt a bit sorry for him. He had been a source of pain for you for so long, yet you still couldn’t stand to see him experiencing discomfort.

“Was it something I did, something I said?” Your biggest insecurity fell out uncontrollably. “Was it me?”

“No.” He interjected swiftly, almost angrily.

“What made you do it?” The question being posed directly to him after all this time didn’t offer you what you’d hoped.

You thought that if you had ever came to this moment, you would be on some sort of emotional pedestal. So far out of reach and so beyond what had transpired that no response he gave would have a great impact.

In actuality, it was completely the opposite. You didn’t feel elevated or safe out of reach from any negative outcome. Sitting beside him, getting swallowed up by his big leather seats, you felt small and vulnerable.

You were afraid.

“When I sent that message - those messages - it didn’t even feel like it was me.” Ruben appeared to be focused on the road ahead, but his eyes were distant. “I never felt like I truly deserved you. Sometimes when I looked at you, that feeling was overwhelming. I saw how much I meant to you, knew you’d do anything for me, maybe even give up everything for me…and I can admit it now that in those moments I was right about myself.”

He was really on a hot streak here. Three for three because you also felt like it wasn’t him speaking to you that night, or shutting off the lights on you. Four for four, actually. You would’ve done anything for him and yes, even given up everything if it meant you got to be with him.

The last part confused you though.

“Right about what?” You sought out comprehension.

“I didn’t deserve you.” Ruben provided it. “Because anyone who did wouldn’t have felt pressured by that. They would’ve stepped up even more and lived up to be the kind of person who was worthy of that kind of love. Instead, I was the type who was convinced that it was too much and ran away from it. I selfishly cut my emotions off and did what I did, not even considering the outcome.”

The fear you had was replaced with disappointment. You truthfully didn’t know what you expected his explanation to be. Maybe it wouldn’t have felt like this if he had said he started having feelings for someone else, or any other partially plausible explanation.

You guessed this was just as rational as all others in his mind, but you just couldn’t wrap your head around it. The guy you knew never showed any signs of wavering in confidence or expressed the slightest doubt that he was deserving to be deeply loved.

A part of you understood that everyone all wore masks, especially around the people they wanted to appear to be strong for. But he never had to do that with you. At least, you thought he knew that he didn’t have to pretend to be anything when he was with you.

“Ruben…” Your gripped tightened around your tote straps.

What could you even say at this point? The one expectation you did have that was met when you got into this car was that you’d received an explanation. It was just difficult to come to terms with the fact that all of your whys boiled down to something so simple yet complex.

Insecurity was an easy emotion to name, but far from that to dissect. And it certainly made people do often very shameful and hurtful things. Still, knowing all of that did nothing to ease the ache you felt watching him bite the inside of his cheek.

The drive suddenly didn’t feel so long as you realized he was pulling up to your building’s entrance. He put the car in park and reached to leave to get your door, but your hand quickly shot out to touch his arm.

“I’ve got it.” You slowly let it fall to unbuckle your seatbelt. “Thanks for the ride.”

Ruben left it until the very last second, calling your name as you were about to shut the door.

“I’m sorry for everything I put you through.” His shiny brown eyes held yours for as long as you could take before you finally sealed it shut.

You rushed inside, not daring to look back so that your tears could fall unnoticed. With rasps of breaths falling from your lips as you pressed your head against the back of the elevator, massaging the space over your heart, you found yourself asking a new question.

What would you do now, knowing that which you’ve longed to?

[imaloregremlin]

I Found A Shrub, What Now?

(Chapter 1)

by imaloregremlin

so remember the fanfic I said I’d post here?

———

Shelby tromped through the Evermoor, rubber boots squelching in the muddy soil. The Fog swirled around her, covering the witch in a misty veil.

She normally just patrolled the borders of the swamp, searching for lost travelers who'd stumbled in by mistake. She never expected to find the gnome.

Cowering in the shadow of a mangrove, lay a small, bruised body, shivering in the damp mist. The shivering was the only way Shelby could tell the thing was alive. The body was surrounded by wolves, most of whom were curled up protectively around it. Small pointy ears assured that yes, this...creature...was, in fact, a gnome. The kind that had thought to have been wiped out over a thousand years ago. The kind that were the original inhabitants of the withered mushroom village Shelby had found weeks ago. (Before the rift, and the wanted posters, and the skulk.) The kind that left the note for that "Shrub" person. Or possibly a sentient bush. She really wasn't sure.

In times of doubt, Shelby did what she usually did. Twirling her wand in the air semi-dramatically, she cast one of the only spells she had mastered in her time at the Academy. Messaging. A glittering swath of magical paper appeared in front of her, along with a spectral quill.

kathrine get over here now it’s urgent i found something

The words appeared on the parchment, which rolled up and zoomed off to find her monster-hunting girlfriend.

Shelby glanced down at the crumpled figure who still hadn't woken up.

They seemed to twitch and stir a bit at her presence. Their face, mostly covered by a blue and silver mask, bore many cuts and bruises-really the gnome looked like she'd been through a war. (Were the gnomes fighting a war? Would the Academy want to hear about this? She didn't know if she should even tell them--they were under new management now, but Shelby wasn't completely certain she could trust them yet.)

Well, Shelby certainly couldn't leave the poor thing here.

Squinting, she assessed the figure's condition-were they fit to travel?

Without a broomstick or elytra, it was a half-day's walk from here to the nearest empire with suitable medical care and Shelby doubted the body could use one in its current state. (Shelby's makeshift hut and potion shop didn't count-she wasn't sure about gnome physiology and what effects a healing potion would have on their body, especially if she was the one to make it.)

"So, Tortoise, what should we do?"

The toad, regrettably, (and also predictably,) had no response.

She really had to work on some spell that would allow him to talk to her.

Welp.

Shelly picked up the body and wrapped it in an extra sweater from her pack. The wolves surrounding it growled and whimpered.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, I'm just trying to help your friend...isn't that what we all want?"

The pack snarled and yipped a bit more, but backed off eventually.

Shelby started walking, adjusting the gnome in her arms every so often.

The wolves followed protectively around them.

Shelby glanced at the darkening sky, and quickened her pace. It was going to be night soon-she didn't want to stick around to tempt whatever else the Evermore might hide. The place was definitely haunted. Fireflies darted out from their hollows in the trees, swirling and mingled with the fog like will-o-the-wisps. A mysterious shushing noise sounded in the distance.

Shelby didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.

Even though it sounded hauntingly like footsteps.

Okay, time to go home.

When Shelly reached her cottage in the swamp, it was late. Stars had started to appear in the night sky, one of the first clear nights Shelby had seen from the Evermoore.

Kathrine stood in front of her door, one hand on her axe, fidgeting with the smooth ebony handle.

"What happened, Shubble? Are you okay? -who in the empires is that?"

"I dunno, I just kinda found her to be honest."

Shelby set the girl(?) down on the driest patch of earth she could find, and told Kathrine what had happened.

"I think she's a gnome."

"A… what..?"

“Think back to history. The dead ones? The ones wiped out by corruption a thousand years ago?"

"Yeah...

"Well, apparently not completely."

"Obviously. She's right there."

I know."

"What the fuck do we do with her?"

[cellythefloshie]

;; I Wanna Be Yours 500 Follower Celebration

Summary: You can't handle being just friends with your childhood friend, Brandon Hagel, anymore. Word Count: 1k+

Secrets I have held in my heart are harder to hide than I thought.

Growing up in Morinville, Alberta, where the population was less than 10,000, there was one thing for certain: you knew everyone and everyone knew you. The kids you met on the first day of Kindergarten were the same you graduated with at eighteen. Some would stay and work in Morinville, maybe even marry their high school sweetheart, while others would move to Calgary or Edmonton to go to school. But in Morinville, there was one exception, your best friend: Brandon Hagel. 

You had met him in grade school, his family having moved from Saskatoon. You had been too young to remember why or even ask, but the moment he walked into the classroom, and your teacher seated him at the desk beside you, the two of you were best friends. You swapped lunches, and played together at recess. Play dates were often scheduled by your parents, and you even played on the same Timbits hockey team until his skills surpassed your own and you were left to watch him play from the stands. 

You were his biggest fan, even as he moved through different leagues, and it became more difficult for you to attend. The WHL, AHL and finally the NHL you had been there for it all one way or another. Watching the game streams on sketchy websites, late night phone calls, traveling to watch him play when he was close enough to home. You did it all, and it didn't go unrecognized. By those who didn't know you, and didn't know your story, you were often mistaken as his girlfriend. 

It was something you just shrugged off, and assured those who were embarrassed for making such a statement that it was an honest mistake. 

What they didn't know was how desperately you wanted that to be true. 

You wanted to be his. 

But after what felt like a lifetime together, you were convinced that would never be a reality. Not even as you sat on a beach in Tampa, Florida with Brandon sitting at a table with his teammates behind you. 

You had flown down to watch their Stanley Cup Final match against the Colorado Avalanche. You had booked enough time off to be able to enjoy the parade, but it was an event that never came. The Bolts had lost, but you never passed up on the opportunity to enjoy a vacation. 

You could hear the guys laughing behind you as you sat in the warmth of the sun. Cirelli had been trying to do some sort of party trick with a Corona and had ultimately failed, sending the table into laughter. Brandon's was the most prominent among them, the sound filling your belly with warmth. You loved his laugh, and the smile that you were sure was spread so fully over his lips. Just the thought of it had you smiling too, but it quickly faded when you heard a soft feminine voice speaking to Brandon. 

It wasn't one you recognized, so you perked up in your seat and pretended to stretch as you glanced back at the table. The girl was pretty, and wasn't one of the wives or girlfriends that you had met during your trip. Your smile faded, and your stomach sank in an instant. 

You had no right to be jealous. You weren't his girlfriend, he wasn't your boyfriend. He was allowed to flirt with whoever he pleased, and you envied the woman for the courage she had to walk up to an attractive stranger at the beach. It was the courage you wished you had yourself but knew it would never come. 

Your shoulders slouched as you sunk back into your seat, a single hand reached up to pull the brim of your sun hat low in an attempt to hide the disappointed look you were sure had overtaken your features. But it was too late, someone had already noticed. 

“Hey, is everything okay?” It was the voice of Cirelli's girlfriend that drew your eyes up. She sat in the chair next to you, her body sprawled out and a book in hand. She must have looked up from the pages just long enough to see that something was wrong. 

You wished she hadn't. 

“Yeah, it's just-” you cut yourself off with an uneven breath, “I'm not feeling well I think I'm going to go back to the hotel.”

“Oh, okay-” was all you could hear leaving her lips. A disappointed sigh as you reached down for your beach bag, pulled on your cover up and left your seat on the beach. 

You wasted no time with goodbyes. Brandon wouldn't miss you. Hell, he probably wouldn't even notice you were gone. And if he did, Cirelli's girl could tell him where you went. 

Your strides were quick as you moved through the sand and up to the boardwalk where you stopped just long enough to throw your shoes down on the ground. You stepped into them and quickly fell into stride again. You moved through the busy boardwalk with your head down, tears burning at your eyes but you didn't let them spill. Each steady breath you took fought them back, but only fueled the turmoil of frustration in your mind. 

You hated that you felt this way. He was your best friend, your longest friend. You should have been happy with how things were. Yet, you wanted more. You would always want more-

There was a thunder of footsteps on the boardwalk behind you. Distant at first. So far you barely heard them but they grew louder, instructing your thoughts and clouding your mind. Your first instinct was to step to the side, out of the way of any jogger or playful child that may have been in your wake. But then you heard your name, a desperate call to get your attention, and you froze. 

You would recognize the voice anywhere. 

“Brandon?”

He stilled in front of you, his hand reaching up to slick back his shaggy hair that had fallen into his eyes. His breathing was uneven as he recovered from his sprint, and his dark eyes were fixated on you. His stare was magnetic, holding you in place without having to touch you. And you hated it. The hold he had on you, and it left tears to build in your eyes. 

And he noticed. 

“Hey,” he spoke softly, “ what's wrong?”

“I'm sorry,” your croaked, your weak voice betraying you so quickly, “I just can't be here. I need to go home-”

“Go home?” Brabdon asked. 

His face contorted with confusion as he took a small step in and reached out to take hold of your arm. His hand was warm against your skin, sending a fluttering feeling through your body in an instant. 

“What are you talking about? You're supposed to be here for another week.” 

You wanted to shrug it off. To play it off as nothing, but there was too much you needed to get off your chest. There was no use in keeping secrets anymore. Not when they made you feel the way you did. 

“I want to be yours, Brandon,” your words felt like a pathetic plea as they left your lips, “and I can't keep pretending that I don't. You're my best friend, but it hurts too much to just sit back and-” 

Brandon didn't let you finish. He didn't have to. His hand  left your arm, his fingers grazing up slowly until you felt the warmth of his palm spread over your cheek. He cupped your face gently and used that hold to draw you in. And he kissed you, so deeply, so feverishly that it left you breathless. And in that moment you knew he felt the same way too. He, like you, had been too scared to ruin the friendship you both treasured so dearly.

[ghostly-wisp]

MR. LOVERMAN 

Chapter 6

chapter 5 | chapter 7 | series masterlist | page masterlist

︶︶︶༉‧₊˚.

warnings — strong language, not proofread

When your voice comes through the line, he stops walking, Pedro is just outside his car. His hand is on the handle, but he can’t bring himself to move, he really didn’t think you would answer. He's glad you did, but it makes the situation real, and if hes honest he was expecting to be sent straight to voicemail. His stomach drops a little, but he takes a deep breath. He can’t make the same mistake he has before, he can’t ruin this one chance he has, if he even still has it. “Y/N?” 

“Is everything okay, Pedro?” you sound worried, which makes him feel slight excitement because at least he can tell you care—you hear the ding of his car door opening from the other line, you're biting lip nervously waiting for his response, it feels like he's taking his sweet ass time – so you repeat, “Pedro.” he’s quick to respond now. “‘m here, sorry,” he looks around the street, the streetlight above his car is illuminating everything, he honest to God feels like Hes in some film with a fucked-up plot that he would’ve turned off by now. “Are you home? I need to see you.” 

You still, Sam would never approve of this. They would tell you to hang up, to tell him that you’re busy, you can’t keep giving into Pedro – he's like some disease you can’t shake, you can’t let him keep affecting you like this – you can’t let him keep you wrapped around his finger, it doesn’t do you anything good. You sigh, “I don’t know if that's a good idea, Pedro, it’s late and–” he doesn’t even let you ramble the rest of whatever excuse you're about to give him.

“Please.” The tone in his voice is familiar, it brings you back to the day in your classroom – the crack in his voice and the desperation, you can only imagine that he's on the brink of tears. “Please, I need to see you.” Maybe it's your own desperation, or maybe you're just that fucking gullible, but you tell him “Okay.” Whatever Sam doesn’t know can’t kill them. You remind him of the address and your apartment number and hung up the phone. You're frozen for a moment, you wonder if you're dreaming, if this some sick delusion. You can't fathom a reason for this to be happening, why today, why now, and why was it so urgent?

When your music starts playing again at full volume, you're brought back to reality. Thougj rigjt now you prefer now to wait in silence, the music would only act as a distraction that you couldn’t have. What could this possibly be about? The thousands of scenarios run in your head—most negative—you’re pacing and picking up a couple things as you do so. Maybe this was a mistake, you should’ve stuck to your guns and told him no, maybe then you wouldn’t have this pit in the stomach. It feels like it takes him ages, but finally you hear that ear piercing buzz alerting you know someone wants you to let them in. You don’t even bother using your intercom, you just let them in. You’re on the third floor, and you’re guessing by the sound of quick footsteps that he didn’t even bother with the elevator. Your palms clam up and your pacing comes to a halt when he knocks on the door, it seems hesitant almost. Which is funny, considering he was just running down the hall, maybe he was second guessing himself or wanted to seem like he wasn’t rushing his way to see you.  

When you make it to the front door, you don’t open it right away, you take a deep breath first, and you’re slow to unlock the door. When you finally open it, he’s got one hand against the door frame, and he's slightly leaning into that for support, you want to throw your arms around him, but you don’t. He takes his arm away and looks at you, panting softly. He takes you all in, like he can’t believe he's actually seeing you, it's like in his dreams. The ones that he remembers anyways.

There's a moment where the two of you are standing there, looking at each other awkwardly. You don’t know if you should speak first or wait for him – you’re the one to break the silence, inviting him into your apartment, and he slowly steps in and looks around – He missed your apartment, the atmosphere is more comfortable than Jennys – there's a faint smell of apples from your candle, the decorations are more welcoming, it feels like a home. He loved it, and he missed the fuzzy feeling it gave him. Pedro turns to face you again, watching you lock the door like you always did. When you turn to face him, you can tell that he was either crying earlier or he's trying not to now. 

“So, what's up?” your voice is soft, oh, how he missed it. He thinks about how he wants to start his sentence; he used a lot of similar phrases the last time you two chatted, and safe to say, he didn’t want to repeat that conversation. He wets his lips with his tongue and his eyes dart around, his hands are suddenly clammy and he's sweating. “I was with Jenny and–” he watches you roll your eyes, and you start to move past him. “No! Not like—just listen to me, please.” bad start already, way to go, Pedro. He thinks to himself.

You shake your head—how could you let yourself think he would be here for anything good for you? Still, he follows you into your living room and you turn on your heel. You want to listen to him, you really do, but you don’t want to hear whatever story he has that includes Jenny, you’ve always made your feelings about her very clear to him, and he chose to hang out with her. Which you know is his choice, but you still didn’t want to hear anything about the art teacher, not after everything that's happened. Pedro stops walking when you turn, and it's a stand still. “She told me that she uh, she heard you and Sam...” you only raise your eyebrows, because you and Sam talk about Pedro a lot as of late. “She told me that – you we’re talking about getting over me.” with this, your heart stops for a moment, and you feel a pit in your stomach again. For no reason, though, because he should know how you felt about him. You basically told him, or were you not clear enough for his thick man brain?

“You know how I felt about you,” felt was a word you chose carefully, making it sound past tense, he catches onto it – but for the moment, he's choosing to ignore it. He needs to believe that he still has a shot if he's going to stand here and say what he's been dying to say for a while now. “You hurt me, Pedro, you ignored me for weeks because you were scared. And then you went into the arms of fucking Jenny. Of all people, her.”

It wasn't the fact that he ignored you anymore. It was him leaving, him going to the one person on the entire building that you felt so strongly about, she had been ontop of him since he started, there was no way he was that stupid think that wouldn't hurt—even if he was, the damage was done now, even if he apologized.

He frowns, he knew what he was doing was stupid at the moment—but hearing it said to him made it so much worse, like it actually smacked him across the face. “I know,” he says quietly, ashamed. Though can't take his eyes off you, he can't look away no matter how embarrassed he felt. “and I’m not going to stand here and make excuses, and pretend like I did no wrong, I fucked up. I know. I ran, because that's what I do. I didn’t think about how it would make you feel, and I don’t expect you to forgive me.” You only scoff in response, folding your arms infront of you tightly, but there's this sense of sorrow in his eyes that you can’t bring yourself to pretend to be angry with – his eyes can pull at your heartstrings in ways nobody else has ever had the power to. “N’ maybe I’m delusional, Y/N, but no matter how hard I try forgetting, no matter how hard I try to ignore it, you’re always there. Everything I look at, I see you. I think of you. It’s always you.” Your arms slowly drop, your guard goes down a lot faster than what you wouldve wanted. There's sincerity in his words that's dragging you in, you don’t even take a step back when he moves closer to you ever so slowly. “I’m a wreck without you,I don’t know how you do it...” When Pedro smiles, you feel this flutter in your heart— a sensation that you hadn’t felt in a while, and you think you missed it a lot more than what you thought. “Feel like I haven’t known you all that long and you’ve taken over all my senses.”

You want to scream at him, you want to tell him that he's lost his chance and this ship has sailed. That letting him come over was a mistake, lash out all your feelings to him — but you can’t, you won’t. Because you’d be lying. Your face is red, and no sounds come out of your mouth no matter how badly you want to say something. You can’t, because his smile alone is rendering you speechless. He doesn’t say much either, he reaches out and his fingertips slowly graze down your arms, his hands slip into yours, and there you stood – holding his hands in your apartment. You think, how much eaiser it would be if you were mad at him still. You'd rip your hands away in an instant, tell him to go fuck himself, but you can't bring yourself to be mad at him, and you're lying if you say you didn't love the sensation of his hands holding yours. People of held your hand before, and hand holding js pretty low on the romance scale, but it felt like the most pivotal thing in the world to you right now.

You never touched him like this before, it felt intimate, romantic, in a way that you hadn’t expected, sure you’ve hugged him and let the hug last for a second too long, you’ve kissed him on the cheek before – but this felt real, there we're no ifs, no possibilities for it to be misconstrued in another context. You could feel the tingling sensations your hands and your heart, and you don’t know what the next move is. He doesn’t either, because he only steps closer and looks at you, he thinks about leaning in – but he doesn’t, he had many different thoughts about how this moment would go – confessing feelings like this – it would be after your second date, maybe you’d be at his place and he makes a nice meal, or out at a restaurant or some other date, something that would stick out more than in your apartment after a fight. Though now that he's here looking at you, watching the way the blush on your face grew, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh, how he missed you, he missed your face, he missed his lover. 

You may have never been his “lover” officially, but might as well, because he never wanted to spend another moment like this with anyone else. He can’t bring himself to pull away, to say anything that ruin this moment. You notice how sweaty his hands are, which would normally unsettle you, but in the moment, you can’t bring yourself to care about it. Pedro’s stomach tingles, because he accepts, finally, that he can’t prolong this any longer. That running away will only make his situation worse, his feet feel cemented to the ground, but he's okay with it. For once, he doesn't plan on running.

He pulls one hand away from yours, which leaves this cold, lonely sensation, but it's rested on your hip, and it's when he does this that you know what's going to happen, too. Your heart feels like it's going a mile a minute, he's the one to lean in first, but you meet him halfway. 

Your lips brush over each other at first, as if you’re both unsure if this is what you want to do in the moment, but it doesn’t take long for your lips to connect again, he's grinning into the kiss, but you could care less. This was the best feeling you’ve had in a while, the warmth that came over your body, the kiss is tender and delicate. Slightly addictive, if you're both being brutally honest.

His other hand lets go of yours, and he moves it up to place it on your cheek, as if to pull you in closer. Your hands are just under his arms. It lasts only a couple seconds, but you wish it could’ve been a lot longer, his he doesn’t take his hands away, in fact, the one that's placed on your hip slides to your back as if to pull you closer. The sentiment is mutual, because you don’t want to take your hands away from his either, you just slide them down to the sides of his stomach. You could feel the feelings of his lips on yours still, and it tingles. When he looks at you, he's trying to get a sense of how you feel, and you finally smile. He can’t help but thinks about how he missed that smile. “Will you please forgive me?” he asks of you quietly, “I want this to happen more. I want to hold your hand; I want to eat lunch with you and Sam again, if you'd let me.”

You laugh quietly, for once, you start taking each one of Pedro’s features to note, you’ve obviously never been this close to him before. His pores, the details in his nose, honestly you probably wouldn’t have noticed that he said anything if he didn’t raise his eyebrows in anticipation. You even have to think about it for a moment, “I can try to forgive you,” you say quietly, no louder than a whisper. “Sam might never be able to, though.” 

“I think I can live with that.” 

It's not until the following Monday that you get around to telling Sam about your reunion with Pedro. It's not that you felt like you had to wait, it was just that things were so good with Pedro that you wanted to stay in the blissful phase before you told anyone, but you figured you would have to because Pedro would come by for lunch anyway. So, you stop by their room in the morning before any students got there, “Hey, Sam, I gotta tell you something.” 

“Perfect, I was just going to text you to come here— I saw the funniest thing when I was walking in today. What's up?” you shake your head, more intrigued by their story. “You first,”

They turn in their chair, standing up and closing the door. As long as no student looks in, they might have an idea that Sam wasn’t there yet, and also, they didn’t want any other teachers overhearing them. “I saw Jen and Pedro walking in together, right?” They say, going to sit on the edge of their desk across from you, now you’re nervous as to where this is going. What Sam might thing is going on, because whatever they say is going to make your news sound untimely. “She kept trying to grab his hand–and it's so funny, because he would move his hand away, and move physically further from her but she just kept trying. I don’t know what got into him, but all the sudden, but it’s eating Jen alive. I even saw her go up to his room.” 

“You did? When?” you hadn’t even stopped by your own yet, so if she was still there, you wouldn’t know. “Just a little while ago, shes probably still there – I wonder what shes saying, I just want you Pedro why won’t you hold my haaaand!” They laugh at their own mockery, but once Sam stops laughing, they ask you, “Anyway, what was it you wanted to say?” 

Though you can’t answer, you have to know what Jen is saying; you have to know if Shes still there or if Pedro delt with it. You knew that Sam could hear this later, and you can explain it. But you slip off of the desk you were sitting on and grabbed your bag. “I gotta go.” you say matter-of-factly, opening Sam's door; seeing of their students waiting patiently, and they seemed shocked to see you walk out of the room in a hurry. “I can explain it later, teacher Sam.” you say, mindful to call them by their professional term. You never felt this urgency, Jesus Christ, can’t this woman just leave you alone? Why does she have to be so fucking obsessed? You wonder what she might actually be saying–how Pedro must feel. Or if you’re too late, maybe she's already crying, cursing your name, you can't help but feel sympathy for her. You could've easily been in her position. It just so happened that your classroom was closer.

You turn the corner, and over the lockers you can see that his door is open. You can't hear much, which you assume is a good-ish sign, at least she's not yelling. You slow your steps, you wanted a feel of the situation first, so you grab your room keys to start unlocking the door to your classroom—trying to listen closely.

Pedro isn't exactly sure how he got into this situation, two women having feelings for him was flattering, but good God, was it awkward. Especially since he liked one, and the other sat in his room just about sobbing. “I just don't understand.” Jenny tells him, after he's explained why they can't see eachother anymore. He didn't want to say that you had anything to do with it, but that was pretty self explanatory, even if he tried saying it was "for other reasons".

“Jen, It's not you, okay? I just—I just don't have the same feelings towards you, you're an amazing friend, but I just don't see us working.” For some reason, even though this was the gentlest way he could've thought to put it, it ignited something in Jenny—she quickly stood, wiping her tears away. He hoped she would just storm off, alas it couldn't be that easy. “This, this bullshit right here, is why your wife fuckin' left you.” and no matter how much time passes, no matter how much the wounds of his divorce heal. It hurts, it hurts more when it's thrown in his face in a way. “I hope your god damn happy,” she yells across the hall to you once she notices you trying to unlock your door, you don't think she's talking to you at first, especially since you're in the hallway when anyone could see. It's not until you hear Pedro trying to diffuse the situation, and her hand grabs tour shoulder tightly. “Is this what you wanted? for me to cry? You have to have everything?”

You're trying with every fiber of your being to remain professional, not to give into the scene at hand. You don't want to get in trouble, nor do you want your students asking you about this later. You finally get your key to work and push open the door to your classroom. "Jen, I never wanted to hurt you. I didn't plan for this to happen, but I'm sorry it did." You say softly, "It's really not fair of you to throw his divorce in his face.” You step in to your classroom, turning around quickly so that she couldn't follow you in. “You've always hated me, and frankly, I never understood why.” Her words are a lot louder than necessary, and you're trying to make sure there are no students nearby, but it was probably too late for that anyways. “I'm tired of being nice to you, only to be handed back disrespect. This is over a line.”

“I didn't tell him to leave you for me, I wasnt evem speaking with Pedro. He did that on his own accord. You're making a scene, Jen, I'm begging yoh to please go back to your room. You've done enough.” Jen looks around the nearly-empty hallway for support, but she's met with a few confused stares, and Pedro, who still looks rather upset by her earlier comment. She doesn't say anything, instead, she storms off back the stairwell, hopefully, to her classroom.

Your attention turns to Pedro, and while he's happy that you stood up for him, he's very clearly upset. You go to reach for him—to welcome him into your classroom even for just a moment, but he wordlessly turns into his own room; closing the door behind him. Leaving you worried for him, maybe you had done something wrong. You quietly sigh, all you can do for the moment is hope he's okay.

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[charliedawn]

Hi! this is my first request, so I hope I did everything right. How would the Hannibal family react to a reader avoiding his kiss (as a joke)

Kevin was surprised when you pulled away to avoid his kiss.

He felt a tug in his chest and he couldn't help but feel bad. He thought...He didn't know if he should apologize, or ask if you were okay.

But, then, you smiled and he understood.

Kevin *frowns* : "....That wasn't funny."

You : "It was to me."

Kevin : "..."

He didn't talk to you for a week afterwards.

What you need to understand about Kevin is that he doesn't react well to rejection.

He was rejected most of his life and for him to like you means he had to go beyond his comfort zone to actually get emotionally attached to you.

He would take it very seriously and it would result in a very long payback of non-talking punishment...

You : "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

Kevin *glares at you* : "Yeah. You shouldn't have..."

Hannibal Sr. was intrigued.

He hadn't misread the signs, or at least he thought he hadn't.

You had lead him on for a while...So, why ? Why had you decided to pull back at the last moment ?

When he saw the mischievous smirk on your lips, he understood and smiled back, but a cold and dark smirk.

"I see...A prank, is it ?"

He took a step forward and before you could escape, he had his hand around your neck.

"You pull away one more time...See what happens."

His eyes seemed to bore into your very soul and dare you...dare you to do it again. And he would make sure to make you understand how much of a mistake it is to play with him.

Hannibal Sr. isn't one to care about pranks, but he doesn't like people making a fool of him.

"Don't mistake my affection for you as a way to get away with everything." *gently pulls you in until you can stare each other in the eyes* "There are things you shouldn't joke about."

Morgan leant in for a simple peck on the lips, but when you backed away from him, he frowned and tried to read the signs in your eyes.

Once he understood, he huffed a laugh.

"Fine. You don't want me to kiss you ? Let's see how long you'll be able to keep that game of yours..."

He didn't touch you for weeks.

You had decided to ignore him and deny him affection ? Fine. You'd see how far a 'prank' can go.

Every time you tried to hold his hand, he would pull away.

Every time you tried to kiss him, he would leave the room.

Even when you tried to talk to him, he would ignore you...

At the end, you begged.

"Please...I'm sorry, Morgan. I just...I can't do this anymore."

He smirked triumphantly at you before leaning forward, so close it was as if he was going to kiss you, but only blew air on your face.

Morgan : "Are you going to do it again ?"

You gulped and shook your head. He chuckled before uttering in a whisper.

"...Good."

He then leant forward even more, but pulled away at the last minute.

"...Just a little payback. You can handle it, can't you ?"

You did it in front of a co-worker.

He leant forward to kiss you, and you presented your cheek instead.

He stopped a few inches from your face before smirking a little and kissing your cheek, whispering in your ear.

"~You're going to regret that..."

And, you did.

He focused on his work, got so busy you barely had the time to see him and he felt satisfied at your utter dissatisfaction.

Until it was too much.

You *slam the door of his office open* : "JR !"

Him *not looking up from his paperwork* : "Yes, love ?"

You *fuming* : "Are you really still mad at me ?! It was a prank !"

Hannibal Jr. *glances up at you with a serious expression* : "...Yes. Fun, isn't it ?"

You started glaring each other until you decided enough was enough and grabbed him by his tie to kiss him fiercely.

Hannibal Jr. tried to hold you off, but you were angry and eager. And to be honest ? So was he...

You *breathing heavily* : "...You are insufferable."

Him *chuckles knowingly* : "Look who is talking.."

First off: To do this to this sweet boy is pure evil. I'm not judging you. But...

Peter *tries to hold back tears* : "I'm fine. Yeah. Very funny. Definitely."

Okay. So, either you apologize right now, or you will have the whole Hannibal family hunting you down.

Do NOT deny him a kiss.

Play with his feelings, and you will be dinner in no time...

[ladydelaisol]

Cat Behavior

Just a silly idea I had

Note/Summary: PMD1 one shot that takes place before the fugitive arc with my Hero (Blake the Meowth ) and his Partner (Cyclone the Squirtle ). It had no story imports thus it stands better as a one shot

Excuse any usual mistakes.

Word count: 659

Blake was grumpy, which was nothing new. However, Cyclone could see Blake’s ears twitch as he tried to read one of the missions they picked up.

“Are you okay?” The blue pokemon asked his partner.

“Why do they stare at me?” The feline growled.

“What do you mean?”

“Why do the pokemon in the square just stare at me at times?”

“Hmm…I’m not too sure…although…maybe…” Cyclone paused to think about something that happened earlier.

“What?” Blake gave him a confused look.

“Well, I think I did hear someone asking why doesn’t your tail twitch.”

Blake blinked once, and then twice, until he gave Cyclone the most ‘what the heck are you on about?’ look.

Seemingly able to read Blake’s emotional thoughts, Cyclone simply chuckled.

“Ah, I guess because most folks expect you to act like a typical catmon.”

“Catmon, you mean they expect me to act like a cat?”

“I suppose, like the typical things, like kneading, scratching random things, purring, hissing or even just curling up in sleep.”

“That sounds dumb…” Blake said in a dry tone while crossing his arms.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you think, but it’s you, so I’m not surprised.” Cyclone chuckled again.

“So is that really normal for a typical catmon?”

“I think? To be honest, I haven’t run into many catmon in my life, so most of the info I know is second hand. You’re the first Meowth I have ever met.”

“Yeah, but don’t forget I’m still a human who just turned into a Meowth, so it shouldn’t be typical I have many catmon traits.” Blake huffed.

“I know, but no one else knows that, so it would be off to others.”

“So, what, you’re saying that I should act more of a catmon?”

Cyclone shook his head. “No, of course not, just keep being you.” He paused. “I do have to admit, you do show a few traits like them.”

“Um…what?” Blake just gave him another confused stare.

“Well, you do growl a bit, your ears do twitch, and you unsheathe your claws!” The blue pokemon pointed out. “Although, for that last one, I guess it makes sense in general since we pokemon do have to fight. Like the jerk that threw a 100 poke coin at you, and you practically chased him down.”

“Oh come on, don’t remind me!” Blake’s face turned red, but at the same time he tried to stop his ears from flickering due to what he said about that. He didn’t want to admit he had a few catmon behaviors.

“Sorry, I know that bothered you.” Cyclone gave him an apologetic smile.

“Eh…whatever…” Blake said as he calmed down. He suddenly paused as if thought of something. “Wait, did that idiot throw the coin at me because I’m a catmon?” He suddenly realized.

“I think it’s less of that, and more that because you’re a Meowth.” Cyclone explained. “If I remember correctly, they say Meowths love money and tend to hoard or be greedy with any coin they get.

“Okay, that sounds just as dumb.”

Cyclone shrugged. “Well we can’t shame them for their habits.”

“It’s still off to me. Don’t get me wrong, I know we need money to buy the things we need, but I would never see myself pinching every poke I see like someone crazy for shiny things.”

“I know Blake, but as you said you’re human. But even if you were not, I think I like that you’re different from a typical Meowth.” He gave him a warm smile.

Blake being Blake wasn’t sure how to handle the complement, so he simply nodded and looked at more missions.

“Well seemingly how others see me, I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to kick me out someday for a dumb reason.”

Cyclone chuckled. “Well, I’ll keep following you even if you were kicked out of the square!”

Blake only shook his head as he went back to his previous task.

[mirkodoesstuff]

Well, it's time to say one of my most controversy opinion ever, related to OSC. However, this time it is related to TPOT.

So, I want to say, that this whole season was a mistake. Yes, I think the season, despite having interesting storylines, characters (One-), and also one of the best hosts ever, was a mistake. Before any of you say anything, listen to me!

So, you all know why TPOT exist, right? JNJ Crew, after BFB 15, had no clue what they should do with the show. Remember, BFB was supposed to be, pretty much, low quality season, that would be released at much quicker date (heck, the whole name for the season was supposed to be Sloppy BFDI!), but due to them deciding to add more quality, both in writing and animation, episodes started to take too long, not to mention the cast being, oddly, big (like, 64 people?!). There various concepts about what to do, there was even an idea to kill 40 people off, so the cast could become smaller. Then, an idea was brought to life - splitting the show, in half.

The split happened next episode and... Let's say a lot of people hated the split - not only because a lot of arcs were dropped, a lot of decisions were questionable (cough allowing Loser and Spongy to join cough), not to mention Two being, let's be honest here, an asshole. Because of the way the split was handled, a lot of people hated Two and, I'm being serious, wrote hate fics about Two and the contestants, that joined them. Yes, this was THAT controversial.

Even when JNJ dropped a video, about why the split happened, it still wasn't helping the case of TPOT. While BFB Post-Split quality was... Okay (I mean as in general, because no joke, that season isn't good), TPOT quality was supposed to be like the latest episode of Pre-Split BFB - it was supposed to have deep arcs, to have better animation, to have EVERYTHING better.

And, it did have deeper themes, better animation (TPOT), but some decisions were being meet with criticism, from BFDI fans - the episodes were taking too long (1 year), the characters were acting out of character (it was mostly seen in TPOT 2, where some considered the episode to be mean-spirited), that some arcs made no sense (Pin arc, though it makes more sense now, that we have BFDIA, but remember - BFDIA was seen as cancelled season back then, when two first episodes of TPOT were released). There were decisions, that annoyed a lot of people, such as letting Teardrop join.

There were also conflicts within the crew, which lead to Satomi being laid off (not fired, laid off), alongside Pokey. The whole season feel into limbo and a lot of people thought it would be meet with the same fate as BFDIA, but surprisingly it did come back, with Sam writing, and... First episodes under his production were meet with criticism from BFDI fans, that were kinda disappointed, especially Satomi and Pokey fans, that enjoyed their writing style (I mean, I enjoyed their writing too), some going too far into saying lots of harmful things about Sam, which was always the problem with those fanatics, I swear those people need to grow up.

The past few episodes of TPOT were AMAZING for me - it introduced better handled plot, they introduced fucking ONE to the show! However, there are still people, that are going too far with criticism, which is no longer a criticism, literally wanting Sam to be fired, which would be literally the worst scenario for many, many BFDI fans!

I enjoy Sam's writing too, but it does sometimes have lots of flaws, but I can't say it's awful. What I'm saying is TPOT is a result of mistakes, that JNJ Crew made, regarding BFB. So, you may ask "How could we avoid the split?", I have few suggestions:

Double eliminations! If they decided to introduce them in TPOT, why they couldn't introduce them there?

Drop the quality of animation a bit,

Make Two a co-host of Four and X (if Two would still be introduced)

Handle rejoiners better - don't make Loser and Spongy rejoin, either make anyone else rejoin (Liy-), or make no one rejoin! Or, heck, even better - have a rejoiner and a debuter, decided by people!

If they wanted to keep arcs there, at least they could make them be enjoyable, because the majority of BFDI fans kinda disliked the way Tacobook was handled (and also early Winnerclock arc... And Pin cheating arc... Yeah...)

The quality should be somewhat in the middle - of course, there should be still serious moments, but not arcs, that do make people dislike characters (Pin cheating arc and Tacobook!)

If Algebralians were still supposed to show up, they should be a part of EXITors attempting to escape plot,

Change the voting system to Vote to Save and change the ways you're voting to Google Forms (because Jesus Christ, Voting Wars were stressing for lots of people)

Handle Two's character better than how it was handled in BFB 16, so they would be still sympathetic character

Of course there might be still lots of possibilities, that could avoid the show to split, but I just said mine ideas.

Despite the split still happening and lots of people enjoying TPOT, I can't deny that there are lots of problems going on currently with this season, while BFDIA revival is going steady. Of course I won't rush any crew members or beg JNJ to tell us about what's going to happen next. Hopefully things will get better for everyone out there.

Oh, and btw - if you think harassment of any kind is ok, then I respectfully tell you to stay away from me and grow up. BFDI isn't THAT serious and was never supposed to be taken seriously!