#once he said he would give a group math tutoring and of course i went there lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fiddlepickdouglas · 3 years

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Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 14 - Unexpected Meeting

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, who will they run into?, 3.2k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

WARNINGS: death mention, emotional trauma

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13

“Man, I need a break,” Reggie was saying as he strolled with Alex down an unfamiliar street in the early evening, stretching his arms. “I mean, being in the studio all the time has been good, but on top of everything else it’s just so much!”

Unsure where they were headed, Alex walked a few paces ahead on the sidewalk, casually navigating for both of them. He squinted as he looked at Reggie.

“Reggie, you dropped, like, all of your classes once we signed on.”

“Nope!” his friend exclaimed, tilting his head in a proud manner. “I just needed two electives to graduate. It’s okay, though, man. Not everyone finishes their math requirements as a freshman.” Reggie patted Alex’s shoulder, as if it were any sort of consolation.

“No, good for you Reg,” Alex said. His parents had paid for all this private tutoring and even gotten him to take some college credits early. Of course, his only serious plan after high school had been the band so it was all wasted effort, but then all of their attempts with him amounted to that. He was learning to feel less guilty over it. It wasn’t his fault they never cared about what he wanted.

“How long do you think Luke and Bobby are gonna be workshopping their parts together?” Reggie asked.

“Long enough. Where are we going, exactly?”

“Oh, I was just kind of keeping an eye out for anywhere interesting.”

Alex blinked. “I thought we were headed somewhere specific.”

“I’ve only been to this side of L.A. like, once, so I don’t think I’d make a good tour guide,” Reggie stated.

And just like that, Alex’s mind thrust itself back into remembering Willie. He was getting better at not crumbling completely in the moment, but it still felt like his heart was temporarily dunked into a dark ocean of misery. It would remain waterlogged and heavy inside his chest for a while.

“Alex?” Reggie was saying, looking at him with concern. “You okay?”

Snapping his thoughts back to the present, Alex sighed as he looked back at Reggie.

“I’ll be fine.”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket and pressed his arms against his sides. Shoulders hunched, he continued through the crowd. Focusing on walking would hopefully help it wear off. He made every step purposeful, trying to get the weight in his heart to fall through his feet. Reggie’s hand on his shoulder made him turn.

“It’s still rough, isn’t it?” he asked gently. “If I said something - ”

“It’s not your fault,” Alex tried to assure him. “Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere. Besides, I can’t make you and everyone else walk on eggshells.”

“Maybe not, but we’re in this with you. It may have been different for us, but we all met Willie. I’d never seen you warm up to anyone that fast. Even after a few months, it’s still fresh; don’t force yourself to be better for us.”

Pausing on the sidewalk, Alex looked up at Reggie. He tried to smile as gratitude edged its way in, relieving most of the heaviness in his chest.

“I appreciate that, Reg.”

“Of course, man.”

“So,” Alex took a deep breath to let everything else wash away as they kept wandering. “You made it sound like you had a lot going on. Is everything at home okay?”

Reggie shrugged. “Eh...no change there. My mom went to stay with her sister after the last fight, so my dad’s been trying his best to take care of everything, but he’s too upset to handle it well. My little sister has just been sleeping over with friends anyway, and I can handle myself, so - ” he shrugged again, “ - you know, I do what I can.”

Alex nodded. He had nothing really to comment, and Reggie knew he was always there to support him. This wasn’t anything unusual for him, but it still wasn’t right. Neither of them spent much time at their own homes, so wandering through the city like this kept them occupied when they weren’t with the rest of the band. Looking up at the store signs around them, he saw a record store about a block ahead.

“Hey, why don’t we check that out?” he suggested.

“Yeah!” Reggie said, dropping any ounce of gloom from the previous subject and skipping along to catch up with Alex.

A small bell rang as they came through the door, and they immediately began filtering through shelves of records and CDs. Peeking toward the back of the store, Alex could see a counter that offered a menu of food and drinks, some tables, as well as the smallest stage in the world. This seemed like a neat little place.

“Oh,” Reggie started after a while. “I got us a gig playing at my cousin’s wedding.”

“A wedding?” Alex said skeptically, turning from the Pansy Division vinyl he was checking out. “When we’re trying to finish a record and go on tour?”

“It’s Conrad, okay, he’s family! And he said we could make the setlist.”

Alex shrugged, considering that was fair.

“...with his approval.”

At that addition, Alex could only sigh and shake his head.

“And then maybe, you could, I don’t know, finally ask Bobby to be your date?”

Reggie put down the Mötley Crüe album he’d been examining and looked up at him in shock. Alex realized he’d possibly been too blunt. But immediately Reggie began to cover it up, laughing and shaking his head.

“What?” he said, his denial completely transparent. “Was that a...was that supposed to be a joke or something?”

Giving him a look of pity, Alex put his hands on his hips.

“You’re really gonna try to pull the wool over the eyes of your gay friend?”

Caught, Reggie looked back at him in defeat and bowed his head.

“I’m gonna guess you noticed a while ago?”

Nodding, Alex tried to soften his demeanor.

“There’s been something up with you two for months. How come you haven’t tried to talk to him about it?”

Reggie knit his brow and began fiddling with his fingers.

“Well, I’m a little confused by it, to be honest. Cuz, I mean...I like girls, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“But I like Bobby, too.”

“Okay.”

His friend looked up at him, expecting more of a reaction. Alex leaned against the shelf and folded his arms.

“Do you think there’s something wrong with you? Because you’re talking to the king of wrong feelings.”

“Well, sometimes I feel like that, but not really. It’s something else,” Reggie said.

“Like what?”

“Well...we’ve been friends for years. It just sort of crept up on me and I don’t know what to do. What if he rejects it? He’s one of my best friends.”

Thinking for a moment, Alex looked down at his feet. He didn’t blame Reggie for being worried. He’d had a mini crush on Bobby for a couple weeks back in ninth grade and had the same dilemma. It was easier for him to get over, though, simply because it had faded quickly.

“Well, I wish I could say if it’s meant to be it’ll happen, but sometimes…”

Sometimes it dies in a fire before there’s any chance of knowing.

He shook his head to get rid of the awful thought and ignored Reggie’s look of concern.

“But if I know Bobby, I don’t think it’s going to harm anything. I think you should go for it, Reg. I truly, honestly, will back you up on that.”

A smile spread wide across Reggie’s face.

“Thanks, man!”

Without fretting over it for another second, he turned back to the shelf of CDs he’d been perusing, and Alex did the same. There was a crazy good selection, and Alex wished he could get his hands on a record player. Playing CDs on a boombox worked for some things, but there was a level of charm in playing something on a vinyl record that appealed to him even more. He made a note to get a small notebook to carry in his fanny pack, hoping to return to this store and make a wishlist of sorts to work toward.

“Do I see Alex and Reggie of Sunset Curve?” A familiar voice said from behind.

Both of them turned to find Flynn standing in the aisle, braids tied up into a high ponytail and eyebrow arched in her usual smart fashion.

“Hey Flynn!” Reggie exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. Alex went in for one afterward, happily surprised.

“Hey guys!” she said, grinning.

“What are you up to?” Alex asked.

“Gonna be performing in a bit,” she said excitedly. “Just a warm up before the main group comes on. I’ve been working on some of my own stuff; I think you guys would love it! Got time to stick around?”

“Sweet!” Reggie raised a fist for her to bump. “I’m down. Alex, wanna stay?”

“Yeah, sounds great!”

He had yet to see what Flynn was capable of. If he were to judge only on knowing she’d been in a duo with Julie, he expected it to be good.

“Also, you should try the burritos here,” Flynn told them. “They are to die for!”

The endless click-rollll-click-click-click of his board filled his ears as Willie moved through the street, feeling the wind pass over him in the way that made freedom feel like he could clutch it in his hands. He’d actually spent today not worrying about Alex. It felt good not to dwell on what little past he had access to. Of course, he still had repetitive dreams about the few memories that had come back, but the backwards one with Caleb in it hadn’t come back ever since he’d gotten to LA. Moving forward felt...nice.

He had spent the morning sketching at the beach, getting all sorts of practice in. The beautiful waves, seagulls, the different activities all around him. Somehow a group of young college kids had gotten him to join their volleyball tournament. Willie wasn’t sure if he’d ever played it before, but once he caught onto the game, he’d gotten surprisingly good. It felt nice to roll up the hem of his jeans and dig his toes into the warm sand while playing with a group of strangers. They’d nicknamed him Mowgli, whatever that meant. He liked the sound of it though.

Heading off to work after cleaning himself up, he realized he could spend all his free time that way. Peacefully sketching, meeting fun people, and enjoying his surroundings. Was that all it took to be happy? Willie chuckled at the thought of how much Caleb had stressed over rising to the top of his business game, never appearing to be satisfied with any of it. Leaving Vegas remained the best decision he’d ever made. Of course, he wasn’t always proud about his method of burning down the shed, but it had been one of those...heat of the moment things.

Willie skated up to the back entrance and shook his hair out after lifting off his helmet. Just a few short hours of making food, some chill entertainment, and he could peace out for the night. He headed inside the store and right into the small kitchen. Thankfully, the store didn’t fit too many patrons and it was never hard to keep up with orders, and Kyle had a system so he never had to leave the kitchen. This basically meant he could jam to the live music during the lulls between orders with no interruption.

Kyle entered the kitchen just as Willie was tying on his apron.

“Hey, dude, thanks for coming. We actually got two acts coming in, so it should be a full crowd. Katelyn can be the MC for the first bit, but do you mind taking over for the second half?”

A twinge of excitement came over Willie and he lit up. He’d never gotten to try being an MC before.

“Don’t mind at all!” he said.

“Alright, man!” Kyle exclaimed. “First two orders up: swamp style nachos and a bog burrito.”

“Got it.”

“We’re up for a big night with these performances,” the girl hosting hyped up the crowd. “Let’s give it up for our artist of the night: Flynn Taylor!”

Reggie cupped his hands over his mouth as he hollered along with everyone else’s applause. Alex clapped with a mouthful of nachos. Flynn stepped onto the stage behind a set of deejay turntables, smirking as she began flipping switches and turning knobs.

“Thanks for coming out here everyone,” she said into the mic. More applause and whistles echoed through the room. “We’re gonna make a lot of noise tonight, so let me hear you get pumped!”

As she began playing a beat, Alex bobbed along, immediately interested. He didn’t know a thing about mixing, so he was highly impressed with the different sounds she was using. Then Flynn picked up the mic and began rapping and the whole room cheered.

“...I’m a princess, I don’t need a prince, boy I’m priceless...I’m here to shut it down like a night shift…”

“Man,” Reggie leaned over to Alex. “She’s so good! I say we book her to open for us ASAP as possible.”

Alex merely snorted and chuckled at Reggie’s misuse of the acronym. He actually enjoyed the idea of having Flynn rapping to open for their rock shows. Gigs where all the bands sounded the same got a little flavorless sometimes.

“Also,” Reggie said as he took a huge bite into his burrito. “This is the best burrito I’ve ever had.”

“Lemme try some, you can try my nachos,” Alex said.

All Reggie could say was Mm! as he passed the burrito over.

The final beats of the first performer echoed in the kitchen where Willie had been dancing, waving various kitchen tools around. He’d thoroughly enjoyed the whole set, and wondered what sounded so familiar about the girl who was rapping. Before he could spend more time thinking about it, Kyle came in.

“Okay, you ready?” he asked.

“I just keep people busy and then announce the next group, right?” Willie guessed.

“Yeah, man, you’ve got this!”

“What’s the next group called?”

“Downslide. And they brought some merch, so it’s a good idea to mention that to the crowd as well.”

“Okay,” Willie nodded, slipping out of his apron. “Maybe I could put their t-shirt on or something, you know, sell the look?”

Kyle looked impressed. “Yeah! I’ll go see what they’ve got.”

He left the kitchen and hardly a minute later returned with a jacket.

“They said you could wear it for the night. Not gonna lie, I wish I could wear this, it’s a sweet jacket.”

Willie slipped it on, and turned around. He didn’t often wear jackets, but whatever it was made of was pretty soft.

“Guess I’m ready,” he said, giving Kyle a hand slide and fist bump before leaving the kitchen. He stepped up behind the microphone and looked out at the crowd, and further back, the empty store.

At that moment, he heard the bell of the store door ring and two guys walked outside. Through the window, a familiar leather jacket passed. Then, he saw a head of blonde hair follow, turning to look both ways to cross the street, and his heart grew to fill all the empty space in his chest. It was unmistakable. It had to be.

“Alex...” he breathed quietly into the microphone. Adrenaline immediately went out to his extremities. The crowd before him looked bewildered as they waited for him to announce the next group.

Glancing offstage, he saw Kyle give him a strange look. Willie shook his head, unclear what message he was sending but ultimately knowing he couldn’t stay at his current spot. Before he could think anything else, his legs were bounding out the door. It felt like every ounce of blood in his veins knew. The search was over.

Reggie and Alex had just reached the opposite corner. He wasn’t going to miss his chance.

“Alex!” he cried, running to meet them.

He immediately thrust his arms around a surprised Alex, gripping him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder.

“Oh my god, Alex!” he said, panting. “It’s so good to see you.”

He didn’t feel the hug didn’t reciprocate, and instead Alex grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away. The darkness of the street seemed to envelop him.

“What are you - ?” Alex started, staring back at Willie like he’d just been assaulted. Then shock wiped over his whole face. Then confusion. And then a pain came over all of it that made Willie’s concern grow.

“What - what is it?” he asked, all the excitement gone.

Alex wouldn’t look him in the eye, and he raised a hand to hold the side of his head.

“No, this isn’t real,” he whispered to himself, shrinking backward and shutting his eyes. “This can’t be real.”

Willie glanced over at Reggie, who also stared like he was seeing the impossible. He could see Alex shaking and heard a rattled breath, and felt tension grow thick in the air. Quickly, he went to take Alex’s face in his hands.

“Alex, hey, look, it’s me,” he soothed. He fought to get a look directly into his eyes. “It’s me, Willie.”

Finally, the green ocean gazed back at him, turbulent and restless. What once had been a grounding rhythm of waves had turned into a maelstrom of despair. Even worse were the tears welling up right before him. Willie watched the storm rage for a few seconds, seeking for a moment of calm.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured, lowering his hands. Alex looked so wounded it frightened him.

“How are you alive?” Alex begged to know.

Blinking, Willie sat back, astounded at those words. While he agreed it was a miracle he was still alive, he couldn’t fathom why Alex would ask such a question. He chuckled merely out of discomfort.

“I’m here.” Willie glanced at Reggie, looking for an explanation. “Flesh and bone. Why? What happened?”

Alex looked at him incredulously, jaw hanging open. He looked so tightly wound and so scattered all at once.

“Caleb told me you were dead.”

Willie blanched inwardly at the mention of Caleb, but even more so at the rest of that sentence he’d been utterly unprepared to hear.

“He...he - ” he stammered for a moment. “When would you have even talked to him?”

Sharing a look with Reggie, Alex took a deep breath. Then he looked back at Willie hesitantly.

“We see him all the time. We work for him now.”

It was Willie’s turn to drop his jaw.

“We’ve been signed to his record label for a few months now,” Reggie pitched in.

Directing his gaze to the ground, Willie puzzled for a minute.

“Why would I be dead?” he asked, looking back up at Alex.

For a minute Alex simply gazed at him wordlessly.

“I don’t know,” he said. There was a pause as both of them finally looked at each other, fully aware that this was real. And then Alex threw his arms around Willie to return the hug. Willie had to raise himself up on his toes to avoid falling over, and he tightened his grip to remain steady. He felt joy spread through his whole torso and breathed a sigh of relief as hands tangled into his hair. “But that doesn’t matter. I’m so happy to see you.”

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #fanfic #jatp fanfic #willex #alive au #sunset curve #alex mercer #willie #luke patterson #reggie peters #bobby wilson #julie molina #flynn taylor #caleb covington #viva las vegas #unexpected meeting #fiddlepickdouglas

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etherealluminescence · 4 years

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Shdjdjjddjjs okay but, more buff cat hcs when ?? But seriously, i know it probably counts as crack hc but i enjoyed it way to much i cant get it out of my head anymore, i havent laught so much in a while now sjdjchdj. I sure hope the buff cat saga will continue !!

You know what? I’ll give you some buff cat content now. 😤 my school work can wait. And trust me, the buff cat saga WILL continue. I just tend to work on requests first rather than my own wants haha.

I’m really happy you like buff cat! Buff cat is my life now. Constantly haunted by buff cat. Maybe one day I’ll introduce a girlfriend or friends for buff cat too 🤔

Maybe I’ll do a background about buff cat and how they met MC?? And why buff cat is so attached to MC? I don’t know. 👉👈 maybe if someone requests, otherwise I’ll just do whatever I feel like in the moment.

Anyone can also feel free to request any buff cat scenarios!! If not I’ll think of some up. THIS IS SO LONG IM SORRY. I WROTE THIS LIKE 1 HOUR OR SOMETHING STRAIGHT AHA.

The boys react to buff cat teaching you

Lucifer

Lucifer had noticed your grades were improving recently, and wanted to take you out to eat for working so hard to both keep up with your class.

When he came to your room, he saw a scene that honestly shouldn’t of surprised him, but did anyways.

You were sitting at your desk, books sprawled across the entire surface area of it. On top of a book pile was buff cat, wearing a pair of glasses, and he was using a pointer to show you important parts you should remember.

He watched in awe as you two never exchanged any words, but you were scribbling down definitions and important notes, while buff cat turned the pages and reviewed your work.

He’s gotten fairly use to buff cat cooking, cleaning, intimidating others, but he has never seen buff cat act like a teacher before, it was sort of new, and he even had a teacher outfit.

He swears that he never sees you buying these outfits, or that people in the devildom actually sell muscular cat clothing.

Buff Cat is the first to break the silence, looking over at Lucifer and positioning his pointer at Lucifer’s head, and then to in front of your desk.

You were still focused on your studying, knowing that you were steadily improving. Buff Cat got out a notepad from one of your desk drawers, and wrote “Leave what you require on this note, I am instructing MC right now, and when we are done tutoring I will give this note to them.”

Lucifer ended up having to take a rain check on taking you out to eat, and learned that your cat has really advanced vocabulary.

Mammon

He was failing the majority of his classes, and ended up asking you for help. You were his best shot, and you seemed to be passing all of your classes with flying colours.

You said you were happy to help him! Except that someone else was actually helping you study. They were a very efficient teacher.

He was relieved to hear that you’d introduce your teacher to him, until he found out it was that fucking demon spawn from hell.

He screeched so hard and ran out of the room, crying like a girl. “aAAAAaaaaAAAH”

Mammon is terrified of buff cat, and now you’re telling him this cat has the intelligence of a genius? You came to the devildom like a few months ago how is this cat tutoring you and making you pass your classes with ease??

He swears your cat is trying to plot for world domination or something. Will NEVER ask you to study with him again.

Leviathan

You walked into Levi’s room trying to find buff cat. It was a Sunday, which was typically a boys night out between them, but it was getting pretty late and you need to study.

There was a test tomorrow on devildom history, and you wanted to review one more time with buff cat, as to make sure you’ll do well on it.

“Mr. Kitty, are you here?” You called out, as soon as you said that Buff Cat paused the game and ran up to you. Levi was slightly annoyed as Buff Cat was beating a hard level for him, but he is your cat above all else.

You smiled as Buff Cat greeted you, and apologised for interrupting them. You explained to Levi how you wanted to review for the test, and if it wasn’t an issue could he spare around 20 minutes?

Levi huffed and agreed and called you a normie, and was about to pick up his switch when your words finally set in.

You put down the book you were carrying and got out a pencil, and took a piece of paper out of the book. You began writing down all of the important stuff on the paper while Buff Cat watched over your shoulder.

When you were finished, he went into the book with you and showed you a couple things you’ve missed or had forgotten, and then got you to write it down three times each as to remember. He even wrote a few essay questions for you which you got.

Levi was impressed. Not only did Buff Cat seem to know the whole devildom history by heart, he knew the exact pages and lines, and even how to write.

He didn’t really care as long as Buff Cat beats the hard level for him. He just considers it to be cool.

Satan

Satan was impressed with your high grades. It must be hard for a human to suddenly learn about a whole new realm, right? So if you had Cs he would understand, but you were getting 97s and 94s.

He understood everything when he started to notice what kind of books Buff Cat had been reading in his room, recently.

You all were having a test on curses soon, and Buff Cat came by his room and began looking for books about curses, and similar ones to what you all had been learning about.

Satan ended up chuckling to himself and found it amusing. It was amazing how your cat even spent his free time coming to someone’s room, finding books for your tests, and reads them before going back to you to help you understand the content.

He likes to get coffee with Buff Cat and talk about the stuff you’re learning in classes, he never directly said it to you, but he helps Buff Cat find specific books when Buff Cat comes over.

Asmodeous

Lucifer decided to punish the house of lamentations by taking away all of their electronics after they did something stupid again. The only way to earn it back, was through getting an 80% or higher on their next test.

You and Asmo suffered because you would normally look up answer during your test, and Asmo had no social media or contact with any of his friends with benefits.

You two weren’t ashamed to beg Buff Cat for help to pass your next test. He was probably the smartest in the house. He goes to Satan’s room almost every day and purchased books when he goes out. Your cat even tutored you when you were in elementary school.

You and Asmo barely needed to convince Buff Cat, as he was ecstatic to help you again. He’d do anything to help you, and was even willing to help Asmo out as well.

Asmo thought that Buff Cat looked REALLY adorable in his teacher’s outfit. A suit, tie, glasses, and his claws were so shiny from their manicure earlier.

Buff cat even slicked his fur back to look like he gel’d his hair. He was a literal fashion icon. Asmo could do some sewing, but nothing to the degree Buff Cat did.

Buff Cat had so many outfits he made himself, and he even did them so quickly. They all turned out perfect. Oh right, this was about studying wasn’t it?

Asmo never really asked questions about why your cat could just be so smart, and more so focused on how cool your cat looked. Priorities.

Beelzebub

Beel and Buff Cat are gym buddies, so naturally they’d walk home together from the gym. Everything was fine until Buff Cat’s MC senses were tingling, and began to walk towards you, crouching down in a store trying to figure out which notebooks to buy.

Beel thought it was pretty cool Buff Cat knew where you were, like how he and Belphie were that close to each other.

Brel asked you what you were doing, and you explained that you wanted to get some new notebooks because your old one is messy and confusing. You just scribbled whatever you could down, and were having a bit of a hard time in class.

Buff Cat immediately perked up, and you two seemed to have a conversation. He meowed and you happily said “I’d love that!”

Apparently, Buff Cat had offered to tutor you. Beel wasn’t so sure how well your cat could teach, though, considering he still is a cat, and offered to help you as well, since he wouldn’t like to see you sad from overworking yourself.

He was scribbling notes alongside with you five minutes into your first session together. Buff Cat wrote such simple explanations, and even prepared notecards ahead of time, Beel forgot he was supposed to teach you.

He is pretty fine with Buff Cat teaching you both, and once again forgets that Buff Cat is a “normal”? cat and not some weird creature that knows the answer to life.

Belphegor

Is really fucking terrified of your buff cat. Like TERRIFIED. So when he sees your cat in a teacher’s outfit sitting at the dinning room table, teaching you math, he was frozen.

He came down to get a glass of milk but what is this. Do you- do you have to do it in the living room?

There is no other reaction than physical fear coursing through his body his adrenaline is at the highest and his fight or flight instincts kick in.

He’s already fought once and that caused Buff Cat to exist in constant Buff form around him, so you can bet he is running.

Probably has a group chat with Mammon and Luke. “Buff Cat Conspiracy”. They talk about how scary buff cat is.

Diavolo

Buff Cat told Diavolo he was the one who helped you study. They were having conversation (buff cat used a notebook) and the topic of your studies came up. He mentioned how he had been helping you study, and understand the terminology in the Devildom better.

He was happy to hear that you understood it, and that it wasn’t too complicated for either of you too.

He actually asks if he can watch your study sessions, to see if he needs to lighten your workload just in case you’re pushing yourself too much.

You two allow him to watch, and he’s giving soft claps and smiles as the two of you give it your best.

Is honestly very happy with how much you two get along, and how you say it’s very simple since Buff Cat explains(meows) it in a very efficient manner.

He already knew Buff Cat was smart, but haha. Maybe he should hire Buff Cat to be a teacher or support class teacher for RAD?

Barbatos

You had grown accustomed to the devildom these past few months, and with Buff Cat with you, you were allowed to freely explore it when you want.

Buff Cat also happens to have a spare key to open the castle when he wishes.

Exam/testing season was coming up, and you knew you couldn’t study at the house of lamentation.

It was very distracting, and so you decided to go to the castle. No one will be screaming there, or trying to convince you your cat is a weird entity trying to plot world domination.

Barbatos was sort of used to seeing Buff Cat come and go as he pleases, but why were you here? Before he could say anything, you told him that you were visiting to study! And that you hope he didn’t mind that Buff Cat was going to tutor you.

Alright, so you’re studying, but why at the castle? You had to explain that it was very distracting at the house of lamentations, and Mammon was trying to convince you to get rid of your cat 24/7.

Ah, he could see that. Your cat isn’t exactly normal, and Mammon does occasionally scream like a girl. I promise I love Mammon. But it’s not like he minded, so long as you two were quiet and actually studied.

He left to clean for a bit, and when he returned to the guest room he saw you wearing a headband, violently writing down and muttering definitions at an insane pace. Buff Cat was in a teacher’s outfit, and holding out flash cards.

He’s slightly taken aback, but doesn’t show it anywhere on his face. He has never seen you so serious before, and neither has he seen Buff Cat so focused on you, as well.

He’s quite proud of you two for your hard work and dedication. He doesn’t interrupt but instead pours you three cups of tea, Buff Cat thanks him, and watches over you two.

Solomon

Solomon invited you over for a study session. He may be a little shady, but he does care for you, as a fellow human.

He was ecstatic to see Buff Cat come with you, because he still wants to dissect your cat.

He was about to talk to you about letting him research you cat, but you made yourself comfortable on his bed, and Buff Cat began to put on glasses and take out a pointer.

He didn’t have anytime to talk beforehand, as you were highlighting certain areas of your book, your cat pointing to certain parts, and you patted the bed beside you for Solomon to join.

Solomon’s plans to dissect your cat are set back another day, but he takes great interest in the way he teaches. Your cat is very methodical about how to remember things, and explains(meows) it rather simply.

He swears that your cat is not a normal human cat, but why can he sense literally zero magic power from it? If only Buff Cat could teach him that.

Solomon also gets 100% on the next test by remembering everything the way Buff Cat had taught you two.

Simeon

Absolutely chaotic man, when he sees you and Buff Cat in a classroom when school was over, he approached you two, and said hello.

You greeted him, and so did Buff Cat. He asked what you were doing after school so late, and that it was dangerous for the two of you. Buff Cat not so much but could still be in danger.

You told him you were studying for the upcoming test, and that Buff Cat was helping you.

Simeon was like!!! 💖👉👈💖💖💖💖🥰🥰🥺🥺 could I join?? This sounds so fun!! Buff Cat is so smart!!

He does not question the fact he’s studying with a cat, learning from a cat, or just how nice your cat can write on paper, like perfect handwriting.

He has such chaotic energy that he’s just like you, what a cute cat!

Luke

no.

just no.

he’s fine with your cat but does your cat have to be in buff form when you’re being taught?

he is happy you are getting good grades but please get him away from buff form buff cat.

#obey me #obey me swd #obey me hc #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanon #buff cat

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pianogal · 3 years

Text

Flirting Lessons

Summary: Just as Dan was about to give up on love, Dan becomes Phil's tutor. (University AU)

Word Count: 2k

This phanfic is a gift to @phanetixs from @phandomgiftexchange !! I hope you like it!!

꧁꧂

In an attempt to cheer me up, Pj has offered his vast knowledge in the art of flirting. He's convinced me that a good distraction will occupy my mind. As Pj and I walk down the hallway to the cafeteria, we rehearse this week's lines.

"You're cute, wanna bang?" I say sarcastically.

"C'mon Dan! If you really want to be back in business, you have to take it seriously!" Pj complains.

I know exactly why he urges me to 'get back in business.' Deep down we all know that I haven't gotten over my breakup. Although it's been 4 months, the thought of Charlie churns my stomach. It's not that I miss the guy, it's the way he chose to dump me. It wasn't the typical: "It's not you, It's me." He went ahead and said: "It's definitely you."

I always thought flirting was stupid. And the reason for it is because I really have no idea how to flirt. People make it look so easy, but to me it's worse than math. It's my fault for asking Pj to teach me how to flirt.

The cafeteria is a wide open space filled with round and square tables circulating the area. From the direction of our dorms, the smoothie bar is positioned to our left, right next to a group of fairly attractive college students. Although Pj made me practice my lines, I was not ready to put them in practice.

"Do you remember what to say?" Pj asks.

I look at him and widen my eyes. I realized what little confidence I have in walking up to random guys, let alone flirt. "I think this is a bad idea," I admit.

"No it's not! I say you should walk up to them and ask them to marry you," Pj encourages. Before I could protest, Pj began pushing me towards their direction.

As I walked to my doom, I realized a pair of eyes staring at me. I see Charlie to my right watching as Pj forces me to interact with the group of guys. Pj notices where my attention is and whispers behind my ear, "Show Charlie how much these guys would kill to date you."

Pj stops pushing me just a few feet in front of the group. All 4 guys notice my sudden appearance and look side to side as if silently questioning which of them knew me. I turn back to see Pj heading to the smoothie bar while Charlie patiently waits for my failure to sink in.

"Uh, do you guys take Literature with Professor Starch?" Was the only sentence I could come up with.

Each guy looks at their group before saying anything. The tall brunette on the left answers, "None of us do. Sorry." After his response, they all began to walk the opposite direction of me. I then turn to see Charlie walking towards me while laughing at my misery.

"Did you really think you could find a rebound?" Charlie chuckles.

"Yeah I was hoping to do the same thing you did," I harshly replied.

Charlie straightens his posture so as to stand taller than me. He pushes his dirty blonde hair from his face and relaxes his devious grin. "You wish you could find a rebound like I did," Charlie walks away after saying what I thought to be the worst thing I needed to hear at that moment.

"What the hell happened?" Pj rushes to me while holding his newly purchased strawberry and banana smoothie. "What did that jerk say to you?"

Although Charlie meant nothing to me, his words would always take a toll on me. Probably because he knew exactly what my biggest insecurities are. He used every single one to taunt me. In this case, he made it very clear that I would never be good enough to earn love.

"I need to go. Class starts in 15 minutes and I need to talk to my professor about an assignment," without waiting for her response, I walk away and head to class.

I lied to Pj about speaking to my professor before class started. It was just an excuse to get away from everyone. I needed time to process all the events that went down. I sit on the far end of the room. No one is here yet, but soon enough students will start rolling in.

I feel stupid. I don't want to tell anyone about how I feel because they'll probably think I can't get over a breakup. It's not that I still love Charlie. It's the fact that Charlie dumped me because he wasn't happy with me. 4 months ago, Charlie said he preferred to be single than to be with me.

I loved him and for a while I thought he loved me too. I couldn't understand why someone that loved me would dump me out of nowhere. And I wonder if I wasn't good enough for Charlie, who the hell is going to love me? I'm not attractive, my personality sucks, I'm not outstanding in any way, and I don't even have my shit together.

"Is this seat taken?" A tall, well built guy broke me away from my train of thought. I look at him for a second to take in his completion. Fair skin, black hair to match with his pair of blue eyes. He wears a plain white t-shirt along with black jeans. I stopped myself from drooling.

I look down at the seat and look back to his eyes. It's been two weeks since class started. The only person who sat next to me dropped out the second day of class. With a sly smile, I say, "Nope, you can sit here."

"Thank you," he smiles back. He pulls the chair away from the table and relaxes into his new seat, "My name is Philip, but you can call me Phil. I've been absent for the past few weeks due to illness. Have I missed anything important?"

"Well, uh… I’m Dan." I'm dumbfounded. I couldn't believe how someone this attractive is sitting next to me. Then again, I'm sure the only reason he's hanging out is just to pass the class. Even so, I already failed flirting this morning. I was not planning at all to fail again.

"We had several assignments due each week, but they're not worth much. Probably ten points each. Maybe if you talk to Professor Starch he can give you an extension for them," I smile politely once more.

Phil sighs and leans back into his chair. Our gazes turn over to Professor Starch waltzing into the classrooms as he hurriedly reaches his desk. He logs on to the monitor and turns on the projector screen. I steer my attention away from our Professor and redirect it to my notes to hide my face. As much as I'd love to get to know Phil more, I can't stand but feel like it's a waste of his time to speak to me.

"Good afternoon everyone!" Professor Starch greets. "I hope everyone is doing well. I apologize for being late, I was deciding if I wanted to come to work today." Light chuckles fill the room. "Today we will be discussing ‘Don Quijote.’"

As I flipped through my notes, Phil lays his hand on my wrist. I look over to see him staring straight at me. "I know this is sudden, but do you think after class we can meet up and go over what I've missed?"

I really want to, but I don't know how Pj would feel if I bailed out our study session for a cute guy. "I don't know if I can after class. But I'm sure if you talk to the professor he'd be cool. He's really nice and-"

Phil moves closer to me and says, "I don’t have anyone else who can help. Can we please meet after class, Dan?"

"Of course," I immediately reply.

I have absolutely no idea why those words came out of my mouth. It is almost as if I had no control on what I said. I didn't even think about my answer. I realized my eyes are still trained on Phil. I can feel my face heating up and quickly look away. I didn't want him to think I was desperate to meet with him. There goes my last bit of dignity.

"I really appreciate your help, Dan," he smirks and turns to look at what Professor Starch has written on the board.

I sigh and reply, "No problem."

꧁꧂

"The reason Don Quijote turns into a knight is because..." It's been an hour of nonstop tutoring. Although I'm grateful for the view, it is time consuming to be teaching two weeks worth of Literature.

"Because of the books he’s read?" Phil almost asks.

"Yep! We just have to finish chapter five and then you'll be all caught up," I say to him, but also with the intent of reassuring myself.

We are seated in the right corner of Amy's Baking Company. We chose this spot because it's quiet and has comfy chairs. Not many people are here today. A couple of students spread across the Bakery, but other than that, it's pretty dead today.

"Do you mind if we take a little break," Phil asks.

"Yeah sure," I was hoping he'd feel as tired as I was. I close my notebook and focus on my new assignment that popped up on my computer screen.

"Tell me about yourself," Phil speaks up. I stare at him for a second. I'm trying to decide if there's any possible chance that Phil could be interested in me. Now I think about all the things I could say to sell myself.

"Well, I'm 20, I'm in my sophomore year, I'm a Political Science major and..." How do I make a move?

"And?" Phil leans forward against the table, as if intrigued by what my last response could be.

"I'm single…” My response of the year.

Phil chuckles. I couldn't read him at all. I wasn't sure if he was ready to walk out the door and drop out of class or go along with my answer/question. I thought I'd had enough earlier, but I guess I came back for round 2.

"I'm 24, I took a gap year to figure out what I wanted to study. I'm now an English major and I'm single too," he then winks and smirks at me. "Why are you single?"

"I'm not good at flirting," I admit. "What about you?"

"No reason," he says without blinking.

"Why not?" I press for more information.

"There’s no one that interests me,” Phil deadpans.

"That sucks," is the only thing I could muster. By this point, I couldn't look at him directly. I tried to avoid his gaze by looking at my laptop's screen.

Part of me was hoping Phil would ask me out. Guys never ask me out for anything. The fact that Phil wanted to study with me after class is news to me. Curiosity washed over me. I want to know why he wasn’t interested in anyone.

"How come?" I ask, now returning my full attention to Phil.

Phil then tilts his head. I suppose my question must've caught him off guard. "Well, you don’t know how to flirt.”

“That I… what?” I ask.

“I’m not interested in you yet because you haven’t flirted with me,” Phil smirks.

My eyes widened. I feel my cheeks heat up once more. “Why would I flirt with you?”

“I guess I thought you liked me,” he smiles cheekily.

“What makes you think that?” I ask while my cheeks readen.

“Just a hunch.”

I sigh and say, “You seem to like me then.”

"Tell you what," Phil pulls out his cell and unlocks it. He hands me over his phone with the 'New Contact' screen laid out. "Let's exchange phone numbers. When you learn how to flirt, give me a call."

“For what reason would I tell you?” I ask knowing his response.

“So you can ask me out,” Phil stands from his seat and winks before he turns and leaves the bakery. I suppose I’ll have to beg Pj for more lessons.

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tremendoussaladtyrant · 4 years

Text

Party Girl - Chapter 1 - JJ x Reader

Words: 3.5k

Warnings: Swearing, underaged drinking (Basically the same as the actual show).

Synopsis: JJ x reader where reader feels trapped in her upper class world and meets JJ at a party before proceeding to have her life turned on it’s head.

I’m considering making this into a series but we will see what happens. P.S if there are mistakes it is because it is rather long so I probably missed out some things while editing.

The sea was your home, you’d been brought up with it. The waves lapping at the sandy beach shore had been your only constant and therefore it had come as no surprise to anyone who knew you when you said you wanted to become a scuba instructor. The dream had been far fetched and just that, a dream. To anyone from a less controlling world, such a job would seem like something reasonably easy to attain – aside from the cost of all the course’s and gear – because high grades aren’t needed. The people who think that don’t have your parents.

You had been born into a rich family and you weren’t complaining as far as money goes but money can only go so far and materialistic ideals often fail to bring happiness. With the money had come expectations and obligations which controlled your whole family’s lives and with the expectations and obligations came unhappiness. Your youthful dreams had been crushed by the ideals of your parents and sculpted into goals more accommodating to their high standards.

Your life had taken this turn when you were just 14 and you had gotten your first low grade in school. After your teacher called up your parents to inform them about your grade drop – which had been considerable – you had had to have the talk with your parents about your future. “Dive instructors don’t need high grades,” you had said only to have your sessions at the dive school you went to on the weekends ripped away from you; math tutoring filling up your weekends instead. From then on life as you knew it changed for the worst, partying later on became a habit because it was something you could do to help ignore the path your parents had laid out for you. This brings us to the now.

“Okay, what do you think of this?” you say peaking a head through the drapes covering the entrance to your closet, before throwing them away from your body dramatically. “Awe, why is no one looking?” Pouting you place a hand on your hip and stare expectantly at your two girl-friends. Abigale is lying on your bed on her back scrolling through her phone and Marlene is fixing her hair at your dressing table.

“Babes, sorry but this is far more interesting.” Abigail says continuing to scroll through her phone.

Marlene looks up, “It’s cute, but a bit revealing don’t you think?”

“It’s not by fault boys can’t keep it in their pants,” you reply flopping down next to Abigale on your bed and poking at her shoulder. “Time?”

“6.45, be patient. Just five more minutes till we go.” Abigale continues to scroll through her phone.

“Your brother and his friends are taking us, right?” Marlene says, pulling at the pieces of her hair that are too short to fit into her high ponytail.

“Yeah, well he said he would anyway. The hair-spray is in the second draw to the right.”

“Thanks, you’re a life saver.” Marlene proceeds to rummage around in said draw, finally pulling out a large can of hair-spray and getting to work on plastering her baby hairs to her head.

You lay there for a minute, the room silent aside from the music playing from your stereo before there is a rather harsh knock on the door.

“You girls commin’ or do we have to leave without you?” Blake, your brother, yells from the other side of the door.

“We are coming now,” you call back before bouncing up and off the bed and almost skipping around your room to switch off your fan, radio and finally the lights when both Abigale and Marlene have exited. You also remember to grab a jacket from the storage cupboard in the hallway so as not to be drilled into by Blake about your less then decent top.

When you get downstairs, you see both Rafe and Kelce standing near the door. A 6 pack of beer is in Kelce’s right hand and there is another one on the counter.

“Topper not with you tonight?” you question, skipping past both your brother’s friends and out the open door.

“No, he’s spending the night with Sarah,” Rafe says, following you out. Rafe has always had a thing for you and it makes you slightly uncomfortable when he blatantly hits on you. However, due to you always shutting down his advances he usually ends up with some other girl by the end of the evening – more often then not, Abigale.

“I call shotgun,” you yell as you get closer to Blake’s expensive new car.

“No, you don’t, you’re getting in the back.” Blake responds, coming up from behind you and guiding you to the back door. You pout but get in anyway, both your friends following you in. Blake and Kelce get in the front, Rafe not getting in at all and instead going over to his old motor bike. Rafe follows behind on his bike as your brother drives out the drive way. Rafe has been complaining about that bike for a while because his father refused to buy him one of the newer models due to Mr. Cameron not being a fan of motorbikes.

The car journey is short and soon you are near the beach. Blake parks up, Rafe gliding his bike in next to the car.

“You stay out of trouble tonight. I’m not being responsible for anything dumb you do,” your brother says sternly as you get out of the car looking a bit too excited.

“We’ll try keep her out of trouble,” Marlene says, getting out of the car behind you. You scoff slightly because you know that both Marlene and Abigale will be off with random guys at the end of the night. With a warning look from Blake you shut you mouth and turn away from him.

“See you suckers,” you say pulling off your jacket and chucking it into the still open car before running onto the beach. You slow to a walk when the gathering of people comes into sight. You here Blake curse you out in the distance and Rafe laugh but you don’t turn back and keep heading down to the party.

The first thing you go to do when you get down to the group is head to the kegger for a drink. The boy handling the kegger, is blonde and attractive. You can tell from his attire that he isn’t from the wealthier side of the figure eight – not that you expected him to be. His hair is matted with a mixture of sweat and beer.

“A cup, please.” You say as you reach him.

“Got lost on your way back from the golf course, princess?” The rugged boy says, running a hand through his blonde hair.

“Do you really take me as the kind to play golf?”

“Fair,” he says, pulling a cup from the packet and filling it up. Even though he is pouring you a drink he still seems slightly hostile. You get the feeling that he doesn’t want you on this side of the figure 8.

Giving you a now full cup, he begins to speak, “Now beat it, princess. You don’t belong here.” Your mouth involuntarily opens and affronted you turn you nose up at him slightly.

“Last time I checked there wasn’t any rules about where I can and can’t go,” you reply, annoyed. “Your allowed on our side of the island.”

“’Your side’,” he scoffs and you cringe at what you just said. “The only reason we are allowed on ‘your side’ is because we work there.”

You consider apologising but your pride gets in the way. Before you can turn and walk away Rafe comes up beside you.

“Praying on my kind now are you, JJ? Didn’t know you had the guts to try it with one of our girls.” Rafe comments slyly.

“As if I’d ever want to get with her,” he replies, looking you up and down. Now you are even more annoyed then before. Was he suggesting you weren’t good enough for him? Calling you ugly? The judging look he shot at you pointed to both of them.

“Let’s go Rafe, don’t waste your time on him.” You say out of anger and Rafe grins nodding before wrapping his arm around your waste, making you slightly uncomfortable, as you walk away.

“Yeah, run away like the cowards you are,” JJ shouts after you and although you can feel Rafe’s arm muscles clench, he and you keep walking towards your brother and friends.

Once you are far enough away from JJ you shake Rafe’s arm from around your waste and down your drink. Marlene has disappeared but Kelce, your brother and Abigale are standing in a group together. A girl you have never seen before is hanging off your brother’s arm and another one is standing beside him as he lifts his beer up to his mouth whilst talking to Kelce. Abigale is subtlety glaring at you from where she is standing over by Kelce. You guess it is because she must have seen Rafe’s arm around you before you shook him off. As you get over to the group you get another set of eyes on you. Your brother gives you a stern look and you role your eyes and sigh feeling like everyone is mad at you tonight.

“(Y/N), we need to talk,” Abigale states when you get over to the group. Kelce raises an eyebrow at you but says nothing as you bow your head and - grabbing two beers off the ground - you follow your friend away from the group. When you both stop walking you drop the beers into the sand and go to sit down, but as you see Abigale make no move to sit down as well you stop and straighten up.

“I saw you with Rafe, you snake.”

“Abby, I swear it is not what you think. He put his arm around me, not the other way around,” you close your eyes as you start to feel the buzz from the drink you downed earlier.

“Oh yes sure and I guess it was just a coincidence that you shrugged his arm off right when you got in eye sight of me.” Abigale pushes at your shoulder and you stumble back slightly.

“It isn’t like that.” You massage your temples.

“Tell me what is it like then?”

“For goodness sake Abigale, it is not my fault that he put his arm around me!” you exclaim rather loudly, frustration in your voice.

“You know what, why should I believe you? You have always been a slut. Don’t come near my man again or I’ll give you more just a push.” With that Abby turns away from you, flicking her long hair in your face and strutting back to the group. Slapping both hands to your cheeks you sink down to the ground and sit on the sand, facing out to the sea. Getting a beer and open it with one of the keys in your back pocket. You think about what she said to you. I’m not a slut, am I? It isn’t my fault boys come up to me when I’m dancing. It isn’t like I ever give them any indication I want more. You take a long sip of the beer before putting you head in your hands. Great, you think, I’ve probably just lost my best friends. Too be honest with yourself they weren’t amazing friends in the first place, you weren’t even sure Abigale liked you beforehand but you’ve known both of them since you were little so you stuck with them.

Taking your head out of your hands you finish up the beer. You crack open the other one and putting both lids in your back pocket and picking up the other glass you head back to where you had left your brother and everyone else. To your surprise they aren’t there but hearing a commotion from the main group of people you drop both your empty bear bottles next to the pile your brother and his friends had left and head over to the noise.

When you get over there you see what has been causing all the noise.

“Blake!” You yell, pushing through the people in front of you to get to set of fighting boys. A boy with slightly long hair is going at it with Rafe while JJ has your brother in a choke hold. Although your brother is bigger and a lot bulkier than JJ, JJ seems to over power him with fighting experience. Not knowing quite what to do as you see your brother gasping for air and in JJ’s grip, all that is rushing through your head is that you need to get JJ off him. You don’t trust the boy not to seriously injure him, after all he seemed spiteful enough to want to do so earlier. Thinking fast you run at them, jumping on JJ’s back. He lets out a startled huff but doesn’t let go of your brother.

“Let go of him, you dick!” you yell and when he still doesn’t you have another – not fully thought out – idea. You sink your teeth into his shoulder hard and he yelps, letting go of your brother and dropping him to the ground. The crowd are all making a ruckus behind you and the noise from them is all you can hear as JJ shakes you off him and you fall onto your but on the ground. Your brother gets up from the ground where he had been trying to catch his breath and punches JJ repetitively until he falls to the ground. He then sends a kick JJ’s way not paying any attention to you. Seeing the well-aimed kick at the boy you had just bitten; you jump onto JJ who is on his back on the ground.

“Stop, Blake! He has had enough!” You scream out ready to take the kick which never comes.

Suddenly, everyone starts bolting and you hear a yell, “Police!” someone says.

The beer hits you in that moment and you aren’t able to move fast enough. Next thing you know you find yourself pushed into a police car next to a pretty battered JJ. He ignores you for the whole journey, looking out of the window but you aren’t to bothered by it opting to worry about how your parents would react to this. You get to the station relatively quickly and once you have given the officers your name and parents details you are placed in an empty holding cell with JJ. You sit in silence for a while, considering the mess you are in and how you are going to deal with your parents who you know will be fuming.

“You really bit me,” JJ says, breaking the silence and massaging his aching shoulder. This brings you out of your thought and you look at him as he rubs the place you bit.

“Yeah,” you say sheepishly, scrunching your nose. “Sorry about that”

JJ shrugs it off, the malice from earlier some what gone. “Can you come take a look at my side for me? I can’t see it but it kills.” He turns around so you are facing his back, so your nod is lost to him, but he hears you as you shuffle closer to him. Your cold hands touch his bare back as you fingers pull his shirt up and he flinches slightly.

“Awe, can the poor baby not handle the cold?” You tease, opting to put aside your disagreement from earlier now that you will be sharing a cell for the foreseeable future. Running a cold finger up his spine, you feel him shiver again and you coo as he huffs, irritated. You can almost picture his expression and you laugh smugly.

“Just check my side, smart-arse.” He grumbles sounding slightly amused. You finally check his side and sure enough it is starting to bruise.

“That looks like it hurts,” you say, voice laced with concern even though you have only just met him. He tugs his shirt out of your hand and pulls it back-down.

“No-shit-sherlock.” He turns around to face you and you fall into him slightly as you had initially been balancing on you knees, hands on his back.

“I have a name you know,” you say pulling away from him quickly, face flushed. You’re not sure why you are getting so hot and bothered because sure he is good looking but you’ve known and know many good-looking guys and have always managed to keep your cool around them. You figure it must be all the drink going to your head.

“Oh, I know.” He smirks at you and you raise your eyebrows.

“So why don’t you use it then, Mr know it all.”

“Does it annoy you that I don’t use it?”

“Yes.” He gives you a look, eyes sparkling. He seems so free, so lively and full of adventure – these qualities draw you to him.

“Well, there is your answer then.” You huff in response and move slightly away from him and put your back to the wall. He moves to put his back against the wall as well, forgetting about his side temporarily. It is brought to the front of his mind again as he hits it against the wall and hisses.

“You okay?” You turn to him and scan his face. He just grimaces.

“Peachy.”

“Stop with the smart replies, you’re not falling anyone. I know you side must be hurting you more then you seem happy to admit.”

“And how would you know?”

“I’ve had my fair share of injuries.” His brow crinkles as he looks at you.

“You?” He sounds surprised.

“Let’s just say I’m not the most rational drunk.”

“A party-girl, huh? I never would have guessed.” He says, still grinning but his brow creases slightly; you don’t bring him up on it. “So, what else do you do in your free time?”

“Why do you care?” You ask, suddenly getting defensive. In truth since scuba diving had been stripped from you, all you had really been doing with your life was partying, studying and hanging out with your most likely fake friends.

“I don’t but in case you hadn’t noticed, sweetheart, we aren’t getting out of here any time soon, so amuse me.”

His comment annoys you slightly but not seeing the point of arguing you indulge him. “Oh, you know, the usual kooky things, shopping, big soirée’s, hanging with friends.” You say only slightly sarcastically.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that, but there has to be more to you then that.”

“I used to scuba-dive,” you say, looking down slightly and JJ can’t help but notice that the memory seems to pain you.

“Used to?” He questions you but is cut off as a police officer comes up to the cell door and takes out a set of keys, shoving one in the lock and unlocking the cell.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N),” he calls out and you stand up.

“That’s me,” you say trying to act more confident then you really are.

“Your parents have come to pick you up; they are waiting in the waiting room. You are free to leave,” the man says.

“Perks of having kook parents,” JJ spits out spitefully and when you go to look back at him, he won’t meet your eyes. His ‘angry at all people who are rich’ façade is back up and you roll your eyes at him.

“Are you going to be okay, JJ?” You say – one last attempt at making peace with the boy.

“Just fine, don’t worry about little old me.” He says will malice.

“Fine. Bye JJ,” you say icily.

“See you around, Princess.”

With that the police officer leads you out of the cell and to the explosion that is going to be the argument which is guaranteed to break out between you and your parents, but only when you get far enough away from anyone who could possibly hear.

Part 2

#jj+x+reader #outer banks #jj #jj x reader #x reader #obx x reader #jj imagine #jj maybank #obx fanfiction #obx #rafe obx #jj obx

135 notes · View notes

bnhaficsforthesoul · 4 years

Text

BNHA College Au - Aizawa

Major: Psychology

Minor: History

Sports: Nope

Clubs: Nope x2

So shouta fully intends to become a teacher, he’s had a rough upbringing and cause of that he wants to help kids in any way he can

This is one of the reasons he chose to major in psych, other than the topic being very interesting he wants to have a good understanding on psychology so that he can be as helpful as possible

He’s planning on becoming a high school teacher cause he feels like that’s the age group he would work best with and also he could help the most there

He works at a local high school too as a tutor, decided he might as well get some experience in and tutors students (mostly first years) on whatever he can help with, he’ll go there on days he doesn’t have any classes

He’s honestly just minoring in history because it’s always interested him, he finds learning how everything has developed over time into today interesting

Him and nemuri definitely have nerdy conversations about history, even though she’s more interested in the art aspect of it, they still talk about it all the time while hizashi and oboro are usually just stuck there listening to them ramble

Anyways, back to him working at a high school, you also work there

You’ve obviously seen shouta multiple times and knew he was from your college, but you didn’t really bother trying to talk to him at first because you just needed to focus on your job

However, one day when shouta was helping a kid on his math homework, they came upon a problem that neither of them knew how to solve, and seeing you in the room the kid called you over to ask if you could help

Cue lowkey blushy shouta because you instantly ran right over and tried helping the kid with a smile, and you had this cute concentrated look on your face as you read over the problem a couple times

Eventually the problem was solved, and the kid had to go leaving you and shouta alone

You didn’t want to be rude and just walk away, and there was no one else needing your help right now so you sat down next to him and started talking to him

It was kinda awkward, you were very much carrying this conversation

“You go to UA right? What’s your major?” its a simple question that has the poor man almost panicking, but he muttered out a “Psychology.”

He’s got the kind of voice that makes him sound like he’s just not interested, but you can tell from the look on his face that he’s flustered, but it doesn’t seem like he wants you to leave

So you keep talking, mainly about your majors and career paths, but you don’t mind - it’s fun talking to the shy boy

Eventually it’s time to leave though, and you have plans elsewhere, so you go your separate ways

But now when you two are working at the same times, neither of you are so hesitant to talk to each other, and any time you have a break you spend it chatting about anything and everything

Of course, being the best friend that he is, hizashi found out about ‘the cute person at work’ that shouta’s been talking to (since after a couple days you finally exchanged numbers and suddenly your conversations weren’t limited to only being at work)

Hizashi is practically begging shouta to ask you out, literally on his hands and knees like “shOUTA PLEASSE YOU GOTTA DO IT!!!! JUST ONE DATE!!” he just wants his friend to be happy and not limited to only hanging out with him oboro and nemuri

But shouta’s too scared to, no matter how cute and nice you are he’s too worried that you’ll say no and he doesn’t wanna ruin the friendship you two have formed

So what does hizashi do? He asks you out for shouta (which almost gets him strangled when shouta finds out)

He took shouta’s phone while he went to shower, and of course he knows the password, so he just opened it up and texted you “hey, can I take you out for coffee tomorrow?”

He gets so excited when you say yes lmao and gives you all the details, then shouta walks back in and is like “the fuck are you doing?” and hizashi gets this huge grin on his face and responds “I got you a date~”

Hizashi barely even saw shouta move before suddenly the phone was ripped out of his hands so that shouta could frantically look to see just what his friend did, and the glare he sends hizashi has him almost regretting everything

Shouta debates telling you his friend sent those texts, but he sees how excitedly you said yes and decides he might as well see how this goes

He wakes up so early the next day lol he’s nervous, and he spends a good hour fixing his appearance, like he considers shaving and putting his hair up but he doesn’t want to look like he’s trying too hard at the same time, so he eventually decides on just wearing nice black jeans and a black long sleeve - going “it’s not even an actual date, it’s just coffee, it’s not that serious”

A couple hours later, shouta’s waiting in the cafe, sitting at a little table waiting for you since he got there a little early. He’s just texting hizashi, who’s offering shouta a bunch of encouragement since he knows he’s nervous, and eventually you walked in, immediately spotting shouta in the corner and going over to him

He’s so cute he sees that you dressed nicely for this too and he tries to be cool when he goes “you look nice” but the blush on his face betrays him, not that you mind, and the blush deepens when you compliment him back

He buys you your coffee, and you sit in your little corner of the cafe - just talking. Even though you guys basically do this all the time at work, now it feels more personal, and it has you both talking about your lives more. Nothing too specific, just funny stories and about your interests other than work or school related things

Once youre both done with your coffee, or when you both notice that you’ve finished it since you were so deep in conversation, he offers to walk you back to your dorm - he doesn’t want to keep you for too long

You let him, but once you get to your dorm, you tell him “I had fun, I hope we can do it again sometime” to which he can’t help but get excited for - you wanna go out with him again! Yay!

After that, it was a bit easier for him to ask you on dates, and you still saw each other at work constantly, and so you guys grew even closer pretty quick

You went on maybe 4 or 5 more casual dates before finally, after work one day, he gathered up all his courage and asked you out officially

“Hey, y/n, would you - would you go out with me? For real?”

Baby looks so hopeful behind that generic bored stare of his, and of course youre ecstatic! You’ve had a small crush on him basically since day one, and now he’s actually asking you out! So of course you agreed, letting out an excited “of course I will!”

Okay so his friends adore you, they love seeing shouta so happy with you

You two just sit around in your dorms cuddling whenever youre not busy, hizashi acts like it’s gross, your roommate probably does too - but no one can deny how cute you are together

Even the high schoolers you tutor, of course they eventually got wind that you two were dating and they all ship it like crazy

Most of your dates consist of small things, like going back to that cafe, or taking a late night walk in the park, he doesn’t like doing anything too grand

Its fun watching as his beard grows out during finals, he’s too busy studying to shave and youre trying to kiss him but he’s all itchy, and he’s just like “Kitten, I’m sorry I promise I’ll shave later” every single day until he finally does, but then again if you like his beard youre probably thriving during this period

During one of those late night walk dates, you guys came upon a small black cat under one of the benches. You barely even saw it with how dark it was, but you saw the glint of its eyes and went to investigate and saw a little kitten

He didn’t have a collar, and you didn’t see what could have looked like a momma cat or anything around, and you didn’t want to just leave the poor thing out there in the cold. So what did you and shouta’s dumb asses do? You adopted it.

Even though cats aren’t allowed in dorms

But that wasn’t about to stop you guys - and you figured it would be better to keep the cat in shouta’s dorm because everyone was already used to hizashi being loud so you could excuse any meowing

Hizashi going “what the fuck guys, you’ve been dating for 4 months and you already have a kid? Smh my head” but he’s also a supportive uncle lmao he loves the kitten too

Oboro loves taking polaroids of you two and now you both have tons of photos of each other/you together in your rooms and its really cute - and also polaroids of your son too of course he’s part of the family

#this is the first of like 19?20 characters im doing 😊#hope you enjoy cause they took 3 days of planning lol #aizawa #aizawa imagine #aizawa x reader #aizawa shouta #aizawa headcanons #bnha #mha

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radishaur · 4 years

Note

can u do a zuko x reader high school au where the reader (female or gender neutral) is part of the gaang's friend group and is a huge nerd? (in math or science or english or everything because there aren't enough nerd readers mam) feel free to do anything you want with that! ty!

As a fellow nerd, I am so in love with this idea! I actually love this idea so I think I’m gonna be turning this one into a series! I hope you enjoy this!

- Zoe

•••

Highschool AU (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff, Highschool AU, some angst

Part: 1/?

Summary: Zuko was, by no means, your typical student. He was super popular despite having relatively no friends. He was quite shy and mostly kept to himself. Every girl was swooning over him, but he never noticed. He also was pretty much barely passing every class he was in, besides PE and Theatre. So when the school appoints you as his personal tutor, you wouldn’t say you were surprised. What did surprise you was how well the two of you got along.

•••

The soft sound of the alarm going off brought you out of your sleep. You groaned in annoyance before sitting up. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but that didn’t matter. School started at 7 AM sharp, no excuses.

You swung yourself out of bed and hit the off button for your alarm. Stretching, you found yourself walking into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

It was the same routine every day. Get up and get ready for school. Eat breakfast and go straight to school. Go to your classes as expected and don’t cause trouble. Keep your grades up or else. Look out for your sister because she’s blind and “can’t take care of herself” (total bullshit). Come home and do your homework. Go to sleep. That was the routine for Y/N Beifong.

Having parents in politics meant you were constantly having to meet these insane expectations. You had to be perfect. There was no room to be a normal teenager. Not for me.

I sighed and got dressed before heading over to Toph’s room. She was usually a heavy sleeper and I had to wake her up.

“Toph! Sokka, Aang, and Katara are gonna be here any minute now,” I exclaimed as I turned the lights on in her room.

She grumbled slightly before sitting up. Her hair was everywhere and I giggled slightly.

“Come on. Get dressed so I can do your hair,” I told her before heading to the kitchen to make some food.

I put some fruit into the blender along with some ice and milk to make us both smoothies. I let it mix before pouring them into two cup and handing one to a sleepy Toph who shuffled into the kitchen.

“Rough night?” I asked as I began taming her hair.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she replied as she hastily drank her smoothie.

I pinned her hair into her usual style. As I was placing the last bobby pin in, I heard a honk from outside. Definitely Sokka.

Toph and I both grabbed our bags before running outside and jumping in the car. The rides to school were always my favorite. We could just laugh and be ourselves. It was incredibly refreshing.

When we pulled into the school parking lot, we all went out seperate ways to class. I was the oldest of the group, a whole grade above everyone else. Sokka and Katara were only one underneath me and then Aang and Toph were both freshman. How is that even possible you might be asking?

Well, both Aang and Katara skipped a grade. They’ve always been slightly smarter than their age group so it didn’t really surprise anyone. As for Toph, pretty much everyone was surprised to find out that she was practically a genius. She didn’t care about school in the slightest, but she was incredibly smart. She had to take special classes because of her blindness, but she was a part of the school nonetheless. Honestly, it worked out great for me. I had all of my friends in the same place, even if I didn’t have any classses with them.

I went about my day as usual, vigorously taking notes and listening to the different lectures. Everything was going by as normal until I was called to the principals office before lunch. My teacher handed me the note before continuing his lecture.

The walk there had been absolutely nerve wracking. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong and yet I still couldn’t calm down. Mostly out of fear for what my parents would do if they found out I was called there in the first place. I took a deep breath before opening the door to the principal’s office.

“Ah! Miss Y/N,” Principal Williams greeted with a welcoming smile, “Have a seat.”

“Good morning Mr. Williams,” I replied as I sat down.

I shifted nervously in my seat as I waited for him to tell me why I was here.

“Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble,” he prefaced, sending a wave of relief over me, “We’re just waiting on another student to arrive and then I’ll explain why you’re here.”

I cocked my head curiously, wondering what could possibly be happening. It wasn’t maybe a minute long before the door creaked open once more. Stepping inside was the last person I expected to see.

“Mr. Zuko! Late as always,” Principal Williams greeted, noticeably less friendly.

Standing in the doorway stood Zuko. He had a red cardigan with a button up underneath, black jeans, and a brown book bag slung over his shoulders. My eyes flicked to the scar that covered almost the entire left side of his face before looking over the rest of him. His brown hair fell lightly over his face and he shifted nervously in the doorway before sitting like he was told to.

“This is Ms. Y/N. I’m sure you’ve seen eachother around school before,” he said, pointing between the two of us.

Zuko nodded slightly before averting his gaze. I had indeed seen him around before. His father was also in politics and his sister, Azula, was one of the top students in the school and the two were never seen together at school. His scar was the spark of many gossip filled conversations you could hear while walking down the halls. Zuko himself was quiet. He kept to himself and didn’t have many friends.

“Zuko here is in need of a tutor. He’s barely passing any of his classes and his father is paying us to find him a student tutor. Seeing as you’re one of our top students and the same age, it only made sense to pick you,” he explained to me, barely even paying attention to Zuko at all.

“Oh,” was all I managed to say.

I had a million thoughts running through my head. I didn’t even know what to say.

“We’ll pay you for your efforts of course and the school will provide you with library space to work. All you need to do is tutor Zuko until his grades go up,” he continued, leaning back in his chair.

Zuko hadn’t said a word. You could see him blushing slightly out of the corner of your eye, presumably because he was embarrassed. You two had never spoken before and now he was getting bad mouthed right in front of me. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for him. Principal Williams did really put him in an uncomfortable position.

“When would I be tutoring him?” I asked, bringing my attention back to the situation at hand.

“Every day after school starting today until his grades improve. Then we can adjust the schedule as needed,” Principal Williams said before handing me a sheet of paper and adding, “That’s a list of all the subjects you’ll be covering.”

I nodded to conform I had heard him, but my head was elsewhere. This was a huge commitment I was being thrown into, but I couldn’t really say no. Besides, judging by the list of subjects I’d be teaching him, they were all ones I actually enjoyed. I would have to tell my parents and Toph about the new arrangement though and that wasn’t a conversation I was particularly looking forward too.

“Great. Why don’t you two exchange phone numbers so you can communicate and then you can be on your ways,” he said before ushering us out into the waiting room.

I stood awkwardly in front of him. He was only slightly taller than me, but it was enough to make me feel slightly intimidated. Despite his social awkwardness, he looked like someone you didn’t want to piss off. I shook my head and decided to introduce myself properly.

“So, I know that probably wasn’t the best way to get introduced. My name is Y/N,” I said, giving him a friendly smile.

“Zuko,” he said back.

This was the first time I had heard his voice. In all honesty, it sent a swarm of butterflies off in my stomach. It was quiet and held this almost gravelly tone that made my knees weak.

“It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t I give you my number so I can text you later,” I suggested, shoving the funny feeling in my stomach down.

He took his phone out and looked at me. His amber eyes met my (E/C) one’s expectantly. I repeated my number for him and then pulled out my own to get his. I was putting his contact name in when he spoke again.

“I’m sorry for getting you forced into tutoring me. My family was insistent on having a student tutor,” he apologized, a small blush dusting his cheeks as he did.

“That’s alright. I don’t mind. I’m actually really passionate about most of the stuff I’ll be teaching you anyways,” I assured him as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.

He hummed to let me know he had heard me but he didn’t say anything else. I looked down awkwardly by my feet, unsure of what to do next. I was scrambling for what to say when the lunch bell rang.

“Well, I better get going. I don’t want to keep my friends waiting. I’ll text you after school,” I said before making my way to the lunch room.

I met my friends and we all got in line to grab lunch. I was grateful that our school provided actual food. Granted, this was a private school. It was incredibly prestigious. You had to either pay to attend or be here on a scholarship.

“So, I heard that you got pulled out of class to go to the principal’s office,” Toph taunted, poking me in the side with her elbow.

“Ms. Goody-two-shoes got sent to the office? No way,” Sokka said, grabbing his tray as we all began walking towards our table outside.

“What did you get called down for?” Aang asked out of curiosity.

We all sat down at the table and I began eating as I answered.

“I’m going to be a tutor for another student. I’m getting paid and everything,” I explained.

“Oh wow! Who is it?” Katara asked as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

“Zuko,” I answered casually.

Sokka choked on his drink and looked at me with wide eyes. Pretty much everybody at the table did besides Toph who just continued eating like nothing had happened.

“You’re going to be tutoring Zuko? Like the Zuko?” he asked in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes. Everybody at school acted like this. Sokka really needed to stop gossiping so much.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. He’s just like the rest of us,” I argued, taking another bite of my food.

“You’re insane, Y/N. Zuko is the mysterious hottie that everybody wants to date. Do you know how many people would kill for the opportunity you were just handed?” he exclaimed, waving his hands out to gesture to the many students milling around.

“Don’t tell me you’re crushing on him or something. Are you jealous?” I teased, kicking his leg slightly under the table.

Everybody laughed as Sokka scowled.

“Haha. You know I’ve had my eyes on Suki since day one,” he sighed, looking off in the distance dreamily.

We spent the rest of the lunch period like usual, just discussing our days and making plans to hang out this weekend. I went through the rest of my classses more anxious than usual, though. Normally I would be completely focused, but I couldn’t get my mind of tutoring Zuko.

His awkward demeanor did nothing to hide his look. I hated to agree with the opinion of the student body, but he was undeniably good looking. I also couldn’t stop thinking about how I had to spend the next however many hours trying to tutor him. I was nervous to see if I would be any good at it. What if we didn’t get alone well?

I was brought back to reality by the final bell. My heartbeat began to accelerate slightly, but I forced myself to calm down. I texted the group chat I had with my friends to remind them of my tutoring session and then made my way into the library. It was completely empty save for Zuko. He was already sitting down at a table and was fidgeting nervously with his sleeve. He had headphones in and I made sure to walk in front of him so I didn’t startle him.

“Hey,” I said, sitting down in the chair next to him.

He plucked the earbuds out of his ears carefully and turned to look at me. He gave me a halfhearted smile before shoving his headphones into his bag.

“Hi,” he mumbled.

“So, I feel like I should preface this by letting you know I’ve never been a tutor before. I’m not really sure how this is supposed to work,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Oh,” he said quietly.

I pulled my textbooks out of my bag and set them down on the table. I thought for a moment before deciding on what to do.

“Why don’t we get to know eachother better?” I suggested.

His good eye widened a bit in shock before his expression changed to one of confusion.

“Aren’t you supposed to be tutoring me?” he questioned me.

“I will. I just think it would help if we actually knew a little bit about eachother. That way we aren’t just total strangers,” I explained, turning my chair to face him.

He shifted nervously before finally facing me. He was definitely incredibly awkward. Luckily for both of us, I found it endearing. Besides, growing up with Toph you kind of have to learn to adapt. She’s not exactly known for being the most social.

“Alright,” he agreed.

“Great. I guess I’ll start. Ask me anything you want to know,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

His brows furrowed in thought. I had to hold back at laugh at his determination. He was taking this very seriously it appeared.

“What uh.....what do you do for fun?” he asked finally.

“I actually love to read. That’s usually what I do after school if I’m not hanging out with my friends. I also love studying environmental science,” I answered honestly.

“Oh. I’m not very good at either of those,” he admitted sheepishly, his cheeks growing pink.

“What are you good at?” I asked.

“I guess I’m good at sports. I used to take martial arts when I was little. Now I mostly just um......” he trailed off before mumbling something under his breath, his embarrassment growing clearer and clearer.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear the last part,” I admitted.

“I uh......I really enjoy theatre,” he admitted quietly, averting his gaze from mine.

“Oh! I didn’t strike you as a theatre person. That’s cool! My sister and I used to sneak out and watch some local plays before we got caught,” I admitted, laughing at the memory.

Toph used to insist on going, even though she couldn’t see. She said it was a good chance for her to practice her version of seeing. At first, I thought it was ridiculous, but she surprised me like usual. As long as her feet were on the ground she could sense where everything was.

Zuko was surprised. He had expected you to make fun of him, but instead you seemed completely unfazed. Theatre, as his father said, was for girls.

“You don’t think that’s weird?” he questioned, testing the waters.

“Why would that be weird?” you asked, your head cocked to the side in confusion.

He seemed to be relaxed slightly by your answer and for the first time, a genuine smile graced his features. It was small, but even that sent a small flutter alight in your stomach. You smiled back and continued to get to know him. After a while, you finally began tutoring him. You spent almost 2 hours there before you two decided to call it a night.

Now, you were laying in bed. Normally you would be out like a light, but tonight you couldn’t get a certain someone out of your head. You guys had clicked almost instantly after Zuko relaxed. You guys had more in common than you would have expected.

You sighed and turned on your side to look at the stars. As you drifted off to sleep, you couldn’t help but be excited to see him again.

#zuko x reader #zuko #prince zuko fanfic #prince zuko fanfiction #prince zuko fic #prince zuko #highschool au

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succubusphan · 4 years

Text

Everything I Wanted

Summary: Dan dreams and dreams of what his life could have been if he had gotten everything he ever wanted - the what ifs that pale in comparisson to what he had now.

Based on the Billie Eilish song.

Rating: G

Word count: 4.9k

Tags: Mild Angst, fluff, established relationship, lots of love and support, My best attempt at being poetic with quite a bit of help. Mild references to homophobia.

A/n: This fic was written for @thoughtathought for winning the charity auction for Dan’s Birthday. Thank you so much for your donation and for being extra amazing! And thank you to @schnaf for being my support and grammar beta and @icequeenjules26 for adding to the grammar and poetry aspect of the fic. Thank you both for your opinions and unthank you to both of you for roasting me (I’ll see you in hell.)

This is an accompanying piece to If I Ain’t Got You but can be read as a stand alone.

Read on ao3

Rain fell mercilessly upon the streets of Wokingham. Dan sighed and brushed a wet strand of hair out of his face - he hated this fucking weather. His hair was already ruined, but there was no way around it. He pulled his jacket tighter around his body and made his way to school.

Dan walked down the hallway of The Forest School confidently. For once in his life he was on time to meet his friends before the first lesson of the day. Some of the people standing off to the side waved at him as he made his way to their usual meeting point. He waved back with a smile even though he didn’t know them. He didn’t mind. It was normal for less popular students to look up to the more popular ones and want their attention in whatever form they could get; he honestly felt a bit bad for them. Luckily for Dan, he had fit into his group right from the start.

He found them outside the library, as usual. Not because they used it, though. “We’re too cool for that,” Thatcher had said, so the group never went inside. In fact, Dan didn’t know what the inside even looked like.

He leaned against the wall, trying to look cool. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Nice hair, Howell,” Thatcher said.

The rest of them laughed - as they usually did - but Dan didn’t mind, they were his friends after all.

Thatcher didn’t drop it, though. “You look like a drowned rat.”

“Thank you, Thatcher! When I want to look like a wanker I’ll ask you for hair advice,” Dan elbowed him.

The group laughed even louder and that made Dan’s heart soar a bit; he enjoyed making people laugh like that.

“Oi, at least I do well with the birds!” Thatcher laughed, wrapping one arm around Dan’s shoulders. “Are you going to call Lara back? She keeps asking.”

“Uh, yeah. I- ” Dan tried not to let his smile falter. “I will, when it’s time… you know, you gotta let them wait so they want it more.” He winked and his friend roared with laughter again. This time he felt empty. He wasn’t going to call Lara, but he didn’t want to admit that. They accepted him as they knew him, a straight boy who did kind of well at school and was funny; a cool guy. They didn’t need to know that it wasn’t the truth - nobody did.

“Damn right! Smart move, Dan. Come on, let’s visit our little friend over there.” Thatcher pointed to a scrawny looking boy.

Dan didn’t speak to him, but he knew him. They sat together in math class. If Dan closed his eyes, he could see that shining black hair and those piercing blue eyes just as clear he saw them in front of him now… his rosy lips and long pale fingers tracing over Dan’s skin.

He shut his eyes, dreading it already. He wanted to leave, he wanted to disappear off the face of the earth, but of course, he had no such luck. Thatcher grabbed his arm and pulled him along. Bullying was a mandatory group activity.

“What’s up, Gaylord? What’s it like being lord of the gays?” Thatcher spat.

Dan tried his best to seem invisible, to fall behind the rest; he didn’t want any part in this.

The guy, Richie was his name, rolled his eyes at them. “What’s it like being Lord of the ignorants? Will you need me to tutor you again, Thatcher? Will you start begging me to -”

Thatcher’s fist cut him off. It wasn’t a real punch, Dan knew. Thatcher could do a lot more damage if he wanted to, but he seemed conflicted.

“You have no right to speak to us like that. If you do it again, you will regret it.”

Richie sighed in defeat. He suddenly looked much older. Dan felt like crying, but he didn’t - he couldn’t. Richie stared into his eyes with unshed tears; as if he knew. He knew that Dan was just like him, but he was also a coward. Someone who would rather be with the bullies instead of being their victim.

It was true, but he was their victim too, just in a different way. Richie wiped some blood from his lip and looked at it as if it was a foreign object, then back at Dan. ‘Aren’t you going to do anything?’ his eyes pleaded, but Dan just lowered his head.

He felt as if the world was crashing down on him like a breaking wave, drowning him, suffocating him in the process, so he did what he usually did when nothing felt right: he ran. He turned around and exited through the back door. He could no longer keep the tears from falling; he was such a piece of garbage. He ran until his lungs felt like they were about to explode. Oh, he was going to be in so much shit for bailing, he was going to be found out, he was -

He reached the corner of the street and tried to set foot down on the pavement but he found no support so he fell and fell and fell, into a never-ending dark pit, swallowing him whole.

Dan jolted awake, his heart pumping in his chest, he was covered in sweat and could feel tear tracks on his cheeks. He sluggishly wiped them off with the back of his hand and tried to calm himself with a breathing exercise. He looked to the right where Phil laid at his side, undisturbed, and smiled.

The sunlight coming in through the window formed something like a halo around him. Dan’s smile deepened as he examined Phil’s face - the face of the man that had been his companion for eleven years now. He saw their entire story on Phil’s face, in the signs of ageing he loved so much. The stray grey hair, the smile lines, they spoke of so many adventures, arguments, laughs and love; they reminded Dan of their history together, their history as partners, as best friends.

Phil pouted in his sleep and Dan’s heart swelled in his chest. He was so in love with him, even to this day. There was no other way to describe Phil than as his soulmate. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the remnants of the nightmare gradually fading from his memory.

Dan shuffled closer to Phil and placed his head on his shoulder, softly running his nose against Phil’s neck and breathing in his scent. He smelled like home.

Phil started to stir, unconsciously pulling Dan closer to his chest with a hum. Dan kissed Phil’s neck, causing him to finally crack one eye open and look at him questioningly. Dan just kept running his fingers through his chest hair, absentmindedly tracing little patterns without a notice.

Phil smiled and closed his eyes again, scrunching his face at the sunrays blinding him. “Mmm?”

“Good morning,” Dan whispered.

“Morning.” He placed a kiss atop Dan’s head. “Why are you awake so early?”

“Mmm. A dream.” He pulled at Phil’s chest hair a bit too hard, making him wince. “Or more like a nightmare… Bullies.”

Phil frowned and held him a little tighter. “Dan, you know they can’t get you anymore.”

“I know.” He sighed.

“Wanna tell me about it?”

“I guess it was how things could have gone if I’d been able to pass as straight as a teenager. That was everything I wanted, to just fit in.”

Phil hummed in acknowledgement. “Did they still bully you?”

“No, I wouldn’t say they did, but they did something worse.”

Phil stayed silent, giving Dan the time to process what he wanted to say.

“I was weak. They pressured me into being like them. They bullied my friend, Richie. In the dream, he wasn’t my friend, but he was gay and he knew I was too. He looked at me when Thatcher punched him.” Dan’s voice quivered; he suddenly felt like crying again. He allowed himself a moment to breathe. “He was pleading with his eyes, asking me for help and I did nothing.”

Phil ran his hand up and down Dan’s arm comfortingly. “You wouldn’t have been like them, Dan. You know that, I know you do.”

“How do you know? How can you be so sure?” Dan lifted his head and looked into Phil’s eyes.

Smiling, Phil laced their fingers together. “Dan, I know you. We’ve been together for over ten years. I know you better than you know yourself.”

Of course, Dan settled back down without replying. He wanted to deny that. He knew that Phil was right, but part of him always told him that he was not as great as people seemed to think, that he was just a great pretender.

But Phil pulled him away from that thought process right away. “Why do you think you had that dream?”

The sunlight shined through the room, reflecting off of their sparkly nicknacks. Colourful circles danced on the far wall, vibrant shapes and patterns that created the illusion of a magical world. Dan kept running his fingers through Phil’s chest hair and followed the lights with his eyes.

“I guess writing about my childhood brought some memories back, and some doubts too,” he finally said. He hadn’t actually thought about it. His mind had been a bit more prone to … distress since he dived into his past and his mental health.

“Yeah, that would do it.”

“Yeah,” Dan smiled softly, closing his eyes and placing a kiss on Phil’s chest.

“So it’s not because you think you actually would have been like that,” Phil pushed.

“No, it’s not,” Dan said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Phil cupped his cheek and guided his chin up, pressing a kiss to his lips, his jaw, his dimples, his eyelids. Dan sighed and allowed himself to be loved, to feel happy and supported. Nobody could take this away from him. He was safe now.

The hail smashed against the window of his 35th floor office, Dan looked out into the London sky with a heavy sigh. He had managed to push through university somehow, graduate at the top of his class and become a Senior Partner by 30.

He loved his career, he really did: the competitive aspect of it, the debate, and helping people. Sometimes he could even go as far as to say that he was happy, but most days he felt merely content.

Everyone had praised him for having so much drive and ambition, which was, in great part, the reason for his success, but sometimes he didn’t want any of it.

He had achieved what most people would want in life: A career, success, money, a loving boyfriend; but when he got home, when he crossed that door, he wanted to leave it all behind. He didn’t want to be a lawyer or discuss laws, or his cases, of the state of the world. He only wanted to be Dan; just Dan.

He got on his Porsche and not five minutes later he was parked in front of his beautiful home. Then, he pushed the alarm button, locking it for the night and with the twist of a key, he was inside.

He removed his shoes by the door with a sigh and the noise of the TV coming from the lounge made him smile so he followed it. Richard sat on their sofa with his legs close to the side, gently moving his glass of wine in circles, letting the air mix with its contents. Dan walked up to him with a smile and cupped his cheek as he kissed his lips tenderly. “Hi,” he whispered against his boyfriend’s lips.

“Hi,” Richard said immediately, letting his eyes return to the TV. “Why don’t you get changed? Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Thank you, do you want to play Mario Kart while we eat?”

Richard scoffed without even looking at him. “Dan, you know I do not like that sort of childish game and neither should you. You are a lawyer, and 30 years old at that. It’s time to grow up.”

Dan’s smile vanished, he swallowed thick and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. “Right.”

Richard heard it in his voice before Dan could say anything, he stretched his hand towards Dan and Dan held his out as well. Richard laced their fingers and pulled him onto the sofa. “I love you, Dan. I just think it’s time to let all those childish things go. We’re adults.” He ran his fingers on Dan’s chin gently. “And you, my love, need a shave.”

Dan frowned; he felt so lost. He wanted to run. He was fed up with all the constrictions, the responsibilities, the eternal office hours and society’s demands on how he should behave. He just wanted to be happy, even for a little while. Why wasn’t that allowed? Why didn’t he have the right to play videogames and wear stupid pyjamas and have fun? He let out a heavy sigh. He felt so drained all of a sudden; if he’d had any energy, he would’ve cried, but he put on a little smile instead. “Could you shave me?” He asked.

Richard smiled widely. “Of course, love. Go change and meet me in the bathroom.”

Dan smiled a little wider and went into their bedroom. It was their little thing, Richard liked to take care of Dan and Dan took care of him too. Maybe he was right, maybe Dan needed to stop wasting time.

Dan grabbed his pizza themed pyjamas, but then he shook his head, choosing to put on his Armani pair instead. Then, he grabbed all of his dorky pyjamas and video games and went into the kitchen; he stood beside the rubbish bin for a minute, finally shoving them in before he could regret his decision. The anime would be next, but that was a task for another day.

He let Richard shave him, lost in thought with his head resting back on the chair. “Do you ever think about switching careers?”

Richard raised an eyebrow at him and continued slowly dragging the razor on his chin.“No, of course not. Why?”

“Sometimes I think this is killing my soul, like I’m slowly wasting away.”

Richard stilled his hands. “Don’t be silly! And what would you do?” He asked with a smile before continuing.

“I don’t know. I used to act; I’ve always loved theatre and comedy… something related to art, I guess.”

Richard clucked his tongue and rolled his eyes with an amused smile. “Of course,” he kissed Dan’s head. “Tell you what, if you still want to do that when we retire, I will support you. What do you think?”

Dan sank in his chair feeling even more empty than before. “Yeah, you’re right.” In a way, he was always acting to be the version of him that everyone expected.

He stayed up until 4 that night, watching stand up comedy specials and dreaming of a better life that would never come. Maybe achieving your dreams was not all that people made it out to be. He wished he would have allowed himself to make mistakes, but now it was too late. He should have dropped out when he got the chance. Now he was trapped.

Trapped was the first word clearly standing out in the jumbled mess that was Dan’s thoughts when he woke up. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings. He felt paralyzed, unable to move a single muscle, and a dull feeling of panic enveloped him like a heavy blanket, suffocating him; it rested on his chest like a boulder and made it hard to breathe. ‘Is this sleep paralysis?’. He blinked repeatedly, trying to make sense of the situation, until his eyes finally found what he sluggishly identified as source of his predicament: A very cuddly, sleeping Phil.

He was draped over Dan almost completely, his arms tightly wrapped around him and one of his legs tangled in Dan’s.

Dan tried to move his feet, but that only caused him pins and needles. Disrupted by the movement, Phil wrapped his leg over his and hooked his foot behind his knee.

Unable to contain himself, Dan snorted. Even in his sleep, Phil wanted to stake his claim on him. Dan sighed - he really loved that silly goose. Unbeknownst to most, Phil was also a cover hogger, which often left Dan feeling cold and vengeful.

Taking advantage of Phil’s state, he did the only thing he could think of: he rolled them back onto Phil’s side of the bed and smiled. Now it was his turn to wrap himself around Phil tightly and enjoy the warmth, but he used the covers to shelter them both from the chilly morning air.

The first rays of sun peeked above the horizon and Dan couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful that he had pursued his career with Phil at his side - Phil, his partner in crime, his number one supporter, his companion through life. They had been a great duo for so many years, allowing them to grow as a pair but also as individuals in a secure environment. Now they got to stand beside each other in support and pride.

Phil hummed in his sleep as Dan caressed his arms softly, feeling the texture of the hairs there. It felt rough but comforting, like the pavement under the palm after a fall, reminding him he was still alive - overall, it felt real. It reminded him that even though his life felt like a dream, like a fairy-tale someone had written about his life, that was not what it was. It was his reality, no matter how unbelievable it seemed.

He sighed. This is what he wanted now. Cuddles in bed with his boyfriend, a career in a field he truly enjoyed, he truly felt himself in, and respect from the people in his life. He had it all, and he was well aware that without Phil’s love, support and encouragement he never would have made it. “Thank you,” he whispered into the quiet of the room, the words building up in his throat and breaking free entirely without his consent.

“Mm?” Phil mumbled, not opening his eyes, obviously still in his dreamland.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.” Dan smiled.

“K. Make me breakfast.” Phil requested, clearly still asleep. “Don’t - let the unicorn eat Norman.”

“Ok, I won’t,” Dan said, dropping a kiss to his chest and settling back to sleep with a sigh.

A fine snowfall accompanied his trip through familiar streets, but even the delicate, white flakes did little to turn the scenery more pleasing. They couldn’t cover the piles of old snow at the side of the road, the dirt making them look like a brown slush that just served to make Dan’s inner child very sad.

He still remembered when his dad filled his room with artificial snow for his birthday and they had an amazing time playing in it; their laughter had woken up his mom and baby brother who had joined their games. Everything had been perfectly white, but no such luck today.

Returning to the family home for christmas was always an emotional ordeal and this time was no different.

He sighed happily, wiping off the taxi window with his finger to be able to see out. He couldn’t wait to see them all. Once the car reached its destination, he paid the driver and dragged his suitcase out of the trunk. Before he could make it to the door, his dad stepped out, smiling widely and ready to take his suitcase - not without giving him a hug first, though.

“Hello, son. How was the trip?” his dad asked, already dragging the suitcase to the door.

Dan shoved his hands in his pockets to shield them from the cold and smiled. “It was good, thank you. Where’s Mum?”

“In the kitchen with grandma. Adrian went for a run in the woods with Colin.”

Dan shook his head fondly. “Same as usual then. Popsy? Watching the TV?”

His Dad laughed. “Yes, I’m afraid.”

They made their way inside and shut the door behind them. Robert took the suitcase upstairs while Dan shook his granddad’s hand and went to the kitchen to greet the rest of the family and receive some hugs. He had been craving them more than ever lately.

“Oh, Daniel, it’s so good to see you. Come here,” his grandma said, opening her arms for a hug.

Dan hugged her tightly. “Hi, I missed you so much.” He never wanted to let go. It was silly, but he felt emotional at being able to see his family again after six months.

“That’s easy enough to solve, come visit more often!” his mum said, her arms stretched for an embrace already.

Dan hugged her and placed his chin atop her head. “Hi, mummy. How are you?”

“Quite well, my dear, but we were looking for someone to help us with the cookies!” she said, stepping away and rubbing his arm.

Dan sighed and rolled his eyes with an amused smile. “Ok, but I want real butter.”

“Ok, she laughed. “It’s in the fridge, let it soften on the counter.”

Dan nodded and started to work on the recipe he had been taught so many years ago. At this point it was more a matter of muscle memory than thinking, so he relaxed into his baker role.

His grandma placed a hand on his arm trying to get his attention. “Daniel, how is this semester going? Did you get the extension you wanted on that paper?”

“No.” He smiled tightly. “Everything is going well. I need to improve some grades but I think I can manage to keep my score.”

His mum scoffed. “Of course you can, you always do.”

“Certainly, that’s why we never worry about you. How is that boyfriend of yours doing?”

“Thank you, grandma.” He kissed her temple. “He is doing well, he is working on his thesis so he will be spending the holidays on campus.”

The conversation slowly dissolved but they continued to work in an enjoyable silence.

Once the tray was in the oven, Dan finally decided to go back to his old room and flopped onto the bed. He huffed and sat back up, reaching for his suitcase and getting his laptop out.

He settled against the headboard and pulled up the latest video from his favourite youtuber, amazingphil. Phil was so gorgeous and fun and smart. Sometimes Dan wondered what would’ve happened if he had actually replied to him on twitter. Sending that dm had been risky enough, so he had dropped it immediately. Besides, he’d had a boyfriend at the time. There had been no reason to go looking for someone else; it wasn’t like Dan to do something like that.

Dan pouted, ‘Would we have gotten along? What if we would’ve actually become boyfriends?’ He snorted. That was ridiculous. It’s not like someone famous like Phil was going to be interested in Dan, and he had to go to Uni anyway. Once he arrived at campus and settled in, he felt less lonely. It was at university that he opened his heart again and met his current boyfriend. He pressed his lips into a line thinking about the horrible breakup with the previous one. Dan didn’t even like to mention him by name so everyone called him “Voldemort.”

’Would Phil have cheated on me? Would have he broken my heart?’

Dan left his computer on the bed beside him and laid down, looking around at the rainbow decorations, some put up by him, some added by his mum after he left. The pictures of them at Pride as a family were his favourites, he was tempted to bring them back to campus with him.

He was already dreading going back. Oh, how he wished he would’ve stayed a happy child forever, but the older he got the more his loving family expected of him. He was the first child, pampered to no end, every opportunity at his fingertips, and they expected nothing but the best from him. They told him that often enough.

They didn’t demand it of him, they just expected it, out of love and support for him. In his family’s eyes, there was nothing wrong that Dan could do, and failing uni was one of those things. So many times during high school he had secretly pulled all nighters to keep his grades up, but now, at university, it was completely different. He felt like he was constantly trying to catch up but he never did.

Every single aspect of his life was crumbling, his grades, his health, his relationship and… his mental health. He didn’t have a reason to be sad, he knew that. So many kids wished they had what he’d had all his life, but he was still struggling. He was caving under the pressure, it was pathetic.

His boyfriend was going to break up with him, he could feel it coming. His family had been so disappointed when his highschool boyfriend dumped him right before Christmas, they had had to return his presents and all. And now, they had a family vacation coming shortly but it seemed like Dan couldn’t hold a man - or find the right one - he didn’t know anymore.

His phone dinged, he checked the notification wearily. It was his boyfriend. “This is not working, Dan. I think we need to talk.”

There it was. Of course, he waited until Dan was away to do this. Dan felt like he was hyperventilating and for a moment he thought that he was going to faint but instead, he started sobbing. Everything looked hazy but he could make out the water coming in from all the windows and doors flooding his room the more he cried. He was drowning in his own sorrows. He stood in an attempt to escape, but before he could even call for help, he found himself in a lake, kicking, trying to swim towards the surface, but he could never reach it. His lungs hurt more and more with every passing second.

“Dan? Dan!” a comforting voice called him, he swam to it. A ray of light broke through the water.

“Dan, wake up,” the voice whispered.

Phil brushed his lips against Dan’s face. Dan was crying in his sleep so Phil shushed him and tried to chase the tears away, leaving a trail of kisses as he whispered: “As long as I’m here no one can hurt you.”

Dan stirred awake and held onto him, continuing to sob so desperately it scared even himself. Sadness rested on his chest like a body of water, like he was trapped at the sombre bottom of the ocean, slowly but steadily getting crushed by the pressure.

“What’s wrong?”

Dan shook his head and kept on weeping, clutching at Phil for dear life, as if he was the anchor that kept himself from floating away, from sinking even further down into the darkness.

“Dan, talk to me. Please, you’re worrying me.”

“Sorry,” Dan tried to let out between his sobs. He struggled to get a grip of himself, to calm himself down, but it still took him a few minutes.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Phil pressed their foreheads together.

Dan swallowed, but nodded. “I had another dream.” He settled onto Phil’s chest, both for comfort and to avoid the piercing stare that only served to rile him up further.

“A nightmare.”

“Mhm. I was home for christmas and everything was perfect.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad, what happened?”

“They loved me, and accepted me and they thought I was the smartest guy ever.”

Phil hummed but let him continue.

“In the end, the pressure became too much. Even the fact that they accepted my boyfriend turned into something else they could judge me on.” He sighed and finally met Phil’s eyes. “And the worst part was that I never messaged you back on twitter. We never met. I kept bouncing from one unhappy relationship to another.”

Phil raised his eyebrows at him but said nothing.

“So this boyfriend started to break up with me over text -”

This time, Phil interrupted him. “Ouch.”

Dan smiled softly. “Yeah, so I started crying and my room flooded. Water kept coming in from everywhere and then it turned into a lake, so I tried to swim but I couldn’t. I was about to drown, but then you called me and I followed your voice. It was like a ray of sunshine flickering through the water.”

Phil grinned and tightened his hold on Dan. “I knew you loved me. So, what does it mean?”

“I think it relates to the other dreams - or nightmares. In each of them I get things I wanted throughout my life so I end up in a very different place than I am right now.”

“Would that be so bad?” Phil asked him.

“Yes. Everything is as it should be. If I could go back in time, I would do it all over again. There is no life I would rather have than what we have right now.”

“I love you so much,” Phil said and kissed him oh so sweetly, their lips barely touching, just letting them rest on his with the weight of a feather.

“Love you,” Dan mumbled into the kiss. And he did, he really did. As long as he had Phil’s love and support, he had everything he wanted.

#Phanfiction #phanfic #phan #dan and phil #phan fluff

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oikawas-fav-alien · 4 years

Text

Dominant | Taichi Kawanishi x Reader

✧ Summary: Student body president to the most renown school in the Miyagi Prefecture, it made you wonder how Kawanishi, a regular on the infamously dominant volleyball team, was such a lazy jackass.

warnings: language, otherwise none, rated K+ :)

✧ Masterlist ✧

As the student body president, it was your sworn duty to uphold the high ethics as a student and leader. Many often described your personality as rough or overly haughty from your mean-looking resting face. However, they continued to vote for you simply because you were the most qualified and your very presence screamed authority. You wanted to pursue politics in the future and therefore treated the role professionally. In your first-year, you were already elected as a delegate to the student government. Second-year, you were the vice president. And in your third-year you were the highest position possible. The only thing that kept you held back before was the very fact that underclassmen were not allowed to run as president.

You used the position as practice and cared for your potential constituents. There were a few major players here and there, thankfully they were your friends. Growing up alongside Ushijima and Tendou had their benefits. If you had the favor of the volleyball team, you might as well have the whole school crawling in the palm of your hand. Thankfully, none of the people actually on the team could run for student government since they were so busy with the sport. To win over the rest of the student body, there was a fairly popular second-year student who came from a wealthy family that many just looked up to. You often questioned why she did not run for student govt. and once asked her why.

After spotting her at the library, you decided on approaching the girl, “You would be perfect and I don’t see why not.”

“Thanks senpai, but nah. After you’ve seen the shit that I’ve seen... You wouldn’t want to be the leader of such arrogant little sheep.”

You laughed at her metaphor and asked, “I didn’t know sheep could be conceited?”

“Of course! They’ll give you all the attitude in the world, but still follow you in the end.” She joked. Behind her you recognized the light tuft of brown hair that indicated the presence of the current starting setter of the volleyball team.

“It’s a pleasure to see you, Shirabu-kun.” You nodded to the boy who was waiting for the girl in front of you, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you from your boyfriend.” Almost instantly, they both denied the claim. The both of them were rather sheepish in their words and you wondered really if the two of them did not have something going on.

“That’s cute. Well, when you guys end up going to the spring formal together, be sure to send pictures to the Shiratorizawa Academy page on Instabook!” You advertised to the blushing couple, walking away before they assaulted you with more denials.

You were early to your class and browsed away on said application to see the newest posts. Since you were the secret wielder of the Shiratorizawa page, you saw everything. People were still liking the post of Semi and his girlfriend at the autumn formal and that had been months ago. There were various other couples scattered throughout the page, but when other students saw Semi and his significant other, they could not help but think, “Goals af.”

They were going strong and you could not help but feel a hint of jealousy. You grew up in Shiratorizawa Academy in both junior high and high school and there was not a single person in your year that you were not already previously associated with. The boys were those who were immature or simply someone you did not see pursuing. After seeing Tendou eat four-crayons in fourth-grade or Ohira singing along to the barbie-girl theme song, you could say that your view of many of the boys was incredibly skewed. You knew them for too damn long and there was no way you could date any of them. On the flip-side, the people you spent most of you life with knew your name, face, and outgoing personality more than any other candidate. You won the popular vote with a landslide majority, even during your first-year when three other people were running for the same position. This also came with an obvious disadvantage. Almost everyone knew you and that put yourself in a large spotlight. Your daily life was constantly broadcasted and you had to put on a sunny demeanor even if you were having a bad day. Teachers expected the very best from you and anything less would indicate that you were not prepared to be president, forget being prime minister.

It was unfair of your teachers to take advantage of your position, but you took it with stride and a chin held high. It was your sworn duty and you would not slack on any given responsibility. You would volunteer to help clean a classroom in addition to your duties in student government. To do this and uphold good grades in advanced classes, your social life was nearly obliterated. The only person you kept in daily contact with was him, a new project that a teacher assigned to you almost out of spite.

He was a starting middle-blocker on the volleyball team. That fact in itself made you assume that he was as diligent as Ushijima or his very roommate Shirabu, or really like most of the other members of the male volleyball team. His transcript showed his engagement in advanced classes since junior high. And yet, the teacher aggressively requested that you tutor the young man.

And you learned rather quickly that Kawanishi Taichi was an ass.

It really bothered you that a man with his potential failed to fully utilize it. You had better odds finding Kawanishi asleep in his dorm than in the library with his supposed study group. In advanced, you asked several times for the two of you to meet the group and study there. And more than once, he failed to show up and you simply studied with Shirabu and his not-girlfriend.

After that escapade, you made sure to show-up directly at his door with the reading material, snacks – so he could not complain about being hungry – and enough prayers to Jesus to help you through this trial.

You were sat-up on the edge of his bed, dictating to him which sections of the chapter and the appropriate equations he should memorize for the upcoming exam. Kawanishi was previously sitting next to you, but he opted to lay back with his hands folded behind his head. His roommate, Shirabu, was out (probably studying in the library with you know who.)

You sighed loudly and almost slammed the book shut. “You’re so cute when you’re angry, (F/N).” He commented.

“Flattery won’t help you pass abstract algebra, Kawanishi-kun.”

“I’ve told you to address me by my first name. And hopefully, it’ll get me a date with the most elusive girl on campus.” He slowly drew out.

“And I told you not to.” You sighed again, adding to the innumerable amount, “You were the only one who qualified for college prep classes in your second-year and you’re taking advantage of this by… failing advanced math.” You stated.

“Ouch.”

The pure fact that he shared the same third-year level math class was impressive. You sat in the very front and your attention never strayed from the professor’s lecture and had failed to notice the young-man before. But once you saw Taichi's work ethic up close, you knew he was nearly a lost cause. It was rare for him to study and you only wondered why. The teacher originally told you that Kawanishi had the capacity to be the best in class, only he was barred somehow.

Ugh.

You reiterated the question once more, “Prove that if a and b are nonzero integers for which a | b and b | a, then b = ± a.” You looked over and was not surprised to see that Kawanishi had the audacity to close his eyes! You dropped the book on the ground, startling the boy. “I’m leaving.”

“You have to give me time to think, babe.” You were halfway across the room when he sat-up to write some solution to the problem. Unsure if he was actually doing the question, you went back to look-over his shoulder.

Before you could read to the bottom of the page, he slowly turned his head towards you to say, "Since a | b, there is an integer m with b = ma. Since b | a, there is an integer k with a = kb. Substituting a = kb in the equation b = ma we get b = m(kb), so since b is nonzero we can cancel it to get 1 = mk. Since both m and k are integers, and |1| = |m| · |k|, we must have |m| = 1 and |k| = 1, so either b = a or b = - a.”

You looked back into the book to see that yes, Kawanishi’s answer was correct.

He was giving you his lazy stare, one that even you could not decipher. Kawanishi was waiting on you and you hesitated, completely dumbfounded, “Well… It seems you’re ready for the exam.” You gave a weak excuse and exited from his dorm. He did not fight it and seemed to lie back down as you left.

Kawanishi was an utter conundrum. This was not the first time that he amazed you with his intelligence. You brushed off these previous events as rare, but it seemed to not be the case as time went on. The teacher never indicated he was failing, you only assumed so by the many red-marked on his returned homework assignments. But homework was only a small percentage of the final grade, falling in importance by attendance. Outside of your tutoring sessions, you did not really know Kawanishi in his natural element.

You decided on watching the game between Shiratorizawa and Johzenji High. You spotted other people in the crowd, like the supportive girlfriend of Semi and not-girlfriend of Shirabu, but decided on straying from the rest and sitting elusively alone. Kawanishi was just switching into the game, standing right next to the net. After spending extended time with Tendou in and out of class, you knew the basics to volleyball and his role. It just so happened he shared it with Kawanishi.

He played an offensive and defensive role that competed with the tallest members of team. The tallest person was probably Wakatoshi, but he was middle blocker. After that, Kawanishi seemed to tower over the rest of them – Tendou included. The problem was that Tendou shun so brightly, with his unusual hair and outgoing personality. Everyone was aware of his skill and given nickname, the “Guess Monster.” You could almost call the two middle-blockers opposites. To any outsider, Kawanishi was giving a completely impassive appearance to the enemies on the court. But you knew he was thinking and that the little hamster in his brain was working tenfold. He was capable of blocking the spikes of a certain loudmouthed Johzenji player, who made it necessary to yell at random moments. Kawanishi made it appear as if he was putting little to no effort – probably to keep his cool-looking exterior – but you knew better.

Maybe you judged Kawanishi too quickly?

Shiratorizawa closed both sets in their favor and you made your way down to the court before the crowd could block your way.

“Could I get a picture of the victors to send to the Shiratorizawa page?”

Tendou was eager to nod in agreement before grabbing an underclassmen you recognized as Goshiki Tsutomu and an expressionless Ushijima Wakatoshi. Kawanishi spotted you and looked away, deadpan appearance still displayed on his face.

What the hell was that?

During your private tutoring session, Kawanishi was a man filled with unending charisma and charm. And in this instance, not a full day later, he was ignoring you entirely. Who could possibly explain the paradox that is Kawanishi?

“Why do you want to know so badly, huh?” Tendou supplied your question with not an answer, but another question. You shared an English class with the guess monster and decided that during break, you would ask more about the young middle-blocker.

“You know I tutor him… And I fear that I might have judged him too quickly.”

“He’s an ass.”

“Well, I know that.”

“He doesn’t talk to his teammates much.” He candidly stated, “Kawanishi is very similar to his roommate.”

“Shirabu?” You asked incredulously.

“Yeah, they’re both quiet little shits. They like to sit and observe others around them, only speaking if they were called out. Taichi is quieter than Kenjiro though, the latter is hella salty and has no problems sassing his older ones!”

“Huh.” This description seemed like the opposite one that you were used to. Kawanishi had no problems calling you nicknames and there was never a quiet between the two of you. It seemed like he even took amusement in constantly teasing you.

“Something wrong?”

“Not at all what I expected, that’s all.” You confessed, “He seems pretty lazy.”

“Oh he is!” Tendou interjected, “Don’t get me wrong, Taichi has let a ball hit the ground perfectly in! But he’s smarter than he gives off. We play the same position, but his blocking methods are more experiential. Taichi sticks to read blocking, but when he’s in the zone he guess-blocks like me. And if all else fails, he’ll go for the option he knows he can block.”

“That’s… clever.” You were hesitating in your words and Tendou noticed it, evident from the narrowing of his wide eyes, but he did not comment on it outwardly.

Instead, he replied with, “But it’s obviously not as impressive as my method!”

You laughed lightly and complimented, “Seems like no one can compete with the attention of the guess monster.”

At this point, the teacher entered the room and continued with class. Your thoughts often surrounded the elusive man and you wondered if Kawanishi really did act differently around you than the others, but you were running out of options to ask from. If Tendou’s description was accurate, then there was no way that Wakatoshi could give you more valuable information. Shirabu was Kawanishi’s roommate and closest companion, he must know more than the rest. But surely, he would convey to the middle-blocker your interest and you could not handle Taichi finding out.

You went to the second best.

“How’s my favorite kouhai?” You attempted to coerce the popular second-year into conversation, but she gave you the face that knew what you were up to. It was a widely known fact that she was Shirabu’s best friend, member of a second-year study group that included him, and gossip queen – she had to know something.

“If you need something just say it, (L/N)-san. Better make it quick, I have class soon and I can’t be rude to the only senpai that I like.” You caught her in the hallway, typing away on her phone.

You sighed, “What can you say about Kawanishi?”

“Taichi?” She put her phone back in her bag to look down at nothing in particular, whilst frowning. “He’s a lazy piece of shit who knows better than to act like how he is now. You’re tutoring him, so you’ve probably seen it.”

“Yeah…”

“He’s pretty quiet, but not at all shy. Taichi has a personality that’s rough around the edges and it seems like he has a permanent bitch face on. But he opens up to those he can trust.”

“Oh.”

At that reaction, your kouhai quickly stepped in front of you and stopped walking, blocking your immediate pace. “What do you mean, ‘Oh?’ Do you like him?”

“No, it’s just he’s been acting a certain way around me. I was wondering how much of him I really knew.”

“Like how?”

“Like teasing me, calling me ‘babe’ of all things.” Her eyes widened at the newfound gossip and you could almost feel the internal screaming she was projecting. You were unsure if you should walk-away at the stunned girl or shout to grab her attention.

“How cute.” She simply stated, composing herself in a single second and then was on her way.

That conversation did not help your nerves at all and your next class was shared with the aggravation of your thoughts! You approached life like a simple equation. There were variables here and there, but eventually all would be solved and revealed. Math was your shit and yet Kawanishi defied every prior algorithm of judgement you had unofficially convened in your mind.

Since you were relatively early to class, you took the empty seat next to Kawanishi – which was the very last seat in the back! He strolled in with headphones buried in his ears, showing not a single care. His dark eyes narrowed at your presence, but this time he actually acknowledged you with a casual wave.

“Are we still on for tonight?” He did not dignify you with a response, just a sly lift of his eyebrow that you knew suggested something! But you simply rolled your eyes, happy to see your usual Kawanishi and continued, “For studying. Don’t get anything in that head of yours.”

Woah, take a step back.

Your Kawanishi? Since when did you think of Kawanishi as yours? That thought slipped your mind quickly and almost naturally. That fact alone scared you. The two of you had spent numerous nights studying alone and it was clear that he thought of you as a friend, as per his insistence of using his first name. It seems his determination and utter repetition were finally getting to you. And you were surprisingly okay with that.

This was your hardest class and there were exams every week. The professor handed the last test back and you almost cried at seeing your eighty-nine out of one-hundred! Thank the lord! Amongst the few that took the torture known as abstract algebra, the topic for the last exam was agreeably the hardest and you would not be surprised if you were the curve.

Once the professor returned to his desk, he announced, “Sorry class, there is no curve on the exam grade this week.”

What the fuck?! You had never dropped below a ninety math and it was rare for anyone to be ahead of you. There were a few times that the curve was slightly above you by a point or two, but never a full letter grade.

You looked over to Kawanishi and saw the perfect score that he was failing to hide. His expression was a grim line and you reached over to take the paper off his desk. He did not fight you and allowed you to compare answers.

His work was perfect, his penmanship was sloppy, but the answers were completely legible and circled at the bottom. You even remembered him leaving the classroom earlier than you during the exam. At the time, you figured he was going to take a nap – which he did – and not be bothered by the importance of the exam. But boi, you were wrong.

You felt like an ass.

“Looks like you’ll be tutoring me from now, Taichi-san.” You teased. Kawanishi froze at your sudden playful-tone, one he had perceived before, but never seen used against him. He urged you several times before to use his first name and, of all times, you decided now in the middle of class.

Taichi had observed you through junior high and now. You were smart and made it widely known that you and you alone were the leader. You would inwardly groan at teacher’s directions, but do it anyway because that was simply how you were. He grew in the contrary direction and wanted to know why you were so damn happy leading a bunch of idiots.

The student body was easily swayed and not worth his time to keep a reputation. It was easier to keep an impassive disposition than appeal to those he simply did not care about. And yet, you were just as smart as him and you wanted the favor of those beneath you. Kawanishi wanted to know why you subjected yourself to this arduous task through the years. What could be so good about volunteering time into people who widely did not deserve it?

Kawanishi was willing to let all six-years go to waste. Spend his time merely watching you and never actually saying anything. He could easily grab your attention, but what was the point? Your heart belonged to the student body and you would never dedicate time to just him, another student in a sea of others.

Until his matchmaker of a math teacher forced you to.

Kawanishi silently thanked whatever deity was watching over him. He wanted to push your buttons, see how far he could go before the kitten would show her claws. You were put alongside the rare amount of people he could truly express himself with. And damn, you were pretty entertaining. He loved seeing the determined glint in your eyes after he paid even the slightest bit of attention to your tutoring. Or the way you rolled your eyes in amusement after he gave a rather presumptuous statement.

You were a mature intelligent young-woman, a year his senior, with an honest-heart and an ass to boot.

When you were riled enough, you fought his teasing with your own harsh words. Taichi could literally watch your usually composed demeanor collapse at his words. Your usually kind vernacular would get replaced with punitive and ruthless sayings towards him and it strangely invigorated him to see more. You would heave a sigh and force deep breathes to calm yourself and he loved seeing the dramatic rise and fall of your chest.

Taichi long-accepted his interest in you and was not at all shy at expressing this. But you were just??? So dense??

But now that you were finally teasing back… Kawanishi fought down the strange heat rising to his cheeks and attempted his most casual tone of voice, “You can drop the formal suffix, (F/N).” Damn, that was too low! I sounded like a male pornstar.

You laughed, he was could not pinpoint the exact reason since you were smiling so radiantly at him, “Alright, Taichi-kun.”

He sighed at your teasing and refused to respond to your mischievous statement.

Oh boy had the tables turned.

Neither of you could pay full attention in class since any movement from the other person would catch your immediate notice. The two of you did not have to voice it out loud, but it was obvious that you were both on edge, eager to say something but never actually saying it.

The professor decided on letting the class out early and you grabbed his hand, “Hey. Want to have dinner first before we study?”

Kawanishi mulled over your request, frown slowly tilting to a smile when the classroom emptied. “Can’t get enough time with me?”

“Yeah, whatever.” You joked, grabbing your stuff and walking alongside the male. He was keeping an unusually large distance, but at this point you could almost understand the puzzle that was Taichi.

You were a contender for a spot in the top ranked students in the Academy and it was for obvious reasons. And after observing Taichi throughout the week, his personality seemed clearly defined to you. He was not shy or held-back, but honest. Quiet, since he found no reason to speak to those beneath him. Taichi did not radiate the same intelligence as others, but you could still sense his pride and hidden tenacity.

However, you could not explain why his frank behavior was pointed towards you. You were never a member of the volleyball team and yet he treated you like one of his close friends. Kawanishi was a year your junior and you were the president, so maybe he found the need to place formal respect? But he never exhibited the same regard for other seniors or delegates to student government. You glanced back to the hazel-haired male. He was walking at a leisurely pace, his permanent little scowl displayed to the rest of the world.

You swiped into the cafeteria, grabbed some food, and sat in a booth across Taichi. Conversation was mostly comprised of you talking with his occasional comment. This was definitely new behavior, but maybe not at all. This must be his normal disposition and you were entirely okay with that.

It made you feel special, that he talked differently to you in private.

But the small privacy of the booth did not last long. “Hey, (F/N)-san!” You spotted Semi’s girlfriend, arm-in-arm with her setter. “I just had a quick question about prom.”

You were whisked away with multiple questions of what not to wear and the theme. She ended up taking a seat next to you. You were not at all troubled, it was only part of your duties as student government and you were delighted to share details about the most massive event of the year. Semi scooted into the booth next to Kawanishi. Both boys watched the conversation in silence, giving only a polite greeting to one another.

After giving many thanks, the couple took off with a wave. You and Taichi continued in your dinner and you off-handedly asked, “How do you feel about losing so many senpai’s?”

He frowned and sat-back, “They’re moving onto better things. I trust Shirabu.” You nodded at his explanation and the rest of dinner went by casually. His words were concise and you found his current curt vernacular very similar to Wakatoshi.

The moment the two of you were completely alone, in the comfort of his shared dormed room, Kawanishi did not hesitate to slam the door behind him and flash you a flirtatious smile. “What’s up with you lately, babe?” He walked over to his bed, throwing his backpack on the top. You realized it was not as heavy as yours and spotted his textbooks scattered haphazardly on the floor. You did not comment on it, not this time.

“Why?” You had a raised brow, but wide smile on your face.

“Why do you keep smiling at me, (F/N)?” He questioned, sitting on the edge and leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees.

“Why do you treat me like this, Taichi-kun?” You asked, “I’m not complaining, but I seem to be on a special list in your mind. I just want to know what I did to earn it.”

His gaze shun with understanding and amusement, traveling for you to a spot on the floor, “Maybe you’re not as smart as you think you are.”

Back to the teasing! “Well, you’re definitely smarter than I first thought. So I am sorry I misjudged you for a lazy idiot. You’re just lazy genius, it seems.”

His bit his bottom lip and kept a firm gaze back on you. It was rare to see such an intense stare coming from the boy and you fidgeted in your spot, standing in the middle of the room. “A compliment just to knock me down?” There was no hint of a smile despite his amusing tone, and he continued, “Should I punish you?”

Your smile was wiped clean off your face and you looked at him with wide eyes. There were no words you could respond with to make sense of the conversation, so you simply stated, “Do you think you could handle me?”

Oh my god, why do this sound like the beginning of a porn?! You shrieked in your mind, confidence outwardly radiating but on the inside you were literally screaming.

He gave a light chuckle, smirking away at how easy you were to read. Taichi stood up, leisurely walking in your direction and not showing signs of stopping, “It’s easy to get a kitten purring.” And he continued strolling right past you to his desk. “But first I have to tutor you. Now be a good student and sit-down.”

At this point, you were inwardly heaving at the obvious tension and the fact that his smirk looked so hot. You were always the one who brought the study session back to its true purpose when the two of you deviated. And yet here Kawanishi was, getting you all riled-up just to walk-away from his obviously effective work.

This is bullshit!

You were a whole year older than him and the most powerful student at Shiratorizawa – there was no way this tall-ass sloth was going to one-up you! Taichi, you learned overtime, loved to be in control of a situation. He observed other people from afar and would act according to what he wanted as the outcome. And you refused to be another marionette in his game.

You grabbed his shoulder, whipping him around to sit back down on the bed. Taichi leaned back, eyes wide with surprise. You propped your knees onto the edge, initiating a very intimate very dominate position, and pushed the subject, “I think it’s time you learned your place. You can endlessly tease me when I’m trying to help, but I can’t? You better answer my question here and now.”

“It’s because I have feelings for you.” His eye-contact did not waiver, so Tachi easily perceived your astonished-look despite how well you thought you were hiding it.

You opened your mouth, words not coming out, and slowly leaned closer to the man. At this point, any outsider could observe your pose as straddling his waist. But! This was simply not his way. With you still in a daze, Taichi had no problems switching the positions with him now looming over you.

He grabbed a hand in each of his, placing them above your head in his grasp. “Sorry sweetheart.” Taichi murmured above you, noses gently bumping each other. You leaned upward and closed the distance, lips molding against each other. He tasted of mangos, a fruit you would not have expected of the quiet boy.

You felt the sweep of his lips against yours and opened at the invitation. Taichi previously had a knee on the bed, but now he was fully inclined on top of you, hips to hips and to nose to nose. He moved his left-hand from your shoulder to grasp the back of your head tenderly. He was invading all your senses and it seemed his only goal was to deepen your already intimate contact. Your left hand found itself on his shoulder, gripping tightly as the other hand threaded between his auburn-hair.

You moaned at a particular sensation and Kawanishi leaned back to get a full-look at your flushed face, “Well? I like you too. Keep kissing me, you idiot.” You spurned him on, earning a smile as he pushed you further up his bed to a more comfortable position.

He continued in his dominant pose, not hesitating to place himself over you. The heavy-air was incredibly evident and you knew your eyes were hazed over with lust. You traveled a curious hand from his hip to the bare-skin of his stomach and you swear he basically growled. He was sporting that intense gaze again and you only wondered how you were not aware of his feelings before. Taking away by your thoughts, Taichi returned your favor by placing a warm-hand on your waist and roaming upwards underneath the comfort of your shirt. But he was not stopping.

His hand stopped at the crest of your breast when –

“Oh my god!”

“Leave a sock on the door or something, holy shit.”

You broke apart to see Shirabu and his not-girlfriend in the doorway. She had her hands covering her face, but not her eyes. His poor roommate looked entirely done and not at all surprised. The two of you quickly sat-up, but Kawanishi secured a firm hold on your waist. Shirabu and his study partner did not leave the room, but in fact walked-in further.

Your kouhai was quick to compose herself and started, “Wow, (F/N). You work fast! And you said you didn’t like him, no wonder you were gushing all—”

“Are you leaving?!” You interrupted.

“This is my room.” Shirabu stated, sighing. “But we’re just stopping here to grab books and then to the library to study.” Kawanishi was dead-silent, lips a straight-line, but the hand on you was drawing lazy circles on your skin.

“Don’t hesitate to text me if you need anything, (L/N)-san! Some snacks? A condom?” Shirabu flicked the girl on the forehead before grabbing her and almost dragging her from the room. "You were gushing over me?" Taichi asked, stating the question dangerously close to your ear. "I'm going to kill her." He laughed and extended another hand, both of his arms resting across your waist as nibbled lightly on the shell of your ear. "Now, don't be mean because she was honest." Kawanishi whispered, a tingle traveling up and down your spine and causing you to arch forward into his touch.

“That was hella embarrassing.”

He pulled back, “It’s embarrassing to be with me?”

“No!” You were quick to answer and grab his arm, pulling him back, “Not at all. I just don’t want an audience when I’m being intimate with the guy I like... What if they walked in a little later?”

He raised a brow at your question, smirk splayed on his face yet again and returning to his close-position by your ear, "What do you think we’d be doing?”

“I don’t know!” You covered your face with your hands, corrupt thoughts popping up and you were almost sure Kawanishi could see your thought bubble. He laughed and placed the hands away, returning back to lean his forehead against your's.

“You’re cute.” And he enveloped you back into another kiss.

You were not the sort of couple that would hold-hands in the hallway and Taichi would rarely ever kiss you out in public. But you would not have it any other way. His affectionate side was for you alone and he made sure to affirm his affections the moment you were behind closed doors. You noticed the little things, lingering looks or a smile thrown your way. In the comfort of your privacy, Taichi would not hesitate to have roam his hands on your skin.

Taichi Kawanishi was one-of-a-kind and you thanked whoever was out there for blessing you with such a charming boy. He was still an ass, no doubt, but he was your ass.

You loved him fully and he would not hesitate to do the same.

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sparrow-flies-south · 4 years

Text

Ten Things [2]

Fandom: Sanders Sides Pairings: Anxceit, Royality Intrulogical Summary: Ten Things I Hate About You AU When Roman Prince learns that Patton Foster isn’t allowed to date until his older brother, Virgil, is, Roman is crushed. Roman’s twin brother Remus, however, comes up with a plan: find someone who is willing to date Virgil. And who better to ask than Janus Verona, who according to rumours is willing to do anything for the right price? Taglist (ask to be added!): @someone-idk-is-here

Notes: Been awhile, so have an extra long chapter to make up for it! I want to switch to updating every Saturday now this is my main project. I've switched to using Janus instead of Dee, so I edited the first chapter and summary to reflect that. There's no other differences to the first chapter. Also *pokes tags* there's intrulogical in this now.

AO3 Link - Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six

Roman cleared his throat and looked over the ragtag group of students he’d gathered before him.

Luc Edwards, Scott Brown, Tyler Ellis, Pete Campbell and Alex Swift. Three of Virgil’s friends, and two boys Roman knew sat next to Virgil in class. He and Remus had spent all of Monday spying, making notes of who Virgil spoke to, who he sat by, who he ate lunch with. After much debating, and a fair dose of stalking on social media, the two had come up with a shortlist.

That morning, he and Remus had both ended up late to their first class because they’d been delivering notes to each of the five, telling them to meet in one of the maths classrooms that Roman knew would be empty at this time.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I brought you here today,” Roman began.

“Who are you?” Alex Swift, a gangly boy with greasy hair and acne covering his face asked.

“That not important,” Roman dismissed. “What is important is that one of you is going to take Virgil Foster out on a date.”

“Who?” asked Tyler Ellis, who Roman knew ate lunch with Virgil every day.

“That weird emo kid,” Scott Brown answered.

“Why do you want one us to date Virgil?” Alex asked.

“As a part of a scheme to allow me to date his brother,” Roman replied. “But that’s not important.”

“Question,” said Luc Edwards, who, unlike the others, was perched on a table. “What’s in it for us?”

“Uh, the joy of Virgil’s company?”

Luc snorted. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same guy?”

Okay, Roman was beginning to hate everyone in the room. Weren’t they supposed to be Virgil’s friends?

“Quite sure,” he said through gritted teeth.

Luc shook his head. “He’s a freak. He never even speaks.”

“I heard him speak once,” Pete said timidly. “He asked how often the school tested the fire alarms.”

“Probably planning on burning the place down,” Scott muttered.

Roman stared at him. He knew that outsiders judged his friendships for the friendly insults he handed out like candy, but even he had limits, and talking about someone like that behind their back broke all of them. He was beginning to get the urge to defend Virgil’s honour.

“Do any of you actually like him?” Roman asked.

“He doesn’t speak,” Luc repeated. “We let him hang around with us because he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Honestly, it’s kinda pathetic.”

Roman looked from person to person. None of them met their eyes.

Luc sighed. “Look, good luck with your search, but honestly? Don’t get your hope up.”

With that, Luc jumped down from the table and left the room. Roman looked at the four remaining boys, but his hope was dying. Luc had seemed to be the unofficial leader of Virgil’s group, commanding their attention. He’d been Roman’s favourite, though Remus had disagreed.

The other boys exchanged glances. For a moment, no one spoke.

“Sorry,” Pete said at last, “But he’s not my type.”

“He’s a loser.”

“Forget it.”

“I still don’t know who that is.”

One boy one, the boys left the classroom, until Roman was alone. He groaned, and thudded his head against the wall. So much for that idea. So much for Virgil’s shitty friends.

He sighed, and then went to find Remus.

***

“Maybe it’s for the best,” Logan said.

The two of them were sat at their favourite table in the library, hidden away among the stacks. In front of them was their homework, which Patton was currently face down on, bemoaning his current romantic status.

It had been the fifth time they’d had that conversation since Friday. Logan had kept track.

“Maybe,” Patton mumbled into the desk, which was an improvement on the last four conversations, when he hadn’t been willing to listen.

“It will give you more time to study,” Logan pointed out.

Patton lifted his head and pulled a face. “Okay, I get it.” He sat up fully and sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I hate French.”

“Just be glad you didn’t take Spanish,” Logan said, drily.

Mischief suddenly danced in Patton’s eyes. “Oh? Why’s that, Lo?”

“Because-“ Logan stopped himself. “No. You are not going to distract me like that.”

“Like what?” asked a new voice, and Remus Prince slid into the third seat at the table.

Patton and Logan exchanged glances, and then looked back at Remus, who looked as if sitting with them was the most normal thing in the world, even though they’d never had a conversation together.

They knew who Remus was, of course, even outside of Patton’s crush on his brother. Everyone knew who Remus was. It had taken him less than a year at Padua High to reach a level of infamy most students could only aspire to. Patton still shuddered every time he saw a duck.

Remus looked between them. “Are you guys having a stroke?”

“No,” Logan said. “We’re merely… surprised you chose to sit with us.”

Remus shrugged. “Gotta keep an eye on who my brother’s dating,” he said, and grinned at Patton like a shark.

Patton swallowed. “Roman and I aren’t dating.”

“Right,” Remus said, and then muttered something that sounded like ‘yet’. “So,” he added cheerfully. “What are we talking about?”

“Spanish,” Patton said sweetly.

Logan glared at him. “No, we’re-.”

“Ugh,” Remus threw his head back. “Spanish is the worst. Mrs Richards has no idea what she’s talking about.”

“Yes,” Logan agreed. “And her pronunciation-,”

“It’s awful!” Remus finished. “Like, has she ever seen a native speaker?”

Logan nodded, and then narrowed his eyes. “How would you know? Don’t you sleep through most Spanish classes?”

“Yeah, but it creeps into my dreams and gives me nightmares.”

“No, I mean- how do you how bad she is if you don’t pay attention to what she’s teaching.”

Remus looked at him like he was stupid. It was not a look Logan got very often. “I… speak Spanish?”

“You do?” Logan asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Remus said. “I grew up speaking it. You guys didn’t know that?”

“We don’t exactly know you,” Patton pointed out. “And you are taking it as a class.”

“Yeah, because it’s an easy A.”

“Of course,” Logan muttered.

Patton gasped and clapped his hands together, making the other two jump. He glanced around guiltily at the noise, but there was no one nearby to get annoyed.

“Remus, you speak Spanish!” Patton exclaimed.

“That’s… what we were just talking about?” Remus said.

Patton turned to Logan. “Remus can tutor you!”

“What?” Logan and Remus asked at the same time.

“Well, you’re always talking about how you wish you had someone to practise with! Here’s your chance.”

Logan and Remus looked at each other uncertainly.

“I don’t think Remus wants to do that,” Logan said.

“You don’t know what I want,” Remus protested.

Logan narrowed his eyes. Remus gave his biggest shit-eating grin.

“I wouldn’t want to presume-,”

“It’s not presuming if you just ask me.”

“I don’t have the money for a tutor.”

“I’ll do it out of the goodness of my heart!”

Logan and Remus stared at each other. Remus’s smile took on a slightly sinister nature.

“Unless,” Remus said, “There’s some reason you don’t want me to tutor you.”

It was a challenge and a game all wrapped into one. Remus was watching Logan carefully, waiting to see what he’d do, if he’d admit to not liking Remus or come up with an excuse.

Logan had never backed down from a challenge. Not when he was eleven, and his teacher had given him advanced work and not bothered to explain it because ‘other people need my time more’, which Logan had taken home and researched until he understood. Not when he was fourteen, and his teacher had asked if he’d like to teach the class instead, and Logan had snapped back ‘I’d probably do a better job than you’. Not when he was fifteen and the history teacher had dismissed his comments with ‘you don’t know more than the textbook’, so Logan had compiled a ten page list of sources that showed the textbook was wrong.

He certainly wasn’t going to back down when Remus Prince was staring at him with those infuriating brown eyes.

So he changed the game.

“In that case,” Logan said, forcing his face into a smile, “I accept your offer.”

Remus gaped at Logan, and Logan raised an eyebrow.

“Unless there’s some reason you don’t want to tutor me?”

Remus burst into laughter. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Patton, whose eyes had darted back and forth between them like a spectator at a tennis match, now smiled as if everything was fine. Remus suspected that Patton hadn’t understood what was happening. Logan knew better.

“What the hell are you doing in the library?” someone called, and the trio turned around.

Roman stood there with his arms crossed, looking exasperated at Remus. It was a common look on Roman’s face.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, am I not allowed to be a good student?”

“Not when it means I have to search the entire school looking for you!”

Patton cleared his throat. “Is… everything okay?”

Roman jerked when he noticed Patton sitting there. “Ah, Patton! Yes, everything’s fine, I just need to borrow my brother here.”

“Smooth,” Remus commented.

Roman’s only response was to grab Remus by the arm and pull him out of the chair.

“Ow! Hey! Okay, okay, I’m going. See you later, Nerdy Wolverine!”

The librarian glared at Roman dragged Remus past her desk. Roman gave an apologetic look. Remus grinned and blew a kiss.

“You’re not very subtle,” Remus pointed out when they were standing in the corridor outside.

“Shut up,” Roman snapped.

“Ooh, grumpy! So how did the meeting go?”

Remus began walking through the halls and Roman did too.

“How do you think?”

“I think Operation: Get Virgil Foster Laid has hit a wall.”

Roman rubbed a hand over his face. “We are not calling it that.”

“But fear not!” Remus continued. “I have a solution.”

Roman narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What solution?”

“I’m so glad you asked! See, there was one big flaw with your plan-,”

“It was your plan!”

“-And that’s that you lacked incentive! No one’s going to do things for the goodness of their hearts!”

“So what do you suggest?” Roman asked.

“Use money! What else are you going to do with it- use it to pay for dates?”

“Okay,” Roman said. “Let me get this straight-,”

“Hah!”

“-You want me to pay someone to date Virgil Foster.”

“Not just anyone! It’s all about finding the right person.”

They had reached the cafeteria now. Remus pulled open the door with a flourish.

“Fortunately, I know exactly who that person is.”

Roman followed Remus’s gesture to a table near the back of the cafeteria, where a boy was sat wearing a black leather jacket over a yellow shirt. A hat hid most of his face, but Roman could just about make out a large burn scar from underneath his left eye to his jaw.

He sat alone, attention on the book in front of him. The crowd at the tables near him seemed electrified. Everyone was aware of his presence, but no one dared look over.

Roman shook his head. “Isn’t that Janus Verona?”

When Roman and Remus had first joined the story, Janus had become an urban legend in his absence. The boy with the strange name and scar on his face, which should have made him the perfect target for bullies, but instead he became something else. Everyone had a friend who’s sibling or cousin had messed with him, or who he just hadn’t liked, and had their lives ruined for it.

If you wanted dirt on someone, he probably already had it. If you wanted a fake ID, or alcohol, or tickets to a sold out concert, he could get it for you. He’d do anything you asked, if you had the money.

He hadn’t shown up what should have been his senior year because he was in prison for murder. Because he’d quit school and joined the mob. He was in prison, but it was extortion, not murder. The murder part was true, but he’d fled the country because of it.

Roman had wondered whether he’d even existed in the first place.

And then Janus had come back, and started his senior year one year late.

Janus had become ten times more powerful through not being there, and the school had its resident bogeyman back. Roman had seen him a handful of times in the halls, and had always kept his head down and stayed away.

Whatever the rumour were, Janus Verona was clearly trouble.

“It’s perfect,” Remus said, cutting off Roman’s thoughts. “We pay him, he takes Virgil out, you and Patton get to be together and I don’t have to listen to your whining.”

“It’s Janus Verona,” Roman hissed, because clearly Remus was not getting how insane that was.

“I know,” Remus said, starry eyed. “Isn’t he great?”

Roman did manage to resist the urge to scream, but it was a near thing.

“Look,” Remus said. “We tried it your way. It went down like the Hindenburg.”

“That doesn’t mean we should resort to hiring a criminal!”

“Got any better ideas? I’m all ears.”

Roman opened his mouth, then shut it again. He glared at Remus.

“Great!” Remus said, and dragged Roman over to Janus’s table.

Janus did not look up from his book as the two of them approached. They stood at in front of the table. Janus still didn’t look up. Roman glanced at Remus, who shrugged. He cleared his throat.

“Roman and Remus Prince,” Janus said, his eyes still on the book. “Why ever would two model citizens like you come to someone like me?”

Remus took this as an invitation to pull out a chair and throw himself into it. “I just want to say, I’m a big fan of your work.”

That was enough to get Janus to look up from his book. He had the same confused and mildly horrified look most people got upon meeting Remus. “…Thank you?”

Roman sat down. “Ignore my brother, he’s morally deficient.” Remus kicked him under the table. “We want to hire you.”

Janus hummed. “I charge extra if you want it to look like an accident.”

“What?” Roman exclaimed. “No! We don’t- are you offering to kill someone!?”

Janus met his eyes and raised an eyebrow for a moment, the most terrifying one of Roman’s life. Then he threw his head back with loud, cackling peals of laughter. Remus beamed.

“Oh,” Roman said, laughing nervously. “You were joking. You- you are joking, right?”

“Certainly,” Janus said. “You wouldn’t be able to afford my fee.”

“This is the greatest day of my life,” Remus whispered.

“So.” Janus leaned back in his chair, “What can I do for you? Don’t bother getting all embarrassed, I promise, I’ve heard it all before.”

Roman glanced at Remus, who nodded. “We’d like to hire you to date Virgil Foster,” he said.

“Okay,” Janus said after a moment’s silence. “I haven’t heard it all before. You do realise I’m not an escort, don’t you?”

“I don’t want you to have sex with him,” Roman cried, then ducked his head, blushing, when he realised everyone had probably heard that. “I just- look, I want to date Patton Foster, okay?”

“Whatever you’re about to tell me, I assure you I don’t care,” Janus drawled.

“So I asked Patton out, and he was like, ‘I’ll have to ask my dad’, but then his dad was like ‘not unless Virgil dates’, which apparently is impossible. So Remus and I came up with an idea-,”

“I came up with it,” Remus interrupted.

“So Remus came up with, and I improved upon, an idea: we find someone to date Virgil.”

“And how did that go?” Janus asked, looking mildly interested despite himself.

“Terrible,” Remus chimed in. “So we figured we’d ask you.”

Janus tilted his head, considering. “Alright,” he said at last.

“Seriously?”

Janus smiled, and spread his gloved handswide. “Who am I to get in the way of true love?”

“Well, great.” Roman was suddenly transported to a reality where Remus’s plans worked. It was not a pleasant experience. “Uh, so how’s ten dollars sound?”

Janus gasped, and placed a hand on his heart. “Roman. Are you suggested that I take a fine young man like Virgil on a date that’s worth ten dollars?”

Roman gritted his teeth. “Well, what do you want?”

“Well, let’s see,” Janus mused. “Say we go to the cinema. The tickets cost, what, fifteen dollars? And then, of course, I’ll be buying him popcorn. And then there’s the price of gas…”

“How much?”

Janus smiled. “Let’s say $75.”

Roman balked. “No way.”

Janus shrugged. “All right then. Plenty of fish in the sea, after all.”

He turned his attention back to his book, though Roman got the sense he was still watching them.

“Roman,” Remus hissed.

Roman glared. “I can’t afford seventy five dollars a date.”

“It only needs to be a couple of times,” Remus pointed out.

Roman groaned. “Fine,” he spat, and Janus looked up from his book and smiled. “But I don’t pay you until after the date.”

“Half up front, half after,” Janus said. “Otherwise there’s no deal.”

Roman considered. He didn’t seem to have much of a choice. “I’ll pay the first half once Virgil agrees to it.”

Janus nodded. “Deal.” He reached out a hand, and Roman shook it. “A pleasure doing business with you, Mr Prince. Now, if you excuse me, it appears I have a boy to seduce.”

Janus pushed away from the table, picked up his book – Kant, something he’d read before but which gave him the opportunity to watch the cafeteria without anyone noticing - and swept out of the room.

People scurried out of his way as he walked through the hallways, but their whispers and dirty looks trailed after him. He was not well liked in this school, and he knew it – had known for a long time that he would never be liked, and so he had become something else.

Janus Verona did not need to be liked to be powerful.

He arrived at his destination- a corridor that contained only a set of toilets, a supply closet, and a side door that led to a set of steps down to the parking lot, hidden behind rows of cars. For years, it had made the best spot for smoking without getting caught.

Virgil Foster did not smoke, but he did hang around with people who did.

Janus leaned against the wall of the corridor and opened his book again, pretending to read but really watching Virgil through the window in the door. He was sat on the top step with his head phones on, but he was watching the other boys, even though presumably he couldn’t hear the conversation. At the bottom of the steps Luc Edwards stood, waving his eyes as he spoke. The other boys alternated between listening to him and paying him no attention.

The group was a scattering of losers and outcasts, the kind that banded together not through any shared friendship, or even through liking each other. They were there because there was safety in numbers and nowhere else to go.

In another life, Janus might have been one of them, keeping his head turned away so no one saw his scar.

In this life, the bell rang, and the group outside got up, and started heading to class. Most of them barely glanced at Janus as they passed, safe in being too low in the hierarchy to be bothered. Luc Edwards shoulder checked him as he walked past.

Janus narrowed his eyes at Luc, but before he could do anything, Virgil came inside, his head down, hood pulled up. Janus pushed off the wall, and fell into step with him. Virgil glanced over at the movement in the corner of his eye, then did a double take when he realised who was next to him.

“What?” Virgil asked gruffly, pushing one headphone away from his ear.

“Janus Verona,” he introduced, holding out one hand. Virgil looked at it suspiciously, but didn’t say anything.

“We have English together,” Janus explained. “Why not walk together?”

Virgil shook his head. “Why are you talking to me?”

“Is there a reason why I shouldn’t?” Janus asked.

“I can think of a few,” Virgil snapped, and sped up.

Truly, it was shocking that Roman and Remus had been so unsuccessful.

Virgil was already in his seat by the time Janus entered the classroom. He didn’t look up as Janus sat down, didn’t even glance in his direction, which meant he was putting in the effort to seem as uninviting as possible.

The teacher- Mr Williams- began his lesson as the last stragglers had taken their seats, introducing the Shakespeare module they were about to begin and handing out copies of The Taming of The Shrew. Janus payed attention only enough to know what was happening. Nothing interesting would be in this lesson, and he wanted a chance to review what he already knew about Virgil.

He’d never had much to do with Virgil, before. Virgil had been in the year below, and even if their paths had crossed, Janus had never had much reason to pay attention to the emo boy at the back of the class.

He knew that Virgil had a younger brother, Patton, and that their parents were divorced. He knew that, if Luc Edwards was anything to go by, he had terrible taste in friends.

He was also, Janus noticed when he snuck glances at Virgil, not bad looking.

“Before we get started,” Mr Williams said, “Why doesn’t everyone share their thoughts on Shakespeare’s works?”

Janus rolled his eyes at the pointless attempt to make the lesson interactive.

Mr Williams made a show of scanning the class. “Virgil Foster,” he said, announcing both names as if there was another Virgil in the school, let alone the class. “What are your thoughts?”

And that was one other thing Janus knew about Virgil: Mr Williams hated him.

Janus didn’t know whether Mr Williams had convinced himself that he was helping to bring a shy boy out of his shell, or if he admitted that he just wanted to torment someone and went for the weakest option. Janus hoped it was the latter, because it would take a lot of denial to believe that calling on him every lesson was a good thing. Either Virgil would stammer out an answer, face pale and voice shaky, or he would say nothing, and Mr Williams would tell him to pay more attention and threaten him with detention.

It made Janus’s fists clench, that a man would go through such efforts to feel like he had power over someone he already had power over.

Still, it gave Janus a chance to look at Virgil, shoulders hunched and head down.

“He’s fine,” Virgil muttered.

“Fine?” Mr Williams echoed. “William Shakespeare, the greatest poet in the English language, is fine.” A smattering of giggles, not because Mr Williams was right, but because there was someone for the class to laugh at. Virgil’s shoulders tightened. “I’m sure you can come up with something better than that.”

Virgil said nothing.

Mr Williams sighed dramatically. “We don’t have all day,” he said. “Really, you must have some original thoughts in that head.”

Virgil lifted his head, glaring fire at the teacher. “I think people should stop putting him on a pedestal,” he said. His voice was shaking but the foundation was steel. “I think there are a lot of aspects of his works that people don’t talk about.”

“Care to give an example?” Mr Williams asked.

Virgil tapped the book in front of him. “Guy abuses his wife for the whole play and he’s supposed to be the hero?”

Mr Williams hummed. “Thank you for your feedback, Virgil. I’m sure Shakespeare would be devastated to know you don’t approve of the play he wrote in the sixteenth century.”

Laughter from the class. Virgil flushed and ducked his head, shoulders tense, fists clenched.

It was obvious Virgil hated Mr Williams, but he had never done anything about it before. Somehow, the boy in the back of the class had managed to surprise Janus Verona.

Virgil stayed with his head down until the bell rang, when he was the first to dash out of the classroom, stuffing his books back into his bag as he went. Janus didn’t bother trying to catch up.

He sent a text to Roman as he walked through the halls, asking for more information on Virgil. The first response came back almost instantly, asking how Janus had his number. He ignored it, and pulled up Google while he waited for Roman to get back with something useful. Excitement rushed through him as he typed, the kind that always came in these early stages of a plan.

Virgil was more than he seemed, which meant that this was going to be interesting.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #anxceit #royality #intrulogical #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #sympathetic remus #janus sanders #deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #my fic #ten things

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mondixu · 3 years

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butterflies | d. kaminari

you're my new best friend if you get the reference </3

genre: fluff

gender: neutral

warning: none

[ ✾ ]

You were fourteen when you first met him. It was a rainy day when you were walking to school that morning, and instead of doing the smart thing - bringing an umbrella - you decided you could just run the whole way there. And yet, despite training to be a hero, you couldn't run for ten minutes with your arms over your head as if that would somehow shield you from the rain like you imagined. So there you were, walking in your uniform and worrying about your reputation and how much it would be damaged, when all of a sudden, you didn't feel the cold drops of water splattering on your soggy clothes anymore. Instead, there was a slight feeling of warmth beside you. Glancing over, you looked into the golden eyes of a tall male, whose yellow hair wasn't the least bit wet. Ah, yes, he brought an umbrella. Like a smart person would do. He grinned like a dork and you ignored your stupid heart that fluttered when he smiled his adorably cute smile. "Hey." That simple word changed your fucking life. "Who the hell are you?" "Can you . . . see me?!" "Yeah . . . " "You can see me! I'm gonna have a new best- FRIENNND-" "Okay I think that's enough now," you said, pushing him away and snatching the umbrella out of his hand. "Wait wha?" You stared at the cute boy in front of you and decided you didn't like him, no matter how many times he smiled his stupidly cute smile at you, no matter how many times he would save you from the freezing rain, you would never like him. Never in your life. And so, you traipsed away from the boy with his lightning-patterned umbrella clutched tightly in your hand down the path to your school. You never looked back.

[ ✾ ]

Out of all the places you expected to see the blonde boy next, you never would've guessed the famous hero school of U.A. You didn't want to be reminded of him, of his cute face, his golden eyes, his honey-blonde hair, and his adorable grin, it wasn't particularly fair that someone could look that good. Just looking at him made you want to puke from nerves. And of course, he wiggled his way into your friend group. The two of you never talked about what had happened, but he always flashed his bright grin whenever he saw you, activating the ever-present flutters in your heart once again. You ignored the stupid butterflies. Quickly making friends at U.A., you thought that everything was looking up for you, the future was looking bright! That is, until villains suddenly bombarded USJ. And of course, as "fate" would have it, you got thrown into a group with your least favorite blonde. And yes, there were females from the class with you -- you hadn't bothered to learn their names -- but that didn't stop the stupid butterflies from deciding to come to life once again. They were worse when he made physical contact with you, such as when he saved you from tumbling off of a pile of rocks, or when he shoved you out of the way as a knife went flying by where your head had once been. Stupid butterflies.

[ ✾ ]

Note to self: never tell the Bakusquad you're going to study. They'll beg to come along. It wasn't that you didn't love your friends -- far from it -- but they could be a little . . . hectic, to say the least. When it comes to sitting still, go to the Dekusquad for studying help. Bakugou was fine, the only reason he came along was because Kirishima wouldn't "get off of his fucking back", at least he knew how to study quietly. Sero was okay; he was sorta mellow, occasionally finding the passion to study with no sound emitting from him, while other times, he was spilling Tic Tacs all over his books and having a mini food fight with Kaminari and Mina. Kirishima tried. He really did. He just had no concentration in him whatsoever. The red-haired male was constantly asking you or Bakugou for help, and while you were more than happy to help him, you came here to study, not to tutor. Bakugou, obviously, did nothing to help until Kirishima pulled out the puppy eyes. Kiri's got him hooked on a fucking leash. Kaminari = never ever ever ever ever ever ask him to study. The child probably had dyslexia, as he was c o n s t a n t l y asking how to pronounce the simplest of words, then going off and googling it as soon as you told him, thinking that you were the one who pronounced it wrong, not him. He peered over your shoulder, whispering in your ear for the correct math answer on the homework, fueling your already prominent blush on your face already. To say the least, you didn't get much studying done when you sat beside him, and instead, spent the entire time glaring at your book as you thought about the stupid butterflies that existed in your stomach. When it came to Mina, she honestly didn't really try. While she wanted to pass school and become a hero, it was hard for her energetic body to sit still and stare at books all day. When you suggested she grab some snacks for the group after seeing her restlessness, she jumped at the chance, but then didn't come back for a whole hour. When she did finally come back, she had no snacks in her arms, and instead, held a dog. Yes. Ashido fucking Mina bought a dog instead of getting a simple box of pocky for her friends. Everyone but you and Bakugou found it hilarious, asking to see the dog, pet it, and become the fucking parent. Then, they got kicked out of the library. Kaminari tried to engage you in a conversation as the group walked back home, but you were too pissed to concentrate on anything he rambled about. Mina bought a dog. A fucking dog. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU BUY A DOG, MINA?!" you cried, interrupting the blonde's tangent about a hacker who beat him in Roblox. "Because it was cute," she said simply. You facepalmed. Kaminari slung his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close and saying, "aw, c'mon [Name]! You gotta admit, it was pretty cute!" You shoved him in a mud puddle. Stupid butterflies.

[ ✾ ]

"Look Denki, I get that you want to have lightning bolt streamers everywhere, but this is Aizawa's party we're talking about here, not yours." You were in your second year of U.A., all of your class having graduated the first year of hero training with flying colors. You were on better terms with Denki now, having saved him from impending doom when the League kidnapped Bakugou. You worked all your differences out and were now good friends, some even going as far as to call the two of you besties. That didn't mean the butterflies had disappeared. In fact, they were worse than ever the more time you spent around him. It was like every time he put his arm around your shoulders or abruptly snatched your hand, the bugs were on a reproducing spree, manifesting more and more butterflies every time he came into physical contact with you. "C'mon! It's lightning! How could you not love it?!" "You weren't the one who came up with the idea for this party! I was!" Ah, yes. Your fiery temper was still there. "Fine, fine, we can use the black streamers," he said, rolling his eyes and heading to the kitchen. You grinned deviously, a plan already forming in mind that would surely get you a handful of swears from your teacher. Fuck it all, you were doing it anyway.

[ ✾ ]

"[Last Name], what the hell are you doing?" Aizawa inquired, rubbing his tired eyes vigorously. "Oh, don't worry Aizawa-sensei," you replied deviously, smirking at the black-clothed teacher. "Everything is a-okay!" "That automatically makes me assume that nothing is okay." "I SAID DON'T WORRY, AIZAWA-SENSEI!" "And I said that automatically makes me assume I have to worry." "BUT YOU DON'T!" "Mhm." You could hear the skepticism lacing his fatigued voice, giving a boost of excitement to your tired legs as you dragged the sleepy man to the common room, smacking your hands over his eyes. "Ow." "Okay, okay, okay, open your eyes," you said, ignoring his cry of pain. "I can't because your filthy hands are over them." "NOW OPEN THEM." His dark eyes opened, holding a small glint of surprise as he saw the black, silver, gray, and white streamers dangling from the ceiling that Shouji put up, the luscious dark chocolate cake Sato had prepared, the birthday balloons Yaomomo and Denki had dotted around, and the whole class sprinkled around the common room (plus Shinso and Eri), wearing party hats and smiling at their shocked teacher. Aizawa's throat caught slightly at the end, but he still managed to get out the words, "who's idea was this?" Denki stepped up, raising his arm but pointing his finger at you. "[Name] did, they just dragged us into it." You grinned sheepishly, rubbing the nape of your neck and quickly trying to atone for your sins. "I understand if you don't like it, I could take it all down if you want, I just thought that maybe-" Kaminari rushed over to your side and slapped his hand over your mouth, steadily looking you in the eye and shaking his head. "No, [Last Name], it's great." You were surprised to hear the tired voice of your favorite teacher, and even more surprised to see him crack a small grin at you, saying, "where'd you get the party hats?" "Yaomomo made them," Denki cut in. "He didn't ask you," you said, licking his hand as he jerked it away. "Let's party!"

[ ✾ ]

So far, so good, you thought, twisting your fingers together as you watched your favorite blonde attempt to playfully flirt with Uraraka. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this. "Hey." You shrieked at the voice that suddenly appeared in your ear, jumping a little and whipping around, only to come face-to-face with an electric boy. "Denki! You scared me!" "And you made me bite my tongue! Even?" "How did I make you bite your tongue?" "When you jumped, my chin was on my way to your shoulder," Denki exclaimed, "but then it moved so my teeth clanked together and my tongue got in the way." You smiled, lightly punching him in the arm. "Clanked," you teased with a grin. "It's a word!" "Okay." You rolled your eyes. "Hey, what happened to Uraraka?" "Oh, as soon as I started talking, she said she had to make sure Midoriya had his hero notebook or something, then ran away." "WOW," you said, bending over and clutching your stomach, trying to breathe through your laughter. "That's a mood." "It is indeed," Kaminari replied, a grin on his face. Stupid butterflies. "Hey, Denki --" You were abruptly stopped by the strange feeling of another pair of lips on yours, kissing you passionately. Your shocked brain had no idea what was happening until the sudden warmth moved away, revealing the familiar golden eyes of a honey-blonde. "I'm so sorry, I just thought you looked really cute in that shirt and then I thought 'well why don't I kiss you' and then you didn't kiss back and --" You pressed your lips against his this time, a small smile gracing your lips as your crush kissed back with fervor. Finally, after what seemed like it would never be enough, you pulled away from the awkward-yet-electrifying kiss to inhale the life-saving air around you. "Did you get butterflies too?" you asked, panting. "Yeah, yeah I did." Those golden eyes. You couldn't look away from the millions of emotions swirling in his orbs, anxiety, euphoria, fear, nervousness, joy, shock, and trillions more. The same feelings were probably circling round and around in your eyes. "So what does this make us?" Another kiss was your answer.

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youarejesting · 4 years

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BTS365 Prompts.Week 23

[Full Masterlist] [Prompt Masterlist]

Beta: @lunarlxve

Please tag me in your work if you use my prompts. I want to see your work. Ever your Jester.

Tell me your birthday and I will tag you on your special day!

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June 4th - 10th

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Kim Seokjin - hug

Kim Seokjin had never been hugged. He didn’t know what it felt like, but it always looked nice in movies and dramas. Why has he never been hugged? Well, he was an only child, and his parents went on a lot of overseas work trips. The nanny was an older woman and very stern. He wondered why she was a nanny when she hated children. She hated when they were too loud, hated when they got grubby or ran around, and hated when they talked or asked questions.

Soon he was a teen, a handsome one but home schooled. Seokjin’s Tutor was an older man who only knew how to read a textbook and scold him. He never got hurt to warrant a hug, was never praised with a hug. Until he bumped into you. No literally bumped into you. The two of you toppled over, chest to chest. The warmth and physical connection sent a spark down his spine. He felt for the first time that he wasn’t alone. Even if it was a mistake that you fell against him.

Min Yoongi - cat

“Hey, Lil meow meow,” You grinned stepping into the studio. You were rival producers, and it amused you how easily you could get under his skin. You really meant no harm by it, and you hoped it came across that way. Sometimes he would do the same to you by making fun of the bags under your eyes or something as trivial. It had gotten simultaneously worse and better due to renovations, you were sharing a studio. Both agreeing to leave each other’s music and equipment alone.

“So how long did it take for your date to run away this time?” He sighed, taking the coffee from your hand, freeing it so you could count his change and place the small pile of coins onto his desk.

“He said his boss called him thirty seconds into the movie. The opening credits hadn’t even finished Min” You hissed sipping your coffee “I was so excited to see the movie.”

“What a prick, did he really?” Yoongi hissed, turning in his seat, pulling his headphones down so they would hang around his neck.

“Yes, he really did” you turned to face your computer, turning it on and setting everything up. “I don’t understand Min. Am I really that bad?”

“No you're not, as much as we joke you are cute” He grinned turning your seat around, so you were left with no choice but to look at him “Sometimes you act like a big cat all feisty and claws and teeth, but you forget you are actually a cute little kitten.”

Jung Hoseok - doughnut

“Welcome to the Doughnut Drive- thru. How may I help you?” You asked, trying to sound cheerful after a long shift.

“Hey, can I get twelve assorted iced doughnuts with sprinkles?” The voice was muffled through the drive-thru, but you knew exactly who it was.

You tapped the button on the sales machine. Waiting for his car to arrive. It was a red 1973 Mercedes 450SL. A beautiful piece of machinery. He smiled up at you and handed you the money as he did every time, brushing his fingers against your palm, making you feel warm in your pretty pastel blue uniform dress and apron.

In the middle of the Money was a piece of paper that said ‘Hoseok xxxx-xxx-xxx call me.’ This wasn’t the first time he had handed you a note with his number. You felt your face flush, wondering if you looked like a tomato at this point.

“Here is your change sir, I will just get them now” You walked off and grabbed the assorted donuts and handed them over. Watching his car drive off.

It was when you heard his voice again through your headset from the drive-thru speaker that you grew confused. Have you made a mistake? “Miss y/n, I come around every Friday after work, hoping I might get the chance to talk to you. I have given you my number almost thirty times now, and you never text, never call. Just let me know before I die of a heart attack or diabetes from eating 12 donuts a week. Would you be interested in going on a date with me?”

Kim Namjoon - drive-in

Namjoon had asked you out a few days ago after school, he seemed confident and kind of cocky in front of his friends. You almost thought it was a joke; that is until he arrived at your house, his usually disheveled hair combed down. He was no longer in his leather jacket but a nice button up. He shook hands with your father, talking to him with a smile while you went to fetch your purse.

“Sir, I have plans to watch a movie with your daughter and then to eat at the diner. I thought I should let you know in case you wish to know her whereabouts.” Namjoon said, trying to be courteous to your parents. “The movie finishes at eight, and we should finish dinner by nine, so we shouldn’t be out too late.”

“You aren’t planning to do anything at the drive-in, are you?” Your father said sternly, “I know where you live mister Kim.”

“No, sir, we aren’t going to do anything except watch a movie,” Namjoon said, rubbing his palms on his trousers looking towards the stairs hoping you were ready to leave. “And perhaps I could hold her hand.”

“Alright, Mum, Dad, don’t scare the poor boy” You sighed, gesturing Namjoon over; he got up grateful that you had saved him from your father's intense stare.

“I will wait up,” Your father said, walking you both to the door catching Namjoon’s arm. “You may hold her hand, and I will allow one kiss goodnight if she wishes, but otherwise, keep your hands to yourself, buddy.”

“Yes, Sir. I will have her home by nine.”

Park Jimin - VCR

“Hey Jimin, did you record the show last night? I was so busy with my Aunty’s 45th birthday that I was unable to watch it” You grabbed your friend's arm in the school hall. “Please, PLEASE tell me you recorded it.”

“Yeah I got it recorded, you can come over later and watch it with me after dance practice” He smiled giving you a perfect spin. “You will watch me, right?”

“Of course, Chim.” You stopped at your adjacent lockers, taking out your books, remembering the math pop quiz. It was going to be a long day.

You weren’t wrong, the day was slow and tedious. Your only saving grace was when you hopped into Jimin’s bright yellow buggy and took off to his dance class. You sat in the corner watching him dance. He was one of two boys who danced in his age group. The girls moved so delicately, their bodies were as light as air. It made you self conscious even Jimin in his sweats and singlet was more agile and graceful then you could ever dream of being.

He drove you both home, asking if he did well and telling you how he thinks he is ready for the upcoming performance. The Park family home was a single story. Jimin called it small and old, but you thought it was homely and cozy. The two of you sat in his room; you snuggled into his blankets while putting the old tape in the VCR machine. It was nice being with your best friend, but you wanted to be something more for some reason.

You just wish you had the courage to tell him.

Kim Taehyung - BFF

It was a Friday night; you were in the basement lying on your stomach on the plush rug; your legs swinging back and forth as you slowly threaded beads onto a clear fishing line. Threading Taehyung’s favorite color beads in a simple, alternate pattern. You were able to fasten the bracelet when the door to the basement swung open.

“You got it, Mrs. L/N, I will let her know for you” Taehyung’s voice called up to your mother as he hopped down the stairs enthusiastically. “Sup?”

“Just chilling Tae” The evidence of your craft pushed under the couch.

“I just wanted to let you know, your mum says I can stay for dinner, if you want me to that is?”

“No duh, Tae, you’re my BFF.”

Taehyung laughed sitting on the two-seater sofa, his long legs hanging over the side. “We should do something fun” You hummed the BFF bracelet in your pocket felt heavy.

“Like what?” Taehyung asks, earning a shrug from you. He ponders for a moment before continuing, “We could play truth or dare.”

“Will it work with just the two of us?”

“Sure, let me go first,” he smiled, sitting up and crossing his legs on the couch, patting the second cushion, and you sat across from him. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth”

“Do you have anyone you like?” He peeked at you from under his shaggy bangs, and you felt your cheeks grow pink.

“Yes,” your giggle was nervous, and you tried to quickly move on, “truth or dare?”

“Truth?” He smiled, moving the hair out of his eyes with his fingers.

“Do you have anyone you like?” He nodded, his face turned away, and your mother took this moment to bring you a plate of orange soda and biscuits.

The two of you chorused your thanks, and when the door was shut, you were left alone once more. One more round and Tae asked if you had ever kissed anyone, and you dared him to dunk his biscuit in his soda before eating it.

“Truth or dare?” He asked, seemingly determined to get you back for the horrific snack you had created. And you thought it only fair that he had the chance.

“Dare,” you smiled, downing your soda so he couldn’t ruin it for you.

“I dare you to kiss me,” you sprayed him completely, choking on the carbonated beverage.

Jeon Jungkook - Iced tea

Jungkook was contracted to paint the outside of your family home. You were back home from University and house sitting for your parents while they were on a cruise. Laying out on a sun chair in your bikini, trying to enjoy the warmth of the sun, you started to get thirsty. Walking inside to your parent’s indoor bar, you began preparing some ice tea. It was when you saw him on a ladder painting above the window all shirtless and sweaty, that you decided to prepare a second beverage.

You turned to the mirror fixing your hair, applying a tinted lip gloss, and readjusting your bikini top to accentuate your cleavage. You carried both drinks out and smiled, “Jungkook, was it? Would you like some ice tea, you look a bit thirsty.”

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tinyanimelover · 4 years

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Twisted Fates

Part Five

(Part One ; Other parts here)

"How was school?" A voice startled Grimmjow as he stepped into the house he'd live in during high school. "T-the fuck?!" He stammered out, eyes widening once he realized who it was. He'd almost forgotten that he shared a house with like five other guys in high school since he couldn't afford to rent by himself. "S...Shawlong?". "Why do you look so surprised to see me?" Shawlong asked with a raised eyebrow as he disappeared into the kitchen "I live here too, if you've forgotten". "I fucking know that.." Grimmjow grumbled, remembering how they all split up once Grimmjow finished high school, later he found out they all were either killed or dead from some sort of freak accident. Shawlong, Edrad, Yylfordt, Di Roy and Nakeem. “The others are still at work” Shawlong explained “I was just about to leave for work”. He felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him, "I'm going to bed". He didn't wait for Shawlong to respond, climbing the stairs and heading straight for his room. How weird was this? He was back in his old room, it was still a mess. Just like he remembered. His clothes were strewn all over the floor, bed sheets messy, his desk was cluttered with papers and stuff that he’d never turned in to class. He grinned unconsciously, "...damn, I missed this fucking room".

"The hell man" Tsu grunted "You're so late". "Got caught up with the teacher" Grimmjow lied, "Kept nagging me about a math tutor". "Ahh" Matsuo drawled "Sensei said something about how I need a history tutor too". "And a life tutor while you're at it" Ryu quipped "Before you showed up, Matsuo was all over one of the girls here..up until her boyfriend showed up. He ran and hid behind Ueno". "Haah?!" Matsu scowled "I could've taken him on! But he was threatening to call his friends and shit! I wasn't up for that bullshit!". "Whatever, let's go" Grimmjow let out as he walked past them "I'm starving". "There's a ramen place down the street, s'pposed to be real good" Ueno proposed "And there's discounts for students". "Oho~! Let's go there! I spent all my allowance on a game the other day, Ryu~ do you mind paying for me?". "Hell no" the teen said with a straight face "You still owe me from the last time I lent you money". "You do ask him for money a lot. Ueno nodded his head "Get a job like the rest of us". Grimmjow looked at the pavement as they walked, the sun shining down with its warmth. He remembered these days so well, he had decided against a part-time job since he didn't want to go the extra mile. But this was a second chance for him, he wanted to do things differently. Would having a part-time job affect the future? "Oi, Grimmjow" Ueno called "The ramen place is down this street". "Right.." He let out, turning back around. There's no way having a job now would affect his future, it was so minimal and provided money. As the sun went down, they parted ways and he found himself watching the three as they walked away from him. He'd taken these days for granted when he was a teenager, he wondered if they were all really friends or just liked hanging out with each other. He sighed softly, turning around and heading home. He thought back on the girl, wondering if it had been too soon for him to try and get close to her. But if he had no idea when he was going to be sent back, the he needed to find out her killer as soon as possible! She said she had a few friends in the class next door, was one of them her killer? Isamu said she met her killer in high school, so he needed to find out when she met those friends.

So focused. She was so focused as her lips moved with each word she let slip from them. It was so hard for him to see her this way, after seeing her die literally just a week ago. She felt different now though, more...secluded? Was that the word? He couldn't quite formulate the word, but she was way different than when she was his neighbor. As his neighbor, she seemed more airy and free. Was she like this before? He'd never noticed since he wasn't trying to pay attention to her back then. But now, it bugged him a bit. "...are you listening, Grimmjow-kun?" Her soft voice cut through his thoughts. He blinked a few times, eyes glued to her own "...Yeah, fine..". He looked away with a yawn, "This is boring". "..it's only been half an hour since we started studying" she laughed, leaning back in the chair "I guess we can take a break if you want". He yawned again, leaning back and staring out of the window. What now? He still had to find her killer. But how? Her friends, there was no way either of then could've killed her. So who? "You..seem to be lost in thought lately" she voiced, eyes lowered to her hands "Are you okay?". "..that sounded creepy" he sighed "What? You've been watching me". Her cheeks grew red, "N-no! It's just that..you seem different since the other day when you helped me clean the classroom...the Grimmjow-kun I know, doesn't care about anyone but himself and his friends..". His eyes widened, looking over at her "..was that an insult?". She bowed, "No..just something everyone knows...". "..whatever..a person can change if he wants" he drawled "If I want to fucking be nice then I will, nothing to it". "...or you need something" she brought up "Is that why you've been nice to me?". He groaned, layijg his head down "You're fucking impossible, I swear...just let me be nice, can you do that? Or do you want me to be rude again?". "...you're rude anyways" she pointed out "Just now you insulted me". He lifted his head, leaning against his palm "Anyways....can I ask you something?". "Sure" she smiled, allowing him to continue. "You said you have friends in the next class right? Who are they?". She blinked a few times before realization graced her mind "Oh...you're asking because you want to know about Mina-chan, right?...everyone always asks me about her". She gathered her things, smile still on her lips yet she couldn't hide her disappointment "Mina-chan just broke up with her boyfriend so she's free..if she likes you of course". Now he was confused, "Who the fuck is Mina? Why are you leaving?". She looked at him with slightly wide eyes, "...you..don't know who Mina-chan is?". He shook his head. "Why would I? Sit down, don't get your panties in a bunch". She puffed her red cheeks out, embarrassed as she sat back down "..dont say that, its mean". "Whatever" he sighed, "Anyways, so you do have friends..". "Why would that matter to you?" She asked. "It doesnt" he leaned back in the chair "I was just wondering...". She had friends, which one of them was going to kill her in the future? And why? "..just because I'm bored as hell and don't have anything else to do....do your friends bully people? Are they mean, I guess is what I'm asking". She laughed, "Bully? Mean? Grimmjow-kun, you're describing your own group!". He glared lightly at her, "Just fucking answer! And why do you keep adding -kun at the end of my name?". He knew very well why, her confession popped back into his mind as he looked away, scratching the back of his head. If he wanted to save her, he needed to be completely focused. He couldn't have her still being in love with him. "Just call me Grimmjow.." he let out. "..r-right..sorry...." she smiled, looking back down at her books "And to answer your question: no. I only have two friends, Mina-chan and Emi-chan. Mina-chan is more popular with the guys while Emi-chan is like me, quiet and shy..". "Just two friends?" He repeated softly as he threw his head back gently. Two friends. There was no way a girl killed her, so when exactly does she meet her killer? "...I dont have the energy to spend on a whole group of friends..so I'm happy with the two that I have" she pointed out "You have a lot of energy to give, thats why you have so many friends, right?". He raised an eyebrow, sitting up straight again "I dont have a lot of friends" he corrected "I just have the three". "Hmm.." she nodded "Do you wish you had more friends?". "Why would I want more morons to follow me around?" He chuckled, "Its fucking annoying sometimes". She smiled, "...ya know..this side of you is nice to see". His laugh faded into a light frown, "Whatever....is that is for the tutoring?". She nodded, "Y-yeah I guess. We'll meet up once a week if that's okay with you". He got up from the chair "...how about a few times a week?". She looked up at him, "..s-sure! If thats what you want..I dont mind!". "Great, see ya tomorrow then" he waved as he walked off.

#Bleach #bleach short stories #Bleach Grimmjow #Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez #grimmjow x reader #female reader insert #series #twisted fates #part five

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mar04isdead · 4 years

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Freaks But Family

Read chapter 1 here

Chapter 2: The Tutor

So you're back, took a while but you're back, welcome to the real start of all of this. So far as of now in the story, we are jumping a half of a year. This is the middle of the group's sophomore year, how Kayla, Alyssa, and Immanuel found out about everything is a story for another time.

"Mom, for the last time, I do not need a math tutor! Sure I have below a fifty, but I'll bring it up in a few days." Favion complains to his mother while she's behind the register.

His mom slams the register shut, "No, I need you to have that grade up and soon. I will not allow you to keep working for your uncle if it stays below a seventy." She wipes her hands on her apron and heads to the back of the kitchen.

Favion hits his head on the display case, "Mom, you said I could have Megan over. But I have to do tutoring? Mom, can we call the tutor and have them over tomorrow, please I am begging you." Favion makes his way around to the back so he can bother his mother.

"I said no, now go upstairs and clean your room. She'll be here in five minutes." His mother points to the stairs and Favion admits defeat and heads to his room.

Favion's father shakes his head, "I know he loves his job, but he needs to pass his math class. It's his sophomore year and he needs to pass."

"It took me awhile to find this tutor, she can help him. He knows her, she knows how to deal with him." Favion's mother puts on some oven mitts and checks the cookies in the oven.

The bell above the door in the store rings. Mrs. Freeman heads up front to meet the tutor.

"Hi, Mrs. Freeman! It's nice to see you again." Maria walks up to the register and shakes hands with Mrs. Freeman.

The last time Mrs. Freeman saw Maria, Maria had long black hair that touched her waist, now it is in a pixie cut with red streaks. Maria now wears glasses and her heterochromia eyes seem to have brightened. Her vitiligo has spread to patches on her arms, streaks on her neck, and blotches on her cheeks. Her freckles still stand out and she has grown a bit. She wears a black band tee with a red flannel shirt over it, black skinny jeans, and knee high converse.

"You remember my name girly, go on say it." Mrs. Freeman encourages Maria.

Maria chuckles, "Good to see you again, Chantel. I heard that you had a baby, how is she?"

Chantel smiles, "She's a heavy sleeper which is good, she's already better than how Favion was as a baby." That causes both females to laugh.

"Oh yeah, I remember how he was. How is he anyways, I haven't seen him in years." Maria says.

Chantel nods, "He's up in his room, he doesn't know you're his tutor. Oh," She grabs a paper bag from the side of the register and opens the display case and get's a few cookies. "I remember how much you like these." She hands the paper bag to Maria.

"Thank you, you're right I do like these. No one can make these better than you." Maria accepts the bag.

"You head on upstairs, poor boy needs help. He's failing math horribly, his uncle won't allow him to continue working until he gets his grade up." Chantel motions for Maria to follow her. "He's been failing since he started dating Megan, that and work, he's all over the place."

Maria sighs, "Yeah, he hasn't talked to the others at all after I left. Don't worry I'll make sure he gets that grade up."

Chantel stops them at a door, "Thank you." she knocks on the door and the door opens, revealing Favion. "Favion, this is your tutor and old friend, Maria. That grade better be up soon." Chantel leaves to open the store.

Favion hasn't really changed a bit, same short frizzy and curly hair. His skin the perfect mix of his mother and father's, a chocolate brown and pale white. His eyes are a dull brown and he has gained at least another foot in height. He seems to still wear what he always wore, a grey sweatshirt, faded blue jeans, and black sneakers.

Favion frowns at Maria, "Five years later and now you show up?"

Maria glares, "Nice to see you too, dipshit. I'm only here because you need to pass math, and by how major your mom makes your work with your uncle seem, you really need help." She pushes past him and goes into his room.

"I'm not failing, my grade is just low." He counters.

"I checked your grade in the system. You have below a fifty, how the heck is that possible?" Maria questions him.

"I do the work, I just turn it in late." He argues.

She scoffs, "Like I said I saw it in the system, you don't do it. This semester's finals are in two weeks. Which means I have those weeks to help you suck up whatever crap is going on in your head, and get that grade up." She looks around the room. "Weird, you went back to that twin sized bed."

Favion chuckles, "I think that curse you gave me when we were eight, that may have been true."

Maria smiles, "That was years ago, still can't believe you remember that."

He rubs the back of his neck, "I remember a lot, I've actually been back to the tree a few times. I haven't seen you there."

"Doesn't matter, I'm here to do my job. So I have some worksheets that will let me know what I do need to help you with." She digs through her book bag and pulls out a packet.

"This," he snatches the packet from her hand, "This is a worksheet? This is an entire week's worth of work." He complains.

Maria snatches the packet back, "Work you should already be doing! Now, you are going to do this and I will be timing you. You have half an hour and after that I will check it over and then we will go over what you need to relearn." She hands it back to him. "Now do it, half an hour starts now."

Surprisingly, Favion finished the work in under ten minutes. When Maria checked it, she was totally shocked. He got everything right, so why was he failing his class?

"This comes easy to you, I remember that in fifth grade, you always finished the test first and you got the highest score on the Georgia Milestones! So why when even this work comes easy to you, you just don't turn in your work?" She wonders, flipping through the packet.

Favion shrugs, "I just never felt like it, I always have other things to do. Can we hurry this up, I'm having someone over soon."

Maria smiles mischievously, "Oh Megan Brown right, that girl that cheated on you at the football game last night?"

Favion's eyes widen, "How... how did you know that? How the heck, how did you know that?" Favion stands up and glares at Maria, "We didn't tell anyone about it, how did you know?"

Maria shrugs, "Well I have to go," She stands up and collects her things. "Been nice seeing you after five years, you were one of the reasons I came back." She frowns and leaves the room.

Maria returns downstairs and begins to talk with Mrs. Freeman.

"He's good at his work, he can do it, he just doesn't want to. I have no idea what makes not want to do it, and I understand that he does a lot of work for his uncle, but why won't he?" Mrs. Freeman asks.

Maria shakes her head, "I honestly couldn't tell you. He was hard working, and in a way he still is. I'll try to drill it back into him to get him back on track."

The bell above the door rings signaling someone has arrived.

"Hi, Mrs. Freeman. It's nice to see you again!" A girl says once she steps inside. She's tall with light brown hair and caramel eyes. She has soft tan skin and she's wearing a black crop top, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

Maria notices how Chantel puts on a fake smile, "Oh, it's nice to see you, Megan. Favion is upstairs."

Megan smiles but looks over to Maria, "Who's this?"

"I'm one of Favion's old friends. I just came over to visit." Maria responds and turns back to Chantel. "I'll be back whenever he needs me, just give me a call. It was nice to be back here, Chantel." Maria puts her book bag on and gets up from her seat.

"Hey, Maria? Do you know how long it will take for him to get back on track?" Chantel ask.

Maria shakes her head, "Hard to say, but I promise that at this rate you will be seeing more of me. Oh, are y'all still open on Sunday's?"

Chantel smiles, "Of course we are, you planning on coming over with your family?"

"Yup, we haven't had your baking in a while. It would be good nostalgia for us, plus no one makes pastel de mil hojas better than you. See you tomorrow!" Maria waves and walks out of the door.

"So, I'm going to head upstairs. I'll see you later, Mrs. Freeman." Megan smiles at Chantel before going behind the counter and going upstairs.

"What are our numbers?" Rose asks Alyssa while looking at the monitor.

Alyssa starts to type on the keyboard and pulls up a graph, "We are behind by a few thousand, Maria is making up for them right now. Oh, and Immanuel should be done with that new tech for her staff. We'll upgrade it when she gets back."

Rose frowns, "What upgrade?"

"Her shadow and death powers!" Immanuel shouts from behind a curtain. "It's just to prevent it from draining her energy quickly," He explains.

"Oh yeah, that. Esme is still trying to figure out how to fix up the dome for those abilities. her great grandmother left all sorts of notes on how to upgrade the dome for all of the abilities, but nothing for shadows and death." Rose walks over to Immanuel's station to see what he is doing.

Immanuel sets down his tools to look at Rose. "This thing will just act like a storage space, she can keep her abilities in here for later use so that it's ready when she needs it." Immanuel sighs, "But the thing is, we still haven't cracked how to deal with her shadow and death abilities. And what we do have only lasts for mere minutes."

Kayla comes from around the corner with a paper in her hands, "New formula that I've been working on with Esme. This should work to extend the containment time, try this. We'll try it on the dome tomorrow, Esme is upgrading it right now." Kayla hands Immanuel the paper, "Oh and Maria will be back in two minutes so to your positions."

All four of them start to clear the center of the room, they set down a large tarp, and begin to wait and watch the ceiling. After a few seconds a circular hole with multi colored edges forms in the ceiling, stacks and stacks of money start to fall through it. After a while the money stops and they start to hear laughter and sirens. Soon Maria is falling down from the ceiling and lands on the money pile. Her shoelaces have come undone, her hoodie is a bit singed, her goggles are on her forehead, and her face is covered in soot.

"Babe, what did you do?" Rose asks Maria helping her down from the pile.

Maria stumbles into Rose's arms, "May have set a small fire." She raises a hand to the ceiling and the portal closes and the ring that made it falls down into Maria's hand.

Kayla brings Maria a bottle of blood, "It's bear blood, and by what I can tell," She looks Maria up and down. "It was not a small fire."

Maria places the ring back on her back and takes the bottle from Kayla, "Thanks," she starts to drink. "And it was meant to be small, dumb Liberator just made it spread." She downs the rest of the bottle, "I needed that, tomorrow Rose and me will get some kids out of the homes, you three will be handing out the money we already have to the listed families."

"Okay, we'll get to separating the money. Rose checks her over, to make sure she isn't severely hurt." Alyssa instructs, she grabs her partners from their hands and drags them to get what they need to count the money.

Rose helps Maria to sit down and check over her injuries, "Shirt off babe."

Maria groans, takes off her goggles, and reluctantly takes off her short sleeve hoodie, throws it to the side, then her long sleeve shirt, and then throws that to the side. Her usual green and tan scales now have a tint of red and pink.

"Alyssa was right, you got burned a bit. Was that fire really necessary, you got real hurt, and aren't you immune to fire?" Rose looks over Maria's burns.

"I wasn't concentrated, I'm sorry. And like I said, that Liberator dude made it spread. It was supposed to be just a small wall but he came along and tried to blow it out. And-OH FUCK!" Maria suddenly shouts.

"Sorry, you were distracted so I took the chance." Rose has a rag with some aloe vera on it on her scales. "I know it hurts but it'll sooth the burns. Your scales are tough, you're lucky you're not burned where your legs come out of." Rose rubs Maria's back.

Maria stares, at her girlfriend wide eyed and in shock, "A little warning next time!"

Rose smiles, "Again sorry, but it's not that bad. And when we get home your cousins are going to chew you out for this." She kisses Maria's cheek.

"Yeah, are you done yet?" Maria looks down at Rose who starts to wrap gauze around the burns to keep them from getting infected.

"You're good, just try not to cause fires next time." Rose helps Maria to stand up and they walk over to the others.

"How much do we have now?" Maria looks over the money.

"We are actually above quota. We might just be able to give each family a little extra." Kayla shows Maria a notepad with the math.

"That's good, we have been a bit behind." Maria starts to lean a bit more on Rose. "Okay, once this is all done we can all go home. I'm just gonna go change." Maria pushes herself away from Rose, walks over to where she left her bag, and goes behind one of the many curtains they have.

"How injured is she?" Immanuel asks Rose.

Rose sighs, "Not too bad, just some burns on her scales. It'll take a while for it to heal considering how thick and strong her scales are."

Alyssa chuckles, "Esme is going to kill her when she sees the burns."

"I heard that." Maria interrupts them, walking over to them while adjusting her glasses. "I'll heal, and training is tomorrow afternoon so i'll be fine by then."

Immanuel finishes putting the last bit of the money away, "Okay, that's it. We can all go home now."

Everyone gives a half hearted cheer and start to pack their things. After everything is cleaned up, they close all doors and lock up everything valuable. Once that is done, Maria takes the ring off of her back and uses it to open a portal. Everyone hops through it, landing them in an alley.

Maria stumbles over again, "That last one drained me, I need to sleep. What time is it?" she ask.

Rose puts an arm around Maria's waist to keep her from falling over, "It's like one in the morning. We're on our way home, don't worry." Rose turns to the others, "See y'all in the afternoon."

"Oh my, there are so many of you!" Chantel greets the Alebrije-Gonzalez family when they enter the bakery.

Maria giggles, "Yeah, our family expanded a bit from the last time you saw us all." she gestures to the toddler on her hip and to the girl holding her hand.

Chantel smiles, "I know everyone but these two. So, please introduce me."

"Of course, youngest of us, Mike." Maria bounces the baby on her hip. "And this is my girlfriend, Rose." she nudges at Rose.

"Well, seeing all of you again is great. And just like last time, ask if there is something you are looking for. We still have all the baked goods you introduced us to." Chantel let's the family roam around the bakery and pick what they want.

Maria is with her little cousin Mike, squatting down next to him while he looks at cookies in the display case.

"I don't remember this one." a voice says from above them.

Maria looks up to see Favion, but with a pink apron on.

Maria smiles smugly, "I don't remember you working here. This one's new, hasn't been around long." She blows a raspberry into Mike's cheek.

Favion smiles, "Has he ever tried these?" He points to some sugar cookies that have faces on them made of jam.

Mike starts to laugh and clap his hands. Maria chuckles, "I guess he wants to try it."

"Here's a sample," Favion hands Maria a sample of the cookie and she gives it to Mike.

The baby happily takes it and starts to nibble on it. After a few bites, his eyes light up and he starts to clap his hands again.

"He likes it!" Maria makes a happy face for the baby. "We'll get you some."

Favion smiles down at the baby, "So, what's his name?"

"Mike," Maria responds, standing up and putting Mike back on her hip. "He's been with us since he was born."

"He's cute, freckles all over just like the rest of you." Favion reaches over and taps the little boy's nose. "Weirdly enough, she doesn't have them. Is she related to y'all?"

Maria laughs, "No, that'd be weird. She's my girlfriend, kind of weird to be related to my girlfriend." Maria has a small blush across her cheeks.

Favion's smile turns into a frown, "Girl-girlfriend... girlfriend? You have a, a ummm... girlfriend? When did that happen?" He ask.

Maria scrunches her face in thought, "Three years in about a month."

Esme calls Maria over, "Almost time to go, do you have what you want?"

"Yeah, just five of those Favion, thanks." Maria points to the cookies before walking to her girlfriend.

Esme goes to the register where Chantel is waiting for her with their purchases. Favion just stands behind the display case watching as Maria holds hands with that girl.

Just as the family is gathering to leave Chantel stops Maria, "You'll be back tomorrow to keep tutoring Favion right?"

Maria smiles, "Yup, and he better be able to do his work from now on. Oh, actually me and the others have study groups every Monday. He can join us, that way he can interact with others."

Maria is put in the dome again for training, this time testing several other formulas that may be able to stop her shadow and death abilities.

"Nope, try again." Maria drags herself out of the dome while Esme starts to fix it.

Esme hits her screwdriver against the dome, "I don't get it! I have tried everything in her notes, everything I could think of! And why does it not work?"

Liam puts a hand on Esme's shoulder, "Calm down, I get it we've tried everything. But we can still keep looking." Liam looks over at Maria who is sitting down with her shirt off and drinking water. "We just want to help her, we all want to help her. But we need to give it some time, let's try to train these abilities instead of locking them up."

Esme sighs in defeat, "Okay, you're right. Maria, get Rose down here we are testing you both in gymnastics."

Maria chugs the rest of her water, "Okay." she gets out of her seat and goes upstairs.

"I honestly can't help but worry, we know nothing about her new abilities. If something goes wrong, it goes wrong and we won't have any help in fixing it." Esme packs up her tool box.

"I know, I'm just as scared as you are. But we need to let her train with more room than being stuck in a glass prison. That makes us no better than the people who used her for research." Liam walks over to the computer. "We have to find a secluded and open space for her to train. Somewhere she can train all of her abilities."

"I can only think of one place, the temples. That's the root of all our abilities. She'd become stronger." Esme rubs her eyes, "But we can't risk the journey."

"Can't risk the journey to where?" Maria asks, popping up from behind Esme.

"Ahhh! Where did you come from?" Liam asks.

Rose doubles over while holding her stomach, "Your shadow, that was some weird Percy Jackson crap."

"Well you better get it together because Maria is ahead of you in gymnastics. You have to catch up." Esme get's a clipboard and starts to write on it. "Let's see how you are with splits."

Maria cheers and Rose groans.

"Here's the list, make sure you give them the extra too. We're going to check the foster homes." Rose hands Alyssa a notepad. "So everyone suit up and then on your way."

They all split up into their groups and get the things they need.

"Here," Maria tosses each of them an earpiece. "Courtesy of Esme, so we can talk even though we are on different sides of town."

"No phones, no way for that Liberator to track us." Immanuel smiles.

Rose frowns, "We better not run into him. We would have helped all those kids if he hadn't but in last week."

Maria rings out the ring on her back, pushes a button on the rod in the middle, and splits it into two, opening two portals. "Alright, you three on the left. Me and Rose on the right."

Everyone jumps through their respected portals and starts their missions. It takes a full three hours for all of them to finish their assignments. Maria and Rose finish a bit early, but they have a run in.

"There's no reasoning with him is there?" Maria asks Rose while blasting at Liberator.

"Nope, he's just a thick headed dipshit!" Rose binds Liberator down with vines.

Liberator struggles against the vines, "You're kidnapping kids! What reasoning is there?"

Maria starts to use shadows to add more restraints, "You're really getting on my nerves dude. We don't kidnap them."

Liberator looks at both girls with sadness, "You could be doing so much better. Why are you doing this, you were both taken care of at the research center. They took good care of you both."

At the mention of the center, Maria gets angry and holds one of her blades to his face.

"How do you know about that place?" Rose asks, tightening the vines.

Liberator smiles, "Thorn, Madness, she sent me to help you both. Your caretaker, she wants you both back."

"That's her side of the story, you don't know ours!" Maria pushes the blade onto his throat, revealing a small bit of blood.

Liberator glares at Rose, "How can you trust her, she can turn her back on you any minute."

Rose smiles, "I trust her, love her too much not too."

"Babe, time for us to go." Maria lowers her staff and opens a portal.

Rose jumps into the portal while still holding Liberator in the vines. Before Maria jumps through she glares at Liberator.

"Favion, when we first meet, you wanted nothing to do with this job. Now that me and Thorn are almost done with our work, now you care." Maria's eyes glint with mischief behind her goggles. She smiles one last time before jumping through the portal herself.

"What do you mean she knew your name?" Favion's uncle shouts at him.

"I don't know, it's like she read my mind." Favion takes off his mask and throws it to the side. "None of the tech they have can help them with that. There is just no way." He walks over to a monitor and pulls a keyboard from behind it. "One thing I know about Madness' appearance is that she has vitiligo and heterochromia."

Favion's uncle rolls his eyes, "Yes, that was what Dr. Gomez said. She was in charge of Madness and Thorn for a while. She has more on them than anyone."

"Yeah, these are the records of all the teenage females who fit that description. Only five, so one of these is Madness." Favion points out on the monitor.

"Look at that," his uncle points to a name. "Maria Alebrije-Gonzalez, old friend of yours."

Favion shakes his head, "Uncle no, can't be her. She was in boarding school until freshman year."

"Are we sure about them, a few months after she leaves, two villains appear in the city. And the only person your parents can find to tutor you, is your old friend." he reasons. "You know I remember her when y'all were younger. She was real nice, but something always seemed off about her."

Favion glares at his uncle, "Well we have it narrowed down for now. Next time i'll see what I can do."

"Are we sure we want him here, he hasn't talked to us in years." Immanuel complains.

Kayla sits down on Immanuel's left side, "He's right, half of us are gay now!"

"True, and what are we supposed to do? He has ignored us, played around with so many girls, and now we have to help him pass his class?" Alyssa lays herself across her partners' laps.

"I say we let him fail." Rose suggests putting an arm around Maria.

"As much as I want him to fail, I am getting paid for my efforts." Maria lightly pushes Rose.

Alyssa groans, "So, the solution is to invite him to our weekly study groups. The same ones where we plan a heist."

The doorbell rings signaling that someone has arrived. "My house guys, let's keep the heist out of it for now." Maria walks to the door to open it.

"Hi, nice to see you again." Favions says when Maria opens the door. "Are the others okay with me being here?" He as9k.

"Fuck no, we're not!" Rose yells from the inside.

"Babe, suck it up!" Maria shouts back. "Sorry about that," She quickly puts on a smile for Favion. "Come on in, ignore the idiots."

Favion follows Maria inside the house and into the living room. Favion notices how his three old friends are very close together. And Rose sitting next to them glaring at him.

"Say hi dipshits," Maria glares at her friends.

They all mumble a hello under their breaths, none of them looking Favion in the eyes.

Favion points to his three old friends, "Are you guys dating?"

The three of them look at each other before responding. "Yeah."

Favion's face morphs into a giant smile, "Finally, since when? How long did it take?"

Alyssa shrugs, "Freshman year, we had to literally sit down and make a paper of terms and conditions."

Favion looks over at Maria, "Did they really?"

"Yeah, I wasn't there but I have been told." Maria walks over to Rose and sits in her lap.

"So, are we supposed to just do homework?" Favion asks, setting down his bag.

Immanuel nods, "Yeah, but we really don't have homework. We're just here to help you so Maria doesn't have to suffer."

"I'm not that problematic." Favion mumbles.

"Yes you are!" Maria, Immanuel, Alyssa, and Kayla counter.

"That one time doesn't count!" Favion shouts and hides his head in his hands.

Rose lanes forward looking around Maria, "Now I'm curious, what was this one time?"

Maria laughs and puts an arm around Rose, "One time Favion was so desperate for attention, he gets on the fire escape outside his room. And then he jumps off of it, it was so sudden we as kids forgot that there was another fire escape underneath that."

"We genuinely thought he jumped and died. We were screaming, it got his mom's attention. When we told her what happened, this fucker decided to climb back the fire escape!" Alyssa points at Favion who is laying on the floor in shame. "Your mom was so mad!"

"I was grounded for a month! I actually thought y'all knew there was another fire escape!" Favion complains.

Immanuel chuckles, "Okay, let's help you with your work. We have somewhere to be after this."

"Maria, just give us your fangs!" Sam chases after Maria who has stuck herself to the ceiling. "We are just checking venom!"

Maria shoots webbing at Sam, "Just because you're a dentist, does not mean you know what you're doing when it comes to animals!"

Sam sighs and sits down, "Rose, she's your girlfriend, you get her down from there."

"Why me, last time I got near her fangs, I almost died." Rose complains.

Maria slowly comes down from the ceiling using her webbing, like Spider-Man. "Babe, you know I would never hurt you." She says with a sweet voice, yet with a sense of annoyance in it. "If you try anything near my fangs, I will not hesitate to poison you causing you to die."

Rose's eyes widen and she takes a few steps back. This causes Maria to laugh maniacally.

"Just kidding!" Maria leans forward and plants a kiss on Rose's cheek. "I love you, just stay away!"

"Maria, we seriously need you to show us your fangs so we can check them. Esme will be looking over the venom and then I have to make sure you can still use them to drink blood and eat." Sam reaches a hand out to Maria.

Maria makes a swing with her webbing and swings back and forth, "Do I really have to?"

"Babe please, we can't kiss until we see how poisons your venom is. So if you come down and let your family see what it is, I'll give you kisses." Rose looks up at Maria.

Maria rolls her eyes and jumps down from the ceiling, landing on her feet. "I still have training after this! I don't want to be shifting back and forth too much." She walks over to the examination table and jumps on.

"Okay, open up. I'll get samples and then look over your teeth." Sam grabs some of her equipment and starts to gather samples of venom from Maria. "The twins were better at cooperating than you." She mumbles under her breath.

"This is new tech that we will need you to test next time you go out." Favion's uncle puts a small black circular object, no bigger than his fingernail, into Favion's palm.

Favion brings it closer to his face to get a closer look, "What is this supposed to do? Who made it?"

"Dr. Gomez, it's supposed to stop those abilities. The only thing we know those two have are telekinesis from Madness, and Thorn has control over plants. Dr. Gomez is trying to create some tech for you that can transmit an EMP. All those other things Madness does is because of tech. Shuts down Madness' tech, both hers and Thorn's abilities, and you can beat them both." His uncle points to the small device in Favion's palm.

"Are we even sure that it works, how do we even test this?" Favion questions and gives it back to his uncle.

His uncle smiles, "Test it right in the field. If something happens, it happens. We want them gone in the end don't we?"

"Well, Dr. Gomez wants them both alive. Why, none of us know." Favion walks back over to the computer monitor and pulls out the keyboard from behind. "Madness is Hispanic, I know because she spoke fluent Spanish."

Favion starts to type into the keyboard. It takes a while for the files to load, and to both male's surprise, there are no results.

"This can't be right!" Favion tries to check for any spelling errors. "How is this possible?"

Favion's uncle shrugs, "I don't get why you're not happy about this."

"But it's weird, Maria is a Hispanic, teenage female, with vitiligo, and heterochromia! So how did she not she up, I know she can't be Madness but still, she would have shown up." Favion keeps trying to look through the files.

"Didn't she immigrate here, so why would they put Hispanic on any of her records?" his uncle ask.

Favion slams the keyboard down, "It has always been on her records!"

"That does not sound creepy at all." Favion's uncle mumbles sarcastically.

Favion glares at his uncle, "Watch it, Damion."

"Let me see that test grade." Chantel says the minute Favion get's home from school.

"I tried, I actually tried this time." Favion hands over the paper to his mom while taking his baby sister from her. "Hi, Alijah. Have a cookie." Favion takes a cookie from the display case and hands it to his sister.

Chantel smiles at Favion when she is done looking at the paper, "This is good, just about one more week of this before finals. Why did you give your sister a cookie?"

Favion slowly takes the cookie back from his sister, "She wanted it."

Chantel shakes her head at Favion, gives him back his paper, and takes his sister back from him. "Go help your father up front. This one needs a nap."

Favion nods and drops his things off by the stairs. He heads upfront to help his dad, he gets an apron off one of the hooks on the wall, and puts it on. He heads to the register to ring up customers. And a bit before closing while he is handing a customer change, Maria and Rose walk in hand in hand.

"Hey you two, what can I help you with?" He asks as he waves to the customer.

"It's the twin's birthday today and we ordered a cake. Your dad just called us, said we can pick it up now." Maria gestures to the back.

Favion nods, "Sure just give me a minute, I'll ask mom about it.'' He heads to the back to talk to his mom. "Mom, Maria is here to pick up her cake."

"Oh, yeah it's ready. Let me get it." Chantel walks over to an industrial fridge and pulls out a round cake.

She places it on the counter, gets a box, and puts the cake in the box. She picks it up off the counter and heads up to the front.

"Hi you two! Your cousin already paid for it, you're free to go. Tell the twins I said happy birthday!" Chantel hands the cake to Rose and gives her and Maria a hug.

Rose smiles, "Thanks Chantel, we'll tell them." She and Maria wave as they leave the bakery.

Chantel waves back as the door closes and looks to her son, "Still miss her?"

Favion sighs as he puts his apron up, "Yeah, she's not the same girl from when we were kids."

Chantel pats his back, "I don't mean this is a bad way, honey really. But it's not like you even stood a chance, if it wasn't obvious when you were younger, she is only into girls."

Favion hits his head on the display case, "I should have done something earlier."

"Well you couldn't, but it wouldn't hurt to let those feelings go." Chantel heads back into the kitchen with Favion.

"And how exactly will I let those feelings go?" Favion questions his mother.

"By telling her." His dad comes from around the corner with his daughter in his arms. "When was the last time you had a real heart to heart with that girl?"

Favion shrugs, "I think when we were ten, when she left. But c'mon, she has a girlfriend. We just started talking again I don't want to mess up again."

"Well, it's obvious you still have feelings. It will soon be time to face the music." His dad shakes his head.

Favion nods, "I'll try, i'll try my best."

Soooooo...what do you think? Will this is still barely nothing of the whole story. There is still a lot to be revealed. Things will get rough soon, but don't fret, you'll find out some things as we go. See you soon friend, that is if you are willing to stick around.

#Freaks But Family #original work #fantasy story

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marril96 · 5 years

Text

The Distance Between Us

Chapter 13: One Girl Revolution

Pairing: Rowena x reader

Summary: You get new realizations, and Rowena makes old decisions.

Editor: @cherrypierowena

Rowena was strangely chill with you at Biggerson's. She ordered her tea and instantly got down to business as if you weren't in a crowded diner filled to the brim with your schoolmates. Some of whom threw glances every now and then, as baffled by the situation as you were.

It wasn't every day that a popular girl hung out with a loser girl out in the open without a care in the world.

And yet, that was exactly what Rowena was doing.

She wasn't ashamed of being seen with you. Wasn't ashamed of spreading her books across the table as if it were the floor in her room. Wasn't ashamed of pointing to her notes and explaining things to you; quietly, as was polite, but still publicly.

She just did it.

As if it was the most normal thing in the world.

As of it was something she did every day, a habit she was proud and fond of.

You'd almost forgotten her outburst Friday night.

It was a silly thing to get mad about in the first place. She was upset, obviously so. You should have left her alone instead of prying. Should have let her be.

After all, it wasn't like you were friends.

You had no right to offer her comfort she quite obviously hadn't wanted.

She had Olivette there for that. She'd been at the party, dressed up as a witch along with her posse. A bitchy little coven. None quite as stunning, as striking as Rowena.

No other witch at the party could measure up to her.

A strange ache squeezed at your heart as your thoughts raced, jumbled, a mix of words swirling around your head like a hurricane. You tried to concentrate on the lessons Rowena was explaining, but your mind was elsewhere, miles away from math and numbers and even the delicious smoothie you were sipping on.

Instead, the constant in your head, the one thing you could focus on (despite trying your hardest not to), was Rowena.

The softness of her words. The patience as she went over everything written down in her notebook, one detail at a time. The smile painted on her mouth, so relaxed, so genuine. The warmth in her eyes that never left, even when Lucifer and Olivette walked in and made faces at the sight of the two of you buried in math.

The two kept giving you stink eyes, especially Olivette, whose scorn was painted over her face in plain sight, naked to the world, but Rowena didn't care. She remained focused on her work, on new lessons you barely understood. On the pencil she clutched and the problem she'd written down and solved while explaining every step of the way.

For once in almost four long years, Lucifer and Olivette didn't matter.

She only had eyes for you.

And you reveled in it. Your heart fluttered every time she'd look up and ask if you understood what she'd done. Jolts of electricity went through you every time your hand would brush against hers, a feeling so warm, so pleasant you found yourself craving it.

You wanted to be her friend.

The realization hit out of nowhere, as strange as it was unexpected.

Yes, you thought, weighing everything in, sorting it through. You truly, genuinely wanted it. Even if Crowley was right, if she was using you, you enjoyed her company. You wanted to hang out with her more.

You didn't know why. She was still a mean girl, still a part of a bad group of people. Still dated the school's biggest asshole. But she was also nice, and funny, and so damn friendly it made your head spin.

A complete contradiction, that girl was. A mystery you were intent on solving.

A, hopefully one day, friend.

"You guys had an argument or something?" you asked suddenly, cutting her off amidst explanation of some formula you knew right then and there you would never grasp.

Rowena raised a questioning eyebrow.

You shrugged.

She sighed. "Lucifer's an arse."

That prompted you to chuckle. "The sky is blue. Grass is green."

She rolled her eyes.

"You chose him," you pointed out.

"I'm well aware, thank you," she retorted with a glare.

"If you're so pissed, break up with him."

A small part of you lit up with hope, though you knew it was just wishful thinking.

Rowena MacLeod, while nice in private, was still an attention whore.

And what better way to get attention than to date the principal's popular asshole son?

She shot you an incredulous look. "Why in hell would I do that?"

"You said it yourself. He's an ass."

Her expression softened. "He is, but… I… I love him."

If she did, why did she hesitate so much before saying it? Why did the words seem to taste so foul on her lips?

Who was she trying to convince? You or herself?

"Then why are you ignoring him?"

"He pissed me off."

Right.

Of course.

With a heavy lump in your throat, you asked, "Is that why you wanted to hang out with me here today? To piss him off back?"

"What? No!" she quickly said. "I just… it's complicated."

"Right."

You should have known.

You did know.

It still hurt, for reasons you couldn't put your finger on.

Why did it matter? She was a popular girl. You were at the bottom of the barrel. Your worlds didn't mesh together.

Just because you wanted to be her friend didn't mean she had similar desires.

This whole tutoring thing was, after all, just business. Neither of you would have been here if you didn't have to.

"I'm not using you, if that's what you're thinking," Rowena said.

"Yeah. You would never," you said sarcastically.

She flinched as if struck.

A strange wave of satisfaction washed over you.

Now she knew how you felt.

"You think that low of me?"

Her tone was so hurt, so crestfallen it made your heart feel as if it were being torn apart.

There was a time when you would have enjoyed doing this to her. When you would have laughed at knocking her down a peg.

Ancient history.

Things were different now. Better. Not by much, but still better.

"Let's just get back to work," you said.

Rowena was about to say something, but opted not to. Instead, she complied without protest.

Maybe the two of you weren't suited to be friends.

Maybe all it was was fantasy, wishful thinking on your part. A dream that would never come to reality.

*****

Rowena'd had so much fun she'd managed to surprise herself.

At first she thought she'd made a mistake. Maybe walking out the school with a loser girl rather than her popular friends wasn't such a great idea after all. And spending over two hours in a diner with her, surrounded by books and notes like some lowly nerd while others peeked and watched and sneered was an even worse one.

Wrong.

It was, dare she say it, amazing.

For once, she didn't have to hide who she was in public. She didn't have to pretend to know nothing, didn't have to fake a smile and laugh at things her friends found funny, that she personally found distasteful.

She could just be.

Things were awkward, yes. You were suspicious, and rightfully so; Rowena would have suspected herself, as well. She didn't have a good track record when it came to kindness out in the open.

But, as time passed, you relaxed. Her jokes and soft smiles eased you in, and by the time the tutoring session had come to an end, your own mouth was curled up in a smile.

Hanging out with you, she'd realized right then and there, was easy. Strange as it was, you were an easy person to get along with. Even with your suspicions and concerns that you were being used, which Rowena was adamant were unfounded (though understandable, given her reputation), you were an absolute joy to spend time with.

Much more entertaining than Lucifer and Olivette.

The two of them were there, sitting a few rows away. Rowena could feel their eyes on her. Could feel their glares and disappointed stares. Could feel Olivette's anger, white hot on her skin like sunlight amidst a heatwave, dangerous, cancerous. Vindictive.

She would get hers.

There was a time, as recently as a few weeks, when that would have frightened her.

Now, brimming with newfound confidence, Rowena was anticipating it.

It was time she set her foot down.

Stepping into her front yard, she froze at the sight of a familiar figure, tall and blond and looming, sitting on the front steps.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded in a no-nonsense tone. She wasn't going to let him ruin her happy day.

"Your idiot brother wouldn't let me in so I had to wait out here," Lucifer said with a pout that was adorable, but didn't make Rowena any less mad at him.

She grinned. Fergus wasn't as dumb as she thought.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated, putting more emphasis on her words. Her accent instantly thickened, a common side effect of her anger. People usually found it terrifying.

Not Lucifer. He found it hot.

No matter what she did, how angry she got, how loudly she shouted, he was never intimidated by her.

Being twice as strong and popular tended to give one's ego a boost.

Lucifer smiled. "I wanted to talk."

"That's a first."

Usually he just cozied up to her, showered her in kisses, took her to bed, and bam! He was forgiven. Just like that. Until he snapped and put his hands on her again.

He didn't talk. He didn't apologize. He gave, but only so he could take. And she let him, because she was an idiot and the thought of everything she'd lose, of everything he could take away, terrified her much more than a few bruises.

Lucifer sighed. "Look, I know I acted like a dick."

She had to snort at that.

Another first.

He continued, ignoring her dismissal, "I know. There's no excuse for what I did."

What, exactly, was that? Telling her what to do? Snapping at her? Pinning her against the wall? Slapping her?

Being a bloody awful person — boyfriend — in general?

The list of his crimes was longer than The Odyssey.

Rowena quirked up an eyebrow, not believing a word that came out of his mouth. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," Lucifer said with a shrug. "I'm a jackass."

Understatement of the century.

"Is that why you came here? To tell me things I already know?"

Her tone was cold as her stare. She wasn't backing down. If he wanted to get back into her good graces, he would have to work for it.

He sighed. Opened his mouth to utter a no doubt nasty remark, but elected to keep it to himself.

Smart boy.

An uncomfortable, deafening silence settled on them for a few moments, before he uttered, "I'm sorry" in the tone of a child forced to apologize to his classmate for bullying him by his teacher. Whiny. Not really meaning it. Only doing it out of necessity.

But…

He still said it.

He didn't want to, but he still apologized.

Because he knew what he'd done was wrong.

Because he knew he could lose her.

Despite every nerve, every cell in her body screaming at her not to fall for it, Rowena's heart swelled up with warmth.

Yes, he'd been a major asshole. Yes, he'd put his hands on her. But he still wanted her. He cared enough to stomp on everything he stood for, everything that made him him, and apologize.

He'd never apologized before.

She hated him. God, she hated him. With the burning passion of a thousand suns.

But she also loved him.

A part of her did, anyway. A traitorous part that whispered to give him another chance. To let it go like she always did.

She would.

As soon as the apology fell from his mouth, she knew that she would. Hell, even before that.

The two of them could never stay mad for too long.

They were using each other. But, in some twisted way, they cared about each other. Not like real couples; they were way past that. It was their own form of affection, foreign to the rest of the world. Foreign even to them sometimes.

Rowena hadn't forgiven him. She couldn't. Shouldn't. But she could put it behind her. For now.

There were only about seven months left of high school, and then she was free. She never had to see him or Olivette or any other numbnut from school ever again.

She could handle seven more months of an unstable relationship.

She was Rowena MacLeod. She survived. And she would survive this.

"I'm not going to stop tutoring Y/N," she said matter-of-factly. If she had to put up with his temper tantrums, then he had to put up with her spending time with you. It was only fair.

"I don't want you to," Lucifer said.

"Or hanging out with her," Rowena added.

"Fine," he said, though his tone made it clear it was everything but fine. "I don't care. I just wanna be with you."

Me, too, she wanted to say, but she knew in her heart it wasn't true. She wanted what he had. His power. His influence. His popularity. But him? She could do without.

He was just a means to an end.

A means she had some feelings for that she couldn't comprehend. Was it even love? Or was it something else? If yes, then what?

Why was it so confusing?

If she had to choose, she would rather be with you.

The thought came out of nowhere, startling her. But as she pondered on it, she realized it was true.

She preferred you to Lucifer.

You were nice to her. You didn't tell her what to do. Didn't hit her. Didn't expect her to be something — someone — she wasn't. Didn't do anything, or say anything, to hurt her.

You were a good person. A loser, but happy. Unapologetically yourself.

You thinking lowly of her hurt her. She understood it, understood your distrust and suspicions, but that didn't make it hurt less.

Disappointing Lucifer was a goal.

Disappointing you was torture.

The thought of you abandoning her hurt more than the thought of losing Lucifer. Of losing Olivette, and her posse, and the power they all wielded and shared with her.

She wanted it. All of it.

But she wanted you more.

And she couldn't understand why.

Rowena narrowed her eyes. "Buy me dinner tomorrow."

Lucifer grinned. "Your favorite restaurant?"

"Where else?"

"You got it, Red."

She smiled. "Good boy."

He walked over to her. Clasped his hands gently over hers. Tangled their fingers into soft, loving knots. "You still my girl?"

"What do you think?"

Their lips locked in a kiss, soft and sweet. Passionate, but caring. The kind of kiss he gave her whenever he wanted her forgiveness. A wordless promise things would be better even though they would not. Not for long.

She was still his girl.

She would be his girl for the following seven months.

What other choice did she have?

*****

Tags: @werewolfbarbie @oswinthestrange @songofthecagedmoose @apurdyfulmind @getthesalt-sam @metallihca @salembitchtrials @jay-eris @hellsmother @elizabeth-effie @victoriasagittariablack @rowenaswife @wonderifshelikesroses @xfireandsin @liddell-alien @hotdiggitydammit @lae-lae @darkhumorsblog @gaysnakess @angel7376 @cherrypierowena @ruthieconnells @evil-regal-vampiress @collectorofsecretsandsouls @angel-e-v-a @tasyahilker @a-queen-and-her-throne

#rowena #rowena macleod #rowena x reader #spn #supernatural #lucifer #spn family #my fics #fanfiction #high school au

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