#one of my coworkers was like.. and can you believe he took his guitar and put it away

[partangel]

hanging out with my coworkers is such a delight miss me with that i hate my coworkers lifestyle i go out to drink sangria with mine to simultaneously juggle conversations between ingmar bergmans daughter, stand up comedy bits, the question of how much is lost in translating ancient greek and planning on how to steal passion fruit that was ripe for the taking in this very specific open space

[soleilapproves]

Imagine being on a business trip with coworker!Nanami and he surprises you with the fact that he can dance (ITS A GOOD CONCEPT I SWEAR)

Also, I don’t drink so I don’t know much info on ordering drinks at a restaurant </3

Masterlist

-•-

Nanami has always been the only coworker you could tolerate. You both had immediately gotten along on your first day and had been friends ever since. You liked him because he was the most competent man in your department. He liked you because you did your work well and occasionally baked homemade focaccia for him.

You could say that the two of you were very good friends (since Gojo from Accounting said that he was Nanami’s self proclaimed best friend first).

Which is why you thanked the stars when you found out that he’d be the only one who’d be going on the annual business trip with you. He was the perfect travel partner, he offered to bump you up to a first class seat with him using HIS miles (because he couldn’t besr being separated from you since your old seat was all the way back in business class). He didn’t even drink the entire flight because he believed that it was unprofessional on a business trip.

Did I also mention that he offered to pay for your inflight WiFi? Swoon.

The week long business trip went great! Your clients were very happy with the presentations that the two of you did together and called you a great team! (Take that Gojo from Accounting). To celebrate your last night, the two of you went to a restaurant / dance bar. The dance floor wasn’t packed but it was crowded with people who were drinking and having a good time. The two of you watched all the couples dancing and you couldn’t help but feel a little woeful.

Nanami noticed how you wouldn’t stop staring at all the couples in the restaurant / bar. “I know what you’re thinking.” He said with a small smile. “What?” You mimic his smile, feeling a deer caught in headlights. “You wanna dance, don’t you?”

You can’t believe him. “What? No! I just, I don’t know. I feel like this is the kind of place couples come to. It would be nice to be here with a date instead of my coworker-slash-friend. No offense.” You confessed. But to be fair, this particular part of the night didn’t feel like a business trip. It felt like two friends hanging out. “None taken.” He put his hands up in defense. “Since you’re so down-” he looked away from you mid sentence and rose his hand. “Can we get some shots here!”

You were surprised at his sudden change of mind. “I thought you didn’t drink on business trips.” He simply shrugged and downed one shot as soon as the waiter arrived. “And we have an early flight in the morning.” You continued as he downed another. “You only live once.” He said as he winked. “Plus, we’re done with all the work. The business part of this trip is over.” Did the alcohol get to him already?

You could see him starting to get agitated with the way his head slowly bobbed to the Spanish music playing through the speakers. You never realized how attractive Nanami could be when he let go of himself. His blond hair was all disheveled, his tie barely hanging on to his neck with the way he had pulled it loose, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows giving you a delicious view of his veiny forearms. You hate to admit it but your friend was HOT.

He suddenly got up while continuing to bob his head, but this time, there was some extra movement in his shoulders. “Where are you going?” He didn’t reply but made a gesture where he used his fingers to say ‘keep your eyes on me.’

He started moving to the upbeat Spanish song, matching the sound of the guitar. “You know salsa?” You exclaimed, still sitting. He nodded as he asked you to come closer with his pointer finger. You felt like you were entranced, so you took a shot and walked to him.

He instantly took the lead by grabbing you by your waist and turning you around so that you were sinfully pressed against him. He had a strong grip on your hips so that you both could move simultaneously to the music. This was way more intimate than grinding at some random dude in a club.

He spun you around and held you quite firmly for a tipsy person so that you wouldn’t fall. When he dipped you, you could feel his warm breath against your neck as he leaned in. At this point, the two of you were stealing the show so all the locals moved out and started cheering the two of you.

He ended the dance with lifting you and spinning you around. You held on as tightly as you could since the alcohol was making you feel light headed. Once the music stopped, the crowd started clapping at your little show and you both couldn’t stop laughing and staring into each other’s eyes. Nanami suddenly stopped laughing and kept glancing at your lips. He wanted to kiss them but he knew better than to do it in front of an audience.

“You wanna get out of here?” He breathed out.

-•-

Idk how to write smut (for now).

[sl-newsie]

I Will Always Love You (Dr. Spencer Reid x OC) *Halloween Special* 🎃

Summary: Rossi throws a Halloween party at his mansion for the team and some close friends, and Reid loves a certain costume a coworker’s wearing… maybe leading him to finally confess his feelings.

“So… what kind of costumes do we wear? Matching? Scary, funny…?” I ask.

“Whatever you feel comfortable with,” Rossi replies. “But I will ask if you can keep it down to PG13. I’m looking at you, Garcia.”

“I can’t believe my costume last year was deemed inappropriate!” The blonde agent complains from across the room.

“It is when you’re dressed as a playboy bunny and pretend-flirt with Morgan even more than usual,” Hotch says dryly.

She huffs. “I was staying in character! Halloween is when you can pretend to be someone else!”

“Yes but in this job we have to maintain somewhat professional, even if it’s at a party. So please follow the guidelines.”

I can’t believe I’m invited to an actual party! Throughout high school and college I was never involved with the popular kids, and had little friends to begin with. But ever since I started working in DC I’ve made lots of connections, with one being the one and only Agent Rossi from the BAU. He’s thrown a few get-togethers for the team, and this year I’ve been invited to an official Halloween party! And what’s best is that I’ll get to hang out with my coworkers outside of the work environment! I’m really looking forward to it, especially since Reid will be there. Call it cliché and pathetic but I’ve grown romantic feelings for the ingenious doctor, but no matter how hard I’ve tried I can’t get rid of them or gain the courage to tell him. It’s best to suppress them and hold onto the steady relationship we already have.

I pack up my things and start walking out, then Rossi calls: “You’re coming tonight, right Rita?”

“I’ll be there!”

I’ve already got a costume in the works, one I’ve been planning since June. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I guess I’ll have to see what happens…

3 hours later…

Reid’s POV

All the costumes so far have been awesome! I wish Halloween was more than once a year. Between the cool decorations and outfits, how can anyone not like it? This year I’ve chosen to go as Sherlock Holmes as a tribute to one of my favorite fictional detectives. 

I keep looking around for Rita, almost disappointed that she isn’t here yet. I’d never say anything, but in the last few months she’s worked with us it’s been near impossible to not notice myself acting strange around her. Of course Morgan teases me about anything awkward I do, but even I have found myself acting strange around Rita. Increased heart rate, scattered thoughts, and the nagging feeling of wanting to make sure she’s doing ok. But isn’t that what any friend would do? Look out for one another? 

I shake the confusing thoughts from my head and continue to look around. And next walks in- oh. Wow. Oh wow! An almost direct clone of Dolly Parton struts into the room, wearing a silver rhinestone suit, heeled boots, and clutching a white guitar. Who on Earth is that…?

“Hiya, darling!” She walks up to where I’m sitting and plops down next to me, and when I get a better look at her face it finally clicks.

“Rita? That’s you?” I gape.

“Sure is, Spencer!” She says in a practiced southern accent. “Dolly’s been a hero to me for a long time and I figured it’d be a fun costume. It took a while to put together, but I found…”

I try to keep up with what she’s saying, but my mind keeps wandering to how accurate her costume is. Her blonde hair is teased and piled into a giant updo, complete with some glitter sprinkled on it. And the suit fits her perfectly… it seems wrong to think like that, but I can’t help looking at how her chest sticks out. Has she always looked that way?

Thankfully Garcia shows up and starts asking the questions I’m too scared to ask.

Rita’s POV

Thank God Reid’s here, because so far I don’t know a single soul here. It’s nice to sit and hide in a corner to chat, and eventually more of the BAU members start to show. When Penelope sees us she makes a beeline over and starts gushing about our costumes.

“I love the Dolly getup! Are- are those real?” Penelope asks and gestures to my chest.

My face flushes red. Of course it would be Garcia to ask something so blunt. I’m not offended in the least, but I’ve always been insecure about my larger than normal bust. But that’s why Dolly’s been so inspirational, because she’s proud to be so outstanding.

“Yes, they’re real. And if you wanna joke about it then please ‘follow the guidelines,’” I mock Hotch’s instructions. “I am as God made me and I ain’t ashamed.”

Garcia smiles again and continues to talk about her costume, which is a giant cupcake. By now more people are starting to arrive and Garcia goes off to greet more guests just as JJ and Emily walk up to us. JJ has chosen a simple pumpkin shirt and top, while Prentiss is wearing a white dress complete with eerie doll makeup.

“You chose Annabelle?” JJ gives her a strange look.

“What can I say? My comfort films are weird.” Prentiss shrugs.

“I’m guessing you’re dressed up as Sherlock Holmes?” I finally ask the genius sitting in the chair behind me.

“Elementary, dear Rita. He’s one of my favorite literary characters.”

It’s strange. Reid keeps looking at me funny, then shifting his gaze to avoid my eyes. He’s normally not this scatterbrained.

“Oh that’s a dork-able, Reid the brainiac is dressed as a brainiac!” Morgan, wearing a skeleton costume, walks up and smirks. When he looks at me Morgan gets a confused look and I can tell he doesn’t recognize me. “And who might you be, Dolly?”

I stifle a laugh and exchange looks with Reid, who seems to wanna laugh just as much as I do.

“I’m surprised you ain’t noticed yet, Agent Morgan,” I say in my southern accent.

Just like Reid, Morgan’s face explodes in bewilderment and he gives me a second look-over.

“Wait, wait. You’re telling me that this gorgeous twin of Dolly Parton is our Rita?” He looks over at JJ and Prentiss, who start laughing. “Tell me I ain’t the only one who’s blown away! Damn, you look good in that! Nice costume!”

He gives me a high-five and goes off to find Garcia, and I notice in the corner of my eye that Reid’s stiffened up a bit, muttering an excuse I can barely hear and striding off before I can speak. What’s wrong with him?

Reid’s POV

When Morgan started praising Rita’s costume it felt as if my chest was being squeezed. I don’t know why. It’s as if every time I think about Rita my brain doesn’t think clearly, and I go through anger phases when I see someone else with her. Isn’t that normal friend behavior?

That’s when I make a new diagnosis: I have a crush on my coworker. 

It’s something I’ve been avoiding, pushing away thinking I’d never have feelings for someone. With my job it’s too dangerous to have relationships, plus the fact that I’m an awkward nerd doesn’t help. Besides, a beautiful girl like Rita probably already has a boyfriend.

After Morgan’s off to find Garcia I quickly excuse myself, going off to the hors d'oeuvre table and finding a cocktail labeled ‘witch's brew.’ I’m not one for drinking, but I need something to clear my head.

“Reid, are you ok? You never drink.” Hotch walks up from behind.

What am I supposed to say? Tell my boss I’m in love with my coworker, something that’s thoroughly discussed as a workplace rule?

I give a shaking nod and put the glass to my lips. It’s not strong, but I can still feel the alcohol sending electricity down my throat. “Y-Yeah. Just a bit tired. Shouldn’t you be trick-or-treating with Jack?”

Hotch shakes his head. “He’s at a party with some friends from his school, so I got the night off. But don’t avoid the subject. You’re not tired. What’s really wrong, Reid?”

There’s no escaping it now.

“IjustfoundoutI’minlovewithRitaandI’mscaredshe’llhatemeandIdon’tlikefeelinglikethis!”

Everything comes out so fast. There’s so much I want to say. At first Hotch looks confused, but after having a minute to translate my gibberish he gets a somewhat amused look on his face.

“I know, Reid. We all do.”

His words leave my mouth gaping. “Y-You do? But- but why didn’t… how- why am I the only one who didn’t?”

“Because when it comes to social cues you’re not much of an expert,” Prentiss says as she joins us. “We’ve all seen how you’ve been acting. It’s cute! You and Rita make a great pair.”

I groan as I hold my head in my hands. “But I hate feeling like this! What if I screw up? What if somehow my job gets her in trouble? You remember what happened with Haley!”

Hotch’s face darkens a split-second, but instead of brooding he puts a hand on my shoulder. “Spencer, just because our job is dangerous doesn’t mean we can’t allow love into our lives. It’s not healthy.”

“And you deserve to have a loving girl like Rita,” Emily adds.

“But doesn’t she already have a boyfriend?” I ask uneasily.

She frowns. “No. Where’d you get that idea? Rita’s incredibly antisocial besides hanging out with us.”

How on Earth does Rita not have guys crawling over themselves just to talk to her? 

By now Morgan and JJ have joined us as well.

“He’s confessed?” Morgan asks Prentiss and she shakes her head. “Reid, will you please just go and tell her? We’ve been waiting for a month! It’ll be a nice change to not have you giving me the murder look whenever I high-five your girl.”

The team ushers me away, so I can already tell there’s no going back now. Even if I don’t say anything, Penelope will tell Rita herself. I at least want this to be done on my terms.

I take a deep breath, then calmly walk back to the living room. I see Rossi chatting with some other guests and he gives me a wink. When I reach the doorway, Penelope passes me with an eye roll and points to the balcony.

“She’s out there. It’s about time! I can only distract her for so long! Now go get her, loverboy! Go go go!”

Ok, this is it.

Rita’s POV

For my first Halloween party I must say it’s… a bit boring. Sure I’ve gotten lots of compliments on my costume and been able to eat some good food. But without Reid the conversation’s shifted to JJ and Emily talking about some random guys that flirted with them at a bar last week, making me wish they’d stop bringing up romantic stuff. I’m not one for lovey-dovey talk, and with me being single it’s adding salt to the wound. Thank goodness they both go off to get a drink, but then Garcia pops over again and starts chatting about a new pair of shoes she found.

“Really? Some new Oxfords? Cool… Um, be right back. I need some air.”

Garcia gives me a wave and I quickly scoot out the side door to the balcony. It’s a chilly night, but my suit and wig keep me warm. There’s a sky full of bright stars and slight mist draping the landscape beneath me. It definitely feels like Halloween. I just wish I didn’t have to spend it the “grown-up” way. Right now I’d rather be back home, eating popcorn and watching Halloween. Anything but avoiding Spencer or having to listen to chats about love stuff.

“Mind some company?” A soft voice asks.

I grip my guitar and spin around, nearly chopping off Reid’s head. “Jesus, Spencer! Don’t sneak up on an FBI agent!” After seeing there’s no big danger I set my guitar down. “Sure, I guess? But why’d you leave?”

He leans over the railing and seems to think over his response. “I had an intention that I was needed elsewhere, and then the team gave me a case.”

My eyes widen. “You mean, like a profile case? Is someone in danger? Are we gonna have to leave-?”

Reid holds a hand up to quiet me, then with the other he takes my own hand. “It’s not a criminal profile. They gave me your case, Rita.” This leaves me even more confused, and almost don’t notice Spencer slowly leaning in closer. “There’s been something I can’t get out of my head, and you need to know. Now, if you don’t agree I’ll forget it but please don’t hate me. I- I…” He takes a deep breath and looks at me. “I’m in love with you, Rita.”

If it weren’t for the railing I think I’d fall, almost having to grab Spencer’s coat to avoid stumbling. This can’t be a joke… can it? Am I bold to assume that Spencer’s feelings mirror mine? What type of probability is that?

“Could’ve said something sooner,” I mutter just loud enough for him to hear.

His head perks up. “So- does that mean…?”

I throw my head back and laugh, nearly losing my wig. “Yes, Spencer! I’m in love with you too, and I could never ever hate you. But why not say anything until now?”

He nods his head side to side. “Well… I didn’t actually figure out I loved you until about 20 minutes ago. I- I’m good at profiling others, but not so good with my own emotions. I always thought that this job wouldn’t be a healthy way to keep a relationship, but the team agrees that we make a good pair- that is, if you want to?” He asks quickly.

I don’t answer right away and instead wrap my arms around him for a soft hug. “I’ve never been more sure of anything, Spencer. No unsub in the world could make me rethink that.”

He leans back with teary eyes. “Really? You’d put up with an awkward geek?”

His cute expression makes my heart melt. “You’re my awkward geek, Spencer. You never have to worry about disappointing me or putting me in danger. You being you is more than plenty. As the Dolly song goes, ‘I will always love you.’”

Spencer chokes back a sob and before he can get any more teary, I harness my courage and kiss his lips. This surprises both of us, but once we get past that we deepen the kiss. Once again I’m thankful for the railing because now we’re both leaning against it, and soon Spencer seems to grow just the tiniest bit desperate. We pull apart and he looks as if he’s about to beg me for more but is too afraid, so I save him the trouble.

“Wanna get outta here? I’ve got Halloween on 4K at home,” I smirk.

Reid grows a thankful smile. “Only if you’ll let me complain about the bad strategy choices the victims make.”

My own smile widens. “You do that too?”

Reid shrugs. “It’s kind of their own fault that they die! I mean, how could they not notice that someone was in the house?”

I take his hand and we make our way to the exit, but not before hearing a big celebration cheer from the team.

Happy Halloween, Spencer.

[babybluebanshee]

Things I've Had To Deal With As A City Librarian: I'm Just So Tired

Haven't done one of these in a while, and things have just been...they've been a time, let me tell you.

*We caught a guy hiding in one of the bathroom stalls after closing. We check the bathrooms to clean up any messes for the next day, and Julie knocked on the men's room door. No one answered, so she went in and checked the stalls. Didn't see any feet so she starts opening the doors. She gets to the handicap stall, and she tries to open it. It's locked. She mutters something about having to unlock it, and suddenly a voice from inside calls out, "Hey, I'm still in here." Julie nearly shrieks. The guy claims that his fly was stuck, but given the fact he didn't say anything when Julie came in and we couldn't see his feet under the stall door means he was probably crouched on the toilet, hoping we'd think the bathroom was empty and he could spend the night in the library.

*My coworker Allie did a cute little display in the kids area where you can write a letter to Curious George. She even made cardboard mailbox for it and put out a bunch of books and movies for people to check out. The amount of vandalism this thing has seen is unreal. One night a kid poked holes in the mailbox with a colored pencil. I was doing a walkthrough after a particularly rowdy family was in the kids area, only to discover that they have thrown everything on the display into the mailbox - the books, the movies, the postcards, the coloring materials, even one of the book stands. We spent about ten minutes fishing everything out.

*Speaking of displays, I did the Black History Month one this year. I worked on it for three months, and to be honest, I was very proud of it. It took up two tables, full of historical events and famous figures of black history. Needless to say, since black history is so damn expansive and my space was limited, a lot of people ended up getting left off (especially local people I'd never learned about). The amount of times people told me I left out a person they personally believed should be on it drove me to distraction. Two separate people told me I missed Kamala Harris (which I'll be kicking myself forever about). One woman asked me why I didn't redo the whole display to add one local figure she thought needed to be included. One woman asked me why she herself was not included one the poet's wall, because she was a published author. No, she was not kidding. I guess I should be thrilled that people were actually interacting with it, but at least a few people telling me I did a good job would have been fucking nice.

*To branch off from the black history month display - the city has an anti-discrimination policy when it comes to people reserving rooms for events. The only thing we explicitly do not allow is social events like parties and anyone attempting to sell something; everything else is fair game. This means we get a lot of obnoxious groups whose views we really, really do not agree with - homeschoolers, churches, conservative clubs, and, my personal favorite, the Sons of the Confederacy. Or as Rachel and I like to call them, The Sons of a Bunch of Loser Piss Babies. They had a meeting there during February, and Rachel was working that day. One of them, in his stupid little gray hat, was standing talking to someone...right next to my black history month display. Rachel told me she wanted to take a picture because the juxtaposition was...stark, to say the least. We're really not that surprised Failfuck McStank didn't notice the irony.

*We've had a guy coming in with his guitar and just...hanging out in the study rooms to play. We can't really do anything about it unless he's too loud or someone actively complains, but we're all kind of puzzled about the library being his first choice of places for a jam session.

*There's a pair of teenage girls that have been coming in for about four months now and their punk vibe is immaculate. The first time I ever saw them, one of them had a giant bleach blond mohawk, a leather jacket with studs, hot pink and black striped stockings, and the most badass combat boots I've ever seen. Her friend had a bleach blond buzzcut, a black jean jacket covered in patches, teal leggings, and red converse that were falling apart. Sherri stumbled on them chilling in the kids area, and noticed the buzzcut one was bent over something. She got closer and realized the kid was knitting a scarf. Mohawk comes in more often, and always has a thick book with her, just lounging in the chairs and quietly reading for a few hours. They're my second favorite patrons and hope they never change.

*A woman was interested in attended my classic book club meeting back in June. We were reading Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, so I gave her a copy. She didn't attend the meeting. She returned the book a few days later and said it was "gross". While she was there, she also picked up her inter library loan of a "romance" novel about a woman falling in love with her abusive stepbrother. I'm all for people reading whatever the fuck they want, but I also feel like if you're gonna read stepsibling porn, you don't get to call lesbian comics gross.

*Two women came in with a little boy who was absolutely bouncing off the walls. They did absolutely nothing to control him - one of them was busy talking to someone on her phone (on speaker till someone complained), the other was perusing the shelves - and the kid was just kind of running around being a nuisance. I was walking back from helping someone in the computer lab and saw the kid taking off his shirt. I told him he had to keep his shirt on, and that's when one of the women finally turned to me and said, "He wants to put his Spider-Man costume on." And I'm like, "Lady, that's great, but you're in a public space, not your living room. Have him change in the bathroom." Luckily they didn't hang around long after that, but fucking hell, the entitlement.

*A woman came in to fax a police report to her lawyer, and Sherri and I ended up being privy to the sordid tale of having her car stolen. She was out with a guy she met on Tinder, and they went to a bar in the next town over. They were getting ready to leave, but she wanted to have a cigarette, so they were standing by her car in the parking lot. Suddenly, three police cars come shooting up, right next to them. Turns out the dude she's with has a warrant out for his arrest. He panics, grabs her keys out of her hand, jumps in the car, and fucking peels away. He ended up crashing it into a ditch less than ten miles away, totaling it. She doesn't even know what warrant was for.

*It's very funny whenever I call anyone for reserve reminders or things like that, because people are so used to getting calls from robots and scammers that they're immensely suspicious any time they answer their phone. And it makes the absolute 180 they do into delighted toddlers, excited to get their books, that much funnier. The scenario usually goes like this:

Me: Hi, is this [insert name]?

Patron: *clearly doing the suspicious Fry face* Yeeeees...

Me: This is Blue, at the library! I was just calling to let you know you have a book on reserve ready for pick up!

Patron: *brightening instantly* OMG thank you! Oh, I'm so glad you called! You've made my day, you guys are wonderful!

Never fails to make me chuckle.

*The assistant librarian is in charge of a lot of the teen programs we do, and by far the most popular are her teen book boxes - the kids fill out a form of stuff they enjoy, and she puts together a box of three books, plus crafts and snacks, for them. On average, she does about twenty of them a month. However - because we are located in the heart of Conservative Brainrot Land, where a not insignificant portion of the population thinks if they're a good little conservative who hates what Fox News tells them to, Tucker Carlson will come give them the hug their dad never did - this has also given us great insight into the minds of ultra controlling parents who would encase their kids in wax if that could keep them from learning things they don't want them to. One particularly baffling example started with a mom asking that no "social justice" be included in the box. The next one asked for "no gender identity". This time? No inclusion. Like...I get why she put that. Because inclusivity = woke = liberal = the devil. But like...do these people hear themselves? Do they know what words mean? Also, I told the AL that she should just give the kid an empty box. She did not follow my advice.

*On the flip side of the crazy, controlling parent thing, y'all remember this family from a while ago? The one where the aunt came in and said Pretty Little Liars had opened a satanic portal that drove her niece to a mental hospital? Well, I'm happy to report that I think the mother of that girl might have had a face turn. The same kid just recently returned several books from the Anita Blake series (which are pretty mature as far as sexuality goes), and she's been in talks with the AL to volunteer for us, informing her that she doesn't know her schedule just yet because her mother is letting her start public school. I like to think the mom looked at that whole situation, took a long, hard look at herself in the mirror, and thought, "Ya know what? I don't think I want to be like this anymore. I think this is a problem." And ya know what? Good for her, and good for that girl. I hope it does them both a world of good.

[writeandsurvive]

Pairing: Alden Parker x Fem!Reader

Summary: you meet Alden at your brother's bar and end up performing a song with him

Words count: 4.7k

Warnings: age gap, meet cute, open mic session, drunk!Alden, reader was a surrogate, gay brother, married gay couple, Alden's friends being pains, Alden being the best man ever, first kiss in public

Fix you ~ Alden Parker

Saturday night.

Your brother's bar.

You always spend your weekends here. Most of the time, you end up waitressing or just bartending if you don't feel like interacting too much with people. You love this place, it has lots of regular customers so you know most of them. Some actually became your friends, or at least buddies. And when someone you've never seen before comes in, you immediately spot them.

So when a group of guys entered the bar for the first time, you studied them. You were waitressing that night, so you came up to their table once they settled. You took a look at the four of them, studying them a little more and asked for their orders. "First time here!" You smiled as you came back with their drinks.

"Yeah, a coworker keeps telling us about this place so we thought we'd check it out." One of them answered.

"What's this coworker's name?" You asked.

One of them said a name you've never heard of, but another guy quickly corrected. "In our line of work, we usually call each other by our last name." He added. And indeed you knew their coworker, and got surprised that he wasn't there too.

"Why isn't he with you?" You said, putting down the last drink.

"He's on duty."

"Right. FBI, yes?"

"Us, yes. This one--" they pointed at the man with the most amazing head of hair you've never seen before. "Joined the dark side."

"I suppose it doesn't mean that you turned into a criminal?" You smiled at him and he chuckled.

"No, I just joined another agency."

"But he was a juvie once." His friend grinned and the man shot him a death stare.

"From a kid who got into trouble to another, your drink is on me." You winked at him and left their table. You let your brother know not to count one of the beers.

You went on with your evening, working, exchanging and laughing with people. Eventually, your brother started the open mic session, and several people got on stage, one after the other. Some sang, others played the instruments. And as always, it wasn't long until one of your friends called out for you to get on stage too. You always fainted annoyance but loved going on stage with your guitar. That night, you chose a rock ballad, and for four minutes, it was just you and your instrument, just the way you love it. You opened your eyes a few times to look at everyone sitting there, and somehow you ended up looking at this man. His eyes were glued to you, his emotions written all over his face. This is something you love about performing music; making people feel things.

Everyone cheered when you were done, and you locked eyes with the man again. You noticed his friends being all over him. At first, you wondered if they were teasing him about you, and kinda hoped they were. One of them called out for you, so you went over to their table. "We need your help!" He said. "Parker is refusing to go up there and play drums. Can you convince him?"

You grinned, but Parker talked before you could say anything. "Don't bother, I'm not that good."

"Bullshit! You rock!" His friends shouted and he rolled his eyes.

"What if we do a song together?" You offered.

"No way. You are so amazing, I'm just going to ruin your performance."

"I don't believe you. You can choose the song! I'm sure we can find something that'll suit both of us."

Parker was torn. The idea of sharing a moment like this with the beautiful waitress was appealing, but he really thought he'd embarrassed himself. "I'm gonna need something stronger first." He said, holding his empty beer glass. Grinning, you grabbed it from his hand, your fingers brushing his. "Can I fix you something of my own creation?" You asked, your hand still above his around the glass.

"I'd love that." He smiled. God, was he charming.

"Okay, so only Parker gets a special treatment?" You heard one of his friends say as you were walking away. You looked over your shoulder to them and expressively winked.

"Is he going to be the one who gets you to break your own rule?" Your brother-in-law teased you, as you were making the drink for Parker. You elbowed him in the ribs.

"I flirt all the time with the customers. Why do you think they all come back?"

"I'm no arguing with that. But you never blush around them."

You hated that he was right. You felt your cheeks heating when Parker smiled at you and even more when you felt his skin against yours. You didn't know the guy, he was obviously older than you, and he was probably just having fun with his friends - maybe he wasn't even single -, but you felt an incredible attraction towards him. Like he could ruin you with just one look.

You were finishing the drink when you heard someone on the right side of the bar. Parker. You nodded in acknowledgment and a few seconds later, you were walking towards him with the drink. "I'd have brought it to you." You said.

"I know, I- I'm actually looking for the bathroom."

"Yeah sure, it's right over there." You pointed towards where the bathroom was. "I'll put this on your table."

"No" he interjected. "Can you keep here for a minute? I'm sure one of them will take a sip and they will not give up until I go on stage, so- um-"

Was he embarrassed by his friends' forcing his hand to play drums or just embarrassed to talk to you? There was no way you could intimidated a man like him, so it had to be the first option. You told him you'd wait and he was gone. You grabbed your brother-in-law on his way back to the bar, "Can I take five?"

"Am I the boss?"

"You're his better half."

"True. However, if it turns out you took a break to meet your silver fox in the bathroom, I'll not be anything anymore."

"What? No! You're crazy! I'm not going to-" He laughed loudly, earning a punch in his shoulder this time. "Jerk."

"You're not technically working here, hon. Get to know him. I promise you he's not gay. One of his friends though-"

"Which one?"

He was about to answer but stopped when he saw Parker coming back. "She's the best, you'll love her--drink." Subtle. Very subtle.

Parker agreed to follow you outside, behind the building. It was a small area, where customers weren't allowed. "I come here when it feels too packed inside. My brother comes here to smoke." You grabbed the full ashtray and got rid of the content in the bin at the very end.

"Which one is your brother?" You told him. "So it makes the one who said you're the best, your brother-in-law?"

You smiled. "Yup, they've been together for nine years, married for three and they have a little one who's with the grandparents tonight."

"Aw, how old?"

You grabbed your phone from your bra and showed him your lock screen. A recent picture of your one year old niece. You chose not to tell him you were the surrogate. Parker didn't appear like the kind of man who'd judge, but it was extremely private and you didn't really know him yet. "She's adorable! I'm sure she has the entire family wrapped around her finger."

"You have no idea. My dad being on top of that list."

Parker often wondered how his own dad would have been if he had kids. His parents didn't get to see their grandchildren grow up much as both his siblings are in the Navy and always assigned away from DC. If he had a little girl, would she have had Roman wrapped around her finger? If she had your beautiful face, he was sure of it. But why the hell was he thinking about that?

"By the way, this is amazing!" He said, raising his glass a little. "Multi talented, I see."

"Don't expect any more of them." You blushed, again.

"I most definitely am." He smirked, making you blush even more and look down at your shoes for a moment.

"So, um, you coming on stage with me?"

"Yeah, but I'd like to apologize right now if it turns to be a bad experience for you."

"I'm sure you're underestimating yourself. Is there a song in particular you'd feel comfortable with?"

"Sound of silence?" He offered, earning a smile from you. "I really love Bowie so I know a few of him. And lately, I've been into Coldplay and Imagine Dragons if it-"

"Please tell me you can do Fix you, by Coldplay."

Parker shyly smiled. "I think I can."

"Perfect. As much as I love your other options, it has to be this one."

He loved how excited you got. He would learn any song you'd want to play with him just to make you happy and smile like this.

"I do need the liquor courage first."

You and Parker kept talking about the song and your upcoming performance while he drank and finished his special drink. Every second with him felt like a privilege. Watching him drink something you made and appreciating it, listening to him talk about music, the way his eyes locked into yours like he could read you like an open book, smelling his intoxicating cologne. And boy did you want to touch that hair of his.

Finally, you got back inside, Parker opening and holding the door for you like a gentleman. You took the empty glass from his hand, fingers brushing again, and put it away behind the counter.

You joined him on the side of the small stage. If he was yours, you'd just have hugged him from behind, kissed the back of neck and watched the performance like that even if you had to tiptoe the entire time. But he was basically a stranger, so you just stood next to him. You could feel his eyes on you every other second, the back of his hand was against yours. You felt things in your stomach that you never felt before.

You offered him your hand when the stage cleared out. Parker took a deep breath before sliding his hand into yours. You looked at each other, both aware of that strange yet amazing feeling that went between you and him.

You grabbed the guitar, and Parker behind the drums. His friends immediately cheered. "Me again," you said on the mic. "But I got a friend this time and it's his first time here, so can you guys help me making Parker feel a bit more comfortable?" The entire bar cheered. You looked at him with a smile and winked. "You ready, P?" He nodded.

During the song, you kept looking behind you. You wanted, needed to see him play. His hair being all over the place, him being completely into it, his muscles showing off under his shirt. Whenever he looked up to you, even for a second, he smiled. He mouthed the lyrics with you.

You finished the song a cappella, not looking away from Parker.

'Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you'

For a second, neither of you heard the people clapping. You were just staring at each other, lost in something intense. Parker is the one who got back to reality first, standing up to meet you in the middle of the stage. You put the guitar down, stepped away, but before you could any further, he grabbed your arm, making you spin. "Can I hug you?" You nodded.

His arms wrapped around your neck, and yours were around his waist. You felt tiny and loved every second of it. Parker held you tight, his cheek against your head. "Thank you for this." He whispered. "You're incredible."

"So are you, P."

He grinned cause he almost believed you.

Parker went back to his friends, drinking a little more, while you helped your boys again. Your brother-in-law teased you any opportunity he had, while your brother let his eyes and smile talk. You knew he'd open his mouth in a quieter setting.

"You're not leaving this bar without her number, Park!"

"I don't think she's-"

"She is."

"I didn't even finish my sentence!"

"Doesn't matter. She's interested, she's into you, she wants you to ask her. Just fucking go!"

"She's young enough to be my daughter I'm sure." He hated saying those words.

Parker saw one of his friends standing up and walking over to you. He watched as you smiled, and blushed. But you walked away too quickly. "She's willing to give you her number if you ask her." His friend informed.

"Thanks for making me look like a teenager who's too afraid to approach a girl."

"Cause that's exactly what you are, right now."

He finished his other drink. At this point, he was on the verge of being pretty drunk. One more drink, and he'd go on stage again, and sing a love song for you. But until that, he got up and went to the right side of the bar again. You were cleaning some glasses, and talking with a man sitting at the counter. It took you a moment to notice Parker.

"Can I help you with something?" You asked.

"I'm sorry about Fish, he's- actually, I'm sorry about myself. I don't know what I'm doing here. I haven't dated in a while, and most definitely not a young and gorgeous thing like you- not that I'm asking you to date me- but- um- oh god." He growled, inaudibly cursed and dramatically dropped his head on his hands on the counter. Your heart completely melted.

You put one of your hands in the back of his neck, and felt his body react to that, but he didn't move. You lowered his head very close to his and started to say numbers. Very slowly, you repeated them. "If it's a fake number, I wouldn't blame you." He finally raised from his arms, still resting his elbows on the counter. You matched his position, your face being very close to his.

"Repeat it to me, Parker." He correctly did. "Good job." You gently kissed the corner of his mouth. His beard was going to give you face burns for sure, but you couldn't bring yourself to care one bit. One of his hands grabbed yours, and squeezed.

"A man walks into a bar..." He said, as the famous joke goes, "and meet the woman of his dreams." He brushed your nose with his index finger before kissing it. He saw your confused face, silently asking why the nose. "The first kiss with that woman cannot happen while he's drunk, in a crowded bar, with about a dozen of men wanting to kick his ass."

You looked around and saw a few heads immediately turning away, like they've been caught staring.

"Call me, Parker."

"When?"

"Whenever you want."

"I'm gonna go, before I forget what I just said and kiss you here and there."

You flattened your hand on his chest and gently pushed him away. You wanted a very special first kiss with him, and you knew he was going to make it perfect.

Parker and his friends were the last to leave. As it slowed down at the bar, Fish invited you to sit with them, and Parker - who was drinking water then - immediately grabbed a chair, setting it very close to his. A coke appeared in front of you, courtesy of your brother-in-law. "My poison." You told Parker, who couldn't take his eyes off you.

"I'll keep that in mind."

His friends started to bombard you with questions, where you're from, what you do for a living, are you single, what are your hobbies... You started to answer each, before Parker spoke up, "Guys, stop stealing my material. I want to discover her by myself."

"Gatekeeping her already? That didn't take long."

"I promise you, you won't have to deal with them much." Parker told you.

You giggled and saw your brothers staring from the counter. "Wish I could say the same about those two."

The conversation went on about several things, and at some point, you felt Parker's hand on your thigh. He looked shy, scared you were going to throw his hand away but he grinned like a happy boy when you covered his hand with yours and intertwined all ten fingers. Despite drinking water, he was still drunk and he was fighting to keep his eyes open. "Which one of you is the DD?" You asked.

"The Uber driver." Fish answered.

In the end, you drove them all back home. Four different stops, they each gave you some money for the gas, that you refused but Parker took it for you. He was basically sleeping on the passenger seat when you reached his address, that you luckily noted before leaving the bar. You looked at him for a moment, how peaceful and handsome he looked. You had no idea where this was going, but you couldn't wait to find out.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." You stroked his beard and hair, earning a noise that sounded like a purr from him.

"Where are we?" He asked, barely opening his eyes.

"Right in front your building. Ready to move?"

He turned his face to look at you. "Not ready to leave you."

You leaned over to him and kissed his cheek. "We'll meet again soon, I promise. You remember my number?"

"Saved it in my phone already. Let me check I got it right."

He took his phone out of his pocket, struggled for a bit to find your contact info and called. Your phone buzzed and his number appeared. "I'm not that drunk!" He lifted his fists in victory, making you laugh.

You saved his number too. "what's your last name?"

"Huh?"

"Your last name? To save you in my phone?"

"Oh. Parker."

"What, you're Parker Parker?"

You both looked at each other, puzzled. "I'm Alden Parker." He told you and you let out a very long "aaaah".

"Sorry for calling you Parker the entire night."

"You can call me anything you want, beautiful."

Even drunk and half asleep, he was still a flirt.

That night, you fell asleep thinking about Alden Parker.

And you woke up to a text from him.

Alden Parker: Good morning. Thank you for texting me last night to let me know you got home safely. I hope you slept well after that! I want to apologize if I made a fool of myself last night. I really hope I didn't make you uncomfortable at any point nor that you felt pressure by me and/or my stupid friends. I'd really love to see you again, but if it's not the case for you, you can say so and I'll let you be 😊 I wish you a lovely Sunday.

PS: Performing with you was incredible. Thank you very much for that!

Did this man know how adorable and loving he was?

You: Hello A L D E N. I think all of this should be discussed face to face, don't you agree? I have family lunch, but should be free after 4. Or another day, you tell me...

Alden Parker: Tell me when and where I need to pick you up.

Sunday lunch is a family tradition. Meeting around 11am at your parents house, having lunch, talking, playing board games. But usually, you show up dressed very casually, either leggins or sweatpants, sneakers, hoodies if it's cold. But that day, you showed up in a dress, making everyone suspicious. "Are you going somewhere later today, honey?" Your mom asked, as you were saying hello to your niece.

"You bet she is!" Your brother-in-law chimed in.

"You're going on a date with him, aren't you?" Your brother asked.

"Who? Did you meet someone? Do you two know him?" Your mom asked to the boys.

"You people are too noisy."

"I agree!" Your dad appeared and hugged you. "You do look beautiful. He's probably not good enough for you."

"Dad." No man would never good enough for you, according to your father. You only noticed your mother clearly interrogating your brothers. "Baby, go with pop, I need to teach your dads a lesson."

After a fight and a long argument, everyone agreed to stop talking about the night before and Alden. Your mother did get a description of him and was very pleased. No one commented on the obvious age difference, and you loved that about them. You were an adult, able to make your own decisions. All they cared about was you not being hurt in any way, by anyone. "You're finally gonna have an uncle." They made your niece clap her hands.

4:10pm, the spot you told Alden to pick you up. He was already parked when you arrived, leaning against his car. His face lit up when he saw you, he opened the backseat door to grab something. A sunflower. You hadn't reach him yet and your heart was already at his feet. "Hi," he offered you the flower. You looked at it, smelled it, looked at him and kissed his cheek.

"Hey,"

"From my own little oasis." He pointed at the sunflower.

"You grow sunflowers!?"

"I grow- many things." He helped you inside the car and the ride started with him telling you about his passion for plants. You didn't know a thing about it as it never peaked your interest, but you could listen to him talk for hours.

It was only when he parked that you realized you had no idea where he was taking you. "You can leave the sunflower on the dashboard, it'll enjoy the sun." You did so.

"What's the plan?" You asked.

"Well there are two plans. Plan A and plan B."

You laughed. "Okay, why would you need a plan B?"

"In case you ate too much at your parents and can't fathom the idea of eating more right now."

"Well, if you expect me to eat a whole meal, maybe we should go for B."

"But what about pastries?"

"As a sweet tooth, you got my interest."

"The woman of my dreams, proof four." He said as he got out of the car. You waited for him to open the passenger door for you, knowing it was the kind of thing he'd do.

"What are proofs one, two and three?" You asked, as you were walking hand in hand.

"You're gorgeous, you're a musician, you're a family person."

Why did it feel like you've known this man your entire life when you only met him the night before?

He let go of your hand to wrap his arm around your waist, bringing you closer to him. "Just because you're the woman of my dreams, doesn't mean I have to be the man of yours." He whispered in your ear. And he meant it.

"But what if you are?" You got even closer, wanting to feel all of him.

"Then I'm the luckiest bastard in the world." He kissed your hair.

Despite being born in DC, you'd never been to this place Alden took you. There was a selection of pastries that all looked good and appetizing, it was a nightmare to choose, so you trusted his suggestions. With a few pastries on the table, you and Alden shared. Switching from one to another, him feeding you with his own spoon every now and then. "You're feeding me more than you're eating." You smiled behind your napkin, hoping there was nothing around your mouth to not make a fool of yourself.

"I enjoy seeing you eat. I like the sounds you make." Alden blushed as soon as the words left his mouth.

"My turn." You grabbed a spoon of what seemed to be his personal favorite, and fed him. He let out a soft 'hmm'. "You made that sound on purpose, didn't you?"

"I would never." He defended himself with a grin saying otherwise.

You got to know each other more, discover about the other's life. You learned that he had been married for ten years, but that ended a while ago. You told him about your failed attempt at relationships, including that one particular, cause it was very serious until…

"If you don't want to tell me what happened, it's okay." He assured you.

"It's not- I want to tell you, I'm just afraid you're gonna rush into that window."

"At this point, you could be a criminal, and I wouldn't even do that."

"What a cop that you are." You laughed. "Okay. Um, I'm just going to say it. I was my brother's surrogate."

"You were?" He warmly smiled and you nodded. "That's- probably the biggest proof of love a sister can do for her sibling." You were taken aback by his comment. Your ex left you over it, and you never told anyone after that.

"You really think so?"

"Heck yeah. I mean, you carried this baby for nine months, delivered it and dealt with everything a pregnancy does. I've seen my sister struggling for months when she was pregnant. And you did that for your brother and his husband. I admire you for it."

You got rid of the tear threatening to fall before it did. Your family praised you for it, and they still did. Your parents, especially your mother, were impressed by what you did, but no one outside of them did. Alden grabbed your hand and softly stroked the back with his thumb. "You're even more amazing than I thought." He said before bringing your hand to his lips and kissing it.

"I'm glad you're still here. Thank you."

"Can I just have you one question?"

"No, I did not have sex with my brother nor his husband." You both laughed.

"I promise it wasn't my question. Wasn't it too hard after you- gave birth to her?"

"It was weird to be honest, but no. I knew it wasn't my baby. I was just the oven. Plus, she's in my life and I see her all the time."

"You make it hard for me not to kiss you right now."

You wanted that kiss. You were waiting for it. Several times, you were the one who almost gave in and grabbed Alden by the neck. But you were happy with your self control, because the wait was worth it.

After leaving that place, Alden showed you what plan B was. A walk through the botanic garden. You couldn't remember the last time you went there, probably when you were still in school. Who needs a guide in there when you have Alden Parker by your side, telling you everything he knows, showing up his favorite plants and flowers, while holding your hand or your waist. You took several pictures, including selfies with him. Eventually, he offered you to stop on a little bench, next to a magnificent exposure. "I'm usually not this fast into dating," he confessed. "At my age, I like to take my time, make sure it can work. And honestly, I really don't understand how you can be interested in me, but I know I can't let you slip away from me. Whatever you have to give me, however long it lasts, I have to- have you." He had leaned in as he was talking, and you decided to close the ridiculous gap separating his lips from yours. You kissed right there, on the bench, in the botanic garden. Many people were passing by, but it was like no one else existed, like the world had stopped.

"I'm very interested in you, Alden Parker. Even more now." You said, foreheads pressed together.

"I want to be a gentleman, take you home and take you out again another time but-" he kissed you again and you eagerly responded.

"Take me to your home or mine, I don't care, as long as we go together."

You couldn't let him slip away from you either.

[madneedshelp]

Guitar Lessons-Eddie Munson x Fem Reader

———————

Summary: Y/N is new to Hawkins, but became friends with Eddie easily. You had always wanted to learn to play guitar and never got the chance, until Eddie offered to teach you. While at his trailer, however, you learn a little bit more than just some guitar chords.

Includes: Friends to lovers trope, fluff, romantic tension

A/N: I’m writing this because I desperately need to do something about my Eddie Munson obsession, and it honestly seemed fun. If it helps your obsession too, then I’ve done my job well, so I hope it works :) Oh, and I’d be willing to write some Steve and Billy fics too, and I’ll take requests!

You stood at Eddie’s door, bracing yourself to knock. You couldn’t believe you were actually here. At Eddie’s trailer. And he was going to spend the next couple hours just teaching you to play the guitar, something you’d always dreamed of.

Hawkins hadn’t been the most welcoming place, you had to admit. Ever since you arrived here at the end of summer, you had made a grand total of three friends: Eddie, a girl named Robin, and a guy named Steve. The last two weren’t even technically your friends by choice, they were just your coworkers at Family Video.

That’s why no one could blame you for falling in love with Eddie Munson. He was the only person who chose to hang out with you just because he wanted to be around you. Sure, he just wanted to be your friend, but that was enough. You’d happily die, taking your crush to the grave, if it only meant you got to spend more time with Eddie being his usual self. That made the decision to never ever tell him your feelings quite obvious in your mind.

The door to the trailer swung open just as you went to knock. Eddie stood at the door, looking as perfectly metal-head as usual.

“Okay, I won’t feed you a line of bullshit. I heard you pull in like five minutes ago, but you never came in so I figured I’d just go ahead and answer the door,” Eddie leaned out, placing his hands on the top of the doorframe.

Shit. “Yeah, uh, had to find my jacket. It’s colder than I realized and I threw it somewhere in my car the other day, so it took me a minute to find it.” You felt ashamed at your absolutely awful attempt at a cover up.

“You’re not wearing a jacket?” Eddie gave you a confused look.

Well fuck that excuse. “I meant I looked for a while, but I couldn’t find it,” you grinned sheepishly. For someone who made decent grades, you were being unnecessarily stupid at the moment.

Thankfully, Eddie merely chuckled at your stumbling. “You can just borrow one of my jackets, don’t worry about it. After you, m’lady.”

Eddie stepped outside and gestured for you to enter the trailer. Once inside, he led you down the hall to a room you soon discovered was his bedroom.

You observed your surroundings as he went over to greet his guitar, which you noticed was insanely cool-looking, even though you weren’t a huge instrument expert. The room was decorated as one would expect, lots of records, cassettes, and metal band merchandise. You, however didn’t expect it to smell so nice. Even though it was kind of stereotypical, you had thought it might smell more…weedy.

“Alright, princess, where should we start?” Eddie walked over to his bed and hands you the guitar.

You sat down next to him on the mattress. “I’d say the basics would be a good place.”

Eddie thought for a moment. “Okay, we’ll do some easy chords first. Nothing too crazy.”

He handed you the guitar, and you took it carefully. You strummed it lightly, not holding any strings down, but grinning at the sound nonetheless.

Eddie smiled at seeing your pure happiness. “So, hold down the A string and the D string on the 2nd fret,” He pointed towards the 2nd and 3rd strings on the guitar, specifically at the 2nd space on the neck.

You did as instructed and strummed down a couple of times. It sounded…nice.

“Hey! Look at you, you little rockstar! You just played an E minor, quite wonderfully I might add.”

You laughed at his joy and encouragement. “Thanks, Ed, but really it’s all you. I’m just doing what my teacher tells me.”

“Nonsense, m’lady. I even think you might be ready to move on. Let’s try a C chord.” Eddie waved at hand at your dismissal before instructing you on where to put your fingers this time.

Your C unfortunately didn’t sound as nice as the E minor. You winced as you strummed out a slightly painful sounding note. You attempted to shift your fingers slightly, but it still sounded pretty bad.

“Here, let me,” Eddie shifted to reach his arms around you. His fingers gently moved the ones you held on the frets to place them in the correct spot. “Now try.”

You couldn’t. You physically couldn’t move. His face was nearly touching yours because of how close he sat. His hands were touching yours. You could feel goosebumps appearing on your arms from the cool silver of his rings against your hands.

“Everything alright, Y/N?”

You turned to face Eddie, only to find he was watching you intently. You locked eyes and silence fell around both of you. Slowly, his eyes trailed down your face to stare at your lips. You definitely stopped breathing.

“Eddie,” You started to whisper, but you never got to finish your sentence.

Eddie’s lips hungrily crashed onto yours. You kissed him back without hesitation, leaning forward to deepen the kiss. Without breaking away from your lips, he carefully took the guitar from your grasp and laid it down on the ground.

Your now empty hands drifted up to tangle in his long hair. He groaned softly and smoothly pushed you back onto the the bed. Internally, you were freaking the fuck out, but you were trying to push those thoughts aside right now.

“This okay?” Eddie broke the kiss briefly, eyes filled with slight concern.

“More than okay,” you nodded vigorously.

“You have no idea how long I’ve thought about this.” Eddie blurted before resuming the kiss.

While you had kissed other people before, it had never been this passionate. Maybe it was because your other kisses had been with people you hadn’t really connected with, but something about this was different in the best possible way.

Eddie shifted to kneel between your legs on the bed as he hovered over you. His hand drifted to run up and down your thigh, causing you to moan against his lips. Your response earned a slight grin from him that you could feel against your lips.

“You like that, princess? I bet I could find something you’d enjoy even more.” Eddie’s voice rasped seductively in your ear.

Oh sweet Jesus. This man was going to be your undoing.

Unfortunately, before things could go any further, the trailer door opened with a creak. You sprung apart from Eddie in shock. The muffled voice from down the hall shouted to tell Eddie he was home.

Eddie cursed under his breath. “Cockblocked by own damn uncle.”

You laughed breathlessly, and Eddie’s eyes drifted back to your face. Despite his irritation, he smiled at you.

“What?” You asked, cheeks still flushed from moments ago.

“You’re just so pretty,” Eddie leaned forward to kiss you on the cheek. “Can I take you out on Friday? They’re playing ‘The Shining’ at the drive-in. Or we could do something else, whatever you want, sweetheart.”

“Wait, really? You want to go out with me? On a date?” You couldn’t believe it, despite the kissing that just occurred.

“Hell yeah, I’ve wanted to ask you out since you walked in the school building and flipped off Jason for making fun of your Led Zeppelin shirt.” Eddie chuckled.

You smacked his arm playfully. “You should’ve said something! I’ve been crushing on you since I got here!”

“Better late than never though, right?” Eddie helps you off the bed. “That means Friday is a ‘yes’ then?”

“Yes, Munson, Friday is a date.” You couldn’t believe you finally got to say that.

After about another hour of lessons, and some quick kisses, you had to head home. Eddie offered to walk you out to your car, quickly introducing you to his uncle on the way out. Eddie may have merely called you a friend in the introduction, but the look his uncle gave him said he didn’t believe that was all, and hopefully soon his uncle would be right. Especially because of the way Eddie hesitated over the word ‘friend’ and the sly look he shot you.

“I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” You said, opening your car door.

“Wait! One second!” Eddie dashed back into his house abruptly, leaving you leaning against the car, mildly confused.

He returned less than a minute later, holding his leather jacket that he’d taken off earlier.

“Here,” He held the jacket out for you. “You said you were cold earlier, and I can’t have you shivering the whole way home now can I?”

A grin broke out over your face as you slid the jacket on. You were definitely warm now and you didn’t have any desire to admit that you had never been cold. You were going to keep this as long as he’d let you have it.

“See you tomorrow, Ed.”

“See you, princess.”

[chibiwritesstuff]

Hey! I'm the one that asked for the Lilia and Malleus ask. I love what you wrote so much man! (My poor heart died 😂) I am a big sucker for happy endings tho. So when you get the time can I ask for a happy ending ?

Ha, my laptop thought they won against me but I came out victorious (even though I took literal months to publish this.) In my defense, all the versions I’ve written for this didn't suit my tastes (not that this is any good either.) Hope this makes justice for such a long wait. Here’s the sequel/good ending for the angst fic.

Now, let’s enter this twisted wonderland~

Walking past the now dying garden that used to flourish in Ramshackle dorm, he sighed as he reminisces about the times you two stroll and spends time together. It's been years since you’ve left NRC, He and Lilia are about to graduate tomorrow, Silver will be a fourth-year student and the new vice-dorm leader while Sebek will be in his third year and the dorm leader much to the said fae’s surprise. He chuckled at the memory of how honored and tearful the young fae is upon being selected as its prefect.

“I have so much to tell you, (y/n).” He whispered at the wind.

“Hey, Tsunotarou!” The familiar voice of the tanuki cat being called that long-forgotten name.

“Hey, Tsunotarou! Are we going on a walk again tonight?” You smiled at him, your hand extended as an invitation.

“Grimm, wasn’t it?” He crouched down to pet the said creature.

“Hey! I’m not a pet!” The flames on his ears flared, responding to his emotions. “What are you doing here, anyway? The roses are all dead.”

A wave of sadness flashed in his eyes as another memory resurfaced. Returning his gaze towards the dead flowerbed, he let the memory linger.

“Thanks for the seeds, Tsunotarou!” You excitedly began digging and planting said seeds. “To commemorate our friendship, these roses will be our friendship roses!”

“Yes, they are…” His hand ceased from moving before sitting down the ground. “It’s all gone…”

“By the way, I never managed to get the courage to ask you but why did (y/n) went back home crying that time?”

“I was but a foolish man…” The young heir steered his gaze towards the night sky before closing his eyes. “Had I just enjoyed the present than worry about the future, perhaps they would still be here and smile brightly like they always had.”

“I’m sure if you say sorry, they’ll forgive you.” Grimm responded nonchalantly. “They said saying sorry is the first step to forgiveness… or something like that.”

He chuckled and stood up heading towards his dorm. “If things were only that easy…”

That night, he slept and dreamt about you two walking in the bed of roses you’ve grown at Ramshackle. Loving every single moment that you two get to spend subconsciously knowing that once he wakes up, he’ll return to the harsh reality of you not being by his side.

“Tsunotaro, I think I have fallen for you.” You quietly said warmth spreading across your cheeks. “Will you let me stay by your side till the last breath I take?”

This is all but a dream… so I can keep dreaming, right?

“Yes, only if you’ll let me do the same.”

“Really?!” Joy showed throughout your being which made him smile back. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow! Happy graduation!”

He woke up gasping for air. That dream sounded too good to be true and yet… he can’t help but be hopeful. Putting on a happy face, he got dressed on what Lilia laid out for him and this time, everybody remembered to tell him the time of the celebration. He can’t help but laugh just thinking what your reaction would have been about the changes of the students' behavior towards him after he tried to socialize better. Heading towards the stage getting his diploma as odd as it is, he acted formally as he mingled with the rest of the dorm leaders until a voice echoed throughout the area.

“Tsunotarou!” Receiving a hug from the back as the voice caught him off guard, he turned still not believing what he’s seeing. “Congrats on graduating!”

“(y/n)?” His voice faltered, overwhelmed with so many emotions. “How? Why? I –”

“Uh-oh… Lilia! Your king here is having an information overload!” You called which made the said fae laugh out loud.

“How are you here?” He finally managed to ask. “The mirror –”

“Ah, that would be my doing…” Idia whispered but managed to catch everyone’s attention. “It was an accident! I was messing around to make a teleporter so I can just teleport to the store than having to leave the dorm but it ended up making people travel through dreams then I managed to talk to (y/n). Then we both decided we might as well try to make travel here and back to their world possible.”

“Looks like you did meet me once upon a dream, yeah?” You grinned at the joke about his ancestor’s song.

He merely hugged you, savoring each second of being around your arms. “I don’t have anything ready but if you’ll give me a second chance…”

He lets go and kneeled on one knee before looking up to you once more. “Will you be my spouse till the day you draw your last breath?”

Time is but a blink of an eye for fae and before he knew it, the Star Sending is happening once again. He was happy when Silver and Sebek were chosen to be Star Gazers albeit the mentioned students aren’t. He strummed his electric guitar with no particular music in mind as he lets his mind wander until his gaze dropped on a familiar mug.

“Happy Birthday, Lilia!” You grinned as you handed him a mug that said “No. 1 Gamer Dad” on it. “Hope you like it!”

His lips curled into a faint smile as he remembered that day. It's been a year since you left and yet it felt like it was just yesterday. Letting go of the instrument, he walked towards the mug and lifted it intending to fill it with tomato juice.

“How have you been, little one?” He spoke towards the image of you in his head. “I hope life is treating you better in your world.”

Without me in it… he sighed as sadness filled his chest. If I could change the past, or at least be given another chance… will you give your love to me once more?

“Old m –” Silver cleared his throat before entering. “I mean, Lilia. I’m here to take your wish.”

He took a deep breath before putting a huge smile to face his son. “Ah, yes of course! You know my wish. I wish for both –”

“Stop.”

This surprised the old fae as his son never raised his voice on him. “We both know that that’s not your true wish.”

“Silver, do humor me and just let me finish my wish.” He pouted, swirling the tomato juice in the mug before drinking it.

“Father, we all know how much you love them.” The young knight sighed before taking a seat on a nearby chair. “You always gush about them whenever we eat or do anything.”

“Oh Silver, I appreciate the concern but sometimes you got to let go.” A forlorn smile graced his lips.

“And sometimes you have to be selfish!” Both of them looked surprised at his outburst yet Silver regained his composure and continued. “You love them, right?! Then why not be with them? You took me in out of love, right?”

“There’s a big difference here, Silver.” Lilia rubbed his temple as stress starts to build up.

“What’s the difference? We’re both humans with a short lifespan so you can't use that as an excuse!” His silver eyes narrowing as he gazed upon his father before widening. “You’re afraid, aren’t you?”

He let out a defeated chuckle before nodding. “You’ve grown so much, Silver. I’m so proud of you, you know?”

“Why? You could have been happily living with them.”

“Because I’m afraid to witness her death if we ever do start a family together.” At last, the older fae began letting his tears fall in front of his son. “I don’t think I’ll be able to survive seeing her pass while I still live on. I want it to last for all eternity but to remove her mortality is too inhumane.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Silver lowered his head, having a little understanding of what he meant. “I didn’t mean to –”

“So, for my wish this Star Sending…” After a pathetic attempt to control his tears, he gulped and continued. “I want to be given another chance to be with them… and this time, I’ll bear the pain of losing them when the time comes.”

A shine of light filled the wishing star confirmed his wish inside the item. Silver walked towards him and let the man cry his heart out in his arms. He both felt sad and honored that Lilia is willing to cry in front of him. He truly hopes that his father’s wish is granted. Bringing out the wishing star, he proclaimed his wish.

“I wish (y/n) can return in twisted wonderland once more.”

“Silver, you didn’t have to waste your wish for this…”

“I don’t mind having a parent like them.” He smiled before heading towards the door with both wishing stars at hand. “They’re a much better cook than you anyway.”

“Hey!”

The day of Star Sending has arrived and everybody is once again by the huge tree behind NRC. It went well without a hitch and Lilia’s phone filled with recordings of Sebek and Silver dancing in perfect sync towards the taiko being played by Jack of Savanaclaw. As all students began returning to their dorms, the bat fae decided to stay a little longer and was given privacy by the rest of the Diasomnia students.

“Catch me, Lilia!” A voice screamed from above.

Turning his attention to the voice’s origin. His eyes widened before extending his arms ready to catch the person. A huge smile on his face as you landed safely into his arms. You let out a sigh of relief as you steadied yourself in his hold.

“Do not question why I was up in the air.” You huffed, glaring at the sky. “Safe landing my ass! I was dropped off 50ft up in the air!”

“My oh my, did you fall in love with me all over again?” He teased as he covertly wiped his tears.

“I saw that and maybe but I would still prefer a much safer landing.” You huffed before smiling at him. “What happened to the ‘I wish for world peace between all creatures’ wish, huh?”

“How did you know?”

“My coworker and I were trying to make a portal to get me back here because I forgot some stuff here to grab and funnily enough those wishing stars became our fuel source to open that portal.” You pulled out your phone and confirmed your arrival with a whole long spiel on how the landing would have killed you if you weren’t caught by Lilia. “But by your wish I assume there’s no need for me to get packing away from here?”

“Yes, if you’ll give me another chance.” He held out his hand, a makeshift flower ring on his palm. “Will you give me the honor of being your significant other?”

[flannels-and-fannypacks]

Will They Won’t They | Part 4/4 [Reggie Peters]

Pairings: Reggie Peters x fem!Reader

Words: 6.0K

WARNINGS: swears, ANGST

A/N: oh my god it’s finally here. the last part. our baby. i literally can’t believe it i’m almost in tears. thank you so mcuh for being with us this past week and sharing the joy drea and i have had writing this for you guys. please i’m literally begging you guys to SEND IN MEMES you’ve made related to this series they make our day. anyways lots of love babes - mimi

A/N: GUYS IT’S THE LAST ONE IM SO EXCITED SEND MEMES PLEASE - drea

                          ◤━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◥

“(Y/N) excited for a school function that doesn’t require academics?” Rose questioned.

“Someone called the police there’s been a kidnapping!” Alex exclaimed.

“Oh so now you want the police involved,” you crossed your arms and rolled your eyes.

“How are you still not over that!” Luke exclaimed. “I took you in and fed you, and bought you clothes and loved you,” he said exaggeratedly and you just pushed away his pouting face from yours.

“And how am I not allowed to want to go to a school dance? I like having fun every once in a while. The last time I checked that wasn’t a crime,”

“Yeah it’s not a crime if you’re anyone but (Y/N) (L/N),” Bobby nudged you and you sighed loudly. “Hey where’s Reggie by the way? I thought he was going to come,”

“I think he is,” Alex nodded. “He said something about maybe having to walk, his parents are busy,”

You bit the inside of your cheek hoping the Peters could hold off fighting for one night, Reggie deserved a break. They might not have realized it, but he secretly blamed himself for it all even though it could be nothing further from the fact. You knew that well enough.

“Hey I’m here,” Reggie said, jogging up to the group that was waiting for him so they could head inside the school. “Sorry I’m late,” he apologized. “I got a little distracted when leaving.” You could tell he was lying but didn’t speak up about it.

Luke shook his head, patting Reggie’s back with the hand that wasn’t holding his guitar case. “It’s all good,” he said with a grin. “What matters is that we’re all here, and ready to rock these nerds!”

Rose made a sour face. “We’re still here,” she pointed out, gesturing to the two of you.

“Right,” Bobby nodded, elbowing Luke in the ribs. “Let’s rock these nerds except for our fashionista Rose and (N/N)!”

You beamed. “Thank you!”

“The ultra nerd!”

“Fuck you!” you shot back.

Reggie pulled you into a side hug. “Leave Cookie alone,” he told them. “The only one who gets to tease her is me.”

You rolled your eyes as Luke grabbed you by your wrist. “Hands off my daughter,” he warned. “And for the record, no one teases my child? Say one word and I’ll fight you myself.”

“If someone pulls me like a rag doll one more time it’ll be your sorry asses that get beat,” you threatened.

Luke beamed at you, pinching your cheek. “Oh, she learned how to threaten people!” he gushed. “Like mother, like daughter.”

You pushed them all towards the stage. “Alright, you dorks,” you grumbled. “Get on stage. Make me a happy bunny, or whatever.”

The boys saluted before marching off. “Got it, Lady Bunny!” they cheered as they made it backstage.

You glanced over at Rose who had her arms crossed on her chest as she shook her head. “Those boys,” she sighed. “I can never understand how we put up with them.”

Shrugging your shoulders, you took Rose’s hand in yours. “You gotta admit, they’re growing on us,” you joked. “Now come on, let’s get to the dance floor!”

You and Rose watched as the boys finally got on stage, their instruments ready in their hands. Luke took the microphone and smiled widely at the crowd.

“What’s up, Los Feliz High?” he said into the microphone. A roar of cheers followed, making Luke laugh. “We’re Sunset Curve, and this is one of our original songs. It’s called Now or Never.”

The entire school adored Sunset Curve and their music. By the time they were finished, they were cheering for more. It made you happy to know that those boys were bound to go far with their music.

You and Rose met the boys backstage where they were putting away their things and getting ready to come and join you out and dance.

“Guys that was amazing!” you exclaimed with a grin. “You all played so well,”

“I’m so proud of my little renters,” Rose joked and the guys all laughed, tossing their things aside before dragging you and Rose to the dance floor.

Now that the DJ had taken over, the guys were able to finally dance with you guys. In a circle, the group and you sang along to the music, occasionally jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics.

In the corner of your eye, you saw Rose continuously glancing back at a boy in the back of the gym. Following her gaze, you lit up at who you saw. You pulled Rose down to your level, whispering in her ear,

“Ray Molina, an absolute sweetheart and my coworker at the cafe. Loves photography and apparently you. Now go!”

Rose blushed, shaking her head repeatedly. “No, I can't,” she stammered.

Rolling your eyes, you grabbed her shoulders and pushed her towards your friend. “Ray!” you greeted excitedly. “This is Rose! She loves espressos and photography.”

The shy boy put his hand out for Rose to shake. “Hi,” he whispered nervously. “I like your jacket. The flower is...gorgeous. What is it?”

Rose grinned. “A dahlia,” she replied, finally going back to her normal, extroverted self.

You sent Ray a big thumbs up from behind along with an exaggerated wink before heading back to the boys.

You saw Alex awkwardly shuffling his feet while Luke, Reggie, and Bobby were dancing and making complete fools of themselves, but that was kind of the point wasn’t it.

So you made your way to him, grabbing his hands and pulling him more into the dance floor with you.

“Come on Alex you gotta let loose!” you insisted while attempting to twirl him around.

“Um who are you and what did you do with the real (Y/N)?” he joked and you rolled your eyes.

“Already been over this Mercer! Seriously though, I know you get anxious and nervous, I do too and you know what helps me?” you whispered. “Singing,”

“Actually?”

“Yeah! It calms me down,” you admitted. “So come on, you know the song! Belt it with me!”

Alex scrunched his nose and you frowned and started to sing, proving to him just how much it could help.

Slowly he got more comfortable until it felt like it was just the two of you dancing around like friends did and singing Whitney Huston’s greatest hit.

“Oh, I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody! Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me!”

Alex, finally out of his shell, danced along energetically to the music with your hands intertwined. Occasionally he would pull you close and spin you like no one was around. You had to admit, the boy had a talent for dancing. He would definitely make Mrs. Leona proud.

Reggie watched you and Alex dance and fool around, laughing with your heads tilted back. Reggie couldn’t help but smile as you belted the lyrics with Alex joining in. He was shocked, to say the least, to see Alex so carefree. You really did bring out the best in people. He would know, you brought out the best in him.

Reggie barely noticed Bobby walk over to him, his eyes following Reggie’s to the dancing friends. The boy smirked, shaking his head. “You got it bad, don’t you?”

Reggie couldn’t help but nod. “Yeah, I do,” was all he could say.

“You gonna do anything about it?” Luke joined in and Reggie shrugged.

“I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if maybe if I say something or do something, that look she has, how happy she is, it’s gonna change and I don’t want that to happen,” he admitted.

“I know it’s a weird thing to ask, but what do you like most about her?” Bobby asked.

Reggie had a stupid smile on his face, shaking his head and covering his mouth with his hand,

“Everything,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Absolutely everything,”

You and Alex had since then finished dancing to the song and ran up to the other three boys who were chatting. You were out of breath with a huge grin on your face when you looked at Reggie who couldn’t stop thinking about how adorable you looked with your flushed cheeks.

“Everything alright Flicka?” you asked.

“Everything’s perfect, Cookie,” he nodded.

And perfect it was.

—

You sighed as Rose brushed through your hair for probably the millionth time that hour.

“Can you guys at least explain what you’re doing to me?” you whined. “I feel like I’ve been sitting here for ages and have like...a hundred layers of makeup on my face.”

Alex glanced up from the random magazine he found on Rose’s bedroom floor. “Nope,” he responded, sprawled lazily on Rose’s bed. “You’re going to find out soon enough.”

You grumbled to yourself. “If you make me look like a clown, Rose-”

Rose laughed, taking a lipstick tube and swiping it against your bottom lip. “You’re fine,” she reassured you. “Besides, this is my work we’re talking about. I have skills, and I’m going to flaunt them.” You giggled, finally relaxing as the girl continued to fix your hair and makeup.

Nearly another hour passed when Alex glanced at the clock. “Shoot, we have to be at the arcade in twenty minutes.”

You rolled your eyes. “And with your grandpa driving, we’re not going to get there until the next decade.”

Alex rolled off the bed, waving his keys in front of your face. “Who’s the one with the driver’s license again?” he asked.

You stuck your tongue out at him. “Fuck you, my driver’s instructor totally had it out for me. And you don’t even have a real van, it's a minivan.”

Alex flipped you off. “Haha, now let’s get going.”

“One second,” Rose said. The girl reached into your jewelry box, pulling out your horseshoe necklace. Before you could protest, she clasped it around your neck. With an approving smile, Rose pulled you up to your feet. “Come on, Cinderella,” she teased. “You’re ready for the ball.”

“Let’s stop by the studio first,” you said, straightening out your white shirt. “I left my bag in there.”

You and Rose made your way to the studio, parting so that you can grab your bag that was sitting on the coffee table. Rose followed close behind, picking up the lone red flannel on the couch. Walking behind you, Rose quickly tied the flannel around your waist.

“Rose, what’s this for?” you asked, eyeing the flannel.

She waved your question off casually. “It completes the look,” she explained. “Now, let’s get to the van before Alex leaves us!”

You hopped in the van with Rose as Alex drove off to the arcade, much faster than necessary to prove he wasn’t a slow driver, not that you thought this was how he was going to retaliate that comment.

By the time you reached there Luke, Bobby, and Reggie were all waiting by the claw machine.

“What took you guys so long?” Bobby asked and you pointed at both Alex and Rose in blame.

“Wow, I think I just saw the bus that you decided to throw us under,” Rose shook her head, turning it just the right direction to see a certain amateur photographer sitting at one of the tables with a few friends. Immediately, her face turned into a million shades of red.

“Oh is that Ray?” Luke asked, quickly joining in on the conversation.

“Um, can we maybe address that later?” Reggie asked. “Cause I’m pretty sure that’s my flannel,” he pointed to the fabric tied around your waist.

“Oh my God is it? Is it? I knew it looked familiar,” you said while trying to untie it from your waist but Reggie put a hand on yours, stopping you from doing so.

“It’s fine Cookie,” he shrugged. “Keep it, I have a few. It looks good on you,”

You blushed and nodded, tightening the flannel again around your waist.

“Okay, so what’s the first thing you guys normally do?” you asked, knowing them they probably did some sort of voodoo ritual before playing games, they were weird like that. “Oh and Rose you should call Ray over to join us cause if you don’t I will,” you said in a sing-song voice. Rose’s face turned red as she repeatedly shook her head.

Luke called out to the group to get everyone’s attention. “Game plan, kids,” he said.

You rolled your eyes. “Of course there’s a game plan,” you groaned.

The guitarist shot you a look before continuing. “Anyway,” he said. “First we start with the basketball shooting game, then we work down the aisle, all the way down to the claw machines. Don’t spend any longer than five minutes on each claw machine game. We all know those games are bullshit. If you have any coins left, use them on the game you’re best at.”

You made a sour face. “Yet you guys call me the nerd of the group,” you scoffed, crossing your arms on your chest.

“Hey, don’t disrespect the arcade kings,” Bobby shot back. “We practically own this arcade.”

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“(Y/N) why don’t you come with me and play some basketball,” Alex suggested.

“You’re just saying that cause you know my hand-eye coordination sucks and you wanna see me fail,” you said sticking your tongue out at him.

“Yeah and I’m not even gonna deny it, come on,” Alex said, dragging you over to where the game was and placing some tokens in the machine.

“Alex,” you whined. “I don’t wanna,”

He shot you a grin in your direction. “Let’s play, and the loser has to pay for pizza later?”

You narrowed your eyes in determination. “You’re on, Mercer.”

Time continued to fly by faster than you preferred. You and Alex had played every game nearly three times now and you were running low on coins and energy. Losing count on your wins, the two of you decided to call it a tie.

“Let’s go sit by the skeeball machines,” you suggested.

Slightly out of breath from running down the aisles to race you, Alex nodded gratefully. Hand in hand, you guided Alex through the waves of teens and children to finally find the benches in the quietest — well as quiet as an arcade can get — part of the building.

You glanced over at Alex, his cheeks flushed from playing. “You want me to go get you some water?” you asked, slightly concerned.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” he said, smiling slightly.

Standing up, you made your way to the vending machines, only to be stopped by the sound of a high pitched giggle. Hiding behind one of the game machines, you peeked to see Reggie and some blonde girl talk to each other. They were standing far too close for your liking as the girl pulled Reggie down to her level, whispering something in his ear that made him laugh.

Your face was burning. Something about the two of them together didn’t sit well with you. After a second of thinking, you decided you were upset because Reggie left you guys to go hang out with some girl. You were upset about the band not spending time together. Definitely not because Reggie was talking to another girl...smiling at her the way he does with you, and holding her waist like he did with you during your dance detention, and absolutely not because he’s joking around with her like he used to with you.

Ripping your eyes away from them, you stormed back to Alex, chucking the water bottle at him. The poor boy barely caught it, raising an eyebrow in confusion at you.

“(N/N), you okay?” he asked, setting his water bottle down to place his hand on your knee.

You nodded rigidly. “Of course I am,” you briskly answered.

“Sorry (N/N), I know fine and this clearly isn’t it,” Alex countered, still not understanding what was going on until he stood up to take a quick stretch, seeing Reggie tucked away by one of the arcade games with another girl. “Oh, I see,”

“What do you mean you see?” you asked. “There’s nothing to see,”

“Um I’d beg to differ,” Alex countered yet again. “(Y/N) if you’re upset you should just go talk to him, I’m sure Reggie will be reasonable.”

“Yeah right, reasonable is Reggie’s middle name,” you said sarcastically.

“(Y/N),” Alex said pleaded, “I swear to sweet little baby Jesus just go to him, please, put me out of my misery,”

“I guess you’re going to have to suffer,” you said stubbornly, making Alex roll his eyes and groan.

Luke and Bobby ran up to you guys. “We think it’s time we head back to the studio,” Luke told you two. “It’s nearly dark, and you know how much Alex hates driving at night.”

Alex shuddered. “Fine, let’s go,” he said before turning to you. “Don’t think we’re done with this conversation.”

The entire group filed into the car, Rose giving Ray a kiss on the cheek before joining you. Rose began to tell you about her little date, not skipping any detail. For the time you were together, you started to forget why you were mad.

But then Reggie entered the van. “Hey guys!” he greeted energetically, finding his spot in the back. You remained silent while everyone else said their “hellos.”

“How was everyone’s time at the arcade?” he continued to talk. Reggie glanced over at you. “Did you win against Alex? I know he’s terrible at playing games, but so are you so it’s an equal playing field.”

Normally, you would have laughed. But this time, you didn’t even look him in the eye. “It was fine,” you said stiffly.

Reggie snorted. “Just fine, come on, Cookie, I-”

“Why don’t you tell us about that girl you were talking to the entire time, then?” you cut him off, staring out the window to stop yourself from crying.

“What girl?” Rose asked, whipping her head around and narrowing her eyes.

“No one” he answered quickly.

You scoffed, crossing your arms on your chest. “So it’s okay for you to lie, but not me?” you muttered.

Reggie raised an eyebrow at your weird behaviour, but remained silent for the rest of the ride. If there was something wrong, he’d talk to you properly, and in private.

The moment Alex parked in the driveway, you quickly unbuckled your seatbelt and left the van with Rose glued to your side.

“What happened?” Rose asked in a hushed voice.

“Nothing!” you said frustratedly. “You and Alex keep on making things out of nothing. I’m telling you, there’s nothing wrong.”

As the night continued, you were still bitter towards Reggie, occasionally throwing out a sarcastic remark towards him. The group, to say the least, was very confused as to how your friendship with Reggie somehow shattered in just five hours.

“Let’s watch another movie,” Rose proposed after the first movie ended. Everyone else nodded, as Reggie piped up,

“Can we watch Star Wars?” he asked. “I’m really in the mood to-”

You groaned. “Will you just shut up,”

Reggie looked over at you stunned and just before Luke was going to say something Reggie grabbed your arm and looked at you with a serious face,

“Can I talk to you? Alone,” he said cooly.

You were about to respond with a sarcastic retort, but he stopped you by pulling you up and dragging you out of the studio into the brick open-spaced area around the rock garden.

“What the hell (Y/N),” he deadpanned.

“What do you mean what the hell?” you asked innocently and Reggie scoffed, letting go of your arm and looking away.

“Enough of the fucking bullshit (Y/N)!”

“What bullshit Reggie please enlighten me because I wasn’t the one ditching the gang to spend time with some random blonde,”

“You have no right!” Reggie angrily exclaimed, pointing roughly at you. His eyes were dark with anger, unlike anything you’ve seen before. “You have no right to say- t-to act like a child after what happened?”

You rolled your eyes. “What are you talking about?” you demanded.

Reggie laughed to himself, frustratedly running his fingers through his hair before looking back at you. “I don’t fucking understand you,” he hissed. “You’re so frustrating and unpredictable. First, you joke around with me, blush when I tell jokes or better yet flirt, but the moment I step out of line even an inch, you turn around and hate me again! I don’t get it, what the fuck do you want from me?”

“I want you!” you cried out. “Dammit, Reggie. I want you, but sometimes you’re so far up your ass you can’t even tell!”

“Me?” he yelled back. “I gave you so many chances. You wanted time? I gave you plenty of it! I have you so many opportunities that you ignored so don’t you fucking dare pin this on me.” Reggie didn’t bother letting you try and defend yourself. “You said it yourself, you wondered when people will leave you, and that you’ll be left alone again. Here’s the reality, (Y/N). People don’t leave you, you push them away. You put the blame on everyone but yourself, so all you’re left with are your own broken pieces. Face it, you’ve never changed.”

You staggered back, feeling as though you were caught under a wave of emotions. He was right. Every single word he said...was right. And damn, it hurt so much to realize it.

Reggie looked up from his shoes. “I want that necklace back,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t want to see you with it, or any piece of me, ever again. You hear me? I’m done. I’m done with your mind games. I’m tired of waiting for you. I’m done with you.”

There it was. The moment you were waiting for, the reason for Reggie to step out of your life again. Or, in reality, the reason that made Reggie realize you weren’t worth it anymore.

You quickly unclasped the necklace, throwing it on the ground along with his flannel.

Before leaving, you looked at him one more time. “It was always me, wasn’t it?” you whispered in a broken voice. “I was always the reason. The problem. The second choice. Right?” Reggie refused to look you in the eye. You wiped away your tears, a sad attempt to, really. More tears just took their place.

“I tried, Reggie,” you told him in a quiet voice. “I really did. B-but if I’m the only thing that’s holding you back, then let me go.”

Reggie remained silent. Taking it as your cue to leave, you ran down the street, not bothering to say goodbye to your friends.

And just like that, you were alone again. Just like you predicted.

—

As if your week couldn’t get any worse, the universe didn’t fail you. You had detention with him. And even better, you were forced to sit in silence with him.

Seriously you thought to yourself Did he actually fall asleep while supervising detention.

Mr. Alderman, the gym teacher, was fast asleep, snoring at his desk.

You hadn’t spoken since your fight a few nights ago, the emotions still fresh under your skin, burning your eyes and throat, just making you wish for it to end.

Reggie muttered something under his breath and for the first time in a few days you took a good look at him.

His eyes were sunken and he seemed angry. It radiated off him like light bouncing off a mirror.

“Have something to say, Peters,” you whispered quietly.

“Yeah, I’m leaving,” he nodded, standing up and grabbing his bag.

“You can’t leave,” you said flatly.

“Watch me,” he turned his back and you followed him out of the class and into the hallway.

“Reggie stop,”

“No (Y/N)! I’m not stopping anymore! I’m not waiting anymore!”

“I’m not asking you to do that Reggie! It’s me, I’m leaving okay?!” you exclaimed.

“W-What?” his voice grew quiet.

“I’m transferring out at the end of the week,” you look at him with stone-cold eyes. “Not that you would care.”

“(Y/N), you...Wait you can’t-!”

“Stop telling me what I can and can't do Reggie! I hate that my fucking feelings are controlled by you! I hate that my entire life will be spent trying to find someone to live up to you! I just want some fucking peace and quiet for once in my life!” you sobbed, unable to bottle things up anymore. “I work and I work and I work and I get nothing! I try and I try and I try and I still get nothing! And maybe that’s because I can’t be in control when I’m around you so yes I’m leaving!”

Reggie didn’t say anything, he just stared at you blankly, the only sound in the empty hallways was that of your soft cries.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you choked out, turning around and running out through the back of the school and into the pouring rain, not even bothering to hide for cover under the pavilion; falling to your knees and wrapping your arms around your waist as the most devastating sounds ripped from your heart and soul.

You cried until you couldn’t cry anymore. Scream until your throat was raw. Pulled at your hair and kicked yourself, ashamed and frustrated, until the pain was too much. But even then, it could never match the pain you were feeling in your heart.

It felt good, felt right to feel this way. Ever since middle school, you had been told you were a robot, an emotionless nothing.

Look at you now. Crying like everything had up and left in your life because it did. You were alone, left behind to pick up your broken pieces. Just like Reggie said.

You hated how Reggie was right about everything. You had no right to be mad because it was true. You pushed everyone away, placed the blame on them so that you didn’t have to get hurt. Is this how he felt? Did you ever make him feel this way?

The cold air angrily nipped at your fingertips, your eyes red from the weather and your tears. Turning your head, you looked at the school door, internally hoping that maybe it would swing open. Maybe Reggie would come out of the building and take you in his arms and tell you that everything will be alright.

The door never opened. Reggie never came. You were left alone with your thoughts in the pavilion.

And the rain continued to pour on and on.

—

Reggie was distracted the entire practice. His fingers would roughly strum against his strings as he stared off into the distance, a faraway look on his face.

Luke, having noticed Reggie’s odd behaviour, stopped playing.

“Hey, Reg you wanna cool it on those strings?” Luke asked.

“Or does he need to mention how much money we have combined,” Bobby added.

“It’s negative seven hundred forty-five dollars and thirty-two cents.” Luke deadpanned and Alex rolled his eyes.

“Are you mad at Alex again?” Bobby asked and for a moment the blond drummer looked frightened.

“No, it’s not that,” Reggie shook his head.

“It’s (Y/N), isn’t it,” Rose said softly, looking at the bassist with sympathetic eyes. Just as Reggie was about to ask how she knew, Rose answered the question. “You keep looking at the spot on the couch where she used to sit during practices,”

Reggie chewed hard on the inside of his cheek while Luke came closer to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t need to bottle it up,” Luke whispered. “We’re here for you. You know that.”

“I messed up,” the tone of his voice was wavering as he tried to make sure it didn’t crack. “I messed up so fucking bad. The only thing I’m good at is pushing the good things in my life away until I fuck it up entirely. I’m a time bomb. It’s only going to get worse the longer people are around me,”

Reggie carefully slid his bass’ strap off his shoulder and placed his instrument against the couch where you would normally sit.

“No you’re not,” Alex told him, quickly coming to join Luke next to his friend. Bobby and Rose followed soon after and before long Reggie’s head was tucked in Luke’s shoulder as tears finally streamed from his eyes and his friends surrounded him like a shield from the cruel world.

“Aren’t I?” Reggie croaked. “I can't even talk to you guys without exploding or storming off, a-and (Y/N), she’ll never forgive me for all the things I’ve said and done… I don’t deserve any of your guys,”

“Reggie cariño, everyone deserves a family,” Rose said in a soothing voice. “And we’re each other’s family. Family sticks together no matter what, even if you don’t think they should.”

“And what about (Y/N)?” he whispered. “How could I possibly erase all that?”

“You don’t,” Luke spoke up. “You use it, use it to apologize. Use it,” he repeated, placing his songwriting pen in Reggie’s hand.

Reggie bit his lips and took the pen from Luke, seeing his tattered red book resting on the couch.

He was sure it wasn’t the first time he wrote something for you and it definitely wouldn’t be the last, but it just might have been the first one you’d hear, so it had to be perfect.

And somehow, just like you’d always managed to do, the only thing on Reggie Peters's mind was his Cookie.

—

“Rose I already said I don’t want to come here,” you sighed as your friend dragged you through the crowd of people waiting to get into the show.

“(Y/N) come on, these are your friends! They want you to be here,” she tried to convince you, but you were still skeptical, and it didn’t help that you didn’t know if you wanted to see Reggie or not right now.

Rose gave you another tug, but you dug your heels into the ground. The girl sighed, giving you a look. “It’s your last day as a Los Feliz high student,” she told you softly. You stiffened at her words, looking down at the floor. “At least spend it with us. Then, I’ll leave you be. I promise. You don’t have to see another gig -better yet, another bass- ever again. Will you do at least that for me?”

You finally glanced up from the ground. “For you,” you answered begrudgingly.

“What’s up Los Feliz High,” Luke said into the mic and was met with cheers.

“We’re Sunset Curve,” Reggie added. “And this is a little something we wrote called I Remember,”

There was a soft opening with Reggie’s bass and Alex on drums, slowly layering in the guitar riff intro before Reggie came close to his mic,

“I remember those nights, stayin’ up late, listenin’ to the radio.

I remember the days, callin’ your name, running to your patio,”

Rose glanced over at you, grinning as you tried to listen to the lyrics, finding a sense of familiarity in the words. Luke and Bobby now joined as backing vocals taking a lower and higher harmony.

“And as the years went by slowly you - left my life and I can’t, I can’t, I can’t figure out why, why?”

Alex led to the chorus with a drum fill before the hard rock beat came in, Reggie, Luke, and Bobby really getting into playing to the beat and rhythm, before all coming in again singing the chorus.

“So tell me, tell me when it all fell apart. Tell me, tell me can we go back to the start.”

The music backing instruments quieted slowly as Reggie leaned into his mic, looking directly at you. Your breath hitched at you finally made eye contact with him. You hadn’t bothered to look at him in so long, you wanted to burn the feeling into your memory so you never forget. His eyes glistened with tears as he began to sing,

“Tell me, tell me what happened to us Cookie,”

You looked over at Rose who only smiled knowingly as you tried to hide the fact that you were most definitely losing your composure, your heart beating faster and your vision becoming blurry.

“I remember I hurt you, a stain on my heart that’ll never go away. I remember I kissed you, my heart said to stay but my feet ran away.”

They transitioned back to the chorus and you couldn’t help but try to push back the lump in your throat as you looked up at your Flicka, singing for you. Reggie took the mic and walked over to you. His hand was stretched out to you, face lighting up in hope. Pushing down all your doubts, you took his hand in yours, squeezing it tight.

“And I promise, I promise, I promise I’ll never go away. And I promise I promise, I promise I’ll be there every day. Just tell me, just tell me, just tell me you’ll look the other way. Cause if I lost you one more time I don’t think that I’d survive,”

Tears streamed down your face as you listened to the lyrics, each word slowly chipping down the walls you put up around your heart. Reggie leaned in close, removing his hand from yours and placing it on the side of your face, wiping away your stray tears.

“So tell me, tell me when it all fell apart. Tell me, tell me can we go back to the start.”

The music slowed and quieted one last time, Reggie’s eyes interlocked with yours as he sang the last line,

“Tell me, tell me, will you be mine Cookie?”

Silence followed as everyone turned to you, waiting for your answer. You glanced over at Rose, who was just as impatient.

Locking eyes with Reggie, you nodded. “As long as you’ll be mine, Flicka,” you whispered so that only he could hear.

Not waiting any longer, Reggie dropped his microphone, hopping down from the stage and taking both sides of your face and pulling you into a long-awaited kiss. The crowd cheered, but your mind blocked them out.

You missed Reggie’s lips that tasted faintly of that cherry chapstick he always used. You missed feeling his hands against yours, warm and comforting.

You missed your Reggie. But now he was here, and he was never letting you go.

—

“Lady Bunny!” Luke cheered, running up to you backstage and pulling you into the tightest squeeze. “I missed you so much,” he whispered and you held him close against you.

“I missed you too, mom,” you sniffled while Luke pressed a friendly kiss to your hair before you were promptly tossed around the group, hugs and all exchanged along with the chatter of

“You’re gonna stay, right? You can’t transfer now,”

All to which the answer was yes, especially when you looked over at Reggie, the brightest smile on his face.

“Hey guys can I have a minute alone with Cookie?” he asked and they all complied, moving out of the way of the new couple.

“Have something for me Flicka?” you asked, slight teasing in your voice.

“Actually, yeah,” he nodded, fishing out a necklace from his pocket. “I shouldn’t have taken it from you. Or told you that you were the problem. You never were, I promise.”

“Water under the bridge,” you smiled shyly. “What matters is that you’re here now.” You turned around, allowing him to clip the silver chain around your neck, not without sneaking a quick peck to the corner of your lips after turning you back around.

“Perfect,” he told you, his lips quirking up into a smile. “You’re perfect.”

“And you’re overly cheesy,” you shot back jokingly.

Reggie grasped his chest in feigned hurt. “You love me, Cookie,” he pouted.

You went on the tips of your toes, kissing him softly. “Yeah, Flicka,” you whispered. “I do.”

--

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[greensword101]

This is for @barely-nok. I’m sorry it took so long to get some Obake content out for you to consume. I hope you find it tasty lol.

Obake never drank on principle. He needed to keep a clear head and heads were meant for thinking. And thinking meant he could create what he wanted to the limit or even beyond that.

But even sober, his brain would...fizzle if Kei ever so much as blinked at him prettily. Or pouted. Or cheerily threatened to sing “I’m Henry the Eighth , I Am” if he didn’t agree to take a break and - urgh! Just acknowledging the phrase made him feel filthy - spend some “quality time” with a coworker.

Personally speaking, Obake would have preferred the term “expendable” or “replaceable” or “unpaid intern that wasn’t getting extra credit or the merits of knowledge.” Oh, but he would pay anything to get DeciBull out of his sight! And hearing range.

Then again, hearing range would be preferable. Wild cards like Kei were acceptable. DeciBull - or Wil as Kei had casually greeted him by to the former’s chargain -  was more of a Jack; weaker than Obake, but still a threat nonetheless.

If Kei hadn’t taken the car and driven off to God knew where, he would have stormed out of the bar and left that arsehole behind. Maybe steal his glasses and see if the chubby man with a guitar gimmack could find his way back home without falling off the pier.

Wil had barely touched his first bottle and was glowering at his phone for the past half hour. This suited Obake swimmingly, if not for the fact that Kei would know that they hadn’t made any attempt at all and would be tormenting him with that song again! And she would enlist Noodle Burger Boy this time, he was certain. And possibly Trina, though he was certain she would be directed towards Wil instead.

Obake collected himself and recited the longest formulas in the Periodic Table before he rigidly glanced over to Wil.

“I’m surprised you aren’t taking advantage of the karaoke here.”

Wil yelped and fumbled with his phone - mumbling apologies to the bartender as he passed - before gaping at Obake.

“Interesting...” Obake murmured.

“What?” Wil asked bemused.

“You almost looked like an intelligent being for a moment.”

Wil scowled, “Funny.” 

Then a smile crept onto his face. Obake stiffened. He knew he could take the man, he was slimmer and certainly wasn’t sluggish, but bars were always tricky to maneuver around in. Inebriation, sympathizers, or anyone looking for an excuse to be aggressive would make Obake beating Wil up...troublesome.

“Something amusing to you?” Obake took a sip from his own glass to appear ignorant and casual.

“Just thinking how whipped you must be if Kei could make you spend time with me,” Wil leaned in conspiratorially, “Tell me, does she make you sleep on the couch when you misbehave?”

Obake sputtered and and gave Wil a hard stare. Wil stared back undaunted.

“Shut your mouth and have your bloody drink, why don’t you?” Obake snarled and took another, deeper sip from his glass. He was used to dealing with the aggressive and almost territorial behavior Wil demonstrated back at the base. He did not want to be sober to process that Wil was capable of having bloody cheek.

“How can I have my ‘bloody drink’ if my mouth’s shut?” Wil asked innocently.

“Test my patience and we’ll find out soon enough,” Obake growled under his breath. He could do it.  One stab between the ribs and he could slip out in the noise and confusion. He just didn’t want to put up with Kei pestering him when he got back and possibly annoying her with a potential murder.

Wil sniggered and had another swig of his beer. He went back to his phone, but he barely seemed to be reading what was on the screen.

That was...unexpected. But it was a better alternative to dealing with a feral monkey by himself. Obake found himself enjoying the Manhattan more than he expected and finished it off. He was beginning to fish the cherry out when Wil spoke up again.

“Was it good?”

Obake groaned and glowered at Wil, who was starting at his empty glass curiously. What didn’t that fool understand about having a little peace and quiet?

“I don’t typically drink myself,” Wil mumbled into his bottle and drank. He sputtered for a few moments and continued, “I just stick to a beer once in a while.”

“Thank Heaven for small miracles, then,” Obake narrowed his eyes and waved the bartender over, “Another one, if you would be so kind.”

“Me too,” Wil smiled at the bartender and held up his empty bottle. Amazingly, the bartender smiled back and came back moments later with their second drinks. Wil called after him as he walked off, “Thanks, Jim!”

“You frequent this place often?” Obake ventured and helped himself to his second Manhattan. Screw sobriety, it had been so long since he had anything that tasted so good touch his lips.

“I used to,” Wil admitted, “Just for a bite and maybe a bottle. That’s kind of how me and Kei met, actually.”

“A little nip before beddybye?” Obake cooed mockingly at him.

“Crime and I have something in common,” Wil smirked, “We rarely sleep.”

“Tragic,” Obake chuckled and raised his glass in mock salute, “To your insomnia, I suppose.”

Wil raised his beer in kind, “And to good company if I ever get any.”

Now, they both laughed for real. Obake noticed for the first time how pleasantly red Wil’s face had become. Was it the alcohol or the first genuine spark of life he was expressing? If it was the latter, that would mean Kei was behind it somehow.

Suddenly, the good feeling popped like a soap bubble and Obake hid his displeasure by finishing off his second Manhattan. Wil gawked at him.

“You should slow down, Kei is gonna freak if she has to pick us up from the ER because you got alcohol poisoning or something.”

“Kei this, Kei that, you haunt her like a lapdog!” Obake spat out. Damn that woman and her silly, childish notions of fun and damn that boulder she decided would make good company!

Wil blinked and leaned back a little. A moment later, he was glowering back with that familiar hostility, “At least I don’t treat her like a nuisance like you do! Do you have any idea how much she cares about you?!”

“Cares?” Obake snapped his fingers at Jim for another glass and leaned closer to Wil’s face. His nostrils flared and he could feel Wil tense inches away from him. “Why would she have to care about me? If that’s what you call pity, then I’ve no need for it! She can pretend all she wants that we’re all supposed to be some family, but in the end, that’s all it’s going to be. A stupid dream! Why would she care about making me ‘socialize’ with the others or spending ‘quality time’ with her silly boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?!”

Obake jabbed a finger into Wil’s chest, “Don’t play coy! I know you think I’m a prat to her! And I know you won’t believe that she can almost make me feel human! But you don’t have to worry about me getting in the way, Prince Charming! She’s all yours, so you don’t have to worry about me -”

“I’m gay.”

“And I’m Bob, the pleasure’s all...what.” Obake had to take a moment to process Wil’s flat retort.

“Gay. I like guys. I love them. I love kissing them. And I’m already taken.”

Obake opened his mouth and closed it again. He noticed that his third Manhattan had arrived and wasted no time downing it. Wil didn’t repeat how it wasn’t safe to do this time, and he was thankful for that. 

Suddenly, he felt someone standing right behind him and stilled.

“Is he giving you problems, Wil?”

“No worries, Eugene,” Wil smiled at the person behind him, “Just clearing up a misunderstanding over here.”

Obake felt a little dizzy and pinched his nose, “Let me understand this correctly. You have never had feelings for Kei?”

“Platonically, yes. Romantically or otherwise? No.”

“And this whole time, yo - you’ve...” Why couldn’t he find the right words? “You’ve...acted harshly because...?”

“Because she’s one of my best friends and I don’t want her to get hurt,” Wil said firmly. He pointed at Obake with a fiercely protective look, “I can’t help who she wants to connect with, but I won’t stand by and let her get hurt. She’s gone through too much to deserve that.”

“Alright, I’m just going to butt in for a moment here,” Eugene moved from behind Obake and stood to Wil’s left, wrapping an arm across him protectively. He was pleasant to the eyes; tall, broad, dark brown hair and a scruffy goatee. He looked at Wil, bemused, “You weren’t here scooping for another cutie, babe?”

“Wh...why...why would he...?” Obake’s tongue felt like lead. Dear Lord, he could barely speak, he was so embarrassed.

“Because this is a gay bar?” Eugene supplemented as if it weren’t obvious. Obake blinked. Come to think of it, it was rather odd no one had come to bother them when they came in. Did...did that mean...?

Somewhere in San Fransokyo, Kei was laughing herself silly. Obake was certain of it. 

“Everything alright over here?” Another voice, deeper than Eugene’s mischievous and light tone asked.

“Hey ‘Nan! This is an acquaintance of mine,” Wil helped himself to his beer, “and apparently he thought I was stealing his girlfriend until a few moments ago. Bob, this is Kanan. My other boyfriend.”

“Other...” Obake’s head was swimming. This was too much to process...

“Yeah,” Wil said shyly, “We’re...we’re kind of a poly sort of thing.”

As if to prove his point, Eugene promptly gave Wil a deep kiss on the lips that was eagerly returned. Kanan came into view and Obake noticed how dark skinned he was and the ponytail before he decided he was too sober to handle this all right now.

He made to stand and tripped over his stool. And a moment later, his Manhattans returned and splashed all over the floor.

In hindsight, he should have checked how much alcohol was in each glass...

It was about a half hour later when Kei found all four of them outside the bar with Obake being supported by an irksome Wil and amused Eugene. Kanan looked torn between disapproval and laughter.

“Was it fun?” Kei asked hesitantly. Obake took one look at her and sighed. It was his own fault for drinking too much.

“It was something,” Wil supplemented as he helped buckle Obake into the backseat, “And educational, apparently, so that’s a plus.”

“We were there at the tail-end,” Eugene added helpfully, “It was kind of entertaining.”

“You sure you can take care of this?” Kanan asked Wil.

Wil looked at Obake and sighed, “We’ll be alright. Thanks, anyways.”

“See you at the next heist meet, babe!” Eugene blew a kiss.

“Tell Raps and Hera I said hi!” Wil called back as they drove off.

“And here I thought I’d be picking you up at the police station for a bar brawl,” Kei half joked.

“Stay with me, Bob!” Wil shook Obake gently, “Don’t go to sleep. First rule in treating alcohol poisoning.”

“Piss off...” Obake slurred.

Wil sighed and let his head sink against the headrest for a few moments. Why didn’t he just become an accountant like his parents wanted?

“Wil...” Obake said sluggishly, “In..in the...event...I survive this with my memory intact. Would you...do it again?”

Wil blinked in surprise and chuckled weakly, “Only if you watch what you drink next time, lightweight.”

“Momma’s boy.”

“Evil Brit.”

“Four Eyes.”

“Nnnnnnnnnnneeeee~rrrrrrrrrds!” Kei cackled as her passengers bickered with each other without any former hostility from before.

[scuttling]

First Dates

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairing: Aaron Hotchner/Latina OFC Sophie Cortes Word Count: 6,151 Tags: SFW, First dates, Making out, Phone calls, Running, Yoga, Fluff Summary: After California, Aaron and Sophie go on three perfectly imperfect dates. Collection: Sophie Cortes timeline, 1 year-1 year 3 Months at the BAU (See Masterlist for reading order) Link to A03 or read below! “Jet sweet jet,” Prentiss says as they board the plane after California, and Aaron seconds it; the good thing is it’s only Friday afternoon, so at least they get a head start to the weekend, barring another emergency case—not that he doesn’t have piles of work to do, as usual, but it pleases him to think he might get the chance to see Sophie at some point, in an unofficial capacity.

“You know, 14 is when we start to make our own musical choices. Our cognitive development evolves at that age and we start to form our own cultural identity,” he hears Reid say as he sinks down into his seat, headphones hanging around his neck. He and Sophie must be having a conversation about music, because she nods easily.

“That makes sense, actually,” she says, taking the chair across from him. “I remember being obsessed with Bon Jovi around that age, and I was definitely making decisions with my pants.”

Well that’s an interesting piece of information for her to divulge. Reid blushes a little, and pulls on his headphones. Sophie pops in one earbud, looks up at Aaron, smiles, then looks down at her phone and starts typing.

SC: What?

AH: What, what? he replies.

SC: You’re staring.

AH: Maybe I just think you’re worth staring at.

He feels cheesy for saying it, but she grins.

SC: Sure, okay.

SC: Are you going to do work?

AH: You know me.

SC: That’s a yes.

SC: In case I don’t get to talk to you… will you call me tonight?

AH: Absolutely.

She tucks away her phone, succumbs to her—podcast, he guesses by the slight look of concentration on her face—and he works on his paperwork in relative silence, with the ghost of a smile on his face.

“So what are you up to? What do you do when you get home from traveling?” he asks over the phone that night, after they’ve made a little small talk.

“Well, I put a record on—it’s low, so you probably can’t hear it. Bob Dylan.” She’s right, he can’t hear it, but knowing what she chose makes him smile.

“Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi… Your taste in music isn’t what I would have expected.”

“I’ve always been a little behind the times when it comes to music. I like to be able to rely on my faithful favorites.” She pauses, taking a drink maybe, and he can hear kitchen sounds in the background. “I took a nice, hot bath, opened a bottle of wine. I usually make some kind of comfort food, if I have time to stop at the market.” It’s only 8, so that, along with the kitchen sounds, has him betting she’s whipping something up for herself.

“Mmm, what’s on the menu?”

“It’s a dish my papa always used to make when we were sick. It doesn’t sound great—fagioli su pane tostato, which means beans on toast. It’s white beans cooked in this olive oil broth and then served on sourdough toast rubbed with garlic. It tastes so much better than it sounds.”

“It sounds good when you say it in Italian. Maybe we could make it together, some night.” He hopes he’s not imagining the smile in her voice when she replies.

“I’d like that a lot. So what do you do to unwind after traveling?”

“I have a beer, take a long, hot shower—I have a great shower. Sometimes I freeze meals and I’ll warm something up if I feel like it, but tonight it’s Indian takeout.” He takes a sip of said beer, sprawls out further on the couch.

“Oh, what did you get? Indian food is great, I love chana masala on a comfort food day.”

“Ah, I got butter chicken and samosas. My usual; very unoriginal.”

“Can’t go wrong with a samosa though, yum. What else do you like to do to relax? No offense, but you always seem just as stressed on Mondays as you do on Fridays.” He chuckles at that, can see how that would be true.

“Well I have work to do tonight, but on our free weekends I go for a run in the park instead of my neighborhood, or very rarely, I get to play golf.”

“Hmm, you play golf?” Her tone of voice is low, but light, and he struggles to figure out her intent behind that.

“I can’t tell if you’re teasing me…”

“Not teasing, I’m intrigued. I’ve never been golfing or even watched golf before. Mostly I’m trying to visualize you in the little golf outfit, though.” He’s grinning his face off, he’s sure, but he can’t help it; it feels good to flirt with her, to be flirted with by her, openly now. “I run too, or I like kickboxing, Pilates. I don’t always have time to get to the gym anymore, so I do home workouts when I can. Yoga every day.” So, he knows she does yoga, is always packing her yoga blanket when they travel for cases, but left to sit and imagine it for a moment… how she looked on vacation, tiny outfit, bendy body...

“Talk about something to visualize,” he adds, very boldly, he thinks, and she hums down the line. He hopes his flirting affects her the way hers affects him.

“Yeah, we were doing so good there for a minute and now I can’t think of anything but you in a polo and khakis. Must be the wine.”

“Is that something you find sexy? A polo and khakis? That’s practically church attire.”

“Where you’re concerned, there’s not much I don’t find sexy.” He chuckles, runs his hand through his hair—he knows he looks alright, isn’t un attractive or anything, but sexy? She might be overselling it a little bit.  “I should probably rein that in. Sorry.”

“No, it’s… I like that you feel that way.” He wants to say, ‘if you find me even one tenth as sexy as I find you, it would be a miracle’, but his self-esteem isn’t quite that low. And his doorbell rings. “My delivery is here, muting you for a second.”

“Should I let you go?” she asks when he returns. He can hear the sound of her spoon clinking against her bowl, assumes she’s getting ready to eat, too.

“No. I mean, if you don’t mind, I’d like to listen to you talk some more.”

“Okay. What do you want to hear about?”

“I’d like to hear more about your band in Chicago. Did you write music?”

“One of the guys in my band wrote the music, I just sang it; didn’t have much to say.”

“I find that hard to believe,” he says honestly, because she is always thoughtful and insightful, so smart.

“Well the Sophie you know now is much more open, if you can imagine that. I used to be very closed off. The team helps; hard to be closed off when you’re around someone 24/7.”

“I’m glad you feel that the BAU has been good for you; you’ve been very good for us. And you said you sing at your friend’s bar sometimes? I might have to crash one of these nights so I can see you in action.” She laughs, a little self conscious.

“It's really nothing. Just a good way to blow off some steam. So how about you? Are you musically inclined or anything?”

“I can play the guitar.” Her spoon clinks against her bowl in the background again, and she swallows a bite.

“Hold on. You play guitar? This is important information.” He chuckles.

“How so?”

“Because it’s hot.”

“Maybe I should amend that: I could play the guitar. I haven’t in probably… five years? So I may be completely horrible.”

“Nope, doesn’t matter. If you still own a guitar, you can keep the hotness.”

They both eat, chatting in between bites, and they’ve been on the phone for two hours when she starts yawning. He suddenly has a brilliant idea.

“Do you want to meet up and go for a run tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, I would really like that,” she says, sounding a little more awake. “Is it a date? Or just two people hanging out that want to see each other naked?” He laughs out loud.

“You want to see me naked? I thought you wanted to see me in khakis.”

“Yes, I want to see you naked; I thought that much was clear when I tried undressing you the other day. I want to see both.”

“It’s a date, then. If you want it to be. I was still working on a plan...”

“No plan necessary. I’m easy to please: I just want to see you, in running clothes or golf clothes or no clothes.”

“I’ll text you the address. Meet me there at 7?”

“It’s a date.” The next morning, he is sitting in his car at the park, and he looks up from his phone to see Sophie walking toward him, impossibly beautiful for 7 AM. Her hair is pulled back in a thick, wavy ponytail, face clear of makeup and looking radiant, softly smiling, and he swears his heart skips a beat.

Isn’t it a little too soon for beat skipping? This is only their first date, after all.

“Good morning,” she says, leaning in his window. She looks around the parking lot, which is fairly secluded at this time of the morning. “How are you?”

“A little tired, but good,” he replies and her smile grows brighter. “You?”

“I’m good. Probably shouldn’t have kept you up so late talking. You need your beauty sleep.” She reaches out to brush a hand over the hair at his temple, and he closes his eyes for a moment, content.

“Well you obviously don’t. How do you look like that at 7 AM?”

“This?” she asks, gesturing to her face and body, as if he needed a reason to look. She is fit and perky in black leggings and a University of Chicago t-shirt, and he mentally hopes that she’s not faster than him, or her ass is going to be very distracting. “Just rolled out of bed and came down. Nothing special about this.”

“I beg to differ.” She leans back in, arms crossed casually, smiles again.

“Well you’re sweet. Hey, have you ever run into someone from work here?” He scans the lot as if her question caused one of their coworkers to materialize out of thin air, then realizes he’s being silly.

“No, I haven’t so far. Why do you ask?” Ducking her head, she looks a little shy, though the corners of her lips are turned up.

“I was just wondering if I’ll get to kiss you today.”

There goes his heart, skipping beats again.

He leans forward, a hand on her cheek, and presses his mouth to hers, slow and soft. He’d almost forgotten how nice it is to kiss someone who likes you—the shared breath, the soft smack of lips, the reluctance to break the kiss—and he touches her chin as they separate. When she opens her eyes, they look dreamy, and he preens a little at causing that reaction.

“Okay, yeah. That’s nice.” He huffs a laugh and she steps away from the car, giving him space to exit. “Ready to run?”

“Was kind of hoping to kiss some more,” he teases, but he climbs out of the car and locks up.

They keep pace together well, chatting easily about their plans for the day, and Sophie points out every dog they pass, which is so endearing his face almost hurts from smiling.

“What is it?” she asks as he shakes his head, laughs, when they pass a corgi puppy that is, admittedly, adorable.

“You’re cute, that’s all. It’s nice to see joy on your face when our lives are usually surrounded by darkness.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to see it on yours, too.” She reaches out to touch his cheek, and he presses against it.

As far as dates go, this one is off to a beautiful start.

“That was fun. I enjoyed spending the morning with you,” she says as they walk back to their cars. He is a little winded, and she isn’t. It’s not entirely fair.

“I agree, it was fun. It’s nice to have a running partner.”

“Is that all I am?” she asks with an innocent expression, and he shakes his head.

“Absolutely not.” He leans in for a quick, sweet kiss that feels as natural as the slower, more passionate kisses they’ve shared, and they both pull back smiling. “Are you hungry?”

“We just ran 4 miles, I’m starving. What do you have in mind?”

“There’s a very casual diner around the corner that makes great breakfast; I’m sure they won’t mind all your sweat,” he teases, gesturing to her shirt.  He’s sweatier by far, which makes it so funny, and she laughs.

“Rude, but I’m in. Lead the way.”

The diner is a favorite of his, somewhere he goes every Saturday he runs in the park. He’s a very habit-driven person, and it wouldn’t feel right to leave without stopping by; that he gets to bring Sophie is just the icing on the cake.

“Do you usually get the same thing when you come here, or are you adventurous?” she asks, looking over the menu.

“I am not adventurous. I get a western omelette with mushrooms, potatoes on the side, almost religiously.” She smiles at him over the menu, and he wonders if she likes that quality, or if he’s one wrong comment away from being seen as an old man and not ‘boyfriend material’. He wonders if he’ll ever stop feeling self conscious about his age, where she’s concerned.

“When I find something I like I am also not adventurous. I stick with what I know.”

“Hi there. You have a friend today, Mr. Hotchner.” He smiles at the voice of his favorite waitress, though he wishes she wouldn’t have made him sound like he’s friendless any other time. She stands between his chair and Sophie’s, grinning.

“Yes Julia, this is Miss Cortes.” Sophie reaches out her hand with a warm smile.

“Sophie, if you like. Nice to meet you, Julia. This guy comes here a lot, huh?”

“Oh yes, he’s one of my favorite regulars: Kind, patient, and easy to please.”

“Great qualities in a man,” Sophie jokes, and he’s never heard Julia laugh so hard. She tends to have that effect on people, he thinks. “I feel special, then, being invited to your spot,” she says, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I'm fairly certain you’re the first person he’s ever brought, so you must be special, hon.” Julia gives her a wink, and he’d be embarrassed but… she’s right. And he didn’t invite her here lightly. Sharing this place means something to him. “So I know your fella wants the western with mushrooms, potatoes on the side, OJ with his coffee. How about you, sweetie?”

“Oh, um,” Sophie begins, and it looks like she’s blushing at the whole ‘fella’ thing. It’s too cute. “Mixed grill please, with cheddar, and I’ll have orange juice too. Thank you.”

When Julia walks away, Sophie crosses her arms on the table, looks at him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I’m just… enjoying myself. Being with you.” She reaches out a hand, and he takes it, smiling softly. They don’t move until Julia comes back with their plates and they need to make room.

“This has been the most fun date I’ve ever been on. I don’t want it to end,” she says as they walk back to the parking lot, bellies full of food.

“But?”

“But I know inviting you back to my place wouldn’t be a great idea yet. Well, it would be a great idea, but I know that taking it slow is important. And I can’t promise I wouldn’t get handsy again.”

“Taking it slow is important,” he agrees, and he leans down to kiss her, warm, lingering, “but maybe we could get handsy after our second date.”

“Mmm. I’m content with just kissing if you keep kissing me like that. Touching will just be a bonus.” They kiss more, easy, casual kisses that make them both smile. “So you want to go on another date with me?” she asks as they approach her car.

“Absolutely. I really like you.” He takes her hands in his, squeezes them. “Like you said before, I think it was something I’ve been trying not to feel for a while.”

“I think there’s a lot you try not to feel. I’m glad you’re willing to give me a chance.” They kiss again, and it feels like goodbye. “Are you sure you can’t go to the farmers’ market with me?” He’d love to, but he has to do some extra work to make up for last night and this morning.

“Yeah, I wish I could. Next week, for sure.”

“Okay, that sounds good. I’ll let you go—for the record, I don’t want to,” she says, and she takes a step back, so their arms are stretched further.

“Neither do I. I’ll call you later,” he promises, and he drops her hands, walks away.

When he looks back, she’s looking at him too, soft, and she waves goodbye.

He’s officially a goner.

“Did you have a good time at the farmers’ market?” he asks later, when they speak on the phone that evening.

“Oh yeah, great haul. I just hope I get to eat it all before we inevitably get called to leave town. I should freeze stuff like you. There was music, too, and so many dogs. How was your day?”

“It was good, productive.” She chuckles softly.

“Sounds like a blast.”

“I had my fun with you, this morning. And now.”

“Aw. That makes me happy. I had fun too. And I love talking on the phone with you. It’s my favorite part of the day.” He can hear the water running in the background. “What are you doing now?”

“Are you sure you want to hear? It’s very sexy.” She hums, thoughtful.

“Then yes, absolutely I want to hear.”

“I’m folding laundry.”

“I know you said that as a joke, but I can find a way to make it arousing. It’s a gift I have, apparently, where you’re concerned.” It’s his turn to hum down the line.

“Really? Tell me more.”

“Hmm. Well, I’m thinking of your arms flexing as you fold. Thick, careful fingers. The look on your face when you concentrate. Then, of course, it’s your clothes, so I’ll think of you putting them on… taking them off. See? Laundry is now sexy. It’s a talent.”

“That is impressive. What are you doing?”

“I’m prepping my fruit and veggies for the week. I got some flowers, so I’ll put them in a vase. Then maybe watch a movie.”

“Okay, that just sounds sweet.”

“Well I am sweet, Mr. Hotchner,” she says innocently, and he grins.

“Of course you are. What movie?”

“I think Bringing Up Baby. It always makes me laugh.”

“That’s Cary Grant, right?”

“Yes, I love Cary Grant—so tall, dark, handsome… I guess I have a type.”

They discuss movies some more, their favorite classics, her favorite actors. The night is winding down, though, and he has more work to do.

“Are you going to run tomorrow?” he asks when it’s clear the conversation will be ending soon.

“I think you wore me out today, so probably just some yoga in the park. You could come with me; have you ever done yoga?”

“No, but I’d be happy to try. What time?”

“Let’s say 8? I’ll send you the address to the park I like, and then I can treat you to breakfast at my spot.”

“Oh, so it’s a date, then,” he says, leading, and she laughs softly.

“Yes, it’s a date. I have a mat you can use, so just bring yourself and some water and I’ll take care of the rest.” “So this is called Cat Pose - just think Halloween cartoon cat,” Sophie explains the following morning, from her hands and knees, rounding her back so she looks just like the image she mentioned. “When you alternate with Cow Pose, it’s the best stretch, like waking up late on a Sunday morning and stretching in the sun coming through the curtains.”

It’s a great thought, makes him imagine Sophie sprawled across his bed, brown skin, dark hair, soft lips, smooth legs…

“Aaron?” He blinks at the sound of his name, turns to face her, and she’s smiling softly. “Thought I lost you for a sec. Next is Downward Facing Dog, so straighten your knees and send your butt up to the sky.” He watches as she does it, legs looking long and lean and strong, and he tries to replicate it as best as he can. “You’re doing really good for a beginner. This pose in particular usually sucks for a while.” She comes out of her pose, stands in front of him and presses her hands to his back. “Flat back, if you can, or bend your knees a little; I’m not trying to get sexy, I swear.” He laughs indulgently, and she steps back onto her mat with a grin.

They shift into some standing poses after a moment, Sophie checking in on him with a soft expression, and he is feeling it in his muscles by the time they drop into Plank.

“Almost done. Is it harder than you thought?” she asks, looking absolutely effortless as she supports herself on her hands, and he has to huff a laugh.

“It is, actually,” he admits, his arms quaking a bit. “People who do yoga have my utmost respect.” She lifts one arm, wraps it around her back, and she’s got to be just showing off now. She’s barely sweating.

“Yeah it takes more strength than people usually think. It’s not just all about being bendy and zen. Lower down slowly, no belly flop. Then turn onto your back, arms and legs out—this is the best part.” She closes her eyes, sighs deeply, and he can see how this would be her favorite. His entire body is sore, and before today he would have considered himself in good shape.

They rest and breathe, and when she finally sits up for a swig of water, he does the same. “You thought I wore you out yesterday? I won’t have trouble sleeping for a week,” he teases, and she bites her lip, smiles.

“Good. Maybe I can talk you into this more often. It’s fun.” He nods, panting a little from guzzling his water.

“Fun for you to make an old man suffer, that is.” She swats at his arm, and she stands, offering him a hand and helping him to his feet; they roll up the mats, take them back to her car, and head down the block to her café of choice.

It’s definitely a little more upscale than his diner, but still comfortable—they aren’t out of place in their activewear, and the woman seating them greets Sophie by name.

“So they can absolutely make you a western omelette,” Sophie says when they open their menus, “but if you trust me, I can make a suggestion.”

“I’ll take your suggestion. Let’s see how well you know me,” he offers as a challenge, and she smiles, something adorable that scrunches her nose.

“Oh, it’s a deal. You’ll love your breakfast so much you’ll weep, Aaron, I promise you.” She scans the menu again, and by the time the server comes around to take their orders, she confidently names dishes he didn’t even bother to look at. He wants to be surprised.

She gets a breakfast quesadilla for herself, which he steals a bite of, and the dish she ordered for him is a mess of potatoes and ham and eggs and cheese and veggies that he polishes off so quickly it’s almost embarrassing.

Then there are carrot cake pancakes to share, so sweet they’re almost dessert, and when she offers him the last piece she presents it on her fork, looks him over seriously when he leans in and takes the bite. It’s been all fun and easy laughter all morning, but he’s suddenly warm in a way that has nothing to do with the exercise and everything to do with the company, and he thinks she feels it too.

She pays, tips very well, and they hold hands when they walk back to the park; she leans in, presses her nose to his shoulder, and sighs when they’re about halfway there.

“I could get used to this,” she murmurs, and he looks down into her warm brown eyes and nods his agreement.

“So could I. Maybe we could make it a thing,” he offers, and her returning smile is brilliant.

“Yeah, I would like that.” They get to her car, and he crowds her up against it, kisses her deeply; she licks her bottom lip when they pull apart, and it’s gorgeous, feels a little indulgent for the park.

“As much as I’ve enjoyed our dates this weekend, I would like to take you somewhere in the evening, this week, if we can.” He knows it’s old fashioned, but he wants her to know he’s serious about them, and he feels like drinks or dinner set the tone he’s looking for. She nods her head.

“Sure, okay. Just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.” They kiss again, a little sweeter, this time, since there are families present, and when he steps away from her, she looks a little dazed. “Just remember, you promised me handsy, and if you keep kissing me like that, I’m going to deliver.” He smirks a bit.

“Message received.” His next kiss is just a light, barely there brush of lips, and she smiles when it breaks. “Call me later, if you want. I’ll just be doing work.”

“Okay. Thanks for doing yoga with me,” she murmurs, and he touches her chin.

“Thanks for breakfast. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” she repeats, and she turns around to open her car door, forgets that it’s locked. She bows her head like she’s embarrassed, but he can only laugh. She is so god damn adorable. They see each other again on Tuesday night.

AH: Done kind of early today. Was thinking about going to get a drink.

SC: A drink sounds nice. Do you want company?

AH: When it’s you? Always.

AH: Can we go to your friend's bar?

SC: Of course. There’s open mic tonight, if that’s what you’re getting at.

AH: That’s what I’m getting at.

SC: 717 Carson St, 7:30? - it looks shady, but it’s not, I promise.

AH: A glowing review.

SC: 😋

“You look so good,” is the first thing out of her mouth when he approaches her table, and it makes him laugh, duck his head. She is always so quick to dish out compliments, and while he’s not used to thinking of himself as attractive, hasn’t had a reason to in a while, it does make him feel good.

“Uh, thank you,” he says, trying not to be awkward about it. “You look beautiful, as always.” She does, too, so gorgeous in a tight white sweater and tighter back jeans—she’s too gorgeous for him by far, but he’s certainly not complaining.

“Thank you,” she murmurs, and she stretches up on her toes to kiss him softly on the mouth; he thinks the chances of anyone they know coming to this shady looking bar called Lloyd’s, unprompted, are pretty slim to none, so he encourages her kisses. “Mmm. Do you want to come up to the bar with me? My friend Ben is working, I wanted to introduce you to him.”

“Sure, of course.” She takes his hand, and they each order a beer, and he is introduced to Ben, the bartender, Monty, the guitar player, and Racquel, the manager, all of whom are very kind and appear pleased to meet him; apparently, Sophie has mentioned him once or twice. It’s so endearing.

They sit down, talk a little, order another round of beers, and when it’s Sophie’s turn to sing, she sighs lightly, shoots him a shy smile.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” she says, pressing her lips to his, and she heads up to the stage.

“Give it up for Lloyd’s favorite rock balladeer, Sophie Cortes!” That seems, to Aaron, much more official than just blowing off some steam, and he’s prepared to find out that she severely underestimated her talent; what he’s not prepared for, however, is how incredibly beautiful she looks and sounds when she sings a slow, romantic Bon Jovi song, earning applause from a group of regulars who are clearly familiar with her singing.

She waves at them, blushing a little, and when she comes back to him, he pulls her close for a tender kiss.

“You are amazing. What are you doing at the FBI? You should be selling out stadiums, or something.” She laughs.

“I don’t know about that, Aaron, but thank you. It’s something I love to do, but it’s not a career.” They sit, but he scoots his chair closer to her than before. “You know how it is when you’re a kid; people tell you you can be anything you want to be when you grow up, and then you grow up, and things change. But I’ll always have Lloyd’s, so… it works.” He takes her face in his hands and kisses her again; her fingers brush over the back of this head, and she hums against his lips.

“Can’t believe I’m dating someone who’s practically famous,” he teases when they separate, and she rolls her eyes, blushes.

“Enough, or I’ll make Monty give you his guitar so we can see what you can do.”

“Okay, point taken,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender, and they laugh and talk for a while, until they both remember it’s a work night and they need to head out.

“Where did you park? I’ll walk you to your car,” he says, hand on her back, and she gestures down the street.

“I’m only two blocks away, I walked.” She must see surprise and discomfort in his eyes, because she takes his other hand. “If anyone tries to mess with me, you know they’ll regret it. I'll be fine.”

“I know, but still. I’d feel better if you let me drive you.”

“Well, I’ll never turn you down,” she says sweetly, pulling him down for a kiss, and he gets her into the car, closes the door for her. In a couple of minutes, they are parked in front of her large brown stone building, and they both unbuckle their seat belts, turn to face each other.

“I like Lloyd’s,” he tells her while they sit companionably; it’s clear neither is ready for the night to end. “Everyone is so nice; it definitely feels like a place you’d go.

“Thank you, I think,” she says with a playful smile. He smiles too, feeling great after such a good date, and he leans over for a kiss. Sophie lengthens it, brushing fingers through his hair, and her eyes have that dreamy quality again when they break apart. “Mmm. Can I come over there?” She sets a hand gently on his thigh, and he nods, pushes back his seat to give her more room.

She settles comfortably in his lap, hands on his shoulders, and he brings her to him for a long, steamy kiss. They make out for several minutes, get handsy, as she mentioned before, before she pulls back with a soft sigh. “Can I tell you something?” she asks, pressing her forehead against his.

“Anything. Always.”

“I’ve thought about this—making out in your car—quite a few times. The first time was the night we went out for my birthday.”

“I really enjoyed myself that night.”

“Me too. I was so happy you came out, and stayed out. And when I told you I loved you, there was so much left unsaid… I hoped you knew.” He smooths his hand over her cheek, his thumb over her bottom lip, and she shivers. “Then you took me home, and you helped me with my shoes, and when you kissed me on my head, I thought: maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way I do. And then we never mentioned it, and nothing ever happened, so I thought maybe I was imagining everything.”

“You weren’t imagining anything. I felt it too.”

“Good,” she murmurs, taking his face in her hands, and they kiss hot, slow. “I think you’re so incredible.”

“I think you’re incredible, too.” He smooths his hands up her back, pressing her closer, and she rolls her hips slowly against him, earning a groan. “Sophie,” he sighs, clutching her. She feels so good, smells so good, it’s almost intoxicating.

“I know,” she breathes, and she looks up at him, eyes serious, chest heaving. “Do you want to come up with me?” He is about to answer with an emphatic yes when someone knocks hard on the window; Sophie starts, bumps her head, and he rubs it with his hand, rolls down the window.

It’s a police officer, because of course it is, and they both wince. He is young, a little cocky, Aaron can tell just by looking at him. Great.

“Good evening. I’d ask what you folks are doing out here, but I think it’s a bit obvious,” he drawls, looking slowly over Sophie’s body where she sits in his lap. “Hiding from your wife, or…?”

“No, sir, we are not,” she answers, clearly a little perturbed but keeping her cool. “We were just about to go inside.”

“That’s good; we like to discourage lewd behavior on our streets, which I’m sure you can understand.” Aaron bristles at that himself.

“Lewd behavior? With all due respect, we were only kissing, and we were about to go inside, like she said. Are you going to attempt to cite us for this?” The officer looks them over thoughtfully, takes out his flashlight.

“Let’s start with some identification.” Sophie sighs, makes to climb off his lap, but he stops her with a hand on her hip.

The situation is uncomfortable enough, but if she vacates his lap… it will only become more awkward for everyone. She presses her lips together like she’s trying not to laugh, slides her driver’s license out of her pocket and hands it to the officer.

“Can she get in the glove box for mine?” he asks, trying to remain respectful even though he instantly hates this man. He nods, and Sophie reaches over, opens the glove box, and pulls out his FBI credentials. She flips it open in front of his flashlight, and he blanches, steps back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t—I wasn’t.” He looks up, nervous. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your evening, sir.”

“You were just doing your job,” Aaron says gently, despite the fact that this is just, so embarrassing. “Are we going to be cited?” To his credit, the kid looks like he’s going to wet his pants. It’s a little funny.

“No, sir, of course not. I—thank you for your cooperation. You two enjoy the rest of your night.” He all but runs back to his squad car, and when he drives away, Aaron and Sophie both burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” she says through fits of giggles, and she leans against him for a hug. “This has to be the worst date you’ve ever been on, right?” He exhales, shakes his head in amusement.

“No. I’d take what just happened a thousand times over if I could relive the rest of tonight.” Her face softens, and she presses her lips softly against his, squeezes his shoulder.

“You are some type of man,” she says when she pulls back, and she looks him over like she wants to devour him. His lap situation had subsided, but apparently not for long. “I think we should probably just call it a night, don’t you?” she asks gently. “I’m thinking we should take that unmistakable sign for what it is.” He nods, because even though the prospect of going upstairs is a very sweet one, the decision may have been a little premature.

“I agree; but just know, more than anything, that I don’t want this evening to end.”

“I know, me neither. But we do have work in the morning; you can call me tomorrow night, though, if you want. I would really like that.”

“It’s a date,” he teases, and they kiss softly a couple of times before she slides back into the passenger’s seat, heads out the door.

He exhales deeply when she’s out of his sight.

[pastpatientlywaitingforimagines]

All The Clouds Ch. 2 | Niall Horan x Reader

Warnings: mild swearing

Chapter 1

Chapter 2: BLACK AND WHITE

“There’ll never be another,”

As soon as you met Niall, you knew you wanted to be a part of his life.

Of course, he had no idea who you were. You were a budding sound engineer hired onto a gigantic tour production and he was… well, he was a rockstar.

All of the boys were charismatic and extremely talented, so it was no surprise that they had risen to fame so quickly. The tour manager, Tom, had pointed them out to you when he was giving you a tour of the production before your first sound check, but you never crossed paths until much later.

“You’ll be working with Annika Wilson and bunking with her as well. She’ll show you exactly what your responsibilities are. If you have any problems, report back to me. Any questions?” Tom asked as he led you to the side of the stage you’d be working from.

“Um, no,” you shrugged, feeling slightly overwhelmed. You weren’t exactly sure how you landed this job, but you also weren’t going to question it.

“Great,” he led you over to a sound station where a blonde woman was organizing cords and microphones, “Annika, this is the newbie I told you about.”

Annika was in her late twenties, tall, and intimidatingly cool. She looked up at you from what she was working on, dropping the cords and tightening her ponytail before reaching out to shake your hand, “welcome to the shit-show.”

You returned her handshake, immediately liking her. Tom shot her a glare but didn’t say anything before walking away. Annika must have had some seriously good job security to be making quips like that in front of the tour manager, you reasoned.

“He didn’t make this show seem like sunshine and rainbows did he?” Annika asked once he was gone, turning back to what she was working on.

“Kinda,” you rocked back awkwardly on your heels, unsure of what you could do.

“It’s not. This whole show is such a mess I’m surprised we manage to hold it together every time we run it. My job is to manage all of the microphones, for the boys and their band. Tom said you have experience sound mixing?”

“Yeah,” you stepped up to the sound board she was standing next to, “I was stage crew at the local concert venue in my hometown.”

“Perfect. We can tag team mixing until you get the hang of it for the show, then we’ll split it up. These,” she pointed to a box on her left, “are the boys microphones. Louis is blue, Harry is green, Liam is red, Zayn is yellow, and Niall is Ireland. Niall also has a headset mic, for when he’s playing the guitar. Since you’re just getting started, you’ll just be responsible for Niall. I can keep tabs on the other boys until you have your feet under you. Sound good?”

It took you a minute to realize she was serious. It was your first day, and she had already assigned you to the most technically complicated band member.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t trust myself not to mess something up and I don’t want to get fired on my first day.”

Annika laughed brightly, shaking her head, “the best way to learn this stuff is to just do it, two feet first into the deep end. Don’t let the boys scare you. Working with them is the easiest part of the job, they’re really sweet underneath all of the chaos,” she smirked. You weren’t sure how much you believed her, the quick glimpse of them you had seen earlier involved a Segway and being chased by their security guard, Paul. You didn’t get to ask her any further questions before she started introducing you to the rest of the equipment.

The sound board you’d be working with was much like the one you were used to using at your job back home. The difference would be setting it up correctly and breaking it down quickly between shows. Annika kept reassuring you that it would seem less overwhelming the more times you did it, and with the list of upcoming tour dates you’d get lots of practice.

“Here comes trouble,” Annika mumbled to you shortly after sound check officially started. You looked up to the stage and saw all five boys heading your direction. “Boys,” she greeted them when they made it to the sound station, “this is (y/n). Be nice.”

“We’re always nice,” Liam smirked, though the way he winked at you said otherwise.

“Always,” Harry emphasized, taking his microphone from Annika. She rolled her eyes, handing Liam, Louis, and Zayn their mics as well. Instead of giving Niall his microphone, she gave it to you instead, nodding in his direction before going back to chatting with the other boys.

You walked up to him hesitantly, “um, Annika put me in charge of your mics.”

“Did she?” Niall glanced over at your coworker quickly with a lopsided smile.

“Mhmm,” you hummed.

“Well ya know what that means, don’t ya?”

“I don’t think I do.”

“Means we’re friends now.”

“Does it?”

“Absolutely. And you have to promise we’ll stay friends forever.”

“Why would I do that?” you couldn’t be too careful, you had to ask before you accidentally sold your soul. Niall looked a little taken aback by your question, eyes narrowing as he thought out an answer. Finally, he held out his free hand towards you. You cocked your head, but reached out and let him pull you onto the stage.

Normally standing in the middle of a stage made you feel small and insecure. You much rather preferred to be behind the sound booth, away from prying eyes and left to your own devices. Standing there with Niall though, you didn’t feel as small. There were rows upon rows of empty seats, and it was easy to imagine thousands of screaming fans filling the arena. It felt like a rush of electricity running through your veins. Standing up here, you felt like you could do anything.

“This is why,” he said smugly when you finally looked over at him, “this changes your life.”

“I still don’t see why that means I have to promise to stay friends with you though. I’ve know you for all of two minutes.”

“So what?”

“So I’m not promising anything until I know you better.”

Niall considered your offer slowly, dropping your hand to cross his arms, “fine. I’ll convince you, you’ll get it eventually.”

“Good luck with that,” as soon as there was space between you, the stage fright started to catch up to you, “I, um, I should get back to Annika.”

You turned on your heel and practically ran back to the sound board where Annika was waiting.

“He’s great, right?” she asked smugly.

“He’s alright,” you shrugged.

“Wait until you hear him sing,” she moved a slider on the sound board, then gave the boys a thumbs up.

You had to admit, she was right. The boys were amazing. Of course, you had heard some of their music before joining the tour, practically the whole world had at that point, but their live performances were something else. Each one had their own style and sound that melded together in a stylistic way. Their personalities shined through their music and their antics. It was impossible to watch them without a smile on your face.

It would be generous to say you fumbled through your first soundcheck and show, but Annika knew what she was talking about when she said you had to jump feet first into the deep end. Niall was more than forgiving when you dropped his mic while handing it to him during your first show, and completely forgot to bring his handheld when he switched back later that night. With every mishap, he laughed it off and told you that you’d get it next time.

Like Annika, he was also right, and by your third show you had it all figured out. Once you were more confident in your abilities as an employee, you started to enjoy the show as a whole and could spend more time appreciating the work that the boys were doing. Though at first it seemed larger than life, as the tour picked up speed you started noticing things that outsiders wouldn’t have even blinked over.

You finally asked Annika about it when you were leaving your hotel room in a new city to walk to the venue for sound check, “does the band ever get to go out when we go places like this?” It was a beautiful, sunny day and Annika had suggested going out to experience the night life after the show.

She shook her head, “they can’t. They’d be mobbed, fans and paps everywhere. Nobody knows who we are so we can get away with it, but the boys are stuck inside most places. Management doesn’t want them out causing trouble anyways.”

“Why would management care? Plenty of celebrities go out, and if they do get into trouble, isn’t it their management’s job to fix it? Why have management at all otherwise?”

“Not all celebrities are young attractive men that the whole world is obsessed with. You’re right, management is supposed to protect the talent, but here they’re just controlling.The boys are basically prisoners to their management. They can’t leave the hotel, they can’t say or do anything that could be considered scandalous, and they’re extremely overworked. Management has even asked me to turn down Niall’s mic during a show before. Honestly, the boys are great to work with, but the rest of this place is toxic.”

“You didn’t…” you felt a twinge of responsibility for the Irishman who had quickly become your favorite member of One Direction (though you’d never admit that to anyone).

“Of course not, I’d never betray the boys like that. My reputation with them is more important than my reputation with management, and I don’t hide the fact that I like them better than I like their management. That’s how it’s always been and how it always will be. If management decides they have a problem with it, they can fire me,” she shrugged.

Her words stayed with you all through soundcheck, but once the show started you pushed them as far back into your mind as possible. You had to focus on the task at hand.

You were more comfortable around Niall than you had been three weeks ago when you first started. There was an intimacy that you got to have with him every night while passing off microphones and guitars between you that easily fueled a good working relationship. At first it was mostly small talk, a comment here and there about the energy in the room or the water fight Louis and Liam had onstage. Small talk turned into tiny dance parties or riddles, but you didn’t think your relationship was any more complex than that until Niall posed you a question as you traded microphones.

“What’s been goin’ on in your head all night?”

“Just show things,” you brushed him off, not really wanting to talk about it in that moment.

“I can hear the whirring of your gears turning from the other side of the stage, and that’s with my in-ears. Harry’s got the crowd captivated for a minute, what’s wrong?”

“Have you always wanted to be a singer?”

Niall smiled softly, “I wanted t’ be a footballer for a little bit, but yeah, this has always been my dream.”

“What happens when you’re old, then?”

Niall laughed loudly, “old? I’ll still be able to sing when I’m old.”

“Right, but when you’re done touring and performing for millions of people around the world.”

“Well, I’ll just be able to enjoy my life at that point I guess. Maybe I’ll play golf more, have some consistency. I haven’t thought much about it but I’ll get back to you,” he flashed you a bright smile before bouncing back on stage to rejoin the band, leaving you holding his microphone.

Niall didn’t know the weight of your words because of how you phrased your question, but his answer told you everything you needed to know. He wanted consistency, because his life currently didn’t have much of it. He wanted control, and to ‘enjoy his life’. Those were his words. “I’ll just be able to enjoy my life at that point”. You went back to the sound station where Annika was perched on a stool watching the boys, oblivious to the conversation you had just had. You sat next to her, eyes landing on one blonde Irishman who was bouncing all over the stage. His smile said it all, he was living his dream. He was living his dream and having fun while doing it, but at what cost to him and his sanity?

You thought back to a few weeks ago, when you stood in the middle of the stage with him and he asked you to promise you’d stay friends. It meant something to him, and you chose not to do it. Knowing what you knew now, though, it made sense. Management controlled his every move. He was living his dream under somebody else’s thumb, and to fight it he was picking up friends at every turn.

It was the most Niall Horan thing you had ever heard.

If he was going to spend the rest of his career like this, though you really hoped he didn’t, you knew you had to be there to support him through it all. Nobody should have to go through what he was dealing with, and if he was asking for friendship you were going to be the best friend he had ever had.

You waited until the show was over to say anything else to him. As soon as he was in front of you handing you his mic, you plucked up the courage.

“Do you have a minute?”

“Yeah, do you have a minute?” he was still buzzing from the show, skin gleaming in sweat.

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t,” you stuck your tongue out at him, earning a laugh. You walked to the wings of the stage, peeking out from behind a wall to see if there were still fans in the audience. You waited until you were sure the coast was clear, then you waved for him to follow.

The stage crew was already breaking down the set, but you were still able to lead Niall to the center of the stage. You stood looking out at the now empty seats, not making eye contact before you spoke.

“You asked me to promise to be your friend.”

“I did.”

“You said I’d get it eventually. It took me a while to figure it out, but you were right, this changes your life. I get it now,” you finally turned to look at him and you were met with a cheeky grin.

“Is this going where I think it’s going?”

You rolled your eyes, “I promise we’ll stay friends.”

Niall whooped loudly, lifting you off your feet in a hug and spinning you around.

“Ew, you’re all sweaty,” you squirmed out of his grasp. He only grinned harder.

“It doesn’t matter. You still have t’ like me, we’re friends for life now.”

“If we’re going to be friends you have to put in effort too, you know. This isn’t a one way street.”

“I know.”

You thought it would be simple, being friends with Niall Horan. You were wrong.

“I promise that I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”

Chapter 3: DEAR PATIENCE Coming April 20th, 2021

[kris-p-banana-bread]

Here DOAFP fandom, have some organic, locally-sourced, home-grown pain. This is basically just me, a scarred older sibling, projecting on Bobby, another scarred older sibling. I really reached into my post-loss psyche for this, so I hope you enjoy the headcanons and meta (AKA I hope you shed at least one tear).

It won’t let me link it here so the post that inspired this is under the read more at the bottom ✨

- When I first watched doafp, I couldn't understand Elena's aversion to Sam becoming a prominent figure in her mom's and her life. Now I understand it almost too perfectly. There was never supposed to be someone after Robert. He and Gabi were deeply in love and happy. Robert was it; he was the first and true love of Gabi's life. Sam showing up probably felt like a huge and utterly disrespectful slap in the face of Robert's memory, because he wasn't even supposed to be there. I don't know if that's as eloquent as I wish it was, or if it makes sense, and it probably sounds really mean to Sam, but it's not even really about him. It was always supposed to be Robert; Sam hasn’t earned the right to be apart of or associated with her family

- After Robert dies, Gabi and Bobby make it a habit to find and keep photos and recordings/videos of Robert, even if the latter only has him saying one sentence. They won't make Elena join them for the search, but after they find some of those old audios of Robert, they'll sometimes play them back for little Elena

- Bobby put up the keep out sign (I credit this to a few other blogs for discussing this tho) because that's where he would cry sometimes. He actually used to be pretty close with Elena, but after he put up that sign and started distancing himself from them a bit so they wouldn't see the times he cracked, he got a little more short and jaded with her. It's that, plus just growing into a teenager and stuff. And I'm not saying that he and Elena have a bad relationship, but he's become more snappy and has more walls up than he used to

- Sometimes Elena feels bad because she doesn't always remember her dad's voice. She was pretty young when he died, so even though she recalls it a bit, and the recordings help, it's been a while since she's talked to him in person, so of course she doesn't quite remember what it's like to actually talk to Robert and she's forgotten some of his mannerisms. She likes to think she's all done (she marked the stages down in her grief journal after all) but grief isn't linear or all that rational, so it hits her hard sometimes

- I keep reading as an action close to my heart because that's a strong bond me and my mom shared. She would rec books to me, and we would joke and talk about them, or she would hint to some future event and then refuse to tell me until I caught up to that part. So Elena and Bobby do something similar in their grief. Elena has writing and words, because that's something Robert loved if I remember correctly (but if I’m not and that’s not canon, then I now declare it so) and Bobby has tennis. But besides tennis (I sent a couple anons to @freshlybakedfandoms about it but I'm not sure where she went) Bobby also was taught to play guitar by Robert (I liken it to Devi Vishwakumar and her harp) so when he misses his dad or is just sad, he'll take out his dad's old acoustic and strum

- (This next one is something I also think a lot about so this is pretty much 98% projection) Bobby thinks sometimes about the fact that he was never able to come out to his dad. He hadn't really started growing into that part of himself yet, and he never got to show it to his father. He wonders what he would have thought of him. Would he be angry? Would he dismiss him and say it was just a phase? Bobby didn't think so, but a little part of him insisted that you could never be too sure. After he comes out, Gabi and Cami assure him that Robert would've been so proud of him and would've loved him regardless (Since we know virtually nothing about him, I maintain that Robert was one of those dads who teases their kid relentlessly about their crushes and I think he would've done that with Bobby and eventually Elena)

- When Elena's quince rolls around (if she chooses to have one of course), Sam dances with her during the father-daughter dance. A part of her still hurts, still aches and wishes that Robert were dancing with her too; still knows on some fundamental level that he and Gabi had planned for this day, but he had simply never made it. But she's known Sam long enough that she feels comfortable here. Nobody can replace Robert, but Sam is her family, and it feels right like this.

- I might do some more research and deliberate, but for the moment I'm saying that Robert had cancer, I’m thinking along the lines of colon. My mom was terminal, but idk if I should make Robert terminal? Maybe towards the end. Or maybe he was diagnosed as incurable early on but Gabi kept it from the kids because, tbh, being told your parent is balancing on that kind of edge is traumatic for them. So anyways, I’m going on that assumption for this last point, and I’ll see if I can recover some of my old knowledge and talk about technical stuff later if anybody would like to hear it

- Elena and Bobby were both pretty young. Bobby understood about PET scans and tests somewhat, and knew generally what different answers from doctors meant. Elena mainly just understood what was happening by reading her parents' and brother's expressions when getting lab results in from the doctor. They both remember on some level what it was like when Gabi would leave the kids with Cami and take Robert out to the car (later she would have to help him) and they would all feel like they were holding their breath until they got back and confirmed that everything was ok (and later, the little shocks of fear when the answers were no longer as positive and there was more apprehension and risks. After all, cancer doesn’t deal in absolutes)

- Bobby can still remember Robert when he had to stop walking around a lot. He still remembers the phone call that Cami got from his mom, saying that something had gone wrong, and if this last treatment didn’t work, he wouldn’t have much time before he passed. Still remembers Cami rushing into a room when she got that call, and trying to hide what was happening until Gabi could get home and explain it; but Bobby was a sharp kid believe it or not. He heard about the treatment, heard Cami crying. He still had hope... but when Robert came home in a gurney, when he could barely stay awake sometimes, when his voice was quiet and his skin was a little jaundiced, Bobby felt incredibly empty. But Robert always had a smile for his wife and his beautiful kids, even if it was small and very tired, his eyes still crinkled the same. He always had a smile; right up until they had to say goodnight and get some sleep one night. And then... he passed.

- After he passed, the Cañero-Reeds needed help, and a lot of Gabi’s coworkers would bring food or materials if they were running low. Cami and Danielle would babysit and would distract the kids when Gabi needed a good cry.

- Like you’d imagine, and because of what is sort of implied in canon and in my own head, the kids dealt with it in different ways. Bobby put up that sign, and withdrew. He wasn’t awful, but his patience with certain people got a bit shorter and he was a bit quieter. And he was a really good helper when he had the energy and he cared deeply, but he would sometimes get physically and emotionally exhausted after helping Gabi/Elena/Cami/anybody else with something and would go into his room or mentally tap out to recharge. He took comfort in things that seemed natural and that he sometimes took for granted before, like video games and skateboarding (hehe bobby skateboards. Anybody second me on this?) and clothes etc... and other stuff. A lot of materialistic things or experiences that he would skip out on before. But they bring normalcy back to his life now so he loves them for that.

- Bobby doesn’t wanna think about big themes or anything anymore, which I can’t remember but I think it was Vi (freshlybakedfandoms, again, idk where she is and I hope she’s ok) who said he was a math and science person and I think that as much as that could transfer over to those subjects as well, it’s much harder to avoid existential and emotional themes in English and History class and Bobby doesn’t like it as much as Elena does for that reason. He had to live with the back and forth of his dad’s treatments and tests, so math and science is comforting because it’s more concrete (There could be a million arguments for why he would distrust math and science because of his dad’s passing though, I realize) Ultimately, though, it reminds him of Robert too much.

- On the other hand, after a period of shock and confusion, Elena threw herself into new things. First it was a grief journal, to make sure she was going through the motions. Then she read a lot, and when she felt too alone or like she wasn’t doing enough, like she was stagnant, she’d just find something to focus and persevere on again. That feels like her personality type to me; something is wrong so let’s fix it right away. But that could also transfer sort of negatively into “Something feels off or I’m very sad, let’s get this thing done and be productive so we can put off having to confront that but at least we get work out of it” but I could be entirely wrong (this is based off some of my family members and how they dealt with the loss.) And Elena throws herself into history and english because her dad loved it, and she wants to remember more of him. Because she believes words have power and history is a lesson and that’s incredibly interesting for her

[mirakumiruku]

Night Life

bout time i posted something. hopefully it’s worth the wait! maybe i’ll make sequels with other babes if the interest is good...

Dabi/Touya x Reader Contains: Quirkless AU, Stripper!Dabi, drinking, multiple orgasms, unsafe sex WC: 4.7k Taglist: @nereida19​

The red light district was intimidating to say the least. The first time you dared to venture into the streets brimming with debauchery, you were overwhelmed by the flashing neon lights, the bass-blasted music, the stench of alcohol lingering on people’s breath and cheap perfume wafting from the clubs. 

You only made your journey to this den of earthly desires for one reason, a dancer you had heard your coworkers whispering about when they thought no one was listening. An intimidating man covered in piercings and haphazardly stitched leather, he always had the entire crowd hanging off his every move.

Needless to say, you were intrigued. 

You picked up on the name of the club, Smokescreen. It didn’t take too much digging to find the address and hours of operation, it was deep in the city and while it was open for drinks starting at 9pm, the shows didn’t start until midnight.

You didn’t know when the dancer was going to go on, so you figured you may as well turn up for the first show and wait until you saw the man your coworkers had chatted about.

The lineup was interesting to say the least, but you could tell that each dancer had their fans, based on the walk they would do around the edge of the stage by the end of each of their sets, picking up the various bills for 100, 500, 1,000 yen. An energetic man with a mop of electric purple hair; a duo of a shy, muscular blond and a bubbly young woman with her hair in twin buns; a man that had come out in a mask that had tossed his top hat into the crowd at the start of his routine. Each would step onto the stage, put on an impressive show for their fans, then head backstage to get redressed before making their way out to the bar where there was a handful of people offering to buy them drinks.

It was getting late and you were starting to feel your drinks before a bass-heavy song with low electric guitar blared out of the speakers, and the lights dimmed. Figuring this seemed interesting, you picked up your drink and made your way to the proper stage area, where a crowd was gathering once more, far larger than those for the other performers.

The man that stepped out was tall, even without the high-heeled leather boots whose tops disappeared under the hem of his long leather trench coat.

The DJ announced the dancer’s name– Dabi –as he approached the pole at the center of the stage. His walk was leisurely, almost lazy, and a blue spotlight followed him down his path.

A hush fell over the crowd when he stopped, his hands coming to rest at the collar of his coat, only to cause an uproar when he ripped the coat off and tossed it behind him. Now you could see his deep crimson tank top, his skin-tight leather pants, his boots that only ended halfway up his thigh. He stood for a moment, basking in the squeals and bills that were already being tossed his way, before he finally got to work.

You almost couldn’t hear the cheering crowd around you, nor the blaring music as you watched the way he interacted with the cold metal, the way his hands gripped the chrome until his knuckles turned white, or how he held onto it with his muscular thighs as he flipped upside down. You swore that when he stuck his tongue out between his spread fingers, showing off his tongue piercing that glinted in the spotlight, his dazzling turquoise eyes met yours.

Though, you were sure that everyone else in the crowd was sure of the same thing. 

Halfway through the routine he ripped off his top, tossing it into the crowd where it somehow landed in your hands. Some of the people around you clamored for it, but you held tightly to the dark red fabric without taking your eyes off Dabi. He was practically sparkling, from a combination of the various piercings that littered his body and the sheen of sweat that was visible on his skin. 

The show was over far sooner than you would like, and Dabi ended his routine balancing himself in an upside down split, his chest notably heaving as the sweat dripped down his forehead. You pushed your way to the front to wave a 2,000 yen bill as Dabi made his way around the edge of the stage. He gladly took it, giving you a wink as he stuffed the bill in the waist of his pants. You thought you saw his eyes glint as they darted over the torn fabric in your hand, but it must have just been a trick of the light. 

You found yourself back at the bar in a haze while Dabi collected his coat, making room for another blond decked in yellow and red. You ordered yourself another drink, gladly accepting it when the bartender slid it across the counter. You really didn’t realize how warm it had gotten in there. 

Just as you pulled out some cash to pay for the drink, you felt a nudge against your shoulder and a deep voice came from behind you. “It’s on me, Kurogiri.” Your jaw fell open as a familiar leather jacket slid in next to you, elbows coming to rest on the counter. “Gotta give our new customers a warm welcome, yeah?” The man behind the counter, Kurogiri, gave a silent nod before going off to fill some other orders.

“I-I’d think that I should be buying you a drink…” You said with a nervous chuckle, swirling the liquid in your glass before taking a sip.

“Nah, you’re way prettier than I am. Besides,” Dabi gave a nod to Kurogiri as the barkeep slid a glass towards him, “I get plenty of free drinks, sweetheart. I don’t need another.”

You gave a nod, taking another swig of your own drink, your eyes not leaving Dabi as he downed half the glass in one go.

“So what brings ya here? I think I’d recognize such a cute face if you’d been here before.” Dabi shot a playful wink in your direction, and you were thankful that the dim lights hid your blush. 

“Some… friends were talking about this place.” You took another sip, “About you, specifically.”

“Oh yeah? What’d they say?”

“Um…” You ran your finger around the rim of your glass, “Th-that you were hot, and the best dancer they’d seen.”

“And? Do you agree with them?”

Your face heated up a little more, and you gave a slight nod. “Mhm.”

“Good.” Dabi finished off his drink, “I’m headin’ to the back rooms for a smoke, care to join me?”

Part of you couldn’t believe that he actually asked you that, you tried to reason with yourself that no, he was just trying to be polite. 

But while you were thinking, your body moved of its own volition to follow Dabi to a door labeled “employees only”, drawing envious looks from the others at the bar.

You blinked a few times to adjust to the bright fluorescent lighting of the back hall, a big contrast from the low lights in the bar. The hall had only a few doorways, one open and leading to the group dressing room, another leading to the stage, a third to the kitchen, and a fourth was a staircase up to the second floor.

Dabi led you up the stairs and down another hall, finally stopping to open a door and waving you into a small bedroom.

“I didn’t know clubs provided housing like this…” You mumbled, standing awkwardly beside the door as Dabi stepped inside, picking up a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the bedside table.

“They don’t usually. I’m just renting this one from the owner.” He opened a window before lighting the cigarette, taking a drag and letting the smoke slowly out of his nose. “I don’t think we got introduced properly. What’s your name?”

“(Y/N).” 

“Pleasure to meet you, (Y/N). I’m Touya.”

“I thought you were Dabi?”

“What kind of idiot would use his real name for stripping?” Touya snorted, taking another puff off his cigarette.

“Yeah, guess you have a point…” You chuckled and finished off your drink, then set the glass on the bedside table. 

Touya took a seat on his bed, and you sat across from him in a dining chair. The two of you let the silence hang in the air for a moment, before he broke the silence once more.

“So what were you lookin’ for down here, anyway? No one’s really ‘just curious’.”

“What do you mean?” You tried to avoid his piercing blue eyes and teasing smirk.

“I mean that everybody’s got some kinda motive. So what’s yours? For most people they just wanna put a wrench in their one-note life by throwing some paper at a half-naked dancer, but… I’m gonna assume that you aren’t so simple.”

“What do you mean…?” You gave Touya a curious look, your eyebrows knitting together and your lips drawing into a pout.

“I mean that if you were just trying to mix it up for a night, you probably would’ve said no to coming into my bedroom.” Smoke poured out from between Touya’s teeth as he gave you a grin, “But… I’m nothing if not a gentleman. So if you really don’t want anything else, I’m happy to take you back downstairs.”

Your face flushed bright red, but you shook your head from side to side. 

Touya nodded, tapping his cigarette on an ashtray, “Good, been a while since I had a good lay, especially with a cute thing like you.” He shot you a mischievous wink before nodding to a minifridge near you.

“I’ve got some beers in there, you can make yourself at home while I finish this cig off, yeah?”

You didn’t have to be told twice, so you leaned over and opened the fridge, pulling out the bottle nearest to the front, along with the opener that sat atop the fridge itself. Dabi grabbed one for himself, holding it in his free hand while the ashes crept down the white paper. You were grateful that he had opened the window, knowing that you probably would be coughing up a storm if he hadn’t. You normally didn’t think of cigarettes as being ‘sexy’, believing them to be more odorous and irritating at best, but something about the way Touya pursed his lips around it as he took a breath in, and his soft sigh as he released the smoke through his nose or slightly parted mouth had you reeling over the sight.

“You never answered my question.” He finally drawled as he put out the last remaining smolders of his cigarette on the beat up ashtray. 

“What was that again?” You hummed, taking a swig from the bottle in your hand.

“What’d you really come here for?”

“I was bored,” You mumbled, watching the brown liquid slosh in the bottle as you swirled it. “And lonely. Figured I could just pretend for the night.”

“Pretend what?”

‘That someone as hot as you might even look my way normally. If I wasn’t in part paying your bills.” You laughed, and the corner of Touya’s lip quirked up in response.

“I mean, you don’t have to pretend, sweetheart. There have been plenty that have thrown money my way and they’ve never managed to get under my skin, let alone between my sheets.”

Your cheeks flushed, and you quickly averted your eyes from the intense teal gaze. “So… what, then? Is it out of pity or something?”

“No, idiot.” He took a swig of his drink, “It’s because you’re fuckin’ sexy.” He smirked at you, his lids lowering, “Even if you are a little dense.” He barked out a laugh, setting his bottle aside as he fought to capture your suddenly bashful gaze. “What? You think I’m lying? If I wasn’t, why do you think I brought you up here?” He stood up and took a stride closer to you, then took a handful of your hair to force your line of sight onto him. “I could get any bitch I wanted, and I don’t particularly like wasting my time.” He leaned down, pressing a hungry kiss to your lips, and leaving a string of saliva between the two of you when he pulled away. “So why would I have bothered if you weren’t the hottest piece of ass in that bar?”

Your breath caught in your chest as you stared up at Touya, eyes blown wide and the taste of tobacco lingering on your lips. As much as you wanted to keep questioning why he’d go for someone as plain as you… it would be stupid to pass up an opportunity like this.

Questioning could wait for later.

Before you could even cement the idea in your head, you were already pulling Touya down by the collar into another fervent kiss, managing to take him by surprise.

He took it in stride, though. He straddled your hips, his leather-bound bulge pressing expertly against your own clothed sex, drawing a moan out of you. He started to move his hips in a fluid motion, and he moved to press your head into his chest. If this weren’t your first lap dance, it surely would’ve been the best. 

With your face buried in between his pecs, his scent was strong, even under the cigarette smell. You could still catch whiffs of cologne and the sweat he had built up on the stage, and you let your tongue emerge from between your lips to lave against the fabric.

“Naughty little thing, huh?” Touya hummed, giving your hair a gentle tug. “Haven’t even started yet and you’re already acting like a grade A slut~”

He pulled away far sooner than you would’ve liked, standing up to his full height and dragging you along by the collar of your shirt. He backed up towards the bed, taking a seat on it and pulling you into his lap. 

You were immediately on him once more, burying your face in his neck, leaving behind kisses and licks, desperately taking in his intoxicating scent.

“No marks, sweetheart. Can’t break the illusion, yeah?” Touya delivered a sharp smack to your ass, “I might have to punish you if you do.”

Part of you wanted to know what this punishment would be, wanted to leave his neck covered in bright purple bite marks that would be near impossible to cover with concealer. But… you could be patient for now, you could give into your desires and reap your punishment next time.

Well, assuming there is a next time. You’d have to see how tonight goes.

The two of you began shedding your clothes, they were only a wrapping for the real prize after all. You watched hungrily as Touya revealed his piercings and soft pale skin; shiny metal rings were pierced through each of his nipples, which earned you a gasp when you gave the pink flesh a gentle tug.

Touya retaliated with a tug on your own nipples once all the barriers were removed, and your legs quivered at his rumbling laugh.

You removed your pants and underwear first, gasping softly as the cold air hit your dripping sex, which Touya quickly warmed up by circling two of his fingers over your clit. 

Once he deemed you ready, he started to unbutton and unzip his pants. The leather didn’t leave much to the imagination, but you were still surprised and a little intimidated by his size, but the real star of the show was the row of shining silver piercings that ran up the underside of his cock in a Jacob’s ladder. Part of you wondered how that could possibly be comfortable against the pole, but you were mostly thinking about what they would feel like rubbing against your velvety walls. 

“What do you think, babydoll?” Touya hummed, his hand tangling in your hair as you sank to your knees in front of him, admiring the metal that sat snugly against his skin.

Instead of responding, you leaned forward and licked up the column of piercings, eliciting a low moan from the man above you.

“Ah, fuck…~” He groaned softly, tugging gently on your hair. You purred in response, sucking at the head of his cock and licking away the precum with the tip of your tongue. “You really are fuckin’ cute,” Touya mumbled, his voice low and gravely with arousal. “But you already know that, huh?”

You smirked up at him, wordlessly answering his question, before diving back in to shower his length in kisses and kitten licks. Touya took your ministrations with a surprisingly calm air, the only giveaways being the hitching in his breath, and the single bead of sweat that ran down the side of his face.

You started slowly kissing, licking, and nibbling up his body. Over the thin white happy trail and abs that looked carved marble, taking care to tease at his pierced nipples as you continue your journey up over his chest, to his neck, then finally pressing a heated kiss to his lips. 

He growled softly into the kiss, grabbing you by your thighs and pulling you into his lap. You ground your slit against him, gasping when the piercings caught on your clit, sending shocks of white-hot pleasure through your body. You lined yourself up, your dripping cunt grazing over the flushed pink head, only to find yourself being flipped over onto the sheets.

“Patience, sweetheart.” Touya hummed, positioning himself between your thighs and pinning you to the mattress with his hands on your hips. “I dunno who you’ve been with, and I don’t really care, cus I’m gonna make sure I’m the best lay you’ve ever had.” He smirked, one hand ghosting over your skin to trace his fingers over your opening. “First you’re gonna cum on my fingers, then on my tongue, and only then will you get to cum on my cock.” He licked his lips, grinning when he heard the sound of your walls clenching around nothing. “That’s assuming you’re still conscious, that is. Wanna make sure you’re awake for all of it.”

With that he sunk two fingers into your waiting pussy, humming in content as your doughy insides clung to the digits, and smirking at the sweet mewl that made its way out of your lips.

Your eyes fluttered closed at the sudden intrusion, your hips canting up from the bed only to be held down by Touya’s other hand. His skin was sweltering against your own, and you could already feel the sweat beading on your forehead.

“So fuckin’ cute…” Touya purred, curling his fingers to pet against the spongy spot just inside of you. He drank up your needy moans in a feverish kiss, taking your panting mouth as an opportunity to run his tongue along yours. Normally you would’ve cringed at the pungent taste of cigarettes still on his mouth, but something in your arousal-addled mind loved it, savoring his signature taste. 

Touya was clearly experienced with his hands, the way he ground his thumb over your clit and thrusted his middle and ring finger inside you, making sure he attacked the spot that made you see stars. 

You panted when he pulled away, the tip of your tongue hanging out of our mouth as if trying to chase his own. 

“You’re really needy, aren’t you, babydoll?” Touya cooed, his free hand coming up to cup your chin and thumb at your lower lip. “What’s the matter, haven’t had someone take care of you like this before?”

You shook your head, any memories of past lays fleeting from your mind as all that could occupy your thoughts was the man above you.

“Good. I’d hate to be anything but the best,” He punctuated his words with a quick kiss to your lips, “Especially for such a sweet thing like you.” 

You whined and tried to chase his lips with your own, the knot of pleasure in your stomach growing tighter and tighter with each harsh thrust of Touya’s fingers, forcing desperate moans from your mouth.

All it took was Touya’s predatory smile and a pinch to your swollen clit to get you to squeal, the edges of your vision turning white and your back arching off the bed with your orgasm. 

“Mmh, you really are cute when you cum, huh babydoll?” Touya purred, pulling his fingers out and pressing them into your open, panting mouth. You eagerly sucked at them, eliciting a groan from Touya as your drool dripped onto his palm. 

You whined at the loss when he pulled his fingers from your mouth, wiping your saliva off on the sheet. “Don’t get all loopy on me now, sweetheart. I’m nowhere near done with you.” 

You squeaked in surprise as your hips left the mattress, and again as Touya’s breath ghosted over your sensitive heat.

“Ready for round two, babydoll?~”

Even if you wanted to say no, the way Touya dragged his tongue over your slit made you think that he wouldn’t take that for an answer anyway.

He was slower now that he was devouring your sex, his sinful tongue lapping over your ower lips and dripping entrance, drawing squeals out of you every time his silver piercing flicked over your clit. 

Your hands immediately found purchase in Touya’s hair, drawing a purr out of him as your fingers carded through his locks that had been so clearly damaged from all the dye and gel over the years. You couldn’t bring yourself to care about its scratchy texture though, not when it was only serving as a handle to bring that wicked mouth further into your core. 

Touya purred into your sex, tongue probing against throbbing walls with practiced ease and fingers rubbing over your clit in tight, adept circles. You clamped your thighs down around Touya’s ears at a particularly pleasurable lap, and as much as he hated having your sweet sounds muffled, he was more than pleased with your warm skin pressing tightly to his own, pulling him even closer in. A sign of exactly how much pleasure he was bringing you. 

You couldn’t take your eyes off Touya, not when his beautiful turquoise orbs were staring so intently at your flushed-red face, at your pouting lips and the tongue darting from between them. 

Your jaw hung open as you panted and blubbered out moans and nonsensical fragments of sentences, pleads for ‘more’ and praise for Touya’s masterful ministrations. 

You were so focused on the Adonis between your legs, you hardly even noticed your end nearing until it was too late, until you were already feeling the white-hot pleasure coursing through your veins and you were tossing your head back from the force of it all.

Of course, Touya lapped up all of your slick, purring at the taste and making sure he didn’t stop until you came down fully.

Once your thighs dropped from around his ears, Touya managed to pry himself away and crawl up onto the bed, caging you in with his hands planted on either side of your head. 

“Still with me, baby?”

You slowly nodded, only to feel a calloused hand at your chin, pulling you to face him directly.

“I’m gonna need a ‘yes’ if you want me to keep going.”

“Y-yes, Touya…” You breathed, leaning into his surprisingly tender touch.

“Good,” He purred, swiping his thumb over your lower lip. “Wanna make sure you’re here to get the full experience, y’know?” He smirked when he saw your miniscule nod, “Besides, it’s not fun for me unless you’re all there, screaming my name, begging for more…” His voice lowered to a growl right into your ear, right before he was delivering a playful nip to your earlobe. 

You could feel Touya’s hard cock against your quivering sex, the piercings dragging along your clit and sending near-electric shocks through your lower body. 

“Ready, babydoll?” Touya whispered in your ear, lining up the head of his cock with the entrance to your heat.

As soon as the breathy “yes,” escaped your lips, Touya thrust his hips forward. He only buried a few inches inside you, but it ripped a pleased gasp from you anyway. 

He was gentle as he slowly speared you open, drawing sweet moans from your sweet, pouty lips with each centimeter of his length. The piercings that ran down his cock produced a delicious drag against your walls, heightening the experience even further. 

Once he was fully seated inside you, Touya lowered his forehead to press against yours, his heavy breathing apparent as he gazed into your eyes, waiting for your signal. At your subtle nod, and your murmur of ‘please’, he pulled out at a torturously slow pace. Just before you could whine for more, his hips snapped back into you. 

He set a relatively gentle pace to start with, the slap of skin on skin and both of your heavy breaths being the only noise audible above the music from the club below. 

It was only when you whined out pleas for more, Touya, more that he finally picked up the pace, much to your relief. His hands held your sides in a bruising grip, and he leaned down to capture your lips in a fervent kiss.

You could taste yourself on his tongue, along with the lingering flavor of alcohol and cigarettes. A normally unappealing combination, but since it was Touya, you devoured it that much more. 

His cock felt burning hot inside you as your plush insides clung to him, the piercings dragging along your sensitive areas, distracting you from Touya’s wandering hand landing on your clit. He rubbed small circles into the bundle of nerves, earning a gasp and a moan from you. 

No matter how many times you had been with others or played with yourself, you had never felt this full. Each time Touya’s hips retreated, you couldn’t help the disappointed whine as you were emptied, even if only for a second. 

“T-Touya, I…~” Your voice came out high and breathy, jostled by the steady gyration of Touya’s hips.

“Getting close, sweetheart?~” He cooed, pressing a coy kiss to your nose. “I can tell, the way you’re milking my cock like that…” His voice delves into a growl, his eyes shutting as he presses his forehead to yours. “You really know how to get me riled up, huh, babe?”

Your mouth hung open, puffing out breathy moans each time Touya pistoned his hips into you. His hands were all over your body, circling your clit, pinching your nipples, holding your hips tight enough to leave bruises. He paid attention to your neck, pierced lips ghosting over the sensitive skin, leaving tiny kisses, nips, and licks. He was careful, not leaving any bruises above the collar. He obviously knew what he was doing.

All his ministrations sent the knot in your stomach winding even tighter, and you could feel yourself nearing your edge, when before you knew it you were already falling over it.

White-hot pleasure filled your veins, sending your head back as you let out a cry of orgasmic bliss, your tongue hanging from your grin. You held Touya close, arms wrapping over his shoulders and legs over his hips, keeping his thrusts shallow as he neared his own edge. He let out his own feral growl as he reached his own limit, and you felt his spunk filling you, leaving a pleasant warm sensation in your stomach.

“Shit…” Touya mumbled, though he made no move to get up. “You’re on the pill, right?”

You nod, and he breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Thank god…” He groaned, slowly pulling his softening cock from your heat and laying down beside you.

“What?” You shoot him a tired, but playful smile. “Am I not cute enough to have a kid with?”

“Nah,” He hummed, pulling you so your back rested against his chest, “Just don’t think I’m able to pay child support, y’know?” He laughed, prompting a giggle of your own.

“Makes sense…” You rested your head back, leaning into Touya’s hand as he played with your locks. 

“Maybe if you keep visiting, something can be arranged~” Touya purred, leaving a nip on the shell of your ear.

“Maybe so…”

Normally, the night life wasn’t for you. But if it meant seeing Touya…

Maybe you could make an exception.

[artificialqueens]

On The Ground (Rosénali) - Moonshot

A/N: So… Guess who is back after a year of not writing fics? Yours truly! What can I say? Rosénali is that powerful of a ship. As always, I hope eveyone enjoys this fic. Feel free to let me know what you think… Who knows, there might be a follow up to this little fluff in the future! Little side note: this is a lesbian au where most of the s13/s12 girls appearing are cis-female, however Mik is still a trans man in the fic.

Summary: The diner girl!Denali x street singer!Rosé AU based on Blackpink’s Rosé’s solo music that nobody asked for!

ao3 link https://archiveofourown.org/works/30267687

Denali stared at the round clock above the entrance of the diner.

4:57 PM. 

Three more minutes until her shift was over.

Three more minutes until the girl who had been a fixed character in her dreams would come from around the corner, set up her guitar, greet the passersby before starting her set for the evening like she did every Wednesday.

“So, gorge, are you going to ask the champagne girl out today, or are you just going to keep on creepily staring at her from afar?”, her coworker, Kade - or as everyone called him, Mik - appeared next to her with an empty tray.

“Her name is Rosé, not champagne girl!”, Denali rebutted, “and also, for the record, I don’t just… stare. I just happen to like appreciating her set without bothering her! It’s not like she was flirting with me that one time”.

“Did I just hear our Nali denying her crush on that pink-haired singer, again?”, Olivia, who was busy running the cash register, chimed in.

“Girl, I think we should start betting against her and maybe we’ll make more money than what they can pay us here!”, Mik joked as he washed some of the dishes in the sink.

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, ignoring her two best friends and focusing on the performer’s much-anticipated arrival.

Denali didn’t believe in love at first sight but after the first time Rosé and her guitar had shown up on the other side of the road from Tamisha’s Diner, she couldn’t think about anything else. 

There was just something about the other girl that had the Alaskan girl enamored.

The first - and so far only - time she had talked to Rosé was out of necessity as the other girl and who she assumed were her two best friends - the diner girls had dubbed them ‘Pastel Powerpuff girls’ - had decided to dine in just as Denali’s shift at the register had started.

“Hi! Did you enjoy our diner?”, the skater had put on her best smile, not quite able to meet the gaze of the taller girl as she typed out the receipt.

“Oh, sure, the skating gig is cute, the food’s great, and the service… isn’t too bad either,” Denali could see from the corner of her eye the smirk on the pink-haired girl.

“Rosie! Quit flirting with every cute girl that breathes and hurry up or Jan and I are leaving you here, the Uber is going to be here in 2 minutes!”, the blue-haired girl went on with the other girl in the friend group while ‘Rosie’ rolled her eyes at them.

“Sorry about Lagoona, she has the tact of an elephant on rollerskates,” the taller girl joked.

“O-Oh, no problem. So, your total is 20,04$, will you be paying in cash or card? Also, are you splitting the bill?”

“Since dumb and dumber over there already left, I’ll just pay everything with my card,” she replied taking out her purse and taking out her credit card, “here you go, angel”.

Denali tried her best not to blush at the sudden pet name, maintaining her on-the-clock persona as she brought out the card reader. She quickly finished up the operation and handed the pink-haired girl her card back with the receipt, “I just need a quick signature here and you’re free to go to your friends”.

‘Rosie’ scribbled down her signature - she learned her actual name was Rosé, classy yet slightly worrying - and left a tip for her. 

A 10$ tip for her.

“Gorge, she left you a 10$ tip, she was basically asking for your hand in marriage”, Mik reminded her, his eyes darting around the half-empty diner. 

He nodded his head to his left where Denali saw another one of her co-workers sharing a milkshake with her girlfriend, giggling like teenagers, “I’m just saying. If Utica managed to end up dating that self-proclaimed ebony enchantress over there, you got a chance with wine girl”, he ended with his trademark L.A vocal fry.

Denali knew Mik had a point, but as she was about to reply, she heard the familiar sound of a guitar starting a new song. Her eyes glanced back at the clock.

5:14 PM

Damn, she had missed the beginning of the set.

The Alaskan girl didn’t lose any more time as she clocked out, skates still on her feet as she zoomed out of the diner.

“Aaaaand she’s gone!”, Olivia commented, turning her head to Mik, “Do you think this time is the good one?”

“Well, if she doesn’t finally go after her, I might as well go after her myself!”

Denali reached the usual crowd that had already formed around Rosé, trying her best to blend in and not be seen by the singer while still getting a good view of the set.

“Well, aren’t you guys a lovely crowd!”, the pink-haired singer smiled as she got ready for the next song, “I’ve got one last song for today and this is going to be the first time I’ll be performing it, so, don’t hate it too much!”, she chuckled as she checked her guitar before turning her head back to the mic stand, “This is On The Ground, I’m Rosé and I hope you’ve enjoyed the set! Feel free to drop your tips in the guitar case!”

Denali couldn’t take her eyes off Rosé when she heard the guitar’s first chord paired with the honey-like vocals.

My life’s been magic seems fantastic

I used to have a hole

in the wall with a mattress

It’s funny when you want it

Suddenly you have it

You find out that your gold’s just plastic

The black-haired girl quickly pulled out her phone, opened her voice memo app, and hit record. She wanted to treasure the magic Rosé’s voice brought. 

What she failed to notice while she was so into the song was a pair of hazel eyes settling on her as the song reached its climax.

A couple of days later, Denali had just finished with her teaching job at the local ice rink when she spotted Olivia on the railings. 

“The suspicious lack of a certain pink-haired girl makes me think that you still haven’t asked her out” she heard the younger girl say as she skated her way to her.

“You’ll never let it go, won’t you, Liv?”

“Not when I see that you like her and, from what I’ve seen, she is at least interested in you. Mik tried to ask her out yesterday after your shift was over,” the other girl replied.

Denali furrowed her brows, “Wait, he was serious about asking her out? I thought he was just joking!”

“If you don’t act on your cute pink crush, you can’t expect everyone else to stop for you,” Olivia reasoned, “if it’s of any help, Mik did say that, and I quote ‘she didn’t want a piece of this fine ass’”, she finished, air quoting their co-worker.

“To be honest, the dude’s barely got an ass compared to me,” Denali muttered, but her best friend managed to catch it.

“Well, as Symone said, you do have a fat ass,” Olivia commented, causing both of them to laugh out loud.

She continued, “Point still stands though, you gotta do something or you might just end up regretting not doing anything about it”.

The dark-haired girl sighed, “I know, I’m just… scared to get hurt because she seems so cool and unreachable, and I’m just so… me?”, she confessed, resting her arms on the rails.

“Give it a chance, Nali,” Olivia replied, laying her hand on the skater’s arm and giving it a gentle squeeze, “And just in case, if she fucks you over, we’ll just unleash Kandy on her!”, she added, making Denali chuckle.

“Girl, if she knew you said that…”

“She would do absolutely nothing because she’s too busy chasing after that Joey guy”, she didn’t miss a beat with her reply, giving her a knowing look, “Almost forgot to ask, are you coming later to the club with the others?”

Denali shook her head, “No, sorry. I don’t feel like clubbing today, I’ll just skate a bit more and then go home to watch some Netflix”.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders, “You do you, girl. But think about what I said, okay?”

She gave her best friend a small smile, “Thanks, Liv. See you at work?”

The younger girl nodded and left Denali to her thought as she exited the room. The black-haired skater turned her head back to the rink, noticing that only a few people were left on the ice. 

She took a deep breath, putting her earbuds back in and looking through her phone to decide on what song to use for her last routine of the day. Her eyes fell on the voice memo app, immediately reminding herself of the recording she had taken just a few days prior. She hadn’t even listened to it since she had recorded it.

It wasn’t a clean recording, she could hear the sounds of the city and the people around her, but she closed her eyes and focused on Rosé’s voice, letting it guide her. 

The music fully took her over as she performed her usual stunts.

I’m way up in the clouds

And they say I’ve made it now

But I figured it out

Everything I need is on the ground

She found herself in the center of the rink, the bridge of the song was blasting in her ears. She smiled to herself as she started to spin, gradually picking up speed while Rosé’s high notes were all she could focus on.

Just drove by your house

So far from you now

But I figured it out

Everything I need is on the

Everything I need is on the ground

The recording stopped abruptly, she remembered how she had to bolt away, almost missing her bus home. 

Denali could hear her heavy breathing, suddenly aware again that she wasn’t alone. But she had made up her mind.

She was going to talk to Rosé the following Wednesday. 

That Wednesday the diner was busier than usual, giving Denali barely a moment to think, let alone realize she was missing Rosé’s set outside.

She glanced at the clock.

5:26 PM

Shit.

She turned her head and looked outside the diner’s big windows and saw that the pink-haired girl was starting to gather her things.

“Miss Iman just left, go to her! We’ll cover for you and we are not letting you get back in unless you got a date!”, Olivia said quietly enough for just her to hear.

Denali couldn’t help the grin spreading across her face. She grabbed some of the tips that she had made before she bolted outside, faintly hearing the cheering of her friends.

As she reached Rosé on the other side of the road, the singer’s back was facing her, she didn’t seem to have noticed Denali yet.

The black-haired girl took a deep breath, just like she had done on the ice rink, and let the tips fall into the still open guitar case.

The noise of falling change was what made Rosé turn around, a surprised look on her face as she registered Denali’s face.

“Denali?”

Gosh, she could hear the other girl say her name all day.

Wait.

“How do you know my name?”, Denali asked slightly confused.

Rosé didn’t reply but simply pointed at the waitress’s chest.

Oh, right. The nameplate on her uniform.

“That and also I tend to remember a pretty face when I see one,” she added, now her attention fully on the shorter girl.

“Oh, yeah, right”, she fidgeted awkwardly, not knowing where to look, “Uhm, I just wanted to say that you have a really beautiful voice. You can consider me your first fan when you make it big”.

Rosé smiled at her and Denali couldn’t help but notice how beautiful of a smile she had. 

The singer turned back to her stuff, shuffling things around and leaving the brunette to her thoughts. She wanted to ask the taller girl out but felt all her courage leave her body.

Way to go, Nali.

“Well, Uhm, I think I should-”, she started but she was stopped by the pink-haired girl, who had finished packing everything up.

“Here, this is for you”.

It was a jewel case cd, a picture of Rosé in a very 80s inspired attire on the cover with pink marker writing across the front.

‘To Denali

My first (and hopefully not last) fan

     Rosé xo’    

  It was signed with a small rose doodle next to Rosé’s name and, much to Denali’s surprise, a phone number along with the phrase ‘put it to good use’.

She looked up to find the other girl staring at her, her guitar case strapped on her back. She gave her a wink and started walking towards the subway.

Denali stood there for what felt like forever as she watched Rosé disappear in between the crowd of people roaming the streets. 

She looked back down at the cd, committing the number to memory. She turned around to look at the back, her eyes were drawn to the tracklist. 

She smiled when she saw On The Ground. 

Finally, she didn’t have to listen to a shitty phone recording to enjoy it. 

“Wait, what? You had recorded it all secretly and shady, mama?”

Rosé’s laugh filled the room as Denali tried to hide her face on the other girl’s bare chest.

“You’re an ass! I just wanted to use it for one of my skating routines”, she muttered, causing her girlfriend to laugh even harder.

“I find it cute that I’m not even famous and my music has already been pirated!” she commented, “I’m already halfway there to stardom, baby girl,” she added, kissing the top of Denali’s head.

The shorter girl groaned as she hid the increasing blush on her cheeks, rolling her body so that she was on top of the pink-haired girl.

“Well, miss Rosé, is it pirating if it was for personal pleasure only?”, Denali teased, running her hands upwards on the naked skin, slowly lowering herself until her face was inches away from her girlfriend’s.

She felt Rosé’s hands take a firm hold of her behind, “Oh angel, I’ll show you personal pleasure,” the singer replied, eliminating the little space left between their lips as Denali brought her hands to cup the older girl’s face.

Rethinking about those lyrics Rosé had written months prior, Denali knew she was right, she did have everything she needed on the ground.

It was to be right there with Rosé.

[lonestarbabe]

Holding Out For  a Hero

Chapter 9: Wish I Could Forget

[AO3]

T.K. makes a confession, Carlos deals with his manipulative dad.

---

You were something else I will admit

I remember what you told me

I only wish I could forget

I only wish I could forget

Carlos

They’d been on the bus all day, and as much as he tried to keep track, Carlos couldn’t remember what the next location was. He’d find out when he got there. T.K. had warned him that it would happen like that; the days would stretch together, and so would the locations. Carlos hadn’t believed him. He figured there was no way that he could forget something as simple as where he was going, but when you were almost constantly on the road bouncing from location to location, the places blurred, and the highway went on without end. I never guessed the tour would feel so long or that riding across the country could be so exhausting.

Carlos wasn’t alone in that sentiment. Everyone he’d spoken to had agreed that tour was exhausting for everyone involved once the high of the excitement started to fade into a loose routine but a routine nonetheless. Their days were closely planned, leaving few moments for excursions and sightseeing. Energy shots and coffee kept them going through the long days and irregular hours. Carlos missed home, especially when sleep was elusive. He hadn’t been the best at keeping up with his friends, but tour could be lonely, so he’d call Michelle, who was equally bad at keeping in touch, or some of his buddies, or even his sister. Everyone was friendly, and it wasn’t like he had any issues with his coworkers, but they were busy. And Carlos had shrugged off invites with the crew to hang out with T.K. instead, partially because he knew that when T.K. got lonely, he spiraled. And I want to do my part to prevent that from happening.

But his commitment to spending time with T.K. wasn’t just about T.K. Mostly, Carlos spent so much time with T.K. because T.K. was a good friend. Carlos could spend hours listening to T.K. tell tales of his storied life. Carlos liked to tell stories of his own, too, and one of his favorite things was eliciting that easy, full-chested laugh from T.K., who usually employed a practiced laugh that was polished but shallow. Carlos loved the way T.K.’s face lit up when he brought T.K. colorful doughnuts. The doughnuts from the morning’s bakery stop were half-eaten, the most sprinkled ones already gone. The half-empty box made Carlos smile.

The bus was eerily quiet. No one considered bus rides passive time. As the bus plodded down the highway, everyone kept busy ordinarily, making calls and double-checking that all the arrangements were in order, but Carlos and T.K. were alone. T.K. had barely moved, let alone do any work. Carlos’ favorite bus activity was when T.K. would strum his guitar and write songs, and Carlos would pretend not to listen closely, while T.K. would hide in his bunk. T.K.’s private songwriting was more personal than the stuff he put on his albums, and T.K. trusted Carlos enough to play those intimate pieces near him.

There was no music playing in that music, not even over the expensive speakers that T.K. loved to use when the silence made him antsy. T.K. was mute, bouncing his leg and staring out at the stretch of gray sky. T.K. looked cozy in his pink cotton hoodie, but he kept tugging at it as if it were too tight or itchy.

“You look anxious,” Carlos pointed out, sitting next to T.K. on the couch. His eyebrows scrunched together as he searched T.K.’s face for signs of sickness, sadness, or homesickness, but he couldn’t recognize the meaning of that particular facial expression. His eyes were too sad to be angry, and his jaw was too clenched for him just to be sad. T.K.’s face was a combination of things that Carlos couldn’t quite decode. Someday, I’ll be able to look at his face and immediately know what he’s thinking. I’ll memorize the shapes his face makes. I’ll learn what he’s trying to express, even if he doesn’t know how to express it.

T.K. startled, eyes flitting to Carlos’. “Just thinking,” T.K. avoided Carlos’ eyes and turned his head back to the sky, which was unusual for someone who intensely made eye contact to the point that it made some people uncomfortable. Carlos never looked away. Carlos’s phone buzzed in his pocket, but he ignored it— barely felt it— his focus on intently on T.K.

“Care to share?” Carlos prodded gently. He knew better than to pressure T.K. to talk. If T.K. spoke about his feelings, it was on his own time, but it usually took some prodding before T.K. would open up.

“I don’t know.” T.K. shifted a few inches away from Carlos, pulling his arms closer to his body and looking like a figurine of the larger-than-life presence the world knew.

“What’s wrong?” Carlos tried once more, and if T.K. didn’t give him anything after that, he wouldn’t push anymore.

“You,” T.K. admitted, biting his lip.

“Me?” Carlos’ eyes widened. “Did I do something?” He searched his mind for something he might’ve done that would’ve offended T.K., but things had been easy between them lately. T.K. had been going out less, and he seemed to be doing better, which took some of the stress away that filled Carlos’ voice with tension.

“You’re perfect.” T.K. shook his head. “No, you haven’t done anything bad.” Then, what did I do? “It’s what I did.”

“What did you do? T.K., I’m a little lost here.”

“You’re going to be mad.” Carlos wanted to shake T.K. and tell T.K. to spit it out already, but he chose to be patient.

“I’m not mad at you.”

“Not yet,” T.K. hedged.

Carlos leaned closer to T.K., palms getting sweaty. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. We’re friends.”

T.K scratched his neck. “Yeah, friends.” Why did he say it like that?

“Well, we are, aren’t we?” Carlos didn’t even want to imagine how he would feel if the answer was no.

“I hope so, but there are things about me that you don’t know.” T.K. took a breath. “And you might rethink things when you know.” T.K. was an expert at prolonging conversations to avoid giving answers.

“You don’t know everything about me either, and that’s fine.” Carlos had a whole history that he’d barely mentioned to T.K., and he didn’t plan on bringing it up because what was the point of bringing up the past when it was long gone. But if he asked, I’d tell him. “It’s okay if there are things you don’t want to tell me.” But I want to know everything.

“Carlos, there’s something I need to tell you,” he heard T.K. say, voice too soft. I know, T.K., so tell me.

Carlos’ heart stiffened. “T.K., you’re stalling.” Carlos nervously chuckled when T.K. didn’t respond right away. “The anticipation will probably be worse than the confession,” Carlos assured, and he was trying to convince himself as much as he was T.K.

T.K.

T.K.’s heart pounded in his chest, and he was more nervous telling Carlos the truth than he had ever been before a show. It was easy to perform in front of thousands of people he didn’t know. It was harder to come clean to someone he didn’t want to disappoint. The tone of Carlos’ voice made it even harder. He sounded so concerned, even though T.K. had never given him a reason to care that deeply.

“I messed up,” T.K. admitted, and the words reminded him of all the times he’d had to say that. He remembered times he had drank too much or taken too many pills and called Marjan thinking that he was dying. Every time he called, those events were impressed into her voice as she asked, “Are you okay?” right away instead of saying hello. Or when he’d walked two miles to Judd’s house, disoriented and shivering because he’d dramatically jumped into a pool after a fight with Alex. He’d been too mad to wait for a ride and too high to drive himself. Judd had made a threat against Alex before ushering T.K. inside and warming him up. He constantly let people down, and it wasn’t like Carlos didn’t know he was an addict, but it wasn’t something he liked to bring up, and he certainly wasn’t going to use the words for what he was.

“Are you okay?” Not, “What did you do this time?” or “Here we go again.” Carlos’ brown eyes were soft and caring. The words were those of a friend, not just someone paid to make sure T.K. didn’t fuck up any more than expected. He looked everyone with those cow eyes, but T.K. liked to think there was extra softness when Carlos looked at him. Maybe it was because T.K. was pathetic more than because Carlos actually liked him as a person.

“Don’t be so nice,” T.K. pleaded. He couldn’t stand Carlos being so friendly to him when he deserved misery that Carlos would never give him.

Carlos’ face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not okay as I’ve been making out,” which wasn’t much of a mystery for the people around T.K.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Carlos said dryly. “But recovery takes time. It’s okay to struggle sometimes.”

T.K. wanted to cry at the hope in Carlos’ eyes. He really thinks I’m getting better. He’s convinced that I want to change, but I don’t want to participate in my change. I want to sleep through getting better and wake up feeling sane. “You know how I talked a lot about my therapist?” He’d gone out of his way more times than he’d admit to mentioning his therapist so that Carlos would think it was for real. I can’t be trusted.

Carlos nodded. “Yeah, she seems nice.”

“I was just saying all that stuff to make you feel better. It’s not true.” There, he’d said it. He waited for the screaming that would follow, the “Why are you ruining your life?” in that same voice his mom always used when she realized having a kid was more than an eighteen-year commitment.

Confusion spread on Carlos’ face. “She isn’t nice?”

“No, she is nice. Well, I don’t know. I ditched my appointments.” He was quick to add. “I’m seeing another one now, but that’s a new thing..”

“Why did you make up all those stories? You could have told me the truth,” Carlos sounded devastated.

“You can yell at me,” T.K. told him. Yelling would have made T.K. feel better. He would have deserved it, a suitable penance for the sins he had committed, but Carlos wasn’t going to give him absolution in the way he wanted it.

“I’m not going to do that.”

“You should. I won’t listen if you don’t make me feel like the scum of the earth.” I might not even listen then, but I might feel better.

“Don’t be stupid,” Carlos snapped. He immediately looked apologetic “Sorry.” T.K. wanted him to go back to snappish comments. He didn’t want the normal, constrained Carlos who could keep his temper in check. He wanted a verbal lashing to get the anger out of the way and start working towards forgiveness. “Yelling won’t change the situation,” Carlos explained. “I’m not going to yell at you.”

“I’d feel better if you yelled at me than whatever approach you’re taking now.”

“I’d feel worse if I yelled, so just drop it.”

“I’m telling you that you can. It wouldn’t be immoral or anything if I’m asking you to do it.”

“No,” Carlos said, sounding disgusted at the idea. “I don’t want to be a part of your self-destructive spiral!”

“I’m not on a self-destructive spiral.” I’m not, T.K. tried to convince himself, but there was something about destroying himself that felt so right. The feeling of getting wasted wasn’t just about the high. He liked the fall too, the deterioration of self. Because destruction eases the bitterness, but I don’t want to hurt anyone other than me. The only problem was that his self-destruction didn’t just impact him. The people in his life, the ones he hadn’t pushed away or kept at a distance, hurt as he shoved himself closer to oblivion. Sometimes, he wanted to feel alive, while other times, he wanted to feel dead. The jury’s out on which I want to be. Who didn’t fantasize about the demise of the person they hated the most? It’s nice to let go, shirk responsibility, and leave my future up to fate.

“You might recognize it if you went to see a therapist,” Carlos said as a plea more than a scolding. The hurt T.K. caused had already spread to Carlos, and the thought made him hate himself more.

“I’m seeing one now.” T.K. quipped, We haven’t gotten to a self-destructive spiral yet.” It had only been one virtual session, but he’d scheduled another.

“I’m glad to hear that, T.K., but you still lied to me.”

“You seemed so happy when I told you I’d go to therapy. I didn’t want to ruin that.” The illusion of a functional T.K. Strand has always been the side of him that T.K. wanted Carlos to see because the real T.K. Strand is embarrassing, messy, and pathetic.

“I’d rather you be honest with me. You don’t need to spare my feelings. It’s hard for me to protect you when I don’t even know what’s going on with you.” T.K. didn’t even know what was going on with himself. And maybe that was why everyone was so insistent that he go to a professional. Professionals were supposed to help you sort all that out. But what if I’m beyond help?

Carlos

Carlos wanted to yell; he wouldn’t deny that anger was brimming in his chest, making him crazy with fear and anxiety. That’s all the anger was—the fear and anxiety that T.K. wasn’t okay— that I can’t protect him. Carlos had caught T.K. falling back into old habits occasionally— drugs, drinking, sex with dangerous-looking guys— but he’d thought T.K. had been doing better. They’d been spending a lot of time together, and T.K. had seemed, for the most part, okay. Carlos painfully wondered what other lies T.K. had told. Had the past few weeks been worse than he knew?

“I’m sorry, Carlos,” T.K. said. “I shouldn’t have lied to you.” No shit, Carlos thought. I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t watch him fall apart and do nothing. He’s not doing well, but there’s nothing I can do to make him alright again. He has to do that himself.

Carlos took a breath, resisting the urge to snap again, but he was embarrassed at his earlier outburst. He hated that he lost control like that. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset before. It’s your business how you handle your mental health,” Carlos said, fabricating the cool composure he needed for his own sanity. His voice was a cold front plowing through the tour bus. He wasn’t going to blow up and make a scene, but he wanted to. He wanted to respond with red hot fire. He wanted to ask T.K. why he had been so foolish and to tell him to get his shit together, but those words were his fear, and such words would only make T.K. defensive. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”

“I know, but you’re my friend.” Is this how friends treat each other? Carlos had never been the best at having balanced friendships, so he wasn’t sure.

“Why didn’t you go to see the therapist?” Why didn’t he at least give it a real try?

“I thought I didn’t need it. I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to need it. Or I didn’t want to commit.” T.K. sighed. “I have a lot of shit I need to confront, and I feel like I’m trying to find a few prized possessions in a crumbing house that I’ve filled with trash. And to get anywhere, I’ve got to clear the trash away piece by piece.”

“But you’re ready to try?” He wondered if T.K. had decided to go on his own or if Judd, Marjan, or one of his other friends had pushed him into it. “You chose to get help?”

“I did, but I’m not making any promises.”

Defeat tugged in Carlos’ chest. “You’re already leaving room to back out the minute things get too hard.” T.K. was already laying the groundwork for future excuses of why therapy didn’t work out, which made Carlos curious about how committed T.K. was to get better.

“It’s not like that. But I know myself. I can’t change. I’ll always ruin everything. I screwed up because that’s what I do, and the sooner you get used to that, the better because if you have expectations of me, you’re only going to be disappointed.”

“Don’t say shit like that,” Carlos said, excess irritation creeping into his voice. There went his resolve to act detached. No matter how hard he tried to keep a level head, he was a passionate person. He cared about things, and apathy didn’t suit him. His passion got him in trouble. It got him ousted from the police force when he’d cared more about helping Michelle find her sister than his job, but it was part of him. He fell too fast, and he put too much of himself into anything he did. No matter how much passion carried him away, Carlos wasn’t going to yell. His voice would be impassioned, but he wouldn’t let his rage fully control him. I don’t want to be like my father.

“Like what? All of it is true. I’m always making a mess of my life.”

“Don’t act like you’re bound to screw up and try to push me away because you’re scared of letting anyone get too close. You don’t have to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. You get to make choices, and you can choose to put the work in to get better.”

“I’m trying to warn you.”

“I’m not expecting you to be perfect. I know you might have ups and downs, so don’t find a way out of this before you’ve even started.” I just want you to try. I can deal with anything as long as you try.

“You’re not listening,” T.K. sounded frustrated. “I’m trying to protect. I like you, and you don’t deserve this shitstorm.”

“Bullshit. You’re scared. This isn’t about keeping me safe. I’m a grown man, T.K., and I’ve had people disappoint me before. Many hurt me more than you ever could. Don’t turn this on me because I’m right here standing by your side. If you don’t want to be my friend, walk away, but don’t keep baiting me into doing.”

“That’s not what I want.” Then, why do you keep doing it?

“What do you want?”

“I want to be a person you can like, but the truth is I’m not even a person I can like.” Carlos’ stomach knotted. He wanted to pull T.K. into a hug and confess how much T.K. meant to him, but he resisted the selfish urge. He didn’t want to send the wrong signals (but he also knew if T.K. asked him for a hug, he wouldn’t be able to say no).

Before he could dispute T.K.’s words, Carlos’ phone started buzzing again, the noise sending fresh anger through him. His annoyance only increased when he saw that it was the same unknown number that had been calling him for a week. “Damn it, leave me alone,” he spat to the unanswered phone and tossed it to the couch. It bounced, and Carlos held his breath, but he was relieved when it didn’t fall to the floor.

T.K.

Well, that was weird. Seeing Carlos’ outburst had in some respects been a relief to T.K., but it also sent a shiver down T.K.’s spine because when Carlos gave such a reaction, you knew the situation had to be dreadful. “We’re a pair of perfectly okay people,” T.K. deadpanned.

“They’ve been calling me all day,” Carlos said apologetically. “I’m just frustrated.” He was back to being the constrained Carlos who acted as if problems rolled right off of him. “I’m not mad at you.” He’s always so quick to reassure me.

“I know, man. Telemarketers suck.” T.K. laughed. “They’re more persistent than my stans.”

The comment broke Carlos’ stoic expression, and a slight grin snuck onto his face. “I know that’s not true.”

“That one girl snuck into a trash can.” She was sweet, a little crazy, but hell, so am I!

“I think it was empty.”

“Still, a trashcan,” Carlos razzed. “Those kinds of things are a nightmare for security professionals.”

“She got her autograph, at least.”

“And I got gray hairs and an ulcer. When she popped out, I nearly lost it on her. She’s lucky you stepped in. I would have escorted her swiftly away without ever seeing you, and then I would have put her on the blacklist.”

“You’re overprotective. She wasn’t going to hurt me.” T.K. knew his fans didn’t want to hurt him, so he didn’t worry too much about his safety. Surely, there were people he didn’t like who he should worry about, but he had better things to do than fret over what other people might do. Carlos fretted enough for both of them.

“I’m as protective as I should be.” And I find “protective as I should be” very endearing.

“You know, Carlos. It’s okay to show how you feel sometimes. You don’t always have to act like things don’t bother you. It’s okay to be un-levelheaded. Ignoring emotions doesn’t make them go away. I should know.”

“It’s my job to be levelheaded.”

“You’re very good at it, but that’s not your job, Carlos. It’s your job to protect my body. You focus on saving that.” And I’d keep you around even if you didn’t do that. “As long as you don’t have to put your own in danger.”

“I would without thinking twice,” and T.K. felt his chest tighten at the thought. It’s not right to put him in danger for my safety. Crowd control is one thing, but any actual danger is off the table.

“Stay safe. I can’t lose you.”

“It’s unlikely it will come to that,” and the words that are implied but go unsaid are, “But if it comes to that, I know what I’ll choose.” The thought made T.K. sick.

“I can save myself,” T.K. asserted.

“Start by saving your mind.”

“We’ll see about that,” T.K. said before leaving to find his guitar. He needed some music therapy after that chat. I hope my stupid songs won’t drive Carlos crazy.

Carlos

It was late when Carlos’ phone rang again, the same unknown number on the screen. T.K. had gone to bed; he must’ve been tired to go so early. The number was an Austin area code, so on the off chance that it was someone he knew, he answered.

“What do you want?” expecting to hear a scam caller.

“Hey, Carlito,” a familiar voice crooned, sounding smooth and smug. Carlos nearly hung up. “Nice to talk to you too.”

“Dad? How did you get this number?” Son of a bitch has probably gotten himself arrested again and needs bail, or he’s gambled away his grocery money. Maybe he has a friend whose been accused of some terrible deed he didn’t do. Maybe a con went wrong, and he’s trying not to get beat up.

“Your sister.” Damn it, Carlos thought. This is the last thing I need.

“I told her that I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“Don’t be like that. I’m your old man.”

“Why did you call?” Carlos persisted. The sooner he knew what his dad wanted, the sooner he could tell him no and hang up. I’m too curious to hang up just yet, and it’s been so long since I’ve heard his voice. It sounds just like it did half a decade ago.

“How’s Taylor?” He hasn’t gotten better at small talk, has he?

“Didn’t you hear we broke up?” Carlos said acerbically.

“How’d that happen?” Carlos could practically hear his dad smiling at the news, probably happy that Carlos’ life had taken a turn towards the awful. Still, while the breakup had been complicated and heartbreaking, Carlos was more satisfied without Taylor in his life. Taylor leaving him had been a relief, even if there were some feelings of sadness and loss.

“Long story short, I got fired, he dumped me, and he blew up the police chief’s car after a bender. So, things didn’t work out, which you would know if you didn’t think the whole world revolved around you.” Carlos waited for a beat. “Now you know the whole sordid saga. What about you? Have you been arrested lately?”

“You’re awfully bitter for being so young.” No shit. You made my childhood a shitshow, and I always had to be there to help you out of your messes while you wouldn’t lift a finger to help me out of mine.

“Cut the, ‘How are you, son?’ talk. Why’d you call?”

“You always expect the worst in me, but I’m not the bad guy.”

Carlos wasn’t afraid of his father anymore, not more than the shadow of fear that sometimes crept up on him with memory. There was part of him that still wanted to cower and try to please his dad so he could get his father’s love, but he had to stay strong and remember that Gabriel Reyes was never going to give him what he wanted. He wasn't going to go back down that spiral. “Who is the villain, Dad. You’re the one who belittled me for years and manipulated me into doing what you wanted.” He kept his voice hushed to avoid disturbing T.K., but he knew that his dad could hear the venom in his voice.

“You haven’t heard what I wanted, but you’re dredging up all the ways I ruined your life.” His dad used his conman voice, the one he always used when he was desperately striving for Carlos’ loyalty. “You forget all the things that I did for you, like making sure food was on the table, and a roof was over your head.” The classic guilt trip had once made Carlos feel guilt and shame, but he knew what manipulation looked like, and he’d worked through all that in his therapy sessions.

“You know what? I’m not listening to this. You’re not going to mess with my head and convince me that I’m somehow in the wrong. Goodbye, Dad. Don’t call again,” Carlos said before hanging up the phone. He didn’t need to listen to his father’s manipulative response to know what he would’ve said. He’d heard it a million times.

Carlos laid back on the couch, staring at the bus ceiling, defeated. He wiped his eyes before the tears could fall, and he remembered how his dad always used to say he was too sensitive to make it in the real world and that he needed to toughen up. Maybe he was sensitive, but at least he wasn’t an insensitive asshole who no one genuinely loved.

He put a hand over his head and tried to tune out the overwhelming feelings. Why does he keep making me feel this way? There’s a reason I kept him out of my life, and it needs to stay that way. I need to talk to Lola and talk to her about giving him my number. That shouldn’t have happened. If he keeps bothering me, I might have to change my number. Before he could contemplate further, a weight settled at the end of the couch by Carlos’ feet. “Are you okay?” T.K. asked.

“Sorry I woke you,” Carlos said, not lifting his head to look at T.K. I’m such a loser.

“I can’t sleep, anyway.”

“How much did you hear?” No matter how quiet Carlos had tried to be, they were still on a bus, and the sound carried through the curtains splitting the sections.

Carlos lifted his head enough to see T.K. shrug. “Not much. I had my noise-canceling headphones on, but you sounded upset, so I thought you might want company.” I love this man, the thought flashed through Carlos’ mind before he could be consciously aware of it.

“They aren’t very good at noise-canceling, are they?” Carlos tried to joke, but his voice was flat, and T.K.’s eyes darkened. I can’t even pretend that I’m halfway okay.

“I guess not,” T.K. said evenly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The conversation felt oddly reminiscent of the one he’d had earlier with T.K. “My dad called.”

“You don’t get along, right?” T.K.’s words were cautious.

“That’s an understatement. We don’t talk. I wouldn’t have answered if I knew it was him.”Carlos knew dad-talk was hard for T.K., so he proceeded carefully. “Not all dads are heroes. Mine is the opposite of a hero.”

“What is yours?”

“A nasty bastard, a cheat, and a con artist.” And that’s to put it nicely. “He’s a slimy coward who will use anyone he meets for his own selfish purposes.”

“I hate him already.” T.K.’s face grew dark. “Did he hurt you?” T.K. rolled his lip inward. “You don’t have to answer.”

“It’s okay. He never hit me or anything.” But he messed with my head, and he made me think that I could never be good enough. He made my relationship with my sister tense because she can’t understand why I can’t talk to him. She’s still falling for his dastardly tricks. Those tricks are probably how he got my number.

“I didn’t ask if he hit you.”

“He hurts everyone who gets close, so I don’t take it personally.”

“Hurt is always personal,” T.K. said, the pain on Carlos’ face all he needed to know. “I’m sorry.”

“My dad said never apologize for bastards. It’s the only thing he got right.”

“What did he want?”

“Nothing good. I hung up before he could say too much.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

“I think so.” Carlos shrugged. “I don’t think knowing what he wanted would have made me feel better.”

“You mentioned once that you missed him sometimes. Are you missing him now?”

“You remember that?” Carlos looked surprised. “No, I’m not missing him. I’m missing a version of him that only ever existed in my wishes.”

“I get it. The things I miss most about my dad are the things we’ll never get to have—imagined wedding days and playing with my kids. Things like that.”

“Yeah, I used to want him to change so badly. I wanted a normal dad. I thought that if I could be everything he wanted in a son, that somehow that would be enough. But it never was. He only cared about how much  I could do for him. He still only calls me when he needs a favor.”

“Did he say what he needed?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. Probably money. Or he wants me to call in a favor.”

“That sucks.”

“I’m used to it. It’s been years since we’ve talked, so I don’t have to deal with him normally.”

“He’s probably dying,” T.K. said with a sympathetic voice. Carlos hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps, he was dying. He probably wants me to give him an organ. But what if he really was dying? Would Carlos have wanted to talk to him then?

The thought sent a traitorous blast of sadness through Carlos. “I don’t think so. He would have started with that and would have gone straight into the guilt trip.”

“Why else would he call after so long? I’m not saying to make amends with that asshole or anything, but it’s something to consider.”

“I don’t care if he’s dying.”

“Maybe you don’t want to care,” T.K. pointed out. “But you wouldn’t have that look on your face if you really didn’t.”

Carlos had been caught, and he didn’t have the energy to keep denying the truth. “Good bullshit meter.” Carlos yawned. The call left him confused and depleted.

T.K.

T.K.’s bullshit meter was finicky at best, but Carlos was easy to read. “Not really. I just know you, Carlos. You’ve got the world’s biggest heart.” I should know. He’s found a way to like me.

“I don’t know about that.”

T.K. imagined kissing Carlos’ chest to impress the answer right where it mattered, but he settled for mere words because anything more could only live in frivolous daydreams.“I do.” Carlos looked so forlorn that T.K. couldn’t resist something more physical. Kisses were out, but friends could comfort each other without it being weird. “Let me help.”

“Help?” T.K. nodded and pulled his body up the couch so that he could squeeze himself closer to Carlos. “What are you doing?” Carlos asked with a bemused expression, but he scooted his body over to make more room for T.K. to fit in the sliver of space next to Carlos.

“Reminding that you aren’t alone.” An insecure pang struck T.K.  Maybe he was going about this wrong. “This isn’t weird, is it?”

Carlos inhaled. He thought for a few beats and then shook his head. “It’s nice.”

“Sometimes, you just need to be close to someone, you know?” T.K. reassured. “It doesn’t have to be anything more than a friend giving another friend comfort.”

“You’re practically on top of me,” Carlos laughed.

“I can move,” T.K. said, voice sinking. Am I making a fool of himself? Can he tell that I think about him in ways I shouldn’t? Does he see that I more than like him? T.K. felt like a little boy with a schoolyard crush. It would never amount to anything, but the mere thought delighted him. Maybe I just like that he’s good to me. Is someone nice to me all it takes for me to fall in love? Am I that pathetic? But he knew it was more than that. Something about Carlos made him feel more secure than he ever had, and it wasn’t related to Carlos being his bodyguard.

As he shifted to get up, Carlos grabbed his arm and turned onto his side, pulling T.K.’s back against his chest. T.K. memorized the exuberant feeling of being so close to Carlos because he didn’t know when it would end. “Don’t. It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone to hold.”

“You can’t tell me that the whole crew isn’t all over you.” T.K. said with a grin. “That cute smile and those cow eyes.”

“Cow eyes?” Carlos asked, indignant, and T.K.’s chest bloomed with warmth.

“They’re adorable.” T.K. was weak to those eyes, as anyone would rightfully be.

Carlos rolled his eyes. “Don’t ruin the moment, my little teddy bear,” Carlos teased.

“Carlos!” T.K. blushed.

“Now you know how it feels.”

“I was complimenting you.” Carlos made T.K. feel safe, and T.K. wanted to make Carlos feel safe too.

A moment passed, a snug, easy moment. “Thank you, T.K.,” Carlos said so sincerely that T.K. thought he might melt. He turned over so that he was facing Carlos; their bodies were pressed close, and together they were warm and strong. He held eye contact, testing if he could make Carlos look away with his intensity, but Carlos didn’t look away.

“Thanks for what? Comparing you to a cow?”

Carlos laughed, shaking his head. “For being here.”

“We’re on a bus. There aren’t many places I can go. Besides, you’re literally here for me all the time.”

“It’s my job,” Carlos brushed the comment off, as he often did when T.K. became too praising of Carlos’ efforts.

“You made a list of the best bakeries in the country and make the bus driver when we pass one so you can get me doughnuts.”

“He doesn’t mind. I feed him doughnuts for his troubles.” Carlos shrugged. “I like doughnuts too.” Carlos yawned again.

“But you get them for me.”

“Friends give friends doughnuts.”

“Yeah,” Carlos said drowsily. T.K. said nothing until he felt Carlos’ breaths evening.

“I love doughnuts,” T.K. whispered to check if Carlos was sleeping. “I love you,” T.K. said, his heart fluttering with the admission. He laughed to himself. Even as Carlos let out soft snores, chest rising and falling evenly with the rhythm of sleep, the words were hard to say, but he meant each one of them.

[julyarchives]

Die For You

Being taken hostage turns out to be what you needed to find what you have always been  looking for. 

→ Pairing: Kino x Reader

→ Genre: Horror

→ Words:  4.4K

→ Contains: Horror; Death; Blood; Stockholm Syndrom, Psychopath Stalker; Stabbing. Murder.

→ A/n: It is still halloween for us! This is our second story to celebrate this time of the year! This story is for the horror fans, and it was a lot of fun to write. We hope you all enjoy it!

You woke up without the memory of falling asleep. Your head was still dizzy and you felt your shoulders and back very stiff. You attempted to stretch them but soon realized that something was constricting you. 

That’s when your eyes shot wide open in panic. You were tied up to a chair, completely unable to move. You struggled, trying to move and set you free, but your efforts were in vain. Any screams or sounds coming from you were muffled by the piece of cloth tied securely around your mouth.

The surroundings were unknown by you. It looked like a warehouse, illuminated by purple and pink lights, as well as some candles scattered around. The place was slightly cluttered with a few piles of books, which you recognized by the cover as some of your personal favorites, a guitar propped against a black leather couch.

There were also a bunch of long stemmed roses decorating the place, if you could call that decoration. Some of the flowers’ petals had already fallen and danced around with the light breeze that came from one of the high broken glass windows.

“Oh, great, you woke up” a cheerful voice startled you, making you jump in your seat.

A boy appeared in front of you, closing a heavy sliding metal door behind him, and the loud noise it made didn’t seem to bother him at all. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt underneath, topped with a bolo tie beautifully adorned by a blue gemstone in the center. 

His raven hair was messy, looking as he’s been running his hands through it after attempting to style it. He had make up on his face, but it was poorly applied, leaving eyeshadow smudges across the outer corner of his eye, just as the lip tint was smeared around the lips.

His face was very sweet looking despite the mad smile he was shooting you.

He approached you, crouching down to look you in the eyes, and gently pulled the gag away from your mouth.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here, have you been up for so long?” he asked with a concerned and apologetic tone.

“What do you want from me?” your voice was so small it was barely audible. Your whole body was shaking and the tears were rolling freely down your cheeks.

He tilted his head as if he didn’t understand your question, eyeing you curiously. He reached his hand to dry your tears, but you flinched away.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” He stated softly before proceeding with his action, his touch so soft you could barely feel it. “I even used silky ropes, so your wrists wouldn’t bruise 

You couldn’t bring yourself to answer. What would you even answer anyway?

“Anyway, we have the whole evening to ourselves! What do you wanna do? I’ve got all of your favorite books and there’s some food if you’re hungry. I could also pick up some wine, if that’s what you would like.” He started pacing around, trying to figure out what to grab first.

“Who are you?” you managed to say, even though your trembling voice was refusing to come out properly

“Oh, silly me” he laughed, lightly tapping his head and rolling his eyes “I’m Hyunggu, but you can call me Kino. Nice to meet you, y/n.” He offered a smile that you believed was supposed to be sweet, but it just sent shivers down your spine.

“How do you know my name?” you asked and couldn’t help but cry harder.

“I know everything about you!” Kino said proudly. “I know your favorite coffee shop and where you work from 9 to 5. I know you like to meet up with your best friend in that park near your house and spend the day reading under the big oak tree listening to music...”

As he kept listing everything about you, the feeling of sheer panic took over you, and at this point you were sobbing loudly. You wondered how long have you been watched and how couldn’t you notice it before. 

“No, don’t cry” he leaned down in front of you again. “It’s okay, I promise I’m not bad”

He caressed your hair, but you started to move around as much as you could, avoid him near you

“Don’t touch me!” you yelled, crying harder as you did so. “Don’t get near me!”

“Y/N, don’t do this, please” He tried to hold you still, showing his strength as he held your shoulders down.

“HELP!” you yelled at the top of your lungs. “SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE!”

Kino’s whole demeanor changed. His eyes were dark and scary now. He stood up, looking at you impatiently.

“You can scream as much as you want, y/n, we are in the middle of nowhere. I’m the only one here for you. I am your only help.”

Your heart was pounding in your ears and you were crying so hard you barely could catch your breath. Everything was about fear. You feared for your life and you couldn’t see yourself escaping. 

“You leave me no choice, y/n” Kino said before pulling a syringe out of his pocket, taking the lid off with his teeth

“No, please! Please don’t do this!” You plead, squirming hard in another failed attempt to free yourself. “Please, don’t do this, I’ll do whatever you want, please!” 

He completely ignored you, as he forcefully grabbed your arm and swiftly poked the needle through your skin.

You screamed in pain and horror until you could feel yourself drifting off against your will.

When you woke up again, the first thing you saw was Kino sitting on the couch, staring intently at you. He had moved your chair closer when you were unconscious, to the point where he could reach you from where he was sitting without any trouble. 

His expressions weren’t as harsh as you last remember seeing him. He opened that same sweet but psycho smile as he saw you regaining your consciousness. Again you couldn’t say anything even if you tried. You were feeling tired and defeated, and by this point you just accepted there’s nothing you could do.

“You’re back just in time! I’ve got you food!” He picked up the pack of food from your favorite burger shop. “It’s already midnight and I know for a fact that your last meal was almost 12 hours ago, you can not get weaky, y/n. You must be hungry.”

He unwrapped the burger and reached it close to you so you could take a bite. You stared at him angrily, pondering the multiple scenarios over your head. The food must not have poison or anything that could kill you. If he wanted you dead he would have done it by now. If you wanted to escape you had to have strength. And he got it right, you were starving from the stupid salad your coworker bought you for lunch. You laughed quietly at how dumb and futile a diet sounds at the moment you’re at.

You took a big bite, involuntary moaning in satisfaction as you tasted your favorite. Kino smiled proud of himself for making you eat. You chewed fast, wanting to get this over with, but he seemed to enjoy watching every second of it. He alternated between the burger and fries, letting you take sips of soda through the plastic straw of the disposable cup.

When you finished eating he delicately dabbed the paper napkin on your face, making sure no spots were left dirty. He caressed your hair and beamed at you, who was just angrily holding his gaze.

“Good girl” he murmured.

“What do you want from me?” your voice was back to normal by now, and you were able to enunciate your words confidently.

Kino sat back, resting his back carefully against the couch, doing the same head tilt he’s done before.

“You’re asking the wrong question, y/n.” he said in a husky voice, sounding as an attempt to be seductive “I am here yo do whatever you want from me.”

“I want you to let me go” you promptly interrupted

“See, I can not do that just yet.” He leaned forward now, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasping together. He observed every little motion you made. “I need you here. And unfortunately you have to stay like this until I’m sure you won’t run away from me.”

“And what makes you think I will ever want to be with you?” you spit your words, full of anger rather than fear, tired of these games.

“Because you are just like me” he stated calmly

You scoffed.

“Please, elight me in what way are you and me similar?” you rolled your eyes.

He leaned forward again, gazed locked in your eyes as he slowly placed his hand on your knee. He looked at you like he knew all your secrets - which he probably did. Something about the way he treated you and looked at you, something about this whole dynamic, is entrancing. Something in him draws you in, either with just hate for being trapped or with curiosity on why is this all happening.

“You are just like me when you lock yourself in your room at night, and when you shuffle through dating apps to find someone that can keep you busy for a night but cannot give you what you truly want.” He enunciated every word eloquently “I know that you try to find in others what you can find in yourself. That hole can’t be filled with one night stands and strangers paying you drinks all night.”

You gulped. He was not wrong. Of every person in your life, no one ever knew this about you. You never shared your feelings, never let anyone in. How can a stranger know something so personal that even the closest people don’t. He got you like no one did, and you hated yourself for being so vulnerable and exposed. The few tears streaming down your cheeks were now full of shame and anger.

“You are desperate to feel something. Something you don’t even know what it is. A thrill. A high. Anything. But you never get it. Day after day you seek that sparkle inside of you that nothing and no one could light up.” He paused, staring deeply at you. “So far.”

 You held his gaze, refusing to let him think he had the upper hand, even though he did. You were too proud to admit he was right. He didn’t say anything else, and neither did you. The small bubble of the personal staring contest was secure, not a sound or any life form could interrupt you. You could hear the wind shaking some foliage and the rose petals still flying around your peripheral vision.

Without saying another word, Kino got up and started pacing around, humming an unknown tune carelessly, like nothing had happened.

“May you not rest as long as I am living. You said I killed you - haunt me then. The murdered do haunt their murderers.” Kino said calmly. “ Be with me always, take any form. Drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you” You felt like you’ve heard that before. “Oh, God... It is unutterable... I cannot live without my life... I cannot live without my soul.”

“Very ironic to quote Wuthering Heights right now.” You said after finally recognizing the quote.

“Romantic, isn’t it?” He smiled sweetly. 

“If that book is your reference of romance, that says a lot about how you perceive love.” You chuckled humorlessly

“Is that why you’ve read it 3 times?” He asks with a hint of triumph in his voice.

You didn’t know how to respond.

“I know what you want, y/n, and I am the one who can give it to you.” he continued.

“And how are you going to do that with me tied up to a chair?”

“You will be out of there soon.” His expression darkened “I just need to understand that I know you. The real you. The you that you don’t show to anyone else. You’ve realized that by now. You and I are the same, and when I found you I knew that you had what I was looking for. You just want to be loved. You lit up my sparkle and if you give me a chance I can do the same for you. I know what you need and I can give it to you. I can show you that you have this power inside you all along.” 

As you stared at him, you couldn't help but feel drawn to his eyes. There was something about it that made you not want to look away. It looked sincere. The way he looked at you, you felt like you could trust him, like he would never lie to you.

"You'll see." he finally said before leaving out again. 

When he closed the door behind him, you weren't surprised you felt lonely. The place was scary. The candles were burning out and the room was getting darker. The noises outside made you flinch every other minute and you just desperately. If only you weren't tied up, you would feel safer. You could try to defend yourself if something happened. And then you caught yourself wishing Kino was here. You weren’t scared of something or someone hurting you when he was around. 

The first time Kino uncuffed you was the next day. It felt like forever until he was back. You woke up and fell back asleep countless times. The mixture of exhaustion, fear and panic was almost taking you sanity away. 

When he came back the sun was already out. You could feel your face swollen from all the crying and there wasn’t one place in your body that wasn’t hurting.

“I’m going to untie you now.” He said, crouching down to be eye-to-eye, like he always did when talking to you. He just never looked down at you. “If you try to escape, I’ll be forced to do things I don’t want to.” As he said it, you could see his hand patting the knife on his pocket. “I did something I think you will like.”

As the ropes loosened around you, and you finally stood up, you sighed in relief when you stretched your back and arms up. 

“You can go in there.” Kino pointed to a room that was behind you, on the part of the warehouse you couldn’t see before. “Take all the time you want, I’ll be there when you get comfortable.”

You walked slowly, looking over your shoulders just to see him sitting patiently on the chair that you were previously tied up to.

What was on the other side of the door was a surprisingly clean and bright bathroom. There was a warm bubble bath and a fluffy towel waiting for you. 

You were quick to undress and your body welcomed the soothing water. You allowed yourself to close your eyes and rest, letting all your muscles relax. You didn’t keep track of how long you stood there, but eventually a knock on the door brought you out of the bubble.

You tried to cover yourself under the bubbles, since you couldn’t really tell him to not enter

“There’s clean clothes for you.” he pointed to the bag on the corner. “You can leave your dirty ones in the sink”

He sat on the edge of the tub and you just curled yourself up, feeling more vulnerable and exposed than before. He reached for the shampoo, and started massaging your head after pouring some in your hair.  He  humming softly, his fingers working soothing circles down your scalp and around your neck. Eventually you felt like you could just let go and enjoy the caring gesture, the tension slowly going away with time.

After some time, Kino left again, letting you finish your bath and change into fresh clothes that you recognize as your own, and it didn’t surprise you that he probably broke into your house. When you went back, there were a few takeaway containers with breakfast food waiting for you on a small table set right in the middle of the room. There was a chair for you across from Kino’s, which he motioned for you to sit.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked

You took a seat slowly, not really sure of what you were and weren’t allowed to do.

“Yes” You limited your answer.

“So, I can give you time untied if you behave well. So far you haven’t tried anything unpleasant, and that makes me really happy, y/n. You may enjoy your breakfast now.”

The tingling feeling of gratefulness worried you.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months until you lost track of time. Kino began trusting you more, and most of the time you were free to walk around the place. He brought a bed where you could sleep comfortably, there were always fresh meals and new clothes waiting for you. He would spend the time listening to music or reading some random book. Sometimes you two would discuss it, it was a good way for you to forget the actual situation you were in.

The feeling of the first night only grew, you hated being alone at night, always giving you an uneasy feeling of being unsafe, and that’s why he spent most of the time with you. He would only leave to buy more food or “run quick errands”, as he would say and that’s when he tied you up again, which grew accustomed to.

“For your own safety, princess” He would say before planting a kiss to your forehead and leaving.

You always yearned for him to come back soon.

Kino was always gentle and treated you kindly. He would listen to your requests - as long as they wouldn’t include leaving the place. One day he even let you out for a little bit, so you could enjoy the sun, but of course he was strongly gripping your hand all the time. 

You could see that he never lied about being in the middle of nowhere. It looked like an old and abandoned industrial area, surrounded by a vast wild field, the only access was a barely-noticeable dirt road. 

You felt really happy and, again, grateful. You were convinced that Kino was a good person for you. He listened, he took care of you and he was always honest. You didn’t think he was a bad person. He understood you. And you were starting to understand him.

With time, you didn’t even think about your life before him. You forgot about your tiring work, your unfriendly coworkers, the bars, the drinking, all the things that made you tired and disgruntled were left behind and it was thanks to him. You felt like you owed him. 

In your captive you found freedom and for that you didn’t feel caged. 

“I won’t take long to come back,” Kino said, making your stomach twist in anxiety. “I know you don’t like being alone at night, but I have something important to do.”

“Can’t I go with you? I can be in the car, you can lock me up inside, I promise I won’t do anything but wait for you.”

“I can’t do that, princess, there are certain things I rather keep you away from. I wouldn't risk losing you.” He said and kissed your forehead, the familiar gesture reassuring you that he was just trying to take care of you. He left quickly after he tied you to the bed. The radio was on, so at least you had something to distract yourself with.

It was about 15 minutes later when the heavy door slid open, and you felt so relieved for not being alone anymore.

“Hello?” A strange voice echoed around.

You immediately started panicking, afraid of someone hurting you. You couldn’t hide or run, and soon the strange man saw you.

“Oh, Hi, I just got lost in the road, and I saw some lights, I thought I could ask for direct-” he stopped mid track when he saw your wide-eyed face, and finally noticed you were tied up. “Oh my god, are you okay?! Is someone keeping you trapped here?”

He ran towards you, and you started screaming and crying. 

“Don’t come closer, please!” You yelled, the frighten evident in your voice.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, I can get you out of here.” He got a pocket knife to cut you free from the ropes, and immediately grabbed your wrists to pull you away. “Come on! I’ll call the police from the car”

You were flooded with conflicting thoughts. For a long time you thought of trying to find a way to escape. You dreamed of putting your life back on track after this wake up call, to chase after your dreams and do all the things you haven’t done before. And right now the opportunity was right there in front of you.

But all you felt was scared. You didn’t want to leave Kino. There was nothing out there for you anymore. Kino gave you everything. He allowed you to find yourself. He took care of you and made you feel safe, he was the one for you. You only needed him.

You pulled yourself from his grip

“Go away!”

“No, you don’t understand, I can take you out of here. I can take you to the police and they will protect you from the sick bastard who is keeping you here. He won’t hurt you anymore.” the guy was desperate, trying to grab you again as you fought him. 

You stepped back until you hit the table where you have had dinner just an hour ago. You watched as the man approached you, and in panic you reached back your hand, feeling your way to a knife.  When he finally reached you, yanking you forcefully towards the exact, you didn’t think twice.

It all happened too fast. You aimed for the neck, knowing that the chance of you hitting an important blood vessel was big, and he would die in seconds. The knife pierced through his skin gruesomely. You knew you hit where you wanted when, at the pull of it, blood gushed everywhere, staining your face and clothes. 

The man fell to the ground with a loud thump, squirming powerless as more and more blood poured out of him, creating a puddle under his body. You were shaking, pupils blown wide from the adrenalin. You let the knife fall from your hand, the metal sound echoing around.

When you looked at the door, Kino was standing there, watching you worriedly.

You didn’t think twice when you sprint towards him. He received you in a tight hug, which you reciprocated with the same intensity. You buried your face in his neck, seeking comfort in the safety of having him with you.

“Are you okay, princess?” he stepped back, cupping your cheeks, his thumb brushing some blood drops away.

“Mm-hmm” You nodded quietly.

“I’m so sorry I left you here all alone, I should have been here to protect you.” he kissed your forehead calmly.

“He wanted to take me away, I was so scared.” You hugged him tighter, allowing yourself to cry quietly. “I-I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you behind.”

Kino watched your words carefully, the corners of his lips twisting in a small smile. He caressed your cheeks and stared deep into your eyes. He looked happy. Satisfied.

“I will never leave you again” He cooed.

When he leaned closer to kiss your forehead again, you tiptoed so your lips met his.

 His eyes widened in surprise for a second, he backed away as if you had done it by accident. When he realized that was your intention he pulled you closer again, arms twisting around your waist, and kissed you.

He kissed you as he life depended on it, and every fiber of your body jumped in excitement. You kissed him back, finally feeling like you were exactly where you belonged. Like you found the love of your life, the part that was missing. You had all you needed right there. He ended the kiss with light pecks, and that’s when you just needed to say something that’s been in the back of your mind for days:

“I love you, Kino” 

“I love you, y/n” He smiled so happily. “I have a surprise for you.”

He reached his hand for you to hold, and you gladly accepted. Butterflies danced around your stomach in excitement.

He guided you outside, to his car. He opened the passenger door for you. You just couldn’t believe it. You looked at him in doubt, but he just gave you an encouraging nod.

You settled inside, and soon he joined you in the driver’s seat.

“I’ve been gathering this for a while for you. For us. For the time you were ready to start over, when you would accept to do with me. It can be just the two of us, we will build our life together from 0.” He motioned with his head to the backseat.

There was a duffle bag, full to the top with cash. A lot of cash. You didn’t feel the need to ask him where he got all of that, the important part is that all you wanted was to be with him. Start fresh where no one would come in between you and him.

“Do you want to run away with me, y/n?” Kino hopeful smile filled you with joy

“Yes! Absolutely!” you jumped in your seat, too excited to hold back.

It was all he needed to hear. He started the car and drove away. You watched from the rear-view mirror the warehouse being left behind for good. It was so hidden, it would take days for anyone to find the body. Kino and you would be far far away by then, living your fairy-tale fantasy. It was all behind you now. You looked down at your blood-stained clothes, and surprisingly wasn’t a bother. Nothing would be. Nothing could take this moment away from you. 

Kino placed one hand on your thigh, the dark empty road didn’t require enough attention that he couldn’t share it with you. You placed your hand on top of his, lightly intertwining fingers. He flashed you another beautiful smile.

“You’re mine.” he said fondly. Strongly.

“I’m yours.”