#plus who cares if their friendship was flirty?

[justmystyles]

Ok so I was thinking Harry is very private and only seen with skinny girls but then he got a new bandmember but she is plus size and wears glasses so even tho they act cute and couply ? On stage fans just think they are really good friends but one night Harry slips up bc bandmember got hurt by flying objects and he rushes over to her giving her hugs and pecks asking over and over if she is ok ? And well he might’ve sorta forgot where they where but then didn’t care bc his baby girl got hurt hope that makes sense and hope you wanna write it

Line of Fire

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pairing: Harry Styles x band member plus size reader

word count: 1.5k

summary: you and harry have been keeping your relationship off the radar, but his concern for you overwhelms his need for privacy.

warnings: physical injury, not sure if that is one, but better safe than sorry.

a/n: thank you so much for this ask @fanficismydrug! i loved this idea so much, and it was so exciting to bring it to life. i hope it's what you were hoping for!

tags: @allthelovehes @ameerakane20 @ash-craze @bethanysnow @blue-ballad @brightlightsinlife @cute-as-ducks420 @fanficismydrug @gem1712 @golden-hoax @gothmingguk @groovychaosavenue @hillzrry @iceebabies @indierockgirrl @jerseygirlinca @jng4kook @jooniesbabie @kaverichauhan @lexiecamposv @n0vaj3an @ravenclawdirectioner @stylesfeverr @superchrystaldrug @tenaciousperfectionunknown @tiaamberxx @thechaoticjoy @theekyliepage @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite @youknowwhaaat

You tapped gently on Harry’s dressing room door, almost immediately hearing him call for you to enter. As you stepped over the threshold, you watched his eyes peer up from the book he was reading, his pensive expression quickly turned to a smile as he folded over his page, putting the book down on the table behind him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.” You apologize as you enter the room. 

“Don’t be silly, you��re never a bother.” He outstretched his arms. “Get over here, angel.” 

You happily sauntered into his embrace, kissing him softly as he pulled you into his lap. “Hi,” you smile against his lips. 

You were so excited when you were hired to play trumpet in Harry’s Love on Tour band. It felt like the ultimate validation after spending so many years as a tormented band geek. You were in your element, playing music with people who loved it just as much as you did. Especially Harry. 

You hadn’t expected you’d spend much time with Harry, he was the superstar, you were just in the background. But you quickly realized that was the farthest thing from the truth. The two of you clicked immediately, falling into this comfortable flirty friendship. You two had become inseparable, everyone on the tour knew that if they couldn’t find one of you, your best bet was to look for the other. Even the fans had noticed your back and forth on stage, and you were quickly labeled as Harry’s bestie. 

You had been ‘friend-zoned’ so many times in your life that you were used to palling around with the guys you liked. It didn’t stop you from falling for Harry though. You knew he was flirty by nature, so you always tried not to read too far into his actions. He obviously didn’t see you the way you saw him. You’d seen the kinds of girls Harry had been photographed with, you’d heard all the rumors about his lovelife. None of those girls looked anything like you, they were these gorgeous supermodels with tiny waists. You would never be that, so you just settled for being his friend. 

But then, there was a shift. Harry’s touches started to linger a little longer, when you would hang out and watch movies, you noticed he started to sit closer and closer. And then, one day everything changed. You had just finished sound check, and Harry asked you to come back to his dressing room with him. And he took that opportunity to confess his feelings for you. You had been together ever since. 

“You’ve been busy today, I’ve hardly seen you.” Harry pouted, you giggled before biting his bottom lip gently. 

“I know baby, I’m sorry. I promise I’m going to make it up to you.” You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him in for a lingering kiss.

“Mmm, you always do.” He sighs, squeezing your hips gently. 

“Oh, I meant to ask you. How’d your date go the other night?” He gives you a confused look. You chuckle as you pull out your phone, tapping a few times before pulling up a deuxmoi post that was submitted of Harry, the caption saying he was out on a date with a mystery blonde. 

Harry’s eyes soften, and he lifts his hand to your cheek, stroking it gently. “Angel, you know that’s nothing right? It was a business dinner.”

“I know, I’m just joking around.” He smiled widely at your words and pulled you in so that your head was resting against his chest. 

Harry liked to keep his private life to himself. He felt that he gave so much to everyone all the time, that he wanted to keep some things just for him. Your relationship was one of those things. You were fine with that, you didn’t need to parade your relationship around to the world to know it was real. 

Later that night, you were onstage playing your heart out. You and Harry had been playing off each other all night, like you usually would. He would also shoot an occasional wink, or sly smirk in your direction every now and then. 

The crowd had been particularly rowdy all night, but as the opening notes to Watermelon Sugar began, the screaming crescendoed and people began truly losing their minds. Harry and the band had gotten used to things being thrown onstage, you had gotten pretty good at dodging the assorted items. Until you weren’t.

You were so caught up with the energy in the room, watching Harry drink it all in and give it right back to them, that you didn’t see the watch soaring in the air. But you definitely felt it when it hit you in the side of the head, knocking you to the ground. 

Harry heard the crowd collectively gasp when you went down. He looked around, his brow furrowed in confusion, looking for the scene that caused such a reaction. He turned behind him and saw you on the ground, wincing in pain and holding your head. 

He ran full speed toward you, dropping to his knees in front of you. He tossed his microphone on the riser beside you before collecting you in his arms. 

“Y/N, are you alright?” He asked frantically, stroking your hair. He felt you nod against his chest, but it wasn’t good enough. “Talk to me angel, I need you to say it.” 

You pulled back, tears streaming down your face, you looked up at Harry with a sniffle. “I… I’m.. it’s okay. You n–need to finish.” 

“Oh sweetheart,” he takes your face in his hands, leaning in to kiss your tear stained cheeks before turning you to inspect the spot where you were hit. It was already starting to bruise, and there was some blood dripping down. He looked up at Pauli signaling for him to toss him a towel. He pressed it to your head gently as he tried to calm you down. 

“You’re alright baby, I’m right here. I’m so sorry angel, I love you so much.” The words flew from his mouth rapidly, seemingly unaware that his nearby microphone was picking up on all of it. 

Once you composed yourself, you reached beside you, grabbing your glasses that had fallen off when you hit the ground, and placing them back on your face. “Sorry Harry, you didn’t have to stop everything for me.”

“Of course I did,” he assured you. “You’re my girl, you come before anything, always.” 

A wave of murmurs washed through the crowd at Harry’s words. Tens of thousands of people were all watching with rapt attention as he cared for you so tenderly, and professed his love for you. Their confusion and curiosity quickly turned into a chorus of ‘awwws’ when they watched Harry press his lips against yours. 

The sound brought you both back into the moment, suddenly realizing that you were still onstage, and all eyes were on the two of you. Your face turned bright red, you quickly brought your hands up to cover it. Harry chuckled, pulling you close. 

“I guess you’re about to get your deuxmoi debut, angel.” He joked. 

“And tiktok, and twitter, and everything else.” You chuckle in response. 

Harry pulled back so that he could look you in the eyes. “C’mon, let me walk you off and get you comfy, then I’ll come back and finish up here.” 

You shake your head quickly. “No, I want to finish the show. I can do it.” 

“Are you sure?” He asked, his tone thick with worry.

You nod and stand up, picking up your trumpet to show him you were fine. He shrugged, giving in to you. He knows how stubborn you are, it would be easier just to finish the show. He gets up as well, picking up his microphone with one hand, and taking your hand with the other, leading you to center stage. 

“She’s okay!” He announced into the microphone, lifting your arm up in the air. 

The crowd erupted, and you curtseyed shyly. You looked over to Harry, who was already looking at you, you could see the adoration in his eyes as he lifted your joined hands to his lips. 

“Alright,” Harry returns his attention to the crowd. “Shall we try that one again?” The crowd cheered and Harry let go of your hand. When you turned to return to your spot onstage you jumped suddenly when you felt Harry’s hand playfully tap your backside. You shot him a wink over your shoulder and he smiled in response. 

You waved off your fellow band members as they all asked if you were alright, and if you were sure you wanted to do this. You lifted your horn to your mouth, showing everyone that you were fine and ready to move on. The song began, and the rest of the show went off without a hitch, Harry continuing to look back at you, giving you questioning thumbs ups to ensure you were feeling alright, you returned them all with a wink. 

You were alright, you were great even. You knew you didn’t need the validation or acknowledgement of his fans for your relationship to work, but it felt really nice to know you had it anyway.  

[inkskinned]

being single in your late 20s & 30s is so fucking wild bc on one hand it's fun and flirty and you skip a lot of the bullshit because you know what you're looking for and you know how to spot a red flag from a mile away and you've learned to set boundaries and communicate your own and be upfront about your needs and most of the time they've learned it too - and if they haven't, you can tell after the second date that they haven't been to therapy

and every time you feel lonely and dried up and an ugly husk there's a whole community of other single people out there who are just as unhinged and want to hang out with you because they just need a plus-one like you do and you get introduced to like. people in their 60's and 70's and 80's who are all like - nope, single life is my choice and i love it and you feel warm and seen and like okay, it's not the end of the world if i'm not seeing anybody. and yeah it's hard and sometimes exhausting but part of getting better is that you do make like so many friends and do so much wild shit because you made a promise to yourself that you'll actually get out there and try shit and actually work on your hobbies and skills and friendships because to be honest in relationships you wouldn't push yourself this hard and it's actually been super rewarding because it came from you and from what you wanted

and yes of course the apps such and dating in general can suck but after one of the bad dates you go back to your apartment and call up those friends you made and make jokes about what the other person said and it rolls right off your back and you have plans for self-care in the morning. you prioritize yourself and your happiness and you really actually don't mind it, a lot of the time, unless it's like at a wedding and they're doing one of those couples-related things. most of the time it's not even a problem except when you can tell people pity you for it and you're like - i'm actually fine, babe, even without a partner i am still, like a person and yes of course it would be nice to have a partner but you have established yourself as a person and as an adult in a way that feels really hard-won and well-earned and you're protective of that and of the life you're living and honestly you're pretty happy, all things considered

and at the same time you do have to tell your father that you are single on purpose right now and that, yes, believe it or not, they're letting women be single past the age of 30 these days without burning us at the stake (can you imagine!) and you have to kind of sit pretty while people make jokes about how you're losing your marriageability and you're like, a little too old for the bars and the clubs and whatever but you do still want to go out dancing and it's like. the other day you went to a board game party and had the time of your life and then your mom calls you and says she's worried because what if you never find the one, shouldn't you be spending more time looking? and you're like - trying to balance this place where you're actually, like, perfectly okay? except you hear this thing over and over and over - oh no. that's so sad. i hope you find your lover. and you weren't really upset about it until someone suggested that you're running out of time and until someone said that it's so miserable that you live without someone to kiss and you're like why can't anyone believe that i'm genuinely happy. like. joy. like. bliss.

and then they look at you and they look at their partner and the look passes between them that says - poor thing. you're just lying to yourself about this.

[tsw1234]

Moth To A Flame - D.G.

"And you'll leave him, you're loyal to me"

Word Count: 1549

Pairings: Dick Grayson x fem!reader

Notes: Heyyy pookies...how have you been... So, sorry for the long upload wait, y'all when I tell you that school's been kicking my ass like I need to lock in. I feel like I rushed towards the end so if you guys want any corrections or additions please let me know. I give my deepest apologies. Anyways let me not bore you, take this as an apology ;)

Synopsis: You've been hooking up with Dick Grayson (or mystery guy as your friends know him) for almost a year now. Despite multiple protests against it from some of your friends along with your best friend Jason Todd, you just can't seem to call it quits. Why?

Warnings: Toxic-ish and manipulative Dick, suggestive content, mentions of smut, cursing

​​Oh Dick Grayson, where to even begin? Dick is a very goal oriented person; he's always believed in shooting for the stars, to do the impossible. It's safe to say he's always had a tendency to want things he shouldn't have (which isn't much considering his dad is Bruce Wayne).

Insert you, Jason Todd's best friend of almost 2 years and roommate of one. Last year, you and Jason decided to move in together. At this point, you were aware of his ‘Red Hood’ persona and it didn’t hurt that you knew how to do a stitch up or two. From there, your friendship only blossomed.

You were first introduced to the rest of the Wayne family at Bruce’s Gala, around the same time you and Jason moved in. Jason needed a plus one and who else better to ask than his bestie of course! So there you were, on the arm of Jason Todd in a red dress which complemented his red tie perfectly. From the moment you walked in, you caught the eye's of all Wayne family members, Jason was always alone, why wouldn't you? But you resonated with one Wayne in particular; and just like that you became Dick's newest obsession.

Dick being the man he is, tried everything under the sun to charm you (and he did) but you weren't the type of person to give in easily. Though what you weren't aware of, was Dick's ability to be patient and persuasive. And after three long, and agonizing weeks of sexual tension and flirty remarks, you finally gave in.

Flash forward to present day, you and Dick have been hooking up in secret for about 7 months now; and girl do you have him whipped. It doesn't matter that he's been fucking a different girl every week, you were his main priority. You were aware that he was hooking up with others, so you took it as an opportunity to do the same. But Dick wasn't too fond of your decision to reciprocate his actions, despite him doing the same, leading to a huge fight between the two of you.

Now Jason? Although in the dark about who you were hooking up with, he was still caught up regarding all the drama between you and Dick. Jason wasn't fond of this "mystery guy" you would tell him about. He didn't like the fact that "mystery guy" could call you, ask to talk and you'd drop everything to go resolve whatever issues the two of you had. He didn't like hated how loyal you were to him.

Jason just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that a person as gorgeous and funny as you could ruin yourself over and over again for some douche. He wasn't the only one who expressed their dislike for Dick. Cue all of your friends having an intervention with you in your living room.

"Girl you guys have been hooking up, on and off for almost a year at this point. If he wanted to make it official, he would've. Stand up. If he can hook up with others, so can you!"

"How many girls does he have to fuck before you realize that he don't care about you. Was that drunken night when he came to you with hickeys not enough?"

"Why don't you go for Jason instead? He's the one for you, I feel it. He treats you so good, he truly cares for you and he truly loves you."

After hours of opinions exchanged and your friends giving you guidance on the situation, the day was done and the group chat had parted ways, each member returning to their homes. You take a shower and change into a shirt (that just happened to be Dick's) and a pair of shorts. Unbeknownst to you, there was still one more person paying you a visit.

In the midst of you watching your favorite movie whilst eating a snack you hear a series of knocks at your apartment. You pause the movie, place your snack to the side, and walk towards the door. Before opening it, you glance through the peephole in order to get a glimpse of who you're potentially about to interact with.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." you mutter as you open the door. "What do you want, Grayson?". He was still in his Nightwing suit which had to have meant he had just gotten off of patrol.

"Still giving me attitude, princess? I know we got into an argument but I at least thought you would've blown some steam off by now." he says walking past you, stepping into your apartment. You scoff in disbelief and turn your head to look at him. The audacity this man had was ridiculous.

"There's no way you just walked in here like that-"

"Relax princess, I'm just here to talk." he voices, throwing his hands up in defense. You roll your eyes and close the door behind you, making sure to lock it. "Whatever Grayson, I'm going to the bathroom. When I get back, you have five minutes to talk your head off and that's it." you warn.

Perfect timing. He's been trying to find an excuse to snoop around ever since he saw your friends leave your apartment, gossiping about the relationship between the two of you. He just needed evidence. In that moment he noticed your phone, that you left at the living room table, blowing up with notifications. Lucky him. After double checking to make sure you were still in the bathroom, he walked on over to where your phone was and picked it up. Your phone unlocked with ease the moment it saw his face thanks to him putting his Face ID in your phone. How he got your password to do so is a whole nother situation. Once your phone unlocked, he tapped on the messages within the group chat with your friends.

Reading those messages irked him. He didn't like your friends. He didn't like how they would speak about your relationship which he claimed they knew nothing about. He didn't like how they made him out to be the villain when it came to you. What really set him off were the comments they made about you and Jason. Why couldn't they respect the fact that you two were together hooking up.

Once you walked out the bathroom, Dick started reading out the messages one by one.

"[Name] get a grip."

Reply: "Seriously girl, we can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

"Leave her alone guys, she clearly has conflicted emotions between him and Jason."

"Really? You're just going to let them talk about me that way? And you like my brother?". You could tell he's pissed as he has a stern tone in his voice.

"Why are you going through my phone? And how did you even unlock it?" you question. At this point you could feel your blood boil. "That's not what I asked."

"Are you for real right now?" you scoff. "You're so unbelievable!" you chastise, leading you to walk around in circles and go in a rant about how he was being unfair and hypocritical. If you were paying attention, you would've noticed the way Dick's body tensed up or how his jaw clenched. He was turned on by your frustration and he would've let you continue if that meant he could listen to you scold him some more, but you weren't the only one who had anger that needed to be released.

He grabs your arm and leads the both of you over to the couch where you sit.

"Your friends think so highly of Jason, as if he's some type of angel and it's sickening. Does Jason know that when you're scared at night or bored or horny you call me? Huh?". He's toying with the hem of your shorts. Your hands are folded across your chest and your head is turned away from him out of pure annoyance. That drives him crazy, you giving him attitude. He grabs your chin and pulls it towards him, forcing the two of you to make eye contact. Exactly what you've been avoiding. Step one of how to get you to forgive him.

"Does Jason know that it's me leaving you with the inability to walk the morning after I fuck you in your bed the previous night?"

"Fuck you." you dispute. Girl he's been trying since he entered your apartment. "Is that an invitation?" he quips, raising an eyebrow. You suck your teeth at him. Taking a deep breath, and closing your eyes you try to remember what your friends said. Fully convinced that you were standing your ground, you open your eyes only for them to meet with Dick's blue ones, filled with lust, staring at you expectantly. Damn it.

"Come on pretty girl, please?". You hated when he begged. You hated it when he begged because you knew that you would give in every time and that's what he was banking on. And so, you drop all your walls and give in, which you'll make a mental note to scold yourself for. But that's tomorrow you's problem. Right now? Your attention is dedicated to the man currently in between your thighs.

[willowsnook]

please more Andrei Iosivas x Reader they were soo good

Andrei Iosivas x Reader

summary: Andrei takes care of you after watching you drink too much on a night after a Bengals win. You say things that you probably shouldn't have.

It's another Sunday night where you find yourself at a club instead of tucked in bed getting ready for the work week. This is all thanks to your best friend Olivia who drags you out with her everytime the Bengals win. Her bf Joe, who quickly became one of your good friends, always pays for all your drinks so you don't mind that much. Plus it means you get to see his teammate Andrei who you've been pinning over for a while now.

He was the hottest man you had ever seen and you enjoyed the flirty friendship the two of you had. But you were a traditionalist and not interested in making the first move which was starting to leave you frustrated. Your form-fitting black dress hit all the right places on you and you hoped it would catch his attention.

"Drink up," Olivia yelled at you over the loud music, handing you a drink. You took a sip and winced.

"What is this?" You questioned, there seemed to be no mixer.

"An AMF!" she said cheerfully and you groaned. You hadn't had one of those since college. Joe had a tight grip on her waist as he scanned the club looking for someone.

"Andrei!" He yelled, waving his other hand up. You felt a presence come behind you and you turned to see your crush standing there with a mega watt smile.

"I know you wore that for me," he whispered in your ear and you smirked before moving your lips next to his.

"And what if I did?" You saw his eyes darken but you turned to Olivia taking her hand.

"Let's dance."

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

Three AMFs later and you were fucked. You had lost Olivia a while ago and were dancing with some random girls as the room spun around you. You stumbled your way to the side hoping to catch a glimpse of your best friend somewhere. Not paying attention you ran straight into the back of someone but were relieved when they turned around and you were looking at Andrei. His eyes quickly narrowed at you.

"Where's Olivia?" He questioned. You shrugged your shoulders and twirled a piece of your hair.

"Who knows, I lost her," you told him nonchalantly. He grabbed your arm and pulled you with him towards a quieter area.

"You are literally trashed," he said angrily and you crossed your arms over your chest.

"No you're trashed." He huffed and pulled his phone up to his ear. You started to turn to walk away but he pulled you with his other arm into him, wrapping it possessively around your waist.

"Hey, I've got her," you heard him tell someone. "No, I'm just going to bring her home with me." That caught your attention.

"I'm not going home with you," you told him. He was already pulling uber up on his phone before he answered.

"Not up for debate," he simply said and you tried to break free of his grasp.

"Why so we can flirt and you can tease me more but won't touch me?" I asked drunkenly. "I'm sure I can find someone else here to go home with that will leave me satisfied." He jerked my chin up to look at him and I could see the rage in his eyes.

"You are not going home with anyone else much less talking or looking at a single man here," he growled. "Now let's go."

He dragged you out of the club and the two of you enjoyed a nice uber ride home in complete silence. In your drunken state you tripped on the sidewalk on the way up to his building and before you faceplanted you felt Andrei's arms grab you and pull you up. You found yourself lifted into his arms with your dress riding up.

"Fucking hell," he muttered under his breath while trying to pull your dress down.

"Why'd you even wear this? It's too short," he asked when you made it to the elevator. You had your eyes closed as your head was leaned against his chest.

"So you would want to fuck me," you replied sleepily. You heard him take a deep breath as if he was trying to restrain himself. He carried you into his apartment and laid you carefully down on the couch. You opened your eyes back up to see him holding out a glass of water to you which you gladly accepted. He had changed into just a pair of gray sweatpants and your eyes raked over his naked chest.

"Don't make this harder on me," he begged. And you looked at him confused.

"Why?" He knelt down to the couch until he was eye level with you.

"Don't you think I've wanted you since the second I saw you?" You gulped as his stare burned into you. "Always teasing me and testing my restraint. But Joe told me no, that you were special and not someone to just fuck around with. So I didn't do anything but you make that so incredibly hard." He raked a hand through his hair. You sat up on the couch.

"Tell me you want me," he whispered, your faces an inch apart. Instead of responding you wrapped your hand behind his head and pushed your lips together. He deepened the kiss and ran his hands down your body until settling on your ass. After a minute or two he pulled back breathing hard.

"We can't, you're too drunk," he said and you pouted.

"In the morning?" You asked with a hopeful look in your eyes. He nodded before dragging you to his bed to get some sleep.

[ghostofhyuck]

Taguan ng Anak series 5

Ex-fuck buddies! Jaemin and reader

Summary: it was supposed to be a non-committal, no strings attached setup which involves only bodily pleasure.

Because any emotions involved will destroy what both of you have.

cw: mentions of pregnancy.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The table fell into an awkward silence. You couldn’t help but to stare at the burger in front of you, still untouched.

“Hey, you know that you won’t be full if you just keep looking at it,” Jaemin said, making you glance at him. He’s munching the burger as if it was his last meal.

You couldn’t help but pick a piece of fries instead. “When you said that we’ll talk, I expect to be in a coffee shop or somewhere I don’t know, peaceful.”

“What? Isn’t this your favourite burger place when we were in college? Plus I was craving burgers,” Jaemin explains, giving you a smile.

That is why you didn’t like the place. It was your go-to burger place back in college. Until now, the price is still the same and so is the quality. It brings you memories; the good one and the bad one. Especially the memories you had with the guy in front of you.

“Ah right, I am still mad at you,” Jaemin nonchalantly points out.

“You’re still not over it?”

“Of course! Seven years and you hid Hyunchae from me! I wouldn’t know him if he didn’t message me first!”

See, not only your child was the splitting image of Na Jaemin but he also has the wits and the intelligence of his father. But you know that Jeno is also part of this scheme.

“Because Hyunchae wasn’t supposed to happen, you know that Jaemin,”

“But he did, and you kept him! So why did you keep him away from me?”

“Because you’re not ready for a commitment!”

If there’s one thing that you can describe about your college life, it's that you’re free. You partied every Friday night. Spend most of your free time hanging out with your friends, sometimes even going on short vacations outside Seoul.

You date around, flirt on bars, and even have one night stands. Despite these questionable things, you still find time to work on your degree and maintain a good average. You know how to work your life and balance your leisure time. You didn’t take relationships seriously because college is still heavy for you to add commitments to your priorities.

Jaemin entered your life like a hurricane waiting to destroy a town. He’s a member of a photography organisation where you signed up to be a muse. You two immediately clicked after a project and a friendship bloomed.

Of course there goes the flirty banters and the subtle way of wanting to get into each other’s pants. You were prideful enough not to ask Jaemin out so it was him who suggested that you two enter a non-committal relationship that just involves you two being fuck buddies. There were things that were off-limits and of course, it was mainly for pleasure. The first one to fall in love, loses.

Both of you know that you two aren’t ready to enter a serious relationship. So your setup with Jaemin was what you needed, and thought that it’ll go well until you two graduated because it went for months, people began to question whether the two of you are dating.

Well not actually, and didn’t matter to you. You’re fine with Jaemin flirting with other people and so is he with you, after all, it really is no string attached.

It went on until you two graduated. It was when the two of you said goodbye to each other that you realised how big Jaemin’s role has become in your life. You didn’t expect that it’ll sting a bit when he said goodbye to you during your graduation, but there, you were also reminded about the thing he tells you whenever you two meet.

“Don’t ever let emotions ruin what we have.”

Well it did, because months after graduating you called Jaemin. You let your emotions succumb to you because you long for Jaemin’s touch. From the outside, you acted like you just missed what you two had but deep inside you craved how soft and caring he was with you.

And you were stupid because that’s how Hyunchae happened. You blame yourself for not being careful, for being emotionally hazed to remember what happened. You know that it was a mistake especially when Jaemin told you that he’s not yet ready for a serious relationship, that is why you hid Hyunchae from him.

The only person who knows all of this was your cousin Jeno. Jeno knows all the stupid things you did back in college, sometimes he’s an enabler but sometimes he becomes against your decisions. When he heard that you were pregnant, he wanted to call Jaemin but you begged him not to. Still, that didn’t stop him from bothering you and trying to tell you that you should inform Jaemin about Hyunchae when you were raising the latter.

And it seems like he went behind your back and what’s worse was that he even brought Hyunchae in his little scheme. You were shocked to see Jaemin calling you nonstop. Hundreds of missed calls and messages from your social media shocked you one day; all from Na Jaemin.

Turns out, Hyunchae reached out to him through his instagram and how Hyunchae even knows how to use instagram and write direct messages is surely the work of Lee Jeno.

But there’s no point in hiding from him especially when Hyunchae himself introduced that he was Jaemin’s son. So for once, you agreed to meet up with Jaemin.

“Fine, be angry whatever you want but it was my fault that Hyunchae happened,” you replied. Casually waving him off.

“What do you mean, don’t be stupid, it’s my fault too that I wasn’t being careful,” Jaemin defended.

“Jaemin. You know that our setup was just for fun right?” instead of answering you, Jaemin became quiet. He stares at you as if he was trying to read you. You couldn’t help but feel your heart beating fast.

“Right?” you repeated, nervous at Jaemin’s silence.

Jaemin rested his arms on the table, hand under the chin with his gaze still on yours, “what if I told you that I wasn’t playing?”

You faked a laugh, “don’t be stupid Jaemin, you were always the one who reminds us that we shouldn’t let our emotions ruin what we have.”

“That’s not for you,” Jaemin confesses. “That was for me, I was afraid that if I let my emotions take me, it’ll destroy what we have.”

“Jaemin, don’t tell me…”

“Yeah, I’m starting to have feelings for you during college. It was stupid because you weren’t ready for a serious relationship so the best way for me to get closer was to have that kind of setup,” Jaemin explains.

You couldn’t believe what you just heard. You tried your best to repeat his words in your mind and no matter how much in denial you are, everything that Jaemin said was true.

He likes you. What the fuck, Jaemin likes you and you like him. You two are just stupid because you two didn’t communicate properly.

“I can’t believe it,” you could only laugh in disbelief. “Is that why you agreed to meet up with me?”

“What do you think? But you made it clear that it was nothing,” Jaemin pointed out. He sounded frustrated as he brushed his hair. “I was about to confess, but you told me it’s nothing and I held myself back. I thought…fuck, I’m letting my emotion ruin what he have.”

“Jaemin,” you held his hand, making him stop and look at you.

Seven years and you’re still the same girl that made him go crazy. Jaemin couldn’t help but reciprocate your touch, intertwining his fingers to yours.

“Well now that we cleared up some things, I wonder, do you still like me?” he asked.

You became quiet for a moment, “I’ll be stupid if I said that I couldn’t get over you.”

Jaemin laughs, “then that solved all my worries. Maybe this time, we can make it real right?”

“Right,” you said, smiling. “Do you want to meet Hyunchae too?”

“Of course! I just hope he likes me,” Jaemin said. Standing up from his seat, his hands never leaving yours.

As you both left the place, Jaemin couldn’t help but to tug you closer to him. He gives you a warm smile and from there, he kisses your hand.

“Come on now, our son is waiting for us,” he said.

[skzhua]

you are my safe haven ('your eyes' series)

♡ "You were the first person I thought of at the moment."

pairing: lee minho x reader.

genre: fluff, angst.

word count: 10,529

warnings: swearing, suggestive, unrequited love mentioned, minho being minho (savage and flirty).

summary: your relationship with minho has always been tricky. either he was roasting the shit out of you, or he was flirting with you shamelessly. when things start to get complicated with your childhood friend, chan, why is he the first one who come up in your mind?

a/n: this one took me so long to write, but it might be my favourite one ever. i just fucking love lee minho, lmao. i'm so sorry for not posting as regularly as i used to, i'm very much struggling with school and other, but i'm trying my best! anyway, enjoy~

SERIES MASTERLIST

You and Chan met when your parents used to live across from each other. Being a year apart only, it made things easy for the both of you to get along. You had gone through everything together whether it was growing up, changing schools, making friends, etc. The last big step you had taken together was moving on your college's campus. You roomed with a nice but shy healthcare student, Youngmi. Although she wasn't a social butterfly like Chan was, she grew more at ease with you as time passed.

Another semester starting meant more homework and less free time, and that involved no more nights out with Chan at the local diner. Over the holidays, his friend, Minho, had started to come to your usual hangouts. Nothing against him, but his presence did affect your relationship with Chan. Your crush on him had only been growing since college started and Minho's presence wasn't much of an help if you wanted to confess at some point. Anyway, it's not like you could tell Chan that his friend was causing you problems when really he was doing nothing wrong.

Your first day was finally over. Checking your message app, you saw nothing from Chan. Weird, since he would always answer you. Your last class was with Minho, and after you had put everything in your bag, he was still at his desk, not having moved a bit other than jamming to his music.

"Minho, can you not?"

The man acted as if he had heard nothing and went on with humming happily to the song he was listening to. Despite how much your friendship with him had improved, he remained one of the few people you would give away to Satan to save yourself with no hesitation.

"Min." you tried again, but you were left with no response.

Out of impatience, you snatched his earphones out of his ears, resulting to Minho spatting out one insult after the other. "I was vibing, you moron! You're seriously no fun, weirdo."

"Wow, I'm so affected by your lame insults." you rolled your eyes.

"I'm going soft on you, kitten."

And here it was again, the sudden shift from insults to flirts. Quite honestly, you never understood how he managed to pass from one another so smoothly, nor could you comprehend how it took you by surprise each time. But that's what Minho is, a flirty jerk who loves to provoke.

"Why are you so pressed, anyway?" he asked as he lazily followed you out of the class.

"We're going to the diner, remember?"

"I forgot, actually. See, that's why I need you around." he winked, but you dismissed his antics.

"Chan hasn't replied to my messages yet, it's not like him."

"It's the first day of school, I bet he has hundreds of meetings."

He was surely right, but you learnt with time to not base your thoughts off of Minho's because he never cared about anything other than himself. And right now, he didn't give a damn about Chan not replying to you.

"I don't know, should I call Bin to see if he's with him?"

Minho deadpanned at you. "Are you his mom or something? He's fine, probably just busy. Plus, I'm here. Can't you enjoy my company for once?"

You sent him a disgusted look, unimpressed, as you went outside. That's when, from afar, you saw your best friend. He was as handsome as ever, still wearing his oversized black clothes, and laughing cutely. And he was laughing with a girl. You had literally never seen her before, though you were convinced to know everyone in Chan's social circle.

"I told you he's okay." Minho huffed.

"Sure." you replied, unfocused. "Wait here for a moment, will you?"

You passed your bag to him, not letting him protest, and you ran to Chan to hug him from the back. He was startled for a bit, until he realized you were the one who took him by surprise.

"Hey, there!" he smiled widely before hugging you back tightly, ruffling your hair in a sweet manner. "I haven't seen you all day, where were you?"

"Class... And the best out of this is that I get to finish the day with Lee Minho." you fake-gagged.

"He's not that bad, just a bit annoying." he chuckled. "How was it, other than that?"

"Fine, I suppose. I just really don't want to be back in class. The teachers went over their planned projects, and I wanted to shoot myself just then."

"Don't say that, you'll do just fine. I know it." he said, rubbing your back.

"Thanks, Channie." you blushed a little.

Chan soon realized he had been ignoring his new friend since you appeared. "Y/N, this is Eunhee. She's in my sound art practices class. Eunhee, this is my best friend, Y/N."

You ignored the pang in your heart from the label he used for you, but still greeted the girl sweetly. "Hi! Happy to meet you!"

"Likewise." she replied, seemingly uneasy by your presence despite her polite smile. "I can go find my dorm alone if you two want to hang out."

You turned your attention to Chan expectedly, but his answer crushed you a bit. "No, no. I'll show you." he hurried to tell her, before looking at you sadly. "Do you mind going without me for today? I'll join you later."

You tried your very best to hide your disappointment, but let's say it wasn't much of a success. "Yeah, sure. Do you want Minho and I to order for you?"

"It's fine, thanks. Later?"

He brought you in his arms again, kissing the top of your head as some sort of apology. You felt down enough, you didn't want to break your façade in front of him. So you hurried to join Minho back, who had patiently waited for you at the same spot. He frowned upon seeing your glossy eyes, but you didn't let him question it. You took your bag from him and started to walk to the diner immediately. However, Minho was stubborn. He sped his pace up to catch up with your own and fixated his gaze on you. You attempted to ignore it, but he can be very intimidating when he wants to be.

"What?" you snapped at him, annoyed.

"You like Chan."

You stopped on your tracks and looked at him incredulously. "You're seeing things."

He scoffed as he stopped walking as well. "Please." he elongated the word. "You're almost drooling at the sight of him. And when he's not with us, you only talk about him."

"I don't drool! And I talk about him because we barely have anything in common."

He smirked. "Now, now, kitten. You barely know anything about me, how can you be so sure?"

"You're a pain in the ass." you groaned, starting to walk again.

He followed closely as he laughed alone. "This is a fact, though. We barely talk about anything else than Chan. You must like him, then."

"Then talk about something else, if it bothers you that much."

He paused for a second, trying to think of any moment you two had without mentioning the older man. He could not think of a single one. He had tried to get to know you on many occasions, but Chan would always end up being the main topic. He had noticed way before today that you had a crush on Chan, but he thought it wasn't his place to bring it up. However, today was different. He was sick of seeing you check him out from afar and do nothing about it, so he thought of giving you a little push. Clearly, you were more stubborn than he initially thought.

"Do you actually want to talk with me?"

You let out a chuckle. "I mean, sure?"

"You don't seem sure."

"Like you said, we don't know much about each other, other than our mutual friend."

You reached the diner and opened the door to let Minho in first. He didn't wait for you to sit at the usual table you would be at with Chan. You joined him quickly, and he sent you a sly smirk.

"What is it now?" you breathed out.

"I want to talk."

You shrugged your shoulders, acting uninterested. "Please do."

"Do you even remember my cats' names?"

The question was unexpected for your part. In all of the things he could have brought up, you expected school, life experiences or hobbies, but certainly not his cats.

"I do, actually." you proudly responded, and he quirked an eyebrow. "I'm telling you, I remember!"

"What are they?"

"Soonie and Dori."

He gasped, putting a hand on his chest to enhance the dramatization of his reaction. "How dare you forget about my beloved Doongie?"

"My bad." you nonchalantly shrugged.

"You're such a bad friend."

"Are we even friends, Min?" you huffed.

"I only allow certain people to call me Min, actually."

You wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but Chan entering the place interrupted you. For the first time in your life, you wished he hadn't come join you so soon. He said hi to Minho briefly, before coming to sit down next to you. The server soon came to take your orders, and you asked for your usual burgers.

"Who was your little friend?" Minho asked Chan on purpose, resulting to getting a death stare from you.

"Eunhee. She just tranferred here, so I was showing her around. She's very nice, actually. She even writes lyrics like me! I read some of it, and she's got some talent."

Hearing him talk about someone else with so much praise did not feel good. Nonetheless, you smiled along Chan's talk and pitched in the conversation from time to time.

"I'm sure the two of you would get along well." he finished his monologue about the girl.

"Yeah, she sounds fun."

The night came to an end quickly, and Minho insisted on paying for the food, despite Chan's protests. You were walking to your dorm, when Chan had to go a separate way since he wasn't living close to you. He hugged you good night, and was off to go home.

Minho kept quiet as he walked you home. He didn't mind since his building was next to yours. Although the silence was enjoyable, he felt like something was off. You were acting as if he wasn't there and he couldn't help but notice when you sniffled discreetly.

"You like him that much, uh?"

Not in the mood for his teasing, you groaned in annoyance. "Shut up, Min."

"I'm genuinely asking." You hesitated, not sure if you should be telling him about this. "Hey, I'm serious."

He stopped you and put his hand on your shoulder. While Minho was never one for physical contact, you did know he would not think about it twice when it comes to his close ones. Apparently, he did care about you more than you thought. For some reason, you trusted him enough to tell him. Probably because it was becoming too much of a burden that you needed to confide in someone.

"I'll always be a little sister in his eyes, right?"

He didn't actually expect you to say anything, but he was pleasantly surprised you did. "Depends, things like this can change, you know."

"You don't get it. I've tried for years to get this man's attention, and the moment he meets Eunhee, he seems infatuated with her..."

"For years?"

You nodded your head slowly, ashamed to have been looking at the same man for that long. It's not like you did not try, you actually dated here and there. Nonetheless, Chan was always the one to pick you up after each breakup.

"Rough." Minho simply said.

You ended up changing subjects, as he started to spill out about his cats. He said he rented a dorm for himself so he could have his babies with him, and that he did not think it through when bringing in his third one. Especially because Dori has so much more energy than the two others.

"Thanks, Min." you said as you came to the front door of your building.

"For?"

"I don't know. For being there."

"Sure." he shrugged his shoulders. "Good night, Y/N."

"Good night."

You really tried to make Youngmi feel at ease around your friends, and mutiple times. The girl had not much interest in coming out of her shell. You understood that, but her having been in college for a year already, you would have expected her to open up more. Still, her befriending you was already a success.

"This is, like, the only free break I have this week, so enjoy while I'm here." Chan laughed out as he headed towards the cafeteria.

"What if I don't?" you joked.

"Then you are revoked from any bestie privileges. No more driving you home after a night out."

You gasped as to seem shocked. "Who would tuck me in and treat my hangover, then?"

"Youngmi can do that." he shrugged as he nodded his head towards the girl walking next to you.

She didn't say anything as she looked at you in confusion. "What?"

"Nevermind." you sighed.

"Hey, Y/N, look." You followed to where Chan was pointing as he tugged your side, and your eyes landed on Eunhee and Jeongin sitting at a table. "We should join them."

"I don't think we should do that." Youngmi spoke.

"I thought you knew Jeongin and get along with him well."

"We don't want to impose ourselves." you added.

"It can't be too bad. Plus, Eunhee is very easygoing. Let's go."

No matter what you were going to say, you knew Chan was not going to change his mind. You forced yourself to follow him, and Youngmi had the same expression on her face. When you reached the two others, Jeongin's face turned red as his gaze stuck on Youngmi.

"Hey." she waved at him shyly.

"Do you mind if we join?" Chan asked, although he was already sitting down.

"Go ahead." Eunhee replied kindly.

Hesitant, you still sat down and started to eat. Chan began to discuss with Jeongin while the remaining three of you kept quiet. You and Eunhee exchanged some glances, and you felt bad for being so on the edge around her. She hadn't done anything other than being friendly, and it wasn't fair from you to give her the side eye.

Looking around, you tried to find Minho in the crowd. You spotted him quickly, but he did not see you as his eyes were set on someone else. More specifically, Byeol, his ex-girlfriend. He was sitting across from her and they were exchanging obvious glares. You were starting to wonder why he even sat with her, since he had previously told you he doesn't like to think about her. You observed the two of them for a bit, until they shifted glares into smiles. What the hell was happening?

"Youngmi." you turned to your friend. "Don't you think it's weird he's hanging out with her?"

The girl shrugged, since she didn't know them that much. "It looks normal to me."

You then heard someone choke, which turned your attention to Eunhee, who was coughing like crazy. As Jeongin attempted to make her feel better, you took out a napkin and wiped off the water she had spilled. She gave you a small smile, thankful.

"What do you mean, me? What did I do?" she said after she stopped coughing.

"She asked me if I'd be interested in tutoring you."

You hadn't noticed that Chan was the one she was talking to, until he answered. Tutoring? Wasn't he busy enough already? You chuckled as you thought this was an horrible idea, and Eunhee did the same, visibly seeing this as ridiculous as you were.

"What's funny?" he asked Jeongin, not sure to have caught on what made you two laugh.

The young man shrugged, not very interested in the conversation. "I mean, do you even have time to tutor? You barely have any time for the guys and I."

"It would be during the class period." Eunhee groaned at Chan, seemingly not happy with what she was hearing. "She said you're going to fail if you keep going like this."

“Come on, Chan. We’re barely halfway through the term. I can manage myself.”

“Not sure about that. You have halfway left that you can use to actually get better instead of barely passing.”

She gave you a look, almost pleading for your help, but you really didn't know what to tell her. So you shrugged your shoulders, and turned back to Youngmi to continue chatting.

“I’ll think about it…” you heard Eunhee say.

Lunch time went on pretty quickly. Youngmi had class, so you walked with her to her course. Your day was pretty much over, and you were planning to hang out with the boys for the evening. But nights at the diner shifted to you and Minho being alone while Chan needed to attend the student association meetings. Either that, or he was too tired and wanted to rest.

Unlike what you would have expected, it didn't affect you as much. Minho was much different than your best friend, there was no doubt. His weird behaviour, though, was odd enough to make you forget that Chan had pretty much abandoned you. He was still consistent with his texts, but you barely actually saw him around, today being an exception.

You joined Minho in front of the restaurant, and didn't bother waiting for Chan since you knew it would only be the two of you. He started to talk about his day and other fun things. But honestly, your focus was not cooperating as you were mostly in your thoughts.

"No, but can you blame anyone? Hyunjin's butt is great." Minho went on with his story-telling.

You mixed your milkshake with your straw in boredom, as you nodded along Minho's talk. "Yeah yeah, Hyunjin's butt is nice."

He raised an eyebrow, offended by your lack of commitment in this one-way discussion. "You're not listening."

"I am! I just told you Hyunjin's butt is nice!"

"Y/N, you've never seen the guy." he rolled his eyes at you.

"That is untrue!" you raised your finger to point at him in defense. "He's the one looking like he was made by angels, right?"

Minho scoffed, a smirk forming. "That would be me, princess." His cockiness almost got to you as you were at loss of words. "And we both know my ass is cuter."

You snorted at his statement. To be fair, you had checked his ass once, and there was no denial that he had a good one. You were not going to feed this ego of his, however. Just then, a ping was heard from your phone.

Chan: Hey! Changbin and I would like to have a little gathering with the others tomorrow. You in?

Y/N: If that means I can finally see you, yes!

Chan: I'm so sorry about that! I had so many meetings and so much work to do. It's supposed to be mostly done, though, so hopefully we can see each other more from now on.

Y/N: Otherwise, I'm complaining to the school that I want my best friend back.

Chan: Stop, you know I'll never leave you.

Chan: See you tomorrow?

Y/N: See you tomorrow.

"Something tells me Channie's the one you're texting." Minho teased.

"Shut you. I could say the same with you texting Byeol earlier."

This spilled out of your mouth without you thinking. You did not understand why it bothered you this much when he was chatting with his ex-girlfriend at the beginning of your night together. It was surely because it was impolite to be on your phone when you're hanging with someone already. Though, you just did the same and he was not bothered at all.

Minho blinked a few times as his eyes were set on you, before he breathed out a huff. "What do you mean?"

You stuttered as you tried to explain yourself. "I-I... She and you were- I meant, earlier today-"

He grinned at your sudden change in attitude. He rarely saw you shy or embarrassed, because you were rarely in this kind of state and also because you were good at hiding your emotions. To say he didn't like it would be a lie. You were damn adorable with the flush on your cheeks, and he had to suppress himself from slipping out a comment about it.

"You were definitely not listening to me earlier, then." You frowned before gesturing for him to continue. "The whole butt thing was because Byeol had accidentally texted me instead of her friend, and she was complimenting Hyunjin's ass in that message. That's why I was laughing then."

"Oh." you breathed out as you nodded your head slowly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I smile much more when you're texting me." he winked.

"Now, for real, you need to shut up."

Being the first one to get to Chan's dorm, you made yourself at home as you sprawled across his couch, scrolling through your social medias. Chan had plans with Minho and would be coming home with him later, so you hadn't seen him yet. Changbin, however, was there.

"Do you think this is a good plan?" he sighed loudly.

Frankly speaking, you had not listened to one word he said since you were too focused on replaying the cat video Minho had just sent you. "Uh? Yeah. It's an excellent plan." you replied nonchalantly, before chuckling at the video again.

"And, you were not listening." Changbin let out a sigh. "Is this Minho's cat?" he asked, upon seeing the ginger feline on your phone.

"Yeah. Soonie fell off this morning while he was filming him. Poor kitty, but this is quite hilarious. Especially Minho panicking and running to save his child." you went on to explain, a smile still on your face.

"You have it for Minho, now?"

You froze in action from his words. "What?"

He realized that, maybe, he shouldn't have said anything as he scratched his head while awkwardly chuckling. "Forget it."

The doorbell rang and Changbin almost ran to the door to open it. He let Chunhwa in before giving her a big hug. She had brought drinks for the evening, so she straight went to put them in the refrigerator.

"Hey, Y/N!" she waved at you.

"Hi." you smiled. "What did you get for us?"

She raised a pack of beer and a bottle filled with a dark-coloured liquid. "Beers for the guys, and I found this fruit punch thing. I thought we could try it out." she shrugged as she put them down, and pulled a Fanta out of her grocery bag. "And I got this for our Jisung."

"About that." Changbin started. "He won't come tonight. He said something along the lines that Hwayoung was out with some guy and that he didn't want what happened last time to repeat itself."

Last time you hung out all together, Hwayoung had went on a date before joining you and was looking like a wreck. Jisung had to comfort her in Chan's room, and let's say some stuff happened.

"Oh well, I'll have the Fanta, then." you said as you got up to take it from your friend's hand.

Soon enough, the guys came back after they stopped by the convenience store to buy some snacks. While Changbin had already placed the board game on the table, Chunhwa took the time to help Chan out with preparing the ramen soups he bought. Minho sat next to you and thanked the girl as she gave him the food.

"Where is Jisung?" he asked as he started to dig into his soup.

"He's probably comforting Hwayoung again." Changbin answered, which made you feel bad for him.

"If he keeps doing this, he'll end up in a deep depression." you breathed out before the entire room nodded in agreement.

"You're one to say that." Minho said as he nudged your arm.

You glared at him before hitting his arm playfully. You only hoped Chan didn't get what he meant by that. The evening continued as you all picked your pawns to play. You conversed simultaneously since it had been a while since you saw each other. Changbin and Chunhwa were being painfully obvious about their crushes on each other, and Minho kept on bugging you, claiming you were cheating.

"I talked with Eunhee." Chan said, clasping his hands together which took you aback.

"And?" you frowned.

"She accepted my offer. I told you she would."

Your heart sank. No matter when you would talk with him, he always brought her up. Even if you took your feelings out of the situation, it almost looked as if he wasn't your best friend anymore and it hurt. You felt Minho putting a hand on your thigh, probably to bring you some kind of support.

You forced yourself to smile, before managing to say a small "That's great."

You could see that Chan noticed your lack of enthusiasm, but he went on nonetheless. "Yeah, I'll text her the details later. It'll probably be once or twice a week. Depends on her level, honestly."

"Right." you coughed out as you felt a lump forming in your throat, and Minho was quick to notice as he tightened his grip on you slightly. "Sorry, I have a headache. Minho." The boy shot his head up immediately. "Do you mind helping me get some medicine?"

"No, of course." he assured before standing up and offering his hand to help you up.

He gave you a worried smile as you came face to face with him. You didn't know when it started exactly, but he had started to let himself be more vulnerable around you. You almost never saw him having any sort of emotions. Seeing him care this much about you made you feel both weirded out and safe.

Chan watched the scene happen in front of his eyes and frowned in confusion. "Are you alright? I can help if you want and-"

"No." you immediately shut him up. "I'm okay, really. Thanks."

The poor guy was left even more confused when Minho took you away, bringing you to the bathroom. You both closed the door and you stood in front of each other for a moment without saying anything. While he was waiting for you to talk, you genuinely just wanted to enjoy his presence. But as the silence grew, Minho finally decided to break it.

"You could have asked Chunhwa to help you." he said, since he didn't why exactly you chose him to comfort you.

You shrugged, not too sure either. "You were the first person I thought of at the moment. I mean, you had a pretty strong grip on my thigh."

He coughed awkwardly, his ears turning red. "I see. And yeah, sorry about that.

"It's okay. It kind of helped, actually." you admitted.

Another silence took over, but he was the first to speak again. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Your eyes widened at his proposition. "Are you crazy? Don't do that."

"No, I won't tell him about your crush, or whatever. I can mention to him that it's annoying that he only talks about her." he shrugged his shoulders.

"Min, we both only talk about Chan whenever we are together." you stated the obvious. "I bet you are more annoyed about that."

"Fair enough, but you don't bring up how talented and amazing he is every two seconds."

You laughed at this, and it visibly made Minho relax. If he managed to make you smile a little, that was good enough for him.

"Still, you don't need to do that. It's just as if I'm losing a friend, that's all."

"Do you want to go back home? I can walk you there."

You hummed quietly while nodding a yes slowly. "Actually, yes, that would be nice."

He took a step closer before rubbing the side of your arm, not forgetting to replace the hair that had fallen onto your face as well. "Then, we shall take you home, princess."

You hoped he didn't feel your heartbeat fasten its pace, nor your heavy breathing. He was never a physical person, and his touch felt electrifying. You knew damn well he was only doing this for you to feel better about your whole situation with your best friend, but you were starting to wonder if a part of him actually enjoyed these kinds of moments.

Your train of thoughts was stopped when he let go of you to open the door again, letting you walk out first. As you joined the others, you saw Changbin and Chunghwa being in their own world, and Chan giggling at his phone, most likely texting Eunhee. Oddly enough, it did not pain you as much as it did earlier. Somehow, feeling Minho's body hovering behind you in a protective way compensated.

"I'll go home, if you don't mind." you said to nobody in particular.

Chan let go of his phone, while the two others simply gave you a thumbs up before going on with whatever they were doing. "This early?" Chan asked.

"Sorry, I don't feel so well." you attempted a smile.

Chan stood up and joined you at the front door, concern all over his face. "Let me walk you to your dorm, at least."

You shook you head as a no before gesturing to the man standing behind you. "Minho's coming with me already. Thank you."

"Alright." he trailed off before he gave you a tight hug. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Always. Good night Chan. Bye, guys!" you addressed to the others.

You were quick to leave, and you felt bad Minho had to keep up with your fast walking. Nonetheless, he didn't complain and you found yourself outside of the building soon, breathing in the fresh air.

"What are you going to do for the rest of your night?" Minho asked.

You pondered for a minute, trying to figure out the options in your mind, but nothing came up. "I don't know. Knowing Youngmi, she's already sleeping. That means I can't do much other than sleep too."

"Are you tired?" he asked, and you answered with a no. "My place is close to yours, if you want to hang out."

You never went over at his, meaning you never met his cats. This was a good opportunity to get some cuddles with them, that only if Minho allowed you.

"Do I get to snuggle with Soonie, Doongie and Dori?"

He frowned. "Who do you think you are? Some privileged woman? The cats are off-limit." To that, you pouted at him. "Y/N, no."

"You want to me to feel better or not?"

"You seem to be doing good, now."

"Min, pretty please." you whined like a child.

He let out a sigh, deadpanning at you. "Fine. Not more than an hour of cuddles, though."

Feeling victorious, you took his hand and dragged him rapidly to his dorm. He almost fell from your sudden excitement, which took him by surprise. You were especially strong for someone who barely did anything else than study and work. At his building, he took the lead since you didn't know where he lived exactly. He let you inside first, being the well-mannered man he is, and you were greeted by an orange ball of floof who was visibly confused upon seeing someone who is not Minho.

"Doongie." he said before pointing to the other orange cat who was sitting on the cat tree in the corner of the room. "Soonie. And I have no idea where Dori is."

"You sent me so many photos of them, I would have recognized them without your help."

He sent a glare your way. "Just be grateful you get to meet them."

"Yes, thank you, Min." you laughed before crouching down to pet the cat. "Hello, Doongie." you cooed at him.

Minho huffed at the sight. His cat seemed to be liking you a lot. He went to Soonie, only to see Dori jumping on the cat tree to join his brother. He patted their heads lovingly. At least, he still had those two who didn't betray him. However, he realized he spoke too soon when you joined him to scratch the cats' bellies.

"You traitors." he muttered at his children. "It looks like they love you more than me."

"I'm just that much likeable." you teased.

"Sure you are, kitten."

Your eyes widened as realization hit you. "You call me kitten because of your cats?"

"Why else?" he shrugged as if it was nothing. "I like cats and I like you. This is only logical."

Your eyes went even wider, your heartbeat pacing faster. Did he just tell you he liked you? The Lee Minho who was known to be the most detached person on Earth, the one who never showed his true emotions?

"You like me?" you breathed out.

He rolled his eyes at you. "You're my friend, of couse I like you."

Oh. He meant that kind of liking. You were not certain on why it disappointed you so much. You thought you liked Chan. Well, you did, but ever since Minho came in the picture, you didn't know if you were starting to lie to yourself about your feelings for your best friend.

"Wow, Minho is finally admitting he actually likes having me around."

"Don't let it get into your head too much. This only happened because Chan's busy." he scoffed as he walked to the cupboard in his kitchen. "Now, do you want to feed the kitties?"

You didn't think twice before hopping to join him. You helped him serve the cat food and put it on the ground. You observed them eat together, as you petted their backs. He was babying Dori and Doongie, while you were spoiling Soonie with scratches. Needless to say, you felt like you were two parents watching over their children. And it felt strangely comfortable. If someone told you months prior that you would be in Minho's apartment, feeding his cats, and feeling like you wished it'd be like this all the time, you would not believe them. Because you couldn't quite believe it at this instant.

"Did you want to do something in particular?" you asked after the cats were done eating.

"Hmm." he hummed, thinking for a moment. "We could watch a movie. I have some drinks if you want to do that while watching."

"Sounds good to me."

You opted for a comedy movie while Minho prepared the popcorn and the drinks. You both had already drank a little when you were at Chan's, but some more couldn't hurt. Mid-way through the film, you were already feeling tired and tipsy. Way more than tipsy. Of course, Minho noticed since you were starting to lean on him. He tried to move away, but it was like you were trying to absolutely have some sort of physical contact with him.

"Bruh." he spat out when you were now full on laying on him.

"Uh?" you said as your eyes fluttered opened. "Ah, sorry, Min. I'm just very tired."

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Do you mind if I sleep here for tonight?" you mumbled out and Minho froze.

Normally, he would have kicked you out at that point without any second thoughts. However, your pleading eyes with your tired figure did something to him, and he couldn't just say no to you.

"I'll take the couch."

You pouted before shaking your head violently. "Sleep in your bed. I'll stay here."

"Y/N, you're not okay. Sleep in my bed."

"Or we can sleep together."

You took his lack of answer as a yes, and stood up on your feet clumsily. Luckily, he caught you in time before you tripped on yourself. You grabbed onto him to find some balance as he led you carefully to his bed. Once he tucked you in, he was about to leave, but you took his wrist to stop him.

"I said we can sleep together."

"I'll just wash up, I'll be back."

"Do you have cucumbers?"

He looked at you weirdly. Sure, you were drunk, but this was so random. You explained briefly it was for a skin care routine you wanted to do to relax. Although it now made sense, he didn't quite understand why you wanted to pamper yourself while being so tired. Nonetheless, he obliged and brought you sliced cucumbers.

"I'll go shower while you do your thingy."

"I'll wait for you."

Your behaviour was strange, but you were awfully cute and you smiled widely at him, hurrying him to go wash. He absolutely adored it, but he knew this was only because you drank. He beat himself up for wanting this to be genuine. The picture of you waiting for him to go to bed and falling asleep together was more than appealing to him. However, he had to remind himself that you liked Chan, and that you'd known the latter for years. He could never do that, come in-between the two of you. He finished his shower thoughts by simply telling himself to get over it. He didn't like you. He couldn't like you. Not like that.

When he came back in his room, he was met with the image of you watching a kids show on his personal TV. Some people would act like horny jerks when drunk, but you were a total child. Alongside with you was Dori, whom you had somehow managed to kidnap to cuddle with. Minho loved it. But he couldn't.

"You didn't use the cucumbers." he pointed to the plate, still full of the vegetable.

"I told you I'd wait for you."

He quirked an eyebrow, starting to see where this was going. "I am not doing some self-care shit with you."

"Min..." you pouted.

"No."

You patted the empty side of the bed and, lazily, Minho sat down as he was still glaring at you.

"Please."

"I'm going to sleep."

You huffed. "You're no fun. Chan would have done it."

Oh, how wrong was it of you to say that. It awoke something in Minho. Whether it was jealousy or pride, he didn't know, but he knew he didn't like it. Instantly, he picked two cucumbers and placed them on your cheeks.

"There. Happy?" he grumbled.

"Very much." you giggled. "Your turn."

You spent the next hour or so playing with cucumber slices, either throwing them at each other, eating them, or shoving them on Minho's eyes. It might had been the first time you saw him genuinely having fun. Not cocky or insufferable like he usually was. He was at ease, and so you were.

It was around 1am when you both grew too tired to continue your self-care session. You snuggled into the blankets and brought yourself closer to the man laying next to you. He stood still as he looked right back at you. He didn't stop himself from reaching out to the side of your face, patting your head.

"Thank you for tonight." you mumbled tiredly. "I think I like you too."

He immediately caught on that you were referring to your previous conversation. Fortunately, because otherwise, he would have went on full panic mode.

"That's good, pretty. Sleep well, alright?"

"You too, Min."

You and Minho were definitely no longer friends after that night, but nor had you stopped speaking to each other. Quite the opposite, actually. Think of any act of affection a couple would do, other than kissing, and there you got what was happening between the two of you. Chan had almost disappeared, now spending most of his time with Eunhee. You did visit him occasionally to make sure he wasn't exhausting himself too much but it never lasted more than five minutes. That also meant your crush on him had completely vanished. It couldn't have stayed for long, anyway, after you woke up in Minho's bed that morning, realizing you had fallen in love with him instead.

"Strawberry." Minho said, standing up firmly for his choice of milkshake, as he nudged your arm.

"Chocolate." you said, coming closer to his face.

He sighed in frustration. "We had chocolate last time."

"If you're so pressed with your strawberry, just order one for yourself."

He smirked. "But you want us to share, don't you?"

It was annoying how right he was, and you huffed in defeat. "Strawberry it is."

"There you go. I knew you were going to give up."

"Shut up."

He took you by the waist and brought you closer, as if you were not close enough already on the small cushioned bench. You continued to bicker playfully, when you heard the front door's bell. Turning your attention on where the sound came from, you easily spotted Chan. He stood still, baffled at the sight in front of him. He started to question himself mentally, wondering if he had really cancelled on you two that much that he didn't notice you were dating. Coming back to his senses, he walked to your booth and sat in front of you.

"Hey, guys. Am I interrupting, or..?"

"Of course not." Minho exclaimed. "Glad to see you after, I don't know how long."

You could hear the pettiness in his voice, so you hit him slightly with your elbow before speaking. "We've all been busy, it's okay." you smiled. "So, what's new? How are things with Eunhee?"

"It's good, I guess. We had a... moment, and she is pretty much ignoring me since then. You know, when you came over the other day." he explained, while looking pretty clueless.

"What kind of moment?" Minho asked, stretching his arm out to wrap it around you, which earned a look from Chan.

"Uh, I'm not too sure. We danced in my room-"

You cut him off with a laugh, and he glared at you. "That's the cheesiest thing you could have done. No shit you were acting weird when I came over." you snickered, and Minho soon joined you as he tried to ignore the slight jealousy he felt from learning you went over to Chan's recently.

"Yeah, you two are no better. You were all over each other when I walked in." he rolled his eyes.

That was enough to shut the both of you, knowing well this was an unspoken thing you had going on. You never brought it up, and didn't intend on doing so anytime soon.

"So." Minho coughed out awkwardly. "Your moment?"

"Right." Chan nodded. "Well, we were dancing in my room and, I don't know what happened, but I almost kissed her. And, I don't know, she didn't look like she wanted to, so I back off. And now, I'm lowkey stressing out about it because I surely didn't want to make her uncomfortable."

"She wanted you to kiss her." you responded without hesitation.

"You think so?"

"Chan, I know so." You hesitated to continue with your point, but feeling Minho's hand rubbing your arm let you know it might be time to tell him. "I'm convinced she likes you, because she acts the same way as I did with you."

He frowned his eyebrows. "You like me? Aren't you and Minho... well, you know?"

"I used to, and that's not important." you dismissed the topic. "What I'm saying is she keeps sending you memes to make you smile, she gets shy around you, she said yes to your tutoring..."

"And you told me she even bought you coffee for one of your lessons with her." Minho added.

He looked at you both, still uncertain. "Should I invite her to my party, then?"

"What party?"

"My end of the school term party. In two days."

"Go for it, yeah." Minho encouraged. "Are we invited?"

"If you promise to keep it in your pants, yes."

Right. A party. With girls. And Minho. The guy who hooked up here and there after his breakup with Byeol. The same one you were currently in love with. Great.

"You know me better." he laughed with Chan. "I'll behave, I promise."

Later, on the walk back to Minho's, since you had planned to stay at his place, you were more quiet than usual. You were holding hands, but your grip was loose, and you couldn't focus properly.

"What's wrong, kitten?" he asked worriedly.

"What do you think of Siyeon?" you said, mentioning a pretty girl in your common class.

"What is this question?" he chuckled, not sure in where you were going with this.

"She's cute, has good grades, is nice to everyone. And Chan is going to invite her at the party, probably."

He raised an eyebrow at you. "Your point?"

"You could ask her out." you shrugged.

With that, Minho let go of your hand. "I could, but I won't."

"Why? Sorry, but it just hit me that you haven't gone out with someone in a very long time."

"I don't know. I suppose I'm not very in the mood of fucking around anymore. You also stopped talking about Chan with me. I'm not the only one acting differently." he pointed out.

"I said it earlier, I don't like Chan anymore." you rolled your eyes.

"Well, then. Our romantic lives are bland."

"They are."

The conversation was cut short as he didn't have anything else to say. He took your hand again, and led you to his dorm. You got there pretty quickly, and you still hadn't said a word to each other. It didn't mean you didn't understand what was happening, both of you implying the lack of love you had could only mean one thing.

The moment he closed his front door, he grabbed you by the waist to pull you closer and crashed his lips onto yours. You were taken aback at first, not sure on how you should be reacting, but it quickly faded as you melted into the kiss. While he was needy, he was also being extremely gentle with you, making sure he didn't hurt you in any way. It didn't take long for you to get to his room, and he pushed you down gently on the bed. Now hovering you, he deepened the kiss before moving down to place small pecks on your neck.

"Min." you mumbled between heavy breaths, and he hummed against your skin. "This is not a joke, right?"

He separated his mouth from your skin to look at you curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You used to be very... physical with other girls. I just want to make sure I'm not some doll you're playing with before throwing it away."

He looked at you with fondness as he stroke your cheek softly. "I thought I made it clear I've wanted you for months, now. Not just physically, like you said." He pecked your forehead. "If I can have you." Kissed your cheek. "I don't want the skin ship only, this time." He stopped as he glanced at your lips. "I want all of you."

You were the one to initiate this time when you brought him closer, kissing him hungrily. The unspoken tension there was before was no longer there. It was like kissing each other had dropped all of your walls, and you were now fully exposed to one another.

"I fucking hated it when you cried about Chan." he said in-between the kisses.

"Really?"

"Fuck, yes." he said, going back to sucking your neck.

"I hated how much you flirted with me, knowing you weren't sincere." you admitted.

"Trust me, kitten, I was fucking sincere."

You started to play with the hem of his shirt, tugging in a few times. He backed away and smirked at you before leading your hands to help him take off his shirt. The sight in front of you was mesmerizing. You already had the idea that he had a good body because of his dancing, but you certainly did not expect him to look this hot.

"Damn." you let out without thinking.

"I know, I'm hot." he winked at you.

"Of course, you know." you rolled your eyes.

"I'm joking." he chuckled as he pecked your lips. "Are you okay if we continue? I want you to feel comfortable."

"I'm more than okay."

The party started out well. You had come in advance to help Chan with the preparations, but mostly to help him calm down. The poor guy was so nervous, not knowing whether Eunhee was going to show up or not.

As people kept coming in, you kept on looking out for any signs of Minho. He texted you he had some errands to run for the cats before coming, but you just wanted to see him. After your night together, you spent the next two days doing finals which didn't allow you to meet up again. The morning after, however, he did ask you out on a date to which you gladly said yes. Although labels were not discussed, it wasn't necessary because you both knew you wanted the same thing.

"Hey, Seungmin!" you welcomed the man as you opened the door.

"Still acting like Chan's place is yours?" he joked.

"I've come here so much, it's like my second home." you laughed with him. "Come on in!"

You joined Chan back in the kitchen as he was starting to prepare the snacks. You started helping him out, though you were very much distracted. Looking at your phone every minute or so, Chan pointed it out, making fun of you.

"You tell me to stop doing that with Eunhee, and you're doing the same with Minho."

You froze in place before slowly turning your head to him. "I never told you I was seeing Minho."

"Y/N, you two have been eye fucking each other for weeks. It did surprise me, but I'm not blind. You love him."

You blushed, as shyness crept over. "Yeah, he's really great."

"I can see that. I haven't see you so happy since, well, since forever actually. I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Channie."

You exchanged smiles before going back to preparing the food. It felt great to spend some quality time with him after such a long time.

"You two fucked, haven't you?"

Your eyes widened from his words.

"Chan!"

"What?" he said innocently. "You have dark spots on your neck, that's all."

You grew embarrassed, but couldn't help but laugh. You haven't noticed until now that Minho had marked you that much. You thought he was being gentle enough to not have done so, but it was visibly the opposite. Just then, you noticed a familiar figure appear in front of you, which made the both of you shut up.

"HI! Eunhee, um, wow. You made it! I mean, I didn't expect you to be here. I should, uh-" Chan spilled out, straightening his posture.

Trying to prevent him from embarrassing himself any further, you hit him slightly with your elbow to shut him up before turning your attention to the girl in front of you. "Good to see you."

"You too. I hope I'm not interrupting." she flickered her gaze between the two.

"Of course not!" you both denied, not wanting to give her the wrong image.

Chan stood there awkwardly before starting to walk away. "I should go greet the others. Talk to you later?" he told her, and you gave him a look as to ask him what he was doing.

You didn't know what to say to her. Seriously, it was Chan's responsibility to talk to her and fix whatever happened between them. You just kept on pouring bowls of chips, but ended up speaking.

"I really didn't expect you here. Chan had kind of given up after you ignored him."

It came pettier than what you had intended, but at least the message was there.

"It wasn't intentional. I mean, I did purposely ignore him but I had reasons." she justified, but you shook your head for her to stop.

"I'm not asking you to tell me why, you must have had good reasons. I just..." You hesitated to keep going, afraid you would be saying something you shouldn't. "He told me about how you almost kissed and I'm just letting you know that Chan is not someone to play around with. I don't know why he likes you so much while barely noticing me, but I'm warning you. You don't know him like I do and I know Chan is going to prioritize who he loves first. I don't want this thing going on with you two to be hurting anyone."

Her silence was torturing you as she was processing everything you told her. You replayed the scene in your mind, trying to spot anything you could have said wrongly. But nothing came to you.

"I came here to fix things with him." she finally spoke. "I don't know the history between you two, and visibly you are closer than anyone here. If I hurt you in any way, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to pass my class, that's it."

You had definitely fucked up by indirectly mentioning your former crush on the guy. This was obviously not the outcome you were expecting, you simply wanted to let her know that Chan was precious and needed to be taken care of even when he didn't want to.

"No, I-"

"It's okay, Y/N. You two clearly have something going on. I know for a fact Chan doesn't like me like that and he's way better off with you."

She left before you could explain any further. You cursed under your breath as you tried to catch up to her. However, you were stopped when someone brought you into a hug before familiar lips met yours.

"Hey, there." Minho grinned at you. "You're looking beautiful."

While your heart wanted to stay with him and melt at his compliments, your mind knew you had to make things right with Eunhee.

"Thank you, Min. I have to do something real quick. Do you mind getting me a drink in the meantime?" you pecked his cheek. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Alright." he nodded before bringing you into another hug. He leaned on your side so his mouth could be next to your ear. "I'm sorry about the hickeys, by the way."

And he left. He was surely making you feel things, but now was not the moment. You walked through the crowd of people, trying to find Eunhee, but you simply couldn't as there were too many people. Looking behind you, your eyes laid on Chan, alone in the kitchen. You went to him as fast as you could.

"Chan!" you exclaimed out of breath. "Have you seen Eunhee?"

When you took a better look at him, his face had nothing but confusion, sadness, and pure anger.

"What did you say to her?"

And, you were fucked. You shut your eyes closed, taking a deep breath to prepare yourself for the argument that you felt was coming. Chan was rarely mad, but you did not want to be around when he was. Now that he was actually pissed, it was even worse that it was at you.

"So you saw her."

Chan rolled his eyes, as if it was the most obvious thing. "She said you were waiting for me in the kitchen. What have you told her?"

"Nothing untrue, I swear." you breathed out, trying to be careful with your words. "I think she misinterpreted a lot of what I said."

"What did you say exactly?" he asked again, growing impatient.

You took a deep breath in, and searched for any help around, but everyone was having fun and Minho was nowhere to be seen. "I might have spilled out I had a crush on you, but she took it as if I still do." He groaned in frustration, passing his hand through his curly locks. "I also said you like her, and I might have mentioned that you two being together could potentially end up hurting the both of you..."

If you thought he was furious earlier, now he was on full rage mode. Honestly, you had never seen him so mad, and it frightened you quite a bit.

"Why on Earth would tell her that?" he almost growled at you.

"Why? For fuck's sake, Chan, how was I supposed to know what to tell her? You left me there because you were too much of a baby to face her yourself." you snapped at him, which he had seemingly not expected.

"You know me enough to not say shit like that! And I am hosting this whole thing and I saw people coming in. It was the least I could do."

"Fuck off with your lame excuse, because we both know Changbin was already doing so. And for your information, I don't know you as well as I used to because sir decided to disappear out of my life."

He huffed at you as he looked around. He was lost and didn't know what to do now.

"Yeah, I told you already that I'm sorry. But if you love me so much, you wouldn't have told her off by saying you have a crush on me." he yelled out, being heard by almost everyone in the room.

Behind him, you spotted Minho's eyes already staring at you. He was fuming too, walking towards your direction. You didn't know whether he was angry because of you or Chan, but you were definitely worried at that point.

"Y/N." he called out.

"Minho, can we not-"

"So it's Minho, now?" You exhaled loudly, wondering how the night had even taken this turn. "I thought you said you were over him."

"Minho, stay out of this." Chan put his arm in front of him to prevent him from approaching you any closer.

You recognized the protectiveness Chan had of you within his tone, which reassured you a bit that he still cared, at least. Minho didn't fight back, but sent you a disappointed look instead.

"I'll leave you to it, then."

With that, he stormed out of the apartment, not looking back. Meanwhile, the tears you had been holding back until then flooded out and you broke down as Chan held you.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm sorry, it's my fault."

The softness he had after being so enraged took you by surprise, but you truly needed your best friend at the moment. "I'm sorry." you sobbed out.

"Y/N, it's okay. Don't be sorry. You know I can be pretty stupid, right?" he pat your head, and you nodded as a small laugh left your mouth. "I'm the one at fault, here. I should have talked to Eunhee myself, and I shouldn't have yelled at you. Minho is very sensitive, you know that, right? He'll come around, I'm sure of it."

It amazed you how he was still able to find the right words for any circumstances. You loved him, for real. But not that kind of love. This one was reserved for Minho. The only thing on your mind was to run after him. You hurt him, and you couldn't bear with the thought.

"Thank you, Chan. I'm also sorry."

He shook his head. "I told you to stop saying that." It made you chuckle.

"Do you think I should go after him?"

He smirked. "Go get your damsel in distress."

Still sobbing, you snorted at his words before you hurried to get out of his apartment. You felt grateful to have went so many times to his place to know his dorm number. Otherwise, you would have given up much quicker. You stopped in front of his door and knocked softly. You heard someone moving from the other side, and heard a sigh.

"Min." you called out.

To your shock, he opened the door, only a bit, and looked at you. He looked tired, and you noticed he had changed into his pyjamas. He hummed as a greeting, obviously still mad at what happened.

"Can we talk?"

He really didn't want to, but your puffy red eyes and simply the sight of you was enough to break him apart. So he let you in. You smiled widely when you were greeted by your favourite cats. You scratched their heads briefly, before turning your attention back on Minho. He was leaning on his counter (which was hot, let's be honest) and crossed his arms as he waited for you to talk.

"I really and certainly do not like Chan."

"Reassuring." he commented, but received a glare from you to tell him to let you speak.

"What happened was he left me alone with Eunhee and I said some things to her that she interpreted as if I still liked him. Chan got mad and he impulsively said that. I told him about us already, he knows."

He frowned at your words. "Us."

"Yeah, us." you repeated, taking a chance by walking up to him.

Thankfully, he let you place yourself right in front of him. He uncrossed his legs so you could have some space, and you approached him. You took his face in your hands, looking at him lovingly.

"What did you tell him about us, precisely?" he asked, placing his hands on your waist.

"I told him that you're great."

"Just that?"

"He knows we fucked."

He raised his eyebrows as he looked up. "Should have expected that."

You slapped his cheek playfully as you pouted, and he chuckled because you were just adorable. "Shut up."

"Sorry. Go on?" he laughed.

You got closer to him, your lips lingering over his. He would have kissed you, but he wanted to hear what you had left to say.

"And I admitted that I might love you."

He backed away, not having expected this. "Love?"

You sighed. "Dude, we've been acting like a couple for months, and we see each other pretty much every day. Don't act surprised."

He frowned even more. "Dude? Really? I call you princess, kitten, or pretty. And I get dude."

"Min." you whined, but he could only laugh.

He loved messing around with you, but he knew when to stop. "I'll be dude if that's what makes you happy, love."

You grinned from ear to ear. "Shall I take this as you love me too?"

"Don't make me say it, kitten."

You chuckled and played with his hair. He adjusted his posture and was now the one hovering you. His eyes went straight to your lips, and he didn't ask to kiss you before doing so. You smiled and kissed him back, not forgetting to hold him close.

"I fucking won over Bang Chan." he bragged after pulling away from you.

"That was an easy win." you snorted.

"Ah yeah? Am I that irresistible?"

"You know you are."

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[simmerandwrite]

Sink Into Me - 03 - mob!Steve Rogers x plus size! reader

Summary: You were simply doing a good deed, pulling the handsome stranger out of the way when a car jumped the curb. Little did you know that the life you saved belonged to Steve Rogers, the Army veteran turned art dealer with connections to the Brooklyn crime syndicate.

Steve Rogers, who won’t stop calling you his guardian angel.

Steve Rogers, whose new goal in life just might be repaying his debt to you.

Steve Rogers, who isn’t shy until it comes to his feelings and will stop at nothing to keep you safe.

Chapters: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

Wordcount: 6.5k

Warnings: canon level violence (series), body image issues (series), smut (series)

Notes: Hey! This is coming out later than I wanted but life is busy these days so this story is taking a back seat. Thank you to everyone who has read so far - I appreciate all the interest! While I also appreciate every single ‘like’ on the chapters, a comment or reblog goes a long way to let me know how you are enjoying the story :) Trust me when I say a nice comment or reaction gif can really make a writer’s day and I would love to hear from you all! ( if you see me in the wild, i’m @simmerandcry​)

----

The weeks of your life following the event at your apartment felt like a blur.

A lot of positives had unintentionally come from the whole experience. First, you had crossed into a friendship zone with Steve. If that’s what you wanted to call it. You both seemed to toe the line between friendly and flirty and you had no idea what it meant. Sometimes you simply traded thoughts sparingly during the day and other times there were almost-cheeky messages after the sun went down.

He had graciously supplied you with a new phone to replace yours and even put you in touch with a dog daycare in the neighbourhood that a friend of his operated, in case you wanted to look into it for Hercules. 

Outside of all the positives though came the heavy downside to your entire experience. It felt like you barely slept anymore. Steve had very kindly returned back to your apartment the next day and even communicated with your landlord about repairing your door and window, and when a security camera was installed one day, you figured Steve had a hand in that too.

It didn’t stop you from feeling paranoid anytime you were there alone. You rushed home from work most days and crashed while the sun was still up, but once the darkness rolled in, every single noise outside made you feel nervous. Although you believed Steve when he said he would ‘take care’ of things, you couldn’t help but feel less and less secure as you grew more and more sleep deprived.

It was just another reason to break your lease and move on, but the idea of apartment shopping and moving was both a financial burden and a huge stressor added onto your life. Instead, you just powered through and hoped your fears would eventually subside, even if that felt impossible. 

At least when you weren’t home, you were less anxious about everything.

“You look more exhausted everytime I see you,” Claire had nearly begged you to meet her for brunch on your day off while she was in between shifts. “Did things escalate with Steve the mobster?”

You rolled your eyes, stabbing your fork into the syrupy waffles sitting in front of you. “No, no. We talk sometimes but..” You tried to hide the excitement on your face when you saw a message come in from him. Not that you had been anxiously waiting for a reply from him or anything.

You [11:31AM]: dropped off Hercules for his trial at daycare today! Thanks again for the rec :) Steve Rogers [11:50AM]: Happy to help the little guy out, sweetheart. Kate will take good care of him, I promise Steve Rogers [11:51AM]: Let me know how it goes!

Fuck, it was those petnames that got you. It had to be flirting if he was calling you sweetheart, right? 

Sweetheart, honey, baby, doll..

Not that you wanted to admit it, but it had been a long time since you had felt any kind of emotional reaction to another person like this. Your last situationship had been with a coworker months ago and it had not gone well for you when it crashed and burned. This kind of twist in your heart when you talked to Steve was scary. Almost scarier than the idea of your apartment being broken into, really. To feel wanted by another person, romantically or physically or both, was intimidating and hard to believe.

But the more you got to know Steve, the more worth it the risk seemed. 

You shook your head of those thoughts and caught Claire’s cheeky smile as you put your phone away.

“Was that him now?”

“Yes, it was but-”

“Ahhh. I knew it. You have the anxious glow of someone in the early stages of crushing.”

You sighed and rolled your eyes. “Claire, it’s not like that.”

“Are you sure? Because honestly if any man is giving you his time and communicating and making you check your phone obsessively…” She gave you a look when you checked on your buzzing phone again. “Having feelings for another person isn’t a bad thing, you know.”

Maybe it was the fatigue, maybe it was the pull in your heart. Either way, you trusted Claire and without even meaning to, your insecurities spilled out. “Claire, he’s way out of my league. He’s a 10 and at my best I’m sure I’m not the type usually on his radar. Our lifestyles are so vastly different, I’m guessing all his kindness is to remedy the guilt he feels over my saving his life. Whatever this is..” you grabbed your phone and waved it around. “..is bound to fizzle out when he loses interest or thinks he has put in enough time. It’s just how these things work.”

You hadn’t even realized your eyes were squeezed shut but when you opened them, Claire was staring you down as if you had two heads. 

“You just gave me like half a dozen reasons why you think this guy wouldn’t be into you. But has he told you otherwise?”

You paused. No, it hadn’t been explicitly clear what Steve’s intentions were. Maybe he was just kind, maybe he thought you were friends. Or maybe he was interested in more. 

“You’ll never know if you don’t ask, babe.” Claire took a sip of her coffee cup and her eyes widened. “You should make a move.”

“What? Like asking him out? Absolutely not.”

“Just dial up the flirtatious chatter. Send him a late night selfie, something a little bit sexy.”

“Claire. I can’t.”

“Uhm, you totally can. You told me you sent some pretty risky things to that idiot from your work last year sooooo take the leap.” She clapped her hands together before raising her fists in a mock cheer. “Leap of faith, leap of faith!” 

“Okay, okay.” You couldn’t help but laugh as you tried to quiet her across the table. “I will try the photo thing. But if he rejects me and I get sad about it, you’re in charge of my emotional repair. Deal?”

“Deal.”

---

Steve tried very hard to keep a clear line between his work and personal life. When he was meeting with a client or getting his hands messy taking care of less than legal business, he was in work mode. It helped that he was an independent person, keeping his personal attachments to a minimum as best as he could. 

But with you, his lines were starting to blur. It hadn’t made much of an impact yet but when your name showed up on his phone or your face crossed his mind, he tried to dismiss it until he could give you all his attention. 

The ‘No Phone’ policy at Billy Russo’s poker game helped that, thankfully. The game was really less of a formality now, another opportunity to discuss business behind closed doors. And once the cards were piled up and every chip was cashed out and accounted for, that’s when the important conversations took place. 

The backroom of Russo’s newest warehouse served as a perfect backdrop for them - with subtle tinted windows looking out towards the Hudson. The high ceilings echoed with their idle chatter. Sam had moved away from the table to flirt with the bartender, leaving Steve and Bucky with Russo and his own partner in crime, Frank Castle. But despite the gameplay and niceties, Steve had an agenda. 

“To answer your question,” Russo set down his crystalline glass and leaned back in his chair, eyebrows raised as a smirk grew on his face. “Of course Rumlow came to chat. I humoured the man but can you blame me?”

“He wants storage space,” Castle added in, answering the question before Steve or Bucky could even wonder.

Steve nodded. It wasn’t a secret that the docks, operated by Castle and Russo, had notorious clientele in the darkness of night. But Steve was their biggest partner and their working relationship had been ongoing for nearly a decade.

“Which we won’t give him, of course. I’m not an idiot. I know the rules.” Russo shrugged. “But I gotta tell you, Rogers - he’s getting pushy.”

To Steve’s left, Bucky grumbled. “If I see one of his guys out there with that new shit again, I’m finishing this. Discussion over.”

“Hey.” Steve reached his hand out to rest on Bucky’s shoulder. “One step at a time.”

“Becca said she heard about another kid, you know. Hospitalized because of that new shit.”

Steve’s lips tightened into a line. His biggest rule for anyone crossing his boundaries - no targeting the high schools. And this new stuff Rumlow had introduced, some unstable, addictive upper - it had already been making a mess. Steve knew he couldn’t control the movement of drugs and hey, why would he want to? It was lucrative for him. A twenty percent cut across the board kept his bank accounts padded. But the way Rumlow had started bleeding in, against Steve’s rules, it was getting out of hand. 

“At least what you did to Walker scared him off for the time being,” Castle laughed, getting up to get a refill of his whisky. “What I wouldn’t give to see that guy’s smashed up face.”

Bucky smirked. “It wasn’t pretty.”

“He made his bed, sending that driver after my property. Then showing up to scare a witness who has no connection to this? He’s a bastard. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.” Steve tilted his head. “I think we’ve been clear enough for the time being. Just let me know if you see Rumlow again. Because if there is a next time, I'll deal with it myself.”

Russo stood up as Steve did, extending a gracious hand as a thank you. “So - to the club? I’m looking for an unforgettable evening.”

Steve laughed, extending his arm over the man’s shoulder. “Oh, I can promise you one.”

“Should I call up Meredith? Let her know she can come meet us?”

Steve politely ignored Russo’s bait. It had been an ongoing thing for months now - with Billy trying desperately to arrange a relationship between his sister and Steve. Quite frankly, it was embarrassing. Sure, Meredith Russo was a beautiful girl but Steve had decided a long time ago that if he was ever going to settle down with someone, it had to be genuine and not for the long term sake of a business relationship.

As they headed towards Shield , with Rumlow and Russo driving ahead while Steve and Bucky got into their awaiting car with Katy at the wheel, Steve finally checked his phone. How could he even humor the idea of Russo’s sister when there you were, sending him a few late night messages. And when he realized you had sent a photo…

You [11:45PM]: best method to tire yourself out before bed? You [11:51PM]: I’ve tried everything. currently I’ve decided to just bake cookies instead You [11:52PM]: (IMG-6521)

“Please tell me you’re pursuing that.”

Steve rolled his eyes when he saw Bucky leaning over to look at his phone screen. “Eyes to yourself, punk.” He sent his elbow across the backseat and nudged Bucky in the ribs.

As much as Steve knew he had to be rational before letting you further into his life, damnit - how could he think with his upstairs brain when you were sending him photos like that? Because even in the fluorescent lights of your tiny apartment kitchen, you were a sight to be reckoned with. From your casually messy hair to your revealing tank top to the way you were biting your lip… The tight feeling in his pants was another important reason to try and focus on his rational brain, the one who did things correctly to win you over. 

But he wasn’t sure how much longer this type of talking was going to work for him. Sure, he wanted to get to know you better but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to get his hands all over you, too. He had a feeling you and him would go together so well.

He took in a deep breath and finally formulated a reply.

S Rogers [12:29AM]: I can think of a few ways to tire you out before bed, baby S Rogers [12:29AM]: and what I’d give to taste whatever you’re making  S Rogers [12:34AM]: I won’t invite myself over but when can I see you? I need to see you. are you free tomorrow?

---

You nearly threw up when Steve asked you out. And as the minutes ticked by Sunday morning before you were to meet him for lunch, your nerves were getting the best of you.

I need to see you. 

That meant he was interested, right? You had left a series of frantic voice messages for Claire, praying that she’d enjoy them on her morning break and true to her nature, she had calmed you down with a few positive affirmations and some advice for the sudden date.

You could do this. He wanted to see you. What was the issue?

The issue, perhaps, was your lack of sleep and how exhaustion was slowly creeping up on you. Maybe this was all a weird dream and you’d be showing up to lunch alone. 

I need to see you. 

Dressed in your favourite date outfit, which toed the line between casual and trying too hard, you headed towards the little lunch spot Steve had suggested. When you found him outside waiting for you, a wave of relief settled in your chest. There he was. 

God, he was handsome. The mustard yellow striped shirt he was wearing hugged his chest perfectly, accentuating his biceps - which you suddenly had an urge to squeeze. You weren’t sure anyone else could pull off such a look paired with black slacks and dress shoes, but Steve managed it. Maybe it had something to do with his confident energy.

When he noticed you down the block, the grin on his face grew. 

God, he was handsome.

You remained as composed as possible while he greeted you with a hug, not before pressing a gentle kiss to your cheek. With a squeeze of your hand, he led you inside and immediately the server placed you both at a small table near the window.

You thought it might be awkward - the next part. The gradual move into ‘get to know you’ type of questions, but with Steve, it felt easy. Way easier than you could have anticipated. He casually ordered for you both once he confirmed your choice and cradled your hand in his across the table as you chatted.

The details in his face were so obvious in this setting - the golden blonde in his beard, the crinkles beside his eyes when he laughed, the shine of his blue eyes. You had a hard time looking away, because you felt so captured by him. And you didn’t want to jinx it, but you had a feeling that maybe he felt the same way too.

“I don’t know.” With your lip trapped between your lips, you scanned his face and held back a smile. “I think you’re lying. I find it really hard to believe that The English Patient is your favourite movie.”

“Oh, come on,” Steve laughed, pausing to take a sip of his coffee cup as he narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think that?”

“Gut feeling,” you replied with a shrug, tipping your head from side to side. “And I cannot imagine you deciding to put on a movie to relax and picking that.”

He pursed his lips for a moment then finally, his shoulders sunk down. “Okay, you caught me. My favourite movie is Singing in the Rain.”

You couldn’t help but let out an excited laugh, smile wide as you watched him. “Amazing. Unexpected, really, but somehow that feels just right.”

“What’s amazing is you saw right through me. I promise I’ll never lie to you again,” Steve crossed over his heart with his index finger before reaching his hand out again and tugging yours away from the edge of your water glass. “And now to be very honest about something - this , you and me, it somehow feels just right, too.”

You couldn’t get over his bold words but thank god he said it. What was this mysterious feeling that seemed to be sucking you both in, head first? You squeezed his hand and did everything in your power not to pinch yourself. 

You could just feel it, enveloping you without hesitation - you were falling hard, already. It was a risk but you tried to remind yourself of what Claire had said: stop playing it safe, take the leap..

Steve barely humoured you when you offered to pay for the meal once the cheque arrived at the table. He spared you a quick glance over the billfold then took care of it with a swift flick of his wrist, sending the server away without another word.

Steve’s voice brought you back to the present, after momentarily losing yourself in him again. Your eyes had been fixated on the small area of skin on display above the buttons of his shirt, showing off just a hint of both chest hair and the ink of tattoos that were hiding beneath his gold chain. 

With a small smile, you finally looked up and met his grin. “Sorry to stare. I was just trying to figure out your tattoos.” You watched as he swallowed hard, as if trying to contain his response.

Steve cleared his throat, motioning to the door as you both stood up. “Do you have any?” Using his closest hand, he splayed his palm against your lower back as you headed outside together.

You paused once you were back on the sidewalk, accepting the suggestion as Steve offered to walk you home. “I have one lonely tattoo.”

“And where is that hiding?”

“That is a secret.” You turned and looked at him over your shoulder as you started in the direction of your apartment. 

Within a few strides, he caught up and reached for your hand. Jesus Christ, you were holding hands. How were you supposed to keep your composure?

Steve carried on, with no intention to skip over the tattoo topic. “At least tell me what the tattoo is of?”

“Just a song lyric that reminds me of my mom. I know that’s a bit silly.”

“I think that’s sweet. You’re close with her?”

“Oh yeah. She’s my best friend. I wish I could see her more but she refuses to move back to the city. She has a good circle out in Albany though so I try not to worry about her.”

“And your dad?”

“Uhm, non-existent.” You glossed over that quickly, tugging Steve along as you ventured through a crowd at the crosswalk. “What about you and nurse Sarah?”

“My ma - she’s whole heart. I almost lost her once and..” he trailed off, as if experiencing a jolt of unwelcome pain. “She’s the most important woman in my life.”

Once you got back to your apartment, you had a feeling Steve didn’t want things to come to an end yet. And truthfully, you didn’t either. Maybe inviting him in was too soon, especially in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, but he happily agreed to join you as you took Hercules for a walk. 

You regaled Steve with the dramatic story about how you adopted Hercules (“He was my first attempt at fostering a dog and I immediately fell in love.”)

Steve told you about how he enlisted with Bucky and Sam after college. You traded stories about figuring your lives out in the city after your careers got started.

Before you realized it, you had looped around the block numerous times until finally, Steve remorsefully shared that he had some work things to take care of and he had to get going. 

“I wish we could just keep going with whatever this is,” he insisted with a sad smile. Slowly, he reached his hand out and cradled your cheek. “Can I see you again? Dinner this week?”

“You want to see m-” You cut yourself off. Was now really the time to be filling your mind with self doubt? You were already putty in his hands, if it wasn’t obvious enough. “Yes, I’d love that.” It pained you but you knew your work week ahead was a bit intense. “Wednesday?”

Steve tipped his head back and groaned, very dramatically. “I guess I can wait until Wednesday.” He dragged his tongue across his lips, his hand travelling from your cheek towards your neck. “But in the meantime, I don’t think I’ll be able to wait until then to do this..” He met your eyes for an extra moment, waiting for your permission.

You had barely nodded your head before Steve tipped his head down and pressed his lips to yours. To describe Steve as eager would have been a disservice - but damn, the man was hungry. His lips moved in a way that seemed both calculated and feverish, leaving you catching your breath and Steve letting out a quiet growl for more.

The strap of Hercules’ leash dropped from your hand and before you realized it, Steve had caught it with his free hand, pulling away from you with a coy grin.

“Wednesday,” you whispered out the words, happily taking the leash back from Steve. “We should do more of that Wednesday.”

---

You [4:01PM]: crisis alert - Steve kissed me after our date  You [4:01PM]: and it was so good. SO GOOD.  Wanda [4:02PM]: !!!!! Wanda [4:03PM]: why is this a crisis? You [4:05PM]: I need to be grounded in reality  Maria [4:05PM]: don’t worry, I’m always here to burst your bubble about some average man  Claire [4:06PM]: let’s hope he’s above average Claire [4:07PM]: girl, get it. the real crisis is your underwear drawer, probably  You [4:08PM]: wow, ouch  You [4:08PM]: you’re probably right  Maria [4:08PM]: booooooo

---

Steve was trying so hard to do this correctly. He could take any girl to dinner then back to his bed, but with you, he was strategizing. The extended lunch date had been step one. And leaving you with just a kiss, despite his undying desire for all of you, he was trying to establish this was important to him. 

You were important to him. 

Just getting to know you and seeing your smile, and God, hearing you laugh - he was done for. He hadn’t felt this way before and he didn’t want to fuck it up. It wasn’t lost on him how rare this flood of feelings were - when was the last time he anxiously paced around his office, half-assing his check-ins, delegating more than he normally would, daydreaming about you, counting down the minutes until he picked you up?

It didn’t help that you two had spent the last few nights on the phone, talking way later than either of you probably needed to be awake. But it seemed you couldn’t help yourselves.

When you messaged him about working late then picking up Hercules late and that you were running behind, he frowned. 

You [5:57PM]: I’m really sorry Steve [5:57PM]: It’s okay, I had just gotten to my car You [5:58PM]: Well, if you want to head over now - if you don’t mind waiting, you can come in and hang with Herc :) 

You greeted him at the door, already apologizing profusely for not being ready on time. How could he be mad when he got to see this side of you - in between outfits and still smiling so nervously? 

“I pushed the reservation,” Steve assured you with a wave of his hand, resisting the urge to push you against the closest wall and pick up where you left off earlier that week. “Take your time.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” you offered him another nervous smile before turning, heading back towards your bathroom. “I’ve been taking naps after work the last few weeks but working late today has just thrown me off. I swear I’m usually not like this..”

“It's okay, you’re giving me time to befriend Hercules anyway.” Steve took a seat on your couch, happy to spend the next few minutes playing with your dog while you got ready. 

He couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but something about your energy seemed off. Maybe it was nerves, but after things had ended so positively following your lunch date, he hoped it was good nerves, at least. Positive energy, if possible. The connection between you had struck him so furiously, he supposed it made sense to look at it from a realistic perspective too, but he wanted you to be excited, not anxious. 

As he leaned back into the cushions, he felt something poke into his back. Curious, he leaned forward again and twisted, eyebrows raising as he found a small cast iron frying pan lodged between your pillows. 

Steve considered himself a very intuitive person. Once he took a half second to analyze your space, he was coming to a conclusion he hoped wasn’t true. Tipping his head to the side, he scanned the doorway. The landlord had quickly removed the broken door and replaced it with something more secure, thanks to a strongly worded phone call and thinly veiled threat from Steve. And yet, you kept a spare dining chair propped up behind it. 

Behind him, the window above your couch had also been replaced - and you had left the protective plastic on the new pane, plus added an extra blanket to cover it up.

He stood up and took a few paces further into your apartment, sparing a glance into the kitchen. You had moved your knife block closer to the edge of the counter.

“Do you think those guys are going to show up again? At my apartment?”

Steve let out a quiet sigh, desperate to keep a rational mind as he called out your name.

“I’m almost ready!” You called back through the bathroom door, opening it slowly to find Steve’s concerned face. Your bathroom was tiny and even in the doorway, it seemed as if Steve was already inside the room with you. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded, barely. Steve sucked in a breath, dragging a hand across his jaw as he flicked his gaze down to watch you through the mirror. Fuck, he just had to ask. “I think so... But why did I just find a frying pan behind your couch cushions?”

Slowly, you brought your hand back down and rested it on the sink, meeting Steve’s eyes in the mirror. “Oh, uh.. I must have forgotten it there..”

He could see your immediate distress, the way you held your breath and gripped the edge of the countertop. “I mean, I know you have a small kitchen but if you are using your couch for storage..” Steve said your name, confidently calling your bluff as he searched for the explanation. He reached his hand out and rested it on your shoulder. “Hey, talk to me.”

You closed your eyes. “I can’t really explain..” You swallowed hard, head moving side to side in a curt shake. “I understand if you want to leave.”

His head shook slowly, one eyebrow drawing upwards in concern. “What? Why would I do that?”

“I could think of a dozen reasons why you’d want to bail now.”

“And I can think of a dozen reasons to stay.” He lifted his hand and cradled your chin, encouraging you to look in his direction. “Sweetheart, tell me what’s going on. Just try and explain it, please. I’m listening.”

Maybe you were tired, maybe you had nothing to lose. Taking a deep breath, everything just spilled out. “Fine. I.. I can’t sleep anymore. I’m scared here all the time and I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford to even think about looking for a new place so I’m hoping this’ll just go away and, well, I know this is a lot. Too much, probably. I’m too much - it’s okay if you don’t want to deal with it.” You choked out a laugh. “It’s not like I’d be able to attack someone if they broke in again! I mean, look at me - what kind of insane person hides wannabe weapons around her home, just in case? What am I going to do - attack some gun wielding idiot with a frying pan? I just.. it’s a dumb precaution I guess.” You shook your head, tearing your eyes away from Steve. “I’m scared. And tired, so tired.”

Steve took in a deep breath, then leaned in to press a kiss to the top of your head. With a few quiet words and his guidance, you were suddenly sitting on the closed toilet seat while he crouched in front of you. 

“You’re not too much.” He rested his hands on your knees, thumbs swooping in circles against your skin. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

You shrugged, letting out a deflated laugh. “We met like five minutes ago. I don’t do this sort of thing-” You motioned between yourself and Steve, “-often and I’m worried I’m screwing it all up. Having irrational fears about living in my own home - you don’t want to deal with that.”

Steve sighed. If anyone was going to screw up, he knew it wouldn’t be you. “Contrary to what you might think, I don’t do this much either.” He motioned between you both the same way. “So, let's try and deal with this ‘scared to sleep’ thing together.” He offered you a small smile. “First thing - how about a nap?” He was confident that your door and window were secure though he was determined to check on those things later, too.

“But you made reservations and-”

He waved his hand, dismissing your argument. “C’mon. Do you think you’ll sleep better if I’m watching guard from the living room?”

A frown returned to your face. “I guess. But I bet I would have the most success if you were.. in bed beside me.”

Steve laughed, brushing his tongue over his lips to focus his thoughts. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, sweetheart.”

“We’ll keep it PG..” You stifled a yawn. “I promise.”

---

You half expected Steve to be gone when you finally stirred from your sleep. Even if he had crawled into the bed beside you and draped his arm over you, with one cautious hand rubbing your back as you drifted asleep. 

But when you woke up, he was still on the bed. He had shifted slightly to sit up against the headboard, typing on his phone. The glow of his screen and your bedside table lamp cast a glow across his stoic features. 

When he noticed you stirring, he turned his gaze in your direction. “Hey you.”

“Hi,” you replied quietly, propping yourself up onto your elbows. “Hope I didn’t sleep too long.”

“About an hour,” Steve answered, reaching his hand over slowly and brushing his thumb across your cheek. “Seems like you needed it though. The pillow drool is evidence.”

“Nooo,” you pushed his hand away and tried to hide under the blankets. “Let’s pretend you didn’t see that. Drool is for third dates, at the earliest.” 

“Wanna come somewhere with me? I know it’s not the date we had planned but I need to check out one of my buildings.” Steve reached over and tugged down the blanket. “What do you say? We can bring Hercules too.”

You could already hear your excited pup getting up from his perch on the hallway floor outside your room, excited to be included in whatever the plan was. You appreciated Steve’s ongoing inclusion of your son. “Sure. I’m sorry I turned our evening into this.”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, sweetheart.” 

You were quick to get ready again, although with a bit less attention to detail since your fancy dinner reservations had gone out the window. By the time you put yourself together and headed to Steve’s car, you couldn’t hide your loud, hungry stomach.

And instead of letting you dismiss your hunger, Steve doubled down and insisted he take you by his favourite pizza place on the way to his property. You laughed when he claimed it was a Brooklyn institution, deserving of every single pizza award in existence. You didn’t have the heart to tell him it was fine and your own preferred spot was way better. It probably wasn’t the right time to have a playful argument with him while he was greeted so warmly by the owners of the pizza shop.

One thing you appreciated immensely about Steve already was how much he seemed to care about Hercules and how he was a part of your life. Steve didn’t even hesitate to let him into his very fancy car and even mentioned that moving forward he’d try to bring a bigger vehicle to better accommodate your son.

Although you couldn’t be certain, from the way he discussed it, Steve clearly owned multiple properties of varying purposes. The building he eventually parked in front of was what looked like a refurbished apartment building. It was on a quiet street just a few blocks from Steve’s own apartment.

“Wow,” your commentary spilled out when you got out of the car, guiding Hercules along too. “You sure he can come in here?”

Steve grabbed your free hand and nodded. “Of course, this is a pet friendly building. Actually, it even has a mini dog park off the left side beyond the community room.” 

You followed where he motioned beside the building, craning your neck to see a tall fence beside the far wall. “You’re kidding. Dang, a real luxury building, Herc. What a dream.”

“You have no idea,” Steve joked, pausing outside the door before someone appeared to let you in. “Thanks, Barton.” Steve turned and introduced you to the man as you walked in.

“Nice to meet you,” you said to Clint, who Steve described as a ‘jack of all trades’ property manager who helped maintain all of Steve’s buildings. “This place seems amazing.”

“You know how that phrase goes, right?” Clint threw up his elbow to nudge at Steve as you all headed to the elevator. “Jack of all trades, master of none?”

“Hey, you’re a master of a lot of stuff, I know. You should see this guy play darts,” Steve shot you a small glance and winked.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Rogers. Let me show you that newly vacated unit - third floor.”

You weren’t sure what the weird non-talking was that seemed to be going on between Steve and his friend, but you figured it wasn’t your place to ask. It seemed as if everything Clint was saying and explaining to you, he needed Steve’s approval for it. 

By the time you got to your destination, Clint had gone through a thorough list of amenities about the building. You weren’t sure why he was doing that either - you figured Steve must already know about the building since he owned it but it was nice to hear about. Beyond the dog park, there was a small coffee shop being added to the lobby, plus there was a full gym and rooftop deck area for all tenants to use at their leisure. Full time doorman, co-working space, parcel delivery, basement storage, bike storage, garbage pickup.. It was beyond luxury.

Clint flipped through his keychain and let you and Steve into one of the units on the corner, then excused himself on a phone call.

“This building is amazing. Wait, I already said that. Incredible, there we go.” You took a few more steps in, taking in the bright lights and clean lines of the one bedroom apartment. “Wow.” While the bar for what you considered a decent apartment was low, this place was still impressive.

It wasn’t much bigger than your own place but the layout made way more sense and it was clearly recently renovated, with a small kitchen full of new cabinetry on the left wall that opened up into the main living room space. And god, the windows were huge - giving a nice view into the streets of Brooklyn. And shit - what was a dishwasher?

You looked back at Steve, who was watching you from his little pose leaning against the door. “Did you just need to see the unit to make sure it was all clean for the next person?” Truthfully, that didn’t make much sense but you seriously could not pinpoint why Steve had any interest in checking out the apartment.

He shook his head, a growing grin on his face as he pushed off from his pose. “Did you see the in-unit laundry?” In a few strides he pulled open a closet door to reveal a stackable washer and dryer unit. “Big closet in the bedroom too.” 

You followed him into the bedroom, which shared the same view as the living room with windows that reached the ceiling. “It’s so nice. Whoever moves in next better appreciate it.” Your eyebrow raised up, curious when Steve started wringing his hands together, nervous. “Are you okay?”

“Oh yes,” he hesitated, tipping his head side to side before he took a step closer to you near the window. “I’m just trying to figure out how to approach this right. This apartment.. I want to offer it to you.” He pointed his fingers out through his clasped hands, waiting for your reaction. “What do you think?”

You laughed at the idea, unable to even take him seriously. “There is no way I can afford this place, Steve. Thank you but..”

“Don’t let the price be an issue.”

You scrunched up your face, keeping a firm grip on Hercules’ leash. “You can’t just give me an apartment.”

“I’m not,” He smiled, soft and honest. “I mean, I would but.. I’ll match your current rent. No deposit, no extra fees. You’ve got to let me give you back your sense of security. It’s killing me knowing you’ve lost that.” Though your resistance was wavering, he tried to reassure you. “Just think about it, okay? I promise I don’t have any ulterior motives. I just.. your safety is important to me. And I told you - a thousand favours.”

You closed your eyes, juggling both the uncertainty and excitement of possibility in your mind. “Steve, an apartment is worth a lot of favours, I think.”

“Do you know the exact exchange rate of rental property to favours? We could start a spreadsheet maybe..” His cheeky grin was practically spilling off his face. “You deserve to feel safe in your own home, sweetheart. Hercules too.”

With a gentle poke you tapped against his chest. “Just let me think about this one?”

“Okay, okay. Whenever you decide, whatever you decide, you let me know and we’ll get things sorted with Clint.” Steve took another step closer and slowly brought his hands up to your cheeks again, nibbling his own lip as he took you in. “Now, how about a sleepover tonight? I think we have some unfinished business from our last date.”

---

< Chapter 02 - Chapter 04 >

Notes: Up next: like our queen Miss Taylor sang in Labyrinth: ‘oh no, i’m falling in loveeee’ and maybe… some smut and danger and a peek into Steve’s business side. I’d love to know what you think so far! thank you for reading :)

[romanoffsbish]

Roadside Assistance

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Sunshine/Grumpy Prompts

Protective Natty ❤️

“You're definitely the only person I would do this for.”

“Why do you always manage to persuade me with your charms?”

"You're definitely the only person I would do this for.," Natasha grumbles while making her way over to help you, you who'd been stranded on the side of this road for a little over an hour now., "Natasha, we both know that isn't true—you'd help Wanda or Clint out like this too.," the redhead shrugged indifferently at your slight truths. You watched her intently as she settled her tool box down beside your lemon of a car, then your eyes were quick to zone in on her deliciously toned arms as she was removing her leather jacket to place it over your shoulder for safe keeping.

As she smirked at your wandering gaze you were quick to look away to avoid her taunting. Your eyes returned to her as soon as she was sliding beneath your car, and you took the moment alone to shamelessly admire her physique. Her shirt had ridden up to expose her toned abdomen and the sight alone left you wondering if she'd ever give you more than flirty banter and proposed bonds of friendship.

———————

Natasha had always intrigued you, she was a picture perfect example of beauty, and though she could do much better as a famed Avenger she was nothing if not an amazing friend to you. Many times went by where you thought it might be more to her, like when she'd invite you to events as her plus one, but then she'd sneak off with another girl, and you'd wind up hailing a taxi home. She was nothing short of confusing, but it never seemed to curve your want for her. Your sinful thoughts were soon interrupted as she asked you a rhetorical question., "Why do you always manage to persuade me with your charms?"

You chuckled., "Didn't know me crying over the phone was charming Nat, but I'll remember that the next time I need you to help me.," she grunted in lieu of words, and for a few short minutes all that could be heard were her many grunts followed by curses and the sounds of her tinkering with car parts you knew nothing about, and you were just grateful your friend here seemed to know what she was doing.

"Everything alright down there?," you teased, but then your heart dropped when you heard her curse in her mother tongue, she slid out from under your car covered in black smudges while wearing a defeated smile., "Well, I have good news, and then I have bad news.," she relayed exactly what you expected to hear while extending her hand out to you for assistance. You jerked her up off the ground, and she was actually quite impressed with your strength., "Which do you want first detka?," she asked softly, her grease covered hands fell to your waist and you were about to protest for the sake of your shirt, but the touch just felt right.

"Natty, Just rip off the bandaid please.," you grimaced, and she offered you only the softest of smiles, the kind she'd only reserved for you. Soft lips pressed to your forehead for an added layer of comfort as she sadly confirmed your suspicions., "This car is junk Y/N/N, and based on what I can see the jerk who sold it to you off that lot last month had to have known it.," you sighed aggressively, your hot breaths fanning across the redheads skin causing her to shiver., "Would you care for the good news detka?"

Natasha's heart beamed when you leaned into her, laying your head against her chest and wrapping your arms around her waist as you nodded against her, urging her to speak., "Well, I have the kinda pull necessary to get you one of Tony's vehicles free of charge.," Natasha instantly shushed you before you could expectedly protest the generous offer., "On top of that offer I also would like to offer my own services.," you shifted so that you could peer up at her questioningly., "I'll be your personal chauffeur for the next week while Tony gets the car ready for you detka.," she says as if it was always the obvious answer.

"Natty, I can't ask you guys to to do any of that.," you confidently negated her offer, but the shake of her chest beneath your cheek as she chuckled told you she also didn't take you seriously., "You didn't ask, I offered because there's no way my precious girl will be back to taking the Subway through this shady city.," her arms were quick to slip around your back to hold you tightly against her, this need to protect you at all costs consuming her heart.

"Natty, I've lived here my whole life, I can handle the hustle and bustle of the city.," you said over a soft giggle, but all you received were her arms tightening around you., "Yeah, but I'm saying that won't be happening anymore. This city's only gotten more dangerous over time, and you've got a direct tie to me now. You're too important a person to me Y/N/N, far more important than I think you realize."

The vulnerability in her voice threw your mind for a loop, and as you pulled away to look into her eyes you could see they were glazed over., "Oh Natty, what's wrong?," her heart skipped when you immediately moved into comforting her, like it was just the most natural thing for you to do, and so she released a shaky breath in lieu of a response while she built up courage to be honest. Nonstop reminding herself of what Clint said to her as she left his farm last week. That she did deserve the love she knew you had to offer her, and in turn you deserved to know that she had always loved you just the same.

Softly she smiled at you, confusing you more as her lips softly kissed the palms of your hands that were currently cupping her warm cheeks., “Would you believe me if I said nothing?,” you went to reply, but she was too quick., “Because I am actually not sad at all Y/N, I’m thrilled to be able to take care of you. It’s all I want to do, now and for the rest of our life if you’d let me.,” you gasped at the confessional, words you’d all but begged for her to say were finally said, and it all felt like a fever dream, but you knew it was really happening as the cold wind breezed by., “You’re not shitting me right now, right?”

Natasha’s lips fell into a slight frown, but she knew better than to be offended. It truly was a fair question to ask her since she’s been running from your advances from the start., “Y/N, I would never lie to you, so what do you say,hm? Will you let me take you to dinner?,” she looked to you with hopeful eyes, and a bright smile etched her face when you nodded. You squealed when your body was lifted off the ground, Natasha having been overwhelmed by excitement found the urge to spin you around in celebration., “It’s already five, I made us reservations for six-thirty, so we have enough time to get us out of these dirty clothes.”

Natasha smirked when seeing realization flash across your face, she kissed your cheek just before dropping her helmet over your head., “Don’t overthink it detka, just hold on tight, and know that you’re forever safe with me.,” Though she couldn’t see it you smiled under the helmet, happy to know this was always her plan—to help you and make you hers. She guided you to her bike, helping you on, and once your arms laid comfortably over her abdomen she sped off on her motorbike with an unrelenting smile on her face as the crisp wind rushed through her beautiful red hair., “YA tebya lyublyu Y/N.,” she yelled out into the world, smiling when you squeezed her hip three times in what she understood to be your reciprocation., “I’ll protect you forever angel…”

————————————

1,358 Words

❤️ Kaitlyn ☺️

[sondheim-girly]

sandy headcanons!!! This is gonna be sort of a mix between book and musical canon, so bear with me!

-as is in the musical, Sandy is a soc

-she has a younger brother, and everyone in her family always pays much more attention to him

-he does better in school, he plays sports, and ya know their family is very very sexist, so he’s gonna be getting all the attention

-anyways that’s case one of Sandy always feeling like she’s second best!

-Sandy’s also super duper shy and quiet

-in kindergarten she already knows Bev cuz their parents are friends, and Bev is kinda like that extrovert that adopts the introvert, so they become ‘best friends’

-At this time Bev is also friends with Ace because they ice skate together, and Sandy always feels like Bev prefers Ace over her

-also through their entire friendship everyone always prefers Bev over sandy

-Bev is outgoing, and hot, and flirty, and Sandy’s just that girl who hangs around her

-in middle school Bev stops being friends with ace, and sandy thinks this can mean they’ll get close again, but Bev becomes friends with Marcia and cherry, and sandy is left to be the second choice once again

-she’s friends with them through high school, but is always on the outskirts of the group, especially when she starts dating soda.

-in freshman year she has a bunch of classes with Soda, and they start talking a bit and they both have massive crushes on each other

-he asks her out, and of course sandy is thrilled! For the first time in her life someone is choosing her, putting her first, putting all of their attention on her!!

-and not only that, but it’s sodapop Curtis who could date pretty much any girl in the school

-also due to her appearance (in the book she’s described to have long blonde hair and soft blue eyes) and the fact that she hardly talks, everyone always assumes that she’s super sweet and kinda projects that personality onto her

-and that’s not to say that she isn’t! But it causes any other parts of her personality to kinda get ignored or go unnoticed

-such as her selfishness and constant need for attention!

-when the Curtis parents die and soda drops out of school they start spending less time together

-suddenly she feels like she’s second best again, and that he cares more about his brothers than her

-and she kinda knows how fucked up it is that she’s thinking that, but not really

-anyways this other guy at school starts flirting with her, and she’s like “omg two guys liking me??? More people putting me first above everyone else??? Yes please!”

-she starts sorta going out with this other guy as well, and yada yada they sleep together

-during summer break before junior year she discovers that she’s pregnant

-she knows that it has to be the other guys kid

-she calls him and tells him, and he’s like “ummm no wdym? That’s not my kid?” And she’s like “uhhh yeah it is” and he’s like “look sandy, my parents expect me to go to an Ivy League. I can’t do that with a kid to take care of! Please don’t tell anyone that’s my kid?” And she’s like “fine.”

-she knows that soda would marry her in an instant if she told him, but her parents would never approve and they would never be able to afford the baby

-plus our girl is used to a very rich lifestyle, she couldn’t handle being a greaser

-so she tells her parents she’s pregnant and they decide to send her off to live in Florida with her grandmother

-she has the option to say goodbye to soda, but she’s too scared so she opts to leave him a letter literally just saying “dear soda, I’m pregnant, and it’s not yours. I’m going to live with my grandmother in Florida. I’ll miss you, love sandy”

-leaving our boy absolutely heartbroken 💛

[rikebe]

thoughts on x men evolution kurt?

i LOOOOVE evo kurt!!! i have a huge soft spot for evo in general (i love love love any animated version of the xmen and evo is so silly and whacky i cant help but adore it) and i think kurt is sooo adorable in that show.

i love how this version of kurt leans wayyy more into his mischevieous and silly pranky side than most other adaptations and i really appreciate that. i feel like its such an underutilized and underrepresented aspect of his character that it even kinda gets tossed to the wayside in the comics half the time, but it's one of the things that makes him such a fun, three-dimensional character. i think its awesome that evo chose to go with that side of him when other adaptations focus more on his melancholy, somber side (which i also love of course! but its not all there is to him!)

im also a huuuuge sucker for little brother and comic relief characters in general (bobby's always been my fave o5) and kurt rly kinda takes on his role of the silly team baby in evo. i adore a silly team baby. plus, kurt is ACTUALLY the youngest of three siblings in canon, so i can totally see him being the annoying kid brother who tags along with amanda and stephan and gets on their nerves.

i liked the more serious plot they did for him too with the whole thing with mystique. ill never get tired of that storyline i wont lie and i think evo manages to strike a good balance where kurt is funny and comedic relief, but you still care about him and when he has a more serious moment it works.

although i think he CAN be a little overexaggerated with his teen speak, i like to imagine that's due to his status as a non-native speaker so he awkwardly overuses slang to try and fit in. I gotta say that I think most of the time Kurt being a teen from germany coming to america is treated kinda weird (see: the reboot movies acting as if kurt doesnt know what a movie or a store is. like guys hes from berlin in the 80ies. hes not from fucking dorf schragensdiek mid-14th century he probably has done way wilder shit than suburban teen scott summers.) so i like to make up my own headcanons to make it make sense a little lmao. also as a german: we think american/english sayings are super funny and like repeating them as germanly as possible. its like a nationwide sport so kurt doing it for funsies would also be totally reasonable.

overall i tend to take a lot of inspiration from evo for my version of a teen kurt bc the way he's characterized could totally be a super young and immature version of the sweet calm fuzzy guy we all know n love. hes silly and pranky and kind of annoying, but he's also really caring and the way his relationship with kitty evolved from a silly crush to genuine friendship was SO sweet. i love when kurt is shown that way, flirty but ultimately completely unselfish when his affections aren't returned and totally glad to just be friends with someone he had a crush on. i do think it's really lame how he uses the image inducer all the time since kurt NOT using the inducer anymore is such a big part of his character arc, and him using it at HOME all the time too is really weird but... well, whatever. in total one hell of a lovable, great kurt.

plus his design is super cute. how can you not love that 90ies boyband middlepart??

[sunnyie-eve]

23 | You what?

Series: Significant

Paring: Colby Brock x Original female character

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.5k

| MASTERLIST |

~

It's been a few weeks since Penelope was released from the hospital and was back home. Her mother and sister were still staying nearby till she was completely done with her doctor appointments just to be safe. With Penelope living out here and not home much, Turner has been hanging out at the house with Penelope and the guys.

At that moment, he went downstairs and got sucked into helping with the prank on Colby's car helping Elton, Corey, and Sam only because he caught them.

"Did you take your medicine?" Colby walks into Penelope's room.

"Colby, you are killing me about making sure I take my meds." She groans at her computer.

"You have like four difficult medications you have to take at different times every single day, Penelope." He walks up behind her.

She drops her head down shaking it, "I have alarms set when to take them so don't worry about it." She tilts her head to look back at him.

"Come on, you know I'm gonna worry about it." He gives her a kiss on the forehead.

Since the night at the hospital when he kissed her, they haven't really talked about it but there was a shift in their friendship. It was a lot more flirty when they were alone and even more touching which involved more head kisses and cheek kisses.

"Because you're annoying." She turns around to face him.

"I would hit you but you still have a broken wrist and head trauma." He crosses his arms, "You really don't want to go to the party tonight with me?"

"Not really. I want to stay home." She gets up to sit on her bed turning her TV on, "Not to mention I have a broken arm, Colby. And it's my dominant arm." She gives him a look.

"But I want you to come with." He lays his head on her lap.

"Well, that's not gonna happen." Her left hand plays with his hair which he liked very much.

"Where did Turner go?" Colby asks since he hasn't come back upstairs yet.

"Who knows. He's still here somewhere so I'm not worried. Probably with Sam or Corey. He's taken a liking to Corey since they both like dancing." Penelope says not caring knowing he was okay.

"Should I still go on the trip to Japan?" Colby asks her.

"Why wouldn't you not go?" She asks confused.

"Because I wanna keep an eye on you. I can't do that in another country." He looks up at her.

"I'll be fine alone. Plus there will be other people here because we have roommates if I need help, which I won't." She reassures him, "You are going on your stupid trip." She laughs at his face.

"Why does it gotta be stupid?" He chuckles.

"Because I said so. I don't know."

"I wanna take a little nap so wake me up before 7:30." Colby closes his eyes falling asleep as she plays with his hair.

When it gets closer to 7:30, Penelope wakes Colby up so he goes to his room to get ready. "Turner!" Penelope goes downstairs looking for him and can't find him. Going to the garage she sees it open so she goes out to the front. "You just disappeared, dude." She sees him with Elton, Sam, and Corey then what they did to Colby's car, "Oh, my."

"Wanna sit and wait to see his reaction?" Sam takes a seat.

"I guess." She joins them.

When Colby comes out he was confused to see everything looking at him, "You disappeared on me. And where's my car? There's my car." He finally notices making the guys laugh at him. "Did you know?" Colby asks Penelope.

"No, she didn't but Turner helped." Elton lets him know before telling Colby about his gift in the car.

"Oh my god! This is going to take me so long, Elton. Wait what? Bubble wrap." Colby starts tugging it to get it off. "How long did this take you?"

"About two hours..." Elton tells him.

"Before I continue, I'm gonna tell the person, that I need... Needed to be there at 7:30."

"You needed to be there at 7:30?! Why did you wait so late to run late?" Penelope shouts at how stupid he was.

Colby starts to tug again at the Saran Wrap this time moving the entire car, "How and I gonna get this, NO! NO! No! What is... No! Packing peanuts! Is the present in the packing peanuts or is that the present?" Colby asks.

"The present is inside the packing peanuts. It's in there. It's in the car somewhere." Elton laughs so they all watch Colby struggle.

"So you guys... You do know you're all gonna die in the next week right?" Colby looks at the guys, "That includes you too Turner. You're not safe because you aren't going home just yet." Colby points at him so Turner grabs Penelope's arm.

"My shield."

When they go for a little drive, Penelope and Turner wait for them to get back, "And you choose to live with these idiots?" Turner laughs as they sit alone.

"I oddly do." She laughs as well.

Soon the guys get back and they watch Colby search for his present but they put it in the trunk. Penelope cracks up seeing that the present was dish soap since he never does his dishes. Before they head inside, Riches pulls up to pick up Turner so they say goodbye to him.

~

"Where are you off to all dressed up looking adorable?" Colby smiles entering Penelope's bedroom.

"Lunch with my friend. She's picking me up so can you help me with my shoes please." She gives him a pout so he helps her put them on.

"You never talk about this friend much... What's her name?"

"Janelle, we've worked together a few times but she's mostly out of state but she got back last week." She says as Janelle calls her telling her she was there.

Getting in the car, Janelle smiles at her, "I might have left a small detail out about lunch."

"And that would be?"

"We're meeting up with my boyfriend and his friend. He had an opening in his schedule so they're gonna join us. Don't worry it's not like a date thing." She lets her know.

"Oh, okay." Penelope chuckles.

The girls get to the restaurant first and take a seat waiting for the guys to show up. When they did Janelle's boyfriend, Luke, and his friend Justin, introduced themselves to Penelope.

"Sorry if we were intruding on girl time." Luke apologizes.

"It's fine."

They end up spending an hour at the restaurant chatting about what they do and other things. Justin took a liking to Penelope and it was obvious to Janelle and Luke, but Penelope paid no mind.

"How long till you take your cast off? The accident happened about a month ago, right? Your accident. Falling down the stairs because a prank went wrong and was in a small coma for a couple of weeks." Luke talks to Penelope.

"How did you know that? I didn't tell you about that?" Janelle asks her boyfriend confused.

"The video about it... It was uploaded earlier today. The prank going wrong and the updates till you got home." He says confused seeing the look on Penelope's face.

"I need to go home. Like now." She gets up from her seat leaving so Janelle and Luke quickly split the bill.

"Why?" Janelle rushes after her.

"Because Elton fucking posted what happened to me! I was laying unconscious on the floor bleeding from my head while my roommates panicked." Penelope shouts.

"She's not lying." Justin shows Janelle the video when everything goes wrong.

Janelle takes Penelope home and she enters the house pissed off, "ELTON!" She yells out his name.

Everyone downstairs was confused as Elton entered the room, "Why are you screaming my name?"

"Why am I screaming your name? Are you fucking serious right now? Why the hell did you upload the failed prank and updates? You took a picture of me in my hospital bed to show in the video as well!" She was pissed off with him.

"Wait, what? You posted the accident and everything that happened afterward?" Corey looks at him.

"I just wanted to show how not all pranks go the way you want them to go. And I had updates so fans would know she was okay. To also explain why we disappeared for two weeks because we were worried about you." Elton explains.

"Elton, she was unconscious and bleeding on our floor and you posted that?" Sam gets a little loud.

It was taking everything in Colby not to tackle Elton to the ground for posting the video, "I would say delete it but it's too fucking late. People probably already have the video. I can't believe you did that, Elton. Fans already knew an accident happened because we said one happened when it did and that we were focusing on that." Colby walks upstairs not wanting to look at him.

"Would you still have posted it if she died instead of recovering from the fall?" Aaron shakes his head going upstairs too.

"It's gonna be a while before I can forgive you." Penelope heads upstairs going to Colby's room, "Can you untie my shoes so I can kick them off?" She asks him politely so he does what she asks.

"I can't fucking believe him. It wasn't even a prank, it was an accident. You could've died and we were all really panicking. It was acting like we normally do for pranks to scare each other." Colby sits on his couch.

"I know. When Janelle's boyfriend brought up the accident and everything with it we were confused about how he knew then he told us about the video. Maybe one good thing will come out of it."

"What could that be?" Colby looks at her.

"Hopefully fans will feel bad for me and realize how much I mean to my roommates. Or some will wish I die." She thinks.

"Let's hope it's the first one." He holds her hand.

"I'm thinking about filming a Q&A video do you want to join me? Last week I tweeted asking for questions so want to go through some?" Penelope gets off the couch.

"Sure, wanna do it in here?"

"Eww, no. I like my setup." She leaves his room.

"That was rude!" He follows her to her room and sets her camera up for her.

"Hey, hey! Welcome back to my channel! It's been quite some time since I last uploaded a video. But last week I asked y'all to ask me some questions I can answer. As you can see I have the lovely handsome Colby Brock with me." She motions to him with her good arm.

"Oh, you're making me blush, stop." He plays along.

"I asked him if he wanted to join me just because I could. He literally lives down the hall from me. I'll have him pick and read me questions you guys want to know." She hands Colby her phone that was already on Twitter. "Are you ready?" She asks him.

"Are you ready?" He smiles so they both laugh. "I'm gonna pick ones that are wild, funny, and private." Colby moves his eyebrows at her.

"You're so... Our moms just had to be friends." She groans at him.

"Okay, this is from Anna-ha; If you were to switch bodies with Colby for a day what would you do?" He reads, "Tell me, what would you do in my body?" He tilts his head.

"Cry, I would cry and scream. I would refuse to use the bathroom. I'd just pee myself because hell no. But other than that," She thinks, "I would transfer some money to my bank account. You're richer than me so." She laughs as his jaw drops, "What would you do, huh? In my body?" She asks him now.

He thinks making different faces, "You're my best friend but I'm still a guy first so..." He smirks causing her to hit him, "I'm joking, I had to piss some people off. But I would go get a tattoo of my name to put on you."

"No! I will never get a name tattooed on me." Her eyes widened.

"Night Owl asks; How many boyfriends have you had?" He reads.

"Two, just two. When I was 14 and 18/19. My longest relationship was two years and I got cheated on. The second was, not even a full year. I honestly can't tell you how long I think maybe six months because-,"

Colby cuts her off, "Because he was also a piece of shit and they constantly fought about small things that were unnecessary."

"As Colby said but only two. I'm done dating."

"Banana Bread asks; Do you get uncomfortable when people talk about you and any of the guys, especially Sam and Colby, in a nonfriend way?"

"I don't know if I would say it's uncomfortable but it's a similar feeling. I can't really explain it. I don't care that much because there's more hate towards me with the guys. I guess that's why it doesn't make me uncomfortable because there's not a lot of that. But for Sam and Colby, I'm super close to them so the hugs, head kisses, and cuddles don't really mean anything romantically." She explains, "Like I've had people give me crap for how Sam and I are because he's dating Kat, but she completely trusts us."

"On our trip to Utah, Kat asked Penny if was she keeping Sam from turning blue and purple by cuddling him. So like, she trusts Penelope and Sam. Devyn trusts Penny as well as Corey. I don't have a girlfriend but hopefully she would trust her as well and I'm sure she would." Colby adds.

"So yeah, I don't get uncomfortable but I prefer people not to for the respect of the actual couples." Penelope adds to it.

"Oh, this one is, wow. Jade asks; What made you realize you were in love for the first time?"

"Wow!" Penelope was shocked, "That's a big topic, umm." She takes a deep breath in, "I couldn't stand not being able to see them. It was like, if I saw them I knew no matter what, even if I was at my lowest, just seeing them made me feel a little better. Then one day I couldn't stop thinking about them in a certain way. From that moment on everything in me changed and it's so hard to describe that feelings. Love is complicated to explain." Penelope giggles refusing to look at Colby who was looking at her the whole time she talked.

"Colby's wifey... I didn't know I had one, asks; Can you stop being friends with Colby and move far away please?" He gives Penelope a smile.

"Okay, we're done." She looks at Colby, "I'll have the movers come over soon to get my stuff." She stands up walking out of her room before going back in, "Hell no!" She looks at the camera before sitting back down.

"Yeah, as long as I'm alive, Penelope is gonna be here as well so..." Colby nods his head.

"Okay! Thank you guys for watching and giving me questions. If Colby didn't pick yours, I'm sorry blame him not me. Remember to like, comment, and subscribe. I would really appreciate it." Penelope smiles.

"Do it or I'll hunt you down and force you to." Colby glares at the camera before getting up to turn it off.

[mrs-weasley-reid]

Hi babee, what are your top three cm ships and characters? and what are your favorite genres in movies/tv/books<33

hiyya sweetssss<3 I LOVE THIS ASK asdfghjkl | sorry for the super late response

Okay, my top three cm ships:

Morcia !!!! Am I right? I actually forgot because not a lot of peeps talk about it. And, of course, platonically. I just love their bond. The comfort and safety. I'm a sucker for a good ole platonic friendship.

Jemily. Need I say more? I'm not pushing things, and I love JJ and Will's relationship, but the chem between JJ and Emily is so silly I just gotta hand it to them.

I actually really just have those two. I get a lil jelly when I try to ship Reid or Hotch with someone, but if I really had to choose, it would be Haley and Hotch (idk the ship name, sorry!) It didn't work out for them in the end, but I believe Haley did her best to be understanding. Plus, hello?! The woman had to take care of a child. Then, this guy dips for his job as if childcare is a walk to the park. And we all saw how distraught Hotch was when she died. It was an unfortunate love story, but I loved it. I still bawl when I see them on S1. And will only ever link Hotch (willingly lol) to Haley. Nobody come at me pls.

Next! My top three cm characters:

Elle Greenaway. She was one of the characters that got me bi panicking. I wished she stayed longer. The way she treated Reid makes my heart melt. She's an icon.

Spencer Reid. But early seasons Reid. Before Derek left. Don't get me wrong, he was still amazing in the later seasons, but I love a socially awkward man who's so smart but also so dumb at the same time. Why? Because I'm very extra and love to drag them around like a teddy bear.

Penelope Garcia. She's not the best, and I heard she's babied in the current season, but the way she brings joy to the team gets me. Plus, I have a collection of mugs that I don't even drink from. I fully believe I'd vibe with her so fast. And I'm pretty much a feral, flirty gal, soooo she's just so me but also not so me lol

[scrumptiousstuffs]

Oh my lord!! Ep11 curse is really true ‘cause sandray happy boyfriend era didnt last a whole episode.

Its time to rewatch the eclipse and forget about ep11 part 4 forever

You know the fact that we somsoms doent even have an FK show without crying is a crime.

What do you mean i have to watch eclipse as my comfort show when i am bawling my eyes every single episode when i rewatch

I really need a romcom for them its not a want its a need🥲🙏

Heh…ah, I’m guessing a lot of people are upset with the appearance of Boeing in this episode. But you know what, I think his appearance is important for the next evolution of SandRay relationship (although I do wish Boeing’s arc was introduce a bit earlier, cause we only have the final episode left to wrap it up😮‍💨)

Yes, I absolutely love the domestic and fluffy SandRay happy boyfriend era (Ray calling Sand his BF every chance he gets was a highlight for me, cause you can tell that boy was just giddy to finally have Sand as his!)

But, I think Sand’s mom sum up his son character nicely - Sand is super caring and by default, a caretaker. And so, I don’t think it is out of character for Sand to be friends with his exes - so far, the only one he really can’t stand is Top and Ton (even then he maintained his civility when he meets them in the public settings unlike Ray who barely covers his dislikes and now just avoids both of them, it seems).

What Sand may have an issue with is perhaps putting a boundary with his ex once their relationship has ended. I think we can all tell he looks uncomfortable when Boeing visited him at the bar, but he was civil enough and although I wished he was firmer with Boeing, Sand did say all he can offer was friendship to Boeing, declining to go to the Artic Monkey concert with him plus politely turning down Boeing suggestive remarks about the latter going back to his flat (I’m not sure whether the way he speaks to Boeing speaks more about the dynamic they have when they were together - this is where I’m a bit sussed that we only have more episode to tie everything together!!! 😫 not enough time! I suspect we may get some flashback about how Sand/Boeing were as a couple, which will give us insight about why Sand is treating Boeing like this currently - almost afraid?).

I also get the impression Sand just doesn’t want Boeing to be in the same room with Ray cause Sand himself may be feeling insecure?. He doesn’t want history to repeat himself aka Ray leaving him for Boeing - I’m sure we can all agree this will never happen but I’m betting Sand self-esteem took a major hit when Boeing left him for Top (rich etc etc), and in all honestly, Ray is essentially the same calibre as Top (now more so with him being sober!). Also, recall Boeing is somehow similar like Mew (smart etc etc) and Mew was Ray’s first love/long-term crush.

On the flip side, Ray as we know is possessive of Sand - while this may be good now in their honeymoon phase, in a long run it can be a problem for their relationship. So Boeing is introduce as the catalyst for SandRay to work out their issues together - I’ll argue it’s important for them to hopefully then have a smooth long-term relationship but again, with one episode left…I think the resolution will feel rush.

However, I will agree with you anon - there is not one show of them together that has not left me bawling my eyes out (even when they acted separately!!! I mean Yok crushed my soul in Not Me with his tears, similar with The Shipper when they killed his character 😭, and don’t even get me started with Khao’s character in 55:15 Never Too Late)

So, a BIG YES from me 🙌 to them having a romcom - here’s to hoping GMMTV Part 2 will be announced at some stage with FK having a fluffy series together (I’m hoping we will get flirty, confident First going after nerdy, shy Khaotung for a change in pace 🤣)

(Also, I’m with you on The Eclipse rewatch 😆, I’ll join you!!!!!…)

[annabtg]

Ten Lines Tag Game

Rule: Share the first lines of your ten most recent fics and and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy--share anyway ❤️.

Thanks for the tag @turanga4 @merlins-sequined-hotpants @abihastastybeans ! Always happy to share my writing ☺️

Below the cut, in reverse chronological order:

1. An older middle-aged woman walking into the café alone was not a very common sight.

(Customer In Law, Jily Muggle coffee shop AU, oneshot - 6.2k)

2. “Potter! Black! Open the door!”

(AO3 Is Down, Jily-as-AO3-personnel Muggle AU, oneshot - 1.4k)

3. James Potter had had it with Lily Evans.

(Do It Right, Jily canon first kiss, oneshot - 1.1k)

4. Lily collapsed in her tall office chair with a long sigh, the twelve plus hours she’d already worked in the day weighing heavy on her back and legs.

(Taking A Shot At You, Jily Muggle meet-cute with pharmacist!Lily, oneshot - 2.4k)

5. “Careful where you're standing, Evans.”

(Mistletoe Mishaps, Jily, canon, flirty, oneshot - 1.3k)

6. “Your name, please?”

(Scandalous, Sirius/Lily M-rated fake dating, oneshot - 4.9k)

7. “...You light it up and make a wish for something to last. It will last until the candle dies.”

(The Candle Of Hope, Jily, canon, bittersweet, drabble - 100 words)

8. They are Sorted in the same House as her, the two boys who bullied Sev on the train.

(Start From Here, canon Lily-centric across the Hogwarts years, Lily & Snape friendship and Jily, oneshot - 5.8k)

9. “How come she married him? She hated him!”

Sirius remembers Lily’s gaze resting on James during History class, while he’s busy doodling on the corner of his book.

(Never Really, canon Jily from Sirius's POV, long drabble - 433 words)

10. She stretched her legs out, off the dusty green towel and over the golden sand, ankles wiggling, tomato-red painted toenails contrasting with the vastness of blue stretching ahead of her.

(Summer Is..., Jily summer meet-cute, oneshot - 1k)

So fun to see them all lined up here!

Tagging (sorry if you've been tagged already!): @oneofthesirens @ohmygodshesinsane @athenasparrow @seriouslysam8 @wearingaberetinparis !

[sunxshine]

Welcome to Aurora Bay, [GWENDOLYN SAMPSON]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [GRACE VAN DIEN]. You must be the [25] year old [BARISTA/CALL GIRL]. Word is you’re [COMPASSIONATE] but can also be a bit [MEEK] and your favorite song is [HERE COMES THE SUN BY THE BEATLES]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!

STATS.

full name: gwendolyn sampson

nicknames: gwen, winnie

gender & pronouns: cis female & she / her.

birthday: september 24th

zodiac: libra

sexual & romantic orientation: heterosexual

occupation: barista, call girl

BIO.

gwen is the embodiment of the sweet girl next door troupe we all know and love. because who doesn't love a wholesome girl?

ever since a young age she had the need to take care of those around her instilled in her. her mother passed when she was young and she instinctively made it her responsibility to care for her dad, as she was their only child.

as a result she has made it her life mission to take care of the people around her, even if it means bringing someone home made chicken noodle soup, or offering a soft smile to a person passing by.

she spends/spent most of her free time growing up finding new ways to volunteer or help in her community in any way that she could. from being a candy stripper in the hospital on the weekends, to foster every single stray she could find, those habits just continued.

she's a literal angel ok

when she was in high school, during her tutoring program, is where she met her now ex Jameson. She was helping him with some of his courses, and despite their superficial differences, and the stares in the hall, the two of them developed a really sweet friendship, turned romance.

they bonded quickly and deeply, and it wasn't long before their study sessions turned into shy flirty interactions, into full blown young love.

a few weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday gwen found out that her and jameson weren't exactly the most careful and a pink little plus sign looked back at her from the plastic stick in her hands.

jameson and her did their very best to keep their heads above water and support their now growing family. both picked up starting jobs and worked hard to keep their tiny apartment's roof over their head.

their little fairytale fall to pieces when she found out jameson had been arrested for a fight he had gotten into. she tried her best to keep their love alive, but he kept pushing her away, and with a baby to support she had to find a new plan.

finding a night job, after being referenced by a friend of a friend, our girl had no choice but to start selling herself to the highest bidders. now, her daughter almost six years old, gwen finds herself still at her two jobs, doing her best to keep after hours job as hidden from others as possible.

PLOT IDEAS.

Ex taken by Jameson.

Client; dear lord pls gimmie. your muse is basically a customer of her night job, either he is sweet to her or not so much. we can work out the details.

best friends

mom friend, any other mom muses need apply

crushes, coworkers, etc

all of the above

[puddlexdeep]

—— PLATONIC CONNECTIONS. ❜

close/best friends. (0/+) ori has a tendency to make friends with literally anyone and everything. they're just friendly, possibly overly-so. and they trust people to be their friends pretty easily, it doesn't take much more than a smile and a kind word. to be a best friend, they just have to show up when ori asks them to.

confidants. (0/2) while ori is naive and trusts people easily, it takes a lot more to be a 'confidant', and ori very likely only has one or two people who know the darker things that go on in his brain.

ride or die. (0/1) ori's platonic soulmate. someone who just gets him, and he gets them too. these are the kind of friends who would literally do anything for each other, know each other inside and out, and people often think they're fucking because they're so dang close.

drunk friend. (0/1) someone who he gets along with when he's out having a good time, but otherwise doesn't really spend much time with them. this relationship could potentially be pretty toxic, the two of them supporting each other's bad habits without ever discussing the root of their issues.

wing(wo)men. (0/1) ori doesn't have a whole lot of game. they're relationships and intimate partners have mostly been people who approached them, not the other way around. so someone who is there to support ori and give him a shove towards someone cute would be fun!

unlikely friends. (0/2) just a friend or two who are pretty opposite from ori, and yet they weirdly get along. maybe some gloomy counterparts, a friend who keeps ori grounded when his head is up too high in the clouds. or someone who sees ori getting manipulated by someone (it's easy to do), and is like "hey, no, maybe stop that?"

parent friend. (0/1+) there could be more than one of these. someone who reminds ori they need to eat and sleep, because sometimes ori gets a little obsessive and forgets to take care of themself. this is the type of friend who notices ori has lost some weight and brings over a meal and forces ori to sit down and eat it.

—— FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS. ❜

siblings. (1/4) ori has three sisters and a brother, and he is close to all of them. family means a lot to them! (ocean james)

—— ROMANTIC CONNECTIONS. ❜

flirtationship. (0/2+) ori isn't the best at flirting, but it'd be cute to see them get flustered when someone else flirts with them. plus, it could be funny to watch him stutter and stammer through some flirty phrases in an attempt to flirt back!

one night stand. (0/6) they're only human, and they've been known to fool around with strangers here and there. ori tries not to bring too many random people home now that their brother lives with them, but after living in town for 6 years there's likely been several who ori could run into again!

unrequited crush. (0/1) ori could be the one with the crush! or the other way around, definitely up for discussion. but one of them has heart-eyes for the other one, and the other one doesn't feel the same way but hasn't quite gotten up the nerve to break it to the other. or maybe the one being crushed on is completely oblivious to their friend's feelings!

friends with benefits. (0/3) again, ori's only human. and he also has a tendency to blur the line between friendship and whatever comes after that. so sleeping with friends is a totally normal thing for them!

blind date. (0/1) could've gone well, could've been terrible, up for discussion!

exes on good terms. (0/1) someone ori dated who maybe realized down the line that ori wasn't ready for real commitment, and so they broke up amicably and stayed friends. could potentially now fulfill a fwb connection, too!

exes on bad terms. (0/1) this one could be one who discovered ori's secret!! exactly what it sounds like: they dated, something happened, and after a screaming match they decided to stop seeing each other.

first love. (0/1) this one would definitely need some discussion, but it would be interesting to have someone who ori genuinely loved at one point, who maybe broke their heart. or maybe both hearts were broken, idk.

experimented with their sexuality together. (0/1) ori is always down for experimentation, and likely didn't 'come out' as bisexual until they were 20 or 21 years old, so this could've happened years ago. they weren't the first same-sex person ori fooled around with, but maybe they were the first one that was able to have the intimate discussions with them, and sort of taught ori (or they taught each other) how to talk about sex openly with a sex partner.

one night stand or fling that was regretted later. (0/1) idk how, idk why, but this could be an interesting dynamic!!

—— NEGATIVE CONNECTIONS. ❜

former (best) friends. (0/2) maybe people who used ori's naivety to their benefit, and then just sort of left them hanging.

share a secret, aka two people who have a giant secret together but are constantly afraid the other will rat them out. (0/1) this is another one that could just be a really interesting dynamic, so if you're interested we could brainstorm together!

negative influence. (0/1) the friend who got ori into the party scene, because that wasn't something they really experienced until they got to cardinal hill. maybe someone who got ori into drinking and drugs, and continues to be a toxic/negative influence.

competition.

current lover’s ex, former lover’s current partner. (0/1) i can't see ori being the jealous type, but if someone else was then this could be a thing. maybe their partner is still friends with ori, and that pisses them off.

—— MISCELLANEOUS. ❜

tbd