#realized they had to be baked and put them back with the box open

[wingherc]

｢𓆄｣ "I'll be fine, I promise." Being able to play off the racing in his chest as just a case of nausea was the plan, though, he really wished he hadn't eaten so much, because this case of vertigo could very much go sideways, so he'd stave that off as best he could.

But, when she offered her hand his way, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Hawks had accidentally played her perfectly, and he really couldn't complain. So, he took her hand in his own, something about it was much gentler than his usual approach.

She had probably expected him to do something along the lines of pulling her down to his level, or something else that was just as playful and not serious. But, instead, he started talking.

"Y'know, this last year's been a lot of fun. If you asked me a year ago where I'd be in terms of the city, I don't think I would've answered anything like this." Specifically, there's one conversation they had about a year ago that they had that comes to mind for Hawks. He's since learned to be a lot more delicate when putting ideas on the back burner. Hawks had a lot more to learn when it came to just being a person, so he was glad Aerith was so patient with him. "No, wait, I definitely wouldn't have answered anything like this." And they both know it.

Hawks is a yapper at the end of the day, taking a million words to say things normal people could say in four. But, leave it to him to be the monologue-y optimistic type.

"I've been revisiting the idea in my head for awhile..." But, he didn't know how to approach the subject, but her constant glances at the boutique windows adorned with white gowns that Hawks pretended to pay no mind to, told him all he needed to know. And he didn't have to worry about getting her hopes up if he for whatever reason, decide that maybe it wasn't the time nor place. Anytime he did visit the idea in his head, though, he would find his mind wandering more and more each day, unable to really think about anything else, hell, even the silly arguments in his head he imagined them fighting about was a part of the deal that he wanted just as much. They wouldn't fight over big things, just stupid things like board games, or the plot of a half baked movie that the other swore they could write better. "It's hard to really approach the subject without getting someone's hopes up or ultimately disappointing them by not delivering..." The thinly veiled forlorn expression that Aerith wore when window shopping had been bothering Hawks for weeks now, and who was he to deny her that joy.

Because it's something he'd been wanting for much longer than he probably realized, but had just never occurred to him until recently. "And, while I know we promised each other a ways back that it'd always be us, if we could help it...I wanted to revisit that promise...Maybe even make an addendum to it." With his free hand, he reached into the pocket of his windbreaker, pulling out a box that popped right on open with the click of a button. The band that sat on the velvet pillow in the box was quite vine-y and adorned with small jewels that caught the light just right. Though dainty, there was one bigger jewel that the band wrapped around.

She really was going to have him come out and say it, actually, just like when he'd asked her out. Hawks couldn't entirely blame her, it wouldn't feel real if he didn't come out right and ask her.

"For as long as we're in Spirale, do you want to get married?" His wording was precise, he wanted it to seem like a joint decision, that if he was turned down, it wouldn't break either of them. And he didn't want it to seem like he was entirely leaving up this huge decision to herself. Hawks made up his mind, Aerith just had to meet him halfway.

"Even if one of us disappears, that's a low I'm willing to risk if it means I get to experience the highs with you. Hell, even just the mundane."

What she hadn't expected was for him to seemingly give up so easily! Once he's thrown to the ground and the cabin slowly comes to a halt, Aerith leans forward to check on him. "You okay? I was expecting a lot more fight in you! Should I have gone easier...?" Eyebrows furrow as she looks down at him, worried. "Sorry! I didn't mean for you to get sick..."

"Need some help up?" She reached toward him, offering her hand. If he wanted to sit next to her to help orient himself, he could.

[antimony-ore]

.

[sunflowerwinds]

sugar, sugar | v.a

summary: vi has crept up into your mind and is keeping put so to try to relieve some of that bubbling crush energy, you bake her some protein muffins. after delivering them to her, she invites you to isha’s birthday party. meeting her entire family is nerve wracking but you’re welcome with open arms.

pairing: fem!reader x vi arcane

contains: modern!au, kick-boxer!vi, reader is an actual sweetheart, MY family (vander, isha, ekko, jinx, & sevika mentions), fluff and flirty tension, kind of slowburn but not really.

word count: 5.5K

a/n: what do y’all think of my new pfp?😝 i’m so glad everyone has enjoyed that first part of this little series. the overwhelming amount of support has touched my heart, i’m so sorry this took two weeks to come out i will try and be faster with the next part <3 & would 3 parts be too short? lmk in the replies!

— TWO

Making protein muffins was harder than you thought.

You had tried out multiple recipes with different flavors within the span of two days and it was driving your grandmother and your sister up the wall. Her kitchen now smelled like a mixture of all the different scents that were giving her a headache.

They were either dry, not enough flavor, too dense, not fluffy, too strong, etc. The list went on. But finally, on the third day of anxiously cooking, you perfected a beautiful and delicious batch of pumpkin muffins with a few blots of chocolate chips.

Ever since you found out that Vi worked at a kickboxing studio, it sparked an idea in your brain. You could bake some protein muffins to give her. Worried she wouldn’t like them, you double checked with her. You open your text thread with Vi, grinning at the last message she had sent you of the actual address of the studio so that you wouldn’t get lost.

Anxiously tapping your fingers on the steering wheel, you stare at the sign above the studio with hesitation. You had done yourself up a bit; just a tad. Okay, a little more than a tad.

This was Vi’s first time seeing you outside of work and you wanted to make a better impression than messily tossed up hair and bundled up layered outfits. You sported a mini black skirt with a pair of opaque tights with an over the shoulder cherry red sweater, your hair left in its natural state. You stare at the black marker writing of Vi’s name on the box in the passenger's seat of your car.

Would she think you were trying too hard?

No, no, no overthinking, you scold yourself. You tug down your sun visor on your driver’s side to double check your makeup before grabbing your purse and the box of muffins for Vi. You open your driver's side to step out onto the gravel parking lot, sucking in a deep breath to calm your nerves as you tug on the cold handle to the door of the studio.

The moment you stepped into the dim lit area, you spotted Vi almost immediately. A black compression athletic tank hugged her upper body, showing off her muscular upper body. Her bandaged hands were landing blows to a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. The sound of her soft grunts and the clinking of the chain holding it up the heavy vinyl bag echoed within the space.

You stand at the edge of the large mat covering the area, unknowingly frozen in place at the sight of Vi’s veins popping out of her biceps with each punch she was throwing. You snap out of it when you realize how long you might’ve been standing there for, clearing your throat and shaking your head at how embarrassing that was.

“Vi, hi!” You wave from across the rubber gym tiles at her panting figure, a bright smile on your face.

Vi lowers her balled up wrapped fists that had been previously punching the bag to wave back at you, a smile creeping onto her lips at the sight of you holding the little tray of homemade treats. You looked like a doll out of place in this sweat-ridden studio in your adorably cozy outfit.

Vi made her way over to where you stood at the edge of the mat, eyes panning up and down as subtly as possible. Seeing her outfit up close caused a heat to tickle the tips of your ears. You swore you could see her abs through the material.

“Hey, cupcake. Those for me?”

“Yep! Thought I’d drop them off before I… head out.” You cleared your throat, nervously smiling at her as you fiddled with the cardboard of the box you had bought for this.

Vi grabs a small towel from a foldable chair where parents would sit through classes to wipe over the back of her sweat-ridden neck. She was so close to you that you could feel the heat radiating from her skin. You couldn’t tell if you were staring at her as obviously as you thought. Worried you were going to seem like an absolute creep, your eyes blink as they focus on her face.

“Yeah? You have plans today?” Vi hangs the towel around her neck, crossing her arms over her chest.

The movement caused your eyes to flicker down to the protruding muscle. You were sure this time you were staring as her dark tattoos were glistening underneath the thin layer of moisture from her workout. God, you could hear your grandma now teasing you for getting distracted by muscles of all things.

“I mean I’m just going to the grocery store. Need a few more things for Isha’s cake.” You nod to confirm, flickering your eyes back up to hers.

They were somehow even more captivating than her biceps. Her lips twitch into a small grin, nodding slowly.

“The people at the store are very lucky.”

You couldn’t fight the smile that crept onto your lips.

“Shut up,” you look around at the equipment and trophies around the room to try and hide the heat that was undoubtedly forming on your cheeks. “Were you just working out here? Or did you have a class?”

“Yeah, I had a class earlier but it was for mostly 6 to 8 year olds so they didn’t beat me up too bad this time,” Vi jokes as she reminds you of her injuries from the last time you saw her.

You chuckle as you can only imagine seeing Vi with a whole group of children, gently encouraging them to take hits at her. Oh, your heart skipped at the thought.

“Yeah, I mean you look good now.” You blurt out without thinking.

Taking way too long to realize what had stumbled out of your mouth, Vi’s brows raise at your words as the faintest of smirks forms on her lips.

“Yeah?”

Your eyes flicker up to hers, self-consciousness washing over you once that realization sets in. Your mouth opens as you grip the box as some sort of comfort to ease the humiliation creeping up your neck.

“Not that you don’t look good all the time because you–you do! I mean, I don’t see you everyday but I’m sure you do,” you try and recover, voice becoming softer as you trail off.

Vi unfolded her arms from her chest to reach forward to rest them on your shoulders, faintly chuckling at your panic. “Cupcake, relax. I knew what you meant.”

You suck in a deep breath at her touch but you mask it as attempting to calm down from your frantic words.

“Okay, yeah. I’ll just leave these with you now,” you pat the top of the box, looking into her eyes. “I’ll see you soon so you can pick up the cake at the shop?”

Vi nodded in agreement with the set plan, taking the box of muffins from your hands. You nearly frown at the loss of touch that was somehow burning onto your skin even though you were wearing a thicker sweater.

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon but,” she clears her throat, moving the box to rest on one of her forearms as she brushes her front pieces of hair to the side. “Did you want to come to Isha’s birthday party?”

“Seriously?” Your smile widens.

Vi nods, eyes crinkling a bit from her smile matching your own.

“Are you sure?” You question, fiddling with the sleeves of your sweater. “It won’t be awkward not being family or anything?”

“No, I mean. It’s a small party but I think you’d have fun,” Vi shrugs her shoulders, suddenly becoming more sheepish. “Isha wants you there. Couldn’t stop talking about the nice bakery lady.”

“Just Isha?” You tilt your head, hopeful that she would give you the answer that you craved.

Vi taps on the box with a small smile. “I want you there, too.”

Oh, your gram would be jumping with glee seeing this interaction. Your face ignites a flame at her honesty, nodding with a beaming smile.

“I’ll be there. I’ll just bring the cake then.” You nod, pushing back flyways from your hair.

“Okay, good. I’ll text you the address, cupcake.”

You nod for what felt like the millionth time at the pink haired girl, taking a step back to try to force yourself to leave her warm presence.

“Okay and if you like those, uh, muffins, let me know if you want any other protein snacks. I like a good baking challenge.” You motion to the muffins.

Please say yes, you internally begged.

“I will. Though, I doubt I won’t like them if you’re the one baking them,” Vi assures your frantic mind.

You grin at her awkwardly, not knowing how to take these little flirty gestures she would throw at you. At least, you thought they were supposed to be flirty.

“Okay, okay,” you wave your hands, chuckling sheepishly to yourself as you realize you’ve probably overstayed your welcome. “I’ll leave you to… your boxing stuff.”

Vi chuckles at your wording, pointing to the clear door.

“Have fun shopping. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you, Vi.”

You felt like throwing up from your nerves.

You had texted Vi later that day after dropping off the muffins what you should wear so that you wouldn’t be either too overdressed or underdressed. It was a child's birthday party, for God’s sake but you still didn’t want to be too out of place especially around her family.

from vi ♥︎ | Do you have any options?

to vi ♥︎ | kind of? i have ideas of what i could wear but i’m stuck :/

from vi ♥︎ | Let me see and I’ll tell you what looks best!

You nearly dropped your phone on your face at the message. Standing up from your bed, you scurried to your closet to pick out two options as you didn’t want to bombard her with photos of yourself. You quickly change in your planned outfits minus the shoes, sending both of them to her. You were panting from how you switched from one to the next.

from vi ♥︎ | Fuck, you look good in both

from vi ♥︎ | I was expecting this to be an easier decision but you really just look good in either.

to vi ♥︎ | violet :(

Could she tell how flustered you were from behind the screen?

from vi ♥︎| I’m serious

from vi ♥︎ | But if you want me to choose, I’ll say the first one!

to vi ♥︎ | thank youuu! i was stressed about that lol

from vi ♥︎ | You’re going to be fine. I promise :)

to vi ♥︎ | really?

from vi ♥︎ | Yes. You’re the lady bringing the cake. No one can hate the lady bringing the cake, duh.

to vi ♥︎ | yeah, yeah, okay. i’ll relax now.

Now you were standing at the front door of the small suburban home in that very outfit that Vi had chosen; a white tee with an espresso brown cardigan over it and a pair of your favorite baggy dark wash jeans. Your hair was half-up, half-down and your cleanest pair of Docs. You rang the doorbell just a few seconds ago, patiently waiting for someone to answer the door.

If you held your breath, you could hear muffled footsteps approaching the wooden door. The sound of the locks unlatching signals you to straighten your back, preparing yourself for whoever was going to answer the door. The hinges creak as it swings open to reveal Vi, sporting a welcoming smile.

Similar to you, she was wearing a brown cut off sleeve top, a white tank top underneath the open torso portion and a pair of black jeans. You try not to read into the matching colors too much.

“Hi! I was so scared I got the wrong house,” you chuckle as you stare into her eyes.

“Nope, you got it. Everyone is in the back. Come on,” Vi reaches for your hand, tugging you through the small house halls.

You nearly drop the cake as you urge her to slow down, releasing soft chuckles at her eagerness. You glance around at the cozy walls of the home, catching a few glances at a few family photos hanging and set up on shelfs. You made a mental note to try and sneak inside to get a closer look at those.

You step through a white chipping back door, Vi guiding you to the birthday party set-up for the precious child. Green streamers hung on the wooden fence to appear as vines as a photo op and a foldable table that was filled with wrapped and bagged presents with Isha’s name in balloons with a few animal print ones surrounding the inflatable letters as music played from a speaker. It wasn’t the coldest day as it was nearing the end of November but there was a slight breeze and the sun was shining beautifully to really wrap up the sight of this unknown family.

You hold up the cake underneath the white box, subconsciously gripping onto Vi’s hand due to the anxiety swimming through your veins.

“Come on. I want you to meet everyone,” Vi insists, a charming smile on her face as she walks up to a group of people that were sitting at a round table that had a jungle leaf tablecloth over it.

The whole table had cups of drinks in front of them, talking amongst each other with animated features.

“Hey guys,” Vi speaks up, her hand still holding yours gently.

A chorus of greetings overwhelms you in a good way as she goes around the table to name them off one by one.

“Okay, this is Jinx, my other sister,” she points to a pale skinned girl with two electric blue hip length braids, a few strands coming from the front to frame her face.

The girl smiles at you with kindness, eyes widening as she seems to realize who you are.

“You’re the bakery girl? That donut was delicious. I have full trust that the cake will be amazing,” Jinx nodded with a wink, leaning into the darker skinned boy next to her.

“That’s Ekko,” Vi chuckles as she points at white haired boy.

“Hi. Nice to meet you,” he grins at you, nodding his head at you to show his acknowledgement of you.

“Hi!” You reciprocate the gesture, looking at the more broad woman on the other side of him.

“And Sevika. Don’t let that mean face scare you. Just wait until Isha comes down from the bouncy house.” Vi gave your hand a squeeze, a teasing grin on her face.

Sevika huffs at the pink haired girl's words but manages to press a semi-warm smile on her face in your direction. You nod with a more timid ‘hi’ leaving your lips. You didn’t want to say it out loud but she scared you a bit.

Okay, she scared you a lot.

“I think my dad’s inside but I’ll go let Isha know you’re here. Be right back.” Vi, after what felt like ages, released your hand to walk over to the bouncy house that was filled with a few more kids around Isha’s age.

The second her warm palm left your own, a wave of alarm washed over your features now being left alone with people that were closest to her. You turn to the group with the calmest expression you could muster to attempt to hide how nerve-wracking this was for you.

“You can relax, you know,” Jinx was the first to speak, tilting her head at your tense figure. “Here. I can take the cake. I’ll put it in the fridge.”

She stood up, reaching her pale hands out to you to take the cardboard box from you. You thank her quietly as you allow her to relieve you of that worry, leaving you alone with Ekko and Sevika.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be awkward,” you shake your head, taking the seat opposite to Sevika to leave Jinx’s spot still open.

“Vi told us how nervous you were so we were kind of expecting it,” Ekko admits which makes you wince a bit. “But, hey, we could do some ice breakers? Tell us something that’ll ease the tension.”

You nod at Ekko’s offer, pondering for a moment as you pick out a random fact from the depths of your brain’s memory log.

“Oh, I went to the hospital when I was 7 because I swallowed my Polly Pocket’s purse because my grandma said I had ‘wanted to know what it tasted like’.” You offer, glancing between the two strangers in front of you.

Sevika raised one of her palms to cover her mouth like she was trying to hide her amusement from your sentence. Ekko’s eyes widened as he snorted back a laugh, causing you to proudly smile at yourself on succeeding on breaking the ice just a bit.

“Jinx nearly burned my hair off when we were kids. She was obsessed with making homemade bombs,” Ekko shared with you, pointing to a mark in his eyebrows. “I still can’t grow hair in this spot on my eyebrow because of it.”

“I got this scar from her kicking me in the face when she wouldn’t go to the dentist when she was 9,” Sevika pointed at her half an inch scar on her top lip with a shake of her head.

“Okay so what I’m hearing is to stay clear of Jinx,” you joke.

This seemed to ease the tension between you and the two completely, them nodding to confirm. Slowly but surely, everyone started sharing stories of their childhood as did you. You learned alot about Vi and her little family through these two, feeling more connected to them already. As you shared what your jobs were like, you feel a smaller frame tackle you from the side. You look down to see a head of wild bronze waves cling onto your arm.

It was undoubtedly Isha. Vi stood behind her with a sweet smile, folding her arms over her chest before she pats Ekko on the back as she sits herself down on the other side of you. You send her a quick glance, her brows raising as if to check up on you and you nod to assure her.

“Hey birthday girl,” you look down at her, golden eyes staring into yours.

She makes a delighted sound, snuggling more into you. You rub a hand over her back for a moment before raising your hands to sign that she looked cute, motioning to her adorable birthday sash and bunny ears over her black and white striped tee.

Signing right back to you with an elated smile, she says; ‘you look beautiful.’

Your heart tightens at her kind words, signing a ‘thank you’ before tugging her into a gentle embrace. Her back was a bit damp from what you assume is the sweat from jumping around in the bouncy castle.

“She’s excited for her cake,” Vi hums as she stares down at her sister with a teasing grin.

Isha nods enthusiastically at her words to confirm said excitement, looking over to Ekko and Sevika and signing something that you didn’t pick up due to her turning away from you. They both nod, eyes following over to Vi’s figure next to you with raised brows. You turn to look at Vi in confusion at the silent communication but choose to mind your own business as Vi’s cheeks seem to match her hair now. You didn’t want to embarrass her further.

“Alright, who’s hungry? The pizza’s here!” A deep English accent comes from behind the group, a burly yet kind looking man comes from the back door which you came from carrying five pizza boxes.

Jinx trails behind him with two bags of ice stacked on her own arms.

“You hungry, cupcake?” Vi places a hand on your shoulder, jerking her head over to the man.

You suck in a deep breath at her words, feeling Isha’s fingers wrap around your own that were resting in your lap. You were unbelievably hungry but knowing that this was going to be your first impression of Vi's father made your stomach churn, attempting to suppress your hunger.

But you push through.

“Yeah, I could eat,” you nod to confirm, turning your head to the side to give her a composed smile.

Sevika and Ekko followed you and Vi’s lead as you both stood up from your seats again to walk across the slightly overgrown grass, nearly tripping as a few more children passed by your hips and legs to run towards the table full of cardboard boxes of pizza.

“Hey, hey, slow down. One at a time,” the man told the group of kids, pointing at them to grab the disposable plates.

“Dad,” Vi called, taking your right hand once again while Isha still clung to your other.

“And who is this, Violet?” He questions his daughter as he places a slice on a child's plate in the line they formed.

“Hi!” You speak up before Vi could as you introduce yourself.

The man nods at your introduction, a friendly smile on his face as he plates another child’s plate. His eyes flicker to his eldest daughter with a raise of his brows before focusing his attention on you.

“Vander. Vi’s told me alot about you,” he states as he points to the pink haired girl standing next to you. “You’re the sweet lady who made Isha’s birthday cake. Got to say, I saw it in the fridge and it’s absolutely perfect. Thank you for doing that for her.”

You felt overwhelmed by the compliments from the man, strangely having the urge to hug him but only tighten your grip on Vi and Isha’s hands.

“Oh, it really was so much fun to make too. I don’t get a lot of cake orders so I was excited to test myself, I guess,” you assure the man of your adoration with the job.

“You work up an appetite baking? We’ve got some fine cuisine here,” his voice was playful as he motions to the greasy boxes.

You nod to confirm which resulted in a strong Dad-like laugh to leave Vanders’ throat before he raised a hand to clap on your shoulder, tugging you towards the boxes now that all of the children had gotten their own pizza slices. You release the two sister’s hands before looking up at the man.

The entirety of the birthday party quickly became a party game frenzy after everyone hounded down their greasy food. There was cup stacking; Vi won that one, pin the tail on the donkey; Isha won that, limbo; you almost broke your back trying to do that, etc. You saw a more eccentric and playful side of Vi, cursing her for being such a bright person around her family.

It made her all the more attractive.

When you ended up being her partner for the wheelbarrow race, you felt like a freak for those good few seconds where you were holding her legs up by her ankles so she could use her hands to ‘run’ across the grass. You kept your eyes straight forward for as long as possible.

They lingered a bit downward because why the hell did her ass look good in black jeans? You nearly won but Isha and one of their little cousins who had come to the party won that round due to you being… well, distracted for a moment. She stuck the middle finger up and stuck her tongue out at Vi quickly before Vander could see, causing you and Vi to gasp before she celebrated with her cousin again with a cheeky grin.

Your real enemy ended up being the three legged race. You and Vi’s hips were touching, arms interlocked as a bandana was being tied around your thighs to keep you from separating. You suck in a deep breath as Sevika tightens the fabric, patting the area to tell you two it was good.

“Good luck,” Sevika tells the two of you, standing back up to move on to Ekko and Jinx who were next in the lineup.

Vi grins at the elder, looking over at you as she brushes her hair out of face.

“Who do you think is going to win, huh?”

“I know you want me to say us but I have high hopes for Ekko and Jinx. She’s very scrappy,” you admit with a soft laugh, your hand twiddling with a loose fabric on your cardigan.

Vi nods slowly in agreement at your words.

“And Ekko?” She hums.

“He matches that,” you lean in closer before pulling back as the wind blows your hair a bit.

This Vi chuckles at, not denying that accusation. Vander moves to the front very end of the fence of the backyard, cupping his large hands around his mouth to shout the countdown.

“On your marks,” he yells, “get set.”

He pauses dramatically before raising his left hand upwards to mimic a flag and slam it back down before yelling out: “Go!”

You and Vi immediately start to move yourselves forward, Jinx whining that you two were cheating already. Vi’s hard bicep tug into your own as she tried to keep you two from tripping.

Isha and one of her cousins were catching up to you quickly, their little legs beating you. Some force was on your side that day as you had stepped forward with your free leg and rolled your ankle a bit on what felt like a toy.

It happened too fast for you to comprehend but you fell to the ground. You turned to your back side without thinking and nearly twisted your ankle doing so.

Vi’s hand attempts to grab your forearm but in doing so, falls over with you. Her body covers your own, her weight laying on top of your own. You groan at the impact hitting your stomach and chest, looking down at your legs to see that the fabric of the bandana had ripped which was what caused Vi’s body to be on you and not next. Her body shifts to lift her upper body up to relieve that ache in your chest.

Vi lifts her head to stare down at you with a concerned expression, hands on either side of your head.

“Shit, are you okay?”

You tilt your head down to how Vi’s hips were pressed into yours and look back up to stare into her twisted expression.

“Yeah, I’m… good,” you lied through your teeth as the back of your head was now throbbing.

Vi’s eyes were searching your own for any sort of discomfort. Your chests were centimeters apart as you breathed heavily to try and catch your breath, eyes boring into one another's. Suddenly, your head and backache were forgotten about. You swore for just a moment Vi’s eyes flickered down to your lips before pushing up off of you, grunting as she stood to her feet.

She brushed off her jeans before leaning forward to wrap her hand around your forearm to help you up and off the grass. You allow her to tug you upwards to your feet, avoiding her glaze like the plague.

“Ekko and Jinx take the cake!” You hear Vander start to clap, wincing out loud. “You two alright? Kind of got caught up in the competition for a moment there.”

“Fine, Dad,” Vi replies as she watches you brush off your own legs, sucking in a deep breath. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“A little headache but I’ll survive, Vi.” You shake your head, brushing your hair out of your face with a lighthearted chuckle.

You two sadly couldn’t speak for longer as Vander announced it was time for cake. Vi’s hand lingered on your arm as she ushered the two of you to the set-up, watching as Jinx carefully came out with the lit birthday cake. Your eyes round with admiration at Isha scrambling to sit still in her chair as her big golden eyes widen as everyone starts to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.

Watching the scene unfold sent a bittersweet sense of comfort, remembering how you were once that small with a family like this. You hoped Isha could have this forever, security and love wrapped into one. If a tear left your eye, you’d disguise it as it being from the impact just a few moments ago.

The party died down slowly as adults and other family members came to pick up the other children that were at the function, getting pieces of the cake shoved into their palms that Vi had been praising since she took her first bite. Feeling like you had overstayed your welcome as the family was now gathered in the kitchen area to clean up, you quietly tell Vi that you should probably head home.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll walk you out,” Vi holds her finger up to Jinx, Ekko, Sevika, and Vander who were in the middle of a conversation.

“Aw, what? You have to go home already?” Jinx furrows her brows, huffing out a breath. “I didn’t even get to embarrass Vi in front of you yet.”

You chuckle at her words while Vi grumbles a sound of annoyance at her sister.

“I’m sure you’ll do it soon enough. And yeah, I got baking duties to tend to.”

“Well, I hope we get to see you more often and not just so you can bring us cake,” Jinx stepped forward to give you a quick hug.

You pat her back with a new sense of welcoming into Vi’s family, nodding in agreement with that statement. You say goodbye to everyone, making sure to sign Isha one more ‘Happy Birthday’ to which she signs back what you think is ‘Bye, pretty cake lady.’

As you walk down the halls to the front door, Vi questions: “What are you baking next?”

Catching you off guard, you ponder for a moment.

“Well, I’ve been dying to make some cinnamon rolls but kneading the dough can be tiring.” You huff as you watch Vi open the door for you, allowing you to step onto the gray concrete walkway that leads to the driveway. “Why?”

“Just… wondering.”

Then an idea sparks in your head as you lean against your car, turning to face Vi with a hesitant smile.

“Did you want to come over to mine to help me bake them?” You offer quickly before you could fumble and retract the statement.

Vi’s dark brows raise into her hairline at your invitation.

“You just want me to knead the dough, don’t you?” She teases.

You blow out a breath of air as you shrug your shoulders as if it wasn’t the first thing you thought of. “I mean, if you really want to. I wouldn’t mind it.”

Vi purses her lips as she nods, trying to repress her beaming smile. “Yes, I do want to.”

A sense of accomplishment washes over you at how you successfully made it through today without having any major screw-ups.

“I really had a good time today. I forgot how much fun birthday parties can be,” you grin sheepishly as you stand by your car, the sunset lighting up the side of your face beautifully.

Vi’s smile only grew at how stunning you looked.

“I told you that you would. You should come over more,” Vi shrugged her shoulders, tilting her head at you.

You hum with a playful smile as you bump your shoulder with hers. “So I can get multiple concussions? I don’t think so.”

“Well, I can promise I can try to prevent as many of those as possible.”

You chuckle out an ‘okay’ at her words, fiddling with your cardigan sleeve. There was a beat of silence between the two of you, the soft breeze sending shivers down your spine. Your bad habit of admiring her silently; nearly creepily hit you when you made eye contact with her, her brows raising at you challengingly.

“Right, yeah, so I’ll let you know when I have everything to make the cinnamon rolls,” you stated as your hand hovered your driver's side door handle, snapping out of your temporary trance.

Vi’s arms folded over the front of her chest, scuffing her shoes on the concrete of their driveway as she rocked her on her heels.

You find her eyes once again, taking in a confidence wielding breath as taking a step forward to wrap your arms around her neck. Vi was taken aback for half a second, breath hitching before she let her arms drop from their spot to hold you up your torso with one arm as the other raised to cradle the back of your head with her hand. You bury your head into her neck to cling onto the warmth for as long as you could.

“Thank you again for coming, cupcake. I’ll see you soon, alright?” Vi says gently into your temple, sliding her hand off of your head.

“Yeah,” you suck in a deep breath, “I’ll see you.”

Achingly doing so, you detach yourself from her embrace to finally get into your car. Vi stood in the driveway as you reversed and drive off, waving at you until you were down the road.

previous part -> next part

TAG-LIST: @strawberrykidneystone @lovinglynny @kylorey25 @loserbaby66 @eddiesdrummergf @jokermoonie @ranxiaolong @morphids @gayandcurious @oatmatchalatte @iamastar @saviourcomplexgf @vihxh7 @jinxjinxjinx12 @krilara @unear7hly @magical-rush

[sophiewritesworld]

ROLL FOR REDEMPTION - E.M. (series)

SUMMARY: in which Eddie cuts you of his life, under his girlfriend's influence, discarding mementos of your friendship. As you withdraw, becoming a shadow of yourself, Eddie feels trapped, clinging to a small reminder of you. PAIRING: Eddie Munson x Female best friend

previous part - next part

FOUR: The Gift That Speaks in Silence

You wake to the weight of the date pressing against your chest: October 31, 1986. Eddie's birthday. The first thought that hits you, before you even open your eyes, is his face - his grin, wide and unguarded, the way his eyes would light up when you'd show up at his trailer with a lopsided chocolate cake you'd baked yourself, the one he'd pretend to hate because you always put too much frosting on it. "You're trying to kill me with sugar, aren’t you?” he’d tease, smearing icing on your nose, his laughter filling the cramped space of his kitchen. That was last year, and the year before, and every year since you were twelve, when you first realized Eddie Munson was more than just the weird kid who shared his lunch with you when yours got stolen.

Now, your eyes open to the dim light of your bedroom, the curtains drawn tight to keep the world out. The calendar on your wall taunts you, the 31st circled in red marker from months ago, back when you thought this year would be like all the others—Eddie sprawled on your couch, you handing him a poorly wrapped gift, the two of you driving to the quarry to eat cake under the stars, Metallica blasting from his van’s speakers. But today, the circle feels like a wound, a reminder of everything you’ve lost.

You roll over, your gaze landing on the small black box on your nightstand. Inside is the gift you bought for him back in July, when you and Eddie took a rare trip to Indianapolis. You’d saved for months, babysitting and skipping your usual diner milkshakes, to afford it: a set of polyhedral dice, sleek and obsidian-black, each face etched with silver numbers that caught the light like stars. Eddie had spotted them in a game shop, his eyes wide with want as he ran his fingers over the display case. “These are sick,” he’d said, voice reverent. “Perfect for a campaign that’d make Vecna himself jealous.” But the price tag—$35, a fortune for two broke teenagers—made him laugh it off, tossing his hair and saying, “Maybe when I’m a rock star.”

You didn’t laugh. You saw the way his fingers lingered, the way his smile faltered when he turned away. So you saved, penny by penny, until you could go back and buy them. You’d imagined giving them to him today, watching his face light up, hearing him call you a “genius” or a “sneaky bastard” for pulling it off. Now, the box sits untouched, a relic of a friendship that no longer exists.

You don’t bake a cake today. You don’t call him, don’t drive to his trailer, don’t even let yourself think about showing up with a gift. Tara’s shadow looms too large, her voice in your head whispering that you’re too much, that your presence would only make things worse. Instead, you lie in bed, staring at the dice box, your fingers tracing its edges. The thought of Eddie spending his birthday with her, laughing with her, letting her claim this day that was always yours, makes your chest ache so fiercely you can barely breathe.

You skip school entirely. It’s a Friday, and you can’t face the hallways, the chance of seeing Eddie with Tara, her arm looped through his, her laughter drowning out the ghost of yours. You’ve been skipping more classes lately, your grades a slow-motion train wreck, but today feels different. Today, you can’t pretend to care about quadratic equations or Shakespeare when all you can think about is Eddie turning nineteen without you.

By noon, you’re pacing your room, the dice box in your hands. You can’t keep it—it’s too heavy, too full of what could have been. But you can’t throw it away either. You think of Dustin, his earnest face, his loyalty to both you and Eddie. He’s been texting you, leaving voicemails, begging you to come back to Hellfire, to talk to him. He’s the only one who might understand, who might get the gift to Eddie without making it a scene.

You find him after school, lingering by the bike racks, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He lights up when he sees you, but his smile fades when he notices the hollows under your eyes, the way your hoodie hangs off you like you’re trying to disappear inside it. “Hey,” he says, cautious. “You okay?”

You don’t answer, just hold out the box, wrapped in plain brown paper you taped together this morning. “Can you give this to Eddie?” you ask, your voice low, barely steady. “For his birthday. Don’t tell him it’s from me. Please.”

Dustin’s brow furrows, his eyes flicking from the box to your face. “What? Why not? He’d want to know—”

“No,” you cut him off, sharper than you mean to. “He can’t know. If Tara finds out…” You trail off, your throat tight. You don’t need to explain. Dustin’s seen enough to know Tara’s grip on Eddie, the way she watches him like a hawk whenever your name comes up.

“Okay,” Dustin says finally, taking the box. His fingers brush yours, and he hesitates, like he wants to say more. “You sure you don’t want to give it to him yourself? It’s his birthday, and you guys—”

“I’m sure,” you say, stepping back, your arms crossing over your chest. “Just… make sure he gets it. Say it’s from the Hellfire Club or something. I don’t care.” You turn away before he can argue, your sneakers crunching on the gravel as you head to your car, your heart pounding with the effort of holding yourself together.

Dustin does as you ask. That evening, at the Hideout, where Corroded Coffin is playing a special birthday set, he finds Eddie backstage, tuning his guitar while Tara chats with the bartender. The place is packed, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the buzz of anticipation. Dustin shoves his hands in his pockets, the wrapped box burning a hole in his backpack. “Hey, Eddie,” he says, trying to sound casual. “Got you something. From, uh, the Hellfire Club. For your birthday.”

Eddie looks up, surprised, his hair falling into his eyes. “You guys got me a present?” he asks, a grin tugging at his lips. “Didn’t know you cared so much, Henderson.”

Dustin shrugs, handing over the box. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” he says, his voice light but his eyes watchful. Eddie tears into the paper, his rings glinting under the dim lights, and when he opens the box, his breath catches. The dice gleam, black and silver, exactly the ones he’d coveted in Indianapolis. He runs his thumb over them, his expression softening, and for a moment, he’s not the guy who’s been dodging questions or letting Tara dictate his life. He’s just Eddie, your Eddie, the one who’d spend hours with you dreaming up campaigns and arguing over who’d win in a fight—Gandalf or Darth Vader.

“Where’d you get these?” he asks, his voice quiet, almost reverent. Dustin shifts, his sneakers scuffing the floor.

“Uh, just… found ‘em,” he lies, badly. “Thought you’d like them.”

Eddie’s not stupid. He remembers that day in Indianapolis, the way you’d lingered by the display case too, your eyes flicking to him as he raved about the dice. He remembers the way you’d smiled, secretive, like you were planning something. His chest tightens, and he knows—knows it’s you, knows you saved for months, knows you’re still out there, thinking of him even after he pushed you away. The realization hits like a tidal wave, guilt and longing crashing over him.

Tara appears then, her blonde hair catching the stage lights, her smile bright but possessive. “What’s that?” she asks, leaning over his shoulder to peer at the dice. Her tone is light, but there’s an edge to it, like she’s already suspicious of anything that doesn’t come from her.

“Just a gift,” Eddie says, closing the box quickly, his voice flat. “From the Hellfire guys.” He doesn’t look at Dustin, doesn’t let himself dwell on the truth. He slips the box into his jacket pocket, the weight of it heavy against his heart.

“Cool,” Tara says, but her eyes narrow slightly, like she senses something she can’t quite name. She loops her arm through his, pulling him toward the stage. “Come on, birthday boy. You’re up.”

Eddie plays the set, his fingers flying over the strings, his voice raw and powerful, but his heart’s not in it. The crowd cheers, Tara claps from the front row, but all he can think about is the dice in his pocket, the ones you chose for him. He wonders where you are tonight, if you’re alone, if you’re thinking of him. He wonders why he didn’t fight harder to keep you in his life.

You, meanwhile, are back in your room, the curtains drawn, the radio off. You didn’t bake a cake, didn’t light a candle, didn’t do any of the things that made Eddie’s birthdays yours too. Instead, you sit on your bed, staring at the space where the dice box used to be, your hands empty, your heart emptier. You imagine Dustin giving Eddie the gift, imagine Eddie’s smile when he sees the dice, but you tell yourself he won’t know it’s from you. It’s better that way, safer. If Tara knew, she’d make him throw them out, just like she made him get rid of your hoodie, your Polaroid, your notes. You can’t bear the thought of those dice—your last piece of him—ending up in a trash bag.

You don’t know that Eddie recognized them, that he’s carrying them now, a secret he keeps from Tara, from the band, from himself. You don’t know that when he’s alone later, after the gig, he’ll take them out and roll them in his hands, each clink of the dice a reminder of you. He won’t call you, won’t show up at your door, won’t tell you he knows. He’ll stay silent, because saying it out loud would mean admitting how much he’s lost, how much he misses you, how much he hates himself for letting Tara draw that line.

You curl up under your blankets, your eyes dry but burning. The house is quiet, your mom asleep, the world outside celebrating Halloween and Eddie’s birthday without you. You close your eyes, and for the first time in years, you don’t dream of him. You dream of nothing at all, just a vast, empty darkness that feels like it’s swallowing you whole.

And somewhere, across town, Eddie sits in his van after dropping Tara off, the dice box in his lap, his fingers tracing the edges. He doesn’t open it again. He doesn’t need to. The weight of it, the weight of you, is enough to keep him awake long into the night.

TAGLIST :

@whisperingwillowxox @robinsbuckleys @iyskgd @hellhoundvv @hereforshmut @poshpinklace @nubedeoctubreval @kissmyacdc @milkymil-k @obsessed-midwest-princess @the-writer-from-the-void @dopekittydelusion @yeoldebytche @navs-bhat @fckyeahlames @problemastriviais @littlemissholy @bking4000 @kellsck @hellfirehopeless @sophiejayne-illustrations713 @harrysgothicbitch @bl0ssomanddie @married-to-the-music01 @darth-aragorn @sleepygirl0203 @kelsiegrin @witchy-boba @jessyballet @micheledawn1975

[mrs-reid-hotchner]

The surprise.

In-ho x pregnant! Wife! Reader

Summery: While in-ho is away at the games reader finds out she’s expecting, her head is spinning while try to figure out how to tell in-ho a man who’s lost so much so we decided to make telling him the news big

Word count: 918

Tw: mention of death and child death, age gap (readers is 28 in-ho is 49), I don’t think he act at all cannon but I could be wrong, this is my first fanfic so it most likely cringe (p.s: feel free to tell me what I can do better but please be nice)

In-ho has been away for 5 days, You know his works make him leave for around a week this time of year and abruptly for a few day every now and then but you don’t mind much you’ve got used to it you’ve been together for 2 years married for 1. do you miss him yes but he always finds ways to make it up to you for being gone. Date nights, shopping trips, even cooking your favorite food and watching your favorite show or movie while cuddling, And he’s ok that when he’s gone you have your friends over for a slumber party as long as the house isn’t a mess when he gets home, even though if it was he wouldn’t care it would show you had fun and that all he wants.

This time was going the same as normal you kissed him goodbye got set up to have some friends over and put a movie on. Then your friend was scrolling though social media when they saw this trend called pregnancy rulait where you all take a test and put it in a bowl or a hat and mix them then pick one out of it. Sense you have all been in long term relationships you and your friends went to the store and bought some boxes, you were sure the cashier gave you guys a wierd look but who cares. You all took the and put them in your old baseball cap and shook it then waited a few minutes.

After you all waited you guys, one by one pulled a test out of the hat the one negative then another the three more the there was….a positive followed by two more negative we all looked at eachother and then all took another and held onto them. When the three minutes were over you all checked and you’d was the positive brain was spiraling, in-ho just left and how would he even react you guys have talked about kids and you both want them but did you guys want them now? How would you tell him? Is he gonna take it well? You know what happened with his wife and he’s already makes sure your safe but makes sure he doesn’t get to protect he lets you go out along as he knows we’re and you keep him updated but you being pregnant might be a different story of course you can’t go out with your friends like you used to but for all you know he’ll put you in a bubble rap ball for 9 months, all you know is you’ll figure it out but you want to surprise him with it.

The past few day you’ve thought of everything balloons, just giving it to him and telling him that way, bakeing a cake all of it. You sit there looking at the date when you realize he comes home tomorrow and you still haven’t decided how your gonna tell him. You thought of a idea didn’t like it thought of a new one didn’t like that one it was the the same thing over and over, you wanted it to be perfect then you thought of it, so you got to work going to store making sure you know what dinner gonna be that night (his favorite) and slow calming music

The night he came home you were cooking dinner and had the table set very romantic when you heard the door opened you smiled “hello my love!” You said so he knew you were in the kitchen. When he got in the kitchen he was surprised to see you dressed up but he smelt what you were cooking and smiled “my love you know I like to treat you when I come home” he hold you by your waist as you cook. Your smile up at him and say “I know but I wanted to cook for you, you should go get washed up” he smiles kissing you on the cheek as he goes to shower. By the time he gets back you put dinner on plates and poured him a glass of whiskey and you some water. He sit down across from you making small talk while you both eat, when you finish eating you wait for him to also finish eating, when he does you smile at him “I have a gift for you” you say grabbing a box you hide under your chair “a gift? But i didn’t get you anything” you chuckle “you alway get me something it’s my turn now open” you hand him the box and he opens it revealing a tiny onesie with the words ‘daddy’s mini me’ on it and under the onesie is your positive pregnancy test. He takes the onesie out and reads it then looked at you confused till you point to the box again and he sees the test and a million thoughts run through his head he waits a bit before he starts speaking “when did you find out?” You answer him and he nods he looks at you and smiles “we’re gonna be parents together…us” you smile at him and you go over and hug him “your gonna be an amazing father” you say as you look up at him, he looks down at you and smiles “and your gonna be an amazing mother” as he say that you both share a quick kiss and go cuddle on the couch leave the dishes till tomorrow.

[hoonieyun]

the apple ₊ ⊹

pairing: park sunghoon x reader genre: angst, romance, sorrow, lovers to exes warnings: religious themes, kissing, profanity, skin ship, cheating but its just a misunderstanding, mentions of death and suicide, yn and her mom get slutshamed by the church, talks of an arranged marriage, yn and sunghoon both have daddy issues, a lot of internalized trauma and mental issues, major character death, 18+, not proofread lol pls lmk if i need to add anything

synopsis: if life was anything like an apple, it'd be sweet, crisp, and bloomed on your tongue. being with sunghoon started off like that but after one incident, you find yourself teetering at the edge, a rotten apple staring back at you with a singular chunk bitten out of it.

wc: 10595

you’re sitting in a grassy field, leaning against a large tree, fingers grazing past the ink on the worn out pages of your bible. your eyes are attentive as they take in every word on the page, absorbing god’s graces and holding it close to yourself. 

you were always taught to follow in our lord’s footsteps, that his guidance alone will lead you on the right path, and that you’ll find salvation. 

but no matter how long you spent in the church, how long you spent reading the bible, and how long you spent on your knees praying at night– none of it ever stuck to you. 

“yn!” your mother calls your name from the trunk, you hadn’t even realized the car stopped, indicating that you had arrived to where your mother has been driving the two of you for the last 13 hours. “honey, come help me, please. stop daydreaming.” she says with a grunt as she pulls out one of several suitcases from the trunk. 

you blinked several times as a way to ground yourself, taking in your unfamiliar surroundings, the new neighborhood that had white picket fences, cars that were squeaky clean, and well kept lawns. it was something out of the movies; a picturesque neighborhood– the only thing was that usually in those movies when they show these perfect neighborhoods, there was almost always something wrong with the people that lived there. you pushed open the car door with a sigh as you walked to the trunk of your mom’s car to help unload your belongings into your new home. 

the decision that came with moving to a whole new state was all your mother’s. she didn’t really consult you about her decision, just told you that you guys would be moving in one month and to start saying your goodbyes to everyone. 

not that you knew that many people that would care about you were moving away. 

except for your old neighbor, mrs. carol. she was the old lady that lived next door, 3 cats; all of them well fed and you can tell because they wobble when they walk, she had pretty bad eyesight so you often helped her with chores and things during the weekends. she’d always thank you with a freshly baked apple pie, a squeeze on your cheek, and then send you off– but not before she asks if you’ll be going to church that following sunday. 

you nodded in response and left, but the both of you knew that you were lying. 

the last time you saw mrs. carol was the wednesday before you moved. she had noticed your mom was giving away a lot of the things in your apartment and she thought it was just a simple spring cleaning but when she saw you with moving boxes she instantly knew you were moving away. 

“you’re moving away, darling?” she asked, hunched over as she peeks through her front door; her three cats lingering around her ankles. you give her a half smile and nodded, mrs. carol doesn’t do anything but nod back. you thought you wouldn’t see her again but as you and your mom were putting the last of your things into her car, mrs. carol appeared at the top of the stairs at the front of the old and slightly rundown apartment building. 

“yn, sweetie. come here.” she said softly. you quickly excused yourself from your mom and walked over to mrs. carol, telling her goodbye and thanking her for her company whenever you were lonely. “oh, dear. i should be thanking you, you’re such a blessing.” she says, pulling you into a hug. she was like your grandmother in many ways but also not like her at all because it was just you and your mom. 

you didn’t have any other family besides each other so mrs. carol felt like family to you. she subtly places something in your hands before curling your fingers over it, “keep this with you at all times and you’ll never be alone. okay, dear?” she says and you nod, tightening your grip on the item surrounded by your fingers. you couldn’t quite tell what it was but you could feel the metal in your hands. 

she gives you one last hug and sends you off. your mom was standing by the car waiting for you, a small smile on your face as you walked down the steps, “thank you for taking care of my daughter, mrs. carol. i promise to write to you for the holidays.” your mom says as you get into the passenger seat, shutting the door behind you. 

you wave at mrs. carol through the window as the car begins to drive away, a bittersweet smile on her face as she watches your mom’s car get smaller and smaller in the distance. mrs. carol also didn’t have a lot of family. she was an orphan who was brought to the US and when her adoptive parents passed away, she didn’t have anyone else. the extended family of her adoptive parents didn’t claim her, she never married and had no kids, and she was also an only child. 

mrs. carol saw herself in you and oh how she prayed you wouldn’t end up like her. she prayed for you to have a happy and fulfilling life and as sad as it was to see you leave, she continued to pray and hope that this new place would bring you joy unlike how your life was in the town you had grown up in. 

you’re carrying the last box from your mom’s car when you see a boy on a motorcycle pull into the driveway next to yours. the roaring of the motorcycle catches your attention and you find your footsteps slowing down as you watch him park his bike and remove the helmet off of his face. his hair is windswept as the helmet reveals his face, a sharp nose paired with an even sharper jawline. his brows are thick and eyes filled with allure. 

so much so, you find yourself accidentally tripping on a pebble, groaning and the sounds of pots and pans clanking together as you drop the box in your arms. your clumsiness catches your handsome neighbor’s attention and he’s running after you to help you up off the ground. “hey, you alright?” he asks, gently grabbing your arms to pull you up. you wince slightly as you get back on your feet, watching as his hands leave your skin and move to pick up the box you dropped. 

“uhm– yeah. thanks, sorry about that.” you huffed, dusting off the dirt from your jeans. 

“you guys just moving in?” he asks and you nod, telling him that you literally just got there and it’s not starting off as good as you would’ve liked. “oh– i can take that, thanks.” you muttered as you attempted to grab the box from his hands but he refused, walking over to your front door so you have no choice but to follow him so you could open the door for him. 

he follows you around your new house and the two of you wander around a bit too long before one of you says anything else, “hey, i don’t wanna complain but this is kind of heavy.” he says and you start to panic because you couldn’t remember where the kitchen was in your new house. the two of you had walked through the foyer, living room, and dining room but you just couldn’t find the kitchen. 

“shit, sorry! you can just set it down right there.” you say and he squats to put the box down. “sorry, i’m not entirely sure where the kitchen is.” 

“honey! did you grab the last box, i think it’s the pots and pans– oh! who is this, hon?” your mom says, emerging from the back of the house. she walks up to the two of you and you aren’t completely sure how to answer her as you didn’t even know him. 

“oh– hi, i’m sunghoon. i live next door, um i saw her fall and trip so i thought i’d come and help bring the box in. sorry if i’m intruding.” you finally learn of sunghoon’s name as he introduces himself to you and your mom. she thanks him for his help and spots the box of pots and pans she was looking for. she attempts to pick it up but because it’s so heavy she decides to just push it through the house with her foot. 

she returns to wherever she was, somewhere in the back of the house where you assume where the kitchen is. 

“thanks by the way, i’m yn and that was my mom.” you inform sunghoon as the two of you walk back to your front yard. “don’t mention it.” he mumbles and you’re both walking in an awkward silence for a moment until a deep voice calls from a few feet away. 

“sunghoon! dinner is almost ready, your mother is waiting.” the man calls as he stands, hands on hips waiting by the front door of what you assume is sunghoon’s house. “i’ll see you around, yn. let me know if you need someone to show you around town.” sunghoon says with a small smile, before walking back to his house. he sends you one last glance as he walks inside and his dad lingers just a bit longer, menacingly watching you retreat into your home. 

great, not even 24 hours in your new town and you’ve embarrassed yourself in front of your handsome neighbor and now his dad seems to be suspicious of you. 

“did your friend leave already?” your mom asks as you enter the kitchen, leaning on the counter and taking a look at your surroundings. the kitchen was practically the size of your old apartment, you were absolutely baffled at the stark difference of your old life in the city to this new one in some small town you didn’t even bother looking up before you moved. 

“he’s not my friend, just some guy who saw me trip and eat shit on the pavement.” you muttered, fidgeting with the knifecase your mom had unpacked onto the kitchen counter. your stomach suddenly grumbles and your mom sends you an amused look, “hungry?” she asks with a chuckle as you pull your hoodie tightly around your body. 

“a bit, are you cooking anything?” 

“not tonight honey, i don’t think we’ll have everything unpacked for me to cook and i still need to find the market in town. why don’t you take my car to that pizza place we saw just a few blocks away? grab a box of pizza and maybe some wings if they have it?” 

you nod at her instructions and do some finger guns, catching her keys as she unhooks them from her jeans and tosses them over to you. “drive safe! just let me know how much it costs when you get home.” 

the air has gotten much colder since you were last outside just a few minutes ago. weird, you thought. it was spring, damn near summer, but this little town seemed to send chills like it was winter down your back. you throw on the hood of your jacket and jog to your mom’s car, sliding into the driver’s seat and buckling up before starting the engine when a knock on the passenger door window startles you, “shit!” you exclaimed as a hand flew to your chest in shock. 

you look over to see sunghoon hunched over with a smile on his face as he waves at you from outside. “can i help you? you fucking scared me.” 

sunghoon laughs at your remark before answering, what a nice laugh you thought to yourself, “heading somewhere? want company?” he asks and you narrow your eyes at him. was it a good idea to let a complete stranger into your car and drive around a town you hadn’t even been in yet for more than an hour or so, maybe not– but since you knew where he lived and he didn’t give you any reason to doubt him, you unlock the car and sunghoon smirks when he hears the car unlock, pulling the door open and plopping down in the seat next to yours. 

“where to?” 

“pizza, i’m starving.” 

“perfect, i’ll show you where to go.” sunghoon says, smiling even wider when he hears the word pizza. 

“holy shit, this pizza is really good.” you say after swallowing a bite. you notice sunghoon stiffening up after what you said, contemplating on whether you should ask him about it because you were worried of offending him. “did i say something wrong?” 

sunghoon wipes his mouth with a napkin before responding, “no, you didn’t. i just have never heard anyone say holy shit before.” he responds, whispering profanities like he was a small child speaking in secret, afraid he’d get caught by his parents. 

you tilted your head to the side at his words and soon realized that he must come from a religious family, one so religious that those types of profanities weren't something he had ever heard uttered– and considering that he looked like he was in his 20s, that was a really long time. you muttered a small apology and he shakes his head, telling you that it’s fine and he doesn’t really mind. sunghoon explains that he comes from a church family, his dad was the deacon and his grandfather had founded the local church in town. 

sunghoon found himself telling you more about himself than he had anyone else in his life, maybe it was because you were a complete stranger or maybe it was the fact that sunghoon felt instantly connected to you, he’s not entirely sure. 

“wait, so you sound like you come from a picture perfect family but why am i getting the feeling that’s not entirely the case?” you asked. 

sunghoon laughs and nods at your question, “there’s honestly nothing wrong– well, aside from the fact that my father wants to control everything in my life including who i marry; nothing really wrong.” he jokes and now it was your turn to laugh. 

“and the motorcycle?” 

“ah, that was just to piss off my dad because he was pissing me off.” the two of you laughed as sunghoon recalled the story. his dad originally gave him his credit card to buy his first car and usually his dad would’ve been there but he was preoccupied with the church so he trusted sunghoon to go alone. 

bad idea. 

sunghoon was already mad at his dad about an argument before that but because his dad kept nagging him about the type of car to buy, what color, what model, making sure that the license plate didn’t have any sort of resemblance to anything blasphemous– sunghoon decided he’d buy a motorcycle instead. 

and because the bike shop doesn’t do returns– he got to keep it. 

that was just a lie he and the shop owner came up with to ensure that sunghoon got to keep it. 

“i should probably get going, i need to bring this box to my mom for dinner.” you say, wiping your hands with the napkin before scooting out of the booth, box of pizza in hand. “here, i’ll carry it.” sunghoon offers and you let him because a part of you feels like he wasn’t going to take no as an answer since the two of you got into a fight on who would be paying for the pizza. 

you eventually agreed that he’d buy you a slice but you’d be the one to pay for the box of pizza you were taking home to your mom. sunghoon agreed reluctantly and all you could do was smile at his friendly eagerness. 

“thanks for the pizza, sunghoon; and for welcoming me into town.” you muttered as the two of you got out of your car. the sun had dipped past the horizon and the moon was now high in the sky when you returned home. you checked your watch to see that it was only half past 8, but it felt so much later. 

“no problem, welcome to edenville yn. enjoy your night and the best pizza in town.” he smiles before walking off and slipping through his front door. you smiled at sunghoon as you watched him enter his home but your eyes traveled to the window in the far side of the home, slightly startled when you see a figure watching you from behind the curtains. 

you recognized him as sunghoon’s dad and as his gaze bore into yours, you duck your head low and rush back into your home, fidgeting with the keys so you could unlock your door and get inside– away from his dad’s piercing gaze. “creepy..” you muttered and your mom suddenly rounded the corner in her pajamas.

“what’s creepy– ooh, pizza. finally.” she says, eyes beaming at the box of pizza as she grabs it from you, taking it into the living room where she’s already got the tv setup with a random show playing it on it. you follow behind her and take a seat on the floor next to the couch, leaning your body and resting your elbow on the cushion. 

“ooh– what’s this?” she asks, pulling out a piece of paper when she flips open the pizza box. “i think someone at the pizza shop likes you, that why you took so long?” she asks, handing you the slip of paper that had a phone number on it with a note that reads, “thanks for hanging out with me, i’ll show you some more spots. text me?” 

you smiled at the note and knew who it was from. 

“well?” 

“uh– no, it’s from sunghoon. the boy next door, he ended up coming to get pizza with me, told me about the town and stuff.” your mom smiles at you teasingly and you’re instantly rolling your eyes at her, telling her that it’s nothing and he was just being nice. 

“yeah.. sure, hon.” she says before taking a bite of pizza, not believing a word you say– and perhaps you don’t believe yourself either. sunghoon was sweet and kind, made you feel welcome and something about him being a complete stranger drew you to him even more. 

him living next door didn’t help your natural curiousity to want to get to know him more. 

and you just might. 

settling into your new home was pretty easy, a few neighbors would stop by at random times to introduce themselves and it was nice– however it just made you think of mrs. carol, hoping that she was doing fine and hasn’t forgotten your reminder of making sure to turn off the stove whenever she was done heating her kettle. 

you learned that the family to the left of your house was the kim family, they had a son named sunoo around your age and assumed similar to sunghoon’s as well. the house across the street from yours was the sim family who you learned had a cute dog named layla and a son named jake, who you later learned is sunghoon’s best friend. 

it was nice that people took the time out of their day to introduce themselves and welcome you and your mom into town but they all had a shocked expression when they’d see the two of you and you knew it was because you and your mother looked close in age. she had you during high school and because her pregnancy came as a surprise, your biological dad told his parents and they put him into boarding school in a whole other country– leaving your mom alone to raise you on her own at just 16 years old. 

you didn’t care what people thought of you and your mom, but you could tell it bothered her so you tried your best to protect her when you could. it also didn’t help that it seems everyone would ask where your father was when they meet you and you’d just have to awkwardly smile before telling them he wasn’t in your life. 

sunghoon’s mom had stopped by very shortly to introduce herself, sunghoon awkwardly standing behind her as he waved at you, cheeks slightly puffed out making him look like his face was made of bread. you couldn’t help but laugh at him. 

“this is my son, sunghoon, he’s told me you’ve already met?” she says, pulling herself forward as he greets you and your mom. you explain to sunghoon’s mother that he helped you move a heavy box into your house and then you two got pizza afterwards. 

she smiled at your words but it wasn’t one of amusement, the smile was more one of irritation that she tried to mask with joy. “didn’t know you liked that place, sunghoon. we’ll talk about that over dinner with your father. speaking of my husband, sorry he couldn’t be here to introduce himself; he’s very busy with the church but i’ll extend his welcome to you both… 

uhm, welcome to edeville.” she says, another fake smile on her face as she walks down the stairs to go back home, turning around and tugging sunghoon’s sleeve when she realizes he doesn’t instantly follow her. 

you and your mom go back inside the house but you watch the two of them walk away from your window, you can faintly see sunghoon’s mom scolding him as they got closer to their house, sunghoon’s head hanging low as his mother scolds him, her pointer finger directed at him with so much aggravation you could almost feel it. 

“what a strange lady.” your mom mumbles, shaking her head before walking to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. you silently agreed and followed her, telling her about how you saw sunghoon’s dad a few times when you first moved in, leaving out the part of when you saw him staring at you menacingly from the window. 

you tell your mom you were going to freshen up before dinner but she stops you before you could leave, “oh, by the way. we’re going to church tomorrow so don’t be up so late.” and you weren’t really sure why you were going to church. it wasn’t until high school when you stopped attending a religious school that had a church open 24/7. that was where you learned of things in the bible like salvation, adam and eve, when god said let there be light, and the garden of eden. 

it’s been maybe 6 years since you’ve last stepped into a church and because you weren’t sure why your mom suddenly wanted the two of you to start attending again, you chose not to question and decided to just see it through. 

observe your mother at church and see why for yourself. 

church the following day was filled with awkward glances and short greetings as your mom introduced the two of you to random churchgoers. you smiled and nodded, keeping it cordial as you didn’t want to cause any problems while at church even if you could tell they were all judging you. 

you spotted sunghoon sitting at the very front of the seat and you could see his mother to his right; you were wondering where his dad was but when he emerged from behind a statue of jesus, bible in hand, you remembered that he was the deacon. 

sunghoon briefly stretches his neck and sees you from the corner of his eye, eyes widening as he waves over to you. a smile on his face that revealed his sharp canines. you waved back at him but his attention is quickly averted to the front of the room when his mom nudges him to straighten up and focus. 

this was going to be one long sunday service. 

you and your mom are walking back to your car when you hear a faint whistling sound, so you look around to see where it’s coming from and you see sunghoon hiding behind a brick wall, waving you down when you finally spot him.

“oh, mom. i think i forgot something inside, i’ll be right back.” you tell her, running off before she could even respond. you round the corner and find sunghoon pacing back and forth, thumb in his mouth as he anxiously bites on the nail. 

“mysterious… is there a reason we’re hiding behind this random brick wall right now?” 

sunghoon looks up when he hears you speak, a smile on his face when he sees you; “hey..” he breathes out. “sorry, need to hide from my parents.” he explains and you nod in response, puckering your lips at the awkward silence. 

“why haven’t you texted me?” he suddenly asks and you giggle at his cute expression. looking up at you through the strands of hair blocking his eyes, a small pout on his lips. “sorry, i guess i’ve just been taking it all in.. why? did you miss me already?” you tease and from the way you could see the blush creep on his cheeks and the way sunghoon shyly turns away from you, you had guessed right. 

“my mom is probably looking for me but i’ll text you tonight, ok?” 

“wait– meet me at this place at 9? ok?” 

he grabs your hand suddenly and pulls a pen out from the pocket on the front of his dress shirt. he quickly scribbles an address on your palm and blows on it briefly to dry it so the ink doesn’t smear. “please come.” he says and you smile, nodding your head before walking back to your mom’s car. 

smiling to yourself as you look at the writing on your palm but before you could get to your mom’s car, a figure stops you in your tracks. you look up to see who was standing in front of you and crane your neck upwards to see sunghoon’s father. 

“yn! how nice of you and your mother to join us for sunday service. welcome to edenville.” he says, a somewhat sinister smile on his face. you returned with a smile of your own, yours much smaller than his. “i know you and your mother are new to town so here’s some advice.” he says before leaning down and getting closer to your ear. 

“i know the kind of girl you are, stay away from my son.” he whispers and it sends a shock to your system, his breath tickling your skin in the most uncomfortable way possible. when sunghoon’s father pulls away, he’s got the same wicked smile like he was trying to put on a face for those around who may be watching the two of you as anyone outside of this conversation would just be seeing the kind deacon of the church welcoming the new girl into town. 

you swallowed the lump in your throat before walking off and staring at the address on your palm again, only now it feels less exciting and more unnerving. 

you had been contemplating on whether or not you’d go out and meet sunghoon at this address. you decided to write it down in your phone just in case the writing on your hand would smear and become unreadable. you had looked up the address and found out it was a waterfall just a few minutes on the outskirts of town. 

it was around 8:30PM and you still hadn’t decided if you were going to show up or not. you stared at the ink on your hand and then back at sunghoon’s contact in your phone. you weighed the options and the warning from sunghoon’s father weighed heavily on your mind, on the other hand; a part of you naturally gravitated towards sunghoon and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to see him. 

that’s how you found yourself telling your mom that you were going out for a quick drive and that you’d be back soon. sliding into the driver’s seat and inputting the address into your phone so you could follow the GPS. it was only 15 minutes away so you’d definitely get there by 9PM, you just hoped that you could find sunghoon quite easily. 

before you drove off, you took note that there was only one car in sunghoon’s driveway, his motorcycle nowhere to be seen so you assumed that he was already there. you made the drive to eden falls silently, wondering about what the night will bring and how you were really hoping sunghoon’s father wouldn’t catch wind of your secret rendezvous with his son. 

the drive doesn’t take long before you’re pulling onto a dirt path, your headlights shining over a boy leaning on his motorcycle, he uses his hands to block the lights and you quickly shut it off before stepping out of the car. 

“you came.” sunghoon says enthusiastically and you can’t help but smile at him. you jogged over to sunghoon and are surprised to see him extend his hand out for yours, so you accept it. he gently wraps his hand around yours and guides you to a small bench just a few feet from the falls. you could see the large waterfall to your left and assumed that below would be a large pool of water where the waterfall led to. the loud rushing of the waterfall fills your ears but not enough to drown out sunghoon. 

“i almost thought you weren’t going to show up..” 

you shyly look away for a second before turning back to him, “i almost didn’t…” you confess and sunghoon looks at you, urging you to elaborate. you weren’t sure if you should tell sunghoon about what happened with his dad but because he didn’t give you any reason not to trust him and given his relationship with his dad that he’s told you, you decide to tell him what happened. 

sunghoon was shocked to find out the news and he’s shaking his head in disappoint when he listens to what you have to say. he’s profusely apologizing and explaining to you that his father had previously mentioned not approving of the new neighbors because your family was incomplete– meaning he didn’t like you and your mother because you didn’t have a dad present. 

you scoffed at his words but couldn’t be too mad when sunghoon rubs the back of your hand with his thumb. “im sorry… but if it makes you feel better i definitely don’t feel the same way as my dad. as a matter of fact, i think you’re probably the best person i’ve ever met.” sunghoon doesn’t know why he’s telling you this, his naturally shy demeanor melting away whenever he’s with you. 

“sorry– i don’t know why i said that, please forget what i just said.” 

you laugh at him, squeezing his hand slightly, “don’t apologize– it’s cute. plus, you’re also probably the best person i’ve met in this town, by a large margin might i add.” 

you and sunghoon spend the next hour or so learning about each other. you learn that he was a figure skater as a child but had to stop when he turned 18 because his father told him it was time for him to man up and follow in his footsteps, it irritated you that everything you’ve learned about sunghoon’s dad was something terrible and it hurt you to know that sunghoon had to deal with such an overbearing father. 

outside from the daddy issue’s that you and sunghoon bonded over, you also learned that he really like tiramisu, he had a small dog when he was little named gaeul, and he also had a small interest in fashion but it never went anywhere because he knew his dad would just shoot it down. you frowned at his words but sunghoon seemed to be optimistic regardless. he came off as shy at first but he warmed up to you fairly quickly, whenever he laughed it was hearty, he loved to crack corny jokes, and he had a habit of zoning out randomly. 

“we should get going, it’s pretty chilly.” 

sunghoon agrees and the two of you walk hand in hand back to your vehicles but not before he quickly shrugs off his coat and wraps it around you. once again you try to refuse but sunghoon insists on you wearing it because you mentioned being cold. you smiled at him with a small thank you and he smiles at you, eyes crinkling as he watches his large coat cover up most of your body. 

“thank you for tonight, sunghoon. i had a lot of fun.” 

“me too. i’m glad you showed up.” 

“i’m glad i did too..” 

you and sunghoon part ways as you walk over to your car that is parked just a few feet away. as you’re turning the key in the engine and starting the car, you’re startled when you hear a knock on your window, jumping at the sound. 

sunghoon laughs to himself when he sees your reaction, apologizing when you lower the window down, “you really gotta stop doing that..” you chuckle and he apologizes again. “don’t show anyone this spot, ok? it’ll be our own little oasis.” sunghoon says while he sits on his bike, helmet hanging from his arm before he slides it over his head. 

your own spot with sunghoon. you liked the sound of that. 

two months into living at edenville and everything seems to be normal. the judgemental glances have died down for the most part, you only noticed it most when you went to church with your mom since church was only one day out of the week for only an hour, you choose to just ignore them. plus, seeing sunghoon in his sunday’s best was a great way to balance out the awkwardness at church. 

“man, my dad was on one today.” sunghoon huffs as he takes a seat on the bench. the two of you would text each other every day and fall asleep on the phone every night, sunghoon was becoming a regular part of your routine and you would become the highlight of his day. you weren’t necessarily one for relationships, the only boyfriend you’ve ever had was the boy who gave you candy during valentine’s day when you were in the 4th grade but aside from that, you weren’t ever interested in dating. 

being with sunghoon felt so innocent and calm yet he revitalized you and made your days brighter. whenever the two of you needed to relieve some stress or just wanted some time alone together, you and sunghoon would send each other a water emoji, indicating to meet at your spot at eden falls in the next 10 minutes– and every sunday after church, you’d meet there too. 

“his service was extra long today, thankfully i had some coffee beforehand or else i probably would’ve snoozed through all of it.” you muttered, kicking around a pebble on the ground with your shoe. sunghoon hums in agreement, you could tell there was something on his mind and you wanted to tell him that he could tell you anything, that you'd listen and be there for him no matter what. 

“cmere.” he says, offering his hand out to you and you take it eagerly. sunghoon’s hand basically covers yours as he takes your hand in his and it surprises you when he pulls you into his lap instead of the empty spot on the bench next to him. you fall into his lap with a small hum and he laughs in admiration. scanning your face, sunghoon’s eyes trailing from your lips to your eyes that were already planted on his. 

“you look so pretty..” he whispers, slowly brushing some of your hair behind your ear so he could get a better view of your face. he smiles at you when you get shy but he holds you firm but gently to stop you from hiding away from him. “your lips look really soft.” sunghoon says, causing you to bite down on them momentarily and you can feel and hear sunghoon take in a sharp breath. 

“ca– can i kiss you?” 

your lip falls from in between your teeth and sunghoon’s eyes are glued to them, almost like he was studying their shape, every line and engraving on your lips– his eyes flutter upwards to yours and you blink several times at him before nodding.sunghoon’s hands travel from your waist to the back of your neck and he pulls you closer, connecting your lips with his. 

soft. 

sunghoon was right, your lips were soft. incredibly soft. 

as humiliating as it may sound, this was your first kiss– but as your lips matched sunghoon’s rhythm and as your mouths melt, and blend, and fit into each other's, all you could think about was the fact that you’re pleased to have sunghoon as your very first kiss. 

when you pull away from sunghoon and your eyes flutter open, you find that sunghoon has a dazed expression on his face– like he was in some dreamland while he relished the feeling of your lips on his. a string of saliva keeps the two of you connected for a brief moment before it eventually breaks as sunghoon sighs at the absence of your lips. 

“i was wrong..” he says and you furrow your brows at him. 

“your lips aren’t just soft, they’re really soft.” you laugh at his remark, playfully slapping him on the chest as the two of you laugh. he holds you close to him for just a moment longer before you both decide to go home for the day. since it was still sunday, sunghoon’s dad would be expecting him for dinner. his family had dinner every night but on sunday’s it was mandatory for him to be there per his father’s orders. 

as you’re walking away, sunghoon quickly grabs your wrist and pulls you back towards him, your hand lands on his chest again and he kisses you some more. lips dancing together with more passion than before– “hoon, come on. your dad’s probably gonna be upset.” you say after pulling away. 

“fuck that guy.” he huffs and you laugh in amusement at his use of profanity. sunghoon wasn’t one to use them often but you found it funny that when he did use them, it was to damn his father, the deacon of the church. 

you shoot him a wink before getting into your mom’s car and driving off, sunghoon riding on his motorcycle in front of you. his broad shoulders covered by his black leather jacket, his long legs straddling each side of the bike, and the feeling of your lips lingering on his face. you couldn’t tell because of his helmet, but sunghoon had a smile on his face the whole time he was driving home. 

sunghoon gets home before you do because you’ve decided that you guys can’t arrive home at the same time to avoid suspicion, specifically from his parents. you get home about 5 minutes after he does when he sends you a text that he’s arrived home. you send him a heart emoji before pulling into your driveway and heading inside. 

you spend the rest of the night just lounging, doing minor house chores and having leftover soup for dinner. your mom was working overtime so she wouldn’t be home until much later in the night but you didn’t really mind because it was nice to be home alone every now and then. 

it’s around 10pm when you’re suddenly awoken by someone yelling outside, their voices were loud enough that you could hear it but still faint that you couldn’t fully comprehend what they were saying. you were planning to just go back to sleep until you hear a string of profanities followed by the sound of a door slamming. you decide to look out the window and find sunghoon’s dad pacing back and forth in their backyard pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, irritation clear in his actions. 

you could only assume that sunghoon must’ve been arguing with his dad and that’s where all of the noise was coming from and from what you’ve heard about his dad from sunghoon himself, you were worried for him– but you didn’t want sunghoon to know that you were basically eavesdropping on him and his father. you ultimately choose not to do anything about it but you keep it in the back of your head all night.

over the course of the next few days, your interactions with sunghoon have decreased to just short stolen glances and the occasional text message. whenever you ask if he wants to talk on the phone when you go to bed or meet at your spot, he gives you some excuse of why he can’t, one that you don’t fully believe but choose not to argue over. 

you’re chewing on your bottom lip as sunghoon’s father is going over the service, extending god’s praises to everyone at the church as they all hail in his words. you weren’t paying attention because all you could think about was how it’s been a whole hour of being in this church and sunghoon has not once turned around to glance at you, even when you sent him a text saying that he looked handsome, he just looked down at this phone and quickly stuffed it into the pocket of his trousers. 

you weren’t sure what was going on with him but it was getting to a point where it bothered you more than it should. you and sunghoon weren’t official but you spent so much time together that it felt like those moments were special enough to mean something. it did to you but you weren’t sure if it did to him. it also didn’t help that it seemed like sunghoon was suddenly distancing himself to you right after you kissed, it was humiliating honestly– to have your first kiss with a boy that you were starting to really like and all of a sudden he’s barely even speaking to you anymore. 

sunghoon sat upright, face forward, and shoulders back as the service was ending. you were going to talk to him one way or another, just not here. you couldn’t risk causing a scene at church of all places, you weren’t religious but you had enough respect not to start any problems there. 

you weren’t sure how you were going to get sunghoon alone to talk but the opportunity arose when you saw him head to the back of the church once service was over. you figured that if you could quickly slip away before his parents were to find him then you could quickly talk about what’s going, maybe figure out what’s been going on with him and get clarification on the distance that’s been created between the two of you. 

you tiptoed towards the back of the church, glancing behind you to make sure there wasn’t anyone following or watching you. you pick up the place slightly out of fear that you would be caught or the small window of privacy would slip away but you’re halted in your steps and crouching behind a wall when you see sunghoon standing there. 

for a second you think he’s alone but when he shifts slightly, you can see him crouch downwards and hug someone. a girl. you didn’t really know her but you recognized her from church. she was always there every sunday, sitting in between her parents as she wore a white frilled dress with matching shoes. 

you’re left speechless at the sight before you and you didn’t know what to think. were they dating? just friends? but your mind went to the worst possible option as you come to the conclusion that sunghoon has probably stopped talking to you because he no longer found interest in you now that he was with this new girl. she was beautiful, her skin appeared as soft as silk, her hair was done perfectly, and her smile could rival the sound of an angel singing. 

she was perfect and you were far from that. 

you’re about to run away when your body collides with someone behind you, sunghoon’s father. you fall to the ground with a grunt as the gravel pinch into your skin– gathering sunghoon and the girl’s attention. 

“yn?” he asks, letting go of the girl in his arms. 

“what are you doing here? are you ok?” he asks, running over to you in an attempt to help you off the ground much like he did the first time you met– but this time his father stops him. putting out his hand to prevent sunghoon from getting any closer as they all watch you. 

your eyes bounce from sunghoon to his father, a scoff leaves your lips as you stand onto your two feet, dusting the dirt off of your clothes. you couldn’t be there any longer so leave, pushing past the deacon and ignoring sunghoon’s attempts at calling your name to stop you from leaving but his dad holds him back. 

“let me go!” he shouts, snatching his arm away from his father. 

“why do you insist on going after that girl? she’s nothing!” his father yells and thankfully you’re far enough that you don’t hear any of it, which also means you don’t hear sunghoon’s defense. 

“i don’t give a damn. she’s everything to me even if i have nothing.” sunghoon says, jaw tightening as he glares at his father. sunghoon and his dad have gotten into arguments several times but lately it’s gotten more frequent as he’s noticed you and sunghoon have become closer even in your attempts at hiding it. 

the argument that you had faintly heard between him and his dad before all of this went down was about you and the girl that stood just a few feet away from all of this. she didn’t play a part in any of this, at least not willingly. when sunghoon got home that night he and his dad got into an argument because sunghoon was late to dinner, now it would’ve been fine if it was just any other dinner but this wasn’t just an ordinary dinner. 

sunghoon’s father had invited a good friend of his and his family to have dinner with them. this man was of high status as he was the town’s mayor and with his attendance came the attendance of his wife and daughter. the dinner was filled with tension as sunghoon would attempt to push back at his dad whenever he could to try to embarrass him in front of his uptight friend but that was when his father dropped the bomb on sunghoon. 

“sunghoon, mayor kim here and i have been talking and we think it would be a good idea if you and his daughter were wed. we’ve gone over all of the details already.” those words were ringing in sunghoon’s ears, vision beginning to be tainted red as he could feel his blood boiling. marriage? with a random girl? when he had you? he wasn’t about to let that happen. 

he looked over at the girl who seemed to be just as shocked as he was but before sunghoon could fully process everything, he abruptly slid out of his chair, the wooden piece of furniture slamming to the ground as he left the room without a single word, his mother apologizing on his behalf. his actions at dinner, although justified, is what led to the huge argument with his dad that you had witnessed and what would eventually lead to him distancing himself from you when his dad ends their argument with a few simple words. 

“if you don’t stop seeing that girl, i’ll make sure you don’t see her ever again.” 

sunghoon didn’t know what his dad meant by those words but he had never seen his father so angry before. his eyes bore into his son’s with a type of fury that instilled fear inside of sunghoon. so much so that he decided to stop talking to you out of fear that he’d lose you completely if he did, at least this way he could admire you from afar. 

“sunghoon if you follow that girl you’re only damning yourself. she’s corrupt and i refuse for my son to be corrupted by some whore.” his dad says and this sets something off inside of sunghoon. his vision turns red again and before his dad could react, sunghoon’s left fist is connecting with his dad’s face, a cracking sound emitting from the contact. 

his father stumbles back onto the back of the church, leaning on the wall for support as he clutches his jaw in shock. the girl standing to the side gasps and runs over in shock, making sure that sunghoon and his dad are okay. 

“sorry, you had to see that.” sunghoon mumbles to the girl. 

“it’s fine… go..” she says, pulling out the handkerchief from her purse. sunghoon furrows his brows at her words for clarification. 

“go after her.” she says, giving sunghoon an encouraging smile. 

so he does. sunghoon runs after you, knowing exactly where he could find you. he wished that he brought his bike but his dad insisted that they all arrive together to church in the same car so that they appeared to be the perfect and well put together family that they tried so hard to look like. 

sunghoon had been running through so many things in his head while his father was at the front of the church doing his usual service. all sunghoon could think about was you and how guilty he feels for ignoring you and how hurt you must’ve felt but because he was afraid of his father and wasn’t sure what he’d do to you if he continued to see you, you chose to silently protect you– but he was growing tired of it. 

he craved you more than you could think. he missed the way you laughed at his stupid jokes, the way you smiled at small things like seeing a caterpillar scooting across the surface of an apple, and how your lips felt against his. 

sunghoon wanted to feel the softness of your lips against his so badly and he’d make sure that your kiss from before wasn’t going to be the last. when the service ended, sunghoon hurriedly rushed out of the church and told mayor kim’s daughter to meet him back there. he was planning to apologize to her and tell her why he acted that way and surprisingly enough, she understood him. 

she mentioned how her father was setting them up for an arranged marriage because both of their fathers didn’t approve either of their lifestyles and who they fell in love with. sunghoon, who fell in love with a girl from an incomplete family but found a way to complete the missing puzzle pieces in sunghoon’s heart and kim minjeong, the daughter of the mayor who had fallen in love with yoo jimin, the chief of police’s daughter. 

sunghoon was relieved to hear that minjeong was as opposed to the idea of an arranged marriage as he was and they decided to hug it out in solidarity with each other– and that’s when it happened. sunghoon’s father somehow had seen you creeping behind the church and was going to put a stop to whatever you had planned and eventually that’s how it all played out. you saw sunghoon hugging a girl and paired with his father’s intimidating aura, you felt so small and could feel yourself crumbling under all of their gazes. 

sunghoon’s lungs were burning as he continued to run, the pavement under him made his feet sore with each step he took but he didn’t care. he was going to get to you no matter what, he was going to explain everything, and he was going to kiss you and show you how much he loves you. 

his father was wrong. you weren’t corrupting him, you weren’t a bad seed or the temptation of the apple that the snake gave to eve. you were his salvation, his light, and you’re the only person who has shown him true happiness. 

and he wasn’t going to let that go. 

you had made it to eden falls fairly quickly, your mother not questioning on why you wanted to take the car but she could tell something was bothering you and decided that she’d talk to you about it once you’ve had some time to clear your head. your mom wasn’t privy to all of the whispers of the people in town and especially not to those in the church. 

she heard their comments about how she was a slut or a whore because she didn’t have a husband and it didn’t help that people took notice of your closeness in age; adding more fuel for them to judge you and your mom when they figured out that not only did you not have a dad, but your mom also had you when she was a teenager. 

but your mom didn’t care. sometimes it would bother her but then she thought about you. her beautiful daughter who smiled through adversity and the mundane, you were an inspiration to her and when she heard about your budding romance with sunghoon she was elated. she gave you the usual mother daughter talk when it came to boys but she pushed you to go after what you loved. 

she wasn’t going to stop her daughter from finding love just because she didn’t have someone to call husband. you didn’t deserve to live in the mistakes that she made but if you heard her call these things a mistake you scold your own mother and tell her that everything is the way it should be and you were happy to have her as a mother. 

you’re wiping the tears off of your face as you sit on the bench, letting the loud rushing sounds of the water drown out your thoughts but your heart is pounding too loud and your head is aching too hard for any of it to be drowned out. 

was this what heartbreak felt like? 

but no matter how hurt you felt, you couldn’t just let sunghoon go like that, you refused. your mother told you to fight for what you believed in and for those you loved; your mom was a testament to that as she showed you day in and day out how much she cared for you, going as far as working so hard that she was able to move you out of your small one bedroom apartment to the house you lived in now. 

you decided you would fight for sunghoon, show him how much you loved him and wouldn’t stop at anything to get him back, not even if his father or anyone else at the church tried to keep the two of you apart. sunghoon came into your life like a miracle. everyday was the same back in your hometown and you were starting to think it would be like that for the rest of your life but when you moved to edenville and met sunghoon, everything changed. 

you smiled more, you laughed more, and for the first time ever; you felt what love was like from someone other than your mother. 

that feeling was too good to let go of and you sure as hell weren’t going to let go of it. 

with a deep breath in and out, you close your eyes to gather yourself before deciding you’d take the car to find sunghoon and tell him everything you’re feeling; but the sound of a soft thud catches your attention. your head turns toward the sound and you find no one there and just as you’re about to get up and leave, you see an apple fall from a tree just a few feet away. 

you hadn’t noticed that there was an apple tree at eden falls but since you were usually engrossed with sunghoon you hadn’t really paid attention. you looked around to find that there was only a single apple tree in all of eden falls. you find yourself walking over to the apple tree but are careful in your steps because of it’s closeness to the edge of the falls. 

the tree seemed to be calling to you as the wind that blew past sounded like a song. the apple in your hand snapped off as you lightly tugged on it, like it was ready to be pulled off and eaten. you weren’t sure what came over you but you found yourself shutting your eyes as you brought the apple to your lips and took a bite. a crunching sound from the bite filling your ears as you chew on the apple. it was sweet and crisp, almost blooming on your tongue. 

however, when you open your eyes and look down at the apple in your hand, a horrendous gasp leaves your lips as you see the inside of the apple was black and rotted, maggots crawling throughout the crevices of the fruit. you spit out the apple in disgust, wiping your mouth of the feeling as the idea of the rotten fruit and worms cause you to gag.

you drop the apple in a startle and before you could react, your feet are slipping on the mud that surrounds the base of the tree and you feel yourself falling over the edge of eden falls with nothing to hold onto to pull yourself back up. 

the fall is slow, you can hear the water in your ears before you can feel it but the impact of the freezing cold water was enough to shock you out of your trance. you flailed underneath the water, fighting to get out and poke your head through the surface before you ran out of air but it seemed like eden falls led to an endless pit of water and despair. 

they say when you die that your life flashes before your eyes and when you take your final breath as your eyes close shut, all you could see was sunghoon and his smile. a smile appears on your face as your body continues to sink lower into the body of water. your body is dragged around until it couldn’t be moved any further, leaving you floating in the basin of eden falls. 

when sunghoon arrived at eden falls, his eyes lit up at the sight of your mom’s car, it gave him enough energy to run even faster to your spot at the bench but when he got there; you weren’t anywhere to be seen. 

he looked around, yelled out your name, called and texted your phone, but nothing. 

maybe he was too late but your mom’s car still being there left more questions than answers. he dropped his head in disappointment but not in defeat, he was going to fix all of this but he just wasn’t sure how. when he finally opens his eyes, tears begin to fall onto the dirt below him and that’s when he sees an apple with a single bite taken out of it. sunghoon looks at the fruit and wonders where it could have come from since there weren’t any apple trees in all of edenville. he wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his blazer as he sniffles, picking up the perfectly good apple that glistened under the sun. 

no maggots or signs of rotting to be found. 

for the next week or so sunghoon does everything he can to get in contact with you but they all fail. he eventually walks over to your house to talk to you but your mother answers the door with tears streaming down her face. 

when he asks her if everything is alright she goes to explain that she hasn’t seen you since last sunday. it’s now saturday afternoon and sunghoon realizes that the car isn’t in the driveway, meaning it’s probably still at eden falls, but where were you? 

he extends his care and worry to your mother before going back inside his house to grab his phone and call you once more, but something on the tv catches his attention as the newscaster’s voice boldly says, “breaking news: deceased body has been found at the edge of eden falls on the other side of town.” 

sunghoon easily recognizes the sweater of the deceased girl, it was you. 

his world is instantly crumbling and he blinks at the tv, hoping that it would just miraculously disappear and that the news wasn’t true. he can hear your mother wailing from outside as she runs out of your house, running over to where they had mentioned you were found. 

this can’t be true.

you were gone and it was his fault. 

the next day at church, sunghoon is forced to sit through his father spewing some bullshit about your passing. your mother hadn’t shown up to church because she was in too much pain dealing with your death. sunghoon could barely stand to listen to his father and his lies, telling the people of the church of how much he prays for your mother, that you were a good girl even though he said you were corrupted, but it isn’t until his father says a certain thing that sunghoon finds himself storming out of the church. 

“she was broken… and she’s in a better place now.”

“what the fuck did you know about her?” sunghoon spits at his dad, the people of the church gasping at him. “you didn’t know anything about her, you called her corrupt and said she’d ruin me and look what fucking happened. 

you drove her away from me and she’s gone! it’s your fucking fault!” he shouts, veins protruding from neck and forehead as he yells at his father. “i loved yn. i still love her and that isn’t going to change, even if she’s gone.” sunghoon grits his teeth as he stares at his dad with so much anger his ears were turning red and his jaw would start to tremble as the anger surged through him. 

sunghoon’s father was making it seem like you had killed yourself because you were “broken” and “corrupt” and whatever bullshit he knew that townsfolk would believe but sunghoon wasn’t having any of that. sunghoon knew you had your fair share of issues but you never showed any signs that would lead you to killing yourself, he just knew you wouldn’t but there was no way to prove him wrong. 

he knew that he was to blame for some of this, that if he didn’t distance himself away from you and if he just fought for you harder then none of this would’ve happened. that you’d still be here, he’d be able to hold you in his arms, feel your soft lips, and tell you just how much he loved you. 

sunghoon’s father made it seem like you were the apple that was used to tempt adam and eve but he knew better than that. you were eve, a beautiful woman who held the world in her heart and sunghoon was the apple and your eventual downfall. 

the garden of eden

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[jae-bummer]

The Stranger in 43B

Prompt: You move in next door and he tries his hardest to be a good neighbor while you try your hardest to be left alone.

Pairing: Ateez Park Seonghwa x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Song rec while you're reading: Close - Han

.

Putting your hands on your hips, you let out a sigh as you assessed the sight in front of you. Boxes upon boxes in leaning and teetering stacks were balanced haphazardly around the living area, all of them threatening to come down in an expensive game of dominoes at any moment.

You never realized just how much crap you owned until you moved.

"Hello?" a gentle voice called from your entryway.

Nearly tumbling into the stack of boxes closest to you, you spun in surprise. With your hands full as you came in, you forgot to kick the door closed behind you as you had done most of the morning.

"Uh..." you trailed, looking down the hall and into the face of someone you had never met.

Admittedly, he was handsome...but still, stranger danger.

"Neighbor," he smiled in explanation. Moving to take a step in, he stopped himself. His cheeks instantly began to blush pink. "May I?"

Anywhere you had lived, you had made a point to make yourself as small and insignificant as possible. You didn't want to rely on any of your neighbors for anything, and more importantly, you didn't want to be relied on. It was easier to be a lone wolf. Having to care for yourself and yourself alone was difficult enough in this modern hellscape.

You stared at him, unblinking. "Sure?"

So much for your survival instincts.

Smiling to himself, he gave a short nod before stepping just inside of your entryway. He lifted a plate into the air. "I heard we had a new neighbor moving in down the hall, so I made muffins."

"I'm allergic to blueberries," you blurted, trying not to wince at how loud the declaration came out.

He narrowed his eyes. "Good thing they're chocolate chip."

"Right," you laughed nervously, still making no move to come closer. "You really didn't have to go to the trouble."

"It was no trouble at all," he insisted. Was it just your imagination or did you see his smile become tighter? "I have housemates, so they're always eager for me to bake something and-"

"Oh, if you have roommates, you don't have to waste any food on me," you nodded. "Thank you though!"

"I'm Seonghwa," the stranger said, you assumed trying a different tactic for conversation. Honestly, you never really understood people who insisted on being friendly.

"Y/N," you nodded shortly, letting the conversation lapse into something awkward. Maybe if he felt uncomfortable he would leave.

No such luck.

"Do you need any help with boxes?" he asked, looking around the room with wide eyes. "No one should have to move by themselves."

"I work best alone," you said cheerfully, hoping he'd pick up on the hint.

"Oh," he hummed, pursing his lips. Sweeping one last gaze across your apartment, he let out a sigh. "I'll just set these on the counter then?"

"Really, you don't-"

"Please," he snapped before catching himself and letting his face fall into a serene smile again. "I insist."

"Counter is fine," you chirped, trying not to feel as if you were just chastised by a parent. "Thank you."

"No thanks needed," he affirmed, stepping gingerly between boxes and packing materials to get to the kitchen. Placing the plate on the counter, he turned back to face you. "Just return the plate whenever you have the chance."

As you were opening your mouth to tell him he could take the plate before he left, he was already giving a small wave and backtracking out of your apartment. "It was nice meeting you, Y/N. If you need anything, I'm just down the hall! Apartment 43B."

"Right," you croaked, watching him disappear around the corner into the hallway.

And that was how your relationship with Park Seonghwa of Apartment 43B began; awkwardly and against your will.

The day after he had broken into your apartment (been invited in) to poison you (give you muffins that were admittedly delicious), you waited until it was 2 AM the following day to covertly stalk down the hall and abandon the plate. You placed it in a shopping bag (you weren't going to leave someone else's dinnerware on the ground) and tiptoed toward his door.

Looking down at his welcome mat, you hissed out a laugh. Decorated in floral patterns, it noted in sprawling script "Bless Our Nest." You didn't even know him and somehow that was so on brand.

Depositing the bag in front of his door, you must have looked like a fool as you attempted to run quietly back toward your apartment. No one looked cool when they were trying to be sneaky, no matter how the spy movies made it seem.

"Y/N?"

Your shoulders scrunched up to your ears as you spun slowly toward the sound of Seonghwa's voice. "Why are you awake?"

He lifted his brows in amusement at your curt response. Waving his hand in the air, you saw he was holding a Nintendo Switch. "New Animal Crossing expansion dropped at midnight."

"How did you hear me?"

Crossing his arms, he leaned against the door frame. He eyed you up and down carefully. "I have a camera doorbell."

Glancing directly to the left of his elbow, you tried not to swear. He sure as shit did. You crossed your arms as well, trying to hide yourself from his appraising gaze.

"Why'd you come to the door then?" you managed, unsure of where to take this conversation.

"And miss this exciting game of twenty questions?" he grinned. "I'm not going to leave a Williams Sonoma plate for someone to steal."

You sighed, of course he owned expensive flatware.

"I didn't kno-"

"Of course you didn't," he grinned, lifting the bag from the ground. "I'm teasing you, Y/N."

You opened your mouth, unsure of what to say. It had been quite awhile since someone had bothered to banter with you.

"Why are you awake?" he countered, cocking a brow.

"Unpacking," you said quietly. You weren't going to admit that you had also been waiting for the Animal Crossing expansion.

"Thanks for bringing back my plate," he managed, biting his lip as he held your gaze a little too long. "I'm going to get back to it though."

"Right," you nodded. "Sorry for-"

"Goodnight, Y/N," he smiled genuinely, cutting off any apology.

Shutting the door softly between the two of you, you shook your head.

"Goodnight."

.

Of course that wouldn't be the last time you saw him. Against your best efforts, he became one of the constants in your routine. Whether it was fate or organized by his own design, you were constantly bumping into each other around your apartment building. Trash drop off? Seonghwa. Going to grab your mail? Seonghwa. Hopping in the elevator? Seonghwa.

Needless to say, you shouldn't have been surprised when a few weeks later, you heard a light knock on your door.

"Do you need any candles?" he asked, appearing in the doorway.

You furrowed your brows as you took him in. Already wearing pajamas at 8 PM (albeit a very expensive looking silk set) his arms were full to the brim with what appeared to be Yankee Candles. By all accounts, he was adorable, and you hated it.

"They're all the same scent," he attested. "So if you have more than one going at once, you won't get a headache."

"Seonghwa-" you began, completely confused by his appearance until another roll of thunder shook the complex and the lights above you began to flicker.

"I probably should have led with this," he chuckled. "But the power likes to go out at the smallest weather event."

Looking toward the ceiling, you grimaced. While you didn't mind bad weather, you did mind the power going out. Sure, you were an independent adult who could navigate the world alone, but as soon as the lights went out, you were on edge. It wasn't necessarily the dark that scared you, but the things in it that you couldn't see.

"I have lanterns somewhere..." you muttered, walking further into your apartment. You racked your brain, trying to remember which box you had packed them in. While you had most of your day to day items unpacked, there were still quite a few boxes waiting to be opened.

"I brought my lighter too in case you didn't have one," Seonghwa insisted, following you into the living area. He began to set the candles down on the makeshift coffee table you had created out of cardboard. "Let's get these lit before the-"

As if summoning it with his words, all noise halted around you as the power shuttered off.

"Lights go out."

"Shit," you whispered, standing as still as possible in the blackness that threatened to suffocate you.

With a light pop, the space was illuminated in a dull glow as Seonghwa's lighter flared to life.

"Thank god," you nearly cried as you watched him lean down to light the candles. For once, you could confidently say that you were thankful for your overly helpful neighbor.

"Hwa to the rescue!" he chimed, attempting to light the first candle, but the wick refused to catch. "Now why..."

You watched in horror as the lighter flickered out. As Seonghwa pressed the button again, it only clicked. "Oh, come on."

"Shit," you whispered into the darkness again. "Shit, shit, shit."

"No worry," he said confidently. "I'm sure it won't be out for long."

Feeling as if you were a piece of ice that had begun to melt, you slid toward the floor with a plop. "Shit."

You closed your eyes tightly, convinced that the blackness that hid behind your lids was safer than anything this apartment could provide.

"Y/N?" Seonghwa's gentle voice filled the silence, noting the obvious shift in atmosphere.

"Yep," you hissed. Your eyes were screwed shut, only cognizant of his movements by the noise of him shuffling around you. "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" he asked, this time much closer. You couldn't confirm, but it felt like he was crouched down in front of you. "You don't sound okay."

"I'm fine," you gritted out. "You can head back over to your place."

Even though the idea of being alone right now was terrifying, you didn't know if you were prepared for the level of vulnerability it took to show Seonghwa this part of you. That's why it was easier to push people away.

The pace of your breathing sped up, your body completely ignoring every therapist you had ever worked with. How could the room spin when your eyes weren't open?

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," Seonghwa cooed, pulling you into his arms without a second thought. "It's going to be okay."

Panicked breaths shuttered out of you as you allowed him to tuck you tightly into his chest.

"Crap, is this alright? I didn't ask permission to touch you, but also-"

You quickly nodded your head. "F-f-fine."

"Okay," he said, voice still calm. He began to run his hands over your hair, his fingers smoothing through the strands methodically. "Just breathe, Y/N. You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you."

You knew he wouldn't. While you had forced yourself to be annoyed at his mere presence, Seonghwa had done nothing but be there for you from the beginning.

"Let's breathe together, okay? Can you do that with me?"

You remained silent, already trying to focus on his breathing cadence.

"Good, you're doing so good," he hummed. "Are your eyes open, Y/N?"

"No," you choked out.

"Open your eyes," he whispered. "I've got you. Let them adjust to the dark. It's not so scary once you can kind of see what's going on."

You thought about arguing, but he hadn't steered you wrong yet. Your eyes fluttered open and you instantly began to breath easier. He was right. There was a slight glow coming from under the door, no doubt the apartment's emergency lights flared to life in the hallway. The windows also provided a bit of light on their own, the moon bright despite the clouds passing by.

"See," he cooed. "This isn't so bad."

You hadn't realized that you were white knuckling the fabric of his top and slowly released the smooth material. Setting your palm against his chest instead, it was more obvious when his own heartbeat sped up.

You thought back to every time you had bumped into your neighbor, every kindness he showed you just for you to push him away. What were you afraid of?

Leaning slightly away from Seonghwa, you tried to make out the outline of his face. it was easy to see his features this close, even cloaked in night.

It might have been the oxygen you had been depriving your brain, but it seemed like a great idea to kiss him.

"Hwa," you managed, your voice barely above a whisper.

His tongue skirted across his bottom lip, almost like an invitation.

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you pressed your lips lightly against his, barely a ghost of a kiss. Just as you began to pull away, you felt his mouth chase after yours. Another kiss, this one soft and sweet before he broke contact.

Maybe your fear was confusing itself for sexy feelings, but either way, mortification flooded in where butterflies had once been.

"Y/N?" he said quietly, his eyes searching your face. Even in the dark, they were so big and bright. His own expression was one of wonder.

"Sorry...was that...I didn't-" you stumbled over your words. He had been so conscious of asking for your permission to touch you earlier, and here you were, just thrusting your lips into his.

A small smile fought it's way onto his mouth. "I just wanted to make sure it was something you wanted...I don't want to take advantage-"

"No, I thought I was the one taking advantage-"

"No!" he laughed. "I'm not the one coming down from a panic attack."

"I thought...maybe I mistook your kindness and..."

"I think we're both fine then," he hummed, snuggling you in closer. "You know...you...you could do that again...maybe."

"Oh...I could?" you whispered, letting the amusement take place of the fear.

"Mhm," he hummed, his face coming even closer to yours. "It'll keep your mind busy until the power comes back on."

"You're such a thoughtful neighbor," you whispered.

"Dare you say...your favorite neighbor?"

"I dunno," you hummed. "Mrs. Huang in 41B is pretty high on my list."

"I bake waaaay better than Mrs. Huang," he grumbled, his lips still painfully close but still not on yours.

You pretended to think. "I suppose you're my favorite neighbor, but only by a little bit."

Lifting his hand to cup your cheek, he grinned. "Let me close the gap then."

[freshsturns]

𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑰 𝑾𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑴𝑨𝑺 | 𝑴.𝑺

𝒔𝒚𝒑𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒔: y/n and matt have liked each other for years, it’s christmas time. matt and y/n are being super flirty, so chris and nick plan to tease them with the mistletoe causing things to progress. this is little collab with @mwahsturns ୭

fluff, smut, oral (female receiving), fingering, p in v, swearing, praise, teasing, flirting, pet names, aftercare, mentions of drugs.

2.5k words!

christmas is exactly three weeks away, it has always been a stressful time of the year, especially these last few years.

between me landing a job at a nursing home, two hours away from our home in la, and the boys with their youtube career we rarely have moments when we’re all together. this year, we didn’t even find the time to decorate.

christmas is my favourite holiday, i love when we can all come together and just have fun, stress free. the boys need it especially with everything they have going on with their career.

I absolutely love buying everyone gifts especially because I know them so well i know exactly what can make them feel special. I love putting a smile on their faces, seeing them happy is so therapeutic to me as they’ve done so much for me for so many years.

i know matt so well, i know exactly what he wants this year. well, maybe i was ease dropping a little when he was yapping about what he wanted to nick and chris a few days ago. but we’ve always had some strange bond which makes us closer, so i just had to make sure i bought him what he wanted.

i think that decorating for christmas is what makes the holiday so special, and that’s what makes this moment, right now so special. matt, nick and chris had pre filmed the video that is due tomorrow and i finally have christmas break so it’s the perfect time to begin decorating!

-

matt and i had finally gotten the decorations out from the garage while nick and chris walked to the grocery store. we started putting ornaments on the tree, as christmas music softly filled the home.

‘don’t put em too close together’ he smirks. ‘i know what I’m doing, matthew’ i laugh continuing putting the ornaments on.

he smiles taking the lights out of a box staring at me and smiling as he untangles the lights. i smile then look back at him.

‘what?’ i laugh, he shakes his head still smiling. ‘no it’s nothing’ i know him too well, he’s lying. ‘oh come on tell me’

he smiles. ‘you’re just- idk I’m just glad your here.’ he smiles eventually looking down as he finishes untangles them, now wrapping them around the tree. ‘I’m glad to be here’ I smile nudging his shoulder.

after we finished the tree matt and i decided to bake some brownies. ‘how are you feeling about that trip to Boston?’

matts lips turn revealing with that perfect smile then continued mixing the brownie mix. ‘i’m excited, i mean i’m sad you’re not coming though’ i look up at him with glistening eyes. whenever he says things like that it makes my heart melt in ways I can’t even begin to explain.

i’ve liked him for so long now, i’ve never done anything about it though because i’m terrified of ruining our relationship, our bond is so special and i would hate to ruin it. i look down at the brownie mix, sticking my index finger in and gliding it along the inside of the bowl and licking my finger clean.

‘oh hush, you’ll be having so much fun you won’t realize I’m not there’ i smile spreading butter over the pan. ‘of course i will, i’ll always need you around’ he lets out a small laugh shaking his head slightly before pouring the brownie mix into the pan.

matt takes in a breath and before i could say anything he picks up the pan. ‘come on silly let’s get these in the oven’ i nod slightly with a grin, walking beside him.

nick and chris swing open the door walking inside. ‘we’re back and we brought food!’ chris yells making me snap my head at the sudden noise, matt looked at me as we roll our eyes looking at the two.

‘oh wow, the house looks good’ nick says surprised, placing the bag down. ‘couldn’t have done it without her’ matt smiles indicating to me before nudging my shoulders as i blush softly cleaning up the counter.

‘y’all are so cute’ chris sings. ‘don’t make this weird, chris’ i say pretending to be annoyed but gosh, i can’t help but wish it was true. ‘we’re just friends’ Matt says unsure but hiding it. my heart sinks at his words, ‘just’ but it’s true, we are just friends.

minutes pass, we’re all talking about the plans for christmas while we wait for the brownies, when Matt grabs my shoulder.

‘oh, you got a little something here’ he says getting closer to my face placing his hand on my cheek as he wipes off some brownie batter from my bottom lip. He looked at my lips then into my eyes, we stared at each other for a moment completely ignoring the fact nick and chris are right there.

nick looks at chris and signals him upstairs, as they head upstairs into nick’s bedroom and shuts the door behind them. ‘what’s wrong?’ chris crosses his arms looking at Nick.

‘dude, you’re seeing this shit right?’ nick smiles and he continues ‘they clearly like each other’ chris smirks ‘i mean they’re not very subtle, they’re just to stubborn to admit it.’

nick nods. ‘I have an idea’ chris looks intrigued. ‘go on.’

‘what if we were to hold the mistletoe over there heads, they’re gonna have to kiss.’ chris nods. ‘then they might finally confess their feelings, like where your heads at. alright let’s go’ they grab the mistletoe and head back downstairs to see y/n and matt standing by the tree.

'no we have to watch home alone! it's so much better than the polar express!' i giggle, matt and i were discussing which movie to watch later, when chris unexpectedly runs up behind matt holding something up above our heads. i look up to see it was a mistletoe. 'chris, what are you doing?'

chris smirks as he looks over to nick 'y'know what you gotta do’ matt looks at me nervously then at his brothers. nick sits down on the couch behind them, 'kiss her, matt' he smiles as he leans back crossing his arms.

'guys stop' matt continued his protest. 'kiss, kiss, kiss' we heard softly behind us. i look around meeting nick and chris's gaze, before finally stopping on matts. he took in a breath while he analysed my face his eyes stopping at my lips, eventually lifting his arm and grabbing my cheek and kissing me softly. i immediately kiss back, my hand going to his hair as his hand creases the curves of my waist and his other moving from my cheek to my neck.

my mind is going crazy, everything i’ve ever dreamed of is finally happening. i can’t believe it i’m kissing him, i’m kissing matthew sturniolo, the only guy i’ve ever loved.

our kiss was slow but passionate, the way his soft lips synchronised with mine like our lips were made to touch. the way his hand travels back up my skin and his fingertips softly caress my cheek. our kiss deepens, our tongues fighting for dominance, his hands roaming my body. my hands moving from his hair to the back of his neck, this feeling is making me want him even more than I already do.

he eventually pulls away both of us out of breath. i look into his eyes then realize nick and chris are no where to be seen. ‘y/n i can’t do it anymore, i can’t keep pretending we’re just friends. i love you’ he breaks the silence.

‘matt, you know i love you but our friendship means the world to me and I can’t lose you, i can’t lose this’ he cups my cheeks staring into my eyes.

‘look y/n, i really don’t care if you think this will ruin our friendship. you know why?’ he stops. i flick my eyes between his lips and his eyes waiting for him to continue.

‘i’ve spent years loving you from afar and i want us to be together. this won’t change anything between us. i promise’ tears well up in my eyes i try to speak but i’m cut off by the lump in my throat. ‘but what if this doesn’t work..’ i finally manage get out.

‘even if eventually this doesn’t work out, I’m willing to make anything happen for you. nothing could ever change the way that feel about you’ he whispers before kissing my forehead.

i slowly nod at him, a smile forming on my face. ‘okay..’ I say softly. ‘okay?’ matt repeated confused. ‘if you believe in us working then..we can try’ he smiles picking me up spinning us around. my giggles filled the living room, he placed me back down kissing me again this time more deeply and passionately.

he let out a soft moan into the kiss before lifting me up and carrying me to his bedroom, where he gently tossed me onto the bed. "you okay with this?" matt asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "matt," I replied, my tone serious, locking my gaze onto his anxious eyes, “shut up and kiss me.”

he wastes no time, suddenly positioning himself above me, and kisses me deeply. i feel his tongue graze my bottom lip, prompting me to part my lips and invite him in. as his tongue explores my mouth, i can’t help but moan, my fingers tangling in his hair.

i flip us over kissing him passionately as i slide my own tongue into his mouth. his hands slowly move down grabbing my ass making me grind against him. his hands on my body was addicting, he felt so good against me, like his touch was a drug i couldn’t escape from.

he slaps my ass making me gasp into the kiss. he breaks the kiss working his way down to my neck and sucking on my sweet spot. ‘matt..’ was the only word that filled my mind as his lips brushed against my skin, sending shivers of bliss through me.

‘you’re so soft.’ he whispered against my neck sending chills down my body, the way his smooth lips kisses me and fingertips teases my skin makes me go insane.

he kissed his way up my neck placing a soft kiss on my cheek before pulling away and creasing my cheek. ‘you’re so pretty.’

i blush kissing his lips softly ‘i’ve always wanted this matt.. it’s always been you’ i look down. He lifts my chin up staring into my eyes. ‘you have me’

that did something to me i can’t explain it but i needed him, and i needed him bad. i pressed my lips gently against his, then softly kissed his neck.

he sat up letting me pull his shirt off over his head. ‘wow..’ i whisper staring at his chest. he grabs my hand having me trace his body as he stared into my eyes. ‘matt i uh-‘

he shushed me with a kiss to my lips smiling softly. ‘don’t rush it take your time, baby’ i nod lightly, wanting nothing more than to get on my knees in front of him already. he lays me down positioning me at the end of the bed, him standing up. his hand begins tracing the top of my jeans.

‘can i?’ he asks nervously. i nod as he lifts my body and unbuttons my jeans and pulls them down. ‘woah’ he says with a huge grin plastered on his face. ‘these are pretty’ he says, tracing the rhinestones on the side of my victoria secret underwear. his finger hooks onto the side of my thong slowly pulling them down.

he tosses the glittery thong across his room, he smiles at me being bare from the body, half giving him access to my already soaked cunt. ‘fuck, already dripping’ he said before licking up my walls taking in all my juice, my body shaking slightly before moaning just a bit, knowing how this was gonna go.

he plants kisses all over the inside of my thighs slowly making his way to my cunt. he looks up at me before kissing my clit, gosh he does it so well. his tongue slipped out of his mouth and lands itself onto me licking and sucking at my clit.

i run my fingers through his hair, my lips parted slightly no sounds even able to come out. i throw my head back biting my lip, as he begins to shove his tongue in my wet hole. ‘taste so good, baby’ he mumbles against my pussy making me moan softy. the way he’s eating me like he hasn’t eaten in weeks, and making me feel so good i can’t think straight.

he slightly takes his mouth off, spreading my lips then spitting on my pussy. he shoved two fingers into me making me moan gripping his hair tightly.

‘fuck matt..’ i moan uncontrollably as he puts his mouth back onto my clit as he pumps into me. ‘matt please- don’t stop’ i whimpered making him moan against me. my thoughts clouded with pleasure, unable to comprehend anything but his mouth and his fingers.

‘baby, i’m gonna cum please..’ my legs wrapped around his head as i grind against him making his nose graze my clit and his fingers hitting deeper. just as i was about to cum he pulls away from me making me whine in disappointment.

‘don’t worry sweetheart, i’m coming back’ he smirks and he unbuttons his jeans followed by his boxers and flings them somewhere with the other pile of clothes. he takes his dick in his hand pumping a few times before lining himself up with me, looks up at me for approval, the second i nod my head he buries himself inside me.

my head drops back and my mouth creates an ‘o’ shape. ‘you’re so big’ my moans are muffled. he grunts as he begins thrusting in and out slowly but deep, hitting every spot. ‘oh god..” i mumble as the pace picks up. i’m so close, just by looking at matts face, his mouth propped open, his forehead covered by sweating strands of hair, the way his hands grip the side of my thighs and his biceps tense with every trust.

‘matt, i’m gonna cum-’ i let out breathlessly, his eyes avert from my pussy to my eyes. ‘hold it baby, just for a second’ he grunts, thrusting faster as he builds up his release.

his thrusts getting sloppy, my hands scratching his back. ‘matt- so good’ i whine, as his hands squeeze my hips. ‘c’mon on cum f’me’ i nod out of breath as no words were able to form, cumming over his dick. he pulls out cumming into my stomach.

‘fuuck’ he pants trying to hatch his breath. i lay there my chest rising up and down, my pussy still pulsing. matt gets up and makes his way to the bathroom, coming back seconds after. i feel a warm rag on my stomach and my pussy making me flinch.

‘it’s okay sweetheart, i’m just cleaning you up’ he kisses my forehead softly. after we cleaned up he helped me get dressed and took my hand leading me into the living room.

nick and chris smirked giving each other a high five, until chris speaks up. ‘next time be more quiet when you’re fucking our brother’ chris laughs.

‘ohhh fuck matt’ nick mocks jokingly. ‘shut the fuck up’ Matt says then kissing my lips softly. i can’t believe i finally got him, the only thing i wanted for christmas.

© freshsturns

@astronomysturniolos @sunrisemill @lovingchrissposts @sturniolossss @stargirll567 @whoisabbyysblog @slut4matthew @vanteguccir @strniohoeee @ashsturns @jamiesturniolo @mattscoquette @starsfortaylor @patscorner @gamermattsgf @hysteria-things @sluts4matt @mattslutt @slutformenn @mwahsturns ❥

[ambrosiagoldfish]

i’m going a teensy bit feral reading your adam x third spouse story so i guess im just asking for part five and for it to hopefully have focus on dad beat dad and how lucifer would react to seeing the reader again after so long and like what would happen n stuff 🤭🤭 ofc if this is dumb ignore it i like what you’re doing with the story already !! the part im most excited for is the finale tbh but there’s a lot of time in between what you have rn and then so i’m just yapping abt stuff that could be cool in between. thsi is so jumbled omg sorry i just wanna see more of your writing it’s so good

idk how to end this uhh i love you bye 🫡

Benefit of the doubt PT.5

Adam x 3rd Spouse! Reader

Warnings: GN! Reader, confronting the past, next to no Adam (I know, sad, but it’s for the plot), Reader focused chapter, this is set during ‘Dad Beat Dad’, swearing, the next 2 chapters will have a LOT more Adam DW ❤️❤️

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Request Box: OPEN

Word count: 4322

A/n: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the support on all the other chapters. It’s been 8-ish months since the last update and for that I want to apologize. I’ll save it for its own dedicated post to not full int his page too much. But if you’ve saw one of my post from the other day, I have posted this on A03 and I’m giving myself 8 total parts. 7 will be the finale and 8 will be an epilogue styled thing (not even sure if I’m wanting to do it so when we get there, you guys can tell me if you want it!! ) so yeah, enough rambling, you’ve all been waiting so long for the next part so here you go!! <3

Reblogs are VERY appreciated!

(My posts have been flopping so much, I would love you forever if you did 😭)

Old memories have a habit of slithering their way back into a person's mind, and even sometimes, people

The first few months at fhe hotel were a lot more enjoyable than you originally expected. Most days went relatively the same, Charlie would choose an activity to do and you would observe the progress they made.

At first, progress hadn't shown much promise but as everyone grew closer, things began to look up. Angel had gone clean with his drug abuse and was distancing himself from his line of work. Sir Pentious started to actually trust the people around him and has done no major constructional damage to any buildings as of late.

Everything was going so smoothly that, when you had woken up one morning to the sounds of screaming, running, and just general chaos. You thought everything was finaly going into the ground.

You quickly run down to the lobby, thoughts of what could be happening run through you. Did one of Pentious experiments fail and explode? Were we being attacked by one of the many gangs in town? Did Alastor decide the hotel was actually boring and started destroying it, starting with the occupants? Whatever it was, you hurry faster to the lobby.

But what was meeting you there was… unexpected to say the least. Party streamers, banners, cookies. It looked like some kind of welcome party heaven would do, albeit with less flare and taste in decor. A banner that read ‘Wellcum Daddy’ was being hung up by Razzle and Dazzle, everyone was either cleaning or baking something, and Vaggie seemed to be ordering them around.

You look at the clock, huh, it’s way too early for any kind of Charlie’s trust exercises. Not to mention, she would have told you about the curriculum and there was absolutely not a 10 AM home-EC class listed on your schedule.

You quickly run up to Charlie who seemed to be preoccupied with helping Vaggie put something up “Charlie, what’s going on?” You tap on her shoulder, She jumps a bit before just realizing it’s you,

”Oh- Y/N, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to get you!” She apologizes when Vaggie pops in,

“Don’t be, I told Nifty to go wake you up, but looks like she had better things to do” she points over at Niffty swifty stabbing bugs and removing cobwebs out of habit

“It’s fine, just… what’s everyone doing, what’s with all the party supplies and sweets?” You say, arms to the festive lobby around you.

“Oh well…” she took a deep breath “you know that The deadline is fast approaching and while we’ve made progress it’s not much” she paused, trying to even brace herself for what’s coming out of her mouth, “I have asked… my dad to come over and hopefully get us a meeting with heaven” she stops, completely caved in on herself.

“Wait, so… your dad is coming here?” you thought about the times she had asked you to get them a meeting with heaven but you had already explained to her that it would be next to impossible for someone like you. You had to practically beg just to monitor the hotel

Charlie Picked herself back up and looked at you with a shakey demeanor, “Yeah In about… 55 minutes”

You blink a few times before giving a small chuckle “Well, would you look at the date! I think it’s time I used my 1-per-month trip back home! If you’ll excuse me-“

“Wait! No-“ she trips over herself “We need you here, if dad can see, not only the progress we’ve made, but also that we already have an angel supporter, there’s no way he could say no!”

“Charlie, I don’t think it’s a good idea-”

“PleasePleasePlease! I will pay you back, promise! But I- we could really use you there!” Her eyes looked at you, similar to a puppy. She hands clasped together In plea.

You looked away in thought. Seeing him again was the last thing you wanted to do at this moment, any moment for that matter. The last time…well to be honest, the whole exchange hadn’t meant anything to you in quite a while. He could say whatever he wanted about you… it was the words he had to say about Adam that kept your heart ablaze in anger at the Morningstar.

Trash? He should really look in the mirror before saying that about your Adam. But… this could be a good opportunity for the hotel -as much as it pained you to admit- You can only sigh, “fine.. for the hotel…” You let out a small chuckle raising your arm in defeat.

Charlie jumped up and down with glee, repeating a matra of ‘Thank You’s’ before continuing “I get it might be difficult since you’re an Angel.” She tries to give some comfort. But that caught your attention.

“Because I’m an Angel?” You honestly didn’t mean to say it out loud but it came out as a question.

She looks at you confused “yeah, you know, considering I don’t think angels have too kind of thoughts to my dad for being… the devil” she laughs nervously

Oh. Oh. So that’s what she means. So she doesn’t know about your past with him? Not too much a surprise, I doubt Lucifer would bring up any of his failures. But that also made you realize one other thing. Charlie doesn’t know about your marriage with Adam.

Look, you didn’t mean to keep it a secret. In fact you had already assumed they knew. I mean you were sitting literally right next to him and Vaggie already knew who you were. You just thought she would have told Charlie, but knowing this now… it may be best to keep it a secret.

You let out a quick “I understand.” and with that, you all went your separate ways, you did contribute to the decor the best you could, as well as helping Sir Pentious and Nifty with the baking until finally, it was time for Charlie’s dad to arrive.

You walked over to a more remote place in the hotel lobby, look… you may have to interact with him today but you will not be doing it that soon. Instead, you decided your best choice of action was to sit and watch quietly until Charlie decided it was time for you two to meet. And in the meantime, you can mentally brace yourself.

Charlie sighs deeply “Okay everybody, it’s showtime!”

With that she swings the door open revealing the one, the only (thank Father) king of hell himself, Lucifer. Immediately Lucifer pulls his, obviously nervous daughter into his arms. He greets her with excitement before moving on to Keekee, and eventually Razzle and Dazzle.

He eyes the room, clearly covering up any distain for the hotels “character” to protect Charlie’s feelings. At least until he got to the bar which even he couldn’t lie his way through.

Even from the distant view you were from, you could see Alastor and Lucifer weren't going to be the best of buds anytime soon. As soon as they were introduced to one another they immediately got into it. Huh, at least now you have something in common with Alastor at least! If that’s even a good thing.

Their quarrel lasted a few minutes, everyone either waiting for it to be over, completely ignoring it, or enjoying it as entertainment. It lasted what felt like an eternity and was only interrupted when a short and plump woman by the name of ‘Mimzy’ came into the scene.

The old time-y dressed woman was one of Alastor’s friends, you honestly didn’t think he had those but you digress. Eventually once the commotion dies down, you see Charlie give you a nervous smile and wave for you, ‘that’s my cue’ you thought. Anxiety still felt taught in your heart but still you pushed through.

You walk out of your hiding spot, walking up to be next to Charlie. Still trying to keep your presence hidden for as long as you could, savoring those last few moments of peace before a wave of interactions.

Charlie clears her throat and puts on a more professional demeanor despite her nervousness, getting the attention from her dad, “And last but certainly not least, i’d like you to meet our Angelic sponsor-“

“Y/N!?-“ the fallen Angel suddenly started coughing, clearly having choked on his own words. He clears his throat “Sorry! I just wasn’t expecting… you to be here” he lets out a chuckle.

“You guys know each other!?” Charlie looked shocked, her voice pitching up in bewilderment.

“We’ve… met before,.” Your voice was low, But still you pushed through “Though, it’s hardly relevant to anything of importance now. Isn’t that right, Morningstar?”

Lucifer's face contorted into an uncomfortable shaky smile, fingertips digging into his Apple-shaped cane. Perhaps he felt some type of remorse for the way things happened back all those years ago, but even if that’s true, you had no plans to forgive him.

He clears his throat “Yes it’s- unimportant Sweetie.. “

You 3 stand in awkward silence for a moment, all you can do is glare daggers at the short ex-Angel in front of you. Eventually though, you couldn’t stand the scilence any longer, “Well Charlie, I have to get something done in my room and I’ll be back to help with the tour in a few minutes, if that’s ok?”

Charlie looked like she wanted to protest, for you to stay with her through the tour, but she knew you wouldn’t just leave and not come back. “Um, yeah that’s fine! Me and Alastor can get the tour started and you can meet us around the 4th floor?”

You gave a quick nod as agreement and make your way to your room. Sighing, you flop down on your bed, feeling the soft warmth as you sink into comfort. Pulling out your phone, you quickly typing a text to Adam but your thumb simply hovered over the send button, anxiety washing over you. Your message was simple,

‘I promise that everything’s ok, but he’s here’’

You were hesitating, should you even tell him that he's here? You didn’t want to worry him over something so insignificant. He has a show tonight, he wouldn’t be at his best if he was constantly thinking you would be in the same room as the devil.

Or even worse, he could just cancel the show completely and march down here and a cause a ruckus which at best would completely destroy the Hotel’s plans and at worse… No, you can’t think of that.

You look at the message again before just setting your phone on your nightstand. 10 minutes… that’s all you need before you go back out there…

…Lucifer was having… let’s just say a tinsy bit of a bad day. Not only has he been forced to interact with that insufferable yellow-toothed sinner but also, he has been reunited with someone he hadn’t seen in a millenia, you.

The anxiety of the day was only topped off with the added stress of being with his daughter. Don’t get him wrong, he LOVES his daughter and is always happy to see her, but the way she talks and acts with these sinners… Ugh, it reminds him too much of himself back in the day.

Her hotel too… He may have given her the place but he never gave it much thought beyond it being a pipe dream for her. He was just trying to do something for his daughter, especially with… Lilith being out of the picture. He just wanted to cheer her up, and unfortunately it seems ‘grandiose plans’ run in the family.

Even now as Charlie and that Red haired Buck show him around, Charlie explains excitedly about different things they have at the hotel. It reminds Lucifer about how she was when she was little, that glow of joy never seemed to fade away from her despite the conditions she lives in.

But even still, as much as he’s trying not to zone out and actually listen to his daughters rambles, his mind keeps trailing back to one, singular thought. You.

What were you doing here? He knows you were there to ‘support the hotel’ as Charlie puts it. But this is the absolute first he’s hearing about it. Why wouldn’t heaven tell him that another Angel was down here, let alone, you most of all. The last time he saw you was… not the best first meeting

Were you here in secret? You clearly weren't fallen, considering you still had your halo and you didn’t look like you’ve been damaged anywhere close to what you’d be if you had fallen. Not to mention… Adam, the exterminations were his idea so why would you even consider an alternative when you are his-

“Uh, Dad?” Charlie interrupted Lucifer’s thoughts, a look of worry on her face. ”You’ve got a little bit of… horn? Sticking out”

Lucifer looks up and sees that he’s subconsciously beginning to phase into his full demon form. He quickly takes his hand and pats the horns as if he was just dusting off his coat, causing the horns to seem to fade away like dust. Wow, today really seems to be getting to him.

“Ah sorry Sweetie, it’s nothing just… uh..” He thinks for a moment, he has to talk to you alone, just for a second. “*Ahem* I was just realizing I had to… use the bathroom, I seem to have had one too many drinks on the way here. Can you tell me where the… bathroom is?” He lets out a chuckle to hopefully cover his lie.

“Oh, it’s just down the hall and to the right, I can take you there-“

Lucifer quickly lets out a loud ”No!“ Before clearing his through again “I can get there on my own, just wait here and I’ll be back!”

Before Charlie can even answer, Lucifer rushes through the halls of the hotel, yelling a ‘I’ll be back soon’ to his Daughter before turning the corner. He lets out a deep breath as he lays out the plan in his head. Figure out why you’re here, and get back to Charlie as fast as inhumanly possible.

Picking his feet up again, he makes his way to the lobby of the hotel, he looks around for a moment before spotting the check in desk. ‘They usually keep visitor information there, right?’

He quickly scours the desk, looking for any forms or documents that have your room number, before finally setting his eyes on your room number. It didn’t take long to find you seeing as there were such few occupants in the hotel.

He memorized your room and repeated it to himself while walking to your door. Past the first, 2nd, then finally, halfway through the hallway on the 3rd floor he finds it. Before he can knock, a sudden wave of worry floods his senses. Seriously, Why would he hesitate now?!

He shuffled around nervously, starting to doubt this little mission of his. Should he really be doing this? Is he really worried about you being here or is the real reason he came here because he wanted to… apologize to you? It’s true that the guilt of what happened all those years ago was still there. But… Digging up old memories just because he’s selfish and wants to apologize to you? He takes a deep breath.

He had to make things better or… at least get some things off his chest. So, with a heavy fist and an even heavier heart, he gently knocks on the hard wooden door…

This had been the longest 10 minutes of your life, trying to decide wether to send Adam the message, or to even return to tour with Charlie at all. As much as it pains you to say, you still become anxiety ridden when he’s in the room or even the mere mention of him. That spark of defiance you had in the lobby earlier being nothing but a small bit of courage. But you remembered that you had promised Charlie you’d be there for her, and you certainly weren’t one to take back a promise.

Before you could decide what to do, you hear an ever so faint knock on your door. Curiosity peaked, You thought Charlie was supposed to be waiting for you on the 4th floor? Had you taken too long and the tour went south? You quickly made your way to the door and hoped you wouldn’t see a very angry Charlie on the other side.

As the wooden-door creaked open, your face slowly turned bitter at The short, impish man who stood on the other side. Lucifer Morningstar. To be honest, you much would have preferred the angry Charlie, TWO very angry Charlies over this.

The man shuffled awkwardly in place, gripping his cane. Neither of you could break the silence . He avoided any eye-contact with you and even you couldn’t hide The disgusted expression on your face when looking at him. Finally after what feels like 3x the eternity you’ve lived thus far, you spoke In shaky words, ”What do you want?”

Lucifer pushed out his words as well as he could, meek they were, but you understood what he said “Can we please…talk?”

Your fingers gripped at the door, nails embedding into the wood, leaving scratches. It took all you had not to slam the door right in his face, but even if you had, it wouldn’t have solved any pressing issues. If anything, it might make him against Charlie’s idea with the hotel, which you couldn’t afford. You take a deep breath before letting out a quick but unsavory,

“5 minutes”

The short demon shuffles his way into the room as you follow in behind him, locking the door to prevent someone like Nifty or Charlie from walking in. Lucifer stands timidly by your nightstand as you stand on the complete opposite side of the room, facing him. Lucifer runs his neck as he lets out a shaky sigh “I just want to know what you’re doing here…” he pauses, he looks like he has more to say but decided not to.

You can only laugh to yourself “I’m here because I believe I think Charlie’s idea has potential to be great. The exterminations, they have to end… that’s why I’m here”

Lucifer seem a bit… surprised? Surprised with your stance on the exterminations. you figured he needed more than that so you continue “I… I’ve never been one for the exterminations. I've been against them from the start. I just didn't know what else to do. Nothing else seemed…right.“

He stayed silent, processing what you told him. He really didn’t understand you, he had a completely warped view of you. “If that’s all you wanted to know I’d rather you take your leave-“

“No!” You step back at the sudden raise in voice but he quickly clears his throat “No, there’s another thing. I would… I’d like to apologize to you about how things went… when we first met.”

You stared at him, the silence once again feeling the air. You didn’t dare break it, you watched as the impish man looked around with anxiety, trying to find the right words. “It’s always been there, in the back of my mind. How we- I, treated you. It was unacceptable… Lilith kept telling me to let it go, that she was done thinking about it, but I just couldn’t.” He takes a deep breath “so, I’m so sorry for hurting you, Y/n…”

Lucifer Morningstar. The man in front of you looked more akin to a puddle than a person at this point. Sweat dripped from his face, a scrunched mouth filled with a sour taste. He wasn’t looking at you, focusing his attention to the ground. Finally, after many long seconds later. You step forward, grabbing his attention.

“As much as I appreciate the apology, I don’t forgive you.” Lucifer began to speak or at least say he understood but no matter what his reaction was going to be, you interrupted him ‘“-I don’t forgive you, because I’m not the one who deserves it”

To that, Lucifer's head was struck with confusion, “what do you mean?” He tried to make sense of your words, shifting eyes looking around in unease before landing on a framed photo of a candlelit man, an old and forgotten, yet familiar smile on his face… ”You mean… Adam?” Despite his best efforts around you, saying the first man’s name still dripped his words with venom. That same sour taste filling his mouth at the mere mention of him. ”What does-” he stops himself, he knows why.

You breathe in slowly, “What you said to me, all of those years ago, hasn’t meant anything to me in a long time. I’ve gotten through it 10x over and finally understand that I am more than those words” you take another step towards him, closing the gap, “so… there's no use for your apology to me. But Adam… you’ve hurt him more than you couldn’t possibly imagine“

The room was filled with dense air, like any sudden move could kill the king of hell or even you at any second but still you continue. “Adam deserved so much better than what he was forced to have from you, so if anyone deserves your apology, it’s him.” He goes to speak but you shut him down again “but we all know that you are too prideful to do so, and Adam… he’s too stubborn to hear it”

You don’t yell, scream, all of your words coming soft from your lips “So… what you’re going to do, if you truly mean what you say. You will go back to your daughter, forget this conversation ever happened, then you can march back to your big castle with your Loving wife, and leave us be, for the rest of eternity.”

With that, you step away from him, words that have been bubbling inside you for centuries finally having been let out. It felt like several hundred pounds had been lifted off of you. You begin to walk to the door to let him out, wanting the conversation to be over, When you hear him speak a faint ”Ex-Wife actually”

You pause, your teeth already biting your tongue. Honestly, if you really thought about it, it was poetic. The Angel who ruined two marriages, leaving Adam nothing but a broken heart and baggage, ended up with a failed marriage himself.

But even still, you still felt a slight pain of pity for him. Through clenched teeth you let out ”I'm… sorry to hear that. It must be hard.”

This kind of thing, no matter the person, is always tough. You knew the aftermath of it through Adam, even now he struggles with so many issues from it. In that regard, you felt pity for the ruler of hell, but the rest of you felt… glad? Glad that he finally understands just a thorn of the pain he inflicted on Adam.

“The 5 minutes are up so… go now… please.” Your voice shakes near the end, your will power for everything you’ve done starting to break. Lucifer looked equally as defeated, you could tell he wanted to say more but he just nodded his head before walking out the door. slowly, silently, you close the door back before sliding down it as your legs give out.

You wanted to cry, scream, do anything but sit there, but you couldn’t. Your voice hurts from talking, your feet hurt from standing, everything just… hurts.

DING DING DING

A luminous yellow light follows the sound, you lifted your head and saw your phone on your nightstand. Adam… You used all of your strength to make it to your bed, practically having to crawl to avoid any more tiredness in your aching body. You finally land on the soft mattress to pick up your phone, seeing the plethora of messages from Adam.

DIXKMASTER69

Yo Bitch, everything good??

You’ve been typing for like 10 minutes

Answer me

Hellllloooooo??????

Oh, that’s why he was texting. You had completely forgotten your half written message you were debating on sending earlier. You start to delete it and rewrite it when suddenly,

INCOMING CALL FROM DIXKMASTER69

You sigh at the screen, your phone vibration sends chills through your aching arms, it acts as a lifeline for you not to fall asleep on the soft plush beneath you. You press the answer button.

‘Fuck Babe, finally! Are you ok?!” Adam’s voice sounded angry but you know he was just worried “you’ve been texting for like 15 minutes”

“Yeah, don’t worry Adam, I... must have fallen asleep while trying to message you”

“It’s 12 in the afternoon, you dont normally fall asleep in the middle of the day” Adam questions, his voice having obvious worry for you.

“Today’s just been very tiring. But I promise I’m fine, it’s just happened a lot today.” You hated lying to him, your other half, but you know this is something that he shouldn’t have to worry about.

You hear him groan, “how many times do I have to fuckin’ tell you not to overwork yourself for those sinners”

“I know, I’m sorry” you pause “I… I have to go now but I promise I’ll call you later, yeah?“

He was quiet on the other side before he lets out “Yeah, just don’t overdo yourself ok?” His voice was soft, no hint of sarcasm or anger, just him.

You let out a small breathy laugh “I promise. Have fun at your show tonight. Talk to you later, love you.”

“Love you too”

CLICK

You sigh to yourself, you still have the tour to do. It’s fine, everything is fine.

Tomorrow will be a better day. it has to be.

-

TAGLIST: @tired-of-life-86 @nervoussystemss @qopia @lovelyemily @hcneyiced @v3r41ynn

@ghostdoodlen @nxptvne-13 @ximenavc-che

@edgyfluff @ericityyy @diffidentphantom @faimmm @slasher-whore69 @1-randomized @ozzersauce @fanlovedlt @alientee @pandaquick @white-00-7 @call-me-nyx @adamstruelove @jennieyeager @sillyycatt @solatiium @my-name-is-heartache @parisiterileymoon @titan-senpai @lovely-night-owl-86 @innergardentoadpony @animefan106sposts @starlightstarbrightmyfirststar @lovkayy @ilikedrinkingsoda @barrythestrawberry041 @deadpoolssweetchimi @asegirllovesreadingporn @ripashy @deleted-1-800 @sirenetheblogger @ur1nonlygabi @aweleyirene @n0tmentallystable

(I really hope I didn’t forget anyone if I did, just asked to be added in the comments!!)

Shoutout to these specific asked as well, love you all <3

[hoomandoescosplay]

Love Language | L Lawliet x Reader Oneshot

I place the cake I just finished making into the fridge to cool for a bit as I hear the doorbell ring. A small hum escapes me as I walk to the front door and look through the peephole. I don’t see anything except for a package on the doormat.

Before I know it a smile forms on my face as I open the door eager to get the package inside. I start walking towards the kitchen but pivot to the living room once I remember the kitchen counters are full of baking supplies.

As I sit down and begin to open the package my smile widens. Inside the package is a black box with a bow. I read the name engraved on the box and my eyes widen, my hand moving even faster now to unbox this gift.

A small gasp leaves my mouth as I see a pair of black chunky Valentino heels. They were beautiful, and exactly my style. Just like how L knows me all too well. I pick up the box and start taking the shoes out, admiring them for another minute before I put them on.

I continue to stare at them with an obnoxious smile on my face for a moment before I look back at the box. Inside a small card is neatly tucked into the corner, signed with a simple, elegant L.

I smile as I pick up the card, my cheeks feeling warmer than before. He was always sending me various gifts and surprises, but never failed to make my heart flutter.

After a few months of dating I quickly came to realize that his love language was gift giving. Whether it was buying me dinner or a small keychain to bigger gifts like this one he would never fail to surprise me.

The gifts weren't the only way I knew how he felt about me. Even though he struggled to express his emotions at times, I learned to read the way his eyes soften when he looks at me, or how his voice is a little quieter when he talks to me.

Most people don’t notice the subtle shift in his behavior but I’ve grown to understand each and every little detail. I place the card back into the box before standing up and making my way to our bedroom to see what the heels look like on in the bathroom mirror.

I stand in front of the mirror, the black heels accentuating my outfit and making my legs look longer than usual. I look at myself with satisfaction, turning a little to see how the shoes looked from different angles. I was already thinking of all the different things I could wear with them. A black leather skirt, a dress, jeans and a nice going out top.

Then a certain piece of clothing that I’ve had shoved in my closet appears in my mind. I could only imagine how L would react to something like that.

I was planning on surprising L with the cake I was preparing for Valentine’s Day but I think this surprise might be an even better one. I search through the draws in my side of the closet and quickly find the lacy black lingerie I got as a white elephant gift when I was still in college.

At the time my friends and I thought it was hilarious. We were so young to the point we thought dressing up in something like this was idiotic and only a thing in movies. I got this in my sophomore year while we all passed around white elephant gifts on Valentine’s Day.

A small laugh escapes me as I remember that day. It honestly wasn’t even that long ago. I met L my senior year and we’ve been dating for four years now so I’ve probably had this set for about five years.

I hold the set in my hands, admiring it for a moment before I start removing my current outfit and putting on the lingerie. It hugs my curves perfectly, the matching set looks absolutely stunning with these heels.

As I look myself over in the mirror I almost want to laugh. I look so different than usual, and yet, I feel really good about myself. Feeling satisfied with the way the set looks on me, I decide to go for a finishing touch. I grab a perfume L always compliments me on, spraying a small amount on my wrists and neck.

After, I walk back out to the kitchen to grab my phone and check the time. I have about fifteen minutes before L should get back home. I take a quick look around the kitchen counters and the living room. That should give me enough time to clean up the place and get prepared.

I quickly clean up the counter and kitchen table, putting things away and throwing out random wrappers. I put away any dirty dishes in the sink and then looked around the living room to make sure everything was in order.

My eyes fall on the box the shoes came in and I pick them up and place them in the bedroom closet so L doesn’t see it when he walks in. Once the last of the clutter was cleared and the kitchen was spotless, I made my way back to the bedroom and waited patiently, my heart beating fast in my chest.

I felt slightly nervous but mostly excited. We had been together for so many years already, and the idea of surprising him like this was thrilling. He’s constantly surprising me so it would be nice to surprise him for once.

I sit on the edge of the bed, my hands folded in my lap as the minutes tick by on the bedside clock. I reposition myself on the bed multiple times, not really sure what I'm doing, but end up sitting the same way I started off.

After about five more minutes I hear the front door open and my heart starts beating fast again, the anticipation of what I was going to do making me feel a little jittery.

I sit up a bit straighter at the sound of the door. A moment later he calls out, “I’m home” making my smile grow slightly. A warm feeling fills my chest at his words. I try to keep my nervousness in check as I respond. "In the bedroom."

There’s a moment of silence before I hear him begin to walk closer to the door. My heartbeat quickens and I have to resist the urge to fidget with my hands. The footsteps stop and the door pushes open slowly.

I take a deep breath before looking up as the door opens fully, my gaze fixed on L. His eyes immediately land on me, his expression stays neutral but his eyes are roaming over my appearance.

A small smile forms on my face as I extend out one of my legs. “The shoes look good on don’t you think?” L’s gaze drifts down to my legs and the black heels before sweeping back up and he steps inside the room, shutting the door behind him.

“They look perfect.” His usually quiet voice is slightly lower than usual. My smile grows at his reaction. I roll my ankle slightly continuing to show off the heel as I look down at it.

“They’re such a nice gift. I was completely surprised.” I say as I lift my gaze up to stare at him through my lashes. His eyes stay locked on me, his normal serious expression slightly softened as he approaches the bed.

He kneels down and lightly grasps my ankle, running his fingers along the heel of the shoe and lightly tracing the intricate design as his thumb moves along my skin. "I'm glad you like them." His touch is subtle but gentle, sending a shiver through me.

He begins to trail his fingers up my leg, moving along the lace of the set and lightly up my bare thigh. "Though I find myself rather distracted now from the shoes." His voice is still low and his gaze locked on me. “Distracted?” I fake my surprise. “How so?”

"Distracted by you." He answers simply. "More specifically, what you have on." His hand is still on my thigh, lightly gripping the cloth and he starts moving his fingers in lazy circles on my skin.

A shiver goes through my body as I continue to play dumb. “Yes, I have the shoes you bought me on.” He chuckles softly, the sound making my heart flutter.

His hand moves farther up my thigh, tracing the lace with his fingertips. "Yes," he says, "but you know that's not what I'm talking about. This set isn't something I've seen before."

“Oh this little thing?” I say as he continues to trace the lace. “It’s just a small surprise I kept stored away.” L stands up and places one knee on the bed between my legs, the motion pushing my legs open a bit as he leans over me.

He lightly grasps my chin with his hand and angles my face up to look at him. "I'll admit, it's more than a pleasant surprise. You look stunning in this."

My cheeks flush as he tilts my head up. “I’m glad you like it.” I finally responded after a moment. His expression is now a bit more intense, his eyes roaming over my face and then down my body with interest.

He runs his thumb over my bottom lip. "You have no idea how much I like it." His voice is low and slightly rough. “Then why don’t you show me how much you like it.” I respond as I continue to look up at him.

L's hand moves to lightly grip my hip as he slowly pushes me back down onto the bed. He crawls on top of me on the bed, trapping me under him as he looks down at me with that intense expression.

He leans down until his face is inches from mine, the scent of his cologne filling my senses. "Gladly." He practically breathes the word out.

A content sigh escapes my lips as he begins to train kisses down my neck. One of his hands comes up to lightly toy with the strap of the bra set, his fingers trailing over my skin and sending goosebumps across my body.

I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer into my body. He let out a low groan when my body pressed against his in the new position. His mouth leaves my neck to attach onto my collarbone, lightly biting and sucking on my skin.

I let out a shallow breath as my body shutters from his touch. After giving my collarbone a few more bites, his mouth starts to trail down as he begins peppering kisses along my chest and to the top of my cleavage.

His hand is lightly gripping my hip, holding me in place as he moves his body over mine. He kisses along my shoulder as he hooks a finger under the strap of the bra, slowly pulling it down my shoulder and exposing more of my skin to his view.

In response my back arches up slightly. L takes advantage of this and moves his hand underneath me. In one quick motion he unclasps the bra before pulling it off me and throwing it somewhere across the room.

A small noise escapes from me as the cool air hits my skin that was previously clothed. Well, as clothed as a lacy, mesh bra could be. L's eyes roam over my exposed chest, his gaze slightly hungry and filled with desire as he begins to lightly run his hands over my chest.

"Gorgeous." he breathes out, his voice rough. I arch my back up towards him again, my eyes rolling slightly back just from the sound of his voice.

His hands grip my thighs, holding my body tight against his as he looks down at me with that hungry gaze. "You have no idea what you're doing to me." he groans as he leans down to kiss my stomach.

One of my hands goes to rest on his head making his lips press down harder on my stomach with each kiss. He's kissing his way down my stomach, his lips warm and making my skin tingle as he kisses my skin, occasionally giving a light bite to make me gasp.

His hands are roaming over my thighs, holding them tightly as he moves his body down the bed and positions himself between my legs. His hands slide up to my hips, gripping tightly and he starts leaving a trail of kisses along the very tops of my inner thighs.

He's taking his time, just like he always does, and it's driving me crazy. His tongue darts out before lightly licking up my inner thigh, the action making my breath catch in my throat.

He looks up at me with an innocent look on his face. "Something wrong?" He says it so nonchalantly but the smirk on his face gives away the teasing tone.

“Yeah.” I say breathlessly. “These are still on.” L's fingers lightly pull the lacy edge of my panties away from my skin before he lets it snap back into place. "Seems like you're right." He says, his voice low.

“Then take them off.” My voice has a slight tinge of desperation to it, making him chuckle lowly. He smirks at my words, his eyes roaming over my body as he seems to take in the view.

He then hooks his fingers in the waistband of the panties and begins to slowly slide them down my legs. After they’re completely off and thrown somewhere in the room his hand goes to grab one of my legs.

L places the bottom of the heel up against his chest as his fingers lightly trace my leg. "You're quite the sight like this. It would be a shame to take these off."

I sit up slightly on my forearms as I stare at him with my heel on his chest for a moment. “Who said the heels had to come off?” He pauses for a moment, his gaze flickering up to meet mine before a smirk forms on his face. "Not a bad idea."

He suddenly grabs my ankle and lifts my leg up, pressing his lips to the underside of my foot and trailing kisses down my leg. I sharply inhale at the feeling, laying back down.

He takes his time with my legs, kissing and biting on my skin gently, continuing down my leg and ending at my ankle where the heel remains. He begins to lightly circle his fingers around the ankle and looks up at me through his lashes with a smirk.

I met his gaze as I let out a satisfied sigh. “Shirt off.” I say as I point towards him. L chuckles softly before leaning back on his knees, still between my legs, and tugs his shirt off his body and throws it onto the floor.

"Better?" He asks with a slight grin. I shake my head as I point lower. “You’ve got me all undressed but not yourself.” He places a hand on my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze as his eyes wander over my body and he lets out a low chuckle.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Someone's impatient." I huff which just further proves he’s right. “Stop teasing me.” I whine making him grin. "Teasing you is fun though." He says before leaning down over me and braces himself above me with his arms on either side of shoulders.

He leans down to my ear and speaks in a low voice. "Besides, can you really say that you don't enjoy the anticipation?" I shudder once more as my hand travels down to unbuckle his belt.

His breathing hitches slightly as I touch his belt, the metal buckle making a slight jingling sound as my hands fumble with it. He leans down and lightly begins kissing along my neck again, his body pressed close to mine.

My hands continue to fidget with his belt until I get it off. He lets out a low groan against my neck, his breath hot against my skin as my fingers fumble to pull his jeans off. His fingers toy and tease across my stomach and waist, his touch making me shiver.

After a moment he chuckles and removes his jeans and boxers, tossing them on the floor with the rest of our clothes. Now that the last pieces of clothing are gone he wastes no time in pressing his body right up against mine, his skin warm and touching every inch of mine.

He grabs one of my legs and hooks it over his hip, using the new angle to kiss my neck and the top of my chest. My hands go to wrap back around his neck, my nails digging slightly into his back.

He lets out a low groan as my nails scratch at his skin, the sound reverberating through my body. His hand trails down to his length as he begins to line it up with my entrance.

I bite my lip as I try to suppress my moan from the sensation. L leans down and whispers in my ear, his voice low and rough. “There’s no need to hold back.” As he says this he pushes his full length into me causing me to moan out in response.

We’re both still for a moment as he lets me adjust. When I’m ready I give him a nod and he begins to pull almost all the at out before pushing all the way back in.

His movements are slow and deliberate at first, but soon pick up the pace. He grips my hips as he leans down and starts to kiss me passionately. L’s tongue explores my mouth, tangling with mine as he continues to thrust into me.

I dig my nails deeper into his back as he grips onto my hip thigh tighter. As he breaks off the kiss he uses my thigh to angle my hips up higher, penetrating deeper into me.

My eyes roll back as he groans out in pleasure. “Fuck, you feel so good around me.” He grunts out. I barely register his words as my body is on fire from pleasure.

He continues to thrust into me with a continuous rhythm, moans escaping me from time to time. In one swift motion he completely pulls out of me, making me whine.

As soon as he pulls out he flips me onto my stomach. Grabbing my hips and pulling me up onto my knees, so my ass is in the air and my heels are digging into the mattress. He admires the view for a moment before lining himself back up and sinking into me with a grunt.

I grip the sheets with my hands as another wave of pleasure washes over me. Not long after he picks up the pace using the grip he has on my hips to pull me back into him harder.

“L… fuck.” I whimper out as I feel close to release. "That's it... almost there." He tightens his grip and changes the angle slightly, hitting that perfect spot inside me with each thrust. His panting becomes heavier as he feels himself getting closer as well.

After a few more thrusts I come undone, gripping the sheets tighter as my body slightly shakes from my climax. As he feels me tremble around him, L comes undone as well.

He buries his face between my shoulders and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back onto him even harder and deeper as he finds his own release. We both stay in that position for what feels like forever as we try to recollect ourselves.

Eventually we find our way under the covers, intertwining our limbs together as my head rests on L’s chest. My heels are still on but they somehow don’t get in the way.

I feel him place a gentle kiss on top of my head making me smile and nuzzle into him more. As I begin to drift off I hear him murmur, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” I let out a sleepy hum in response.

My thoughts slowly start to fade as I sink further into his warm embrace. The last thing I feel before falling asleep is his hand running through my hair in a comforting gesture.

[midnight-mourning]

What's This?

❄️❄️Midnight's DCA December Day 4❄️❄️

Sorry for the lateness! Busy few days and then realized I needed to take some time for myself and make something I enjoy, so finished this finally.

Prompt: Maybe someone teaching Moon what christmas is? My moon just recently became 'sentient' and so doesn't understand alot of things yet! So he'd have no idea what christmas is! I think it'd be cute. Doesn't have to be my Moon, of course. Just the idea that Sun hasn't told him for some reason, so someone else has to!

Word Count: 1239

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

"And put the tinsel here, here, and here!" Sun directs, point to various locations around the Daycare.

You chuckle, but follow his orders. 

The two of you were decorating for the holidays, and having found a box of decorations in the back of the Daycare's supply closet, Sun had gotten to work immediately. And had put you to work as well. Additionally, he had asked for you to order more supplies, wanting to spiff the place up as much as possible for the kids. He also mentioned wanting crafting materials for Christmas and holiday themed projects, so that was piled on to this order. 

You think his request for 30 boxes of candy canes was a little excessive, but the rest had all been reasonable and within budget. So, using what you had, and what you now had, to really go all out. 

You cut into another box, opening it to find fake holly and mistletoe, as well as a couple of wreaths. 

"So, any particular reason for this excess cheer this year?" You ask, taking the supplies out and setting them in a pile on a nearby table. 

At this, he clamps up for a moment, but then shakes his head. "Nothing specifically, it just seemed like a good opportunity! I needed ideas for the next few weeks for activities, why not do something to lift the holiday cheer!"

You think the answer was odd in its wording, but can't think of anything to say in response beyond, "Fair enough."

You're mid-decorating when the lights cut, as is usual for this time in the day. 

Without looking up from organizing colored paper and pipe cleaners, you wave in Moon's direction, "Hey, bud. You also in the Christmas spirit?"

No answer. 

You look up, and find Moon is entirely motionless. You would think he was powered off if not for the muted clicks and whirls you hear still emitting from him. 

You frown. "Moon, you alright?"

"I, what..." He tilts his head, and looks around. "What is all of this? Is something happening? Is there some, odd, birthday party occurring today?"

Your brows furrow, "Well, no. This is, these are Christmas decorations. I mean, holidays overall, but mainly for Christmas." 

He takes a step over to where tinsel is hung, picking it up between two fingers. His faceplate twists to the left, then the right. Then, he turns to you. 

"...Christmas?"

Now you're the one who's confused. 

"I, you mean, how do you—" You stop. "Moon, you don't know what Christmas is?"

He shakes his head slow. 

You clasp your hands in front of your mouth, eyes wide at the news. 

When you don't say anything, Moon seems to become apprehensive, chuckling awkwardly, "Should, should I?"

Realizing yourself, you shake your head slightly. Taking a deep breath, you break out into a grin, clapping your hands. 

"Oh, this is so fun! I can show you so many things and all the traditions. We can put up decorations together, watch movies, do some crafts, oh! We can bake cookies too! Though maybe that's not a good idea to do in the dark and—" You pause, noticing he's just staring at you completely lost. You clear your throat, speaking more slowly now. "Sorry, to answer your question, no not at all. I know you don't get a lot of exposure to everything, so it makes sense, though I don't know why Sun wouldn't—but ah, I'm so excited to tell you! If, if that's alright of course."

Moon tilts his head, and you're afraid you may have just overwhelmed him. You're about to apologize again when he laughs softly.

"I think I would like that, Star." There's a fondness to his words you can't place, it's gone when he seems to notice it himself. "If, you don't mind, that is."

You nod, eager, and can't help yourself as you rush over and take his hand, "I would be honored."

As you turn and lead him towards your grand pile of boxes and decorations, you don't know how fast his faceplate spins the moment after your hands make contact. 

You sit down and pat the spot next to you with your free hand, Moon following your lead after a moment. 

You shift so that you're sitting cross-legged across from him, and he does the same.

"Okay so..."

You start by explaining the origins of the holiday, what it means for different people, and how people celebrate depending on where they're from and such. You tell him all about every tradition you can think of, including the ones you personally do. 

Along the way, you notice Moon's body language shift from apprehensive and confused, to curious, to invested in what you say. It in turn fuels your own excitement as he asks you polite questions every so often, and you deliver every answer with as much detail as you can. 

You worry that you may be doing too much again though, so you mention such. "Sorry, I know this is a lot and I'm going super fast, I just, the holidays are really important to me you know?" Your voice grows soft and you look away, laughing shyly. "I um, I don't really get to spend them with many people anymore so I guess I just got super excited since we're friends and all. I'm probably boring you at this point aren't I? I can stop if this is a bit too much."

You start to feel embarrassment creep in. You'd been talking for ages now without stop, save for when he interjected every so often. For all you know Moon could be actually exhausted by how much you've had to say, it's kind of impossible to tell with that immobile faceplate of his. 

Color you surprised you feel a hand under your chin, turning your face back up to look at his. 

His eyes are narrowed gleefully, and his tone is soft as he gazes down at you. 

"You could never bore me, Star." He tilts his head. "You know that, right?"

Your eyes dart to the side, "I, um, I guess not, but still you must be—"

You suddenly find his face taking up your entire field of vision. And, after a moment's hesitation, he quickly plants his grin to your lips, then pulls back. "Whatever you may be thinking, it's quite the opposite. Seeing you so passionate it, it's contagious, and if I could I would ask you to never stop." 

Then, he looks away and folding his hands into his lap, making a sound similar to a cough. "Apologies I, I suppose I didn't know a better way to tell you then that. If you that was a step too far please, forgive me."

You however, are too busy trying to ignore the heat creeping up your neck onto your face. 

You clear your throat. "Moon?"

"Hm?"

"If that's your way of explaining things, I wish you'd have started it sooner." Before you can think on it further, you reach up and grab his collar, pulling him back down to kiss him again. 

After a—much longer this time—kiss, you pull away, breathless. 

For a moment, Moon doesn't say anything. 

Then, "Perhaps now would be the time to ask you about hanging mistletoe around the Daycare?"

"I can think of a few good spots for it."

He chuckles, leaning in once more, "So can I."

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Thank you to @zenkaiankoku for the request! I thought it was super adorable ^_^ Tried to do a mix of your AU with it (which is real cool btw, was reading through it like this 👀👀 the entire time lol) as well :) also had to make Moon a bit lovesick, I feel like suddenly becoming aware of yourself but having someone so willing to guide you would make anyone just fall in love hehe

If you're interested in requesting, you have until 12/13 OR until I recieve 31 requests, currently only have 13 total so plenty of space for more! See here for more details, thanks for reading!

Masterpost link

Tag list (if you would like added, see this post for more info):

@scarletcowboy @beemyhuneybee @fishm0ther @deviouscrackers @elsajoyagent8

@luckyyyduckyyy @zenkaiankoku @jogimote @local-shrub @amarynthian-chronicles

@robinette-green @everlightreader @sinister-sincerely @starredeclipse @dangerva

@juukai @crystalmagpie447 @mothgutz236 @lizyxml

[xzaddyzanakinx]

| So, So Right | pt.1

Stepbro! Anakin Skywalker x Innocent Reader

18+ MDNI

Warnings: eventual smut, inappropriate relationships

Info: Modern AU, Anakin is whipped, Anakin literally worships the ground you walk on, Not Profread

It had been almost 4 months since your world was shattered and the pieces were glued haphazardly back together. Everything had happened alarmingly fast, one day it was just you and your mother, the next she was bringing home a stranger. He was nice, he made your mom happy and that was enough of a reason for you to love him as well.

That was until one night Obi-Wan and your mother came in to the living room where you sat typing away on your laptop for a college class. Obi-Wan cleared his throat to catch your attention, once you looked up and saw the nervous smiles on their faces you got a nauseous feeling in your stomach.

“Can we talk for a second?” Your mother asked tentatively, almost afraid to ask.

“Yeah sure. What’s up?” You raised an eyebrow and carefully put your laptop on the coffee table.

“We’ve decided it’s time for you to meet my son.” Obi-Wan smiled, “the year is almost over, he will be coming home for the summer.”

Your mind spun, this could mean the end of your normalcy. This was a serious step, of course you knew he had a son, but you had never even spoken to him, much less seen him.

“That’s a couple weeks away. Uh- well thanks for telling me?” You said confused.

“Yes but, honey, look at me.” Your mother’s sweet and calming voice pierced through the fog attempting to form in your mind. “He’s coming to visit this weekend!”

“Like this weekend? As in tomorrow?” You asked, standing up abruptly.

“Yes, he will be here tomorrow afternoon. We want to take you both out to dinner.” Obi-Wan nodded, reaching out to encourage you to walk over.

“Okay,” you forced a smile, trying to hide your nervousness, “what’s his favorite desert?”

Obi-Wan chuckled, pulling you into an embrace where you were sandwiched between him and your mother.

“Blondies.” He whispered and gave you an affectionate shoulder squeeze.

You tossed and turned all night, unable to get comfortable and desperate to turn your thoughts off. You so badly wanted to make a good impression on him. You knew enough about him to know he played Lacrosse, he was such a good player and had so much passion for it that he had considered majoring in sports management. Though quickly realized engineering and mechanics was the perfect fit for him. He was tall and pretty, a scar across his eye from his teenage years. That was it, that was all you had. Plus the fact you now knew he liked Blondies.

So the moment your alarm had went off you rolled out of bed and got to work. Baking was your passion, culinary school was the perfect fit for you. You dreamed of opening a pastry shop, and you used every spare minute to hone your skills. The process was easy, cookie dough and brownie batter, slap it all in a pan and throw it in the oven.

Now that you’d taken them out to cool, you found yourself restless and incapable of sitting still. This was going to be a long day.

Over the next few hours you packaged away the Blondies in a cute pastry box with a pink tag that you’d written ‘Anakin’ in beautiful calligraphy, showered and watched a few episodes of your favorite show, and now you sat at your vanity.

Staring at yourself in the mirror, hyping yourself up to meet the most important person in Obi-Wan’s life. Carefully applying your makeup, not too much, just enough to accentuate your natural features and lengthen your eyelashes. Painting your nails and nude-ish pink and slipping on a soft baby blue dress with matching shoes.

Descending the stairs while your hair flowed gracefully down your back in loose curls. Obi-Wan and your mother sat at the kitchen table chatting, immediately looking up when you entered the room.

“Oh! You look lovely!” Your mother clapped her hands and her lips curved into a genuine smile.

“Beautiful.” Obi-Wan beamed, he had really taken to the roll of father figure for you, and it showed in moments like these. He treated you as his own flesh and blood.

The car ride went quickly, and soon you were entering the restaurant. Watching the crowd from the waiting room, in fitted black dress pants and a black button-up stood a sandy haired boy. Obi-Wan rushed over and clapped a hand on his back, pulling him into a crushing hug. You stood with your mother, watching the scene unfold with adoration.

“Ani!” Obi-Wan outstretched his arms to gesture to you. “Here she is!”

His gaze lingered on your face before traveling down and back up, his cheeks a bit pink and his eyes wide.

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you again Satine.” He nodded and took your mothers hand between his two large ones.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you.” Anakin turned to you, his height making you feel smaller than before. You introduced yourself as Anakin seemed to drink in every word.

The hostess soon called for your party, and brought you to a large round table near a floor to ceiling window. The view was gorgeous and the table setting was just as elegant. The dinner was going smoothly, Anakin was easy to get along with. He seemed genuinely interested in everything you said, you were so relieved that you didn’t even notice the hunger in his gaze.

That had been weeks ago, and it felt like an eternity. The dinner ended with a bombshell of an announcement, Obi-Wan and your mother were engaged to be married.

Now Anakin had moved in, the wedding date was set and Obi-Wan had put his house on the market. Your room was right next to Anakin’s, and you had a shared bathroom connecting the rooms. You didn’t mind, in fact you quite enjoyed being so close to him.

The friendship had blossomed beautifully, spending time with Anakin was your new favorite thing. He kept you company when you were flitting about the kitchen with your apron covered in flour, helped you with chores, read to you at night and he even walked through the neighborhood with you and quickly discovered your fear of the large dog at the end of the cul-de-sac when you practically jumped into his arms when it barked at you. He didn’t make fun of you like you expected, he held you to his chest and whispered calming words until you were ready to continue, after that his hand was practically glued to yours in a comforting grasp at all times.

Today was the beginning of his new summer job, he’d be working at the local car shop as a mechanic, he was absolutely ecstatic. Of course you were equally excited for him, but you held a bit of worry in your heart, what would you do all day without him here?

“Goodmorning princess,” he called from the shared bathroom, you almost always kept your doors open so you could easily get to his room and vice versa.

You hopped up quickly and rushed to sit on the bathroom sink while he brushed his teeth. He greeted you with a sleepy kiss to your forehead, leaving a soft smile on your lips.

“Are you excited?” You asked.

“So excited.” He grinned, spitting toothpaste foam into the sink and rinsing it down.

“Good! I-I’ll bring you some lunch okay?” You said.

“Perfect. I’d miss you too much if you didn’t.” He gathered you up in his arms, hooking his forearms under your thighs to hold you close to his chest while you wrapped your legs around him, resting your head in the crook of his shoulder. He walked you over to his bedroom, gently laying you in his still-warm sheets.

“Ani?” You asked as you watched him strip from his pajama pants and sleep shirt.

“What is it babe?” He asked as he walked to his closet in just his boxers.

“What am I supposed to do all day while you’re gone?” Your lip stuck in a pout.

“We talked about this,” he said gently, sliding a white shirt over his head and throwing some jeans on the bed before making his way to you.

“I’ll be back everyday at 5:00. You’ll have from 8:00 to 5:00 to do whatever you want! Call up one of your friends, see if they want to set up a weekly hang out or something.”

He carefully tucked a lock of your hair behind your ear, you could see the pain in his eyes at the thought of you being upset.

“I know. I will.” You sighed, scooting closer to rest your head on his knee.

“I gotta do this to get the experience, so I can open my own garage. How else am I gonna make sure you get that big cake shop hmm?” He caressed your cheek with his thumb, making you nod in agreement.

“You’ll see me at lunch, and once I get home, I’ll take you out to see a movie. How that sound?” He asked, taking notice of your sour expression.

You perked up at the thought, it had been a while since you’d been to the theater.

“Yes! That would make up for it I think.” You said playfully.

“Good. Now I gotta go before you convince me to stay.” He laughed, smoothing your hair and standing up.

Throwing on his jeans and a belt before tugging on his brand new pair of work boots. He took one last look at you, pressing his lips to his thumb and transferring the kiss to your bottom lip in a gentle swipe. He left you there, alone in his room. His blankets smothered you with his scent and you slowly let yourself fall asleep.

You groggily awoke to the feeling of the mattress being weighted down. A gentle hand shaking your leg to get your attention. Your sleep filled eyes barely registered the figure at the foot of the bed, Obi-Wan. You rubbed your eyes with your knuckles as he spoke.

“What’re you doing in here?” He asked.

“I came to tell Anakin bye and I fell asleep.” You laughed, sitting up.

“You almost had me worried,” he smiled, “I didn’t see you in your room when I stopped to tell you that your mom left for work and I was on my way out.”

“Sorry!” Your eyes widened, “oh I didn’t even think- I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s okay, don’t apologize.” He stood up, getting ready to leave. “Have a good day!” He called as he left the room.

Once you gathered the energy to pull yourself out of the cocoon you’d made in Anakin’s bed, you headed downstairs to make yourself breakfast and to assemble a bag lunch for Anakin.

You called a few friends, only one being free every week. Your childhood friend Ashley was more than happy to have a standing date with you every Thursday, she seemed excited to spend more time with you. As you ended the call you hopped into your car and set on your way to Anakin’s new job.

You stepped out onto the pavement with your old beat-up sneakers and shorts with a black crop top. The ground around you practically sizzled from the heat and you quickly made your way inside into the sweet relief of air conditioning. You strode up to the desk and tapped the bell on the counter, a man came out from the back after a few seconds.

“What can I do for you missy?” His voice was gruff and his shirt was stained beyond repair.

“I’m Anakin’s step-sister, I brought him lunch.” You lifted up the bag and smiled.

“Right, he told me you’d be coming.” He smirked, taking in your appearance before turning on his heel and yanking open a side door.

“Skywalker! Your girl is here.” He shouted, and moments later Anakin came rushing through the door, unzipping his work jumpsuit so that it hung from his hips, his white undershirt covered in sweat.

“There she is!” He grinned, enveloping you in a tight hug, breaking the embrace to place a possessive hand on the small of your back, leading you outside and back to your car.

“How is it? Is it fun? Do you like the people? Who was that guy? Is he your boss?” Your rapid fire questions had Anakin laughing as he cracked open his can of Pepsi.

“Slow down,” he grinned, pulling out his sandwich and chips. “Yes, it’s fun and all the people are super nice. And yes, that man is my boss, his name is Gary.”

“He doesn’t mind that I’m gonna be here everyday does he?” You asked.

“No, I told him you’d be bringing me lunch. He’s fine with it, gave me a teasin’ though.” He laughed.

“Why?” You questioned confused.

“Ah no big deal, he’s just jealous that I’ve got such a sweetheart like you.” His hand found yours and his thumb brushed your knuckles lovingly. “Thought it was weird my step-sis tolerated me enough to bring me food.”

“Huh? That’s mean!” You huffed, “I don’t tolerate you, I love you!”

“I know baby. I know.” He brought your knuckles to his lips and placed a chaste kiss there before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Guess I’m just lucky.” He shrugged with a teasing smirk.

You watched with adoration as he downed his food, he was starving, as if this was the only thing he’d eaten in days.

“I’m gonna have to pack you more tomorrow.” You said, dusting crumbs off his shirt. “Do you need me to bring you a snack? Are you still hungry?”

“I’ll be alright for today, we’ll just get some food before the movie tonight.” He said, taking his palm to your cheek.

He stared, his pupils blown wide as he gazed down at you leaning into his palm. He was always so soft and gentle with you, he made you feel so loved.

“C’mere.” He whispered, cradling your head now between both hands as he drew your face closer. Pressing a kiss to your nose and then to your forehead. “Thank you for always bein’ so sweet to me.”

“You deserve it.” You grinned, quickly pecking him on the cheek. “You should probably get back.”

“I know.” He sighed, putting his trash into the lunch bag and setting it in the floor board of the car.

His gaze lingered on your lips, and quickly shot over to the garage doors, all four were shut and so was the public entrance. He shook his head slightly.

“What’s wrong Ani?” You asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Nothing princess. Just thinking.” His voice was soft. “I love you.”

“I love you!” You responded happily, throwing your arms around his shoulders and burying your face in his neck. A soft groan escaped his mouth at the feeling of your lips grazing accidentally across the sensitive skin.

Anakin’s head swam as he thought to himself, about the last few weeks, the way you so willingly gave him affection, how you didn’t seem to realize how your touch affected him, that you didn’t seem to understand that the attachment between the two of you was far from normal. He should be ashamed, taking advantage of your innocence like this, you didn’t know any better. He should be disgusted with his actions, with his anything but pure thoughts. But he couldn’t help himself. You were you, and that was enough of a reason for him to throw his morals and better judgment out the window.

He made a decision right then, with your arms around him and his lips pressed against the crown of your head. He was yours, you were his.

Tag-List:

@wickedtactics

@tsugumiholic

@kingdomhate

@burnthecheshirewitch

@cherrylooney

@star611

@tahliac11

@exquisit3corpse

@jellydodger

@arzua10

Let me know if you wanna be added/removed!

[pedriache]

Can you write one about Pedri or Gavi or Fermin dating a singer and going to their concert just to find out that there’s a surprise song dedicated for them? <3 thank you!

We’ll be stars — Pedri , Gavi , Fermín.

Pairing: Pedri x Reader , Gavi x Reader , Fermín x Reader

Summary: In which , they go to one of your concerts and you surprise with a dedicating a song.

Disclaimer/s: This will be 3 separate parts but I couldn’t figure out whom to choose so i just did three different blurbs for it. I will put who the song is actually by next to their names so you can listen to them as well!

A/N: Hai hello hi thank you to enya bae who helped me with this!!

Pedri Gonzalez . . . Apple Pie — Lizzy McAlpine !

Watching from the VIP booth with your family and a fee friends, Pedri had a wide smile on his face, so wide that it was hurting. He loved to see you preform in front of crowds, it brought out a different side of you he rarely got to see.

You had just announced you were singing a surprise unreleased song, so Pedri had whipped out his phone ready to capture the moment.

“I wrote this while on vacation with my boyfriend, so this one is dedicated especially to him.” Your eyes scanned the crowd till you found the VIP box, landing on him with a smile.

When you began to sing though, his phone slowly slid back into his pocket. It was certainly a surprise song. The lyrics had his heart swelling three sizes, with every word he had clung onto, he felt his love for you grow. He was suddenly very ready for the concert to end, he was desperate to give you a hug, to kiss you, to hold you close, and most importantly, tell you just how much he loved you.

But me, oh, my / I found you under an April sky / And you feel like / City life, apple pie baked just right /Home is wherever you are tonight.

Pablo Gavi . . . Call me — Kali Uchis !

When you announced you were playing an unreleased song, he wasn’t expecting this. The lyrics held weight and meaning behind them, something you knew only he would understand. You two had gotten into a massive argument less than a week ago over him not opening up enough, and it wasn’t until now that he fully understood the depth of how you felt.

You're an ocean, got me flooded / Now my insides floating, got me gutted / No one do it quite like you / Got me sitting 'round writing haikus / If you feel lonely or abused / You know that all you gotta do is / Call me, you can call me / Boy, just call me.

Gavi’s jaw clenched, not out of annoyance, but because he was proud of you. You had a way of explaining the hard things through song, and he was going to make it his top priority to apologize after the concert. He promised himself in that moment, that he would do his best to open himself up to you.

Fermín Lopez . . . Close to you — Gracie Abrams !

You mic pressed to your lips as you spoke, explaining the meaning behind the song you were about to sing. “I wrote this before me and my boyfriend—who is here somewhere in the crowd, actually—had started dating. I swore it was one sided.. until it wasn’t.” And with that, the instrumental beginning began to play.

Fermín watched from his seat, an aching smile on his lips. He watched you with stars in his eyes as you preformed, his heart swarming with adoration and love.

I was so cool, but then, all of a sudden / You saw me look at you / I burn for you / And you don't even know my name / If you asked me to / I'd give up everything / to be close to you.

It wasn’t until much later on in the night, when the two of you were nestled in bed, that your friend had sent you a video. They’d caught Fermín on video reacting to your song, his mouth slightly parted as he watched you in awe. His eyes caught onto the girl who was recording and he covered his face when he realized it wasn’t just her, it was dozens upon dozens of people staring at him, smiling and giggling at his reaction.

Turning over in the bed, you show your boyfriend the video. His face flushes in embarrassment, stumbling over his words. You chuckle, shutting him up with a deep kiss. “You’re adorable.” You mumble against his lips.

likes , comments , and reblog’s are all appreciated. lmk if you’d like to be tagged in any future posts.

DTS , @halfwayhearted @spidybaby @gadriezmannsgirl @unx100to !

[awnezz]

nobody gets me like you | six

៚ prev // next

៚ SYNOPSIS — after graduating highschool then going through your first break up, you're left to lean on your bestfriend for support before moving to america. returning home brings back memories, realizing your true feelings for each other back then, but is it too late?

៚ NOTES — tbh yn needs to shut up about the fact that she's leaving LIKEWE KNOWW!!!! i'm posting this now to distract myself from the fact that enchella is happening two hours away from me as we speak and i can't watch the live (I CANTBELEOBE IT) also not proof read woopsie

៚ TAGLIST — @hyuckkluv @jvngw0nlvr @kariluvsyunho @jaellymint @nujeskz @hanniehq @mwrsi

it felt like forever since you and chaeryeong have actually had time alone and now you were on your way back home from going out with her

you've spent most of the morning thinking about what to say to eunseok when you see him again—never in your life have you thought you'd have to have a talk even close to this with him—your best friend since forever it felt like

you were very young when your family moved to a new neighborhood due to poor behavior of other who also lived on that street at the time which made your family seem a little standoffish to your new neighbors

but then the family in the house next to yours—a young married couple and their son—because you basically shared a driveway, they welcomed you with a box of fresh baked cookies

with both your parents talking by the door, you and their son were left to play around in the grass off to the side of the house

it took a while for you to open up to him, but he never gave up. he was determined to befriend you for some reason. carpooling then going over to your house to play after school, you eventually came around. since then, you've been inseparable

and now, you're on your way to his house to talk out your feelings about him, with him—all of this feels so sudden, so rushed.

you leave in three days, so why does it feel like everything you had has come crashing down on you?

“we're here” chaeryeong says, stopping the car and putting on the emergency brake till you get out. rolling down the window, you exchange one last smile as she lets out a “good luck” before driving away

you take a deep breath

you still have the chance to just turn around and go to your house instead, just pretend nothing happened and let him keep your jewelry.. but you don't

walking up to his door, you let out another deep breath, ready to knock but that's when he opened the door

“hey,” eunseok says, with the same warm smile he always had. “come in” he said, stepping to the side to welcome you in

this is the same house you found comfort in, the one you thought of as your second home, but why does it feel different right now—the air is thick, feels almost like the room is slowly shrinking around you

“here's the stuff you forgot” he said, setting them down on the coffee table as he takes a seat beside you on the couch—keeping a distance

you don't know what to say, where to start, but you still manage to let out a quick “thanks,”. can't help but think of what if you say the wrong thing and mess everything up so you just sit there quietly

“eunseok-”

“yn-”

you both break the silence at the same time, but you nod, gesturing him to speak first and the expression on his face, you could see all the thoughts circling his mind like he's trying to pick which topic to talk about first

shifting around on his side of the couch, he turns to face you “do you remember what happened last night?” eunseok asked, his gaze was soft and his eyebrows were slightly lifted

your breathing hitches because of the sudden question, just staring at him for a second “yeah,” when you finally respond, his eyes widen

“like, everything?” eunseok asks, letting his previous expression fall down “yes. i remember the party, i remember leaving the party with you and why we left. i remember coming here and i remember-” you cut yourself off, pausing for another moment

you start to feel a little silly for making this up to be some kind of big deal, it was just a kiss.

one kiss—caused by all the rush of emotions that the past week has brought the both of you.

you were just caught up in the moment, right?

“the kiss?” he continues for you, “yn, im so sorry. i know i shouldn't have-”

“why are you apologizing? you asked for permission and i said yes. there's nothing to be sorry about.” looking at him straight in the eyes as you spoke sternly

“eunseok, you know im leaving,”

he doesn't let you finish that thought and brings himself closer to you, “yeah, but why are you? you've never given me a real reason, why can't you just stay?” feeling yourself become smaller as you see his face sadden

“this has been the plan for me for a while seok, i have people waiting for me there” your hands move forward, like they're reaching for his but they just don't make it there

“and you're just going to leave everything you have here?” eunseok exclaimed, his voice now above a whisper. “you're just going to leave me?” he continued, as he got quiet again

you didn't think he saw it in that way. up until last night you thought you leaving wouldn't be such a big deal because it wasn't something any of you brought up into conversations often—you never did because you wanted to live in the moment—not wanting to think about what's to come

all the years you've known eunseok, you've never seen him so saddened by something—you're hands now comforting his

he's always been the brave one, the one to stand up for everyone and keep a strong front. he was always the one who did the comforting and now the roles have been reversed.

“you can always call me,” you start to list ways to solve what he's feeling but nothing you say seemed to work

but you do notice that the longer you talk, the expression on his face starts to change. you couldn't quite make out what exactly he was thinking so you just kept going

until his grip on your hands tightened, until he no longer looked sad and he's gotten noticeably closer to you, making you stop when you realize

you seem to find yourself in situations like this with eunseok a lot recently. sitting in silence, looking each other in the eyes like the other might disappear into thin air

it was hard to read the looks on his face as you've never seen this side of him before

“eunseok, wha-” you start before being cut off immediately by his hand on your cheek, just like it was the night before. slightly reaching around your neck. you lean into him as soon as you feel his thumb gently rub against your jaw, almost like a second nature, you close your eyes, just feeling his touch but then reality hits you “we can't,” you blurt out

what? we can't? the thoughts in your head battling for dominance. you said it without even thinking, but you just go with it, making him back away

“yeah.. yeah, you're right” agreeing with you quickly

he's the one who has initiated every intimate moment you two have shared—it shocked you that he wasn't fighting you on this or even questioning you—

“you're leaving on wednesday, for who knows how long.” letting his head hang low as he repeats what seemed to be your excuse for everything lately. finally letting go of your hand to rub the back of his neck awkwardly

“i don't want to hurt you, eunseok.” you say, searching for his gaze again “then why are you packing all your stuff? why are you moving so far away”

you were both now sitting right up in your seats, facing the tv. still in silence, there was nothing you could say right now that could possibly make him feel better

from the corner of your eye, you can see eunseok fidgeting with his thumbs and when you were about to speak up, he beats you to it

“why did you let me kiss you last night?”

“what?” you heard what he said clearly but you were taken aback

“did you only kiss me back because you saw jeongin with someone else?” eunseok's voice cracks, asking the questions he didn't want to hear the answer to, but he knew he needed to know

you originally had walked in here, wanting to tell him that the kiss you both shared is just going to be one of those things you laugh about in the future. that it was just something that was going to happen at one point, but you wouldn't do anything about it

whatever feelings you have for eunseok, you don't want to act on it. you didn't want to find out the what if’s—you were worried that you'd become his ex and everything you've built together will all fall apart—you didn't want to lose him

so you just respond, “i don't know,” looking the opposite direction, into the dimed kitchen

finally figuring out what to say next, he stands up and makes his way into the kitchen, where you were staring at, knowing that you wouldn't look away as he spoke

“you know, you drank so much at the party,” he said as he pulled stuff from the fridge. “we also played a lot of games, do you remember what game you actually stuck around for?”

“no,” you answered, almost in a questioning tone. “spin the bottle. we played spin the bottle and when it was my turn, it landed on you. don't worry though, we didn't kiss but you did ask me later why i didn't kiss you and said that you wanted me to.”

watching eunseok as he turns on a burner on the stove, he had taken out ingredients for your favorite meal. “i was drunk,” at this point, nothing you've said since he brought up the kiss again has seemed to faze him

“yeah but then we kissed when you became sober and just now, we almost did again.” with that being said, you didn't know what to say. you were just as curious about everything as he was. there wasn't a single thing he said that you had an answer to

eunseok kept cooking and left you sitting quietly on the couch. while his back was turned, you just watched him as he went back and forth in his kitchen—which is another thing you've noticed yourself doing a lot more recently

behind you, he sets the table for the both of you “foods done, come eat.” it was more of a demand rather than a suggestion

every time you come over, he makes you something to eat. he never asks if you had eaten before you came, he just cooks knowing you'll eat it, not wanting you to leave with an empty stomach

things like this makes you so happy you met eunseok. he took such good care of you without any reason. he's never judged you or made you feel unheard

even while fighting back tears like this, he is making sure that you feel at home in his care

thinking about it now, he's done some things that jeongin had never done before. whenever it went wrong between you two, you just figured that it was because you're young and it was both of yours first serious relationship—you were learning together

and in the end, it all went wrong but you still had your best friend

eunseok turned the tv on to a random channel in the background while the two of you began to eat,

finally gathering the courage, you just start talking. “do you think everything happens for a reason, eunseok?”

raising an eyebrow at your question, he still answers “well, yeah. i guess? i mean i think everyone is given multiple paths and it's just up to them to decide which to take and sometimes others chosen path will affect yours”

“so then you think me finding out about him cheating before i left happened for a reason?” you follow up, watching him closely to see how he reacts to you and he just nods

you had one more question, one that you felt like would bring back the tension from when you were sitting on the couch

trying to hold in your shaky breaths, you knew you had to ask. it's what you came here for, you can't leave without some kind of answer. so, you blurt it out “do you think everything that's happened was meant to open doors for you and i?”. finding it hard to put together the right words, you didn't want to seem so straight forward

“i do think that we were meant to find each other, but if you're asking me what i think our story is, then i don't know. im just as confused as you are, yn” he says, turning back towards you “maybe you moving is supposed to be when you think over the life you had here. we finally finished highschool, maybe it's a gateway to start thinking about what you really want after it.” looking you in the eyes now, like he's trying to tell you something

he sounds so certain, like he's already figured all of this out. like he knows what he wants, and that scares you for some reason

the two of you have grown up beside each other, yet he already knows what he wants and you don't. you're moving away from home because you don't know what it is you want

you've never really thought about what your future may intell because everything you needed was right here, you were happy with how you were living.

looking at the clock, you didn't realize how long you've been there. “oh gosh, the time. i still have to pack my closet” you say, pushing your chair back “let me help” eunseok stands up after you

“it's okay, i think i got it” giving him a short smile, you quickly grab the jewelry that you had left and rush out the door, feeling like you can finally breathe when you hear it close shut behind you

you didn't really have to pack your closet, it was pretty much done but you just had to get out of there. you felt your plan starting to fall through and if you sat there with eunseok any longer, who knows what you would have done..

[myjealouseyes]

Christmas Eve Wake Up Call.

HJP x wolfstar!daughter

A/N- if you saw me post this last week, no you did not!

No content warnings. Fluff, slight teasing and flirting, cuddling.

“…Harry. Harry, wake up. Wake up!”

He wakes with a start, his hand clutching his chest as he puts his glasses on. He looks over to see you, standing next to his now open window. This isn’t exactly new. Every Christmas Eve after you’ve just spent the day finishing up last-minute Christmas shopping and doing all your baking, you’ve usually overexcited yourself about the upcoming holiday.

That meant no matter how hard you tried or how tired you were you just couldn’t sleep. Your mind was in overdrive thinking about how people would like the presents you gifted, or if they’d like your baked goods (which they always did,) and you were slightly curious about all the gifts under the tree. You’d waited ages to see what was in each box and just thinking about how you only had to wait a few more hours sent you into a frenzy. So after an hour and a half of tossing and turning, you decided to sneak out of your bedroom and into Harry’s to make him suffer with you because what else are best friends for?

You close the window and skip over his bed, throwing yourself in the spot next to him. Harry takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes sluggishly before lying down next to you. You grin, turning his head toward yours. You caress his face gently, making a small flush form against his cheeks.

“It’s just after eleven y’know,” Harry mumbles while his eyes are fluttering shut. Your touch has calmed him down from his semi-panicked state. “You usually come a little closer to twelve.” You hum quietly and give his cheek a light pinch. “So I came early. You kicking me out?” His lips turn up into a teasing smirk as his arms wrap around your waist and pull you closer. Butterflies form in your stomach at the feeling. “That depends. Are we going to sleep?” You wrinkle your nose playfully and poke at his chest. “It’s Christmas Eve. Have I ever slept on Christmas Eve?”

Harry gives you a playful sigh and it squeezes your hip. “Fair. What do you suppose we do then?” You trail your fingers over his chest, silently mauling over your options. Eventually, you shrug and smile up at him. “Wanna hear about what happened with my dad and the dogs earlier?”

Before he could answer you launch into a very amusing story about how Sirius had turned into Padfoot and gathered your three German Shepherds to devise a plan to sneak some of your Christmas baked goods out of the kitchen. You’d caught all of them with a basket of cookies in their mouths and demanded they put them back. But of course, Sirius had a plan for that too. As if on que they gave you the saddest puppy eyes you’d ever seen. You caved and ended up giving Padfoot three cookies and the dogs two dog biscuits each.

Harry chuckles at your misfortune. “You couldn’t resist puppy-dog eyes?” He teases as his fingers trace zig zags on your hip. You roll your eyes playfully and tug his hair. Harry laughs a bit louder, and soon both talking turns telling stories about your chaotic Christmas Eve days. Harry tells you about how James accidentally spoiled Lily’s Christmas gift, got really embarrassed, and then told her to just act surprised. You follow him up with one about how Remus had accidentally discovered his own gift in the basement, but didn’t realize it was his. He just shut the door and went to feed the birds waiting at the window.

As you two laugh, time passes and the sun sneaks out. You should sneak back into your room, but you can’t bring yourself to do it. You end up falling asleep against Harry’s chest just like you do every year.

[gundamthey17]

Day 3 of Payneland Promptfest 2024

Day 3: mistletoe | “That’s because it’s enchanted.” | sharing a holiday tradition

After thirty years together, Charles knows Edwin’s idiosyncrasies well. For example, he knows that Edwin will pause before entering a room, taking note of its layout before going inside. This is doubly true when he is entering a room full of people - living or dead. Edwin takes note of who is there, and where they are, cataloguing the information neatly away in his mind. Charles doesn’t know if the habit is one Edwin developed in hell or if he’d had it when he was alive, and he doesn’t ask. He doubts it’s something Edwin is even conscious of. 

What Charles does know is that, in this instance, that piece of information is going to come in handy.

It was not all that difficult to convince Edwin that they should have a Christmas party at the butcher shop. (In fact, Niko and Crystal had had the far more difficult task of convincing Jenny to allow such a thing.) What Charles had not anticipated was that Edwin had no interest whatsoever in helping decorate for the occasion. At the time, Charles had been annoyed, but now he realizes it was a stroke of luck.

Crystal is hanging fairy lights in the shop’s front windows. Niko is standing over a cardboard box full of decorations and knick knacks, some of which belong to Jenny, and others which came from Tragic Mick.

“Where should we put the mistletoe?” Niko asks.

“How about here?” Charles suggests, pointing above the doorway that leads to the back hall.

Jenny shrugs and drags a folding stepladder over. “Works for me.” She takes the mistletoe from Niko, grabs a hammer off the counter, and gets to work hanging up the decorative plant.

Crystal pauses her task to watch. “It’s not quite centered. It needs to go a little to the left.”

Jenny rolls her eyes and moves the mistletoe. “Better?”

“Perfect.”

After the mistletoe is in place and Jenny climbs down from the stepladder, Charles gives her a thumbs-up. She frowns at him. “I should’ve made you do that.”

“Why?”

“Because you can’t break your neck if you fall off the ladder.”

Charles chooses to assume that she’s joking, and grins.

Christmas lights twinkle merrily in the windows. Music drifts from a small speaker in the corner, which is somehow connected to Crystal’s mobile phone. (Something about a blue tooth?) Crystal has created a playlist with a mix of new Christmas songs and songs that were old when Charles was alive. (He suspects that even those songs came out well after Edwin’s time, but he hopes Edwin likes them anyway.) Jenny has made hot chocolate and eggnog, and Niko has baked and decorated sugar cookies. Charles can’t smell them, but Niko says the room smells great (“and not like meat at all”), so he takes her word for it. The three living attendees are talking and sipping their drinks contentedly.

Edwin’s appearance in the back hallway is soundless, of course, but Charles still looks up in time to see him cross the threshold of the room - and pause. He’s dressed up for the occasion, in a nice jacket and a festive red bow tie. His gaze drifts gently across the room, taking in the people and the decor. He smiles, just a little. Charles feels himself smiling as well. A part of him wants to stay where he is and just watch Edwin, but he knows he only has a few seconds before Edwin moves further into the room. 

It’s now or never. Charles crosses the room in purposeful strides. “Happy Christmas!” he says, breaking into a grin.

“Happy Christmas, Charles,” Edwin says. “You’ve done a lovely job with the decorating.”

It’s as much of an opening as Charles is likely to get, and he takes it. “Crystal and Niko did most of it. I just helped with the mistletoe.”

Edwin frowns and looks around again. “Mistletoe? I don’t see – “

Charles nods upwards. Edwin follows his eyes and spots the mistletoe hanging above them. Charles steps closer, taking Edwin’s hands in his. “Edwin Payne… may I kiss you?”

“Charles Rowland,” Edwin replies, somewhat breathlessly, “you may.”

Charles closes his eyes as his lips meet Edwin’s. Edwin leans into the kiss, his lips parting slightly. The music seems to fade as Charles loses himself in the ghostly sensation of Edwin’s mouth against his own. The moment stretches, neither boy needing to breathe, until Edwin pulls back slightly. “I… I am afraid I do not have much experience with kissing. I doubt that I am any good at it.”

Charles thinks this may be the most blatantly false statement he has heard in his entire afterlife, but he doesn’t argue. Instead he grins and whispers, “Then it’s a good thing I’m here to help you practice.”