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lilhughesy · 1 month ago

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Excuse me, you look like you love me | Jack Hughes x Fem!Reader

warnings! mentions of sex (brief! not full smut, just a hint towards it. don't read if it makes you uncomfortable!), angst, panic attacks, cheating (?), fighting/pushing, nicknames (princess, pretty, blue, bluesy, bluey, etc. mentioned!)

word count: 25.7k (oops!)

summary: Y/N is Trevor Zegras' best friend, and he is more than excited to introduce her to his friends Jack and Cole during a house party in the summer before senior year of high school. The four quickly become close, eventually Y/N bonding to Jack the most. After a summer at the Hughes lake house, Jack and Y/N start developing feelings for each other. In attempts to avoid ruining friendships, they try to ignore their feelings but does it hurt the other person when one starts to pull away?

a/n: Hi everyone! I went a little (a lot) overboard with this one, I'm sorry it's so long! I will mention that not everything in this is accurate, I am aware! Thank you for all the positive feedback for my previous fic, and I hope you enjoy this one too!

(not edited!)

Jack remembers the exact moment when he laid eyes on her and knew that she was meant to be his. It was during a house party when he and his best friend, Trevor Zegras, were 17 in the summer. Trevor insisted that Jack and Cole came with him to yet another party since Trevor wanted them to meet a few of his friends from high school.

Of course, neither one of the boys were the types to say “no” to a night of drinking and fun — the three always ended up being the lives of the party. Jack walked through the glass front door with Cole next to him, immediately darting towards the makeshift bar in the kitchen.

The music was blasting off the multiple connected speakers and the LED lights were shining purple. Bodies of teenagers were scattered throughout the main level of the house and the large backyard.

“Hey! You boys made it!” Trevor exclaimed, approaching his friends and giving a firm slap on the back, “Shane said to help yourselves to any drink you want. Beers in the fridge, there’s also a keg outside and a cooler jam packed with drinks.”

“This is a crazy party,” Cole chuckled while handing Jack a Budweiser can, “You know everyone here, Z?”

Trevor only shrugged, “Yeah kinda, bunch of mutuals, y’know? Come on, let’s out outside! I want you to meet a few of my buddies.”

Jack’s eyes scanned the scene outdoors, the fairy lights strung up across the top of the fences and the crowd gathered around the keg. Trevor led the two towards a group mixed of guys and girls that were sitting around the nonexistent fire pit.

“Boys! This is Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield, I told you guys about ‘em” Trevor said to the group, “That’s Shane, he’s the lad hosting this thing. Over there in the green hoodie is Dyl, Kayden, and Stevie. The ladies are Maddy, Linds, and Y/N!”

The group of teens all smiled at the two hockey players, each giving their hellos to them as they were introduced. Jack’s eyes were immediately drawn to Y/N, who seemed more shy in comparison to the other girls. But Jack swore he’s never seen a girl as pretty as her. The way that the golden sun rays hit her hair, the pretty lip gloss she wore, and the way she made it look so effortless. He offered her a small smile, in which she immediately returned — she secretly hoped that he wouldn’t notice the rosiness of her cheeks.

Jack, Trevor, and Cole all sat down to join Trevor’s friends, fitting right into the conversation that was going prior. The group of ten laughing, cracking jokes, and overall enjoying the flow of summer break.

As the night went on, the group started the scatter to socialize with their other friends that came to the party. The three hockey players mostly stayed together although on a few occasions where one would deviate to spark a conversation with a girl.

Jack found himself sitting on the steps of the back patio, sipping away at his beer whilst leaning his elbows on his knees and enjoying people watching. Cole drifted away from him to chat it up with a cute blonde a few feet away, Trevor catching up with his boys since coming back from hockey camp. Jack didn’t mind, it was nice to be a regular teenager and to enjoy parties like this without the stress of morning practice.

His eyes often looking around at the different teens that were dancing or talking or singing, but his line of vision would constantly shift towards Y/N. She stood a ways away from the main crowd with her friend… “What’s her name again?” Jack thought to himself, “Madelyn? Madison? Maddy? Something like that.”

She would often glance up and make a brief second of eye contact with the blue eyed boy before he would instantly look away. Her heart warmed at the idea that he didn’t want her to catch him staring, “He’s really cute.” She smiled to herself at the, what felt like, fifteenth time of the two catching eyes.

Every time, she would feel the blush rise up on her face and her attention shifting away from the conversation that she was holding with Maddy.

“Girl, did you even hear what I just said?” Maddy asked jokingly after snapping her fingers in Y/N’s face. She blinked out of her train of thought, looking back to Maddy,

“Y- Yeah, of course I did!” She stuttered, covering her embarrassment. Maddy playfully rolled her eyes,

“Did you really or are you too busy playing eye-tag with Jack?” Maddy teased, “He’s really fucking cute, you should go talk to him!”

Y/N shook her head in response, “No way, I couldn’t.”

“Why not? He keeps looking at you when you’re talking to me. Like, he’s seriously staring!” Maddy giggled as Y/N lightly shoved her shoulder, “He looks like he’s in love with you!”

“What would I even say? I never approach guys,” She sighed, glancing over to where Jack was seated. Only for her to lock eyes with his yet again.

Her friend smiled at her, knowing that Y/N wasn’t ever the type to approach a guy she thought was cute.

“Just walk your gorgeous ass over there and say ‘excuse me, you look like you love me’!” Maddy told her, “If you want to be bold of course but you can play it off as a joke. If not, then maybe something about his staring problem?”

Y/N rolled her eyes, “I don’t want to start a conversation like that. It sounds like I’m full of myself or something.”

“Just go over there! If shit goes downhill, at least you’ll never see him again,” Maddy reasoned, “He doesn’t go to our school or anything. Just shoot your shot! If you don’t, I know you’re going to regret it for the next month straight.”

She could only sigh, fully aware that Maddy had good points regarding the fact that she would never have to face him again if it didn’t go her way. Also, the idea of her regretting not speaking to Jack, who in her mind was the prettiest boy she’s ever seen, would likely haunt her forever.

Y/N looked over to Jack as he tossed his empty can perfectly into the nearby trash bin. Her stomach doing multiple flips at the sight of him adjusting his hat to sit backwards on his head, “Wow, could he be any more perfect?”

Maddy squeezed her hand, “You got this! I believe in you!”

Y/N nodded at her friend, absorbing the positive vibes that Maddy was giving her. With that she threw out her empty Twisted and went over to the outdoors cooler. She grabbed herself a bottle of Smirnoff Ice and another beer for Jack.

She stood next to the cooler after closing it, giving her a moment to collect her thoughts with a deep breath. “I can do this.” She thought to herself, and began walking towards Jack. Maybe the sudden surge of confidence was from the few drinks she had or her best friend’s words, she couldn’t quite grasp which one it was.

Y/N sat down next to him, a foot or two in between them, “Excuse me, you look like you love me.”

His head darted up and he looked over to her, a surprised yet amused expression painted across his face, “Wh- What?”

She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief that she actually used the line Maddy gave her, “I’m kidding, but your hands look empty.” She told him and offered him another beer.

Jack chuckled, trying to wrap his head around the fact that this cute girl was now next to him. He gratefully accepted the drink, “Thanks, Y/N - I appreciate it.”

“You enjoying the party?” Y/N asked him, a small strand of hair falling in her face, “There’s so many people, I would be stressed if I was in your position. So many strangers and all.”

“Yeah, this is great,” He smiled, “It’s pretty cool to see a bit of Trev’s life outside of hockey.”

It was only getting louder outside with more people moving to the backyard since the fire pit was starting. Y/N moved slightly closer towards Jack to avoid being stepped on by the individuals that stumbled past her. On occasion, nearly toppling over the girl.

“He just eats, sleeps, and breathes hockey I swear,” Y/N said to Jack, “Even at school, all he thinks and talks about is hockey.”

Jack had to inch closer to her to hear her voice properly, “Do you maybe want to move somewhere quieter? You know, to avoid you getting stomped on?”

She laughed and Jack swore it was the best thing that he’s ever heard, it was magical and magnetic.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

He rose to his feet and offered her a hand, which she gladly took. Jack led her back into the house, hand in hand, which the indoors still remained relatively noisy. He leaned down towards her ear, “I don’t know my way around this place, you know any place we can go where we don’t have to shout?”

Y/N nodded with a soft smile shining on her face, “Yeah, but does it matter to you if we leave the party?”

“Doesn’t matter to me, just gotta swing back so Cole and I can leave together.”

“Come with me!”

She and Jack weaved through the teenagers and towards the front door. Y/N guided him towards the sidewalk where it was finally more quiet, “There’s a park about a block away we can go to.”

“Yeah, sounds perfect.”

They sat on the swings, both barely swinging back and forth as they engaged in a conversation.

“So how did you and Trevor meet? He’s so loud and extroverted, and you seem more like the quiet type.” Jack asked her, watching her kick her feet back and forth against the sand, “No offence, of course.”

“None taken. We met when we were younger because he hit me in the head with a soccer ball during P.E. and I don’t know, we just stuck together after that.” She chuckled at the memory, “He typically does the talking for me, I’m more of the observing friend.”

“Sounds like something he would do, that lil fucker.” Jack joked, “Hm, tell me something that no one else knows, pretty girl.”

“Pretty girl?” Her eyebrows raised slightly in pique of curiosity, “Alright, let me think,” Y/N started in attempts to ignore the flush climbing up her neck and ears at the nickname that Jack had given her.

“I think that I’m absolutely terrified of growing up… Like, don’t get me wrong, I am so excited for college and moving out and exploring everything life has to offer but I can’t help but feel so scared too.” She sighs, melting a bit into the seat of the swing and her hands slowly grazing up and down the cold of the metal chains, “The fact that I’m closer to being twenty and having to be an adult with all the responsibilities than being a kid again is so, so scary… I like the parties and stuff,” Y/N continues while lazily waving her hands in the direction of the house party that they ditched,

“But sometimes I wish I could go back to being like eleven years old and my only worries are making sure I’m back home before sun down when I played soccer with my friends.” She added, giving Jack a sheepish smile, “I guess it’s the fear of the unknown and having to face it alone, you know?”

Jack stares in awe at the girl; for someone he assumed was shy and quiet, he was surprised how deep she went into detail. He anticipated a response amongst something along the line of having to act sober in front of parents or shoplifting an item. Though he was surprised, he felt even closer to the girl than ever before.

“Wow, I was expecting something stupid like accidentally greeting a stranger you thought was your friend or something. But, I know exactly what you mean,” He replied, reaching over to Y/N to give her shoulder reassuring squeeze, “I hate to bring up hockey, but the idea of getting drafted and playing for the NHL is something I’ve always dreamed about. But I agree, sometimes I miss just being able to play with my brothers on the ice or streets without a care in the world. No pressure from anyone, just having fun and being a kid.”

Her face softened as he spoke, “Who would’ve thought that the hotshot hockey player could also miss being a kid,” She lightly giggled, “But for something stupid that I’ve never told anyone, I once had a hickey on my neck and I couldn’t get rid of it. So I told everyone for a week straight that I burned myself with a hair curler… even though I wore my hair natural the entire time. Though, now I think of it, I don’t think anyone believed me.”

Jack let out a loud laugh, his eyes having small creases at the edges. It warmed her entire body as he held eye contact the entire time they were together,

“You little rebel.”

“What can I say?” She giggled with a shrug, “We should probably head back, it’s sort of getting late.”

A small frown tugged at his lips, “Yeah, I guess so. Don’t want to keep Cole waiting, he’s one of the most inpatient guys I’ve ever met.”

The two slowly started walking towards the house, their shoulders lightly bumping against one another. Each time they did, they would look at each other with amusement evident in their eyes. The cool summer breeze brushed against them, making Y/N shiver with only wearing a tank top and shorts.

“Are you cold?” He questioned, slowly peeling off his Team USA hoodie that he wore the entire evening — leaving him in a plain black t-shirt and athletic shorts, “Here, wear this.”

Y/N glanced at him and his sweater, waiting to see if he was going to retract the item of clothing. He seemed insistent, eventually placing it in her hands,

“Are you sure?” Y/N looked up at his face, “It’s a special hoodie, I don’t want to take it from you.”

“I don’t mind, besides I have plenty of others at home.” He grinned, “If you’re that concerned, you can give it back when we get inside but seriously just put it on, you’re shivering.”

With that, Y/N slid on the navy Team USA hoodie, sighing in relief at the warmth from Jack wearing it the whole time alongside the softness of the material and the mixture between laundry detergent and his cologne. She adjusted it on her before looking back at him and raising her arms slightly, “How do I look?”

“You look… absolutely perfect.” He breathed out, his ears and apples of his cheeks turning a light shade of pink, “It looks so much better on you.”

Jack took a mental photo of the sight of Y/N, who stood shorter than him, wearing his hoodie. It was oversized on her, the ends of the sleeves running over the length of her hands. He knew that she was pretty, but in that moment, he didn’t think that she could be any more beautiful. The dim light from the lamppost shining over her, shining her features and the fact that she was wearing his hoodie. His last name on the back with his jersey number. Jack’s entire life revolved around hockey, all he thought about was hockey but in this exact situation where he stood in front of her — holding her precious eye contact. He thought, maybe there is a future that isn’t just hockey. Maybe the future that waits for him wouldn’t be as intimidating if he had Y/N at his side. Maybe this was what he was made for, to be here with this amazing girl, giving him the cutest and sweetest smile.

“Jack?” She repeated, causing him to snap out of his trance, “You okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m good!” He sputtered, trying to push the flood of thoughts out of his head, “Come on, pretty girl.”

Jack offered her his hand which she shyly accepted, their fingers intertwined. He briefly looked at their hands, and how they fit perfectly in one another, “Nothing has ever felt this right before” He thought to himself before giving her a gentle squeeze which she returned back.

When they returned to the backyard of the party, they saw everyone standing or dancing near the fire. Trevor and Cole were actively animating a story out loud, over-exaggerating their actions — causing those listening to laugh in response. They were the lives of the party.

Jack and Y/N stood side by side, his arm loosely over her shoulders and they watched the two boys reenact the amusing memory. Jack on occasion chiming in with a comment or two to egg on his friends and their ridiculous but entertaining banter.

The party started to die down slowly, people filtering out with their friends and finding their rides home. Jack stood by Cole and Trevor whilst Y/N was assisting Shane and Lindsay by picking up the leftover trash that was scattered around the yard.

“So, Y/N eh Rowdy?” Cole teased, wiggling his eyebrows at the brunette, “I see her wearing your hoodie.”

Jack rolled his eyes and chuckled, “Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

“She’s pretty awesome, I’ve known her for years,” Trevor told him, “One of my oldest friends I would say. Bluey’s always been there for me and had my back, she’s quiet but so unbelievably loyal and way too nice for her own good.”

“Bluey?” Jack asked, with a raised look.

“Yeah, we all call her that because she always is wearing something blue and Linds says she only ever wears some sort of blue nail polish.” Trevor explained to his friends, “Just don’t hurt her, Hughes, if you’re planning on doing anything with her. I love you brother, but she’s a day one.”

“All your friends are great, Z,” Cole added, tapping his can against Trevor’s, “It would be great to hang around them more often.”

“Yeah, love ‘em all. Some of them like Dyl and Kayden, I’ve had a rocky history with but we all go to school together, so not much I can do about that.” Trevor shrugged, “There’s a few that I’m ready to leave behind once we graduate.”

“What time should we head out?” Jack questioned, while typing into his phone, “I can get Q to come get us.”

“I’m cool with whenever, Rowdy.” Cole said back to him, “Z, are you coming with?”

“Yeah, yeah I will. I just told Bluey that I would drop her home.”

“We can drop her off when Q gets here.” Jack told Trevor, “He won’t mind, don’t worry.”

“Yo, Blues!” Trevor shouted over to the girl, she looked up at the direction of her nickname and straightened her stance, “Yeah, Trev?”

He waved her over which she quickly tied up the filled trash bag and jogged over to her friend,

“What’s up?” She asked as she wiped the palms of her hands against her denim shorts.

“His brother is coming to get us and he can drop you at home if you’d like.” Trevor replied, motioning over to Jack, who glanced up from the illuminated screen of his phone.

“Are you sure?” Y/N said to Jack, “I hate to be out of the way.”

“It’s not an issue, don’t sweat it,” Jack reassured her, “My older brother, Quinn, already said it’s fine.” He added while showing her his text conversation between himself and his brother.

“Okay, thank you. I appreciate it a ton.” She grinned.

Quinn’s car eventually pulled up on the driveway, Y/N giving Shane a quick side hug as a goodbye. Trevor called shot gun as they approached the vehicle, cackling as he climbed into the seat and greeting the eldest Hughes brother,

“Q, this is Y/N! She’s a friend of mine.” Trevor quickly introduced him to her as she squeezed into the middle seat between Jack and Cole.

“Hey, Y/N! I’m Quinn, Jack’s older brother.” Quinn smiled back at the girl, who gave him a shy wave,

“Nice to meet you! Thank you for the drive, I really appreciate it.”

“What if Bluey comes to our place?” Cole asked, looking over to Jack, “If Ms. Ellen doesn’t mind of course.” As Cole and the rest of the Hughes family were renting a home for the week following their training camp, to allow the boys to hang out together outside of just practice.

“Mom would be fine with it,” Quinn chimed in, “If anything, she’d be grateful that there’s another girl in the house.”

The rest of the living resulted in the three boys and Y/N whispering and letting out quiet giggles while lounging in the living room after Quinn bid them goodnight. The group of four bonded together, the boys’ group of three now expanding to be a group of four. Trevor and her passed out on one couch together while Jack took the other, leaving Cole knocked out on the carpet.

Y/N was included more with group hang outs and activities — due to not only Jack and Cole appreciating her presence but also because of Trevor wanting to slowly pull away from their high school friends. Which he had deemed to be more toxic than he anticipated and was getting tired of dealing with unnecessary bullshit. Since him and Y/N were friends first and the two being significantly closer with each other in comparison to their other friends, he decided to pull her more towards his hockey friends.

Trevor watched his best friend open up more and more around Cole and Jack over the following months, which he was beyond thrilled about. His favourite people growing closer together, why would he ever complain. For their last spring break of high school, the Hughes family was kind enough to invite the three over to spend their time off together. He laughed from the opposite side of the kitchen counter as Cole chased Y/N with a spoonful of wet pancake mix. While she was screaming for Trevor’s help,

“Cole! Get away from me!” She squealed, tucking herself into Trevor to avoid the boy.

“Oh c’mon, Blues! I thought you loved me!” Cole pouted, jokingly, trying to pull her away from Trevor, “Don’t run away!”

“Actually, Bluesy, maybe you should try a new hair colour?” Trevor smiled sweetly, petting the top of her hair and twirling a strand of it around his finger, “I honestly think this colour that Cole is so graciously chosen would be absolutely stunning on you!”

“Trevor!” Y/N cried out as she ducked from Cole and running straight into a solid wall. She collapsed on impact, letting out an audible ‘oof!’ when she landed. She looked up to see Jack, who was seriously trying to hold in his laughter, standing over her.

“Falling for me already?” He smirked, “I thought you would have at least made it a bit more secretive, pretty. Hey Cole, I think our girl here needs a helping hand, don’t you think?”

Y/N rolled her eyes at his comment before scrambling when she saw Cole approaching her. A mischievous glint in his eyes as he proudly held up the weapon, “Sorry, Prince Charming isn’t saving you from your fate!”

“Yeah, definitely not…” She sighed, “But Luke will!” Y/N beamed as the youngest Hughes walked into the kitchen, clearly confused at the commotion.

“What?” He said, lowering his phone while Y/N hid behind him.

“Lukey, they’re all plotting against me!” She told him, pointing at the three boys, “Please!”

He laughed at the way Trevor, Cole, and Jack all stood in the kitchen. Luke looked down to see the terror in her eyes. Even though he loved some chaos, he also didn’t want Y/N to hate him for sabotaging her. So, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to his room.

The two giggling like crazy as they ran to the safety of his room. Luke immediately shutting the door and twisting the lock, “I think you’re safe now.”

“My saviour!” She exclaimed, “You have no idea what they were putting me through. Trevor and Jack both sold me to Cole! I thought they would’ve had my back.” Y/N joked as she made herself comfortable in Luke’s bedroom. It wasn’t the first time she was in his room, the two of them often hanging out when the other boys got too rowdy and loud. Often watching TV shows together or scrolling through TikTok while quiet country music played in the background.

“Yeah, can’t ever trust those three” He teased, “I’m glad to be your saviour then.”

Luke flopped onto his unmade bed, reaching over to his nightstand to retrieve the remote, “Wanna continue The Office?”

She grinned, “What kind of question is that?”

He was quick to pull up their current show while the two made themselves comfortable on his bed. Their upper backs against the cushioned headboard. They watched in a comfortable silence as they typically did, before being interrupted by loud knocking against the door.

“Oi Rusty! Open up! Promise we’re done with the whole batter thing,” They could hear Trevor shout from the other side, the handle of the door shaking as he tried opening the locked door, “Hey! Why is this shit locked? I swear to god, Lukey! Your pants better be on and you better not be hooking up with Blues, she’s off limits! You know that!”

Luke’s entire face and ears turned a brilliant shade of red as Y/N laughed at Trevor’s panicked voice. She swiftly got off the bed and went to unlock the door, causing Trevor to nearly fall over the second the door swung open.

“I swear to God! Oh-” He looked at Y/N, who stood with her arms crossed, “You are fully clothed.”

“Nice observation, Trev. Can I help you?” She asked with a brow raised, “Or can Luke and I go back to watching our show in peace?”

“Oh, man! I seriously thought that you two were fucking for a minute!” Trevor cackled, “Ouch Blues, the hell?” He winced as she smacked the back of his head.

“That’s for having your stupid head in the gutter, you freak.”

“Hey! The door was locked and y’all were weirdly quiet okay? Not my fault!” He defended, raising his hands up in surrender, “Pancakes are ready by the way.”

“Oh shit, foods ready?” Luke asked, standing up from his bed, “Yeah okay we’re coming.”

The three slowly made their way towards the kitchen where Jack and Cole sat eating their stacks of pancakes and eggs. Both looking up as they entered the room.

“Doors locked ‘n everything to watch TV is crazy work” Trevor scolded, “Why was the door locked?”

“Since when did you become my mother?” Y/N was quick to respond to her best friend, “Plus, you guys were the one threatening to put pancake batter in my hair. It was for defence.”

“His room was locked?” Jack asked, his eyebrows furrowed slightly at their conversation. His expression was unreadable as Y/N turned to look at him.

“Whose room was locked?” Another voice chimed in, Quinn’s, as he walked up behind the three.

“We were literally just watching the Office.” Luke explained, putting food onto his plate, “You guys are making this a bigger deal than it is.”

“Why was it locked though?” Cole added, “And at ten in the morning is crazy! Lukey’s gone crazy!”

“Guys” Luke whined, “Come on!”

“With his brother’s best friend too?” Quinn teased as Luke and Y/N both shot him warning looks, “We’re just joking, we don’t care that much. Don’t stress, Rusty — Guys, leave them alone.”

Quinn, always the mediator in these situations. Y/N gave him a small smile as a silent ‘thank you’ before going to get her plate for breakfast.

“I care!” Trevor commented to Quinn’s words, “I legit told you boys that Bluey is off limits.”

Everyone seemed to dismiss Trevor as they were all focused on eating, thankfully. Y/N sat in between Trevor and Jack at the table, the rest of the boys falling quickly into an easy conversation about hockey and the results of last night’s games.

“You know what I’ve been thinking about?” Jack perked, catching the attention of everyone at the table. Like always, Jack had something magnetizing about him. Whenever he entered or room or spoke, people were always drawn to him.

It’s hard to not be drawn in by Jack, his charismatic personality, sparkling blue eyes, addicting sounds of his laughter, and his picture perfect smile. He could easily win hearts with just a flash of his grin.

“What?” Cole replied, a mouthful of food whilst looking at his friend.

“I think you three should come up to the lake house this summer,” He stated, glancing at the three guests at the Hughes household, “You guys get along with everyone in the family and I think it’ll be one hell of a time.”

“That’s actually not a terrible idea,” Quinn said as he placed his fork down and shows a look of thoughtfulness, “They’re practically always here and it could make the summer really fun.”

Luke nodded as his eldest brother spoke, “Yeah, and we definitely have the space too at the house.”

“Hey, I ain’t ever the one to turn down a trip.” Trevor laughed, “Plus more time to spend with Huggy and Rusty? Can’t complain!”

“I mean, I’m down if you guys are down,” Cole added, lifting his hands up as if he was saying ‘this was your idea, not mine’.

“What do you think, Bluesy?” Quinn asked as he turned his head slightly to look at the girl,

“If your parents are okay with it, then I don’t mind.” She said with a smile, “I just don’t want us to be a burden for your family or disrupt any family time.”

Ellen and Jim were more than happy to have Cole, Trevor, and Y/N stay with them at the lake house for the summer. Claiming that it would be nice for them to spend time together before the boys were to be drafted to the NHL — and spending quality time together may become significantly more limited. Including the fact that Y/N committed to UMich for her bachelors. Although the boys could get loud and competitive, they raised three boys themselves and found it rather normal to hear constant banter. All the kids got along very well and were very much capable of keeping each other company.

LAKE HOUSEEE

Huggy 🧸

11:23AM | When are you guys coming?

Rustyy

11:25AM | Plz we been waiting alllllll day

Blues 🫐

11:25AM | we’re otw 🕺🕺

Rustyy

11:26AM | YESSS FINALLY

Coleee

11:28AM | ETA says 15 mins

Z 🔥

11:29AM | Yessuh

Huggy 🧸

11:31AM | Who’s driving

Coleee

11:32AM | Z

Blues 🫐

11:32AM | Trev

Rowdy 🤠

11:35AM | Lord tell him to stop texting and driving

11:35AM | That’s illegal

Z 🔥

11:36AM | 👍

Coleee

11:40AM | We karaoke 🎤

11:40AM | Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone

11:41 AM | I’ll be waitinggg all you have to do is run

Blues 🫐

11:41AM | u be the prince and i’ll be the princess

Z 🔥

11:41AM | ITS A LOVE STORY BABY JUS SAY YESSSSSS

Rowdy 🤠

11:42AM | What did I just say🤦‍♂️

Huggy 🧸

11:42AM | You’re all gonna die before getting here

Rustyy

11:44AM | Man wish I could join in😔

Trevor and Cole were basically bouncing out of their seats the second they parked their car on the Hughes’ lake house driveway. Y/N jumped out of the car, taking down her messy bun which she wore the entire drive up. The two guys opened the trunk to unload their suitcases as Luke and Quinn came out the front door.

“Hey!” Quinn shouted, “You guys made it.”

The two brothers jogged towards the car, “Finally!” Luke exclaimed, pulling Y/N into a tight embrace, “How was the drive?”

“It was good, lots of karaoke.” She laughed, returning the hug.

“Except for when she got car sick from reading her kindle.” Cole commented, shaking his head lowly.

Quinn’s lip tugged into a small frown, “That sucks, I’m sorry to hear. Are you feeling better?”

Y/N nodded. Luke went over to Trevor to dap him up and give a one armed hug while Quinn got his turn to hug the girl,

“Here, let me take this.” Quinn told her while pulling her backpack off her shoulder and taking her two suitcases.

“I’m so lucky she didn’t yack in my car dude, she’s done it before when we were like fifteen.” Trevor grimaced at the memory. She shot him a look,

“Oh come on,” She groaned, “I thought you said you would let that go.”

“Let’s get inside, we have lunch ready and put on your swim suits ‘cause we’re hitting the lake right after!” Luke urged, already moving towards the house with a suitcase.

Y/N followed Quinn into the home, taking in the decor and the many windows that brought in the summer sunlight. The walls were decorated with lake-themed signs with cheesey quotes alongside many photos of the Hughes family.

Quinn led her up down one of the hallways on the main floor and used his foot to open the door, “This is the guest room you’ll be staying in.” He explained to her as he dropped off her backpack onto the chair in front of a desk, “You get your own room since you need your own privacy, Trevor and Cole are across the hall. Me, Lukey, and J are upstairs.”

“Thank you,” She offered him a grateful smile.

“Of course.”

He left soon after to let her settle in. She walked around the room to take it all in. There were two large windows that faced the forest that surrounded the home. A queen sized bed with a few decorative pillows and throw blankets. A short hallway with a closet, it led to a private bathroom with a shower, toilet, and a sink along with a large mirror.

Y/N started unpacking her things, hanging up the few sun dresses and hoodies she brought. Placing shorts, t-shirts and swim suits into the dresser alongside her underwear. She left her toiletries and her make up bags on the bathroom counter space.

She put on a baby blue swim set, the top being a triangle bikini and the bottoms being a bit cheeky with ties on the sides. She scanned over her figure in the bathroom mirror, adjusting it to ensure there was no risk of anything slipping out. Y/N quickly touched up her makeup slightly and brushed out the knots in her hair before pulling on an oversized shirt and a pair of denim shorts.

There was a knock on her door, which she answered right away. She opened the door to see Jack standing on the other side with lavender swim trunks, a black t-shirt, and a white backwards baseball cap. His hair was grown out since the last she saw him. He grinned at her,

“Hey pretty,” He said, walking into her room as she pulled the door wider, “Settled in?”

“Yeah, for the most part anyways.” She replied as he turned to face her. The sun shined through the window in her room that made his blue eyes sparkle, her heart beating a bit faster as he looked down at her.

You look heaven sent.

“I missed you,” Jack murmured, his voice significantly softer than before. He took a step closer to her, his hand tucking away a loose strand behind her ear, “You excited for this summer?”

His hand lingered near her face, she prayed that he couldn’t feel the heat radiate off her skin with its close proximity. She could only muster a nod, scared that she would say something that would embarrass her if she were to open her mouth. His hand dropped from the side of her face to graze her upper arm, giving it a little squeeze, “Good, I’m excited too.”

“Yeah?” She asked with her tone just above a whisper.

“Yeah.” He smiled, “Come, lunch is ready and I think Trevor is gonna cause Q to have a heart attack if they’re alone for any longer.”

Y/N giggled as Jack pulled her along with him out the bedroom and towards the kitchen. The other four boys were scattered around the area with Luke sitting on the counter, Cole on one of the bar stools with an open can, Quinn leaning against one of the opposing counters, and Trevor looking inside the fridge.

“Fucking finally!” Cole sighed, throwing his arms up, “Took you long enough, Blues.”

“Yeah, what the fuck were you doing? Unpacking or something?” Trevor joked, cracking open a Twisted while using his elbow to close the fridge.

She rolled her eyes playfully, “Yes, actually. Didn’t you?”

“Nope!” Trevor responded, putting an extra emphasis on the ‘p’.

Luke slid over a plate of food for her, it had a salad, a sandwich, and a handful of fruit, “Lunch for you.”

“Thanks Rusty” She beamed, taking the plate from him and sitting on the barstool next to Cole. He immediately snatched one of the strawberries on her plate and popped it into his mouth.

Jack perched himself up on the kitchen island next to Y/N, scrolling casually on his phone while she ate. Afterwards, they were all quick to run down to the boat, making it a race of who can reach it the fastest. Quinn settled into the drivers seat while Jack and Luke were untying it from the dock.

Trevor took aux and played his country playlist as they drove towards the middle of the lake. The group spent hours on the water, the boys taking turns on the wake board, Y/N enjoying the summer heat while reading her book and listening to the sounds of summer. When Quinn eventually stopped the boat and lowered the anchor so they could swim. Y/N laughed as Trevor shoved Cole into the water, Cole letting out a high pitched scream as he fell. She got up from her seat and peeled off her shirt and threw it towards the front of the boat.

Trevor whistled at her as she shimmied off her shorts, “Looking good, Blue!”

“Oh shut up” She said while putting her sunglasses on top of her kindle.

Quinn, Cole and Luke were already in the water when Trevor flipped off the edge of the boat, smacking his lower back against the surface of the lake. Y/N stood at the top of the boat when she heard from behind her,

“Hold your breath!”

In seconds, she heard Jack’s running feet and felt his muscular arms wrap around her waist as she let out a scream as they contacted the water.

“Jack!” She exclaimed, the second she swam up to the surface, “I was gonna jump in!”

He popped up right next to her, shaking some of the water from his hair. Jack gave her a cheeky grin, “Yeah, but that was more fun.”

“At least he didn’t shove you in!” Cole chirped, swimming towards them, “Blue is definitely your colour, Bluesy”

She could only laugh, feeling immense levels of happiness in the moment. They all swam in the water for a while until their limbs started to get tired. Eventually, they started to return back up onto the boat. Trevor settling down next to Y/N with a loose arm around the back of her seat. She tucked her legs near her chest and laid her head on his shoulder as she typically did and closed her eyes.

“You falling asleep on me?” Trevor questioned in a hushed voice, she hummed, “Alright, sleep well then.”

The rest of the summer looked like this. Quieter mornings with her and Quinn reading out on the porch with a cup of coffee. Everyone on the boat, singing their hearts out to songs and swimming until they got tired. Evenings were bonfires and sharing memories. Their nights either in the basement shooting pool or everyone curled up on the couches and watching a movie together.

It was the perfect routine. Y/N found herself getting even closer with the group of boys she considered her best friends. The lake house feeling like home. She spent her time with Quinn, bonding over their recent reads alongside deeper conversations when they found themselves up late at night in the kitchen. Cole showing her new country songs to add to her playlist and telling her all about the new girl that he had been talking to. Her and Luke being the s’mores connoisseurs and mastering the craft of building the perfect s’more. They also spent the rainy afternoons together, catching up while watching their current TV show together. Her and Trevor were as close as ever, often spending time together in her bathroom as she got ready and he sat on the empty counter space in the smaller room and listening to her while giving her advice — and the other way around, especially when Trevor found out the girl he was seeing before the summer started, was seeing someone new.

Y/N and Jack, though, spent most of their time together. Whether it be making breakfast for the group together and dancing to Zach Bryan or Luke Combs in the kitchen while everyone else was asleep. His hand twirling her around before pulling her into his chest to sway her back and forth to the song. Jack soon took Trevor’s unclaimed seat next to her on the boat, becoming her new pillow when she took her quick nap and basking in the sun. They would be partners for every game, for pool, for pong, for any board game.

At the ungodly hours of the night, when the stars were out, the two would lay on the dock. Y/N pointing out the different constellations to him and explaining the stories behind each. Jack would try to stay focused on the shining stars in the black skies but he would find himself more interested in her as she spoke about them. The way her eyes beamed as she told him different stories, or the way her nose would scrunch for a moment when she realized she made a minor mistake in the tale of the stars. How effortless she made it to be so perfect in those moments.

When it would get too cold, the breeze biting at their skins, they would move indoors and to her room as it was the closest. They would lay on her bed, facing each other and learning more about each other. Stories of their childhoods, or different stories between their friendships with Trevor. Embarrassing moments in their lives, or even their wildest dreams.

At the end of summer, as everyone packed their things into their suitcases. Jack knew Y/N like the back of his hand. He could read her like an open book at all times. Her fingers drumming quietly against the table when she loses focus on the conversation, or how she would crack her knuckles when she started to get nervous. If she found something actually funny, the way she would throw her head backwards as she laughed and covered her mouth. Which comments he would make that would make her cheeks turn into a light shade of pink and her eyes darting away from his to avoid eye contact.

Jack hugged her tightly after he put her luggage into the trunk of Trevor’s car, “Text me whenever you want, okay? I’m never too busy for you.” He whispered into her ear, “Whenever you need me.”

“Same goes to you,” She mumbled back, “Good luck with the combine and with the draft, hotshot.”

They pulled away, her eyes slightly glassy as his hands ran up and down her shoulders, “I’ll see you soon.” He told her, “Promise.”

“Alright, lovebirds!” Trevor announced, clapping his hands together loudly, “We gotta hit the roads!”

Y/N quickly bid her goodbyes to Quinn and Luke, telling them to stay in touch and how she would miss them. She hugged Ellen and Jim, thanking them for letting her stay for the summer and how much she appreciated it.

Cole, Trevor, and Y/N soon got into the car and waved from the windows as they pulled away and drove down the road.

Jack sighed, his shoulders dropping as he watched the car disappear. Quinn placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder, “It’s alright, we had an amazing summer with them.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” He replied, “I just got really close to Y/N this summer and I don’t know when I’ll see her next.”

“She’s Z’s best friend,” Luke added, “You’ll definitely see her soon.”

Jack’s rookie year came and went, he complained about the lows but celebrated with her on the highs. She would tell him about the drama happening in her circle at UMich. Jack being invested with the business of people he never even met. They would often call each other at the end of their days as they unwinded for bed, catching up on the events that took place. Although Jack felt on multiple occasions that he was drowning or was under-performing in his first year in the NHL, it would give him some peace to know that he would be on the phone with her that night. She would listen to all his problems and his frustrations, and she would reassure him on all these occasions that he was deserving of his position, he was doing his best, and that she was proud of him.

The phone calls with Jack were her escape from the stressors of college. It distracted her from overthinking about her grades or the dilemmas within her social life. But she also found herself, growing more and more fond of Jack. The soft spot in her heart for the blue eyed brunette growing bigger each time she picked up the phone. Every Snapchat that he would send her, she would spend a bit longer admiring. The way a tuff of hair fell perfectly in front of his face that made her pulse race. His smile or his eyes in every photo, being the exact same as she remembered from the summer when she would look at him as she rested on his shoulder.

She found herself lying on her bed in her dorm, late at night, reminiscing about their time together at the lake house. The way his hands fit perfectly in hers and he pulled her towards the boat or how he would spin her around in the kitchen as they danced together. It kept her up at night, wondering if he felt the same way.

And he did.

What she didn’t know was the second that she left the lake house that summer, he changed the lockscreen of his phone to a picture that his mom took of the group during one of their movie nights. Though the sounds of it is friendly, when anyone inspects the picture closer, they would see how Y/N was perfectly tucked into Jack’s side in the corner of the couch. He had an arm around her that kept her close, she was snuggled into him while wearing his USA hockey hoodie. Her head on his chest with a bright smile, his favourite smile, painted across her face. Everyone else in the picture is sprawled out and grinning at the camera, but he was staring down at her when the photo was taken. “You look so cute right now.”

He missed having her only a few rooms away or the way her hair would smell as he held her close. He missed the way her laugh would light up the room, making everyone else smile more or join in on the laughter. The way she would use her drink as a makeshift microphone when she would sing her heart out on the boat.

When he spoke about her to a few of his teammates, they managed to drill in the idea of long distance relationships often not working out. They mentioned how lucky they were that their wives, fiancés, and girlfriends were willing to move with them when they came to the Devils. Others mentioning how they had to break up with past girlfriends over the distance since it was difficult for them to stay on the same page considering how demanding it was to be a professional athlete. Jesper asked Jack about if he were to pursue Y/N, if it could possibly affect their friendships with his brothers or with Cole and Trevor. All in which, Jack never really thought too much about.

“She deserves someone who can be there for her. And not across state lines.”

The idea of Y/N transferring schools to be closer to Jack was basically zero to nothing, he knew how much she loved UMich and her friends there. He could never ask of her to leave it behind. On the contrary, he also knows from past conversations he’s had with Y/N, how they both think that their love languages are physical affection. She even mentioning that she couldn’t ever handle long distance relationships often because of the lack of physical presence.

Jack also wanted the ability to see his hypothetical girlfriend whenever he wanted, most importantly at the end of the day so he could hug and cuddle her before they fell asleep. He would want to have her around at all times, to come to his games and to get coffees together in the morning. He wanted all of that, but it wouldn’t be possible when she’s in Michigan and he’s in New Jersey.

In addition to the hundreds of miles between the two, he knew how deeply she appreciated her friendships with Quinn and Luke. She held her friendships with his brothers very close to her heart. She cherished them as much as she cherished her friendship with Jack. Her childhood best friend was Trevor, who also happened to be one of Jack’s best friends. With that, she was also close with Cole — especially after spending a whole summer with him.

Jack thought to himself how messy things could get if he and Y/N were to get involved. Would Trevor allow it? Or would Trevor push them away and how much it would hurt her to see her best friend leave. It would be so much worse if it didn’t work out for him and Y/N. Trevor and Cole would have to pick sides, Luke and Quinn would very likely take Jack’s side since they’re his brothers but would they resent him? Y/N would lose all of them in some way and did Jack want to be the reason for that?

He wasn’t too sure if he wanted to take this risk anymore. As much as his heart longed to be with her, remembering the way she looked when he first laid eyes on her at the house party ages ago. Did he want to put her friendships with everyone important in her life on the line for it? For the sake of himself?

Jack’s mind would spiral over the multiple possibilities and honestly, he didn’t even know if she liked him as much as he did. He dwelled on the idea but eventually deciding on shoving his feelings away and putting a lock on them. He would let her make the moves and decide, almost refusing to allow himself to act on any emotion he had towards her.

They are just friends.

It’ll be easier this way.

Summer quickly came around, and the lake house was back in full swing. Luke used her lap as a pillow as she explained the story that Jack already heard to the rest of the guys on the boat of when her and her friends experienced their first college homecoming weekend. He loved the way her eyes would sparkle and how her hands moved around as she animated the story, almost similar to how Trevor acted when he retold stories to his friends.

“I was so drunk when I woke up, I literally could not tell if I just blinked or if I was wildly hungover!” She laughed, “It was so bad, I was searching the house for water and even our brita was filled with tequila.”

Quinn grimaced at her story, “That must’ve been a brutal cup of water.”

“No, like I chugged it… Thinking it will help sober me up,” Y/N explained, “I passed out drunk on my bathroom floor like ten minutes later!”

Everyone laughed and Trevor shook his head, “Still can’t handle your alcohol?” He teased his best friend.

“As if you can chug a whole glass of tequila and still function afterwards?” She scoffed jokingly, “I don’t even remember that weekend, I only know what happened from the photos and videos my friends and I took.”

She noticed how Jack didn’t look her in the eye the whole day. “Did I do something?” How brief their hug was when she first got there, unlike how she was expecting it to be after not seeing each other for nearly a year. She had envisioned that he would embrace her tightly and express how happy he was that she was there — but she supposed that she may have been too imaginative for that scenario.

Later that night, Y/N was leaning her forearms against the rail of the balcony and admiring the moon light reflecting off the water. Everyone had retreated to their rooms about a half hour ago. She was wide awake, her head too busy running over the different times throughout the day where Jack seemed off. Was she too optimistic that he would behave the same way that he had the summer prior? Maybe she had her hopes too high and expecting him to be as excited to see her as she was to see him.

She heard the door slide open and closed behind her, another presence joining beside her,

“Can’t sleep?”

Y/N looked over to see Quinn standing next to her, also looking out to the lake, “Yeah,” She responded, “Lake is pretty right now too.”

He hummed, “Something on your mind?”

She could only shrug, “Sort of, but I think I’m just overthinking over nothing.”

Quinn looked at her, seeing the way her eyebrows her knit together and how she played with one of the rings she always wore,

“I’m sure it’s not just nothing,” He assured her, “Wanna talk about it?”

“It’s stupid.”

He sighed, “If it’s causing you to lose sleep, then I doubt it’s stupid, right?”

She turned to lean her back against the rail, looking down at her hands, “I guess today just wasn’t what I was expecting it to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I mean, Jack and I basically talked every day all year, I guess I just expected him to be more excited about seeing me,” Y/N explained to the eldest Hughes brother, “He didn’t even look at me.”

Quinn sighed, adjusting his stance to mirror hers and crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m sure he didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I know he cares about you, maybe there’s just something else going on in his life right now.”

She pursed her lips, “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Listen,” He said, giving her a gentle smile, “Jack wouldn’t purposely make people feel uncomfortable especially when it comes to you, Trevor, or Cole. He could be just adjusting back to the slower pace of life after his first year in the NHL, just give him some time and don’t let it bother you.”

Y/N lips twitched upwards, “Okay.”

“Okay.” He repeated, before pulling her into a comforting hug. It was something about Quinn’s big brother persona that brought comfort to Y/N as she explained to him her worries from the day. She was used to sharing them with Jack but with him immediately heading to his room after the fire died down, she didn’t want to bother him.

He could feel the tension diminish from her body when he wrapped his arm around her. Already aware of Jack’s weird behaviour throughout the day, and seeing her face fall for a split second every time she would look over to Jack to see his reaction, only to see him occupied by his phone.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Jack only slightly warmed up towards her. Though he didn’t sit next to her, dance with her, or did any of the same things that they did the summer before. At least he was speaking to her, somewhat. He would chime in on conversations, crack jokes when he felt like it, and on occasion asking her to choose on movie nights. It was better than nothing in her eyes.

Trevor could tell that something was bothering Y/N, so he kept her more company than he typically would and also asked of Cole to do the same. Cole would sit on the empty desk, reading out his text conversation with his current summer fling, while Trevor sat on the edge of the bed listening intently to his friend and Y/N laying on her stomach next to her best friend.

Trevor reclaimed his spot of being Y/N’s partner in games as they always were when they were growing up, leaving Jack and Cole to pair up with little to no argument. He had also fully embraced his former position as her best friend, allowing her to lean on him on boat rides or on the couch as they watched the TV.

The two boys did a great job of keeping her distracted from whatever it was that was on her mind. Trevor fully aware of not needing to ask her since she wasn’t the type to keep her emotions bottled up; when she was ready, she would tell him. Though he often played the more clueless friend role, he grew up with her and knew that it was Jack’s more absent presence that was constantly on her mind. She told Trevor about how often the two would speak to each other and how happy she was that they maintained a close friendship throughout the school year. But with Jack avoiding her, he wouldn’t force her to speak out on it until she was ready.

Luke and Quinn also did their best to fill in for the gap Jack made. Quinn often spending his evenings sitting next to her at the fire and the two sharing their different yet similar experiences with college. He saw her as the little sister he never had and wanted to protect her from being hurt, even if the cause was his own brother. Luke on the other hand, helped with keeping this light and fun. He would dance with her in the kitchen or whenever things would get a bit too quiet, he would pull her away to his room to watch their show. Luke would give her a similar safe space that Jack used to provide in the summer. They would talk a lot about everything yet also absolutely nothing.

Jack watched as she seemed fine with the distance he had created between them. His heart would twist at the sight of Quinn and her sitting together on the porch at night, when he would fill up his water bottle. At the way Trevor and her seemed so comfortable cuddled up on the couch, he would force himself to stare at the screen even though he wasn’t paying attention to the movie playing.

He didn’t like it. Not at all.

Which brought him, a month into summer, standing outside her door with his hand hovering as he contemplated his next move. He sighed and knocked on the door, Jack could hear her soft, “Come in.” from the other side.

He carefully twisted open the door to see the room dimly lit, with the two lamps on and a candle on the desk burning. She was snuggled up under the blankets with her kindle in her hands, “Hi,” He greeted gently, as he closed the door behind him.

“Hey,” She said back, her voice laced with a bit of surprise. She expected maybe Luke, Quinn, or even Trevor to be the one at her door late into the night, but Jack? He was the last person she expected.

“Sorry, it’s late,” He told her as he approached the bed, she adjusted her position to sit up a bit higher, “Can I sit?”

“Yeah, of course,” Y/N motioned to the bed where he sat at the foot of it, “Everything okay?”

Jack’s gaze was on his hands, trying to figure out what he was going to say. The conversation he planned in his head before coming to her room, flying out of his brain, “Uh, yeah… Actually no.”

Her eyebrows furrowed at his words before he continued, “I just- Um, fuck well, I-“ Jack paused, wincing in slight embarrassment over his stumbled words, “I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I’m sorry.”

“…You’re sorry?” She repeated, and he slowly nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” He confirmed, finally taking a breath and looking at her, “I’ve been a dick towards you since you got here and it’s not fair to you.”

She listened intently, her eyes locked on his.

“I just, I’ve been avoiding you because fuck, I don’t know how to say this.” He groaned, rubbing a hand over his jaw as he looked up at the ceiling.

“Hey it’s okay,” She reassured, “Just take your time.”

“I guess I caught feelings for you last summer and I’ve been trying to get over my feelings towards you, which has been so much harder when you’re here with me than when I’m in Jersey and you’re in school,” Jack said, his hand running through his hair, “If I acted the same way as I did last summer, I wouldn’t be able to get over these feelings and I don’t want to fuck up our friendship or something.”

Y/N held her breath unconsciously as he spoke, trying to nod along and keep up with his words.

“And it’s nothing to do with you, I swear. It’s just we both have too much on the line, you know?” He looked up at her, but her expression was hard to read, “We’re both so busy and like I said, you’re in Michigan while I’m in Jersey for most of the year… I don’t want to hurt you or anything.”

“Y- yeah,” She finally breathed out the air she was holding, “I get that.”

“But, I did hurt you with how I’ve been acting lately,” Jack sighed, “And I’m sorry for that.”

“I just wished you talked to me about it before you did it,” She expressed, twisting the ring on her finger, “But I guess I can understand why you did it.”

“I just think it’s better if we stay friends,” He said, his voice just barely above a whisper, painful to say it out loud than when it was floating in his head, “I think I just need like, space or something like that.”

When Jack looked up from his lap, she could see the small line of tears that brimmed his eyes. Her eyes glassed over at the sight, “Yeah, for now it probably would be best if we do that… But, um,”

He leaned the smallest bit forward, almost impossible to notice if it weren’t for the slight shift of weight on the mattress.

“Maybe after I finish school?” She proposed, her voice also sounding delicate as the question danced on a fine line, “If we still feel this way, maybe we can try then?”

He swallowed hard, the dryness of his throat pushing down the knot that was building throughout the course of their conversation, “Yeah, I would like that… a lot actually.”

They gave each other sad smiles, before she motioned him to come closer. He moved up on the bed to be next to her when she wrapped her arms around her neck, his instinctively going around her waist. Jack buried his face in the crook of her neck, “I’m sorry.”

“Shh, it’s okay.” She whispered into his hair, “I understand.”

“It’s not fair,” He mumbled, placing a feather-like kiss on her temple, “I wish I could be stronger and more willing to do distance.”

Her hand brushed through the hair at the base of his head, “It’s not your fault, and it’s not my fault.” She reassured him, “It’s not fair but we didn’t do each other wrong. It’s just not the right time for us now.”

He reached to intertwine their fingers together, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, “Still friends?”

She gave him a teary smile, “Still friends.”

They say like that for a while, taking in the comfort of the silence and each other’s presence as they both absorbed the truth of their conversation. It was painful to hear but also necessary to avoid hurting the other person more. Y/N felt her heart sink into her chest when he spoke but she was also aware of the importance it was for the two to communicate their emotions. Rather than to continue going on with how they were acting for the first half of their summer.

She knew that Jack knew her well, Jack knew about her feelings towards long distance relationships long before this conversation. She also knew that they both didn’t want to jeopardize the other’s friendships with their friends.

It gave her hope however, to think that they could still have a chance after she finished school, yet that was so far away and so many other possibilities could intercept during this time. They could very much be in different positions by the time she finished college. Different circumstances, different relationships, who knows.

Jack’s head was in a whirlwind of emotions, somewhat relieved to get his feelings off his chest. But with a punch of regret when he saw her glossy eyes as he spoke, made him want to take back everything he said. He didn’t know why this hurt like a break up, even though his past actual break ups didn’t squeeze his heart the same way that this conversation did.

They basked in the silence for a few moments longer before Jack rose from the bed, bidding his goodnight before leaving her room quietly. Once she heard his sock clad feet padding up the stairs, she reached over to her phone to text Trevor.

Blues 🫐

11:47PM | trev r u awake rn?

11:47PM | pls be awake

Z 🔥

11:50PM | Ya I’m up wsp?

Blues 🫐

11:50PM | can u come to my room :(

Z 🔥

11:50PM | But I’m comfy asf in bed rn

Blues 🫐

11:51PM | please?

Z 🔥

11:51PM | Ok

Within seconds, her door creaked open. Trevor rubbing his eyes as he shut the door behind in and walked towards her. He looked up at Y/N while slipping his phone into the pocket of his athletic shorts.

“You good?” He yawned, settling into the empty space next to her. He perched himself on his elbow, resting his head on his hand as he faced his friend.

She rolled onto her side and looked at him, her bottom lip quivered as she bit the inside of it between her teeth. The tiredness from his eyes washed away the second he looked at her. Y/N shook her head slightly as more tears threatened to spill,

“Oh, come here,” Trevor told her, opening his arms up and engulfing her with a hug, “It’s okay, Bluey.”

“Nothing even happened,” She explained between breaths as tears fell from her eyes, “I don’t even know why I’m crying.”

Trevor rocked her slowly, running fingers through her hair to comfort her, “It’s ‘cause you’re still sad and you’re allowed you cry.”

“We agreed to stay friends,” She sniffled, “And he said he’s been trying to get over his feelings.”

“What an asshole,” Trevor said under his breath, “You’re okay, you don’t need him.”

“I’m mad because I don’t know why I’m crying and am so upset over this.” She groaned, pulling away from his chest and flopping onto her back.

“Maybe because you’re a little sensitive,” Trevor mumbled in a lightheartedly manner, “You’ve always been a lil sensitive, nothing’s wrong with that.”

“We weren’t even dating!” She huffed as she turned her head to look at Trevor. He frowned slightly as another tear fell from her eyes,

“You liked him, that’s not your fault,” He said, wiping a tear off her face, “It didn’t work out which is also not your fault. Sometimes things like this just happen, but doesn’t mean that something better isn’t coming your way.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” He smiled, poking her cheek, “You’re my best friend, something amazing is gonna come to you and you’re gonna forget that all of this happened.”

“Can you stay?” She asked in a hushed tone, her eyelids already drooping from exhaustion.

“Of course,” He responded, crawling underneath the comforter, “Anything to avoid Cole’s sleep talking.”

Y/N let out a soft yet sleepy chuckle, “Love you, Trev.”

“Love you too Bluesy,” He mumbled back, “Always here for ya.”

After that night, things resumed as if that night never happened. There was a silent and unspoken shift in the lake house. Thought only Jack, Y/N, and Trevor knew exactly what had happen that one night. Cole, Luke, and Quinn knew that something changed in the air. It could be the fact that Jack and Y/N gave each other some distance but whenever one wasn't pay attention, the other was often looking at them. Or how Jack silently pouted when Y/N sat next to Luke on boat days or when Cole and her would make cookies together in the afternoons.

When the end of summer came around, goodbyes were said. Suitcases were packed. Jack gave Y/N a small hug, "Sorry again for everything," He said into her ear, "I hope school goes well for you and I'm still here if you need me."

"I know." Was all that she told him but the look in her eyes said everything she couldn't manage to vocalize in the moment. He knew. How her eyes said that she was also sorry and didn't blame him for how summer ruled out, how she was wishing him good luck for the upcoming season, and most importantly, how she is also there for him if he ever needs it.

As usual, the Hughes brothers stood at the top of their driveway of the lake house and watched Trevor's truck pull and way and disappear at. the end of the road.

"Some summer, huh?" Luke sighed, breaking the silence between him and his brothers, "You alright, J?"

He slowly nodded, "Yeah, I think I'll be alright."

"Things will work out," Quinn told his middle brother, bumping into his shoulder lightly, "They always do."

When it neared Christmas break that year, Luke invited Y/N over to spend time together and also quietly hoping that Jack and her would fix whatever they were going through.

Rustyy

1:23PM | Hey! Are we still good for tdy?

Blues 🫐

1:30PM | yk it!

1:31PM | just finished my last exam yesterday

Rustyy

1:32PM | Ayy that’s what I like to hear!!

1:32PM | Hope it went well

Blues 🫐

1:33PM | ya i feel pre good abt it:))

Rustyy

1:33PM | I’ll come pick u up in an hour

He drove over to pick her up from her apartment which was a few minutes away from campus. She approached his car as he rolled down the window with a large smile on his face, “Hey you!” She waved at the curly headed boy while settling into her seat.

“Hey, Blue,” He gave her a one armed hug while pulling away from the curb, “How have you been?”

“You know how school is,” Y/N said, “How’s senior year treating you?”

He shrugged, “Eh, it’s alright.”

They drove to a nearby Chiptole to grab food before heading back to the Hughes home which wasn’t terribly far. The two caught up during their drive, well as much as they could considering they often texted each other during the school semester.

Luke rolled into his driveway, tugging his jacket tighter to brace for the Michigan cold. He led her into the familiar home,

“Hi sweetheart!” Ellen greeted her as she watched the two kick off their shoes and shrug off their winter coats.

“How are you?” Y/N gushed, hugging the woman, “You look great!”

Ellen grinned at the girl, kissing her cheek, “Awh, you’re too too sweet! We’ve been good, happy to have all the boys home and ready for Christmas!”

Y/N chuckled, taking in the various holiday decorations scattered throughout the home. Her heart paused momentarily at Ellen’s words of her sons being back, meaning Jack was home.

“Alright, I’ll let you to go. Let me know if you need anything, hun!”

Luke and Y/N walked to his room, where they settled into their typical positions, “Jack’s home?” She asked while he plugged his phone into its charger.

“Yeah,” He hummed, sitting back down next to her, “I didn’t want to scare you off but yeah he’s back. He won’t bother you though.”

“It’s okay, I was just curious.” She muttered, “So what did you plan for us?”

“Well, I was thinking we could either bake or make this gingerbread home that Mom bought. We could also go to the rink if you’d like?”

“So many good options,” Y/N laughed, “Let’s build that gingerbread house first. At least your Mom can use it for decor.”

“Bold of you to assume that we won’t eat most of it while we make it,” Luke teased, standing up from his bed. Y/N following his steps,

“Bold of me to assume that we could keep it standing.” She challenged which made his eyebrows raise,

“Are you implying that you and I can’t build a standing gingerbread house and decorate it?”

She replied with a click of her tongue, “I don’t know, can we?”

He playfully pushed her out of his door, guiding her back down towards the kitchen, “C’mon, we can definitely make it stand.”

They didn’t.

The two current stood with the packaged frosting over their hands as they attempted to keep each piece of the cookie house to stick together. Y/N used the back of her hand to brush away a loose hair fallen from her pony tail,

“How do people do this?” She groaned, pushing the edge of two walls together while Luke applied, yet again, another line of frosting.

“No wait, this looks promising!” He exclaimed, standing back up from his bent stance, “Just hold it like that!”

“That looks terrible,” Quinn laughed from the doorway, leaning away its frame, “You should just stick to puck, Rusty.”

“Oh shut up, Q! I doubt you could do any better,” Luke shot back, giving a slight grin to his brother.

Quinn pushed himself off the door frame and walked towards the pair, “Here, let me help.” He sighed, settled in the spot next to Luke and taking the plastic bag from his hands, “Lukey, hold that right there, yeah perfect.”

Luke huffed but inevitably listened to the eldest Hughes brother as he guided them through the building process. Jack walked down the hallway to the kitchen, hearing his brothers’ banter and curious of what they were up to. He froze when he saw her sitting there, neck craned back as she laughed at Quinn and Luke arguing.

It was the first time seeing her since the lake house and he wasn’t expecting her to be here, in his kitchen with his two brothers. Her hair was tied up and she wore one of his old hoodies that he had let her borrow ages ago. His heart swelled at the sight, “Always beautiful and always smiling.”

He approached the three, “I hope you’re not trying to build a gingerbread house, ‘cause that looks nothing like one.”

The three sets of eyes all looked at the middle Hughes brother as he sat in the empty seat next to Y/N. Their eyes locked for a second, the same old warm feelings enveloping their chests. Y/N took a sharp breath before looking away and back to the house.

“I’ve never seen you make one before,” Quinn told Jack, “But since you’re here, help Bluey hold the walls together?”

Jack nodded, his hands next to hers as they helped Luke hold it all together. His senses were taken over by the soft scent of her perfume, the same one that she always wore.

“We just have to keep it together for a bit longer to let the frosting harden,” She explained, “Then we can finally start decorating!”

Quinn chuckled, opening the plastic bag of gum drops and eating a few, “All you guys, I’m enjoying this.”

“Give me some,” Luke complained, watching Quinn eat the candy in front of him.

A few minutes passed before the three of them held their breaths as they carefully withdrew their hands from the gingerbread house. Cheers being thrown around as it stayed stable without their support. They started decorating their house, placing rainbow colour candy on the roof and edges. Y/N at some point connecting to a speaker to let her holiday playlist hum quietly in the background.

It wasn’t perfect, definitely had its own take, with Jack sticking on the little gingerbread man onto the roof, claiming ‘he’s stargazing’.

Luke and Quinn were settled on the couches in the living room, debating on which film to watch. She was washing the mess of sugar off her hands when Jack came by to lean against the counter space next to her, “I wasn’t expecting you to be here today.” He said softly, while she wiped her hands on the red towel.

“Luke invited me a few days ago,” She replied, looking up from the towel to meet his eyes, “I didn’t know you would be home, otherwise I would’ve told you I was coming.”

“How did your finals go?”

“They went well, for the most part I think. I’m just glad that they’re over.” Y/N laughing lightly towards the end, maybe as a way to break the awkwardness between the two, “You played really good the other night.”

His eyebrows raised in response to being surprised by her comment, “Thanks, you watched?”

A faint, nearly unnoticeable, blush painted across her cheeks as she adjusted her hair, “Yeah, I’ve watched all of your games this season so far.”

Jack’s stomach flipped at her shy confession, “No wonder why I’ve been playing so well then, guess you’re my lucky charm.” He grinned, nudging her shoulder while washing his own hands.

She gave a small smile, the edges of her mouth tugging upwards slightly, “Do you maybe wanna talk?”

“Yeah, you sure Lukey won’t be upset that I’m stealing you away from him?”

“He’ll survive.”

Jack motioned with his head for her to follow him to his room, where they would have a bit more privacy away from his two brothers. Luke looked up from his spot on the couch, watching Y/N and Jack walk down the hallway. He smiled to himself, knowing that his plan is working — he just hoped for a positive outcome. She needed Jack and he knew that his brother needed her as well.

Jack shut the door softly, making his way to sit at the foot of his bed. Y/N sat next to him, being somewhat cautious of the space between the two. Her hands laid in her lap, fingers twisting around her rings.

“What did you want to talk about?” He asked her in a kind tone, his torso twisting to face her.

Her eyes glanced up to see him looking at her before darting away to her hands, “I don’t want us to be awkward anymore.”

“You think we’re being awkward?”

“Don’t you?”

He sighed, running his hands through his hair, “I thought we were doing fine.”

“I miss you,” Y/N mumbled, finally making eye contact with Jack, “I miss my best friend, I miss talking to you all the time.”

His lips twitching down for a fraction of a second, “Me too.”

“I know you asked for space to figure things out but I didn’t really expect you to disappear from my life while doing so,” She told him, her voice cracking at the end, “There were so many times where I wanted to call or text you about something that I knew you would find funny. Or about stuff I just wanted to talk to you about.”

“You should’ve”

“I didn’t want to overstep or anything, you know?”

He frowned, “I know what I told you this summer, I think about it a lot more than you probably think. I missed you too. But I am always here for you, pretty.”

Her eyes searched his face for any trace of lies, none to be found. His features only read with honesty from his words, and hope that she would believe him.

She slowly moved her head in agreement, “Okay, and we won’t do whatever that was, again?”

He chuckled softly, “Yeah, let’s never do that again.”

The two were reunited and back to how they were prior to the past summer. They continued to call and text each other whenever they met a moment of freedom, away from their obligations. Jack avoided thinking about how he used to feel around the girl, shoving those feelings so far down and putting a lock on them. The last thing he wanted was the urge to see her anything more than a friend - if he did, he was putting their rekindled friendship at risk again. He reminded himself the look on her face and the twinge in her voice whenever they discussed being more than friends, and he never wanted to go through that again. Besides, neither can get hurt if they can just ignore the magnetic pull.

Rowdy 🤠

3:12PM | Did u see the TikTok I sent u

Blues 🫐

3:27PM | ...yes

3:27PM | why would u send me that

Rowdy 🤠

3:32PM | Cuz its hella funny 🤣

Blues 🫐

3:35PM | its rlly not

3:35PM | idt the average person finds that dude funny

Rowdy 🤠

3:40PM | U hurt me ☹️

Jack rolled his eyes playfully as he sent the text before placing his phone down. He contemplated the actual question he was meaning to send her, almost nervous for her response despite the chances of Y/N turning him down was little to none.

Rowdy 🤠

3:45PM | Are u coming to the lake house this summer?

Blues 🫐

3:47PM | as long as i'm still invited

3:48PM | when r u guys planning on going?

Rowdy 🤠

3:49PM | Wdym as long as ur still invited??? Ofc u are. It wouldn't be the same without u!

3:49PM | We probs going in like 2 weeks ish? Have to check w Cole and Z when they're free

Blues 🫐

3:51PM | ok

3:51PM | i can probs go but idk how long i can acc stay since i have an internship set up for this summer :/

Rowdy 🤠

3:53PM | CONGRATS!! Thats huge! Atta girl 🙌

Blues 🫐

3:53PM | haha thank youuu

Rowdy 🤠

3:53PM | But yes, absolutely still come! We all want u there

A smile drew upon Y/N's face as she read the text messages coming into her phone from Jack. She pulled up her Apple calendar to glance at her schedule, seeing that her internship wasn't planned to start until a bit later into the summer due to the person she was working under being away for their own summer break.

She drove by herself to the lake house, arriving a few hours after the boys because of some traffic she hit on the highway. Y/N stepped out of the car, going to retrieve her suitcase from the trunk when she was scooped into strong arms,

"Bluesy!" The voice exclaimed, pulling her into a hug, "You took forever to get here!"

"Hi Lukey!" She laughed as she looked up to see the head full of curls in front of her, "Crazy traffic on my way here, sorry about that."

"Pfft, I was only joking. Do you need help with anything?" He asked, letting her go. She rolled her suitcase in his direction,

"Just this," Y/N grinned as he dramatically sighed,

"You just use me for my big muscles, I swear."

"Do not... Maybe." She teased back as they walked towards the entrance.

"Hope you're prepared to be attacked by the rest of the boys," He warned her with a playfully glint in his eyes, "Jack and Z have been moping while waiting for you."

"Oh, I am ready."

Luke shrugged before swinging open the front door, "Special guest is here!" He called out, seconds later a series of loud footsteps clambered against the hard wood floors.

"My bestie!" Trevor shouted, quickly approaching her and pulling her into an embrace, "Look at you, Blues! You get hotter every time I see you!"

"Stop it," She whined, smacking his shoulder while he squeezed her tighter, "You look good too, Trev."

Y/N hugged Cole and Quinn after, talking to them briefly when it was their turns. Both of them not failing to compliment her on the glow that she radiated.

Jack walked over to her back as she talked with Quinn. His arms wrapping around her middle with ease, "Hi pretty," He said into her ear, "It's so good to see you."

She extended her neck back to rest on his shoulder, looking at his face, "He's so gorgeous in this light."

"Hi J" She smiled softly at the brunette, "It feels good to be back, even if it's only for two weeks."

He sighed, "Wish you could stay longer, but you got your big girl job waiting for you."

"Yeah, we heard about that," Cole commented, causing her to pull away from Jack to face the rest, "Congrats, Blue! That's really sick."

"Thanks guys." She flushed slightly at the attention from everyone, placing her hand over her heart, "We will have so much fun while I'm here, gotta make this break worth it."

"Of course, we will." Quinn reassured her, walking towards the living room and the other five trailing behind him.

And they definitely did make the most out of her two weeks. Long days on the boat, soaking in the bright Michigan summer sun on the water. Drinking their Truly's and Bud Lights around the fire and enjoying the fact of everyone being together yet again. Jack and Y/N stayed glued to each other's sides, absorbing the most of the other's presence before she had to leave for her internship. They stayed up late together on the back porch, slowly sipping their drinks while telling their stories of the time they spent away from each other. He would hold her close when she got cold, her frame melting into his like two pieces of a puzzle. Jack would sway their bodies side to side when they danced together to country music on the boat, singing the lyrics to her which made her break into a fit of laughter.

Y/N splashed the cold water flowing from her sink onto her face, trying to snap out of the haze she was living through, yet again. Every time Jack was near her, she felt her heart pick up its pace, her stomach doing somersaults in her gut, the tingles that were left on her skin when he grazed her. The way chills would run up her spine whenever he would lean down to whisper something into her ear, away from everyone else hearing his words. His teasing and playful tone of voice directed towards her, causing her body to increase in temperature by a smidge - not enough for anyone else to notice except for her.

She knew the repercussions of her feelings towards the Devils player, she suffered through them before and she did not want to go through that sort of heartbreak again. Not when they were finally back to normal.

Her hands brought the soft white towel to her face, patting off the cold droplets on her skin. She stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, knowing that she was about to leave and head back into the reality of life. Out of her realm of freedom that existed in the lake house.

"You all pack?" Trevor poking his head into her bathroom, startled the girl.

"Holy shit," She gasped, clutching the towel to her chest, "You scared the fuck out of me."

He barked out a laugh, "Sorry, Bluey. You okay?"

Y/N looked away from him, "Erm, no yeah, I'm fine."

"C'mon, don't do that," Trevor groaned, stepping into her bathroom and leaning his back against the counter top, "You know you can't lie to me, I've known you for too long for you to get away with that bullshit."

Her shoulders sank as he spoke, knowing that he was right, "It's just me having stupid emotions... again."

He frowned, "I see."

"Just forget it, I'm leaving today anyways." She sighed, hanging her towel on its designated hook.

"Are you going to tell him?"

Y/N's eyes widened, "Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm Trevor..." He mumbled, mischief in his expression, "I'm joking, sorry, 'm only trying to make you smile."

Her gaze softened, "I know, but you know that I can't. Not after everything we went through, it's not worth it."

"Says who?"

"Says me, dumbass," She told him, walking past him and into her room to collect her phone from its charger, "It's stupid, they'll go away eventually. He doesn't want to do long distance anyways, plus its been like year since the talk. There's no chance he'd suddenly change his mind now."

Trevor shrugged, following her around the room, "You never know, B. I see how he looks at you and the way he talks about you."

"You don't know what you're talking about." She huffed, shoving the leftover items scattered across the room into her bags.

"Sure," He replied with ease, "I don't know what I'm talking about when I tell you that he was whining 'bout you leaving today in my room last night, but yeah, I don't know what I'm saying."

"Stop," She said, a bit harsher than she expected her tone to be as she whipped around to face her best friend, "Just... Stop, please. I can't get my hopes up again and I can't do this whole stupid thing again." Y/N told him, her voice gentler this time while waving her hands around.

Trevor slowly nodded, giving her an understanding look, "Okay, I just don't like seeing you like this."

"I'll be fine."

"Just call me when you get home, yeah?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I will."

Y/N shared her goodbyes to the rest of the boys before driving off. She twisted the volume dial in her car to maximum as she blasted her music, hoping that it will help her drown out her thoughts while she drove.

She distanced herself from the rest of the group for a while after leaving the lake house, using the excuse of her internship swallowing up the majority of her time. When in reality, she was avoiding them to run away from her feelings towards the middle Hughes brother.

Meanwhile, at the lake house, Jack's shoulders were slumped as he scrolled through his phone on the boat. Not even paying attention to the videos he was 'watching'. Cole sat next to his friend, noticing his strange and withdrawn behaviour since the girl left last week.

"You good?" Cole asked, nudging his shoulder with his own, "You've been quiet."

"Yeah, 'm fine." Jack muttered, not bothering to look at Cole.

"The boys and I are planning on having some girls over tonight, we met them at the store earlier this week." Cole explained to him, "They're our age and they're super chill, you should hang out with us."

"Sure," The brunette shrugged, "Whatever you say."

Cole frowned at Jack's attitude, but deciding to not press him any further, "Okay."

There were four girls who came over to the Hughes lake house. The group of nine lounging around the chairs that surrounded the bon fire. Most of the guys talking to a girl with the exception of Luke, who had invited a few of his buddies and them keeping mostly to themselves for the night. A little blonde, named Olivia, sitting next to Jack throughout the night.

He didn't mind too much, Olivia was pretty. She had bright eyes and an effortless smile when she talked to him. Maybe it was from the alcohol he had been drinking the whole day, but the flirts being tossed between him and Olivia came with ease.

Every compliment she gave him, he was able to give her one back. Causing the blonde to smile and flutter her lashes to him.

Maybe it was from the multiple beers that Jack managed to kill at the fire that brought him to where he was now. His chest pressed up against hers, sandwiching her between Jack and the wall of his bedroom. They shared desperate kisses, her hands pulling at his hair, making him let out a low groan. They drunkly stumbled towards his bed, articles of clothing being tossed to random corners of his room as they moved. Jack threw Olivia without effort onto his bed, crawling up to meet her into another heated make out. He pulled the covers over their bare bodies, hiding away from the world from his next moves. Hiding away from what would possibly be his biggest mistake that would come and haunt him.

Luke bid his friends goodbye, late into the night as they drove back to the city. He closed the front door before roaming the somewhat empty lake house. Trevor and Cole still outside with the girls they had invited, Quinn on the contrary went to bed. The exhaustion of the long day spent on the water getting to him.

The youngest Hughes brother walked around the kitchen, throwing out the empty cans that were left behind. After making the space somewhat decent, he sat at one of the bar stools and scrolled through his Twitter feed while eating a slice of leftover pizza.

"Have you seen Olivia?" A girl asked him after stepping into the space. Luke looked up from his phone, seeing that she was speaking to him,

"Uh, no?" Luke said to the unknown girl, although it came out more like a question, "But then again, I didn't catch all your names." He chuckled.

The girl gave a small laugh, "I'm Ashley. My friend Olivia, she's blonde and I think she came in here with Jack. We're planning on leaving and she isn't replying to her texts."

His eyebrows shot up, "Jack?"

"Mhm," Ashley hummed, "They were flirting and shit all night before they left us at the fire. I don't know if she's spending the night but I kinda need to know if we're leaving her here or not, y'know?"

Luke slowly nodded, trying his hardest to stay up to speed with everything Ashley was telling him. Although he was still focused on the fact that Jack, his brother who was hopelessly in love with his friend Y/N, was supposedly with another girl at this moment.

"Um, yeah. I can go ask, just wait here." He told her before dropping his half-eaten pizza on its plate. Luke pushed off his seat and began walking towards the second floor of the house. He approached Jack's room, halting in his movements when he heard the muffled moans and sounds of sex coming from the room.

His ears turned red, quickly walking away and heading back to where he left Ashley, "Uh, I think it's safe to say that your friend is probably spending the night." He mumbled out, still slightly embarrassed at what he heard.

Ashley thanked Luke and left through the back door to retrieve her friends. Luke stood somewhat frozen in his spot, his hands reaching into his pocket to shakily pull out his phone. His thumb hovered over her text contact, debating whether or not to tell her. He felt conflicted since it was his brother and that the two were not exclusive. But anyone with eyes could tell that Y/N and Jack had undeniable chemistry and feelings towards each other. She was his friend nonetheless, one of his closest friends too. The two got even closer after he committed to UMich for the upcoming school year.

He swallowed harshly as his fingers moved around his screen, silently apologizing to someone for what he was about to do. He couldn't decipher if he was sorry for Jack, somewhat sabotaging him behind his back, or for Y/N, who he knew was going to be heartbroken once she found out. Luke told himself that she deserved to know and he wasn't going to be the type of friend to hide this from her.

Rustyy

11:52PM | Hey are u awake?

Blues 🫐

11:54PM | ya i am

11:54PM | what's up?

Rustyy

11:54PM | Um I have to tell u smt and u might get upset

Blues 🫐

11:55PM | huh?

Rustyy

11:56PM | Jack is hooking up with a girl rn

11:59PM | Blues?

12:02AM | Are u still there?

12:05AM | Are u ok???

Blues 🫐

12:06AM | no i'm here

Rustyy

12:06AM | I'm so sorry

Blues 🫐

12:07AM | its not ur fault

Rustyy

12:07AM | Ik but I still feel awful

Blues 🫐

12:07AM | its his life

12:08AM | he can do wtv he wants

Rustyy

12:08AM | But hes hurting u :(

Blues 🫐

12:09AM | ill be fine

Rustyy

12:09AM | Are u sure?

Blues 🫐

12:09AM | ya

Rustyy

12:10AM | I'm always here for you🫶 If u ever wanna talk about it

Blues 🫐

12:13AM | thanks lukey

Rustyy

12:14AM | For the record, I think Jack is a fucking idiot for hurting you like this. An idiot in general tbh

Luke sighed, placing his phone down and rubbing his jaw with his hand, "Fuck's sake."

"You okay, bud?" Trevor asked, closing the glass door behind Cole as they walked in with their hands full of empty cans.

Cole tossed the cans into the trash, "You seem stressed, you good Lukey?"

"No yeah, I'm good." He lied, checking his phone to see if Y/N had responded yet.

"Then why are you checking your phone for notifs?" Cole chuckled, settling in the bar seat next to the youngest Hughes, "Who are you waiting a response from?"

"Rusty got a girl?" Trevor asked jokingly wiggling his eyebrows, leaning on his forearms from the opposite side of the kitchen counter.

Blues 🫐

12:21AM | ya ik but i let him do it anyways

The screen lit up as her notification appeared. Cole, ever the curious one, looked over to see if he could catch the name, "Y/N?!" He let out, a little too loudly.

Luke shushed him immediately, "Dude, shut the fuck up!"

"You're hooking up with her?" Trevor's voice being more aggressive than before, "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

"No, it's not like that!" Luke huffed, his eyes pleading to the two boys, hoping that they would believe him, "I just had to tell her something, but I swear we're not anything like that."

"Yeah right," Trevor scoffed, walking over to the side where Luke sat, "You and her have always been close, I just thought you two were like siblings."

"Trevor, trust me on this," Luke told him, careful with his next words, "We are not like that, at all."

The Ducks player only rolled his eyes, "Okay, then what is it like?"

Luke swallowed hard, seeing that both of Jack's best friends were staring intently at him. It was hard for him to tell her, but exposing his brother's actions to Cole and Trevor, who both cared deeply for Y/N, was another level of difficult.

"Jack is hooking up with that Olivia chick right now," Luke muttered, his voice a little shaky as he spoke, "One of the girls that came over. I heard it 'nd everything, I had to tell Y/N. She deserves to know."

Cole's jaw dropped slightly, his hands swinging up to cover his open mouth, "What the fuck?" He let out, just barely above a whisper, "Are you fucking for real?"

Trevor stepped back, nearly stumbling in his movements, "Are you fucking with us right now?"

Luke shook his head, "I wish I was. One of her friends came in and asked me to check if Olivia was still with Jack, I went upstairs to check and I heard it." He shuddered as the memory flashed in his head, "I wouldn't lie to her."

He handed his phone to Cole, revealing the text conversation between himself and Y/N, as evidence of proof. None of the guys would lie to her about a topic as heavy as this, they all silently knew what she felt for Jack and vice versa.

Trevor stood behind Cole, also reading the messages. His eyes widening as the information sunk in, "Oh, that's fucked up."

"They're not official though, right?" Cole asked the two, his eyebrows knit together.

Luke shook his head, "No, but like, they basically are."

"If he could just grow a pair and tell her," Trevor scoffed, "I know she would never just upright confess to him, but he could. I don't get why he doesn't."

"It's because of the distance, neither one wants to do long distance." Cole explained, "I know that he would ask her out immediately, if it weren't for the fact that she's in Michigan and he's in Jersey."

"He could fly her out every weekend if he wanted to," Trevor argued, "Fucking hell, I've flown her out to Anaheim for a weekend before."

"Should we tell Jack that she knows?" Cole asked to two, "Or do we let him figure that out?"

Luke dragged his hand across his jaw, "No, this is his mess to figure out."

"Agreed." Trevor nodded, "Knowing Bluey, she's gonna push herself away and Jack doesn't deserve to get the easy answer to why."

Cole hummed in agreement, "Yeah, facts. I can't believe he would do this to her, she just left last week and I swear they were cuddling and shit the whole time she was here."

"Yeah, they were." Luke sighed.

"She told me the morning she left that her feelings towards him were coming back." Trevor frowned, thinking out the way her face looked so defeated, "And the night before, Jack told me that he still liked her and his feelings never went away."

"This is so fucked." Cole groaned, Luke mimicking his actions.

Y/N seemed to evaporate from Jack's world. The morning following his drunken hook up with Olivia, he noticed that Y/N hadn't sent him a single TikTok or meme - somewhat unusual for her even though she had claimed that she'd been busy. Cole, Trevor, and Luke filled Quinn in the next day on Jack's activities, Quinn sharing his own disappointment in the middle Hughes brother.

Jack continued to invite the blonde over as a indiscrete way to fill the void the Y/N left behind. Completely oblivious to the other four's feelings towards his summer fling. To Jack, it appeared that the other guys didn't seem to care much. They never said anything against him and Olivia. To Jack, Olivia was nothing like Y/N. She didn't have creative comebacks, she didn't have the same heartwarming laughter, she couldn't point out the different constellations. But to Jack, Olivia was still pretty - a different kind of pretty, and she was fun. They had fun together and she was thrilled to discover that he was a NHL player.

Little by little, Jack found himself thinking less of the girl and directed his attention more towards the blonde. The more focused he was on Olivia, the less his heart hurt thinking about how he and Y/N couldn't be together. He convinced himself that she only saw him as a friend now, and he had to continue to bury his feelings for her.

He knew deep down that this wasn't fair to Olivia, but what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. Olivia was fun and extroverted, similar to him. She liked to party, a lot. Jack didn't mind, the alcohol drowned his feelings towards the girl he was missing.

She didn't seem to miss him though. Y/N disappeared. She went from barely responding to him, hours to maybe days between responses, to none at all. He scoffed at her behaviour, Jack knew that he hadn't done anything to Y/N. Except for the fact that he was hooking up with Olivia practically every day, but Y/N wouldn't know that. How would she? Jack had full faith in Cole, Trevor, Quinn, and Luke that they wouldn't tell her because bro-code and all. Besides, she saw him as a friend so why would she care who he was hooking up with?

Him and Olivia agreed that it was a fun summer fling, he had to return to his normal life and she had to go back to Miami - where she went to school, he learned. She had teased the fact that she might come back the following summer, hinting to press resume on whatever they called their situationship or relationship. He only laughed in response.

When Jack, Quinn, and Luke returned back to their parents' house for a few nights before the two had to fly back for the season, he heard his older brother on the phone when he walked past his room. Jack didn't usually care who Quinn was talking to, but a mention of one's name caught his attention.

He lingered outside the half-closed bedroom, trying to see if he had maybe misheard.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Quinn spoke into the phone, "I'm really sorry again for what you had to go through, Bluesy."

Jack's heart stopped. "Why the hell is she calling Quinn when she's going through something? I'm the person she always talks to."

There was a pause, for what Jack assumed Y/N was now talking.

"Yeah, I know - He's an idiot for doing that to you. You didn't deserve that." another pause. "Mhm, flying out tomorrow morning.... I miss you too.... Yeah, definitely come fly out during your break! I would love to show you around Van."

"What the fuck?" Jack rolled his eyes in frustration, "Not only did she not tell me that she was talking to some dude who's now hurt her, but she wants to visit Quinn? Why doesn't she ever ask to visit me?"

The middle Hughes brother walked away, upset that she wasn't coming to him about her problems anymore. He had thought that she'd been too busy with her internship to update him on her life, but clearly not when she was on the phone with Quinn. "When did she replace me with my own brother?"

Jack laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling with several different emotions flowing through his system. He snapped out of his haze after hearing Luke and Quinn in the hallway, his door was closed so their conversation was muffled.

"Were you on the phone with Blue?" He heard Luke ask. His curiosity got the best of his and he quietly crept to his door, placing his ear against it to listen better.

"Yeah, I just got off a call with her."

"How is she doing? Better I hope."

Jack heard Quinn sigh, and he imagined that Quinn was running his hand through his hair.

"Slightly better, I think. She's still crushed though, I could tell by her voice that she was trying not to cry while talking about him."

"He basically cheated on her. I was sick when I told her."

Jack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "How did Luke know she was in a relationship? How did I not know? Who is this dude?"

"I bet, I'm glad you told her though. She deserved to know."

"Yeah, I know." Luke told Quinn, "I FaceTimed her the next day and she was a mess. She cried to me for like an hour straight and it killed me that I couldn't be there for her."

"It's okay, she knew you were there in like spirit or something like that." Quinn chuckled, "Come on, let's see if mom needs help with anything."

Jack slowly stepped back from his door, his mind running through his interactions and conversations with Y/N. He searched for any indication or mention that she was seeing someone. Then he wondered if she was seeing this mystery man while doing her internship. He couldn't figure it out, so he decided to hear it from her.

They haven't talked in weeks, but he knew they were still friends. She left the lake house, giving Jack a tight hug and telling him she would call. She'd been busy so maybe now with the school year around the corner, she would be free to text. Well, in Jack's head she was, she had just finished calling Quinn so surely, she could respond to a text message.

Rowdy 🤠

5:35PM | Hey its been a min lol

5:35PM | Hope everything is ok

5:39PM | How was the internship??

5:46PM | U should visit Jersey sometime! I can get you the best tickets to a game 🙃

Jack's leg bounced anxiously as he waited for her to respond, but she never did. "She's just busy. Probably packing for her move." He told himself to soothe the anxious feeling building in his chest.

"Hey," Jack mumbled, walking into the living room where his two brothers were lounging and playing madden on the TV, "Have you guys heard from Y/N?"

Luke and Quinn broke their focus on the screen and glanced at each other. Quinn paused their game, lazily resting the controller on his knee,

"Yeah, I texted her a few days ago. Why?" Quinn asked, clearly lying to Jack's face. He didn't know that Jack had heard their conversations just over an hour ago.

He shrugged, "Just curious, I haven't heard from her in a while and I heard that she was cheated on or something."

For the second time, Quinn and Luke looked at each other. Luke's eyebrows scrunched while Quinn's looked more confused.

"Where'd you hear that?" Luke crossing his arms over his chest, his own controller left on the empty space on the couch.

Jack's eyes darted away from his brothers, "Uh, Cole mentioned it but he said that he didn't know the guy, do you guys know? She never told me." He added, hoping to pry some information from the two.

"Yeah, no idea." Quinn replied, leaning back into the cushions, "You said Trevor told you that?"

"Mhm." Jack hummed out, not even noticing that Quinn brought up their other friend.

Quinn scoffed, finally putting the pieces together that Jack was eavesdropping on their conversation from earlier. He shook his head lowly before resuming the game.

"You don't know the guy?" Luke repeated, Jack nodding as a response, "That is wild." Luke mumbled, exacerbated and copying Quinn's movements of his head.

"What is?" Jack questioned, looking back at his brothers, "Oh come on, bro, you're not gonna tell me?"

Luke rolled his eyes, playing attention to the video game, "If you don't know by now, then I guess you'll never figure it out. She probably doesn't want to tell you."

Jack huffed, "What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?"

He stood for a moment longer before realizing that neither of them were going to tell him who this guy is. Jack grumbled something about Luke saying a cryptic message underneath his breath before leaving the room, going to his room where he left his phone. He was hoping by the time he returned to it that she would've responded.

He never did hear back from her. His mind went elsewhere as he moved back to New Jersey and got swept up by the daily practices and going straight into the busy routine of being an NHL player. He thought about her occasionally.

Jack only got updates on her life through her Instagram and not surprisingly Luke's Instagram and Snapchat. Luke had started his freshmen year at UMich and he fit right in. Y/N seemed to have taken him along with his new friends from the hockey team under her wing and showed them around. Jack saw the numerous stories of Luke with his friends and Y/N there too. He saw when Y/N would post herself and her friends at Luke's games, wearing some of Quinn's old UMich hockey clothes.

Luke appeared in a few of the photos she had posted in a photo dump, the two getting frozen yogurt together, them studying together, and the one that hit him too close to home: Luke and her on the ice together. The photo was the last in the collection of pictures. Y/N was on her back, clearly after falling on her skates, and Luke hunched over laughing at the sight.

A couple weeks later, she posted that she was in Vancouver and posted Quinn with the text 'best tour guide!' over it. Quinn included her in two pictures in his own Instagram post. One with her flexing the Hughes 43 jersey, the second one being a photo of her curled up in a blanket on his couch. Jack discovering that she had stayed in Quinn's apartment during her trip.

The ugly feeling of jealously burned deep in Jack's chest every time he saw her post another photo of her hanging out with Luke on campus. He told himself that he would talk to her when he comes home to Michigan for Christmas, but he didn't get the opportunity to see her. Trevor flew her out to LA to spend her Christmas in the sunny state, and Jack saw the what felt like endless pictures of her and Trevor together at Disneyland and exploring the city.

Rowdy 🤠

2:03PM | How's LA?

2:05PM | Acc fuck that Idc abt LA. Why are you ignoring me? What did I do?

2:10PM | Jesus the least u could do is respond. How immature do u have to be to ignore all my texts??? Yk I didn't do shit to u

Blues 🫐

2:27PM | yo this is trevor

2:27PM | bro just give her the space she needs k? and yk ily dude but dont talk to her like that. tf is wrong w u?

Rowdy 🤠

2:28PM | Mb

Trevor handed her phone back to her, "There, that should shut him up for a bit."

"Thanks, Trev." She smiled at her friend before stuffing her phone into her pocket, "I appreciate it."

The barista placed their iced coffees on the counter, Trevor taking a hold of both of them and giving Y/N her drink. The two walked out of the cafe and onto the boardwalk,

"You know I always got your back." He told her, "I can't believe he hasn't realized that he was the one who caused this shit."

She chuckled for a moment before her shoulders slumped and her gaze dropping, "'Yeah." Y/N murmured.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her smaller frame to his side, "Cheer up, Blues! You're here in sunny LA and you don't deserve an idiot like him. He doesn't get to upset you, especially not when I'm around!"

"You're right." She grinned at his goofy expression, knowing that he was simply trying to get her mind off of things. Just like how Luke was by spending his free time with her and introducing her to his teammates, fully aware that they never shut up therefore not giving her a moment of silence to drop back into thinking about his brother. Just like how Quinn flew her to Vancouver for her mid-semester break to cheer her up.

Jack on the other hand seemed to be in a bad mood since receiving the message from Trevor that was sent through her phone. He wore a scowl and seemed to dish out backhanded insults towards his brothers during his time in Michigan. Luke had found out via FaceTime with Y/N, where Trevor also made an appearance, of what had happened. Luke could only roll his eyes at Jack's behaviour, him and Quinn in disbelief that Jack was yet to put pieces of the puzzle perfectly laid out in front of him together.

Luke sat on her bed, watching her flip through flashcards before her last final. He finished his just days prior, but decided to keep her company as she studied,

"I hate to ask this," Luke said softly, causing her to look up from the cue cards, "But are you planning on coming to the lake house this summer? I know it's a stupid question since you know who is going to be there, but I hope you know that the rest of us do want you there."

She sighed, placing the flashcard into her lap, "I don't know Luke."

He gave her a reassuring look, "I know, I just figured I would ask. Quinn, Cole, Trevor, and I were talking about it and I told them how you've been doing better and everything."

"Yeah, I know," Y/N shifted her position at her desk to face Luke, who was laying on her bed, "I barely even think about him anymore and it's because you and the rest of the guys have been doing such a good job taking my mind off of the whole situation." Referring to both the guys he mentioned alongside Luke's teammates.

"I just don't know how I would handle seeing him in person," She explained to the younger Hughes, "I don't want to mess up everyone's summer too."

"You know you wouldn't, if anything it'll be him ruining our summers." Luke chuckled, "But I get it. I don't want to pressure you or anything."

"I'm sorry." She told him, giving him a sad look.

"Don't be sorry, we just want whatever is best for you, okay?" He said, "Maybe not this summer but I'm sure in a few, you can finally face him. Maybe he'll finally get it through his thick skull that he's the fuck up."

"What do you mean she's not coming this summer?" Jack asked, shutting the fridge with force causing multiple eyes from the kitchen to look up at him, "She always comes to the lake house."

Quinn shrugged from the bar stool, flipping through the pages of his book, "She said she was busy with work this summer."

"That's gotta be some bullshit." Jack huffed, cracking open his second beer of the day.

"You do realize that a lot of people have to work to support their living, right?" Cole commented, still drying the lake water from his hair with a towel.

"Yeah, not everyone is blessed to have an NHL contract under their belt." Luke chuckled, leaning against the glass sliding door.

"But still, she always comes to the lake house," Jack told the guys, "It's not like she has an issue with spending our NHL contract money either." He mumbled the last part, hinting towards her trip to Vancouver and LA that Quinn and Trevor both covered.

"Okay, thats not fair," Trevor groaned, pushing himself off of his spot on top of the counter, "She was on break and she deserves a trip away from Michigan. She lives here both in and out of school."

"Exactly my point!" Jack exclaimed, raising his arm up, "We're here in Michigan at the lake house and she can't come? It's like she's fucking avoiding us."

"Maybe she has good reason for that." Trevor muttered, turning away from Jack.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Jack raised his voice towards the Ducks player. Luke buried his face in his hands, Quinn closed his book, and Cole poking his eyes out from the towel he held. The three fully anticipating what was coming. Jack and Trevor had history of getting hot-headed in certain situations, and it was very evident that this moment was one of them. Both of them were frustrated at the conversation but for different reasons.

Trevor was already irritated that Jack was behaving the way he was over the fact that Y/N wasn't planning on coming to the lake. Jack being oblivious to the underlying reason of this decision, which he should have realized months ago. Trevor loved Jack like a brother, but spending years of showering Y/N with compliments, cuddles, and actions filled with love: the forehead kisses, the hugs from behind, holding her hand in public, letting her wear his clothes to name a few. Then, sleeping with some other girl the moment Y/N leaves the lake house, and continue hooking up with this girl for the remainder of the summer - to take out his frustration on Y/N was where Jack crossed the line in Trevor's head.

Jack was beyond pissed off that Y/N had abruptly cut him out of her life. It seemed as though after everything, the late night conversations, dancing with each other on the boat, cuddled up together in front of bon fires, she was more than okay to drop him. He couldn't understand it. He thought that she would at least return to the lake house this summer. She always came after the initial invite three years ago, but the ignoring to not even letting him know that she couldn't make it because of "work" was what he called a load of bullshit. Jack fully blamed her for how their friendship was now, he put himself in the awkward position a few years ago when he distanced himself from her. She couldn't do the same for him?

"It fucking means that she doesn't have to be here if she doesn't want to be." Trevor spat back, mirroring Jack's intensity.

Jack scoffed, pushing Trevor's shoulders, "You keep saying all this fucking loaded bullshit about her not wanting to talk to me, she needs her space, that she doesn't want to be here. Why can't you just fucking say it to my face what you've been wanting to say?"

Trevor shoved Jack's shoulders back in response, "Maybe if you weren't so fucking blind, you would realize it by now."

"Just fucking tell me! Say it to my fucking face, stop hiding under all these cryptic ass messages." Jack shouted, returning the push with significantly more force than the last. Quinn stood up, prepared to have to break them apart along with Cole, who had placed his towel on the countertop.

"Have you ever thought that you fucking some blonde, days after you were cuddling and whispering in Y/N's ear wouldn't get back to her?" Trevor snapped, venom laced in his words, "She fucking knows you dipshit. She's known since the first night you hooked up with that girl."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Jack yelled, repeatedly shoving Trevor backwards until he stumbled into the edge of the coffee table in the living room, "You're so full of shit! I bet you two have been fucking around too, no wonder why you wanted her in LA so bad!"

The two collided to the ground after pushing each other around with a bit of too much force. Yelling and shouts being aggressively thrown at one another, insults and curses intertwined in their sentences. Quinn and Cole immediately stepping in to pull the two apart. Cole grabbing Jack and yanking him back towards the kitchen. His hair was disheveled and face red with anger,

"You so full of fucking shit all the motherfucking time!" Jack yelled at Trevor, trying to break away from Cole's firm hold on him. Luke also at Jack's side, a tight grip his shoulder.

"You don't remember fucking that girl all summer?" Trevor spat back, fighting less against Quinn, who kept him in place in the living room.

"C'mon, Trevor. Let's take a break," Quinn told him in a steady voice, "Let's go before you say something you'll regret."

Quinn slightly pushing Trevor towards the hallway that lead to the front door, Trevor still had eyes on Jack, "You can't just lead Y/N on for years, practically treating her like a girlfriend and making her fall for you then you sleeping with the next girl who looks at you! She deserves so much better than a piece of shit like you!"

Jack stopped his struggle against Cole and Luke's hold, his face dropping as it all clicked for him. His face visibly paled. Him and that blonde last summer, he couldn't even remember her name anymore or what she looked like. Jack completely forgot her the second they left the lake house last summer. All the pieces of the puzzle coming together and he felt sick to his stomach.

"Oh my fucking god." Jack breathed out.

Luke and Cole let go of Jack as they watched it sink in for him. He was shaky as he took a step back, his hand flying to his hair.

"She knew?" He whispered out, looking up at Luke and Cole.

Quinn managed to pull Trevor out of the house to cool down on the front porch while leaving Jack with Luke and Cole.

"Yeah, dude." Cole slowly nodded, taking in Jack's distraught appearance, "She knows."

Jack's chest rose and fell faster, fingers continuously rushing through his hair, "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He muttered to himself.

Luke placed a light hand on his brother's shoulder, "Bro, you have to breathe."

Jack tugged at the collar of his shirt, feeling the air getting heavier, "How long? Tell me Trevor was lying when he said she's known since the beginning. How long has she known?" He begged his brother.

Luke looked at Jack, seeing his desperate eyes brimmed with tears and his chest heaving, "Jack, you got to breathe."

"I- I can't."

"Hey," Cole told him softly, "Look at me, just copy my breathing okay?"

Cole inhaled and exhaled slowly, using his hands to demonstrate the motion, "Just breathe, Jack."

"I c- can't breathe." Jack stuttered, clamping his eyes closed and rapidly shaking his head.

"Yes, you can." Luke reassured him, "Pay attention to Cole, copy him."

Jack glanced at Cole, who was encouraging Jack to deep breathe. He shakily inhaled and his breath trembled as he exhaled. Luke and Cole nodded, "Yes, exactly. A few more times, Rowdy."

He copied Cole for a few more breaths, his chest no longer rising and falling at a fast pace. Jack's body relaxed as he caught his breath. Cole led Jack back towards the barstools, where Luke handed him a glass of water,

"Drink this, you'll feel better." Luke said to Jack, who glumly hummed a response.

Minutes passed and Jack was back to normal, although his head was cradled in his hands, "Lukey, how long has she known...?" He asked, scared of knowing the answer but he had to find out.

Luke looked at his brother, he swallowed hard, "Since the first night at the bon fire."

Jack inhaled sharply, squeezing his eyes shut, "How did she find out?"

"I told her." Luke said to him, "I'm sorry but she deserved to know."

He shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me that she knew?"

"It's not his fault, man." Cole sighed, patting his back gently, "You put yourself in that position, we thought that you would figure it out eventually."

"I really fucked up." Jack breathed out, "Oh fuck."

"Yeah maybe," Cole replied, "Do you still have feelings for her?"

"Of course, I do." Jack mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Cole's eyes widened, "Really? After a year of you two not speaking and you being pissed at her?"

Jack scoffed, "Shut up dude, I can't get rid of them. Trust me, I've tried."

"Should I call her?" Jack turned to his younger brother, who he knew grew extremely close to the girl.

Luke shook his head, "Don't. Give her space, you owe that to her."

Months came and went, Luke moving to New Jersey after being drafted to the NHL halfway through college, Y/N finishing her degree around the same time. Luke was the one who broke her the news that Jack finally figured it out. He left out the fact that Trevor was the one who let it slip during a fight. It was around 4 months after that day when Y/N bravely decided to call Jack. She couldn't put a finger on the exact reason why she had to urge to. It could've been the fact that she had finally realized that she no longer had any sort of romantic feelings towards the man. It also could have been the fact that she missed being at the lake house with her closest friends. She was nervous just prior to the call, Luke on FaceTime with her as he was retuning from a meeting and encouraging her to press the button. He promised that Jack was at home and he came to terms with his mistakes, he only wanted to apologize to the girl.

So she called, he picked up almost immediately, a bit shaken up to see her contact photo on his screen. They talked for over an hour, where he apologized profusely for his actions and where she listened and also gave him her piece. After the call, she returned to her own reality of life.

She dated another classmate for a brief time, Jack also finding himself in a handful of short relationships.

All that mattered to both of them was that they could agree to put that year behind them. It seemed that actually talking it out, even if it was just over the phone, worked well. Y/N could hear the pure honesty in Jack's voice when he gave her a whole-hearted apology. He knew that he made a grave mistake that hurt her beyond belief, and his behaviour towards her only amplifying the hurt she felt. But those months and that summer away completely away from him allowed her to find her peace and find herself outside of just Jack Hughes.

She travelled outside of her annual visits to see Quinn, Trevor, and Cole (who was added to the routine soon after her initial trips in her junior year). She was now 23 and about to start her summer. She paced around her room, double checking to see that she had packed everything she needed.

Her phone lit up, an incoming call.

"Hey!"

"Hey Blues, I'm outside. Let's hit the road!"

She laughed, "Okay, coming down now."

Y/N grabbed the handles of her bags and made her way towards the front where she saw the familiar car. A large grin drew upon her face, when he stepped out of the car.

"Look at you!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly, "New Jersey looks good on you, Lukey!"

He chuckled, "Ugh, I missed you. Missed Michigan in general to be honest. I sometimes wish that I was a UMich student again and do stupid college student things."

She rolled her eyes, "You don't wish that."

"I do!" Luke grinned, "Okay, maybe not the school work stuff but you know what I mean."

"Oh whatever, let's get going!"

"Are you nervous at all?" He asked her as they drove on the high way.

She shrugged, "A bit."

Luke glanced over to her, "It'll be good."

Y/N took a deep breath as Luke stepped out of his car. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for being back to the familiar lake house.

He opened her door with their suitcases at his feet, "You can do this. I believe in you."

"Yeah." She breathed out, slowly moving out of the vehicle.

"Hey, tell you what," He nudged her as they walked towards the door, "If it really sucks, like really fucking sucks, you tell me and I'll drive you home. No questions asked."

"I can't ask you to do that." She chuckled, climbing up the front steps.

They paused at the front door, he looked down at her and his eyes were full of sincerity, "I mean it. I'll drive you back if this whole thing is awful for you."

She swallowed and slowly nodded, "Alright, let's do this."

Luke opened the door, motioning her to enter first as he followed behind her with their luggage. Quinn lifted his head from his spot at the bottom of the stairs, he was anticipating their arrival and wanted to be the first one there.

"Hey," He gave her a small smile, "I'm really glad you decided to come."

"Hi Q," She grinned, hugging the man, "I'm happy to be back."

"You let me know if there's any issue okay? I'll drive you home the second you feel uncomfortable." He whispered into her ear, "I know you guys talked it out but still."

Y/N squeezed him a bit tighter, "You and Lukey are the exact same, I swear. Thank you."

The three walked towards the main area, Trevor had his arm deep into the chip bag when his eyes landed on her, "Blue!' He shouted, mouth somewhat full of food.

Cole snapped his head backwards, "You're here!"

The two bodies collided with hers in a group hug, she laughed at their reactions.

"You guys act like I didn't just see you at my graduation."

"Too long." Trevor complained, ruffling her hair as he pulled away, "You look good, as always."

"Like you say, Z, she gets hotter every time I see her." Cole snickered, very obviously checking her out with his eyes travelling up and down her body.

Trevor smacked the back of his head, "Off limits, you know that."

"And you know that I'm joking!" Cole winced at the contact.

Y/N only giggled at their interactions before walking into her self-proclaimed bedroom. She took it all in. It had been over two years since she last stepped foot into the room. Yet, everything looked the exact same. She started to unload her things into their designated spots.

A light knock was placed against her door, "Come in!" She sang out as she danced to the music playing off her phone.

The figure stepped into her room, cautious of the space it was entering.

"Hey," He gave her a smile.

She looked up from the dresser, "Hi, Jack."

"You made it," He said, slowly entering further into her room, "How was the drive with Rusty?"

"It was good. We caught up on everything." She replied, sitting down on the foot of her bed, "How are you?"

"Good, good," Jack mumbled, "Just wanted to check in and see if you were settling in alright."

Y/N chuckled, "Thanks."

He gave a small nod before turning towards the door. She stood from her bed,

"Hey Jack?"

"Yeah?" He looked over his shoulder to see her, "Perfect as ever." Jack mentally told himself.

"I missed you." She breathed out.

His eyes widened, her words being the last thing he was expecting her to say, "I missed you too. I'm really happy you decided to come this summer."

"Me too."

The sun was beginning to set on the lake, the beautiful hues of pinks and oranges stretching over the sky. The frogs and crickets making their noises in the grass, filling the air. Luke and Trevor were competing in some game at the picnic table outside, Jack and Cole tossing a football between each other while catching up, leaving Quinn and Y/N sitting outside with their kindles in their laps.

"Yo, Bluesy and Hughesy!" Trevor barked towards their direction. The two looking up from their books, "Play some music, would you?"

Quinn rolled his eyes, standing up to retrieve a speaker from the kitchen. He returned and placed it on the grass, "You can connect to it." He told the girl.

She scrolled through her music, trying to find a perfect playlist to play. Fully knowing it would be the same playlist that she always used at the lake house. Morgan Wallen played from the speaker, erupts of cheers from the boys as the song started.

Quinn started building the bon fire with help from Cole. Luke and Trevor claiming to be the ones responsible for getting the drinks and s'mores ingredients. Y/N sat in one of the chairs facing the bon fire, her knees tucked to her chest.

"Feels like home?" Jack asked, settling into the chair beside her. She hummed,

"Exactly."

"I saw your pictures from graduation," He told her, the two facing each other now, "Congratulations. That's really impressive, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," She smiled sheepishly, in reaction to the attention, "It wasn't easy but I'm glad that I did it."

"I would die to have a brain like yours, I cannot imagine going through college."

Y/N laughed, "And I would die to be a hotshot hockey player that everyone knows."

"This almost reminds me of the first time I met you," Jack said, glancing at the unlit fire, "Do you remember that?"

"Yeah, I do. At that house party right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, and you used that crazy pick up line on me."

Y/N's face heated up at the memory, "Oh boy. What was it again?"

"Something about me looking like I was in love with you?" Jack laughed, looking at her to see if she could recite it.

"A fruit punch Truly for you," Luke sang out which interrupted the two, handing her the red can, "Hope UMich parties haven't ruined this drink for you like it did for Pink Whitney."

"It did not, so thank you!" She grinned as Luke plopped into the seat on the opposite side of her, drinking from his bottle of beer.

Jack eventually moved a few seats over since Trevor complained that he wanted to sit next to the girl. Everyone was a couple drinks in, finally reaching full summer mode and relaxing around the well built fire. The group watched as Y/N and Luke explained to them, once again, how to properly build a s'more to perfection.

"And voila! The perfect s'more!' Y/N giggled, holding up her prized possession, "Here you go, J!"

Jack eyes widened in surprise as he leaned over to take it from her hand, "Why thank you!"

"Me next, Bluey!" Cole exclaimed, raising his hand.

Luke pouted the infamous Hughes pout from his spot, "I'm the one who taught her the craft of the perfect s'more."

"Lukey, you can make mine." Trevor chuckled from his seat., "Blues, want another drink?"

"Yes!" She laughed, reaching for her fourth? Maybe fifth, or sixth drink of the night.

Quinn lowly shook his head, "Maybe your last drink of the night?"

She frowned, "Boo, don't ruin my fun, Huggy Bear."

He raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, I won't tell you want to do."

"Race to shot gun?" Trevor challenged her, "For old times sake?"

He was referring to their old tradition of shot gunning a drink at every party in high school. She gave his a grin, mischief shining in her eyes,

"You are going down, Zegras."

"Oh, I love your enthusiasm, Bluesy! Hate that I'm going to have to ruin that for you." He said, cheekily.

Cole and Luke pulled out their phones to record whilst Quinn wore an unimpressed look on his face, when deep down he was also enjoying their playful banter.

Y/N and Trevor both used their teeth to crack a hole at the bottom end of the can. They stood facing each other, both determined to win the challenge, one in which they haven't took part in since their high school days.

"Go!" Cole shouted out, the two immediately bringing the popped hole to their lips and cracking open the tab. Cole was basically bouncing in excitement, Luke and Jack both grinning impossibly as they watched.

The sound of a can crushing echoed the area.

"Fuck yeah!" Trevor hollered, raising his can in celebration but only to look at Y/N who also held her can up high.

"I won that!" She exclaimed, "Don't even play with me."

"Nah, I easily won."

They turned to face the other four, hoping that they would confirm who won.

"Uh, I think you guys tied." Cole told the two, looking at the video to see them both finish chugging at the same time.

Trevor groaned, "No fucking way."

"You're joking!" Y/N cried out, "I swear I had that one in the bag too."

"Yeah, no," Luke laughed, rewatching his own recording, "You guys finished at the exact same time. That's crazy."

She pouted and stumbled in her step back towards her seat, the alcohol dragging her limbs down. Y/N went to flop into her seat, nearly missing the chair if it weren't for Jack who conveniently stood next to it.

"Alright," He chuckled, arm around her middle, "This girl is going to bed."

"I'ms not drunk," She slurred, attempting to straighten up.

"What did I say," Quinn rolled his eyes playfully, "Do you need help, Rowdy?"

Jack shook his head, "I'm fine, I'm going to put her to bed though."

He tightened his arm around her, carefully walking her towards the house, "Come on, pretty. Work with me here, I can't drag you the whole way."

She giggled in his arms, "I like it when you call me that."

Jack smirked, "Yeah?"

"Mhmm" Her eyes closing with drowsiness.

"I'll call you that more if you can use your feet up these steps." He cooed into her ear.

Y/N groaned, sloppily walking up the steps, "I thought you are a big hockey player, can't even carry me?"

"You can do it." He laughed at her drunken state.

"'m not even that drunk."

"Sure, princess."

Her head snapped up from its low position, "That's a new one!" She exclaimed.

Jack eventually managed to get her to her room, silently thanking the fact that she stayed on the ground floor or else he would have actually needed to carry her up the stairs. Y/N happily flopped onto her bed.

"You want to change into your pyjamas?" He asked her, pointing at her denim shorts, "I'm sure they're comfier than these."

"Mhm"

He searched her drawers before pulling out an oversized UMich hockey t-shirt, which he assumed belonged to Quinn or Luke originally along with loose shorts.

"Here, put these on." Jack told her, handing the clothes.

She took them from his hands, "Don't look!" She said to him, her voice nearing a shout.

"I won't, I won't." He reassured her, turning around to face the opposite wall.

He could hear her shuffling to change into the new clothes, hearing the sounds of her denim shorts contacting the hardwood floors.

"Okay, you can look." She sang out, he laughed as he spun around to see her curled up in a ball.

Jack smiled at her, "Goodnight, pretty."

Y/N sat up, "You're leaving?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm gonna go join the boys outside for a bit then head to bed."

"Can you stay?"

Jack paused. He looked at her, "You know I can't."

"Why not?"

"You know why."

"Is it because I'm drunk or is it because of our big fight?" She questioned, her head tilting, "Or is it because we used to have feelings for each other?"

Jack approached the side of her bed, pulling out a Liquid IV from her bedside drawer and putting it into her water bottle, "You're drunk, just make sure you drink this before you sleep."

"I'm not tired yet." She told him as he shook her bottle to mix the powder.

"Yes, you are." He chuckled softly, "Once you lay down, you're gonna pass out."

Y/N laid down for a brief moment and sat immediately back up, her body slightly swaying from being dizzy, "See? I didn't fall asleep."

"Y/N..." He sighed, handing her the bottle.

She took it from his hands and sipped it, "Can you stay until I finish this?"

Jack tilted his head back to look ash the ceiling, before gazing down at her, "Okay, fine."

A bright smile drew upon her face, his favourite. She shuffled to the other side of the bed and patted on the empty space next to her. He cautiously sat down, "So,"

"Do you know how pretty you are?" She asked him abruptly.

Blush rose on his face, tinting his cheeks and ears pink, "What?"

"I think you are so pretty," She told him before taking a drink from her bottle, "Like, the prettiest man I've ever seen."

"You're drunk."

"Drunk or not, I think you're pretty."

He smiled at her, seeing the softness in her features as she snuggled deeper into her bed, "Can we be friends again, Jack?"

"That's up to you." He said to her, voice delicate more than ever.

She hummed, "Yeah, we should be friends again."

"Go to sleep, princess." Jack mumbled, taking the empty bottle from her hands.

"Just sleep here." She whispered to him, seeing that he was already looking at her, "We're friends, you slept here before."

"I don't know, Y/N."

Y/N squinted her eyes at him, "Okay."

He laid on the bed next to her, waiting for her to fall asleep. Moments passed and her chest rose and fell as a consistent pace, light snores leaving her lips. Jack leaned over to pull the blanket over her curled up figure, his fingers carefully brushing the hair out of her face.

"Sweet dreams, pretty." He said softly, before placing a light kiss to her temple. Jack used all his strength to pull away from her bed and made his way to his own room. Despite wanting to comply to her wishes, he knew that he couldn't do that unless she was sober.

He laid in his bed, mentally cursing the lake house for bringing up old feelings for the girl. It seemed as though they never failed to come back whenever they were back at this place. Jack tossed and turned, waiting for sleep to envelop him.

The lake house was back in full swing at its normal environment. Y/N and Quinn spending their mornings cooking while discussing their shared experiences of college along with their thoughts on the book that they were reading together. Luke and her spending spare time hanging out in their rooms together, making up for lost time for when he left Michigan for New Jersey. Cole learning the meaning of different Taylor Swift songs from Y/N, along with the lore of the Folklore triangle. Trevor and her never failing at making fun memories and talking about his new girlfriend.

As for Jack and Y/N, they drew closer together like always. It was the magnetic pull they had between each other. It started off slow, the two having conversations on the boat together to him tackling her into the water for a swim. From sitting across each other at the couches as they drank their morning coffees to Y/N being cuddled into his side during movie nights. To bidding each other goodnight from the hallway, to him laying next to her in bed as they talked about what they imagined their futures to look like late into the night.

Y/N stood outside, dancing around with Luke to the music playing as the sun began to set. The rest throwing the football around and watching in amusement at the two.

"Bluesy, have you listened to the new Ella Langley album?" Luke asked her, pausing to change the music.

She nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty good."

He handed her the phone, "Pick the next song."

Y/N hesitated before selecting track 3 of the album, realizing what Luke was hinting her to do. The evening before, she was in his room explaining how this song was so similar to her first encounter with Jack. She also confessed to Luke how she felt her old feelings towards Jack returning, and the fact they mentioned to try a relationship when she completed school. Luke helped her weigh her pros and cons in the situation and ultimately, told her that he knew that his brother still had strong feelings towards her and she should shoot her shot. He reminded her that even though Jack hurt her in the past, Luke has never seen Jack so broken after realizing his mistakes. Jack was never one to pine after a girl, he only really treated Y/N like the way he did. With care and love, extra cautious of their surroundings when they were out. How Jack still knew her like the back of his hand, how his every move came with ease. How Jack nearly drove the long distance to her door when he came to terms of his mistake a few summers ago and was fully prepared to get down to his knees to apologize, if it weren't for Luke telling him to give the girl distance.

The song started to play loudly from the speaker, Luke twirling her around and making her laugh. Jack stepped away from playing football, somewhat confused at the song. One that he's never heard. He watched her smile and giggle next to his brother before Luke whispered something to her. He ran off into the house as Jack slowly approached her,

"Can I be your temporary dance partner while Lukey is gone?"

She nodded.

"What song is this?"

"A new one," the chorus started, "And I said baby, I think you're going to want to hear this." She dramatically lip sync-ed towards him.

His eyebrow raised and he smirked, taking a hold of her hand.

Y/N turned her head away from him before looking back, "Excuse me, you look like you love me. You look like you want me to come on home."

Jack's mouth opened agape at the lyrics, chills running down his spine as the memory of their first conversation flashed through his mind. He grinned at her as he spun her around, pulling her close so her back met his chest,

"And baby I don't blame you, for looking me up and down across this room," She hummed to the tune, "I'm drunk and I'm ready to leaving, and you look like you love me."

"Did you write this song?" He teased into her ear, she turned around to face him,

"No, but it's a crazy coincidence, right?"

Jack laughed, "Yeah, an insane one."

"Jack," She said softly, "Can we talk?"

He looked at her, "Of course."

She led him down towards the dock, a ways away from the rest so they could speak in private. His hand grazed over her bicep,

"You okay?" He asked her, playing with the sleeve of her t-shirt.

Y/N sighed, preparing herself, "Do you remember our conversation, years ago?"

"Depends," Jack told her, looking into her eyes that always seemed to sparkle, "Which one?"

"I asked if we could try... a relationship after I graduated and if the timing was right." She replied, twisting the ring around her finger.

He nodded, "Yeah, I remember that one. Why?"

She swallowed down the nerves building in her throat, "I told you that if we still had feelings for each other, then maybe it'd be worth a shot. And," She paused,

"And?" Jack repeated.

"And, I don't know if you feel the same, after everything...." She whispered, her eyes staring into his blue ones, "But, I love you Jack. Even after everything, I love you and I don't think I could ever stop."

His eyes softened, "I think I fell in love with you when you told me that crazy pick up line when we were seventeen, Y/N."

Y/N let out the breath that she had been holding, "So I was right?"

"With?"

"When I told you 'excuse me, you look like you love me'" She giggled, "My intuition must be amazing."

He laughed, stepping closer to her so their chests touched. His hand cupped her cheek while the other rested on her waist, "I guess so."

His fingers danced to her chin, tilted her face upwards where their faces were now millimetres apart, "Can I kiss you?"

"Please." She whispered, her eyes fluttered shut when Jack finally closed the gap between their lips. His soft lips meeting hers, molding into each other perfectly.

His hand on her waist squeezed her as her hands trailed up to tug lightly at the hair at the back of his neck. She sighed in pure happiness when they eventually pulled apart,

"You are perfect, beyond perfect." He mumbled against her lips, placing a gentle peck on them after, "I love you, Blue."

"I love you too, Jack."

"God, I can listen to you say that forever." He chuckled, pulling her into a tight embrace.

823 notes · View notes

misayani · 4 months ago

Note

Hi!! Can you write about se-mi, where she survives the lights out??

P.S i reeaaaalllyy love your fics about her :))

COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER — SE-MI (PLAYER 380)

◜ pairing ... se-mi / player 380 x fem reader

◜your initial plan was to find your friend during the attack, but you happen to run into a man and then walk out with him dead on the floor, alongside with a stabbed thigh and a hot woman by your side.

𔗨 author's note — thank u !! had to watch the lights out scene again for this and im still upset about her death:(( but she doesnt die in this because no [lowercase intended]

your eyes were starting to hurt due to the flashing lights. screams can be heard everywhere as well as flesh squelching.

you tightened your grip on the fork, clutching it as if it was your lifeline. in a way, it was—your chances of surviving this attack were already slim, and losing the only sharp object you have would make them nonexistent.

how the fuck did you even end up in this situation? earlier, when those masked men handed out the meals, a metal fork was included inside. was it a coincidence? gi-hun had already warned your group about the possibility of a sudden attack once the lights went out.

now you're under the bunk beds biting your lower lip to supress any sounds from you. it's not like they can hear you, can they? then again, what isn't possible in this hellhole?

and then it hits you—shit, junhee. you thought of your friend, who is currently pregnant with her baby. your mind was bombarded with thoughts such as 'is she safe?' and 'what about the gi-hun others?'

taking a deep breath, you prepare yourself to slip out from under the bunk bed. now is not the time to be a coward.

sighing, you crawl your way from beneath the bunk bed before you stood up and scanned the area. horror spreads across your face, as all you can see through the flashing lights were people getting killed.

"fuck— fuck." you murmur as heat started to build up behind your eyes. you shift your fork so it would be in front of you whike you make your way through the crowd.

you dodged the fighting people. some causing you to trip but you were quick enough to get back on your feet.

"se-mi.. you fucking bitch." you heard a man said, just steps away from you, he had the number '124' plastered on the back of his tracksuit. and then you saw the woman he was referring to, it's that hot woman from earlier—when the people who voted for 'x' huddled together, she was seated behind you.

before the man had a chance to step closer to her, you spoke up, loud enough for them to hear among the loud screams from other people.

"hey." the man turns to you upon hearing your voice. the woman, se-mi, glances at your figure— you seemed smaller than the man, how could you possibly take him on?

without thinking twice, you swing your hand and managed to stab the man straight to the throat with the fork you were holding. the man immediately rips out a cough and gasps for air as he stares at you with wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows

a fucking metal fork, who would've guessed that you'd kill someone with a fork in your lifetime?

your thoughts were cut short as you felt a sharp sting on your right thigh. looking down at the bloodied spot, you realized that this fucker had just stabbed you.

blood sprayed from the man's stabbed throat and to your face which made you scrunch up in disgust. before he could attack you further, a shattered bottle was driven into the side of his neck.

you watch as his body went limp and onto the ground. you look up to se-mi, who was panting, she also stared at the man's dead body before her eyes traveled up to you.

she stepped closer to you as you remain frozen. what the hell just happened? why does my thigh hurt so much? why's my face so wet—

you just stare at her blankly before she brings her hand to your face, wiping away the blood. your eyes were sensitive from the flashing lights but somehow, you found yourself admiring her face. as if it were the only clear thing in your blurry surroundings.

"you're so pretty." the words left your mouth without giving it a second thought.

the woman let out a chuckle, shaking her head slightly. "great conversation starter."

things were finally starting to catch up to you as your lips part. you see her shift her gaze to your thigh as she muttered a curse under her breath, which just reminded you— oh, i was stabbed.

"we need to take care of that." she murmurs, bending down to your bleeding thigh before she looks up to you.

"i dont think he stabbed me too deep. it doesn't hurt that much—"

"hey! i'm so- i'm so sorry about the glass bottle." you glance sidewards to the boy running towards the both of you.

"i- i—" he panics as his eyes travel from you, your bleeding thigh, se-mi, and the man you both had just killed.

"um, it's fin- it's fine. he's dead now." you speak up in attempt to calm the boy who looks like he's about to throw up.

a buzz can be heard throughout the whole room as the large doors slid open. the masked men walked in, some firing their machine guns to stop the madness.

what took them so long?

the men in the red jumpsuits ran to those who were fighting, pointing their guns at them, threatening to shoot if they didn't stop.

you remembered junhee, the real reason as to why you stopped hiding. you turned to face se-mi and the boy,

"i need to go find my friend—"

"let me come with you." se-mi cuts you off as you simply nodded and took your step. when you did, your stabbed leg wobbled and you almost fall to the ground, if it weren't for her grabbing you.

"careful." she murmurs as she tightens her grip on your torso. you sighed as you started to walk once again but this time with her assistance, leaving the boy behind.

"thank you for your help back there. let's have dinner together some time once we get out of this shithole." you heard her murmur before you turned your head to her, who didn't turn to look at you and just stared straight forward.

your felt your cheeks heat up, as you bit your lower lip to suppress a smile. you simply nodded—even though she's not looking— and looked ahead the both of you again.

this only made you think: in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity

@misayani

#squid game #squid game x reader #squid game season 2 #se mi x reader #୭ ୨♡୧ ৎ misa writes ...

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g1rld1ary · 1 year ago

Text

5 people james didn't mean to kiss (and one he did) ; james potter x fem!reader

➻ first james fic!! i love reviving old fanfic trends <33

➻ word count: 4494

➻ synopsis: says it on the tin baby!

➻ warnings: swearing, allusions to sex/dirty jokes, era typical homophobia (basically nonexistent)

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

James Potter was a very affectionate person, everyone knew that. His love language was absolutely physical touch — everyone knew that too. It was also assumed, therefore, that James Potter had an extensive list of kisses. That assumption wasn’t necessarily wrong, but a good chunk of them weren’t exactly what you imagined when thinking of the great James Potter kissing someone. They were often impulsive when he didn’t know how else to express his feelings. His very first kiss, for example, wasn’t exactly the cheesy, romantic soap opera that he often advertised providing for girls.

Sirius Black

The Marauders sat in their dorm room, early on in second year. While first year was packed with ridiculous adventures and the forming of their friendship group, second year brought a new awareness of girls, romance and especially kissing. That was the topic of discussion as the boys all packed into one bed, hypothesising about what it might be like. James and Sirius led the discussion with much bravado and false confidence whilst Peter looked decidedly scared. Remus, to his credit, just looked rather amused at it all.

“But where do you touch her?” James asked, eyes still wide and innocent and twelve years old, “I can’t just stand there with my hands at my sides like a twat!”

“Don’t be stupid, you hold her like this.” Sirius bent his arms in a direction that looked borderline painful. Remus huffed and climbed off the bed, pulling both the boys with him.

“If you’re gonna kiss a girl,” Remus instructed, “You have to hold her gently. Don’t push her around like she’s dead weight. James, put your arms around Sirius’ waist like that, now Sirius, you put your arms around his neck.”

“Pete’s gonna think we’re bent,” Sirius grumbled, a red hue on his cheeks.

“You are bent, you poof,” Peter quipped from his spot on the bed. He was right, of course, but that wouldn’t come to light until fourth year. James thought this was hilarious though, and began miming exaggerated — rather sloppy — kisses. And since James never failed to cure Sirius of his moods, he did the same. Remus rolled his eyes as the two boys acted out a passionate scene, loose tongues and all, until they were no longer acting.

All four boys in the dorm were frozen as James and Sirius’ mouths had accidentally connected in their stupidity, none of them sure what to do. Seconds passed as the two stood, lips locked against each other, no one daring to move. At least, until Remus let out a long, uncharacteristic wheeze, which dissolved into a fit of giggles that he would usually be mortified by, but there was no way he was outdoing the kiss anytime soon. Peter followed along momentarily, laughing so hard barely any sound actually came out, silent heaves punctuated by gasping breaths.

Released from their stupor both boys leapt apart, wiping their mouths with their forearms. Both had comical expressions of disgust, still slightly too stunned to verbalise any of it.

“We,” James heaved, “Can never speak of this again. Ever.” Sirius agreed in a heartbeat, still unable to completely wipe the blush from his pale complexion. He probably would have dwelled on those feelings if James wasn’t James, beginning to see the humour in it soon enough. By the end of the night it was an inside joke that would proceed to be referenced countless times within the walls of Hogwarts.

So although James would tell the story of his first kiss quite differently — he alleged it was with a Ravenclaw named Keeley a few weeks later, his proper first kiss will always have been with one Sirius Black in the Gryffindor dormitories on an otherwise unassuming Tuesday evening. And that secret was held onto dearly by all four marauders until, of course, Sirius’ best man speech at James’ wedding, where the anecdote received uproarious applause, loudest of all by James himself.

2. Remus Lupin

The Marauders had all known about Remus’ ‘furry little problem’ since their second year — first for the most perceptive of the bunch. Nevertheless, the group were insistent in helping Remus in any way they could, though it was a difficult task when his alter ego had no resistance to killing them. Until Sirius had come to them with the idea of becoming animagi. It was difficult no doubt, advanced magic far beyond the teaching at Hogwarts, but the four of them were exceptional wizards each in their own way, and the project seemed somewhat manageable with four brains chipping away at it over the course of two years.

When they finally did get it, hardly any of them could believe it, least of all Remus. He had never imagined that the human side of him was worthy of this much love and devotion, let alone the monster within him. However, despite how they tried to play it off, the achievement didn’t come easily to any of them. Sirius was the first to get it, big black dog accompanying the group around the castle and becoming an unexpected staple of the Gryffindor common room. You in particular liked to cuddle up with him on the couch and spoil him with head scratches when you were stressed from school — at least until the secret was revealed and you hit him upside his human head for deceiving you.

James was second to get it, though much less gracefully than Sirius. The whole group of Gryffindors had been hanging out together down by the Black Lake, enjoying the slowly warming weather after class one day. James had the misfortune of being sat between you and Lily, which made things very confusing for his hormonal body and brain. His eyes were trained on his hands, too afraid to actually talk to either of you and embarrass himself which was what usually happened. You and Lily, however, were hell bent on making that occur. While James had had a well known crush on Lily for the last few years, ever since you’d come back to school that year post-puberty you could both tell that James was both emotionally and physically confused. You both delighted in this and used it to your advantage, Lily finding him the most annoying man on earth and you delighting in his flustered expressions (secretly finding him actually pretty cute).

After thirty minutes of torture, James couldn’t take it. You’d made one too many dirty jokes directed at him and he was a blushing mess, fidgeting awkwardly between you and Lily laughing gleefully. He excused himself quickly and uncharacteristically quietly, hurrying off to be out of sight of his friends. You all laughed as you watched him go, and Remus reluctantly stood, muttering something about making sure James didn’t drive himself crazy.

Remus headed straight to the Forbidden Forest, knowing the privacy would be what James desired in the moment. Sure enough there he was, taking a moment to breathe against a tree.

“Easy there, Potter, don’t cum in your pants,” He joked, obviously amused by the whole ordeal. James turned quickly, devastated at Remus seeing him so sexually frustrated.

“Sod off, Lupin. It’s not my fault! They both just sit there looking so fucking good, talking about all these unholy things and you expect me to just be fine with it? It’s so—” Instead of the exasperated groan Remus expected, he was met with a stag standing tall in front of him. He couldn’t help his mouth dropping open, the animal far more magnificent than he could have expected out of the fourteen year old boy.

In a weird shift of figure the deer was back to boy, and James only had a moment of shocked stillness before he was whooping and yelling in the grass. Remus joined him, the two of them yelling and dancing around like idiots in their joy. James pulled him in for a hug, appropriately masculine until he pressed a kiss onto Remus’ lips, still grinning ecstatically as they pulled away. Remus scowled in a way he hoped was convincing.

“I hate it when you do that, Potter,” He grumbled as the two of them returned to their friends.

“Yeah, right,” James laughed, pushing his glasses up his nose. “It’s a blessing to be kissed by my sexy arse.”

3. Peter Pettigrew

While all four of the Marauders were undoubtedly exceptional wizards, that didn’t always translate into their grades. For example, being so ahead in the curriculum made James Potter get lazy, often submitting subpar essays simply because he figured it was already common knowledge and he was more interested in higher level magic. He always ended up with top grades from outstanding extra credit projects, but the point still stood.

Peter was similarly a great wizard. Perhaps not so much a prodigy like James or Sirius, and didn’t dominate the class ranks like Remus, but he did well for himself and was pretty exceptional in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. However, he was failing History of Magic. All four of them had chosen the subject for their OWLs, assuming it would be an easy O because of the ghost professor. They couldn’t be more wrong. Binns was a useless teacher and Peter especially found it difficult to teach himself the material just from the textbook, and was falling dreadfully behind, each essay earning a worse grade than the last.

James had offered to help tutor him before their exams, and the two buckled down in the library almost every day in the weeks leading up to exam season. Peter made pretty good progress, eager to catch up with his friends and prove he was on their level. Still, everyone was nervous for the test and its outcome.

When results were released, you and the Gryffindors were all together. Whilst you and the girls all got the reveal over and done with, the boys all waited with bated breaths. Most of the grades weren’t shocking — three of them knew they could easily get top grades from the little effort they put in, but they were all waiting on Peter’s History of Magic grade. The blond boy opened his paper with shaky hands, eyes scanning frantically over the information contained. Slowly he raised his head, nervous smile apparent.

“I got an A,” He said, and within an instant the boys were on top of him, congratulating him with strong hugs or by clapping him on the back. James grabbed both of his cheeks, pressing them together and pushing a kiss onto Peter’s lips.

“Prongs!” Peter moaned, pushing his face away half-heartedly.

“I’m just proud of you, Wormtail,” He cooed, appearing much like his mother whom you all adored.

“Oi, Potter,” You interrupted, waving your sheet of results around. “I got an O in Potions — where’s my kiss?” James immediately broke your eye contact, and you pretended you weren’t charmed by his embarrassed little smile. He mumbled a response that had his friends ripping him to shreds, egging him on whilst simultaneously teasing him and his alleged manhood. He pressed a gentle peck to your forehead and you raised an eyebrow.

“Not what I meant, but ok.”

4. Regulus Black

Regulus Black had a difficult relationship with the Marauders, to say the very least. By his fifth year — the rest of the boys’ sixth — Sirius had been at the Potter’s for months and Regulus was still reeling from the impact. He was noticeably quieter and more sombre than in years previous, and a dangerous resentment for his brother and his friends bubbled under his skin.

James Potter connected these dots quickly. However, he didn’t really know what to do about it. He wasn’t sorry that Sirius was living with him, but he didn’t like that Regulus was left all alone with their wicked parents, regardless of their personal differences. That brought James to you.

You sat together on the couch, his head resting next to your thighs, curls just brushing against your skin in a way that you couldn’t stop thinking about. He was lamenting about his mental struggles as you worked on your crochet, thinking quietly as he rambled on.

“Why don’t you just talk to him?” You asked suddenly, and James tilted his head to look up at you, holding back his laughter at your upside down appearance.

“What?” He asked, “I can’t talk to him, he hates me!”

“When has that ever stopped you before? Lily hates you and yet you bother her all the time,” You said, smile playing on your lips.

“That’s not true!” James protested, “I don’t bother her that much anymore!” You rolled your eyes playfully and turned back to your craft as James continued to ponder the situation.

As usual, he decided you were right. And so he sent a short letter to Regulus, asking for a meeting on the Astronomy tower at midnight. Surprisingly he’d agreed, and the two boys were standing awkwardly across each other on the tower. Regulus refused to start the conversation and so stood in silence, staring down James in an effort to scare him off. James wouldn’t be deterred.

“I just wanted to talk about what happened last year,” He said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose nervously.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“C’mon. I know we’re not friends, but I also figured none of your friends are the talking type either. So, I thought you could talk to me — full confidentiality. I don’t know, blame me, yell at me, I just don’t want you to do this all by yourself.”

“How sweet, Potter,” He sneered, “But I don’t need to talk about any of my feelings.”

James Potter was nothing if not persistent.

“Ok, well if you don’t want to talk, how about you listen?” To his surprise, Regulus stayed. One perfect eyebrow raised, he slowly sat next to James, legs dangling over the edge of the tower. After a gesture for him to go on, James started. He began to talk about the process of having Sirius live with him, the feelings they both had about it, and the guilt they both felt about leaving Regulus alone. At that Regulus looked up, eyes pooling with hope.

Then without any warning, Regulus was talking more than James had ever heard before, spilling what he supposed must have been the younger boy’s darkest secrets and vulnerabilities. James was unprepared, not actually expecting him to engage. At one point James had put a comforting arm around Regulus’ shoulder, words failing to express any of the feelings he had inside. Regulus didn’t pull away as James expected, instead only starting to cry. James just watched in disbelief as Regulus cried into his chest. Awkwardly, James arranged himself to press a gentle kiss to Regulus’ forehead right as Regulus moved to look up and speak, resulting in a ridiculous kiss between the two of them.

They jumped apart in less than a second, both with horrified looks on their faces.

“Oh my God—”

“That was an accident I swear—”

“I’m really sorry—”

“I was just trying to comfort you—”

Both boys stumbled over their words as they clambered up to their feet, putting a strictly heterosexual amount of space between them.

“Um, I’m just gonna go,” Regulus settled on, backing up towards the door.

“I’m seriously sorry, Black. It’s just something I do — doesn’t usually backfire like that.” Regulus just nodded, leaving quickly.

“Potter?” He stopped halfway through the door and James looked up. “Thanks.” James didn’t get any time to reply as Regulus was long gone, leaving him to cringe on his own. Neither of them would be telling anybody about the incident. Ever.

5. Lily Evans

You and James had been doing your will-they-won’t-they thing for a long time. Not quite since you met, but once you’d both started to notice the opposite sex you’d been participating in a battle of who could resist the longest. Teasing and cajoling were staples of your relationship. Whilst it had started as a way to pass the time; James had been in love with Lily since second year and you just liked to tease, at some point the feelings crossed over into a real and dangerous territory. However, neither of you wanted to do anything in case the feelings weren’t reciprocated, and truthfully hadn’t realised the true depth of them.

You and James were the only ones not to see the obvious: the feelings were absolutely reciprocated. It was tearing your friends apart, trying to get one of you to finally confess before you finished school forever. There were bets in place, pep talks and everything else the Gryffindors could think of to finally cause the event they’d been hoping for. Eventually, Lily had had enough.

One day you were all hanging out in your dormitory, most of you doing your homework and Marlene fiddling with a record player, trying to get it to come back to life.

“So, what would you guys think if I gave James a chance?” Lily asked, too coy to be genuine, but you were caught off-guard enough that you didn’t notice. “I mean, I know I’ve said some terrible things over the years, but now that he’s backed off he’s actually a really nice guy.”

“But… James?” You asked incredulously, essay immediately forgotten.

“Yeah, why not? He’s the hottest guy in our year, and if all goes to shit it’s only a few months until we graduate and I’ll never have to see him again.”

“But it’s James!” The rest of the girls had caught on to what Lily was scheming and delighted in joining in.

“Why shouldn’t she? It’s not like you like him, right?” Mary asked, studying your expressions. You hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. And just when they thought Lily had finally succeeded in getting the ball rolling you answered: “No, of course not. You go ahead, Lils.”

What started as a ploy to get you to admit your feelings only snowballed from there when Lily realised she couldn’t just back out now. And so she hatched a plan. Everything was going perfectly; Sirius and Remus had made sure the common room was devoid of younger students so no unhelpful rumours could be spread, and Marlene had been hanging out with you all evening to make sure you stuck to the schedule she’d devised.

With perfect precision, you and Marlene entered through the portrait just as Lily came down from the dorms.

“Hey, Potter,” She called, and James looked up curiously from his game of wizard’s chess. The redhead marched over to him, cupping both of his cheeks and kissing him strongly. Your jaw dropped open. You couldn’t believe Lily was just going for it like that, but even more you couldn’t believe the sick feeling creeping up from your stomach. You looked at Marlene, who only looked marginally less shocked. A glance around the room proved similar. Although they all knew Lily’s plan, it was two entirely different things to hear about her scheme to get the two of you together and seeing Lily Evans kissing James Potter.

“I’ve, uh, gotta go,” You mumbled, somehow finding your footing to run from the room, desperate to get anywhere where you didn’t have to see that, and the subsequent (or so you believed) union of a happy couple.

Lily pulled away from the kiss, eyes immediately trying to find you and she was puzzled when she couldn’t. A look at Marlene told her all she needed to know and her heart sank; she’d failed. James was looking a little more dazed than the head girl, and suddenly looked terribly awkward in his seat.

“Look, Lils. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t feel that way about you anymore. There’s— there’s someone else, and I, I have to go.” With that James headed up to his dormitory, and the rest of your friends stood in a thick silence for several moments.

“I think I just made everything worse,” Lily said, and then the chaos started.

“What the fuck did you think was going to happen?” Sirius asked loudly, running a stressed hand through his hair.

“I don’t know! I just figured maybe they’d have an epiphany and both realise they’d rather be kissing each other!” Lily cried, throwing herself into an armchair.

You

Lily was right, she’d unintentionally made everything worse. You were upset at what you’d seen and the story you’d attributed to it, and even more so at your terribly timed realisation of your feelings. Because of this you’d started avoiding James in an effort to get over him, which only made you more miserable that you couldn’t talk to your favourite person. James, in turn, hadn’t seen you enter the common room on the night of the kiss and so believed —and dearly hoped — that you were blissfully ignorant, and so was equally perplexed and distraught at the space between you. He’d tried to approach you about it but you evaded him or turned him away every time.

“Hey, love, can we please—”

“It’s fine, James,” You interrupted him, “It was all just a bit of fun, right? All the flirting, the being touchy. But now you’re with Lily and I’ll back off, I get it, don’t worry. I wish you two every happiness.” You tried to sound as genuine as you could while sadness bit at your heart, and left James standing astounded in the corridor. Now he knew that you’d seen the kiss the issue was obvious, but the solution remained a mystery to him.

You’d taken to Marlene to get your feelings out, and she listened patiently as you rattled off a monologue about your childish jealousy and broken heart. Luckily, she’d discussed how to handle this with Lily — who knew you wouldn’t go to her because of her alleged involvement with James, and set off (hopefully) your friend’s last attempt to get you two together. She finally shook you out of it, frustrated with the lack of action.

“They’re not together,” She said, stopping you in your tracks.

“What?”

“They’re not together,” She repeated, making intense eye contact with you. “It was all this dumb plan Lily had to get the two of you together. She thought if you saw James getting with someone else you’d finally realise your feelings for him. And you did, but you were supposed to stick around to hear Potter reject her and say that he liked someone else, you.” You were shocked into silence, what could you say to that?

“So,” You started carefully, “What do I do now?”

James was in a similar situation with the boys.

“She saw Lily kiss me and now she thinks I like Lily when I like her! Plus, she won’t even be in my presence long enough for me to explain that it’s all just this huge misunderstanding and it’s her I want to be snogging!” James lay dramatically across his bed as the boys sighed.

“Prongs, isn’t it obvious?” Sirius asked and James cocked his head to the side, looking remarkably like a confused puppy. “Do something she can’t ignore. Make a grand gesture to prove your feelings for her.” James thought about it, it made sense. If you wouldn’t hear his explanation, he’d just have to make you.

“How?”

You and James went into the following Saturday with the same goal. It was Gryffindor’s quidditch semi-final, so there was a party being held whatever the outcome. It would be the first time you’d see each other since you’d realised your mistake since training was taking up all of James’ time.

Gryffindor had won, thankfully, which had both of you in higher spirits. The party was already in full swing by the time you got there, opting for a smoke first to calm your nerves. You’d spotted James almost as soon as you entered, always the heart and soul of a party. You marched towards him with a purpose, but as soon as he set eyes on you he jumped up to stand on a table. Someone had lowered the volume of the music — not silent, but low enough so you could hear him yelling over it. He said your full name, clearly and intentionally in a way that had surrounding people look at you curiously.

“I love you,” He said suddenly. “I am in love with you, not anyone else, and whatever made you think that’s not true was just a huge misunderstanding. Because I love you so much, and all I want to do is snog you until I’m the only name you remember, baby.” You let out a short laugh at his vulgarity and the cocky smirk that accompanied it, but a cheek-splitting smile won out when you thought about the preceding words and the sincerity he’d instilled in them. Before you even knew what you were doing you were racing towards him, gratefully taking Peter’s hand to join James on the table.

You honestly couldn’t tell who had initiated the kiss, but you were suddenly so intimately joined together it was like all the air had been sucked out of your lungs, compressing your body in an effort to fuse to his. His strong arms around you couldn’t shield you from the confetti being thrown around (for the match, of course, not just your kiss), nor the catcalls of your friends. You only pulled away when you felt James’ tongue start exploring a little too far, mindful that half the people you knew were watching. You wore matching grins as you parted, foreheads still pressed together and breathing heavy.

While it might have taken four years, innumerable (accidental) kisses and one failed set-up plan to get there, you were sure in your heart that James Potter was the only boy you ever wanted to kiss. And so you did, over and over for the years to come, and you cheered and applauded enthusiastically as the seemingly never ending list of friends and family told stories of receiving a coveted James Potter kiss throughout the years, knowing you were the only one who got to be his bride.

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bigidiotenergytm · 13 days ago

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I'm gonna be so real with you Sky I've been brainrotting about your art and your characters so fucking hard. Like. Wondering about Poseidon's perspective on the events in my fic, how your Zeus would react to hearing about it, what it would have taken for Jorge to convince your Hades to let him try and bargain with Kronos, what price he would have had to pay to convince Kronos to help him get home.

Also if I wasn't flat broke atm I would absolutely commission you to draw one of the Poseidon scenes. Your art style is just so cool

dont worry bout me mostly just answering the hades section but while it would take a lot to convince him to let anyone (esp a mortal) around tartarus- at the end of the day hades is not going to be the thing that prevents a man from going home. he'd stay super close just in case.

kronos, though? oh, kronos would help. jay wouldn't even need to explain the situation. but he wouldn't be helping out of the (nonexistent) kindness of his heart. he'd help only because it would severely fuck with hades.

#just picture it #ur father who hasn't talked to u in eons suddenly helping a MORTAL with no catch?#it'd fuck with him so bad #because even if kronos were to say there's no catch- hades will forever think there is one somehow #HADES. / art answered.#scarredbutstillsmiling #kronos #SKY DRAWS.

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complete-clownery · 1 year ago

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Hahaha okay rant about this amazing fanfic (you probably heard of this one already but still)

So whenever it comes to explaining and writing under my posts I just get lazy but I need to push through this cuz I need to talk

So the fanarts were made for the lmk fanfiction sunbreak, that a lot of you (probably mostly shadowpeach shippers) had read, and it is amazing, I read trough it as fast as my brain let me and as you can see it has pleasantly scratched my brain so much so that I even (attempted) to make fanart for it

Ngl if I wasn't a major pussy I would try to illustrate the whole thing or make covers for each chapter but Im unable to work on something more than 2 hours and I would want those to look good, but good looking art (if I don't mess up) takes 6 hours ughh--- annoying much---

Anyways I'm not good with literature but man is this fix a masterpiece *chefs kiss* its everything its amazing, I was unable to put it down once I started it

Okay i dont think I have the brain capacity to explain how much I worship the writer of this masterpiece @ladygreenfrisbee , so i'm just going to talk about the drawings a tad

So first picture with Red Son and MK its sort of like an au in the fic where the whole lbd plot is somehow nonexistent and after Macaque gets to his sisters domain they settle down and raise the kids together without much of an issue aside from assassinations keep happening and trying not to get in trouble with the heavens

Id like to think that Gongzhu still wouldn't let the court tailors to put any form of red or gold on MKs outfits and only allowed the yellow after when MK was old enough to declare that yellow was his favorite color, but even now she would insist on some form of purple and shadow motives to let others know who the mother is

We also got baby MK and toddler Red Son and sassy LIF and Mac

Third pic with the lion: I don't know what it was or why but I just love general Song so much--- he's a major dickhead but sgvshshsevkdididhr (actually I kinda love all the original characters in this one, from the generals to the old lady in the beginning of the book, (gosh I also wanna draw some scenes from those chapters I loved how Mac and she interacted hshsjsj))

so chapter 34 was probably my favorite so far I re read it about two more times cuz it was amazing to see Macaque being the schemer he is and try to piss of Song lol

Last picture: its a sketch/a wip or whatever (probably not going to finish it but im still putting it there cuz its somewhat decent looking)

Its the part where Wukong remembered of Macaque finally finding him and asking for him to come back to flower fruit mountain.

I tried to make Macaque look more unhinged on this one but since I didn't finish it I dont think its that noticable so fuck that but I also gave him a halo like the saints to symbolise his suffering and what not (thought it looked cool and fitting think whatever you want about it lol)

And that all ((((hollly mother))))

If you read this trough, thank you and congrats👏👏

#clown does art #lego monkey kid #lmk sunbreak #sunbreak #shadowpeach #lmk macaque #six eared macaque #lmk mk #lmk red son #fanfiction #lmk #lmk pif #princess iron fan

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ritartistside · 6 months ago

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I need someone to make a 3+ hour video essay about the history Reed900

The origins, where it came from

The first art, fic, other fan content made for it

The most popular head-canons, Nines getting a name, different interpretations of the personalities

How the most agreed upon quality of Gavin Reed, loving coffee, comes from a scene, where the importance of him asking coffee is minuscule and it is not even confirmed that he even likes it, and it leading to the other super popular head-canon of him having insomnia

The mods and modding community

The most influential fics

The comics, and the shear amount of dubbed vids of them on youtube

The movie, the short film and the behind the scenes stuff for it. Neil Newbon engaging with the cast

It becoming the top DBH ship, with basically nonexistent characters

#reed900 #gavin reed #rk900 #gavin x rk900 #detroit become human #dbh gavin #dbh nines #dbh rk900 #dbh #video essay

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604to647 · 5 months ago

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Tiny Tim

A The Rockford Portfolio Christmas Special

5.2K/ Detective Tim Rockford x fem!reader

Summary: Tim takes you to the precinct Christmas party.

Warnings: 18+ Content (MDNI pls). Established relationship, soft!Tim, nicknames as usual (Shutterbug, baby, gorgeous). Semi public sex, fingering, unprotected PiV, thrill of being caught, alcohol consumption (reader is tipsy, but this is a devoted relationship with deep trust, not dubcon). Reader wears a dress. Bad 'A Christmas Carol' jokes.

A/N: This is a holiday love letter to all you lovelies who read The Rockford Portfolio 🥹🥹 Thank you thank you for all the love you’ve shown these two - they are one of my favourites to write, I'm always so encouraged by the sweet response I receive on their stories 🥹 This instalment is probably the only one I’ve written that makes more sense if you’ve read some of the others - there are a few callbacks, little winks for those of you who enjoy their stories 🤭 Thank you thank you again and happy holidays! 🎄

Now available: Fic companion Christmas carol 🎵 Detective, It’s Cold Outside 🎵

Dividers by @saradika-graphics / Series Masterlist

Tim watches the scene from across the bar.

It’s like a Renaissance fresco come to life, a modern-day depiction of royal court with you as the monarch at its centre - sitting up high, you’re perched on a barstool looking radiant and gorgeous in a pretty holiday dress that drapes off your curves and cascades over your legs; your feet dangle off the ground, swinging to and fro without a care. You’re surrounded by a crowd of cops who have arranged themselves in a semi-circle with you at their epicentre - those on your left and right stand or sit on their own stools, while the officers in front of you fan across a stretch of tables. Every person is angled towards you like a moth trying to fly closer to their flame, all eyes are trained, adoring and fawning, on your pretty face as you laugh and finish up what you were saying. They hang on your every word, and when you make eye contact or touch your hand to an arm in order to emphasize a point in your story, Tim swears the lucky recipient literally lights up a little.

Tim wonders if he should have told you that you’re kind of a celebrity at the precinct. No, not because he’s yours. Yes, it tickled his colleagues to no end that the gruff grizzly bear detective that was Timothy Rockford had been tamed by your gentle hand; they had seen evidence of his previously thought nonexistent softness and docility whenever you would visit. But he could never claim credit for the esteem in which you were beheld – your renown was all your own.

Even before tonight’s party, there had been a tittering among the various law enforcement departments that you would be in attendance. Those who had only seen you in passing or heard tales of how Detective Rockford’s lady love had provided much direct or indirect assistance to their cases, were eager to meet you. No sooner had the two of you entered the bar where tonight’s party was being held than you were swept out of Tim’s arms to make the acquaintance of what seemed like a never-ending queue of his colleagues. It’s been a while now since Tim lost track of you, sulking solitarily until his partner, Detective Arnold Calloway, came over with a conciliatory beer and pointed to where you’re currently holding court.

The team from Cipher, who had used your Graffiti Alley photos to decrypt the Pie Distribution playbook, are at your feet - ignoring the now lukewarm drinks on their tabletops in favour of trading quippy witticisms with you in between their rounds of raucous laughter at your jokes.

O’Brien and his team who had made up Surveillance Teams Alpha and Bravo the night you obtained information from Buchanan’s girlfriend in the restaurant bathroom that would lead to the apprehension of The Accountant, flank your left. Whenever you tilt your radiant face towards them, they take full advantage - commanding your attention so they can regale you with more detailed stories about the busts and raids that resulted from your intel.

Tech guys that used the meta data from your aquarium photos to track the movements of Grandma Ursula’s henchman, resulting in the retrieval of the missing briefcase that broke open the case, gather to your right – keeping a watchful eye on the cocktail glass you hold in your hand, prepared to replace it with a ready refill at a moment’s notice should you desire.

The head of Financial Crimes and a few of her analysts who run what has affectionately been named “Operation Spring Roll” (per your request), an intricate and far-reaching money laundering investigation kicked off by your keen observations at The Midnight Palace, slip in to occupy the empty seats next to their colleagues in Cipher, bringing appetizers and bowls of bar snacks as offerings.

Every single one of your admirers appears entranced by your charm and the warmth of your bright aura; convinced that you’re the wittiest, most intriguing person in this bar, they loathe to be torn away from your sweet face and the way it’s alight with genuine joy and holiday mirth. Tim is all too familiar with how they feel. He starts to make his way across the bar – individually or collectively, his coworkers have bogarted your attention all night and he’s had enough. He misses you.

Tim barely makes his presence known, arriving and stopping at the periphery of your audience where your eyes find him immediately, as if drawn to him.

Almost impossibly, your entire face lights up even more and you hold your arm out in his direction; with a hypnotic dance of your hand that’s part flirty wave, part sprinkling of fairy dust over your devotees, you beckon him, “Timmy!!!”

He sees a few cops mouth, smirking, “Timmy?!” and Chen from Cipher actually puts her hands together in prayer and says Thank You to a deity above for this gift with which Tim is sure he will be mercilessly teased later. But Tim doesn’t care. No matter how you call, he will always come.

Threading through the maze of chairs and bodies, he reaches you just as you step off the bottom rung of your stool – catching you easily right before you throw your arms around his neck.

“Hi Detective,” you coo, melodic voice a whisper against his lips.

“Hi Shutterbug,” Tim radiates a happiness that you feel as much as you can see - you’re finally back in his arms.

“Timmy. They all want to talk to me about police stuff, and I’m running out of things I know,” your silly tipsy face conveys some unwarranted trepidation, as if there was any chance in hell you could ever disappoint this group of smitten cops.

“You want to know how to make a bunch of cops scatter?” the twinkle of mischief in Tim’s eyes is mirrored back to him in yours as you nod, nuzzling your nose against his in conspiratorial agreement.

He kisses you.

And not in a tempered and chaste way one might expect at a work event, where superiors are in attendance and professionalism might be monitored even while off the clock.

But a full out, no holds barred, deep and passionate kiss that leaves Tim’s colleagues slack-jawed in shock, some even avert their gaze, embarrassed – as if they know they will have to staunchly deny having witnessed this side of their co-worker should they ever be interrogated about its existence. Tim’s mouth opens and wordlessly demands entry – you happily obey your detective’s directive. It’s truly beyond your understanding how anyone (you, these cops, anyone breathing) could ever deny Tim anything - his very being so commanding and reassuring that it only feels natural for you to surrender to him every time. Smoothing your tongue over Tim’s, you let him chase you to the furthest corners of your mouth; sighing when he catches you and licks behind your teeth in victory.

Though most of the onlookers have now left the two of you to your reunion, a few of Tim’s cheekier squad members remain. “Woooooooooooo!” the cheers from the surronding crowd are playful and jovial; there are a couple of whoop, whoops and arm pumps from some of the older detectives who were clearly Arsenio Hall fans.

“Alright, break it up, break it up,” Tim gruffs as you bury yourself into his chest, giggling. The remaining cops swiftly do as Tim says, going off in different directions – to order more drinks, out for a smoke, all eager to spread the lore about Detective Rockford’s kryptonite to their fellow jolly drunks, leaving you and Tim to stare dreamily into each other’s eyes in the middle of the bar.

Now that the two of you have a moment to yourselves, you can once again hear the bar’s music system that’s been blasting Christmas carols all night. Bing Crosby’s White Christmas comes over the speakers and you and Tim, still lost in one another, begin to slow dance – Tim presses his forehead to yours as he holds you close, finally letting himself relax now that his broad frame can once again melt and mold to the softness of your body.

Sighing in contentment, you lift your hands to run your gentle fingers through Tim’s rough facial scruff – a gesture that’s as soothing for him as it for you; it’s been great getting to know Tim’s colleagues and super entertaining listening to their stories and jokes, but this is where you’ll choose to be every time, “This has been so fun, Detective. I don’t know why you don’t like the precinct holiday parties.”

Tim closes his eyes and gives a little snort, “You try being named Tim at Christmas time around a bunch of drunk cops. The ‘Tiny Tim’ references usually start after the third round.”

You giggle, face now impish and eyes dancing with merriment, “Well, they just don’t know what Tiny Tim is capable of.”

Tim growls, grasp tightening around your waist, “…not that tiny.” Squealing, you crash your lips to Tim’s, delighting in your detective’s playful touch that’s now amorously roaming your backside. The two of you, lips never parting, sway over to a darker, less populated area of the bar – leaving Tim’s colleagues to their reveries.

“Ah, well, Detective Rockford, here’s the thing: I know for a fact that there is absolutely nothing tiny about Tiny Tim,” your hand trails down your boyfriend’s hard chest, smoothing over the front of his fancy dress pants to cup his bulge.

Tim jerks sharply to the sensation of your delicate fingers massaging his balls through the fabric; his voice lowers to a rumbled warning, “Shutterbug…”

“Mhhmmm?” you hum cheekily against Detective Rockford’s plush mouth.

“If you keep this up, I’m going to have to arrest myself for public indecency.”

Still drinking in the harmonious ring of your resulting laugh, Tim doesn’t see you subtly look around to see if there are any prying eyes trained on the two of you. When you find none, you hurriedly tug Tim down the hallway that leads to the restrooms; the bar has individual bathrooms instead of gendered ones, and you quickly find one that’s vacant, dragging Tim inside.

Tim looks surprised to find himself in the relatively well-lit bathroom, “Baby, what are…?”

His adorably naïve question is cut off when you push him up against the wall with surprising force from your soft hands. The party has been fun, but you were away from Tim for entirely too much of it.

Though you’re sure it wasn’t by design, nearly every captivating story you heard tonight has heralded your Tim as brave, clever, tough – never backing down in the face of particularly dangerous or puzzling elements of his cases; intimidating scumbag perps that deserved to get a little decency scared into them; displaying incredible feats of intelligence that left his colleagues amazed. Most of these stories you’ve actually heard before, but you learned tonight that Tim’s version often downplayed his own contributions and prowess – seeing your detective through the lens of his fellow law enforcement officers, hearing their accolades and seeing just how clearly they admire and respect your brilliant boyfriend has made you beam with pride.

And warm with arousal. Tim’s competency and humbleness are a one-two punch combination that never fails to turn you on, and by this point of the evening, you’ve heard a lot of stories evidencing both. You can’t wait any longer to have him.

“There, Detective. We’re not in public anymore,” you purr, scraping your kitten claws over the black cashmere of the sweater you gifted him, your hands meet in the middle of Tim’s expansive chest to give his smart, silk tie a sharp and quick tug; your cheeky move has absolutely no effect on the mountainous stance of man before you, and instead tips you into his space. Detective Rockford catches you with little effort, and when you see the smirk he throws your way, you drunkenly chuckle and allow to Tim descend on your lips once more. Sighing, completely enamoured with the handsome man before you, you throw your arms around his thick neck and give yourself over to Tim’s hungry kisses, matching his tongue stroke for stroke - whimpering as he nibbles and tugs on your plush bottom lip.

“Feeling needy, gorgeous?” Tim murmurs against your pout, hands gripping your ass in his heavy palms through the luxurious fabric of the dress that he’s been admiring on you all evening. You lean back and nod, giving him a coquettish, doe-eyed look, “Needed you all night, Timmy. Felt like I haven’t seen you at all, but I love how everyone’s been telling me stories about how brilliant and vital you are. All I’ve wanted to do is show you that I feel the same way.”

“Oh, baby, I’ve missed you too,” groans Tim as you claw your nails down his sweater, pressing hard through to the crisp dress shirt underneath – the way both garments stretched taut across his broad frame has you licking your lips; you start lowering to your knees, eyes already trailing to where Tim’s impressive cock is straining valiantly against his dress pants.

To your surprise, Tim’s hands slip under your arms and lift you back up – you whine at being denied his cock in your mouth, but the sweetness of his expression makes it impossible to be mad, “Don’t want you to get that pretty dress dirty on the floor, gorgeous.” Tim’s thoughtfulness combined with the firm way he maneuvers your body towards the bathroom sink has you positively gushing, any disappointment disappearing.

Standing behind you so that you’re both watching Tim’s bear paw hands snake up your chest, your detective gropes your breasts over the front of your dress and listens as you sigh and whinny; you slump back against your tank of a man, perfectly content to let him have his way with your body.

Still palming full fistfuls of your boobs, Tim’s long fingers reach up to pull down the neckline of your dress so that your tits come spilling out, eager to greet his hands. His mouth finds the sweet spot of your neck that he claimed as his long ago, and you watch him continue to paw and knead your breasts, finding your already peaked nipples with ease. Rolling, pinching, teasing your hardened buds between the rough pads of his fingers, Tim murmurs against your skin, “We gotta be quick and quiet - can you do that for me, Shutterbug?”

You meet the dark gaze of your boyfriend in the mirror and nod feebly; the reminder that you’re at a party full of cops, cops that work day in and day out with the fromidable man behind you who looks like he wants nothing more than to devour you, has you clenching pathetically around nothing.

Nothing escapes the eagle eyes of your detective – he responds to your desperation with a final squeeze of your tits before raking his monster hands, hard and gripping, down your willing body; frantically rucking up the skirt of your dress and bunching the festive fabric above your ass.

The sound of Tim’s belt buckle clicking open has you arching your back, ass wiggling and eyes closing in giddy anticipation.

Smack.

You yelp in delight at the bright sting blooming on your ass cheek from Tim’s open palm. He chuckles as he pulls your lace panties to the side, “Keep your eyes on the mirror, baby.”

The goofily grinning and sassy-eyed you in the mirror chirps, “Yes, Detective!” about to give him a cheeky salute when you’re rendered witless, dissolving into a puddle of lust at the feel of Tim’s thick fingers gliding through your folds.

He doesn’t tease you for long - finding you already wet and willing, Tim easily slides two of his fingers into your sopping hole; he bites down at the base of your neck and you keen as your boyfriend’s long reaching touch grazes your softest, most intimate parts.

Your reflection unravels and whimpers, “Pl-, please, Tim!”

Detective Rockford’s obsidian gaze meets yours in the glass and he acquiesces to the request you can’t quite vocalize with a quickening of his thrusts; the slap, slap, slap of his palm meeting your desire drenched pussy echoes off the walls of the small bar bathroom like the beat of a naughty Christmas carol.

Spurred on by the buzz of tonight’s alcohol and the titillating knowledge that Tim’s colleagues are only a short hallway away on the other side of the bathroom door, and that any or all of them could hear you or even come knocking the next moment, you start to crest shamefully quick. His knowledge of your body’s pleasure so familiar and intimate, Tim recognizes the fluttering of your walls and swiftly adds a third finger. You cry out, one hand flying up to muffle the sound as you press back against your detective’s hard chest; the other Tim cradles in his free paw and slips up your skirt and down the front of your panties, big hand over yours - using your lithe fingers like a quill to scrawl his command to your clit.

“Come for me.” Tim’s baritone growl is the last thing you hear before the air in the room rushes past your ears and you shudder at the silence that seemingly rings; biting down on your own hand, tears spring to your eyes at the sting of pain and the force of the orgasm that hits you.

You barely register as Tim’s fingers slow through your come down, withdrawing and finding their way to his mouth. The you in the mirror hazily watches as he sucks his fingers clean with a wicked grin, winking at you before nibbling playfully at your earlobe, “Taste so sweet, Shutterbug.”

Giggling, you pull your detective’s face down to yours for a tender but desperate kiss, your cunt already feeling empty and needy. Tim returns your affections ten-fold, hands frantically pushing down his pants and boxers, releasing his hard and thrumming cock with a slap against the smooth dip of your lower back. You whine pitifully, shimmying in Tim’s tight hold and pushing back to try and angle his dick down to where you need him; he chuckles darkly in your ear and grumbles, “Brace yourself, baby.” You place both hands firmly on the ledge of the sink counter and exhale shakily when you feel Tim wick the head of his cock through your slick, gripping hard as he firmly pushes in.

Tim’s eyes never leave your lust blown ones in the mirror. He sets a purposeful and delicious rhythm - pulling out nearly all the way so that you pout, letting you yearn for the loss of his stretch for a moment too long before slamming back in with a heavy drive of his hips and bottoming out each time with an aggressive snarl. He does this over and over and over, his punishing pace never wavering; your eyes start to roll and your bottom lip starts to smart from how hard you’re biting down to keep from screaming.

“Maybe we should let them hear, baby.”

“Let everyone in this bar know who you belong to.”

“They kept you all to themselves tonight – need to remind them that you’re mine.”

Tim punctuates each of his possessive words with a particularly harsh thrust, jolting you hard against the counter.

“Tim!” Your arms fly up to wrap behind his neck, and the reflected vision of you being bounced on Detective Tim Rockford’s hard cock with your supple tits tumbling whorishly out of your party dress, sends the both of you rocketing towards a dual high.

“You’re fucking perfect, Shutterbug.”

“No wonder they all want a piece of you.”

“But they can’t have you.”

“You’re mine, baby.”

“Mine.”

“Yours, yours, yours,” your breathy declaration sung to the chorus of your orgasm, Tim comes shortly after to the tight squeeze of your warm walls claiming him as yours.

“I love you, Detective.”

“I love you more, Shutterbug.”

The two of you stay at the party for just one more round of drinks; Tim’s arm never leaves your waist, tucking your body securely against his. As far as he’s concerned, his colleagues have monopolized enough of your time this evening, you’re all his now; you can’t help but enjoy Tim’s harmless display of possessiveness when his fellow officers swarm and try to engage you as they did before.

Perhaps in retaliation, the Tiny Tim jokes start coming in rapid succession:

“Tim, are you feeling tired? Is it hard to stand? Do we to find you a wittle crutch?”

“Isn’t it past Tiny Tim’s bedtime? He’s just a little guy.”

“Leaving already? Bah humbug!”

“Should we be calling Bob Cratchit? Does Tiny Tim need a lift?”

“No, don’t go, Rockford! Who’s going have god bless us, every one??!”

You can’t help but laugh at that last one as you and Tim sweep out of the bar; Tim raising his hand and flipping the bird to his friends without ever looking back.

The December air outside feels crisp and pleasant against your skin, still warm from tonight’s drinks and the crowded party. By some coincidence, the bar is in the same neighbourhood as the restaurant where Tim took you on your third first date, and much like that night, you and Tim opt to take the twenty-or-so minute walk home. Though the fresh air sobers you, you remain cheerful and giddy from tonight’s festivities and a general sense of seasonal merriment – his hand never leaving yours, an amused Tim lets you happily swing your arms as you walk, occasionally giving you a twirl on the sidewalk and smiling widely as you duck under his beefy arm and spin so that the skirt of your dress fans out with a dancer like grace. Chirping cheerfully, you fill Tim in on all the courageous and funny stories his colleagues shared with you tonight and delight in the way his face reddens in embarrassment.

“I’m so lucky, Tim! I get to call the biggest, baddest, smartest detective on the squad as my own. And I also know him to be so sweet, and kind, and funny. I’m truly the luckiest girl in the world,” your words and eyes are genuine, all adoring.

Tim can’t help but grin dopily back. He takes off his tan trench coat to drape over your shoulders and accepts your quick, sweet peck of gratitude before countering, “I’m the lucky one, Shutterbug. It was clear to every single person in the bar tonight that you’re a star, everyone’s dream – and you choose me. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

Your chest swells with affection for your tender-hearted boyfriend – Tim never fails to make you feel cherished, supported and loved, and of course, always so very safe and protected. You’re sure that if the people of the city knew even half of what you know about how deeply Tim cares and takes seriously his charge of their protection, they would all be as in love with him as you are. It’s no wonder that you had felt that initial spark with him when he was just diligently doing his duty all those many moons ago at the aquarium – he had been so earnest and dedicated to the job, you’re convinced you fell in love with him on the spot, “We’re both so lucky that you’re who I ended up interviewing with at the aquarium during the Grandma Ursula case.”

“It wasn’t all luck, Shutterbug,” Tim flashes a shit eating grin.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that day at the aquarium, MacMillan and I were both interviewing potential witnesses. And when we got down to the final few interviews, I bribed him to let me question you.”

You’re absolutely shocked and delighted by this revelation, “Detective Rockford!! You’re diabolical! What did the favour of my company cost you?”

“I had to transcribe all of MacMillan’s interview notes from that day… and for the following month. Plus, he made me drive all the way to a deli across town to pick up his favourite sandwich.”

“Omigod,” you giggle, “And?”

“Hmmm?”

“Was it worth it?”

“The sandwich? I did get myself one - it was pretty delicious.”

You swat playfully at Tim’s chest, “No, silly. Not the sandwich – what you transcribed all those notes for.”

“Absolutely. Changed my life for the better. You're priceless, baby.”

“Oh Tim,” you sigh at your detective’s romantic words. The truth is you’re absolutely gobsmacked that Tim went through all that effort for you when he didn’t even know you; knowing what you do now about Tim’s instinct and how often the success of his cases rest on its sharp edge, it makes your heart sing that he had had a feeling, saw something in you worth pursuing. You tell him as much.

“I’ve been grateful for you since the moment I saw you, Shutterbug,” says Tim sincerely, “When you were in that waiting area, patiently letting the families and field trips go ahead of you, I knew I was in the presence of genuine grace and kindness. I- I don’t run across that very often in my line of work – you’re so special, baby. I was having such a shit day and you were an unexpected beacon of light. I think, selfishly, I couldn’t let you go without basking a little longer in your warmth.”

Tears spring to your eyes so quickly that you have to turn away from Tim to hide how emotional his confession has made you. You had felt such a strong connection to him that day as well – Tim had been so sweet and patient, encouraging in his words for your photography when he had no reason to be; your gratitude had only been compounded when you bore witness to the enthusiasm and commitment Tim held for his policework. And since the day of the Grandma Ursula case verdict, your feelings of admiration and awe for this strong, honourable man have only grown.

You tug Tim along the twinkle lights illuminated path, still unable to look at him while admitting these sentiments, “When we didn’t talk at all during those seven months of the Grandma Ursula case, I thought maybe I had made you up – it didn’t seem possible to have properly gauged the measure of a man so smart, kind, and honourable from just the few times we interacted. But Tim, you exceed even my wildest fantasies with how steadfast, loving, respectful, caring you are to me everyday. You’re the man of my dreams.”

If you were hoping to avoid getting overwhelmed by your feelings, thinking about how much you love your detective and all the reasons you can’t live without him has certainly not been the way to do it. Swimming in your own happiness, you brush away your tears with the sleeve of Tim’s jacket and quicken your pace, your footsteps timed to the thundering beat of your very full heart.

You walk so quickly that your hand slips from Tim’s and in your surprise at the loss of his warm, comforting grip, you turn around – the sight that greets you leaves you stunned. Both hands flying up to cover your mouth, now dropped opened in a placid ‘o’ shape, you’re unable to contain the loud gasp that escapes.

Tim is still where he was when you inadvertently let go of his hand, but now down on one knee – in his upturned palm he holds an open ring box, his rich brown eyes swirling with a storm of deep emotion, love.

You walk the few steps back to Tim in silence, teary eyes crinkling from a smile that you can’t quite hide behind your hands. Your barely concealed joy makes Tim’s heart soar and calms his nerves somewhat.

When you finally stand before him, Timothy Rockford, first line attack dog of the LAPD Detective Squad, scourge of the city’s hardened criminals, and certified grump who hates all holidays and holiday parties, melts in front of the woman he loves. He looks up into the eyes of his personal goddess, the one who makes it safe for him to reveal his soft underbelly, nourishes him and has his back in every way that matters on this mortal plane he had long resigned to walking alone before meeting her, and asks the most important question he’s ever had to pose, inside or outside of an interrogation room.

“Shutterbug, when we met, I couldn’t have fathomed how much better my life was going to get with you in it. You’re the embodiment of all the goodness that for a very long time I was convinced existed in too short supply in this world. But not with you, baby – you’re generous and open, and the sweetness and compassion you extend to me and everyone around you feels never-ending. You give me so much, but the most important is something I didn’t even know I was missing: a home. You’re my home, Shutterbug. A home full of love and softness. I- I never knew that could be in the cards for me, or that anyone like you existed, never mind that you would choose me. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you, but if you allow me, I want to spend the rest of our lives coming home and loving you.”

You’re nodding now, happy tears overflowing.

Tears now rolling down his own face, Tim chokes out, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, Tim! I’ll marry you!!” You cry, launching yourself into Detective Rockford’s arms, practically knocking him and the ring box to the ground.

Wrapping his arms tight around his little slice of heaven, Tim helps you both stand; pulling back only so he can slip the diamond ring that he had so long ago bought and hid in the back of his sock drawer, waiting for the right time (a time that wouldn’t be too soon), on your ring finger. You admire the beauty of this bright flawless thing, an actual physical embodiment of Tim’s love – still in shock that something, someone, could be so exquisite and yours. Thankful and humbled before its, his, grace, you place your hands on both sides of your fiancé’s handsome face as he brings his careful paws up to yours and you meet for a long, perfect kiss.

Still feeling like you’re in a dream, you start heading home - alternating between walking while holding out your left hand and admiring it in a daze, and looking back at Tim’s blinding smile, stopping to kiss him again when you see the look of devotion and awe that he radiates back at you. This continues for several blocks until, giddy and blissful, you suddenly notice the slow licking flames of want that have been keeping you warm on this chilly December walk – immediately, you start pulling Tim towards your shared destination with renewed urgency.

“What’s the hurry, Shutterbug?” laughs Tim.

“Want to get home, Detective,” you giggle, “so I can ride my new fiancé until we both come so loud the neighbours complain."

At this, Tim quickens his pace, long legs taking strong purposeful strides - one for every two of yours; his eagerness and boyish grin making you laugh, “Then tomorrow, after we celebrate some more on every surface of the apartment, I want you to take me to that deli across town and I’m going to buy MacMillan a ‘thank you’ sandwich myself.”

You squeal in laughter as Detective Tim Rockford breaks into a full out jog, practically carrying you, his Shutterbug, love of his life, raison d’etre – fiancé, wife-to-be, the future Mrs. Rockford (Oh, he likes the sound of that!), all the way home.

A/N 2: We time hop a lot in this series, a lot of the stories not necessarily happening in the order they're written/posted and I don't think it matters much - but for those that are wondering, a little note on timing. This story can be considered the most recent in the timeline of Timmy and Shutterbug's relationship; I consider it to take place a good while after Sniffles (when they move in together). Sniffles I imagine to take place 3-4 months after Husband Material, and before the Sleepy Trilogy. I'm not terribly committed to when the others slot in, but I always think of Dance for Me as also taking place when they're already living together.

Thank you again for reading and happy holidays - god (nondenominational) bless you, every one 🥹🥹😘

#tim rockford #tim rockford fic #tim rockford fanfiction #tim rockford x reader #tim rockford x you #tim rockford x f!reader #pedro pascal characters fanfiction #pedro pascal characters

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rocketkit · 2 years ago

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third scene from a nonexistent fic

#kudos to whoever guesses the song they’re listening to #thinking of fall #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington fanart #eddie munson fanart #steddie fanart #stranger things fanart #stranger things #my art #st #scene from a nonexistent fic

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princessvelaryon · 8 months ago

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Just a Taste

Jacaerys Velaryon x Fem!Reader

Vampire AU

Synopsis: You and your vampire boyfriend try something new for the very first time

Light smut

18+ MDNI

NSFW

Warnings: Light smut, light blood play, talks of depression and self hatred

This is a very, very rough draft that I wrote on my notes app. I haven’t written a fic in years but Jace and my Jace Nation inspired me so I had to get this out of my system. I began with Twilight fanfiction so I have to get back to my roots. I plan to make this a full series but this scene just popped in my head first.

I wrote this as a gift for my girl Nattie @earth4angels

Special thanks to all the Jace Nation writers that inspired me. @swordgrace @jacaerysgf @hxtd @vividxpages @eldrith @benjinotes @entitled-fangirl @gracexthoughts

I love you guys, you all are amazing and deserve awards❤️

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

At the moment, you and Jace were the picture perfect image of blissful domesticity. You were sitting at your kitchen table, cutting fruit for a smoothie. Jace insisted that as a busy college student, you didn’t eat properly and the compromise was that you would drink a fruit and vegetable smoothie to make him happy. There wasn’t much you wouldn’t do to make that man happy. Jace argued that sometimes you forgot to eat just because he didn’t. You were so considerate, almost too considerate. You hated eating in front of him because you knew it made him feel guilty that he couldn’t even partake in this very simple and very human ritual with you. Since you two were practically inseparable, you have been neglecting yourself as of late.

That was one of the aspects of your relationship that made his heart ache with want. He wanted so desperately to be a normal couple with you, doing all the traditional things normal couples do. He wanted to take you out to nice restaurants like you deserved. He wanted to eat breakfast in bed with you after waking up next to you. Jace believed that sharing meals together was a very important part of bonding and he felt incredibly guilty for making you miss out. It always filled him with a sense of shame when he had to leave you to eat dinner alone for an hour or two everyday to hunt in the woods for his food like the animal he saw himself as.

He may not be able to read your mind but it was hard not to hear the thoughts of your friends and family. They approved of Jace and liked him but they knew something was “off” with him, but most of these suspicious were kept in their subconscious thoughts and that was a slight relief to him. Your mother was worried why Jace was always so pale and cold. He gave her the same excuse he gave you when you first met.

“It’s just some harmless anemia. A family curse, unfortunately. It just makes me sleepy and a little paler than normal. Nothing to worry about.” Your mother was insistant that Jace take his vitamins and eat healthier and he had to lie to her that he did, adding to his crushing guilt.

It was hard to concentrate on your task of chopping vegetables when Jace was across from you looking so ethereal. The sunlight hit his fair skin just right and it made him practically glow. His head was buried in a book of Valyrian poetry, making his brown curls fall in his eyes, framing his face perfectly. From where you sat, you could cound every single freckle along his nose and cheeks.

Jace would often read to you in High Valyrian late at night before you went to bed, your head laying on his chest or buried in his neck. Usually his head would be in your lap as you ran your hands through his curls, making him whimper and shiver until he relaxed under your careful ministrations. But on certain special occasions, your head would be in his lap and he would gently run his fingers through your hair as he read to you.

If Jace had his wish, you would be lulled to sleep by his heartbeat or his pulse. You used to wonder if Jace read to you as a distraction from his nonexistant heartbeat but the deeper you fell in love with him, you realized that your mutual love of literature was how you bonded and how Jace showed his love. In his human life, he used to read bedtime stories to his little brothers just as his mother had read to him and her mother before him.

Thinking of Jace being a mother hen to his little brothers led directly to your next thought. For a brief moment, you were struck by a vision of a future you so desperately wanted to share only Jace and no one else. It was as if you were floating outside of your body, watching an older version of yourself walk around the room.

It was just the two of you in the kitchen, just like this one. You and Jace were a few years older but you looked relatively the same except for the lack of baby fat on your faces. Jace’s hair was a little shorter than usual, the result of a recent haircut because your newborn son kept tugging on his curls. He knew not to cut it too short because of how much you loved his hair. Jace walked in circles around the kitchen, soothing your son. You were busy chasing around your 3 year old daughter who wanted nothing more than her father’s attention and to hold her little brother. Sunlight was beaming through the windows and making Jace look transcendent as it always did. As soon as he turned to smile at you, the vision disappeared as quickly as it came. You wee too lost in your thoughts of a future that will never happen that you lost your train of thought and the sharp knife slipped and sliced your entire palm open.

Jace used his powers to be next to you in a literal flash, something he usually never did. He hated using his powers of strength and speed. They only really showed themselves in times of emergency and any harm that came to you, even slight, was considered an emergency to Jace.

Jace was able to smell the blood and he could even hear it before the thin layer of red showed itself on your skin. He fell to his knees in front of you and grabbed your hand, instinctively covering the wound with his slender fingers. He could hear your hearbeat and breathing speed up.

“I’m so sorry, I got distracted admiring you” you stammered out trying to be as honest as you could be without hurting his feelings. You were admiring your handsome, gorgeous boyfriend. But you left out the daydream about a future with him that could never be in order to not break his heart. You knew in your heart of hearts that Jace wanted a family with you as much as you did with him. He would give you all the babies you wanted if he could.

“Shh, Love it’s alright. I just worry for you. Does it hurt terribly?”

“Not really”

“Let me…”

He lost his train of thought as he looked down and saw your blood dripping to the floor, no longer able to tamper down his natural instincts. As he looked at you, something came over him, a particular look desire in his amber eyes that you had never seen from him before, not even in bed. His fangs popped out and he gave you one last look before he brought your palm to his plump lips.

He began with licking long stripes up your hand, cleaning up the blood that had leaked out of the cut and stained your skin. You couldn’t deny how good it felt. You always loved Jace and how his mouth and tongue felt on your sensitive skin. He had frequently kissed your palm im a tenture gesture when you would caress his face lovingly. But you had no idea your palm could be an erogenous zone until this very moment. You bit your bottom lip and held back your moans, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, knowing this was the first time for both of you. You felt the weight and importance of the moment.

As if he could sense you holding back, Jace looked up and made eye contact with you, his pupils dialated and mouth covered in you. The look he gave you shot straight to your groin and you could fell your panties instantly dampen at the sight. You sensed that he was asking your permission. You nodded without hesitation and he dove right in. Jace alternated between long stripes of his tongue and small flicks of his tongue. Your eyes rolled back into your head when he pressed his pouty lips to your hand and began to suck.

Jace couldn’t help himself unlike you. He was moaning and whimpering into your palm almost as much as he did when you two were making love. You looked down and could see he was hard. The slurping noises Jace was making would almost be on the verge of vulgarity if the moment wasn’t so erotic, which was one of the only words that came to mind to describe what was currently happening between you two. Erotic and deeply intimate. Jace had told you that sharing blood was the most deeply personal act for people like him. So the moment his mouth made contact with your blood, you immediately understood what this represented for you two as a couple.

You had a feeling this would happen sooner rather than later, you took the chance to fulfill your fantasy, so you fisted your hands in his hair, you two both mimicking the other act you both desperately loved to do. That seemed to spur him on even more. You presumed in Jace’s world, that sharing blood was held the same intimacy as him tasting other parts of you. Jace said that according to Valryian histories, blood sharing is an ancient magical ritual of sorts. No one completely understands it, especially since the Doom of Valyria, where the most of the histories of his people were lost to time. He didn’t have to read your mind to know that you were enjoying this as much as him. He could not only hear your heartbeat but he could feel it increase speed through your palm.

The combination of everything was getting overwhelming in the best way possible. The noises Jace was making, the look on his face, lost in pleasure solely from you, watching him use his mouth to expertly worship your hand the same way he did to your cunt, pouring every ounce of love he did into the acts.

You betrayed yourself and could not longer hold back your noises of pleasure. As soon as you let out a whimper, a wave of shame washed over him, practically burning him from the inside out. He suddenly pulled back from your hand wide wide eyes, with a horrified look on his face. He used his fangs to prick his thumb, then gently rubbing his blood up and down the cut on your hand. You watched in fascination as it healed right before your eyes. Jace’s ran a long finger down your now healed wound and he leaned his head forward to lay a soft kiss on your palm. Jace always took care of you and made sure your safety was paramount, no matter what was going on with him. You two had officially shared blood, and the private magical bond between you and Jace was officially sealed, forever.

He did this all without meeting your sympathic eyes. You could already read him like a book. You knew about his self hatred issues and you knew he would torture himself for getting carried away and actually enjoying the intimate act with you.

He crossed over the other side of the kitchen table to sit down in the chair across from you and he sat down, elbows on his knees and he covered his face with his hands. You continued to look at him with soft, kind eyes, just wanting to help him.

“Jace…”

“Please forgive me. You must hate me”

You got up and walked over to his side of the table. You got down on your knees in front of him. You reached forward, and gently reached forward to attempt to take his hands into yours to remove them from his face. You wanted to see him and you wanted him to see you. As soon as your warm hands made contact with his cold ones, he pulled back. You let your hands fall to your lap, wanting to give him his space.

“Please don’t”

“Jacaerys Velaryon, I could never ever hate you, no matter what. I promise”

You could hear him sniffen underneath his hands.

“Jacaerys…”

You only used his full name when you were serious.

You reached again for his hands, and this time he let you take them. You joined your hands together, kissed each of them and let them rest on his knees. He swooned at the intimate gesture. He still could not meet your eyes.

“Jace, please just look at me.”

He was being stubborn and pouting, looking instead at your joined hands. You reached out and cupped the side of his soft face and he instinctively nuzzled his face into your hand as he had done a hundred times before. You knew that muscle memory would work and his sad golden eyes finally connected with yours. You could tell he was trying to close his mouth to hide his teeth, but you weren’t having it. You reached out to gently touch his fangs.

“Please don’t hide any part of yourself from me. They’re beautiful, just like you”

He was still pouting but he sighed and reached out his hand like a prince from a fairytale and he helped you stand up. You surprised him by sitting sideways in his lap and wrapping your arms around his shoulders. He wrapped his strong arms around your middle, anchoring you to where you sat. Jace buried his head in your chest, kissing your collarbone. Finally beginning to relax, his fangs retracted. Even though you could still feel him half hard against you, the moment wasn’t charged with raw sensuality like the previous one. This was just pure loving intimacy and comfort between two lovers.

“I really liked it Jacaerys…I loved it actually. In fact, I want to do that more often. Much more often”

He pulled his head back from your chest in surprise. His amber eyes were sparking and not from tears.

“Really?”

“Mhm. I promise”

You leaned forward to kiss him deeply. You moaned into his open mouth when you tasted the metallic aftertaste of your blood.

Surprisingly both Jace and yourself, you enjoyed the taste of yourself on his tongue. You liked this but you much preferred tasting another part of yourself on his tongue.

#jacaerys velaryon x reader #jace velaryon x reader #jacaerys velaryon x you #jace velaryon x you #hotd imagine #vampire au #jacaerys velaryon smut #jace velaryon smut

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callmeagardengnome · 8 months ago

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𐂐 table for two ‎𐂐 | LEE DONG-HYUCK

pairings ᝃᝓ server!haechan x hostess! fem!reader

genre ᝃᝓ restaurant au, romance, SLOWW BURNN lowkey angst but honestly its not that deep.

synopsis ᝃᝓ you joined the F&B industry for one reason only: paying off your college debts. romance and friends? not on your list. but unfortunately for you, the new cute annoying server at your restaurant has other plans.

w.c ᝃᝓ 5.8k

c.w ᝃᝓ hella smoking scenes in this story (its literally nct), an old ass guy harassing you. no smut but there is a detailed kissing scene sooo read at your own discretion.

author’s note: make sure to like and repost!

not proofread!

other fics

working as a hostess was never a part of your plan as a new college graduate. the endless shifts, the line of karens walking through the door, having to smile and do small talk with ‘guests’, everything about the job didn’t scream you. but with your student loans dangling above your head - you had no other choice.

the restaurant you worked at, 127 Bistro & Lounge, was a cozy establishment. the warm, rustic decor made it a popular spot for dates and family dinners.

your role as the hostess was simple - greet the customer, manage reservations and ensure that the dining area was running smoothly. it was a routine you were used to, even enjoying it at times.

but that was until haechan started working there.

he was a new server - cocky, annoying, and way too good looking to be working at restaurant.

from day one, haechan made it a mission to get under your skin. whether that meant teasing you when he passed by the hostess stand or flashing you an irritatingly charming smile whenever you caught him looking your way, he just seemed to enjoy pushing your buttons.

and today was no different. as the evening rush died down, you found yourself at the hostess stand, looking through the reservations for the next day. you didn’t notice haechan approaching you until he leaned over the stand, casting a shadow on your computer.

“you know..” haechan began, a smirk forming on his face. “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you smile before.”

without looking up from your list, you replied, “i do smile, just not around you.”

“ouch,” he chuckled, a sound that’s becoming too familiar for your liking. “i’ll take it as a challenge.”

you finally looked up, meeting his eyes with a glare. his eyes were always sparkling with excitement, which was quite impressive since the both of you worked in the same industry.

haechan walked away with a wink and grin, finally leaving you alone. still, you couldn’t help but wonder why he kept bothering you so much.

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

from the moment haechan started his server journey at 127 Bistro & Lounge, he found endless sources of entertainment. from the TV in the corner to talking to customers and the other servers, he managed to find things that made his shifts easier to get through. yet, nothing compared to annoying you.

you were the definition of professional - always composed, always reserved and most importantly, always resistant to his advances. this made it 100 times more fun for him to go up you.

“‘____’,” he sang out as he walked over to you, a wide grin playing on his lips. without waiting for a response, he leaned against the counter, invading your space like he’s done countless of times before.

“why do you always give mark the girl diners,” haechan sulked, looking at you with fake, sad eyes. “do you want me all to yourself?”

you sighed, keeping your eyes on the screen of your computer. “maybe it’s because mark actually focuses on his job instead of flirting with everyone around him.”

“well that’s not fun,” he said, drawing out the last part of his sentence. he moved closer to you, just enough for you to smell his cologne - the scent warm and annoyingly enticing.

“why are you making my love life difficult?” he whispered, dropping his voice down an octave as if he was sharing a secret.

you scoffed, looking up from the computer. “your nonexistent ‘love life’ is the last thing i’m interested in.”

his grin only widened, not taking your words seriously. “i don’t know.. are you sure you’re not keeping me single?”

“or maybe,” you shot back, stepping behind to create distance between the two of you. “you're single because this is the way you approach women.”

haechan chuckled, not breaking eye contact with you. “it doesn't hurt to have a little fun.”

you raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms. “your definition of ‘fun’ is coming over and talking to me every five minutes?”

“you keep track?” he tilted his head.

“very funny,” you rolled your eyes before moving your attention back to the computer screen. “if you spent as much time working as you do hanging out at my stand, you might get somewhere.”

haechan shrugged, unfazed by your comments. “why would i do that? watching you try to ignore me is the highlight of my shift.”

you gave him an unimpressed stare as he continued, “you’d miss me if i didn’t.”

the corners of your mouth betrayed you, showing the tiniest hint of a smile - and that was all he needed to keep pushing your buttons.

just as you were about to speak up, a group of diners entered the restaurant, forcing you to return to your job. with a sigh, you greeted and guided them to an empty table at the side. haechan lingered around you for a moment, watching you work before finally moving on to his own tasks - but not without throwing you a wink your way as he walked off.

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

days turned into weeks and haechan soon became a regular part of your routine. you grew used to his teasing and cocky attitude. you wouldn’t call him a friend, but you couldn’t deny that he made your shifts more bearable. surprisingly, he had a talent of making his conversations more interesting than annoying.

and as much as you hated to admit it, he was getting good at it.

most of the time, he kept things light and somewhat professional. you indulged in his conversations just enough to keep you sane in the tiring job. after all, you were only here to work, earn money and get out. you had no plans to form an attachment to anyone - especially at your workplace.

and you could tell haechan had a similar mindset. even though he was constantly talking to people, whether it was you, other servers or customers, you noticed how he was always the first to leave the restaurant at the end of a shift, not waiting for anyone. it was like he switched off the moment his work was done, leaving his playful personality behind.

while it did make you wonder if the version of haechan you just saw was fake, you weren’t interested in finding out. you already had enough on your plate - trying to figure out haechan’s brain was not something you wanted to add to it.

however, something changed one night.

the restaurant had been a lot busier than usual and you were completely drained. all you wanted was a few minutes of peace before heading home to collapse on your bed.

you slipped out the back door, taking in the cool air. you sat cross-legged on the pavement, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. the first puff calmed you down as you watched the smoke swirl into the night sky.

haechan was exhausted too, stuffing his apron into his bag, eager to go home. he decided to go out the back door this time, not wanting to run into any other coworkers.

but as he opened the door, he saw you - slumped against the brick walls, a cigarette held loosely between your fingers. half of your hair was out of its ponytail and your shirt was completely untucked, the harsh glow of the street light bringing attention to the darkness under your eyes.

haechan froze for a moment. he had never seen you like this - vulnerable and out of your professional appearance you wore. there was something almost.. intimate about the scene, and for the first time, he felt guilty for all the times he annoyed you.

when you finally noticed him, you looked up with tired eyes. “do you need something?” you asked, coughing slightly to clear your throat.

he hesitated, unsure of what to say. “no- i was just about to leave..” he replied, feeling like he was intruding on something he wasn’t meant to see.

you nodded, looking down at the stone pavement as you took another puff. haechan found himself staying around longer than he expected, as if he was in a trance that he couldn’t get out of.

“uh-“ you broke the silence, looking at him confused. “you want one?” you took out a pack of cigarettes, waving it at him.

haechan’s body moved automatically. he put his bag down and sat next to you, accepting the cigarette. you lighted it for him and the both of you began to smoke in a comfortable silence.

for a while, the only sounds you could hear were the crackling tobacco and the faint chatter coming from the restaurant by loitering coworkers. it was strange being this close to each other - just you and him, without any teasing or bantering.

“you know, i really like this brand,” you said, twirling the cigarette in your fingers. “it tastes less cancer-y than the rest.”

haechan chuckled softly, leaning back against the wall. “what kind of description is that?”

you shrugged, bringing the cigarette to your lips. “hey, when you’ve lived as long as i have, you’ll start to see a difference.”

“what?” he raised an eyebrow, turning his body to you. “aren’t we the same age?”

“we are?” your eyes widened, genuinely surprised by what he just said. “i just assumed we weren’t because of that personality of yours.”

haechan clutched his chest with his hand, pretending to he offended. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

you blew out a stream of smoke, shaking your head. “with how happy you are, it’s kind of hard to believe we’re dealing with the same adult problems.”

“sure,” his smirk turned into something softer, even thoughtful if you were going that far.

“…you talk a lot more outside of work,” he said after a few minutes.

“and you talk a lot less outside of work,” you flicked the ash from the tip of your cigarette, watching it fall to the ground.

haechan studied you, scanning your figure up and down. “i like it. you’re more relaxed- and kind of friendly.”

“kind of?” you repeated his words, turning to him with a raised eyebrow. “let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

he shrugged, “i’ll take what i can get.”

you shook your head, putting out your cigarette as pushed yourself off the ground. surprisingly, you felt a lot better than you did earlier, the heavy feeling in your eyelids slowly fading away.

haechan stood up with you, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “…same time tomorrow-?”

“-don’t push it.”

he laughed, and you couldn’t help but notice how it didn’t annoy you as much as it used to. “worth a shot.”

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

“dude- are you okay?” mark asked, waving his hand in front of haechan as they stood by the drink station.

haechan blinked, remembering where he was, not realising that he’s been wiping the same spot for the past five minutes.

ever since that night, something shifted. haechan started to see you.. differently. it wasn’t about annoying you anymore - there was something else, something that he couldn’t put his finger on.

“i’m fine…” haechan replied, not sounding convincing at all, even to himself.

mark raised an eyebrow but didn’t push. “alright, if you say so. but you’ve been out of it the whole day.”

haechan brushed the comment off, moving his attention to the new table he had. he approached a table of girl diners, feeling less enthusiastic than he normally did.

“hey, can we get some recommendations?” one of the girls asked, batting her eyelashes as she flashed him a cheeky smile.

normally, he’d take the opportunity to flirt with them, maybe even ask for one of their phone numbers if he was interested. yet, he smiled politely instead and listed off a few popular dishes that he knew.

“thanks,” another girl added with a wink. “you’re really cute by the way.”

haechan nodded, giving a quick smile. “appreciate it,” before moving on to take their orders.

as he walked away, he realised that he didn’t really register the things they said, looking down at the scribbles on his notepad.

“not flirting today?” mark questioned, looking his friend’s quiet state.

“just focused on work,” haechan replied, his eyes drifting back to you at the hostess stand. you were busy with your tasks like always, and he wondered if you had noticed the change in his behaviour at all.

throughout the rest of his shift, haechan’s mind kept returning to that night, to the way you looked so different yet more real than ever. he didn’t want to admit it, but there was something attractive about that.

he found himself glancing at you more than usual, noticing how your hair fell slightly out of place or the way your fingers tapped on the stand rhythmically when you were talking to a customer - there was a something to you, a soft beauty that was easy to overlook if you weren’t paying attention.

but haechan was paying attention now, more than he ever did before.

he doesn’t remember the last time he packed his bag this quickly, but he dashed out of the restaurant, trying to leave all thoughts of the restaurant behind - only to be replaced by an image of you.

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

of course, you noticed a change.

haechan’s visits to your hostess stand became less frequent, and his teasing comments were nonexistent.

at first, you didn’t think much if it - maybe he was finally focusing on his job, something you’ve been asking him to do for way longer than you should have. but as the days passed, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was.. off.

you’d catch him glancing in your direction every now and then, but when your eyes met, he’d quickly turn away and wipe a random counter nearby. it was strange to see him so distant. you thought about bringing it up to him, but every time you tried, something else required your attention.

the restaurant was busier than ever, especially during the holiday season - barely leaving you with moments to catch a breath, let alone talk to haechan.

a few days later, you were at the hostess stand, answering the phone and jotting down details into the computer when a man approached the stand.

he was older, probably in his sixties, and dressed in a suit that was a little too expensive for a place like your restaurant. you didn’t think much of it, greeting him with your usual, professional work voice.

“good evening, welcome to 127 Bistro & Lounge. how can i help you?”

the man’s eyes raked over you in a way that made your skin crawl. he then leaned in, his voice low and gruff. “i was hoping that you could help me with something other than a table,” he said, his breath reeking with alcohol.

you straightened your posture. “i’m afraid i can only help you with seating arrangements, sir. if you’ll follow me, i’ll show you to a table.”

instead of moving away, the man reached out and grabbed your wrist harshly, pulling you closer to him. “come on, sweetheart, let’s skip the formalities.. why not you show me something else?”

you could hear your heart pounding in your chest as you tried to snatch your wrist away, only for his grip to tighten further. but before you could react, you heard a familiar voice.

“is there a problem here?”

haechan stepped up beside you, glaring at the man that made him stumble on his words.

“it’s none of your business, kid,” the man slurred, using his other hand to push haechan back. “we- we’re about to have some f- fun,” he hiccuped.

haechan stood in front of you, his hands shielding you from the old man. “i suggest you leave before the police come.”

the man snorted, not believing haechan’s words for a second. he tried to drag you towards him, before haechan grabbed his arm and threw it to the side, stopping him in his tracks. you stumbled back slightly, but haechan was ready to catch you, his hand placed securely on your back.

“i’m calling the cops,” haechan said, pulling out his phone. the man finally realised the situation he was in, muttering something under his breath as he tripped out of the restaurant.

as soon as he was gone, haechan turned to you, scanning your face for any injuries. “are you okay?”

you nodded, your heart still racing from what just happened. “i think so.. thanks for that.”

he gave you a small, reassuring smile. “don’t mention it.”

for a moment, the two of you stood in silence. you just realised that this was the first proper conversation with haechan you had in days, and it wasn’t about something light like how you were used to.

“are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again, concern written all over his face.

“i’m sure,” you answered, trying your best to sound confident. “thank you, really.”

he nodded, but his eyes still lingered on you, wanting to make sure you weren’t hurt. “if you need anything.. you know where to find me.”

you raised an eyebrow, surprised by his offer. “same goes for you.”

haechan’s smile came back, patting you gently on the shoulder before turning away. but as he was went, something made you call out after him.

“smoke later?” the words came out of your mouth more like a statement than a question.

haechan paused, turning back to you, his iconic smirk returning, “i thought you’d never ask.”

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

“are you okay?”

haechan looked up from his cigarette, blinking in surprise as he heard your question. “where is this coming from..?”

“come on,” you snorted. “you haven’t been yourself lately.. is something going on at home?”

he shook his head, taking a deep puff from the cigarette, exhaling it as if it would carry away all of his thoughts. “just trying to focus on work,” he replied, answering you like how he did with his other coworkers.

“i’m not stupid,” you scoffed, shifting closer to haechan. “i can tell when something’s wrong. you’ve barely annoyed me all week, which is a new record for you.”

a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “didn’t realise you missed me that much.”

you rolled your eyes. “that’s not the point. i’m just asking because.. well, i don’t know- i’ve never seen you like this before.”

haechan’s eyes softened, putting out his cigarette on the ground. “…it’s nothing big, i’m just thinking about stuff.”

“stuff?” you repeated.

“yeah, stuff,” he said, avoiding eye contact with you, looking down at the pavement, drawing circles on it.

you tilted your head slightly - your curiosity getting to the better of you. you turned your body completely to face him, genuinely interested in what he would say. “want to share?”

“i-“ he looked up at you, searching your eyes. “it’s just that.. i used to see this job as a way to pass time, you know? but lately.. i guess i’ve been thinking about what i want.”

your eyes widened in surprise, not expecting him to actually tell you. “and what do you want?”

haechan hesitated, then shrugged. “i’m not sure yet, but i’ll let you know when i find out.”

you nodded, turning back to the street in front of you. the both of you listened to the sound of crickets chirping and the occasional car speeding by traffic lights that they were definitely not supposed to.

you played with your lighter, flicking the wheel and watched as the flame appeared after many tries. “thanks again for earlier by the way, you really saved my ass.”

“no problem, i just wish the guy got arrested, though.”

you widened your eyes as you readjusted your sitting position. “wait- you actually called the police? i thought that was just a scare tactic.”

“i mean- i was going to,” he replied, dusting specks of ash of off his pants. “who wouldn’t? the guy was weird and i wanted to help you… but unfortunately, i’m not built like a superhero.”

“what are you talking about?” you tilted your head, taking a closer look at him as you studied his figure, taking note of his biceps and arms. “you’re pretty toned.”

haechan’s cheeks flushed slightly as he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “thanks..”

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

from that day forward, haechan returned to his routine of going to your hostess stand every time he got the chance, spewing out random things that was on his mind.

you found yourself paying more attention to him during your shifts, noticing the little details about him - like the way his eyes lit up whenever he saw you, or how he would always help the other servers even if he was busy. it wasn’t like he suddenly became less annoying, but you found his antics more.. endearing.

as the days grew colder, christmas decorations started to pop up around the restaurant. you hadn’t planned on getting anyone gifts this year - your student loans were enough of a financial burden - but your mind couldn’t stop drifting back to haechan and how he saved you. maybe it’s time to do something different.

you decided to approach mark during his break. “hey, what does haechan like?”

mark looked up from his phone, eyebrows raised. “why? are you planning on getting him a gift?”

“just curious.”

mark chuckled, “he’s really into video games. he’s been saving up for this one game for weeks, but he had to spend the money on other stuff.”

“do you know what it is?” you asked.

“yeah.. he’s been talking about it for a while,” mark replied, then paused, giving you a knowing look. “you’re going to get it for him, aren’t you?”

you shrugged, not wanting to admit that you already made your mind up. “maybe. it’s just a small thing.”

mark laughed and shook his head. “i don’t think he’ll see it that way. but hey, if you’re really going to do it, he’d really appreciate it.”

that night, you went home and checked your bank account. the number staring back at you wasn’t promising, but you knew you could make it work. you had been smart with your spending, and while the game would probably set you back a bit, it wouldn’t completely break you.

so you placed the order.

when christmas eve finally rolled around, the restaurant buzzed with holiday spirit. the staff exchanged gifts, and you already received a couple of things from your coworkers - a pair of cozy socks, some snacks and even a box of chocolates from your boss.

haechan didn’t mention anything about presents, so you decided to wait until the end of your shift to give it to him.

as the night died down and the last of the customers left, you grabbed your neatly wrapped package from your locker and made your way to where haechan was packing his bag.

“hey,” you walked over to him, catching his attention.

“yo-“ he looked up, surprised to see you holding something. “what’s that?”

you held out the gift, feeling your nerves bubble up in your chest. “just something small. merry christmas, haechan.”

haechan’s eyes widened as he took the package from your hands. he wasn’t expecting gifts from anyone, especially you. “you didn’t have to,” he said, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice.

“open it,” you insisted, watching him tear off the wrapping paper.

when he finally saw what was inside, his jaw dropped. “no way... how did you-“

“-mark mentioned you were saving up for it,” you shrugged, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. “so i figured.. why not?”

for at least a minute, haechan stared at the game, completely stunned. he then looked at you, his face softer than you’ve ever seen. “thank you,” he said, pulling you into a tight hug. “seriously, this is… i don’t know what to say.”

you felt a warmth spread through you, a warmth that had nothing to do with the overwhelming amount of holiday lights that were surrounding you. “no problem, just make sure to enjoy it.”

as you were about to leave, haechan called out to you, “wait-“

you turned around, confused. but that was when you saw him reach into his own bag, pulling out a small box wrapped in gold paper.

“i actually got you something too,” he admitted, running his fingers through his hair awkwardly. “i noticed your lighter wasn’t working well, so uh- here.”

you took the box from him, feeling your heart beating a little faster than before. unwrapping it, you found a new, sleek lighter and a pack of your favourite cigarettes.

“i wasn’t sure on what to get you,” haechan spoke as he watched you inspecting the gift in awe, “but i remembered that those tasted less ‘cancer-y’.. so i decided to get them for you.”

“these are pretty hard to find..” you breathed out, running your fingers over the cardboard. “how did you get this?”

“i spent an embarrassing amount of time looking for them,” he fidgeted with the sleeves of his shirt. “but it’s worth it.”

you looked up at him, meeting his eyes. “you’re fuelling my addiction,” you joked.

“hey- you’re fuelling mine too,” he said, waving your present in his hand.

the two of you stood there, the moment truly setting in. you weren’t sure what came over you, but for the first time in a while, you felt genuinely happy. a smile slowly spread across your face, a real one this time.

haechan’s breath hitched, and he stared at you like he’s never seen you before. “you have a really pretty smile,” he said quietly, trying not to ruin the moment.

you felt a blush creeping up on your cheeks when you heard his words. “shut up,” you said softly, feeling a little shy.

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

“ugh, what’s the point of a new years party?” haechan groaned as he approached your stand. “it’s just awkwardly talking to people you meet at work.”

you typed in details into your computer, not bothering to look up at him. “i thought you liked people?”

“yeah, but this is different,” he said, moving closer to you. “i’m not in the mood for small talk.”

you glanced up at him, noticing how stressed haechan looked about going to the party. “i mean- it’s just a few hours. plus, free food and drinks, right?”

“you’re just there to get drunk,” haechan said, a grin forming on his lips.

“maybe,” you shrugged. “but it’s not a bad thing to spend time with everyone outside of work. you can even hang out with mark.”

haechan nodded slowly, straightening his posture. “…are you going?”

“yep,” you replied, popping the letter ‘p’ at the end of your sentence.

“cool,” he said, patting the edge of your stand. “then i’m going too.”

the night of the party finally arrived, your boss inviting all the staff to his apartment, fully decorated with lights and banners. you found yourself enjoying the festive atmosphere, the clinking of glasses and the laughter filling the room. haechan, however, seemed a little out of his element, but he hid his discomfort behind his usual self.

he went through many conversations, but his eyes kept returning to you. there was something different about seeing you here, dressed casually, your hair draping softly over your shoulders as you laughed at something one of your coworkers said. it was the first time he could actually take in how pretty - really pretty, you were, making his heart skip a beat.

it wasn’t just your appearance, it was the way you carried yourself, you seemed less serious and more.. real.

as the night went on, a playlist of softer, slower songs began to play in the background. you ended up on the couch, sipping your drink as haechan made his way over to you.

he could see the soft light of fairy lights twinkling in your eyes as he sat next to you. “having fun?” he asked.

“mhm, especially with this drink,” you nodded as you swirled your glass. you noticed that your lip gloss transferred, making you pull out your phone and check yourself out. “aw man, my makeup is all weird.”

“really?” he tilted his head as he looked at your face. “i don’t see any problems.”

“sure, but i still need to fix it,” you said, glancing around the apartment. “do you know where the bathroom is?”

haechan led you down the hallway, the noise from the party slowly fading away. he held the door for you, the creaking sound making you jump slightly. “you can go, i’ll wait out here.”

you raised an eyebrow as you stepped into the bathroom. “are you sure? i’m only touching up my makeup.. you can come in too, you know?”

haechan grinned, walking in with you. “whatever you say.”

the small space was softly lit, casting a warm glow on the tiled walls. you leaned against the sink, rummaging your bag for your eyeliner as haechan sat himself on the edge of the bathtub, watching you intently.

you reapplied your eyeliner with ease, the movements becoming second nature by now. “you’re really good at that,” haechan said, breaking the silence.

you glanced at him through the mirror, a small smile tugging on your lips. “thanks, i practice.”

next, you reached for your candy-flavoured lipgloss, applying it carefully. the gloss shimmered under the soft lighting, making your lips even more inviting than ever.

haechan looked at you through the mirror, his eyes not leaving your reflection as he muttered, “you look good.”

you paused, turning to him with your lip gloss in hand. in that moment, you let yourself really look at him too - his slightly messy hair, the way his shirt hugged his frame and how his dark, shiny eyes stared at you. you always knew that haechan was good-looking, but tonight there was something more, something that made it hard to look away.

“you look good too,” you admitted, feeling your cheeks warm slightly. you turned back to the mirror in embarrassment, capping up your lip gloss and setting it back into your bag, ignoring the flutter in your chest.

“…should we head back out?” you suggested.

haechan took in a deep breath, shaking his head. “i don’t know..”

you rubbed your lips together, spreading the gloss before asking, “wanna get out of here?”

“really?” he exclaimed, his eyes wide. “i thought you wanted to stay..?”

“nah, i don’t give a shit about anyone here,” you replied with a smirk. “and i know that you definitely want to leave.” you went over to the door and left with haechan following behind you eagerly.

the both of you slipped through the living room, reaching the front door. that was when you noticed a ‘TAKE ONE’ sign over a bouquet of flowers - a gift from your boss that was meant for each employee.

without thinking, you grabbed a few flowers, cradling them in your arms. haechan kept quiet, simply watching you with an amused smile.

“let’s go,” you said softly.

the both of you stepped out into the cool, late night air. you stepped over the puddles formed from a downpour earlier, even turning it into a game with haechan.

the distant sounds of new year’s celebration played in the background as the two of you roamed through the streets. haechan walked close to you, his arm brushing against yours, making your heart race.

it wasn’t long before fireworks set off loudly, marking the arrival of midnight. the both of you stopped in your tracks, turning to each other with a shocked face.

“happy new year,” he said, smiling softly.

you chuckled, “happy new year, haechan.” you could see the reflection of fireworks in his eyes as he moved closer to you. you opened your mouth to say something, but the words got caught in your throat.

before you could find them, he leaned in closer, his gaze dropping to your lips. “haechan?” you whispered out, the fireworks casting flashes of coloured light on his face.

“have you ever heard of a new years kiss?”

you nodded, swallowing the lump in your throat as he stepped closer towards you.

he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, studying your face. “..well, i really want to kiss you,” he sighed, his eyes looking guilty. “but i know you don’t even like me like that-“

“-i do.”

haechan froze, the thumping in his chest becoming louder than the fireworks in the sky. “you do..?” he repeated, not believing what he just heard.

you nodded, feeling your heart race under his stare. “do you like me?” you tilted head, getting more nervous by the second.

haechan closed the distance between the two of you, “more than you can imagine.”

his lips crashed into yours, filled with pent-up emotions and words that were left unspoken. your hands made their way to his chest, feeling the warmth of his body through his shirt as his hands cupped your face, holding you close.

the sweet taste of your lip gloss only added more fuel to the fire. the kiss deepened quickly, his hands moving to your waist, pulling you closer. the intensity of his grip shocked your for a moment, but you welcomed it, leaning into him.

you soon found your back hitting the wall of the nearest building - the impact making you gasp, dropping your bouquet of flowers into a puddle of water. you broke away for a second, “wait, my flowers-“

“-i’ll get you new ones tomorrow,” haechan’s words rushed out before your lips met again, more messy and desperate than before. his body pressed against yours, and you could feel the rhythm of his heartbeat against your chest.

“you’re amazing,” he murmured against your lips, sending shivers down your spine.

you could only nod, your words replaced by the overwhelming need to feel him again. in response, his hands held your sides, his touch almost possessive. your lips met again, with the smell of his cologne overwhelming your senses.

by the time you pulled back, the both of you were breathless, your chests heaving as you tried to catch your breaths.

haechan looked at you with a soft smile, his gaze lingering on your face, trying to memorise every detail. “i didn’t expect to tonight to turn out like this,” he said. “but i’m glad it did.”

you brushed your fingers through his hair, just now realising how smooth it was. “me too,” you replied.

he gave you a grin. “i’ll make sure to get you new flowers,” he said, making you laugh softly. “i’ll get you better ones.”

“i don’t care about the flowers,” you chuckled, reaching for his hand. “i’d rather have you tonight.”

haechan’s smile widened, unable to stop himself from giving you peck on the cheek. “wanna head back to my place?”

any and all feedback appreciated <3

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