#someone else was dressed in a bright yellow bikini and ears

[remma-demma]

ac: :33< hes right behind me isnt he

[sunlit-squid]

(simping softness prompts) could i get some “hey, everything's gonna be fine. stay where you are, i'm on my way” or “holy crap, i thought you were dead! never do that to me again!” if you are feeling so inclined? sorry im just in love w ur writing

For those who don't know, my ask box is open. Send me a simping softness prompt, and I'll write a short sbsp ficlet for you. ✰

i'm gonna do "hey, everything's gonna be fine ...", but don't you worry. i will also be doing "holy crap ..." at some point, since someone else requested it.

anyway, thanks for the prompt, and for the kind words! while we're here, i should also say that @wowthwtslame is doing a similar ficlet challenge. their writing is wonderful, so definitely check them out!

also tagging @azumeowth, who requested the same prompt!

ficlet under the cut. thanks again!

The call came in -- loudly -- at around 2 in the morning.

When Squidward rolled over to check his shell phone, the dull blue screen read, simply, “SpongeBrat”, accompanied by a vomit emoji. Sighing, the octopus put his phone on silent and went back to bed. Surely whatever it was the sponge wanted to blabber about could wait until tomorrow. After a decent night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep was hard to come by. Despite having switched his phone to silent, the device’s small blue screen continued to light up repeatedly, like a small, pathetic rave. Every few seconds, the small blue light cast peculiar shadows on the walls of Squidward’s bedroom. Eventually, after thirty minutes of tossing and turning, the cephalopod grabbed his phone to shove it inside the nightstand -- when he caught a glimpse of the screen itself.

43 missed calls. 37 unread text messages. All from “SpongeBrat” Squarepants.

The phone rang again. This time, Squidward picked up.

“Spongebob, do you have any idea what time it is?” snapped Squidward, despite the uncomfortable, worried feeling growing in his stomach. “No? Well, I’ll tell you -- it is two-forty-seven --”

“I-I know, Squidward,” came a small, shaking Spongebob-voice. “I just -- I didn’t know what to do.”

Squidward paused. Well, that was … not the regular Spongebob volume. Or tone. Or pitch.

“Squ -- Squidward?” came the sponge’s soft, sad voice once more. The frycook’s voice was barely audible. There was some sort of loud, constant whooshing happening on the other end, not to mention a weird crackling noise, which made it very difficult to hear. Squidward sighed, wiping a tentacle across his eyes.

“I’m here,” said Squidward. “What’s this about, Spongebob?”

Silence. Then, crying -- and not Spongebob’s usual loud, obnoxious crying. This crying was quiet and gentle, barely decipherable against the loud whooshing on the other end of the line. Squidward sat up then, pressing the phone close to his ear.

“Sponge,” said Squidward, panic rising in his chest. “Sponge, what’s wrong?”

Spongebob sobbed something indiscernible. Then, he stammered, “I’m -- I’m hurt, Squidward. I’m hurt, and … I’m lost.”

Something funny exploded in Squidward’s chest. Before he knew it, the octopus was out of bed, scrambling for his jacket and keys. Gripping his shell phone tight, Squidward asked, “Where are you? What’s going on, Spongebob?”

On the other end of the line, Spongebob snuffled. “I got on the wrong bus,” he explained, in a shaky, uneven voice. “I -- I’m in a place called ‘Deviltown’ now, and the current is so strong, and the signal is pretty bad --” There was that distorted, crackling sound again -- followed by a few more broken whimpers.

Squidward sighed, feeling his hearts crack with every little sob. “Hey, everything’s going to be fine,” he said, stepping out the door and into the cool Bikini Bottom night. “Stay where you are. I’m on my way.”

-0-

Deviltown, it turned out, was several hours away from Bikini Bottom. Squidward’s shell phone indicated the drive not only went straight, but downward -- which was certainly a problem. Oceanic towns grew more and more dangerous the deeper you went, and Deviltown was apparently thousands of nautical leagues under the sea. Wherever Spongebob was, even the sun couldn’t reach him.

Undeterred, Squidward set off on his journey. His boat was constantly maintained, so the cephalopod was certain it could handle the perilous road ahead.

For the first hour or so, the drive was uneventful -- peaceful, even. The streets were smooth and well taken care of, which was good considering the massive tax hike this past year. Squidward even put on some Kelpy G, which certainly helped to soothe his nerves.

Later on, however, the drive got worse. The once well-maintained roads gave way to rickety rocks and slippery sand, with only a few sporadic road signs to get by. Moonlight became sparse, and by the time Squidward reached a vertical road, he had his brights all the way up -- and was still struggling to see.

A nearby rickety sign read “Deviltown, 10 nautical miles downward.” Peering down into the deep abyss, Squidward gulped. Despite his headlights, he still couldn’t see a thing -- just a vast expanse of open blackness.

A tight feeling wound itself around Squidward’s chest. He thought about backing up, turning around, and going straight home. This was ridiculous. Why was he out here, in the wee hours of the morning, chasing after SpongeBrat Squarepants, of all people? The boy had other friends. Certainly one of them would be willing to retrieve him.

Squidward’s tentacle hovered just over the gear stick. That’s when he saw it: in his passenger seat lay Spongebob’s wrinkled little jacket. The sponge must have left it behind the other day, when Squidward (begrudgingly) drove them both home from work.

Squidward’s chest felt hollow, suddenly. He thought of how many times he’d seen Spongebob in that exact jacket over the years.

He thought of never seeing him in that jacket ever again.

Groaning, the octopus switched gears from “Drive” to “Drive, But Downward”, and puttered his way into the deep and black abyss.

-0-

The journey into the inky black was, bar none, one of the creepiest things Squidward had ever experienced. He told himself, repeatedly, that if he just stared straight ahead and focused on the task at hand, then everything would be fine. Still, hearing creepy noises in the darkness (and being unable to see where they came from) was severely unsettling.

After what felt like forever, the vertical road became horizontal once again, and Squidward finally drove into Deviltown. Luckily, the town had the decency to set up some lamp posts, possibly for out-of-towners like Squidward who were unused to the darkness. Still, the lamp posts were few and far between, and there was nobody out and about, giving Deviltown a fittingly creepy vibe nonetheless.

Tense, cold, and worried, Squidward drove further into town, squinting for Spongebob’s bright yellow body. Surely the boy couldn’t be that hard to spot -- he was likely the only vibrant thing down here. Surely --

Oh. Oh, no.

Squidward brought his boat careening to a stop. Clambering out of it, the octopus made his way over to a rickety wooden bus stop, with a flickering lamp post just overhead. On a bench nearby was none other than Spongebob Squarepants: cold, alone, and unconscious. For a moment, a horrible thought passed through Squidward’s head -- is he dead? -- before he saw the sponge’s chest rise and fall, taking slow and steady breaths.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Squidward looked up and down the street. No one in sight.

Gently, the octopus leaned down and shook Spongebob lightly. “Hey,” said Squidward, awkwardly. “What are you doing asleep all the way out here? We have work tomorrow, you know.”

Spongebob stirred. In the dim light, Squidward realized the sponge really was hurt -- his usually spiffy shirt and tie were ripped straight down the middle. Beyond the fabric, the sponge’s chest was badly torn up, too, and for some reason, he had not regenerated yet.

Squidward swallowed. “Spongebob?”

The sponge stirred once more. This time, his eyes opened -- and he smiled, weakly. “Squidward,” he slurred, happily. He tried to laugh, then winced, clutching at his stomach and chest. “Squidward, it’s you … you came … ”

“Of course I came,” muttered Squidward, before he could stop himself. “I -- you … ugh, I hate you.”

Scooping up Spongebob, Squidward gently carried him over to the boat, positioning him carefully in the passenger’s seat. The sponge fussed a little about being buckled in, but otherwise, seemed too out of it to complain properly. Taking a deep breath, Squidward got back behind the wheel and started the engine.

“Heheh,” chuckled Spongebob as the boat roared to life. “Vroom-vroom.”

Squidward rolled his eyes and began turning the boat around, back towards Bikini Bottom. “We’re going home now,” he said, with a sigh. “You need to see a doctor for … whatever it was that happened to you.”

Spongebob simply nodded, then fell to his side, leaning all of his body weight on Squidward as he drove. The octopus felt warmth rising to his cheeks, and for once felt grateful for the murky blackness of the ocean void.

Spongebob was mumbling something.

“What is it?” said Squidward. “Are you okay?”

“I …uh … love you, Squidward,” said Spongebob, in a very loopy voice. “I love your big nose, and your paintings, and I wanna … get married, someday. Okay? Can we get married, someday?”

Squidward’s entire face was bright red now. It took everything in him not to just veer in a random direction and crash the entire damn boat. Taking a deep breath, the octopus collected himself. Spongebob was just severely injured, and loopy as a result. He didn’t really mean any of this.

Squidward decided to play along. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, we can get married.”

“Mm,” said Spongebob, chuckling softly. “Can I -- can I wear a dress?”

“Sure,” said Squidward. “Whatever you want.”

“And you’ll … and you’ll kiss me?”

“Mhm,” mumbled Squidward.

“And I can … listen to you play the clarinet around the house … and, and paint with you … and watch your soaps with … you … ”

Squidward looked over. The sponge had fallen asleep, and was snoring loudly. Which was … good. Very good. Excellent, even. That way, they couldn’t talk about marriage or love or any of that absolute nonsense. Now they could just drive forward in sweet silence.

Still, Squidward found himself dwelling over Spongebob’s words far more than he would have liked.

About an hour into the drive home, the octopus glanced over at the sponge, still fast asleep beside him. Fixing his gaze forward, Squidward took a deep breath, clutching the steering wheel in a tight death-grip.

“Spongebob, I …,” Squidward began, shakily. “I love you. I love you, I love you.”

Squidward found that once he started saying it, he couldn’t stop. The words felt good in his mouth, like a massive weight had finally been lifted off his chest.

“I love everything about you,” said Squidward, his three hearts exploding inside his chest. “Your annoying laugh, your stupid singing, all of it. I want to read with you, and garden with you.”

Squidward hesitated, his words floating out into the open water.

“I love you,” said Squidward, one last time. “And I … I don’t know what to do about it. Maybe I’m a coward. I’m sorry.”

Squidward looked over. Spongebob was still fast asleep, snoring away against his arm -- but the smallest of smiles had appeared on his face.

-0-

Squidward woke up in the hospital, seated in a chair next to Spongebob’s hospital bed. The poriferan was wide awake, watching an episode of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on the hospital television. Of course.

The sponge turned. “Squidward!” he exclaimed, his voice loud and back to normal. “You’re awake!”

“Unfortunately,” muttered the octopus. “How are you feeling?”

“Great!” chirped Spongebob. “Better than ever, actually -- but the doc says I should stick around for a little while, just in case.”

Squidward glanced down. Sure enough, Spongebob’s chest had almost fully regenerated. Thank Neptune. When they arrived at the Bikini Bottom General Hospital early that morning, Spongebob was still in rough shape. The doctor said Spongebob most likely had a run-in with a deep-sea predator, and the attack was too quick and too constant for the poriferan to regenerate. Not to mention there were several lacerations to his vital organs.

Still, sponges were pretty sturdy folk -- and all Spongebob really needed was a long rest in a controlled environment.

Squidward breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Great,” he said, awkwardly. “I, uh. Pay attention next time you get on the bus, alright? So I don’t have to come running after you.”

Spongebob laughed. “Okey-doke.”

The two then sat together in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. All the while, Squidward wondered if perhaps his stupid, impulsive, not-really-a-love-confession-confession had actually gotten through to Spongebob. His hearts twisted up at just the thought.

“Hey, Squidward?”

The octopus looked up, and was very surprised to find splotches of red decorating the sponge’s cheeks.

“What?” said Squidward.

“My, uh, sea flowers have been dying lately,” said the sponge, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “Maybe you could come by and we could share some gardening tips?”

A brilliant red blush planted itself on Squidward’s face. Then, he cleared his throat, and folded his arms across his chest. “Only if we get to watch a soap afterwards.”

Spongebob grinned. “Deal.”

Squidward found himself grinning, too, despite himself. “Deal.”

References:

“Deviltown” is loosely based off of the Devil Sea, near the Japanese coast.

I will likely be compiling these ficlets into one combined fic on ao3. I originally wasn't going to, but I definitely didn't expect so many requests. So keep an eye out for that, at some point.

[mianavs]

Ocean’s Sunrise

surfer!Phinks x f!reader

inspired by this post by @conflatemochi​ 

a/n: the product of my brainrot. pictured him as a cross between matthew mcconaughey in surfer,dude and long-haired austin butler

wc: 1.6k+

Contrary to what your friends thought, you loved going to the beach. The soft white sand felt divine between your toes and the sun’s warmth was like a lover’s kiss on your skin. You even liked cooling off in the shallow waters of the sea, always careful not to venture too far into the water.

No—you enjoyed the beach as much as the next person.

What you disliked were the people that crowded it.

The large families with their screaming kids that kicked up sand when they ran by. The crying babies being forced into the water by overzealous parents eager to capture their first day at the beach on camera. The old men ogling bikini-clad women and their female counterparts drooling over the fit men passing by. The families were quite annoying but, when you had to admit that the volleyball players and the surfers took the cake.

They were the ones that disrupted your visits to the beach the most.

You’d taken a volleyball to the head too many times to count and had ruined even more sketches because of it. Countless of your sketchbooks had been ruined by drops of salt water running down surf boards and onto your pages. No matter what precautions you took, one incident or another led to a ruined day at the beach.

Until one day, you decided to wake up before the crack of dawn and head to the beach in time for sunrise.

The air was a bit chilly but you merely wrapped your cardigan around your frame and clutched your sketchbook to your chest. You walked past the homes and shops of the beach town thoroughly enjoying the lack of human noise. In fact, all you could hear were the waves crashing onto the beach shore and the birds chirping away.

Indeed, visiting the beach in the wee hours of the morning had been a great idea.

Once you made it to the beach, you took off your sandals and walked the rest of the way barefoot, letting your toes dig into the cool sand while you swung your sandals back and forth in your hand. Humming a cheerful tune, you strolled to the middle of the beach and spread out the beach towel you brought along. After taking a seat, you set your sketchbook in front of your legs and fished out a pencil from your bag.

The dark blue that had covered most of the sky minutes prior grew fainter the closer east it got until it bled into the bright yellow, orange, and red hues of the horizon that reflected off the surface of the ocean. You’d just started sketching out the sky when you decided to color in your finished sketch at home. Digging into your bag, you retrieved your small camera before standing up and walking towards the water’s edge.

You focused your camera on the breathtaking scenery before you when, all of a sudden, a figure appeared in the center of your frame, startling you enough to stagger back and lower your camera simultaneously.

Your eyes made out a head and two arms emerging from the water and you quickly realized it was a person. The first conclusion you came to was that the person was drowning, so you tossed your camera aside and rushed into the cool water until you remembered you couldn’t swim.

At that point, you were already chest deep into the ocean and, before you could turn back to shore, a harsh wave crashed against your frame and you lost your footing. Completely submerged and with water up your nostrils and inside your mouth, you flailed your arms above your head hoping there was someone else at the beach that could save you and the other person.

Just when your lungs started to burn from the salt water, you were pulled up and onto a hard wet surface by a firm grip. With your eyes closed shut, you held on to the flat surface for dear life while coughing out the water in your lungs for a good couple of minutes. It wasn’t until your breathing went back to normal and you felt the wet sand of the ocean’s ground that you opened your eyes.

You were clutching a green surfboard that was being guided by arguably the most beautifully intimidating man you’d ever seen. He towered over you with perfectly tanned skin that spread over his large chest and defined abdominal muscles. You couldn’t help but stare at the curve of his pectorals, his veiny arms that gripped the surfboard, and the flex of the ligaments on his neck. Tearing your eyes from his body, your face burned when you realized he’d caught you admiring him. You let go of his board and averted your gaze, focusing on maintaining your balance against the waves that hit your legs.

“Are you alright?” His husky voice caught your attention and you found him already peering down at you with furrowed brows. You opened your mouth to assure him you were fine but your mouth went dry at the sight before you.

The newly risen sun from behind enveloped him in a halo of sunlight and you wondered if Apollo really was just a mythological being. Flyaway strands of his long blonde hair turned into threads of gold against the sunny backdrop and you had to make a conscious effort not to run your fingers through them.

“Uh…um…I-”

Completely distracted by his blinding appearance, you didn’t realize the two of you were out of the water and on the beach until you stepped in a sand hole and lost your balance. Your life savior reacted quickly and caught you with one arm that wrapped securely around your waist. His touch burned through your cardigan and flimsy cotton dress setting your skin aflame and you seriously considered asking him if he was the sun god’s reincarnation.

“Can you stand?” He asked, voice laced with worry.

“Y-yeah, I should be-”

Sharp jolts of pain erupted from your left foot but instead of collapsing you found yourself scooped up in your companion’s arms. A squeak escaped your lips and you wrapped your arms around his neck for fear of falling. You quickly realized it was a foolish notion from how unbothered he seemed carrying you to the center of the beach.

“Is that your stuff?” He jutted his chin out and you looked in that same direction to find your beach towel and your sketchbook lying atop.

“Yeah,” you replied and he grunted in reply before making his way towards your spot. The proximity of his body allowed you to see the freckles that dusted his shoulders and your nose breathed in the enticing scent of sea salt and cedarwood his body emitted. Everything about him was attractive and it wasn’t long before your body reacted, desire pooling in your core.

He lowered you on top of your towel with a gentleness you didn’t expect from a man of his size but, nonetheless, the action made your heart flutter. As you unhooked your arms from his neck, you noticed the flush on his face but you didn’t know what the reasoning behind it was until you followed the trail of his gaze to your chest—particularly your hardened nipples that pressed against your soaked dress.

This time it was he who was caught staring and he looked away; his ears red like the rest of his face. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s alright,” you assured him and covered your chest with your cardigan before placing a hand on his forearm to get his attention. “And thank you for saving me. I honestly thought I was doomed out there.” Your nervous chuckle was met with a tentative smile.

“So what were you doing in there anyway?”

It was your turn to blush furiously. “Honestly, I thought you were drowning and I acted without thinking. You see, I don’t really know how to swim.”

He was stunned in silence for a moment before breaking out in laughter. “Thanks for worrying about me.” He replied and took a seat next to you, extending his arm towards you. “I’m Phinks, by the way.”

“Y/N,” you replied and took his hand, ignoring the butterflies in your stomach. “Do you normally come here this early?”

“Yeah, I hate how crowded the beach gets.” This time, it was your turn to laugh.

“Trust me, I understand completely. I came to sketch in peace.” You admitted, picking up your sketchbook. “You don’t know how many of these people hav-”

A loud growl from your stomach interrupted you and your eyes went wide in horror. Another rumble of laughter erupted from Phinks’ chest and you had to admit you loved the sound of it—even if it was directed at you.

Hiding your face behind your sketchbook, you failed to notice Phinks rising to his feet until he hoisted you up in his arms for the second time that morning.

“W-where are we going?!” You haphazardly dropped the sketchbook on your lap and hooked your arms around his neck once again.

“You’re hungry, right? I know a good spot nearby.” He shot you a toothy grin and you swallowed the protest on your tongue before nodding your consent.

“Let’s go,” he declared and held you closer to his chest before setting off in the direction of the restaurants.

A breakfast date with a hot surfer guy hadn’t been in your plans but you quickly found that you didn’t mind it whatsoever and looked forward to more sunrises at the beach if it meant Phinks would be there.

[brelione]

Neon (Sarah Cameron x Reader)

This Is That Good Gay Shit Right Here

It had been study period.You sat across the table from Sarah at the library in the large kook school.You werent really a kook,you just had the money of one.You acted and dressed like a pogue and your friends were pogues as well.You didnt wear your school uniform.Instead you wore JJ Maybanks shirt and a bracelet that Pope had made you.You hung out around the boys a lot,every single day.You’d go surfing with them and drink cheap beer.You wore John B’s socks and the boys would often tease you about the school you went to full of rich princesses.Sarah watched everything you did.You did the same thing every single study period.You’d take out the same notebook every time and sketch lines out with a pencil.When there was two minutes left of the period she watched as you’d grab a neon marker and swipe strokes across the paper precisely.The things she’d do to know what you spent so much time drawing.She never got any studying done during study period,she was too busy watching you.She watched as your nose would scrunch up when you messed up a line or how you would throw your hair back aggressively when it got in your way.She was just so fascinated by you.

It had been a bad morning for Sarah.She hadnt been able to get a good breakfast or do her hair properly or even have a nice cup of coffee.She was at her locker,chatting with Kiara when she saw you.You were wearing some rather short shorts and a neon blue striped shirt.She couldnt help but stare at you.You looked amazing,hair up in a messy bun,a generous amount of bracelets on your wrist that you had collected over the years and that neon shirt.You were so effortlessly gorgeous she just couldnt wrap her head around it. “What are you looking at?”Kiara asked.Sarah laughed it off,saying she zoned out but couldnt help but stare at you out of the corner of her eye.She knew you and Kiara were close friends in the eighth grade but had drifted a bit.She looked you up and down multiple times,eyes falling to a mark on your jaw.She couldnt quite tell what it was but she knew it wasnt a birth mark.She had looked over your face so many times she could probably draw it from memory.

Neon streaks covered your hair.Pink,green and blue.The morning had been a rather chilly one.You wore a thin brown leather jacket over a white crop top,not that the crop top could be seen due to your arms and jacket covering your torso.Sarah knew it was fake leather.She had heard you talking about your love and appreciation for cows so she knew that you’d never wear something made out of their skin.She stared at the neon streaks in your hair,the way the light reflected off of the colorful streaks and how two neon yellow pieces of hair framed your face.Only you could pull off that look,she thought.She had never actually spoken to you but she felt that she knew you so well.Noone hated you,no one even disliked you.You didnt fit in in any way shape or form but there was something about you that just dragged everyone in.Every night before she went to bed Sarah would scroll through your instragram.It was a public account because clearly you didnt really care about who followed you and who saw you.Her thumb would hover over the follow button but she never pressed it.

Neon pink was the color of the bikini you were wearing when she saw you on the beach.The bottoms were high waisted,your hair up in a bun and she couldnt help but think about how brilliant your boobs looked in that top.You were sitting next to JJ Maybank,giggling about something as you talked to him.She wanted to be the one to make you giggle like that.JJ said something to you and you nodded before he ran off.You rolled your eyes,continuing to walk by the water.Sarah watched as you bent over to pick something up.She watched as your face of happiness became one of worry.She watched as you ran to find a stick and a leaf.She watched as you got a small creature onto the leaf and ran down to the water,placing the leaf down.She grinned as you were smiling again,scooting the creature along.She took a deep breath,walking down the sandy hills towards you. “Hi, (Y/N),right?”She asked.She didnt have to ask.She knew your first,middle and last name.She knew your siblings names,your pets names,your parents names,your cousins names.She knew your favorite foods,your zodiac sign and your favorite animal.She had spent hours stalking your instagram and going through the people you followed to find your mother.Once she found your moms instagram she found her facebook and that lead to Sarah learning many details about your life.You nodded,turning to see the blonde. “Sarah Cameron.”You nodded.She blushed.She never knew her name would sound so good coming from you. “So,what brings you to the beach on this lovely morning?”You asked.SHe shrugged. “Just...hanging out.”She replied.You nodded. “You want me to hang out with you?”You smirked.She blushed. “Sure,umm do you maybe wanna come to my house?”

Neon green was the color you painted you painted your nails while the two of you were hanging out at her house a week later. “Hey (Y/N)?”Sarah asked as she held a pillow to her chest,wresting her chin on it. “Yeah?”You asked.Sarah blushed,squealing into her pillow.That caused you to look at her with furrowed eyebrows.The boys never acted like this.Sarah was really quite different from the guys.She was stunning and giggled a lot and made your heart thump. “So like-do you like anyone right now?”She asked.You sighed.Why?Why that question?What the hell were you supposed to say?You just shrugged. “Oh my god!You’re blushing!Who is it?”Sarah faked enthusiasm.She wanted to frown and roll her eyes but that would definitely give it away. “God,Sarah.You ask so many questions.Why dont you just guess?”You asked.She bit her lip,staring at your bright finger nails. “Well...where do those little marks on your jaw come from?”She asked.You laughed. “You can say the word hickey,Sarah.”You grinned.You and JJ had a sort of friends with benefits thing going on.It wasnt exclusive or anything,just something to do when you were bored or horny or whenever you were mad.

He had always had the biggest smirk on his face afterwards.He’d ask you who you had thought about during it.You never told him. “Just because I have hickeys doesnt mean I like someone.”You replied.She frowned. “How can you do that?Like do someone and then not have any thoughts or feelings afterwards?”She asked.You smiled,blowing on your fingernails. “I just think of someone else.”You shrugged.She gasped. “So you do like someone!”She exclaimed. “Whats the first letter of his name?”She asked.You rolled your eyes,butterflies building in your stomach. “S.”You repled.She bit her cheek. “Seth?”She asked.You shook your head. “Whats the next letter?”She asked.You bit the inside of your cheek. “A.”You told her.She’d have to catch up eventually.Her eyebrows furrowed. “Uh...Sam?”She asked.You shook your head with a big grin. “The next letter is R.”You told her.She’d have to get it eventually.Her heart thumped a bit and she tried not to blush.

She was getting really excited at the possibility that it could be her.No boys name had those three letters in a row. “Next letter please.”She pouted.You blushed,looking away from her. “A.”You told her.She raised her eyebrows,eyes darting around the room. “Is it a girl?”She asked.You nodded,nervous for her reaction.She could have squealed in that moment. “Im Bi,Sarah.”You told her.She held her head in her hands. “Same.”She replied.You gasped quietly. “Shut up!”You exclaimed.She giggled. “Wait-is it Sarah Carpenter?Shes kind of a bitch,dont you think?”She asked.You bit on your lip. “Sarah,its you.”You avoided her gaze.You didnt even notice her lunging forward and wrapping her arms around you tightly and kissing your forehead. “This is really embarrassing-but ive liked you since the beginning of ninth grade.”She grinned.You giggled,kissing her nose. “Are you serious right now?”You asked.She nodded. “Dead serious.”She replied.

 “Why didnt you talk to me or something?”You asked.She bit her lip. “I didnt know that you were into girls!”She exclaimed.You rolled your eyes,sure that your face couldnt be any more red. “Sarah,I have dyed hair,short nails and I cuff my jeans.It couldnt be any more obvious.”You kissed her cheek.She looked down at her lips,pecking them gently.There was a knock at the door.You pulled away from eachother. “So yeah,grilled cheese sandwiches are so much better than tuna and if-Oh,hey rafe.”You greeted the tall boy standing at the door. “dinner.”He said quietly,winking at you before leaving.You and Sarah laughed,going downstairs.

Neon pink was the color of the beaded bracelet Sarah had made for you.That bracelet was tied to your wrist as you stared at Sarah.Her white dress,the diamond crown on her head as she held your hands. “You may kiss your bride.”Pope read off.You kissed Sarah gently,holding onto her waist.You rested your head on her shoulder as you hugged,JJ and Kiara screaming from the crowd and clapping loudly.Dear god youd think they would be the ones getting married with how excited they were.Sarah sung the words to We Fell In Love In October into your ear as you danced together.She kissed your cheek,your temple and your collarbone as she giggled.You had never loved anyone more,nor had you ever been happier.JJ had literally tackled you after the ceremony,spinning you around. “YOU GOT THE GIRL,BITCH!”He shouted.You laughed,punching him lightly on the shoulder.Kiara hugged you as well. “I’ve gotta get married next now,dont I?”She asked,glancing over at Pope.You nodded. “Hell yeah.”You replied,slapping her arm in excitement. “This is some great ass cake.Why the neon frosting though?”Rafe asked,poking at the frosting with his fork.He had somehow gotten off the drugs and stopped being such an asshole...most of the time.Sarah laughed,shrugging. “My baby loves neon.”She replied,watching in awe as you danced around with your cousin,dress twirling at your feet.

[wowtobio]

fallen upon deaf ears (miya atsumu x reader)

a/n: i’ve been feeling down lately abt myself, so here’s a small vent i wrote at 3 am with my self-indulgent character haha. atsumu might be ooc sorry. and this is in no way shape or form to degrade anyone, this is just how i feel. you’re all beautiful.

genre: angst

warnings: self-deprecating 

-

When staring at the mirror, most generally look at their faces. Taking in their appearance, every nook and cranny of their own skin. Any blemishes, puffy dark circles, and whatever is deemed imperfect in their eyes but what most won’t notice at first glance. 

But you focused your attention somewhere else. Shaken hands poke and squeeze together the flab attached to your stomach in hopes it would shrink back into your body but to no avail. The jiggle on your limbs bothered you deep in your core. It’s almost burning, wherever your finger trails on your own body. 

Deep sighs vibrate against your vocal cords, laying down once again, tapping away on your phone screen in hopes to distract your mind from self-deprecating thoughts. 

Failed miserably. 

First post shows up, a popular supermodel from your country, clad in a tight black dress. The fabric stuck nicely on her figure, and her million dollar smile could win over anyone. 

Frown deeper than the pacific ocean, her curves couldn’t even compare to the square body you felt you had. Scrolling past, don’t dwell on it don’t dwell on it.

Next post, a random classmate, Jessi, clad in a bright baby blue bikini. The orangey, yellow colors of the sunset painted behind her juxtaposing the light hued swim suit she had on. Confidently strutting off her body to her hundreds of followers, captioned

the happiest i can be☀️

Was it even possible that the sullen smile curved more downwards. Fingers froze over the like button, your eyes lingered on the compliments littering her post. 

i’ve never worn a two-piece before

Scroll, just keep scrolling. 

Your cousin posted a few videos of her dancing, her smile beams as her moves were surprisingly smooth and effortless. The second video, wearing just her sports bra and leggings, abs prominent as she continued to bounce happily to the upbeat song. Subconsciously, a hand runs over your stomach, squeezing once again. 

She’s always been the prettier one in the family

She has better grades, friends, and looks than me

What does she do to be so.. happy with herself?

Thoughts interrupted by your boyfriend’s text messages.

��oi got off practice, whatcha’ want to eat?”

Dinner? Oh right, you have not eaten dinner yet. As if on cue, growls erupt from the same stomach you had a vice grip on. You shouldn’t eat you shouldn’t eat

“it’s fine i already ate dinner”

A lie. 

“ya’ sure? didya’ even eat breakfast?”

“yeah i did don’t worry”

Another lie. 

You jumped out of bed, maybe you should change into something cute to make yourself feel better? Maybe do some skincare. That self-love thing everyone’s been doing lately. Right?

Pulling the rough denim over your legs, you cringe at the tightness and the slight difficulty of hooking the button in. You almost want to cry, looking at your figure in the jeans, not wanting to them to look like that on your hips. 

Okay discarded, how about a skirt? 

Oh god, why were your sides spilling over like that? Alright no take it off. 

What about that one shirt you haven’t worn in awhile? It was a pretty cute one, the multicolored neutral stripes looked lovely against your skin-tone. It didn’t look too bad and it covered a majority of the parts of your skirt you did not like to look at so much. 

So why didn’t it feel right? You didn’t feel pretty, you didn’t feel happy.

Next item. Endless cycles. Clothes started to pile up. One after another. 

Searing pain found in your chest similar to one who burns in the deep, dark depths of the earth no one dares to dig too. Falling hard onto wooden floors, knees taking an impact that would definitely leave bruises. 

Sobs emit from your already fragile self. The cries could be heard from far, but you didn’t have a care, asking the world what is this society you live in? That can only accept beauty? 

Footsteps go unnoticed, same with the strong arms that wrap around the body you hated. A tight, almost suffocating embrace, yet you feel numb. You feel nothing. 

Like you are running through a field of beautiful sunflowers in the winter. Growing a plant out of a dead seed. Painting the color white. Wiping searing tears that just kept flowing. 

Suddenly, Atsumu’s strong scent engulfs you, the musk of his cologne and the almost nauseating scent of sweat lingers from practice. He works so hard, he has an amazing body because he tries his hardest and it is enough. 

“Why do you love me?” 

Hiccuped, eyes widening to the size of saucers and Atsumu crashes your head back into his chest. His nose nuzzles into your hair, stroking your back, whispering you’re beautiful you’re beautiful you’re beautifuls over and over again, as if he knew. 

But his words had fallen upon deaf ears 

They always had

Every compliment you receive, you convince yourself it’s all a lie, while each comment of criticism you take to heart and allow it to you haunt you for days, months, years. Compliments aren’t real to you. You’re just saying that. You’re just being nice to me because you have too. This time was no different. 

You want to apologize to him. You want to scream “I’m sorry” so much until your lungs hurt. You’re sorry his words can’t get through to you. You’re sorry he has to deal with a girl like you. You’re sorry he ended up with someone like you. You’re sorry you can’t see the beauty he sees in you. 

Wait, no

You’re lying to me

Stop lying

-

[buckleyy--diazz]

Love your writing! Not sure if you take requests, but any chance you would do a smut one shot with frat cocky Niall? He's a known player, while y/n is a good student and she hates him. He's always trying to charm her, but she always denies him. But then she goes to a pool party, and he is there in his swim trunks, and he's all tan and his muscles are glistening. He works his charm on her, and then he makes her suck him off. She's gagging on him and he's dirty talking and boasting non-stop.

FINALLY! It's ready! Sorry it took so long, I admit I had a major writer's block in the middle of writing it and also work was (is) completely crazy at the moment. I hope you will enjoy it and that I did justice to your prompt. 

°•°•°•°

Once again Niall walked into the lecture hall late, a love bite high on his neck that he hadn't even tried to hide and a girl on his arm. Love bite you were pretty sure had not even been given to Niall by the girl he was with right now. Niall leaned in and pressed a kiss to the girl's cheek and whispered something in her ear that made her blush bright red. She giggled loudly and you rolled your eyes. 

"Mr. Horan, could you please stop disrupting my lecture and take a seat. I'm sure this lovely lady also had class to attend since she is not one of my students."

A few laughs erupted around you and Niall joined in. The girl left the room, her cheeks still red but probably from the embarrassment of being called out in front of so many people. Niall climbed the stairs two by two and sat right next to you. You sighed. You loved to sit in the back completely because it was usually more quiet and easier for you to concentrate.

"Hey babe, got a spare pen for me?" Niall whispered once the professor started talking again. 

"Don't babe me Horan," you replied without even looking at Niall. You hated him and the kind of person who thought they could charm everyone in doing what they wanted. 

"Darling? Pet? Petal? Which one should I use then?"

"You could start by using my actual name," you said before throwing a pen on the desk in front of Niall.

"Thank you, Y/N." 

The way he said your name so softly made your heart skip a beat and your cheeks felt hot. You hoped Niall was not looking in your direction anymore because the last thing you wanted was for him to notice the effect such simple words had had on you. You knew exactly who Niall was and what his reputation was. He was always parading around Uni with different women on his arm, you rarely saw him with the same one two times so even if Niall was gorgeous and very tempting you absolutely hated him and would not entertain the fantasy of being with him. This is what it was, a fantasy that maybe you indulged in when it was late at night and you were alone in your dorm room but no one needed to know that, especially not Niall. There was no way you would become just another number in his phone and someone he wouldn't talk to ever again. You were also hating yourself for the way you were feeling about him. It was all very confusing. 

Niall put his shoulder bag on the desk and he took his laptop out and a bunch of pens fell out of his bag. 

Niall saw you looking at the pen and winked at you. You groaned and tried to concentrate on the lecture.

*

"Darling," Niall shouted behind you in the empty hallway leading to your dorm. You kept walking, ignoring him and hoping he would leave you alone or maybe he was talking to someone else you had not noticed. 

"Please don't ignore me, it's breaking my heart." You rolled your eyes, he was definitely speaking to you then. Niall walked past you and stopped dead in his tracks in front of you.

"What do you want?" You asked curtly because you really had no time to spare today and especially not for someone like Niall.

"Come to a party with me?"

A party, Niall was insane and this was another reason why you hated him so much. You had to work your arse off and study for hours and hours to have a good grade. You had absolutely no time to party in the middle of the week or even on the weekend. Sometimes you would go out for dinner with your friends but needed to be back by 9 so you could study for a few hours before bed. Niall could show up hungover, on two hours or less of sleep and ace the exam. This was unfair.

"A party? Niall it's Wednesday night and we have an exam tomorrow morning at 8. All I'm gonna do tonight is study and take a shower."

Niall laughed.

"Breaking my heart again but maybe one day you will say yes. Well I hope you have fun studying and think of me when you take that shower," he replied with a wink before leaving you alone in the empty hallway. You looked around yourself in confusion after Niall disappeared, wondering if what happened had just been a fever dream. You touched your forehead but your temperature seemed normal. You resumed your walk to your dorm room hoping no one else would bother you. 

*

"It's been going on for weeks now," you said to your friend on the phone. You were on your way to the grocery store to buy a bottle of wine and your favourite Ben and Jerry's ice cream. The semester was finally over and you finally had time to relax. No exam to stress over, nothing. Now it was the time for ice cream, wine and catching up with your favourite Netflix show. 

"And you always say no?" replied your friend, "I don't know if I am proud of you for being able to resist him or if I want to smack you on the head for resisting him. He's hot and obviously into you."

"He's not. Or well he is but until I stop resisting his charm and then what? I sleep with him and he never gives me the time of the day ever again?"

"I thought that's what you wanted anyway? You always say how annoying he is and how much you hate him. Hate sex is hot and passionate and it's a win-win situation. You get a good shag and Niall stops bothering you. Unless that's not what you want. You actually love the attention he's giving you don't you?"

"Sorry my phone is dying, I will call you back later."

You hung up and dropped your phone at the bottom of your purse. Immediately it started ringing again. You ignored it and walked into the grocery store walking directly to the freezer to stock up on ice cream. You hated the way your best friend was able to read right through you. So what if you liked the attention Niall was giving you? 

"Are you following me?" A voice said behind you. You turned around and really? Why did you have to see Niall everywhere you went? This week only you had ran into him at the library, the coffee shop, the pharmacy and now the grocery store.

"I could ask you the same thing," you replied and Niall laughed as if you just said the funniest thing. 

"Maybe I am, you'll never know."

"If you're trying to charm your way into my pants you can stop now it's never gonna work."

Niall took a step closer, you were toes to toes and you could feel the warmth his body was radiating. He licked his lips slowly and your eyes involuntarily followed the movement. Niall smirked and you knew you had been caught.

"Are you sure about that?" Niall asked, his breath hitting your face and it took you all your willpower to not kiss him. "Seems like you want me as much as I want you but if you really want me to stop, if it's really what you want then I will. Have a good day Y/N, I'll see you around, maybe" said Niall before turning away and leaving the store.

*

Days went by and it's like Niall had disappeared. Sometimes you would walk past the park and see his friends playing footie and you would catch yourself stopping to see if Niall was there but he never was. You had no idea where he was but it's not like you were going to ask his friends. You hated him, you reminded yourself before walking away. You knew you should have been happy, that's exactly what you wanted. 

Your phone dinged bringing you back to earth. You reached for your phone and saw it was your friend Sam who has texted you.

"Get your bikini ready, pool party at Gavin's I'm coming to get you."

You sent a reply back saying you'd be ready and got out of bed. You did not really feel like partying and wish you would have said no but Gavin was one of Niall's good friends and a part of you was hoping to see him. What was wrong with you? You hated him, you had always hated Niall, yet here you were getting ready anyway. 

You put on your favourite yellow bikini and slipped on a black dress. You grabbed your purse on the hook behind your door and went outside to wait for your friend.

*

As soon as you walked in Gavin's backyard you knew Niall was there. There was a circle of girls around him laughing at whatever he was saying and you felt something bubble in your stomach. Jealousy supplied your brain and you needed a drink because you were not jealous of these girls. You were not, you hated that guy you reminded yourself. You walked inside and got a beer from the kitchen, some friends you hadn't seen in a long time were there and you chatted with them for a while. You were sitting on the kitchen counter, nursing your beer for over an hour when Sam walked in and replaced it with a fresh cold beer.

"You should go talk to him instead of glaring from afar."

"I'm not!"

"Believe me you are," replied Sam, laughing.

You jumped down the counter, ignoring Sam shouting your name, to go outside to enjoy the sun. It was a beautiful day and you were at a pool party, you were not going to sit inside and hide just because Niall was there. You put down your beer on a table nearby and removed your dress before folding it nicely and putting it next to your beer. You jumped into the pool, letting the water cool you down. You swam around for a while until you found a pool noodle and you let yourself float, enjoying the warm sun on your body. Your eyes were closed so you didn't notice Niall running toward the pool and jumping right beside you. You startled when water hit you in the face and you opened your eyes to glare at whoever had done this.

Niall. Of course it was him. 

"Y/N, long time no see!"

"It's been eight days Horan."

"Been counting them I see," Niall laughed, his eyes crinkling because of the sun, and you regretted the words that lefted your mouth immediately. 

Niall swam closer to you and leaned against the side of your noodle making you lose your balance and go underwater. Niall splashed you and you dunked him under the water. He came out laughing and started swimming on the other side of the pool.

"Catch me if you can," he shouted over his shoulder as he pushed himself up with his forearms to get out of the pool. His biceps were bulging and water droplets were running down his body. He looked delicious and you wanted to chase the water with your tongue, his tan skin glistening under the sun. You swam to the pool ladder and started running after him. You had no idea why you were chasing him, you knew this was exactly what he wanted. Niall disappeared through the backyard door and you followed the wet traces his feet lefted on the floor through the house. 

A door closed on your left, you turned the handle and pushed the door open only to be met with a screaming girl you didn't know. Oops. 

"Sorry," you muttered and closed the door. Niall laughed and your turned around to see him take the direction of the bedrooms. This was a bad idea, you knew if you followed him there you might not resist him any longer.

"Searching for me?" Niall asked, a cocky smirk playing on his lips.

"Yes," you replied as you walked closer to him and pushed him in the bedroom and closed the door behind you, "I've had enough of your little games," you said pretending you still had an ounce of power and control over the situation when you and Niall knew he had won. 

Niall chuckled and pushed your back against the closed door, his arms on each side of your head.

"Oh really? Could have sworn you were the one chasing me," he said his lips mere millimeters away from yours, his hot breath was hitting your face. His eyes searched for yours and you nodded slightly.

Niall closed the gap between your mouths and you kissed him back immediately. Consequences be damned you wanted him and you were tired of denying it. His tongue was warm against yours and you moaned low in your throat. Your body arched against his and you hooked up your leg on his hip, trying to get some friction against your core. Niall moved his hands from the wall, putting one on your hip and the other under your thighs, holding it in place as he rut against you. He groaned and you had never heard anything hotter than that. Your head fell back against the wall in a loud thud, leaving your throat exposed. Niall kissed his way down your neck, sucking on the skin under your ear.  

His hand moved from your hip to your side, sending shivers all over your body. When he reached your breasts Niall pushed away the fabric of your bikini top exposing your breasts to the cold air in the room. You shivered and Niall palmed your left breast gently before leaning in to take your nipple between his lips, making you whimper low in your throat. Your pussy throbbed between your legs, it had been too long since someone had touched you like that. 

"Fuck babe, I knew you'd look gorgeous like that," whispered Niall as he moved his hand down your side, his fingers slowly trailing on your skin, making you shiver again. His fingers were calloused and felt amazing.  

"Wanna know how you'd look even more gorgeous?" Niall asked, his mouth moving on your neck.

"H-how?" You stuttered. 

"On your knees with your lips wrapped ar-"

You didn't even let Niall finish his sentence before you dropped onto your knees, tugging on his swimming short hastily. His cock sprang free, hard and red. Precum was already leaking at the tip and your mouth watered. You flicked your tongue at it to taste him and closed your eyes. 

"Fuck! Someone's eager," laughed Niall and you glared at him from under your eyelashes. 

"Shut up," you said before taking Niall's length into your hand and pumping it a few times and spreading the precum with your thumb around the tip. You licked at the tip again before closing your lips around it. You bobbed your head up and down a few times to get used to the girth. Niall was bigger than anyone you ever been with and the stretch of your jaw felt so good. You pulled away and swirled  your tongue around messily. Niall slid one of his hands in your hair and grabbed a handful, not pulling yet but enough to make you feel a sting on your scalp. 

"Look at you, I didn't even have time to finish asking and you were on your knees for me," said Niall and you took him back into your mouth. Your head was bobbing up and down rapidly and you had spit dripping on your chin from the corner of your mouth.

"Think you can take me deeper, love?" Niall asked as he pushed his cock further down your throat, making you gag but you kept sucking. 

"Fuck! Look at you gagging on my cock. It's like you were made for this babe. Made for my cock, taking me so well," Niall praised. Usually Niall's words would have offended you but right now all you wanted was for him to come down your throat. His words were only making you suck harder. You didn't care, you kept gagging and Niall seemed to like the sound because everytime you gagged he groaned.

Niall tugged on your hair, pulling you away from his cock and took your chin between his fingers, he swiped your bottom lip with his thumb. 

"I knew you'd be a little freak in bed, good girls are all the same," Niall laughed. 

He took his dick in his hand, rubbing the head against your shiny lips. You opened your mouth licked at the slit, gathering precum on your tongue, waiting for him to push it in again.

"Can I fuck your mouth?" Niall asked, "Please? I really want to fuck your pretty mouth."

You nodded enthusiastically and Niall guided his cock slowly in your mouth. Your throat contracted around the head and Niall growled.

He started to fuck your mouth rapidly, talking non-stop.

"I bet you touched yourself thinking about this. How many times did you push your hands down your knickers thinking about me? Late at night, your cheeks red and panting. Maybe you used a toy, imagining it was my cock fucking you good."

You moaned around Niall's cock his words going straight to your pussy. It was aching with want. You fisted your hands on your thighs trying to wait as long as you could before touching yourself.

"I want to come all over your pretty face and tits, I'm sure you would like that. Everybody will know what we did when we go back downstairs. Your lips are so red and puffy, your hair a mess. I always knew you'd be gorgeous like that."

"Your lips feel so good babe, I'm gonna come soon," Niall said as he slowed his thrusts. You pulled away to take a deep breath and Niall chuckled. He caressed your cheek with his hand and smiled softly, too soft for the situation. 

"I can't wait to fuck you properly, in my bed. You'd look beautiful tied to my bed, letting me do whatever I want . Could spend hours teasing you until you beg me to fuck you. Would you like that?"

"Yes," you replied, your voice hoarse, not sounding like you at all, surprising yourself before taking Niall back in your mouth, using one of your hands to stroke what wasn't in your mouth. You hollow your cheeks and sucked harder.

"Touch yourself for me pet, c'mon I know you want to. I want to see you touch yourself."

Sliding your hand between your legs you lightly touched yourself over your swimsuit before pushing it to the side and pushing two fingers between your wet folds. You were so wet you could feel yourself drip on your fingers. You moaned loudly when you brushed the tip of your fingers against your aching clit. It was throbbing and you knew you would not last long. You moved your fingers lower, pushing them inside of you easily. 

"Fuck babe, you look so hot like that. I'm gonna come," warned Niall before he spilled down your throat. You kept sucking lightly until he stopped coming and started to soften in your mouth. You swallowed all you could but when you pulled away some of Niall's come driped down your chin. You let yourself fall back against the door and pushed your legs open giving you more room and started pumping your fingers hard and fast. Your head was thrown back against the door and you were moaning steadily. 

Niall let himself fall on the floor next to you and opened his legs wide, "C'mere babe," he said, helping you to move between his legs. Your back pressed against his chest. One of his hands moved to your exposed breast, palming it gently, rolling you nipples between his fingers. Your head fell on his shoulder, exposing your neck. Immediately Niall started to kiss it while his other hand was sliding down your body until it reached your pussy.  His fingers grazed over your clit making your whole body convulse. Niall chuckled in your ear and pushed two fingers inside of you, your walls clenched around his fingers when Niall started moving them in and out in a slow and torturing pace. 

"Niall, Niall fuck, please fuck."

"What is it babe, what do you need?"

"I need to come," you moaned and Niall pressed the pad of his thumb against your clit. 

A long cry escaped your throat, "fu-uuck!"

Niall sped up the pace of his fingers, hitting your g-spot every time.

"C'mon babe, come on my fingers."

A familiar warmth spread in your stomach, your breath was ragged and you would not last long. Niall pressed hard on your clit again and you clenched on his fingers again your orgasm hitting you full force, your legs thrashing and hips bucking uncontrollably. Niall kept his fingers moving until you pushed his hand away. He laughed and you watched him wipe them on his swimming shorts. 

You stayed between Niall's legs for a moment, trying to catch your breath, your head on his shoulder, your nose pressed to the side of his neck. You just had sex with Niall Horan, the only thing you always said you would never let happen. You needed to leave. You tried to get up on your feet but Niall tightened his arms around your waist, keeping you between his legs. Niall was drawing circles on your stomach and you shivered. 

"M'tired," he mumbled.

"We need to go back to the party, our friend will search for us."

"Don't care."

Niall moved first, awkwardly sliding his leg behind your back to get in his feet. He put his swimming shorts back on and extended his arm to help you up. You tucked your boobs into your bikin top, suddenly feeling weird being half naked in front of him. 

You turned to open the door but Niall stopped you, boxing you against the door like he had done earlier. 

"How about we do that again sometimes?" Niall said, taking a step closer, your bodies millimeters away, "Next time I want you to come on my dick," he pressed a kiss on your neck, "or maybe on my face," he added, his lips moving against the shell of your ear. You bit your lips and nodded. 

It was a bad idea, the worst idea you could ever agree to and you knew it. Maybe you would regret it but right now you didn't care.

[rightsockjin]

Day 3

Summary: Day three rolled around with a challenge to the contestants and the producers in paradise. A thunder storm. What will happen when Y/N is terrified of thunder? Will anyone care? On another note, Y/N has gotten her first date card! Who will be the lucky man to accompany her on a fantastic date? Will it be Jungkook? Taehyung? Seokjin? Jackson? Or it could it be someone who isn’t even on the show? Will it be forever raining?

Rating: T (For mild nudity and sensual descriptions)

Word count:13,758

Hey guys so...if you’ve noticed, we have changed the entire blog to match the multi chapter story that we are currently following on the blog. This will be the norm. So the blog will be changing based on what is happening in the story every so often and there will be hints in posts and in the headers for the members on the master list. We’ve posted a mood board as well so feel free to heart it! Keep an eye on the blog! Things maybe be getting pretty weird from here on out.

I had a question for y'all. Would you want me to write what happens on other people’s dates? The dates that don’t involved Y/N, I mean. I can do one shots of those as well.

Another thought I had is that I'd like to make this interactive. SO I might put polls up on the blog for future dates and rose ceremonies and things like that. Would anyone vote?

Thanks for reading! If yo want to be tagged please send me an ask!

Maybe I could do asks for the characters as well as like part of the confessional? let me know! (You can send questions in starting now if you want!)

~AdminKim

Last time on BANGTAN in Paradise!

Things began with Seokjin and Y/N:

“It’s a beautiful day. There’s beautiful women,” he winked at you, “What’s not to be chipper about?”

“Also…I’m hoping that the date cards start to roll in soon. I’m anxious to be the first to take you out.”

And just as quickly seemed to take a turn for the worst:

“Look if you’re not interested, that’s fine, but don’t pretend to be interested.”

Alliances were made:

“Okay so here’s what I’m thinking. Things are going to get difficult really fast and when that happens, we’re going to need someone that we can trust.  A confidante. A safe haven. A sort of uh-”

“A friend?”

Jackson’s face brightened, “A FRIEND! Exactly! Yes, that’s what we will call it. Friendship! No one will know that we’re in cahoots if they just think they’re friends.”

“Or,” you paused waiting for him to look at you, “We could just be friends? Just a thought.”

An old rival appeared:

“Y/N! I’m so glad to see you,” she said hugging you before you could protest. You patted her back.

“Marie, how have you been?’

“Swell,” she said, pulling away, “I’m so glad to be back here! It looks like we both got a second chance at love huh?”

“Right, I-”

But she wasn’t much more interested in you. She walked past you and hugged Jackson. Your heart sank. You could feel the eyes on you. Pitying.

A bold confession was made:

“I just came to say that…I came here for you.”

“When they offered me the spot here, in Paradise, I was going to turn it down but when they mentioned that you would be here…” 

 “When they said to me ‘Y/N is going to be there’ I didn’t hesitate.”

“I needed to see you and while I realize that right now isn’t the right time to talk about all of this, I just want you to know…the first date card that I get, I will use it on you.”

 Two couple were formed:

“Looks like we have two couples set up in paradise then,” Yeonjun said wisely.

“Looks like it,” Taehyung agreed. If you would have looked at him, you would have seen a satisfied smirk on his face.

And Kim Taehyung showed his true colors:

Things were going to be different this time. Taehyung would make sure of it. Even if he had to be the one doing the hurting.

Will the two couples last? Has Jungkook given up on Y/N? Is Taehyung a bad person? What did Namjoon write on the paper he’d stuck to the ice chest? Will Seokjin ever forgive Y/N? 

Find out NOW ON:

BANGTAN IN PARADISE!

The next morning, you forwent the heat for your hair and braided two Dutch braids on your head instead.You tied a red silk scarf  around your head, two bunny ears on the right side. You decided that you would put on your swim suit then instead of coming back to the room to change. The day’s swim suit was all black and scrunched at the hips. It was a high waisted bikini with a small top. It had thick straps. But it wasn’t chunky. It sat comfortably on your shoulders. It had a lace up back that you struggled to pull tight enough, but you guessed you would be fine if it was a little bit loose as long as you were careful.

The straps suddenly dug into your shoulders and you remembered then that you had gotten sunburned the day before. When you had gotten back to your room, you had expected to see the aloe that Namjoon had helped you apply the day before somewhere in your room but when you hadn’t found it, you assumed you had been right and there was no real way to keep it cold unless it was in a fridge. You had instead applied your own gel but it was much less soothing than Namjoon’s had been. He’d been right in that sense. The cold temperature was much nicer on your burned skin.

Now, it had subsided a bit, but it still burned if your clothes dug in too harshly. You sighed, and pulled on a pair of towel shorts. The sandals that you had ruined the night before sat sadly in a corner. Your dress was stiff with chlorine. It had been so late the night before that you hadn’t had the energy to go and wash it. You took a gamble on the fabric, and though it wasn’t pleasant, the color hadn’t been bleached.

After applying a thick layer of seventy SPF all over your body, you opened your door. Instantly, you stopped in your tracks. A Styrofoam ice chest was at the foot of your door, a piece of paper was stuck to the lid. You looked around as if the person who had left it there was watching from around a corner.

Of course, no one was there. So you picked it up with both hands and set it down on your desk, closing the door behind you. You pulled the taped paper off of the lid. The handwriting was messy and rushed. Some of the letters bled into each other and were hard to read. You squinted at the ink trying to make out what it said.

I knocked a couple of times. You must be asleep. Here’s the gel for your sunburn. Sweet dreams.

-Namjoon and his cute dimples

You smiled, thinking about Namjoon cautiously knocking on your door in the middle of the night, trying not to be too loud so as not to wake anyone else. You imagined him calling your name a couple of times, hopeful that you could come to the door. Then, when there was no sign of you, he set the ice chest down and wrote you a note on his clipboard filled with papers, quickly and messily because he too was tired, and he didn’t want anyone to catch him. After that he might have placed a hand on the door and looked at the peep hole in disappointment that he hadn’t seen you before he knocked one final time, and left.

You shook the thought out of your head and set it aside carefully. You had half a mind to fold it up and tuck it away somewhere deep in your suitcase. Your little secret. But you held yourself back, remembering the cameras in your room. You instead pulled the Styrofoam lid from the cooler and were pleasantly surprised to see that, while a lot had melted, some ice had stayed solid. In the small pool, floated the blue gel and a plastic bag with something tan inside.

You pulled the plastic bag out first. There was a yellow sticky note inside. You pried it open and pulled out the note. Again, there was handwriting but this one was much less rushed and much neater looking. In contrast to the first paper, this handwriting almost looked like script from the olden days. It was almost calligraphy.

So I don’t have to wake up early. Here’s your mic. You know how to put it on. Just click the button on the left until the light turns green. TAKE IT OFF BEFORE YOU GO INTO THE WATER UNLESS YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH ME.

-Namjoon, your boss.

You giggled, setting the tan band aside and fishing out the aloe gel. You wasted no time in applying some to the affected area on your shoulders and on your neck. You applied some right under your eyes, feeling the sting travel all over your face but you didn’t mind. It felt amazing. Just like that, your day has been made. You felt ready to face the day and what it could bring. Hell! You might even be blessed with a date that day!

You set the gel back into the cooler and put the lid on securely hoping that the partially melted ice would keep it cold for later that night then slipped into the tan band that you were quickly becoming accustomed to. You did as Namjoon instructed and watched a small light at the top of the mic light. When you were satisfied that it was in the right place, you smiled at your room one last time then opened your door to leave.

If you had looked back as you closed it, you would have seen the note that Namjoon left you flutter down from the desk where you had left it. As it landed on the floor, it was swept under the desk by the resistance it faced. It landed face down. On the back, in big letters was a warning from Namjoon that you had missed and probably wouldn’t see. It sat innocently, staring up at the desk as if it wouldn’t have changed your entire Paradise experience.

“Morning y’all,” you said as you approached the cabana once again. Jorge was already behind the bar mixing a drink for someone, his red shirt bright and blaring. Before him sat Soobin and Jimin, who was sipping on a white wine. His eyes were a little puffy and his hair was mused. Soobin had a plate of what looked like Chilaquiles.

They both turned when they heard you speak and smiled brightly. Jimin moved over a seat and gestured for you to sit between them. You acquiesced with a graceful bow of your head. Jimin was possibly the shortest man in the villa but when you sat between him and Soobin, you realized he was taller than he seemed. You were dwarfed easily between the two.

“Sleep well Y/N,” Jimin asked instantly, ignoring your wide, surprised eyes. Before you answered, Jimin turned to Jorge and called him over.

“Yes Mr. Jimin,” he asked, setting a pretty cup of something blended in front of Soobin.

“Can you get Y/N some of this wine? It’s really fantastic.”

You opened your mouth to protest but Jimin’s own glass was shoved in your hands, his smile excited now.

“Try it Y/N! You won’t regret it I promise!”

You didn’t have the heart to refuse him. The way that he eagerly watched as you took the cup and carefully raised it to your lips was endearing. You let a miniscule amount pass your lips. Instantly, an explosion of flavor filled your mouth. Your taste buds sang. It was sweet and tangy at the same time. It made the side of your mouth pucker slightly. There was a hint of strawberry and what you thought was peach with an undertone of the regular grape you were used to. It was then that the aroma filled your nostrils. It was powerful. Like a perfume but not headache inducing. It was fancy. Much fancier than any wine you had ever purchased for yourself and not at all something that you would have expected Jimin to like.

“What do you think,” he asked, bouncing on the edge of his seat. He looked like he would explode if you didn’t answer him in the next five seconds.

“Wow,” you said eloquently, holding the clear liquid away from you to look at as if for the first time.

“Right,” he half yelled, turning you to face him with both hands on your bare knees. His hands were warm and encouraging.

“Yeah oh my God it's delicious!”

Jorge chuckled from behind you and placed a full glass in front of you. You handed Jimin his own glass back and turned back to the bar.

“Thank you Jorge,” you said, taking a bigger sip of your cup, “could I get some machacado con huevo?”

“I’m on it,” he said, turning towards the stove near the back. You took another, fairly large sip of your drink then let the taste simmer in your mouth.

Jimin giggled next to you. You furrowed your eyebrows. You turned to look at him but Jimin was looking at his glass. His wine level had gone down a good amount in the last couple of seconds.

“What are you giggling at Jimin?” You asked suspiciously.

“We indirectly kissed,” he said fingering the edge of the cup. You blushed immediately. Something about the way he said it made you feel like you had done something indecent.

You didn’t know how to answer but you must have looked shocked because the next second Jimin burst out laughing, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“I’m just messing with you Y/N! You’re so cute,” he laughed, patting the top of your head a couple of times.

You chuckled awkwardly. You hadn’t exactly thought of Jimin as a potential match since you saw that Jin was there when you arrived. He had been your main target, but now that he mentioned kissing him, you were more and more drawn to those lush lips of his. Jimin didn’t seem to be chasing after someone yet, and he seemed to carry less drama than Jin and Taehyung. Maybe it was time to change your tactics and your target.

“Don’t feel bad Y/N,” Soobin said, drawing your attention over to him, “Jimin hyung likes to flirt. Especially when he’s had a good amount of alcohol.”

Jimin reached across your body to push at the taller man. Soobin giggled but barely moved. You felt your heart sink slightly. You couldn’t get the hang of these shows. You never knew when someone was being genuine or when they were just putting on a show for the cameras.

Jorge placed a plate of the prettiest eggs you had ever seen. A slew of tortillas were fanned out on the side and two little cups of salsa’s sat next to your plate. It smelled heavenly.

“Thank you Jorge!”

Jorge tilted his head in appreciation and you dug in. You hadn’t realized how hungry you were.

“I do not! I’ve only had two glasses,” Jimin argued.

“Sure hyung,” Soobin said, drinking the last of his own drink. You tried to ignore them yelling over you. You unattractively scarfed down your food. Nerves were starting to build in your stomach again and it made you feel hungrier. When your eggs were gone, you were still hungry. You could have probably eaten another plate full.

“Good Morning everyone! Your day just got better.” You looked over to the cabana entrance. Enter Kim Seokjin, his hair loose and wavy from the water. His skin was slightly darker than the day before. He was wearing a button up with white birds and some striped swim trunks. He wasn’t wearing any shoes and once again, he had a ridiculous amount of sunscreen on. Behind him were Taehyung and Jungkook, both glaring at the back of his head. You felt your heart drop.

Jin looked over at the nearly empty cabana, his eyes skimmed over you, locking onto your own for a second. He raised an eyebrow then smiled slightly before he looked away. Butterflies fluttered in the pit of your stomach. Was there still a chance?

But then he was sitting at the empty table and Taehyung and Jungkook, like a scene from a movie, walked by you without a word. Taehyung smiled softly at you. Jungkook looked at the floor. In your head, you thought he regretted what he’d said to you before his date. He’d seemed to have a good time with Marie. You were almost positive that if he got a date card in the near future, he wouldn’t be using it as he had promised.

You cast your eyes down to your thighs where they touched the chair. It was too early to start crying. Too early to get hurt or feel hopeless but things in Paradise were not going your way and you dreaded being sent home. Being unwanted once again. You squeezed your hands to try and distract yourself from your emotion. In an instant, two hands were on your back one small one and one much bigger one. You raised your head slightly and were met with the caring eyes of Soobin and Jimin. You hadn’t known these men for long, but seeing their supportive gazes made you smile.

“Min,” Someone said from the now filled table. Three heads snapped over to the voice of Taehyung who was standing and waving Jimin over. In an instant, Jimin stood, his hand still patting your back and hissed.

“Coming Taetae,” Jimin said, but he didn’t move.

Jimin looked back at you, an apology in his eyes and on his lips, but you held no animosity towards him, nor did you blame him for going to sit with his friend.

“It’s okay, go.”

“Are you okay though?” He asked, the sincerity evident.

“I’m fine. I’m just going to finish my breakfast. Thanks for the wine recommendation! I’ll be sure to ask you for some more advice on it.”

Jimin smiled but not the way he had before. There was sadness in his expression that you weren’t sure was because of your own feelings. Before you could analyze his expression any more, he removed his hand and walked over to Taehyung and the table.

You watched as Jimin seamlessly fit into the group. He greeted each person as if they had known each other for years and sat next to Taehyung comfortably. You knew you weren’t exactly on the show to make friends, but you were feeling extra lonely at that moment.

You turned back to look at Soobin, grateful for his support as well. He opened his mouth to say something but just then, Yeonjun plopped down next to him in the empty stool.

With an awkward glance your way, he turned to greet his friend. You pat his arm to let him know it was alright, then turned back to your breakfast which was getting cold.

You slowly ate more and more, not really tasting the food as it passed your lips and entered your mouth. You sipped on your wine as well as more people filtered into the cabana. Some looked refreshed, some looked a little like zombies.

When Alex showed up, you had cleaned your plate, and noticed that there was no room for her to sit next to her friends, so you moved over and took your cup to finish off your wine. You also moved your plate so that she would feel more comfortable to sit.

Alex paused, looking at you as if you had grown a second head. She said nothing as she sat, but she stared at you as she got situated.

“Thanks,” she finally said.

“No problem,” your voice cracked. You groaned as emotion clogged your air way. You shook your head, upset at yourself for not being able to keep those emotions at bay or at least inaudible.

With what seemed to be great strain on her part, Alex sighed and turned to face you instead of the boy that had so quickly become her friend.

“Are you okay,” she questioned, though there was little emotion behind the words. You didn’t want to bother someone with your feelings. You never wanted to force someone to listen, so you just nodded, then stood, drinking the last of your wine in one go.

“Are you sure?” She asked again as you began to walk away.

“Fine,” was all you could say before a tear slipped down your cheek. How pathetic. Why were you crying? You couldn’t pinpoint it. Maybe it was the way that Jin had looked at you. Or the guilt that you felt at not pulling away from Taehyung. Maybe it was the way that Jungkook had told you he was there for you and yet, he seemed content already with another woman. Maybe it was all three. Maybe you felt guilty for playing these men in the span of three days and hurt because in the end, it looked like none of them actually wanted to date you.

You walked deeper into the villa that was so cleverly hidden by trees. You followed a trail you hadn’t seen before but you guessed that if you hadn’t seen it, then it was probable that no one else had ventured this way yet. Everyone had been too preoccupied with each other to fully appreciate the resort.

The slope of the ramp, covered in trees and stones that were set into the sandy ground was beautiful. The sun shone through the leaves of the palm trees and out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a small crab traversing over a rather big sand stone. You smiled at it as it too paused on its trek to look at you. The sun chose that moment to shine extra bright. The crab was trapped in its beam. Maybe three days away from reality, on a metaphorical island with some of the most attractive people you had ever seen, was already way too much for you but was that crab giving you puppy eyes?

Then in an instant, a cloud rolled through, the crab turned away, and you were left alone once again. It was almost an out of body experience. Like the you on the show wasn’t the you that you currently were.

The emotion you had been feeling was flushed from your system, given you still felt incredibly deterred and somewhat hopeless. You were no longer on the verge of tears. Still, you didn’t feel like going back into the fray, so you continued your trek up the slowly sloping path way.

When you finally reached the end, you were presently surprised to find a palapa with orange and tan couches as well as a woven straw coffee table. A sculpted, sand colored fan spun lazily over the lounge, barely giving off any actual wind.

This didn’t seem to bother the woman who was lounging almost as lazily on the couch, her tan bare legs thrown over the lap of a man who also seemed pretty unbothered by the heat of the day. He was leaning over her limbs, a laptop on the coffee table, and headphones on his head. You felt like you were intruding.

If you turned around now then maybe they wouldn’t notice you. But you were stuck. Something about the scene was so domestic. Calming. Yoongi wasn’t exactly focused on Julie and likewise, Julie wasn’t really paying attention to Yoongi, but they seemed…comfortable. Too comfortable. It was the third day, and they had met only a short time ago. How could they be on this level of comfort already?

You couldn’t stop watching, partially hidden by a low hanging palm tree. Yoongi stroked Julie’s leg affectionately every so often and Julie shot him a warm smile a couple of times. Under regular circumstances, you knew that you would be incredibly bored. Wouldn’t she want to get to know him better?

You waited for several more minutes. Waiting for anyone to say anything. The fan whirled, the wind blew lightly. The native birds chirped and the rest of the beach seemed to continue to move but the scene before you could have been paused. You held your breath out of fear that they would hear you, though you were really far away. Maybe you were being stupid. You should just walk in-

“Y/N?”

You jumped. All the blood in your face drained. He wasn’t exactly quiet so the two in the lounge snap their heads in the direction of the noise. The palm tree that had been covering you was blown away in that moment, exposing you. You tore your gaze from the couple and gave your attention instead to the voice that had startled you.

Your friendly neighborhood producer, Kim Namjoon stood behind you, his eyes wide at how you had reacted, worry on his features. Had he gotten tanner already? He seemed to be glowing. There was a bright aura surrounding him. The wind that had exposed you, blew into his hair. It fell away from his face like in a movie. It would have been a perfect shot. A close up, with the lights hitting directly behind him. Maybe a pretty pink filter. Maybe beautiful flower petals falling or…maybe a flare of the lens.

You were so lost in your own imagination that when Namjoon said your name, once, twice, three times more, you didn’t notice. It was like you had hit mute on the world and his lips were moving so minutely that you didn’t notice. You were entranced in his eyes. The scene in your head. You were entranced.

“Y/N,” he said one final time and this time, you heard it loud and clear. It jolted you from your mind’s movie. Yet, the filter you had seen wasn’t fading, the light from behind was still present. Still surrounding him. You blinked up at him, realizing that he was closer than you anticipated. Probably because of how quickly you had turned and that brief moment where you felt like you might pass out because of the fright he gave you.

“Are you alright?”

You shook your head, willing your mouth to speak.

“Dude,” you said, cringing internally at your choice of friendly term, “You scared me shitless!”

Why? Why were you so prone to these absolutely cringy slip of the tongue phrases when Namjoon was around? He must think you were so embarrassing. Suddenly, you wondered if his kindness was merely a product of his lack of confidence in your abilities. Maybe he felt as if you would end up alone and his advice and gestures were his way of pushing you to look better.

Namjoon raised both eyebrows then his lips pulled up into a smile like it always seemed to do. Was he perpetually happy?

“Sorry, dude,” He teased, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to get your attention.”

“Did I somehow manage to break my mic again? Already?” You reached behind you, tapping the little black box that was meant to be transmitting your voice to the editors. Namjoon winced and quickly grabbed your arm to stop you from tapping on it any more. His hand was so big that it wrapped almost entirely around your forearm. His skin was warm, as per usual and a little moist. Probably from the day’s humidity. You realized then that he was sweating slightly. That would explain the glow from his skin.

“No! Nope. You’re mic is fine for once. I was just sent to find you because I have something to give you.”

You tilted your head up at him. What could he have to give you? Your mind went straight to the ice box that rested in your room.

“Oh? I got the gel from last night. Did you get me more?”

Namjoon rolled his eyes, “No. I think that you should have enough of that gel for the next six weeks, though let me know if you want me to bring you more ice.”

Namjoon let go of your arm and reached into his back pocket. He seemed to hesitate for a moment but then with renewed resolve, he presented you with something small and crème in color. Something you had seen many times before.

An envelope.

A date card.

Your eyes grew wide. You honestly didn’t expect to receive one any time soon. You expected for other people to ask you. Somehow you hadn’t given it any thought. The idea that you would get to choose never even crossed your mind.

You took the envelope with a trembling hand. Your mind was blank. Namjoon let you hold the paper. It was light. Almost nonexistent, yet the weight of your choice was heavy on your sun kissed shoulders.

“A date card.” It was a question, so why did it sound like a statement?

“Yeah,” Namjoon confirmed, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Then it was silent again. The clouds suddenly got much darker. Faint thunder sounded somewhere in the distance. A single thread of fear shimmied into your core. You hadn’t checked the weather this morning. Would it rain?

Namjoon wouldn’t look at you. He was staring down at the ground, his sandaled foot drawing circled on the sand dusted path way. A salamander rushed between you. The air stilled. Awkwardness seeped into the surrounding area like a plague.

“Mmm…thank you…I better,” you paused, “I better go…ask someone on this date I guess.”

“Right,” he agreed but didn’t move or look at you. The top of his head was shiny. His hair looked so soft. You itched to touch it but as you reached towards him, another voice, a very much feminine voice, interrupted.

You jumped apart, both of you, as if you were doing something you shouldn’t be. But you weren’t. Right?

“Did I just hear someone say ‘date card’?” Julie stood slightly above you on the path. A warm smile on her face that seemed to clash with the first impression of her that you had gotten. Her arms were crossed and she was looking at you and Namjoon knowingly.

“Uh yeah,” you said, blinking owlishly, “I got a date card.” You held it out for her to see. Her smile didn’t change. She didn’t reach for it. She said nothing. Unsettled, you put your hand down, holding the envelope tighter in your grip.

“Do you have any idea who you want to ask,” Julie finally said. Out of the corner of your eye, you looked at Namjoon uncomfortably.

“Oh I’m sorry, is he bothering you,” Julie asked, snapping your attention to her, your internal alarm going off instantly. She was pointing at the tall man off handedly. Her face was a mask of calmness that directly contradicted with your own panic. Namjoon’s head snapped up instantly. You could feel the fear emanating from him.

“No! Julie, he’s fine-” you began, but were cut off by the girl looking over at Namjoon with a quirk in her brow.

“Can’t argue there,” She joked just as Yoongi stepped up behind her.

“I-what?” You asked as she continued to look Namjoon up and down.

“He’s cute,” she continued, “don’t you think, Yoongi?” Yoongi’s amused smile preceded his reply. He looked up at Namjoon, who looked rooted to the place he was at. When he looked at Yoongi though, he seemed slightly more at ease. A plea on his features was evident.

“Namjoon? Yeah he’s pretty cute,” he laughed as Namjoon let his head fall back on his shoulders, clearly annoyed.

“Hyung,” Namjoon complained, his usually deep voice now whiney and, if you were honest, it did things to you.

“I’m only telling the truth, you ass. Take it or leave it.”

Namjoon pouted but didn’t argue further. Again, you were left confused. How was it that Namjoon was connected to multiple people? Taehyung made sense. He had already explained that, but Yoongi as well?

“Anyway,” Julie said, waving a hand in Yoongi’s face as if annoyed but her smile gave her away, “who are you going to ask on this date Y/N?”

The attention of the small group was suddenly back on you. Your heart thudded heavily. A face popped into your mind’s eye but you felt it would be inappropriate to say in current company. Though why that was…was evading you.

“I’m not sure,” you answered somewhat genuinely.

“You’re not going to ask this one are you? You can tell me! I won’t be mad,” Julie assured, pointing at Yoongi.

Yoongi gave her an exaggerated outraged look, almost questioning and incredulous. Yet, there was no hurt in his eyes or real threat. It was comical if you did say so yourself.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s literally the third day,” she said with a wink.

“I thought you had a nice time,” his hands on his hips, his nose close to hers, his lips pulled over his teeth so they made a flat line. Julie only chuckled and pushed him back with a finger to the very tip of his nose. Yoongi scrunched it up and frowned. Julie giggled.

“I did,” she confirms, “but I wouldn’t want you to miss out on things with other people. I want you to know, know  that you want to be with me. It’s too early,” she emphasized, “to know if we’re end game.”

“End game? Like the Avengers?” He asked, looking genuinely confused.

“No, like endgame relationship wise.”

They bantered back and forth, and all of the silence from before was almost made up by how easily they talked in that moment. And somehow, you knew that even if you did want to ask Yoongi on this date, he would probably say no.

“I’m really not sure who I’m going to ask,” you interrupted as Julie began to explain the basics of romance book jargon.

“I think I’ll go back and let everyone know I have one though,” you said, though you didn’t really know if you wanted to go back to the beach. Another, far away roll of thunder sounded somewhere offshore. Your skin stood on end but you did your best to ignore it.

“Sounds like a plan,” Julie said turning back to the palapa her and Yoongi were frequenting, “oh and, don’t worry,” she continued looking at you from over her shoulder, “we won’t tell anyone about…” she looked over you to Namjoon who had been silently watching the exchange since Yoongi shut him up, “this incident.”

And honestly, you didn’t know what incident she meant.

Namjoon sat in his chair next to Sejin. His heart was pounding in his chest from a combination of the conversation he had just had and his run back to the production sight he frequented. Multiple people were sitting behind computers, making sure the many mics on the beach were well and working. It was kind of dark and quiet. There was air conditioning as well so when he had finally settled, he was happy to feel the cool air on his warm skin.

Sejin gave him a look which he ignored. Namjoon had been messing up a lot lately. From the day he had met you, he’d dropped the ball. It was… torturous to say the least. Ever since he had seen your audition tape, there had been a certain magnetic pull he’d felt. A sense of rightness that wouldn’t leave his head. At the time, he thought the feeling had been directed towards you and Jungkook and he hadn’t been totally wrong. He had seen the footage of you and Jungkook when he had finally realized how amazing you were. There was so much pride at having been the one to choose you that he almost hadn’t noticed the twang of jealousy he felt when he watched you two kiss. The operative word being Almost.

He’d ignored it at first. Ignored the pang of longing he felt when he watched you getting ready for the rose ceremony. Ignored the way that his heart hammered when he finally saw you all done up and radiating a confidence he seldom saw on a show like the bachelor. And finally, he ignored the pang of near anger he felt when Jungkook hadn’t called your name after kissing you and telling you that he would give you a rose. He had to sit back and watch as you walked out, covered in tears. It was so much worse now that he had actually spoken to you.

He had promised Sejin that he could handle it. He could be the one in charge of you and he wouldn’t meddle in the outcome of your season. And he really thought he could. It was obvious that you barely even knew he existed and had barely any interest in him as a person let alone romantically, so he thought that maybe even if you knew of him, if he got a taste of what it would be like to spend time with you…he would be fine. He could keep his distance. Namjoon was a professional.

Wrong. He was so wrong. So wrong that it was laughable. Maybe not even laughable because of how mistaken he had been. You were funny. You were sweet. You were…real…and he didn’t even blame himself for whatever feelings he was feeling anymore. Still, in the span of three days, he had broken so many rules of the show just because he didn’t want you to go through what you had gone through before. He’d already gotten a talking to from Sejin on multiple occasions. He was treading on thin ice but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“So,” Sejin said as Namjoon ran his hands through his hair and patted his chest right over where his heart was, “everything went well I see.”

It was a solid thirty seconds before he had managed to process Sejin’s words and come up with something to say. Because what could he say? He’d done what was asked of him and completely forgot to ask if you felt alright. As soon as he had gotten in that morning, after sleeping in for an extra hour, he had seen you walking alone with very clear tears in your eyes and he almost wished for you to once again break your mic so he could go talk to you.

The perfect opportunity had presented itself when Sejin gave him a date card that was meant for you. Still, he’d completely forgotten to ask about your emotional well-being in favor of being completely awkward and submissive in the face of ridiculous insinuations by someone who had no idea what they were talking about.

“I got her the date card, if that’s what you mean,” Namjoon groaned.

“Yes, it looks like it. And it looks like you also managed to not interfere this time. I’m proud of you Namjoon,” Sejin joked, patting him on the back.

“Don’t patronize me hyung,” Namjoon begged, “I am perfectly capable of getting my job done properly.”

Sejin chuckled, “I know that,” He assured, “yet, you’ve been making a lot of mistakes lately. Lots of slips of the tongue, don’t you think?”

Namjoon didn’t answer. Instead he pulled his clipboard over to him from where he had set it down before he left. A jagged edge of yellow paper stuck up at an odd angle. He paid it no mind. Instead he stared at the new blank page where he should be writing ideas for new dates and angles for the show, willing his brain to work. To think of something that the contestants might like and would be interesting for the viewers but he couldn’t think of anything. He kept picturing beautiful night skies, and lanterns and picnics. Things that, under other circumstances would make fantastic dates but in this case, were much too simple and ordinary.

“Look,” Sejin interrupted much more seriously, “If it’s any consolation, if everything works out the way we would like, she’s going to be happy.”

It should be a consolation. He should be happy even if after six weeks he would never see you again. He should want the best for you but if he was being honest, he hated the idea of you with someone else. He hated the idea of you theoretically marrying someone who wasn’t him. Someone he knew…someone who didn’t deserve you.

“Yeah,” he said instead, “it does make me feel better.”

And it did. For about three seconds. Then he saw you back at the cabana with a date card and a very happy, smiling man standing next to you. It was only fitting that it began to rain heavily right then and everyone scattered. The weather sure was perceptive.

Thunder rolled through the clouds. The wind had picked up quite a bit in the last hour and a half but there was the slimmest chance or rain. Taehyung simply ignored the slight chill and took the opportunity to cuddle up to Kitty who had been inseparable from his side since the night before. He had to admit, this wasn’t his intention when he had cozied up to you in the pool previously. It was more so, his intention to get himself back on your good side and to show that he was, however little, interested in you. The girls had the power this week and there were so many men in Paradise that he wanted to make sure that he had one foot in a boat and one on a life raft.

Truthfully, Kitty seemed pretty content with giving him a rose this week and he didn’t exactly foresee anyone stealing her attention from him but at the same time, he wasn’t really interested in her. No, see, Taehyung had come onto the show because he had heard that you were going to be there and he knew very well that many of the other men had also come on for this very reason. They would be crazy not to. You were charming, beautiful and smart to top it off but he also realized that all of these men would be pursuing you. Hence, his need to find a life raft.

What he hadn’t counted on, however was your self destructive tendencies. Seokjin had been his first worry, if he was honest. He seemed very keen on getting to date you and you him, but that had fallen apart quicker than he had anticipated. Then there was the threat of Jungkook and his insistence that he would make up for his past mistakes. Truthfully, he hadn’t been worried in that aspect. He’d royally screwed up. He didn’t foresee him getting a second chance. That was why he had befriended the boy so early on.

It was when Jungkook had told him of his plans for when he got his first date card that he began to feel a bit of worry niggling at his heart. All had been solved, or depending on how one were to look at it, destroyed, when Marie had appeared. He had been relieved, then suddenly worried for an entirely different reason. With no prospects for whom you were to date, your rose and confidence were in jeopardy.

He couldn’t have that. He couldn’t let you leave. Not when he hadn’t even gotten the chance to properly speak to you. Not when…he hadn’t even had the chance to show you that this coldness, this- this fuck boy persona, wasn’t him.

Then a totally curve ball was thrown his way when none other than Jackson Wang took an interest in you. He didn’t seem your type. He was much too…big. Macho. He had the whole frat boy thing down to an art. He had almost laughed when he had seen him talking to you as you tried, in every way possible, to evade him. His laugh had caught in his throat when you sat on one of the outdoor beds that were littered around the hidden beach and stayed there as he watched you, as covertly as he could, while you surfed and laughed and later ate.

He would deal with that when the time was right. He stood by his initial judgment. Jackson Wang was not the man for you and you would realize that soon. Be it on your own or by his own hand. He would make sure of it. For the time being, he assumed that having a potential love interest would keep you sated.

Kitty pulled on his arm then, pulling him from his thoughts. He could smell the hint of rain over the pungent smell of sea water. While the thunder was far, he couldn’t help but wonder If the wetness he was feeling on his cheeks was rain or that of sea water. He pulled her tighter to his side, for the simple reason that he was leeching off her warmth. She smiled up at him happily. A hint of guilt panged in his heart but he pushed it aside.

Jimin was sitting next to her, his head resting in his hand as he spoke to Alex, who had seemed uncomfortable at first but now seemed much more relaxed as she continued her conversation. Seokjin was talking animatedly to Holly and to Jungkook. The group laughed occasionally. Obnoxiously. But Taehyung didn’t really care. He wasn’t exactly there to make friends. It was better that they all thought he was their friend. He was sure of that, but he was going to have a hard time putting up with some of these mannerisms.

“Hey guys,” the unmistakable voice of yours said, snapping everyone’s attention to the Cabana entrance.

You looked nervous and it only took the whole of the group two seconds to realize why. There was a very familiar looking envelope in your shaking hands. Instantly, Taehyung assumed that you would be asking Jackson. He tried to ignore his slight jealousy at that notion but then he realized…Jackson wasn’t in the cabana. His blood ran cold. Who else could you ask? Did you simply not know that Jackson wasn’t present? Were you here to rub in the magnificent date that you were sure to have?

His eyes shot over to the two youngest boys. Did you maybe want to ask one of them out? Maybe you had a Noona kink. Maybe they did? Then he looked at Jimin, who had sat up straight at the sign of what was presumably the piece of paper in your hands. He’d mentioned that you guys had had a decent conversation earlier before he’d been called over to sit with him. He shot Jimin a betrayed look over the head of the girl who was wrapped around him but the shorter man didn’t notice.

“I’m really sorry to disrupt everyone but I uh,” she held up the envelope awkwardly, clearly not knowing how to handle the situation, “I have a card…”

You could hear a pin drop. If he didn’t like you, he would be annoyed at the coy act you were putting on but the butterflies in his chest made it endearing. Could he be mistaken? Were you going to ask him?

Suddenly, you looked directly into his eyes, as if you could hear his thoughts and then it hit Taehyung like a ton of bricks. He was currently sitting in a booth and squished into his side was a very brunette, very possessive woman who was staring daggers at the true object of his affection.

Instantly, he tried to pry her off his arm but she was stuck. Like a leach. All the blood drained from his face as he saw your eyes dart to Kitty’s then at his then away once again. He followed your gaze and watched it fall on the group he had been watching earlier. Holly had a hand on Seokjin’s shoulders as if that meant she had dibs on him. Seokjin made no real move to get away from her aside from stiffening slightly under her touch. His ears were a little red at the tips.

Jungkook was nearly identical to his hyung. His ears were tinted red, his body rigid and stiff. Marie was looking at him, worry evident in her eyes. She had a smile on her face that Taehyung knew was for the cameras, which, if he were to look around, were everywhere. This must be an intense moment that the editors were planning. Much like Marie’s arrival. He could see multiple camera men and producers hovering around the group. He instantly searched for Namjoon but realized that he wasn’t with the usual camera man.

It struck him as odd but he didn’t pay it much mind as you began to talk again.

“Am I supposed to read this? Should I just ask someone?”

“Read it,” Soobin said from somewhere near. Taehyung didn’t care to know where. You, obedient as ever, opened the flap and pulled out the thin paper from inside. Your eyes skimmed the letter, once, twice, then finally you looked up and with a strained smile and read out loud.

“Y/N, I hope you’re hungry for some romance! Pick-nic yourself a partner to share some delicious conversation with! Your date leaves in two hours!”

You looked around hopefully, like you were waiting for someone to ask you on the date and not the other way around. Then, as if you came back to yourself, you shook your head and looked back at the letter. It was like you were building your confidence up. Taehyung’s heart thudded harder against his rib cage. Again, he tried to pry Kitty from his arm but she clung on tighter. She was glued to him. His hopes were unbelievably high. He had a chance. He just knew it. He could win you over if you just gave him a chance-

“Seokjin,” you said and it was like all the life was drained from his body, “If I recall correctly, you have very good taste when it comes to food…” you paused. You twirled one of your braids in your free hand and bit your lower lips. Taehyung could almost feel the nerves radiating from you all the way to where he was sat.

“Would you…maybe want to go on this date with me?”

Everyone’s eyes snapped to the aforementioned man. Holly was basically digging her nails into Seokjin’s shoulder. Her body frozen as she watched his expression shift from fear to shock then finally, flattery.

“I-why-I mean- yes! Yeah, of course! Thanks for asking me.”

He stood from his elevated seat, Holly pulled her hands from his body as if burned. She looked absolutely dejected. Seokjin shot her an awkward and apologetic smile but walked over to you. His thick lips pulled over his perfect teeth.

Huh… for someone who was pretty hurt only a day ago, he sure seemed excited. He’d done a full 180.

Taehyung’s heart sank into his stomach, watching as you spoke excitedly to the perfect man before you. It looked like the game was back on and he couldn’t phone it in for much longer.

Like hawks, the camera men and producers swarmed the cabana, pulling different people to interview. Jungkook was one of them. He wasn’t surprised. Though honestly, he couldn’t say two words about what he was feeling even if he knew every language in the world.

His interview went along the lines he had expected. What did he feel? What just happened? Was he hurt? Yadda yadda yadda…

It wasn’t until he was sitting back in his seat next to Marie that it all hit him like a ton of bricks. Literally. Well almost. The rain poured down from the heavens by the buckets. Thunder reverberated through his entire body. In an instant, everyone was on their feet and running for their assigned rooms. People were covering their heads. Seokjin and you separated and ran towards your respective rooms. In the back of his head, a voice spoke to him about destiny and the wrongness of your choice. He did feel a little bad. There was no way that Seokjin and you would go on your date now and anyone who would arrive that day wouldn’t even be able to meet anyone if everyone was stuck in their rooms. Production would have to shut down for the time being.

He watched you run to your room as he finally got to his senses and took off toward his own residence. Marie yelled something over at him that he didn’t hear and quite honestly, didn’t care about. His focus was on the way you were running. You had your hands over your chest, you kept tripping over your own feet and if he wasn’t mistaken, were you…crying? Had the disappointment hit you that hard already?

It was a second later that Jungkook made up his mind to go after you to make sure you were alright since your supposed date wasn’t anywhere in sight…he was probably off somewhere making sure his hair wasn’t frizzy… but it was a second too late. Past him ran a very wet and very fast Taehyung. He was sprinting. His wet hair was in his eyes and droplets ran down his perfect nose.

Defeat plagued Jungkook then, his jog much slower now. Discouraged. He felt a frown tug at his lips and his shoulders slumped. He made it to the place where the rooms were. A small ledge stood between him and the pouring rain. He stood there for a couple more seconds. A flash of lightning lit up somewhere nearby. Instinctively, he counted the seconds before he heard the thunder. It was five seconds. Five miles away.  

Thunder roared in his ears. Somewhere ahead, he heard a girl scream. His heart jumped as well. Finally, he realized that being outside at the moment wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do, so he ran the rest of the way to his room and locked himself in.

The air conditioning hit his wet skin like ice. Goosebumps pimpled on his skin. Without hesitating, he pulled the shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. It plopped unattractively, making an almost instant puddle on the floor.

He groaned as the air hit his abs hard. It felt like a hard slap to his skin as the water dripped down the ridges of his muscles. His body stiffened under the temperature. He began to shiver. Every muscle in his body flexed trying to warm him up. His shorts, actual shorts he’d chosen to wear that day instead of swim trunks, clung to the thick skin of his thighs.

He knew he should take them off but his hands weren’t cooperating. They were balled into fists at his sides, his nails were digging into his palms painfully.

Almost instantly, he recognized another, much bigger--if he was in his right head he might have cracked a smile at his own thought--problem was presenting itself.

In his heavy, wet shorts, under his soaked underwear, blood had rushed to his member. This was the down side of having a pain kink. It, of course, didn’t always work this way but it seemed that something was really doing it for him in that moment.

He groaned again, shifting uncomfortably. Behind his eyes, flashes of girls began to manifest. He clenched and unclenched his fists trying to ignore the urge to do something about his semi. He forced himself to open his eyes. He tried to focus on something in the room. Anything. But there was nothing in the small room of his to distract him.

With all the strength he had left, Jungkook ripped his shorts off along with his underwear. He forced his eyes to stay directly before him then picked up his beach towel. He carefully dried himself off, avoiding his very obvious erection.

It was hard. No pun intended. It was difficult for him not to indulge in what he really wanted to do. Your face popped in his head like the erection had popped up earlier. It twitched in the free air. Your smile, your eyes, the way you fidgeted nervously earlier when-

And it began to sink. The thought of you going out with another man really put a damper on his almost fantasy. He let his mind go over the events of the last couple of minutes. His heart sank with his erection and then suddenly, it was gone. Jungkook was still a little cold but his pain was no longer physical.

Tears brimmed his eyes and he made no effort to slow them. Instead, he stood in the middle of his room, partially covered by a cyan blue beach towel with his heart in his throat. He’d made a mistake once again. He shouldn’t have said yes to Marie. This one, was completely on him.

Your heart hammered hard against the cage of your ribs. Your skin was soaked to the bone though you didn’t really notice it. You didn’t notice the multitude of tiny scratches that had started to appear on the tops of your feet as you tripped over yourself and stepped on tiny pebbles and shells that were a little too sharp and a little too hidden for your liking.

You didn’t realize that the droplets of water running down your cheeks weren’t drops of rain but in fact thick salty tears. You didn’t feel the weight of your braided hair getting heavier and heavier with rain water. You also didn’t notice how cold your body was because of the sudden gust of wind.

What you did notice was your door was firmly closed and the thunder and lightning were getting closer together and that meant that the lighting was closer to you. You also noticed how, even though you had been running at the, well… speed of lightning, you didn’t feel at all tired.

Maybe it was because, in that moment, you weren’t in your body. You were watching yourself run, instead. As if you had traveled into the future and you were watching back the show. In your out-of-body self, you laughed as you ran. The fear in your eyes was funny to you for some reason. Perhaps it was because you knew, somewhere in your subconscious that there was nothing to be scared about. Maybe it was because future you knew exactly what would happen in the next couple of minutes. Maybe it was because…future you knew the mistakes you were going to make over the course of the six weeks.

You rammed through your bedroom door, your wrist snapping, what should have been, painfully but you didn’t care. You wanted to get out of the rain, away from the noise. You wanted to hide under your blankets. You wanted to be held.

Before you could shut the door just as forcibly as you had opened it, another arm stopped it. It was then that you realized what was going on. You were forced back into your body. The fear intensified tenfold as the hand on your door pushed.

You didn’t try to fight back. You let whomever it was, push the door open. You stepped back feeling helpless. In walked Taehyung, his face set in an inquisitive expression. It was like he didn’t want to give away his real emotions. You opened your mouth to ask why he was in your room but in that moment another loud beat of thunder hit and all the blood drained from your face. Your legs gave out from under you. You braced yourself to hit the floor and were not disappointed. You butt hit first, then your wrists to hold you up. You knew it would bruise. It was already painful even through your stupor.

Taehyung shut the door firmly behind him then, as if dropping a mask, his features shifted in worry. He shuffled over to you and kneeled down, his hands on his knees as he watched more tears stream down your face.

Hesitantly, he reached out to touch you but you shied away from his touch. A flash of hurt shone in his eyes like the lighting that shone outside your door. Another flash, more lightning and your body flinched painfully. You brought your aching hands up to cover your ears.

Pathetic. You knew in the back of your head that you probably looked like a child. How attractive. Your vision was so blurry that you weren’t even sure if you were seeing him correctly.

“Y/N?”

His voice was soft, almost a whisper, like he was scared to speak too loudly. Maybe he thought it would make you scared too.

You took in deep breaths, trying to calm yourself down. It was just thunder. It was just a little bit of rain. Nothing would happen to you as long as you stayed inside. As long as you-

Another thunderous roar vibrated in your skull. The irrational part of you wept in terror. You pushed your hands closer to your ears. Trying to drown out the sound. You hadn’t brought your sound proof headphones. You didn’t think it would rain like this. You expected it to be pleasant while you were in Paradise. You thought the most you would get would be a drizzle. But boy had you been clearly wrong.

“Hey,” Taehyung spoke again, trying to get your attention again. His tone was so gentle, soothing. You wanted to melt into it. Your body shivered under the intense blast of the cooling system but you couldn’t bring yourself to move. Your hair dripped onto the floor. A puddle quickly forming beneath you.

He reached for you again and this time you didn’t flinch away. His fingers caressed your wet cheek, wiping away the tears and rain water that was dripping from your scalp. You melted into his touch. The bit of physical touch grounded you slightly.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, scooting a little closer so that his knees touched your shins. He placed his other hand on the other side of your face. He brushed both thumbs over your smooth skin. His own skin caught on yours as the water began to disperse and dry.

“You’re not alone anymore, Y/N,” he insisted, tilting your head up so you could look at him, “As long as I’m here, everything will be okay.”

The cynic in you wasn’t exactly convinced by his words but when another loud rumble hit, you couldn’t help but ignore that voice. It was possible it would help not to be alone…for once in your life.

Without much thought, you leaned forward and clung onto Taehyung’s waist. You were shaking. He could tell and he was a little surprised that you were hugging him. Up until then, he had been the one showing any affection and you were only putting up with him. Or at least it seemed.

Taehyung wrapped his arms loosely around your shoulders. The weight of them brought you back even more. You could hear the pitter patter of the rain outside, still falling heavily, but you could also hear the inhale and exhale of Taehynug’s breath on your wet neck.

“Are you cold? You should change out of these clothes,” he said, starting to stand slowly. He helped you up as well, still held in his arms, like he was trying to push all of your floating pieces back together.

You did your best to help him help you. Your legs were still wobbly but you were starting to regain some feeling in them. When you were firmly standing, the soles of your feet pushed into the cheap material of your flip flops, you felt your body start to function regularly once again.

The haze in your brain began to fade and clear. You looked up at Taehyung with wide eyes. Like you had just realized he was there and you were holding him close. Your clothes stuck to each other. You were standing on a pool of water. It was in that instant that the discomfort hit you.

You shivered again, this time more violently and not because of the weather. Taehyung held you closer, a squelch escaping your clothing. You groaned, slightly embarrassed.  He pulled away so he could look at you directly. At some point, your tears had slowed and you could see him better. His hair was plastered to his head. Strands of it hung on his face, darker than it was before, if that was even possible, with strands hanging in his asymmetrical eyes. Asymmetrical. Unique. Taehyung was unique. Perfect in a different way than the way that Seokjin seemed to be.

His lips were a bit on the thin side and seemed to always be pouty. He had a big nose, nothing too crazy but you had noticed it before, when you had first seen him on his season. He also always seemed to have a slight shadow on his chin and his upper lip. There was a little stubble there. Short and fine. Would it be scratchy if you touched it? His tummy wasn’t toned. Not the way that Jungkook’s was but honestly, you didn’t really mind. In your opinion, he looked good. Felt good. It didn’t really matter to you if he was toned or not.

“Do you want me to leave so you can change-”

Then it hit again. Behind the curtains of your window you saw the flash before you heard it. And it was like a punch in the stomach. It was easy to laugh at yourself when it wasn’t happening, but in these moments, you really felt like it was the end of the world.

A small scream was ripped from your throat. Taehyung’s eyes widened. As your knees buckled again. He held you up, then sat you in the only chair in the room. You were quivering. It was getting old. This fear. Why couldn’t you be normal?

“Do you have headphones or something?” Taehyung asked, starting to move things around on your bed. When you didn’t answer, he looked back at you to make sure you were alright.

“You don’t have to talk okay? Just shake or nod your head.”

Slowly, you nodded. He smiled a small line that added to his perfect uniqueness. Where had this Taehyung been for the last couple of days? This was the Taehyung that the world had fallen for…and one you could see yourself falling for as well.

“Do you have headphones?”

You nodded again slowly.

“Are they in this room?”

Another terrifying boom. Your body tensed.

With renewed fervor, Taehyung turned your bed upside down, searching for them. You wanted to yell at him that he wouldn’t find them. That you hadn’t brought them but you couldn’t make your voice work. You simply sat, and watched as he frantically searched. Then, with a frustrated growl, he looked over at you once again.

“Don’t move from there. I’ll be right back,” he assured. Without waiting for you to say anything, he threw the door open and ran out of your room. Somehow, this made it so much worse. Maybe it was because now the door was open wide and you could hear everything much clearer. Maybe it was because you were alone again.

A multitude of sobs escaped your body. Your energy was quickly depleting. You made yourself count. What you were counting you couldn’t be sure. But you counted slowly in your head.

One, two, three…

A gust of wind pushed your door open further. It hit the wall violently. The noise startled you slightly.

Seven, eight, nine…

Goosebumps erupted all over your exposed skin. Your brain buzzed with anticipation. You squeezed your eyes shut. You pressed your hand over your heart, feeling for its beat.

Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…

You heard footsteps splashing on the way to your room. In your mind’s eye, you saw Taehyung running back towards you. Your fear ebbed slightly. You didn’t want to be alone. The sooner he got there the better.

You took a deep breath as the steps reached your door. They were heavy, and panicked. Almost as panicked as you felt. Ragged breathing followed, as if he had run miles to get back to you. In an instant, you felt his presence before you. You heard the door close and something was placed over your head. Something heavy and soft, that covered your ears. At first static filled in the noise, but in a matter of seconds, loud music replaced it.

There were no lyrics to the music. It was instrumental. Lo-Fi maybe. It was smooth, soothing. Your heart stuttered under your palm. The tightness in your chest began to fade. Breathing started to become much easier. Less labored. Without meaning to, you sighed in relief.

Two large hands landed on your knees, still wet from earlier. The warmth from them seeped into your body. A wave of slight embarrassment coursed through you at the display you’d given in the last hour.

Something soft, and dry was thrown over your shoulders. A towel, you assumed and it was then that you opened your eyes. You smiled down at Taehyung-

But it wasn’t Taehyung. Before you, like the time before when you were having a slight panic attack, Namjoon was squatting before you, his eyes worried, concern on every feature. And you wondered why you hadn’t guessed just by the way he’d once again comforted you the way that he had then.

He spoke without thinking, but then when you only stared back at him, he shook his head and mouthed, “are you okay?”

You nodded, still not completely trusting your voice to speak.

Namjoon smiled and pulled the towel closer around you, nuzzling you in its warmth. It kind of smelled like him. Like  wood and parchment and something soothing like cotton.

The door to your room suddenly slammed open. You didn’t actually hear it, as the headphones on your head prevented you from doing so but you saw it out of the corner of your eye. In came Taehyung, fear in his eyes and a bag in his arms.

When he saw Namjoon leaning down before you, his expression changed from scared to annoyed. He rolled his eyes but closed the door behind him. You blinked at Namjoon but he wasn’t looking at you anymore. He was looking over at Taehyung, a bit of shock in his eyes.

You couldn’t be sure of what happened next but Namjoon removed his hands from your body and stood up right. He towered over the younger boy but he was hunched over. Like he was scared.

Taehyung let the bag fall under your desk. You watched as he spoke to the producer. Namjoon had his back to you so you couldn’t even try to read his lips though by his body language, you could tell he was on the defense.

Taehyung seemed to be yelling. He gestured towards you with his hands but Namjoon kept his gaze forward. Taehyung looked at him expectantly then when no one moved, he opened the door and gestured out of it. Namjoon’s shoulder’s slumped but he walked towards the door. He stopped once more, said something to Taehyung, then without a single look back, he walked out into the storm.

Taehyung didn’t know what to think of the scene before him. His heart wrenched into his throat. Namjoon was holding a clean towel over your shivering body. You were smiling down at him appreciatively. There was a set of heavy looking headphones over your ears and you were no longer crying. You looked much more peaceful.

Taehyung couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He’d done it again. Namjoon had interrupted you in the middle of something that could have led to something more. He couldn’t understand it. On the last show he had been on, Namjoon had been nothing but professional. He was only seen when absolutely necessary and had even chastised multiple other people for interfering when it wasn’t needed. So why, now, was he the one making these mistakes?

Namjoon looked at Taehyung rightfully surprised. He looked slightly uncomfortable, as if Taehyung had walked in on you and Namjoon and not the other way around, which…in a way he had been the one to but that was beside the point. The producer stood up from his crouched position. He stuck his hands in his pockets. His shoulder hunched.

Taehyung dropped the bag in his hands under the desk in your room. His blood was boiling.

“What are you doing here, hyung?”

Namjoon closed his eyes at Taehyung’s tone. Somewhere in the back of his head, he realized that he was being rude and should probably tone down his theatrics but he couldn’t help it. He really felt like he had made real progress that day and he had enough competition on the show without someone else making moves on you as well.

“I can see what you guys are doing, Taehyung. She looked distressed and I knew what to do to help. That’s all,” he said almost in an exhausted way.

“That’s all? That’s all?! Hyung, this is the second time in three days that you pull something like this-”

“Something like what?”

“Something like a romantic gesture!”

Namjoon blinked at his charge, then looked down at his feet. Taehyung was breathing heavily, like he was using all his energy to be upset. He didn’t know what he wanted to hear from his producer but he needed answers.

“If you think,” Namjoon began, his voice low and dangerous but Taehyung was unphased, “That helping a woman who is clearly distressed to feel better is a romantic gesture then you have a weird idea of romance, Kim Taehyung.”

“Don’t turn this on me hyung,” Taehyung half yelled, scared that you could hear, but you seemed completely lost so he wasn’t too worried.

“Y/N came onto this show to find love-”

“I know that-”

“With someone on the show, Hyung! Not with a producer!”

Instantly, Taehyung knew he’d overstepped. Namjoon’s eyes widened, then lidded. His shoulders fell. He hung his head in what could be shame or embarrassment…or hurt.

“I know, Taehyung. I was the one who picked her for the show in the first place.”

A sudden coldness swept through the room. Taehyung hardened his expression and pointed out the door as he pulled it open.

“Then leave hyung. I have it covered,” then as an afterthought he added, “I actually have a chance with her.”

The pain in Namjoon’s expression only deepened. Without retaliating, Namjoon followed Taehyung’s gesture. Every step seemed like agony and Taehyung could tell that he wanted to look back at you but he didn’t. When he was almost out of the room, he turned to look at Taehyung and under his breath said:

“Let her know when the storm blows over that her date with Seokjin is postponed until further notice. Also, that I’ll come get the headphones later.”

He deserved it. Taehyung knew he did. But the way that Namjoon hissed another man’s name felt like a slap to the face. Because it was Namjoon who had chosen you to be on the shows and he clearly was a fantastic judge of character. And Taehyung knew that it was Namjoon who had gotten Seokjin on the show as well. If he was approved by the producer, then there was no way that Seokjin wouldn’t be a fantastic date and a fantastic partner.

Namjoon went out into the rain. Taehyung watched him walk away, the droplets hitting his hair. He was wearing a raincoat but he didn’t seem to care if he was getting wet. He was too harsh…but he wasn’t going to let Namjoon get in his way.

“Hyung,” He yelled after him. Namjoon looked over his shoulder, hopeful, for what Taehyung wasn’t sure but he was about to dash those hopes…for your benefit.

“If I catch you and her like this again…I’ll go complain to the director.”

And he closed the door without looking back. His heart ached slightly. He’d always liked Namjoon and genuinely considered him a friend. But he couldn’t risk his happiness once again.

You were looking ahead, away from the door. He thought he saw a single tear roll down your face but he paid it no mind. It was probably left over from the fear, or maybe from your hair being soaked.

He leaned under your desk and grabbed his bag, filled with snacks and a comfy sweater he thought you might like and a weighted blanket he never traveled without as well as his own set of headphones that he clearly wouldn’t need anymore.

He made to straighten but then a yellow sheet of paper caught his eye. In bold, clear letters, he saw his own name. He glanced at you once again over his shoulder but you were still looking away, holding the towel to your body. He picked up the paper and read:

Be careful with Kim Taehyung

His heart sank. He knew the hand writing. So it seemed that Namjoon was trying to sabotage him. This made him feel better about what he had said to him. Had you read this already? He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He crumpled the paper and tucked it in his pants pocket which was still wet, but who cared if the paper disintegrated?

He wasn’t going to take any chances.

It rained for the rest of the day. The thunder and lightning had stopped after the first two hours and you were able to take off the headphones that Namjoon gave you then. You parted with the towel reluctantly when Taehyung had left to change and told you that he had brought you a sweater of his to wear if you wanted.

You did, in fact, put it on. It was incredibly big and hit somewhere near your midthigh. You decided to put on a pair of comfortable sweat shorts under and then pulled out the other things in the bag. It was strangely heavy. The mystery of why that was was quickly solved when you pulled out an extremely thick, dark blue blanket. Then you saw the snacks and a pair of headphones that he had probably brought for you.

He was sweet. You were really glad he had noticed something was wrong, though you weren’t sure how he knew. It was nice to not be alone during one of your episodes. It made you feel warm inside that he seemed to actually care. The idea of Kitty briefly crossed your mind but he wasn’t with Kitty was he?

You felt giddy. On cloud nine. When there was a knock on your door, you jumped at the chance to speak to Taehyung again.

Alas, once again, you were wrong about the identity of the person at your door. Your heart stopped when Seokjin was the one standing at your door. You felt sleazy. Like he’d caught you cheating on him with another guy. Not that that was possible since you weren’t exactly dating but that didn’t help in the slightest. On top of that, Taehyung was probably on the way back as well.

“S-Seokjin?”

“Who else did you expect, baby?” He asked with a slight chuckle. Then he saw what you were wearing and his face fell.

“Oh…did I interrupt something?”

“No!” you practically yelled opening the door wider, “I’m alone. I-”

How do you even begin to explain what had just happened? It was incredibly embarrassing.

“So is that sweater yours then?”

Seokjin didn’t wait for an answer. He walked into the room with all the confidence in the world. His eyes skimmed the space. The puddle on the floor and the snacks on the bed.

“What were you doing? Were you going to watch movies or something like that?”

“I um…”

“Can I join you? I just got word from the production staff that our date would be postponed until the weather got better. Still, I’d like to spend the rest of the day with you if that’s alright? Think of it like a pre date!”

He looked so excited. So happy. How could you possibly say no?

You smiled at him, about to agree when another knock drew your attention. Seokjin raised an eyebrow then without asking, he walked over to the door and pulled it open.

Enter Kim Taehyung, his hair slightly more dry and in a pair of pjs dotted with what looked like hearts.

“Taehyung-ah,” Seokjin asked.

“Hyungnim? What are you doing here?”

“Y/N and I were just about to watch some movies together. Why are you here? In your pajamas?”

Taehyung gave you a look over Seokjin’s shoulder but you said nothing. Guilt filled you to the brim. You felt like you were leading these two men on and yet… they were doing the same. With Kitty and Holly. Should you even feel bad?

“Movies?”

“Yeah… so if you could just come back later then-”

“Sounds fun,” Taehyung cut him off with a satisfied smirk, “count me in.”

Taehyung pushed his way past the older man who looked at you incredulously. You groaned, shrugged your shoulders and looked at the younger man.

“What are we watching Y/N?”

Taehyung made himself comfortable in your bed, leaning against the white wall. He pat the spot next to him so that you would sit down. You awkwardly did as he asked and Taehyung  took that opportunity to wrap you in the weighted blanket. You felt your body relax almost instantly. He kept his arm around your shoulders, he gave Seokjin a pointed look.

“You feel better right?”

“Better?” Seokjin asked, looking at you as if he just realized you had grown a second head.

“What happened?”

He sat on your other side and pushed Taehyung’s arm off of your shoulders. He twisted you so that you were looking at him. He looked concerned.

“I’m alright Seokjin,” you said with a shrug.

“She’s scared of thunder, hyung. She was having a hard time a little bit ago. Luckily, I noticed and helped her out. Right Y/N?”

“Scared of… Y/N is that true?”

You couldn’t bear the pity in Seokjin’s eyes. You shook your head.

“Can we not talk about it please?”

“Whatever make you the most comfortable Y/n,” Taehyung said pulling you so that your back was against his chest. You widened your eyes at Jin and tried to sit up but Taehyung held you protectively against his chest.

“If you want to talk about it, let me know okay,” Seokjin said, his voice soft. You nodded, trying again without success to pull away from Taehyung.

“So,” Seokjin said, clearly trying to ignore the way that Taehyung seemed to be marking his territory, “What movie should we watch first?”

It was hours later, when the sun had begun to set that you had fallen asleep. Taehyung had your head on his shoulder and Seokjin was stroking your legs comfortingly. Neither men said a thing as the third movie you were watching slowly came to a close. The closing credits began to roll. An old 80’s song played in the background.

It was only when it was completely silent and almost completely dark that Seokjin decided to speak.

“Taehyung-ah, I really think that we should have a conversation about this situation. Like adults.”

Taehyung sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to one of his rivals but your weight, along with the weight of his blanket were pinning him to the spot. He didn’t have a choice.

“What is it hyung?”

Seokjin sighed. It was a couple of seconds before he spoke again.

“It’s clear that we both have taken a liking to Y/N. We don’t have to be petty about all of this. At the end of the day, Y/N is going to be the one to choose who she wants. On top of that, it’s clear that Jungkook also harbors some feelings for her. I think we can all agree that we don’t want to make things difficult for her.”

“Right… so what are you suggesting? We don’t pursue her?”

“Of course not!” Jin whispered.

“Let’s just do our best to not make her feel bad for whomever she chooses.”

“Oh,” said Taehyung, not sure what to say.

“Yeah…well, it’s getting to be dark and it looks like she had a hard day. We should leave her to rest don’t you think?”

Taehyung felt the bed dip and then in the darkness he saw the outline of his hyung. He didn’t want to leave, but at the same time, he didn’t want to stay the night if you hadn’t expressed he could.

“You’re right hyung. You go ahead. I’ll be out in a bit.”

“Sounds sketchy… but I’m going to trust you Kim Taehyung. Have a good night.”

“You too hyung.”

And he left. Taehyung sighed. It had been a really trying day for everyone involved. As you breathed deeply, he felt you sigh and cuddle into him further. He melted. His resolve to leave was almost dashed but then he thought of your reaction of the next morning and he knew he must leave.

With careful movements, he maneuvered you onto the pillow. You groaned at the level change but cuddled into his blanket further. In the nearly perfect darkness, he could barely make out a small smile on your lips. Your breathing even and calm. A complete one eighty from earlier that day. He wanted to be the reason for that smile. He prayed he was the reason.

A smile of his own made its way onto his lips. He hadn’t felt so at peace in a while. He made to leave but with a second thought, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss to your forehead. You sighed happily. A blush covered his cheeks.

“Please,” he whispered into your ear, knowing you wouldn’t actually hear him but hoping you might dream of him if you heard his voice, “pick me.”

After a couple of seconds, he straightened and walked towards the door. He reached for the doorknob, satisfied with the day when he heard you moan in your sleep. He froze, wondering if he’d woken you.

Another soft moan, softer than the last but this time it sounded like a word. He waited, in case you said something again.

“Okay,” you groaned followed by soft snores. And Taehyung couldn’t stop smiling.

Taglist: @embrace-themagic​ @monvieesdaebak

[nomattertheoceans]

Feysand prompt - the jacuzzi

Soooooo @quakeriders​, let’s talk. I know you ask for this like more than a month ago, but LISTEN --

No I don’t really have an excuse actually xD I just hope you’ll enjoy it!! It has the Inner Circle and guests, it has the Jacuzzi, and the summer night, and they party, and Feysand “getting busy”... ;) It gets very NSFW, so be warned.

This is part of my Feysand fic “I made you a promise” universe, and is a direct follow-up to this prompt that I wrote for @awesome--username :)

And also… @quakeriders I think I remember you telling me your birthday was around the 21st or 22nd? Sooo Happy Birthday!! 

Feyre moved into the townhouse a week later. Packing her place didn’t take long, seeing as her stuff consisted of maybe four or five boxes of clothes, a few books, and one or two kitchen pots. That didn’t stop their friends from coming to “help.”

This is how they found themselves carrying her boxes through the jam-packed subway on a Saturday afternoon.

“Eight people to carry ten boxes, seriously,” Rhys grumbled under his breath as the subway came to another stop, one of many before they were to make it to the townhouse. “This is ridiculous.”

“You’re just grumpy because you had to take the subway,” Clare said, punching him lightly in the arm. “It won’t kill you.”

“No it won't, but it would have taken a whole of thirty minutes to get everything in my car and bring it over. I can’t believe we’re wasting all this time.”

Sitting across from him, Feyre and Cassian laughed in unisson.

“Come on, you guys moving in together is a big deal, we all wanted to be here,” said Mor, standing beside Rhys. “Plus, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to enjoy free beer and pizza!”

“Oh, because we have to buy you pizzas now?” He asked his cousin, but Elain was the one answering.

“It’s a tradition Rhysand. Moving always comes with pizza and beer for the helpers.”

He rolled his eyes, but Feyre could see a small smile inching its way onto her boyfriend’s lips. She nudged him with her foot, and said:

“Come on, stop being grumpy, we’ll make a party of it. It’s been a while since someone got drunk in the jacuzzi!”

He laughed out loud at that, and they kept on chatting until they reached the right subway stop.

***

Putting away the boxes was over about as quickly as packing them had been. Elain arranged her sister’s books beside Rhysand’s, Mor helped Feyre organized the dresser to fit her clothes, and Cassian and Azriel started a sword fight with wooden spoons while they were putting away her very few kitchen utensils. 

Then there was the long process of ordering pizzas who would please everyone, an excruciating thirty minutes during which Rhys had to rewrite the order five times because someone had changed their mind.

But finally, they were all chilling out on his rooftop terrace, pizzas and beers being passed around, the loud clubbing music coming out of his laptop. Mor’s playlist, obviously.

Not his terrace. Their terrace, Rhys thought as he took in his girlfriend lounging in the jacuzzi with Cassian and Alyss, a bottle in her hand, eyes closed as she laughed at one of his brother’s jokes, her neck resting on the edge of the tub. Gods, she was gorgeous. And she was living with him. Starting tonight, they would see each other everyday, he would get to hear her singing off-tune when she was painting, he would get to see her with messy hair before they went to bed.

Asking her to move in had been a spur-of-the-moment impulse, but once she’d said yes, nothing else had made sense. Of course they would live together. He didn’t even know how he had been able to wait more than ten months to ask her.

As if she could feel his eyes on her, Feyre looked at him and gave him a soft smile, one that he knew was intended only to him, one in which he could feel all the love she gave him everyday. He smiled back and got up from the chair he’d been sitting in, walking towards her.

“Rhys! Nice of you to join us!” Cassian shouted, clearly already drunk. “I was having way too much fun by myself with these lovely ladies!”

“I’m not getting into the tub, Cass,” he answered as he approached, putting his drink on the ground to encircle Feyre with his arms. She looked up and grinned at him, and he took a minute to admire her body inside the water, her skin covered only by a black bikini, her long, lovely legs laying down in front of her. She moved a hand to his face and plunged her fingers into his hair, pulling him towards her.

He didn’t know if there would ever come a day when he would get tired of her kisses. Their lips met and started moving slowly against each other. But he could feel what she wanted, and within seconds, her tongue was brushing against his lips, deepening their kiss. He felt a fire building inside him under her touch, and immediately felt the urge to climb beside her inside the water.

“Ahem… Guys, keep it PG, alright? We’re still here with you, remember?” Cassian interrupted, and Rhys felt Feyre chuckle against his mouth and move away from him.

“Sorry, Cass.”

Rhys settled behind her outside the tub, keeping an arm around her in the water as she resumed her conversation with Alyss about some new movie they were going to see. He looked around, from Mor and Clare dancing wildly in front of the stereo, to Azriel and Elain talking quietly in one corner of the rooftop. They didn’t need that many people to move out from Feyre’s old place, but he sure as hell was glad they’d come.

***

Everybody went home eventually. Alyss left first to free her babysitter, and she was followed by Elain around midnight. Azriel offered to escort her home, and they left the others to party until much later. Mor and Clare, who’d been slowly growing closer during the evening, also left together, clearly headed to Mor’s place a couple of blocks down the road. From the terrace, Cassian and Feyre watched them walk away in a very tight embrace, their laughs resonating in the quiet street.

Cassian was the last one to leave, practically pushed out the door by Rhys after a good hour and a half of talking about the new tattoo designs he was creating. Leaning on the frame of the front door, Feyre laughed at the sight of Rhys struggling to get his brother in a taxi, and turned back inside the house, waiting for him.

After a minute, strong arms encircled her from behind, and her boyfriend’s fingers intertwined with hers. She felt the warmth of his breath against her skin as he whispered in her ear.

“Hey roomie.”

She couldn’t stop a grin from forming on her lips at the words. They were living together. Officially. After so many months of spending as much time as they could together, they had finally taken the final step. His house was her new home, and she could feel her heart racing at the thought.

“Hey,” she answered, letting go of his hands to turn around in his arms.

He kissed her lips quickly. “Are you happy?”

She waited for a minute before answering. “I don’t know.” The worried look on his face was worth every second she waited to continue. “I mean, I was expecting getting to spend some time in the hottub with my boyfriend, but instead I had to stay in there all alone, I don’t know what to think about that…”

She gave him a mischievous smile, and he chuckled. “Oh you know, the night doesn’t have to end now. I would hate for you to spend your first night here disappointed.” And with that, he let go of her and started climbing the stairs, losing clothe after clothe on the way.

She followed after him, and soon he was turning the jacuzzi back on and climbing inside in nothing but his underwear. She took off her dress, climbed after him, and innocently sat on the opposite side of the tub, a shy smile on her lips. She wanted to play tonight. Rhys stared at her for a moment, clearly knowing what she wanted but trying to see if she would break first. As if that would happen. And sure enough, after a mere few seconds -

“You’re not coming closer?”

“Why would I?”

“Because you asked me to come here with you.”

“I never said I wanted to cozy up with you, though. We have all this space, might as well enjoy it, don’t you think?”

His smile didn’t falter. He knew what she was doing. “Sure, whatever makes you happy.”

They fell silent, staring at each other relentlessly for a good minute, the night silent except for the noise of the bubbles around them. The bright light coming from the tub mixed with the warmest shade of yellow coming from the other lamps scattered around the terrace, and all of the shadows surrounding them worked perfectly to underline Rhys’ toned chest and muscled arms.

She wanted to win this game they were playing. She wanted him to cave and finally take her in his arms, she wanted him to whisper sweet nothings in her ear about how irresistible she was.

But more than any of this, she wanted to touch him.

Without dropping her gaze, she moved to him, and straddled him. He smirked and let his hands drift underwater to find her hips, steadying her against him. Immediately, she let her fingers roam his chest, all the way up to his shoulders, his neck, his hair. He lowered his mouth on her neck and started scraping his teeth against her skin, not quite touching her, not quite pulling away.

“You lost, Darling,” he whispered in her ear, and the feeling of his breath sent shivers down her spine, all the way to her core.

“I don’t care,” she answered, and she turned his face to capture his lips with hers. Their kiss was instantly passionate and she moaned against him as his hands left her hips to move up to her hair, untying her hairband and tangling his fingers in her hair to keep her against him. She let a hand slide back down to his chest, and slowly grazed his skin until she reached the edge of his underwear, slipping inside it to grab him softly.

He groaned into her mouth, and tightened his grip around her body, massaging her hair and her neck with his fingers. Feyre felt a delicious warmth spread in her belly, and she was thankful for being seated on top of him, because she wasn’t sure her legs would have held her up much longer.

Especially when he let go of her lips to whisper “this is clearly in the way,” as he started working on untying the top of her bikini. She chuckled, but didn’t stop stroking him, and she could feel his hand trembling as he took off her swimsuit. The next second, one of his hand was caressing her breasts, and the other was travelling south to rub the inside of her thighs. She let out a gasp of pleasure as he slipped his fingers under the fabric, and plunged inside her.

“It wouldn’t be nice to let you have all the fun now would it?” He breathed against her skin, at the same second his fingers started moving in her, in the pattern he knew drove her crazy everytime.

“Rhys,” she found herself gasping against him, unable to restrain herself under his touch. Unable to focus on anything other than what he was doing to her, she linked her arms around his neck and let him drive her to the edge of the world, as a rush of pleasure crashed onto her, making her moan and gasp and cry out his name under the starry sky of Velaris.

After what seemed like an eternity, she felt the blissful waves recede, and her breathing started to slow down. She moved her head to the side, and found Rhys looking at her with nothing but love and desire in his eyes. She could still feel the hardness of him brushing between her legs, and immediately felt the need for him inside her. But Rhys seemed to understand her intention, and he talked before she could say anything.

“Maybe we should move this to the bedroom?”

She smiled, and only answered: “To our bedroom.”

His eyes softened at the correction, and he gave her the most tender kiss she could have wanted in that moment.

“Come, my lady, let’s get to our bedroom.”

[conciteque]

Kiribaku Month - Day 16: Summer

Wordcount: 1166 words

@kiribakumonth2019

Phew, I really thought I wouldn’t be able to make it today. I had no idea what to go for, or how I could use it to put some plot. I kinda like the result, though.

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Day 16: Summer

“Blasty, Deku, wanna play beach volleyball with us?”

Kacchan was so tired of this shit. It was like every time he stepped into the Resistance camp, someone had to drag him into whatever shitty idea they had. Sparky was the worst, but for once, it was Black Eyes who’d spoken. The two of them and Tapeface had somehow changed clothes, going from their tattered capes to fucking… shorts? And was Black Eyes in a purple bikini with orange polka dots?!

“What the fuck? No,” he said as Deku exclaimed that he’d love to and that they had nothing else to do at the moment, like a fucking traitor. Kacchan should kill him for this betrayal.

“Why the fuck would you even want to do that?” he asked.

“It’s a summer tradition!” Black Eyes said.

“It’s fucking February.”

“It has to be summer somewhere,” Sparky intervened. “Time is a construct and we don’t even have seasons anymore. So it’s summer whenever we want!”

“Summer is when we play beach volleyball,” Tapeface nodded.

Kacchan sighed. Why was he surrounded by idiots all the time? And more importantly, why did he still listen to them?

“Oh, Blasty, you’re back!” Eijirou grinned when he joined the group of dumbasses, wearing nothing but bright red shorts with fucking flames at the bottom, and the ugliest red shoes Kacchan had ever seen.

His eyes slowly travelled up Eijirou’s bare chest, with his roughed up skin and the red tattoos on his shoulders—the ones Kacchan just remembered he was responsible for, although he hadn’t unlocked the memory of how he’d hurt Eijirou yet.

“What the fuck, Shitty Hair, where did you even find this shit?” he asked.

“In the mall, a long time ago. It’s our special beach volleyball uniforms! You like it?” he beamed, striking a pose that definitely wasn’t alluring, yet still messed up Kacchan’s circuits because he was so fucking enthusiastic about it.

“Looks like shit,” he grumbled.

“If you want to play with us, you’ll have to wear one,” Eijirou teased.

“Who said I’m fucking playing with you?”

Kacchan should have expected the disappointment in Eijirou’s eyes. He didn’t like it, and he had no idea anymore if it was coming from himself or from the memories he’d recently unlocked. Would the Kacchan from Eijirou’s memories have said yes?

He growled.

“Fucking fine, we’re playing. But I’m keeping my clothes.”

“Awesome! Thanks, Blasty!” Eijirou exclaimed, putting an arm around Kacchan’s shoulders and bringing him closer.

Kacchan stiffened and pushed him away. Deep down, he knew that he wasn’t supposed to. He’d let Eijirou kiss him and hold his hand, and his corrupted memories probably contained a lot more. But they were in public, and Kacchan wasn’t ready to be this vulnerable, especially if Deku could see. Eijirou’s sad look was impossible to ignore, and Kacchan hated it.

Past him wouldn’t have flinched. He would have probably accepted the affectionate gesture. Maybe he’d have reciprocated, even. Present him was making progress, but it still wasn’t enough, it seemed.

“So, when do we start?” Deku asked, wearing the ridiculous green shorts with yellow flowers he got from the Resistance extras.

“We’re just waiting for Tetsu and his team to come,” Sparky said.

“Oh, we’re playing against them?”

“Yeah! And they’re surprisingly good.”

“We’ve been doing it for years now,” Black Eyes said. “It’s nice to blow off some steam, from time to time.”

“Like you idiots need it,” Kacchan grumbled. “You’re always either fucking relaxing or finding excuses to slack off.”

“Ah, Blasty… You’re a recent model, so young and full of life… But one day, when you’re like us old androids, you’ll see.”

“Shut up, Black Eyes.”

She and her shitty friends snickered. Eijirou had the decency to try and hide his stupid smile, but he was terrible at it. Kacchan was this close to quitting, sad looks be damned, when he heard the awful clunking of machines in the courtyard.

“Hey, bro! You were waiting for us?”

Fucking Tin Can.

Eijirou seemed ecstatic to see the dumb machine, with his ridiculous body that was somehow a shiny silver instead of rusted like the others. The worst thing about his current appearance, though, was that the awful fucking “beach volley uniforms” didn’t only apply to androids, apparently. Both Tin Can in chief and his minions were dressed for the occasion, except the silver machine was wearing a speedo and the rest had either a bikini or swimming trunks and a bikini top, which looked fucking grotesque because their bodies weren’t the right shape for it, with their chunky torso and ridiculously small arms and legs. What the fuck?

So Kacchan really was the only one with normal clothes, huh… Well, he didn’t care. They were the ridiculous ones.

“Tetsu, ready to lose again?” Eijirou grinned, and the glint of competitiveness in his eyes may have done things to Kacchan. Prohibited things.

“Ha, you wish! We’re gonna win this time!” Tin Can roared.

The match itself was… Well, it happened. Kacchan would never understand why anyone would put so much effort in covering an area with sand just to throw a ball at each other, but whatever. Sparky had been right, the machines were surprisingly good, despite their reduced mobility. And Kacchan was grateful for any chance he had to see Eijirou’s fighting spirit in action. Still, the shitty machines didn’t stand a chance.

The last point they scored was a teamwork between Eijirou and him. Excited android roars and frustrated machine cries exploded in Kacchan’s ears as soon as the ball landed. Maybe he was yelling too. After all, it had been a damn good match, and their final move was fucking amazing. Eijirou turned toward him with a victorious smile so bright Kacchan would have turned blind without the blindfold, and they almost toppled over when he ran toward him for a hug.

“We did it, Kacchan!” he yelled.

All of Kacchan’s excitement vanished, and he stiffened again, ready to fight because his stupid body stubbornly interpreted the hug as an aggression. It was probably because the match had activated his fight mode and he hadn’t come down from the rush yet, but he still felt like an idiot. Eijirou noticed immediately and stepped back, his smile still present but fading. Kacchan wanted to apologize, but before either of them could speak, Eijirou was pulled into a group hug or something like that. Kacchan watched from afar, punching Sparky when he tried to pull him in.

As he watched them celebrate their victory with fucking Deku, who apparently had no problem switching back from his fighting mode, if it even activated for him, Kacchan wondered if he’d have been part of it, back when his memories were still complete.

How long until he reached the same level of comfort as before? What was even his level of comfort, back then? He noticed Eijirou’s eyes on him as the red haired android was thrown in the air by the others, and wondered if he’d ever measure up to who he was before.

[hunnywrites]

Arcade Dreams: Chapter Twenty One

Summary: There’s a new girl working at the Palace Arcade and Hawkins’ Family Video. Billy can’t stand her, and the feeling is mutual. No matter what everyone else seems to think.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC

A/N: It’s a Thanksgiving miracle I’ve finally finished the chapter. I’m sorry this is so late! We’re heading into the summer of ‘85 now, but don’t worry! I’ll be writing a few chapters of Chasing Yesterday to fill in the spaces between Billy and Teddi moving in together and now. I just didn’t want things to feel too clunky. This chapter also ends a tad awkwardly, but I’m breaking it into two parts so the chapters don’t get too long. Hope you enjoy!

The Hawkins public pool was packed to the brim with people. As Teddi hopped out of her van and made her way through the parking lot, the sound of splashing, kids yelling and laughing and the Power of Love playing on someone’s boombox nearby grew louder and louder. Today was her day off, but since everyone she knew was working Teddi decided laying out by the pool was probably a better decision than staying home and watching Star Trek reruns all day. 

Teddi made her way inside the gates, passing the bulletin board that read “Meet our ‘85 swim season lifeguards’ in large yellow letters. Teddi’s photo was between Heather and Billy’s. Her hair was longer than it had been when she moved to Hawkins and no longer platinum. Heather had helped her dye it a more natural, golden, honey blonde at the beginning of the summer. The silver ring that had been through her right nostril had been replaced with a thin gold ring that Billy had gotten her simply to match the small gold hoop that was in his ear now (the silver dangly earring Billy had been wearing before was now in Teddi’s ear). Teddi was smiling brightly at the camera, which was a stark contrast from the cool, almost bored expression that was on Billy’s face in his photo. 

“Hey, Katie.” she said with a smile as she passed by the front desk. Katie was sitting with her feet up on the counter and a magazine in her lap. Katie threw a wave in Teddi’s direction, not bothering to look up. Heather was perched up in the lifeguard’s chair, glaring down at a group of kids who were running over to the diving boards. Heather waved at her before blowing her whistle at the kids loudly. 

Teddi walked over to the tiny snack bar window, smiling tentatively at the girl on the other side. Cheryl Burns had gotten a job at the pool at the beginning of the summer. Initially she had applied to be a lifeguard, but had quickly changed her mind. “You mean if someone totally disgusting starts drowning or whatever I have to like...give them mouth to mouth? Gross. No thanks.” were her exact words. So Freddy had stuck her at the snack bar. She of course hated it. 

Cheryl’s strawberry blonde hair sat high up on her head in a ponytail. She brushed her feathered bangs out of her eyes, her eyebrows raising expectantly at Teddi. “...Coke, please.” Teddi squeaked out. Cheryl was an intimidating girl, and she knew it. Sometimes Teddi was certain that Cheryl enjoyed making her nervous. 

Cheryl set down the can of coke in front of Teddi, sneering at it in disgust. “I don’t know how you drink that shit,” she jabbed one of her long, painted nails at the “New Coke” logo. “They totally ruined it.” she held her out towards Teddi. 

Teddi dropped her change into Cheryl’s hand. “It’s not that bad...you get used to it.” 

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “I’d rather shove old man Myers’ speedo in my mouth,” she scoffed, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. Cheryl was also the most dramatic person Teddi had ever met. Cheryl looked back at the red clock on the wall behind her, a smirk forming on her lips as she leaned forward. “Here comes lover boy,” she said in a sweet, sing songy tone, nodding her head towards the locker rooms. 

Teddi turned just as Billy was walking out. While Teddi enjoyed the summer time, Billy came alive in it. It brought out the Cali boy in him like flowers that bloomed with the warm weather. His sandy blonde hair had turned a few shades lighter in the sun. His skin was a deep, golden bronze. Billy had gotten a new air of confidence about him ever since he’d move out, but now it was something different. Something that Teddi wasn’t the only one to notice. 

Karen Wheeler and a few of the other moms showed up to the pool every day around mid afternoon for Billy’s shift. They weren’t very secretive about it either. Heather would climb down from the lifeguard chair and each of them would start adjusting their swimsuits and makeup while they waited for Billy to come out. 

“Look at them,” Cheryl scoffed. “It’s so gross how they’re all drooling over him. I mean, Karen has a kid his age. And like he’d want some dried up old hag anyways,” she said with an eye roll. “You should go over there and like french him or something and tell that tacky bitch to back off. I mean, who the fuck wears a pearl necklace to a pool?” 

Teddi couldn’t help but laugh. She pulled her eyes from Billy, turning back to Cheryl. “Cheryl, do you always have to be so...blunt?” she asked, taking a sip of her coke. 

Cheryl pursed her glossy lips. “I’m a leo. It’s what we do,” she said matter of factly. Teddi coughed on her soda, sputtering loudly. “Jesus, Larsson. Say it, don’t spray it.” Cheryl frowned, leaning away from Teddi. 

“Sorry,” Teddi cleared her throat. “Sorry...I’m gonna go. Always a pleasure chatting with you, Cheryl.” she gave the blonde an awkward salute, wincing at herself as she spun around on her heel and heading over to Billy. 

Billy smirked down at Teddi as he watched her approach him, pushing his sunglasses down his nose to look at her. “You stalkin’ me, Larsson?” he teased. Teddi stepped up onto a bar at the bottom of the lifeguard chair, balancing carefully as she reached up to kiss Billy. She laughed when she felt his fingers slipping into the back of her cut off shorts, smacking his hand away. No doubt a show for the group of eyes that were glaring a hole into Teddi behind her. 

“Aren’t you a little over dressed for the pool?” he asked, his hand resting on her lower back. 

“Cool your jets. I’m gonna change,” she rolled her eyes. “Are you busy tomorrow?” 

Billy looked at her cooly. “...Depends.” 

Teddi let out a huff. “Depends on what?” 

“On what you’re gonna ask me to do...and which bikini you’re wearing under there.” he was smirking again.

Teddi pulled a face, popping her hip slightly and raising an eyebrow. “Who says I’m wearing anything under this?” 

Billy’s smirk twitched just slightly before he looked over the top of his glasses at her again, his eyes trained on the white crop top that was covered in little daisies that Teddi was wearing before looking back at her. “...Where am I going?” 

Teddi laughed. Sometimes it was just too easy. “It’s El’s birthday tomorrow. Hop’s having a party for her at the cabin and then she and Max are sleeping over at our place.” dinner at Hopper’s cabin had become a regular weekly thing for Billy and Teddi. He’d started to invite them over after the fight between Billy and Tommy. Billy had of course been closed off to the idea at first. Teddi had gone to the cabin alone for about the first three weeks before she convinced him to join her. 

“You want me to go to some 13 year old’s birthday party?” he asked.

“She’s 14 now.”

“Whatever.” 

“Oh come on,” Teddi huffed. “It’ll be fun. There’s cake. How can you say no to cake?” 

Billy held up his hands. “I’ll go. But don’t expect me to play pin the tail on the donkey or whatever the hell those little dorks do at parties,” he grumbled. Teddi rolled her eyes. “Speaking of birthdays...what do you wanna do for yours?” 

Teddi let out a groan. Her 18th birthday was in a week and she’d been trying her damndest not to think about it. “I don’t know...do we have to do anything?” 

Billy shot her a look. “If I tried that with my birthday would that work?” 

Teddi sighed “No…”

“What’d you used to do back home?” he asked. 

Teddi thought about it. Birthdays in her family had never really been a very big deal. Her parents hadn’t even celebrated their own unless you counted the fancy new purse her dad would buy her mother every year. “...Me and Hannah would drive into the city and we’d ride the Staten Island ferry back and forth for a few hours and smoke weed.” she finally said.

Billy laughed. “Jesus, Larsson. As fun as that sounds, you got any other ideas?”

“Well what did you do for your 18th birthday?” she asked with an irritated sigh. 

Billy smirked. “Cheryl.” he said with a snort. 

“Ugh. You’re disgusting,” she groaned, Billy chuckling at her. “As fun as that sounds, I think I’d rather just go to the movies or something. Maybe we can go to Starcourt and bring Max and El.” she suggested. 

Billy’s smile faltered for just a moment. “Whatever you say, Birthday Girl.” he said cooly. 

Teddi frowned slightly, pulling away from him. “...I’m gonna go find a lounger and read for awhile. You gonna come see me after you’re done up here?” she asked. Billy’s smile was back as he nodded and leaned in to kiss her again as if nothing had happened. Teddi hopped down, not looking at Karen and her friends as she passed them and headed for an empty chair by the pool. 

She started to wonder almost obsessively about the look on Billy’s face when she suggested going to the movies as she peeled her crop top and shorts off. She knew that he was watching her strip down to her bright green bikini, but didn’t turn to look at him. Had he maybe planned something different? Was it because she wanted to go with El and Max? When it came to Billy there was really no telling what was going on in his head.

Teddi let out a heavy sigh, plopping down onto the white lounger and pulling her copy of the Fellowship of the Rings out of her bag. With her sunglasses on, she allowed herself to peek back at Billy as she pretended to read. He was watching her with a sort of confused frown before his jaw set tightly and he turned away from her. 

He was definitely up to something. 

---

Teddi was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, chewing on her bottom lip as she carefully folded the bright purple wrapping paper around the stack of books she’d gotten El for her birthday. Teddi had picked them out carefully. There was the Princess Bride, Alice in Wonderland and the Last Unicorn; each bound in intricate covers with a short message that Teddi had written inside each of them. 

The phone started ringing as she scrawled From Teddi and Billy on the little tag she’d stuck to the wrapping paper. “I got it,” Billy called from his room. Teddi didn’t pay much attention to him. She grabbed a smaller present, wrapped in the same purple paper, and set it on top of the other, larger present. “Yeah?...Oh, yeah hi,” Billy threw a look over at Teddi before he turned from her, lowering his voice to speak to whoever was on the other end. 

Teddi watched him with a frown. She grabbed the TV remote, muting the Starcourt commercial that was playing so she could hear a little better. “Just give me like...an hour. I’ll be there. Yeah. Alright, I’ll see you then.” Billy hung up. He turned, going still when he met Teddi’s eyes. She crossed her arms. 

“Who was that?” she asked. 

Billy shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nobody...uh, look Ted, I know I said I’d go to El’s party…”

“You’re cancelling? Billy, we were supposed to leave like ten minutes ago.” she huffed. Teddi stood, scooping the gifts into her arms. 

“Something came up is all. I gotta…” he shook his head. “I just gotta be somewhere, okay? El’s not gonna give a shit that I’m not there.” his tone was starting to get a little colder. Like Teddi was accusing him of something. It only made her more suspicious. 

“You know that that’s not true,” she argued. While Teddi and El had grown significantly closer over the last few months, Billy had also (begrudgingly) bonded with her much to Teddi’s surprise. “What’s going on here? You’re acting really weird. Why can’t I know where you’re going?”

She was trying to keep her tone light, playful. She even let out a little laugh at the end like she was teasing him. Billy’s jaw clenched, and Teddi’s stomach dropped. “...I gotta go. I’ll see you later. Tell El I said happy birthday.” he muttered, grabbing his keys and quickly walking out. 

Teddi glared at the door. The Camaro’s engine rumbled in the distance, slowly disappearing as Billy drove off. “Of all the nights to pull this shit…” she mumbled to herself, nearly stomping over to the kitchen counter and snatching up her keys. She spent the drive back into Hawkins going over theories to herself. Teddi found herself feeling ashamed when she wondered if maybe there was someone else. 

She liked to think that if Billy was cheating on her he’d hide it better. Or maybe that was just her ego. It was Billy after all. Teddi let out a heavy sigh. It had to be something else. She just had absolutely no idea what it could be. 

When she arrived at the cabin she pushed Billy from her mind. She wouldn’t let this ruin the party. Teddi grabbed the presents, hopping out of the van and heading up the porch, her boots thumping against the old wood. Hopper answered when she knocked.

“Hey, kiddo,” he grinned down at her, his eyes immediately looking over to the empty space beside her. “...No Billy?” he asked, his eyebrows raised. 

“Something came up last minute,” she explained, trying to keep her tone neutral. “It’s probably for the best. I’m sure he’d complain about the cake ruining his physique or something.”

Hopper chuckled and stepped aside to let Teddi in. He’d traded in his uniform for some jeans an old plaid button up. Teddi always thought he looked less intimidating in his own clothes. More like a dad that liked to tell cheesy jokes...which was exactly what Hopper was. 

The kids were all already there aside from Dustin, who was off at summer camp. They were all crowded around the dinner table playing a game of Candyland. The cabin was decorated with colorful streamers, balloons and a big banner that read Happy Birthday! was hanging above the kitchen. There was a small cake sitting out on the counter waiting for it’s candles. It was a soft yellow color with bright pink piping and Happy Birthday El scrawled in shaky lettering that Teddi assumed belonged to Hopper. 

“Teddi!” El said, smiling brightly at her before pushing her chair back and hurrying over to the blonde. Teddi set her presents aside before wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Jeez, Ellie Bean. When’d you get so tall? I don’t have to bend down to hug you anymore.” she laughed. All of the kids had hit a growth spurt over the summer. Teddi no longer towered over them. She wasn’t really sure when it had happened exactly. It was like one day suddenly Mike was taller than she was and she’d nearly had an existential crisis. 

El let out a small laugh. “Hop says I’m not allowed to get any taller.” 

“He’s right.” Teddi muttered. 

“...Where’s Billy?” El asked, peering out one of the front windows as if she expected to see Billy smoking out on the porch.  

Teddi winced a little at her disappointed expression. “He’s not gonna be able to make it. Something came up, I guess. He told me to tell you happy birthday.”

That had gotten Max’s attention. The redhead looked away from the board game, looking at Teddi suspiciously. “What do you mean something came up? Did you guys break up?” she asked.

Teddi let out a sigh. “No...it’s a long story. I’d rather not talk about it.” she mumbled, heading over to the fridge to grab a drink. El and Max shared a knowing look. They’d agree to drop the subject. For now. 

“Hey, how come we can’t go to the sleepover?” Lucas asked as Teddi pulled a seat up to the game. 

Max rolled her eyes. “Because it’s a girl’s night, genius. None of you are girls.”

“That’s pretty sexist of you guys.” Mike argued. 

Hopper scoffed loudly from his spot on the couch. “Quit while you’re behind, Wheeler.” 

“What do you guys even do during a girl’s night?” Lucas asked, looking between the three girls. 

“Summon demons.” Teddi said with a straight face.

Mike, Lucas and Will all shared a look. “...I’m pretty sure she’s kidding.” Will finally decided. 

After the game of Candyland (Mike won, but Lucas had accused him of cheating) they all crowded around El to sing happy birthday and eat cake. After the presents had been opened, Teddi held up the smaller gift she had wrapped earlier, motioning to El to follow her out to the porch. 

She handed the small, but long box to the teen with an almost embarrassed look. El smiled at her, making quick work of ripping the paper open. Inside the white box was quite frankly one of the tackiest necklaces Teddi had ever seen. It had a clunky, golden chain and a deep blue stone at the end of it. In the stone there was a constellation that was almost crudely carved into the stone. 

“When I was little and my dad started working for the city, he took me and my mom to this state fair so he could make himself look good for his bosses. There were all these game stands, and one of them was this little pool that had these little rubber ducks in it. You got to pick three of them, and if you picked the right one you got a prize. So I begged him over and over to let me play and I ended up winning that horrible necklace,” she said, her and El both laughing. “It’s how I found out I was a gemini. The girl that worked at the stand was a total hippie and gave it to me when I told her my birthday. The stone is supposed to be our birthstone and then that’s the gemini constellation...I don’t know. I found it again after I moved in with Billy and I thought you should have it. It’s ugly in kind of a cool way.”

El held the necklace up, smiling up at Teddi. “I love it.” 

“Yeah?” Teddi asked, letting out a relieved sigh. “Good! Here,” she took the necklace from El, twirling her finger to tell her to turn around and clasped it around her neck. El turned back towards Teddi, taking the small pendant between her fingers. “Perfect. Come on, we should go get Max and head out before Hop tries to kill Mike.” Teddi snickered. 

The two girls headed inside, El hurrying over to Max and pulling her to her room to grab their things. Hopper looked so relieved Teddi thought he might cry. He stood up from the couch, waving his hands at the door. “Alright, boys, the party’s over. You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell outta my house.” 

“This is totally unfair!” Mike complained. “I can’t spend time with my girlfriend on her birthday because of girl’s night?” 

“How ‘bout you complain to someone who cares, Wheeler. Let’s go.” Hopper said, herding him towards the door. El and Max came running back out, arms full with their bags and sleeping bags. Lucas and Will wished her happy birthday again before practically dragging Mike out to their bikes. 

“Don’t worry chief, I’ll take good care of them,” Teddi said, placing her hands on El and Max’s heads. “We’re gonna make crank calls and break out the ouija board.”

Hopper smiled thinly at her. “Funny. You two be good, alright? No boys or ritual sacrifices,” he leaned forward, hugging El and placing a kiss on her head. “Happy birthday, kid.” he said, smiling down fondly at his daughter. 

Once the three girls were in the van and headed back for the apartment, Max spoke up. “So...what’s going on with Billy? Is he being an ass again?”

“What happened to not talking about it?” Teddi asked. 

“Why not? The boys aren’t here. So, what did he do? What was this thing that suddenly came up?” Max asked, leaning forward excitedly. 

Teddi looked at the two girls in the rearview mirror before letting out a sigh. “...I’m not really sure yet. Someone called right before we were supposed to leave for the party and he said he had to go. And when I asked him what was going on he got all...weird.” 

Max and El looked at each other. “Weird how? Like weird weird, or Billy weird?” 

“Billy weird. He’s been acting like this all day. Like he’s keeping a secret or something.”

“We should find him.” El said with a firm nod. 

Teddi laughed. “Find him and do what? Spy on him?” 

Max looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “Duh. If he’s with someone else you can catch him in the act and dump his ass.”

Teddi actually considered it for a moment before shaking her head. “That’s insane. What about the sleepover? And how would we even find him? You want me to drive all around Hawkins all night?” 

“We can still have the sleepover later,” Max shook her head. El shot her best friend a brief, knowing look. Max looked back at Teddi with an unsure expression. “...El can find him.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

El smiled at Teddi sheepishly. “...Long story.” 

[vanilluhbeaux]

Not Another Au!

vanilluhbeaux (distinque)

Chapter 4 : i was soon to change my mind, however

The sun beat down on the car, warming the already steaming insides to an almost unbearable degree. If the couple inside weren't sweating from the—activities—occurring inside—which they were, Katsuki Bakugou didn't half-ass anything, especially anything that involved Ochako Uraraka's whole ass—they were sweating from the heat the sun created inside the car. "Mmm," Ochako moaned in-between kisses, "today was definitely the day for the water park." She felt Bakugou's lips move from her own and onto her neck, kissing the bright red bruises already formed there from an earlier session at his house—but that was neither here nor there. "It's really hot," she added, knowing that he was otherwise too busy to hear her—much less respond to her.

"Duh," he said, against her skin, "it's the hottest month of the year." Of course he'd be listening—he was always listening. It surprised her sometimes—how closely he paid attention to what was going on. She should've expected it by now, ever since she's known him, he's been weirdly perceptive of anything and everything happening around them. Sometimes—Most of the time, he pretended that he didn't notice, but that didn't mean that he didn't catch everything going on. A hard bite on her ear sent her back to reality, and she found herself barely dressed in the backseat of his car, her boyfriend sweating on top of her. "You're thinking too loud," he said, rolling his eyes.

"You can hear what I'm thinkin' about?" she asked, a laugh on her lips.

"Damn near," he confirmed, "you always think loud as fuck when something weird happens."

"When was the last time something weird happened?"

"When Mineta went to Mount Lady's house."

"He didn't just go over there," Ochako said, shooting up and moving from underneath Bakugou, a puzzled look on her face.

"Went over, broke in, same difference. He was inside her house and it was really fucking weird," he defended, shooting her the same puzzled look. She furrowed her eyebrows, pushing them together with an intense frown on her face. "And you were thinking really loudly about him the entire afternoon, especially when he showed up on the news."

"Because he's a creep!" she said, "Like I swear he should be arrested or something. Either he's gonna end up hurting someone—"

"Or someone's gonna hurt him."

"How do you know that?" Ochako asked, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes lightly.

"I know everything, angel face," he scoffed, "I'm a fucking genius."

"Oh really?"

He opened his mouth to say something else, but a very clean, silver car pulled into the parking space next to them—far too close to his liking. Releasing a hot breath, Bakugou said in a gravely whisper, "Fucking hell!" In an instant, he moved to the other side of the car, trying to peer into the car that pulled into the spot next to them, only deterred by the tint on the windows. "I bet it's fucking Deku in that car," he said, looking at Ochako with irritated eyes.

"You can't even see in it," she reasoned, peering into the car herself.

"But do you smell that, babe?" he said, taking a long whiff of the air around.

"It smells like sex in here."

"We smell like sex," he corrected, "but they—" he pointed at the car next to them, "smell like bitch. And the only one who smells like bitch is Deku, and that's because he is a bitch." He sniffed the air once more and then nodded his head, confirming his own suspicion. Ochako rolled her eyes and began redressing herself, seeing that they were not going to finish what (s)he? started—not yet, anyway.

Fixing her swim suit, she pulled her sunglasses down and stepped out of the car, staring at her boyfriend through the open door. "Mina and everyone are probably waitin' on us, anyway." She extended her hand and pulled him out of the car, forcing the door closed behind him.

"Holy fuck, you're strong."

"I was a heroine in a shonen series in another life," she said, off-handedly, laughing slightly.

"That's hot."

When she looked back to smile at her boyfriend, Ochako let out an unintended groan. Bakugou turned him head to see what she was groaning out, and moaned loudly too, saying, "I thought it was one bitch in the car, but it turns out there were two." Their eyes settled on Izuku and Shouto, leaving the out of the car, both shirtless and starting to sweat in their swim trunks.

"Why did she moan?" Shouto asked, following not too far behind them. "She didn't seem like a bitch when we met earlier."

"I hate it when he's right," she said.

"I'm always right." he interjected.

"Right about what?" Izuku said, his voice bright and happy.

"Don't trip," Bakugou said, a light smirk on his face, "Just know I'm alright right—and I can smell bitch a mile away."

x

Mina, Shouto soon discovered, was all curly, pink hair and bright smiles—and apparently so was her cousin, Mei. They both sat at a table inside the park, along with Momo, Denki, Mineta, and another classmate—this one with bright red hair styled in spikes. His first thought was to ask if he was black as well—race seemed to be the topic of discussion during class—but then he thought it was better to keep his thoughts to himself. Besides, he reasoned, he'd see if he was black after getting his hair wet anyway. His classmates, and the extra, were chattering among themselves, and he swore he saw a ghost of a smile when Momo—which was strange considering he thought she was gay, but whatever—turned her head to him.

"Check out what my cousin made for us in the lab!" Mina called, holding a black case in her hands. Ochako squinted and then dashed over, pulling Bakugou with her with what seemed to be enough force to rip his arm off—though it stayed in its' socket. What a shame, Shouto thought, rolling his eyes. He kept his leisurely pace until he noticed Izuku kept up with Ochako—then he hurried along too.

"The lab?" he asked, popping down at the table.

"It's where I make my babies," the extra girl—Mei—piped, sunglasses barely hiding her bright golden eyes.

"We make ours in the back of Katsuki's car," Ochako said in a low voice, snickering.

"Well, me and Jirou can afford an actual bed," Momo said, looking down at Ochako with a disapproving glare.

"I don't think you two can be making any babies, sis," Kirishima added, shrugging his shoulders, "You two don't have all the right parts for that."

"Can I watch?" Mineta said, moving in closer to Momo, his eyes not directly looking at her red bikini but definitely not looking at her face, "As a science project?"

"That's fucking weird. You're fucking weird," Izuku said.

"Well then can I watch as porn?"

"That doesn't make it any less weird," Momo said, rolling her eyes.

"That isn't a no."

"If anyone says anything else about sex, I'm going home," Mei said, straightening herself up and crossing her eyes.

"Bitch bye," Mina said, waving her off, "You're such a fucking prude." With that, Mei walked off—not that anybody cared. Truthfully, nobody intended for her to come anyway, she just happened to show up with Mina at the last minute and had been quiet enough not to bother anyone. When she started speaking, Shouto knew that she wasn't going to last long enough to be a main character—but he hoped she wasn't going to be regulated to a one-and-done cameo appearance and never heard of again.

Anyway.

"Mei made these," Mina said, opening up the black case and revealing a set of eight watches—each pair a different color. "She whipped them up after hearing that Deku—"

"My name is Izuku," he inturrupted, an attitude heavy on his lips

"—Your name is whatever the fuck I say it is, Deku," Bakugou finished, staring down the green-haired boy with narrow eyes.

"—Activated the curse," Mina finished, narrowing her bright yellow eyes at them.

"I didn't even do anything!" Izuku said.

"You're the main character right?" Shouto said, his voice mocking, "Everything that happens from here on out is your fault."

"Y'all gone stop interrupting me," Mina said, looking dead at Shouto and Izuku. She held up her own wrist and pointed at the black band around it, and the face of the watch displayed wavelengths in a smooth, even pink. "The watches monitor your partner's heart rate, so you can keep track of who's alive. I'm partnered with Mei, so her heart rate is displayed on my screen. I can switch back and forth to tell time, but I have a phone so that's really not important. When the waves stop, it means your partner doesn't have a heartbeat anymore—and she programmed it to leave some sort of alert to let you know to get help."

Ochako peered into the box and pulled out the black band with a smooth, yellow line displayed on the face. As she wrapped it around her wrist, it started reflecting a calm wave, that picked up speed the more she looked at it. She reached her fingers out to touch the black and yellow screen, admiring its glossiness. "It's so pretty," she said, in almost a whisper, "I think I want this one."

"Dibs on the other blonde one!" Denki called, prompting MIneta to look at him and raise a brow. The taller teenager looked over and grabbed the other yellow watch saying, "It's blonde like my hair."

"That's not how you use that word, Denki," Mina said, rolling her eyes. "But you're an actual idiot, so I can't expect you to do everything right."

"I've been getting that a lot, lately," Denki mused.

The rest of the group peered into the box and pulled out a watch and strapped it onto them, not particularly caring who got which color or what partner they managed to get—until Mineta pulled the last watch, a bright orange one. "Ew!" Momo screamed, looking at her own orange watch, "I don't want to be responsible for Mineta!"

"Shouldn't have gotten that watch then, stupid ass," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. He looked at his own watch, finding the wavelength to be white and very steady and shrugged his shoulders. Quickly, he looked around the group and seen that Shouto had his matching watch and he groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. "Who has Kirishima?"

"I do," Izuku said, a smile forming at the ends of his lips.

"Who's Kirishima?" Shouto interjected, looking around with his eyebrows furrowed. He hadn't met everyone in the class, but he was sure that he was catching on pretty quickly; Mina was the girl with pink hair, Denki was the idiot, Momo was the class representative, Jirou was her girlfriend, Bakugou was the guy with the stick up his ass and Ochako was his girlfriend—though he didn't understand why—Izuku was the only one in the classroom with common sense out of everyone in the entire bunch, and Mineta was gross. Kirishima, however? He's never heard of him.

"I'm Kirishima," the redhead piped up from his place at the back of group. Upon seeing his bright red hair, Shouto remembered who he was and almost felt bad for forgetting—almost. If he wanted to be remembered, he would've had to stand out and if he couldn't do that then it was nothing Shouto could do about that. Still, Shouto graced him with a small look, stopping once his eyes spotted a small scar right above the redhead's brown eyes.

"You have a scar," Shouto pointed out.

"Hm?" Kirishima said, tilting his head to the side for a moment. After a moment, he said, "Oh!" and pointed to the smll scar on his face. "You mean this? Above my eye?"

"I have one too," Shouto said, pointing to his own scar on his blue eye, which everyone noticed before and chose to ignore. "Did your dad hit you too?" he asked, prompting Izuku to elbow him in his side.

"You're oversharing again," he whispered, though his seemed to go into one ear and out through the other.

"Uh, no?" Kirishima said, throwing an awkward laugh in. "Denki and I were in a car accident when we were little," he finished, throwing a look over at Denki, who narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Denki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know you remember when we were coming home from school when we were eight and it was raining really hard—"

"—And your mom was mad because we got into another fight—"

"—Which you totally lost—"

"—Suck my dick, I kicked your ass!"

"You're the one who ended up with a bloody nose, but go off."

"And my mom picked me up that day!"

"Bro, I swear you were with me when the car toppled over," he said, before clenching his teeth and holding his head. "Every time I think back on it I swear you're in the car with me." He sucked in a hard breath before shaking his head, sighing deeply. "Whenever I think about it too hard," he started, "my head starts throbbing."

"That went all the way left," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes and looking at Izuku with an emotion other than contempt, "Switch with me, nerd."

"Why?" Izuku asked, his voice light and teasing, much to Bakugou's disdain.

"Because I want Kirishima, duh."

"But why him?"

"Because he's my best friend," Bakugou said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Putting a hand to his head, Izuku smiled a very warm smile before taking his watch off and switching with Bakugou, who grabbed the watch without touching Izuku's tan skin.

"Bro," Kirishima said, wrapping an arm around Bakugou, "I'm your best friend?"

"Yeah, dumbass," Bakugou responded, tightening the watch on his wrist. "Don't let it go to your head," he warned, "I'd sell you to Satan for one corn chip. It just so happens I'd sell everyone else for a lot less than that."

"How much would you sell Ochako for?" Mina asked, giving them a strange look.

"Ochako? I wouldn't sell her to Satan," he said, wrapping an arm around her, "Unless he offered me like, a giant bag of skittles. Then you'd have to go."

"I'm worth a big bag of skittles to you?" she asked, her voice thoughtful as she leaned against him, her head fitting into his shoulder.

"A giant bag. Nothing less, babe."

"As...charming as this," Momo interrupted, rolling her eyes, "if Bakugou gets to switch, then I want to switch, too."

"I'll take Mineta," Denki offered, taking off his watch and giving and giving it to Momo. Ochako, on the other hand, looked as if she had different plans.

"I don't wanna be responsible for her," she said. "Someone switch."

"I'll take Momo," Izuku said, taking his watch off, "You'll have Shouto, but that shouldn't be an issue, right?"

"I'll take him," she said, smiling up at him as she loosened her watch, "he seems like he's alright—a little weird but that's typical." Shouto didn't miss the way her amber eyes winked at him, teasingly and he faintly smiled back at her and scratched the back of his head, a small laugh bubbling on his lips.

"Since everyone's got a partner," Mineta said, stretching his arms out, "I'm gonna go run to the bathroom before we get started."

"The boy's bathroom?" Mina said, narrowing her yellow eyes at him, "It'd suck if we got kicked out because you were peeping."

"Of course the boy's bathroom. I might be a pervert, but women deserve a right to use the bathroom in private," he said, placing a hand above him heart and walking off.

"You believe him?"

"Not in the slightest.

x

In a sense, they were wrong to doubt Mineta. He was plenty of things: a liar, a pervert, a cheater—if he ever got the chance to be one—and a peeping tom, but he was also a man of his word. Truthfully, he was going to the bathroom—the boy's bathroom since Mina wanted to get specific, but he never said that he would stay there. And that is how he found himself crawling through the vents of the bathroom, desperately trying to find the girl's side.

Once he saw the lights underneath the grates and the stench in the air softened to a less gross, but still not pleasant smell, he knew he was home free.

x

"Mineta's such a fucking creep!" Momo said, sitting down and placing a hand underneath her cheek. "He literally left us to spy on some girls using the bathroom."

"You don't know if he's actually doing that," Denki defended from his spot next to her. "He could've went to the locker room to peep."

"It doesn't matter—" Momo began, but then her watch started to vibrate quickly against her skin. She spared a quick glance at everyone, and seen that their watches were vibrating too—fast and loudly. It almost burned her skin, the way the watches moved and ground against the soft flesh hidden there. "What the fuck is happening, Ashido?" she cried, before the vibration suddenly stopped, leaving her wrist red and sore. Before she could say anything else, Denki's watch lit up in bright, bold colors.

"Congratulations!" it cried out, in a voice much like Mei's, "You survived!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Denki said, peering at the watch with furrowed brows.

"It means that you're alive," Ochako said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Maybe Mineta finally died," Bakugou joked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Little creep can't say he didn't have it coming."

"If he's dead, he can't say much of anything," Kirishima pointed out, laughing slightly.

"Maybe we should go check on him?" Izuku asked, looking around at everyone. "He could actually be super dead right now. Denki, what's your watch say?"

"Doesn't say anything," Denki said showing it to Izuku. "When your watches started vibrating, mine went off."

"Shit!" Kirishima said under his breath, jumping up from the table, with the others lagging behind him.

"Does this mean we don't get to enjoy the water?" Mina called, pouting as she followed along with the rest of the group.

x

They said it wasn't supposed to happen—the vents just weren't strong enough to support a whole, human body. It was a freak accident, a force of nature that could have been prevented had he not crawled into the vents—but that was not the point. The point was that it was not supposed to happen, but it did anyway. And really, Mineta was too smart to even try it. He knew better than to crawl in a tiny duct in order to see a breast. When everyone sat down and talked about it, none of it made sense. Nobody could attach a reason as to why Mineta would do something so stupid—except for the most obvious reason.

The curse had started, and it took Mineta first.

The paramedics said that he broke his neck when he fell, even if was only from ten feet above the ground. They weren't allowed to look, but judging from the reactions from the girls leaving the bathroom, it wasn't a pretty sight. "I guess we're not going to be able to spend one of the last hot day doing something fun," Mina said, pouting.

"I mean, Mineta dying isn't not fun," Denki said, playing with his watch, "The little shit shouldn't have been crawling through the vents. Death to the bitch."

"Does this mean we're not gonna fight?" Shouto asked, turning around to Bakugou. who laughed slightly.

"Not today," he confirmed, a light smile on his face. "Mineta gave his life for yours. I'm still gonna rock Deku's shit though. Just becase you're safe, Scarface, doesn't mean that Deku is."

"Run up get done up, Kacchan," Izuku said merrily, resting his head on Shouto's shoulders. "I'm with whatever. I want all the smoke. Whenever."

"Keep this same energy, fuckface."

[princess-of-the-worlds]

high by the beach

To @misssophiachase. Happy Birthday, babe! You asked for something beach!AU. I kinda cheated and went with a beach resort au. I hope you like it!

Caroline pushes her over-sized sunglasses - yellow to match the bright flowers on her white bikini - further up on her forehead, frosty margarita in hand as she struts her way toward the hotel pool area. There are multiple pairs of eyes on her as she walks, and she arches her neck, enjoying the attention and appreciation. She didn’t work on all those ab crunches during fall and winter to cover her shapely body in baggy sweaters all year.

Someone wolf-whistles, and she shoots them a quick smile and a flirty wink.

She’s drawing closer to the pool now, able to spot Bonnie and the Petrova twins from where they’ve settled down over a cluster of pool chairs. And besides them is the last empty pool chair that’s under the shade of the palm trees that enclose the pool.

She tips her head back slightly, her face basking in the warm rays of the sun.

God, she deserves this vacation, what with all the overtime she had to work this spring to secure those reclusive but highly-popular authors that her bastard of a boss, Damon, kept driving away from their publishing house.

There’s a quiet chime from her phone, nearly inaudible over the loud chatter and splashes from the pool, but Caroline only hears it because her ears became so attuned to the familiar sound over the last few months.

It’s a message from the devil himself, Damon:

Blondie, N. Mikaelson just committed to us. We’re publishing his next bestseller.

Caroline experiences a brief thrill of excitement and triumph (N. Mikaelson was one of the authors she worked so hard to secure, emailing him extensively over the last six months), but it’s quickly overpowered by bone-deep exhaustion and a burning desire to get to her pool chair and shed off the stink of her five-hour long flight.

Except, when she glances back up from her phone, someone is now sitting in her pool chair.

“Fuck,” she hisses and storms towards the pool, bypassing Elena as she begins to wave hello.

She’s practically vibrating with fury by the time she arrives in front of the pool chair and lays eyes on its occupant.

He’s a gorgeous, gorgeous man. Sandy curls that are mussed fashionably. Dimples. An aristocratic nose. And that torso, oh that muscular torso with the faint golden hairs that trail downwards before disappearing into his navy shorts.

But that doesn’t matter; none of that matters. Not when he’s the bastard who stole her pool chair.

The man in question, when he notices her standing over him and glaring, raises his sleek black Ray-Bans to reveal inquisitive dark blue eyes that trail slowly over Caroline’s body. “May I help you, sweetheart?” he drawls, flashing her a brilliant but arrogant smirk.

“No, you may not,” Caroline rages, bristling, and the man’s eyebrows raise. “The only thing you can do, and should do, is get off that pool chair because it is mine!”

He chuckles in response, turning to exaggeratedly search the chair. When his eyes return to meet Caroline’s gaze, they are highly amused, and she huffs with irritation. “Are you sure, sweetheart?” he asks softly. “Your name’s not on it.”

“Ugh!” She resists the urge to stomp her feet and wail like a toddler. “I had my eye on it! It’s right next to my friends.” Caroline gestures toward Bonnie, Elena, and Katherine, all who are watching her and this hot but aggravating man with curiosity.

“But you didn’t leave your belongings here or even ask your friends to drag the chair closer,” the man tells her, raking a hand through his messy hair. “Thus, I don’t think the finders-keepers principle applies here. Next time, do try to be faster.” His smirk only grows wider.

“Look here, buddy,” Caroline starts. “I have had a long day. My plane was late, and there was a baby kicking my seat the entire time. All I wanted to do was unwind by the pool, margarita in hand.” She gestures to the now-liquid drink in her other hand. “Give me the fucking pool chair.”

“Now, I have a proposition for you,” the man begins, but Caroline never gets to hear it because, at the exact moment, a stunning blonde from the other side of the pool yells for a “Nik!”

The man groans, propping himself up and rolling his eyes when there’s another call for “Nik.” Turning to Caroline, he smiles slightly. “I guess you got lucky, sweetheart. Enjoy the pool chair.”

Caroline decidedly does not watch the man’s shapely ass as he retreats towards the blonde and smiles smugly as she slips into the pool chair, slides down her shades, and begins to sip her now-watery margarita.

“One of us is gonna get laid tonight,” Bonnie prophesizes as she, Elena, Katherine, and Caroline step inside the club.

“How can you be so sure?” Katherine asks slyly, arching her neck. She’s already making seductive eyes at a hot brunet across the dance floor.

Caroline rolls her own eyes. “I don’t care if she’s right or not. I just need to get laid.” She struts off, tossing her curls behind her.

Finding a guy to flirt with can come later. Right now, she just needs to lose herself on the dance floor.

Nearly an hour later, Caroline stumbles away and heads for the bar. Her head is aching from the flashing lights and the pounding bass, and her minidress is glued to her skin in random places from her sweat, the hemline creeping higher and higher up her bare thighs as she totters in her high heels.

“One strawberry spritzer,” she tells the bartender, leaning an elbow on the counter as she slides up onto a stool.

She taps her fingers restlessly on the counter as she waits, but within minutes, the bartender is handing the liquor-filled glass to her. Caroline tips him with a few loose bills from her clutch before slipping off the stool and making her way towards the dance floor.

Then she promptly collides with someone else, and her drink slips from her hand and spills all over herself.

“Fuck!” she cries, but her shriek is swallowed up by the volume of the dance floor.

“You really should watch where you’re going, sweetheart,” a familiar voice says as a hand presses down on her shoulder to steady her.

Caroline’s gaze shoots upwards.

“You,” she hisses. “You’re the bastard who stole my pool chair. You’re Nik!”

“So, I am,” he responds dryly. “And I see you’ve discovered my name.”

“Thank your girlfriend,” Caroline shoots back, and Nik groans, expression looking truly disturbed for a moment.

“Now, why did you have to go and do that, sweetheart?” Nik complains. “We were having a civil conversation. Rebekah’s my sister, not my girlfriend.”

She blushes slightly and begins to apologize, but her rage ignites again when her eyes dip down and catch a glimpse of the damage the drink has done. “You ruined my dress!” Caroline exclaims. “It was Prada!”

The white fabric is stained a reddish-brown, and there’s bits of chopped strawberry sticking to the neckline.

“I just bought it,” she adds mournfully, now too focused on the dress to pay heed to Nik.

“That stain will be near-impossible to remove,” Nik chimes in, mouth turned up in a frown. “I will admit that I am partly at fault since I glanced down at my phone for a moment and walked into you, but you too could have been looking up.”

“Fine,” she says shrilly without looking up, still prodding at the fabric. “We’re both at fault. But my dress is still ruined! What am I supposed to do now?”

Nik doesn’t answer, his fingers swiftly unbuttoning his dark-colored shirt. He shrugs it off, leaving him in a white undershirt that doesn’t look out of place with the rest of the attire in the club, and offers it to Caroline. “Here, sweetheart. Consider this my apology.”

“What?” Caroline is taken aback, mouth gaping open slightly. “I can’t just take your shirt. I’m a total stranger!”

“Sweetheart, we’ve already bumped into each other twice in the last two days at a resort that claims to be twice as large as Disneyland. You accused me of stealing your chair,” Nik tells her, chuckling. “We’re practically dating at this point. Now, just take the shirt, and when you get back to the hotel, ask for it to delivered to the room of Marcel Gerard.”

Nodding wordlessly, Caroline takes the shirt and slips it on, tugging it and adjusting it in a way that it covers the front of her dress. “Thank you,” she responds quietly, unsure of how to react now that her anger has faded away.

“No need to thank me, sweetheart,” Nik drawls, his playful tone smoothing some of Caroline’s awkwardness and tension. “I’m just making up for stealing your pool chair.”

Caroline regains enough of her composure to roll her eyes at Nik. “Finally!” she states triumphantly. “You admit it. You are a pool chair thief.”

“I guess I am.” Nik shrugs, his lips stretching into a mirthful smile. “Now that apologies have been made, are we familiar enough with each other that I will be able to ask for something quite daring? Perhaps your name?”

Throwing back her head to laugh, she prepares to answer, but Elena suddenly appears at her elbow, expression harried.

“Caroline, there you are,” the brunette says in relief. “We have to go. Katherine got in a bar fight with this guy who tried to follow her inside the women’s bathroom. Bonnie’s got her out front in a taxi. Let’s go.” She doesn’t even spare a glance for Nik.

Before Caroline can protest, she’s bundled off by Elena, barely managing to wave apologetically at Nik. “Sorry,” she calls behind her.

“Don’t be, Caroline,” Nik shouts back with a smirk, his accent caressing her name in a way that makes her sigh. “Knowing our luck, I’ll be seeing you soon.”

There’s knocking at her hotel room door, barely audible over the shower, but Caroline still turns the faucet to turn off the flow of water and slips a plush, oversized bathrobe on as she goes to open the door, pulling it wide enough open to stick only her head out.

“Good morning, Ms. Forbes,” the uniformed hotel worker says with a polite smile. “There was a note delivered for you from another guest.”

“Oh, um.” Caroline bites her lip, peering further out the door and down at the cream-colored envelope in the hotel worker’s hands. “I wasn’t expecting anything, but thank you.” She reaches and takes the envelope, smiling at the hotel worker as she closes the door and locks it.

She slips out the note and unfolds it as she returns to the bathroom.

In elegant but messy handwriting, it reads:

Caroline, I know that we have had few and brief interactions, but I would love to see you again. Please meet me tonight on the hotel room for dinner.

It’s signed by Nik.

Caroline gasps, her heart fluttering slightly. She didn’t expect Nik to ask her on a date even though they shared undeniable chemistry, but now that he has, she’s elated. Glad.

Well, looks like she’s cancelling her evening plans with her friends.

Caroline’s putting the finishing touches on her lip, blush-colored to match her peony-printed sundress, when her phone rings, startling her enough that she nearly smears her lipstick over her cheek. She quickly caps the tube and drops it none-too-gently onto the bathroom counter, hand scrabbling for her phone.

She flips it off, eyeing the contact name of her caller, and groans.

Stefan Salvatore

Stefan is Damon’s brother and his counterpart at the publishing firm. Caroline likes him; they’re friends who lunch occasionally, but every time Stefan calls out of the blue, it’s always related to something Damon fucked up and means more work for Caroline.

She swipes on her phone screen to accept the call, pressing it to her ear.

“Hey, Care,” Stefan says. “How’s your vacation going?”

It was fine until you called, she thinks.

“Get to the point, Salvatore,” she sighs. “You didn’t call me just to chat when you know I’m on vacation. What do you need?”

Stefan makes an apologetic sound. “Sorry, Care, but you’re going to have to cut your vacation short. Damon was fired, and we’re gonna lose N. Mikaelson to our rivals. We need you to come back.”

“Fuck,” Caroline cries, running her hand through her perfect curls and mussing them up. “I took this vacation after so many years. I worked so much overtime to get Mikaelson to sign on. We can’t lose him!”

“I know, Care,” Stefan tells her regretfully, “but there’s not much I can do. I’ve been up day and night for the past week trying to secure our other authors.”

“When did Damon get fired?” she asks slowly.

“The day you left,” Stefan admits. “I’m only calling you, because you’re our last resort. If we lose Mikaelson, two years of our hard work goes down the drain.”

“Fine,” Caroline sighs again. “When do I leave?”

“I bought a ticket for you. The flight leaves in an hour and a half. You have maybe an hour to get to the airport,” Stefan explains.

Shit. Even if she speed-packs, she’ll barely be able to make it to the airport. And Nik, oh Nik. She’s never going to make it to dinner, and she doesn’t know how to tell him that. She doesn’t have his phone number or even his full name.

“Care? You still there?” Stefan asks.

“Yup. Still here. Gotta go now. Have to pack. Bye.” She cuts the call and rushes to her suitcase, mind whirling.

Caroline may not know his phone number, but she knows a name for a hotel room that he’s connected to. She quickly flips the note over and grabs a pen, scribbling on the back of it.

Nik, I’m sorry, but something’s come up. I won’t be able to make dinner. Sorry, Caroline.

It’s two weeks after she was forced to leave her vacation early, and Caroline is exhausted in every sense of the word.

She’s spent most of her time since she returned from the resort in her office, sending frantic emails and chasing after N. Mikaelson’s team, and they’ve finally secured a meeting with the reclusive author himself today.

She should be triumphant, but her mind’s still fixed on a certain British man.

“Caroline,” Stefan says, drawing her attention away from the file she’s drearily gazing at. He smiles at her. “I can’t believe that this happening. We’ve worked all year for this.”

“I gave up my vacation for this,” Caroline mutters.

His expression becomes sympathetic, and he slides a comforting hand over hers. “Care,” he says, looking her in the eyes. “After this, you’ll be getting much more than a vacation. Damon’s position is still vacant. If they don’t promote you, I’ll eat my own shoe.”

“Don’t do that,” she jokes. “Your shoe is Italian leather, and you’re vegetarian.”

Stefan chuckles, reaching for a pile of stapled papers and straightening them. “Good to know,” he says just as there’s a quick knock at the door. “Come in.” He turns to Caroline and mouths It’s them.

She clears her throat with a cough, straightens up in her chair, and steels herself to meet N. Mikaelson.

The first man through the door is tall, broad-shouldered, brunet, and dressed in a stylish grey suit. “Good morning,” he says. “My name is Elijah Mikaelson, and I am my brother’s manager.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Caroline says as she stands and shakes Elijah’s hand. “And where would your infamous brother be?”

“Right here, sweetheart,” comes a familiar voice as Nik shoulders his way through the doorway, informally dressed in a grey Henley and jean. “My name is Niklaus Mikaelson. Klaus to most people. Nik to you. And I believe, Caroline, that you still owe me dinner.”

[babblingbr00k]

Inventory in a Pepto Bismal Stripper Room

~I will never forget that first morning for as long as I live. I was told the night before that, Monday through Saturday, all those individuals that couldn't pay the fee to be in the program, must work at the Thrift Store. It's here that we Earn Our Keep. It's also where Character is built.

~I sat up on the edge of my bed and attempted to stand. My heart rate began to climb and was beating about 40 beats too fast. As I stood up, the room began to spin and my eyesight went black. Afraid that I would pass out, I retreated back into the loving arms of my bed and caught my breath.

~Having gotten, both, my eyesight and horizon back, I was now able to focus on my next objective.

~My mission, if I chose to accept it, was to place one foot in front of the other. Making my way towards the closet, dressing, and vanity area. Once there, my next obstacle was to pick out my frock for the day, adhorn said frock, and try my best to appear halfway decent.

~I made my way, in the darkness, to the back of the house where the vanity, dressing, and closet areas were.

~I felt like Dorothy. Stepping from the black and white Kansas world into the Technicolor world of Oz.

~Giant mirrors covered the 3 walls of this world. Above the mirrors were bright iridescent light bulbs. Below the mirrors, at waist height, was a shelf, colored to match the walls. It was on this Pepto Bismol pink colored shelf, that little workstations were sectioned off for each girl. Makeup, curling irons, straightening irons, hairsprays, body sprays, purfume’s, blow dryers, styling gels, lotions, facial creams, hair bows & headbands of every color, as well as brushes, picks, and combs of every possible shape and size, could be seen stuffed into every available nook and cranny.

~The room was wall to wall chaos right now. Each girl bouncing back and forth, borrowing this, using that. Every couple of seconds you could see each girl shove her face into any one of the mirrors, each painstakingly perfecting their very own work of art.

~Fighting back the urge to vomit, I grabbed the only empty chair and made a left into the dark, quiet, and safe confines of the closet. It was in the farthest right corner where I unfolded and placed my chair. I sat down with a sigh of relief and looked up into my designated storage section.

~I glanced over at each of the girls closet space and felt a wave of shame pass over me. Just like the vanity room, here in the closet, every possible corner, cubby hole, and shelf was overflowing some kind of article of clothing. I returned my gaze to my collection and quickly took inventory of everything I owned in the whole world.

Itemized Inventory in Closet

~One (1) medium LSU Tigers T-shirt-Yellow-Small hole right underarm.

~One (1) XXXL Gonzales Fire Station T-Shirt-Faded Blue-Bleach stain on the bottom hem in the back.

~One (1) pair of XL Crocs-Green-Traction on bottom soles worn away due to over use and advanced age of almost 10 years. These Crocs are sentimental to me...I’ll explain later.

~One (1) pair of Fruit of the Loom Bikini Cut Cotton Underwear-Pink Paisley in color-Unsure of size because the tag is too degraded-Clean-Waistband beginning to come apart.

Itemized Inventory on Person (Me)

~One (1) Pair of light blue scrub bottoms-Small-Starting to smell-Needs to be washed.

~One (1) Fruit of the Loom Sports Bra-Grey-Used to be Medium in size but stretched to XL from 3 years of use. Absolutely no support whatsoever. Needs to be washed.

~One (1) XL Plain white Hanes Crew Collar T-Shirt-Stole from Phillip-Dingy from years of wear. Needs to be washed.

~One (1) Hanes Women's Bikini Cut underwear-Faded Purple-Stained-Stretched and Smelly~Needs to be Washed

~One (1) Pink ankle sock with hole in baby toe-Needs to be Washed

~One (1) Black Crew Sock-Needs to be Washed

~These few items of clothing was all that I had left. Everything else I had to leave at the rental house that Phillip and I shared. The cute little cottage house where Phillip abandoned me almost two weeks before.

~I angrily stormed out of the closet and made my way back to my bed. These people cannot expect me to work in this condition. They can’t MAKE me do anything. There is no way in hell these people can MAKE me work. Not in this condition.

~I stubbornly laid there in bed, daring any one of the girls to say one single word to me. I laid there listening to the laughter and happy banter coming from Pepto Bismol Pink Stripper looking Vanity Room. The happier they got, the angrier I got.

~A few minutes before 7 a.m. Amy came bouncing out of the Stripper Room and plopped down on the bed opposite me. She informed me that they were ready and asked if I was. I pleaded with her to let me stay behind.

~“I already asked Stacey. She said that you are not allowed to stay here by yourself. Your going to have to come with us.” She said as she looked at me pathetically.

~I sat there quiet for a couple of seconds, debating on whether or not I should release my own private hell on this unsuspecting girl. But just when I was about to open my mouth, I was interrupted by my roomates exiting the vanity room, making their way to the kitchen.

~“How dare all these girls feel so happy and good when I am feeling so miserable!?! A Plague on ALL YOUR HOUSES!!!”

~It was a short walk across the parking lot to Miracle Place Church. We made our way through the main doors, through the empty, dark sanctuary, into a long hallway, and finally into a room that was decorated in Coca Cola memorabilia. There was a couch and also some chairs.

~"Brook? Why don't you lay down on the couch and get a little more rest while we have Devotion. You can listen and follow along but you don't have to join in." Amy told me. "Devotion lasts an hour." she also said.

~I took Amy's advice and laid down on the couch and just tried to relax a little. My heart was still beating about 40 beats faster than what it should have been. I could hear it in my ears. This made me winded and I felt even more anxious. I wanted to come out of my skin. I wanted to be anywhere but in my body. The nausea came and went. Irrational thoughts and paranoia invaded my brain. I knew I had to try to calm down. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and tried to go to my happy place. I knew that if I went to my happy place and concentrated enough, my heart rate would come down to a more comfortable level. Once I could get my heart rate down to a comfortable level, the anxiety, nausea and uneasiness would subside.

~My "Happy Place" has always been the same. I'm on a deserted beach. There's absolutely no sign or noise of anyone else being there. It's night-time and I'm laying on the beach just enough into the water so that it laps over my body. I focus on the night-time sounds that my "Happy Place," has to offer. The sounds of the waves as they crash into beach. I focus on the distinctive yet individual sounds that each ones makes as they come onto shore. The sound of the wind as it comes in from the ocean, and the sounds of the insects as they are preparing their nightly ritual.

~I concentrate on each part of my body. First, the muscles in my feet. I flex the muscles in my feet by moving my toes. Once I feel the muscles in my feet relax, I move onto my lower legs. I move onto each part of my body until, hopefully, my entire body is completely relaxed.

~I'm not sure how long passed but I was brought back to that Coca Cola room as I felt each girl lay their hands on me. From my head to my toes there was a soft little hand. I kept my eyes closed and nervously waited. Waited to see what weird stuff they were going to do to me. For a few seconds I was imagining some weird little spiritual ritual that I was about to be party to.

~Another couple of seconds passed and just as I was about to open my eyes, Amy began a prayer. Amy was praying for me. My mind, body and soul. She prayed for supernatural healing. She asked God to, please, heal my mind and body of all nausea, anxiety, panic, fatigue, depression and uneasiness. She prayed for God to take away any and all withdraw symptoms. Take away my craving for the drugs.

~Emma's prayer began just as Amy's ended. Each girl took turns as they prayed for my body and mind. I focused on each prayer. I focused on each lovely word that came from each mouth of these lovely ladies.

~Can I be honest with you? I expected it to work. I listened to these prayers and expected all of my pain and discomfort to go away. I expected to open my eyes, get up, and be able to run a marathon. I expected to open my eyes and all of this was going to be over.

~I opened my eyes and still felt like crap. I opened my eyes and felt a wave of anxiety and panic rush over me. I sat up and wanted to die. In my head I TOLD God to kill me. I was always considered to be a very strong person, but this was too much. There's just so much a person can take and I had reached my limit. I had made up my mind that if God wasn't going to put me out of my misery then I was going to do it myself.

~I began crying as I started my own prayer. Verbally asking God to kill me. The girls listened to me beg God to put me out of my misery.

~"Please release me from the pain of this miserable existence." I told God.

~I got angry. Accusing God of taking the wrong person. He shouldn't have taken Coleson. Coleson was the better person. He would have done more for this world than I ever would have. Why take Coleson, such an angel, when he could have taken someone who actually deserved death, like me? The girls let me vent. They let me say what I needed to say. My prayer ended. I'm not sure how long passed but I eventually passed out. And when I woke.....it wasn't my body that was healed.....It was my attitude.

~When I opened my eyes I saw these lovely ladies, all sitting around me. I knew that God had sent each one. Each one was going to help me get through this. I knew from that moment on that I wasn't going to be alone. These women were praying for me. They were pulling for me. Each woman was behind me and they were going to fight for me if they needed to.

[tenroseforeverandever]

Three Sentence Meme / First Lines Meme

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (or however many you have altogether). See if there are any patterns. Then, tag your favorite authors.

I was tagged by @chocolatequeennk and @doctor-who-hears-a-horton

Thanks so much, ladies. Here we go! 20 of them? Really?

Home for the Holidays (Ten x Rose; Runaway Bride rewrite with Rose; Doomsday fixit; WIP; *** the next chapter should be up later today!)

The Doctor had tried to send her away. It had been consuming Rose’s thoughts for the last month. He had tried to send her away… again.  She might have been able to buy the fact that he had just been thinking of her safety, but really, she figured it had more to do with making it easy for himself.

Untitled (52) (Ten x Rose; drabble; hurt, no comfort)

“Weeell… it’s only a very slight possibility. Genetic compatibility and all…” Those had been his exact words. And wasn’t that just like the two of them, spectacularly defying the odds?

That Treasured Sound (Twelve x Rose; Nostalgia)

The Doctor whirled around at the sound of the laugh. It was more youthful than the laugh that clung in his memories, but just as unaffected, just as natural, and just as lovely as it had been to his ears so many, many years ago.

Forgotten (Ten x Rose; heavy angst)

Wotchah, Doctah! Rose’s cheerful voice resounded through the console room, a mobile message from the past, forgotten in the aftermath of battle.

Untitled (51) (Ten x Rose; drabble)

Arms folded across her chest, Rose watched the Prindurian princess lean across the TARDIS console, flashing the Doctor a bright grin, and spouting a string of technical gibberish.

The Cupid’s Arrow (revised edition)  (Nine x Rose; Valentine’s Day)

“Honestly, Rose! The things I do for you! Your Nan’s birthday!” the Doctor whinged.

Untitled (50) (Ten x Rose; drabble; smut)

The Doctor crouched, hiding from the guards in the tiny cupboard, spooning Rose as she hunkered between his knees, her arousal thick in the air. Excitement and danger, the need for silence, always turned her on.

Untitled (49) (Ten x Rose; drabble; more smut)

“But I mean, Rose, the Big O!” the Doctor scoffed. “Bit of a rubbish description, that!”

Untitled (48): Moments Made Immortal (Tentoo x Rose; baby fic; titled untitled LOL)

Rose was tugged from slumber by soft murmurs from the nursery. Wrapping herself in her dressing gown, she stole from the bedroom and leaned against the nursery doorway to watch as the Doctor rocked their son back to sleep.

Little Madam (Tentoo x Rose; OC Hope Tyler-Noble; kid fic)

“Hope, sweetheart,” Rose sighed stoically at her five-year old daughter, “I don’t think Daddy would really appreciate you usin’ his tools for one of your projects…”

Dreaming of a White Cheddar: A Fondoodler™  Fantasy  (Tentoo x Rose; Christmas fic; eventual smut)

Walking down a busy London street on Christmas Eve, Rose Tyler congratulated herself. She had never had any problem choosing gifts for the Doctor. Big things, small things: they were all greeted with equal enthusiasm, and he loved them all. But this year, she had managed to sneak a very rare piece of alien tech out of Torchwood before the Doctor had even had a chance to get wind of it, never mind catalogue it.

A Fashionable Rescue (Ten x Rose; Jack Harkness; and two OCs (some fashionable daleks); silliness and crack; a gift for my son (he and my daughter created the dalek characters originally, and he wrote a fanfic about them. This is the sequel))

Becky wheeled into the TARDIS console room, her plunger and gun stalk, waving in agitation. “Maddie!”  She spun her dome around, searching for her sister. Spotting her on the far side of the console, she rotated her body and rushed toward her, her pink, satin gown flowing behind her. “I am getting worried, Maddie! They have been gone too long! Something must have happened.”

Untitled (47) (Ten x Rose; drabble; a little smutty)

The Doctor’s jaw dropped as Rose strolled into the console room. It wasn’t just her tiny bikini top that had him looking… weeell, trying not to look, to be honest.

Fur and Crushed Velvet (Tentoo x Rose; Hallowe’en; smut; very cheesy!)

“I vaaant to suuuuuck your blooood.”  The Doctor’s breath ghosted over Rose’s neck, sending a delightful shiver down her spine.

Untitled (46) (Tentoo x Rose; OC, CHarlotte (Charlie) Tyler-Noble; drabble)

“This won’t hurt, love. Promise.” The Doctor tugged Charlie’s hand from her swollen cheek, persuading her to let him examine her injury.

Untitled (45) (Ten x Rose; hurt, no comfort; drabble)

The TARDIS corridors chime with ephemeral echoes of golden laughter and tart remarks. Pink, tongue-touched smiles and flashes of yellow hair taunt from the fringes of his vision, darkening into shadows when he turns to follow.

Untitled (44) (Tentoo x Rose; Ten x Rose; drabble; Journey’s End)

As the TARDIS landed, the Doctor moved toward the door. He turned to look at Jackie. “Home.” The implication of that word settled in his single, throbbing heart, as he swung the door wide.

Blind Date (Ten x Rose; Pete’s World; reunion fic)

“Dad, nooooo! Please. Get someone else to do it, yeah? Dad? DAD? DAD? Fuck!” 

Untitled (43) (Tentoo x Rose; drabble)

At the Doctor’s urging, Rose lays her head in his lap. Feelings of shame and indignation over her formal reprimand slowly melt away as his fingers slip through the strands of her hair, massaging her scalp with gentle pressure, unconditional love seeping through with every touch.

Untitled (42) (Doctor x Rose; drabble)

He had been broken, chasing oblivion, when she had blundered into his life. From the moment she had taken his hand, her light had begun to mend his soul, and restore his will to live.

A Fantastic Life (Nine x Rose; Doctor x Rose; OCs, Hope and Charlie Tyler-Noble; kid fic; sappy and sentimental goodness!)

***This one is number 21, actually, but I really wanted to include it here. It is very special to me.

The Doctor staggered back into the TARDIS with Rose cradled in his arms. He had only minutes left. Already he could feel the burning tendrils of the Vortex twist and tear through his body, and in their wake, his devastated cells began to regenerate, setting his body on fire. It was all too much, too fast. But there had been no other way.

Patterns to my writing: I like to get right into the story, bring up the dilemma/problem right away, hook people in... Well, that’s the idea, anyway. In keeping with this idea, it seems I often start with dialogue and generally introduce the characters right away, rather than describing a setting.

I am tagging a few brilliant authors: @jellyneau-xo; @timeladyofthesith; @lizann5869; and @caedmonfaith

[anavoliselenu]

Beautiful lies chapter 5

"Marta will take care of you today – she’ll get you what you need, okay?"

She nods, her posture unsure. I hadn’t planned on leaving her today. I have to work the rest of the week, so today I planned on enjoying her in the many rooms of my home, but if I flake out on my brothers now, I’ll never hear the end of it.

"What about later?" She looks up and blinks those gorgeous blue eyes at me. I try to read her look. Hesitation? Interest? I shrug it off. I’m sure it’s nothing more than mere curiosity at when I’m going to take her virginity. That’d be the only obvious thing on her mind. It’s her entire purpose for being here.

I bend down to whisper near her ear, careful that my brothers don’t overhear. "I quite enjoyed my cock in your mouth last night."

She swallows and lets out a tiny gasp, inaudible to anyone but me. The sound makes my dick flex in my pants. Fuck.

I raise one hand and stroke her cheek with the back of my knuckles. "You’re really good at sucking cock, you know that, right?"

I check her eyes for her reaction, but this information looks like news to her. Okay, so maybe she’s just good at sucking mine. Even better news. Her cheeks are rosy and pink and her eyes dart around me, checking to see if my brothers are listening to us. They are, but I’m sure they’re acting like they’re not.

She licks her lips, completely unaware how erotic that sight is to me. Is it possible to golf with a raging erection? Apparently I’m about to find out.

"Enjoy your day with Marta, but then be ready for me tonight." It’s not a request and a she simply nods.

I head out with my brothers, tossing my clubs into the back of Collins’ SUV and then climb into the passenger seat. I’d completely forgotten about golf today. I hated golf, but Collins had joined the Beverly Hills country club to woo some stuffy client, and he’d been on me and Pace to join him for golf so he could feel like he was getting his money’s worth at the overpriced club.

"So, are you fucking her, or what?" Collins asks before we’re even out of my driveway, not wasting a second.

"Are we really going to talk about this like we’re back in high school?" I ask, keeping my expression bored and fixed on the road.

"Fuck yeah we are." Pace leans forward between the seats, resting on the console. "She’s hot and you know it. Hot enough that Collins forgot all about his supermodel girlfriend."

That was fucking funny. Nothing rattled Collins.

"No one would blame you if you were," Collins continues. "After what that redheaded bitch did to you."

Why in the fuck was everyone bringing up Stella? I bite down, tasting blood.

"I’m not fucking her," I answer. At least not yet. "She’s my friend’s sister," I remind them.

"Right, John from Harvard." Collins smirks. He knows just as well as I do that Selena’s not from the east coast. Why in the fuck had she said she was from Boston?

"Well, she’s not my friend’s sister, and I have a guest room in my condo. I’ll take her if you don’t want her," Pace replies, completely oblivious.

He’s not taking her anywhere, but I’m not about to engage in a childish argument over my own property.

Chapter Six

Selena

With a name like Marta, I was expecting a dowdy older housekeeper type with a gray bun and sensible shoes, certainly not the twenty-something blonde who shows up in a cute sundress and strappy sandals with a Chanel bag slung over her shoulder.

"Selena?" she asks, pulling off the large sunglasses that cover her eyes.

"Yes. Marta, I assume?"

She nods and extends her hand. "You do need a wardrobe, don’t you?" Her gaze travels down my body, taking in Justin’s baggy clothes and she bites her lip. Then she pulls a pair of cut off jean shorts and a tank top from her bag and hands them to me. "Justin said you’d need something to borrow for today."

"Justin?" I ask, accepting the clothes.

Her eyebrows pinch together. "Justin Justin? The man whose home you’re staying in."

I nod. Justin Justin. Even his name is sexy. He hadn’t exactly given me a fake name after all. I smile when I remember Pace calling him Coco this morning.

"Most of his staff calls him Mr. Justin." She shrugs. "But he’s just Justin to me."

Interesting. I wonder what else she is to him. She’s tiny and gorgeous with her tanned skin and blond curls and I feel self-conscious in her presence.

When I return from the guest bath down the hall, I’m dressed in the shorts and tank top, feeling thankful for something to wear, even if they are a little on the tight side, and then I retrieve my purse and shoes from upstairs.

"Ready?" she asks.

I nod and follow her outside into the bright sunshine.

I climb into the little red sports car convertible beside her, tugging at the too short shorts.

She presses a button near the rearview mirror and the roof lowers and folds back neatly into the trunk. I guess I’ll need to get used to my new LA life.

"How did you say you knew Justin? He was kind of vague on the details," she asks, pulling out of his private drive.

I repeat the story that he and I settled on and she nods along without questioning me.

"What did Justin, I mean, Justin tell you about me?" I ask.

"He said that you’d be staying awhile and that you’d need pretty much everything."

"Oh." I get quiet as I look out at the scenic drive we’re cruising down, remembering the phone call with my mom.

"Listen, Selena, I know it’s not my place to pry, but if you’re in some kind of trouble, if you need anything…even a friend to listen…I’m happy to help."

I suppose it did sound suspicious. I’d showed up out of the blue without a stitch of clothing to spare. "No, it’s nothing like that. Just a fresh start." I smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, the offer stands. And I know Justin better than anyone. It’s not like him to just move a woman in."

I swallow and wonder what she means. I realize Marta could give me information about him, probably more than anyone else. "How long have you worked for him?" I want to inquire about exactly what her role is, but I’m not sure if there’s a polite way to word it.

"Oh gosh, Justin and I have quite the history. Where do I start?" She laughs and I glance over at her. Her smile is gorgeous, and her loose blonde waves drift around her face in the subtle breeze, but all I’m able to concentrate on is her implied familiarity with my new owner.

Have they slept together? Are they currently sleeping together? I don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me before, but Justin has no obligation to be faithful to me. A thought that makes my stomach cramp. While I’m blowing him in private and giving him the most precious part of me, he could be off wining and dining other women. Beautiful, confident women like Marta. I knew this situation wasn’t going to be ideal, but I also never imagined I’d be living with such an eligible young bachelor like Justin Justin. Already he’s affecting me in ways I didn’t anticipate.

"Mm, let’s see. I’ve been his personal assistant for…" She purses her lips. "Six years now. I began at his office as a receptionist, but our personalities just clicked and I started working for him personally a short time after that. Having someone he can trust in his home and private life is important to him."

I nod, but the truth is, I don’t know him at all. It’s weird to think that I know what he looks like naked, but I don’t actually know him know him. And I want to. Why is he so successful at such a young age and why in the world did he go to that auction in the first place? Questions burn through my mind like a raging inferno.

We spend the afternoon in various boutique shops, where I try on and purchase jeans, shorts, sundresses and tops, all on Justin Justin’s gold card that Marta whips out at every transaction. For once I actually have money, but after Marta reprimanded me for trying to pay and said that Justin had instructed her everything was to go on his card, I stopped fighting it.

We already have several full shopping bags of clothes and are at our last stop of the day – a lingerie boutique for some much needed bras and panties.

I’m digging through a bin of simple cotton panties, the kind that fill my drawers back home when I sense Marta’s presence beside me. She eyes the pretty pair of pale yellow boy shorts trimmed in lace and purses her lips. "Justin favors dark colors," she says.

My stomach twists again at her implied familiarity with the man I’m currently sharing a bed with. I want to argue, to tell her it’s not like that between me and him, but instead, I drop the forgotten undergarment into the bin and continue looking. From the corner of my eye, I can see her eyeing me suspiciously. Maybe that was a test, and I’ve just answered her question about my relationship with him without saying a single word. Oh well. I do have a sexual relationship with him – or at least I am going to soon – and there’ll be no sense hiding it.

Stocking up on basic black and navy bikinis and matching bras, I find Marta browsing in the clearance area of the store. She doesn’t seem the type to need to shop in the discount section, but I secretly like that she’s thrifty. I am too.

It’s not lost on me that she’s likely my best source of information on Justin. I mean, geez, I didn’t even know his first name before she’d told me. I wondered what else I could get her to let slip.

When she sees me approach, she smiles at me again. "Ready?"

"I think so." I hold up an armful of undergarments. "But take your time." Today’s been all about me so far – something I’m not used to. She can browse if she wants. "That’s cute." I nod to the red demi bra she’s holding.

"They don’t have my size." She shoves it back onto the rack and keeps looking.

I gather my courage. "Marta?"

"Hm?" she says, holding up a sequined tank top.

"Who’s Stella?"

Her eyes zip over to mine. "He told you about Stella?"

Shit. Her accusatory tone and icy stare are too much, that, or my conscious is too big. My gaze drops down to the floor. "Not exactly. His brothers stopped by this morning, and her name might have come up." And his bedroom smells like stale perfume and one half of his closet seems like it’s been hastily emptied out, I mentally add.

Marta continues perusing the rack of discounted bras, her brows pinched together like she’s recalling a bad memory. "He’s not been himself since Stella. She did a fucking number on him," she mutters under her breath.

I can’t really imagine someone hurting the ever in control Justin Justin, but then again, I have no idea of his past, just like he has no idea of mine. But I intend to find out.

Several hours later, Marta drops me off at Justin’s place. We bought so much, all of my shopping bags barely fit in her tiny backseat and trunk. Marta helps me carry them inside and up the stairs. She marches with purpose toward Justin’s bedroom, like it’s a familiar route. The little sting of curiosity is back. I also note that there’s no question about where I’m staying – she didn’t even pretend to assume it was in one of the guest rooms.

She sets the bags down inside the mammoth closet and turns to face me. I offer to change out of the clothes she’s let me borrow for the day, but she waves me off.

"Thanks for everything today."

She nods. "Of course. As a friend of Justin’s, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. And seriously, I meant what I said before – if you need anything – a friend to grab coffee with – or drinks, or just a female to talk to when he drives you insane…Call me."

I accept her cell phone number, wondering what she means about him driving me insane.

Once Marta leaves me alone, I feel a little awkward placing my clothes on the empty side of the closet once occupied by Stella’s stuff. But maybe that’s what Justin intends bringing me here – for me to replace whatever bad memories she left behind.

If that’s what he wants, I’ll do it. Heaven knows I’m running from my own baggage too. I’m here for the money, but as the knot that had permanently taken up residence in my stomach lessens with each passing hour, I realize that’s not the only thing this new way of life can provide me.

Being here in LA, in this mansion, brings a sense of relief from the constant worry and heartache I live with every day. I miss my family, well, mostly Becca and of course I worry about her health, but it’s not relentlessly churning in my head like before.

I should feel guilty at this realization, but honestly, it’s a relief.

Chapter Seven

Justin

Before we leave the country club, I stop in at the boutique gift shop. The frilly blue lace camisole and panty set hanging in the window catches my attention, making me recall Selena’s pale blue panties from last night. And like a ship to a beacon of light, I find myself heading straight toward them.

"Can I help you find something?" The sales girl asks from behind the counter, letting her gaze wander down my toned chest and halt at the area directly below my belt. "Something for your girlfriend, maybe?" she asks.

Her subtlety is lacking. All she sees when she looks at me is a fat cock and a fatter wallet. If I’m at this club, it means I have money, but after the red headed monster from hell, it repulses me to think about ever being with a woman like that again. Just because she throws a pretty smile my way and would drop to her knees at my command doesn’t mean she can have my heart.

Girls like her are only interested in the lifestyle I can provide them – the wealth, the status – not the man inside. Which is why I’m not interested in anything more than what I’ve arranged with Selena. Clean and separate from the rest of me. Sex and intimacy have no place together.

"I’m good, thank you." I know Marta will have everything covered today, but that doesn’t stop me from looking around while I wait for Pace and Collins to finish in the locker room. I’m hot and tired after playing thirty-six holes of golf – but I’d much rather shower at home where I can put on fresh clothes after, than here with a bunch of men. And I wasn’t joking when I told Selena to be ready for me when I got home. Last night’s prelude wasn’t enough. I haven’t stopped thinking about her luscious mouth or perky tits once.

Moving past the rows of silk panties and lacey camisoles I stop beside a display of lotions and oils. Grabbing one of the bottles, I head to the register to pay.

"Nice choice," the cashier beams up at me.

Ignoring her, I check my Rolex. I wonder if Selena and Marta are back yet. The sales girl, obviously annoyed at my lack of attention, despite her skin tight top unbuttoned to show off the top of her bra, stuffs my purchase into a gift bag and shoves it at me.

I find Pace and Collins in the grand foyer of the club, rehydrating with bottles of water. "You ready, ladies?" I ask.

Collins tosses me a bottle of water. "Come on," he says to Pace, "we’ve got to get princess home in time for his blowjob."

Yes, please.

***

The house is silent when I return and I wander the rooms downstairs, checking the den and kitchen before heading upstairs. Disappointment courses through me at the idea that she’s not back yet. At least I can get a shower in before she returns. The least I can do is wash myself before I expect her to devour my cock.

Stripping my shirt off over my head as I head toward my bedroom, I’m surprised to find Selena sitting in the center of my bed with her phone in her lap and a frown on her face.

"Everything okay?"

She startles at my voice and drops her phone on the bed. Her gaze wanders lazily down my naked chest and her frowns falls away. Good girl.

"It’s fine." She sets her phone beside her on the bedside table. I wonder if she was talking to someone from home again. "How was golf?"

"Hot. I’m going to shower."

She nods, her eyes not daring to stray from mine, though I can tell she’s drawn to my body.

I wash quickly, without waiting for the water to warm, soaping up my chest, abs, under my arms and of course the parts of me I want her mouth on. Wrapping a towel around my hips, I enter the bedroom once again, but this time Selena’s gone. The fuck? Apparently we needed to cover some ground rules. Like rule number one, be naked and waiting on my bed for me at all times.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, I drop the towel and dress before heading downstairs to find her.

Selena’s sitting in the den, the same spot we sat last night. Her legs are curled under her and she’s holding a book in her lap. All I can think of when I enter this room is her on her knees in front of me, taking my dick deep into her warm mouth. Christ, it’s been way too long since I’ve been laid.

Her eyes lift from the book and settle on mine when I sit down across from her.

"Find something good?" I nod toward the book in her hands, which I assume has come from my personal library.

"Charlotte Bronte." She holds up the cover of Wuthering Heights for me to see. It’s a dark and twisted love story. Story of my damn life.

"Have you read it before?"

"In high school. But I don’t remember much of it." Setting the book down on the cushion beside her, she folds her hands in her lap and looks at me expectantly. She’s curious about what’s going to happen next.

"Are you hungry?" I surprise her by asking.

She nods carefully. I’m starving after the long afternoon spent on the course and when I reach for her hand, she carefully places her palm against mine. I tell myself that it’s important I get her comfortable with me, but in actuality, I just like touching her.

I lead her into the kitchen. Sunday is the only day I don’t have a staff here to prepare meals, but Beth usually leaves me with enough leftovers to survive for one day without her. I find the fixings for club sandwiches left in plastic containers and labeled in Beth’s efficient script. Turkey, strips of crisp bacon, avocado spread, gruyere cheese, and thick slices of tomato marinated in vinaigrette.

We assemble the sandwiches at the island and take our plates back into the den.

"I’m curious about why you’re here…" I pause, watching her reaction. It’s obviously for the money, but I can’t figure out why a girl like Selena would be desperate enough to sell herself. She’s a clean cut, normal girl by all outward appearances – I strongly doubt she has gambling debts or a drug addiction to fund. I take a bite of my sandwich and wait for her to answer. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about finding out more about her and making this personal, but I’m too damn curious not to ask.

She seems hesitant at first and chews her food slowly, stalling for time. "My sister’s sick," she says softly, so soft I can barely hear her. "Her care is very expensive," she continues. It isn’t what I’m expecting and her honesty surprises me.

"The money…it will help?" I ask.

"Very much so," she whispers. I can tell she has mixed feelings about all this. As relieved as she seems at taking care of her sister, I sense there’s some lingering guilt about leaving home during a time of hardship.

I have no intention of baring my soul as completely as she’s done. I can’t. I doubt she’d stick around if she knew the real reason she was here. And I’m certainly not ready to let her go, especially before I’ve fulfilled the promise of her sweet, tempting body.

#�J��2