#sorry this was long I just. went through a bunch of middle school flashbacks there for a sec

[seilon]

if u were 13 in 2013 i think that was just the year they blew up 😳 before exo-m I never kept up w/ chinese music but suddenly they were this huge phenomenon, and probably the first kpop group to get so big there (suju-m flopped rip..)

yep yep I was in 8th grade I think. honestly i was a petty little teenager and I didn’t like them at first because of that whole feeling of “everyone’s into them now and no one’s talking about the groups I like anymore” but it didn’t take very long for me to come around, especially when I was 14 and rly getting into kpop more than ever and learned that taemin and kai were besties and all that.

man was exo blowing up in the states massively tame in comparison to what’d happen with b/t/s pretty soon after that……… sweet summer child me……….. didn’t know what was coming

[kohanayaki]

.:Time and Time Again:. (Marauders Era x Reader) Ch 2

As you reconcile with Sirius, he reminisces on how you came to be friends despite a rather rocky start (mostly told through flashbacks taking place in the Marauders era).

LINKS:   CH 1   CH 2   CH 3   CH 4   CH 5   CH 6   CH 7   CH 8

________________________________________________________

Ch 2 .:Pranks and Past Prejudices:.

~Previously~

“I was about to see if you were awake,” Sirius admitted with a small grin, “Seems we both had the same idea.”

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, stepping aside slightly so you could come in. If the Sirius Black from your school days had offered you into his room in the dead of night, you would have slapped him upside the head; but things were different now, and so were the two of you. 

However, as you glanced around the room you almost laughed at how remarkably unchanged it was, and why wouldn't it be? He hadn't lived here since he was sixteen, and he was only living here now because he preferred this house to an Azkaban cell by a small fraction. While the rest of the house was set in deep tones of obsidian and gray, save for the green Slytherin theme of his younger brother's room, Sirius' room was all warm shades of red and gold, Gryffindor paraphernalia covering every inch of it from Quidditch trophies and old banners to a tapestry he had stolen from the Great Hall when they'd won the house cup that year.

The room was littered with memories of your school life— a set of charred robes from when he and James had drunkenly lit the Quidditch field hoops on fire, an old Beater's bat that he had broken in half during the Cup finals, an old Gobstones set you used to play with in the courtyard, and stacks of classic rock records that you and Remus had gifted him for the holidays. A muggle toolbox sat in the corner of the room from when he'd made improvements to his enchanted motorbike that couldn't be done with magic, which you were certain his parents were mortified by.

Posters of bikini-clad women were plastered across the wallpaper, and you recalled the day he told you his mother had a fit when she realized he'd used a permanent sticking charm on them so she couldn't take them down. Said posters were still present, but mostly covered up by all the photos of him and his friends from their school and early Order days— the only noticeable sign of change you could see from his moving back in. It was truly like some sort of time capsule.

As soon as you tore your eyes away from the room and turned to focus on its owner, a tense silence fell between you two. This was the first time you had seen Sirius in over a decade. The last time you two spoke, he was in chains being led away to Azkaban. What was there to say? How could you possibly think things could go back to the way they were? 

“Sirius,” your voice cracked with emotion as you said his name, and when you saw the look in his eyes, so similar to the look he'd given you when he was in that horrible barbed cage during his trial, the dam just broke.

You practically threw yourself at him, sobbing quietly into his shoulder as the fabric of his shirt bunched up in your trembling hands

“I'm sorry,” you said, “I am so, so sorry I didn't believe you, Sirius. I didn't know, I didn't—”

“(Y/n), it's okay,” Sirius said softly.

You almost jumped at his gentle touch, his arm wrapping around your waist and one hand coming up to pet your hair. It hurt him to see you like this, that you went through this much because of him.

“There was no way you could have known,” he said, resting his chin on top of your head as tears continued to stream down your face, “There was no proof that I wasn't the Secret Keeper. We'd decided to make it that rat at the last second. Only James and Lily knew and, well, they couldn't exactly attest to my innocence.”

Hatred bubbled up in his chest at his own mention of Pettigrew, but he forced it down for you, his expression softening as soon as he looked at you. “That was bad judgment on my part, I suppose,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, although twelve years in prison was a difficult matter to joke about.

“I should have just believed you,” you muttered into his collar. Sirius' other hand reached out to cup your face, wiping the last few tears from your cheeks.

“Come now, even Moony thought I'd done it,” he said, a small smirk finding its way to his face, “I know what it looked like. . . I don't blame any of you for not believing me. So please, don't blame yourself for this, (Y/n). You're still my best friend.”

“Oh, now you've done it,” you sniffled, laughing despite yourself as fresh tears spilled over. Sirius laughed along with you and yo u could feel the sound reverberate through his chest, rich and melodic. Warm.

He wrapped both his arms around you, holding you tight as you two chuckled like a couple of idiots, standing there glassy-eyed in the middle of his room. If anyone else had bore witness to the scene they'd have thought you'd gone mad, but in that moment you couldn't care less. Your body had been buckling under the weight of your guilt and how much you had missed him. Hearing him say that he still considered you his best friend. . . that was more than you could have ever asked for.

Sirius swelled with pride as he saw he was able to make you smile, something he'd long considered a small victory. He couldn't believe how much your relationship had changed. If someone had told him all those years ago that you would turn out to be someone he couldn't imagine his life without, he wouldn't have believed them. But he supposed life was unexpected like that. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   1973  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since the day you'd stood up to him, James Potter found himself increasingly curious about you. Of course he and his friends continued to pick on Snape, but when you were around to fend them off it became more and more difficult to do so, something that the leader of the self-proclaimed Marauders decided was cumbersome.

James insisted that to get to Snape they would have to take you down too, since you were so keen on protecting him.

“We need to cut the head off the snake,” he had said.

And so, slowly but surely, James shifted the cross hairs of his mischief-making from Severus Snape to you. It started out small; a Bat-bogey hex here, some heat sensitive combustion power under your cauldron there. What he didn't expect in the slightest was for you to actually retaliate with pranks of your own.

Quidditch season had just ended as the year came to a close, and James, who was supposed to be helping clean out the Gryffindor tent, was lying on his back and fiddling about with a golden snitch he'd found wedged in the wooden scaffolding. His head perked up as he saw the Lily across the pitch, walking next to you and chatting. He clearly couldn't care less about what, as he had no problem interrupting your conversation.

“Hey, Evans!” he hollered, heading towards you two.

As soon as Lily spotted him she rolled her eyes.

“And now we're walking faster,” she muttered, grabbing you by the arm and tugging you along.

“Aw come on, I just wanna talk,” he said, quickly catching up with you. Before long he had jogged a few paces ahead, turning around to block your path. “Hey,” he said with a smirk. He was wearing his Quidditch practice uniform, broom in hand.

“Merlin, you are nothing if not persistent,” Lily huffed.

“What can I say? I'm a Chaser~”

“Goodbye, James,” Lily deadpanned at the pun, and he quickly moved in front of her again.

“Wait, wait! Just watch this, okay?” he insisted.

You bit back a smirk, grateful he hadn't paid you any mind until now.

“Trust me, you've never seen anything like this before,” James said cockily, willing his broomstick to hover a few feet off the ground and hauling one leg over to mount it. However, as soon as his arse hit the wood, his entire body phased right through it. He groaned as his tailbone made unceremonious contact with the ground, his broomstick now hovering above him. As soon as he looked up the stick dropped and plonked him on the head, solid again.

You burst out laughing, revealing your wand that had been obstructed from his view by your sleeve.

“(Y/n)!” Lily looked at you in shock, hitting you in the arm playfully but unable to fight the laughter that rose in her chest. It was nice to see him get a harmless taste of his own medicine.

“Well, you were right, Potter,” the redhead said, “I've never seen anything like that before.”

James' face flushed with embarrassment while you two walked away, gathering his broom and whatever remained of his pride. You wouldn't get the better of him again.

Or, at least that's what he told himself until the beginning of your fourth year.

________________________________________________________

James strode down the corridors leading to the Great Hall with a pep in his step. It had been an unusually peaceful morning; despite having slept in, he wasn't in much of a rush to join his friends who had already made their way to breakfast.

The real reason for his quick pace was because he couldn't wait to see your reaction to his latest prank. It was a classic, amped up a bit thanks to a tube of ink from one of the “magic” markers at Zonkos. He hoped you liked your new look, because you were going to be saddled with it for a while.

As he walked through the courtyard he shot a wink to a fourth year Hufflepuff girl he recognized from his Divination class and she covered her hand with her mouth, turning away from him slightly as she tried to hold back the giggles that spilled from her lips. He gave himself a pat on the back, oblivious to the fact that the laughter was directed at him, an unawareness that stayed with him up until the moment he threw the doors to the Great Hall open. The gasps and laughter that followed him only grew as he sat down at his usual spot. Even his friends were staring at him, wide-eyed and unblinking.

“What?” James ran a hand through his hair in confusion, “What are you guys—!!”

As his hair flopped in front of his face his peripheral vision was curtained with the brightest shade of neon turquoise he'd ever seen.

“No,” he said, “no, no, no way!”

He grabbed one of the food trays, dumping the pastries that were on top onto the table. Peter squeaked as he caught a few that were about to fall, setting them down quietly on his own plate.

James stared at his reflection in the shiny metal, and sure enough his once pristine brunette hair was colored the bright blue of the magic marker whose contents he'd dumped into your shower bottle the night before.

“Did you like the shampoo?” a voice behind him asked innocently.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around to see you, your hair colored the same bright blue shade. Now he was thoroughly confused.

“It smells nice, right?”

“How did you. . . if I. . . why is your hair—”

“A simple connection charm on the shampoo bottle,” you said, “anyone who touches it receives the same benefits and results of the next person who uses it within three hours. In this case, you landed yourself a dye job and a hell of a keratin treatment, so you're welcome. The spell was already on the bottle to begin with; pretty convenient when you have dorm mates that can all save on buying product, and besides it can be kind of nice to skip a hair wash day every once in a while. I suppose I should thank you, I didn't have to do any shopping or sneaking around for this one. You did all the work for me.”

You put your hand to your chin, pretending to study him for a moment.

“You should take care of that fast, though” you said nonchalantly, gesturing to his hair, “you don't look nearly as cute as I do in this color, Potter.”

To further prove your point, you waved your wand around the crown of your head, and with a quick utter of 'aufero hue' the blue in your hair seemed to melt right off the strands, leaving behind your natural (h/c) locks. The color swirled around the tip of your wand in an aqueous state for a moment before you flung it aside. It landed with a splat! against the Gryffindor table, staining a section of the wood that same shade of bright blue as if it had grown that way.

“I'd do it for you myself, but I don't want to,” you smirked, “ Perhaps you could take a few remedial classes to learn the color-leeching charm. Have fun figuring something out!”

And with that you flounced away, leaving behind a very embarrassed, very blue, and very reluctantly impressed James Potter.

He may just have found himself a proper rival.

Sirius scoffed from where he sat.

“Oh please, the stupid charm can't be that hard to do,” he said, taking out his wand.

“Not that I don't have faith in you, mate, but I'm probably better off seeing if Slughorn has anything for this,” James said.

“Why don't you just soak your head in some Valerian water? That's what takes the color out of potions, right?”

“Peter, he might go bald if he does that.”

“Oh.”

_______________________________________________________

James would go on to land a few good jokes on you too. There was one night where you had snuck into the Prefect's bathroom and emerged with a mermaid tail, which was pretty awesome until you realized you had no way of getting out of the tub. From then on, you and James would continue to try and get the jump on one another, marking the start of your now-infamous fourth year prank war. It entertained the students and infuriated the faculty. Gradually, your pranks on one another became more light-hearted, meant to amuse the other person and make them laugh rather than actually hurt or humiliate them.

“Very funny, (L/n),” James said as he walked up to you, his body turned around 180 degrees from the waist up so he had to shuffle backwards to face you. You laughed, nearly choking on your pumpkin juice as you saw your handy work.

“What are you, five?”

“Right, because you're so much more mature stalking and bullying my friends,” you quipped back.

“I really don't understand how Snivelus is your friend.”

“Severus,” you said crossly, “and for the record, I really don't understand how Remus is yours either. He seems like a nice guy.”

“Har har,” James rolled his eyes, “Now would you turn me the right way 'round already? I've got Quidditch practice.”

“Nah, I think you're fine to play like this.”

“Honestly? Not a bad tactic. I can cover my blind spot and stare at my own ass while I fly.”

“Who's five now?” you grinned.

As the months went on, instead of storming over to each other and slinging insults, your interactions with James became more akin to playful banter. And frankly, Sirius didn't get it. You were a Slytherin, and a pureblood at that. Hell, you were a descendant of one of the 28 pureblood families. Everything about you went against everything he believed in and relished in getting away from each year when he would leave home to go to school. You were in the same house as those stupid blood purists, you probably were one yourself—

“You're glaring.”

Sirius blinked, snapping out of his stupor as Remus nudged him in the shoulder. He said nothing, slowly returning to eating his dinner as he tore his eyes away from you, sitting at the Slytherin table with Snivelus, Evan Rosier, and his younger brother of all people. He stabbed at his roast potatoes a little too harshly and his friends traded looks among themselves.

“You alright there, mate?” James asked cautiously.

“Fantastic,” Sirius said, shoving another forkful of potatoes into his mouth to avoid saying anything unsavory as he spotted you heading towards their table.

“Coming to the library today, Remus?” you asked the boy to his right who looked up at you in surprise.

“Oh, sure thing,” he said, “I'm off for the night.”

“Great, we can study for Arithmancy then,” you said. Remus nodded at your suggestion and you gave him a dazzling smile, walking off with your books.

“Since when did you two get so chummy?” Sirius bristled.

Remus rolled his eyes.

“We're just studying for the upcoming mid marks,” he said, “They’re proficient in Ancient Runes and History of Magic. As a study partner it's. . . refreshing.”

“Oi, are you calling us stupid?” James rose a brow.

“Your words, not mine,” Lupin grinned. He saw Sirius' bothered expression and sighed, collecting his things.

“You might get on if you bothered to get to know them,” he told Sirius out of the others' earshot, slinging his book bag over his shoulder before heading off in your direction.

You only continued to grow inadvertently closer to James throughout your fourth year, your prank battle coming to its epic conclusion with the two of you joining forces against some particularly nasty upperclassmen. Your practical jokes subsided, your quips and passing insults were traded for real conversations and walking each other to class. You hated to admit it, but he'd grown on you— especially with him letting up considerably on bullying Severus and annoying Lily lately.

All the while, the closer you got to James the more irritated his best friend became. In Sirius' mind, the more time you were spending with James the less time James was spending with him. They hardly hung out alone anymore. And since James started hanging out with you he started mellowing out, which made Lily start hanging out with him, which made him even more tame. Sirius just wanted his best friend back.

“You do realize that issue would largely be resolved if you weren't so bothered by hanging out with both of them together, right?” Lupin had brought up one night as Sirius was airing out his frustrations.

“I'm not going to bother making friends with someone whose family is so wrapped up in blood politics they forget to be human beings first. Trust me, I've met their mother enough times to know.”

“Have you ever asked them about it?” Remus pressed.

“I don't really need to, do I? They're a (L/n). Open your eyes, Moony!”

Remus' brow furrowed, a shine in his eyes akin to sympathy as he regarded Sirius.

“Perhaps it's you that needs to clear your vision, friend.”

A/N: Thank you all so much for the unexpected early support on this story! I have a lot planned for it~ If you’d like to be added to the taglist just let me know ! 

Read chapter 3 here!

Taglist: @blackpinkdolan @sleep-i-ness @parker-natasha​

[xlysaaa]

Ahhhhhh

Ok, so this might become a bit of a long post. After reading the latest Kono oto Tomare! chapter, i just have to get these feelings off my chest. It'll be random & full ramblings.

i put some panels of chapter 105 but also from 99.5 in this post.

-> lot of spoilers, so read at your own risk <-

this wont be a review or something. I just want to ramble and scream.

First of all, Chikas father . . .

I have literally no fucking words for this sorry excuse of a father! seeing this flashback made me wanna puke my fucking guts out on the floor.

how much do you have to sink as a human being to make YOUR VERY OWN CHILD think this?

What kind of human scum do you have become to tell to YOUR VERY OWN SON " It's hell. Ever since you were born, Its always been hell." ?! What kind of heartless huge shit being do you have to be to treat your very own son like he's the worst, like he isnt worth of human affection or care?!

While Chika was scared & uncomfortable, because he punched someone for the first time to defend himself, instead of talking about it the father looked at him like he was dirt.

When Chika went to the Takaokas that day in Chapter 99.5, he brought back come of the selfmade cake from Tetsukis mum, because he wanted to share it with his father, he thought he could make him happy.

look at this adorable sweet baby bean? how dare you make him cry. ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽

Imagine a little smiling chika hoping his father would come back early from work to share this delicious cake with him. . . and THEN! imagine the father telling chika in his drunk state all those horrible things, while chika still cares for his father and put a blanket on him to keep him warm. Only for the faher to say ".. I cant bringt myself to love you."

We read in the latest chapter that his mother left with another man, chika cant even remember her face, because he was 2 years old. If its because of the dad, why wouldnt she take chika with her? i dont care whatever her business is, she is as much to blame as this human trash called father. There were so many moments were i had to pause for a bit cause these scenes were too heartbreaking.

Of course Chika would never treasure himself when never once did his father! How should he know how to hold himself dear, when his father never did?

I cant find even the words to describe, what i'm feeling. I feel so sick to my stomach.

I'm so glad that he had his grandpa who cherished him and gave Chika affection. He always encouraged Chika. "Hey, Chika. Dont give up on yourself" & showed him the Koto. He & Tetsuki literally pulled Chika out of the deep darkness & showed him light.

Look Chika, they're all waiting for you! T____T

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

When Tetsuki transfered into Chikas class, a boy told him that he shouldnt get involved with chika because he's a loner & he's trouble. He said "Instead you can be friend with us" to which Tetsuki replied "Thanks. But no thanks." IN YO FACE YOU SHITTY BULLY CHILD.

Anyways, after school the boy & his friends planed to isolate Tetsuki & bully him . . welp, these boys forget chika "LAME. You guys are super lame." and off they go :'D thank to these shitty children ⬇️

a wonderful unbreakable friendship started! They became best friends who were inseparable. /chikas adorable blush q.q sweet baby bean!!!

When Chika had an argument with his father & left the house, he was bullied by middles schoolers & fought. . . it was then when they started to slowly fall apart.. Chika started to avoid Tetsuki & isolated himself again. Even when Tetsuki tried to ask what happened or tried to help him, Chika would only say "Its got nothing to do with you, do dont butt in." Tetsuki blamed himself "If only I had been there the first time Chika had fought. Maybe we could've run. Maybe we could've feigned defeat. Anything so he didnt have to deal with their attention. Any maybe he would still be . . ." He missed his best friend & was worried what would happen to Chika if he keeps going on like this..

Tetsuki was told by the teacher that his mother had an accident & needs surgery. He's waiting anxious in the hospital, hoping for the best, trying to keep the worst case thoughts away . . thats when Chika comes running into the hospital he was worried!

NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS SIMPLY PERFECTION, I CANT!!! ૮₍ ꒦꒳꒦ ₎ა❤

When Tetsukis dad said to Chika that he heard a lot about him from his wife & thanked him for supporting Tetsuki, he asked about his wounds & if they hurt. . thats when Tetsuki learns the reason, why chika kept his distance from him. He didnt want to involve him or put him in danger. "E-Everything's fine! I'm not hanging out with Tetsuki anymore, nobody's seen us together, nobody knows we're friends or anything. I would never drag him into my problems. Never."

Takaoka-papa is as wonderful as Takaoka-mama, jesus the Takaoka family is a bunch of lovely human beings, help me!!!

BONUS:

WHY ARE THEY SO DAMN WONDERFUL??/Tetsuki is so happy for chika *ugly sobbing deluxe*

I'm so glad that that he had Tetsuki right beside him, i dont wanna imagine what would have happened to Chika without his support & affection.

For me, they have one of the most wonderful & most strongest bond ever. I love their friendship so much, seriously i could probably write an essay about them & would never be able go stop. 🥺❤❤❤

Chika went through so much already, he fought his way through life, suffered, so NOW! Let him finally become happy!

Ufff, i didnt mean to make it THIS long.. but there's so much to say about this manga & the relationships chika made or the persons met.ヾ( இ⌓இ)ﾉﾞ

[zims-left-shoe]

Hey!! Was wondering if I could get some Dib x reader where the reader is a really ‘popular’ likeable kid at skool and Dib has liked them for a while but feels they’re “unattainable”? (Basically every high school romance movie ever lol) thanks!

I had a lot of fun with this one! It ended up being longer than I thought it would haha. 

It was a crisp autumn day, dead leaves crunching under your feet. Although it was dry in the moment, there was this feeling in the air that threatened a downpour. You stood behind your friends when they came to a stop, watching them with your hands stuffed deep in your pockets, feet shifting, the only sign to display your discomfort. Your eyes followed the notebook that was being tossed between your friends, a simple black spiral book, appearance only made special by the strange eye symbol scribbled in paint marker that adorned the front. Wicked cackles escaped your friends as they continued to throw the book around as if it were a football. 

"Give it back!" Ah. And then there was Dib. The strange boy in your class that went on and on about aliens and saving the earth from Zim, your other absurd classmate. He took another jump, swiping his arm out in a desperate attempt to reclaim what was his. His fingers gently grazed the binding, only to be yanked back by his trench coat at the hands of Torque Smacky. This was what qualified as a middle school prank. Admittedly, you had thought it was a bit funny at first. That was until your friends began to run to the edge of campus, spitting hurtful words back at the clearly unathletic Dib, who was wheezing and struggling to keep up with your group. 

"Soulstealers? Chupacabras? You are actually insane." Jessica laughed as she flipped through what seemed to be his personal supernatural journal.

"This is why nobody likes you, Dib. You're a freak." Smacky shoved him hard, his body colliding with the chainlink fence. You winced at the rattling it caused and the look in his eyes as he hunkered down into himself, slouching against the fence. The one thing you could say about him was that he was not one to give up easily, if at all. And yet, he looked defeated, deciding to take the lickings and wait until they lost interest. You couldn't take it anymore. 

You were always well liked by everyone. Everyone adored you and your pleasant attitude, always gravitating towards and revolving around you as if you were their sun. And although you stood behind those that you called your friends, you couldn't just sit there and watch how they treated Dib. He was definitely out there, sure, and maybe you didn't understand everything he said, but there was a line you had to draw. He was never hurting anyone. If he wanted to believe in aliens, who were you to stop him?

"Guys, that's enough. Knock it off." You spoke up for the first time in that encounter, snatching the book from Jessica's hands. Your friends, whom most would label as 'the popular crowd', all stared at you. Not necessarily in anger. More so shock. "Here." You tossed the notebook back to him, lips moving in a silent 'I'm sorry'. His hands fumbled the book, almost dropping it as he too stared at you with disbelief. Why would you help him? Weren't you friends with those who antagonized him?

"Thanks-"

"Shut it. Just feel lucky they stepped in." Smacky retreated a few feet back from him, glaring at him all the while.

"Let's go. It was getting boring anyways." Jessica turned swiftly on her heel, every one of your friends following her. Glancing one more time at Dib, you nodded to him, a movement that was so slight it was barely noticeable. Without another word, you jogged after your friends, catching up with them quickly.

Dib was left standing there, still leaning against the fence, notebook still clutched close to his chest. His mind was now full of questions, which was no different from its usual state. Why would you be nice to him? No one was ever nice to him. Especially not the popular kids. He began to wonder if, maybe, just maybe, you weren't as bad as the kids you spent your time with.

-

High school. Sometimes media would try and convince you that it was supposed to be some magical experience that would change your life, that your entire character could be rebuilt from the ground up. If that were completely true, why had everything remained an almost exact carbon copy of the way it's been since your earlier days? Sure, you had changed a little bit. Different music taste, new style, trivial things like that. But, your friends and position on the social ladder? Exactly the same. You had stayed in the popular pool, friends still adoring you, and despite questioning their actions and morals many a time, you adored them as well. If anything, you were more popular than ever.

Dib had also remained the same. Always squabbling with Zim, causing a scene, being made fun of and ostracized daily. He was still the local loser, but at this point he was owning it. He never did have the patience to be someone he was not. That was one thing you admired about him, one thing you could never be. You didn't think anyone you were close to could ever truly be themselves. The only thing that felt different about him was his more 'fuck you' attitude to those who antagonized him. He still wouldn't fight back, but he had developed a tougher skin, almost paying no mind to any insults. He knew what was right in his mind, if no one would believe him, their loss. 

Over the years, you had many classes with Dib. You had grown rather fond of him, at the very least he believed in something that wasn't ridiculously vapid. And, despite coming off as a bit of a nervous dork in some instances, he was surprisingly self-assured, for the most part. You were proud to admit to yourself that you looked forward to see him almost every day. 

Twisting the knob on the classroom door, you let yourself in, eyes resting on the familiar dark-haired nerd, his face taken up by the same large glasses he's had for as long as you could remember. Waving, you approached his table, watching him straighten up almost immediately.

"Morning, Dib. How're you doing?" You always liked to ask him how things were going for him, knowing that he never was given concern very often. No one in your class would ask him how his life was, his sister, at least to you, seemed to not care, and from what you knew, his dad was some prestigious scientist that was always busy. 

"Hey, Y/n. And, um, I'm doing alright! What about you?" His smile was bright, cheeks just the slightest bit flushed as he drummed his fingers on the tabletop. You felt a giggle escape you as you witnessed this. Every morning, despite having the exact same routine, he always seemed to be taken aback that you were asking how he was doing, that you were even the tiniest amount of invested in his life. 

"Fine, I guess. What about your ghosts and aliens?" You weren't sure that you believed in all of that crap, but if he took an interest in it and he wasn't harming anyone, who were you to stop him? "Oh, and I want an update on that werewolf you found in your trash." Remembering the story he had told you yesterday, you figured you would ask for a follow up to show your genuine encouragement.

"Oh, that! Uh, well...it turns out it was just some really hairy homeless guy rummaging through our garbage, but...as for aliens, I watched Zim's robot eat a baby. That was equal parts disturbing and intriguing." He shuddered, having flashbacks to whatever went down last night. 

"His dog that he brought to pet day last year?" Thinking back to that day, it was a little strange. All hell broke loose, his dog going absolutely insane. It was a blessing he didn't end up destroying the entire school. Only the east wing. Lady luck was on your side that day, that was for sure. 

“Yeah, GIR. The lip smacking noises really made it horrible." A cringe settled onto his features, and you felt it spreading to yourself as well. As much as you didn't believe that Zim was an alien (he was definitely odd and uncomfortable, that you would admit), you could see his dog consuming a human child.

"Geez. I'm sorry I asked." A chuckle fell from your lips, wishing to move past the disturbing imagery brought on by his response. Luckily for you, your teacher had announced the start of class, sending you back to your seat without having to think of a subject change. 

"Tired of your charity work yet?" Jessica asked as you sat down in your usual seat across from her. Pressing your lips in a tight line, you pulled out your notebook and pencil, choosing to ignore her comment. You had always hated the abysmal way your friends treated Dib. So what if he was a bit weird? You felt bad for him, he had no one to talk to besides Zim, and he ate lunch with his sister every day. "Come on, please don't tell me you actually want to be his friend."

"I never said that...it's just...he seems so lonely." Ever since you could remember, you had been surrounded by friends. It was near impossible to hate you. You had never known what it was like to be all on your own, cursed to be a lone wolf. To you, it seemed that being alone was all Dib had ever experienced.

"He deserves it. He's a freak." Her answers were short and snappy as she tired of the subject. 

"Does he?" Did anyone deserve to be lonely solely for being a little off beat? You were the only one of your friends, hell, even the whole school, who seemed to disagree with her notion. The social outcasts and rejects wouldn't even associate with him. 

"Look, Y/n. I like you, I really do. We're friends. We have been for a long time. But if you become his friend, people are going to start talking." Your gaze fell to the tabletop, tired of this not-quite-argument. "You're too nice. I know you pity him, but think about your standing here. Popularity comes with a price."

"I didn't ask to be popular, okay? And at least if I were his friend, my social circle wouldn't be full of a bunch of dicks and stuck up bitches!" You spat, patience completely snapping. Jessica sat in a stunned silence, her eyes wide. That was the first time you had ever actively stood up to her. After a moment, you realized you were just a tad harsh, although she did deserve it. She was still your friend after all, and in her own twisted way, she was trying to look out for you. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"We can talk about it later at lunch. Just calm down, alright?" Jessica brushed stray strands of blonde hair behind her ear, sticking her nose deep in her textbook for the first time in months. Sighing deeply, your eyes drifted to Dib's seat. His glance had already been on you, so you had managed to catch his eyes. His shoulders tensed from being caught staring, color creeping up his neck to his face. Before he could turn away, your lips quirked into a slight smile as you waved to him. It took him a second to register, but he returned the wave, a dorky grin plastered on his face. Again, you just couldn't see what was so bad about him.

"Dib, I swear to god, do you ever listen to me when I speak? You break my immersion-"

"You break my face. Yeah, I know." I laid on the couch, watching my sister play whatever VR game she was into at the time. All I did was start to ask her a question, I had barely gotten one syllable out before she cut me off. "It's important, I swear."

"Let me guess, Zim is eating waffles again?" Her voice was irritated, and I'm sure inside that head of hers she was wishing me to be dead. 

"No, actually-"

"He's hiding in his toilet? Ooh, or maybe he's trying to work the toaster." Okay, so maybe I interrupt her for admittedly meaningless things sometimes. Fine, a lot of the times.

"This has nothing to do with Zim!" Now I had her attention. She hesitated for just the slightest second before she resumed playing again.

"Oh? This had better be good, Dib." Her voice was no longer threatening, rather it held curiosity. Although she would never say it to my face, she was intrigued by what I had to say. 

"I need advice." Now, normally Gaz would be the last person on earth I would go to for this kind of thing, but I had already tried my dad, and lesson learned, never seek romantic advice from a man who is married to science. So, I had already exhausted pretty much all of my options. The internet was surprisingly not much help either.

"On what? How to stop bothering your sister?" Her words didn't match her tone at all. Besides, I knew that if she really wanted me out, she would remove me by force. I was suddenly beginning to wonder if this was a bad idea. After all, Gaz was very much...how to put this lightly...not romantically inclined. Still, she was my only hope at this point, and really, all I needed was someone to vent to. 

"I was thinking more along the lines of cliché high school romance?" My voice became higher and quieter as the sentence went on, and I was just barely cut off by Gaz's groan. Despite her attitude, she powered off her headset out of her own volition, which meant she was definitely interested in whatever I had to say. I pushed myself to where I was sitting up, Gaz falling back onto the couch next to me. 

"You're joking, right? You're asking me for advice?" I couldn't believe it either.

"Just hear me out?"

Fine. But if it's stupid I'm leaving." I already knew she wouldn't say no, but she still had to pretend it was a chore to listen to me.

"Okay, so you know Y/n, right?"

"The popular kid? They're so out of your league, Dib." She sounded condescending yet not surprised. I figured she had caught me staring at them at lunch multiple times. I had probably been pretty obvious about it. Thinking about that made me cringe, because Y/n most likely knows I stare at them all the time. If they didn't already hate me before, I'm sure they do now, they probably think I'm some sort of creepy stalker. Well, that's not the worst thing I've been called at school, so I'll take it, I guess.

"I know! And I told myself I wasn't going to fall for them, but I did. They actually talk to me though! Every morning in first period, and they wave to me in the halls, and god they have the cutest smile-"

"Dib! Okay! I get it, you're in love or whatever."

"I never said I was in love! It's just a crush. There's a difference." I watched her roll her eyes so hard I thought she might be transported to another dimension. Even I knew deep down I was lying through my teeth. All the little things had made me fall deeper into whatever my infatuation with Y/n was. Every glance, every little quip, every greeting...they all made my heart flutter and I would feel sick to my stomach every time I thought about them. It was a satisfying kind of sick, though. I knew I had been carrying these feelings for a long time. They had always been the first, if not the only, person to stand up for me when the teasing became too much. Of course I was going to fall in love, what else was to be expected?

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. But, do you even talk to them? No, you don't."

"So?" She was right. I never went out of my way to approach them. We would share short and simple conversations, but only when they spoke to me first. I was always too scared. They were the only person who could make me nervous and doubt myself anymore. The reasonable part of me told me that if I just went up to them, they would welcome the conversation. But, something was always stopping me. I held them on a pedestal, so much so that I believed making any move at all to be impossible. Y/n for me is unattainable, someone I was never meant to have. They were part of the untouchables, the most popular and worshiped kids in school. I'm just the freakshow who attracts all the wrong kinds of attention. And yet, something was pushing me to just reach for it.

"You're going to shoot your shot, aren't you." Her voice was flat. It wasn't a question. Rather, a statement that we both already knew to be true. 

"Well, you know what they say. If you shoot for the moon, you're bound to at least land among the stars."

"I don't think that applies to this, unless your version of 'among the stars' is being taken out behind the school and beaten until you see stars." Ah, Gaz. Always so encouraging. What would I do without her?

"Do you think it's a bad idea?"

"Of course! It's a terrible idea! But, it would be kind of funny to watch..." A smirk crept onto her face, which would have been unnerving if my thoughts weren't already racing to think of how I would even accomplish this. 

"So, you're in?"

"I would never miss a chance to watch someone kick the shit out of you."

-

Without a doubt, you were spaced out. To the point where you barely noticed what had been left behind in your locker, almost crushing it with your multiple textbooks. 

"What the...?" You pulled out a small bouquet of flowers and a note from your locker, even more confused than when you first saw it. For starters, you weren't sure how it had gotten in there in the first place. You were sure it was locked and that no one knew the combo. Unless someone broke into it with brute strength or some advanced skillset. If that wasn't enough to drive you crazy, the note was anonymous. No name, no nothing. It was typed as well, so you couldn't even analyze the handwriting if you wanted to. The contents of the note contained a love confession, and you weren't quite sure where to even begin with suspects. There were many people who had crushes on you, some even within your own friend group. Even still, the note was odd. It sounded like nobody in particular, the wordage making it seem like it could be from anyone and no one at the same time.

"Hey, Y/n. What'cha got there?" Jessica came up behind you, eyeing the flowers with intrigue. The two of you were back to being on good terms. This was how your friendship normally worked, for as long as you could remember anyway. 

"A secret admirer, apparently." You mumbled, handing her the note to read. Clearly, the person had no intention of outing themselves. They were hoping for you to catch on. From the tone in the note, you guessed it had to come from someone who felt they had no place in confessing. That could be anyone, for literally any reason. Maybe they were your best friend, or a social reject. 

"No way! We have to find out who this is."

"I dunno, they seem to be trying really hard to keep their identity a secret."

"But what if it's someone hot?" She poked you in the side, her face pleading with you to let her assist in finding out who left the gift as she passed the note back to you.

"But what if it's Zim?" You doubted it was him. As far as you were concerned, you pretended he didn't exist, and he seemed to hate your guts, which was completely fine by you. The two of you burst out laughing as you put the flowers back in your locker so you could retrieve them after school. "But, maybe I don't want to know."

"Lame." She huffed as you began your walk to class. You folded the note, stuffing it deep in your pocket. You hated that you knew you wouldn't be able to let this go. You felt the need to solve the mystery. Although you had no clue where to even begin, there was one person you hoped it would be from. He was your main suspicion, even though a part of you wondered if that was due to wishing for it to be so.

"Can we please just be lowkey about this? If I decide to pursue this, I want to keep it hushed. Word spreads like wildfire here."

-

Well, you were absolutely right about one thing. Word travels fast in high school, especially if it's drama. Left and right, you had people asking if you had found the unknown Romeo who had broke into your locker. You were disappointed but not surprised. You had expected Jessica to talk. Her lips were about as tightly sealed as a window in summertime. So far, everyone had their own theories. The wildest one you had heard was that it was from one of your teachers. You were immediately disgusted with that, and how desperately you desired to unhear that statement. 

Nevertheless, you had started to feel more confident in your own personal favorite guess. There had been one certain individual who was particularly silent through the whole matter, almost uncharacteristically so. 

Lunch time. The perfect time to gain confirmation of your theory. Tray of borderline unedible garbage in hand, you strode to your usual table, which seated all of the school's finest and most elite in terms of the social ladder. Instead of taking a seat like everyone expected, you continued to walk, not stopping until you reached the very last table in the back, which sat only two: the Membrane kids. Setting your tray down, you took a seat across from Dib, who stared in utter shock and amazement. The sister looked up from her Game Slave, glance so brief you weren't entirely sure if it had even happened. Without a word, she rose from her seat, leaving the lunch room completely, most likely to continue playing in the hallway. Let's face it, no one was going to eat the shit they served anyway. You hoped he would say something, anything that would be incriminating. However, only the usual din of the cafeteria could be heard, the occasional murmur of your table switch slipping through. 

You couldn't handle any more of the surrounding clatter of trays, laughter, and indecipherable words, so you decided to speak. "Hey, Dib. You like mysteries, right?" The poor boy looked helpless, red up to the tips of his ears, eyes refusing to meet yours. 

"Sure..." You could feel his knee bumping the table as he bounced his leg at about a hundred miles per minute. You had him right where you wanted him, and he knew it. You both did. In that moment, you knew it was him. It had to be. He was acting even stranger than usual. Based on his behavior, he knew you had cracked the case. Thinking back, it should have been fairly obvious from the beginning. 

"Well, something strange happened this morning. And since mysteries are kind of your thing, I was wondering if you could help me?" You were trying to coax him into saying the words you needed so desperately to hear. And yet, he was so stubborn.

"Alright, I could, you know, give it a go, I guess." Maybe he wasn't stubborn, maybe this was him playing out his last hope that you still were clueless on who it could be.

"I found something interesting in my locker this morning. Some very pretty flowers and a lovely little note, but unfortunately, it was anonymous. So, I guess I have a secret admirer on my hands." By gauging his reaction, you could tell he wasn't about to relent any time soon. He nodded his head, lips pursed in a tight line.

"Well, that's a tough one." Vague answers, saying as little as possible. You were getting nowhere, and would be getting nowhere. He was really going to make you say it, wasn't he?

"Yes. I have my suspicions. Would you like to hear them?" He didn't respond at all, fingers drumming nervously on the table. He still wouldn't own up to it. You decided to give him one last chance to confess, saying no more and staring directly at him. Hoping the pressure would bring him to spill, you thought your breath would catch in your throat when he opened his mouth to speak.

"Did you do the math homework last night?" His voice was almost an octave higher than normal, and there was a slight wobble to it. You could only fix him with a glare. Unbelievable. He was trying to get out of this by changing the subject. There was no way in hell you were letting that happen.

"I know it's you, Dib."

"Oh...you do?" His voice was so soft and faint that you had to strain to hear it. His eyes fell to the floor, as if trying to will a wormhole to open beneath his feet to swallow him so he could be anywhere but there in that moment.

What Dib was expecting to happen was for laughter to spill from your lips, followed by you telling him that you could never in a thousand years like someone like him, that his chances were below zero. 

Some pearls of laughter did escape you, but it wasn't malicious. Even Dib, in his most insecure and vulnerable state could see that. Throughout the day, you were itching for this confrontation. You hoped it was him, you wanted it to be him. Not so you could throw it back in his face. This whole ordeal brought you to realize that you had somehow caught feelings for him as well. Your morning conversations about spooks, although mildly concerning at times, made your day, and you appreciated how passionate he was about his interests, even if you didn't completely understand them.

"Who knew you were such a dorky, hopeless romantic?" You didn't think it was possible, but the blush that stained his face darkened at your words that were broken by giggles. 

"So...you liked the flowers? Or were you just saying that?" His eyes finally met your own for the first time in what felt like ages. You could see he was slowly relaxing, although to him it probably felt as if he were still walking on eggshells. 

"Of course. I'll put them in my room when I get home." His lips pulled back into the cutest smile you had ever seen, and you thought your heart had melted on the spot. "Can I see your phone?" You blurted out, embarrassed of yourself. What ever happened to playing it cool?

"Should I be concerned?" A hint of worry crept into his voice, but regardless, he pushed his phone over to you. Taking it, you opened contacts and input your number, adding a small heart next to your name. As you glanced around the lunchroom, eyes had started to become glued to you. You had been sitting there much too long, and many were taking notice. Standing up, you slid the phone back to him, taking your uneaten tray in your hands.

"Call me sometime." Those were the final few words that were spoken as you made your way back to your usual table, leaving him to sit and stare in disbelief. As lunch drew to a close, you would shoot Dib occasional looks, waving happily whenever you caught his eyes. You let yourself dream that this was possibly the beginning of some blossoming high school romance. In your position, you had your pick of virtually anyone at your school. Nevertheless, you wouldn't have wanted anyone else to be your secret admirer. 

[noona-clock]

The Demon 👿 Day and Night

Genre: College!AU (with flashbacks of High School!AU)

Pairing: Sungjin x You

Warnings: Slight Angst

Words: 1,750

Day and Night  👿 Zombie  👿 Tick Tock  👿 Love me or Leave me  👿 STOP  👿 1 to 10  👿 Afraid

Like the day and night It’s going back differently The middle is always waiting It’s just a moment. It’s being biased.  Only on one side we’ve been wanting each other

Sungjin was tired of the back and forth.

The two of you had known each other since high school. He’d had a crush on you since high school, and he knew you felt the same way -- but for one reason or another, it had just never worked out.

And, like I said, he was tired of it. He was tired of getting his hopes up, he was tired of waiting in limbo, and he was tired of constantly feeling like all he did was wait for you.

I mean, the two of you were about to graduate from university. Don’t you think this has been going on long enough?

So, tonight -- tonight -- Sungjin was going to resolve this once and for all. He was going to seek you out and talk to you like he’d never talked to you before. And, hopefully, he would never have to talk to you like that again.

Good lord, he hoped so.

Sad sad sad sad sad What can I do? Always Bad bad bad bad bad Timing all the time When someone’s hot, Someone else is cold. I’m going crazy.

Back then, Sungjin had waited a long time before confessing to you. His crush on you had developed during his freshman year, but he hadn’t said anything to you until junior year, and even then it was only after months of working up his nerve.

You had been flirting with him -- he had been pretty sure, at least. He had never been the best at interpreting stuff like that, but you’d been pretty obvious about it. The two of you had spent a lot of time together, and you’d seemed to perk up whenever Sungjin had talked about Junior Prom.

So, he had finally decided to ask you to be his date.

He hadn’t come up with anything fancy -- none of that promposal nonsense he’d seen on social media. He was simply going to go to your house, ring your doorbell, and ask you. Plain and simple, just like him.

But when he’d arrived, he had been faced with an incredibly disappointing scene -- for him, at least.

Another guy (presumably someone from the baseball team) had been laying out a bunch of baseballs in your yard, shaping out the letters P-R-O-M with a question mark at the end. Sungjin had been able to see a sheet of poster board laying in your driveway, too, which read ‘Being your date to prom would be better than a home run.’

...How was he supposed to compete with that?

Besides, the other guy had gotten there first.

Sungjin had watched from down the road as Baseball Guy rang your doorbell, ran back into your yard next to his display of baseballs, and held his sign up as soon as you’d opened the door.

He had held out the tiniest bit of hope that you would say ‘no.’ 

But, of course, you hadn’t.

The next day, Sungjin had decided to just be honest with you.

...Kind of.

He had brought up the pictures he’d seen on social media of the whole thing, and you had confirmed it.

“Yeah, it super unexpected,” you’d grinned. And then your grin had fallen slightly, and you’d added, “I... was actually kind of hoping you would ask me, but you probably don’t even want to go. You don’t really seem like the prom type.”

And his heart had broken.

No, he hadn’t been the prom type. He hadn’t wanted to go.

But he would’ve gone with you.

If he had just been ten minutes earlier. Or if he had just confessed his feelings to you weeks ago -- months ago!

Ah, well. At least Sungjin had learned a valuable lesson: it really was all about timing. 

Unfortunately, his timing had just been spectacularly bad.

If you try to get closer and closer, You’re going to disappear in a while and in my sight, oh We’re gonna have to go through this I go up And you go down It’s always the same

On the night of prom, Sungjin had decided he would move on.

You would most likely start dating that dumb baseball player, and Sungjin really didn’t want to spend Senior year pining over you when he knew he had no chance.

So, he had taken out his phone and called up his grandfather.

A couple of years ago, Sungjin had spent the summer with him and had been a counselor at a music camp close to his grandfather’s house. Even if the camp didn’t have any open counselor spots, he could still stay there for the summer and not risk running into you with your new boyfriend.

And, thankfully, that’s just what he’d done. 

He’d spent two whole months living with his grandfather and working at the nearby arts center as a music camp counselor. Most importantly, he’d spent two whole months not seeing or talking to you.

In fact, there was another counselor he’d connected with, and he’d spent two whole months seeing and talking to her. The two of them had a lot of common interests -- including the same sense of humor -- and by the time Sungjin had returned to school for Senior Year, he had officially taken himself off the market.

And, of course, that’s when you’d approached him.

The first day of school.

“Hey,” you’d grinned, hugging your astronomy textbook to your chest. “How was your summer? I didn’t see you at all.”

“Oh... yeah,” Sungjin had replied with an awkward chuckle. “I was staying with my grandfather.”

He had closed his locker, but instead of saying ‘goodbye’ and leaving, you had followed him.

“I... actually was hoping we could talk?” you’d asked softly, your brow furrowed gently.

Oh, boy. 

“...Talk about what?”

“About... us.”

Us?!

Sungjin had paused, turning to face you as he’d clutched one strap of his backpack. “I... I actually met someone. We were counselors together at a music camp, and she only lives an hour away, so...”

Your expression had fallen, and Sungjin had known exactly how you’d felt in that moment. Because he had just felt it a couple of months ago.

“...Oh,” you’d murmured.

Sungjin’s timing had been bad right before prom, and the tables had turned on him. You had been with someone before summer when Sungjin had been ready to ask you out. He had been with someone after summer when you had been ready to ask him out.

Would your timing ever match up?

I don’t wanna give it up Don’t give it up Won’t give it up I hope so, too. I hope so. with that in mind Come a little closer Me, too. I’ll take a step And then one day, Maybe we’ll meet.

Apparently, the answer to that question is ‘no.’

After Sungjin had broken up with his summer girlfriend about halfway through Senior year, you had started dating someone.

Then the two of you went off to different universities and only saw each other during school breaks.

But then you had transferred to Sungjin’s school, though he had gotten busy with a band he’d joined.

It continued on like this for the next two years or so. If Sungjin wasn’t busy with school or band practice, you were busy with school and the on-campus job you’d gotten. You studied abroad for an entire semester, and when you came back, you had decided to swear off dating for at least a year (you never told him specifically, but he had a feeling a foreign guy or two had something to do with this).

And now here the two of you were. Getting ready to graduate, and after all these years, you had still never dated. And Sungjin wasn’t sure whether or not he still had hope that you would.

Maybe that was the most frustrating thing about this whole situation. Sungjin wanted to want to just give up and move on. But he didn’t. He didn’t want to give up hope that things would never work out.

So... maybe tonight would be it. Maybe tonight would be the night when the timing was actually right.

If you try to get closer and closer, You’re going to disappear in a while and in my sight, oh We’re gonna have to go through this I go up And you go down It’s always the same

Actually, if you try to approach me little by little, in the meantime, chilled by a slight difference We’re all so mixed up. You go up And I go down It’s always the same, like the sun and the moon.

Sungjin’s heart thudded in his chest as he knocked on your door. It leaped up into his throat when the doorknob turned. And it stopped altogether when you opened it, standing in front of him with a curious look on your face.

“Hey,” you greeted with a soft, confused grin. “What’s up?”

Oh, god. Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure if he could do it.

But he had to. You were both at a turning point in your lives, and if he didn’t do this now... he never would.

So, he took a deep breath and just came out with it.

“I’ve liked you for years. I think you’ve liked me, too, but our timing has just been... bad.”

Well, he wished he could’ve been a bit more eloquent, but there you go.

You opened your mouth to reply but then paused. After a few moments of silence, you simply opened your door wider and let him come inside.

Sungjin stepped into your entryway, turning to keep his eyes on you as you closed the door behind him.

His heart skipped a couple of beats as you stood facing the door, letting out a soft sigh. And without turning around, you murmured, “I have. You’re right.”

Even though he knew he shouldn’t, Sungjin began to think this really was the night. Tonight was the night when everything would come together.

But then you turned around, and Sungjin saw the incredibly distressed look on your face.

“I just got offered a job by the company where I interned during my study abroad,” you told him. “And... I already accepted.”

See -- he knew he shouldn’t have thought that. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

“Ah,” he replied, nodding slowly. “That -- that’s great, though. Congratulations.”

You quickly stepped up to him, wringing your hands together nervously. “I wouldn’t have accepted if I had known -- I thought you had moved on already. I’ve liked you -- a lot. I figured taking a job in another country would be a fresh start. A really fresh start. A way to... get over you.”

Okay, Sungjin would really appreciate it if you just stopped talking.

“I -- I’m sorry,” you said softly.

“No,” Sungjin shook his head. “No, don’t be sorry.”

“I can call them back -- see if I can tell them --”

But Sungjin interrupted you. “Please don’t. I think... I think this is best.”

Before he could stop himself, he reached up and circled his arms around you, pulling you into his chest.

“I’m happy for you,” he murmured, bringing one hand up to cradle the back of your head as you returned his hug. “Really.”

And... to be honest. He was happy for some closure.

Once and for all.

“You never know,” you said with a soft chuckle, causing Sungjin’s heart to skip another beat. “Maybe I’ll come back sooner rather than later.”

...Oh, boy. 

Well.

There went that closure he’d just found.

[sofiaisqueen2004]

“I’m gonna need the suit back”-P.P *TH*

*I wrote this three years ago so sorry if it’s cringey!

Summary-Peter does something reckless that costs him his job.

Warnings-Slight Violence

*Spider-Man/ Peter Parker's POV*

I can't believe I split the boat open in half....what the HELL was going through my head. How could I be stupid enough to split the whole freaking Ferry in half with about 100 people on it! I was just trying to be like Mr.Stark. And yet it got me fired, got my suit taken away, and I lost my girlfriend...

[Long Flashback] (My bad for it being so long)

"Who's that guy on the left." I asked my A.I. that was in my suit. I looked down to a group of 3 men.

"Matt Gargon. Extensive criminal record, including homicide. Would you like me to activate instant kill?" Karen responded.

"N-no! Stop it with the instant kill already!" I yelled. I listened in on what the group of men were saying.

"White pickup truck." A guy with a denim jacket said.

Another guy with tattoos all over his neck signaled to another guy to go into where all the cars were.

"Droney, scan the ship for a white pickup truck." I signaled my spider drone.

I saw what my drone saw and smiled, "This is too perfect! They got the weapons, the buyers, and the seller all in ONE place!"

Karen interrupted me, "Incoming call from Tony Stark"

I started to panic, "No, no, no, no! Don't answer!"

Mr.Starks face popped up on my screen in my suit, "Mr.Parker. Got a sec?"

"Uhh, no i-i'm actually at s-school!" I lied.

Karen said, "No you're not!"

"Nice work in D.C kid!" Mr.Stark said.

"O-ok!" I stuttered.

"My dad never really gave me much support, and i'm just trying to break the cycle."

I interrupted him, "I'm kind of in the middle of something..."

"Don't cut me off when i'm complimenting you! Anyway, great things are about to happen," He stopped talking abruptly because of the Ferry's honk... "What was that?"

I actually started having a panic attack, "Umm, i'm at band practice..." I'm such a terrible liar.

"That's odd, Happy told me you quit band two week ago?" He stated confused.

"I gotta go!" I yelled.

'Hey...." Then I hung up on him.

"I'll take those!" I shot my web at the man who was holding a pair of keys, and brought the keys back to me. I jumped off from where I was and landed onto the floor that they were standing on.

"Hey guys, you left at the wrong time! The ferry doesn't doc until 10:30! You guys are early!" I said and they came running towards me. I shot two guys away and punched another guy in the face. He fell all the way towards the end of the boat. He was dangling off the edge of the boat. Another guy came up behind me and tried to hit me with a blue glowing glove. I dodged it and shot my web at his arm and it was stuck to a metal pole.

Two other men tried to get up but I shot them and they went flying the other way with a motorcycle. "Woah, woah, woah, not so fast! Oh sorry! Are you guys ok? My bad that was a little hard. I gotta say," Shooting my empty web cartridge out then replacing it was a full one, "The other guy was way better with that glove thingy. I'm honestly, i-i'm shocked!"

The guy with the wings came out and smirked at me, I started running towards him but before I could get to him, the FBI showed up and yelled, "FBI! GET ON THE GROUND!" A bunch of men came towards me and I put my hands up in the air yelling, "Wait, wait, wait! What do you guys mean FBI??"

Karen started to speak, "The FBI is the Federal Bureau of-"

"NO! I understand what the FBI is! But what are they doing here?" Wings popped out of a white van cut the van in half. They were metal which means it's the same winged man that I fought before! He flew towards me with a purple lowing gun in his hands.

I moved everyone out of the way without getting hit. He flew up in the air and aimed his gun towards the guy who had the blue glowing gun and set him free. He yelled, "Get to the roof. We're leaving here!" I shot my web at the guy but missed. So then I shot it to the winged man's ankle. He shot his gun everywhere on the boat making holes.

I activated my taser web that was attached to the guys gun, and he let go of it. It landed in front of me but it exploded and shot everywhere. There was a huge crack in the middle of the ferry. The guy flew away from the scene and water started bursting through the crack. Both halves of the boat started falling apart.  The cars were going everywhere and were being pushed by the water.

"OH MY GOD!!! WHAT DO I DO!!" I screamed, "Karen, show me a x-ray of the boat! And point out all the strongest points." I saw all of the poles. I got an idea. I shot my webs at every single one of them then tied them together and pulled them as close as I could to myself. So that the boat wouldn't fall apart.

It stopped moving after 5 seconds. A man started clapping but then the boat immediately started falling apart again. Then after a few minutes, the boat started getting back together again. I looked over and saw Iron Man, pushing the boat back together, "Hi Spider-Man! Band practice was it?" He said sternly and sarcastically.

He flew to the bottom floor and I followed him. He somehow glued the boat back together, "Uhh Mr.Stark! Hey Mr.Stark!" I yelled climbing to the top of the boat, "Can I do anything!? Is there anything I can do!?"

He sighed, "I think you've done enough!" He flew off...

I sat at the top of a building with my legs dangling off the ledge. I hear two suits land near me, I assumed they were Tony Stark, and Y/n Stark...

*Y/N's POV*

I saw everything that happened. I felt bad for Peter because I know my dad won't let him hear the end of it. We flew towards him. I had my own iron man suit only it was fit for my body type.

"SO previously on Peter screws the pooch, I'd tell ya to stay away from this. You have a multimillionaire suit, not so you can just sneak off anywhere and do the one thing I told you NOT to do!" My dad yelled at him.

"Dad! Cut him some slack!" I yelled at him.

"NO Y/N! I will NOT! He disobeyed me! He deserved to be punished!!!" Dad yelled back.

"Is everyone ok?" I looked towards Peter.

"No thanks to you..." Dad said.

"Dad!" I yelled.

"Y/n! If you keep on defending him I will ground you!" I stayed silent.

Peter turned around with his mask off, "No thanks to me!? Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn't listen!" My dad flew down to Peter's level, while Peter started walking closer to dad, "NONE of this would've happened if you had just listened to me!!!!" I knew Peter was on the verge of bursting out into tears.

"If you even cared, you'd actually be here..." Peter continued speaking but then stopped. My dad's suit opened revealing himself. I did the same thing too. My dad walked right up to Peter while Peter backed away...

"I did listen Kid. Who do you think called the FBI huh?" He sighed walking closer to Peter, "Did you know I was the only one who believed in you while everybody else said I was crazy to recruit a 14 year old kid!" Dad stated.

"I'm 15-" Peter said quietly.

"No-THIS IS WHERE YOU ZIP IT ALRIGHT!!!!! AND LET THE ADULT TALK!" Dad screamed in front of Peter's face, "What if somebody died tonight? Hmm? Different story right? But this time it would be on you! But If you died, I think that's on me... I don't need that on my conscious."

"Y-yes sir. I know! I-i'm sorry" He stuttered. But my dad just shook his head, "Yeah, sorry doesn't cut it."

"I-I just wanted to be like you!" My dad shook his head again, "And I just wanted you to be better..."

"DAD!! Shut the hell up!!!!! Peter is my age! He didn't know what to do because you NEVER listened to him!" I took a deep breath while my Dad glared at me, "He's too young to make these life threatening decisions. I love him ok. We've been dating secretly for a few months...so don't you dare go yelling at him and blaming him for something that could've easily been avoided if YOU HAD JUST LISTENED TO HIM FOR ONCE!!!!"

"Ok so, you're grounded for the rest of your life and you're done dating Peter," He said pointing at me, "And so this is not working out, i'm gonna need the suit back."

"WHAT!?" I screamed, "You can't do that to him!!!"

"ZIP IT Y/N!!" He screamed at me. I had tears clouding my eyes now.

"Wait, for how long?" Peter asked.

"Forever" Dad responded sternly.

"No, no, no! Please, please, please! You don't understand! This is all I have! I am NOTHING without this suit!" Peter whined.

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it! Ok? God I sound like my dad..." Dad said disappointedly.

"I don't have any clothes..."

"Ok we'll sort that out..."

[End of flashback]

*Peter's POV*

I walked into my apartment where my Aunt May and I live. I had my headphones in and went straight to my room...

I stopped abruptly at the door that leads to my room. I saw Y/n sitting on my bed with a bag in her hands.

"Y-y/n..." I whispered in shock. Her head shot up and instantly ran into me. She hugged me so tight I couldn't even breathe. But I hugged her back and I heard her start crying. I pulled back and wiped her tears away with the pad of my thumb.

"Hey don't cry! I'm right here..." I leaned into her and kissed her soft lips. She kissed back putting her hands on my neck. I pulled back and she smiled at me and I smiled back.

"I came here because I convinced my dad to give this back to you..." She handed me the bag. I opened it and found my Spider-Man suit in it.

"No... freaking...WAY!!! Oh my gosh Y/n thank you so much!!!" I yelled. She chuckled and pecked my lips, "And we can be back together now!" I grabbed her and spun her around in the air. She giggled and said, "Can't wait to be your girlfriend again!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way..." She smiles at me then I kiss her again.

----

Word Count: 1,887

[btssmutficslovingfan01]

A Little Love for Tae

Summary: Taehyung somehow is still alone. And single. Despite having a bunch of friends around him in relationships. 

Happy Valentine’s day! @yoonia this is for you! Here’s the link to her tumblr go read her amazing works! This is for the ‘Made With Love’ project by @bangtansmutcentral

Genre: Smut, Fluff, & Angst

Warnings: Implied relationships with OC, Bartender Tae AU, References to Undo, Replacing the reader from Yoongi’s story as OC for the sake of another x reader story, really a spinoff or a side story but this is completely original I swear I didn’t steal it, I hope my valentine and readers like it as much as I do!! Drinking, swearing, oral (f receiving), masterbating, etc.

Story takes place in Second Person POV.

Words: 10k+ 

Paring: Taehyung x Reader 

_______________________________________

“Hey it’s me, Taehyung! I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend, maybe have some girl time since we haven’t had any late night heart-to-hearts since high school-Oh you have a date with your boyfriend of two years? Okay. That’s fine, yeah maybe next time.” Taehyung hangs up his phone before listening to his best friend go on and on about her perfect relationship with her perfect partner. He’s frankly tired of seeing all of these lovey-dovey couples, especially when it’s so close to Valentine’s day. He saw the way Yoongi looked at Freya with nothing short of love in his eyes, and how Namjoon looked at his fiancé, he has plain jealousy in his heart, and nothing close to love.

‘The first time I fell in love, I was in high school. Unfortunately, the girl was a bitchy cheerleader that only wanted to get with me because of my reputation as the school’s “dumb blond.” She was also blonde, so what the hell did she mean?!’ Tae thinks to himself, making the job easier for the author so that she doesn’t have to guess what’s going through his brain. ‘The second time I fell in love, I was a freshman in college. I was taking a short break from girls only to fall hopelessly in love with my best friend, who was also in a relationship at the time. With another girl. Yeah, my love life isn’t exactly the best.’ Somehow he still has hope in his heart, and with that hope he steps out into the sunlight only for a second. Taehyung has been running longer than he can remember, and working out was a perfect de-stresser. He nearly vomits in his mouth when he sees five different couples trying to eat each other alive but he simply jogs on straight ahead.

After his morning jog, he takes a quick shower and changes into his work clothes. He’s a bartender, so he always has to look a bit presentable. Not to mention, the tattoos on his arms make him look less than qualified but he thought he looked like a badass. And honestly, he could complain? He did look really cool with those pretty tattoos.

“Can I get a Daquiri please?” A woman dressed in a golden gown with a flower in her dark brown hair sits down on a stool in front of him. Tae whips up the drink, and places the cocktail in front of her. He watches as she gulps it down in one go, and nervously draws back, pretending to clean a glass. “Listen to me very carefully,” She sets the empty glass down on the counter. “Your luck is about to change, and if you don’t play your cards right, you may end up being depressed forever.” She leaves quickly, only placing a $10 bill on the counter. Taehyung grabs it and shrugs to himself.

‘I don’t trust any of that fortune teller bullshit. My luck isn’t gonna change and I’m gonna stay single forever.’ He continues on with his job, and just as his shift is about to finish, a woman wearing a long white dress runs into the bar, and as she gets closer, he sees her smudged lipstick and runny mascara, as she cries into a handkerchief.

“Whoa, whoa are you okay?” Taehyung tries to calm her down as she blows her nose into a handkerchief.

“Can I borrow your phone?” Tae nods, quickly pulling it out and handing it to the woman in distress. He gawks at her as she makes her phone call, and eventually he slides a box of tissues towards her. “Yeah, the dress is fine. Just know that I’m really happy for you and Ryan. You deserve it, yeah, mmhmm, bye.” She hangs up, and Taehyung takes his phone back.

“Would you like something to drink?” He asks her in a soft voice.

A couple of shots later, his shift is over, and he knows this woman’s entire backstory. A simple girl from a normal family that fell in love with the CEO of a company and after their cliché of a love affair, she finds out that he has an arranged marriage to her best friend. Normal stuff, really. But he’s not interested. It’s not like he has a book series or an amazing life like those drama characters. Seeing her porcelain skin, and her pink lips, and piercing green eyes, anyone can tell that she’s the main character.

“Eliza!” Tae hears a man calling out to someone.

“Ryan?” The woman in the wedding dress responds to him, and they both run into each other’s arms. Tae doesn’t bother sticking around. He just fled the scene as fast as he could.

“Ah fuck-” He doesn’t get that far as he runs into you. Yes you, the reader, the fated reader who now has crossed paths with your fave.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there because of all these boxes I was carrying,” You do a double take, recognizing that beautiful curly hair anywhere. That familiar face, that you had seen so much on twitter, the gifs you used on a daily basis, this man was your savior. “K-Kim Taehyung?!” He stumbles back a bit, in surprise.

“How do you know me?” He asks, his eyes as wide as the full moon. You raise your eyebrows, confused by his question. First of all, his bodyguards were nowhere in sight, and second of all, how is no one trying to mob him right now?! You knew of his presence in America (Yes we all live in the United States here) but you didn’t know that he would be so close to the building you’re interning in!

“You’re famous, duh.” You spit out the answer, and he immediately shoots back a couple twenty questions or so. You were ecstatic that you met your idol, but continuing idle chatter meant losing precious time, and at your office, time is money. Especially since you’re the only paid intern there. “I’d love to continue our chat, but if I don’t get going right now, my boss is gonna kill me.”

“Oh, of course, I’m so sorry for holding you up. Do you need any help with those boxes?” You simply smile at him as he takes two of the five heavy boxes and carries it with his strong, muscular arms. When you reach your office, he sets them down and looks up at the building. “I didn’t know you worked at my brother’s company.” “What? I didn’t know your brother was the CEO of Gunderson’s Inc-Holy shit that’s not my office.” You drop some of the boxes you were holding in shock, and Taehyung rushes to catch them. “What happened to Gunderson’s place? This...this is not supposed to be a fashion company.” Taehyung recalls meeting you, how running into you was so strange. He didn’t see anyone in his path, and when he crashed into you, it was as if you appeared out of thin air. It was even weirder when you recognized him like he was a movie star or something. “Are you okay?” He asks. You shake your head, tears blurring your vision as he holds out his hand for you, waiting patiently for you to take it before the breakdown hits.

“No.” You whisper, and he crouches down next to you, in the middle of the sidewalk, allowing you to cry for as long as you need.

“What was the point of that?” He asks you, and you are just as confused as he is.

“I’m sorry, I just released all of my feelings that I was holding in all at once. It wasn’t you, or this situation, my life has just been shitty as of late.” The realization dawns on you as you look up at Taehyung’s perfect curly brown hair.

“Oh my god, I think I know how I got here.” You wait for the flashback but it never comes. Perhaps the author got lazy, or it was too simple to flashback to. All you know is that earlier that day, you walked into the attic of your company, and encountered a strange looking device. You were wishing to be anywhere but at work, and for BTS to save you, but particularly your bias because you love him. Then you black out due to all the dust and you wake up in the same place. You then walked out and went on an errand run. It wasn’t until you got the boxes that you really made the switch. The company was the same even after you went through the machine, so how would you have teleported there in the first place? Maybe it doesn’t matter how you got here after all. Your luck may have finally changed.

“Are you just gonna sit there, in the middle of the sidewalk with your skirt hiking your thigh?” You gasp, covering yourself as you stood up, a little embarrassed at being in front of Tae.

“Sorry. Um, are you busy right now, or something?” You ask, hoping for the best answer.

“Not at the moment, no. Why don’t we grab a coffee or something?” You nod, following him to your next destination. You both left the boxes in front of the building, happily bouncing away with no care in the world. “So, how do you know me?” He looks at you with that familiar gaze amd you can feel your heart thudding against your chest, delivering blows as if it is trying to break out from your very body.

“You see, I think something happened and I ended up being transported to your world.” I explain.

“Can you please just tell me? I’m a little bit scared.” Of you? Your bias was afraid of you?

“So, in the place where I'm from, you’re in a famous boy band with your friends, and you guys have these amazing concerts and a HUGE fanbase, which I’m apart of, and I was just confused because there weren’t any bodyguards following you…”

“Me?” You look up at him, in awe. His hair is just marvelous, curly and naturally brown, and his mole is visible on his left cheek. You can’t help but stare, as the human before you is just too beautiful. “Sorry, but did you say my f-friends?” You sip your coffee, snapping yourself out of your trance. “Might I know these people?” You shrug, secretly hoping he did. Slowly, you start reciting the fanchant.

“Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook….BTS.” You choke out the last part, coughing violently after.

“Whoa...you just recited the names of my lifelong best friends.”

“Knew it.” You smile, knowing that they’d be together, somehow. Even if they weren’t brought together by bighit, fate brought them together, as lifelong friends.

“Who exactly are you?” He asks, amazed by your presence. Tae had never met someone as bodacious as you. To say he was stunned was an understatement.

“I’m just a fan.” You, on the other hand, were not just a fan, you were their number one fan, you’ve been following them since their second album, and stanning them was absolutely worth it.

“So I’m famous, along with my six friends….from singing and dancing?” You nod eagerly, sipping my coffee. ‘Maybe I can form BTS here.’ You thought.

“Can you take me to meet your other friends?” There’s no harm in asking, so you just go for it. Then again, it’s not like you’re running into Kim Taehyung on the street, so it works itself out.

“Maybe, but I don’t think they’d want to be bothered.” You bite your lip. That was a possibility your forgot to consider. Tae seems the same, but what if the others have different personalities? That’s the problem with alternate universes. Also, you don’t even know how you got here in the first place. Was it the button? Was it wish-activated? You have no clue.

“You’re right. Sorry for intruding.” You waver, between getting up and never seeing him again, or asking for an autograph. “Oh, can you sign this real quick?” Tae looks at you with that intimidating stare. Oh, but you already know what he’s thinking as his frown turns into a charming smile and he asks for a pen.

“I’ve never given an autograph before, so this is my first time,” Your eyes fill up with tears. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” You wipe the corners of your eyes with a tissue as Tae looks at you with worry. “I’m honored to receive your first autograph. You are so amazing and you don’t even know it,” He sighs sadly. That was the first and last time any woman would look at him. And to top it all off, you were cute. It was as if fate was trying to tell him that his luck really would change. He hasn’t felt this good about himself in years. Maybe you were the answer to his self-doubt. ‘Aish, what am I thinking? A woman can’t magically fix all my problems. The only person I should love is myself...but she makes me feel happy. Is it such a bad thing to be happy?’ As he’s wallowing in self-pity, you make your escape, dusting your skirt and formal attire. “I’ll go first.” He wants to grab your hand and say something, but really, what can he say?

“Wait!” He squints at his own actions, confused as to why he did that. “You came here from somewhere else, so that means you don’t have a place to go back to, right?” A look of grief flickers onto your face before you smile again, reassuring him that you’re okay.

“That is pretty spot on. Whew, I thought I’d have to rent an expensive hotel room or something.”

“I know a place.” Taehyung guides you to his apartment, and since his family pretty much owns an entire company, he can afford the penthouse.

“Whoa, you live here?” You spin around, breathing in the fresh air as he simply throws his coat on the coffee table.

“It gets pretty quiet here sometimes, since I have this entire floor to myself.”

“Yeah, I bet.” You’re distracted by the pretty garden, all the different flowers overwhelming you with emotions.

“Tannie, have you been a good boy?” You almost trip and die when you see the tiny black and brown pomeranian. You thought this world was different, but at least Yeontan is still here.

“Wait, lemme pet him!” The puppy yips before jumping and licking your hand.

“He likes you.” Tae takes a moment to admire your beauty. You have soft pink lips, shining eyes filled with determination, and a cute nose. Your hair falls around your face perfectly, creating almost a heart shaped look. You’re totally his type.

“I’ve been dying to meet him since I found out you got him. But it’s really unlikely, since you’re always guarded and busy. Even back in my world, you barely have the time to take care of your own dog.” You regret telling him, as his face immediately falls.

“Sounds like I gave up a lot to become a performer.” You hold Tan in place, looking at Tae with morose.

“Yeah. You did.” He takes a deep breath in before changing the subject.

“What do you want for dinner?” He asks.

“Depends on what you have.” You have a face off, and Tae pulls out a package from his fridge.

“Frozen steak.” You stick it in the microwave.

“Already ahead of you.” You both dance in the main room as the food cooks, and you throw some toys to Yeontan as you both twirl around like idiots. You listen to good old american pop music, and when senorita comes on, you become a stripper. Or at least, you dance like one.

“Whoa...whoa! Whoaaa.” Tae watches you with wide eyes as you move to the floor, your body humping the air as you dance. He’s really just concentrated on the curves of your body, and he notices how lean you are, from the way your clothes cling to your body, and how you can move with ease. It’s impressive how you can look like a pro dancer even without taking any classes.

“Sorry about that,” Your cheeks are flushed a little from embarrassment but that doesn’t stop Tae from following your lead and doing a booty drop. “Yes, fuck it up Taehyung!” You cheer him on, completely oblivious to the way he was checking you out.

A week passes by and you’re already dreading that it’s February. You didn’t think it was possible, but after spending so much time with him in a short period of time, you think you’re in love. Or at the very least, you have a crush on him. On Valentine’s day, you don’t make a big deal of it, since Tae came home late and you both had some cup noodles. He seems tired, so you don’t bother him as heads directly to his room.

“I know, Tan. Something is bothering him.” You hold the dog close to you as he slams the door shut, and you slowly crawl to your couch, which you have made into a bed.

The next day, he doesn’t have work, but he seems busy as he starts working in the kitchen. “Whatcha doing?” You ask as he slices some onions.

“My friends are coming over today.” He informs you, and your heart drops. From his grave tone, you could tell he didn’t want you there.

“Oh, need any help?” He wipes his tears away with a sleeve.

“No, I’m fine. Just take Tan out for a walk, I don’t want him to whine after my friends get here.” You still want to ask him if it’s okay for you to be present, but he sounds too stressed. Maybe it’s better if you don’t ask. You can just stay away from him.

“Oh shit-are you okay, miss?” Why are you always running into strangers like this? You take the hand of the man who bumped into you, and you rub your eyes to see that it’s none other than Jung Hoseok.

“I’m fine.” You nearly struggle to breathe, taken away by his glow in broad daylight. The sun is making him shine! Literally.

“Is this your dog?” You nod shyly, looking down at the playful pup as he barks. “That’s funny, my friend has a dog just like this one,” The puppy barks again, and then Hoseok finds the collar. “Wait a minute, he has the same collar, and the same name!” You blush, perspiring heavily and itching the back of your neck. “Who are you?!” Your heart falls. Of course he wouldn’t have told his friends that he was living with you. You’re too weird and gross and everything a guy could despise, he was probably embarrassed by you.

“No one. I’m no one.” You walk away from Hoseok, staring at the ground as Tan runs ahead of you, chasing after a squirrel. After you get home, you see Taehyung is still cooking.

“You’re back, great. Listen, I’m gonna need you to-”

“It’s okay, I’ll go somewhere else.” You sigh heavily before pressing a kiss to Yeontan’s head. “Bye bye Tannie.”

“Wait, Y/N-”

You yawn and walk back outside, hoping that you don’t see any other members. After walking for a bit, you reach a dance studio. For some weird reason, it reminds you of Jimin. You go inside, bored and completely tired, hoping for an energy boost.

“And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.” Your eyes fill with stars when you see the third member, and how well he works with little kids.

“Oh, are you here to pick someone up? Lucy, is that your big sister?” He asks a little girl.

“No, no, I’m just here to watch. Don’t mind me.” You sit down on a bench and watch his graceful movements, thankful that you were close enough to see him live. He’s an amazing dancer.

“Now, what can I do for you?” He wipes his forehead with a towel and looks as angelic as ever.

“Nothing. I was just feeling a little down, so I thought coming to the dance studio would make me more energized.” He kneels down, since you are very short while sitting down.

“How are you feeling now?” Your heart is racing, since Jimin being close to you is like a dream come true.

“Like shit.” You laugh, really just not in the mood for anything.

“Com’ere.” He pulls you towards the dance floor and plays “confident” by Demi Lovato.

“This song is overplayed noooo.” He raises an eyebrow.

“You think I care?” He wiggles his shoulders and you laugh, slapping his chest playfully. “Your turn.” After dancing for a couple more minutes, he dips you and lifts you up in the air, letting you fly for awhile. You both stare intensely at each other, an instant connection between the two of you. After putting you down, he starts leaning in, and you do the same.

“Chim, come and help me read these-you!” You both pull away from each other at the same time, and you see Hoseok standing there, with a look of anger on his face. “Why did you run away from me earlier?” He shoves a couple of folders at Jimin.

“N-no reason, it was just hot.”

“No, you had Yeontan. That’s Taehyung’s dog. Did you steal him?” Hoseok sounds snarky but you don’t blame him.

“No I-”

“He never even told me about a girl...I wonder if you’re even that important.” You burst into tears right at that moment, running out of the room while Jimin tries coaxing you to stay.

“He’s right, Jimin. Taehyung is disgusted and repulsed by me. No man like that could ever like a girl like me!” You sob into your hands, pouring out your heart to him.

“How do you know my name? And why was Hoseok so mad at you?”

“I ran away from him like I run away from all my problems.” Instead of reacting badly, you look up and see that he has a tender look in his eyes, one that comforts you. Why can’t every man treat you like this?

“It’s okay,” He lets you hug him for a minute, squeezing you gently in his arms. Maybe Tae wasn’t the answer, maybe it was just you. “Pretty girls shouldn’t cry. You should be happy, and I don’t mean in a fake smile type of way, either.” He wipes your tears. “Yesterday was Valentine’s day, did you get a present?” He asks. You shake your head meekly. “My girlfriend baked some cookies for me yesterday, here you go.” Your heart breaks at the word ‘girlfriend.’ Jimin was the sweetest angel, of course any girl would go for him.

“Thanks.” You lean against the wall, at a loss for words as you stare down at the little bag of cookies in your hands.

“I gotta get going now, if you want you can-”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just go somewhere else.” And so you do, you leave the studio and you walk towards a bar.

Taehyung is stressed. More than he usually is, because you’re not there with him. You’re in an unfamiliar world and it’s his fault for letting you go so easily. He also feels like a jerk because he hasn’t been able to tell his friends about you. He just hopes you come back soon and everything will be fine.

“You miss her too, pup?” The dog seems to want to scramble out of his hands as the doorbell rings.

“Happy late Valentine’s day!” All of his friends greet him and he smiles back.

“Hey guys, glad to see y’all here.” Jimin suddenly steps forward and grabs his hand.

“We followed her, she went to the bar downtown, go find her and bring her back home.” Those words are all it takes for Tae to grab his coat and he rushes downstairs, leaving the rest of his friends in shock as he leaves his own party.

“Y/N!” He calls out for you. He finally finds you, shoving your tongue down some stranger’s throat.

“I don’t want to-” He can hear you struggle, but his fist acts faster than his thoughts.

“She said she wants you to stop!”

                            •❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

“Taehyung, what the hell is wrong with you?” You scold him for acting like a child.

“He was making advances at you that you didn’t like.” He was telling the truth, and that just infuriated you even more.

“Well, it’s up to me now, choosing which guys I flirt with.” He crinkles his nose in disgust.

“He was practically devouring your tongue.” You huff and stand up.

“I hope you have a nice rest of you night, I didn’t wanna ruin your party either, but I guess that didn’t stop you from finding me, did it?” He looks at you, feeling like an antagonist. Right then and there, all six of his friends burst into the hospital room, chattering away worriedly as they oversee their friend.

“Ohhhh, now I know why he was in a rush.” Jin pervertedly comments, making you blush but also more confident in yourself, as you weren’t feeling the best after putting on a little bit of makeup.

“Pretty lady, what have you done to our Tae?” Jungkook climbs into the bed with his best friend, and you smile to yourself at the “Taekook” ship sailing off.

“I didn’t cause this. Luckily, the guy he punched let him off with no charges, you would’ve been screwed if he sued.”

“That’s so American.” Namjoon scoffs at your comment. You take a bit of offense, as he used the term in a negative manner.

“Moving on...I will no longer be living with you, since I cause so much trouble wherever I go. Bye bye, BTS.” That was your first mistake.

“BTS?” Hoseok echoes you, looking around for an explanation.

“I wonder why she called us that.” Another man thinks out loud.

“Hey, worldwide pretty girl, what’s a BTS?” Jin screams from the hospital room. You shrug, turning around and facing him.

“It’s you guys. What you will be, anyways.” You still have faith in them.

You didn’t know how lonely life could be when you’re living on your own. First of all, no Yeontan, so you aren’t occupied by a needy pup the moment you step foot into your house. Second of all, the space, the apartment is tiny, and covered in dust. It took you an entire day to redecorate. The entire morning was a mess. Last of all, you missed Tae’s warm presence. Even when he was cold towards you, you still felt the warmth of his soul. He’s inherently good.

A knock on your door signals the start of your day.

“Hey neighbor! How are things going down in the pit?” You’re surprised by how Jungkook can keep his cheerful attitude up despite living in a sucky apartment like this one.

“Terrible, but I’m just gonna pretend everything’s fine and ask you if you found me a job?” He nods, his two front teeth jutting out as you close the door behind you and step into the common rooftop, where you two have been meeting to discuss potential job openings. Jungkook has been a sweetheart with taking you in and not prying into what happened between you and Tae. You’re thankful for him, but it’s not quite the same.

“I did. Seokjin is actually hiring and he needs an assistant.” He explains. Oh, of course, the universe you get dropped into is one of those cheesy Seokjin CEO aus with an equally kinky side as the objective changes from a simple romance to something deeper and more physical. You’ve only heard about it, but you doubted that Jin would make you do unprofessional tasks in the office just to relieve his stress.

You could only overthink it, though, as you wait for Seokjin in a hallway and then a couple minutes later you and Jungkook spot a woman fixing her skirt walking out of the room with smudged lipstick and runny mascara. Seokjin’s in the middle of adjusting his tie as he calls you into the office. You gulp. Hopefully, he doesn’t make any moves.

“So, I heard you were working in an office before?” His demeanor is very professional, and the way he sits in his chair is just so...powerful. You feel the urge to just sit and listen to him.

“Uh...yes.” You have no idea what lies Tae may or may not have fed this man as he moves onto the next question.

“Last of all, if you found out something about an employee, whether it is a personal or business matter, would you report it to me?” I’ve watched too many crime shows to know how this one goes. You shift in your seat and you face him head-on, looking at his piercing dark green eyes as he folds his legs towards you.

“Yes.” After pausing for a moment, he unfolds his legs and slams your file down on the desk, standing up and congratulating you, suddenly.

“Welcome to Kim Enterprises, it’s a pleasure to have you on my team,” It takes you a moment to register what’s happening as he hands you a pile of papers. “Now be a dear and stamp those for me, would ya? It looks best in pink.” Again, you are not surprised. Back home, Seokjin’s second most famous nickname next to ‘Worldwide Handsome,’ is ‘Pink Princess.’ And Somehow, while looking handsome at the same time, he works a subtle feminine tone very well, completely changing the game for male kpop idols. And it’s not just him, but all of BTS. They break gender roles, stereotypes, and connect better with their fans than any other group out there, that’s why you were so drawn to them in the first place! Now, being in an unfamiliar world, depending on one of the members as your only means of survival is...ironic. You expected to be rewarded for being a fan, but instead, you had to sacrifice more, to help him. It’s fine, though, as long as you’re getting paid.

“Hey babe. Yeah, got it. Oh, is your boyfriend doing okay? Alright, see you at the family dinner. Bye.” You overhear Jin on the phone as you finish up, and he looks a bit...bored. “It was my fiancée. As you can tell, neither of us want this marriage.” Oh, an arranged marriage au?

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” You awkwardly breathe as Seokjin stares at you, fascinated by how quickly you managed to finish your assigned task. Normally it takes most employees about 30 minutes, but you got it done in 15, definitely noteworthy.

“Nah, it’s okay. It’s what I was born to do. Marry a girl from another wealthy family, run the business, let my children take over, and die. Maybe I won’t be happy, but at least I’ll die being rich and comfy.” You gawk at him with wide eyes. How could such a gentleman be subject of a fate most cruel?

“That’s a horrible way to die,” You walk over to his desk and dump the pile of papers in his work space. “If anything, you deserve to be happy. Marry the one you love, grow old together, die knowing you lived a life of fulfillment and content.” He peers at you with curious eyes. Why do you keep looking at me like that? You wanted to ask but he clears his throat, alerting you of your next task.

“Next task, go to the bar. The one where my brother works. I can tell you need to tell him something important.” Brother? Who could Seokjin’s broth-wait a damn minute. Taehyung is…? Wow, that was unexpected.

“But don’t you nee-”

“I’m the CEO, I get paid the most even though I do only half the work that my employees do. Go now, find lil TaeTae and tell him whatever’s on your mind.” He puts his hands behind his head and kicks his feet up on the table.

“At least let me talk to him at home-”

“No.” Jin’s as stubborn as a child. You groan inwardly as he pushes you out the door, making your coworkers look at you strangely. You wave back at them and they simply shrug, ignoring you as they had been before.

“Kim Seokjin I am going to kill you when I see you outside of work.” You grumble as your boss towers behind you.

“I’d rather have a coffee or something later.” You roll your eyes. Did every BTS member have an obsession with coffee or was it just a Kim thing?

As you make your way down the street, Taehyung is busy working at the bar. He sees a familiar woman in a golden dress, and he begins to prepare a Daquiri, a drink that is almost as yellow as her dress.

“Did your luck change?” She asks, sipping the drink slightly. He sighs, thinking about the events that have happened thus far. In a way, since he ran into you on the street, his life has been better than it ever was.

“Yeah. I guess it did.” He begins wiping glasses, and then one of his coworkers come running in.

“Tae, I am so sorry man, but my wife is having a baby, and I can’t miss it.” Tae shakes his head, reassuring his friend as he hands him his black apron.

“Don’t worry about it man. Things are gonna turn out just fine.”

“Are you sure you can do this alone?” He feels the nerves building up inside, but he doesn’t dare let it show. He nods at Antonio as he leaves the bar.

“Ah, I felt the wind change again. Looks like your luck is gonna change again.” The woman’s words stun him, and just as she had appeared, she disappears into the crowd.

“Taehyung!” He hears your voice calling out to him and he shoots up. Were you a phantom or the real thing? He couldn’t concentrate at all today, since you were the only thing on his mind.

“Found you.” He sees your figure and recognizes you immediately. “What are you doing here?!” Tae’s deep voice makes you feel a sense of comfort and gives you the familiarity that you needed. Sure, Seokjin was a kind man, but Tae is your first friend in this weird world. On top of that, you live together, so you’ve had a lot of time to bond and grow closer.

“Jin sent me here. But he was right, seeing you now I definitely have to tell you that I-”

“Hey, bartender, are you gonna give me a drink or not?!” His body shrinks as he looks at the buff man with tattoos decorating his body from head to toe.

“Y-yes sir, be right there. Just a second, Y/N,” You watch as he swiftly pours some whisky and adds ice to the mix. He slides the glass in a professional way to the customer, as if he’s been doing this for years. “Okay, what did you want to talk about?” He asks. You get lost in his eyes, forgetting how handsome he was for a minute and getting sucked in.

“Waiter!” Tae scrunches his nose. He hates being called a waiter when his job description is clearly bartender, that and he’s the only one working in the bar right now. Looks like he’ll have to become a waiter as well.

“Gotta go fast.” Tae gets away from you and you watch as he runs around in circles, disappearing into the kitchen and juggling numerous trays and balancing it on his head, arms and knees. You quickly grab the one that’s about to fall off his knee, and then the one on his head. He looks at you, gratefully.

“I have to ask, are you the only one working right now?” He sets down two plates of food at a table and then turns to you, taking the next two.

“Yes.” He sighs, and you can see how tired he must be from running around so much.

“Do you need help?” You finally ask the question, eyes twinkling at him. Working alongside your bias was always a dream of yours, but you never thought it would become a reality as he hands you a black apron and you get behind the counter. He gives you a tutorial on preparing drinks, and you find out that you have a knack for it! Just as a large crowd appears, you and Tae get to work immediately, preparing drinks and conversing with customers for tips.

After his shift is supposedly over, you make him a drink. “Take a break, you’ve earned it.” You wipe a glass and place it on the shelf, and he sips his alcohol, watching you as you skillfully pour another drink for a customer.

You notice him staring, and your cheeks flush as he walks towards you with swagger, the same Kim Taehyung power you’ve seen plastered on articles all over the internet as a swing of his hips is all he needs to kill his audience.

“You are amazing. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” His eyes nearly pop out of his skull as he shakes the tips jar, and you greet him with a simple smile. He knew you were pretty but he didn’t know you were that good looking that people would tip more. He examines you more closely this time, seeing how you’re dressed in business casual, and how your makeup is done so it’s noticeable that you’re wearing some. You gulp when you see him licking your lips and staring at you, and Tae’s too caught up to even notice that you’re staring right back.

Taehyung was checking you out. He is checking you out and you have no clue how to react. Change the subject….!

“On another note, wasn’t there supposed to be another person here?” Tae blinks twice before snapping out of it.

“Yes, but his wife is delivering a baby so he had to leave early.” The flow of customers is a lot less now, and you both just ended up drinking yourselves and conversing as it got closer and closer to closing time.

“So Antonio is like the owner?” You ask, coughing as your throat burned from the last three drinks or so.

“He is, that’s why I’m getting paid for working overtime.” Tae is on his feet, and as customers leave, he is closing the blinds.

“Oh, that’s cool. But why don’t you just stay at home? Don’t you have a lot of money since Jin is the CEO of a company?” You twirl a glass in your hand, inspecting the little carvings a bit closely.

“I do, but I wanna do more than be a rich kid. So I started working on my own, and I made enough money to buy that penthouse that we live in. And now I want to save that money, hopefully one day I’ll be able to travel to France and start modeling.” You tuck your hair behind your ear. Of course, Tae would be a model. He has the perfect face and body for it. You feel a little sad, though, since BTS doesn’t exist here.

“Why France?”

“There are just more opportunities. I feel like I can’t fit in at Seoul’s top agencies. They’ll say I’m ugly or too fat, or something,”  You fall face flat on the table, and Tae runs over to you in worry. “Are you okay?!” He shakes you and you come to your senses, feeling very dizzy.

“I think I drank too much.” In a daze, as he carries you back to the penthouse on his back, you start singing the chorus of Dionysus, “Da masyeo masyeo masyeo masyeo nae suljan ay, Da ppajyeo ppajyeo ppajyeo michin yesulgae, Han jan (one shot) du jan (two shots), Yesure chwihae bulleo ongheya! C’mon Tae sing your part!” You ruffle his hair and he cringes as he sets you down on the couch.

“I don’t know it.” He says, sitting next to you and taking Tan into his arms.

“Da masyeo masyeo masyeo masyeo nae suljan ay, c’mon.” He takes a deep breath and your eyes widen as you hear the familiar chorus.

“Da masyeo masyeo masyeo masyeo nae suljan ay, Da ppajyeo ppajyeo ppajyeo michin yesulgae….what comes next?” Just with two lines, you’re mesmerized. 

“Mama, I’m in love.” And the next thing you know, you’re fast asleep.

“You’re so bad at drinking.” Tae laughs to himself as he tucks you into the bed, making sure you’re comfortable before moving onto the couch. He hates to admit it, but he thinks this February might’ve given him someone special.

The next morning, you don’t feel too good. You vomit into the toilet bowl, and you remove the makeup you were wearing all night. You sigh and check your phone to see some messages from Jin. You have a meeting in 30 minutes! You quickly get your shit together and run out of Tae’s bedroom. He already left for his work, and you see some waffles on the counter with a note on it.

“Here are some waffles, I made you some Tea too, in case you might be hungover - Tae.” You happily eat the food and down the tea before work. Today you are wearing something a bit more informal, since your closet is very empty and you are in need of some money. Hopefully Jin will agree to be your sugardaddy, seeing how sexy you look in this outfit. Wow, a little self-confidence goes a long way.

Just as you are about to open the door, Seokjin comes out by himself, fixing his tie again. You roll your eyes and you help him, as he stares at you with awe and surprise.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here so early.” “Why’s that? I work here now, don’t I?” You bat your eyelashes just to seem more appealing to him, as he gulps and explains the problem to you.

“Well, my past assistants ran away or quit relatively early because I’d slept with them or done something naughty that causes them discomfort.” You raise an eyebrow. Some women are weird. Unless they completely spelled it out that they didn’t want a relationship, Seokjin wouldn’t have acted that way. Honestly, some people are stupid. You say people because you aren’t entirely sure if Seokjin is limited to girls. Wouldn’t you like to know? 

“Well, I’m a lot more clear-minded when it comes to stuff like that. I’ve hooked up with my boss at a job before in highschool, but that was just a one-time thing and we never talked about it. A couple months later, he got arrested because the cops found weed in his trunk.” You finish fixing his tie and you look up to meet eyes with him. “So trust me when I tell you that I want a professional relationship. Even if we fool around or end up sleeping in the same bed, I promise you that I won’t let that get in the way of work.” Jin licks his lower lip and then something shifts in his eyes, but you can’t tell what it is exactly because of his aura. He looks very boss-like and you wouldn’t mind if he flirted with you. I could honestly use the attention, since Tae is terrible at reading the mood.

“That is very mature of you, I understand that you must really want to keep your position?” You nod, replying with, “Yes, sir.” He nods approvingly and motions you to follow him into the office. Inside, you notice that his desk is covered in papers, files to be specific. Upon closer inspection, you find that those are the names of famous criminals, who are the most wanted in the whole of South Korea.

“These people are not to be messed with. Unfortunately, someone (ahem not naming names but Betty from HR cough cough) decided it would be a good idea to prank call all of these bastards, and now I am in charge of cleaning up this mess. I will need you to head the project and make peace with these people. Seeing how you stood up for yourself, I can tell that you are quite the wordsmith. I know that you can do this, that’s why I’m giving you such a hard and complicated task on the second day.” You blink twice, still taking in everything he said.

“And do I know these people?” You ask. He nods, and motions you to step forward. 

“They are an infamous group of Bandits, who have a strong relation to each other, known as BTS.” You gawk, as Seokjin slides over his own file.

“But-how can? And Tae told you? B-BTS?” Your mind is blown, as he greets you.

“Welcome to our lair, my name is Seokjin Kim, aka “The Chef.” I like to kill clean and quickly, my style of assasination is the sword. The outer world thinks that I am a simple CEO and it is a simple coincidence that I have the same name as a Worldwide criminal,” You’re shook. “As for my six cohorts, no one suspects them either because we’ve never been caught, ya know?” It makes sense, as their pictures are slightly blurry and their faces are hidden.

“This is crazy. But that explains why Tae goes missing sometimes.” You yawn, suddenly feeling the urge to lay down.

“Here, have a snickers. Look, I’m not a bad guy, I just have a lot of money and I like making more. What do ya say? Would you like to join?” You shrug.

“Meh, I have nothing better to do anyways.” Jin starts chattering away as you both head down to the meeting room, where Jin is about to explain a huge operation to the team of hackers disguised as office workers.

“So, as of right now, we are going simply prepare a heist. No killing, just a simple jewelry store robbery.” You bite your lip in anxiety. Jin notices, so he asks you, “What’s wrong?” You lean and whisper back to him, “Aren’t they going to find out it was you, though?” Just as those words escape your mouth, every single person in the room starts laughing, and so does Jin. You were concerned about his safety and wellbeing but now you’re being ridiculed? Wow, that’s great.

“Honey, our boss never loses. He always gets in and gets out undetected, and if someone does notice, his knife’ll take em out.” Someone explains it to you.

“Wow, that’s cool.” As the team begins to brainstorm creative ideas, you wonder what Tae is doing at the moment. You never thought he was apart of a mafia or something, much less the boss’ younger brother. But it makes sense as to why he’s so rich.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“And stay away from her.” Taehyung shoots down the man that was once his father, and he hugs the girl he calls his sister.

“Thank you, big brother.” He shakes his head, wiping her tears before guiding her out of the filthy apartment. It was about time before the bastard got what was coming to him. He has always been abusive, and Tae just barely made it in time. Just before the father raised the final hand on his sister, Tae shot the shit out of him, making sure he was dead before leaving. His sister followed him blindly, as she had nowhere to go. Jin may be their oldest brother, but he rarely even had time for Taehyung. How was he supposed to take care of Taylie when he couldn’t even take care of himself? It was because of Y/N he changed his ways. He loves himself now, whether he accepts it or not.

“Tae, I told her.” Is what he hears when he answers his phone. His eyes widen as he moves in a frantic manner. The confused 15 year old follows her brother, her footsteps picking up as Tae got closer and closer to the building.

“What’s wrong?” He stops. How was he to explain Jin’s condition to his sister? She’d probably faint or die from a heart attack first before that happens.

“I need to tell you something about Jin.”

The more time you spend with your boss, the more you understand how insane he is. He went as far as sending teams to stalk these criminals and keep tabs on them. All for the good of the company. But at the same time, you can’t ignore the rumors. The people in the office talked about his nervous habits and how he is crazy. You don’t want to believe them. But do you really have a choice?

“Jin!” Tae runs into the room, pushing the door wide open and greeting his older brother with worry.

“Tae, there you are. I was just explaining our little-”

“Yeah, yeah I know. Y/N, will you please come with me?” You follow Tae outside to the corridor, and he explains everything to you slowly. “Jin is ill. Ever since our father started abusing after out mom died he made up these crazy fantasies in his mind, all of which helped him create the company in the first place. He’s very very sick in the head, but he’s so smart! And that’s why he succeeded and heading the company. All while living out a fantasy that he is close with the most dangerous criminals in the area and that our friend circle consists of hackers, spies, and other super-minds.” You adjust your sleeves, rolling them up as the air suddenly becomes warm around you. “So you don’t go on huge heists or kill people?” You were right with one thing, but Tae couldn’t reveal his other truth to you.

“Not exactly. The workers here know about Jin’s situation, even deep down inside, Jin himself knows, but he pretends because this is his turf. And everyone plays along, because they get paid for it.” You look down and let out a bitter chuckle. Tae raises an eyebrow at you and you just can’t help but feel pathetic.

“That’s messed up,” You open your eyes and you look away as you walk towards the exit. “I’ll be leaving first. Let Jin know for me.” You don’t think you can face him now. He’s caught up in another world of make-believe and Tae just makes it worse by encouraging him. But damn, you understand because you would do the same for your sibling if you were in that position. Taehyung is a good brother. 

“Tan-Tan, do you want the bone?” You lazily play with the puppy as he chases the toy in circles, following you with short stubby legs.The dog lets out a bark, giving up and panting, wagging his tail eagerly as you prepare to toss the chew toy in the air. “I’m so glad you can’t talk. If you could, you’d drive me insane.” You sadly confess it to the dog, as he walks around you, mindlessly searching for food. Sometimes, you just need someone to listen to you, without talking back, or telling you that you’re wrong. 

“Hey, can we talk?” You sigh as you hear the familiar deep voice resonate throughout the room. Not left with much of an option, you turn and face him head-on, a small blush forming on your cheeks from your close proximity.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” You trudge towards the sink and start doing the dishes, a dull routine that you’ve grown accustomed to with your time alone.

“I know it’s a terrible thing to do, but Jin is a lot better off this way! And-”

“Is this your place?” You raise your brow as a girl who looks to be a little bit younger than you stumbles into the penthouse, admiring the beauty of your home.

“Shit-I totally forgot. Taylie, meet Y/N, she’s my roommate.” She excitedly jumps onto one of the barstools, spinning around before reaching out to shake your hand.

“Um...who’s this?” Throughout all the chaos that happened between now and then, Tae totally forgot to explain the situation between his kid sister and dead father.

“I’m his sister.” She lazily jumps down and runs towards Yeontan, scooping the pomeranian in her hands and showering him with kisses. The poor dog struggles within her grip, trying to free himself from her tight hold.

“You never told me you had a sister.” You set down the dry dishes on the counter, walking out of the room and shutting the bathroom before Tae has a chance to say anything else.

                             •❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

It had been a few days since you came out of the room. Grief took over your life, and Seokjin had stopped calling. It was the third day, and finally, someone had to pick the lock on your door to check in. You were miserable when he found you, none other than Hoseok, the dance studio owner. Under normal circumstances, you would’ve been overjoyed to see him but things are much different now. You’re in a completely different world, with nothing else. Only BTS can help you, and now you’ve lost the chance after ditching Seokjin. The look of surprise on your face when Jin follows closely behind him is humorous, as the first thing he does is shove a cheese platter in your arms and demands you to eat, instead of being angry or upset that you missed work. 

“Jin, why are you doing this?” Hoseok leaves you both alone for privacy, as you eat in peace.

“Before I am your boss, I am your friend, and hopefully your future brother in law.” You blush a little at his words, as he shoves a fork into your mouth again. You chew with all of your remaining strength.

“Okay, that’s not good enough. I was mad at Tae, for lying to you about something so important-”

“It’s a part of the game Y/N, if I’m happy, so is he.” You blink twice. Just a game, huh?

“I need to talk to him.” You try standing up but you fall on your face.

“You haven’t moved in three days, you’ll need to ease yourself back into it.” Then next time you will. 

After working hard to get back into shape, you are finally able to talk to Taehyung. You finally saw things from his perspective, after talking to Jin. You understand, and you never want to let go. It wasn’t the plan, for you to fall into a depression that almost cost you your life. You’re glad Jin and Hoseok forced themselves into your room, and that Jin shoved cheese down your gullet. You’ll have to repay him, someday.

“Taehyung?” You call out for him. The apartment is seemingly empty, Yeontan is already fast asleep in his dog bed, and Taylie was on a cruise with Jin. You were supposed to volunteer at the dance studio with Jimin and Hoseok, but unfortunately due to an accident involving poop, the studio was temporarily shut down and everyone had to go home. Your phone had also died, so you couldn’t text Tae.

“Y/N…” You hear his voice, finally. He sounds out of breath though. 

“Tae, I’m home.”

“F-fuck, I’m so close Y/N,” You freeze in your tracks, right outside of his room. Was he fantasizing about me? You feel a strange warmth spreading throughout your body. “Y/N!” With one long moan of your name, he cums, feeling oddly satisfied. It wasn’t as good as the real thing, but you were the only person who could make him feel this way. But it’s so dirty and sinful, because you don’t even think of him like that. You’re lost in your own thoughts so much that you don’t even notice the door opening until it’s too late.

“Y/N?” You focus on the wall behind him. You can’t look into his eyes, the damage has been done. You can’t control yourself.

“Mmm?” He waves a hand in front of you.

“How long have you been standing there?” You shrug. Tae is sweating from nervousness, but then something within him snaps. His self-confidence creeps up on him. “Perhaps you heard me while I was having some fun on my own?” There it is again, the weird warmth in your stomach.

“It’s none of my business.” You push it away, since you can’t feel this way about the guy you’re living with.

“Awww, is my poor Y/N feeling left out?” You feel so powerless against him, like he’s controlling you. 

“Y-yes.” Before you know it, his soft pink lips are on yours, moving in a syncopated rhythm that feels almost unnatural. But it feels so good.

“Did you know how much of an effect your tight little skirts had on me? God, I just wanted to push you onto the counter and fuck you right there for everyone to see.” Your cheeks flush a reddish pink color as he kisses down your neck. “And your tits, damn they look amazing in everything.” You mewl as he bites down, leaving a small mark on your collarbone. 

“T-Tae…” He lets go, finally giving you everything your heart could desire. As he strips off the last few barriers between you, you feel more and more further away. He’s making you a wreck. It feels so right, though. Your brain is screaming for you to stop but your heart wants it.

“Just tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you.” You let out a small puff of air before groaning and letting your eyes roll back into your head.

“I want-no, I need you to fuck me Tae. Do it however you want, doggy, missionary, cupid’s, I don’t care! I need this.” He stares at you for a moment before deciding his next move.

“You sure?” His deep voice is unsure, and for a moment it causes you to doubt yourself.

“Yes, absolutely.” 

“Get against the headboard. This is gonna hurt,” You feel the rush of adrenaline as he pins your hands up against your head and then lifts your legs. “I’m gonna prep you first, you’re gonna fee-”

“I know how sex works!” You blush slightly as he is taken aback by your outburst. “J-just do it.” You find yourself relaxing under his warmth, and his digits find their way inside you, right where you need him the most. 

“Open up, let me see how pink you are,” You obey, feeling more flustered than before. “Ah, so beautiful. You’re so obedient too, tell me pet, do you like it when your master touches you like this?” A soft gasp escapes your lips as his fingers dive deeper into your folds, digging inside your pinkish cavern, looking for something more. The sensation is overwhelming, and you feel like you’re floating on a cloud. 

“M-master?” You snap back into reality as Tae’s words strike a chord within you.

“That’s right.” He looks so perfect, so ethereal, you’re once again lost in his beauty.

“If that’s how you like it, then I guess I have no choice but to submit, am I right?” His lips turn upward as he nods in approval.

“Now you’re getting it. How about letting Master have a taste, without cumming on my tongue, please?” You nod, parting your legs wider for him as he explores your throbbing bud again. You want to please him, just as much you are scared of what the consequences might be. After living with him for so long, it feels so natural and that is what really frightens you. How normal this feels.

“T-Tae, please, I have to c-”

“What’s my name?”

“Master.” You correct yourself, feeling more submissive towards him now.

“Good. Since you’ve been such a good girl, I suppose you shall have your reward,” You almost pass out from excitement as he pushes you against the headboard, and then he places his hands on your thighs, looking for a comfortable position with you on his knees. You’re surprised by how big his dick is, but it’s proportionate to his body, so you don’t have any complaints. It’s the perfect size, with a pinkish tip and hairless balls. The entire length is hairless, and upon closer inspection, you can’t find a single flaw on his body. “Can’t take your eyes off me, pet?” You catch yourself as you realize you were staring at him, with your mouth wide open and your heat is on fire. You won’t be able to hold out much longer, your body recoiling from being denied an orgasm.

“Sorry Master, you’re just so...perfect.” You smirk, as he prepares you for his cock. He grabs a bit of lube, before rubbing it down his length, and then he slowly slides into you, ever so gently, murmuring words of praise before being completely inside.

“You can move now.” With your permission, he starts. Slowly at first, but then the friction builds up, everything is hot. As he starts thrusting fully, stretching you out to your maximum capacity, shrieks and moans of pleasure reverberate through the room, and you’ve never felt so full in your life.

“Best fucking pussy I’ve had all year.” He groans, gripping your thighs tightly as he slams into you repeatedly.

“You’re so big!” You grip his back, holding on for dear life as he destroys your pussy.

“Your cunt takes me so well, I’m surprised I held off you for so long. What was I trying to achieve, by convincing myself that I didn’t love you?” He realizes his mistake as your shocked eyes meet his.

“You...love me?” He gulps, slowing down and reaching dangerously close to his climax.

“Y-yes.” 

“I love you too.” You smile, feeling something being lifted from your chest.

“I’m close.” He kisses your nose, an intimate gesture he wouldn’t have thought of doing with you earlier.

“Me too.” You both release your knots at the same time, and as he lies down next to you, in the bed of sweat and sex, he feels true love. For the first time, Taehyung isn’t alone. It looks like he has a little bit of love for himself now.

[immortalbarnes]

A Cabin For Two | Chapter 3: You’ll Never Know

Bucky Barnes x Reader

summary: Sam visits for  dinner, and you tell the story of how you and Bucky met.

warnings: SMUT! (you can skip it without missing anything), mild swearing and violence

A/N: sorry this is so late, but this is a pretty long one

***bold italicized indicates flashback

masterlist

Sam came over for dinner tonight, and brought an amazing potato salad. You and Bucky tried out a new chicken pot pie recipe, and even though you may have left it in the oven for a little too long because you were dancing to your Dick Haymes vinyl record, it was spectacular. The three of you, and Alpine when he jumped on the table, conversed for the night, then retired to your leather couch with some glasses of wine. The alcohol has no effect on you and your lover, but the feeling of normalcy made you happy enough.

“You know what I just realized,” Sam suddenly changes the subject, “I’ve never heard the story of how you two met. I mean I know it was during the war overseas, but I never got the details. Was Bucky a player back in the day?” His head bobs from left to right as he says player.

“He was!” You laugh.

“No way!” Sam leans forward in surprise, “Bucky had game?”

“I did,” Bucky chuckles, his arm resting behind you on the back of your leather sectional, “Before I got drafted, I was always dragging Steve on a double date. I thought the same charm would work on Y/N.”

“But it didn’t.” You interject, causing Sam to snort.

“Okay, okay, please start from the beginning.” Sam practically begs.

“Okay, well, we met overseas when I was working under Cap for the Howling Commandos.”

…

“Thank you for your hard work, Agent Y/N. Get some rest, you deserve it.” The general thanked you at the end of your meeting. You were a spy working for the Allies, and had just finished a mission gathering intel in a small town housing Hydra soldiers. You were in a camp stationed somewhere in Austria.

“Thank you, General, though I must admit I never get much sleep in those tents.” You joke.

“Well maybe you’d enjoy visiting with our special guests, The Howling Commandos.”

“Captain America’s boys? To what do we owe the pleasure of their visit to?”

“Well, Agent, your mission helped us gather intel on the whereabouts of Zola, so they’ll be staying with us for the next week until a train carrying the man comes through the mountains.”

“Glad to know my mission was to help such a cause,” You smile, and at that the general leaves to attend to more work. As for you, you had free time until your next mission, so you travel to the medical tent to visit one of the nurses you’ve befriended at this camp, Linda.

“Well, looky here! Agent Y/N is back! I was starting to think those Hydra fat-heads actually gotcha this time!” Linda exclaims as you enter the large awning.

“Good to see you too, Linda,” You laugh, “How’s it going?”

“Pretty swell until those Howling Commandos came in the other night. That Bucky fella won’t stop flirting with my ladies.”

“The nerve on him! As a soldier, he should know he shouldn’t be flirting with the staff.”

“Nevermind about him, tell me about your mission!”

You and Linda sat on a cot and you began to tell her everything you were allowed to, from the small village you stayed in to the base you infiltrated, even mentioning a part where you almost got captured, but thankfully you were able to charm your way out of that.

Just as you were finishing your story, a man and a nurse walked into the tent. The man, tall and muscular with clean cut brunette hair, had his arm around the girl’s waist and she was giggling at something he must’ve said.

“Mary! You’re late to your shift!” Linda snapped as she saw the duo walk in.

“Oh, Linda, don’t snap your cap! The tent’s empty!” Mary replied.

“Sorry for keeping her, ma’am, it won’t happen again.” The man apologized half-heartedly.

“Zip it, Barnes, I don’t care if you’re Captain America’s right hand man, you need to quit sneaking around with my girls! We got enough diseases flying through this camp, we don’t need you spreading something new.”

The man, who you now realized was the infamous Bucky Barnes, rolled his eyes with a smirk, kissed Mary on the cheek, and left the tent. Mary began to speak, but was quickly silenced by Linda’s harsh tone.

“I don’t want to hear it! You got tools to clean, so you better get to it!” She ordered, Mary meekly nodded and rushed to work, “What a creep, that must be the third girl he’s run off with, and they haven’t been here half a week!”

“Men like that make me wanna chuck.” You agreed.

…

“Damn, Buck, you were a tiger!” Sam laughed as you finished recalling your first encounter with your now lover.

You look over at Bucky, who was as red as a tomato, “I think she’s exaggerating a little.” He muttered.

“I remember every detail like the back of my hand.” You smirked, taking a sip of the ineffective alcohol.

…

Later that same night, you were in the mess hall, eating whatever muck the cooks said was dinner. At every camp you’ve been shipped to, you’ve always found friends among the soldiers. Even though you had your fair share of whistles and catcalls, there seemed to always be a nice group of men who saw you as their equal. Here it was Richard, David, and Charles. Richard and David were brothers, and Charles was their friend from school; they all enlisted together as soon as David, the youngest, turned 18.

Charles was in the middle of retelling the other night when Richard got too drunk off Astrian alcohol and got his tongue stuck on the flagpole in the middle of camp when a fifth person joined the group directly to your right. All heads at the table turned to see one Bucky Barnes.

“Sergeant, to what do we owe this honor to?” Charles said mockingly, while the Howling Commandos were national heroes, most soldiers just saw them as overrated.

“Couldn’t help but notice the dame sitting with you boys,” He said, turning to you, “Why aren’t you sitting with the other nurses, pretty lady?”

“Because she’s not a nurse,” David spoke up, even though he was the youngest of the bunch, he had no trouble defending any of you, “She’s a spy, and way out of your league.”

“I apologize for my assumptions,” Bucky says with a smirk, “Why don’t you let me make it up to you in my tent tonight.”

David was about to speak up again, but you butted in, “Sorry, Sergeant, but I’m not another one of your call-girls. So, you can knock off now.”

Bucky then leans his elbow on the wooden table, resting his head on his knuckle, and pouts, “You’re a tough one, Miss…”

“Agent L/N,” you correct, at this point there’s steam coming out of you, “Thank you, Barnes, but I’m not interested. I’m too focused on getting in and out of Hydra bases, as for you, you needed America’s Golden Boy to rescue you from one, so my friend here is right when he said I’m out of your league.” Tired of his harassment, you begin to stand and walk away, but he quickly follows suit and grabs your wrist pulling you around. Instinctively, you ball up your fist and hit him square on the jaw. Startled by the sudden action, he stumbles back and falls on the table.

At this point, everyone in the area is staring. Calmly you flip your hair behind your shoulder and turn to leave the mess hall. Exiting, you see none other than the Captain himself running over to check on his best friend, mouthing a sorry as he sees you.

…

“You PUNCHED him!?” Sam injects once more as you retell, “How did you even make eye contact with her after she knocked you INTO A TABLE!”

“Let’s just say that you don’t treat women anything like you did back then.” Bucky says, ashamed of his past self.

“Don’t worry, Sam, he made it up to me later that night.” You smirk.

…

Long after the incident, you were in your tent trying to fall asleep. Being the only non-nurse in the camp at the moment, you were blessed to have one to yourself, but as you mentioned before you always had trouble resting.

Trying to clear your head, you decide to exit the tent and take a walk in the chilly Austrian night. You immediately smell smoke and turn to see the faint glow of a fire not too far away. In search of the warmth, and maybe some company, you sneak your way to the source of the heat. Once you approach the fire, you are met with the back of Bucky Barnes once again.

“Can’t sleep either?” You inquire, slightly startling the man.

“Always been a light sleeper, and I can’t stop thinking about how rude I was to you earlier. Sorry about that, ma’am. I wanted to find you and apologize, but Steve advised that you needed to be alone.”

“Apology accepted, Barnes,” You sit down next to him and take in the warmth of the fire, “But I have to ask why you thought that was appropriate.”

“Honestly, I don’t know how else to approach a woman. Especially someone way out of my league, like your buddy said.”

“You didn’t leave a good impression in the first place when you walked in the med tent with your third nurse of the week adorning your side.”

“You were there!?” He says, shocked, “Oh, hell, Y/N, I didn’t know that was you with Linda! I’m so sorry! I thought you were still on your mission.”

“My mission? How’d you know about that?”

“Peggy Carter told us about your mission finding Zola, and when she showed me and the boys your picture, I swear I’ve never seen a prettier lady in all my life.” He admitted, throwing you off guard.

“Wow, Bucky, I’m flattered, but your plan was to sleep around with the nurses until I returned? Not a good first impression?”

His eyes went wide. “Sleep around? No, no, Y/N, I swear I haven’t done anything with those ladies! They’re the ones chasing me!” He pauses for a moment, “but I guess that’s the reputation I’ve been building for myself. But the truth is, Y/N, ever since Peggy told us about you, I haven’t even looked at another woman. You’re my dream gal.”

You stare intently in his blue eyes looking for any hint of charm. Maybe this was just a game to get in your skirt? As the crackling fire reflected in his eyes, all you could see was the truth.

…

“That is so cute!!” Sam interrupts, “Please tell me this is when you two fell in love.”

“Let me finish!” You scold playfully.

…

“Bucky… You’ve been waiting for me?” You say, finally taking in all his breathtaking features: his strong jaw, broad shoulders, perfect pink lips.

“How could  I not be? You’re strong, independent, gorgeous, and don’t fall at my feet like any other girl. What else could I want?”

Speechless, you just stare at him in awe, his baby blues returning the gesture. You stay like this for what feels like light years, until he finally speaks up again,

“May I kiss you, Y/N?”

“Please.”

And just like that, his lips are on yours. It’s passionate and hungry, like he’s been starved for days. You quickly return the emotions, melting in his touch. The fire was burning out, but you still felt sparks fly through you as your lips mend together. His large hands embrace you, his left on your cheek, the warm sensation of his skin on yours, and his right on your hip. Your arms snake around his neck and you feel his short hair prick at your wrists.

Out of air, you both pull back and rest your foreheads on one another, breathing hard as you notice there’s a huge smile plastered on his face when you sit back.

“You are the most dynamite gal I’ve ever met.”

“You’re not too bad yourself, Barnes.” You say through heavy breaths. He chuckles at your snark.

“Totally worth the knuckle sandwich I got earlier.” he jokes.

“Sorry about that.”

“Nah, I deserved it.”

“How about you let me make it up to ya?” You wink.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I’m thinking we put out this fire and go back to my tent.”

Hurriedly, you put out the remaining embers and lead him to your secluded tent. After making sure your neighbors were sound asleep, you practically ripped open your tent trying to get in, Bucky following suit.

As soon as he entered, he was on top of you, his lips claiming yours once more, and his arms on either side of you. Like before, this kiss was deep and passionate, but you felt something else within. Lust, perhaps?

“Wait, Bucky,” You suddenly tense up, pushing him off of you, “How do I know any of this is real? How do I know I’m not just another skirt?”

“Y/N, darling, for the past month since I first heard about ya, every girl that’s even talked to me made me wish it was you. You’re everything I want and more, doll, let me prove it to ya.” There’s a sadness in his eyes, like he’s hurt that you’d even think that. That look is everything you need to believe him.

With that reassurance, you climb up and straddle his lap, your hands going to his hair as you lean down and kiss him once more. His warm hands travel straight to your hips as he deepens the kiss, asking permission into your mouth, to which you eagerly accept.

His tongue explores your mouth with a passion, and you moan into it. Suddenly, you’re gasping for air once more and pull back. He practically growls at the sight of you, lipstick smeared and blouse wrinkled.

“Please doll, let me make love to ya, I’m begging ya.” His brooklyn accent peaking out as he talks in a low tone.

“Please do, Sergeant.” You pant.

As soon as those words leave your mouth, his eyes practically go black. He carefully lays you down and begins to undo the latches on his royal blue uniform jacket. As soon as his toned chest is revealed, he begins to work the buttons of your blouse, separating the front to expose your nude bra; next to go is your skirt, and you’re in nothing but your undergarments.

“Golly, doll, you are perfection.” He whispers in awe, he leans down to kiss your cleavage and begins to move lower and lower towards your underwear before going back up to his starting point between your breasts. Your hands reach down and start to fumble with the belt of his uniform pants. Noticing your struggle, he sits up to start to work the buckles undone and shimmies out of his muted green cargo pants and underwear

You had only an instant to take him in, thick thighs, toned calves, and a thick cock. Suddenly he was hovering over you once more, his hands expertly undoing your bra latches.

“You must have had practice.” You mock, receiving a shy chuckle from him.

He discards your bra, and you decide to handle your bottoms, quickly sliding them off and having them join the rest of your clothes. Now it’s his turn to admire you.

“Just when I thought this couldn’t get any better. Y/N Y/L/N, you are a goddess.” He praises you, a small blush reddening your cheeks. You just now noticed the slickness between your legs.

“Buc-”

“James, that’s my real name.”

“James, please take me.”

“Anything for you, doll.”

He lines himself up with your entrance and slowly pushes in, making eye contact with you the entire time, his warm hands cradling your face. Your lips form a small ‘O’ as you feel him fill you up.

“J-James…” You quietly moan.

“Oh, Y/N, babydoll.” He whispers, slowly moving in and out of you. You’ve been with your fair share of men, but nothing could even come close to comparing to the feeling of James inside you.

He begins to pick up the pace, and his left hand travels down and instantly finds your clit. He begins to rub soft circles in time with the rhythm he is slamming into you. You’re on cloud nine. Eyes never leaving each other, his blue orbs leaving you in a daze.

Suddenly, you’re snapped out by the coil in your lower stomach tightening, signalling that you’re close to release.

“God, James, I’m so close.” And with that he picks up the pace, harshly slamming in and out while adding more pressure to your nub to bring out your orgasm.

“C’mon, doll, let it go for me.”

And with that, a wave of electricity, nothing like you’ve ever felt before, rushes through you. He continues to move within you to help you ride out your orgasm, both of you heavily panting.

Next thing you know, you feel him release inside of you. His hot white coating your insides.

“Oh, fuck, I’m so sorry.” He stutters, pulling out, “I couldn’t help my-”

“It’s fine,” you interject, “Thank you. Th-that was amazing, James.” You never saw yourself having kids, but now you could only see yourself starting a family with him.

All of a sudden, you were overwhelmed with the feeling of harsh cold, for coming out of your sexual haze, you realize that you’re stark naked with only a thin tent protecting you from the Austrian winter. You begin to shiver, and Bucky instinctively rushes to get you back into clothing and under a blanket. After you’re both dressed once more, he begins to get up and leave.

“Ja- uhm, Bucky, where are you going?”

“Back to my tent?”

“Stay please.”

“I never thought you’d say that.”

You invite him under your blanket and rest your head on his chest, his muscular arms enveloping you in even more warmth.

“Is it too early to say I love you?” He asks after a moment of silence.

“Not after all of that.” You joke.

“Well, Y/N, I love you.”

“I love you too, James.”

You always had trouble sleeping in tents, but that night you fell asleep instantly.

…

“You said I love you after you fucked in a tent!?” Sam pipes up, shocked, “That fast?”

“Well it was the 40’s, Sam, there wasn’t a ton of dating and getting to know each other. It was more like settle down quickly and start a family.” Bucky explains, “And that night, there was an unexplainable feeling there. I think we both felt it.” He looks intently at you, locking eyes, and you nod in agreement.

“How long did this go on?” Sam asks, even more interested.

“About a week,” You sigh, “We snuck around without most of the soldiers knowing. The only people we told were Steve, Linda, Richard, David, and Charles. My friends were a little iffy about it after those first couple of incidences, but when they saw us together they quickly supported it.”

“Steve knew how obsessed with her I was, so he was there for us from the beginning.” Bucky adds.

“About a week later, The Howling Commandos were sent on the train mission, the one I gathered intel for, and that was when Bucky fell and got captured by Hydra again. Steve and the guys returned and broke the news to me, and I lost it…”

…

It wasn’t too long until the group returned from the train. You didn’t care much about the outcome of the mission, for Bucky was your main concern.

Once you heard the news of their return, you ventured into the main tent to see the Commandos and the generals… but no Bucky.

You made eye contact with Steve, and his face instantly dropped, scaring you.

“Steve? How did the mission go? Where’s Bucky?”

He grabs your shoulder and pulls you outside back into the freezing cold,

“We failed the mission. On the train we were ambushed by a soldier with major blasters, and he shot Bucky off the train. He fell into a ravine, and we couldn’t find his body… So we can only assume he died.”

No, it can’t be true. Pain hit your entire body as your eyes began to water, and suddenly, you were gasping for air. Steve grabbed you to keep you steady.

“No, Steve, please tell me you’re joking, please, PLEASE.” You were practically begging,

“I’m sorry, Y/N. Sergeant Barnes is dead.”

“NO! NO HE’S NOT! NOT MY BUCKY!” You screamed between jagged breaths.

“What’s going on here!?” A general demands as he exits the tent.

“He’s… gone…” You say quietly, trying to gather yourself.

“Agent Y/L/N? Did you and Sergeant Barnes have a fling?” The general asks.

“He was the love of my life!” You wretch, “We were supposed to start a family!”

“Y/N, you’ll be okay… We can get through this… He was my best friend.” Steve tries to calm you down.

“No, Steve, you don’t understand!” You grab his broad shoulders as your wild eyes meet his, “I’m pregnant.”

[justpeachythoughts0916]

Grieving & My Grieving Journey...So Far...

February 2nd, 2021: When I was growing up the only grief I truly felt was the loss of grandparents and pets. The only grief I experienced firsthand all made sense to me, people who followed the order of life you get older, you get sicker, and then die.  At that point and in those instances it wasn't hard for me to utilize logic and reason to understand their lives were lived and their time here had expired.

In high school I witnessed the school, my friends, and my classmates just in shambles after two boys died in two separate car accidents. These deaths caused me to feel an overwhelming amount of empathy and sympathy for my sad friends, but I wasn't close enough to these two to grieve really. I felt bad for everyone feeling so bad and knew a generic "I'm sorry" simply would not suffice.  I still knew there was nothing on this planet that I could say or do to heal that wound. I knew there was no making sense of these tragic deaths. Two happy, smiling, kind, young souls were gone. There is no making that okay.

Since high school this area is cursed with so many young deaths. We've lost people to suicides, accidents, overdoses, the list goes on. Still, I remained in the helpful, supportive friend role. I was not the one with my world upside down, and truthfully at the time I was grateful. Watching people so sad from grieving was heart breaking enough.

When I was 20 and pregnant with my first son we had a gender reveal party, we were ecstatic, my family never had boys. We had people stay the night in a tent in my mom's backyard because we in no way wanted anyone to drive home drunk. My friends at the time partied until morning, then all four went to sleep in a little four person tent.

I woke up at tenish, my mom made French toast for breakfast for everyone, then left for a matinee with her friend. One by one my hungover friends started coming in for breakfast. My son's soon to be God Father came in and said "Nate snored so loud, he shook my pillow" I replied, "He was cocked, and passed out" and giggled at the thought of their shenanigans. My step-dad and sister and his best friend were just watching the Sunday Giants game, casually cracking their first beer around noon. 

My friends were about ready to go, trying to figure out how to make the six people fit in a five person car. Nate wasn't up yet, not shocked, it was only 1:00 pm. He was sleeping on his tummy, using his arm as a pillow. I started to wake him up saying "Nate...Nate...Nate..." giggly and patient. I tickled his feet and he didn't move, he was just sleeping heavy. "Nate...Nate...Nate..." I pushed my fingertips into the soles of his feet and they stayed. I instantly said "He's dehydrated, and retaining fluid, get him water." Still not panicking...I stared at his back looking for breath movement before I thought "I'll just yank him by the ankles, that'd wake anyone up." So, I did just that...nothing. I went to look at him and saw purple skin through his red hairline and ran to get an adultier adult, my step-dad.

I ran into the house, where they were all watching a seemingly compelling play during the game, bursted in and yelled "Nate's blue, he won't wake up, I don't think he's breathing!" I've never seen my 6' 8" step-dad move so fast. He ran outside, ducked in and looked in the tent for about .1 seconds before he said "Steph, you need to call 911 now!" at 1:06 pm I picked up Nate's phone (it was the closest in reach) and tried to give a bunch of information to a dispatcher. I made little to no sense, because my step-dad didn't tell me why I was calling 911, combined with anxiety, I wasn't able to give them my mom's address. My younger sister tried to take the phone from me but the dispatcher asked "Can anyone there do CPR?" We all could, why didn't I think of that? I handed the phone off to my sister, and ran back to my step-dad and all my friends just shaking their heads and said "WE CAN DO CPR!" My step-dad as calmly and level as he could said "We can't save him, Steph, he's gone."

My. Soul. Left. My. Body.

My legs just stopped working.

Draped in my step-dads arms.

He's 6' 8" standing next to him I'm chest height.

I was down to his stomach.

Sobbing.

Drooling.

Quickly I ran away from his embrace screaming "NO. NO. NO. NO", into the road screaming up it "WHATS TAKING THEM SO LONG?!"

In that instant for the first time, it was me. I was the one with the dead best friend. Begging cops "Let me go with you to his Mom, her whole world is upside down here, and you're gonna tell her that with a straight face, just take me to tell her." Of course, I was informed protocol exists, and that couldn't happen. The second Nate's death hit social media I was the one flooded with "Oh my god, what happened?" "I'm so sorry" "My condolences" blah blah fucking blah.

My best friend's heart stopped to due to a lethal combination of Xanax and alcohol. Nothing about life or death made sense anymore. My best friend died from partying too hard? How do you make sense of that? When we all went to his services we stood in a circle together. Everyone stared, everyone, we were the last ones with him. We were trying to process what was about to happen at the viewing and we heard "That's them." The services were a nightmare. My friend Bryan and I were first to walk in, and the second we saw his bright red hair in that white casket we both couldn't stand. We stopped the line, and I sobbed and said "We can't do this." We went in the room with his twin sister and mom, we offered his sister his aviator sunglasses that were left in the tent, and we offered his mom to go to her favorite local ice cream parlor on Mothers Day every year, a tradition Nate followed with her. I asked Nate's mom permission to name my son Nathan when we went to see her the day after he died, so I tucked an ultrasound of his namesake in his pocket, and a pack of cigarettes with his lucky flipped. We stayed through the whole viewing, saw all those sad broken faces, got all the sad and sorry hugs, at the end we all walked up together I kissed his forehead, and we left.

I spent the first threeish years of my new life without Nate crying occasionally or at appropriate times, like when I gave birth to my Nathan. The rest of the time I kinda carried on like mentally him and I were taking a break from eachother, like I myself was choosing not to message or call. I got into therapy after hearing countless "You need helps" from family and friends. In therapy, I was cautioned that this event gave me Complex PTSD and Complex Grieving. Still, I just kept going with the flashbacks, nightmares, and the stages of grief over and over. Three years in, I had a startling realization using a butt fuck of psychedelics of "Oh my God, my person is gone, I can't get him back, we can't talk, and that really happened." Instantly, I was grieving his death like new again. Oh no. I had less than understanding from most people. Most people honestly seemed perplexed how it could feel so fresh after "so many years" *eyeroll to my spine*. Solely because me being pained and honest with it is/was uncomfortable. OOOF.

I knew Nate taught me so much in his life and in his death. He also was the first to teach me how to help people in early grief, because of how many conversations I had that were text book This Is Not What You Say To Someone Grieving. Then again, we're all different.

Just before the 4 year mark with Nate's death, death found me again and again, it followed the people I loved. My honest theory is I saw death up close and personal, I know what that type of empty feels like, I was the one sobbing pounding the ground, mad at the world, so I noticed the devastation easier. I became the support system for my grieving friends, all by just being honest from the get, "Welcome to the club you don't want to be in, you still have to try to eat, you're never gonna be the same and there is nothing you can say to me that sounds crazy coming from the girl who has screamed in the cemetery at 2:00 AM "OVER A FUCKING XANAX?!" and unfortunately this club doesn't come with t-shirts it comes with trauma." It's simple to me, really. Act like they have a cancer on their brain with out being so in-your-face-it-feels-fake. Easy. I've helped countless freshly grieving people in the years after Nate's death.

  In October of 2020 I was talking to Zack, my middle school best friend on the phone, I needed help. He couldn't help me, as he was in legal trouble and needed to lay low. We caught up for a while, aside from what I needed help with. At one point he said "I wish Squid was here, he would've been down in a heartbeat." Squid passed in February of 2020. We talked at length about being more careful with ourselves, the worries we had about our other friends, and what grieving is like. Then he said, "I don't know how much closer death can get to me than Squid, he was my boy, it broke me." I just said  "I miss that boy so much, he was so warm." Zack went on to say "I don't wanna know which one of us is gonna go first, I don't wanna be the one left." We gave eachother all of our love, and hung up.

  On November 19th, 2020 Zack and another friend of ours from middle school, Alex, were headed home from Alex's band practice late at night. Alex was driving when he lost control of the vehicle. They both died on impact, together. It killed me. They died just riding home? The messages flooded in again. "I'm so sorry" "If you need anything, I'm here" as disingenuous as you could be really be. Again, I'm the one with the dead friends. Feeling emptiness in my finger tips. I hated everything, again.

  "If everything happens for a reason, than what the fuck?"

"Why them? Why me?"

Despair

When I laid in my boyfriend's bed staring at where the white ceiling met the lavender walls with silent tears streaming down my face I felt empty in my bones. I went outside, lit a cigarette, and called my soul brother, Alec. Al is traditionally a goof ball, but in sad times he has a way with comforting people. He's an absolute doll. I knew I needed to hear his voice and his words. When we spoke I cried and said all the awful initial thoughts, "How am I the one left? I didn't wanna do that. What do I do?" After I got those thoughts out we had a talk that would forever change my views on loss and grief. He said "All of these losses teach us something. Losing Squid taught me that I needed, wanted, and could have a healthy supportive friendship with Alison (his ex-wife, my best friend)." Alison drove up from Georgia to support me, Alec, all of our people, and grieve herself with her people. The hug they shared outside of the funeral home looked cathartic on a soulful level to me. They were who eachother needed to have in that sad and vulnerable time, even after their separation. To that I said, "I still don't get the fucking point."

That's when Alec said something I'll never forget. First, he quoted Carl Sagan in Cosmos, "We're all just a blue dot." Made zero sense, as I had yet to read all of Cosmos, and Alec already had (more than once). He then said, "People's love for you is eternal, regardless of when their physical being dies. Every lesson they taught someone will permanently imprint them, transferring person to person, generation to generation. Zack's love, Squid's Love, Alex's love, Nate's love, everyone's love is eternal as long as your soul learned things from them." I started crying hard. We gradually caught up and got ready to hang up and he said "Stephanie, you will have my love eternally, in this life and in the next, even if my physical being dies you will always have love from an Al"

  I had to process those words for weeks, thinking of every act of love, every admirable thing, every moment I witnessed that all my seemingly lost humans gave me, and what changed in me because of those moments. All of these souls filled up books in my mind, heart, and soul. They taught me how to be a happier better me, and they all loved me so much. These acts of love transferred onto my family, my friends, my kids, my relationship, hell, even strangers. Alec was right, my humans didn't die at all, and the more I looked the more I found glimpses of their love here, with me, no matter where they are. They literally cannot die, and there's no choice in the matter, it just happens.

I still have sad days and moments, but I know the saddest moments for me are also the most loving acts they gave me coming to surface...They are still with me to make those moments possible. You cannot change grief. It is a wild bull you just got onto, and you have to hold on tight and dig your spurs in for the rest of your life. The only thing that has calmed the immense pain I've felt was allowing these amazing humans to permanently imprint their best moments onto me. I'm forever grateful I had the privilege to be imprinted by so many angelic souls. All these seemingly small, miniscule moments created the most love in my soul. I'm here to learn, and I've been taught by the best of the best. Their deaths were not in vein, their deaths have all changed me. I sincerely hope this makes you consider how many souls have imprinted on you in life and in death, allowing seemingly impossible eternal love into your heart and soul.

XOXO

"I'm sure there ain't a Heaven, but that don't mean I don't like to picture you there. I bet you're bumming cigarettes off saints, and I'm sure you're still singing, but I'll bet that you're still just a bit out of key." Cigarettes and Saints by The Wonder Years

Dedicated to:

Nathan E. Osgood Sami Jo Colson Zaccaria "Squid" Crankshaw Ally LaMont Ryan Burton Zack Luck & Alexander Simon

I'll miss you everyday for the rest of my life, and will carry your eternal love wherever I may go.

Finally, thank you, to the first responders of Mayfield, NY that were first on scene when Nate passed away on September 20th, 2015

[echodrops]

Where do middling middles come from? I struggle with it myself, I know how I want to begin and end the story, but the middle somehow doesn’t seem „right“, and I feel like a lot of movies seem to struggle with meandering second acts as well. Where do you think that comes from?

Sorry my answer on this was delayed–this ask came during my grading period and then finals at the end of our semester. T_T

Anyway, middles…

To be honest, the core of the problem is probably thinking of the “middle” as a specific section of your story in the first place. We all know the montage: beginning, middle, end. But the truth is that while a story always requires a finite beginning and ending–it has to start somewhere and end eventually–what we think of as “the middle” is actually a vague, umbrella term encompassing everything from the moment your main plot starts rolling to the moment the story reaches its climax.

Rest under a read more:

Basically, this is the traditional plot diagram most of us learn in schools:

The problem with this is that it tends to create confusion about where the climax of a story is supposed to occur–looking at this, you might be tempted to think that the “middle” of the story should be an action-packed, important moment that really stuns the readers.

The truth of the matter is that the plots of most stories look a lot more like this:

The climax comes significantly later, typically only a chapter or two before the end of the book, and the “geographical” middle (i.e. page 100 of 200 total), instead falls somewhere in the area traditionally called the “rising action.”

So where do boring, poorly-paced middles come from? Why do people struggle to figure out what to put in their story’s “middle”?

Off the top of my head, I can think of two reasons people struggle with middles:

1. Misunderstanding what “rising action” means and how it should be constructed.

If I ask my students to define “rising action,” the answer I usually get is “A series of events that leads up to the story’s climax.” From a technical standpoint, this answer is correct–we have to get from the beginning to the story’s climax somehow, right?

But from a practical stand point, thinking of rising action as nothing more than “the events leading up to my story’s biggest moment” inevitably results in a stale, linear, and inorganic middle. If every action and moment from the beginning of the story to the climax all contributes to the same plot, the result is typically a robotic, uninteresting series of events where characters feel less like they’re acting for themselves, and more like they’re toy soldiers marching to the author’s orders–they’re being forced to jump through a predetermined set of hurdles to get to someone else’s goal, rather than being allowed to naturally change, develop, and exist outside of the story’s main conflict.

All too often, the writing thought process is: “I know where my story starts–Point A. And I know where I want it to end–Point B. Now I just need to get my characters from Point A to Point B!” And that’s… it. The sum total of thought put into the middle: just get from Point A to Point B.

But that’s not how human beings–and characters written by human beings–work. We’re not linear; we’re messy. We don’t take the right path every time. We backtrack. We get distracted. We’re often juggling more than one problem at once. We avoid conflict like the plague.

Reducing the middle of your story to a vehicle for getting characters from Point A to Point B denies them–and your readers–crucial opportunities for humanization, crucial opportunities to add depth and meaning to their plot, and in general limits realism and makes characters feel one-dimensional. If you’ve ever sat through a middle where you just didn’t emotionally engage with the characters at all, it’s probably because that middle was more focused on getting characters to the big climax than on allowing them to be “real” people or live for a second outside of the story’s single main conflict.

Okay, all well and good for me to say this, but how do you fix it?

Rethink your rising action. Even in the most basic and brief of plots (i.e. vignettes or short stories), rising action is never a single straight line from Point A to Point B. If you want your middle to feel realistic and engaging, let it reflect the behaviors and thought processes that real humans experience:

Mad MS Paint skills.

If you want your middle to be more than a stale Point A -> Point B, then fill it things that make your characters human: small, unexpected challenges. Chances to overcome lower-stakes conflict to learn new skills and enforce character growth. Fill in details of their life with flashbacks and side moments that help us readers better visualize and empathize with them. Let them make mistakes. Let them struggle to find the right way forward. Let them think about things other than the main plot absolutely 24/7.

It is true that events needs to ramp up as the story progress–the conflict needs to get more and more personal, more and more “threatening” or at least important to the main character (and therefore the readers)–but instead of throwing all your chips down on one massive climax, build in some smaller scale conflict moments throughout the “middle,” some tiny climaxes along the way, each one helping your character learn something new about themself, others, the world around them, yes, even the main plot…

Except when writing the shortest of short stories, just like real life, your plot should (usually) never present just ONE challenge to its protagonist. Every major event in our human lives is a complex, interconnected network of prior experiences and growth, trial and error, emotional baggage and interplay between people. That’s what good middles are full of. If you’re struggling to figure out what to put in your story’s middle, it’s probably because you’re so fixated on “Point A -> Point B” that you haven’t given enough thought to the complex journey in between. Don’t let your set-in-stone plans for the story’s “end” distract and limit you or your characters!

This is already really long, but I did say there were two possible problems with middles, so:

2. The climax happens prematurely. Don’t look at me, I didn’t pick the term.

Oftentimes a story seems to wander and lose focus before reaching its big climax, because of rising action that lacks depth and pizzazz. But the opposite problem can also occur: it’s possible for the rising action to be way too short, resulting in a climax that comes too early–closer to the geographical middle of the book–leaving a ton of space for falling action… But the author had nothing good to put there.

If you’ve ever seen a movie or read a book where there was an awesome, moving, incredible scene in the middle, and then it just seems to drag on and on before finally petering out with a whimper instead of bang, what’s going on is that the author jumped to the climax too early, with nothing solid or meaningful to fill in the gaps afterward. As a result, there are a bunch of included “here’s what happened after everyone went home” scenes, often with very little emotional pay-out, leaving readers wondering why the story is still… going… on… (And it’s usually still going on because the author had some epilogue idea in mind and realized they had to fill the gaps between the climax and the epilogue, see Problem #1 again.)

While it is possible to write stories where the main explosion of the conflict occurs in the dead-middle of the book/story (hell, you can even write stories where the major climax occurs FIRST), doing this requires you to shift the goalposts–it’s no longer a “character grows and, in time, overcomes main conflict and gets a happy ending;” instead, it’s “these characters experienced an intense conflict… now here’s how they handle and cope with what comes after.” When the climax happens earlier than “the end,” the focus of the story has to shift to really examining the aftermath, the implications and effects of the climax. Unless this shift occurs and the story becomes one of hurting, healing, and reflection after a massive conflict/upheaval, then we end up with a meandering second act that never packs the punch readers really want as the story winds down.

So like… don’t do this unless you really know what you’re doing, I guess? (Or you’re willing to fail until you figure it out, that works too…)

tl;dr: My tips for writing a good middle are:

1. Plan out several smaller scale moments of conflict, several “mini” climaxes/challenges for your main character to overcome as the story progresses. These smaller scale climaxes are excellent moments for your characters to learn new skills, gain more knowledge, or grow as people, which will then help build up to the major climax. Use these smaller scale “high points” to keep the middle feeling action-packed while also preventing the story from feeling like the characters are just robots marching from Point A to Point B.

2. When trying to plan out mini conflicts, think about A) what skills, traits, knowledge, etc. your character NEEDS to learn/develop in order to ultimately overcome the main conflict. What are some realistic and interesting ways for your character to gain these skills/knowledge/emotional growth, etc.? and B) In what ways can you involve other characters in this? These miniature moments of challenge and struggle are EXCELLENT places for clashes and connections between characters to grow and deepen.

3. Remember that characters are generally written by humans and should act like humans (seriously, even fantasy characters need to have a bit of humanization to them, or your readers won’t be able to care about their stories), so unless you REALLY have no spare space in your story, plan for mistakes, backtracking, misunderstandings, distractions, flashbacks, side plots, etc. Let your characters live and breathe in the middle–don’t mindlessly force them on a linear path towards your goal for them. LET THEM LIVE, GOD.

4. Unless you intentionally are writing a story about aftermath, recovery, or how people handle a traumatic experience, save the major climax for near the end of the story. Don’t put the moment of highest emotion and struggle and meaning in the dead middle of your book and leave yourself with five more chapters to fill and nothing but epilogue content to fill them with. Don’t be fooled by the pyramid–the climax in most stories comes in the last few chapters!

Phew, I think that about covers it. Hopefully this is what you were looking for.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 227: Basically Just Me Saying “Holy Shit” a Bunch

Previously on BnHA: We went on a semi-enlightening romp into Toga’s past. Basically she was an adorable child who just so happened to have a taste for blood. And whoever’s job is was to explain to her, “hey Toga, I know you like blood, but other people like being alive, so, you know. Let’s explore some other options for you,” they basically dropped the ball there. So after she murdered her hapless Deku-looking classmate in middle school, she went on the run, and we basically know the rest. Back in the present, Toga had just been blown up from the inside out as you may recall, so she spent most of the chapter kind of out of it. At one point Kizuki even started talking about her like she was already dead, reassuring her that she’d become a martyr for the Army’s cause (which, no thanks). But then Toga managed to stumble to her feet and transform into Ochako as she tried to flee. It was revealed that while transformed, she can use the quirk of whoever she’s turned into, and she proceeded to demonstrate this by floating Kizuki (and half her redshirt goons) a hundred feet into the air before dropping her back down to the pavement. Yeah. So I’m pretty sure she’s dead now. Ah well.

Today on BnHA: Toga passes out in a shed after a job well done. We learn that the MLA is recording all of the fighting, most likely for propaganda purposes because as we have previously established they’re a bunch of dicks. Hanabata confirms that Kizuki is dead and gets the Army all fired up. They charge at Tomura, who is really fucking sleep-deprived you guys, and as he stands there blinking at them he has another flashback. Turns out the little girl from the previous flashback was his sister, and back when they were cute lil munchkins and she was still alive (sob), she showed him a picture of Nana and told him that their grandma was a hero. Tomura doesn’t remember this clearly, but he remembers the accompanying emotions, which is enough to get me hyped out of my mind fyi. Back in the present, Tomura disintegrates I’m-gonna-go-with-about-200 Army henchpeople basically instantaneously without even touching some of them, which, oh shit. And then Dabi is all “oh cool I want to do some mass murder too” but before he can let loose, some dude with fucking ice powers shows up to challenge him. I guess this means we’re never going to get Touya VS Shouto, or if we do it’s going to be very repetitive. But it’s not like I’m complaining either way. Here’s hoping the villain flashback trend continues next week because omfg.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter like an hour ago lol. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity, but aside from that this is as close to a live liveblog as I’m going to get. It took two-thirds of a year, but these recaps are finally caught up.)

this is so exciting guys. I mean, for me the reading process is basically the same, but the posting process is going to be a new one since I’ll be trying to get this up the same day once I’ve read it! so you can expect many exciting errors and brain farts! prepare for the full brunt of my unpolished rough draft thoughts!

so anyway, here’s Toga

lol so much to analyze here. real quick:

“sleepy.” if that isn’t the most relatable chapter title in the history of time, though

loving the “my villain academia” logo in the background! as far as I’m concerned that’s the official title of this arc

“the conclusion of the battles” y’all I read this and I was like “what?! already!?!” but then I realized they’re talking about volume 23, which features the conclusion of the joint training battle arc. so who knows how many more villain battlin’ chapters we’ve still got ahead. I have a feeling we’re already winding down, though

note how all of the stuffed animals are stabbed. ah this girl

it’s 2214, who the fuck still uses polaroid cameras. that would be like someone in our time using a [googles inventions from 200 years ago] modern suspension bridge. ...wait

anyway you guys maybe I should start reading the actual chapter already if I want any hope of actually getting this posted before fucking midnight though

oh hey, so Toga is dying in a shed you guys. fun

I’m not really thrilled about this! to be honest! I mean for fuck’s sake she’s only 17. she was blown up from the inside out. and although the consequences initially seemed to have possibly been handwaved, it appears that no one can escape BnHA’s realistic injury clause for long! so. yeah

I get why she hid, because it’s not like the others are just gonna drop everything to come help her (although Twice, though...), and there are enemies everywhere so this is probably safer. but it also means that if she passes out here there’s a good chance she’s not going to wake up again! and that is bad! that is very much not good

what she really needs to do is call Ujiko! hitch a ride out of there while you still can! he is a doctor, right? even if it is the questionable mad scientist type! worst case, you end up as a Noumu. actually, wait a sec, maybe we should think this through

and yet the fact that she’s still laughing, though. just. goddammit. I love her so much. I swear to god Toga if you fucking die...!!

so now she’s curling up in the fetal position and thinking “once again I’ve gotten closer to you”

yeah, Deku really does do this every other week. or he did for a little while at least sob

and now we are cutting to ReDestro who for some reason is monologuing about Toga!

oh right, because he had the cameras and shit set up to livestream that shit

okay but is it just me or is he not looking at any cameras. he’s just enjoying the view from his little observation tower same as before. does his quirk allow him to see everywhere at once or what

is it bad that I barely even paid attention to the actual content of his ramblings lol. it’s just the same old same old. blah blah society rejects anyone who’s different, it’s so unfair, blah blah

it’s not a bad point, mind you; it’s just that RD and his army are completely full of shit and acting like they’re so much better even though they’re just a bunch of mur-diddly-urderers. it’s like how PETA acts like they’re champions of animal rights when really they mostly just kill shelter animals, insult Steve Irwin, and claim that milk causes autism. but I digress sob

oh shit I forgot about this dude

here I was thinking there was only the one other miniboss to go before the big bad. silly me. how could I have forgotten that two page spread and our friend here with the Gorillaz mouth and the Beatles haircut

wow are you serious?

Giran sitting there with one skeptical eyebrow raised thinking about how these guys threatened to kill him in order to lure his friends out so that they could, you guessed it, kill them!

and also, way to completely disregard the dozens of other minions who already bit the dust before Kizuki. like, your entire town is basically doomed, guy. but sure let’s cry for the one dead villain who actually had a name though

holy shit you guys

are you telling me that’s why you were recording the whole thing? is that why you invited the League here in the first place?? for the fucking publicity? kill the bad guys and earn the public’s good will? did I miss that part of the planning sesh, or was this objective already painfully obvious and I somehow either missed it or forgot all about it?

either way it’s amazing how these guys become bigger assholes with each progressive chapter

oh now he’s explaining it all on the next page lol. so I guess I didn’t miss the memo, good

okay but first he’s getting real physical with my boy Giran here though

okay first of all, all he did was say “footage...?” like wth was so fucking impolite about that. and second, why do I get the feeling that there’s probably a fair percentage of people who read this chapter and got to this panel and now suddenly ship it sob

I mean, he just got so up close and personal though. all up in his face. this guy has such a weird energy and it’s really creeping me out now ngl

anyway so here we go with the explanations

holy shit you guyssssssssss

when did Giran get so fucking hot?? and is he single?! asking for a friend???!

anyway so now RD is wiping away his crocodile tears and says Giran is lacking in imagination

oh hey

what an interesting segue back to Tomura!

wow, Spinner’s asking how much longer until Big G wakes up, and Compress says one hour and twenty minutes. so that means they’ve already been at it for like an hour and fifteen minutes! minus however much time it took to warp over and then follow Back-Stab n’ Go out to the center of town for the ambush. even if that took a whole half hour they’ve still been fighting for a long time! but I guess they’re more than used to that by this point, thank you so much Ujiko and your six weeks of brutal endurance training

Spinner’s all “no matter how many we defeat, they just keep on coming!” and I know, dude, it’s almost like there’s over one hundred thousand of them or something dfskdj

although to be fair, probably not every last one of them is actually there. can you imagine. it might take a whole nother hour to beat them all

now Hanabata is driving in on the back of an election van. because apparently he just fucked right off in the middle of his fight with the League, and then came back. with a van

so he’s all “EVERYONE I HAVE SOME DEEPLY SADDENING NEWS” and oh my gosh what is it

oh

yeah dude we already been knew. RIP and all that

so the crowd is all distressed and asking what the Supreme Leader said

really?? that’s what they call him?? yeah you guys aren’t evil at all

and Hana quotes, “‘do not let her sacrifice be in vain’“

sorry bruh. but. it’s gonna be in vain. hate to break it to you

right??

GASP

TWICE STOP BEING AWED AT HANABATA’S INFLUENTIAL AURA AND START PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DUDE WHO’S SNEAKING UP BEHIND YOU AND TRYING TO SNATCH YOUR MASK OFF

anyway so in the meantime this is happening

maybe there are 100k of them. seems like there’s a lot. I do like that from this angle it appears that Tomura and the others have holed up in a relatively narrow alley, thus creating a choke point and limiting the number of enemies who can attack them all at once. although this panel does make it look like there’s just a big ol’ wave of bad guys surfing their way towards them though, so it remains to be seen how effective this strategy will actually be lol

eh?

yeah no shit boy you’ve been fighting Daruk from BotW for the last month and a half

anyway so apparently he’s feeling ~weird~ though

I shit you not guys, my sister was hospitalized a couple months back (she’s fine now) because she started hallucinating after a three-day bout of insomnia. shit is no joke. don’t be like Tomura. go to bed and don’t stay up all night fighting villains

-- OH SHIT!?!

ASDFALSDFHLKSDHLFKJHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IT’S A LITTLE GIRL!! AND SHE’ S OPENING A SECRET DRAWER!!

SHE’S ALL “IT’S OUR LITTLE SECRET!” OH MY GOD

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SWEET JESUS MARY JOSEPH!? HORIKOSHI DO YOU FUCKING READ THE THEORY POSTS ON TUMBLR JUST SO YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY SHIT ON THEM TWO DAYS AFTER?? HOW THE FUCK

AND IS NANA’S SON WEARING DEKU SHOES?? OH MY GOD PLEASE

AND THIS MEANS THE LITTLE GIRL IS ACTUALLY TENKO’S SISTER SOBBBBBBBBB NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE THIS MAKES TOMURA MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GO APESHIT ON AFO’S ASS IF HE COMES TO REALIZE THAT AFO INDIRECTLY MURDERED HIS SISTER OH SHIT

BUT SHIT YOU GUYS, SHE’S SO CUTE AND SHE’S FUCKING DEAD NOW SOB THAT’S SO FUCKING HORRIBLE I MEAN IT I’M REALLY UPSET THOUGH

BUT LET’S CONTINUE WITH THE FLASHBACK TO SEE IF HORIKOSHI WANTS TO TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS ANYMORE!!

NANA DIDN’T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB ERASING ALL TRACES OF HER CONNECTION TO HER CHILD AND IT EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN HIS DEATH OH SHIT. I’M SERIOUSLY SO UPSET ABOUT THIS??

NOTE HOW BABY TENKO’S FACE IS PURPOSELY BLACKED OUT EVEN THOUGH (A) HIS SISTER’S IS NOT, AND (B) WE SHOULD, IN THEORY, ALREADY KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! IT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE THE SCARS OR THE WHITE HAIR YET CUZ AFO HASN’T WIPED HIS MEMORIES. [nods sagely as though I have any sort of proof of this whatsoever and it’s not all just wild speculation and conjecture]

HANAAAAAAAA oh shit I better come up with another nickname for Hanabata then. looks like it’s Back To The Full Name for you mister

!!?!?!?

okay you guys I think this is intentional misdirection. we’re meant to believe that Tenko’s dad was perhaps abusive and that his behavior toward his son ultimately triggered the awakening of his quirk and led to all of the subsequent Horrible Things happening

but I think what it actually is is that Tenko’s dad probably resents Nana for giving him up. and maybe Tenko wanted to know more about her and maybe he got in trouble for it? because now Hana is showing him the picture, and then talking about this mysterious conversation with their dad and saying she’s on Tenko’s side. so that’s my bet

anyway! but this means Tomura might not need as much convincing as I previously speculated! I figured he probably wouldn’t know much, if anything, about his grandma even if he did somehow get his memories back, because he was only four when all that shit went down, and Nana had parted ways with Tomura’s dad years ago. but if he actually did know a bit about her and even possibly felt a connection with her, as this flashback suggests, that could go a long way towards fueling his eventual breakaway from AFO’s side once All Might is able to explain the truth

ahhhhh you guys this is exciting I’m excited. though also still very sad though because wtf seriously

so Tomura’s tiredly thinking that the least his stupid memories could do is show him the whole picture instead of these fragments. “it’s like a broken tape recording or something”

HOLY SHIT

...I have no words. holy shit

anyone else getting flashbacks to the Highway to Hell though? what is it with Tomura and periodically pulling off the most badass stunts in the whole fucking manga. all because he didn’t get his nap dsflkjlk

ReDestro look at this loss of life. are you crying again. no, I can’t imagine that you are. you ass

you guys are probably getting tired of me just going “holy shit” over and over, but

hooooooooooooly shit

guys, if Tomura can dust people without even touching them he might as well just change his name to fucking Thanos and we’d better start praying this kid gets redeemed and soon

so now there’s a panel of Tomura being all drooly, and honestly he looks like he’s about to pass out. not sure if this is intended to be a glam shot or what lol

ohhhhSHIT

YESSSSSSSSSSS DABI. DRACARYS

!LKJDSLFKJLSDKJF!!

OH SHIT YOU GUYS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE ABOUT TO GET ALL A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE UP IN THIS BITCH

who is this weird little black mage. I’ll tell you one thing, he’s the only guy I’ve seen so far who’s actually dressed appropriately for fucking December weather, though, so good on him

will he defeat our boy Touya (spoilers, he won’t)? will Touya have some flashbacks of his own (TOUYA PLEASE), since that seems to be what all the cool kids are doing these days? will I lose my fucking shit all over again next week? stay tuned! but yes I absolutely will, oh jesus this is awesome

[a-walk-in-silence]

The Past Is For The Past (Pt. 1)

Pairing: Cop!Tom Holland x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Summary: As a teenager, you were stalked and sent death threats. They were never caught. Now as an adult, you start dating a cop, Tom Holland. Everything seemed normal until... something happens.

Warnings: Character death, description of dead bodies, blood, major past trauma, 

A/N: Hey! This is Liza! So even though I’mma primarily be the one posting/writing, I gotta give props to my girls @thedaydreamingwriter and @hollands-poppet for helping with the idea for this series as well as helping form this into a brilliant idea. So like go give them love! Thank you! Also, this is a 5 part series! I’m going to try and schedule these updates periodically so that way the last part comes out on Halloween! I’m already a few days off but oh well! Enjoy!

Key:

Y/N - Your Name

L/N - Your Last Name

Italics - Flashback

Bold Italics - Notes

9 a.m. October 31st

“So tell me about what happened when you were 16,” said the calming voice of your therapist, casually leaning back in his chair. On his knee was a notepad, filled with information that you had told him. “Every session that we have, we always seem to come to a... blockade, if you well, when talking about your teenage years. As it is my understanding, your boyfriend- what was his name?” Dr. Carmichael once more shifted in his chair, posing his pen so that he can write.

“Tom,” you responded, readjusting your legs so that they were crossed. “He’s, uh... he’s a cop, actually. We met in college.”

A smile perched itself on your therapists lips as he leaned forward a bit, copying your words. “Right, Tom. He’s the one who convinced you to come here, right?” The piercing eyes of your therapist met yours as he tried to dig through your psyche right before your very eyes. At your nod, he smiled calmly, relaxing once more. “So, have you told anyone besides your family and boyfriend about what happened? If the answer is yes, then I’d like you to think of me as a friend. Open up to me about what happened. Only you and I can work on fixing this problem together.”

You chewed on your bottom lip for a moment, contemplating his words. You knew you wanted help, to forget what had happened. But you were scared to open up. You weren’t sure what to make of anything. You knew he only had your best interest in mind...

“I... uh... was in high school, at the time. Central London. My mother had just passed away from cancer, so it was just my father and I. The first incident happened while I was studying for my GCSE’s.” You cleared your throat suddenly, feeling as though you were being suffocated by the tears that were threatening to spill. “S-Sorry... I... I was putting away my books...”

----

You laughed in your friend’s direction as she awkwardly tripped over her own two feet as she attempted to reach the higher level book shelves. She landed straight on her bum, looking mildly annoyed as you laughed. “It’s not funny!” Terra practically hissed, tossing the book towards you. “Go on! Why don’t you put it up!”

Shaking your head, you casually reached forward, sliding the book into it’s proper place. You threw a victorious smile over your shoulder as Terra silently fumed for a moment before laughing herself. “You’re such a clutz. How do you ever expect to do anything if you can’t stand on your own two feet?”

“Enough you two,” Amy laughed, giving you a playful shove. “I can’t believe you’re acting like a bunch of children right now instead of studying. Our GCSE’s are soon! You’ll both fail if you don’t study!”

You merely shrugged in response to her remark. “Why study and stress when I can wing it and do just fine?

----

You seemed to trail off when talking about your friends. Your heart stopped beating as images flashed in front of your eyes. The things your stalker had done to your friends was seared into your memory. Their unblinking eyes at nothing as their chests stopped rising and falling.

You weren’t aware of the fact that you were now scratching your fingers along your arm, causing red streak marks along the soft flesh. It took your therapist clearing his throat for you to look up and stop scratching at your arm.

“Don’t push yourself to talk about it,” he said, voice soft. “I want you to be comfortable and tell me about everything that you can. If something is too difficult to remember, then I want you to stop and take a moment to gather your thoughts. If you still can’t talk about it after you’ve taken a breather, then skip it. There’s always tomorrow to fill in the blanks.”

Slowly you nodded, rocking back and forth in the chair for a moment. Your eyes glanced back up towards the clock that hung over your therapists head. You still had another 40 minutes left in this session. As of right now, you didn’t want to continue the conversation, but you knew you had to. Tom was waiting for you back home, and you needed to do this for him. Taking a deep breath, you decided to continue on with your story.

----

Terra glanced down at her watch and suddenly jumped to her feet. “Crap! I have to get going home! It’s late! Amy, can you walk me home? Please? My dad’ll kill me if I’m not home soon!”

Amy groaned before standing up, shoving her notepads into her back pack. “Yeah, yeah. Come on. You coming with, Y/N?”

You shook your head, smiling at the two of them. “I’m gonna do some more studying and then I’ll walk home. I live right down the street any way. Have fun, loves.”

The two gave you a small look before looking at one another. They seemed to communicate silently, judging what to do. Terra’s eyes were pleading with Amy to just leave, so that’s what they did. With one last glance, the two disappeared, leaving you alone in the library.

While studying, you kept getting the uneasy feeling that someone was watching you. Something just felt so wrong. But every time you looked over your shoulder, there was no one there. So you just continued to study until it became late.

----

“I-I started walking home after I finished... And I-” Your phone started to suddenly ring in the middle of your sentence, causing you to practically jump out of your skin. You cautiously looked down, staring at the picture of Tom’s bright smile looking back at you. “Sorry, it’s Tom, can I-?”

“Of course. I’ll be here when you’re done.” Dr. Carmichael smiled warmly at you. Visibly, you relaxed as you got out of your chair and excused yourself from the main room, closing yourself into the small bathroom that was apart of his office.

You placed the phone up to your ear once you answered, relaxing against the door. “Tommy?” you asked, crossing your arms across your midrift. “What’s happening? I’m in the middle of therapy and-”

“Oh crap, I forgot.” He groaned on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, darling. I was just calling to say I’ll be home early but I forgot you had therapy and you won’t be home when I get home and-”

“Love,” you interrupted, trying to suppress a small giggle as he awkwardly tried to make excuses. “It’s okay, really. Is there anything that you needed? Was there any reason of why you called?”

He sighed on the other end. “I think it’s better for in person. If you want I can pick you up once your done at therapy. How long do you have left?”

“Around 25 minutes or so. So see you then?” you answered. You rested your head back against the door, trying to relax. Just what did he need to tell you that needed to be said in person?

“Yes, love. Sounds amazing. I have to go now.” Before you could say anything, the line went dead on his end. You stared at your phone for a moment, curious as to why he suddenly hung up on you. However, you didn’t have time to really process why when your therapist knocked on the bathroom door.

“Y/N, are you quite alright? Should I cancel the rest of the session?” he asked, sounding genuinely worried.

You sighed, pocketing your phone in your back pocket. “No, no. I’m coming out now.” You opened the door, meeting Dr. Carmichael’s kind brown eyes. “Sorry, Tom was calling to tell me he was getting off early. We should, um... probably get back to the session. He should be coming to pick me up soon.”

His warm smile was the only response as he lead you back to your seat, gently urging you to sit once more before sitting opposite of you. “I’m ready when you are,” he said, once more holding his pen and pad of paper to copy anything you might say.

----

The night air was chilly as you bundled your clothes tightly to your body. The air, despite being so chilly, was still. A low fog hung low to the ground, making it near impossible to see your feet or the sidewalk underneath. The only light seemed to come from passing cars and the fluorescent yellow street lamps placed every couple hundred feet.

While walking, your foot kicked something large. It sent you catapulting into the sidewalk. Your hands flew out, trying to catch your fall and resulting in multiple scraps along your hands and forearms. You glanced behind yourself to see what had tripped you up when you saw something you never thought you would ever see in your life.

On the ground was Terra, her mouth opened in permanent shock. Her eyes were wide open, staring straight into the sky yet seeing nothing. Her skin was pale, even under the bright yellow street lamps.

Her throat was cut open cleanly, blood dripped out of her open wound. Her hair was dyed from the blood now pooling on the side walk. Your throat seemed to constrict, and you couldn’t make a sound. You desperately crawled over to your friends body, holding her tightly.

Tears stung in your eyes as you stared down at her unseeing eyes. You finally screamed, holding her tightly. A car pulled up beside the two of you, the driver jumping out.

“Please! Call the police!” you shouted desperately, holding your friend. Your tears finally spilled from your eyes are you stared into her lifeless eyes. They seemed so blank.

While the person called the cops, a shout came from farther away. You glanced over your shoulder and saw a young woman standing in the ditch, staring down at something that you couldn’t see because of the thick fog. “Oh my God! There’s a dead body!”

Numbly, you moved away from Terra, following the sound of the woman’s screams. In the ditch was Amy, her dark hair tangled with sticks and blades of grass. Her eyes were just like Terra’s, cold and lifeless, staring at nothing. You screamed, covering your mouth with a bloody hand.

You crawled towards your friend, cautiously running your fingers across her now pale face. Her mouth was wide open, and inside you could see a bloody piece of paper, folded small to be discreet.

Cautiously you removed it, unfolding the piece of paper. On the slip was a note that chilled you two your bones.

Happy Halloween, Y/N.

----

You purposefully didn’t tell your therapist what the note had said. You simply told him that the note had your name written on it. 

A knock pulled you from the memory, quieting your words. The secretary from outside peeked her head inside. She looked awkward, her bright red hair pulled up into a bun. “Mr. Holland is here to pick up Miss L/N.”

You nodded, numbly moving from your seat. Your therapist seemed a little stunned from your story, but you only felt numb. “T-Thank you... I guess. I’ll... be back next week.”

Your voice seemed to pull him from his thoughts that he had previously been engaged in. He forced a smile before standing up, offering his hand. “Yes. Of course. I hope you and I can work next session on unlocking new information on your life.” Before you could contemplate anything, he offered you a smile. “Ah, and Y/N? Happy Halloween.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, you nodded. Dr. Carmichael seemed completely unfazed by his comment. He took his seat once more as you left his office.

Sitting in the lobby was Tom, still in uniform from work. A grim look was settled over his face until his beautiful brown eyes fell on you. He quickly jumped to his feet, enveloping you in his arms. You hid your face in his shoulder, still reliving the memories you had just gone through moments before. Your body was rigid. Not even his tight embrace could help you relax.

“It’s okay, love. I’m here,” Tom mumbled, running his fingers through your hair to try and attempt to calm you down.

You shake your head, relaxing into his arms. “I just wanna go home. Please.”

He nodded, his chin resting on the top of your head once he was done. “Okay, okay. Let’s go home, darling.”

----

The ride back to Tom’s was silent, filled with the quiet music that Tom had put on in an attempt to fill the silence. It didn’t really work.

He pulled into the driveway of the house. The gentle sound of the motor came to a stop, ending the music as well. You clambered out of the car, dragging your bag with you as you practically ran into the overly spacious house.

The house had been a gift from one of his aunts who had passed away a couple years ago. Before hand, the two of you had been living in an apartment near your college. Now, at the ripe old age of 24, the two of you were living in his dead aunt’s house that was far too big for the two of you. Not even Tessa could fill up the space.

You opened the front door that opened straight into the living room. From the back of the house, you could hear the patter of Tessa’s nails on the hardwood floors. A few moments later, the blue Staffordshire Bull Terrier came bowling towards you. Before she has a chance to knock you over, Tom’s strong arms wrapped around you, keeping you upright as the dog came jumping in an attempt to lick your face.

“Hey- Hi Tess.” You knelt down next to the pup as she licked your face. You scratched her ears, trying to calm down her excitement. “I know. It’s the day of the party. Aren’t you excited, girl?”

Her tail wagged in excitement as she turned her attention to Tom. You watched the two interact for a moment before giving him a hard look. There was something that he wasn’t telling you. Something that involved his work day.

After a minute of getting attention, Tessa trotted away in search of her next snack. You leaned against the back of the couch, crossing your arms over your chest. “So? What happened today?”

Tom sighed, leaning against the couch as well. His eyes were hard as he looked forward. “Y/N, you remember Jacob? One of my old college friends. He was supposed to be coming to the party tonight.”

“Yeah, I remember Jacob. Batalon, right? Wasn’t he doing local theatre or something like that?” You shrugged your shoulders, glancing at Tom’s side profile. “What about him?”

“He’s dead.” His voice was hard as he shifted uncomfortably, staring at his feet now. “He was found dead around 3 in the morning. There was a note in his mouth.” Tom pulled out his phone, pulling up a photo on his phone.

You stared at the screen. The picture of a piece of paper covered in blood. On the note were words that you thought you would never have to read again in your life.

Happy Halloween, Y/N.

Tags:

@thedaydreamingwriter @hollands-poppet @hollandroos @starksparker @peeterparkr @dodie-y3llow @youreafangirl-harry @spidey-pal

[daysswithyou]

With love,

Characters: DAY6 Jae x OC

Genre: fluff, slice of life, romance

Words: 2.6k

Description: penpal!jae – when the flame of love rekindles

---

"From: Jae."

You raised a single eyebrow at the letter, surprised that this even appeared in your mailbox. You definitely weren't expecting him to write to you so soon, if not at all. But you couldn't deny that a small part of you was excited to see what he had written - he was a rather funny character. Tearing the slit open, you were greeted by a whole bunch of capital letters and haphazard punctuation - he clearly wrote this in a rather unclear (and possibly drunk) state of mind. You tried your best to decipher his scrawly handwriting (which was rather hard in all honesty) but by the end of the letter, you were laughing to yourself, the little drawing of Chicken Little at the end as he signed off tickling your funny bone. You immediately flashed back to how you met Jae on a school exchange program, the first moment you met him already proving to be rather diabolical. 

-

"Y/N your partner is..." 

The teacher scanned the classroom for a certain someone before heaving a deep sigh. 

"Jae, who's late."

Right at the moment, the door burst open, revealing a geeky boy with a sharp mohawk hairstyle and brown glasses hanging skewed off the bridge of his nose.

"Jae, you are exceptionally early today." The teacher's voice dripped with sarcasm before fixing an admonishing look upon his student. But the cheeky youth was clearly unfazed by the scolding (or the attention) and instead merely shoot his teacher a wide grin before defending himself. 

"Sorry Mr Franklin I had to take time to look extra good today for the exchange students." He then winked at his teacher whom simply turned back to address the class; it was quite obvious that he was rather used to such situations from the boy. Jae then turned to you, finally aware of your presence.

"Hi are you my partner?"

"Yes."

"Hi my name is Jae. Sorry for being late, I actually overslept."

"It's alright, my name is Y/N."

"Yea I know."

You found out later from him that he had chosen you as his partner because of your interesting name, which he had described as 'pretty like you', causing you to turn into a tongue-tied mess. He didn't say that to flirt, he had meant that a geninue comment. 

For the rest of the day, Jae led the pack, a natural orator that had managed to captivate all the students as he went on raptly about your school. You spent the next five days getting to know Jae very well, especially during lunch break where he led you away from the crazy lunch crowd towards the band room where both of you talked endlessly about everything ranging from America's history to embarrassing childhood stories. Time flew fast when you were having fun and before you knew it Jae was sending you off at the airport. You had just said goodbye to him and had just only turned towards the transit area when he called you again. 

"Y/N wait! Could you...give me your address? I'll like be...erm...penpals ya know?"

He then passed you a marker but no paper. 

"Jae do you have paper now?"

"No?"

"Give me your hand." 

He stuck out his arm and you quickly wrote your address on his palm.

"I'll write back. Bye Jae!"

You then took off past the gates but little did you know that Jae's skin was still tingling from your touch.

-

You kept your promise and continuously wrote back and forth to him, both of you sharing your troubles and successes with one another. But the most memorable one had to be the one with the ring, the one where he suggested flying to meet you.

"Since you've been to California before, I thought I'd use the summer break to visit you in New York. The ring is for us to identify one another just in case our looks have changed too much since the last time we met HAHA. Let me know what you think about it?"

Of course you were ecstatic. You couldn't wait to see Jae again and you drove out to mail your letter even though it was 12am at night.

But a letter never came back.

You tried writing many more letters to him but you never got one back. It was as if he had dropped off the face of the earth. After a year, you simply stopped hoping for a reply and soon Jae slowly faded to the back of your memory as you got busy with being an adult.

But somehow, you still kept the ring, wearing it faithfully each day.

-

"Go to this concert with me?" Your childhood friend, Janice, that was currently living in Korea had pleaded with you using her famous puppy eyes, anticipating your rejection. 

"Ok. But who are they? And what kind of group are they?"

"They're a band so they play their own instruments. And the name's DAY6!"

"I've never heard of them before so I'll give it a go."

"Yay! I'll pay for your ticket!"

"Really? How much must you like them to want to pay for me? "

"You'll see."

Indeed you will.

-

That night, you wore the ring on your middle finger as usual. When you entered, the hall was already crowded with fans, the excited buzzing had already began. Fans were wearing white wristbands as you were and they were also holding cute handmade banners filled with words of encouragement. You smiled at the adorable sight and felt this small bubble of joy growing within you - so this was an inkling of what it felt like to be able to see a band that you loved so much. You spotted six different instruments on stage: someone was on the rhythm guitar and another on the bass guitar. Someone would be playing both the synths and keyboard, an interesting combination for a band. The drums look majestic sitting at a spot higher than the rest, granting the drummer a greater view of the adoring crowd. Last but not least, the electric guitar. War flashbacks of Jae playing the electric guitar in the band raced through your mind and for a moment you could hear his laugh and see his infectious smile again. He quizzed you on the different instruments and you got most of them correct as you did now.

Jae would be proud of me I suppose

Before you had time to think further, the lights around the hall dimmed as the stage lights illuminated the 5 different spots on the stage. The members filed out one by one and Janice squeezed your hand particularly hard by the drummer came out. Manly body with boyish features: a man with dual charms; clearly he was her style. But when the electric guitarist came out, you felt your heart stop beating as the world came down to just you and him. 

Jae was standing on stage right in front of you. He still had that same wide smile with straight teeth and he still wore his glasses wherever he went. The only difference was the blonde hair and weight loss; his baby fats in the cheeks were gone, giving his face a much more angular look. 

Different look, but definitely still the same person. 

His eyes scanned the crowd quickly as Sungjin did the opening mention. When he reached your area, you swore his gaze lingered on you a little longer, the gears in his head rapidly doing the math to calculate the probability of that being you.  But before he could make up his mind, Dowoon's drums started off 'How can I say', giving him no time at all before he had to rock out on his own. For the rest of the night, Jae belted out song after song effortlessly but whenever they had breaks in between songs or special interaction with fans, he would always try to search for you amongst the thousands of people but his eyes showed that he wasn't sure. As for yourself, the same could be said. You weren't sure if you'd want to reveal yourself to Jae. But perhaps you were afraid of his reaction. Would he hate to see you? Would he remember you? But worst of all, would he pretend that he didn't know you when you knew he could? A million thoughts ate away at your mind throughout the concert, and you couldn't focus on anything much except for Jae. When the concert ended, you decided to flee before you did something stupid or had your heart broken by Jae.

"Y/N where are you going? There's still the fansign."

Oh right, she got VIP tickets for me too.

That means you'll have to face the inevitable: Jae. As the line in front of you got shorter and shorter, your face got redder and redder from many illogical things at once: embarrassment, anticipation, awkwardness. You thought of the worst case scenario that could happen later when you got to Jae, whom just had to be the last in the row. First was the bassist that looked ridiculously cute followed by the leader that spoke with a thick accent. The shy drummer could barely hold your eye he signed your poster for you and the adorable pianist gave you the sweetest, widest smile. 

When you finally got to Jae, you said the lamest thing off the top of your head. 

"Hi Jae. It's been a long time."

"Hi Y/N I've missed you."

You nearly cried there and then. 

-

Jae POV

It's her. I swore it was her. I could recognise her from a million miles away. I rushed off stage once the concert was over to find her but Sungjin pulled me back before I could even take a step off stage. Then that's when I see her towards the end of the snaking line, her hands trembling slightly as she chewed on her nails, and that's why they say old habits die hard.

When her name fell past my lips now after so many years, she almost cried, her eyes turning red instantly. The staff was rushing her and I hastily signed her poster (across my face by accident) but before she could leave, I had to do something. Grabbing her arm like she did to me, I quickly wrote a message to her before letting her go.

-

"Meet me backstage later." - the note said.

What do I do now? What's he going to say?  

"So how was it? Were they fantastic?"

"Absolutely."

"So who's your bias?"

"Jae."

"No wonder you lingered so long at his spot."

"Yea haha, hey would you mind waiting for me a little? I need to use the washroom."

"Sure. I'll wait for you at the entrance."

Once you were safely out of her sight, you took off in the backstage direction and before you could locate him, you felt a hand reach out to pull you into a storage closet. 

There, surrounded by floor cleaners and mops, you met Jae again after so many years.

"Y/N there's so much to say to you but there's so little time...how do I even..."

"Slow down Jae. I'm going to stay in Korea for some time, we can always meet again to talk. It's just so good to see you again."

"It is. I'm sorry for disappearing so many years ago, I tried so hard so find you after that-"

To prevent him for rattling on, you grabbed his hand lightly.

"It's alright Jae, you can tell me all about it in future. For now...I'm just glad to see you again, that's all I can say."

You felt him twisting the ring and when you looked down, you found him wearing the same ring on the exact same finger. 

"I can't believe you wear it after so long..."

"I could say the same."

"I wear it as a reminder to fulfill my promise to you."

"Well, I guess fate has given us a little push now."

"And I love it. Oh and sorry about the poster, I signed on my face in a hurry."

"Well, I won't be needing the poster much since I'll be seeing the man himself soon."

Jae smiled widely at your statement, holding onto your hand tighter so that we won't lose you again. 

-

Epilogue

It was Christmas season but here you were hunched over your laptop, typing out the last few segments of your report for submission in 2 hours time. You were shivering badly in the cold; today was unnaturally cold with heavy snowfall and the heater was broken. You tried to ignore the biting cold and focus on the task at hand. Right at the moment, Jae walked over with a snuggie and draped it over your shoulder.

"Stay warm baby."

"Thanks Jae." You kissed the back of his hand before letting him go. Despite the additional layer, you were still shivering and you had to breathe some heat into your palms every few minutes to prevent your fingers from going numb. 

"Here baby." Before you could register what was happening in your slow mind, a weight was lifted off your shoulders. Jae now had a regular blanket wrapped over himself as he wriggled his awkward body into the space between you and the couch. Spreading his legs out, he pulled you into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around your frame. The finishing touch was his head upon your shoulder as he stared ahead at your laptop screen. He was essentially koala-hugging you. 

"Jae?"

"I'll keep you warm as you finish the report. Just write." He then kissed your temple before closing his eyes to rest whilst squeezing you slightly. Finding your way out of the thick blanket and his long arms, you rapidly typed out the last few segments and managed to hand in the report an hour early.

Closing your laptop softly, you turned back to Jae to slowly rouse him. Rubbing your thumb along his cheek, you mumbled against the side of his lips. 

"Babe I'm done. You can wake up now."

"So fast?"

"Hmmm"

"That's great..." The end of his words dragged out as he let out a yawn, rubbing his eyes and stretched his hands above his head.

Taking advantage of his unguarded position, you decided to have some fun after a long day. Spotting the thin strip of his soft belly that was peeking out from underneath his blue stripped pyjamas, you launched a tickle attack, successfully catching him off guard. Jae yelped before bursting into laughter, completely unable to defend himself as he slowly deflated from laughing too much. Your mistake came when you decided to be nice; Jae immediately attacked from the sides and this went on till both of you somehow ended up on the couch with you on top of him. Once the giggles faded away, you looked down at the beautiful man that was now yours and some wire in your brain decided that now would be a good time to kiss him. Leaning down, you placed your lips on his and it made you giddy with happiness when you felt him smile into the kiss. 

Breaking away, your hands went to play with soft hair, running your fingers through them. All this while appreciating the beauty of this man that you can now call yours. 

"You should probably get some sleep, it's late."

And so you did. You fell asleep that night with your head tucked under his chin, your arms wrapped tightly around his torso.

[hotdogjumpingfrog5]

It’s Strange - Chapter Twelve

Previous Chapters: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven

~

September 18th, 1986

It was a Thursday afternoon, and Max was sat down in her usual spot in the window that overlooked the crowd of students coming into the private school. She was now in her second year at St. Peter’s, and didn’t feel different unlike the rest of her friends or the losers, since she went to an all-grade school, unlike them, who are fresh out of junior high and middle school.

She found private school to be a lot more better to focus on, so Max continued to stay at St. Peter’s. Max still kept to herself on many occasions, she couldn’t find herself to fit in with a lot of the snobby overachievers of the school, nor did she want to. Barely anyone acknowledged her existence, and she didn’t acknowledge theirs, either. Besides, Lucas would drive by on his bicycle almost every day after school to bring her back home. 

Max was still one of the frequent people Kevin liked to pick on, but other than that, she found private school to be okay. She still couldn’t believe that Kevin was Ben’s cousin. They were nothing alike; Kevin was an obnoxious twit who thought he was a ‘cool guy’, but Ben was the peacemaker of the losers club, and when the losers joined Mike (Wheeler)’s group, aka the party. Ben also knew how to treat people with kindness, and that’s what everyone loved most about Ben.

As Max was about to make her way to class after the last lunch bell rang, she got shoved right into the lockers.

“Hey ginger boy.” Kevin said smugly

“Wow Kevin, haven’t seen your sickening presence in a while.” Max replied

“You disgust me.” said Kevin, “I’m surprised you came back here, I honestly thought you were going to go back to public school with your negro of a boyfriend and other idiot friends.”

“Did you treat Ella like you did with me or?”

“You mean Benny boy’s sicko friend Edweirdo’s twin sis? Hell yeah, probably equal to you,” Kevin continued, “Maybe it’s because you both look ridiculous and are the most painful introverts I’ve ever met.”

Nothing wrong with being an introvert, Kevin. Max thought, Fuck off

It was true though, Max was only ever comfortable around her friends. Same with Ella (unlike Eddie), Will, Mike (Hanlon), Stan, and that’s all she could really think of at that moment. The rest of Bill and Mike (Wheeler)’s group were either extroverted, or in the middle, but what’s a group without both?

Max vaguely remembers the day Ben and Stan were over at Lucas’, and when Ben revealed about Kevin. 

Right after learning about that, she remembers asking Ella about it, and she had told Max after switching to public school with her brother and the rest of the losers about what Kevin was like before she left private school, and Kevin hadn’t changed since, either. El mentioned to Max about what Kevin was like, and she was right. It all matched up; always critizing, goes around thinking he’s all that, says the rudest things, calling you out/tattle tailing for every little thing, and so on.  

Max also remembers Ben mentioning about how Kevin had insulted him, El, and the rest of the losers back in December when they were up, and his Aunt Jean didn’t care, even though it was completely Kevin’s fault. 

“So, ginger,” Kevin said while putting his hand on the locker, making a loud thump, “Make sure you, Kaspbleh, her brother Edweirdo, your negro boyfriend, s-s-stuttering Bill, frogface, frogface’s brother, zombie boy, that Jew, Ben, and the rest of you losers get a grip and stop being such idiots.”

When he walked down the hallway, Max gave him the bird while his back was turned, and she always did, just like she did with Billy. Though Billy was a lot worse than Kevin.

Frogface

She thought the word sounded familiar, but couldn’t figure out where it came from.

~

September 27th, 1986

Stan sat in the living room on a partly sunny afternoon, waiting for the few people of the losers and the party of that were actually interested in this hobby that not a lot of people would normally take interest in; bird watching.

In the living room, the Uris’ placed two Hanukkah candles on each shelf, and a bronze Star of David next to the window, which the sun would occasionally gleam down on, along with a few photos of Stan’s parents before they got married, photos of Stan when he was younger, and a few pictures from Stan’s Bar Mitzvah two years ago. 

Stan was glad he had a few friends he could count on to go bird watching with him every once in a while, he usually did it by himself or with Mike Hanlon, but today Stan wanted a few others to join him.

Previous day at school, him, Bill, Richie, and Eddie were walking along the hallways of Derry High, when the subject came up again.

“S-S-Sorry S-Stan, I n-need to s-stay at home with G-G-Georgie while my p-p-parents go on this t-t-two week c-cruise in S-San Diego.” said Bill, “B-Besides, that’s n-n-not my thing n-no offense.”

“None taken.” 

“Didn’t my sister, Mike, and Ben go with you last time?” said Eddie, “No offense but that’s not really my thing either.”

“Yeah, they said they would come.” Stan responded

“You guys are such dweebs.” Richie laughs, “While you four go bird watching I will be knocking up Mrs. Uris.”

“Richie, you idiot!” Stan said in annoyance 

“Beep beep R-R-Richie.” said Bill

“This is high school, not grade seven.” Eddie said, tired of his weird mom jokes that he continued with, “Besides, we’re all virgins in this group.”

“Not me,” said Richie, “Mrs. K don’t count. What do you think I’m doing as soon as you and El fall asleep each night?”

“That is so not funny.”

Stan stood up, looking out the window while on the lookout for Ben, Mike (Hanlon), Ella, Max, and Lucas. 

“You know Stan,” his father walked in, “I’m glad you are going bird watching with your friends, you haven’t done that in a long while.”

He was now close to the same height as his father, Stan now standing 5′9″

“Yeah, it’s fun.” Stan responded, his focus out the window

“Just make sure you’re back by 6:30, tomorrow is Sunday and we have a service to go to.” said his father

Stan looked at his watch, and it was now almost 2:30. 

A few minutes pass by, and Max and Lucas are the first ones to arrive on their bike, along with Ben, Mike, and Ella who came together shortly after.

The six of them made their way to the barrens, which the grass was turning an almost yellow colour from the fall air, and the water was now a lot colder, so no one really bothered to go through it that much.

“Will this be one of the last bird watchings we do this season?” Lucas asked

“Maybe one of them,” Stan responded, “We’re in high school, so that will take up a lot of time, and there aren’t as many birds around in November through March.”

Each of them went in different areas of the barrens area, Stan and Mike went into the grassy field, Max and Ella looked down the river, and Ben and Lucas went into the forest

Stan and Mike sat down together in the long grass that was swaying in the wind, and they laid down, taking in the 10 degree breeze while listening for the occasional chirp before they would sprout back up again.

“You know, I really like doing this with you.” said Mike, “We’ll defintley do this again during the spring, right?”

“Yes, defintley.” Stan smirked, “But maybe we’ll all do one more next month, before all the sparrows and blue jays leave.”

“Yeah, otherwise we will only spot more crows than the ones in my grandfather’s backyard.” said Mike

They both chuckled, while continuing to lay back, staring up into the sky.

Meanwhile, Max and Ella were well into the bird watching as much as Stan was, the two of them managed to spot a woodpecker and two sparrows. 

They sat down by the river for a few minutes, listening for more birds over the sound of the flowing river.

“How’s Eleven doing, and the others?” Ella asked

“She’s good,” said Max, “Hopper wants her to stay in the house a bit more since October is coming, but Mike is up there almost every week. She seems to like me a bit more.”

“Told you she’d get used to you.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” said Max, “How’s Eddie by the way?”

“Annoying and bossy as always, and has become a lot like our mom since he saw that weird thing on the Fourth of July.” said Ella

“Tell me about it,” says Max, “Brothers are awful, but yours is not as bad as mine, trust me. Aren’t you and Eddie turning 15 in a few days?”

“Yeah,” El said, “Second of October.”

“Oh, happy early birthday!”

“Thanks,” El responds, then notices a shadow in the trees

She rubs her eyes thinking it’s her mind playing tricks, but it wasn’t. It was still there, and she could feel whoever It was watching them, and was starting to feel creeped out. Ella points out what she saw to Max, but Max convinced it was just a bunch of twigs cluttered together

“No it’s not,” Ella whispered, “I’m staring right at it, can’t you see it?”

Max felt goosebumps across her body, and remembered the strange man she was in the woods of Hawkins while waiting for Mike (Wheeler) and the rest of their group. This was a year ago, but it all came back to her.

“What does it look like?” Max asked nervously

“Kinda tall, trenchcoat, can’t see the face -”

That’s all it took for Max to say “Let’s go!” and drag her by the arm, going more closer to the group, Max wondered why she couldn’t see It or whoever it was. 

Ben and Lucas find this opening in the woods behind the barrens, after about 20 minutes of looking for a good bird-watching spot.

They came close to this steep hill on the edge, where there was a road railing at the top of that hill.

Ben knew that spot well, and insisted they move somewhere else. He got bad flashbacks from Henry Bowers and his gang, and he hasn’t thought about them since almost a year ago when Bill dreamt about them at a sleepover they had with Stan and Richie. 

That’s weird, Ben thought, he forgotten they even existed, and wondered why he thought about them just now, even though it has been well over two years since he thought about them, aside from the sleepover at Stan’s last November. 

“Let’s go somewhere else,” said Ben, “I think I found a good spot over there that we just passed.”

“Sounds cool, it is kinda creepy over here anyway.” said Lucas, “Speaking of creepy, my sister Erica was acting kind of weird the night before last.”

“What do you mean?” Ben asked

“Well, I know this sounds strange, but I woke up, and could have sworn I heard screeching sounds. Kind of similar to those demogorgons me, Mike, and our group in Hawkins defeated, while you guys defeated that clown of whatever.” Lucas continued, “Anyhow, I was going to go in my parents room, then Erica said something like ‘Time to float’ or whatever, it was weird.”

Everything Lucas had said made Ben’s skin crawl.

“Shit,” said Ben, “Pennywise, the demogorgon, Henry Bowers and his goons, how come we’re only thinking about this now? After almost two years of all that, those memories only come back to us now. Why is that?”

“I don’t know,” said Lucas, “But we did manage to defeat all of them. As different groups. I don’t know, maybe it’s because this area of the forest is creepy, and I guess that bad experience you bad with those bullies...”

“Let’s just move along,” said Ben, “We are out here bird watching, not looking for something creepy.”

So far Ben and Lucas had the least amount of luck with the birds, the birds seemed to be more out in the open rather than in the woods. But it was a sunny and clear afternoon after all. 

The two of them had only spotted a few crows, with the occasional sparrow or two. Time was passing ever so slowly for them, yet flew by at the same time.

It was now after 4:30, they had arrived at Stan’s at 2:30, and it was about ten minute bike ride to get to the barrens. 

“Okay guys, I think we’re done for today!” Stan called out, four pairs of footsteps could be heard coming into the forest

The six of them had gathered in the clearing that Lucas and Ben were in, discussing what they found.

“We didn’t find much.” Ben said, bummed out

“Lucas, Ben, you guys look like you have seen a ghost.” said Max

“Do we? Nah we just find this area...creepy.” Lucas responded

“Yeah, we should get going.” said Max

The six of them walked along the trail leading back to the river, Lucas and Max ahead of them walking hand-in-hand, while Stan, Ben, Mike, and Ella walked behind them, going through the bird books.

“Next time Stan, we’re going out in the field.” Lucas said while he turned back at them

“No way Lucas, that’s me and Mike’s designated area.” Stan smirked

The rest of them chuckled at the dialogue between Stan and Lucas, little did they know about what was in the woods they were in. Creeping slyly in the woods, Ben’s instincts were indeed correct.

Camouflaged in the steep hill, a group of four had managed to spy on the six of them from above.

“Well well,” Henry smirked, “If it isn’t the losers and other losers of Hawkins.”

“I’m glad we got It after wheezy boy’s sister.” Patrick snickered, “Who the fuck is that other black holding hands with Billy’s ginger sister?”

“Can’t believe that Marsh girl is back, I’m getting hard thinking about the lesbian fun her and wheezy girl may be up to.” Belch smirked

Belch and Patrick laughed at the perverted and psychotic thoughts that were going through their messed up minds.

“Can we take off our wigs?” Victor asked, “These are getting way too hot.”

“You absolutely can fucking not,” said Henry, “If people know we’re still out here, it’s all your guys fucking faults.”

“What else did Billy ask us to do?” said Victor, “Do we need to ask the thing to mess with someone else or is one good enough for today?”

“One’s good for today,” Henry responded, “Luckily those dweebs haven’t spotted us. Except for four-eyed faggot’s other faggot twin and faggot twin’s other friends, and four-eyed faggot’s sister and her ridiculous friends.”

The three of them stared at Henry with such confused expressions, the amount of times he used the word faggot and the anger in Henry’s voice was just a lot to process. But they all knew Henry was the most messed up of them all.

“Let me get this straight,” said Patrick, “In Derry, there are S-S-Stuttering B-B-Bill, the fucking Jew, homeschooled nigger, fatboy, four-eyed fag, Beverly slut Marsh, wheezy boy and wheezy boy’s sister. Then in Hawkins we have four-eyed faggot’s twin, Wheeler’s weirdo girlfriend, toothless, Billy’s ginger sister, zombie boy, and that other negro.”

“Yes,” Henry said calmly, “You also forgot fuckface’s sister, zombie boy’s older brother, loser Harrington, and the other slag in their group, who Billy told us was related to that weird girl with superpowers?”

“When will the demogorogon come back and help us?” said Belch

“That’s not up to me to decide,” said Henry, “That’s up to It to decided, and Billy tells us what to do. For now we got that thing there to mess up all of those faggots one by one. Now our next mission is fuck around with four eyed faggot’s sister, her zombie boyfriend, Hawkin’s biggest slut, and that Steven guy.”

“When do you want to do that?” Victor asked

“Not yet, Vicky,” said Henry, “When they least expect it. Kinda like how the thing messed with the other dweebs in Derry and Hawkins. All one by one.”

“Didn’t those older kids try to call the cops on us?”

“Yes, Patrick,” Henry said, annoyed, and tired of answering all of their persistent questions, “But everyone thinks we’re dead, remember? They moved on; they moved on from Betty Ripsom, Edward Cororan, Barbara Holland, everyone. The cops don’t give a fuck in Derry-Hawkins. Neither did my dad. That’s why I fucking killed him.”

The other three looked down, only now realizing they too have been forgotten about in Derry-Hawkins. 

“Hey, you fuckfaces stop looking so goddamn sad, you look like pussies.” Henry spat, “Come on and move your fucking asses, we got a long bus ride home!”

~

October 10th, 1986

It was now Friday evening. Mike (Wheeler), Eleven, Dustin, Will, Lucas, Max, and Richie rode their bikes together and ended up near the empty field in Hawkins they usually hung around. Dustin insisted Richie come along with them, even though Mike said no multiple times before giving in.

Richie had nothing else better to do that night, and the Kaspbraks were out of town for the weekend, seeing family in New Brunswick. So Richie gladly went with the party after Mike gave in

Earlier when they left the house, they opened the door to find Nancy and Johnathan making out on their front porch, unaware that anyone was inside.

Lucas, Max, and Dustin snickered, while the other four gave them disgusted expressions after witnessing that.

Eleven used her mind to pull them away, but not the violent type of pulling.

“Really Nancy?” said Mike

“Get a room!” Richie exclaimed

“Yeah, Johnathan.” Will pushed past Johnathan

Nancy and Johnathan gave annoyed looks at what the twins and Will said, and entered the house.

“That was weird.” said Eleven, looking down awkwardly

“I know, tell me about it.” Mike responded

“Kind of hot, honestly.” Dustin snickered

“Hey! Those jokes are only okay when it doesn’t involve our sister!” Richie rolled his eyes

“Or brother.” said Will

The grass was now fading to a yellowish colour, but the ground was okay enough to continue riding their bicycles for the season. It was a school night, but tomorrow would be Friday, so they were perfectly fine by that.

The six of them had made their way by the playground, and despite being fifteen, decided to play around on it. There weren’t any other children or parents around this time of the evening, probably since it would be dark in another hour or so, and it was five degrees outside.

Out of them all, Dustin and Richie were having the most fun, and were the last ones playing around in the park, goofing around on the monkey bars while Mike, Eleven, Will, Lucas, and Max eventually sat down and watched them make fools of themselves

“Weirdos.” Max laughed

“The only reason Richie is here is because Dustin was pestering me about it earlier.” said Mike

“I see no difference in the two.” Eleven smirked

Dustin and Richie’s laughs and noises fade into the background while the other five continue their conversations

“So, how was everyone’s days at school?” Mike asked

“Private school is lame as always.” said Max

“Good, we sat together at lunch and the day flew by so I think it was fairly good for us.” said Lucas

Will looked down, not responding to Mike’s question

“Hey Will, you okay?” Mike asked, while coming over his way to comfort him

Will shook his head, and grabbed a note from his bookbag, the four of them looking over his shoulder as he flattened out a crumpled up note that read:

Zombie boy

“Fucking mouth breather.” Eleven huffed

They all knew who was behind this. Troy and James, and more than likely their senior friends.

“What is wrong with them?” Will groaned, burying his face into his hands

“They’re idiots,” said Mike, comforting him, “That’s all they’ll ever be.”

“Damn,” Richie butted in, “What did that cocksucker Troy do to you this time?”

“Richie, stay out of this.” said Mike

“No, he’s cool.” said Dustin, “Troy and James are such fucking -”

That’s when they noticed a car pull up in the empty dirt road parking lot, music could be heard through their closed car windows. Inside were about three or four what looked to be girls.

The six of them stared at them, watching as they sat there for a few seconds before finally getting out of their car.

Max rolled her eyes, she knew those four faces. Those girls that always dropped up to Billy’s house, though every time she would eavesdrop on their conversations between them and Billy, they sounded rather masculine than feminine.

“Hi there.” said the leader of the pack, while the other three “girls”, a tall dark-haired girl, an overweight girl, and a quiet blonde girl stood behind them, “Hi Maxine.”

The party recognized the four of them. Except for Richie, who was just as confused as they were.

“What do you guys want?” Max scoffed

“Billy just wanted to know where you were. Thought we would check up on you.” the leader grinned

The other three snickered, while the larger girl of the group let out a gigantic belch, making the six of them cringe.

“Shut up, Beth.” the leader snarled, “Use your fucking manners for once.”

“Seriously, what are you guys really doing here?” Mike asked, the rest of them knew Billy did not give two fucks about Max

“I don’t know,” the leader sighed, “We get lost around Derry-Hawkins, we’re from Texas, in case I haven’t mentioned, I’m Hillary Bordaeux, this is Catherine, Victoria, and Bethany.”

“We don’t give a fuck who you are, Derry-Hawkins isn’t that hard to get around!” said Richie

The taller girl nudged “Hillary”

“I knew they were twins.” “she” muttered

“Anyhow, anything else you want to ask?” Lucas said

“No...” said “Hillary”, “We better get going back home. We live two hours away.”

Mike, Richie, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Eleven, and Will watched as their car sped down the road, out of plain sight

That’s when they noticed, neither Eleven or Will had said a word the entire time they came face to face with the strange looking girls they just encountered

Will’s eyes were widened with fear, gazing off into space, while Eleven’s nose began to bleed.

Mike comforted both Eleven and Will, and Lucas and Max joined in, wondering what was wrong.

“I don’t really blame you guys for getting scared like that.” Richie broke the awkward silence, “They weren’t even that hot, that tall girl was the ugliest, ugh.”

“Richie, shut the fuck up!” Mike snapped, tired of his bullshit

“Face it Mike, they didn’t even look like girls!” said Dustin, “Maybe El and Will have this thing called sixth sense.”

“You know that this means,” Will responded, while Mike continued comforting Eleven, “We need to stay away from them any time we see them. My gut instinct told me so. I think Eleven’s is telling her something too.”

~

October 17th, 1986

Steve and Emma met up during the lunch hour at university, like they normally would a few times a week whenever they could. They were the only two that attended University of Maine, while Johnathan and Nancy were at Husscon.

“So, how is your day going, Ems?” Steve asked, while sitting down

“Mine’s good, what about yours?” Emma responded

“Good,” Steve said, “Law is really hard though.”

“You’re into law?”

“I don’t really know, Emma. What about you?” Steve looked back up

“I don’t know either, probably zooligy.” said Emma

“You mean zoology?”

“Yeah, that.”

A few seconds of silence occurred between the two, while Emma bit down in her sandwich, while Steve took a few occasional glances at her whenever her eyes were looking another way.

She does have pretty eyes. Steve thought, while his gaze went through her black hair, then onto her forearm, where three digits were visible.

007

Steve cleared his throat, breaking the silence, while he managed to blurt out, “So, how’s Eleven doing?”

“She’s doing well, actually.” said Emma, “Still being homeschooled.”

“I see.” Steve answered, “Haven’t seen the party since the summer. College is a lot of work.”

“Yeah”

He still couldn’t help but glance her way a few times.

We’re friends, why am I afraid to say anything? Steve thought, his mind racing, while Richie’s “advice” played in his mind, even though it was from months ago.

No Richie, not happening, Steve thought, he sure as hell was not going to listen to advice from a high schooler fresh out of junior high. Besides, grade school is different than college and university, and making Eleven’s sister pissed off was the last thing Steve wanted to do.

“That reminds me,” said Steve, “We haven’t seen Johnathan and Nancy in what, a few weeks? We need to get together sometime.”

“Like during Halloween?” Emma suggested, “My mum and sister won’t be home that night I don’t think. Just don’t invite anyone else over.”

“I won’t,” said Steve, “I’m not who I was two years ago. I’m a better person.”

“Mhmmm.” Emma rolled her eyes, smirking

“I amm!”

~

Next Chapter: Chapter 13

[somekind0fmagic]

Chapter 8. Disappointment

I do not own Harry Potter or the characters created by Rowling

(Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 )

Chapter 8. Disappointment

March and April went by quickly. Soon they were nearing the end of May and then the end of their first year. Albus only told Anneliese what happened with James when she convinced him that he would feel better afterwards. Even though he refused to admit it, he did feel better. They didn’t tell Scorpius for the fear of what he could, or would, do. But as they neared the end, Albus began to have an increase of worry. After Albus had heard what his Uncle had said, anything to do with him became a tense affair. Of course that was only when he saw him, but the downside was that his parents and his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were very close. Them and his father were best friends throughout school and they went with him when he went looking for Horcruxes. His aunt and mother were also very close, they themselves being best friends too.

He wasn’t even going to mention how bad it would be to be around Rose. She was bitchy and annoying enough while they were at school, he didn’t want to see how bad she could get. He didn’t mind his younger cousin, Hugo. He never made an effort to be an ass. But the poor kid is easily influenced and sees his father as the best thing in the world. He would do anything he asked and believe anything he says. Albus also knew that if Hugo gets sorted into Gryffindor that James would take advantage of that fact.

Knowing how his mother was, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide up in his room. He could just hangout with his little sister, but then she had friends she could hangout with. He could go to Shell Cottage, assuming that Dom would be there. Or he could stay at Weasleys Wizards Wheezes, he knew his Uncle George wouldn’t mind. Then again, he did remember Scorpius mentioning how he was usually bored being an only child and that his parents were okay with him staying over. Or maybe even Anneliese, but he remembers her mentioning that her parents were wary of her staying over at a guys house. Deciding that they would only be able to hangout and he would probably only get, at most, 12 hours away from his family. 

He decided that he would just figure it all out when it happened.

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

Scorpius pulled his tie loose and shed himself of his black robe. “Why the hell is it so hot?”

Albus, who had his tie undone completely and the top two buttons of his top undone, his robe in his arm as well, ran a hand through his black hair. “Because, mother nature knew you were getting too pale and needed more light.” Anneliese just rolled her eyes, she brushed her bangs out of her face for what, at least to Albus, was the 100th time. “Y’know, there’s this thing called a headband that you could use. I’m pretty sure I bought you one for Christmas.”

She scoffed and casually retorted, “Well there’s another thing called a hairbrush, maybe you’ve heard of it? It helps keep your hair neat. Or how about hair gel? Another thing that helps your hair stay neat.”

“I like it messy, not messing with it gives me more time to sleep in the morning.”

“No, you just hate that brushes tend to break whenever you use them.”

Albus shrugged at Scorpius’s comment, “So what?”

“It wouldn’t do that if you brushed it more than just once a month.”

“Twice a month, actually.” Albus quipped quickly.

Anneliese rolled her eyes, “As if that is any better?”

“It is, I used to do it once a week, but I figured, you know what? My hair is impossible to tame, why not I just embrace it.”

“You’re lazy Albus.”

“Of course I am, my dear, someone in this group has to be.”

Anneliese felt her cheeks get hot, for once, actually happy it was hot. “You guys aren’t wrong, it is hot.”

“Took ya long enough.” She rolled her eyes and Scorpius looked at her confused. She waved him off and slipped off her robe and rolled up the sleeves to her top.

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

“Hey L? Do you have anyone starting Hogwarts next year?”

Not even looking up from her book she replied, “My sisters Liana and Alexa. They turned 11 last November. You?”

“Yeah, 3 of my cousins. Louis, he’s Vics’ little brother, he’ll turn 11 in August. Then there’s Lucy, Mollys’ little sis, she’s not as uptight as her though, she turned 11 last September. Then there’s Roxanne, Freds’ younger sister, she turned 11 in January.”

She nodded, turning the page of her book, “That sounds nice. You close with them?”

He shrugged, “I guess, I’m closer to Louis' sister Dom though, she decided to go to Beauxbatons instead though.”

“Hold old is she?”

“Our age, but you wouldn’t think it. She looks way older.” Anneliese nodded absentmindedly, “What about you? Are you close to those two?”

“Meh, we get along, but we’re sisters so we fight a bunch.”

“Ah, makes sense, I guess.”

She giggled softly, “You really don’t, do you?” She sighed as she saw him shake his head out of her peripherals, “Well, basically, we’re girls. Geneivieve, Alexa, Liana, and I fight all the time over stupid things like hairbrushes or how long the other has been in the bathroom. I feel sorry for my brothers, they have to deal with us all the time. I think they sneak into a guest bathroom when we’re arguing.”

“Wait...if you have a guest bathroom, then why do you fight over that?”

“Al, if you were a girl and Lily’s sister instead of brother, you would understand what I’m talking about.”

They heard the soft laugh of Lorene Zabini, they looked back at her. Her usual short and curly purple hair was long, straight, and black. It was shocking when she changed it and when she was asked why she just would shrug her shoulders and say something about needing a change in her life. Her arm was around her girlfriend, Elizabeth Boles, waist. “Sometimes I wish I had a sister, or a sibling at least.”

“You don’t?” 

She shook her head, “Nope, sorry Potter, but I’m a lone wolf.”

Her girlfriend rolled her eyes, “Then what am I?”

She looked at her, nothing but love was in her eyes, “The one person I agree to not be a lone wolf with.”

“Cute.”

“You know it.”

Before they started snogging, Albus and Anneliese turned back around. “Sometimes I wish my parents didn’t have so many kids.” He looked at his friend with confusion. She neer said anything like this before. “And...I don’t know, maybe it’s selfish, but I wish I was an only child.”

“Why?”

“Because, then I would have my parents undivided attention.” She said it so softly that he barely heard it. But he felt a pang in his chest when he heard her. He didn’t say anything. He just wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Only agreeing with her mentally. I didn’t want to be one until recently.

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

Albus stared at the top of the curtains above his bed. Why did she say that to him? They hadn’t been friends for nearly as long as Scorpius and her had been. Unless he knew? No, he knows her better than that. So why? She never seemed like she wanted that, never did she complain about how she didn’t get attention at home. Maybe something had happened over Easter break. She did seem upset afterwards.

He sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep with this much on his mind he got up and grabbed his wand. Slipping out of the dorm room wasn’t difficult. All the guys were deep sleepers. He walked down the stairs, no one was sitting in the common room, making him wonder just how late it was. He opened the door to the common room and slipped out. 

The castle was eerily quiet. It was like it was empty. All he could hear was his quiet breaths and his steps. Of course it wasn’t as bad once he got out of the dungeons, but it still wasn’t amazing. But he continued to walk, he was honestly so unsure where he was going. He just knew he had to be careful and not get caught. He noticed a tapestry with a bowl full of fruits. He remembered something his dad mentioning the summer before he started.

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

Flashback

Albus sat at the table, watching as his dad made him a sandwich. “Hey dad?”

“Yeah Al?”

He sighed, “Dad, what if when I’m Hogwarts and I’m hungry, but say, it’s the middle of the night, where would I go?”

“The kitchens of course.” Harry turned around and handed his son the sandwich.

“Okay, but where is that?”

“Behind a painting of a bowl of fruits. You have to tickle the pear.”

Albus raised an eyebrow, “Are you serious?”

“No, I’m your dad. But really, you have to.”

“Sure.” He didn’t believe him, but he dropped the subject.

End of Flashback

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

Maybe his dad was right. Mum did say he was occasionally. He walked over to the painting and tickled the pear, and to his surprise, the painting opened and revealed the kitchens. A few house elves were cleaning. One noticed him, immediately recognizing who he was. “Mr. Albus Potter, an honor it is. What brings you down here?”

“Oh...um, I was just walking around. Sorry, I’ll get going.”

“Oh, please, let me make you something. Anything.”

“Well...can you make a peanut butter and honey sandwich and have it heated?” Albus wasn’t sure if he should be asking, but the house elf was so insistent.

“Of course sir! Right away, please sit down!” Albus cautiously walked over to a table and sat down. 

He laid his head down as they made the sandwich, letting his thoughts drift. Only was he kicked out of them when he heard the soft clink of a plate being placed on the table. He lifted his head and softly smiled at the house elf, “Thank you.”

“Of course sir! I wasn’t sure if you wanted anything to drink so I got you some water just in case. Is there anything else you would like?”

“Just your name?”

“M-my name?”

“Yes?”

“Well, it’s Zipsey!”

“Well, thank you Zipsey.”

Albus took a bite of the sandwich and smiled. His mum made this all the time. It smelt and tasted like a cookie. He tried to think of the last time she had made it. He made sure not to take a long time to eat. And once he was finished he placed the plate and goblet into the sink and left. 

He made it back to the common room without being caught by anyone. He walked back into the dorm room and curled into a ball. How long had it been since his mum made that food? How long had it been since she really only took James’ suggestions in what to eat? How long had it been since they had had a family meal that didn’t end in an argument between him and James because they never got along?

How long had it been since he started disappointing them?

[illsingyourname]

all of my favorite taylor lyrics in one place

okay so i got this idea from @alltooalex because she did this earlier and i thought it was really interesting to see how my favorite lyrics shaped up to everyone else’s. so this is kind of going to be a long post but it’s fine. also, you’ll probably notice a trend in my favorites because i’m a bit of a hopeless romantic, but i think we all are and i think that’s probably the reason why we’re on this website stanning the most wonderful superstar. anyways, i started listening to taylor for her amazing songs, but i stayed because the words that she’s said and the person that she is truly resonate with me and they made me never want to leave her side. i always feel like i have someone i can turn to when it comes to her and her music. so here’s my list.

______________________________________________________

Tim McGraw: when you think Tim McGraw i hope you think my favorite song, someday you’ll turn your radio on… Picture To Burn: there’s no time for tears i’m just sitting here, planning my revenge. Teardrops On My Guitar: i’ll bet she’s beautiful, that girl he talks about, and she’s got everything that i have to live without. A Place In This World: i’ll be strong, i’ll be wrong, oh but life goes on. Cold As You: oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day. The Outside: you saw me there but never knew that i would give it all up to be a part of this, a part of you. Tied Together With A Smile: but he leaves you out like a penny in the rain ‘cause it’s not his price to pay. Stay Beautiful: you’re beautiful, every little piece love and don’t you know you’re really gonna be someone. Should’ve Said No: i can’t resist. before you go tell me this; was it worth it? was she worth this? Mary’s Song (Oh My My My): i’ll be eighty-seven, you’ll be eighty-nine, i’ll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky. Our Song: our song is the way you laugh, the first date; “man i didn’t kiss her and i should have.” I’m Only Me When I’m With You: when i’m with anybody else, it’s so hard to be myself and only you can tell. Invisible: and all i think about is how to make you think of me, and everything that we could be. A Perfectly Good Heart: and realized by the distance in your eyes that i would be the one to fall. Jump Then Fall: we’re on the phone and without a warning i realize your laugh is the best sound i have ever heard. Untouchable: but you’re untouchable burning brighter than the sun and now that you’re close i feel like coming undone. Come In With The Rain: i’ve watched you for so long, screamed your name; i don’t know what else i can say. Superstar: i’m no one special, just another wide eyed girl who’s desperately in love with you. The Other Side Of The Door: and i broke down crying, was she worth this mess? Fearless: you walk me to the car and you know i want to ask you to dance right there, in the middle of the parking lot. Fifteen: in your life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team, but i didn’t know it at fifteen. Love Story: Romeo, save me. i’ve been feeling so alone. i keep waiting for you but you never come. Hey Stephen: boy you might have me believing i don’t always have to be alone. White Horse: i’m gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well. You Belong With Me: dreaming ‘bout the day when you wake up and find that what you’re looking for has been here the whole time. Breathe: it’s two a.m. feeling like i just lost a friend, hope you know it’s not easy for me. Tell Me Why: why do you have to put down my dreams so you can feel whole inside? You’re Not Sorry: this is the last straw, there’s nothing left to beg for. The Way I Loved You: you’re so in love that you act insane and that’s the way i loved you. Forever & Always: so here’s to everything coming down to nothing, here’s to silence that cuts me to the core. The Best Day: Daddy’s smart and you’re the prettiest lady in the whole wide world. Change: but i believe in whatever you do, and i’ll do anything to see it through. Mine: braced myself for the goodbye ‘cause that’s all i’ve ever known, then you took me by surprise and said “i’ll never leave you alone.” Sparks Fly: my mind forgets to remind me you’re a bad idea. Back To December: it turns out freedom ain’t nothing but missing you, wishing i’d realized what i had when you were mine. Speak Now: she flaunts down the aisle like a pageant queen, but i know you wish it was me. you wish it was me, don’t you? Dear John: i took your matches before fire could catch me so don’t look now; i’m shining like fireworks over your sad empty town. Mean: someday i’ll be living in a big old city and all you’re ever gonna be is mean. The Story Of Us: this is looking a contest of who can act like they care less, but i liked it better when you were on my side. Never Grow Up: but don’t make her drop you off around the block, remember that she’s getting older too. Enchanted: this is me praying that this was the very first page not where the storyline ends. Better Than Revenge: they wouldn’t teach you that in prep school so it’s up to me, but no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity (think about what you did). Innocent: minds change like the weather, i hope you remember today is never too late to be brand new. Haunted: i’m holding my breath, won’t see you again; something keeps me holding on to nothing. Last Kiss: i hope the sun shines and it’s a beautiful day, and something reminds you, you wish you had stayed. Long Live: if you have children some day and they point to the pictures, please tell them my name. Ours: seems like there’s always someone who disapproves; they’ll judge it like they know about me and you. If This Was A Movie: i know that we could work it out some how, but if this was a movie you’d be here by now. Superman: i always forget to tell you i love you, i loved you from the very first day. Today Was A Fairytale: you told me i was pretty when i looked like a mess, today was a fairytale. State of Grace: so you were never a saint, and i loved in shades of wrong, we learned to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts. Red: remembering him comes in flashbacks and echos, tell myself it’s time now, gotta let go. Treacherous: all we are is skin and bone trained to get along; forever going with the flow but you’re friction. I Knew You Were Trouble: i heard you moved on from whispers on the street; a new notch in your belt is all i’ll ever be. All Too Well: time won’t fly it’s like i’m paralyzed by it; i’d like to be my old self again but i’m still trying to find it. 22: you don’t know about me, but i’ll bet you want to; everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we’re 22. I Almost Do: i just want to tell you, it takes everything in me not to call you, and i wish i could run to you. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: then you come around again and say “baby, i miss you and i swear i’m gonna change, trust me” remember how that lasted for a day? Stay Stay Stay: all those times it’s been occurring to me i’d like to hang out with you for my whole life. The Last Time: you find yourself at my door and just like all those times before you wear your best apology, but i was there to watch you leave. Holy Ground: i guess we fell apart in the usual way and the stories got dust on every page, but sometimes i wonder how you think about it now and i see your face in every crowd. Sad Beautiful Tragic: kiss me, try to fix it, could you just try to listen? The Lucky One: they say you bought a bunch of land somewhere, chose the rose garden over madison square. Everything Has Changed: all i feel in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind, making up for lost time, taking flight making me feel like i just want to know you better now. Starlight: he was trying to skip rocks on the ocean saying to me, “don’t you see the starlight? don’t you dream impossible things?” Begin Again: you throw your head back laughing like a little kid; i think it’s strange that you think i’m funny ‘cause he never did. The Moment I Knew: there in the bathroom, i try not to fall apart and this sinking feeling starts as i say hopelessly “he said he’d be here.” Come Back…Be Here: taxi cabs and busy streets that never bring you back to me; i can’t help but wish you took me with you. Girl At Home: i just wanna make sure you understand perfectly you’re the kind of man who makes me sad. Welcome To New York: everybody here was someone else before and you can want who you want; boys and boys and girls and girls. Blank Space: i get drunk on jealousy but you’ll come back each time you leave, ‘cause darling i’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream. Style: i should just tell you to leave ‘cause i know exactly where it leads but i watch us go round and round each time. Out Of The Woods: when we decided to move the furniture so we could dance, baby like we stood a chance, two paper airplanes flying. All You Had To Do Was Stay: had me in the palm of your hand, then why’d you have to go and lock me out when i let you in? Shake It Off: can’t stop won’t stop grooving, it’s like i got this music in my mind saying it’s gonna be alright. I Wish You Would: you always knew how to push my buttons, you gave me everything and nothing. Bad Blood: oh, it’s so sad to think about the good times; you and i. Wildest Dreams: i can see the end as it begins, my one condition is; say you’ll remember me… How You Get The Girl: tell her how you must’ve lost your mind when you left her all alone and never told her why. why? This Love: this love left a permanent mark, this love is glowing in the dark. I Know Places: they take their shots but we’re bulletproof, and you know for me it’s always you. Clean: when i was drowning, that’s when i could finally breathe. Wonderland: you search the world for something else to make you feel like what we had, and in the end, in wonderland, we both went mad. You Are In Love: one night he wakes, strange look on his face, pauses then says; “you’re my best friend,” and you knew what it was, he is in love. New Romantics: heartbreak is the national anthem, we sing it proudly.